Art Ali

Paper Fringe

As promised here's the wall hanging I made for yesterday's Gingersnaps Challenge - Try a Tutorial.  We have a boat load of fabulous tutorials on the site, they're really worth checking out.  I followed Lynn Steven's tutorial on how to create a paper fringe for this piece.  It was very straightforward and really fun.

I don't think I've ever made a hanging thing before - I think I've come under Hels' spell!  The base is chipboard covered with patterned paper by Queen Bee and the flowers are Primas, which I've been hoarding for over a year!  Here's a closer look:

This project came together a lot quicker than I thought and I'd definitely use this paper fringe technique again.

Have a super day!

 

Supplies:

• Stamps: Ghandi Quote (Impression Obsession)
• Paper: Queen Bee, kraft tissue paper
• Ink: Crushed Olive & Antique Linen Distress Inks, Cocoa by Memento
• Accessories: Flowers (Prima), Dew Drops, large metal eyelets (SU), ric rac
• Tools: Crop-a-Dile, sewing machine

Growth

Oops - long time, no post!  I've been super busy with a myriad of projects both at home and stamping related.  And I realized that I forgot to post the card I made for Gingersnaps Growth Challenge last week.  And I posted another challenge today, which will be on my blog tomorrow.  Yikes - I can't keep up!

For this card, I used a new poppy stamp (well new to me) from Penny Black and I just love it!

The poppy is stamped on watercolor paper and I used Stampin' Up! markers to watercolor it (Marker Watercoloring).  The centers has black seed beads, which you can see better in this close up picture:

Tomorrow I'll share a wall hanging I made using a paper fringe.

Thanks for visiting!

Supplies:

Stamps: Poppy Poem (Penny Black), Teeny Tiny Wishes (Stampin' Up!)

C/stock: Watercolor paper, Old Olive c/stock & Fabriano card base

Ink: Stazon, SU markers, Old Olive

Accessories: Linen thread, black seed beads

Tools: Word window punc

Fluffy Bunny

I'm hosting the Gingersnaps Spicy Supply challenge today, which is to use 'frosting' on your creations.  This means any kind of embellishment or product that goes on top of the final piece, such as pearls, glitter, beads, stickles, etc.

I decided to use Flower Soft and this cute bunny image from I Brake For Stamps.  Flower Soft is one of those products that was hot this time last year, so I bought a couple of pots and I used it only once or twice.  It's not my favorite product to work with, but it makes a nice little spot for this little guy to sit on.

Here's a better look:

The background that the image is stamped was created on watercolor paper with Distress inks and the Watercolor Distress technique (TJs Feb/Mar 07).  I made another card using the same technique late last year.

Have a great day!

Supplies:

• Stamps: I Brake For Stamps
• Paper: Fabriano watercolor card base, watercolor paper, chocolate chip c/stock
• Ink: Peeled Paint, Weathered Wood & Faded Jeans Distress Ink, Stazon, Primsa pencils
• Accessories: Green Flower Soft, brown sheer ribbon

Image Transfer ATCs

I want to share a few ATCs I created using image transfers made with packing tape. If you're not familiar with this technique, check out a tutorial I wrote about it on Gingersnaps today.  I'm not sure why I'm in the mood for making ATCs, but I'm just going with the flow!

I'm entering the first ATC for Think Monday Think ATC (TMTA), which challenged readers to use metal in their creation.  I used one of Tim Holtz' metal tags layered onto some sheet music and then an image transfer from an Oxford Impressions collage sheet.

This image transfer was created from the same Oxford Impressions collage sheet.  It's layered onto a piece of Basic Grey paper that I inked, stamped and stitched. 

This bird was taken directly from a home/lifestyle magazine.  It's layered on a collage of inked vintage papers and the word was cut from an old love letter.

All these ATCs have birds as their theme to put you in the mood for Spring.  I hope that wherever you live, Spring is on its way!

Thank you for visiting.

Happy Birthday Gingersnap Creations

We are celebrating our 1st birthday at Gingersnap Creations!  I can't believe a whole year has passed since Sharon and I set up this blog.  It started as a way for us to have some stamping fun together and satisfy our need for creating without rules and restrictions.  But boy, have we grown! 

Hundreds of people from around the world play our challenges each month!  We have a magnificent Design Team, who work so hard to make fantastic artwork each week.  We post awesome tutorials and techniques, review books and products and showcase different manufacturers and artists. To name but a few of the things we do.

As part of our birthday celebrations, we're hosting a joint challenge with Artistic Outpost- you can check out the details of the challenge here.  This is the card I made for the challenge using their Cutie Pie set.

 

To make it a little more special, I created a Top-Latch card (TJ technique June/July 08 edition) - here's a side view, so you can see it better.

Artistic Outpost is one of my very favorite stamp companies and I own quite a few of their plates.  In case you need a little inspiration for the challenge, I've put a few of my favorite cards into a photo album, which you can find in the sidebar.

Happy Creating!

Supplies:

• Stamps: Cutie Pie (Artistic Outpost), Celebrate Everything (Stampin' Up!)
• Paper: Vintage Cream (PTI), pattered paper from Making Memories and Basic Grey
• Ink: Black Memento, Copic Markers
• Accessories: Rhinestones (Amuse), Dazzling Diamonds (SU)
• Tools: Scallop edge punch (SU) & glue pen

Dabbed Shimmers

Do you ever have one of those days?  Today didn't go as planned.  It took me 4.5 hours to get my husband to the airport and he nearly missed his flight - you've got to love Boston traffic.  And while out for a walk, our dog impaled herself on a stick, resulting in a $350 vets bill.  That wasn't in the plan - think how many stamps that would buy!Anyway, the dog's fine and the hubby is on the plane, so I guess it all worked out in the end. 

On a good note, I hosted the Gingersnap Creations Color Challenge today and you have to use 3 colors you love.  I chose blue, green and white as my colors. 

I stamped the image from The Artistic Stamper with black ink onto a piece of Bashful Blue c/stock and highlighted it with a white charcoal pencil.  The blue background panel was created using the TJ technique, Dabbed Shimmers from the Feb/Mar 10 edition.  After I'd dabbed a piece of c/stock with Shimmer paint and SU reinkers, I ran it through the Big Shot with an embossing folder.  It's tricky to see the shimmer because I was photographing it during a snow storm - not such good light, but it is there!

Thanks for visiting!

Supplies:

• Stamps: Twenties Ladies - The Artistic Stamper
• C/stock: Whisper White & Bashful Blue
• Ink: Memento Black, SU Shimmer paint, Bashful Blue & Kiwi Kiss reinkers, white charcoal pencil
• Accessories: satin Kiwi Kiss ribbon, hat pin, pearls and crystals (SU Pretties kit)
• Tools: Big Shot, embossing folder, sponge

Party Time Art Exchange

I'm organizing a 4 for 4 postcard exchange over on Gingersnap Creations and the theme is party time.  I've almost finished all my cards and here's one that's pretty much complete.

The 4" x 6" base is 140lb watercolor paper which has layers of gesso, found papers, stamping and paint glazes.  The hats were created from old book pages and embellished with all manner of things I could find in my craft room.  My favorite part is the pom pom trim on the bottom, which is hand stitched with red and white thread.

We'd love to have more players and there's still time to sign up.  For more details on the swap, visit Gingersnap Creations.

Gingersnaps Blog Hop

Welcome to the Gingersnap Creations’ Valentine Blog Hop and Hop Stop #2!

If you’ve already been hopping then hopefully you have just come from Stop #1 at Gingersnap Creations. If you are starting here, welcome! It's a loop so you can start anywhere along the way!

At each stop, you need to collect a word! There are 9 stops in all starting and ending with the Gingersnap Creations blog where you can get all the specific information and get a peak at the the goodies in the Valentine Giveaway including some treats from The Artistic Stamper.

When you get all your words, 9 in all, unscramble them to form a quotation about love. Once you have your guess at the quote, email it and your name to gingersnapstamp@gmail.com by February 20, 2010. We will be picking one lucky winner at random from the correct entries to win the Valentine Giveaway package!

If you visit all the stops, you should end up right back at Gingersnap Creations with 9 words! Unscramble the words to come up with a love quote and email it on to gingersnapstamp@gmail.com. That's all there is to it!

My word is 'of'.  Your next stop on the hop is Debby at Debby's Stuff.

I made this card using Twenties #1 plate from The Artistic Stamper and the Wisped Frame technique from the Feb/March issue of technique junkies.

Good luck and have fun!

Playing with Alcohol Inks

There's exciting news at Gingersnaps today - a new Design Team call!  It's been six months since the last one - where does the time go? If you're looking to have some creative fun on an easy going and supportive team, then check it out!

Here's a card I made just for fun - that doesn't happen a lot these days!  I was playing with alcohol inks and used the Alcohol Ink Press technique from the TJs newsletter (April/May 07).  It didn't smoosh as well as this card, so I gave it a quick spritz with some Ranger's Blending Solution and it created this speckled effect.

I love I Brake for Stamps collage image - it's the first time I've used it and I'll definitely be using it again!

Supplies:

• Stamps: I Brake for Stamps, sentiment from Stampin' Up!
• Cardstock: Fabriano watercolor cards, acetate, whisper white, basic black
• Ink: Alcohol inks - Stream & Wild Plum, Black Stazon, blending solution
• Accessories: flat black pearls
• Tools: tab punch

Thanks for visiting!  Come back to tomorrow for the Gingersnaps Blog Hop....

Sundial Calendar

I'm hosting the Random Redhead Challenge on Gingersnaps today and the theme is numbers.  You should see the artwork the rest of the design team and the Serendipity design team created for this number theme - it's amazing.

My contribution is a calendar using a beautiful Sundial stamp from Serendipity.  I used markers to watercolor the main image and a lot of sponging to soften the edges. 

The calendar is available to members of the Gingersnap Creations Yahoo Group in the File sections - the group is open to all - we'd love to meet new members.

Thanks for stopping by my blog - have a wonderful day!

Supplies:

• Stamps: Sundial by Serendipity
• Paper: Chipboard, So Saffron c/stock and watercolor paper
• Ink: Brown Stazon, Linen & Scattered Straw Distress inks, SU markers
• Accessories: Certainly Celery brads & ribbon (SU)
• Tools: Big Shot, Top Note die, Cropadile, Aquapainter