H

I was talking to a friend a couple of weeks ago and somehow we got on the subject of blogging and I mentioned I had this blog that I have been neglecting for several months now.  I promised to post a new entry and now it's two weeks later and I still haven't updated it yet! This post is for my friend Cre who I want to thank for motivating me to update the blog.  

I joined a Tool swap a few months back in which we had to create a card based on any Tool song.  Due to the nature of their music this was an adults only swap.  I had this image set aside for quite a while and really wanted to carve it; but, I had not found the right swap for this image until the this particular swap was listed.  

The card is based on the song H.  While the singer has said this song is actually about having children...given the title and the lyrics many people interpret it to be about heroin and addiction which fits perfectly with my image. The card has three layers to it.  The outer layer is plain black card stock.  For the second layer I sprayed white card stock with Dylusions ink and used a stencil along with Tim Holtz Distress Inks and a blending tool to lay the purple design down over the green ink.  The final layer is the stamp itself.  There is a lot of negative space in this image, so I was careful to use a new ink pad to ensure I got the best prints.  I selectively colored the syringes with a Copic marker in a contrasting color so they would pop.  I loved the way this card turned out in the end; but, it's kind of a tricky card to trade as not everybody would appreciate a dark LTC themed on addiction.  I have seven copies of this card left, so if you want to trade AQ mail me! 

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!  

Spotlight on The Mighty Oaks of Barlow

I instantly loved this card when I got it.  The Mighty Oaks of Barlow created it for a mixed media swap and I think she did a fantastic job.  The front of the card features a cut out image of dog's face which on its own would not be immediately eye catching; but, when layered over a patterned paper and given dimension with a fabric bow and foam glasses with tinted lenses this dog becomes a real person of interest on this card!  

The back of the card is a real treat too!  A Gelli Plate was used along with stencils to make a really cool mono print.  The red and blue colors you see are actually paint which was mono printed onto the paper for a really artistic effect.  I have to admit seeing this card really made me want to purchase a Gelli Plate and do some experiments of my own.

The Mighty Oaks of Barlow started letterboxing when a friend introduced her to the hobby.  She was instantly captivated by the combination of hiking, clue solving and artistry.  MOB soon introduced Wildflower Meadow to the hobby and starred hosting events as well. A fellow boxer by the name of Mumble met MOB at a few events and introduced her to LTC's.  Frykitty helped fuel this aspect of the hobby with some shared tips and tricks and a LTC maker was born!  I really love MOB's cards and am so glad she enjoys making them.  It's so fun to see each persons individual artistic style and learn from their contributions to the hobby. 

Sea Foam Dreams

I really enjoy challenging myself when it comes to making LTC's; but, I often have to back myself into a corner in order to do so.  The best way for me to do that is to list a swap with special instructions to try a new technique or a special set of guidelines in order to push myself and the participants artistically.  I really enjoy working in layers of paper and making my own paper designs starting with plain white paper, so I listed a "White No White Layers" swap where the challenge would be to make a card with at least three layers of paper.  Each layer of paper had to start out as plain white paper and needed to be custom designed so that no white would be showing in the final design.  Sounds easy enough right?  Um, it turns out to be not so easy!  White is a hard color to eliminate completely and I seriously wished I could drop this swap; but, it was my own swap, so I had to power through my frustration and make my card no matter how hard it was. Luckily in the end I was able to design a card that I loved.  Thankfully it was a really small swap because it was a lot of work to make each card.  I never could have pulled this off for a larger swap.  

The brown layer was made by spraying Dylusions ink spray in Melted Chocolate. Next I used a Tim Holtz distress ink in Walnut Stain and a mini blending tool to go over the dried Dylusions spray.  This gave me a really nice kind of bitter sweet chocolate color to use as a frame for my card (mixing the Dylusions ink sprays with Tim Holtz Distress inks is a fantastic way to make custom colors and get more mileage out of your products).

For the blue layer I actually stamped the entire mermaid stamp onto white paper and then I used a Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Peacock Feathers with a mini blending tool to color the whole paper.  To highlight the bubbles I used a darker shade of blue Stickles glitter glue to color in each one.  The difference in shades of blue really provided a nice contrast.  

The last layer was made by stamping my entire image onto white card stock and then I fussy cut the mermaid out.  This took quite a long time as the mermaid had a lot of little edges that needed to be trimmed very carefully.  I used a mix of Copic makers and Tim Holtz Distress markers to color my stamped image in.  To add a little more interest and dimension to the stamp I colored over the pink shells with a Clear Stardust Gelly Roll pen and I dotted the strands of pearls in her hair with gold Ranger Liquid Pearls.  

I carefully aligned the colored mermaid cut out over the double stamped image on the blue layer and glued it down with a glue stick.  Next, I glued those layers to the custom designed brown layer and a card was born!