Gal Pals by Cathy N

 Hello all you VivaLas VegaStamp peeps. Cathy N here with a card I have made for you. 

I started out with this already grungy piece of paper; I stamped it with dark brown distress ink using the Indian head tv test screen. The Gal Pals I used black distress ink. I edged the sides with some brown ink.

Next, I stamped the two vintage ladies on Kraft cardstock and edged that with brown ink. I then picked out some of Tim Holtz ephemera to add to the front of the card. I layered it on blue cardstock and added it to a Kraft card base.

                                                               Stamps Used:

                                                 17192 Indian head tv test screen

                                                 17655 Gal Pals

                                                 17647 two vintage ladies

                                                          Other supplies:

                                                 Kraft cardstock

                                                 ephemera 

                                                 distress inks

                                                 blue cardstock 

                                                 black ink  

Off to work by Cathy Norton

                                                                   Hello everyone. 

Today I have a vintage, grungy postcard for you today. 

I started off with some watercolor paper and 2 brown distress inks. I put some inks on the glass mat and I smooshed the watercolor paper into it. I dried it with a heat gun and repeated it till I got my postcard looking like this. 

I then stamped vintage tobacco advertisement and writing background randomly over the background with the darker of the brown inks. I edged the sides of the postcard with the same ink

Next, I used some Kraft cardstock and stamped the businessman with black ink and I made it into a tag. I also edged this with the brown ink.

After I added the tag to the center of the postcard, I then added some of Time Holtz snippets around. 

Stamped Used:

20669 shadowgraphs tobacco 

17545 grunge writing background

19418 businessman silhouette

Other supplies:

Ground espresso, vintage photo distress ink

Versafine Clair Nocturne ink

Watercolor paper

Kraft paper

Tim Holtz snippets

Index card - Please wait for dial tone

Hey everyone,

I'm still enjoying ICAD - which is the index card a day challenge - and so I wanted to share another inspiration card with you. The theme for this week is mixed media collage. My card features some of the stamps from the latest release. 

I started with collaging some old torn papers in the background. Here I didn't take too much care about having nice straight edges. With my fingers, I added a little black and white paint on top. I just made sure that some of the vintage paper is still showing through. Next I stamped the rotary phone dial with the help of a stamping tool. Due to the slight texture on my card I wanted to stamp it multimple times. I also added the writings and scribbles collage stamp in different spots.

While looking at the new stamps, I thought the vintage man would make a nice focal point for the index card. I just didn't want to have the jars he's looking at, but cutting him without them was easy. I stamped him on some watercolor paper, colored him with watercolor, cut him out and inked the edges with a black marker. 

To finish the card, I glued the man onto the card as well as some found words - I have grown a certain addiction for using text fragments over the last weeks.

Stamps used:
Rotary Phone Dial Grunge (20692)
Writing and Scribbles Collage (20695)
Vintage Man Examining Jars (20683)


Other material:
- index card, 3 x 5 inch
- Canson watercolor paper
- vintage paper
- Lukas acrylic paint (titanium white, iron oxide black)
- Versafine Claire Ink (nocturne)
- ZIG and Arteza watercolor brush pens
- book text fragment(s)

See you soon!

Mixed Media Tag - Boy on swing

Hey everyone,

Today I'm sharing this vintage mixed media tag and a super fun stamping technique with you.

 

I cut my tag from a piece of watercolor paper to a size of 6 x 3,5 inch and simply added some stamping. 

Next, I spread some texture paste with a palette knife in various spots of the tag. The paste I used is quite thick (an older one, already starting to dry in its container). I would recommend using a heavy body paste or gesso for this technique, but honestly I haven't tried out a thinner one. Now comes the fun part: I took a stamp and stamped right into the paste before it's dry. You will lose some detail, so the stamp shouldn't be too delicate, but even the numbers that I picked worked well.
Make sure to clean your stamp immediately with water. A stiff brush can also be helpful. You really don't want that texture paste to ruin your stamp, right?

After the paste was dry, I started building some layers of color with some Lindy's Gang Moonshadow Mists.

I added some more stamping with the numbers, but this time in a more common way. For a little color pop I sprinkled acrylic spray over the tag.

After browsing through my stamps I chose this guy on a swing as a focal image, stamped him dirctly on the tag (no fussy-cutting this time) and added a little color with some ZIG brush pens. I also darkened up the edges with some Oxide Ink and Archival Ink. 

I added the little die cut birds and a quote, embossed in gold onto black cardstock. To finalize my tag I adhered it to some cardstock and added a bow.

Stamps used:
Vintage Boy on Swing (19729)
Numbers Set (19659)
Writing Circles Background (19567)
Don't Waste A Moment (19786)

Other material:
- Canson watercolor paper
- Black cardstock
- Archival Ink (jet black, pebble beach, seafarer)
- Versafine Ink (onyx black)
- Versamark Ink
- Distress Oxide Ink (ground espresso)
- texture paste (heavy body)
- Lindy's Gang Moonshadow Mist (treasure island aqua, van dyke sepia, buccaneer bay blue)
- ZIG real brush pens
- embossing powder (Altenew - antique gold)
- die (Memory Box - small flock of doves #99015)
 

Hope you're giving this technique a try and that you found some inspiration here.

See you soon,

Tag Tuesday

Hello Crafty Friends!!!

Today I wanted to share this vintage tag I made.

Stamps Used:

Rows of Numbers

Typewriter

Postcard-ATC 

I started by using scrapbook paper to create a 3x6 in tag.

(this paper was from one of my Tim Holtz pads)

I stamped the row of numbers along the left side of the tag to add details.  Next, I used a scrap of scrapbook paper popped up on pop-dots.

On top of that, I added my typewriter (also popped up on pop-dots).

Next, I used tumbled glass distress oxide ink , and water to add drips and drops around the edges.  I also used ripped scrapbook paper with flowers to add a pretty vintage feel.

 (I did ink around the ripped pieces before gluing them down).

To finish I mounted the tag on matching blue card-stock.  I stamped the postcard atc in 2 colors in the upper right.  I stitched around the tag, and used cracked pistachio distress oxide spray inks to add extra distressed goodness.  

To finish, I added some Tim Holtz stickers, and a clip.

Adventure Awaits - ICAD

Hi everyone,

This year's ICAD challenge is almost over and today's index card is already no. 60 out of 61. Of course, I had to do one more with some VLVS stamps that I want to share with you today. It's a simple one and you could easily recreate this design for a card. So I'm giving you a quick overview about how I made this.

I started with collaging old book page fragments for my background. I added a layer of gesso as well as some Distress Paints so it does not appear too busy.
I chose the world map for my background, but wanted it to kind of fade into the background. Therefore, I did some second generation stamping, which means that I stamped the image onto a scrap paper and then onto my card without reinking the stamp. This way you can get a lighter impression.
To finish the background I used a blending tool to ink the egdes in brown.

For the focal points I used another trick: My background had some texture from the book pages, but there were some fine details in the stamps I wanted to use. So instead of stamping them directly onto the card, I used a napkin (one of the white layers when you seperate the napkin). I like using pigment ink for this technique because the impression is a bit better and even with a stamping platform I'm not able to stamp the image twice.
After leaving the napkin to dry for a minute or two, I tore the images (a slightly wet brush helps) and glued them to the card with matte medium. Make sure you don't use this technique on a water-reacvtive background.

Just added the quote that I stamped onto another piece of a book page and that's it for my card.

Stamps used:

Men In Balloon Basket (19002)
Paris Skyline (10995)
Map of the World (19340)
Adventure Awaits (19009)

Other material:
- Index card 3 x 5 inch
- old book/ledger paper
- Archival Ink (Potting soil, Blue violet)
- Versafine Ink (Onyx black)
- Distress Paint (Stormy sky, Broken China, Tumbled glass)
- napkin (white or plane layer from seperating printed napkins)
- matte gel medium (not a heavy one)


See you soon!

For the love of Letters...

Oh my Goddess!

Hello everyone,

I thought I'd try something new and did a wooden tag. It was fun to work on this new (to me) surface and I'm sharing my process with you today.

The tag I used is nearly 8 inches high and it also has a frame which is great to create some dimension. I started with a generous layer of heavy gesso on both parts. 

After the gesso was dry, I added some background stamps with Versamark ink as well as some Embossing powder to the tag. Spoiler alert: You don't see many details of these stamps on the finished tag, but it creates a pretty nice texture. 

Next, I got out a stencil and some light texture paste. With these I added texture to both, tag and frame. To bring in some color I sprayed the tag with Moon Shadow Mists and some of Lindy's Squirts. The heat embossed areas resist the paint. I wanted some more contrast between the tag base and the frame, so I used my fingers to color the inner edge with acrylic paint.

Time to choose a focal point. I stamped the Eastern Goddess and colored her with watercolor. I cut the image and used a marker to darken the cutting edges.

To create some more embellishments, I stamped the Writing Triangles on design paper, heat embossed them in black and also cut them out. On the same paper I stamped a quote: "Inhale the future. Exhalte the past."

I then started to assemble the tag. With matte gel I glued the frame to the base. I added my prepared paper elements, two metal leafs and sequins. As a final touch I added some ribbon to the hole at the top.

I'm happy how the tag turned out and hope you like it as much as I do. Here are some detail photos of my project:

Stamps used:
Texture Background (19570)
Bubble Wrap Texture (19566)
Writing Circles Background (19567)
Writing Triangles (19571)
Eastern Goddess (6010)
Inhale The Future (19892) 

Extra tip: the texture stamps I used can be found on plate 1455, one of my favorites.


Other materials:
- HDF tag with frame
- Heavy Gesso
- Light Modeling Paste
- Gel medium
- Ink Pads (Versamark and Versafine Onyx Black)
- Stencil (Finnabair Tapestry)
- Embossing Powders (WOW! Vintage Peacock; Ranger Black)
- Moon Shadow Mists from Lindy's Stamp Gang (Smoky Sapphire, Buccaneer Bay Blue, Treasure Island Aqua)
- Lindy's Gang Squirt (Loonie Toonie Teal)
- Acrylic Paint (Paynes Grey)
- Design Paper
- Metal embellishments, sequins, ribbon


See you soon!

Just a rat in a cage

Hello stampers,

hope everyone is safe and sound.

I made a set of Artist Tradings Cards for giving you some inspiration while so many of us have to stay at home. These are a bit special, or did you ever think of combining Banksy with romantic Victorian elements? 

There are tons of pattern paper in my stash and I just randomly grabbed a pad. I tore four pieces to a size a little smaller than an ATC. To make it appear a little grungier, I used two rose shades of Oxide Inks, smooshed them onto my craft mat, sprayed it with water and swiped my paper pieces through it. I like the look this technique creates, especially on the dark paper.

After giving it a good dry with my heat tool, I started stamping. I chose a few different stamps that were some kind of florid or vintage inspired and stamped them with Versamark Ink. With the aim to stay in the rose color sceme I used a Golden Peach colored embossing powder to add some texture. It is quite striking on the darker cards and very subtle on the lighter ones - I like both variants. For a more distressed look, I added some Oxide Ink in Brushed Corduroy to the edges.

Time to work on my focal image, and while writing this post I'm still quite happy how this turned out in the end. I stamped the Victorian display case on some watercolor paper and placed the Banksy rat stamp right on top so that it looks as if the rat was in the display. 

Then I used watercolor to add some color and cut out the display cases. As a finishing touch I used a glossy medium to add some shine to the glass. I first thought of using Glossy Accents for that, but I was too impatient that day to wait for it to dry, so I chose the other one which I could apply in a thinner layer. I tried to catch that pretty shine in the photo.

I always like to work in layers and I like texture, so I used my sewing machine to attach the torn and altered paper pieces onto black cardstock that I cut to 2.5 x 3.5 inch before. After that, I glued down the Display Case with some foam tape.

Now I just needed a quote and "I'm still just a rat in a cage" seemed like the perfect match to me. I stamped it onto watercolor paper, cut it into little pieces and added some of that Brushed Corduroy Oxide Ink to the edges so it blends in nicely. 

I finished my set by gluing down that quote down with liquid glue and some foam tape. Here are some more (detail) photos of the project.

Stamps used in this project:
Waybill/Invoice Background (19416)
Vintage Flourish (19623)
Leafy Twig (19591)
Victorian Flower Background (20343)
Steampunk Victorian Display Case (20348)
Banksy Rat Walking Chain (19426)
I Am Still Just A Rat (19281)

Other material:
- watercolor paper
- patterned paper
- black cardstock
- Versaclair Ink (Nocturne)
- Versamark Ink
- Distress Oxide Inks (Tattered Rose, Victorian Velvet, Brushed Corduroy)
- Embossing powder ("Golden Peach" by Altenew)
- glossy medium
- sewing machine (optional)



Stay safe, keep stamping and see you soon!