Valentines Art Project

eatThis project is a little different than anything I've ever done. It's been in the back of my mind for quite a while. I knew I wanted a red and black corset to be the focal point. I wasn't sure what else I wanted to add, but when I got started everything just came together.

I started by making all the elements for this project. I looked on the internet for a good image of a corset, but I couldn't find one. So, I freehand cut one out of  paper from the DCWV Autumn stack. I used my Versamark pen and and Ranger black embossing powder to add the boneing. I distress the edges with Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad inVintage Photo. I didn't have a piece of black lace, so I used black ink to die a piece of off white crochet lace. I added this to the bottom of the corset and set it aside. 

I made the tickets by die cutting Rustic cardstock with the Papertrey Ink ticket die. I stamped it with stamps from the Just The Ticket stamp set, adding the word Foxy from the 40:31 Creations Love stamp set. When they were combined, I liked the little naughty message it created.

I found this high heel shoe stamp in the $1 bin at Michaels yesterday. I started with a piece of the same Rustic paper I used for the background of the project. Using Tim Holtz Distress ink, I stamped the text backgroung with a new Stampendous stamp I bought last week. I embossed the shoe in black and the word Sexy in gold. I really wanted the word Sexy to be in a script font, but all I had was block letters from Fiscars. So I used the kiss method to grundge them up a little before stamping and embossing. I tore around the images and distressed with Vintage Photo Distress ink.

I decided it need a little bling, because bling is sexy. I happened to have this lock and key on a chain and thought it was perfect.

  

On a piece of 7x6 craft wood, I added a piece of white core textured card stock over the wood and sanded the edges and distressed the surface. I used Tim Holtz Distress in in Vintage Photo to darkent the edges and  embossed the swirl background in gold. I used my Smooch Spray to distress the lace,background Rustic paper, and flowers. I added all of this onto the background board.

This is by far my favorite project so far. I have it displayed in my living room. The colors are perfect, now if my husband would just let me paint our white living room dark red, it would be perfect.

I also made a large tote bag for a coworker this weekend, but it needs a few more details. I haven't quite decided what I want to do. Maybe I will finish it and have it posted later this week.

Thanks for stopping by,
Dana Desmond

Quick Note...

If you are looking for project ideas with a little comic relief, my cousin Mandy has a blog you might want to check out. She isn't specifically a paper crafter, but her crafting style is more the home decore/recycle materials, type stuff. She tries to make her projects as inexpensive as possible. The results have been awesome. This year she's challenged herself to make at least one Christmas project a week for the next year. She also plans to throw in a few other projects as well. Sounds a little crazy to me, but hey, she calls herself the Crazy Crafting Chic, what else would you expect.

Not only does she post projects, but she always adds a little commentary about her crazy life. It's just her, her husband and a teenage son in the house. Quite comical at times.

Go check out her blog, http://tsmomma.blogspot.com/, you won't be sorry you did.

Thanks for stopping by,
Dana Desmond

WOOHOO!! Just a few lines to brag

I couldn't believe it when I opened my e-mail and saw I was the winner of the Peachy Keen LFIF X's and O's challenge (Here's my winning entry). I can't wait to receive my prize. There were so many great entries, I didn't think I had a chance. How awesome!!! I'm having a hard time wiping the smile off of my face. LOVE MY PEACHY KEEN STAMPS.

This is just the "wind in my sails" moment I needed to get motivated. So, craft room, here I come!

Dana ;-)

P.S. I've been eyeballing Emma's new stamps over at My Creative Time. From what I understand, they are made by the same company as Peachy Keen Stamps, so you know they are great quality. Emma's stamps have some very cute sayings that would work on many different projects.

It's been a while...

The weather has just thrown me all off. I've been working extra hours to make up for the time I had to take off for the blizzard we had here last week. I did get a few cards done while I was off, but I didn't get them posted.

I tried to go down and craft last night, but I spent all my time running up and down the stairs trying to cook supper, make a snack for snack day at work and clean the kitchen. I finally gave up.


I've informed my family that starting Friday night, I will be spending all my time in my craft room and I don't plan to resurface until Sunday.
 
Here's a few of the Valentine's cards I worked on while the blizzard was happening. It was so cold in our basement, but I managed to brave it long enough to make these.
 

This one is my favorite. I'm going to make more

of these in different colors and patterns.

The blue one was another happy accident. I cut the heart out of white paper and added the same swirl stamp to it that I used on the background, but the image was too delicate and there wasn't enough surface area on the heart to tell what it was. So, instead of cutting the heart again, I used my Pacific Point stamp pad and completely saturated the heart with ink. I found that the edges of the image picked up more ink that the center, giving it an outlined look. I still wasn't happy with the results. So I covered the whole surface with Versamark Dazzle ink and used clear sparkle embossing powder over the entire surface. When this was cool, I repeated the process. I love the iridescent look it gave. 

All cards are 4x4 and use Stampin' Up cardstock. I've found that it cuts the best on my Cricut. While at my Stampin' Up club meet a couple of weeks ago, I learned a new aluminum foil technique and had to try it. I love how it turned out. I had a little trouble on the card with the stacked hearts. I put too much glue on the foil and it "popped" though the front, so I sprinkled glitter over the glue. It turned out OK, but the next time I used the foil, I put just enough glue to make it slightly sticky and it worked better.

I used my Gypsy to plan these about a month ago and I can't remember all the different cartridges I used. I know for sure I used were Doodle Charms, Gypsy Wandering and Create-a-Critter.

Thanks for stopping by. I promise I will do my best to keep up with my posting. Have a great day!
Dana Desmond

Happy Accidents

Today consisted of house cleaning, watching movies, web surfing and, in just a bit, some crafting. But first, I want to share a card I made over the weekend. This is another card that I just lost myself in. I started with a blank piece of white cardstock and each element I added just brought it alive. I have to say most of what I did was just happy accidents. Nothing was planned, but somehow it all came together. As I type this, I'm watching a huge blizzard outside my window. Yes, an official blizzard. There's so much snow blowing off of my roof, I can't see past my front porch. One of the best parts of a blizzard is that everyone is home, safe and sound.

First I stamped the cherry blossoms using what I thought was going to be clear glitter embossing powder. Apparently, I hadn't cleaned the stamp properly, so when I stamped the image in Versamark I got a variegated pink tone. At first I was a little bummed about, but I added the embossing powder anyway. I loved how it turned out. I decided I wanted to have a soft sky effect, using Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Tumbled Glass, I used my blending tool added the blue, making sure I stayed darker around the edges.

I stamped the butterfly image from Martha Stewart  in Versamark and embossed it using navy embossing powder I had in my stash. I also embossed the edges using the same navy powder. I did this similar to the way you would ink up the edges of a card to give it an aged look, only I used Versmark.

I felt the cherry blossoms needed more color, so I used my Copic Sketch Markers and added purple, brown and green. I cut slits in the paper, keeping to the contour of the butterfly, making sure my ribbon would fit through it. Using Papertrey ribbon, I thread it through the slits, behind the butterfly and attached the ends to the back of the card.

I used the "love is in the air" stamp from the 40:31 Creations Love stamp set. I added silver brads to each corner and layered this onto a piece of white cardstock.

I used Papertrey Ink cardstock in Enchanted Evening for the card base. Lastly, I added the butterfly layer to the card base.

I have to admit, at first, I didn't really like the Distress Inks. I didn't understand what made them different. But now that I've started using them and am not so intimidated by them, I love how they look. They give a very soft effect to anything you use them on.

Now, it's off to the basement to make another purse for a friend and to work on some Valentine's cards for coworkers. I'll try my best to post something tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by,
Dana Desmond