Distress stain fun

My friend Laura, who is a stamping goddess, is so inspirational to me.  On her recent visit she left me a bunch of samples.  I was thrilled!  (especially since she is not the best at mailing me stuff...wink, wink).

For my April classes I was inspired by the following card.

 I just loved the background and the speckles in it.  She shared her secrets and I was able to come up with my own prototype.  I used Distress Stain on watercolor paper for a similar feel but a different look.

Here is the stain on the watercolor paper (before it is spritzed with water).

Here it is after it is spritzed with water....

Notice how the colors are more mottled.
Next, I use a heat gun to dry it.  The colors dry much lighter.

The finished stamped image will eventually evolve into a card for my April class. Stay tuned.

Tim Holtz stamp envy

I have been wanting the Tim Holtz stamp of the Charlie Chaplin shadow with the umbrella for a long time.  I finally bought it...with a coupon, of course.  I used some Distress stain (rusty hinge) on some Authentique paper and stamped the image with Sepia Versafine. 

I love how the final card turned out...

Distress ink and homemade shimmer

 The second card that I am designing for my April classes at the Hen House will be using Distress Inks and homemade shimmer mist.  I took an online class from Jennifer McGuire last year and she shared so many fun tips that I will pass along during my class.  Life has been so busy that I almost forgot them all but luckily a card designed by my friend, Laura sparked my memory.

 Its hard to see in the photo but the card has a delicate shimmer when held in the light.  I just love it!
 I made a background using similar Distress inks and then made my own shimmer mist.

Next I stamped a gorgeous Memory Box image over it.  The flowers were begging for some color so I used the Prismacolor blending technique that Laura shared with us in her class in early March.  Here's a sneek peek of the my final card.

 

Come learn these techniques and more at either my Fast and Fun Technique class on April 28th or at the Technique Swap on April 17th.  Check out the Hen House website for details.

Finished Chalk Ink Card

Here is a peek of the card I completed using the Color Box chalk inks, Memory Box Tree Border stamp and Memory Box large window die.

Once I post the April class details, I will reveal the whole image.

Amy Flowers inspiration

Some of the wonderful women that take my class have asked me how I come up with the cards for my classes. So, I thought that this month I would show you the progression of each card that I design for the April Fast and Fun Technique class (April 28th at 3pm).

A couple of months ago, I took a class from Amy Flowers at the Hen House.  I think it was called Ink 101 or something like that.  Basically we learned alot about all the types of inks, when to use them, what type of paper they stamped best on and how to get the most out of them all.  It was really fun.  She is coming back to the Hen House this month.  Check out her blog for details.

Anyhow, in the last class she reintroduced me to chalk inks.  I forgot how wonderfully velvety they finish.  For my April Fast and Fun Technique class, I was inspired to do some fabulous back grounds using different inks.  The first one will be using chalk ink.  Here is a photo of background I created using two different colors of chalk ink.

Next while looking at the wonderful Memory Box stamps at the Hen House, I quickly decided to use the chalks to make the  background scenery for this one stamp of trees. 

Stay tuned to see how the card evolves.  I am imagining using the Memory Box window die with the image above.

Picket Fence Distress Stain

When I played with my friend from Montana, she wanted to play with distress stains.  This gave me the opportunity to try the picket fence (white) distress stain.  I love it!

For the image, I stained white cardstock with aged mahagany, barn door and wild honey Distress stains.  I dried it with a heat gun and then rubbed the picket fence stain over the entire thing.  Let it dry and then stamped the Hero Arts image on it and cut it out with the coordinating die cut.  I colored the rose with Prismacolor pencils.  The back layer was made by edging white cardstock with aged mahagony stain and then dabbing the picket fence stain in random polka dots.  It really lets you see how the white stain mutes the darker stain.

Fun with my friend from Montana

Yesterday I got to have fun with my good friend, Michael (pronounced Michelle) from Montana.  She wanted to play with the Distress Stains.  Look at the fabulous cards that she made.  I love the way she created her backgrounds using contrasting inks.

Cheryl has COPIC style

I took a class from Cheryl Valadez yesterday at China Pheonix.  Cheryl is an amazing COPIC artist.  I really learn alot from her.  Check out her blog if you get a chance. Here are the two cards that she did...

I love her work so much that I can't bear to part with them.  They have so many layers that I felt they were screaming to be a shadow box.  So here are my humble copies of Cheryl's work hung on my craft room wall.

It's a little blurry so here are some closeups...

Memory Box Weekend

My friend Laura is the design team coordinator for Memory Box.  She lives in the DC area and flew over to the Hen House Paperie to teach two fabulous classes.  Check out her blog to see the cards we made.  While she was here, the store hosted a Memory Box trunk show.  It was all so much fun!  Look at all the fun product!

Today I used one of the new Memory Box dies and some of their paper to make the card below for swap club.  Love it!  Super easy and just lovely...

February Hen House Swap Club

I am finally getting around to posting the wonderful cards from last month's swap club.  It was a full house with 10 signed up to swap.  Unfortunately two of the swappers (Sally P and Mary L) were attending to a doggie ER visit.  For the other eight swappers (Donna M., Barbara, J, Edna C., Mary W., Sally M., Marilyn, A., Audrey E., and Margaret G.) you will have a copy of their two cards waiting for you behind the desk at the Hen House later on today.

Sally and Mary are new to the swap and decided to play with some Distress Stains.  Here are their wonderful creations based on cards that I designed last year.

So now on to the other wonderful cards made...  Donna did some fancy layering with her beautiful card....

Barbara and Mary used the technique from last month to create their swap cards...

Edna made this lovely fancy fold card....

Here are the other four but I forgot who did what... sorry ladies...