Susie's Artful Expeditions

The start of a soul journal journey

2009-01-11T17:38:00.001-08:00

Fate sometimes intervenes when we need it most. I have been thinking more and more about art journaling, but had much trepidation about starting. Serendipitously, through an altered paper swap delightful, talented artists, I was introduced to the Soul Journaling group on yahoo. You'll see some samples of their papers in earlier posts. I have finished my first prompt, which was to create a weaving of some of our hopes and dreams for the coming year. I wove mine with strips of vellum for the vertical elements, some paper I painted and some resist stained with Nancy Curry's technique for the horizontals. The thought process really helped me solidify some of the ways I can be most positive and useful. In my case, I placed the weaving on the top of a mailing envelope so I can store little bits I might use in my journaling.

More pages for Fiona's book

2009-01-04T13:43:00.000-08:00

Fiona was November's "IT" girl in the Art Venture group. She's probably wondering if I've lost my calendar. Each month, one member of the group is IT and chooses a theme. Other members then create something that incorporates it. Fiona's theme was 'What Inspires You'. I have always been captivated by the idea of flight, both literal and figurative, so have been making a small book with all sorts of winged ideas. Here are the latest ones.

More Inspiration from Altered Papers

2008-12-25T17:15:00.000-08:00

I am participating in a Snowflake ATC swap on ATCs for all. And, I received even more inspiration from the altered papers mentioned in the last post. Here are the results!

Chunky Trees

2008-12-21T18:27:00.000-08:00

I was fortunate to be able to trade altered papers with an extremely talented group of artists. Their papers provided much needed inspiration for four tree-themed chunky pages I needed to create for an ATCsforAll swap I'm participating in. I'm sure all of the papers will be making appearances in upcoming projects.

You can view the blogs of some of these talented artists at
http://www.clevelandgirlie.blogspot.com and
www.creativeinspirations.blogspot.com and
www.opheliasart.blogspot.com

Another page for Fiona's book

2008-11-29T10:27:00.000-08:00

I finished another page in Fiona's 'flight' book. The background for this one was done with gold and turquoise Lumieres.

Brayered and Gessoed Altered Paper

2008-11-29T09:48:00.001-08:00

Ophelia (http://opheliasart.blogspot.com/) is moderating a quick altered paper swap and is allowing me to participate.

I created some papers using a Creole Spice rainbow pad, some distress inks, and some gesso, along with a few Paper Artsy and Stampers' Anonymous stamps. I can't take credit for this class, I learned the technique in a class created by Julie at our best local stamp store - Cornerstone.

Step 1 - I brayered with the rainbow pad, going randomly in different directions.

Step 2 - Apply a coat of gesso using either an old credit card, or I use an old room key from one of my work related travels (they're good for something after all). Don't worry about making the layer completely even. Missing some spots makes it more interesting.

Step 3 - Stamp some background stamps with coordinating colors. I used distress inks for this, because I evenrually want the images to be barely visible.

Step 4 - Finish by adding another layer of gesso, and some ink direct to paper to give some depth.

Brayered and Gessoed Altered Paper - Step 2

2008-11-29T09:45:00.000-08:00

Brayered and Gessoed Altered Paper - Step 3

2008-11-29T09:44:00.001-08:00

Brayered and Gessoed Altered Paper - Step 4

2008-11-29T09:40:00.000-08:00

Architecture ATCs

2008-11-23T17:54:00.000-08:00

I am participating in an architecture ATC Swap for a group called ATCs for all. For these swaps you can create all your cards the same, or make different ones.

In this case, I chose to do three different designs. The first is colored with Stewart Superior Memories mists and then stamped with Adirondack Pesto. I used a Basic Grey rub on for the white design. For the second, I used Nancy Curry's resist technique on white glossy, stained with Distress and Adirondack Inks. The last one was colored with gesso and dye inks, and stamped with Versafine.

Flapper Fairies

2008-11-22T22:20:00.001-08:00

Another page in Fiona's IT book. For this page, I painted the background with some purple and blue Twinkling H2O's and then stamped some swirls for interest. The images are from etsy.

You have wings

2008-11-22T22:03:00.000-08:00

I loved this quote, and decided to pair it with one of my favorite images.

In case you can't read it in the scan, here's the quote:
You were born with potential
You were born with goodness and trust
You were born with ideals and dreams
You were born with greatness
You were born with wings
You are not meant for crawling, so don't.
You have wings
Learn to use them,and fly.

I'm not even sure whose stamp this is anymore, but I think it might be Lost Coast. I stamped the image on vellum and applied it to the page which I had colored DTP with Distress Inks. The paper in behind the quote was some pearlized text weight paper I had left from making wedding invitations this summer. I embossed a design from a Judikins bolio, but it was too subtle. I rubbed the paper with some copper Brilliance to get this effect. Happy accident!

Getting a start on Fiona's IT

2008-11-22T21:59:00.000-08:00

The next IT girl project I'm working on is for Fiona. Her theme was inspiration, something that inspires you. I've chosen to do a little book on flight and wings. Art is one of the things that gives me wings and lets me fly to places I love to go!

The front of the book is coated with gesso and distress inks. I stamped a few background designs with distress ink, and then applied another thin coat of gesso to make the designs more subtle.

Experimenting with Paintstiks

2008-11-21T04:19:00.000-08:00

I recently purchased some Shiva Oil Paintstks. These are oil paint in solid form, and can be used on both fabric and paper. They come (as the name would imply) in stick form. You simply peel off the outer layer and either paint directly with them, or use them with a stencil brush. In this case, I used a Dreamweaver stencil and first dry embossed the image. It's been a while since I've done any of that, and part of the reason is that I felt in the past it was a little restrictive, since you needed paper that was light enough to see through to the stencil. Now that I've discovered the radiant rains, that's a problem easily solved - I sprayed the paper after I'd finished stenciling. Then I turned my paper over, and placed the stencil over the embossed image again. Not being the smartest sometimes, it took me a while to figure I needed to flip the stencil over to make it line up again. But, once I got that done, I scribbled some gold painstik onto my craft sheet (that way you don't waste any paint since it doesn't absorb) and used a stencil brush to apply it to my embossed design. The paint can take up to 24 hours to dry completely, but this seemed ready a lot sooner. I used a little gold embossing power on the edges to get a border.

Chrissy's Nature IT

2008-11-17T05:20:00.000-08:00

Getting caught up with the Art Venture IT girls, little bit by little bit.

I have finally finished Chrissy's item, with a technique I was fortunate to learn in a Tim Holtz class a few weeks ago. A store near here won a contest, the prize for which was a weekend with Tim Holtz. I know some of you have attended classes with him before, and what a treat it is. This class was for a shrink plastic mosaic technique using the melt pot to coat clear shrink in UTEE and shrink it at the same time. The resulting tiles are then colorized with alcohol inks and images glued to the back. You always know it's a good class when you can't wait to try the technique again, and here's the result. Hope Chrissy enjoys it.

2008-11-09T17:11:00.000-08:00

Finally back to creating (and scanning).

I've been in a bit of a creative funk lately, and the things I have done, I haven't even remembered to scan. With the leaves almost all off the trees, time for me to turn over a new one. I finally finished Adrienne's IT Medieval gift.

I started with a plain cardboard slide mailer and after several finishes I didn't like, finally settled on coating the outside with several layers of embossing powder to get a faux metal finish. I added a collage image and some bling to finish it off. I painted the inside with gold and silver Lumiere paints, and applied a little magenta in the slide holders for a pop of color. I overstamped a design in copper and added some collage elements to finish. I was a little worried about using glass slides, since this is mailing internationally, so I used some transparencies to create the effect instead. Hope Adrienne enjoys it! And I hope it truly is better late than never.

Double Deuce Dare You!

2008-04-28T21:11:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Pea on CC Swaps, I got to participate in one of the most fun and challenging swaps you could imagine. In my mailbox, I received an AOL tin, stuffed with all sorts of amazing bits and pieces. Our mission - make something with it!

I fretted for a very long time, but finally my inspiration came from the scrabble tiles the came in my package. They spelled 'UNIQUE'. There were also lots of images - the ones I chose were of a boy, a man, and a woman. Hmmmm, boy goes to school, journeys around the world to seek his fortune, is smitten by a lovely lady, marries, and lives a rich and colorful life in between. That's what my package (and my muse) said to me.

Here is what I made, along with an explanation of what I used and what I added.

First, the tin....
I sponged the tin with Lumiere paints and painted the scrabble tiles I received with Twinkling H2O's to give them some sparkle. The bottle cap and the metal charms were also part of my package - I colored those with gold Krylon pen and added some images and words to begin telling my story. I lined the inside of the tin with some papers I had on hand, and started to work on a tag book I wanted to place inside. I decided I'd like it to fit diagonally, so I trimmed the bottom corners to get it to fit snugly. Both the image and the twill tape on the front were included in my Double Dare.

Double Deuce - Our Hero Seeks His Fortune

2008-04-28T20:49:00.001-07:00

On the next page, our hero begins to seek his fortune. In my package were conveniently placed a fortune telling card, with a swami, a slide mount, and some travel images. The swami fit perfectly in the slide mount, which I finished with some distress inks and a text stamp. Everything on this page, with the exception of the postmark came in my package in some form or another.

Double Deuce Dare - Love is in the Air

2008-04-28T20:46:00.000-07:00

The next page started out with a silver german scrap shrine and a mysterious woman. These were both in my package as well. I used alcohol inks to color the shrine, and the hearts are part of another image from the previous page.

Double Deuce - Fulfullment

2008-04-28T20:42:00.000-07:00

Our hero experiences love at first sight, and marries his dream girl on the next page. These are images that I had on hand, and they seemed to fit. At the end, he's looking back on a fullfilling life, time has flown by too quickly! The watch face was included in my package, and the little beauty that is my thoughtful older man came from Adrienne in a previous swap. Fits perfectly - thanks Adrienne!!

What a fun project this was - thank you Pea!

Background ATC's

2008-03-16T08:59:00.000-07:00

This month's ATC theme on CC Swaps was backgrounds. We have recently switched so that we do two sets of 5 rather than a single set of 5. For the first card, I chose to do embossing powder enamel. The entire card is covered with embossing powder and then additional colors are added on by sponging on the embossing powder. Then I stamped the diamonds and embossed them in black so that they melt into the enamel. I learned this technique at a demo of Powder Keg embossing powders.

The second card as done by applying bands of color direct to paper and then using lots of impress me stamps to get color. A few of them were stamped with Lumiere gold paint. Then I created strips of gold paint between the bands with a credit card. Thanks to Julie Jarvis of Cornerstone Art Stamps for this one.

Another deco book

2008-03-15T07:46:00.000-07:00

These little books are so exciting to receive and work on. And what a great added bonus, you get to see the wonderful artwork of those who have gone before.

I've just received my second deco, and added my pages. For this one, I used a brilliance rainbow pad DTP and stamped some texture for the background. The flower is another Basic Grey Rub On. Hope the eventual recipient likes it!

First Deco Book arrives

2008-03-07T21:04:00.000-08:00

I'm currently participating in a round robin deco book swap. Each person's book makes a journey to several other swappers until it's been filled with art by everyone. There's no theme, so you can do whatever strikes you.

I decided to use a background technique I just learned at a class last night. It involves gesso, direct to paper and stamping. I didn't get too adventurous with the colors yet, I didn't want to take a chance. (-;

Leafy Little Beauties

2008-03-02T14:03:00.000-08:00

I just finished my second swap of these. Having a theme to stick to was a bit more challenging, and really fun. I happen to know my partner for this one likes birds, so I made sure to include a few. I did stretch the leaf theme a little on the few of these, but every one has at least something leafy, even if it's ginko leaves in the background.

Backgrounds - Acrylic Resist

2008-03-02T13:52:00.000-08:00

I can't take credit for this technique, I learned it at Cornerstone, my favorite stamp store.

To create this effect, I painted broad strokes of one or two colors of cheap acrylic paints onto various papers. How much white space you leave changes the end result. After the paint was dry, I sponged on some dye reinkers to fill in the rest of the space, wiping the excess off with a paper towel. The paint resists the reinker, and gives a brush stroked background.

Here are some samples...

Brid Tip-In Page

2008-02-17T14:25:00.000-08:00

This month's Tip-in (8 1/2 x 5 1/2 inch page was birds. For the front of my page I painted a background using cheap acrylic paints and dye reinkers. The first one was way too dark, so I put gloss medium on it, and used it as a background. I had to borrow the bird stamps (thank you Mary!) because I don't have any, and then I found a sheet of Basic Grey rub-ons in our local craft store. Who knew rubons could be so much fun! The images, front and back are from etsy. The back was inspired by the background paper that I just needed an excuse to use.

More credit cards and acrylics

2008-02-08T18:00:00.000-08:00

Once I got started, it was really hard to quit! Here are some more examples. One with a lot of different colors scraped over yellow. One with reds and oranges, and then very thick yellow scraped on top wiggling the credit card in waves, another with reds, oranges and browns, and a mini-folder that I hope to use for my little beauties. This one was scraped first and then sponged with gold lumiere paint.

Credit Cards and Acrylic Paints

2008-02-08T17:48:00.000-08:00

I was introduced to this technique by the Next Generation Stampers' Group and finally got a chance to play around with it a little today.

I've posted some of my results here.

Blues, greens, and yellows were my first attempts. The first one I did was mixed with lots of matte medium, so the colors are more transparent. Then I used the paint closer to full strength and finally, since there was a good but of paint on my nonstick sheet - I just put the third sheet onto the craft sheet, and then added some texture with a paper towel.

Little Beauties

2008-02-04T18:51:00.000-08:00

I am participating in a swap on CC Swaps that requires 10 little beauties. I chose the smallest size for mine - 1 1/2 by 2 1/2 inches for mine.

I absolutely loved doing these, I made myself a rule that every background had to be something from my scrap basket. Those who I have swapped with in the past may even recognize some of them. One of the things I like best is that since I'm not making multiples is that if I have 1 image, 1 embellishment, 1 tiny bit of scrap I can use it.

Pointy Party Hats

2008-02-04T18:47:00.000-08:00

I recently participated in a swap where the theme was pointy party hats. Knowing of course, that everyone looks better with a party hat, I chose an image from a Ten Two Studios CD. The word stamp is from Stamp Camp. I used one of the backgrounds that I had made for the Background Noise challenge for these. (Oops, those were really supposed to go in the journal, but I got carried away!)

Paris Tip-in

2008-01-20T18:26:00.000-08:00

Here is my tip-in page for the CCSwaps group -themed around Paris. For the front, I chose that Paris icon, the Eiffel tower. This one is from a digital collage sheet from etsy, and I printed in on transparency to give it a little bit of a different look. I added some bits and pieces from stickers and other ephemera collage sheets. I stamped some fleur-de-lis on the background, but they're pretty subtle. There's also a separate torn piece of paper on the left, but it almost blends in too well. For the back I chose an image of Audrey Hepburn. Even though she's not French, she always gives me that vibe. The background is a piece of Stampington paper.

Complementary Colors

2008-01-01T06:49:00.000-08:00

I'm heading out of town today for a business trip, so I needed to complete a swap before I left. This one was entitled complementary colors and required that we make something using just complementary colors (with just a touch of black and/or white if needed. I chose to use blue and orange as my combination. Also, one of my New Year's Art Resolutions was to use stamps that I haven't used before. I love these Impress Me images, but for some reason, they never make it into my art, but they did this time! These are stamped onto glossy paper that I first stained blue with Broken China distress ink. The orange paper has a bit of a metallic sheen, and the small embellishments are shrink plastic stamped with pieces of the same design.

Shining Stones

2008-01-01T06:43:00.000-08:00

Creative cards is running a swap for a technique called shining stones. I haven't signed up for the swap yet, but I did have a play with the technique which uses dye ink, brayered over glossy card stock, then spritzed with water, and brushed with a paste made from perfect pearls. At that point you spritz it again and then use a paper towel, with a twisting motion to pull off some of the water and create texture. Because I have a lot of it, I used Pearl-Ex and mixed it with a little gum arabic and some water so it would be sealed. For the blue/green card I used gold and duo blue/green Pearl-Ex, and for the rainbow card, I just used gold.

Crazy about buttons

2008-01-01T06:39:00.000-08:00

A group I belong to ATCards was running a swap that required the use of at least one real button. Armed with a whole tubful of buttons and a great Paperbag Studios stamp, here's what I came up with.

Paying it forward

2007-12-17T04:10:00.000-08:00

Pay it Forward
I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this Pay It Forward exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow, or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog. So basically, if you comment and you’re on, I’ll send you something crafty that I’ll make!Once you sign up, copy and paste the above paragraph on your blog, and three other lucky people will be recipients of your handmade work. I will check my blog daily to see who the first three sign ups are, and if they've joined this Pay It Forward exchange, they will be the recipients from me.Make sure to leave your blog address with your message, so I can check your blog. I will also need your email address so I can contact you for details of where to send them.

Women Tip-in Page

2007-12-16T16:04:00.000-08:00

A tip-in page is 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 inched - one half an 8 1/2 x 11 size page. In the CC Swaps group to which I belong, there is a themed swap for these pages. This month's theme was women. I chose a vintage poster image for the front from etsy, and the back contains images from the internet, bmuse, and another etsy image from a vendor who's store is called piddix. She's wonderful to deal with and the collage sheets are digital so you can dowload them and print as many times as you like. The quality of the images is superb. I've used some stamps from Paperbag Studios and Stampington for the background. The letters on both the front and the back were made with my Letratag and colored with alcohol ink. I've had the letratag for a while, but don't usually use it because I don't like the white tapes. I had the alcohol inks out today, so I thought I'd give them a shot and they were perfect.

Also, a bit of information about acquiring images from the internet. In this case I really wanted a Rosie the Riveter type figure. I searched in google for copyright free images, so that I could be sure the one I got was OK to use. In so doing, I came across a site on the wiki, explaining what's copyright free and providing bunches of links to images in the public domain. Here's the site...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Public_domain_image_resources

More Wintery Mini ATC's

2007-12-15T16:58:00.000-08:00

I made a set of these for a swap, but sadly they never made it to their destination. So, I made another set - this time with some wonderful images from Artchix studio front and center.

It's that time of year

2007-12-09T17:49:00.000-08:00

And here are some of the Christmas cards I've been working on. Some use tags from a collage sheet I downloaded from etsy, those are the same images I used for my winter mini atc's. One is a beeswax collage using a challenge image from a group I belong to, Next Generation Stampers, and the final one is a great tree stamp I picked up and embossed. That one is my main card this year, and there are 11 little jewels on each tree although they don't show up so well in the scan.

Winter Mini-ATC's

2007-11-28T17:03:00.000-08:00

I recently did a mini ATC swap with a theme of 'Winter'. Mini ATC's are sort of halfway between inchies and ATC's. I chose to use some fun wintry images on a snowflake background.

Stampers Anonymous ATC

2007-11-26T03:08:00.000-08:00

This piece was for a swap using a Stampers Anonymous stamp. With so many great images to choose from, it took me a while to settle on one, so I decided to use something that rarely gets out of the drawer. For the background on this one, I 'enameled' my ATC cardstock with several layers of embossing powder. I was having trouble getting a good clear image after having done that, so I ended up stamping the image on acetate and then running it through the Xyron. The bottom is embellished with watch parts.

Children Tipin Page

2007-10-29T18:34:00.000-07:00

This month's theme was children. I decided to go with some things I liked to do as a child, reading and playing games. I got great inspiration from the Tim Holtz background papers, found some wonderful images and took it from there.

Nature ATC's

2007-10-22T04:39:00.000-07:00

These are for a nature themed swap, and I also combined them somewhat inadvertently with another challenge to use leaves. The background for these is fabric, which is new for me, but it was fun to work with.

2007-10-07T12:48:00.000-07:00

With this page, I was able to combine two art challenges into one project. The first challenge was to pick a page at random from a dictionary and choose a word to be a subject for your page. I didn't have an old dictionary, but I did find this portion of a page (while rummaging around for something else of course). Some of the words were completely there (but I didn't fancy garbage or gasoline). Some of them were only partially there, but you could make them out. 'Galaxy' caught my eye. I started the page by making some watercolors from dye reinkers and painting the background. Then I sponged on some twinkling H2o's and used the sponge also for some versamark, which I sprinkled with embossing powder. With the vellum image (which unfortunately doesn't scan so well) and the collage images, I was almost done. That's when the serendipity happened and Trish posted the 'images of the month' for the Next Generation Stamping group. Voila, I had the two elements I needed. I sprayed the whole thing with some pearl-ex, but that's hard to see on the scan.

Circus Tip-in

2007-09-30T14:54:00.000-07:00

As it sometimes has the annoying habit of doing, my life got in the way of my art recently. I'm just now getting around to posting the Circus tip-in page that I finished for a swap. I chose to use Pierrot on the front of my page. The image is from Paper-Artsy. The back contains images from some Alpha Stamps collage sheets, some tickets I bought for a 50/50 raffle at my daughter's band competition (I didn't win the raffle, but I did get something great for a page), and the Circus magazine ad was in an art magazine my daughter brought home for me to peruse just at the right time!

Mini ATC's in Fall Colors

2007-09-09T11:09:00.000-07:00

Here are some mini ATC's I just finished for a swap. They are 1 1/2" x 2 1/2' rather than the usual 2 1/2" x 3 1/2". These were to be in fall colors. For the background, I stained vellum with red, gold, and copper metallic brush pens and water. The two on the end are portions of Just for Fun stamps, and the one in the middle is from Stampendous. It doesn't show too well in the scan, but I overstamped the whole thing with a crackle design in gold.

Stampington ATC

2007-09-03T09:46:00.000-07:00

The CC Swaps group recently had a swap for ATC's using a Stampington and Company stamp. I chose to use this Venetian background after coloring the background DTP with distress inks. The lattice is a diecut that I've had around for a while from Griff's. After reading Trish's article on the dreaded Look at It Disease found here: http://trishbee.co.uk/techniqueszone/lookatitdisorder.html
I decided I better get using some of those things.

Susie

When I grow up

2007-08-26T15:20:00.000-07:00

This is the third sketchbook prompt I've worked on. The theme for this one was 'When I Grow Up' I let my daughter help me with the background on this one so it would be more playful.

DaVinci Tip-in Back

2007-08-19T20:27:00.000-07:00

For the back of my page, I decided to go a little more light hearted. The central Mona is a Lost Coast image, and the rest are things I found on the internet.

DaVinci Tip-in page

2007-08-19T20:21:00.000-07:00

This is my first attempt at these. The page was to be 51/2 x 8 1/2 inches and had a theme of Leonardo Davinci. The page must be decorated front and back. I took a more serious approach for the front (The quote reads, When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.) The embellishment below the image is a piece of air dry clay that I stamped into and painted. It's the first time I've worked with it, and it's really easy and forgiving, plus no baking. I have a feeling it's going to become a staple, especially for things that need to be mailed.

Here's the front..

2007-08-16T13:31:00.000-07:00

One of the challenges for a group I'm in is to create a sketchbook about ourselves. This page is my creation about 8 things I love. I painted the page with acrylic paints first and then stamped, wrote and collaged on top of that. This was my first time ever playing with acrylics and it took a little while to figure out what to use for writing on it. The best things seem to be micron pens and sharpies.

2007-08-12T16:32:00.000-07:00

The other group I'm in, CC Swaps is currently running a swap for black and white ATC's so here's one that I came up with. I figure you can never go wrong with a crown.

Finished name page

2007-08-05T18:33:00.000-07:00

How exciting it is to be nudged into new areas. This has been a real learning and growing experience for me, and I've loved every second of it. The best part was that once I got going, it was so much easier than I anticipated, and loads more fun. No stress when it's just for you (and anyone who happens upon your blog. I ended up making this page about some of the things that inspire me, and as it turns out, that's artwise and lifewise. I'll be traveling tomorrow, but I'm sure the ideas for '10 things I love' will be flying though my head as I do.

A start on my sketchbook

2007-08-05T16:09:00.000-07:00

As part of the Art Venture Group, we're doing sketchbooks about ourselves having been given wonderful prompts to start with. The first page I'm working on is using the letters of our name. I decided to go a little different direction and make a sentence with mine. Here's the start of my page. I made the background scribbling with some watercolor pencils (can you tell what my favorite colors are?). I've never used watercolor paper before - I only used the pencils to color with. I colored my sentence with chalks. Now on to the rest of the fun stuff.

Finished Background

2007-08-05T16:06:00.000-07:00

After cutting the sheets down to size, I decided to make a border with my new stamps. I used two of the smaller square patterns for this one. If you're interested in seeing more of the stamps and some stunning examples, check out www.impressmenow.com.

Here's one of the finished backgrounds.

Making Backgrounds

2007-08-05T13:14:00.000-07:00

Before I can get my sketchbook going I wanted to finish some commitments I had for my other group, although my fingers are itching to go. Currently I'm working on a background papers. The heat is scorching here, so I knew I wanted to use some bright summer colors and some of my new Impress-Me stamps. These are great for textures and designs.

Here are some of my first attempts, using DTP on glossy with a resist, and then DTP with some stripes and designs. I kind of liked the glossy, which have rollagraph images in resist, but I was having a devil of a time keeping them fingerprint-free. The one in the top right corner is also DTP but on smooth white cardstock. It was ok, but the designs made it too busy. I'll probably save these and use them for something else (as we all know stampers never throw anything away, so I decided to go another route.

This time, I've still used DTP, with Adirondack and Distress inks, but just applied them randomly. Here's what they look like so far.