Winters Bone

When I found this image I instantly fell in love with it; but, I also found it intimidating to carve.  To be honest I was not entirely sure I could pull it off.  I decided to go for it anyway.  I did miss some of the details; but, overall I was able to get enough detail into the stamp to render a likeness close enough to the original image to satisfy me.

The swap I used this for was a challenge to really make a card that was all about the stamp, so embellishments had to be to a minumim at most.  I used a Tim Holtz distress stain to color the paper and stamped my image on top.  After that I used a Tim Holtz distress ink in a green shade to blend the edges of the image  and sort of color in the trees.  For the last step I used a black sharpie to line the edges of the card and create a frame for the image.  My only regret with this card is that I did not use a new or newly reinked ink pad to stamp my image.  

Mother of Exiles

When a swap was listed challenging the card maker to make a card with two stamps I knew immediately what I wanted to do.  One of my favorite poems is "The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus. It emptiomizes the plight of the infamous immigrants who came to the United States in search of a new life in a new land durning a period of time where the U.S. was coming to be the great country she is today.  Many of my ancestors were among these people and I am proud to say the Unites States provided a new life to many branches of family and allowed us to realize dreams they were all but impossible in our birth countries. 

For this card I used Tim Holtz distress inks to create the background with some flicks of water added for effect. The weeping Statue of Liberty was then stamped in Rusty Hinge distress ink and the lines from the poem were stamped on top in Versafine ink.  This will always be one of my favorite cards because it hits home with me on so many levels.  

No matter where you live, I would like to encourage you to research your family history through oral family history and written records.  The story of where you came from is precious and fascinating and you should know that story so you can pass it on to the younger generations. 

The Velveteen Rabbit

When I joined a story book swap I knew right away that I wanted to pay homage to one of my favorite childhood stories, The Velveteen Rabbit.  It took me a while to find an image that I could carve for this one and I was nervous about carving the words as that has never been a strong point for me in carving; but, I figured the only way to get better at something is to work at it.  Since challenging myself in carving was the focus I decided to carve a quote from the book for the back of this card.  It is a bit rough in places; but, I was still pretty happy with the end result.

For the front of the card I stamped the image on white card stock using brown versa fine ink.  Next, I cut out the rabbit so I could use it as a mask.  I placed the cut out over the stamped image and used a blending tool to blend Tim Holtz distress inks over the top and bottom of the card (in blue and green shades) to bring the stamped illustration to life.  Finally I picked a bitter sweet chocolate colored card stock to use as a frame and glued the layers together.  I stamped the back of the card with the story book quote on a patterned paper that coordinated well with the front of the card.  

If you have never read this story I highly reccomend you hightail it to your local library or bookstore and enjoy this little treasure.  It's such a precious story and it always resonated with me in a very real way.  There is something so intriguing about toys coming to life and a secret world that adults can not experience that opened my mind to a world of possibilities as a child. 

Spotlight on Musicpals

Musicpals created a really great card for a Tim Holtz swap that I really loved.  As soon as I saw this card I knew I just had to Spotlight it.  The base of the card was made using Tim Holtz alcohol inks on glossy card stock.  Next, a rubber stamp of music notes was stamped on top to create a lovey custom made paper.  Finally a hand carved piano stamp was stamped onto the custom paper to create a very moving card entitled "Music Frenzy".  

Musicpals is a music teacher and musician by trade; however, that craft has left little time to develop other artistic talents, so when she discovered letterboxing it was a match made in heaven!  Having another creative outlet to develop and fine tune can be incredibly rewarding and Debbie has really brought her talents to the table with letterbox trading cards.  In recent months she has been focusing on the multi media aspect of card making and while she feels like she still has a lot to learn, I have to admit I really look forward to her cards because they are so well composed!  Her compostion skills are clearly not limited to just music!