What is purple?

A flying purple people eater!












Purple prose that turned out to be a purple poem.

What is yellow?

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

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

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

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

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.

National Tooth Fairy Day

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

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.

A Jolly Hallowe'en!

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

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

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

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

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.

To Be American

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.