Junk Mail to Treasure with The Project Bin

My great-grandmother was a wonderful storyteller.  All of us kids would sit on her extra long porch swing and listen to her tell us stories.  The story that I have never forgotten was about a very poor young man who loved to paint but he didn't have any money for supplies.  My memory is a bit blurry but I believe he took pet hair and wrapped it around a brush and he painted with it.  He became a famous painter.  I LOVED that story.  Although the details have faded with time the moral of the story has always stuck with me: 

It's not about what you have, it's about what you do with what you have. Never give up! 

For this card, I didn't have to wrap fur or hair around a brush to paint the background but I did use a piece of trash in the making of this card.  For all the fun details hop on over to The Project Bin Blog and check out my step by step tutorial!!!  

The sentiment featured today is from the Luke 2 stamp set by The Project Bin.

Thanks so very much for stopping by today!   

Luke 2

Sending Comfort

Allison has a pretty new sketch for the SC672 challenge at Splitcoaststampers this week.  I thought this mug of cocoa from Unity Stamp Co's Kit of the Month Club - When You Smile fit the sketch perfectly.  The sketch includes a layer that works well for a sentiment with a small font.  I chose the sentiment from Bowl-full of Comfort and masked off the "by the bowl-full" since I am featuring a mug of cocoa.  Splitcoaststampers is a wonderful community site with daily challenges, tutorials, personal galleries to share your work and much more.  It's free for everyone so won't you join us?

Joyful Song and a Double Bow

Hello!  Today I am sharing this pretty sentiment from the Joyful Song stamp set by The Project Bin. This sentiment looks lovely framed in a circle.  Again this week I used a cute bow die but this time I layered the smaller bow on top of the larger one.  

Are you all set to mail out your Christmas cards or are you like me and still have quite a few yet to create?  The project Bin has three fabulous Christmas sentiment sets to help you finish your Christmas cards for this year or get a head start on next year!    

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Joyful Song

Musings and a Sketch

It's Sketch challenge day at Splitcoaststampers today!  

Carey is our designer of SC671 this week.  It's a super cool sketch which made me think of the galaxy technique I have been experimenting with lately.

I rescued this card from the trash after my first design idea looked awful.  A friend I have made through an online game encouraged me so much that I looked at the card with fresh eyes.  I kept the galaxy sky but die cut a fresh moon, and in place of a stamped image, I added Stormy Cat.  I think she is pondering a season of joy instead of a season of hustle and bustle!

Share joy, say something encouraging to someone you encounter today!!!

*** Sentiment is from grab bag prize I received from Unity Stamp Co. 

Alcohol Inks, The Project Bin and Tutorial Tuesday

A couple of weeks ago I created a faux copper card inspired by Lydia's Stone Cold Twisted challenge at Splitcoaststampers.  It was so much fun that I thought I would revisit the original technique with alcohol inks and silver mixative for a Christmas card!

To create this fancy Christmas ornament a special ornament die is NOT required, a simple circle die is all you need!  I used a bow die for my ornament topper but a ribbon bow would work too.  My ornament "hanger" is a balloon string die cut but again, a ribbon will do the trick or thin strip of cardstock.  For all the fine details head on over to The Project Bin Blog and check out the step-by-step instructions in the PDF file!

The elegant scripture stamp can be found in the Luke 2 stamp set by The Project Bin!

Luke 2

Thanks so much for stopping by!

A sketch and a little distress magic

This week's sketch at Splitcoaststameprs is up!  Diane has created this beautiful layout for the SC670 challenge.  There are so many different ways to go with this sketch but I have been experimenting with the galaxy technique this past week so I decided to create a Christmas sky.  

I taped mixed media paper to a wooden cutting board so it would not bend and buckle once I added water.  After I painted water on the entire piece, I stamped Distress inks, Picked Raspberry, Seedless, Preserves and Blueprint Sketch on a kraft mat then I picked up the ink with a paintbrush.  I dried the paper with a heat tool and repeated painting until I was satisfied with the look.  To finish off my winter sky, I sponged black on the upper portion of the sky and splattered with white ink.

The sentiment is  Star of Wonder from Verve.  It might be a retired set as I couldn't locate it in the shop but Verve stamps are gorgeous so check them out!

I hope you will join us at Splitcoaststampers where every day a new challenge awaits, a stamping challenge that is!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Stone Cold Change

I love art techniques that make me feel like I am a mad scientist or a magician!  I just love taking a piece of plain white paper and transforming it into beautiful color!  For this card, I took glossy white cardstock and transformed it into faux copper with the help from Lydia at Splitcoaststampers.

Lydia has a new technique twist on an old favorite which she shared for the  TL663 challenge.   She also said we would get "bonus points"(simply a fun way to add a little something extra to a challenge) for creating a Fall card so I turned to this gorgeous sentiment from the New Leaf stamp set from The Project Bin.  

To create the background, I used a soft disposable cloth, (cotton balls would have been great but I couldn't find any) and added rubbing alcohol to it.  Then I added drops of reinker, next I spritzed with Mustard Color Shine spray and finally I pounced copper Perfect Pearls onto glossy cardstock.

I buffed it until I had the pattern I was looking for.  The end result IRL is a piece that looks like copper!  I tried to capture some of its shine pictured below.

Thanks for looking! I hope you are inspired to take an old technique out, dust it off and give it new life with a spin!  

New Leaf

Mistletoe kisses and a sketch

Growing In Unity Winners are posted please check out this post and leave a comment with your address so we can get your prize to you!!!

Hello!  It's Wednesday and that means sketch day at Splitcoaststampers!

Cathy created a beautiful sketch for us this week with SC669. The circular focal point is ideal for Birdies, Hugs & Mistletoe by Unity Stamp Co.

With the sketch provided for me and such a cute image to color,

this card came together in no time!

Stop by and check out this week's sketch challenge at SCS!

SC669