Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Amelia Earhart Travel Log

Last summer, I visited a Restoration Hardware store in Nashville. From the minute I spotted their aviation-inspired pieces, I was obsessed with getting my hands on some rubber stamps with a similar feel. Luckily, my wish came true! Artistic Outpost has just released two fantastic stamp sets: Charles and Amelia, and Industrial Backgrounds. They work perfectly together, and with many of AO's other stamp sets.

This little flight journal is based on the Large Goodie Card with Pockets - a project from the Technique Junkie 3D and Fun Folds CD. I love being able to browse through all the different projects when I'm in need of a little inspiration!

At CHA, Tim Holtz (like I need to add the last name; what other Tim is there?!) was demoing a faux leather technique using Perfect Ink Refresher. It is so cool - and I'm pretty sure he said it would be in his new book! Anyway, I just happened to have some of the PIR in my stash, and decided to have a go at it. I started with plain kraft cardstock, and this is what I ended up with. Pretty amazing!

After creating the cover for the journal, I added a piece that was created by cutting chipboard using the small Cabinet Card die, and then cutting out an inset using one of the small gears from Sizzix. I painted them with gold and silver Dabbers, and then pieced them back together again. The propeller was stamped on chipboard and embossed with black embossing powder. When it cooled, I covered the whole thing with UTEE and embossed it again. Love that look!

This label is a little lesson in what happens when your embossing ink pad is covered with glitter - oops! ;-) The label was cut from chipboard using the Sizzix Mini Labels die. The word fly was done the same was as the propeller - stamped and embossed in black, and then covered with UTEE and embossed again. I love the cracking too! The glitter actually looks kind of cool in real life too.

This is the inside of the journal. I loved the idea of it being a goodie holder, but I was so far into the aviation theme, I couldn't think what goodies would work - that's when I decided it would be a travel journal/scrapbook. The left side was covered with a vintage work order from my ephemera stash. On top of that I added a tag that was cut using the Sizzix Tiny Tabs and Tags die. I painted it with a black Dabber, sanded the edges, and added the stamped quote.

On the right side, I inked a glassine envelope and then stamped the front with the text (my husband thought this was a real vintage piece, lol!) using black Archival ink. Next, I inked and stamped several tags, grouped them together using a Trinket Pin, and inserted them into the envelope.

Here is a side view where you can see the spine. Now that I've made one of these, my imagination is going crazy thinking of all the different themes I could do!

Ok, obviously I was just a little in love with this and couldn't stop taking pictures! In case you haven't heard of the 3D and Fun Folds CD, it's a fantastic resource from Technique Junkies that features 70 different projects with stepped-out, pictorial instructions. You can order it through my link below. If you'd like to see a list of the projects, you can see it here.


The rubber stamps I used can be purchased from Artistic Outpost via the links below. All other supplies can be found at Inspiration Emporium - click the thumbnails to view the products. To celebrate this Leap Year, Inspiration Emporium is offering 20% off your order (excluding Copic and Distress Markers) when you use the coupon code leapyear. How awesome is that!? Please note, AO rubber stamps are not included in this offer. The coupon code is good until Sunday, March 4th.




Thursday, February 23, 2012

Simon Says Stamp...Paris, Plus a Honey of a Tutorial!

This week, the Simon Says Stamp challenge gave us our choice of Paris, London, or New York as our theme. I chose Paris, because I really wanted to use this balloon from Artistic Outpost's Paris Exposition stamp set. How adorable is it all honeycombed up?! It was definitely a bit of a challenge since it was so small, but it was not as hard as you might think.

I can't thank you guys enough for all the wonderful comments on my 12 Tags challenge tag! Without further ado, here is the tutorial you all asked for:

Super Simple Honeycomb

Supplies: StazOn or other permanent ink, glue stick, inking tool, hot air balloon stamp from Stampers Anonymous, Distress ink, tissue paper, white cardstock.

Step one: Using StazOn, stamp balloon portion of hot air balloon stamp on tissue paper 7-9 times (the more pieces you use the smaller your honeycomb openings will be. I used 7 for this example). Ink well with Distress ink.

Step 2: Cut out balloon portion of stamped image, trimming closely. I love how they look like petals! Idea for later, perhaps? Hmmmm....

Step 3: Fold each balloon in half. Even though this stamp isn't perfectly symmetrical, it's close enough. Notice that, since you used a nice, juicy StazOn pad and lots of Distress ink, the pattern and color show on both sides!

Step 4: Note - this is going to look tricky, but it's really easy! Take a folded balloon and, using your glue stick (the drier the adhesive, the better, you don't want it soaking thru!), run a line of glue down the folded edge. Add another little horizontal strip near the top, and one near the bottom. Stack another folded balloon on top and press to adhere.

Step 5: Open the folded balloon and add a small horizontal line of glue in the center. Refold and make sure it's adhered. Repeat this process until you've used all of your folded balloons. Each glued piece should alternate - one glued at the top and bottom, the next glued in the middle, and so on.

Step 6: When you're done stacking and gluing, it should look something like this. You can check your glue points along the way to make sure it's all opening up correctly.

Step 7: Stamp the balloon image on white cardstock, color with Distress ink, and cut out. This will be your base.

Step 7: Cover entire cardstock balloon with glue.

Step 8: Carefully align the folded, stacked tissue balloons on top of the cardstock balloon, the cut edge should be on the outside, the fold should be in the center. It doesn't matter which side you lay down first. Press to adhere.

Step 9: Carefully open up your tissue paper and press the other side down. You can use a craft stick or something similar to reach in and smooth it down, if necessary.

That's it! I hope this was somewhat easy to follow. It's so much easier to show than to tell! Feel free to email me with any questions, or leave one in the comments.

Here is another peek of my original tag using this technique. I think I glued at slightly different points, but it still works! As long as you alternate your glue points, you will get the honeycomb effect.

Here is the technique done on a much smaller scale! Isn't it adorable? This time I used a liquid glue and did not like it one bit. It doesn't take much moisture to get tissue paper saturated - definitely go with a glue stick for this! Just like my original tag, I stamped the rest of the image on a piece of scrap clear packaging and fit the two pieces together. This time, I used my heat gun to slightly soften the banners and then curled them while they were warm. The banner at the top was cut from white paper with Sizzix' Tattered Banners die, and stamped with another image from AO's Paris Exposition. So pretty!

I love using heat embossing on pieces like this, but don't want a shiny finish on something that looks so vintage. To tone it down, I lightly sanded the embossing after it cooled with my Idea-ology Sanding Grip.

After I made this, I wasn't sure what it was, exactly. Should it be a card? A hanging? I decided to add an easel to the back that was cut from chipboard using the Sizzix Small Easel die and make it a stand-alone art piece. I just trimmed a little off the top and it was a perfect fit.

The frame for my piece was created using the large Movers and Shapers Cabinet Card die, and the small Mini Cabinet card die. After it was cut from chipboard, I painted it with a Pitch Black Dabber and then sanded it when it was dry.

So sorry this has turned into a book, lol! I hope some of you decide to try this technique. If you need any of the materials I used, they can be found at Inspiration Emporium via the links below. If you're looking to save a little $$$, use my coupon code - stamptramp - to save 10% off your order!

Supplies