Altered Rolodex Holder

Another lovely challenge this week over at Simon Says Stamp and Show! Why? Because this weeks challenge is "Anything Goes" which was the perfect opportunity for me to work on something I needed and wanted to work on. I recently decided to give altered rolodex cards a try. My wonderful mommy happened to have an old rolodex holder she was no longer using so she said I could have it as storage for any cards I make or collect! It was in quite a sad state (I'll post later on that), but I thought it would be perfect for altering!

Here you can see an over-all shot of the finished rolo holder... The first step in my process was to tear up pages from a real vintage book, distress all the edges, then mod-podge them over the entire cover. After everything had dried I used various stamps from the Tim Holtz/ Stampers Anonymous Papillon Stamp set to add the French vintage lettering and butterfly images.

I used a few different items from Tim's idea-ology line to embellish the lid, including these great Hardware Corners and a keyhole from Tim's Locket Keys.

Another idea-ology embellishment... this fabulous Ornate Plate. The inner part was created by stamping in Archival ink, distressing in vintage photo distress ink and going over it with Crackle Accents.

This project took me all week because I kept running into "creative issues", but I'm really pleased with the finished product. Hope you've enjoyed taking a peek! I can't wait to start filling it with little works of art...

As always

Angela

Variations On A Theme

Lately I have been working on creating a bunch of butterfly themed cards for a women's group I am part of. Our little "motto" is "Find your wings and keep them." These cards are going to be used for each woman to send a note of encouragement to someone they think needs to be uplifted throughout the week. Here are a few of the cards I finished today using some of the Copic colored butterflies I shared with you yesterday... This first card was created using the Divine Swirls embossing folder from Cuttlebug. I dotted each swirl tip with white gel pen. I also used the white gel pen for accenting the butterflies and hand writing the sentiment.

The following card was also created using the Divine Swirls embossing folder. The ends of these swirls were also dotted using a white gel pen. The butterflies were accented using Lavender Stickles (this was my first time trying Stickles... let's just say I'm in LOVE). The sentiment is hand written in white gel pen.

This next card was created using the Stylized Flowers embossing folder from Cuttlebug and sanding the raised parts. The butterflies were accented with Liquid Pearls in Rouge.

All butterflies are from the Antique Engravings set from Hero Arts (CL383) and are colored using Copic markers (for information on exact markers used, please visit yesterday's post. Thanks for letting me share!

As always

Angela

Butterflies, Copics and Scissors... Oh, My! (Again)

This is something I like to do when I'm doing craft time with my precious little 2 1/2 year old daughter... I stamp a bunch of images and then color them with Copics while she paints. Not only is it fun and relaxing, it's also a great way to prep a lot of images for future use. I just got this great stamp set with my Hero Arts order a couple days ago. It's called Antique Engravings (CL383) and I LOVE it! These butterflies are so great. The inspiration for these came from this youtube video by Jennifer McGuire. Here they are all cut out... I just love how vivid they are! Here are the Copic colors I used:

• Purple butterfly: V12, V15


• Gray butterfly: W-3, B63


• Red butterfly: R22, R35


• Yellow butterfly:Y17, YR68


• Butterfly body: E57

And here is a card I created this evening using one of the gray butterflies...

I embossed a lovely gray textured card stock from my Neutrals Mat Stack (DCWV) with the Divine Swirls embossing folder from Cuttlebug. I then used sand paper to distress the raised areas of the embossed paper. I heat embossed the butterfly with three layers of Clear Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel (and VersaMark) to create a gorgeous glossy butterfly! Before the butterfly cooled too much I bent the wings up slightly to give a nice dimensional affect.

TAG!

Today I had a realization... I love making cards and usually make at least one a day, if not more. However, I hardly ever make tags! In fact, the only tags I have ever made were completely one dimensional- just stamped and given a "vintage" look by using distress inks. I think my problem lies in my misconceptions about tags. They don't have to be simple and they don't have to be flat. In fact, since they aren't going into an envelope, they can pretty much have as many layers and embellishments as I want! I decided it was time to change my thinking and get over whatever was holding me back from making tags. My plan? To think of tags as miniature versions of cards. Once I put my mind on that track, my hands did the rest! Here's the tag I made tonight...

SUPPLIES:

• white card stock
• Nestabilities dies (Labels Eight)
• Tim Holtz Visual Artistry clear stamp set (Flights of Fancy)
• Martha Stewart clear stamp set (Butterflies)
• Stampendous background stamp (Music Score)
• Tsukinekos Memento Ink in Tuxedo Black
• Distress Inks (Spiced Marmalade and Wild Honey)/Blending Tool
• Copic Markers (Y15, Y17, YR16)
• Honey Bee Scissors
• Dimensional Adhesives
• Black Eyelet
• Black satin ribbon
  

I am so in love with it! I don't mean to toot my own horn, but it turned out so beautifully I can't stop looking at it! (Don't you just love it when you make something that takes your own breath away)? Anyway, I'll probably be listing this little beauty in my Etsy shop in the next couple of days, but I wanted to share it with you first!

As always
Angela

Butterflies, Copics and Scissors... Oh, My!

So as you can probably tell from my previous posts on the subject, I am totally loving my new Copic markers! I am very new at using them, but I have been having so much fun getting to know them. Practice makes perfect, right? Because Copics bleed through paper (unless you use Gina K's Pure Luxury card stock which you can find at Gina K Designs) I have been stamping mass amounts of images on my paper (Neenah card stock which can be found at Ellen Hutson), coloring them with Copics all at once, and then cutting them out for use on cards, tags, etc.

Two days ago I purchased the clear butterfly stamp set from Martha Stewart. I am in love with this set! Here's a little look at what I've done so far...

Aren't they just so vibrant?! I'm not quite sure what I'll be using them for yet, but I know I'll find something spectacular to do with them! And because I believe in giving credit where credit is due, my method of coloring these little beauties was inspired by Jennifer McGuire who has this awesome blog you can check out at Jennifer McGuire, ink..

• Martha Stewart Clear Butterfly Stamp Set
• Copic Markers (Yellow: Y15, Y17, YR16; Pink: RV21, RV23, RV04; Purple: V000, V06, V09)
• Neenah Paper
• Tsukinekos Memento Ink in Tuxedo Black
• Honey Bee Scissors from EK Success (perfect for cutting small details)

As always

Angela