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I thought it would be fun to play with the dies from Tim Holtz’s Crazy Cats set, but not the matching stamps. The results - a trio of super fast and easy cards! I used one of my favorite RubberMoon stamps (You Got This.), some cat’s eye stickers, and for one of the cards a couple of pieces of embossed Shimmer Sheetz. DONE! (If you don’t have cat’s eye stickers, you can easily draw the eyes...)
A little secret: The center cat on each card is sitting on a strip of cardstock or in a window opening for a reason. That particular stamp has very long legs and front paws that end just below the body, therefore the die has a lumpy shape in that particular spot and without the stamped image (when it’s just a silhouette shape) the little lumps seem to be genitals for a male cat - not what I wanted, so I performed a little ‘surgery’ and posed the cat accordingly!
Without the shelf or window sill it wouldnh’t(Refer to the stamp and die sets as needed.)
MORE OPTIONS
For even speedier results use only one cat per card.
Start with a 4” high x 9” wide top-fold card base instead of A2 so you can line the cats up in a row.
Die cut the cats from patterned paper rather than solid colors.
SUPPLIES
- Crazy Cats die set (Tim Holtz)
- You Got This rubber stamp (RubberMoon)
- Cardstock in assorted colors and textures
- Dye inks in brown and black
- Craft sponge (for smudged-on inking)
- Double-sided adhesive tape
- Foam tape
- Optional -
- 5mm Cat’s Eye stickers in yellow (Stanislaus Imports, lasioux.com)
- Shimmer Sheetz and embossing folders
After letting the papers from Starry Night, Part 1, sit on my table for a couple of days the ideas began to take shape. I cut the black watercolor paper and cranberry cardstock into pieces and die cut hand shapes from them. Then I edged the hands with a gold paint pen to create bold outlines, thin outlines, and partial shadows. I used the ‘inlay’ technique to mix and match them. Two of the hands got bracelets made with scrap strips of paper.
Then I got out two star punches and punched away, adding white paper behind the star-shaped openings. Next stop: Folded cards (some vertical with a side-fold, some horizontal with a top-fold)
Here are more photos. Do you like the one with two hands better than those with only one? I can’t decide...
I didn’t want to leave out the pieces of torn newsprint. I added some soft colors with pencils, some scraps of other cardstock, and some stitches (metallic braid)
SUPPLIES:
- See Starry Night, Part 1
- Add: Star punches in 2 sizes, Colored pencils, white cardstock, and glittered black and orange cardstock
- Adhesives of choice
I’m making gel print Traveler’s Notebook insert booklets for friends and, yes, for myself! It’s a great way to use up scraps as well as full size prints. The finished inserts can be used as backgrounds for found poetry, collage, stenciling, journaling and memorabilia! And if your friends do not have a Traveler’s Notebook, the inserts can stand alone as art journals or your gift might entice them to start one.
INSERT BOOKLET #1
The first insert booklet, shown in the photo above and the 5 that follow, is made with gel prints cut to fit the notebook. All pieces are glued back to back, accordion style, with a cover ‘wrap’ glued in place to secure the spine.
INSERT BOOKLET #2
The second insert booklet, shown in photos below, began with a purchased Kraft brown insert booklet. It has a different look because pages incorporate gel prints but are not entirely covered by the prints. I rounded the corners of the booklet for a softer feel and added some tabs and notary seals. There is a ‘tipped-in’ booklet with smaller size extra pages partway through the insert. This is held in place by hinges made from gel print scraps.
The pages are ready for MORE: Stamping, stenciling, collage, journaling and all the rest.
SUPPLIES:
- Traveler’s Notebook insert booklet in Kraft brown
- Corner rounder punch (optional)
- Gel prints
- Adhesives of choice
- Assorted embellishments (Tabs, notary seals, yarn)
Need some quick and easy gift ideas? Here’s one: Glue a gel print to a piece of chipboard, laminate the front with an adhesive backed sheet; hand- or die-cut into a puzzle.
SUPPLIES
- Gel print
- Clear adhesive-backed film sheet
- Chipboard
- AccuCut puzzle die (8x10)
I love getting new supplies, new tools, NEW STUFF. Don’t we all? But I never tire of using my button-embellished carpenter’s tool bag - it currently holds my Traveler’s Notebook, the doodle book, a zippered bag filled with pens, a box filled with colored pencils, and a plastic bag with glue stick and a (brand new) pencil sharpener.
YOUR TURN:
Sew those buttons you’ve been collecting onto something you’ll use and enjoy! They’re not happy being jumbled together in that jar or box - they want to come out and play!!! TIP: Use multiple strands of sturdy thread and stitch ‘em well so they won’t fall off.
Another oldie: I’m still doodling in the little book with colorful inside pages that I started in 2008. I altered the cover for the first time in 2009, kept going till 2013 and started up again this year. As it says in the title: “A doodle a day keeps the doctor away”! (The lettering on the original cover only said “Artist Journal”)
YOUR TURN:
Using gel pens doodle on the covers and spine of a journal that has a dark cover.
I forgot to date the rosebud sketch so I have no idea what year I drew it. I am much better at keeping track these days because I now keep a couple of date stamps on my work table, easy to reach and always at the ready.
YOUR TURN:
Treat yourself to some colored pencils and a date stamp or two, or use number and letter stamps.
SUPPLIES:
- Anything and everything! Head over to The Queen’s Ink or browse the web store, add new stuff to your old stuff...’Tis the season.
My Traveler’s Notebook was a constant companion on multiple plane trips last summer. I doodled my way to Boston and back, always drawing intricate designs with Pigma Micron pens and usually completing one or two pages during the flight (a little more than an hour).
This morning when the power went out I decided to sit by the window and use my Prismacolor pencils to add color to a few of the pages. The first of these, a heavily patterned tulip, is shown above and below.
Below is one of the pages without any color. I think I like it better without! What do you think?
My Traveler’s Notebook also acts as a scrapbook of sorts. Below is a page onto which I glued a lovely fussy-cut royal from The Queen’s Ink’s party postcard. I draw on the right side of each 2-page spread and glue things to the back of the drawing (the left side of each spread).
Another favorite thing to do in my Traveler’s Notebook: Add dog stickers from my collection!!! The black poodle is on the cover of an insert I’ve just started. The beagle and dressed up dog are old favorites I’ve been saving for ages. It’s nice to give these stickers a place where I can see and enjoy them.
SUPPLIES:
- Traveler’s Notebook with drawing paper insert booklet
- Pigma Micron pens in black, assorted sizes
- Colored pencils (shown: Prismacolor)
I decided that the stamped, heat-embossed and laminated ATCs from a previous tutorial were a little bit boring so I kept going. I punched quarter-inch holes in them, threaded some metallic braid through the holes, tied on some beaded embellishments and tucked in a few feathers. In addition, I found some padded hearts and an embossed word (Shimmer Sheetz) and adhered them, too.
The lamination makes the rectangles nice and stiff so the metallic braids don’t tear through the surface.
YOUR TURN
- Stamp, emboss and laminate some ATCs or start with laminated gel prints.
- Punch two or three holes on each one using a quarter-inch punch as shown, or use a different shape punch or a smaller round hole punch.
- Gather a random array of metallic braids, yarn, ribbons and assorted embellishments in coordinating colors.
- Use the samples for inspiration. Complete your ATCs as you choose!
TIP
Use small pieces of Tombow Xtreme Adhesive Tabs for a strong hold to adhere flat-backed embellishments to the laminated surface.
