Vintage Travel Booklet with Tags - upcycled paper towel tube!

Hello Friends!

The Blockheads Paper Arts design team are doing Travel themed projects this month and I'm really pleased with my project I'm sharing today!  I've upcycled the cardboard tube from a roll of paper towel to make the page pouches for my mini travel booklet!  I love the travel worn vintage feel of the completed booklet with the shipping tags tucked in to each pouch!

My travel booklet is perfect for a 6 day trip!  You can journal about each day on the tags and write either the name of the location or the date inside the red arrows.  You can glue photos or clippings to the pouch covers and stash all sorts of things like tickets inside the pouches too! 

Faux Metal Postage Stamps Card for Blockheads' Magic Metals Technique Challenge!

Howzit Everyone!

It's technique challenge time again at Blockheads Paper Arts and this one is called Magic Metals!  Karen is hosting the challenge this month and she has an awesome tutorial and technique sample for you to check out over at Blockheads Paper Arts.

Faux Metal Postage Stamps

 

I've been having a ball and my studio has been more like a witch's den or whatever you call the place where witches concoct spells and potions.  I've been creating with embossing powder flying everywhere with a lot of "a sprinkle of this and what would happen if I add a sprinkle of that" going on ;0)

Here's my first design team creation for the Magic Metals technique challenge with more to follow so don't go anywhere!  I created these faux embossed metal postage stamp embellishments for my card with embossing powder.  I'm a stamp collector of the other kind too and I was inspired by my gold plated metal commemorative stamps and this is the result and I hope you like them!

All the stamps used are exclusive to Blockheads Paper Arts.  I used sections of the Botanical Silhouettes stamps to create my faux metal postage stamps and cut outs, the French Script from Backgrounds for All Occasions and the Postcard stamp from the Vintage Light and Form set to create my faux vintage ledger paper background.

My About Art Accents project - Pocket Fairy Field Journal - entered into the Grungy Monday 16 Challenge!

Happy Weekend Everyone!

I've entered my Pocket Fairy Field Journal project I designed for About Art Accents in the Grungy Monday 16 Challenge over at Studio L3!  The Challenge this week is T!m's Grungeboard and I used the Label Frame from the Elements Grungeboard set in this project!

Happy Stamping!

THE SHARPIE DOMINO QUEEN
About Art Accents Designer

'Take Flight' Double-dose ATC Art featuring Blockheads Stamps!

Howzit Stampers!

As promised I'm back today with my double dose of ATC art!  

Yesterday I shared my Hot and Spicy ATCs and today I'm cooling things down again with a touch of blue and a hint of green!  This creation is a two-panel piece with two ATCs attached together and I really love the fragile quality and elegant beauty of the design.  I featured the Flourish Bird Cage from the Victorian Eccentricities stamp collection again and also used a sentiment from the gorgeous Whimsical Faerie Wings set!

MATERIALS
Blockheads Paper Arts Rubber Stamps

Victorian Eccentricities - Flourish Bird Cage

Whimsical Faerie Wings - Take Flight text

 Dark cream cardstock

Tea Dye - Distress Ink
Versafine Onxy Black ink

ColorBox Fluid Chalks - Blue Lagoon

Prismacolor pencils

Tiny hole punch
Brass jump rings
Metallic gold paint pen
Paper towel

Pre-cut two ATC cards from dark cream cardstock.  An ATC is an Artist Trading Card that measures 2.5" x 3.5".  Butt the two cards together and secure with a piece of removable sticky tape so they don't move around.  Stamp the Flourish Bird Cage from the Victorian Eccentricities collection onto the cards with Versafine Onyx Black ink.  

TIP:  If you prefer you could just stamp the image first and then cut the two ATCs out afterwards.

Place the left card on top of the right one and mark the location of 3 equally spaced holes along the inside edges and punch the holes out with a tiny hole punch.

Colour the image with PrismaColor pencils.  I used True Blue, Yellow Ochre, Dark Brown and Limepeel.  Age both cards with Tea Dye Distress Ink by applying the ink with a piece of scrunched up paper towel.  Concentrate the ink application along the sides and corners, going over the coloured image to tone down the colouring and give it more of a vintage look.

Edge only the 3 outside edges of both cards with a metallic gold paint pen.  I decided not to edge the 2 inner sides with gold coz I didn't want it to interfere with the stamped image - most of the parrot's head would have been obscured!

Stamp the 'Take Flight' sentiment from the Whimsical Faerie Wings stamp set onto the left hand ATC in Blue Lagoon ColorBox Fluid Chalk ink.  Attach the two panels together with brass jump rings and you're done!

Thanks for joining me on another Blockheads Creative Adventure!

Until next time...Happy Stamping!

THE SHARPIE DOMINO QUEEN

BLOCKHEADS DESIGN TEAM

THIRD COAST CREATIVE COTERIE

ABOUT ART ACCENTS DESIGNER

Hot & Spicy ATCs featuring Blockheads Stamps!

Howzit Stampers!

I hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July and everyone is well into relaxy mode on their 
summer vacations ;0)

I'm back today with another Blockheads Design Team tutorial.  I had a blast designing some ATCs a few weeks ago.  For the newbie stampers an ATC is an Artist Trading Card with the standard measurement of 2.5" x 3.5".  They're awesome little canvases and are super fun to work on.  
Check out these three ATCs featuring the Victorian Eccentricities stamp collection by Blockheads Paper Arts and stop by again tomorrow for a 'Double Dose' of ATC stamping too!

HOT and SPICY ATCs

MATERIALS

Blockheads Paper Arts Victorian Eccentricities stamp collection

Dark cream cardstock
ColorBox Fluid Chalks - Dark Peony
Versafine Onxy Black ink
Ribbon
Jewel embellishments
Metallic copper paint pen
Double-sided sticky tape
Paper towel

I recently got my hands on the new Distress Ink pad called Dried Marigold which inspired me to design these three ATCs.
I cut 3 ATC sized cards from my favourite dark cream cardstock - I've really been using that a lot lately!  For the card to be considered an ATC it must measure 2.5 x 3.5 inches.

I stained the ATC blanks with Dried Marigold Distress Ink but used two different ink applications on them.  On the first one I applied the ink with a piece of scrunched up paper towel.  Concentrating most of the ink around the sides and corners.

On the second one I used the 'Direct to Paper' technique which means I used the actual ink pad to randomly apply the ink directly to the cardstock.  I also used paper towel to spread the ink around a bit where it went on thicker too.

On the third I did a combination of both techniques.   So just play around and decide which method you prefer.  I personally love all of them ;0)

I was still on my imagined tropical holiday into the Victorian Colonial era when I decided to get hot and spicy by stamping the Victorian images with ColorBox Fluid Chalks Dark Peony ink ;0)  Check out my 'Uniquely Skinny' Card Tutorial using the same Victorian Eccentricities stamp collection if you missed it!

On these two I stamped the Tulip Vase onto the right hand side with Dark Peony Fluid Chalk ink.

Then I stamped the flourish portion of the Bird Cage image on the left hand side of both ATCs with Dried Marigold Distress ink.  The left ATC is the one I did the DTP technique on so the flourish didn't stand out as much as it did on the other one so I overstamped it with Dark Peony.  I wanted a faded look so I inked up the stamp and removed most of the wet ink by stamping first onto scrap paper and then onto the ATC.

I stamped the sentiment with Versafine Onxy Black ink and the two small blossoms on the opposite corners in Dark Peony.  Then edged the sides of both ATCs with a metallic copper paint pen.

I completed the paper towel stained ATC by adhering decorative ribbon on the one side with double-sided sticky tape and embellished the blossoms with self-adhesive jewels.

The ATC that I used the DTP technique on I turned into a narrow gift card by scoring it down the middle long ways and folding it in half.  I adhered colour co-ordinated paper to the inside of the gift card to finish it off.  I'm afraid I don't have a photo of the finished tag, I could have sworn I'd taken one, OOPS, sorry guys!  The tag however made it safely to its destination otherwise I would have just taken another photo.

On the 3rd ATC I stamped the Flourished Crown image in Dark Peony onto 2/3's of the ATC and the Bird Cage flourish portion on the remaining 1/3 in Dried Marigold.

  

The Victorian Eccentricities set has a small and a big blossom stamp and I stamped the big one in the center and the smaller one a few times along the sides in Dark Peony ink.

I also stamped the sentiment on this ATC too in Versafine Onyx Black and edge it with a metallic copper paint pen.  I finished off this regal ATC by adorning the crown with self-adhesive pearls.

I've also got a 'Double ATC' creation to share with you tomorrow so stay tuned!

Karen, my fellow Blockhead Teamster, has also been getting her ATC action on this week so pop on over to her BLOG!

See you again tomorrow ;0)
Happy Stamping!

THE SHARPIE DOMINO QUEEN
BLOCKHEADS DESIGN TEAM

Get your Skinny on with my unique tri-fold card featuring Blockheads newest stamp collection!

'An Indian Summer' Thank You Card

~~Unique and Skinny Style~~

Howzit Stampers!

I've got a super fun tutorial for you today!  I have a stamping style I like to call 'Unique and Skinny'.  So here's the 'skinny' on how to create tri-fold cards that are 100% unique coz their shape is based on the images you use.

For this tutorial I'm featuring one of the newest stamp collections available from Blockheads Paper Arts called Victorian Eccentricities and two sentiments from the Painted Butterflies set.   Both sets are simply gorgeous and you can get your hands on the full sets and the individual images unmounted or cut on cling cushion.

The images from the Victorian Eccentricities collection carry me away to far off lands on the Indian Ocean and hot summer nights of tropical British Colonial Victorian homes in India or Africa.  My card design has the rich warmth typical of a Colonial colour palette consisting of dark woods, deep red, green, blue and gold.  I used PrismaColor pencils and Tea Dye Distress Ink to achieve this look and the way I cut my card to follow the stamped designs, getting narrower and taller as I progressed through each fold, creates a super skinny card that is truly unique!

MATERIALS

 Blockheads Paper Arts stamps:
Victorian Eccentricities collection
Painted Butterflies set
Distress Ink Tea Dye ink pad
Versafine Onyx black ink pad
PrismaColor pencils:
Crimson Red, True Blue, Yellow Ochre, Lime Peel, Olive Green, 

Tuscan Red, Sienna Brown, Dark Brown, Black and Metallic Gold

Cream cardstock
Crafters Companion Scoreboard
Scissors
Paper Towel

Stamp the Flourish Bird Cage in Versafine Onyx Black ink onto the bottom left hand side of a sheet of cream cardstock and score a fold line right up against the right hand side of the image.  Fold along the score line and cut away the excess cardstock by closely following the outline of the stamped image.  Stop cutting once you reach the fold.

Turn the cardstock over and stamp the Tulip Vase left of center so that when the first panel is folded in front the placement of the Vase lines up with the right hand side of the bird cage.  Score a second fold line on the left of the Vase and continue trimming away the excess cardstock by following the outline of the flowers.  Stop when you get to the fold.

Assemble the small and large Blossoms and Gecko stamps together on an acrylic block so they form one design.  Stamp the design twice on the third panel and cut away the remainder of the cardstock.

Colour all the images with PrismaColor pencils.

Antique the entire card, including the coloured images, with Tea Dye Distress Ink and a piece of scrunched up paper towel.  This gives the card a beautiful vintage warm glow.

Stamp 'Thank You' on the front panel and 'Your Kindness' sentiment on the center panel in Versafine Onyx Black ink.  Both stamps are from the 
Painted Butterflies set.

I love the look of this card, it's so striking and truly unique.
I hope I've inspired you to try your hand at some uniquely skinny cards too ;0)  Here's some more views of my creation.

FYI:  some of the photos in this tutorial can be enlarged by clicking on them.

I've got plenty more Blockheads Design Team creations in store for you!  I'm thrilled to share that I will be designing for Blockheads up until the end of August for this current term AND the fun doesn't end then coz I've been invited to continue into a new term starting in September!!  Woohoo!  I'm so excited LOL! 

For my next Blockheads installment I've got a couple of ATC projects to share with you so stay tuned!  Don't forget to also check out the blog of my fellow Blockhead, Karen, for a fabulous Victorian Eccentricities tag featuring some of the same images I've just shared with you!

Happy Stamping!

THE SHARPIE DOMINO QUEEN
Blockheads Design Team

Steampunk TagART featuring Blockheads new Victorian Invention stamps!

Howzit Stampers!

I'm back with another Blockheads Design Team creation for you to check out!  I had a lot of fun designing this Steampunk TagART which showcases Blockheads Paper Arts newest stamp release Victorian Invention!  This collection of 6 stamps is awesome and will appeal to all the Steampunk enthusiasts as well as stampers who enjoy the Victorian Vintage style too.  It's available unmounted or cut on cling cushion and you can also get the individual images too!

 I came up with this 3 piece TagART idea when I imagined the eccentric inventor carrying this tattered bundle of jotted notes and sketches around with him.  The pages are well worn and torn and falling apart and held together with fibers and metal clips.

So let's get our fingers inky!

MATERIALS

Blockheads Paper Arts Victorian Invention stamp set

 
Two standard manilla shipping tags and 1 smaller tag
Distress Inks - Tea Dye ink pad
Ancient Page dye ink pads - Lemon Peel and Sienna
Versafine Onxy Black ink pad
Memento Rich Cocoa ink pad
Walnut Ink Antiquing Solution Spritz
Page of foreign text
Paper Towel
Glue stick

Crafter's Pick The Ultimate glue
Craft iron
Small and Tiny hole punches
Silver square brad
Watch parts
Tiny gold round brad
Regular stapler and staples
1 Clipiola - Italian round paper clip
A selection of colour co-ordinating fibers

I used 3 tags for this piece, 1 small and 2 standard manilla shipping tags.  Start by distressing the small tag (Tag#1) and one of the standard tags (Tag#3) by scrunching them up and applying Distress Ink Tea Dye directly to and spritzing them with Walnut Ink in a random fashion.

To mute the colours and to flatten out the creases I like to wet the tags by holding them under running water briefly.  Pat dry on a couple of layers of paper towel.  I didn't want the second standard tag (Tag #2) to be as distressed so I just put it under the other tags while I was patting them dry and some of the inks got transfered to it.  Peel off the circle hole protectors on the tags if they didn't already fall off.  I then ironed the tags with a craft iron until they were flat and dry.  Glue the hole protectors back on now but if you don't want them stamped then glue them back on later, just a personal preference really.

Spritz Tag#2 gently with Walnut Stain.

Apply a bit of Tea Dye Distress ink to it with a piece of scrunched up paper towel.

Tear up a page of foreign text and adhere to all 3 tags with a glue stick.

Age the torn text areas first with Ancient Page Lemon Peel.

Then with Ancient Page Sienna.  I used Ancient Page coz it's the inks I have but any dye ink will do the trick!

Stamp the Steampunk flying machine onto Tag#2 with Versafine Onxy Black ink.

 

Stamp the Pen nib image in a row of 3 on all 3 tags with Memento Rich Cocoa.

Stamp the Ether Meter and Gears Diagram on all the tags with Memento Rich Cocoa.

Stamp the Penny Farthing (the vintage bicycle) onto the front and the back of all 3 tags with Memento Rich Cocoa.

Then stamp the Prof. Camus banner in Versafine Onxy Black ink onto Tag#1 and #3.

Then stamp the Steampunk Flying Machine onto Tag#3 in Onyx Black.

Tear tag#2.

This is what the front of the tags look like after all the stamping is done (left to right: Tag#1, #2 and #3).  Lay Tag#2 on top of Tag#3 and punch a small hole.

And a view of the backs.

Punch a tiny hole in the center of one of the clock images on Tag#1 and attach a watch gear with a tiny gold brad.

Embellish Tag#1 and #2 with more watch parts and I also added silver staples to the pen nib images and other areas on all 3 tags to give them an industrial feel.

Attach Tag#2 to Tag#3 with a square silver brad.

Put Tag#1 on top and secure all 3 tags together with a selection of colour co-ordinating fibers.  Finish off with an antique clipiola (Italian circle paper clip) to keep the tags stacked and when you want to view them just slide the tags out to the left.

Thanks for joining me on my Steampunk Creative Adventure today!  I really enjoy reading your comments and would love to hear what you think of my Steampunk TagART!

Here's a sneaky peek at my next Creative Adventure into Blockheads land.  I'll be giving you the 'skinny' on creating with images from the new Victorian Eccentricities Collection so stay tuned ;0)

For more Blockheads inspiration check out Karen's Victorian inspired card that's blooming with texture and romantic faded colours featuring the Victorian Eccentricities collection!

Happy Stamping!

THE SHARPIE DOMINO QUEEN

Blockheads Design Team