Be able to see the beauty

Hello, Nataliya is here & VERY MERRY to all :)
Today I want to show my new page from Wall Notebook. This is the story about beauty what can be found in unexpected places. The main thing is to try to see it.

The dancing girl on a trash can, have a chance to see something unusual behind the closed door.

My VLVS!:

One Way Small 3/4 x 1 1/4

Be Adorable 1 3/4 x 4 1/2

Some People Feel/Wet 1 x 3 1/4

Dancing Lady 2 1/4 x 3 1/2

Have a beautiful day!

Enough is enough......

NEVER!!!!

That's exactly what I say about any and all of my crafting supplies.

Especially my rubber stamps.

The place to shop for rubber stamps is

Viva Las Vegastamps!!!

They have some of the most awesome and unusual you will ever come across.

Click on the link and check them out....

Meanwhile, back at the studio I have created a little masterpiece....

This is like seeing double for me....

Bwahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!

I had this framed mirror that was a purchase from Ikea.  It was solid black and I wanted to give it more pizzazz.  I painted chevron stripes with acrylic paint.....

Here's a tip on how to get perfect chevron stripes.

while it was drying I stamped the Topsy glasses lady (#4651), bursting through (#3108), and the 'too many stamps' sentiment (#3903) on white cardstock.

I colored them using colored pencils and OMS (odorless mineral spirits) blended with a paper stump. I also added some crystal lacquer to her glasses.

I then cut out the center of the 'bursting through' stamp and placed the topsy glasses lady in  the bottom half to look like she's 'bursting' with craziness for more rubbah!!!!

Matting the sentiment with some black cardstock and placing them catty corner of each other.  I also added a few stick-on jewels. and ta--daaaaaa!!!

These are the colors of my studio....I'll hang this near my rubber stamp shelf.  Well, until I have to make the shelf bigger to add more 'rubbah'.......

Until later, rubbah enthusiasts.......Gotta straighten my glasses split.....TFL!!!!!!

Once, Twice, Three Times a Skipping Lady

Hi Viva Las Vegastamps! fans! My name is leslierahye and I am proud to be a new design team member for this amazing stamp company! I love the diversity of the designs and sentiments offered [by far the largest selection of sentiments that I've ever seen in one place!]. 

For my project today, I wanted to share with you how versatile your stamps from Viva Las Vegastamps! can be!  I recently received a POUND OF RUBBER for $25! In this pound of rubber I received both images and sentiments that I could use for all sorts of crafting--a TON of them! With this my first project I wanted to share how you could take one image--in this case the Skipping Lady-- and create cards for different occasions by merely changing the sentiment--I stopped at 3 examples but the sky is the limit here with so many sentiments to choose from!

For this project you will need from Viva Las Vegastamps!:

Additional Supplies include:

card stock of your choice 

[I used Coredinations papers, Bazzil Basics and Basic Grey]

assorted ribbons, flowers and gems

assorted embossing folders

India Ink by Stewart Superior

Method:

All three cards began the same--I stamped the image on a 2"×3" piece of white card stock with Black India Ink. I then applied Sakura 3D Crystal Lacquer to the dress skirt "overlay". While the crystal lacquer was still wet, I applied a generous sprinkling of Terri Sproul's Mixers Ultra Fine Glitter. The images were put aside to allow the lacquer to dry. 

The sentiments were then stamped with Black India Ink onto white card stock and then trimmed to fit the sentiment. All images and sentiments were mounted on a piece of Basic Grey patterned paper using Miracle Tape to adhere the stamped items to their backings.

The Coredinations card stock was embossed using various folders to match the "intent"--clock for age, swirls for "crazy", reading material-like for Scientology sentiment. In some cases the card base was inked with a brown ink, but that is not necessary.

All embellishments were adhered with Miracle Tape--it is simply amazing for all applications but I LOVE how it holds ribbon! You don't even notice the tape even with the organza ribbons!! The little gems were adhered with crystal lacquer.

Thank you for looking! I hope you enjoyed my cards!

What Was I Thinking?

Valentine's Day is coming soon! I am sure that most of us, at least one time in our lives, could relate to this card. Some people will go buy a nice mushy card, but in the back of their mind they'll be thinking "I need that card that Joe Morgan made!" Anyway, it's just for fun, because Valentine's Day isn't all about hearts and flowers for everyone. Sarcastic people like me would prefer that we skip it and have Halloween twice a year instead. So on to my card!

I used two Viva Las Vegastamps! for this project:
Hugging Lovers
Looking Back Over the Years

For my background, I used a conversation heart embossing folder to dry emboss pink paper. I stamped the sentiment on white and used a decorative punch to punch it out. I stamped the Hugging Lovers stamp on white and colored it with Copic markers and then fussy cut it out. I assembled the card as shown with some green and pink ribbon behind the sentiment and I also inked the edges.

I hope you enjoy my card and at least got a good laugh from it! Viva Las Vegastamps! has a ton of sentiment stamps for everything. I get ideas just by reading them!

For more of my project ideas, visit my blog on Create & Craft.

It's Fruitcake Time!

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! For my last post of 2011, I wanted to make a card that I have had planned out in my head for quite a while. I know it's the day after Christmas, but it's funny, so here it is. I am sure everyone will get a late card or two in the mail this week and I am sure that if you had a fruitcake in your house yesterday, then more than likely, it's still there today. Anyway, back to my project. I am known for my unconventional sense of humor, and this card supports that. People will know who made this as soon as they see it.

I used the following four Viva Las Vegastamps! to make this card:

Handsome Man

Man With Bottle

Santa Hat (reversed)

Fruitcake Time! sentiment

First I stamped all of my stamps on white card stock using a black Memories dye ink pad from Stewart Superior. I wanted the Santa hat to go in the opposite direction, so I stamped it on the smooth backside of another unmounted rubber stamp, and then pressed that image onto the paper to get my reversed image. Then, I colored all my images and cut them out. I embossed the green background sheet with a holly embossing folder. I used a punch for some additonal holly leaves and berries. For the lights, I used a spool of embellishment lights arranged the way I wanted them, and put a drop of glue under each bulb. I let that dry for a few minutes, and then put a drop of glue under the strings to hold them where I wanted them.

I assembled the rest of the card as you see in the finished picture. I put the Man with Bottle behind a holly leaf so he would not be floating in space. I put the Handsome Man on pop dots to bring him to the front of the scene and to show that the guy with the bottle of tanning oil (it's my card, so that is what I have decided it is) is in the background. Of course, the sentiment means it's Christmastime, but I like to think that the man is happy for a lot of reasons.

Visit my blog on the Create & Craft site to see my other fun projects. Happy New Year!

Circus Themed Card using Creative Paperclay

A couple years back, I took a pottery class through the Lifelong Learning program offered by my city's Parks and Recreation department. We learned to throw pots, work with clay slabs and even did some molding. Back then I used some small face molds to make embellishments for a clay bowl. When it came time to play with Creative Paperclay I remembered the molds and thought it would be fun to cast paperclay.

The Creative Paperclay was really easy to work with and molded quite well. I was happily surprised by how much detail you can get. Once the castings were dry, I used an emery board to smooth the edges so they were ready to paint.

Viva Las Vegastamps! has several circus themed stamps and for some odd reason, when I look at them, I'm drawn to the Unicycle Lady 2 3/4 x 3 1/2 #14619.
I thought she would look great in brightly colored costume that sparkled. So, I stamped the image with dye ink, colored it in with Copic markers and then used a glue pen to add glitter. After I fussy cut the image, I knew I had the focal point of a card.

The sentiment, Perhaps You Were Just 1 1/2 x 2 1/4 #7834 from Viva Las Vegastamps!, seemed like a good companion to the unicycle lady. The molded faces could become part of a crowd, watching her perform. I found a vintage crowd photograph, printed it in sepia tones, and painted the faces a similar shade using an acrylic wash.

I love texture and wanted the bottom of the card to look like the dirt floors I had seen in circus rings. I had saved some sawdust from a previous project (I save everything! LOL) and applied it using 1" wide Miracle Tape and it gave me just the looked I was hoping for.

With all the components complete, I assembled the card. I used pop-dots to lift up the circus ring wall from the crowd, so they would appear to be sitting behind the wall. I used pop-dots again for the unicycle lady so she would be in front of the wall. It took a double layer of pop-dots where he body was above the crowd (versus the wall).

I hope you enjoy this card and it doesn't give you any nightmares about your past at the circus!

You can see my other projects on my blog on the Create & Craft website.

Happy crafting!
Joe Rotella

I Like Cats Too!

First of all, I have to say that no cats were harmed in the making of this card! Secondly, I love cats and would never eat them!

I was looking through all the stamps that I got in my pound of rubber from Viva Las Vegastamps! and spotted this sentiment about exchanging cat recipes. I thought to myself that I would never use such a thing! But then, I saw this wonderful chef stamp, and my evil wheels started turning! For the little cat heads, I used a stamp of two cats playing leap frog and just used their heads.

After putting the stamps together in my head, I wasn't sure if I would like a card using cats in such a manner, so then I started looking for other ideas, and I found this cute stamp of a dog with a chef hat! So then it didn't seem so bad. I think the Chef leans toward weird, but then the dog balances that out by leaning toward cute since that is the type of behavior we can expect from dogs. At least in cartoons anyway.



For both cards, I stamped my images on white cardstock, and colored with Copic markers. I used pattern paper for my backgrounds and inked my edges and then glued my pieces in place.

Please feel free to stop by my blog to say hello and see my other Viva Las Vegastamps! projects! Thanks for stopping by!

Shell Shaped Card Featuring a Glitter on Acetate Mermaid!

Glitter! Most every crafter I know likes to add a little bling to their projects once in a while, and glitter is an easy way to do it. This little fact may surprise you; glitter was invented by an American cattle farmer named Ruschman during the 1930s! Although some sources say he invented the product after World War II. His company, Meadowbrook Inventions, is still the world’s largest supplier of glitter.

Did you know that Sakura 3D Crystal Lacquer is a fantastic adhesive? In my experience, it will hold just about any two materials together, including glitter and acetate. For this card, I started by stampingMermaid With Drink 2¼ x 2½ (#14565 from Viva Las Vegastamps!) on a piece of acetate with StazOn ink by Tsukineko. Be careful to stamp straight up and down when stamping on acetate. It’s slippery and it’s easy to get a blurry impression. Once it’s dried, fussy cut out the mermaid.

Work on the backside (the dull side) of the acetate and apply a thin layer of 3D Crystal Lacquer Clear to the image in sections, based on color. The fine applicator tip makes it easy to get in to the smallest of areas. Try to stay right on the lines of the stamped image, but don’t worry if you go over a little. Work one color at a time; apply the lacquer for that area, sprinkle with glitter, flip and quickly tap off the excess. If necessary, nudge the glitter back inside the stamped lines. When you’re finished with one color, move on to the next, repeating the process. Be sure to start with the darkest colors and work your way to the lightest colors. When you’re done, let the piece dry overnight.

Cut a card base in the shape of a clam shell to make a shaped card. Mine is about 5” wide and 5” tall so it will fit in a square envelope.

I cut a liner for the card using the same shell shape (inset about ¼”) in lavender (to match my Mermaid’s hair!). Use 3D Crystal Lacquer to apply some fine lines of adhesive and sprinkle with sand. Tap off the excess sand and let it dry. A pink pearl finished it off. Adhere this piece to the inside of your card.

For the front, I created marbled paper using shaving cream and dye ink refills in shades of blue and green. You can read how to do this on eHow.com. The technique is lots of fun and the results are absolutely amazing! The shaving cream can even give your paper a nice scent!

Cut the marbled paper the same size/shape as you cut the liner and embellish it. To create an ocean floor, coral and seaweed, I applied sand, micro beads, assorted beads and vintage glitter using 3D Crystal Lacquer as an adhesive. A pearl starfish brad and a shell brad from the Eyelet Outlet completed the look. I loved all the different textures I got using so many different materials. Adhere this to the front of the card. And then use pop-dots to adhere the Mermaid to the card.

The sentiment “I used to have an hourglass figure…but the sand shifted” (#510 from Viva Las Vegastamps!) seemed to fit this card perfectly. I stamped it on a scrap of the marbled paper using brown dye ink, cut it out in the shape of a speech bubble and attached it to the card front with pop-dots.

I hope you’ll try adding some sparkle to your projects using 3D Crystal Lacquer and glitter on acetate. The results can be dazzling!

For more project ideas, visit my blog on the Create & Craft website. Happy crafting!

Joe Rotella

"Thanks a Lot" from Grandma's Kitchen

Hello - its Susan and I'm bringing you a special Saturday post! This lovely card reminiscent of Grandma's kitchen features Viva Las Vegastamps! Blender #1571 and "Thanks a Lot" #587 stamps. 

I stamped the blender with Black Memories Dye ink. Let me say that it says this is a waterproof, permanent dye ink - and I put it to the test with this image. I am quite suprised and impressed that after all of the hand coloring and crystal lacquer, the image is still crisp and clean with no bleeding. 

Here's how I made the two-tone blender. First, I stamped it on white and then again on blue cardstock. I cut each blender out and paper pieced it back together, in a retro color style, two-tone blue and clear. Then I colored in accents to give it dimensions with my Marvy markers and water brush. I really like the effect of blending with the water brush opposed to the blender pen. 

Detail after handcoloring with markers and water brush.

I layered the stamped pieced blender onto BoBunny patterned paper, then double matted circles placed on top of a paper doily. The background papers are scraps of BoBunny papers, too. Of course, I adhered it all down with Miracle Tape. This came out so beautifully - just like in Grandma's retro kitchen.

Here is how the card looks before I added some magic...Crystal Lacquer. I filled in the blue areas and the knobs and a few details in the pitcher of the blender with blue Crystal Lacquer. The blue Crystal Lacquer gave the blue paper a "POP" and the illusion of dimension. The rest of the blender, the cord, and switchplate I layered in clear Crystal Lacquer. And "BAM!!!!" Here is the shiny new blender in all it's 3-D splendor. Just like one of those high-priced epoxy stickers...but better - because I made it myself!!!

Detail after adding Crystal Lacquer to blender.

I needed a sentiment to finish off this card so I stamped the "Thanks a Lot" with "Madonna Blue" Memories pigment ink and embossed with VLVS Ultra High Gloss embossing powder. Double matted and adhered with Miracle Tape, the card is complete. I hope you like it and invite you to play along with November's challenge "THANKS".

This is a new month and there is a new VLVS Theme Challenge for November. Submit your "THANKS" theme creations using Viva Las Vegastamps for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate at the VLVS online store. CLICK HERE for info on submissions. Also check out the Viva Las Vegastamps store - there is something for every occasion and more! 

"Thanks a Lot" for visiting & if you would like to see more of my creations please visit my blog, sbartist : painting in the dark HERE. Have a great weekend : )

Beware the Pumpkin Eater!

The Pumpkin Eater card by Joe Morgan

Halloween, my favorite holiday, is almost here! For this week's post, I made a cute card using three different pumpkin stamps. To start out, I stamped the three stamps on white cardstock, and colored them with Copic markers. I cut out all three of them. One of them includes a graveyard scene in the background, but I cut that off so that I would just have the pumpkin by itself.

For the sentiment, I wrote my own, and then printed it directly on a 6”x12” piece of the light brown cardstock. The font is called Centaur, and I thought it looked like a good storybook font. Be sure to click on the pictures to enlarge them for easier reading. For the tree, I cut some dark brown cardstock with a Tim Holtz Sizzix die. I cut out a silhouette of a man to use for Peter Peter the Pumpkin Eater.

When assembling, I glued down the moon and then the tree. I glued down one man silhouette and then placed black pop dots on top of him and then put an identical silhouette on top for a 3D effect. For the pumpkins, I glued down the center one, and then used pop dots for the two on the outside to add dimension.

Here are the three stamps I used for this project:
Pumpkin in Cemetery #6264
Jack O’Lantern #5896
Pumpkin Sneering #6490

For an added Halloween bonus, I am posting a second card that I made for Viva Las Vegastamps! ad in Rubber Stamp Madness magazine.

Frankenstein Collage Card by Joe Morgan

For this card, I used Frankenstein stamp #5842, some colored paper and acrylic paint dabbers from Ranger. To start out, I cut eight colored squares of paper about 2.5”x2.5” I adhered four of them to the front of a 5”x5” card.

I stamped on the four remaining squares using paint dabbers instead of ink on my stamp. I stamped blue paint on the greenish white square, black paint on the purple square, purple paint on the blue square and green paint on the yellow square. You can do it any way you like. I then cut out my monsters and adhered them to the squares on the card in the order I liked best. You’ll want to wash your stamps ASAP when using paint. I doesn’t hurt them, but the longer it sets, the harder it is to clean.

Be sure to visit the Viva Las Vegastamps! blog to see what the rest of the design team have created for Halloween! There are lots of great ideas this month!

I hope you have enjoyed my cards as much as I enjoyed making them! Feel free to check out my blog at Create & Craft for more fun ideas! Thanks for stopping by!

Halloween Treat Boxes - Free Pattern!

I’m not a big fan of horror stories, scary films, haunted houses and the like. They make my heart pound and I scare pretty easily. Maybe that’s why I prefer the spooky but fun approach to Halloween.

When I saw the Eyes Inside Pumpkin stamp from Viva Las Vegastamps! it made me chuckle. The design comes in two sizes (#10871, #10880), so you can use it to create a suite of projects that complement one another. Combine it with Halloween Glitter Stripe paper from The Robin’s Nest and Purple Grandeur paper from Core’dinations and you’ve got all you need to make these three spooky Halloween treat boxes and tag.

One sheet of Halloween Glitter Stripe paper gives you enough strips to decorate about 9 boxes and a couple of tags. One sheet of Purple Grandeur will make all three boxes. I cut in to a second sheet to make the tag. Miracle Tape from Viva Las Vegastamps! makes it fast and easy to secure pieces when making the boxes.

Embellishments

To create the pumpkin embellishments, I stamped the Eyes Inside Pumpkin stamps on orange glitter paper from Colorbok’s Autumn Glittler pack with StazOn Jet Black ink and fussy cut them. I touched up the stamped lines with a black sharpie. To make the eyes really pop, I used a drop of Inkssentials White Enamel Accents by Ranger for each eye. After that cured, I touched the center with a black Pigma Micron Pen (0.3 mm) from Sakura. I applied green chunky glitter to the stems using Crystal Lacquer as an adhesive.

The two Happy Halloween sentiments are #7737 and #8709 from Viva Las Vegastamps! I stamped them on scalloped ovals and rectangles cut with deckle scissors.

Window Treat Box

Here’s a free pattern in PDF format to make the window treat box. I stamped the inside with Happy Halloween from Viva Las Vegastamps! This box makes a great container for candy, jewelry, a key, tickets, etc. I filled mine with Reeces Pieces because I love the colors they come in!

Triangle Favor Box

Triangle Treat Box Pattern

Start with a piece of cardstock measuring 6” x 4”. Score it down the center (3”) along the long side. Then score it from the center of the short side (2”) to the center of the long side as shown. Punch a 1/8” hole ½” down and ½” over from the each of the four corners. Fold along the score lines; fill it with candy or a small gift and threat ribbon through the punched holes to tie the box together. One mini candy bar fits just snug.

Triangular Tube Kiss Box

The kisses container is a breeze to make and could easily be mass produced. Start with a piece of cardstock measuring 5½” x 4½”. Score it at 1”, ½” and 4” along the short side. The finished piece will be a triangular tube that is 5½” long. Fold at the score lines, adhere the ½” piece on the bottom and you’re done! Anchor the end kisses with a glue dot don’t so they don’t fall out when you pick it up. The tube holds 6 kisses.

Halloween Tag

If you’re giving someone something too big to fit in a favor box, just attach a Halloween tag to it! I started with Purple Grandeur paper cut to fit the tag and dry embossed it with the Pumpkin Harvest Cuttlebug embossing folder by Provo Craft. Adhere it to the tag and then lightly sand it to make the embossed design pop. Add your embellishments and your tag is ready to go!

You can see more of my projects on my blog at Create & Craft.

Joe Rotella

So who can relate to this card?

While browsing in the Viva Las Vegastamps! store a few weeks ago, I noticed the unusually large selection of stamps of different women with unique facial expressions. Then I came across this sentiment (see card) and knew I could put it to use.

The two stamps that I used are:
Lady With Dog #7546
First He Put Me On A Pedestal #3128
I stamped using Memento ink and then colored with Copic markers. Then I inked my edges and assembled as pictured with some coordinating patterned paper. I raised the matted picture piece with foam tape and finished with three orange rhinestones. This looks like someone who would own a lot of jewelry so I thought the rhinestones were a good match!

That’s my project for this week. Be sure to stop by my blog to say hello and see all of my Viva Las Vegastamps! projects in one place. Thanks for looking, would love to hear your comments.