Art Ali

Purdy Paper

I was lucky enough to play with some beautiful papers from PaperTemptress for my Clean and Simple spot at Gingersnaps this month.

Here's one of the cards I made with Vintage Silver Lustre and you can find the other two cards over at on the Gingersnaps blog.  The Stampington image was heat embossed with silver embossing powder on another PaperTemptress c/stock called Pearl Glimmer.  The red c/stock and ribbon are Riding Hood Red from SU (a retired In Color).

Note: I can't include direct links to the paper because I'm an SU demo (against company rules), so you'll have to play detective and find them yourself on the PT website - I'm sure you can figure it out!!

Thanks for visiting! 

Frame Challenge

Creating this torn frame card for the Gingersnaps Frame Challenge was a lot of fun.  It took a while to tease the layers of cardstock apart, but I love the effect.  The technique is from the Dec 08/Jan 09 Technique Junkies newsletter.  I don't have the specific distressing tool in the tutorial, so I used my bone folder to break down the edges of the c/stock before pulling them apart.

The beautiful green c/stock is a 100lb c/stock from PaperTemptress called Brawny, that I embossed in a Cuttlebug folder and the color is Citron - it's very vivid green - I love it!  The bingo card is from Jenni Bowlin and the leaf pin is Maya Road.  No stamps used - gasp!

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend!

Burnished Background with Shimmer

I bought this stamp back in May at a Stamp Convention and this is the first time it's seen ink - shame on me! 

I created a burnished background (TJs Oct/Nov 09) by heat embossing the image with black e/p and sponging on a variety of inks.  When I was through, I thought it was too nice to hide it away as a background.  So, I highlighted the flowers with some shimmer paint and made the background the main focus of the card.

I plan to give the card to my mum - I hope she likes it.

Happy stamping!

Supplies:

• Stamps: Background stamp (Stamp Camp), Kind Thanks (Stampin' Up!)
• C/stock: Basic Black, Very Vanilla
• Ink: Versamark, So Saffron, More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black
• Accessories: sheer black ribbon, black embroidery floss, Shimmer Paint (Stampin' Up!), black embossing powder
• Tools: Heat gun, Modern Label Punch, sponges, paint brush

Tempting Textures

I was fooling around with Distress inks this week making backgrounds for an inchie swap and I whipped up this card with the left overs.  The technique I used on the bird tags (images: Invoke Arts) is Watercolor Distress from the February/March 07 Technique Junkies Newsletter.

Of course, I fooled around the with technique a bit by using several colors of distress ink, not one.  And I used water color paper rather than ultra smooth as the technique suggested.  The basic idea behind it is, smoosh ink pads on a non-stick surface, spritz with water and place paper face down into the ink.  Dry paper with heat tool and press paper back into the ink for a second time to pick up more ink.  It's a lovely effect and takes very little time.

The texture in the card comes from the gorgeous card stock I used for the base - Cocoa Crepe from The Paper Temptress (Gingersnap's November Sponsor).  This ruche c/stock feels gorgeous and is perfect for nature-inspired cards.  I'll definitely be stocking up on this one!  If you're interested in learning more about The Paper Temptress, Sharon wrote a really cool interview on Gingersnaps earlier in the month.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Button Tags

The Spicy Supply Challenge over at Gingersnaps today is buttons.  Here are a few tag/distress ink projects I came up with for the challenge.

On the first tag I sponged on Peeled Paint and Faded Jeans ink with the blending tool and gave it a light spritz of water.  I applied a mask and blended in some more ink.  And finished the tag base with a spritz of perfect pearls mixed with water.  The bird and sentiment are a transparency that I adhered with the button.

The images on the next two tags were clear embossed before applying Distress Inks with the blending tool.  After a spritz of Perfect Pearls and water, I ironed off the clear embossing powder and added a little more ink to tone down the images.  The vintage bone buttons were adhered with Art Gel.

This tag uses a stamp from Artistic Outpost with Faded Jeans and Weathered Wood Distress inks.

This tag uses an image from Stampers Anonymous with Fired Brick and Spiced Marmalade Distress inks.

Don't forget to check out the other Gingersnap Creations Design Team projects on the blog - they are awesome!

Asian Inchies

I made these three Asian inchies for a swap last month and the mods at Addicted to Inchies very kindly put them on the home page this week.  So, I figured it was about time to share (sorry the picture's a bit blurry).

These were quite a stretch for me because I don't have any Asian stamps or collage sheets.  So, I got out my large stash of National Geographic magazines, tracked down some images of Geishas and made packing tape transfers. 

I created the backgrounds from gold tissue paper, some Asian text and red mesh origami paper.  The packing tape transfers were adhered to these backgrounds with gel medium. 

The beads were strung onto black thread and sandwiched between the background the black c/stock, so the thread doesn't show on the other side.  The beads are from an old dollar store bracelet that I cut apart.

Hope you have a fantastic weekend!

Cozy Home

I made this card for Gingersnap Creations' Cozy Home Challenge.  It's my first attempt at the Sepia technique from the current issue of Technique Junkies. 

I stamped the barn image from Impression Obsession on tan c/stock and highlighted areas with white craft ink and a white gel pen.  I added color with Prisma pencils and sponged several shades of brown ink around the edges. 

The whole piece looked a little flat to me, so I did a cracked glass effect over the top.  I covered the entire panel with Versmark ink and heat embossed twice with UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel).  I created the cracks by bending the piece in several directions after 15 minutes in the freezer.

If you get a minute, check out the other Cozy Home creations that the design team came up with - you won't be disappointed! 

Thanks for visiting my blog.

Supplies:

• Stamps: Barn (Impression Obsession), Warm Wishes (Stampin' Up!)
• C/stock: Cream Caramel, Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip
• Ink: Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, white craft ink, Prisma Pencils, Timber Brown Stazon, Versamark, white gel pen
• Accessories: Gold brads, UTEE
• Tools: Heat gun, paint brush, sponges, large oval punch