Good Morning!

My Oh My, this mornings tutorial will show you just how indecisive I can be some times. 

Let’s get started.

Supplies:

Brayered on Blush Blossom ink.

Brayered on Soft Sky, but I did not cover the Blush Blossom entirely.

Brayered on Blue Bayou ink.  Not covering Soft Sky ink entirely.

Brayered on River Rock ink, leaving some light space between it and the sky.

Tore some post it notes through the sticky part to use as a mask for the ground.

Also, coverted the sky area with un-torn post it notes to create a horizon line at the same time.

Brayered Always Artichoke ink on the area still showing between the two masked areas.  Then removed post it notes.

Tore a scrap piece of card stock to use to create my mountains. Held it in place as I sponged on River Rock ink along the torn card stock edge.

This photo is up side down because that is how I had my card stock when I worked on it.  This is what it looked like after I removed the torn card stock.

Used the same torn card stock and sponged on River Rock ink in different directions on the ground area.

Stamped bear using a Stamp-a-ma-jig for placement with black ink and then went over the bear with a black marker so the image was good and dark.

Stamped Trees with Always Artichoke ink using a Stamp-a-ma-jig for placement.

Sponged River Rock at the bottom of the card stock.

This is where my mind decided I did not like the sky, so I’m going to change it entirely, lol.  A girls allowed to change her mind, right?

I brayered on Blue Bayou ink almost over the entire sky.

Brayered Night of Navy ink, but I did not cover all of the Blue Bayou ink.

Tore a piece of Always Artichoke card stock for the bottom of the card and adhered it.

Now I know if I make the top of my sky darker it will make the lightness at the horizon really stand out more.  So I sponged heavily Night of Navy ink and then even some black right at the top of the card stock.

Assembled card and then stamped design at the top and bottom of the card with White Craft ink.

Put specks of white gel pen on the tops of the trees and on the design at the top and bottom of the card.

And there you have it, the completed card.

Well this wasn’t my best tutorial with the switch in sky color half way through, but there it is anyway.  Just keeping it real for you, lol.

I also wanted to show you a couple of cards I created during VSN (Virtual Stamping Night) at Split Coast Stampers last night.  Wow, participating in the challenges for VSN is a real rush.  A challenge starts every hour and you have to complete the challenge and upload it within 45 minutes.  So I allowed myself 30 minutes to create each card and 15 minutes each to upload.  Whew, I was wore out after 3 cards!  Here they are.  🙂

One more really exciting thing happened to me.  I was featured on Distinctive Touches!  Here is the link to this awesome site:  http://web.mac.com/cschaan1/Site/Distinctive_Touches/Entries/2008/4/4_Friday_Featured_Artist_-_Michelle_Zindorf.html

Hey!  You all have a super wonderful weekend!

Hugs, 

Michelle

I love to look at art work and get so much inspiration from it.  A piece of art can inspire you in so many different ways, whether it is a color, layout or placement of stamps.  How can you not be inspired by the masters!  This card was inspired by the art work of Norman Wyatt Jr.

On with the tutorial.

Supplies:

Stamped flourish on Whisper White using Ginger ink.  I loaded my stamp with Ginger ink and then took a sponge and dabbed some of the ink off of the bottom of the stamp before stamping to get the image to look lighter at the bottom.

Brayered Aqua ink on the top half of the card stock.

Brayered Creamy Caramel ink on bottom of card stock.

Covered bottom of card stock with Post it Notes to mask it so I could put in my horizon line.

Sponged Lettuce ink along the edge of the Post it Note mask.

Removed mask and turned it around to cover the sky portion of the card stock and the Lettuce ink.

Sponged on Ginger ink at the top and bottom of the earth area leaving a light area in the middle.

Sponged on Espresso ink at the top of the earth area.

Removed Post it Note mask and stamped tree with Oregano ink.

Sponged Lettuce ink on the leaf area of tree.

Sponged Oregano ink at the bottom of the leaf area of the tree to create the effect of shadow.

Colored the trunk of the tree with Close to Cocoa & Black markers.

Sponged Stonewashed ink at the top of the sky.

Used a white gel pen and made dots in the tree.

Stamped vein side of Mable cube with Ginger ink at the bottom of card stock.

Stamped vein side of Marble cube with Stonewashed ink on top of card stock.

Assembled card and here it is finished.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and take a look at some art today and get inspired to use what you see in your creations.

Have a beautiful day!

Until tomorrow. . . . . .

This is what I ended up with while trying to create the look of dappled light with my Stampin’ Up set – Simply Circles.    I think I will continue to practice this.  🙂

Ready for the tutorial?  Let’s get started.

Supplies:

On Whisper White card stock stamped the first set of silhouettes, on the left hand side, by loading my stamp first with Versamark and then with Bravo Burgundy ink.  Heat embossed each image as I went along using clear embossing powder and a heat gun.

Stamped second set of leaves, on the right side of card, by first loading stamp with Versamark and then with Rust ink.  Heat embossed each image as it was stamped with clear embossing powder and a heat gun.

Note:  When creating a scene with emboss resist you will want to work from the foreground toward the background.

Stamped third set of images by loading the stamp with Versamark and then Butterscotch ink.  Each image was heat embossed as I went along using clear embossing powder and a heat gun.

Sponged on Old Paper ink lightly with a circular motion on upper left hand corner of card stock.

Cut a mask for the sun out of the sticky part of a Post it Note with a 1 3/8″ circle punch.  Put it on my card stock where I want the sun to be.

Sponged on more Old Paper ink over and around the mask to give the sun definition.  Removed mask.

Stamped circle with Old Paper ink and stamping off once on my scrap paper before stamping on my card stock, for a lighter image.

Sponged on River Rock ink working into the Old Paper ink area, but not covering it entirely.

Sponged on Old Olive ink working into the River Rock ink, but not covering it completely.

Sponged on True Thyme ink, working over some of the Old Olive ink, but not covering it entirely.

Getting even darker yet by sponging on Oregano ink at the bottom of the card stock using a pouncing motion with the sponge.  This looks really dark, but it will all dry lighter in color.

Stamped some more circles around the top half of card stock with Old Paper ink and some with Old Olive towards the middle of the card stock.

I thought my Sun looked a little faded so I put my sun Post it Note mask back on and sponged more Old Paper ink over the area to define it even more.

Sponged Oregano ink around edges of my two square layers and Walnut Stain ink around the edge of my Burgundy card stock layer.

Cropped image on the right side to make the left side more interesting.  It’s amazing what a little cropping can do to highlight your main subject.  Main subject here is the plants on the left and then sun.

Assembled the card and here it is finished!

Glad you could follow along with this tutorial.  Now you give it a try!

Hope your day is filled with soft filter sun and peaceful gardens.

Until tomorrow. . . . . .

I did a little stamping therapy session last night after receiving this stamp in the mail.  How cute is that Ostrich!

This is a self portait card of myself.  When I seen this stamp, I had to have it.  It symbolizes me and the way I chose to live.  About 1 year ago I quite watching the news, all new!  My heart and head just can’t take it!!!!  So this is me the Ostrich.  Happy to have my head in the sand.

You can get this Ostrich stamp from My Paper Moon.  Here is the link:  http://www.mypapermoon.com/store/

Check it out!

Michelle, enough rambling already and get on with the tutorial you say.

Let’s get started.

Supplies:

Stamped Ostrich on Whisper White card stock with Black Stazon ink.

Colored his legs and neck, by outlining the insides of his legs with a Creamy Caramel marker and the outside of them with a Blush Blossom Marker.  His neck is colored by outlining both sides with Creamy Caramel and coloring in the middle with Blush Blossom.

Colored his back with Creamy Caramel marker.  I over colored with Creamy Carmel around his back area edges to make them darker.

Used a Going Gray maker around the edges of his back to get darker yet.  I’m trying to make a more gradual transition from his light back to his black feathers.

Used a Close to Cocoa marker to shadow his chest and to outline the insides of his legs and outsides of his neck for more definition.

Used a Versamark marker to go over the entire Ostrich. 

Note:  Color your lightest areas first being careful not to smear the black onto other areas or you will have a gray ostrich.  🙂 

Heat emboss using Clear Embossing Powder and a Heat Gun. 

Note:  Your Ostrich will look much darker after it is embossed.

Brayer Cool Caribbean ink onto sky area.

Brayer River Rock ink onto ground area.

Brayer Creamy Caramel ink onto bottom of card stock, but not covering all of the River Rock ink.

Stamped Itty Bitty Background stamp with Creamy Caramel and then With Chocolate Chip ink to make specks in the sand.

Sponged a little Chocolate Chip at the bottom of the card stock and right under the Ostrich, where he is sticking his head in.

Wanted the upper Sky to be darker, so I brayered on Taken with Teal over the upper sky.

Used a Close to Cocoa marker to define the sand around his head.

Used a Cuttlebug embossing folder to emboss two of my card layers.

Assembled card and stamp sentiment on it with Black.

 Finished card!

Thanks for joining me on my Self Portrait Therapy Session/Tutorial, lol. 

Have a blissful day that has no bad news!

I did a little stamping therapy session last night after receiving this stamp in the mail.  How cute is that Ostrich!

This is a self portait card.  When I seen this stamp, I had to have it.  It symbolizes me and the way I chose to live.  About 1 year ago I quit watching the news, all news!  My heart and head just can’t take it!!!!  So this is me the Ostrich.  Happy to have my head in the sand.

You can get this Ostrich stamp from My Paper Moon.  Here is the link:  http://www.mypapermoon.com/store/

Check it out!

Michelle, enough rambling already and get on with the tutorial you say.

Let’s get started.

Supplies:

Stamped Ostrich on Whisper White card stock with Black Stazon ink.

Colored his legs and neck, by outlining the insides of his legs with a Creamy Caramel marker and the outside of them with a Blush Blossom Marker.  His neck is colored by outlining both sides with Creamy Caramel and coloring in the middle with Blush Blossom.

Colored his back with Creamy Caramel marker.  I over colored with Creamy Carmel around his back area edges to make them darker.

Used a Going Gray maker around the edges of his back to get darker yet.  I’m trying to make a more gradual transition from his light back to his black feathers.

Used a Close to Cocoa marker to shadow his chest and to outline the insides of his legs and outsides of his neck for more definition.

Used a Versamark marker to go over the entire Ostrich. 

Note:  Color your lightest areas first being careful not to smear the black onto other areas or you will have a gray ostrich.  🙂 

Heat emboss using Clear Embossing Powder and a Heat Gun. 

Note:  Your Ostrich will look much darker after it is embossed.

Brayer Cool Caribbean ink onto sky area.

Brayer River Rock ink onto ground area.

Brayer Creamy Caramel ink onto bottom of card stock, but not covering all of the River Rock ink.

Stamped Itty Bitty Background stamp with Creamy Caramel and then With Chocolate Chip ink to make specks in the sand.

Sponged a little Chocolate Chip at the bottom of the card stock and right under the Ostrich, where he is sticking his head in.

Wanted the upper Sky to be darker, so I brayered on Taken with Teal over the upper sky.

Used a Close to Cocoa marker to define the sand around his head.

Used a Cuttlebug embossing folder to emboss two of my card layers.

Assembled card and stamp sentiment on it with Black.

 Finished card!

Thanks for joining me on my Self Portrait Therapy Session/Tutorial, lol. 

Have a blissful day that has no bad news!

Did you miss me yesterday?  I took the day off and did absolutely nothing but lay on the coach and watch a Godfather marathon on TV.  Sometimes you just have to have a complete down day. 🙂

But I did make it to the craft room this morning to work up a new tutorial for you all.  So let’s begin.

Supplies:

 Stamped Owl with Palette Noir Black ink on Whisper White Card stock.

This owl stamp was purchased from E-bay and I have no idea who the maker is. 

Colored the eyes with a Summer Sun Marker.

Heat set the black ink with a heat gun.

Went over the entire owl with a Versamark marker.  Be careful to clean your marker by wiping it on scrap paper before going over the white part of the image.  Some times the black ink will smear or make the white gray.  

Heat emboss the image with clear embossing powder and a heat gun.

Brayer Not Quite Navy ink over 2/3rds of the card stock.

Brayer Night of Navy ink over top 1/4 of card stock and a little at the bottom of the card stock.

Wipe the ink off of the embossed owl with a paper towel and stamp weeds with Black ink.

Sponged Night of Navy ink around the edges of the card stock.

Decided the piece looked a little bleak so I over stamped the weeds with Old Olive ink.  Now that’s better, lol.  You know I make this stuff up as I go along, so please bare with me.

Adhered the image to Old Olive card stock and stamped the weeds again with black ink.  Since I stamped over two layers of card stock there was a gap in the images, which I filled in with a black marker.

Assembled card.  Another one finished.

This creation is a bit masculine, but we need a few of those cards too.

I’m so glad you could join me today for this tutorial.  Give it a try!

Have a super day!

Until tomorrow. .. .. . . .

Thought I would demonstrate in today’s tutorial how to put an object on a table/counter top using the emboss resist technique.  Your object could be a cup, vase of flowers, seashell, etc.   Use your imagination.

Let’s get started.

Supplies:

Stamp cup with Certainly Celery Ink.

Color it in with a Certainly Celery marker.

Color Right side of the cup with Old Olive marker and then color over part of the Old Olive with an Always Artichoke marker to create a shadow and some dimension to the cup.  You will also want to put a little Old Olive just under the cup on the saucer.

Go Over the Old Olive, Always Artichoke and part of the Certainly Celery, making it heavier on the right side.  This helps give a smoother graduation in color.  I am having my light source come from the left side 🙂

Colored in the top of the cup with Close to Cocoa marker.

Went over the entire cup and saucer with a Versamark marker.

Heat embossed it with Clear embossing powder and a heat gun.

 Masked top 2/3rds of card stock with post it notes.

Brayered Cranberry Crisp ink over unmasked area.  Let dry for a moment and then wiped the ink off of the embossed image.  I then removed the mask.  Note:  if you take the mask off of the card stock before wiping the ink off of the embossed image you run the risk of smearing the ink wear you don’t want it.

Flip the post it notes around so they are masking the Cranberry Crisp and brayer on River Rock ink.  (Note: this is what happens when you don’t clean your brayer well in between colors, lol, oh well.)

Removed post it note mask. 

Used a Post it Note to mask the center of the card stock, so I can make a border.

Sponged Brushed Corduroy ink on unmasked edges.

Removed Post it note and stamped Steam with River Rock ink.

Sponged Brushed Corduroy ink around edge of Basic Grey Design Paper Layer.

Assembled card, but decided the image looked a little flat, so I went to working putting in a shadow.

Sponged Cranberry Crisp ink under and to the right side of cup.

Sponged River Rock ink to the top right of the cup.

Finished card!

Thanks for following along with this tutorial.  Now you give it a try!

Have a warm and wonderful day!

Until tomorrow. .. . . . . .

 Ahhhhhh warmth!  My projects have been a little cold of late.  It’s time for some warmth and a little dabbled light.

Let’s get going. . . . . . .

Supplies:

Started out by punching a 1 3/8″ circle from the sticky part of a Post It Note and put it on my Whisper White card stock to use as a mask for the sun.

Brayered on Pretty in Pink ink over top 2/3rds of the card stock.

Brayered on Groovy Guava ink, but did not cover the Pretty in Pink ink all the way.  Working towards a graduation in color here.

Brayered on Regal Rose ink at the top of the card stock, but did not cover the Groovy Guava ink completely.  We now have a nice graduation in color.

Covered the sky area with Post it notes to mask it.  Be sure the post it notes are straight.  You don’t want your horizon to go up hill, lol.

Brayer on Soft Sky ink at the bottom of the card stock.

Sponge on Groovy Gauva ink right at the edge of the post it notes.  I use a rubbing motion for this so I don’t get speckles.

I also swiped a little Groovy Gauva ink across the Soft Sky ink, very lightly with my sponge.

Removed all of the masks and swiped some Groovy Guava ink over the Sun to tone it down a little.

Stamped Trees with Basic Black ink.  Sorry, this Stampin’ Up Trees Three set is retired, but I love it and will never give it up until someone comes out with something comparable.

Stamped leaves on trees with Basic Black ink.

Sponged Basic Black ink on for ground.  I did use a pouncing motion with the sponge for the very top of the ground to simulate grasses in the light.

Stamped horse with Basic Black ink.

Colored Horse in with a black marker.

I had some stray leaves stamped, so I drew in a couple of branches with a black marker so the leaves would make more sense in the scene.

I also drew in a couple of grasses at the base of the trees with the black marker.

Here I took a chance and stamped some small circles with Groovy Gauva and Pretty in Pink inks on and around the trees to simulate dabbled light.  I kinda like it.  It gives a little more life to the scene.

Stamped sentiment with Basic Black ink, using my Stamp-a-ma-jig for placement on the Groovy Guava layer.

Assembled card and here it is finished!

Hoped you enjoyed this tutorial and give it a try.

May your day be filled with warmth and sunshine.

Until tomorrow. . . . . . . . . . .. .