The Golden Age of Travel

Hi Everyone,

I have a really cool Blank Page Muse project for you today. 

Remember when people used to get dressed up to go on vacation? You never used to see people on airplanes in pajamas and yoga pants.  I can't imagine these ladies not looking put together.  I pictured them shopping in Paris and sending a postcard to a friend back home.  

Here are the supplies you need to gather to create your own postcard.

Stamps used:

Dress Form Stamps

Pen Nibs

Postmarks

Script

Typewriter Keyboard

Travel Stamp

Adventure Stamp

Butterfly

Other Supplies:

Jet Black Archival Ink

Archival Ink in Coffee and Hydrangea

Distress Collage Medium

Distress Markers

Distress Collage Paper

Distress Ink

Cardstock

Stabilo Pencil

Clear Gesso

Let's get started!

Stamp out your main images across the postcard using Jet Black Archival ink.

Create masks, using post it notes, and stamp all over to fill in white space. 

Once you have finished stamping your background use Distress Collage Medium to apply Distress Collage Paper to various areas of the postcard. 

Add your paperdoll and color in the dresses using Distress Markers(to make sure the ink stays on the image coat your paper doll in clear gesso).   Add Distress Ink to the edges to make the postcard appear to be vintage.  Use your Stabilo pencil to add shadows around the paper doll and around the edges of the collage paper.  

Turn your postcard over and add the Script and postmark stamp to the back.  Use Distress Ink to age the paper.  Color in the postmark using Distress Ink. 

Just like that your card is complete.  

Here are a few more glamour shots.

It was really fun to see how many stamps I could add to the collage feel of the card.  I haven't done a masking technique in a long time and it was fun to play around with it again.  

I hope you feel inspired to play with your stamps too.

If you're looking for more inspiration stop by these great places:
The Blank Page Muse Shop https://blankpagemuse.com/ FB Fan Page https://www.facebook.com/groups/bla... Instagram - Shop https://www.instagram.com/blankpage... Instagram - Blog https://www.instagram.com/blankpage... Twitter https://twitter.com/BlankPageMuse Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/blankpage...


Happy Stamping,
Jess

Swim Away with Me

I am a sucker for mermaids and I make them every chance I get.  When I found out this month's challenge over at Blank Page Muse was "Let's Go to the Beach," I knew I was making a mermaid.  

To start I used my mermaid template. 

Copied it onto blank white cardstock so I could stamp out the details.  

I used the fronds from the Tropical Dreams set to stamp the tail.  I inked it using various shades of Green Distress Ink and over stamped so I wouldn't have too many edges.   

Then using the Sequin Waste stamp I embossed the tail using a shimmery gold to look like scales. 

Her tail needed a bit more dimension so I used shades of blue and purple distress just to add hints of color in her tail.  

For the body I used the script stamp from the Correspondence set. I colored her body using Old Paper DIstress Ink.  It has a slight greenish hue that I thought was good for a mermaid body.  

To make the belt and her bra I used the flowers from the Flamingo Row Set.  I stamped them and then fussy cut them.  They are doubled up to add depth. 

I added stickles and some jewels colored with alcohol ink to the centers.  

The final touch is her pineapple hat.  This was embossed with the same gold I used on her tail.  

I hope I've inspired you to swim over to the blog and enter the challenge yourself!

Don't forget you can join by adding your project to the Facebook Fan Group and by tagging us in your Instagram posts too!

Jess

'Til death do us part

Hi Everyone,
I am so excited to be posting my first project as an Emerald Creek Design team member!

It's that time of year when the ghosts and goblins start to take over.  I love creating creepy things for Halloween.  Here is one of the first(of I am sure what will be many) spooky projects for the season.
I didn't do a step by step for this one, just because it is fairly easy for you to replicate.

 These skull charms are killer. For this project I used my wire cutters to snip off the bale.

He still looks pretty happy to be married to the corpse bride.  

Pop over during the month to see what other ghouls and spirits come my way!

Jess

I'm entering this into:

A Vintage Journey CreateWithin A frame

Simon Says Stamp Powder Power

Creepy goods from Emerald Creek:

skull charm
fallen blossom stamps
burnt copper leaves embossing powder
mercury rising embossing powder
embossing ink

Other spooky products:
black gesso
mini cabinet card
found relative card
black flowers
heat tool
small talk

Halloween Cat Throwback

Hi Everyone, I created this card last year for Unruly Paperarts when I was on the design team before they ceased to exist.  You can still find a pretty active Unruly Community on Facebook.  This was one of my favorite projects I created for them!

I started by painting my cabinet card.  

I used distress paint and just painted it on randomly.  

Once it was dry I gave it a coat of black paint and sanded it to expose the color underneath.  On the edges I used some distress ink to give it the color you see in the finished project. 

I added in my background papers.  Now to move onto my focal point. 

This serious dude was fussy cut and then given a slight makeover. 

Now he looks just awesome.  When I stuck this head on here I just cracked up laughing. 

I added him to the cabinet card using foam tape.  The monocle and boutonniere give him that little extra something.  

I finished the card out by randomly adding rub ons.  I like when the rub ons are fragmented.  It adds to the Halloween vibe.  There's more Halloween paper ephemera, an old wooden bingo marker, and some metal bits to finish it out.  

I hope this kitty made you laugh as hard as I did when I finished him!

Thanks for stopping by today,

Jess

Faux German scrap technique

Hey Everyone,
Sorry for being such a terrible blogger.  I have been crafting.  I promise.  I post on Instagram all the time, I just don't make it on here as often as I should!

A few months ago my Mum and I went to an estate sale and scored the mother lode of German Scrap paper. This is just a snippet of the loot.

I have been using it on some of my recent projects, but I wanted to come up with a technique to make my own so I don't use it too quickly. German scrap is expensive and I wanted something that wouldn't break the bank.  Ideas started to swirl and here is what I came up with.

I started by using a Martha Stewart edge punch on a Manila folder.

 I left about a half an inch border one the side to use my embossing folder.  I found these skinny embossing folders at the thrift store and they are perfect for this technique. I cut the folder in half so I can run it all along the edge of the paper.  

Once I punched and embossed the manila it was time to heat emboss.  I used an ink blending tool to get my embossing powder in all the nooks and crannies. It's best to do this in small sections at a time. This way your embossing ink doesn't dry out when you're making your way down the strip and you don't have to use a trough of embossing powder. I used Emerald Creeks Charred Gold and Hammered Metal. These mixes have multiples colors and give the look that the paper is aged. 

I can't wait to use it on a project!

Jess

Fabric Elements Art Banner

I know I promised weeks ago to post this banner, but I got so excited about Creative Chemistry class that I forgot!  This is a smaller canvas piece than the last one I made.  This is about 7 inches long and the other panel was 12.  I really enjoyed working on the smaller size.  

I used some vintage German Scrap on the top.  It's such a wonderful heavy paper and there are a million shades of gold in there.  

The background is Tim Holtz tissue wrap ironed on to the canvas.  I colored the tissue using distress stains and inks.  I flicked black and white acrylic paint all over it.  Isn't this girl just lovely? I printed her on cardstock and fussy cut her out.  The butterfly wing is from a Dover clip art book.  Mirrored stars are colored with Mushroom alcohol ink for a vintage feel.  

Once all my pieces were glued down I went in with my fude ball pen and added some scribbles.  

Here is the completed banner one more time.  

What have you been crafting?

Jess

Anything but Cute-the birds and the bees challenge

Our Creative Corner- A beautiful mess

 Mixed Media Monthly 2nd anniversary challenge

Creative Carte Blanche- winged Things

Distress Crayon Collage Tutorial

I've been having a lot of fun using paper napkins.  I have never used them for crafting, but a group I trade with opened my eyes to this awesome medium.  I have been asked to put together a tutorial, so here it goes. I am making bookmarks here, so they will look smaller than the image above, but I did everything exactly the same.

For the first layer you will need your Distress Collage Medium, one of the underlayers of the printed napkins, and cardstock(I am just using the cheap stuff from the craft store).  Spread a thin layer of the Collage Medium all over your paper and cover it with the napkin.  I squish it on there so I get wrinkles and bumps.  Add a second layer of Collage Medium on top of the napkin.  You can let it air dry or use your heat tool to dry it.  

Scribble on several colors of Distress Crayon and blend with your fingers.  The crayon moves so smoothly over the collage medium. 

You can see I didn't worry about getting it all the way to the edges.  I am going to keep layering, so I am not worried about patches of blank space. 

Use a stencil to add on texture paste.  You can let it air dry or dry it with your heat tool.  Don't forget to clean your stencil right away.  

The texture paste on the left has been scribble on with Distress Crayons.  The image on the right has a paper napkin burnished onto the texture paste using my finger ans a bit of collage medium.  So there are two ways you can do this step.

I added my image and then stamped around it using Jet Black Archival and Hydrangea.  

I added a Small Talk sentiment and used the Black Soot Crayon around the edges. 

To complete the bookmark I used a black and white pen in a random fashion all over the piece.

Here's the one with the napkin.  Same techniques, but it has a totally different esthetic.

Here are some of the others pieces I have made using this technique.

I am entering these into a few challenges:

Try it On Tuesdays- Vintage Photo

Frilly and Funkie- It isn't Easy Being Green(paper napkin layers)

A Vintage Journey- Spring is in the Air

Anything But Cute-Earth Day(recycled napkins and used earthy tones)

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Anything Goes Challenge

I hope you enjoyed the tutorial and try it for yourself!

Jess