Washi Tape LTC

I love Washi Tape.  It is fun, colorful, cheep, and I probably have a dozen rolls of it but I am scared to use it :(

This is my card for Trouble Bugs, "Washi Tape: Take Two" swap.  I started by picking my favorite tape and finding a image to go with it.  I really impressed myself with this stamp.  It came out much better that I imagined!

I dug around and found my Tim Holtz markers and colored the stamp image.  I thought the white wasn't going to work at first but I love how they turned out.  My OCD kicked in and I had to use the same color Distress Ink pads for the background that I used to color the stamp.  I rubbed the ink on, splattered water, and then dried cards.

Washi Tape- Take Two: Think Spring

I attached the layers of the card and added the tape.  I think the tape makes the card to busy :(  I am also not happy with the orange background.  I picked it to make the center of the flowers pop, but I think it is too much.   Oh well, they are in the mail now.  I love the stamp and plan to plant it as a traditional box.

Christmas Wrapping Paper Recycled

This is my card for Beetle's recycled wrapping paper LTC swap.  I really enjoyed making these cards and cranked them out in 3 days.

I used thin cardboard (kinda like cereal box) for the backing.  I tore the papers and attached them using Liquitex Matte Gel Medium.  You paint it over and under the papers.

This LTC is a lot like my Winnie the Pooh  card.  When the wrapping papers were down I stamped my image on white tissue paper and glued it down using the Gel Medium too (under & over).

I let that dry and then covered the card in Glossy Mod Podge.  I tried to use the Mod Podge to glue down the gold ribbon.  Some places wouldn't stay and I used straight pins to keep them in place.  I applied the glossy MP twice letting it dry each time.  Then I did one coat of Sparkle MP.

Christmas Wrapping Paper Recycled:
So hard to wait!

I carved this stamp stamp in 2013 for a LTC calendar swap.  Each person signed up for a month of the year, made 12 cards, sent them off, and the host made a Bind it All calendar with the cards.  I don't think I have ever reused this stamp.

I am very happy with how the cards turned out and I am looking forward to seeing the others :D

Kids Winter LTC Swap

Kids Winter Swap: Snowflake

The princess participated in a kids only LTC swap.  Her card is, "Snowflake".  We probably should have dropped from this tracker.  Christmas is such a busy time, I had a hard time getting her to work on the card.

So, I confess that I did everything but carve the stamp.  And she didn't carve it the way I wanted her to but she started without talking to me.

Our inspiration for the background was a snowman that Lil Ewok brought home from prek.  You mix shaving cream and glue, spread it on the paper, and add some glitter.  The shaving cream/glue mix was supposed to stay thick, soft, and squishy.  But during the night it went flat.  I was worried about the cards fitting in sleeves and binder pages; it was for the best that it didn't work as we planned.  But they were pretty and we were running out of time so we sent them off.  Very glad that this swap is over.

New Year & Box of the Month

BOTM Fall 2016

Happy New Year!  We spent the first day of the new year like we would any other Sunday.  We went to church and out to lunch.  We tried to see the movie SING but were turned away because the seats were full.  They have recently remodeled one of the theaters in town.  They took out every other row of seats and put in reclining seats.  So, less people can see the movie.  Sounds like a bad idea to me but they didn't ask what I thought :/

BOTM Fall 2016

I participated in BOTM for 2015 & 2016.  I got to thinking, that I posted about BOTM every month in 2015 but almost never in 2016.  I guess 2016 was pretty uneventful as far as BOTM goes.  It didn't go missing like 2015, it was a drive by and much easier to get to by all.

In the fall I took a few pics of changing leaves in the cemetery but never posted them.  I tried to take more pics but my phone died.  I am thinking of carving a stamp of the Celtic cross and hiding it near by.

A local boxer is taking my place in BOTM in 2017.  I am so excited!  I get to be a finder this go round.  She posted the new box yesterday and we found it today after we saw the movie SING.  We loved the location of the box.  The kids goofed off while I stamped and I had to have a pic of the wall.  The box had a HH in it and I had 2 but they were are home.  I will make sure to drop them in my bag so I can pass one on next month.

BOTM January 2017

As for 2017, it will probably be pretty low key.  No planting 100 boxes for an event.  I have joined the "Google Doodle" postal, I am back in the ornament swap, I have some event donations in my pile of stamps to carve,  I hope to make it to the Ohio prairie event, of course LTCs and a few traditional boxes.  TTFN :)

Ink Applicator/Blender Review

I have been using the old rectangle Distress Ink Applicator/Blending tool for a while now.  In my opinion the felt rectangles are too small.  But I make it work by using two of them or cutting my own.  If the Velcro underneath sticks out it can scratch your card.

But I recently noticed that many people are now using a round version of this tool.  I decided to give it a try and I do not like it.  The felt has been replaced with a sponge like pad that grips the paper and leaves big ink marks.  I had a very hard time getting the ink to blend and was not happy with the change.     

Sometimes I just use a piece of felt and not the tool part at all.  The long piece in the photo shows that I would use one color and then move down a little bit when I changed colors.  The next thing from Ranger/Tim Holtz will be little felt covers for your fingers; like a sewing thimble only felt.  You heard it here first ;) 

So, have you tired both?  Which do you prefer?

Secret Santa Stamps

This is my 5th year to participate in the Secret Santa stamp swap.  The 1st year we got an awesome Santa stamp that we planted near Santa Claus, Indiana.  The 2nd year we got a tiny frog stamp that we sent off as a hitchhiker.  The 3rd year we received a stamp of Charlie Brown, Snoopy & tree, that has recently gone missing.  Last year we got a Gingerbread man, that we sent out as a hitchhiker.

This year our Secret Santa was RideTheMoose (fun trail name).  She sent these cool stamps AND some chocolates!  One of the great things about these stamps is that they were carved on materials that I have never seen before.  The white one is labeled, "seed" and I don't know what the pink one is.  They are both much thicker than Speedball pink.

I will probably plant the strawberry in the spring and the leaf guy in the fall.  Thank you RideTheMoose :)

Self Portrait Collage LTC

This is my card for Beetle's "Self Portrait Collage" LTC swap.  My card is called, "Route 66."

My original idea for this swap was to carve a selfie and put that stamp on a photo background.  I sat down
and played around with the photo edit software for 30 minutes until I got the image in a way I could carve it.  I struggled with the carving and then Beetle posted on the tracker about how the photo could be printed.  I went back and reread the instructions and realized that I wasn't supposed to carve a selfie :(

Original Photo

So  I decided that I would remake one of my vacation photos.  I carved the stamp of the car and the Route 66 sign, colored everything with Sharpies, added my photo, and attached to the map background paper.  About half way through I thought that the darker (top) map paper would look better and I switched.

Unnecessary Selfie now a PT 

They turned out pretty good.  Kinda a pain to color them all.  I really should read the instructions before the start on my stamps/cards!  I love the little photo corner holder things :)