I wanted to make a thank you card for the Rubbernecker Stamp Company owners, as they sent me a box of their stamps to encourage me and my channel.  I’ve been working on making just the right card for them and it’s been a struggle, as every card I’ve tried to make has not made me happy.  You know it’s bad when I have one of those days.  I finally finished the card tonight and am really pretty happy with the results.  Sometimes though, it’s not about the crafting.

When I started my channel over a year ago, I was contacted by Rebecca Walton, one of the owners of Rubber Stamp Tapestry.  She wanted to send me some of her stamps to see what I thought about them.  They are the makers of the peg stamps (www.pegstamp.com), and I immediately fell in love with them.  They are easy to use and are so much fun to work with.  It’s been great watching Lindsay (the frugalcrafter) work with them and seeing the ideas she comes up with for them.

Rebecca had read my resolution to get to 3,000 subscribers this year and wanted to help me work toward that goal.  Here’s what she put on her company’s facebook page today.

I couldn’t ask for a better endorsement for my channel as Rebecca knows me and my commitment to helping others learn techniques they might think are beyond them.   I hope others don’t give up and learn to laugh at the mistakes they make along the way when their bodies just don’t do things the way they used to. When you have physical limitations, it can be easy to let life pass you by, and I hope my YouTube channel helps people find an outlet to create, be entertained, and most importantly, have fun!

It’s been a great day!

I used a 5 1/4″ x 4″ Fabriano Hot Press 140 Lb. water color paper that I bought at A C Moore and put it in the MISTI and held it in place with my new grid sheets I created. (I’ll attach the link to the video I made showing how to create them and how to use them.) I used a sentiment from Fiskars from their Thank You set in Mermaid Lagoon ink from Distress ink and used clear embossing powder from Ranger clear embossing powder and then heat set it.
I created an ink pad by using four baby wipes folded on old plastic packaging. Here is where I made my big mistake and don’t know what I was thinking when I did it. Maybe I was thinking, these re inkers are right here, I’ll just use them, but it was a crucial mistake. You can’t use Distress re inkers to make an ink pad if you use wet baby wipes as they are water reactive and the baby wipes dilute the ink. You can use any dye re inkers except Distress Inks. I used blues, yellows, orange and pink re inkers and put drops of them all over the baby wipes. This will make a really interesting background if you do it with dye inks.. They won’t dilute like mine did.
I stamped the ink pad several times before I got the result you see in the video. It looks like it was only once, but Rich had to cut out all of the stamping I did to get the inks to not look so diluted and for time sake as I did it many times. It’s also how my hands got so much ink on them. once I was happy with the inked result, I decided to use the Mermaid Lagoon ink pad and rub it around the outline of the stamp. I used a foam pad on a tool from Tupelo Designs to use with re inker and used my yellow to make the yellow areas more vibrant, then did the same with the orange color I used. I did the same with the Mermaid Lagoon and put it on the blue areas, then did it with Picked Raspberry.

The plastic background ended up acting as a palette for the leftover blue. I used it with a water color brush and sprayed water on it to paint my background. After the blue was gone, I sprayed a little water on the acetate and used the water to reactivate the water in the image so the white wasn’t so stark. I decided to do a splatter in the end with the fossilized amber and it really added to the design.
I stamped the inside sentiment from the same Thank you Fiskars stamp set.
I used a 5 1/2″ x 4 1/4″ white 110 lb Recollections card stock and colored it around the edges with the Fossilized Amber ink pad and rubbing it on the paper. I put foam tape on the back of my water colored image to give the card dimension. I used a matching glitter washi tape on my envelope.

I’m thinking I could be losing my crafting mind.  Today, I finally accomplished the impossible.  I finished the hummingbird card that my friend Elishia and I are both putting up together on our YouTube channels.  Of course this isn’t the first, or second attempt at this card.  I finally decided to make a card with alcohol imarkers painted on vellum.  In theory I didn’t think I could really screw it up and in retrospect, I could have made the card so much simpler, but didn’t.  I’m not sure why I always choose the most difficult methods to make cards, but I guess it’s just the way I roll.

My card looked so good until I started coloring in the background blue, for sky.  At first it looked ok, but as more of the blue was colored in, it started to show weird lines where the ink dried.  I started playing with it and eventually rubbed a mini-Distress ink over it to get the color to look consistent.  Here’s what I just thought of.  Why didn’t I either color the paper underneath with Distress inks, or, and this would be even easier, put a piece of blue paper under the vellum.  Sometimes I wonder where my common sense goes when these things happen.  Has anyone out there seen my common sense?  It’s MIA!

Ultimately the card looked good, but I feel sorry for Rich as I’ve been having more and more moments like these and his editing is getting bigger and bigger.  Today he’s editing one of my cards and said that normally he makes thirty edits per video and the last video he’s been working on has almost one hundred edits.  I’m making some serious mistakes and I’m not really sure why.  It’s frustrating because I hate to make this much work for Rich, even though he says he doesn’t mind.  It makes me feel terrible.  So the next one of my videos you watch, just remember there are probably one hundred mistakes you didn’t see and at least another hundred that you do.  I’m the world’s greatest crafter!

I know it seems odd that I made a MISTI tip video within a week or so of Jennifer McGuire’s MISTI tip video, but I swear, I’ve had this in the planning stages for a long time.  I had purchased the vinyl grid sheets from Amazon months ago and was too lazy to cut them and make the video.  I’ve had Cyndie’s templates for over a year and never have used them, so again, lazy.  The only reason my video is up now, is that Jennifer’s video reminded me of the things I had purchased to make my MISTI life easier and hopefully yours, as well.  I don’t know about everyone else, but I get tired of the magnets.  They are cumbersome and I’ve had some real issues with mine having them smack together and explode.  I wanted to create a system that made most of the magnets unnecessary and that’s what the vinyl grid sheets do.  Once they are in place, the card stock can’t move and even if it is lifted by an acrylic stamp that won’t let go, it should still land back in the spot it came out of.

I’ve found additional uses for the lining I put on my MISTI grid paper.  I didn’t realize how handy that overhead projector plastic would be.  I was making a card and decided to rub mini Distress inks over the card while it was in the MISTI.  Since the plastic was behind it, not only was clean up a breeze, but I also found that I could take a water bottle and squirt a small amount of water on the plastic and basically use it to watercolor right in the MISTI.  I loved the convenience of this tip and you’ll see it in action on the next video I am making.  I also really liked the idea of using the ink that ends up on the plastic by accident, so I took a paint brush to the plastic and used the ink the brush picked up.  I’m really having fun not having to clean the MISTI so often and always having clean grid paper.

Tonight I thought I’d make a couple of cards and decided to work on the hummingbird card that my buddy Elishia and I are doing together.  Well, not together, we’re each doing our own card using the same stamp set to see what the other comes up with.  I thought it screamed for gold embossing and water coloring, but  so far, I’m not sure if it’s going to make it or not.  I put Glossy Accents on it and if that doesn’t make a big difference, this card might be going into the trash.  Darn it, I hate it when I put a lot of work into something and the results are yucky.  Time will tell, hopefully the Glossy Accents will make a big difference.  You never know.

I bought a box of overhead projector clear plastic sheets last summer at a garage sale and thought they would be perfect to line my MISTI grid sheets.  You could use any clear acetate, but I have another solution as well.  I used my paper trimmer and cut the overhead projector sheets down to the size of the grid and cut a spare as well. I also wrote inch marks on the left side of the grid paper that I’m keeping in the MISTI, since I’m left handed so the MISTI measurements start at 8″ on the bottom when I use it.
I bought a set of 6 Non-Slip Vinyl Template Sheets on Amazon and here’s the link to them.  If you are a member of Amazon Prime, they are $4.79 for the set.
https://www.amazon.com/Dritz-Quilting-Non-Slip-Template-6-Count/dp/B004BQXG3M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1486524201&sr=8-1&keywords=non+slip+vinyl+template
The non-slip vinyl templates need to be cut to the card sizes you want to hold in place in your MISTI.  You will need heavy duty scissors for this and I recommend the short bladed Tim Holtz scissors, as they are great for cutting anything heavy duty.  I cut out one that is 4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″ tall and one that is 5 1/2″ x 4 1/4″ tall and one that ix 5 x 7″ and lastly, one that will work for the top layer you’d put over an A2 size card which is 4 ” x 5 1/4″ wide.  I cut so the outer portion that doesn’t have any grid lines is not on our vinyl that’s left behind.

You’ll be able to use this vinyl so your cards won’t move if you have the right size in place, and I had some left over pieces that I used to put 1″ lines on it so they can be used to center sentiments in the MISTI.  I had two that were 6 1/2″ long and 1″ wide so I made 1″ marks the whole length and now I have an easy way to center sentiments and make sure long sentiments in clear acrylic are straight as well.
The templates are from Cyndie and the videos are by Maureen Wong  (I apologize for using the wrong name) and here is a link to the videos that explains how to use these templates as well as the download information.

I haven’t used the templates from Cyndie, but they seem like a really great tool for the creative stamper.

The six pieces of vinyl have two that are plain and four with grids.  I used all four with grids and then the two extras can be used in place of the overhead projector sheets to put on top of your MISTI grid sheet they provide.

Lastly, My Sweet Petunia has a free downloadable grid sheet to print to help to center sentiments.

Don’t forget that if you are right handed, you’ll want to rotate your MISTI so the door is on the right side when making your grid sheets.

I spent a lot of the afternoon and evening working on a card for my nephew who won a prestigious scholarship in nursing school.  He’s a really wonderful, caring man and I just wanted to do something nice for him.  Rich and I are looking into the best gift card for good restaurants close to his apartment.  I could have made a card with a gift card insert, but it didn’t even occur to me when I was making it.  Of course it didn’t, geez!

I spent several hours on one card and by the time I was finished with it and the video, I knew with 100% certainty, it was going in the trash.  It was so bad, I don’t think it could have gotten any worse.  I know you think I’m exaggerating, but here’s how I can prove I’m right.  Rich looked at the final product, a completely different card, and said something like, “your cards have come so far, they are so much better than when you started this.”  I took that as a big compliment, but wanted to show him that I really haven’t come as far as he thought so I pulled the first card out of the garbage can and he started laughing really hard, and said “you can’t win them all.”  Obviously not.

The biggest issue with the garbage can card (that’s a great name for it), was the embossing.  It was on craft card stock and the ink wasn’t consistent, which made the powder inconsistent, which made the melted powder a mess.  I’ve had a really hard time getting good consistency in my embossing and I’m wondering if it could be my heat gun.  I know every big crafter recommends the Hero Arts version and if I had known that when I started, I would have bought it instead of the only one I could find in a 40 miles radius, at Joanns.  Mine burns paper easily and bubbles the embossing powder, even when I keep it moving and if you watch me, you probably think I’m wildly moving the heat gun, but I’m just trying to avoid smoking, scorching or bubbled powder.  I’m not sure what else it could be.  My Versamark pad has been replaced with the Distress pad, so that’s not the issue, and I just don’t know what it could be.  If you have any thoughts on embossing and heat guns in general, please let me know, as I think I’ll be shopping on Friday.   My cousin and I are having lunch near a bunch of craft stores then doing some shopping.  She’s interested in making cards and I’m just the girl to show her what she needs.  Of course she would never need as much as I have (because I’m a crafting shop-a-holic), but I’m hoping I can help her with the basics.   I’ll make a box of things to help her get started.  Even small purchases like inks and acrylic blocks come at a price.  Since I’m a crafty hoarder, I’m always happy to share.  I think we’ll have a great afternoon and will give you all the details of our crafty purchases and our afternoon of fun!

I wanted to make another covered note pad and love this Rubbernecker birch tree stamp.

I bought my note pad from the Dollar Tree and measured it. If you make one, you measure the width of your pad and write that down. Then you measure the length and double that for the back and then measure the top from front to back and add that measurement on. I made a mark on my paper where top of the front of my notepad would be then put the paper in my MISTI and centered the Rubbernecker birch tree stamp on it. I used Fabriano hot press watercolor paper that was 140 pounds that I bought at A C Moore. I cut my watercolor paper a little over the width of my memo pad and left the length of the watercolor paper intact. My measurements ended up being 12 1/2″ long and 4 1/4″ wide. I had to cut separate strips of paper to adhere them to the watercolor paper to make the length correct. I used a green card stock and cut it to the length and width of each side and lined each side with it.
I sprayed my stamp with water then added watercolor crayons from Stampin’ Up (they are discontinued), then stamped it. I used grey and green and a little bit of yellows when stamping it. Then I decided to use watercolor pencils to add more color so used a variety of pencils. I used mainly Prismacolor pencils and used a wet brush and moved some of the green around in the grassy spot. I added another round of green on the stamp and stamped it so the darker green was more vibrant in the background. I didn’t think the green was defined enough so used Gumball Green Stampin’ Up ink and inked my stamp and then got frustrated and masked the background and used a grass stamp and stamped it in the bottom section of the grassy area to get the grassy definition. I put a mask on the circle and decided to press Weathered Wood Distress Ink on the paper all around the mask and covered the entire front of my paper. I splattered white water color paint on my grey background.
To make my pen holder, I cut a piece of cardstock 1″ by 4″ and wrapped it around the pen and put tear tape inside up to the spot where the circle opens for the pen to fit. I also put tear tape on one side of the outside of the pen holder as the other side was to be attached to tear tape and the other side that I put tear tape on, would end up attached to the paper that has no glue.
I took another piece of paper that was about 1.25″ wide by 8″ wide and then folded it around the back cardboard of our memo pad and then made sure it had tear tape on the part that wraps around the back and then take the backing off and attach it to the inside back of the cover. I put a row of tear tape on the top of the inside of the cover and pressed the pad into the top to hopefully hold it in place.

My measurements will only work for this pad and if you buy this pad at Dollar Tree, I’d still measure it before cutting as I’ve found the covers are not all cut to the same length and width.

It’s Super Bowl Sunday, and although Rich loves the game, I’m not really into it.  I’m making good use of my time doing laundry and making a few videos.  I like to make sure I’m always a few ahead of Rich.

I made a really great card using the big Simon Says Stamp that JM gave me in her goodie box.  I really love that stamp and thought it would be fun to make my own stamp pad with baby wipes and re inkers.  I’m really not sure where my brain was at, as I used Distress Inks and they just didn’t want to stamp because the wet baby wipe kept diluting them, I think.  Anyway, the card started out as a fail and progressed to the point that I’m really proud of it.  Sometimes that happens when I made cards, or really anything.  I start out with one idea and it evolves into something else.   This one was pretty scary, but somehow I held it together long enough to turn it into something fun and interesting.

Since I had one good result, I decided to go for two and tried to make a card with multiple layers.  My colors didn’t blend well and I was just off.  It looks really bad and I think this one is going into the trash.  I used a couple of different colors of purples and somehow, they blended into what looks like a brown color.  I would have expected that if I had been using different colors that aren’t “friends” on the color wheel, but I’ve never seen it happen with the same color and using a different shade.

This is the second time I’ve tried to use this technique and I think I’m going to completely change up what I am doing and try something else.  What?  I’m not sure, but I need to make a thank you card and a congratulations card and both I’ve attempted twice and both have been total fails.  I think I’ll take a short break and try to simplify one of the cards and make something easy and fun.  That should take come of the pressure off of me.  After all, I don’t have to be JM all the time.

I’ve been working on a stamp layering technique and using the floral Rubbernecker stamps with it.  I think their stamps are so easy to layer once you figure out their system.  It all begins with the photo they include in their packaging. Put a piece of card stock where you want it in your MISTI and lay the photo of the stamped image on your card stock where you want your image to print.  Then lay the stamp that’s got the rough shape of the image, (not a lined image) onto the photo exactly where it lines up with the image and close the door of your MISTI on your stamp.  Next, remove the photo and ink the stamp with different colors to get a nice multi colored effect.  Stamp the image until you like the coloring, then lay the lined stamp onto your stamped image, lining it up like you did with the photo, only this time you are using what you have stamped as your guide.

It’s really very simple, just don’t throw out the photo or you’re in a world of hurt.  I made that mistake with the very first Rubbernecker layered stamp and won’t do that again.  I absolutely loved playing with these and can’t wait for Rich to get to this video to upload.  I think he’s about six behind right now,  I keep him hopping.  He loves seeing the results and is really proud of the channel and how it’s growing.  He’s like a proud dad and it’s been great sharing this experience with him.  He’s the best partner in crafting and more importantly, in life.  We’ve been married for 34 years and together 37.   On Valentine’s Day, I’ll devote my blog to “all about Rich.”  I hope you’ll take the time to read all about him.

I’ve been working on making more covered journals to send as thank you gifts to the wonderful people at Rubbernecker Stamps.  I have made four of them (but only videotaped three) and I think the last is my favorite.  I made a memo pad cover with Rubberneckers’ birch trees background stamp.  It isn’t a huge stamp but has terrific impact whenever you use it.  I used so many techniques with this project from stamping with watercolor crayons, to masking, to stamping over the watercolors with inks, to splattering paint on my end result.  I have to say that this was one of those projects that I just wasn’t sure about, but in the end, I absolutely loved it.  It’s masculine but not overly masculine and it’s portable art.  I think that’s what I like best about making covered notebooks with different stamping techniques.  The recipient ends up with something useful but also something that is really beautiful as well.

Let’s face it, I think my viewers are going to be sick of covered notebooks by the time they get to this video, but once I got started, I just couldn’t stop.  I had so much fun using Rubbernecker stamps as well as using all of the new techniques I’ve used that it’s been addicting and I just couldn’t stop.  I guess that’s the problem with being me, I never know when enough is enough and just keep going.