"I hope you dance..........."

Here is my take on the "Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge" #59. The sketch and challenge details can be found HERE. Lately I've been seeing lots of beautiful creations featuring vintage photos. I didn't have any of my own so I improvised using an old dance picture of my daughter Kay. I changed the hue and saturation in Photoshop creating a more sepia/vintage look. After printing the new image I cut it out using an oval nestie. I then applied several layers of "UTEE" to simulate the cracked glass look. Delicate patterned papers and bling pulled the sketch together.

The details:

Paper:          SU Pink Pirouette, DCWV "Be Mine " collection and the "Luxury Stack", Memory Box "Gossamer" collection.

Ink:              Ranger Distress Ink "Vintage Photo, "Spun Sugar"

Other:          Roses from "Wild Orchid Crafts" ( airbrushed with copic makers E21 and RV32, Lace trim from Joanne Fabrics, MS glitter (dance shoes), Recollections crystal swirl, UTEE,


Thanks for stopping by and have a GREAT week!

Holly

"Checkmate..........."

Here is my challenge entry for "Midnight Madness" Sketch Challenge #58. The sketch and challenge details can be found HERE. Seeing as there is a new "Twilight" movie just around the corner and it IS one of my favorite book series, I thought I would make my card based on it. The sketch was either saying Halloween or Twilight and with Twilight being closer it won! The chess piece was fashioned out of white sparkle Fimo clay. I stamped the image onto the clay ( I omitted some of the deals of the image) and then cut out around the outline. After baking, I gave it a layer of crystal effects and sprinkled some clear glitter on top. The roses were made from a 5 petal punch. 4 layers were hot glued together to form the rose. The paper was first stamped with a script design. In keeping with the Twilight theme I used a bat and a paw border punch to represent both sides!

The Details:

Stamps:     Artful Inkables "Into the Moonlight", a diamond background stamp source unremembered, SU "French Script" background.

Paper:       Bazzill, Neenah Solar Crest

Ink:          Memento Tuxedo Black, Ranger Distress Ink Black Soot

Other:      Fimo Clay, Zing EP Black, MS glitter Onyx, MS glitter Crystal Fine, EK Success Border Punches Paw and Bat, McGill Flower punch, Wishblade  electronic cutter, Black brads covered with glitter, Small rosebud colored red from "Wild Orchid Crafts", Wright's Flexi lace hem facing in red. Decorative scissors.


Thanks for stopping by and taking a look! Have a GREAT week.....

Holly

"..........in a Gilded Cage"

Hello again! Another weekend has just flown by. And speaking of flying....this weeks entry for "Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge" #57 has a bird theme. The sketch challenge details can be found HERE. When I first saw the Tim Holtz Alterations die "Caged Bird" I KNEW I had to have it! When I saw this weeks sketch I thought the "Fan-like" element reminded me of feathers and so it went from there......... For the sake of easy reading I'm going to list the steps used to make each of the design elements on this project including materials.
 Here we go......

Birdcage:   The Tim Holtz Sizzix die was cut out on the Big Shot using a white chipboard. I next painted it gold with "Modern Options" Instant antiquing kit "Gold metal surfacer. I applied the PAtina green antiquing solution but didnt achive the desired effect so I randomly applied clear embossing ink and Ranger "Antiquities" EP in "Verdigris". Where the EP looked too contrived I used my fingernail to remove some of the EP. A gold organza ribbon was weaved throughout the holes in the bottom of the diecut. The bird, which is part of the die, was cut out of patterned paper and then stamped and gold embossed using SU "French Script" background stamp.

Feathers:    The feathers came from Michaels. They are from "Zucker Feather Products" and were labeled Guinea plumage natural. To get them to match the Verdigris, I airbrushed them with Copic marker BG23.

Chain:        The chain attached to the top of the birdcage was fashioned from jump rings. I added a clear bead to each link for interest.

Mats:         Spellbinders nestabilities sponged with colorbox pigment ink and Ranger Distress Ink in Vintage Photo. MS Border Punch "Woodland Branch" was used at the bottom of the top panel. The corner embellishment trios are beads from Plaid found @ Michaels as well.

Paper:        K and Co., 29th Street Market (all purchased @ Michaels)



Thanks for taking a look and have a GREAT WEEK!

Holly

"Under the Sea.............."

Hi! Another weekend comes to an end, and it sure was a cold wet one here in beautiful Western NY  (UGH)
The only bright spot is my US Navy daughter is home on leave for 2 whole weeks! YEAH! She will be deploying overseas in July for 10 months so I need to enjoy every minute with her now!

This weeks MMSC Sketch Challenge #56 (DETAILS FOUND HERE) followed an "Under the Sea" theme. I also entered this in the "Your Next Stamp Challenges"....use a border punch. HERE and the "Pixi Dust Studio" Challenge HERE. When I purchased  the flouishes and birds digital image from "Priscillastyles" store I saw the flourish as a seaweed background. I imported it into Photoshop and proceeded to remove a few of the elements and resized  to fit in my "porthole". I also recolored it green. The seahorse was stamped and colored with copic markers. Using a stampamajig I restamped the colored seahorse with embossing ink and applied Ranger Distress EP in Antique Linen. It has a rough finish which resembled the crusty look of the seahorses skeleton. You can see the finish in one of the close-up photos. The net started out an ugly greenish-brown color. To take care of that I sponged it with Gesso and while wet sprinkled blue glitter on top. The glitter didnt photo well and is hard to see. The knotted trims were fashioned out of macrame cord and sponged with walnut distress ink. If you google "Sailor's Knot" there are lots of instructions on how to tie these.

The details:

Paper:            Neenah Solar Crest #120, DCWV "Tahiti Beach Shack" and "Linen Closet"

Ink:                Ranger Distress Ink "Walnut Stain" Copic Markers and Airbrush, Gesso

Stamps:         "Priscillastyles" Flourish (seaweed),  Asspocket Productions "Seahorse", SU "Sandy Shells"
                      wheel.

Other:            Stickles "Stardust and Antique Linen", Net (Michael's), Anchor charm, Brass brads, Various
                      shells, Macrame cord, Generic dewdrops, MS glitter, "Viva Decor" Glitter Liner Holo
                      Irridescent and Gloss Gel Transparent (air bubbles).MS Border Punch "Shells"



Thanks for looking and have a GREAT week!

Holly

"Vintage Fashions........."

Happy Memorial Day to all of you who celebrate! It's good to be back.......Last weekend my Father passed away suddenly from an undiagnosed cancer. We were fortunate to be able to fly down to Florida to be with him during his final days at hospice. He had just been up to visit us in NY the week before. Three days after he came home to Fla. he was in the hospital with severe pain. Four days later on Tuesday he was moved to hospice and he passed on Saturday. NEVER EVER take even one day for granted!

This weeks card is for "Midnight Madness" Sketch Challenge #55. The details can be found HERE. I would also like to thank everyone for nominating me for the "Priscilla Award" vote. It is a huge honor for me to be included with such wonderful and talented crafters!

The lace background paper was created by stamping the lace on purple paper with black ink. It was then run through the Zyron and a layer of black tulle was added on top. Fine crystal glitter was then rubbed into the tulle and stuck to the exposed adhesive. The Corset was stamped with a tiger stripe pattern to add interest. Sparkley black marker was drawn over the tiger stripes. Various trims were added to the corset image to finish it off.

The rose was originally white, airbrushed black and sprinkled with purple glitter using Crystal Effects. Cropadile was used to punch the holes and set the eyelets for the lacing. I made the stick pin using a crystal bead and a SU jeweled brad.


The details:

Images:        Corset digital image ("Priscillastyles" store)

Paper:         Neenah Solar Crest #120 (card base), SU Basic Black,  Generic purple from AC Moore

Ink:             Memento Tuxedo Black

Other:         CHF Backgrounders " Lace" and "Tiger Stripes", "Wild Orchid"  flower,  Spellbinders "Fancy Tags" and "Large        
                   Scalloped" Oval dies, Copic marker V17, Copic Spicyou glitter marker black, SU jewel brads,
                   MS purple glitter, ribbon. Trims from Joanne Fabrics.


Thanks for looking and have a wonderful week!

Holly

"Welcome all.........." MMSC Sketch Challenge #53 and The Pixi Cottage Challenge #18

Hello again everyone! This weeks card has a vintage/distressed theme. The challenge details can be found HERE and HERE. I just started playing with photoshop and recoloring images. I've wanted to do a Red, White and Blue card for some time now. The stars were fashioned out of fimo clay coated with Crystal Effects and dusted with super fine glitter. The "buntings" were made by masking off copy paper and airbrushing the stripes. I wanted to use ribbons but just couldn't find the right one. So, when all else fails FABRICATE! I folded the paper strips into fans and adhered them to the card using Sookwang tape. A few of the stars had holes poked in them before baking so I could thread the colored florist wire through them. The wires were coiled around a long metal dowel. The striped paper was a digital freebie from GinaK that I recolored in photoshop. The Statue of Liberty is a googeled image from the internet recolored as well.

The Details:      Images:      Internet search

                        Paper:       Colored cardstocks from Joanne's, DP (GinkaK digital, 29th Street Market)
                    
                        Ink:           SU Cranberry Crisp, Ranger Distress Walnut Stain, Copic markers (R89, B97)

                        Other:       Fimo Clay, MS Star border punch, MS Fine glitter, florist wire, Eclipse masking
                                         tape.

Have a great week and see you next Sunday with another challenge card!


Holly



                   
        

"Imagine............." MMSC Sketch Challenge # 52

Hello! I hope everyone had a great weekend...... The weather here went from 80 last week to 34 today. It actually snowed! Needless to say I AM disgusted with our weather here in Western NY.  Today I have for you my challenge card for "Midnight Madness" #52. I have also submitted this card for this weeks "Pixie Cottage" challenge. We were to make our own charm. I used a jump ring and a gold disk to hang of of my tag.  The sketch and details can be found HERE. This week I was excited to use my new digital images from "Priscillastyles" Store. They are a lovely set of birds and flourishes. I already have a card in mind using the flourishes. First off I created the scalloped frame using my KNK digital die cutter software. I programed the design so the beading holes would be cut out with the frame. Next I applied a coat of Ranger Distress Crackle Paint in "Tattered Rose". I sponged the edges and hand sewed the beads. The "Birds" were resized and printed out on "velvet" paper. After trying several mediums for coloring, I got the best results with Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol. You can see the texture of the velvet paper better in the close-up photos below.

The Details:

Stamps:      Digital Images from "Priscillastyles", Tim Holtz Collection "Flights of Fancy"

Paper:        Gina K "120# Ivory", Creative Imaginations DP purchased @ Michael's, Various papers from
                  "Bazzill Basics", "Velvet Paper" The Paper Company (Joanne's)

Ink:           SU "Bravo Burgundy", Colorbox Chalk Inks, Copic  RV32 (airbrushed gem flourish)

Other:       Sizzix decorative strip "Swirly", MS Glitter "Smokey Quartz", Prismacolor pencils/Gamsol,
                 SU large and small tag punches, Pink Hem Tape from Joanne's, Spellbinders Fancy Flourish die,
                 Ranger Distress Crackle Paint, Beads and crochet cotton/beading needle, Jump Ring and charm.



Thanks for looking and have a GREAT week!

Holly