betty2dogs today

Cake Pop Bouquet

2012-01-12T00:24:00.004-05:00

I was so happy with the way these cake pops turned out. I made three different types of cake and dipped them into different coatings. Some got peppermint chips, some got nuts, some got edible foil stars, and some just got swirly color.

I think they look great!

New Baby = Hat and Booties

2011-12-30T01:11:00.000-05:00

I made these tiny little things for my cousin's new baby. I liked this yarn quite a bit, and was happy to make baby things using colors that weren't pastels or primary. The hat pattern is Lyric, but I changed it a little bit because I ran out of time to make it taller.

The little boots are Magic Slippers, and were very easy to make. I was happy there was no seaming at all. The yarn is Patons Stretch Socks in the Mineral color. I also changed the Magic Slipper pattern a bit because I was worried the baby would kick them off. These are a cross between socks and slippers. I hope they stay on!

Hairy Aran Pixie Hat

2011-12-30T00:55:00.000-05:00

So the first hat I made for Quinn did not fit and I had to make another one. I love how this hat turned out, and I should have made one for myself. The earflaps button on and off, so the hat can be customized. I changed the Lyon Hat pattern by pixie-ing the top - the decreases are less round, and result in the pixie shape. To get the hairy effect, I held two yarns double: the creamy yarn is Sirdar Denim Sport Aran, and the blue yarn is Lion Brand Fun Fur Stripes.

Jester Hat for Quinn

2011-08-15T16:20:00.001-04:00

I made this Jester Hat for my little nephew Quinn's first birthday. His mighty Irish noggin was too big, and the hat didn't fit. I am listing it on etsy; it's too nice to let it sit on the shelf. This was an great pattern and makes up quickly, so I have time to knit another one for him before it gets cold here.

For this hat, I used two wool yarns: the gray is Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Superwash in charcoal heather, and the purple is Lion Brand Wool-Ease in grey ragg. Both can go right into the washing machine. The pattern was a free Ravelry download, Jester Hat, by Elizabeth Morrison.

The yarns are aran weight and I cast on 72 stitches. This gave me a hat that measured 6 inches across the ribbing when measured flat, and 7 inches across the body, with a total height of 6.5 inches. Quinn's head measures 19 inches around. If I need to add 6 more inches of ribbing, then I think I need to add another 36 cast on, for a total of 108 stitches.

Boot socks!

2011-08-15T15:54:00.000-04:00

Boot socks for me! I have been wearing the same old-school wool boot socks for the last 20 odd years. They are just beginning to wear out.

It's hard to find good warm wool socks locally, and when I do find them, they are made for men. I wanted to try knitting a pair, so I cast on 44 stitches of this Cestari Traditional Wool 3-ply, and made a sock using the Basic Sock Pattern from Ann Budd's Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns. Then I made another one. Using a heavier weight yarn made the knitting go quickly which is a great big plus for me, the world's slowest knitter.

Next time, I plan to make the leg longer, so that my calves stay warm too. I have 4930 yards of this Cestari yarn in my stash. That's a lot of socks.

Just a Leaf

2011-08-15T15:32:00.000-04:00

I made this pretty little knitted trim piece for a friend at work. The leaf pattern was a free download from Hinke, on Ravelry. The yarn is a cotton blend from Germany called Schewe Lafayette. I love the lavender color and there are little bits of green spun in. I want to make a hat with leaves coming off the top, just for fun.

Wildfoote Holey Half Mitts

2011-04-06T16:47:00.000-04:00

I made these half mitts to keep my hands warm while leaving my fingers free. The Wildfoote fingering weight yarn is from Brown Sheep Company. The color is SY17 Purple Splendor. I had enough in the stash to make a pair of socks, but wanted to try this pattern instead. These mitts used up part of one skein, not much at all.

The Hands Up pattern by Aileen Cahill was very easy, quick to make up, and was free! I made a little mistake with the increases. I increased using a simple yarn over, but really should have knit into a stitch twice or something like that. The yarn overs leave a hole.

The Luchadorz Discuss Word Study

2011-03-19T21:43:00.001-04:00

I made a little movie about orthography, called "The Luchadorz Discuss Word Study."

Take a look. If you can't see it on YouTube, you can also see it on the Xtranormal site. Xtranormal has online software for animation projects. It was a lot of fun turning boring powerpoints into talking points, spoken by pointy headed Luchadorz!

Peace Fleece Pinwheel Hat

2011-01-18T14:12:00.000-05:00

I have been knitting a lot of different things and forgetting to take photos of them! This is the Pinwheel Hat designed by Dean Crane. I used an old skein of Peace Fleece to knit this up.

I love the idea of Peace Fleece. Peace Fleece is a yarn company committed to helping historic enemies cooperate and prosper through trade.

I've made other pinwheel type hats, but have never knitted cables. This was a great cabling project for a first time cable knitter.

Jawoll Magic Blue Lace Scarf

2010-07-08T12:05:00.000-04:00

My first attempt at lace knitting. I like one-skein projects, and fell in love with this sock yarn from Lang Yarns. Jawoll Magic is 75% wool, 25% nylon and was made in Italy, but sold by a Swiss company. The colorway 84.0035 has very broad bands of subtle blue hues.

The name of this pattern is One Skein - A Stole, and it was designed by Katja Jordan. It was another free Ravelry.com download.

I have never thought of myself as a stole-wearing person, but this piece can be a scarf because it it so lacy and light, and then if it's a little chilly, you can wrap it around your shoulders and across your back.

Nature Spun Felted Zebra Stuffie

2010-07-07T02:00:00.000-04:00

This little stuffie started out as a puppet. I made him for a colleague who likes all things zebra, including the book, What If the Zebras Lost Their Stripes. I had him pretty well finished, but found the head so floppy that I tried felting the yarn to see if a denser fabric would help. It didn't, so he needed to be a stuffed toy.

The pattern for the puppet is a free Ravelry.com download, or can be found at KnitCircus.com, or in the book Itty-Bitty Toys by Susan B. Anderson. The yarn is Brown Sheep Nature Spun Worsted, 100% wool.

Kureyon 124 Noro Hat

2010-06-29T22:45:00.000-04:00

Just a little top down hat knit from Noro's Kureyon wool yarn. Noro makes the most amazingly colored yarn. Kureyon is Japanese for crayon!

The pattern is from Flory Loughead and was a free Ravelry.com download.

Cosima Galway

2010-06-29T22:36:00.000-04:00

This hat has been slightly modified since I took this photo. I made the hat for a friend for Christmas, and she requested longer tails hanging down with gray pompoms. It came out super cute!

The blue yarn is Galway 100% wool and the gray is Sirdar Balmoral Natual Tweed, 75% wool 25% alpaca. Both yarns were held double to get the correct gauge.

The pattern is Cosima, and it is from Cathy Carron's Hip Knit Hats.

Felted Emma

2010-06-29T22:27:00.000-04:00

I love this hat. The pattern is Emma, and it is from Cathy Carron's Hip Knit Hats book. I bought the wool yarn on ebay but I don't know the maker. It might be handspun.

I wanted to try felting and that's what this pattern calls for. This one is knit from the top down with two strands held together.

First, and favorite, little scarf

2010-06-27T09:13:00.000-04:00

This little scarf is from the Tiny Tippet pattern. I knitted it using Noro Silk Garden, the same yarn that was used to make the Noro Striped Scarf.

This scarf is my favorite. I love the construction, the colors, and the texture.

Third little scarf

2010-06-27T08:57:00.000-04:00

I knitted this scarf for a friend who lives in San Francisco. The pattern is from Martha Stewart, and the same one I used for the purple neck scarf. The yarn for this scarf is alpaca. This gray scarf is not as smooshy as the purple, but I still like it.

Second little scarf

2010-06-27T08:50:00.000-04:00

I made this scarf for a friend who lives in Alameda, California. The pattern is from Martha Stewart and the tricky part is the knitted tube through which you pass the ends of the scarf. It is the cleverest thing!

Port Authority Green Envy Socks

2010-05-08T15:44:00.002-04:00

I knit part of these socks while waiting in line for a bus at Port Authority in New York. I like to expand my knitting abilities, and that crossed two off the list: knitting while standing, and knitting in public.

My friend Margaret took this photo in Central Park. It was a beautiful day.

Cupcakes for Cuties

2010-03-30T19:57:00.000-04:00

I knitted these baby rattles for friends and family who are expecting this summer. I knit a circular bottom, ribbed the sides, attached a different color, and added a picot edging. To finish it off, I cut down a yogurt container and put it inside the bottom to hold the shape, added a cat toy jingley ball, stuffed with fiberfill, then decreased the rounds of knitting until I could close it off. The sprinkles are self-striping yarn worked in with a tapestry needle.

I found the pattern on Ravelry.com.

Little Pink Flat Top Hogan

2009-11-29T20:12:00.001-05:00

I have been busy knitting. This little hat is from Cathy Carron's Hip Knit Hats, and is knit with a bulky wool nylon yarn. There is a tiny bit of sparkle in the nylon. I wish there wasn't.

Ella Noro Rasta Khan Hat

2009-10-17T12:22:00.000-04:00

I loved the Ella pattern in the Cathy Carron book, Hip Knit Hats, so I tried it with two strands of Noro Silk Garden held together. Now that I have proven that I can knit entrelac, the hat is headed for the frog pond. It's just too big.

A quick link to the pattern errata for this book is on Carron's own site.

What is purple?

2009-08-24T12:58:00.008-04:00

A flying purple people eater!

Purple prose that turned out to be a purple poem.

Summer Socks

2009-08-10T20:19:00.006-04:00

I have been spending about an hour a day outside in the hammock chair, listening to This American Life podcasts, and working on these socks. The yarn is Patons Stretch Socks in Kelp. I am still not sure I like the variegated sock yarns, but after spending so much time knitting these up, you can be sure I will wear them. The pattern is from Charlene Schurch's Sensational Knitted Socks. These particular socks are knitted top down using the Waffle Rib II pattern. A caution for the uninitiated: check the website for pattern corrections, and correct the patterns in your book.

What is yellow?

2009-07-30T10:37:00.007-04:00

I joined a swap with the theme, "What is Yellow?" and designed these cards: Marilyn's Hair, and Golden Sands.

I am still struggling with photo stamps. Because they are screened, they are fussy about ink and types of paper. I stamped the Maryilyn stamp using Document Stamping Ink by Stewart Superior, after I found that my StazOn Jet Black had gone dry. These permanent inks are a little sticky and normally produce a good image when used with photo stamps. I used a clay coat paper, but should have used glossy to get a crisper image. I colored her dress and hair with chalk. I want to say the Marilyn stamp is by Stampsmith, but I am not sure.

I had some wonderful metallic card stock from CutCardstock.com, and used it as the mount for this simple card. The John Donne quote is from Silver Crow Creations. This company is an excellent source for quotations! I paired the quote with an old PSX stamp of the beach. It is hard to see, but I used gold, green, and silver inks on glossy paper for the card, hoping that the metallic stock on the bottom would make the veining pop.

Pony Express Day April 3

2009-04-01T18:09:00.005-04:00

An ATC in honor of the Pony Express. Before the telegraph, the Pony Express relay riders provided the quickest mail transport between Missouri and California - making the ride in just 10 days. Those good little horses were changed every 12 to 15 miles, over a distance of 1800 miles.

The Pony Express Overland Mail Service debuted on April 3, 1860. There is a National Historic Trail in honor of these riders, and the National Park Service site has photos and a history from the trail.

The Pony Express was in operation for just 18 months, but its impact on American popular culture remains.

The Library of Congress has a life history of George A. Stiers, who rode for the Pony Express as a young man, then went on to work as a scout for the federal government, and after that as a hand with different outfits in Colorado and Texas. He joined the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show, made a couple of movies, and also performed on the Vaudeville circuit. Here he is describing a horse he liked to ride when he was working for one of the Colorado cattle outfits:

"Bud Roberts had a buckskin hoss that looked like a chunk of dog meat rolled in some hoss hide but it had the running works and the guts to do it. There were several hosses around there that folks thought could run and we had several races during the spell we stayed there getting the herd together. Sleepy, that was the hoss's name..."

Here is an engraving that shows the Pony Express rider passing the telegraph linemen. When the telegraph line was complete between California and Missouri, the Pony Express ended.

Blue Eyed Soul

2009-03-17T19:54:00.003-04:00

Here is the second ATC I made for the "What is Blue?" swap. You can't tell from this scan, but the paints I used on the orange diamonds and blue eye glisten. I wish the turquoise embossing powder had more contrast against the violet. It is a little difficult to see. The eye stamp is from Virgin Stamps. The diamond background, stamped in barely discernable green, is from Inkadinkado Flavia, and the circle image is from Norton Designs.

Read about blue eyed soul on wikipedia or allmusic.com.

Robins Egg Blue

2009-03-14T11:04:00.004-04:00

I made this ATC for an upcoming swap, "What is Blue?" It is such a simple design, and sometimes that is best.

First I stamped the robin with black ink. This stamp is from Rubber Stamps of America. I love the detail. I stamped the image again on a post it note, and cut that one out to use as a mask. I masked the robin, and stamped the big egg. That stamp is from Norton Designs. When I first got the egg stamp, I thought it was defective because of the mottled image. Now I like that effect, and think it adds to the texture. I then stamped the text using tiny letters. I don't recall the maker of these tiny letters, and the blocks aren't marked. The ATC looked a little plain, so I masked the egg, and sponged some green and tangerine inks onto the card. To finish it, I used a q-tip with chalk to add a bit of color to the bird.

Spring is coming!

March 1st is Pig Day

2009-03-01T00:01:00.002-05:00

March 1st is National Pig Day. I don't know about you, but I adore piglets. All of the pigs I have had a personal acquaintance with were pretty nice too. Princess, Fat Boy, Violet and Peaches were my favorites.

I religiously visit the swine barn at State Fair each August and try to get a decent photo, because there is nothing sweeter than a sleeping piglet.

I made this ATC with a Garth Williams drawing of Wilbur from Charlotte's Web. Charlotte's Web was written by E.B. White and illustrated by Garth Williams. The rubber stamp is made by Kidstamps.

Let sleeping dogs... sleep

2009-02-23T20:53:00.003-05:00

Archie has decided he is much more comfortable when he has a pillow under his head.

One sock down

2009-02-20T22:43:00.004-05:00

I finished the first sock of this pair last night. El gato was incredulous!

Mistakes were made. The leg is inside out, but the foot is correct.

It started out well enough. I knitted from the top down and everything was as it should be. I knitted the heel flap. Then somehow, when I turned the heel, I started knitting on the other side of the piece. The pattern on the foot is much nicer than the one on the leg. I can't turn it inside out to show the pattern on the leg because the sole of the foot is supposed to be smooth stockinette. If the sock were inside out, it would be entirely bumpy looking and wrong.

I had to keep trying it on with the knitting needles akimbo to get the length of the foot right, and decide where to start the toe decreases.

I love how this sock feels on my foot.

Now to make the other foot happy.

Rockin Sox

2009-02-17T14:49:00.002-05:00

I've been on a knitting kick. I've never made socks before, so of course I jumped right in to a sock pattern with an eight row repeating pattern knit top down on four double pointed needles, or dpns, as the knittin' community likes to shortcut.

I understand that the abbreviations in the pattern save space, and that once you have knitted for a while, you don't need everything spelled out, but I am constantly flipping back in my pattern book to find out what ssk means, and how to do it.

I am following the Woven Stitch pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch. A note to the uninitiated: check for errata! Don't find out the hard way. A quick visit to the publisher's website showed that 24 pages needed corrections. I've worked as a proofreader, and that just makes me wonder how quickly this book was put together.

National Tooth Fairy Day

2009-01-29T23:19:00.003-05:00

February 28 is National Tooth Fairy Day. The tooth fairy gives a child money in exchange for baby teeth which have fallen out. Many countries have some form of tooth fairy, and sometimes, the tooth fairy is a mouse! La Petite Souris is the French tooth fairy mouse.

National Bird Day

2009-01-29T23:03:00.002-05:00

January 5th is National Bird Day. National Bird Day is a day to "think outside the cage," and reflect on the exploitation of wild birds and the wild bird trade. This awareness day is a joint effort of The Avian Welfare Resource Center and Born Free USA.

Fingerless Mitts

2009-01-19T10:45:00.006-05:00

I am a big fan of small projects. I should not try something new when I am sick.

I have been wanting to make some fingerless gloves to wear when I am riding. I found a great pattern, but decided not to use the last of my Noro yarn to make up the mitts. I wanted to use all wool, and make something that would keep my hands really warm.

I have a whopper of a cold, and have been sleeping on and off for the last three days. When I could keep my head up, and focus my eyes, I worked on these mitts. Everything I needed I kept within reach of my big chair. When I didn't know how to do something, I made it up, so I wouldn't have to leave the big chair island of comfort.

The first mistake I made with these gave me a seed stitch cuff, rather than the ribbing shown on the pattern. The difference one extra cast on stitch makes! The cuff I made bubbles out, instead of drawing down to the arm. I read the pattern incorrectly, and ended up making the mitt some 20 rounds longer than it should be. I needed to make some increases to shape the thumb gusset. I was able to make some good ones by the time I got into the left mitt. The right mitt is a little longer than the left one.

I have never made anything like these before. The most challenging part, aside from reading the pattern between sneezes, was making the little thumb bit, but then that turned out all right. I think that these mitts will be fine for riding, and I can turn the bubble cuff up around my wrists.

I would like to try a pair of socks soon.

I might also make some knucks, like the ones Bob Cratchit is wearing in this 1915 illustration by Arthur Rackham.

The Noro Scarf

2009-01-08T12:33:00.004-05:00

I fell in love with Noro Silk Garden on my first trip to Spin a Yarn, a yarn shop in my neighborhood. The colors and texture of the yarn reeled me in.

Noro Silk Garden 252 is 45% silk, 45% kid mohair, 10% lamb’s wool in dark green, black, indigo, and lime, and color 284 is blue, purple, indigo, and orange. I think it is the silk that makes the difference; the colors are beautiful.

This pattern is by Jared Flood of Brooklyn Tweed. It is knit in a 1 x 1 rib, alternating colors every two rows. I prefer the thin subtle stripes of color that alternating the two skeins created. Noro Silk Garden is a self-striping yarn, but the stripes would have been too wide for me if I had used just one skein.

As of this morning, there were 3228 Noro Scarf projects listed on Ravelry.com.

Knitting washcloths

2008-11-10T11:41:00.005-05:00

I have been knitting every Sunday during football season, making washcloths. I made two of these from a pattern called Wedding Washcloth, but on one I had to join a skein near the end. I can really tell - I hope it is not a different color lot. We’ll see after it gets washed and blocked. Not sure about the yarn; it was part of a mixed lot I bought at a thrift store. It looks and feels just like some of the other skeins which were labeled Rafaela. On the Rafaela, the label says 100% cotton - why can’t I wash it like regular cotton? On the other washcloth, same yarn, I tried knitting continental style for a row in the middle, so the tension is a little off for that row. Of course, the two did not come out the same size either… I am sort of a sloppy I wonder what this will look like when I’m done knitter.

A Jolly Hallowe'en!

2008-10-15T22:42:00.005-04:00

I made this trading card for a Midwest Stampers Dark and Scary swap. My little witch is neither dark nor that scary, but how can you resist her?

The stamp came from Stamp Francisco. I stamped the image on glossy cardstock and then used LuminArte Primary Elements with a medium to paint the card. I used a Sakura Quickie Glue Pen to trace over some of the trailing clouds, and glittered them with dark purple microfine glitter. I added black glitter over the black cat, the little witch's stockings, and to her hair. I glued teeny tiny stars into the sky over the stars in the stamped image. You can see them only when you turn the card to catch the light.

I slipped when I was painting this card, and that's why it is the one I kept out of the series.

Nothing happens unless first a dream

2008-08-31T16:19:00.002-04:00

I love Carl Sandburg's poetry, and this quote is from his “Washington Monument by Night,” stanza 4. I found the citation at Bartleby.com.

I am not sure I really like how this atc turned out. I wanted to use the pink background paper I'd made using the polished stone technique with alcohol, pink inks, and silver metallic paint. I stamped the quote over it and embossed it with black detail powder. I ran some glue around the edges and poured a mixture of pink microbeads, some seed beads, and tiny bugle beads over the glue. I glued on some butterfly sequins in pink and silver to balance the empty spaces.

I have to admit, its much nicer to look at than the scan shows, but I am still of a mixed mind when I look at it. Maybe it's all the pink.

One falling leaf = September

2008-08-28T00:48:00.002-04:00

I looked out my window last week, and my heart stopped when 5 red maple leaves drifted down the warm air and fell to the grass below. This week I made peach preserves. These things mean the end of summer to me, and the start of a new school year. I am never ready for it.

I used leaf and maple seed stamps from Junque to make this card. The Chinese proverb is from Serendipity Stamps. First I stamped the proverb with Versamark and embossed it with black detail powder. Then I stamped the leaf and embossed it with clear powder. I stippled a few colors of Radiant Pearl paints over all to bring out the shape of the leaf. I used the word window punch from Stampin Up for the oval cut-out, and my trusty DYMO label maker to dry emboss the word September on a strip of orange paper. I dragged the orange strip over black ink to highlight the letters and then positioned the word so that it was centered behind the cut-out. Lastly, I stamped the maple wing seeds in black for interest on the margins.

Scream Day

2008-08-14T11:28:00.003-04:00

You can always find something to celebrate at BrownieLocks. October 12 is International Moment of Frustration Scream Day. According to Wellcat Herbs' Thomas and Ruth Roy, October 12 is the ideal day for everyone to go outside and scream, in unison, at 12:00 p.m. Greenwich time. Sign me up.

This ATC uses three people in varying stages of distress. All three stamps are from Mars Tokyo. Mars Tokyo no longer sells rubber stamps, but you MUST visit her Theaters of the 13th Dimension.

I stamped the woman with the knife first, masked her, stamped the falling man and masked him, then stamped the newspaper reader last. I punched out the words Scream Day on my trusty DYMO and used a q-tip to rub red ink over and between the letters. I stamped the phrase International Moment of Frustration with the Making Memories magnet backed Rummage set. I wish I had made the people are little darker.

Citizenship Day

2008-08-13T09:56:00.003-04:00

Constitution Day and Citizenship Day commemorate the creation and signing of the United States constitution, and recognize all who have become citizens of the country. When I was looking for information on Citizenship Day, I found a great resource from Cornell Law's Legal Information Institute. It is the U.S. Code and it is searchable.

At the Department of Defense website, I found a short course on the Constitution. This course is part of the orientation for new employees in federal jobs, and was created to recognize the importance of this holiday, and to encourage employees of the Department of Defense to reflect on the part they play in defense of the constitution.

For this atc, I stamped the Marching for America stamp on glossy paper. This stamp is made by The Queen's Dresser Drawers. I then used a brayer diagonally across the image with blue on top, and red on bottom. I punched squares from the image, being sure to pick up the man in one, and the woman in the other. I had also intended to punch out and use the flag, but I didn't have enough room on my card for that.

I used a fireworks stamp from Rubber Stamps of America for the gold tinsel embossed background, and added a tiny Hero Arts flag stamp to fill in the space at the bottom of the layout. I used red paper cut to fit my old Dymo labelmaker and punched out the words Citizenship Day Sept 17. I dragged the paper strip over a Versamark pad, then sprinkled white detail embossing powder on the strip and heated it.

Stamps for sale

2008-08-08T01:52:00.006-04:00

I am cleaning out my workroom - lucky you... Click on the slideshow to the right, and it should take you to my picasa photo album with pictures of everything I have for sale, descriptions, and prices. I also have everything listed on a quickly made Google site under betty2dogs. Contact me at betty2dogs@gmail.com to arrange a purchase any of the items listed. More to come!

To Be American

2008-08-07T18:21:00.006-04:00

I made this artist trading card for a patriotic themed swap. I have been getting a tiny bit better with photo stamps. I find that inking them with a hard rubber roller helps to get ink evenly spread over the surface of the stamp. Then, when I make the impression, I leave the stamp on the glossy paper for a few seconds. Somehow, this helps. When you are using a photo stamp, be prepared to experiment, and even when you think you have a winning combination of ink, stamp, and paper, be ready to make more impressions than you need.

The stamp is "Marching for America" from The Queen's Dresser Drawers, but I probably bought it at Stamp Diva. I just did a quick google and couldn't find this stamp listed anywhere, so it might be out of production. I stamped it with Adirondack Pitch Black ink on glossy paper, then sponged over the image with Tim Holtz distress ink in Vintage Photo. It's a little dark, but that's okay. The statue of liberty head stamp is from StampFrancisco.

The atc is a folded card, and the Emma Lazarus poem excerpt from "The New Colossus" is on the inside. I chose a Copperplate font for the poem because the design of those letterforms remind me of engraving and monuments. This poem was written to raise money for the Statue of Liberty. You can read more about it at the National Park Service, including the full text of the poem.

Sisters Day is August 3, 2008

2008-07-07T19:12:00.005-04:00

This is the card I like the best out of the lesser known holiday series I have been working on.

My sister and I are certainly not from this time period, but I like that the two are happy, and walking through town enjoying each other's company. My sister Mary maintains an artist's sketching blog and a fine art website.

The stamp is from The Queens Dresser Drawers. I stamped over a direct to glossy paper background of pinks and yellows, then embossed with black detail powder. I dry embossed the phrases with an old DYMO label maker, then highlighted them with a sponge loaded with orange ink. I punched the corner of black atc sized stock, and slipped the stamped image into it so it would look like an old photo album.

By rights I should send this card to Mary, but I like it too much!

World Juggling Day

2008-07-07T18:56:00.003-04:00

Juggle this! TSEKMAO... I like to think the juggler is thinking "Ask me to." He is giving a subtle message in a flamboyant way...

World Juggling Day was celebrated somewhere on June 14th this year. You can visit Brownielocks for information on this obscure holiday and many others.

I embossed this juggler from the Ornamentum line at Uptown Design Company with red detail powder. I like that he pops out from the polished stone blue and silver background. I dry embossed the letters with an old Dymo label maker and dragged them over a black ink pad to highlight them. I sponged some red ink on them too, to junk them up a bit.

Addicted to Rubber carries a lot of the Ornamentum stamps. I like this line because they are just strange enough to have you look twice.

Respect for Chickens Day

2008-07-07T18:43:00.003-04:00

Another of the lesser known holidays, Respect for Chickens Day, was celebrated on May 4th this year.

I used a rooster stamp from PSX for this card, and embossed it with silver fine detail powder. I dry embossed the letters with an old Dymo label maker, then dragged the strips of paper over a black ink pad to highlight the letterforms.

I liked the black dragged effect, so I did a little more with that, and got some on the rooster paper. I still like it - I am not that neat when it comes to fooling around with these cards.

National Cowboy Day

2008-07-07T18:14:00.006-04:00

Did you know that National Cowboy Day was celebrated July 26th?

I made this ATC for a Midwest Stampers swap of lesser-known holidays. Because it was for a July holiday, I wanted to use red, white, and blue. I had some background paper left over from a shaving cream technique session, and was able to stamp the cowboys on that. The cowboy stamp is from Acey Deucy.

I used an old Dymo label maker to dry emboss the letters, and then sponged blue ink over the raised letters to bring them out. I wish I knew how to get the letters to read from left to right!

Managram

2008-05-26T22:41:00.005-04:00

I made this card for a stamping-themed trade. I was trying to think of an idea, so I went to Wordplays to use an automatic anagram generator. Typing in "rubber stamping" gave me "perturbs big man" so I added the word "voile" and knew exactly what the card would look like.

I used a fine mesh stamp so that the background looked like cloth. I stamped the two phrases around the edges and then used a tiny awl to punch a hole under each letter. Red thread was used to tie the letters together. Finally, I used a glue dot to raise the image of the big man above the threads.

Reasoning Heart

2008-03-27T22:26:00.005-04:00

The challenge for this swap was to use a resist technique. I had some glossy card stock already cut with direct to paper inking in pink and yellow that I thought would make a good starting background, so I decided to use that.

I stamped Pascal's quote "The heart has its own reasons of which reason knows nothing." over the background colors in a darker rose ink. This ink was just dark enough to make the reversed type pop out. The quote stamp is from Paperbag Studios.

To get the resist effect, I used a solid dress stamp [maker unknown] over the quote. I stamped the image with Versamark and embossed it with clear powder.

I then stamped Dawn Houser's waltz step diagram with Adirondack Pitch Black ink over everything, and wiped the excess ink off the dress. After that dried, I used a brayer to add more violet colors. Each time I added another color, I wiped the dress clean.

I wanted to add another element to the card, so I found a stamped brass heart in a box of old jewelry parts and ran it through a piece of silk flower. I used the word window punch tool from Stampin Up to punch a glittery stripey green shape from some old Christmas card fronts and folded that over the top of the card for some complementary color relief.

Snow Lady

2008-02-23T13:30:00.004-05:00

I made this card for a Midwest Stampers Mingle swap. The swap is one for one, but I liked making the ladies and their different hats, so I made a few extra to trade.

To make this card, I used Ranger Clear Resist ink on glossy stock to stamp large and small snowflakes at random on the page. I then used a rubber brayer to lay Stamp It Daydream rainbow ink over the resist. I don't think Ranger makes this ink any longer. This is the first time I have ever used the resist ink, and I am so happy the pad was still juicy after being on the shelf for a few years. I used a Zig painty in silver to dot parts of the big snowflakes, and then used a Sakura Gelly Roll pen to make some blue dots on the small flakes. I cut up the glossy and set it aside.

I punched circles for the body and head of the lady from Malmero Pearl iridescent stock. I stamped the lady face in black and embossed it with detail EP. I can't credit the stamp and must have picked it up a long time ago - the copyright is 1999. I glued on black glitter for buttons, and then clear chunky glitter for snow.

I mounted the glittered circles on the violet background, then needed to add some clothes. I wanted a different texture than the paper and glitter, so I tried warm and cozy felt. I cut the hats in different shapes and glued sequins on them. Then I cut up some mossy green scarves and glued everything in place.

I added a tiny punched snowflake to lighten up the card.

This is the chunkiest card I have ever made. It was difficult to scan them, and a lot of the card is out of focus. A bit of the glitter fell onto the scanner glass and has been a trial to remove.

Black and White

2008-02-06T17:52:00.001-05:00

The program for this swapped card was that it use only black and white. I found this stamp from Paperbag Studios in one of my drawers, and it was perfect.

I used ultra fine detail black embossing powder to emboss the image, then at the last second, I added a tiny black and white flower brad for dimension. I think it looks a little bit like the woman is wearing a pin.

Because the stamp was perfectly sized for the trading card, I simply cut the white stock to mount onto a black backer piece and was finished.

I have been using Malmero Pearl card stock from CutCardStock.com lately. These black and white papers have an iridescent sparkle to them that is very subtle.

Very simple, yet elegant.

You are the sunshine of my life

2008-01-27T01:18:00.001-05:00

I made this atc for a swap with Midwest Stampers. The theme of the swap was Sounds of Love. It's a valentine swap, but I didn't use red, pink, cupids or hearts. I had Stevie Wonder's song in my head, and wanted to illustrate that instead.

I stamped a dreaming face from Stampland and embossed it with BMuse Very Fine Detail powder in Pale Orchid Metallic, which is purple with silver bits. I have a dreamy sun that I think is supposed to be used for cloth stamping, but I wanted to put that image over the face, like a veil. I embossed that one in silver. Sometimes you notice the dreaming face, and sometimes the sun. It's an interesting effect.

I painted the Curious Cryogen White Iridescent subtle/sparkly white cardstock from CutCardStock with Radiant Pearls for even more depth. First I put in some lighter areas with Sour Lemon, and then used Sweet Apricot to fill in. The Radiant Pearls paint wiped off of the embossed areas with a cotton ball.

Here are the lyrics of this beautiful song.

Making stained glass

2008-01-07T19:37:00.001-05:00

I made a tiny bit of stained glass over the Christmas holidays. Lucky for me, my cousin makes and sells stained glass pieces, and she was able to help me make this simple rectangular piece to take home.

The color in this scan is horrid, and you are looking at the back of the piece, but at least you can get an idea of the frost pattern on the three transparent panels. I chose a green blue translucent glass with some milky white clouds for the top and bottom of the piece. The two pieces of glass that look clear in this picture are actually a very light blue/gray, and the center piece is aqua or light blue colored.

It was so interesting to make! First we pawed through her bins of scrap glass, looking for pieces that inspired us. I thought the color values of these three worked, and I was very taken with the jack frost effect.

Then, we drew a pattern on paper and cut it out. We had to shape our scrap glass pieces to match the drawn patterns by scoring, cutting and grinding each component. I was very glad to be making a straight-edged piece during these steps!

We then foiled the edges of our bits with copper tape. The tape is sticky on one side. You have to pull off the paper backer and as you do that, you place the glass edge right along the center line of the tape. We burnished the tape down to the glass to make it as smooth as possible. At this point we put our pieces together again to make sure they had a tight fit before getting ready to solder.

We used an old paint brush to brush flux on the copper foiling. The flux was very greasy to touch. I wondered how flux and solder work, and looked it up here, at Ask a Scientist.

We had to tack our pieces together with solder before proceeding to solder the whole piece. After we soldered, we melted the tacks so they blended in with everything else. We had to solder on both sides of the piece, and my cousin helped me with that part. I have to practice my soldering technique because I am very interested in glass constructions. Take a look at Sally Jean Alexander's Pretty Little Things to know why.

After the piece was finished, we made handles or holders so they could be hung. I used something cylindrical to fashion my handle ends, and just squished the middle up a bit until the whole thing fit on top of my glass piece. Then we soldered the handles on.

Here is a tutorial on soldering from Volcano Arts. It's really good!

Make a Glass Magnet

2008-01-02T23:23:00.000-05:00

I made glass magnets for friends this Christmas. Magnets are easy to make, and these feel wonderful in your hand because of the weight and smoothness of the glass.

Here is a short tutorial so you can make your own.

Supplies you will need:

Glass pebbles
White cardstock
Rubber stamp
Black ink
Transparent paints
Super strong magnet
Gel medium or white glue
E6000 glue

First, you will need to look over your glass pebbles and pick out a few that are very smooth. I kept this magnet, and did not give it away, because the glass pebble has a flaw you can see to the left of the image. If the surface is pitted, or has extra glass bits or lines, the image underneath will be obscured. Sometimes this works, and sometimes it doesn't. For your first magnet, try to find pebbles that are as smooth as possible. This example uses a 1-1/4 inch glass pebble. Be careful to get pebbles that are plain glass. I also have some that have an AB, or aurora borealis finish, but the pretty AB effect gets in the way of the image. I have not been able to use them for this type of project, and will have to use them some other way.

When I am making magnets, I try many different rubber stamp images under the glass pebbles. The glass magnifies the image underneath, so you can easily use a very detailed image. I like to put the pebble over the image I am thinking about using because it is easier to visualize the final product.

Okay, so you have chosen a couple of different images, and you have some glass set aside. Now for the fun part!

Choose a few different paint colors and paint a sheet of cardstock. Just paint some general areas of color - don't worry about overlapping, or full coverage or getting messy. Just make some color. After you are done painting, and your sheet has dried, you need to cut squares. Because these pebbles are about 1-1/4 inch diameter, I cut my background sheet into squares of that size.

For these magnets, I used a few different colors of Radiant Pearls paint. I really like the Radiant Pearls because they have a sparkle effect when you move the paper. I don't think they are made any longer, however. Twinkling H2O paints would also work very well, and have the same sparkle.

Now ink up your rubber stamp with black ink, and stamp onto your cut squares. If your image is a large one, just ink up the part you want to use under the glass. You can also lay your rubber down on the table and press your square onto it if the stamp is too large to work with.

Here is a Victorian image from Paper Artsy on a green, red, and brown painted square.

Let everything dry. You can also use an embossing heat gun to help things along, but sometimes this makes the paper curl.

Place a pebble over the image and trace around it with a pencil. Cut out the image. You should cut well within the tracing line; it is difficult to closely trace the pebbles because of their rounded edges and if you don't trim the image it will stick out beyond the bottom of the glass.

Put a good layer of gel medium or white glue on the bottom of the pebble and then push the image down onto that. For these magnets, I used Ultrecht Artists' Acrylic Medium - Gloss Medium. The last time I made magnets I used a simple white glue from Aleen's. Just be sure the glue you use dries clear. When you first glue the image to the glass, it will look opaque and milky. Don't worry! As the glue dries, everything will clear up.

Use the E6000 glue to attach a super strong magnet to the back of the pebble. The E6000 needs 24 to 72 hours to cure, but it is a great glue, and really holds the magnets on. I have tried hot glue, but the magnets would come off. This industrial strength glue is the best. Before gluing, I try out my magnets on a metal filing cabinet, as sometimes magnets have a strong side and a weaker one, and you want the strong side to be out as the glass pebble can be a little heavy.

Good luck!

Z is for Zealot

2007-12-02T08:10:00.000-05:00

The last card, and last post, for the Alphabet Soup series. I chose this woman because zealots don't listen and have no interest in dialogue when it comes to the discussion of ideas. I chose the quote because a zealot can be so fanatically devoted to a set of ideals that he or she recognizes no other rules.

I used the shaving cream technique to get the red and blue marbling effect on the background. Shaving cream is fun and a little messy. I describe how to do it in this Rosie the Riveter post, and you can see that both cards were cut from the same paper.

I stamped the woman and quote with black ink. I stamped the Z and title with Versamark, then embossed with red detail embossing powder. You have to be careful when working with glossy stock that it doesn't smear, and you can see that my title smeared a bit when I stamped it. The Z looks a little off. Sometimes when I am concentrating my hand jerks a tiny bit at the last moment and whoops! I mounted the card on red stock. I am a big fan of red. I also thought it is a passionate color and that's in keeping with the zealot theme.

The woman is a Ken Brown image. The quote is from Silvercrow Creations.

Y is for Yam

2007-11-29T18:58:00.000-05:00

Lots of Radiant Pearls on this card.

I first stamped and embossed the yam image on white stock, and then painted him with Radiant Pearls paints. If you have never used them, Radiant Pearls are a peculiar, glisteny type of paint. They will not dry on a glossy surface, but given a little time, or a heat gun, will dry just fine on absorbent card stock. After they dry, they retain their pearly glisten. I like them.

I used a big background vine stamp [retired] from Stampin Up on the front of the card, then stippled some dark red and green Radiant Pearls on over all of that. I used a giant scallop punch from Stampin Up to open a window to the yam beneath and glued him to the back of the card, under the punch out. I like the contrast of the light blue and the dark green and reds.

I stamped and embossed the letter Y and Yam in B'Muse Sherbet Very Fine embossing powder. The silver has red and orange throughout and seemed very sweet-potatoey to me.

The Archaeology of Art

2007-11-22T09:52:00.000-05:00

I have been working on a project through The Artist's Circle, a new Yahoo group. The members of the group are making the same project, a tag book, step by step. It is interesting to see the different outcomes of each step. No one's work is the same, yet we are all following the same program.

I am having a great time because the project is a motivator to cycle through the art supplies on my shelves. It made me think we should look at the archaeology of art - in our own homes! Wouldn't it be fun to name the different eras!

As I look around, I can see:

the fiber era: embroidery thread, boxes of yarn, knitting and crochet needle cases, button baskets, books on sewing, knitting, crochet, and embroidery, a sewing machine, and boxes of fabric;
the leather era, an offshoot of the fiber era, but an era in its own right: leather punch tool, box of leather scraps;
the glass era: beads, bead books, notebooks of sketches and patterns, hardware organizers, pliers and wire cutters, more beads;
the clay era: pasta machine, tupperware box of clay; and
the paper era, which for me spans the whole lot: paper, paper making tools, paints, inks, cutters, punches, stamps, glues, brushes, pen points, drafting tools, more paper.

I have been "making" for over 40 years. I am thankful today that I have a place and the opportunity to create things that make me happy.

X is for Xenophile

2007-11-21T01:19:00.000-05:00

I had a few different ideas for X, but this one was the best. I did have to use the dictionary to open my mind to the possibilities of the letter, and I settled on Xenophile because it meant I could use the French perfume ad from Diva Impressions.

I liked that because I wear Lolita Lempicka perfume, which is made in France.

For this card, I first made a wonderful ink and alcohol polished stone background with pink inks and some copper pigments for the veining. I stamped the Parfums Djemil with black document ink over that, then masked off the mirror and the torso of the woman with a torn post-it note. I also masked the inside of the big X. I stamped over the masks with an old French Script stamp from Stampin Up. I really like that script stamp, and use it a lot. The quote has something to do with moonlight, and it all sounds very romantic to me.

The X stamp is from Ma Vinci's Reliquary Phlax by Night set, and the title Xenophile is made from the Making Memories Rummage set. I like the Rummage set because each tiny letter has a magnetic back, and it is really easy to set the letters up to image.

W is for Wild Thing at the Window

2007-11-15T21:41:00.000-05:00

Alcohol and drips of green and blue ink on glossy stock made this clean fresh background. I smacked a copper painty pen over a wooden dowel to get the splatters of copper paint.

I put a post it note down on the card to block the bottom of the wild thing stamp. Then I stamped the wild thing on the card, and again on another post it. I cut out the post it image, and masked the wild thing on the card. Then I stamped the window over it all.

I embossed the W and the Wild Thing title with Cobalt Tapestry EP from PSX. The Wild Thing stamp came from Kidstamps.

V is for Vegetable Violinist

2007-11-15T21:08:00.000-05:00

Weird little violin guy - related to the K is for Kin family of tubers. Of course, a Ken Brown stamp. I like this Cat Stevens lyric and was lucky to find it at Silver Crow Creations.

Glossy stock with baby wipe technique for adding the ink color, all mounted on a pumpkin colored card stock.

U is for Upset

2007-11-12T14:53:00.000-05:00

Love love this card. Stamp credits: the man is by Inkadinkado, the quote is from Stampers Anonymous, the U is from Ma Vinci's Reliquary, and the title, Upset, is made from the Making Memories Rummage set.

One reason this card works is that the colors are similar, and not very cheerful. The inks are blue, gray blue and green blue. I sponged the colors onto glossy stock, then stamped the man and the quote over that. The embossing powder is dark blue. Lastly, I layered the card onto a neutral gray card stock that has tiny flecks of dark gray throughout.

T is for Troll

2007-11-12T14:12:00.000-05:00

I have had this two part troll stamp from Inkadinkado forever. The copyright date is 1992. I like that the hair and the body are two different stamps; it's really easy to get the wild hair color every troll needs.

I stamped and embossed the troll on watercolor paper, but I think the embossing disappeared into the paper. It doesn't have the definition it normally does on regular card stock.

To get the background, I wet the watercolor paper and dropped some paint onto it. The red and yellows spread and ran together to get the peachy tones.

I added the tiny flower brad to make it more 60s, but I don't like the effect of the thick brad sticking up like that. I won't be using any more of those.

S is for Sweetie

2007-11-07T21:00:00.000-05:00

This card came out just like I imagined it. I am not sure who made the image, and will include the link when I find out, but she is a favorite of mine. I stamped her with red ink on glossy stock, then used a sponge to blur the edges of the image.

I embossed the Phlax by Night S and the title Sweetie with a Stampin Up powder called Confetti Celebration. The colors remind me of conversation heart candy.

I trimmed the bottom right hand corner with a heart shaped corner punch. She is wearing her heart on her sleeve!

I have two of these for trade on my flickr site.

R is for Rosie the Riveter

2007-11-02T21:16:00.000-04:00

Rosie, an image from Diva Impressions, is stamped with Jet Black Staz-On ink over a red and blue shaving cream background. I embossed the big R and the title Rosie in silver detail powder and mounted the card on navy blue stock.

I had wanted to try the shaving cream technique for a long time. To get this effect, you find some kind of shallow basin that will fit your card stock. I put the whole 8-1/2 x 11 paper in there and just know I will eventually use all the scraps.

So after you get your basin, squirt enough shaving cream into it to cover the bottom. Drop some ink into the shaving cream and swirl it around with a thin skewer. Really Red and Night of Navy reinkers from Stampin Up were used for this card. After you get some veins of color, push the glossy stock down into the shaving cream and then pull it straight up. Wipe the excess shaving cream off the cardstock. You can make multiple impressions into the shaving cream. Add more ink or don't. As you keep making impressions, you may get less dramatic designs.

I tried using matte cardstock also, and got a very different effect. Much less vivid, but still interesting. I think with different colors, it could make an intriguing and organic background.

A benefit of using the shaving cream is that your room will have a bracingly clean smell.

Q is for Queen with a Quail

2007-11-02T21:02:00.000-04:00

This card is from the first set of Alphabet Soup cards I made. Stampsmith made the Queen of Coins stamp in the Italian Tarot set. The little quail is from Stampin Up. The large Q is from Ma Vinci's Reliquary in the Phlax by Night set.

I used a polished stone background in apricot, yellow, and orange dye inks on glossy stock. I wrote about making this type of background in an earlier post. For this card, I added a silver metallic pigment for the veining. It is hard to see the metallic bits on this scan; they show up much better when you tilt the card.

I mounted the glossy piece on purple stock to pick up the purple ink from the stamping.

This card is one of my favorites.

DO NOT STARE

2007-10-31T09:38:00.000-04:00

Taking a break from the Alphabet Soup cards to wish everyone a Happy Halloween.

Stamp credits for this card are: Bartholomew's Ink for the Brownie Witch and the Owl, and Stampfrancisco for Do Not Stare. I made the little thread line border using an old Stampin Up borders stamp, Perfect Plaids. "Halloween Wishes!" was stamped using the Making Memories magnetic Rummage alphabet. I stamped a big mustard moon by Norton Designs over it all.

Purple glitter around the lightest bit of card stock adds sparkle and picks up the other purples in the ink and paper. I don't do much with glitter, but I must love it - I have a big shoe box full of different glitters on the shelf and no one bought them FOR me! I need to find more reasons to use them.

Stampfrancisco has tons of interesting stamps and an easy to navigate catalog. If you are looking for stamps that are a little out of the ordinary, I recommend their store.

P is for Perambulator

2007-10-29T22:17:00.000-04:00

I think this walking guy is fantastic. The stamp is marked Rubber Stamps of America, and so I thought it was a Ken Brown, but I don't find the image in the online store catalog. It really looks like a Ken Brown image, though. Maybe he is retired.

This card uses a masked image. I stamped the perambulator on white stock and also on a post-it note. I cut out the image on the post-it and placed it over the image stamped on the white card stock. Then, I sponged a variety of blue inks all over to create depth.

I sponged some mustard and browns near the bottom of the card, then stamped some grasses with a roller wheel across the bottom so it looks like he is walking on a grassy path.

I wanted to try adding a couple of flower brads, so I stamped a tiny plant bottom and then punched teeny holes to poke the brads through. I didn't like the brads the second I had added them, but it was too late. The holes and stems were already there.

I stamped the big P and the title Perambulator with Versamark ink so that I could emboss them with Verdigris embossing powder by PSX. I like the Verdigris powder because it has little metallic flecks in it, and comes out pebbly and rough when you heat it up. Tsukineko has a clear tutorial on using Versamark for embossing.

O is for Odd Man Out

2007-10-24T01:40:00.000-04:00

This is one of my favorite cards. It was actually so simple to do, but the colors make it.

I stamped the odd man, also known as The Scorekeeper by Stampers Anonymous, on white card stock that has a bit of glisten to it. I then embossed the O and the title Odd Man Out with Turquoise Tapestry embossing powder by PSX.

I painted the background with Radiant Pearls Sweet Apricot and Sour Lemon. I am not sure that Radiant Pearls are still being manufactured by Luminarte. They add pearly color as they dry on regular card stock, but require special treatment if used on glossy. These paints do not evaporate, so they must be embossed or absorbed by the paper.

I bought a few colors of the Radiant Pearls when they first came out, but have been disappointed with the paint settling and separating in the bottle. Now I have switched to Primary Elements and Twinkling H2Os in the interest of working with stable materials. The colors are lovely in everything that Luminarte makes.

I mounted the game guy cockeyed on navy textured card stock, and like the play between the blues and oranges and yellows on the card.

N is for Napping through the News

2007-10-23T00:18:00.000-04:00

Another great Ken Brown image! I used some left over reinker/alcohol glossy stock with copper paint spots thrown on, and stamped the napper guy with a spruce green ink. I also stamped him on a post-it note and cut the extra image out so I could use it to mask the spruce one.

Then I stamped the Evening Herald EXTRA [from sass*box on ebay] over the post-it note covered guy. I don't always get a perfectly aligned image when I am masking, but I don't worry about it as much as I used to.

The large N and the word Napping were embossed with PSX Topiary Tapestry embossing powder. I like it because it has little flecks of copper in it and that went with the copper paint flecks.

M is for Moonshiners

2007-10-20T14:41:00.000-04:00

This card was difficult to do. I WILL master the photo stamp!

Two Tulsa Moonshiners is a stamp by Melanie Sage. I bought it through Creative Chaos, a company run by her mother, Vickie Enkoff. Vickie recently passed away, and her rubber stamp company is in the process of being absorbed by Alluring Impressions.

OK.

So I sponged a gray blue and a little pinky violet onto glossy stock in much the same way as I did for the Introspective card. Then I brayered black ink onto the Tulsa Moonshiners stamp, and tried to get a good impression. I have found this: if you wait a second before taking the paper away from the stamp, you will get better and clearer coverage.

I used Huckleberry embossing powder from Fancifuls on this card. It is a little bit transparent, which I like. You can sort of see the news article and doggerel through the embossing. Fancifuls is primarily a brass charm dealer, but I was able to get this embossing powder from them at a big stamp expo in Syracuse, NY.

The poem says:

Jack and Jill fell down the hill,
A trick which is mighty risky.
If water made them act that way,
I think I'll stick to whisky.

L is for Lucky Lady

2007-10-19T20:44:00.000-04:00

The L is for Lucky Lady uses the same backgound stock as my Dorothy card. It was fun to try some criss cross silver pigment pad smooshing.

The lady is from Norton Designs out of Ithaca, New York. I stamped her in a burgundy violet ink, and then embossed the L and the title, Lady, with Pale Orchid Metallic BMuse Very Fine Detail embossing powder. I have a few different BMuse powders, and what I like about them is that there is a punched sample on the jar top to show you what the powder will look like when you heat it. I so appreciate that!

K is for Kin

2007-10-15T21:38:00.000-04:00

This vegetable family is a weirdly endearing stamp from Ken Brown. To make this card, I stamped the family on glossy white stock and on a post it note. I cut out the image on the post it, and used that to mask off the family, so I could stamp the background.

I wanted a different background that was more dynamic than I had been doing, so I used the edge of a makeup sponge to get a radial effect with a couple of different colors of blue. I am really happy with that. It just shouts look at me!

I peeled off the mask, and then embossed the K from Ma Vinci's Reliquary Phlax by Day set, and the word Kin with silver detail powder.

I colored in the family with different vegetable-ish colors of gel pens. Because I liked the beet red color the most, I mounted the card on beet colored card stock and then to finish it, I added some silver edging with a paint pen. My paint pen bit the dust, so I filled in a little bit with a silver gel pen, and then ended up dragging the edges over a silver pigment pad anyway.

J is for Java Junkie

2007-10-13T15:31:00.000-04:00

Yeah this is me. I adore coffee.

For this card, I first stamped a great Ken Brown image in reddish brown on an ivory card stock. I stamped him again on a post it note, and set it aside.

I embossed the Phlax by Day J and the words Java Junkie with black detail powder. They did not emboss as shiny as I thought they would, and I am happy about that, but I may have overcooked them a little bit.

Then I cut the post it image out to use as a mask over the brown man, and cut another one to mask the J.

I used a spattery dotted stamp from the Stampin' Up set, Itty Bitty Backgrounds. I have had this little set forever, and this one stamp is the most useful I own. I made the dots in a slightly more coffee color than the man.

I sponged darker brown and black over everything, leaving a diagonal area more open, to draw your eye from the J down and across the card. I sponged some yellow through that area, and also unmasked the J to add yellow there. I like using sponges to add color to my cards. The effect is subtle, and you don't think you are doing much to change the color, but when you unmask the object underneath, it really pops.

I mounted the card on a rich brown card stock and called it done.

I is for Introspective

2007-10-11T22:30:00.000-04:00

I folded up a babywipe and squeezed a couple of drops of blue reinker onto it. Then I wiped it across the surface of a glossy card. I wanted a little more color variation, so then I added some violet drops to another part of the babywipe, and moved that around on the paper.

I used a lady face stamp in a steel blue dye ink for the image, then stamped over it with the Emerson quote from Stamp of Excellence in a navy ink. The lady face is one of the first unmounted stamps I bought, and now I can't remember the maker. A good tip I've learned is to take a super fine Sharpie marker and write the credits on the back of unmounteds.

I embossed the I and the word Introspective with dark blue powder.

The card is mounted on dark navy card stock, and then I dragged the edges over a silver pigment pad.

H is for Heartthrob

2007-10-08T20:40:00.000-04:00

I wanted to use this stamp from the Mon Amour collection by Stampsmith for the H. So who is the Heartthrob? The man, the girl, or the horse?

For this card, I brayered black ink onto the stamp, then tried to get a good impression on glossy stock. I used markers to color in a few elements of the photo.

I embossed the H and the title Heartthrob with Antique Gold detail powder.

I mounted the card on black cardstock, then stuck on a couple of photo corners to make it look like it came from someone's old photo album.

G is for Gossip

2007-10-07T08:49:00.000-04:00

Ken Brown made the stamp of the two gossiping ladies. I have been buying his stamps for years from Rubber Stamps of America. The background diamonds are out of a Stampin' Up set, Looks Like Spring. I like that some of the color drops out of a few of the diamonds. For the ground, I used one of the sides of a Marble Cube from Stampendous!

I stamped the ladies first, then masked them with a trimmed post it note. I ripped a post it for the contour of the ground, then masked the ground and stamped the diamonds. After that, I masked the bottom of the diamonds with the other half of the ripped post it, and stamped the ground.

I colored in the ladies with markers.

I embossed the G and the word Gossip with black sparkling embossing powder, and mounted the card on dark red stock.

All of the initial letters I use on these cards are by Ma Vinci's Reliquary. For this alphabet set, I used Phlax by Day and also Phlax by Night. If you are a lettering and alphabet freak like me, her site is well-worth a visit. Helpful tip - scroll down to the bottom of the home page for an index to the names of all the alphabets.

F is for Fortune Teller

2007-10-06T16:18:00.000-04:00

I made this card early in the marathon swap. I love fortune telling stamps and this one from Junque is fabulous. It looks like a card you might get from a fortune teller machine.

I made an apricot and silver background using a little extra alcohol and the polished stone technique. I stamped the fortune teller with a deep violet purple dye, and then also sponged the edges of the glossy paper with the same color.

I used a black glitter embossing powder on the F and the words Fortune Teller. I had never used that powder before, but it was perfect.

I put the whole deal on a yellow cardstock, which kept it bright, and picked up some of the lighter apricots.

You can tell, I love this card. I had one extra to trade on Flickr, and it went immediately to Lorri in Australia.

I will be writing about gossip next.

E is for Easy

2007-10-05T22:40:00.000-04:00

I love how pulpy this looks! "She Tried to Be Good" is a stamp from Diva Impressions. First I embossed the E and the word Easy with red powder, then I masked the E to emboss the picture with black detail powder.

Pulp novel covers have wonderfully garish colors, and I really wanted to get that. I used Radiant Pearls to get an intense color, and I think it pops. The Radiant Pearls have a bit of sparkle to them which you can't see on the computer.

Once again, there is more to the picture than I could get to show up when I stamped. Behind the woman is a car with a man's face peering out as the car is cruising by.

D is for Dorothy

2007-10-03T20:52:00.000-04:00

For this Dorothy card, I wanted to use greens and silver to make a reference to the Emerald City. I did some blotting with light green, apricot, and light blue reinkers and alcohol on glossy stock, then tapped a silver Painty marker on a wooden dowel to get some silver paint splatters on the paper. That wasn't silvery enough, so I made criss-cross patterns with the edge of a silver pigment pad, and then sprayed it all with alcohol to move it around. The alcohol softened the pigment pad lines, but didn't do much else.

I stamped Dorothy and Toto over everything with a dark blue green dye ink. The Dorothy stamp is by All Night Media.

The D and the title are embossed with PSX Topiary Tapestry. The card was lacking a little something, and I was lucky the witch stamp fit in the corner.

C is for Cowboy

2007-09-29T23:45:00.000-04:00

I like this card.

First I sponged a little bit of light yellow ink on glossy white cardstock. Then I sponged light blue ink over that. The inks were not bold enough, so I took up a blue gray pad and pressed it directly onto the paper. You can see a few lines from the edge of the pad, but I like them too. I used a magenta color ink to put in some swirls and spatters with Stampin' Up background filler stamps. The little spatter stamp is one of my favorites, and the first tool I reach for when the image needs a little something.

The vaquero stamp is by Acey Deucy. He is stamped with coffee archival ink over everything. I am still working on getting good coverage with solid area stamps, as you can see on the horse's chest, flank, and hip.

To add to the western feel of the piece, I trimmed the corner with a Fiskars Nostalgia Corner Edger, and hammered a blue gray eyelet into the open space of the brown stock.

I used silver embossing powder for the C and Cowboy. I think the silver, blue, and brown color work very well together. Lastly, I dragged the edges of the brown stock over a silver pigment pad.

B is for Bathing Beauties

2007-09-29T09:24:00.001-04:00

This card looked better in my mind.

I wanted it to have a summer shore feeling, and thought that the baby wipe technique would give me the light sandy beach colors I imagined. For the baby wipe technique, you fold a baby wipe into a pad shape, then squeeze a few drops of ink from a reinker onto the edge. You then apply the inked edge to glossy card stock. Because the baby wipes are juicy, you can use them in a sweeping motion and draw them across your paper. It is a simple technique with lovely outcomes. I do like the background as it turned out.

Wish You Were Here is a great stamp for this card, but I think I should have colored in the beauties' bathing suits, and masked the skin so the image would have popped out of the background. I picked up the stamp on ebay, and I don't know the maker. It is a clear stamp that has yellowed over time, but still produces a good image.

I embossed the B and the words Bathing Beauties with Antiquities Rose Quartz. I thought the embossing would be more opaque. Now I know. The Rose Quartz is translucent and I think I will use it differently next time.

All in all, the card is light and watery.

A is for Astronomer with Astrolabe

2007-09-28T02:14:00.001-04:00

The artist trading card alphabet is complete. I want to post all of the cards I made with a description of what techniques I used for each. I will include stamp credits when I can.

The A is for Astronomer with Astrolabe card uses polished stone technique, dye ink from PSX in indigo and Uptown Accessories Antique Gold embossing powder. I used a glossy white stock and cut it slightly smaller than the royal purple background card stock. I also dragged the edges of the card over a gold pigment pad for a little extra color.

WANTED: More from Your Word Stamps

2007-08-24T13:23:00.000-04:00

Sitting on my table right now is the "Wanted" set from Stampin' Up. One of the stamps in this set is the word, WANTED, in letters 1-7/8" high. As I was looking at the stamp, the word ANTE popped out at me, and I wondered, how many words could you make from these letters?

There is a word jumble site I use all the time for the word games I develop at school, so a quick visit there gave me 44 different words of 3 letters or more. Then I thought, if I flip the W, I could also get an M. When I typed in WANTEDM, I was able to get 77 different words! If you add the single letter word A, and the two letter words, WE, ME, AN, AT, and AM, you have 83 available words.

If you ink up each letter on your word stamp separately, and use a stamp positioner, you can easily expand your vocabulary!

Take a look at your word stamps, and try mixing up the letters to get more mileage from your rubber!

The site I go to for "words in a word" is Interactive Wordplays.

Pink Stone

2007-08-14T23:33:00.000-04:00

This paper was made with silver metallic pigment ink and a few shades of pink. So pretty! I make an 8.5 x 11 inch sheet at a time. This sample is just artist trading card sized at 2.5 x 3.5 inches. As the light hits the surface, it positively glimmers.

Stone Backgrounds

2007-08-13T21:52:00.000-04:00

I have been working on background papers again. This one turned out so well, I can hardly bear to cut it up or cover it. It is a little hard to scan properly, and you can't really see all the gold veining running through the browns.

I think if I am going to stamp on this paper, I will have to use a big, solid colored stamp, as the color and pattern in the background will overpower nearly everything. I might mount some solid gold or bronze stamped autumn leaves over the surface, but pop them up and curl the edges a bit so they aren't really covering the paper.

The inks I use are sold as re-inkers for Stampin Up stamp pads. There are about 48 colors, and I like to use them because of the variety of color.

Follow these steps to get this beautiful, shimmery, autumn colored marble:

1. Take a pigment ink pad in a metallic color, and dab it randomly on your glossy paper. For this paper, I used gold.

2. Take a cotton ball or small cotton pad [like the kind women use to remove eye makeup] and saturate it with alcohol.

3. Squeeze a couple of drops of dark ink onto the cotton ball. Do the same with a lighter color ink - on the same ball. You can use complementary colors or colors from the same family. I've never used more than three colors at a time, but maybe I am being conservative. For this paper, I used three different browns.

4. Dab your cotton ball freely on the glossy paper. You can dab right over the pigment ink, and it will begin to run.

5. Take a spray mist bottle of alcohol and spray over your glossy paper to further blend the colors and to move the pigment ink around.

6. You will probably need to spray a fixative over the whole thing after it dries, or you will end up with metallic fingers when you handle the paper. You can use a cheap hairspray or an art spray.

Have fun!

Parfums

2007-07-29T14:20:00.001-04:00

Parfums, originally uploaded by betty2dogs.

I am still working on my alphabet set, but had a little accident and stamped this image to the left, instead of the right of the card. I like the layout, though, with the empty space to the right of the black image.

Stamping over polished stone technique is a challenge, even with black Stazon ink. The dissolved gold pigment ink creates a resist, and it is difficult to over stamp.

I used an old French Script background from Stampin Up and stamped over everything with it, just masking the Parfums Djemil, the lady's torso, and the dressing table mirror.

A Jolly Good Fellow

2007-07-23T16:02:00.001-04:00

I tried something new for this card.

I had to.

I began the card with dye inks, alcohol, and glossy card stock, using a beet, orange, and yellow combination of inks dabbed onto the stock with a cotton ball saturated with alcohol. I then embossed the two vegetable people by Ken Brown with white detail embossing powder. They barely stood out, so then I added some color to them with a blender pen and more dye ink. The freaky white embossing powder was still wrong.

Argh - I could start over or try something different. The swap drop dead date was today, so I soldiered on.

I took some clear plastic laminate and stamped the people onto that with black StazOn ink. I flipped the image over and painted it with LuminArts Primary Elements Polished Pigments mica powder and simple solution #2. They took on some beet color with a little sparkle and depth.

The card looked bare, so I added an Irish blessing stamp over everything on the glossy card and masked A Jolly Good Fellow with a ripped edge post it. Then I edged the glossy stock with a Liquid Gold Marvy pen.

I needed to adhere the plastic to the glossy card, so I tried Stampin Up's Crystal Effects, a high gloss dimensional clear glue. Yikes! Messy but effective. The glue dissolved some of my inks and paints and went all runny for a bit, but I like things messy.

Still working on my alphabet cards.

Z is for Zealot

2007-06-15T23:21:00.001-04:00

This is another card for the Alphabet Soup swap. I wanted to use the word Zealot, and liked the idea of red white and blue and the Treasure of the Sierra Madre reference. The woman in sunglasses who won't listen was perfect. I am pleased with this one.

I made the background paper by floating red and blue inks over shaving cream, drawing them through the foam until they veined, then pressing a glossy white stock down into the foam.

Mary McAndrew paintress

2007-04-22T16:10:00.000-04:00

My sister the artist has recently updated her website, and she asked me to take a look at it. She has been busy!

The work is now divided into genre: Goddesses/Mythology, Fantasy, Spiritual Surrealism, Portraits, Birds, and so on. Lately Mary has created many pieces incorporating Celtic mythology. This painting depicts Etain.

I have always been partial to her birds, and this black crowned night heron hangs in my house.

Last summer, she had a busy booth on the High Road at the Sterling Renaissance Festival in Sterling, NY.

If a tree falls in the woods

2007-04-16T16:55:00.000-04:00

Heavy wet snow. We are in the middle of a nor'easter and it has been bringing down trees in my neighborhood. This afternoon, I heard a crack and found one of the trees in my backyard lying over the fence. I think about those trees a lot when there are storms. I would hate to have one land on my roof!

On the other hand, Archie decided it was a great time to chew on a stick.

Bad Girls ATC

2007-04-10T16:37:00.000-04:00

The theme for this atc swap was Bad Girls. Last night I made 17 of these cards. The chocolate stamps are all from Rubber Bandit in New Zealand. The gun-toting girl is from Mars Tokyo/Adorned Surface/Hissyfit sold by sass*box on ebay.

I am on break from school right now, and my favorite thing about that is staying up all night and working at my art table. I like to keep working right through a project, and not stop until it is done.

Archie kept me company.

Alphabet ATC

2007-03-19T23:34:00.000-04:00

My latest artist trading cards have all been created for an alphabet swap. I have completed six of the letters so far, twenty to go. I think I will keep two of the design elements constant - the Phlax by Night font from Ma Vinci's Reliquary, and the cutline at the bottom of the image. On this card, the Q, I used the Queen of Coins from the Italian Tarot plate offered by Stampsmith.

I am having the most fun creating the background paper. This technique uses alcohol and metallic inks, alcohol, and glossy paper, and is also known as Polished Stone. They don't show up well on this scan, but there are lovely veins of silver throughout the apricot, and this one is my favorite so far.

Inky fingers today.

Serving up a heaping helping of hell-raising

2007-03-07T23:17:00.000-05:00

The Autobiography of Mother Jones has been fully recorded, uploaded, edited and published on Librivox. I read chapters 3, 5, 9, and 18. Click on the title of this post, or the link within to listen!

Go Make Something

2007-03-07T00:10:00.000-05:00

Lisa Vollrath is an incredibly productive artist. I just love her columns and comments about art and craft. She is also pretty generous with her ideas and products. Well worth visiting. I go to her sites periodically for inspiration. When does this woman sleep?

ATC

2007-02-25T16:19:00.000-05:00

My cousin Karen has been encouraging me to make some ATCs, or Artist Trading Cards. I finally got started late Friday night. I used a glossy white paper, added alcohol inks and metallic ink, then oversprayed those with alcohol to smoodge them around a little bit. I love that technique for coloring paper, and how it makes a mottled, veined surface. I stamped a girls head in red ink on iridescent white paper, cut it into a square, then edged it with a black ink. I added two favorite images, a mournful cupid and a palmistry book, in black. Lastly, I added a different fortune to each card. I am happy with them.

Now, I have a few cards to trade!

Silkies

2007-02-01T00:04:00.001-05:00

Silkies, originally uploaded by betty2dogs.

I took this photo at my friends' farm and I still love to look at it. Photography is so much luck, so much patience, and so much luck. These chickens were just about to bustle outside, and would have been lost against the snow. The dark interior of the coop makes them pop.

Plutoed

2007-01-08T22:21:00.000-05:00

I was sad when the International Astromical Union downgraded Pluto, and declared it a dwarf planet. So Pluto, the ninth and last planet, has now had the last laugh, winning the word of the year award from the American Dialect Society. To pluto is to demote or devalue someone or something.

The dwarf planet Pluto was discovered in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh, a self-taught 24-year old American astronomer working in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Lianablue

2007-01-08T00:05:00.001-05:00

Lianablue, originally uploaded by betty2dogs.

Liana and Tyler on a wintery warm spring day.

Wool Facts

2007-01-03T19:33:00.001-05:00

Did you know that over its lifetime, a single sheep will produce enough wool to make 12 sweaters?

Look at these sheep. Ask yourself, "How much wool does it take to make a sweater?" The lifespan of a sheep is 8-13 years, according to the University of Tennessee. So would one shearing make one sweater, or maybe one sweater and a pair of mittens?

Felting

2007-01-01T11:49:00.000-05:00

The weather has not been cold enough to inspire knitting or crocheting forays, but then I found this idea - felting old sweaters and cutting them up for mittens. Rita O'Connell of Earth Heart Designs made the mittens on the left. I think that sounds like a really interesting experiment. I don't own a single pair of mittens because they seem a little helpless to me. How can you drive a car wearing these things? Maybe felt the sweater and make a hat or slippers...