SOS #102 - Tool Shed

Happy Tuesday! it's time for a new challenge over at Shopping Our Stash. This week our theme is What's In Your Tool Shed. We'd like you to go into your stash and find a tool (punch, cutter, piercer, crimper, crop-a-dile, eyelet setter, etc.) that you haven't used in ages, or that you haven't ever used, and use it. Be sure to tell us what it is!

I had grand plans for this challenge. I re-discovered a bottle of Masquepen in my "tools" drawer:

I picked this up several years ago during a trip to the local artist supply store. It's a liquid you squeeze out onto your paper and let it dry. Then you do your techniquey thing and then peel it off. It's a mask (masque), and peels off your paper like rubber cement would - all stretchy and fun. Unfortunately, mine was also very old, and it had separated and become parts-is-parts inside the bottle. The only thing that moved was the clumpy part, and it clogged the nozzle. Speaking of which, check it out:

The lid comes with a built-in needle to keep the tip unclogged. GENIUS, I say, GENIUS! Unfortunately, none of the kneading and shaking helped, so this is now just so much trash.

Plan B was to use my crimper. I blew off the dust and made this:

All the pretty card stock is from a pile of textured card stock I picked up from the "sharing" table at last month's stampy retreat. The table was to collect stuff we no longer wanted, and what was left at the end of the weekend would be donated to the Ronald McDonald House. As any good crafter knows: Free is good, so most of us rummaged and borrowed and used and reclaimed what we wanted. I had left my never-opened Sew Easy stuff, and it was claimed, so I don't feel too badly about taking home this pretty textured card stock. It's a bunch of 6x6 pieces, so they live in The Heaplet now, and thus qualify as remnants.

I am incapable of getting the paper to feed straight in my crimper. It seems to start out straight, but then it goes all wonky. This may also be why I don't use it more often.

You can't see it, but I stamped some tiny circles onto the yellow and red-ish papers using Versamark. To make up for the invisibility, I added washi tape. I think it also helps pull the three colors together.

Okay, now it's YOUR turn. Go into your tool shed and find something you either rarely use, forgot you had, or have never used, then USE IT. Then come link up your project over at Shopping Our Stash so we can see what you've made.

Thanks for stopping by!

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ABNH + May Arts Collaboration

Hello there! This week the A Blog Named Hero DT is collaborating with May Arts. Can you say RRRRRRIBBON?!?!?! Oh, yeah, baby!

I might have over-achieved and made two cards instead of one. Here's my first one:

I was so very proud of mostly lining up those triangles.  I even broke out my Distress Rock Candy Stickles for the gem:

And my second card:

This one got three rows of that pretty lace, and a hand-made flower I bought on etsy. I actually sewed the flower through the layer to secure it. I did. :)

Why not head over to the ABNH blog to see what the rest of the DT ladies have made. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Dynamic Duos Birthday Card

I set aside the irreverence for tonight and instead I played the current Dynamic Duos challenge:

As soon as I saw these colors and the "kid card" part of the challenge, I knew what had to be done. Well, had to be tried. I'm not sure I quite pulled it off. Here's my card, then I'll explain:

I had the idea to use the blue and black as circles in a white background. I was influenced by this card Kathy Racoosin made where she mixed up the circle centers and it looks amazing!

I cut the Simon Says Stamp die three times - once each from blue, black and white. Then I laid the white piece on top of a full white card front and started laying in the circles. When I was happy with them, I glued them down and moved on to the sentiment.

The Avery Elle sentiment (it's half of the one in the set - I cut it last time I used it) was inked in Versamark, then SU Brilliant Blue, stamped, then embossed with clear EP. It needed some contrast, so it got some washi tape behind it, of course.

When I was done, I thought it still needed something, so I added a few blue A Muse star-shaped rhinestones.

That's it for this weekend. I need to go finish laundry and get my head around the fact that tomorrow is Mo ... Mon ... I can't say it.

Thanks for stopping by.

Products used but not linked below: SU Basic Black card stock, SU Brilliant Blue (or Pacific Point) card stock, A Muse bling, SU Brilliant Blue ink, clear embossing powder, misc blue washi tape.

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More Irreverence

Well, it turns out the other cards I had started didn't have room for the new irreverence, so I went with some old stamps, and they worked out just fine! :)  Sometimes, when you stamp without a net like I do, you need to use what fits.

All these cards are the same except for the sentiments. Here we go!

First up:

And because I'm so nice, I won't bore you with more copies of the same card; I'll just show you the sentiments. Here they are:

The ingredients for these cards are the same as the last batch, but I've added some SU ribbon and brads, and some washi tape. I also think these are dangerously close to more-is-more cards.

For my next trick, I'm going to have to build the cards around the sentiments, I can see that now. Maybe not tonight, but soon, as I need to put them away. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

PS: I'm also entering these in the Play Date Cafe challenge.

New Irreverence, Part First

By now most of you know I'm easily enabled to NEED things. You also know I like some good, healthy irreverence. So imagine my thrill when a friend alerted me to a 40% off sale on irreverence at Joann's. Yep, there were pages of Riley & Co sentiments, and I needed many of them. NEEDED, do you hear me?

So today I am introducing them to ink. I'm also still unpacking from my crafty retreat in early April (*ahem*) and found several sheets of stamped Gossip Gals I did before the stamp decided to come home with me. I also found a package of SU DSP I hadn't cut into yet (and obviously didn't in April, either), so I got to work, and I have 14+ cards in progress.

It's a bit crowded in there now, so I'm showing you what I've finished so far, then I'll be back with Part Second, and maybe Part Third, depending on how things go.

Let's get started! Most of the cards are the same layout; just the words are different. So no, you're not seeing things ... focus on the irreverence. :)

First:

I say this every. single. day.

Next:

This one uses a piece of paper from the remnant pile. It also has a button, mostly because I accidentally touched the inked sentiment to the card and it was ruined. I went with Plan B and stamped it onto a thankfully remaining piece and popped it up to make it look like I meant to do that.

And I know people who make crafty things out of corks. They say they collect them from the neighbors, but I dunno ...

Next:

Everyone needs a bestie like this, right? I also think this layout needs something else at the top. The jury is still out.

Next:

I know a squillion people I could send this to (to whom I could send this) but they're not worth the postage.

And a "normal one" snuck in, just to break things up:

*gasp* I stamped it straight! ;/

Last one from this batch:

This sentiment is not new. It's from the recesses of one of the irreverence drawers, and I stumbled upon it while searching for the "cats have staff" sentiment I used on my last post. In fact, this sentiment describes me pretty well. My son is getting married in late September, and I can tell you I am NOT wearing pantyhose. Long skirts are quite liberating in that respect. :)

Okay, I'm going in for round two of the irreverence bowl. I'll be back later.

Thanks for stopping by!

ETA: I totally forgot: I'm entering these in the current Play Date Cafe challenge.

Products used but not linked below: SU Calypso Coral card stock, SU Calypso Coral ribbon, SU Sent With Love DSP, SU Pool Party twine, misc button, Riley & Co sentiments, Gossip Ladies form Stampers Anonymous, Pantyhose sentiment from Rubber Moon (I got it at the LSS), Echo Park DSP.

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