Another Option

One more great option using the grid stamp and template I've shown below is to first stamp your grid onto a piece of white paper. Then carefully place the template over the grid so all nine squares fit evenly inside the dotted lines. Secure at the top with a piece of tape.

For this card I used a stipple brush to add some background colors before stamping my flowers over the template

When you are done, remove the template and you once again have that great postage look.

I added a sentiment with rub-ons after removing the template.

Thrift Shop Finds

I found this stamp (I scanned an image of it as my camera is not working right now) at a thrift shop for fifty cents. It's made by Just for Fun. It's a large wood mounted stamp, so for that price I grabbed it. I had no idea what I would use it for.

Then I found a book of flowers at the used book store. As you can see the images are stunning. Each square is approximately 3x3. For about 300 images I think I paid one dollar. But how to use these other than just cutting them out and sticking them on a card?

A few weekends ago I attended a stamp show at which Just For Fun was a vendor. They sell these templates that go along with the grid stamp I showed above. I found the perfect solution for my flower images. This template allows you to cut squares out of your image and then place them in the grid stamp for which they are perfectly sized. If you cut out the images with a postage stamp shape, you can easily make faux postage.

This is the Easter card I made using part of the template (four squares) and then cut them out with my postage stamp scissors.

Another great use for this template which they showed quite a bit of at the stamp show was to repurpose old cards. I was amazed at how old cards can be given a completely new look just by tracing the template squares onto your card and then cutting them out.

They are then reassembled onto separate paper on which you've stamped your grid!

This just excited me so much! I just love the way it looks. You can see the result below.

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I found another use for the grid stamp as well. I'm not that good as some of my friends at creating grid cards. But I found that this gives me a great area to work with.




These inchie stamps from Inkadinkado are the perfect size to fit inside the grid.
So many possibilities now!

The Last Swap

I have participated in a year-long swap hosted by Kris through StampinD'Amour. Each month I've received fabulous ATC's from these ladies -- and March is our last month. What a great swap it was!

The artists here are: Kris, Pam, Linda

Julia, Lyneen, Me

Kathleen, Alice Sarah

(If you check out Sarah's creative ATC in the bottom corner, that's pretty much how I feel as well that our swap is over).

It's Monday......

.....so think ATC!

I should start by saying that I had a great weekend scrapbooking with my sister. I made three 8x8 Christmas albums. I was glad to get so much accomplished, but by yesterday afternoon I was really sick of looking at Christmas paper.
So you know when I saw the challenge for TMTA was "beards" my first thought was Santa Claus!
It appears this challenge extends to mustaches as well, so I've used this image from Oxford Impressions for my ATC.

Background stamp is by Tim Holtz; camera is by Art Impressions.

Celebration Dog Tags

In keeping with the celebration theme (it being my blogoversary and all) here are a couple of dog tags I created using these darling dog stamps from Lost Coast Designs. Don't you just love that soulful look on Bingo's face?

I found these uniquely shaped puzzle pieces at a thrift store. They were part of a children's game. They are made of very sturdy chipboard and I knew they'd be good for this kind of thing.

Well, I'm off for a couple of days of scrapbooking with my sister, so have a great weekend everyone and see you in a few!

A Winner!

Thanks to everyone who left a comment for my blogoversary give-away. I really appreciate all the kind words you've left.

The winner of the blog candy is........Kathy from GA!

Congratulations, Kathy! Thanks for stopping by my blog.

E-mail me your address and I will get your goodies out to you!

Cuttlebug Challenge

I just discovered the Cuttlebug Challenge blog today. Now, I don't own a lot of fancy tools, but I absolutely love my Cuttlebug. When I saw that they currently have a challenge to create a cupcake using Cuttlebug products, I had to give it a try.

I had fun creating this card. The bottom of my cupcake is a stamp from Oxford Impressions. The top of the cupcake is created by a Cuttlebug embossing folder. I used two layers so I could insert my candle made from the Swiss dots embossing folder inside. I added little sprinkles to my frosting with markers. I then added a border from a new set of border embossing plates I just got. And, finally, I cut my tag from one of the Cuttlebug die cut sets.

The luscious paper in the background is from K&Co.

To check out what's going on at the Cuttlebug site, click here.

Easter Houses

I got started on these chipboard houses yesterday and could not stop. Michael's had these Crayola chipboard houses at five for $1. I made a few more, but was not as pleased with them.

Background stamp on this first one is by Oxford Impressions. Other stamps by Autumn Leaves and Studio G.

Script stamp by Paper Bag Studios. Eggs by Sugar Lump Studios. Girl and bird by Digital Collage sheets.

This last one is my favorite. The image is one shared at Art Creations Friday. Hard to go wrong with such a beautiful image.

Background script by Art Impressions. Rejoice Stamp by Studio G. Postcard ephemera by Oxford Impressions.

Today is the last day to leave a comment to win my blogoversary give-away. I'll pull a name tommorrow morning.

See details two posts down!

Wednesday Stamper - Transfer

Well, I had two successful experiments today. One was this transfer which was the subject of today's challenge at Wednesday Stamper. I had tried this technique of gesso and image transfer previously and it was not successful. Today, however, I am quite pleased with the results.

The other experiment came as a result of Blogger not letting me upload any images. Quite frustrating because I was eager to show my transfer...lol. I looked around my settings and discovered I can post from my e-mail. Something everybody probably already knows but me:)

PLEASE SEE YESTERDAY'S POST TO ENTER MY GIVE-AWAY FOR MY TWO-YEAR BLOGOVERSARY!!!!!

Two-Year Blogoversary!!!

This weekend I'll be celebrating two years of blogging! Since I'll be gone for the weekend, I'm posting a little give-away now with the winner to be picked on Friday morning. Winner need not be present -- just leave a comment on this post leaving your name:)

Goodies include : Tim Holtz Fragments, Crafty Secrets Journal Notes, Vintage Ephemera, Top Note Die cuts, K& Co tags, matchbook cards and other assorted stuff!

For my friends outside of the United States, please join in, I'll mail it overseas:)

Think Monday, Think ATC

I definitely had the stamps for this morning's challenge at Think Monday, Think ATC which was "Moulin Rouge." I've had this can-can dancer from Inkadinkado for ages, and the moulin rouge stamp was a recent RAK from Sarah. So I knew I'd had to put something together. The background tag is from Sunday International.

I stamped out her dress and hat on an alcohol ink background and then cut them out.

You can click on the title of this post to see the other submissions for this challenge.

Sunday Postcard Art

I hate the blurriness that comes from scanning bulky embellishments, but I guess I'm stuck with it here. This is my entry for the "mothers" theme at Sunday Postcart Art .

Stampers Sampler

I was thrilled to receive a copy of Stampers Sampler this week and see a bunch of the cards I had sent in for the celebration issue included. Here are a couple of the ones I especially liked.

Make a Moo

I haven't had a chance to make a moo lately, but since I'm off work I was able to participate in this week's challenge. Which is good because I really like the theme, "carte postale."

Here is my submission. Arch stamp from Art Impressions, paper from K&Co.

You can see all the other submissions at http://makeamooortwo.wordpress.com.

TGIF (Almost)

This is my contribution to the Thank God It's Friday theme of "smile."

Some new paper from 7 Gypsies provided a great background for Mona (Lost Coast Designs). I like her in that arch. The words are from Rubber Stampede.

Theme Thursday

The theme today at Theme Thursday was "orange." I scoured around for some orange patterned paper -- but couldn't find a single piece. So rather than limit my orange to a small flower or embellishment I went all the way with the color by brayering Pumpkin Staz-On onto some glossy cardstock.

From there I picked up some of the new stamps from Oxford Impressions I had just received and was in the process of cutting and mounting on cushion. Not the first color I would have picked for this Beau Monde set (yes, I had to google it to find out it meant high society), but I think I made it work when I paired it with this window stamp from Serendipity Stamps. I had a punch that fit the window panes perfectly, so I punched those out from the window stamp to reveal the image beneath.

St. Patrick's Day Skinny

A 3x5 "skinny" for St. Patrick's Day.

Paper by Making Memories. Image by Collage Visions.

Stamps by Lost Coast Designs and Studio G, Art Impressions.

Bingo Card by Jenny Bowlin.

Think Monday, Think ATC

I wasn't going to try to squeeze an ATC in before I was off to work, but I could not resist when I came upon this image of Archie in a St. Patty's Day hat.

The theme today at TMTA is "comics." I remember reading Archie comic books like crazy when I was young and his eternal predicament of whether to choose Betty or Veronica.

Gothic Arches

My arch for today's theme of "Mother & Child." Image is my Lisa Vollrath. Paper is by K&Co.

Art Creations Friday

Another lovely image being offered by the ladies at Art Creations Friday.
Once again, I used a cloth panel from a vintage card I had.
I'm sure there will be lots of fabulous art this week.

Something Different

The note to myself has been sitting there for days -- MAKE BABY CARD. But I just haven't been inspired. Then today I saw the theme at Thank God It's Friday -- exotic birds. And for some reason or another this card just came into my mind. I used a cloth panel of a stork which is from a stash of vintage cards I received.

Wednesday Stamper

The theme this week at Wednesday Stamper is green. I've chosen to stamp on dominoes -- my first time doing so.

I used alcohol inks for the background. I love the fact that when using these inks you can simply use a little blender solution on the domino to wipe off what you don't like and start over -- time and time again! That's what happened on the first one here, I just couldn't get a look I liked. The second one I was happy with on the first try.

TMTA

The lyrics of this song have been going through my head since last night when I posted an "Easter Bonnet" challenge at the Vintage Veranda. So I used it for today's theme at Think Monday, Think ATC for their "lyrics" challenge.

I can remember as a family riding to church on Easter Sunday, everybody dressed in their brand new shoes, coats & hats, singing this song -- another one of those '40's songs my mother had taught us.

Botanical Prints

It all started with this simple idea. I'd been wanting a set of botanical prints to hang on my bedroom wall for ages. But they are very expensive. Recently I found a book of large sized prints of roses at the book store for $7. I now had a whole book to choose from. This is one of the framed prints I chose. I then decided to add a little bit of embellishment to the prints.

This one includes that fabulous image that was offered from Art Creations Friday, a postcard from Oxford Impressions, and a lovely lace heart I received long ago from Sarah (and which I promised would be used on something very special.)

What followed was I found a wonderful background using those prints for these little pieces of art:

Stamps from Oxford Impressions and Paperbag Studios.

Stamps from Hero Arts, Studio G. Image from Collage Visions.

Stamps from Oxford Impressions and Inkadinkado.

Stamps from Paperbag Studios, Art Impressions. Image from Shabby Cottage Studio.

Stamps by Studio G, Technique Tuesday. Image by Colllage Visions.

Stamps by Autumn Leaves, Oxford Impressions. Image offered by Art Creations Friday blog.

TGIF

Since I've a ton of birthday cards to send this month, the Thank God It's Friday theme of "wish" came at just the right time.

The image is from Digital Collage Sheets. The definition is from StampinUp.

Wednesday Stamper

A quick "skinny" before I'm off to work. A skinny is 3x5 and is the theme at Wednesday Samper this week. I stamped onto a torn piece of a botanical print I had using stamps from Serendipity Stamps, Studio G, Martha Stewart. The image is from Collage Visions.

All Things Marie

These are some of the design team samples I created with the Marie Antoinette series from Oxford Impressions. I love this set, and I love the fact that there's lots of great background stamps in this set.

No sooner did I get these sent off then I discovered a whole new set of stamps coming out from OI. If you like gorgeous vintage ladies, check it out here. I think they are totally gorgeous!