Dr Who Villians

As a newly converted Whovian I was super excited to join a Dr Who Villians swap even though I am just learning who the Villians are.  I ended up making two cards for this swap because I was not happy with my first card.  I actually almost threw out my first set of cards; but, I'm glad I didn't because a lot of people enjoyed them which truly shows that art is subjective.  

The second card I made was called "Limited Edition Cyberman".  I really loved this card.  I used one blend of blue, yellow and silver alcohol inks for the cyberman and cut him out.  For the base layer I used another blend of alcohol inks in yellow and orange and painted that layer with Tim Holtz Hard Rock Candy Crackle paint.  I glued the layers together, adding foam dots behind the Cyberman to make him pop out, then I added a black frame to finish the front of the card.  The back of the card was pretty simple with some orange patterned paper and a small Dr Who stamp. 

Now let's talk about the first card.  I absolutely loved the image when I found it and wanted to do a darker card in black and a kind of bright maroon color; but, shockingly I did not know about Versafine ink and I was not able to get crisp black images with my Ranger Archival ink, so I abandoned that idea and decided to go with cool winter colors instead.  I used a shimmery blue ink to stamp my stamp and added a cutout of Dr Who mounted on foam dots for dimension.  Snow-Tex was used to add a snow like texture to the bottom of the card and I added a double frame to the image in shiny blue and white cardstock.  

For the back I stamped an additional snowman stamp in a shimmery pink ink; but, it did not show us as well as I had hoped.  When the card was finished I knew I was not happy with it; but, I had put SO many hours into carving and making this set of cards.  For me the best solution to this problem was to consider this a bonus card for the swap and make a new card.  I'm so glad I did that!  The swap host Eyeoremama was very gracious and did not mind sorting the additional card for the swap and the other swap members were very kind when leaving their "found card" comments on both the Snowmen and the Cyberman.  

Wildflower's- An Alice Bonus

I really love Alice in Wonderland, so when a last minute spot opened up for this swap I jumped on it.  Unfortunately the Post Office lost my return set of cards, so I decided to make a bonus Alice card for anybody who would be willing to send me a copy of their card.  

One of the tough things about doing an Alice in Wonderland card is coming up with something fresh and new.  So many of the characters and images have been done by other card makers; therefore, I really wanted to try and pick something that might not have been done before. When I found this quote from the original Disney movie, I knew it would be perfect. 

I am in so many swaps right now and am struggling to pull my cards together, so I needed a relatively easy design for this card. Ranger Alcohol inks are my secret weapon when I am short on time!  They have the ability to make any stamp come alive.  For this card I used four colors of alcohol inks that you might find in nature and I stamped my image on top.  Next, I sprayed a frame layer with Dylusions Ink Spray and glued the layers together with a glue stick.  I really liked the way this card turned out.  I did finish the back; but, due to time constraints I was not able to carve a new Alice stamp for the back.  I recycled one of my stamps from my "What Key" card. 

Delivering Justice

When I saw this image I knew I had to use it for a card, so when I saw the Seven Virtues tracker I knew I had to carve it.  I decided to call the card "Delivering Justice" as Batman is delivering his own brand of Justice to the Joker in a fierce and powerful way. 

I used Tim Holtz Distress markers and a gray Prisma marker to color this card in.  I played around with coloring it quite a bit and settled on two versions that I really liked, so I decided to do both.  The front of the card is a more bold rendition while the back of the card is more streamlined and pared down.  I covered the front of the card in mat Mod Podge which turned out to be a mistake.  Mod Podge is a water based glue and the distress markers are also water based which caused them to bleed a bit.  It did not completely ruin the card; however, it is somewhat noticable.  Lesson learned.

In The Trenches

I created this card for a Mod swap in which you had to use Mod Podge in the construction of the card.  I have always wanted to carve an image with rain, so this was the perfect swap to carve a "rain" image.  

I used water colors to paint this image and added a black mat frame.  A Dymo label maker was used to emboss the word "Valor" on a piece of tape which was then added to the bottom of the card.  Keeping with the rules of the swap I painted the whole card in glossy Mod Podge to add that glistening rain effect to the card.

For the back of the card I layered another piece of paper and stamped the image of a soldier smoking a cigarette to tie the front and back of the card together. 

I'm not the best at watercolors as it is a relatively new technique to me; but, this card provided a great opportunity for me to practice my skills.  If there has been something you have wanted to try or get better at, I want to encourage you to go for it!  The only way to improve is through practice.  You might not be thrilled with your first few attempts; however, if you keep at it you just might master the skill and add another technique to your arsenal to create more fantastic pieces of artwork down the road. 

Bloodless Halloween

I listed a last minute Halloween swap: Bloodless Halloween just because I desperately wanted to carve these images.  I found them on a blog called Uncle Ernie's Creature Ink.  The artwork is by Ernie Kwiat.  

I colored this image in with Tim Holz distress markers and mounted it on a mustard colored patterned paper.  After that I painted it with Ranger distress paint  in clear rock candy and finally I used mini round blending tool to blend in some black soot distress ink over the outer edges of the card.  

All in all, I was happy with how this card turned out.  I enjoyed making it so much that I made several extras and sent five copies out in Marjorie's Potpourri for October. I can't wait to see my suprise cards from that tracker!  I really love the MP trades because they are like the box of chocolates in Forest Gump. You never know what you are going to get!  Often times I get cards from swaps I wanted to join, but, was not able to so it can be a fun suprise to get those cards in this monthly swap.

Spotlight On Badegg

Badegg created a really ingenious card for a Recycled Art swap.  When I first saw it I sat back and had a good laugh.  Two playing cards were glued together and a circle was cut out in the middle where the King's tummy would be.  A trio of hand carved eggs was then inserted between transparent sheets of paper and glued together.  You can even shake the card and watch the eggs jostle about in there.  The effect gives you the idea that the King wished he did not have eggs for breakfast!  

Badegg is a really cool individual.  She is covered in tattoos and has a particularly striking half sleeve of her cat and the cats purple castle on her arm.  She is also fluent in sign language (seriously how cool is that?!?) and loves all kinds of eggs from the pickled variety to fried.  

She was a rebellious kid which is where the fun trail name came from.  Many of her cards are tied in with the trail name which I really like.  It's kind of like having a trademark.  

I can't wait to see more fun cards from this LTC maker! 

Harry Potter and a Hot Girl

For my Harry Potter cards I wanted to do something different.  There have been so many Harry Potter swaps and I was afraid my image may have been done before in a more traditional manner.  

I broke the alcohol inks out and decided to make this showdown between Harry and Valdemort appear like it occurred in the middle of a color run.  I used three colors of inks to make the background for this image and I also used distress inks in Orange Marmalade to make the orange mat layer.  Plain black paper was used for the outer frame and lastly I painted the entire card in Ranger Distress Crackle Paint in hard rock candy to give it a more crackly effect.  I was pretty happy with how these cards turned out and can't wait to see the rest of the cards from this swap!

A few friends talked me into signing up for the Babes tracker at the last minute, so I did not have a lot of time to pull this card together.  I needed an easy peasey carve so I could spent more time working on the card itself.  

I decided to customize my paper for this card by using distress paint in black soot for the outer frame.  The inner frame was made using salty ocean distress ink.  I used a blending tool to make the blue background and then stamped a polka dot rubber stamp on top of that in the same color to create a cool handmade background to highlight my hand carved stamp.

Next, I stamped my babe using versa fine ink and colored her dress and tattoo with a Prisma marker.  I gave her some shimmery eye shadow using a clear stardust gelly roll pen and added a fabric flower to her hair.  

For the final touch I carved the words "Hey Daddy-O!" and stamped them on some red paper, then layered them on top of the card.  

With the final touches done, my babe was ready to mail out and I was happy to check this card off of my to do list.  Producing a card in one week can be very stressful!  

Spotlight on Team Awesome Pants

Team Awesome Pants created this card for an Idioms swap. The card is entitled "Mum's The Word".  I was immediately drawn to this card for two reasons.  First, I absolutely love stamps with a lot of negative space (meaning the part of the stamp that takes ink, or the dark part).  Even simple stamps can be very striking when they have a lot of negative space and they have the ability to make very impactful images that stick with you.

The other thing I really love about this card is the layers of paper which were very carefully picked by TAP.  She spent eons in the craft store holding up sheet after sheet of paper in all sorts of combinations before she settled on this trio.  Adding layers to frame your stamped image is truly one of the easiest yet, most striking things you can do to really make an image pop.  

The back of this card has been "finished" as well.  I'm a real sucker for cards that have a finished back.  A finished back can include anything from extra stamped images, some extra color or even an extra layer of paper.  I think it really helps to make a card extra special when the card maker takes a little bit of time to tie the back if the card in with the front.  In this case TAP added an extra layer of paper to the back using the patterned papet from the front of the card. She also hand wrote her trail name, card name, box number and date between the lines to give the card a finished look.  

I think this card is a perfect example of how to compose a great card with a simple yet striking stamp, perfectly matched paper and a well done back.  Great job Team Awesome Pants! 

Corpse Bride LTC

I absolutely love Halloween.  It is easily my most favorite day of the year, so I was so excited when a last minute spot opened up in a Halloween swap. I did not have much time to pick a subject, carve and create a card so I decided to go with a Corpse Bride theme.  I am a huge Tim Burton fan and never get tired of carving his work.  

For this card I made a tripple layered mat and added a fourth layer of the cut out stamped image.  For the mat I used coordinating paper from a paper book.  I know those $20 books look so expensive ; but, if you use a coupon you can buy them for a decent price and to be honest the paper is usually a lot nice than the loose card stock. Also the paper almosr always coordinates well with other sheets in the book, so that helps take the guess work out of things.  

I colored parts of the stamp with Prisma, Marvey and Distress markers.  It took forever and reminded me how much I hate coloring.  Finally I cut heart shapes out with my Cricut and painted them with Black Soot Crackle paint.  Even though the card took forever to make, I wouldn't change a thing.  I'm hoping next year to get in a swap much earlier and go with a more intricate carve. Hard 

Spotlight on The Boxing B's

This is one of the first cards I received in a small individual trade swap that I organized to get my feet wet again with making and trading cards.  I instantly loved this card when I saw it.  I love sparkly things and I especially love the monochromatic look when it is done well.

    I have passed over the sparkle cardstock at the craft stores so many times thinking there is NO WAY I could use that stuff to make a nice card; but, this card totally proves me wrong.  

"Color Wheel: Blue Fishy" was designed by trying to use as many shades of blue as possible.  The Boxing B's were looking for colors of the ocean when deciding on the cardstock, glitter embossing powders and well matched bubble stickers.  The end result was a very streamlined look with a sparkly twist.  This design would make a great greeting card!  

Rainbow Fish

I joined this swap at the last minute after seeing S and D's card on her blog.  I really wanted a copy of that card and I was all caught up on my current swaps, so I figured I would challenge myself to carve and create a card in a week.  It turns our I work well under pressure.  My original design idea for this card was quite different; but, when I colored the image in by hand it looked more like a 70's style image rather than the more streamlined look I was going for.  In the end I settled for something entirely different.

 I almost abandoned this design idea; but, Sharkboy declared it to be the best thing he had ever seen, so I walked away from it for a bit and came back to view it with fresh eyes and only then did I realize it was pretty neat.  I had intended to add another accent stamp at the top and bottom, embossed in black;  however, I had an allergic reaction to the embossing powders, so I will be avoiding that medium for a while till I determine if any embossing is safe for me.  

It turned out to be a blessing in disguise; because, I think the additional design would have made the card too busy.  I actually really like the way this card turned out.  The orange layer was stained in Orange Marmalade distress ink. The inner two layers were created using alcohol inks. I used two colors for the water and three colors for the fish.  The stamp was stamped in archival ink.  Instead of carving an additional stamp for the back I included an image of the un-embellished stamp. It has such a different feel to it when stamped alone and I really wanted to share that since it was much closer to my original design idea.  

27- The Completed LTC

I really struggled with the design for this card.  My first concept was to do something in bright colors and include shading with paints; but, I am just beginning to learn how to shade and paint, so I was not able to make my design come to life.  I reinvented the card three more times before I settled on the final design.  I have mixed feelings about this card.  I do like the end design; but, it will always be the card that never was for me because I could not make the image in my mind translate to paper.  In the end I used water colors to paint the background and used distress inks to stamp the image.  It's kind of hard to see in the photo's; but, I cut thin strips of paper to use as a border on two sides of the image. Finally I carved Kurt Cobain's signature and embossed it in black embossing powders onto black paper.  For the back of the card I carved a stamp of six amazing artist who are considered to be part of the "27 Club".  They all died at the age of 27.  I don't know what heaven is like; but, I sure do hope these people will be there.  They all left us far too soon; yet, their music lives on and continues to inspire us in new ways.  Art never dies.  The creators may leave us; but, their artwork takes flight and continues on to such great heights. 

Spotlight On Ninjahara

I recently swapped cards with a new favorite letterboxer Ninjahara and I wanted to showcase one of my favorite LTC's made by her.  The card is from the April Fool's Quicke Stamp swap entitled "Go Directly To Jail"  When I first saw the card my mind immediately went to one of my favorite childhood games, Monopoly.  It looked just like the cards from the game except this one includesd a hand carved stamp!  

Ninjahara is a relatively new LTC maker who has been making cards since about February of 2014.  She carves with a gouge on the pink stuff and much like myself enjoys all aspects of letterboxing from hitting the trails for traditional finds to meeting new people at events to learning new techniques for card making.  

I think the thing I like best about her Monoloply card is how simple yet, striking the card is.  She picked just the right shade of orange for the paper and managed to print the words in perfect proportion to the stamp.  The compostion could not have been better!   The end result was the perfect rendition of an iconic piece of American pop culture.  Bravo to Ninjahara!  

Fly Girl LTC

I am really happy with the way this card turned out. I had to play around with it a bit before I came up with the final design.  I used three different patterned papers for this card which is way outside of my comfort zone.  In the past I had not played around with stamping onto patterned paper much either, so I really wanted to try that with this card.  I colored the image with Prisma pencils and blended the colors with odorless mineral spirits.  This is the first time I have tried my hand at shading. It's not bad for a first attempt; but, I do hope to get better with more practice.  Overall I have to admit this is my favorite card that I have made since I have gotten back into making LTC's.  It doesn't seem to show up as well in the pictures as it does in person though.  I will definitely be playing around with more patterned paper in the future!  

Lady Celia LTC

This is the first LTC I have made in over 2 1/2 years.  I am really trying to push myself creatively and try things that are outside of my comfort zone .  For this card I decided to play with layering.  I ended up with three layers of paper and an additional layer using a second embossed stamp which I carved after the original card design seemed to be lacking to me.  I also finished the back of the card using the second stamp.  I have always loved getting LTC's with the back of the card finished, so this time around I am challenging myself to finish the back of my cards.  

27

This is an image I am working with to create a card for the You Rock! swap.  My original idea did not pan out as I hoped, so I have had to go back to the drawing board to redesign this card.  I think I am happy with the new design though and will post it when I complete the first card.