Dream Catcher LTCs

This is my card for crosscresent's Native American LTC swap.  I made a dream catcher card a few years ago but I have been wanting to do another.  Someone actually posted a Dream Catcher swap last year but the timing was bad and I didn't join.

I have been wanting to make a card with Yupo paper for a while and this was my first time.  I see a lot of alcohol ink art on social media and this was my first go at it.  I'm pretty happy with my cards :)

For some of the cards I added the ink first and on others I added the blending solution first.  There were 2-3 cards where I did not add the blending solution at all just to see how they would look.  I tried moving the ink around with a straw, puffer, and heat tool.

Yupo paper is not supposed to warp, but it will with too much heat.  I had to throw a few away because of this.

I had a hard time stamping my stamp.  It kept wanting to smear.  I eventually gave in and used my stamping platform and they turned out much better. 

I'm very happy with my cards but it sounds like they got lost in the mail :(  I've got so many things going on, I really don't have time to remake them.

Happy New Year

Kids and I electioneering at the mall

Hello 2020.  I usually do a blog post recapping the previous year and talk about what the new year holds.

Surprisingly, 2019 was a great find year for me.  I say "surprisingly" because my husband ran for city council and it consumed 9 months of the year.  I felt like it was the only thing I did in 2019.  But it was actually my highest find year ever!  I found 315 boxes in 2019 and the last one was my 1500th letterbox, woo hoo!  My second highest year was 2015 with 225 boxes.

I totally credit all those finds to attending some amazing events.  In May, Daddy's Favorite Princess, my boxing buddy, and I attended A Walk in the Park at Shakamak SP in Indiana.  In June, Daddy's Favorite Princess, Boxing Turtle, and I attended the Big Top on the Prairie event in Ohio.  On the way home from this event we boxed in Spring Grove Cemetery and found many boxes.  In November, Boxing Turtle and I attended the Four Seasons event in Chandler, In.

In my last year recap post, I said that in 2019 I would be planting boxes that went with silly holidays.  My plan was to hide one a month.  I planted 25 of these boxes and a hitchhiker too.  Most of these were planted in my county but I did spread the love to Ky & Oh.

Events!

I made an average number of LTCs in 2019 (28).  Again, I expected this number to be lower with my husband running for city council.  I know there were swaps that I wanted to join but didn't because the timing was bad.  Sadly, there were a few that I dropped from because I knew I wouldn't finish on time.

All in all, 2019 was a good year.  I don't really make letterboxing goals.  I don't have any plans for this year and my planting will probably be down.  I am running out of ideas and hiding places.  I hope to get back to the Homerdoodle event in Il.  My 10th letterboxing anniversary will be in October and I have thought about hosting an event to celebrate.  But we will have to see how the year goes.

Unfortunately, my boxing buddy fell late in 2019 and she is not able to get out much.  She going to have to have her knees replaced.  The dr that she has chosen is so backed up that her surgery won't be until summer.  If you could say a prayer for her, I'd really appreciate it. 

I hope you all have a great 2020!

 

Star Wars LTC

This is my card for Linden Leaf's Star Wars LTC swap.  My card is called, "I love you... I know."  I had so much trouble with these cards!  I wanted the cards to have a valentine theme.  I initially carved a different stamp and decided that it was too solid and took up too much of the background. 

So I carved this stamp and was much happier.  I found this background technique on Pinterest.  I like it when bloggers tell what colors they are using.  I already had all the colors but one. 

For these cards, I did a Distress Ink watercolor background.  I cut my watercolor paper to size, taped it down so that it wouldn't warp, and painted water on the paper. Next, you rub you link pads on your craft mat and paint them on the wet watercolor paper with a small paint brush. 

You can tilt the paper around to make the colors move.  When you are happy with the color, dry it with a heat tool.  In the video the woman sprays water on her hand and flicks it on the paper.  I tried that and think it is much easier to stick your hand in a cup and flick the water.  Let it set for a min and then remove the water with a paper towel.

That part was fun and easy :)  Now for the hard part :(  When I went to stamp my stamp, the grooves in the watercolor paper were so deep that the ink would not go down in.  I tried my Speedball press and my Tim Holtz stamping platform.  With the stamping platform I had to ink up the stamp at least 3 times to get a decent impression. 

I originally made 20 cards but I destroyed many of them trying to get a good image.  I ended up buying different watercolor paper.  The stamping was much better but I felt like the watercolor part was not as pretty.  I ended up using some of each.

When I was finally done with the backgrounds, I stamped my image, embossed, attached the cards to different pink backgrounds with foam tape like in the video, and added sequins. 

Sometimes I make quisps to go along with the cards and that is where the baby Yoda comes in.  I simply stamped him brown on green paper.  Thankfully, he was really easy :)