Cottage 6 Studio

February Splitcoast Challenge

Here is one of the cards that I made for the Christmas Card Challenge on Splitcoast for this month.  This is actually a card that I first made to teach resist technique for a beginners stamping class a couple of years ago.

 

 

I came across some of the left over background and decided to make some more of these for the challenge.

Of course, I finished these at the last minute, so I had to photograph them at night which makes for a pretty lousy pic.

For the other five February cards, I modified another card from this class into a gift card holder.  I made some of these holders for Christmas 2008, and I don't remember where I found the tutorial, so I will be posting one as soon as I can get good pics; hopefully later this week.

Until then....

Clean & Simple

 

Here is another of the cards I taught on Friday.

I used the Scor-Pal and some foam tape to show how texture and dimension add visual interest to a clean and simple look with lots of white space.  This Rubber Stamp Tapestry set adds to the ease with which this card can be put together; you could whip up a set of these for a last minute gift in no time.

The end of the month is almost here, so I'll be working on my cards for the Splitcoast Christmas Card Challenge and getting them posted in the next couple of days.

Until then...

Belated Valentine

Just taking a quick break from housework to share the card that I made for Donald for Valentine's Day; the only Valentine I managed to make this year.

I was pressed for time and trying to make a card that wasn't too frilly, so I went for clean and simple.  He likes my new Scor-Pal as much as I do and loved the texture on the card.

 

I stamped the sentiment first and scored the diagonal lines around it.  Then I stamped the heart, cut it out and mounted it with foam squares.  Easy peasy, but he loved it!

Fornasetti Cards

I should be preparing kits for my card-making class tomorrow evening.

Actually, they should have been finished already.

Somehow, I am working on my art room again instead.

Perhaps because this is my 7th day without a cigarette, having started smoking 27 years ago this week.  It's hard, so I'm distracting myself.

This morning I came across a set of cards I made a couple of years ago, thinking I would send them into Stampers Sampler for their ongoing Different Point of View challenge.  This might be something to try and tackle again.

 

You can also find a few more cards I've made with this stamp, here, here and here.

Be back soon!

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

 

Splitcoast Christmas Challenge

Disclaimer:  These cards have been scanned.  All evidence to the contrary, Stickles were not applied to these cards by a 2-year old or by an adult under the influence of alcohol.  One fine day, the sun will return to my art room and I'll be sure to take photos.

Once again, I am attempting to get my Christmas cards done early by joining the Christmas Card Challenge on Splitcoast Stampers.  I am doing 10 cards per month, but I won't need nearly that many, so I plan to send most of them to the troops so that they will have cards to send home for the holidays.

 

For my January cards, I decided to use this snowglobe set (no idea who made it) for these cards.  These are among the first rubber stamps I ever bought, and I've never used them to make cards!

 

 

I'm very happy with the way these turned out, but I'm really happy with the embossed layer because I was able to use scraps and the new Scor-pal that my mother (thanks, Mum!) gave me for Christmas.  The plain red and pink cardstocks would never have worked without the texture added by the embossing, and it was so easy!

 

 

As you may remember, I love to make cards with traditional and non-traditional color schemes, so I couldn't resist a few pink trees.  I decided the snow should be pink as well.  First, I tried Stickles but the pinks I had weren't working for me.  While I was looking for a tiny snowflake stamp, I came across a stamp from Rubber Stamp Tapestry's Winter Night Sky set.  Its just three small dots, but by varying the amount of pressure I applied and turning the stamp each time, I got these results, which I'm really happy with.

If you want to reduce your card-related stress this year, I highly recommend getting a jump on them.  At Splitcoast Stampers you'll be entered into a prize drawing each time you meet your monthly goal.  There are also at least two blogs out there devoted weekly challenges:  Christmas Cards All Year Round and Fab's Big Christmas Cards Challenge.

However you decide to tackle it, I hope we all remember to keep it fun!

As Promised...

 

..here is one of the cards I will be teaching in a few weeks.   As I said in my last post, it took me a few days to get it posted due to bad lighting, and I missed some decent light yesterday, so I decided to scan this card.  I don't like to scan cards much, mostly because the images are blurry if there is any dimension to them, but also because the scanner seems to accentuate any imperfections in the card.

The students in this class will be experienced crafters but a mix of experienced and beginner stampers.  Keeping in mind that buying lots of materials for a new craft can be a bit overwhelming, I decided to teach the Oil Pastel Gesso Technique from the TJ Newsletter; my students belong to a decorative painting group, and I thought they might already have gesso, at least that's what I'm hoping.  I also used an old manilla folder for the base of the card to show that you can make artful projects with materials you may already have.

One reason that I love this technique is because it is versatile.  I used dye ink to stamp the images on to it, which "faded" and became part of the background.  But if I had wanted to stamp my main image onto it, I could have used Staz On ink.  The Staz On ink does not "fade", so you end up with a bolder image good for the foreground of the card.

Also used here to add some additional interest and as a contrast to the distressed quality of the background, is the Martha Stewart punch I bought with a gift card I received for Christmas.

The main image and the images stamped on the background are from Oxford Impressions' Bird's Nest plate and the sentiment is from a larger stamp by Stampendous.

The groundhogs have seen their shadows, which means I won't be getting better light for picture taking just yet.   I do have a lot to share so I'll keep my fingers crossed for some sunnier days soon.

Until then...