It's all in the Cards - Week 2 of Anything But a Card Challenges - Challenge 13 is "Number 13"

Good Sunday Morning!!! Welcome to week two of the current Anything But a Card Challenge... Challenge number 13 - "The Number 13". Are you ready to CREATE and play along! The other day I needed a note pad and I couldn't find one for the life of me... so I MADE ONE - and plan to make more of these since it was so much fun. This is a matchbook style notepad with about 20 sheets of paper stapled within a wraparound cover. I tied off the base with twine to conceal the staples. Beautiful and easy-peasy.

There's two weeks to play along and link up via inlinkz froggy. Anything But a Card Challenges is a bi-weekly challenge and today, the Design Team showcases NEW projects using a brand-new challenge #13 of "The Number 13". Please click here to head on over to ABAC and see all the fantastic projects shared by the fantastic design team AND submissions by all of you. 

REMEMBER this challenge blog is ANYTHING and EVERYTHING... except for Cards. ATC's aren't greeting cards...so please link up your ATC's!!!

Anything But a Card Challenge 13 {wow 13 challenges so far} - since it's the 13th Challenge we want you to think about superstitions, the number 13, magic, luck, bad luck, good luck etc. That's a broad theme, and just make sure to explain in your post what it is if it's not obvious. You could use black cats, ladders, thirteen of something, 13 in the title of a scrapbook page, etc.

This theme has sent me off on a creating tangent, especially with St. Patrick's Day fast approaching. My project I'm sharing today is a mini matchbook style notepad - the cover a completely inked and stamped collage. I love getting all the toys out and just creating at will. The background is stamped using a large harlequin pattern stamp inked with a Ranger Big and Juicy Rainbow ink pad and misted with water. I created several painted paper backgrounds in a about a 1/2 an hour using this technique {some I varied by misting paper and directly pressing ink pad to wet paper - see another example HERE}.

With this broad theme I was thinking about luck which led to gambling and about the randomness of things "being all in the cards", so to speak. And the girl on the tightrope, she's so risky. The images {about 10 stamps total} all melt together in this wonderful collage of color. I hope you like it and find this inspiring. If you would like to know what stamps any of these are, please leave a comment.

Have Fun and Happy Creating!!!

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Thanks for stopping by!!! I hope you have a wonderful weekend and have some time to create. A reminder... next weekend debuts a new ABAC Challenge. I'm so lucky that I can share my creations with you here. Are you looking for creative playtime and inspiration on Saturdays? Please join me live at 4:00pm EST {1pm PST} in the Daylight Musings room at the Saturday Crafts Fair on Linqto! Join me every Saturday where I share my projects, how-to's, tips, and more. The weekly event starts at 2pm EST with three hours of fun - I hope to see your there.  : ) Sb

Piecing together a Thank-You with Unscripted Sketches #199

Happy Saturday! I'm bringing you today's Sketch-It Saturday with Unscripted Sketches project using this week's sketch #199. This is a quick and easy card that I made using paper scraps and leftovers from a previous card created using Viva Las VegaStamps! and two of my favorite stamps "sunflowers #9918" and "thanks a lot #587".

When stamping and trying out techniques I often have two or more try-out's that are left over...what to do with these??? Make other cards or integrate them into other altered projects. These leftovers go into a box with stuff for collaging. I was rummaging through my magical bin for things to use in another project and my "ONE-TOUCH" rule kicked in when I flipped to these color-coordinated pieces. To see the previous card made using these elements, please click here. All I had to do was trim and tear elements to size, add a little color using my Ranger Distress Markers, tack everything down with Miracle Tape and add some twine and 3D pop dots. I love the combination of the kraft card base with the burnt orange and yellows.

What is Sketch it Saturdays at Unscripted Sketches? Every Saturday morning a new sketch is posted for the week. Flip the sketch, rotate it… create a card, a scrapbook page, a wall hanging, digital, paper, fabric, paint, anything your imagination comes up with! There is no right or wrong way, as long as you are using the Unscripted sketch as the inspiration for your creation! And everyone is invited to join in the fun... and post your creation on their page via inlinkz for all the world to see!

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Thanks for stopping by!!! I hope you have wonderful weekend. Are you looking for creative playtime and inspiration? TODAY I'll be participating in the annual Lake Worth Street Painting Festival but the show still goes on. There are three great hours planned today at the Saturday Crafts Fair on Linqto, including two {2} brand new hostesses! The event starts TODAY at 2pm EST bringing you three hours of fun. 

: ) Sb

My Favorite Stamp this Week...a Snoozin' Flamingo

Happy Tuesday - but today certainly feels like a Monday redux. I worked yesterday and today feels like Monday again and I am so ready for a nap.

I don't know if this just happens to me, or it's for all creative types... some days I just can't decide what I want to make. So I break out all of my Ranger Inks, and get out some blank paper and bring out the piles o' rubber. I admittedly am a rubber hoarder... especially of the VLVS! variety. So last night, I started rifling through all my new stamps from Viva Las VegaStamps! and I want to use them all, and I just can't decide. Then this snoozing flamingo jumped out at me. I got this because my nickname is snoozin' {really - I even have it engraved on my bowling ball}. I can sleep anytime, anywhere in a matter of minutes. After flipping through a few more stamps I arrived at a funny quote to go with my feathered friend.

This project is featured over at the Viva Las Vegastamps! blog today. Please CLICK HERE to see the how-to. Hope you have a creative day! Sb

I Mustache... Have you seen today's Sketch-It Saturday with Unscripted Sketches #198... and a bonus Sketch #197, too!

Happy Saturday! I would like to share my Sketch-It Saturday with Unscripted Sketches project using this week's sketch #198. This is a quick and easy card that I made using some simple color blocked cardstock in a trendy yellow and grey combination embossed with Anna Griffin Cuttlebug embossing folders. I received a new stamp in a delinquent die grab bag from Viva Las VegaStamps! last week - this fun mustache. It's supposed to be completely solid, but I love the defect in the rubber that gives it a faux reflection. I finished off my sentiment with some die cut letters. I cut out the phrase into two flag banners. A fun, trendy and simply stated card - woo-hoo!

What is Sketch it Saturdays at Unscripted Sketches? Every Saturday morning a new sketch is posted for the week. Flip the sketch, rotate it… create a card, a scrapbook page, a wall hanging, digital, paper, fabric, paint, anything your imagination comes up with! There is no right or wrong way, as long as you are using the Unscripted sketch as the inspiration for your creation! And everyone is invited to join in the fun... and post your creation on their page via inlinkz for all the world to see!

Today I'm sharing last week's Unscripted Sketches #197 also!

This week was so crazy busy and I totally forgot to post this - so you get two ways to play today. Using sketch #197, I created this gorgeous Valentine's Day card.

It looks like I spent hours painting this background... right? It took me less than 15 minutes to paint my faux watercolor hearts. REALLY!

For this card I was playing with my new Anna Griffin Cuttlebug embossing folder with coordinating border. I sprayed pink and red mists directly onto embossing folder, inserted a textured creme cardstock and embossed. AMAZING - instant watercolored collaged paper. Then I rubbed embossed areas with a few colors of ColorBox cat's eye pigment ink, added clear embossing powder and heat set. This made the hearts really pop and gave them a nice shimmer glazed look. I repeated with the coordinating border and finished off Sketch #197 with an ornate heart that I cast in Amazing Mold Putty and green colored Sakura Crystal Lacquer. Who wouldn't love this beauty?

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Thanks for stopping by!!! I hope you have fantastic day with your loved ones. Are you looking for creative playtime and inspiration? TODAY I'm sharing my love for AMAZING MOLD PUTTY and AMAZING CASTING RESIN. Please join me live at 4:00pm EST {1pm PST} in the Daylight Musings room at the Saturday Crafts Fair on Linqto! All are invited to join me every Saturday where I share my projects, how-to's, tips, and more. The event starts TODAY at 3pm EST bringing you three hours of fun - I hope to see you there. 

: ) Sb

What to do when You Get Valentine's Candy... Make Fun Jewelry!!!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone. Today I have a special project to share with you: a brand new "original sbartist creation" using Amazing Crafting Products by Alumilite Corp.  

When I get some creative inspiration - I run with it - and today was no exception. This morning I received some cards and a box of fun valentine candies from my sweetie. Holy cow!!! I couldn't wait to break the conversation hearts out of the box and turn them into a new piece of festive jewelry.

Because to be perfectly honest - a real candy necklace on me would last about... ummmm ... 37 seconds! So problem solved... with my Amazing Mold Putty!!! I arranged the hearts in a circle and I mixed up some Amazing Mold Putty into a ball and pressed it around form a mold around it. Then I painted a few colors of Ranger alcohol inks in each of the hearts and poured in some Ranger UTEE {ultra thick embossing enamel}. And viola - in a little over an hour, I have a brand new necklace to wear for this special day. You just gotta love this stuff!! 

My husband is going to be so puzzled and surprised at the new jewelry he gave me for Valentine's Day. Want to see how I made this, step-by-step??? CLICK HERE to see my demo at the Saturday Crafts Fair on Linqto. To learn more about the Saturday Crafts Fair, please see the details below.

Presenting my new

"Gumdrops of Love" Pendant

Wishing you a Happy Valentine's Day!!!

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Thanks for stopping by!!! I hope you have fantastic day with your loved ones. I'm so blessed that I can share my creations with you here. Are you looking for creative playtime and inspiration on Saturdays? Please join me live at 4:00pm EST {1pm PST} in the Daylight Musings room at the Saturday Crafts Fair on Linqto! Join me every Saturday where I share my projects, how-to's, tips, and more. The weekly event starts at 2pm EST with three hours of creativity and fun - I hope to see your there.

: ) Sb

Sharing the LOVE of Amazing Crafting Products!!! It's week 2 of Anything But A Card Challenge 12

To view the Very Valentine Steampunk Bloghop
please click here!

Good Sunday Morning!!! Welcome to week two of the current Anything But a Card Challenge... Challenge Number 12 - "SHARE the LOVE". Are you ready to CREATE and play along? I'm here to share a LOVELY project... that's sure to start a creative spark!

There's two weeks to play along and link up via inlinkz froggy. Anything But a Card Challenges is a bi-weekly challenge and today, the Design Team showcases NEW projects using Challenge number 12 - "SHARE the LOVE". Please click here to head on over to ABAC and see all the fantastic projects shared by the fantastic design team AND submissions by all of you. 

REMEMBER this challenge blog is ANYTHING and EVERYTHING... except for Cards. ATC's aren't greeting cards...so please link up your ATC's, too!!!

Anything But a Card Challenge number 12 - "SHARE the LOVE". You Can Make Anything Your "HEART" Desires with Amazing Mold Putty!!! Today I am sharing my love for these AMAZING products and an original sbartist creation using Amazing Crafting Products by Alumilite Corp.

I have always enjoyed creating my own original artwork. And recently, I have been working on making my own pieces for use in altered art and jewelry. Today's project I'm sharing is one of these. I have to tell you these two products are truly "AMAZING" for molding and casting anything from household items, to vintage jewelry to your own original artwork. Anything your "HEART DESIRES!" The possibilities are endless.

This "DEVILISH" Heart is an original piece of art that I created from a sketch, and brought to life with polymer clay. For several altered arts projects I currently have in the works of a similar theme, I made a mold of my original in Amazing Mold Putty and then cast it in a colored mixture of Amazing Casting Resin accented with an alcohol ink patina. 

I'm participating in an altered book round robin project that is "Fairie" themed. This piece I'm creating is just part of the whole devilish fairy I have dreamt up. It all began with a sketch...

To create this piece I made a polymer clay original. As I was kneading the polymer clay to soften and condition it, I decided to think about future use of this heart. I decided I wanted it with and without the devilish horns. So I actually created two mold putty castings of this heart art. One with just heart as it is pictured below. I cast the plain heart and when mold curing was completed, I went back to the original piece and added more polymer clay for the devilish horns. I baked again to harden/cure polymer. Then I mixed up a second batch of Amazing Mold Putty to make a second mold putty casting of one a heart with the devilish horns. So now I have two sets of molds of my original work to use for my every creative desire. I have only photographed one set for the how-to below.

Please see accompanying image number
to go along with written instruction/description.

Photo #1: I began with a conditioned ball of polymer clay. Photo #2: I flattened out and shaped the polymer clay right on top of my sketch so that I can match it up to the shape. Photo #3: Completed sculpture after much adjusting and sculpting to get my heart just right. Photo #4: Before heating to cure polymer in my toaster oven, I added some texture detailing. I made a hammered metal texture with a series of little dents made with the back end of a plastic knife. This worked wonders on masking all of my finger prints and fingernail nicks. Photo #5: Completed cured hearts - large and small ready for casting molds using Amazing Mold Putty.

Now for the FUN to BEGIN! I got out my Amazing Mold Putty!

This next series of images are describing preparation of Amazing Mold Putty, Amazing Casting Resin, mixing of each and curing.

Photo #6: Begin by taking equal parts of Amazing Mold Putty parts "A" and "B". Photo #7: Gently mix together both parts, working quickly so that the colors are evenly mixed together with no striping. Photo #8: Place the mixed Amazing Mold Putty around the item starting gently pressing it around the item and around the sides. You have about a 5 minute open time to work with shaping before it begins to cure/harden. For larger pieces, you can build up the mold casting by working in sections. If you would like to see a more in depth how-to of mixing Amazing Mold Putty please click here. Photo #9: Before mixing up Amazing Casting Resin, I painted the inside of each mold with a mixture of Wild Plum and Silver Mixative Alcohol Inks. Photo #10: Following directions on packaging, I mixed equal parts of "A" and "B" of Amazing Casting Resin and also added some Purple Shimmer Mixers pigment to add coloring. The resin is clear at first and when cured is completely opaque. This Amazing Casting Resing cures in about 10 minutes so you have to mix it up and pour it quickly. Photo #11: These are my molds with the poured resin as the curing process reaches the flash point where it changes from clear to an opaque hardened plastic.

After about 10 minutes I removed my heart pieces from the molds. They had a beautiful sparkly purple color and patina from the alcohol ink I applied to the mold. I touched up the alcohol ink colored patina and rubbed on, then immediately buffed off some black ink to bring out some of the details. Then I hammered the word "DEVILISH" into the casted resin piece with metal stamp letters. To bring out the detail, I rubbed some black ink over, then rubbed away the excess. WOW - this is turning out so much better than I expected!!!

To finish off I drilled a small hole with my dremel-like rotary tool in the bottom of the large and in the top of the small heart piece to accept and dangle a beaded wire tail.

Perfectly purple "Devilish Heart".

I'm loving this piece so much...I think I'm going to mount it to a necklace or a pinback. For my altered book project - I almost completely forgot! I guess I will be needing another one. Guess what??? I can make another one real quick and easy...because I have a mold of it! You just gotta love this stuff!!

Happy Creating!!!

https://apps.facebook.com/mylinqto/saturdaycraftsfair

Thanks for stopping by!!! I hope you have a wonderful weekend and have some time to create. A reminder... next weekend debuts a new ABAC Challenge - I'm on a creative "ROLL" and I'm feeling pretty lucky about being able to share my creations with all of you. 

Are you looking for creative playtime and inspiration on Saturdays? NEXT Saturday I will be playing with AMAZING MOLD PUTTY and AMAZING CASTING RESIN. Please join me live at 4:00pm EST {1pm PST} in the Daylight Musings room at the Saturday Crafts Fair on Linqto! I am demonstrating there every Saturday where I share my projects, how-to's, tips, and more. The weekly event starts at 2pm EST with three hours of fun - I hope to see your there.  : ) Sb

Flying in some STEAMPUNK LOVE for Leslie Rahye's Very Steampunk Valentine Bloghop

To view last month's National Hobby Month Bloghop
please click here!

WELCOME to LeslieRahye's Very Steampunk Valentine Bloghop. Thanks to our fabulous hostess for giving us our fill of "STEAMPUNK" - which we all LOVE!! I am an addict and steampunk junkie now and I'm sharing a special stamped valentine using all stamps from Viva Las VegaStamps!

I have so many Steampunk projects in progress and they are a labour of love. I'm always scribbling down another idea...one project spawns another and I LOVE IT!!!

On a neutral patterned paper with clocks, I stamped the Pig Store #3164 stamp, several stamps from Plate #1273 full of mostly Steampunk images...and a couple other Steampunk images from VLVS! - over 15 stamped images to complete this, not counting the multiple stamped wings to propel my "Steampunk Pig".

Thanks so much for dropping by. Please click the blocks below to visit the other fabulous stops on this celebration of hobbies bloghop. I hope you have a wonderful weekend doing what you love. Sb

"CELEBRATE" Birthday Card using Unscripted Sketches #196

Sorry this is a few days late. I would like to share my Sketch-It Saturday with Unscripted Sketches project using this week's sketch #196. I started out challenging myself to a quick and easy 15 minute card... easy-peasy - right? WRONG!

My intentions were great and right on schedule until I decided I wanted to make my stamped "CELEBRATE" banner wavy and dimensional. Messing about with this sent me on a tangent of "utter perfection" making each wave just right with 3-D dots. This just cracked me up! 

**A TIP** rub ink directly onto embossing folder for subtle color variation. I rubbed a light aqua blue dye ink onto my embossing folder before running my light blue paper through my Cuttlebug. Instant patterned paper!!! 

I hand-colored just the letters on my "Celebrate #12390" stamp from Viva Las VegaStamps! with a Blue Marvy Brush Marker, then stamped onto a darker blue cardstock, trimmed to a banner shape. Then the fussing began to make my banner dimensional and "just right". I finished off the sketch with three sprial wire-beaded stickers by EK Success {from my sticker stash}.

Another fun birthday card is ready to send!

What is Sketch it Saturdays at Unscripted Sketches? Every Saturday morning a new sketch is posted for the week. Flip the sketch, rotate it… create a card, a scrapbook page, a wall hanging, digital, paper, fabric, paint, anything your imagination comes up with! There is no right or wrong way, as long as you are using the Unscripted sketch as the inspiration for your creation! And everyone is invited to join in the fun... and post your creation on their page via inlinkz for all the world to see!

PLAYING A LITTLE CATCHUP... What about Unscripted Sketches #195???

This was featured last week for the Viva Las VegaStamps! Design Team's "BLAST from the PAST" challenge bloghop. Using sketch #195, I created this fun art journal page.

  

For this challenge I received the ShowGirl High Hat #4341 from Viva Las VegaStamps!. What a beautiful image with such possibilities and the composition was perfect for last week's sketch. Please CLICK HERE to see how-to for my art journal page.

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https://apps.facebook.com/mylinqto/saturdaycraftsfair

Thanks for stopping by!!! I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Do you have some free play time this weekend? Please join me live at 4:00pm EST {1pm PST} in the Daylight Musings room at the Saturday Crafts Fair on Linqto! I am demonstrating there every Saturday and sharing my projects, showing how-to's, tips and tricks, and there's prizes, too. This Saturday I am sharing a STEAMPUNK LOVE project. Hope to see you there!  : ) Sb

Sharing the Love with a New Challenge at Anything But a Card Challenges

Hello! Hope you are having a wonderful weekend. Today debuts a brand new Anything But a Card Challenge... Challenge number 12 - "SHARE the LOVE". Are you ready to CREATE and play along!

There's two weeks to play along and link up via inlinkz froggy. Anything But a Card Challenges is a bi-weekly challenge and today, the Design Team showcases NEW projects using a brand-new challenge #12 of "SHARE the LOVE." Please click here to head on over to ABAC and see all the fantastic projects shared by the fantastic design team AND submissions by all of you. I will have a project featured next Sunday for week two of the challenge...I have a whole pile of heart and love inspired goodies ready for altering.

REMEMBER this challenge blog is ANYTHING and EVERYTHING... except for Cards. ATC's aren't greeting cards...so please link up your ATC's!!!

Anything But a Card Challenge 12 is "SHARE the LOVE". This is the season of LOVE and is sure to inspire! USE anything related to love - hearts, Valentine's Day, Anniversary, Wedding, honeymoon, cupid, love poems, love songs, are you lovesick? The color red or even dark valentines, too. I hope you are inspired to play along and I can't wait to see what you create! 

This started out as a recycled paper heart chocolate box...you know the kind with Russell Stover chocolates. I saved this heart shaped box for a creative redux. I did a some altering and built up a layer of the Creative Paperclay® around the outer edge of the box to beef it up some - like a ceramic box would be. Then with Amazing Mold Putty, I cast a scrollwork heart frame ornament and also a scrollwork heart pendant. Using the molds I created, I cast both of these in Creative Paperclay®. I painted over the Looney Toon's characters adorning the box and the edging of paperclay with red acrylic paint base layer. Over that, I decopauged a red heart doily using 3-D Crystal Lacquer. I painted the hearts and finished off with twisty tri-colored wire cording and a mint green bow. This box is full of love and ready to hold a special gift.

Happy Creating with LOVE!!!

https://apps.facebook.com/mylinqto/saturdaycraftsfair

Thanks for stopping by!!! I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Looking for some creative playtime on Saturdays? Please join me live at 4:00pm EST {1pm PST} in the Daylight Musings room at the Saturday Crafts Fair on Linqto! I am demonstrating there every Saturday and I share my projects, how-to's, tips, and more. The Saturday Crafts Fair is three hours of creative inspirtation beginning at 2pm EST / 11am PST. Hope to see you there!  : ) Sb