Monthly Archives: October 2008

In the Shadows Wreath – Tutorial #135

Posted on October 16, 2008 | 48 comments

You will see as you go through this tutorial today a bit of my thought process when I don’t like how things are turning out, lol. This card almost went in the trash about 10 times as I was making it. There are elements I love about it and some I really dislike, but here it is anyway. I’m keeping it real and showing it anyway.

The morning started out OK at 3:30 a.m. with a cup of coffee and an oatmeal cookie. 🙂 Breakfast of champions, ya know, lol.

I had an idea in mind for a card, so I started pulling out supplies:

Stamps: Close to my Heart “Festive Frills” and “Treasure Life”

Paper: Stampin’ Up Whisper White, Always Artichoke & Bravo Burgundy

Ink: Adirondack Oregano, Egg Plant, Butterscotch, Raisin, Lettuce Slate

Accessories: Versamark Pad, Gray Marker, Fine Point Black Marker, Sponge, White Gel Pen, Sharpie Metallic Gold Marker, Dimensionals, White Ribbon, fine detail clear embossing powder, heat gun

I’m stuck on leaves this week so I stamped the leaves from Close to My Heart “Treasure of Life” set a few times by first loading my stamp with Versamark and then loading it with Lettuce ink before stamping it on a 4.25″ square piece of Whisper White card stock.

Heat embossed it using fine detail clear embossing powder.

Stamped the Wreath by first loading my stamp with Versamark and then loading it with Oregano ink before stamping it. “Hmmm, that Oregano looks a little dark, I’ll work with it anyway”.

Ooops! Missed a picture. I heat embossed the wreath with clear embossing powder and a heat gun.

Need to lighten that wreath up. Stamped the wreath again by loading the stamp with Versamark and then loading it with Raisin ink before stamping. “Hmmm, I really don’t like that, but I’ll keep working with it”, lol.

Heat embossed the image using clear embossing powder and a heat gun.

Ok, need to use a warm color to give some life to this wreath. Over stamped the wreath again by loading the stamp with Versamark and then loading it with Butterscotch ink before stamping it. “That’s a bit better”.

Oops! Miss another photo. Heat embossed the image using clear embossing powder and a heat gun.

Need to balance this out a bit, stamped some more leaves on the left side of the card stock by first loading the stamp with Versamark and then loading it with Lettuce ink before stamping.

Heat embossed the leaves with clear embossing powder and a heat gun.

Oops! Missed yet another photo, sponged Slate ink all over the card stock being heavier with the ink on the top and left side.

Also, sponged Egg Plant ink on the top, left sides of the card stock and over the actual wreath, being careful not to get the Egg Plant ink on the inside opening of the wreath.

Well for heavens sake, I missed yet another photo. Stamped leaves at the top of the card stock with Slate ink.

“Yikes! This background looks really dark, yuck!” “Hmmm, I’ll continue working on it”.

Stamped some more leaves with Egg Plant ink at the top of the card stock.

Used my sponge to wipe the ink off of the embossed images.

Ok, this really needs some light!

Added some dots of white gel pen to the wreath so it looks like babies breath.

Now, that helped a great deal. Shesh!

Used a fine point black marker and outlined the bottom of the wreath and the bottom of the inside of the wreath to make it stand out a little more.

With the Brush end of a Going Grey marker I outlined the bottom of the wreath and the left side of the inside of the wreath to create a shadow. This adds quite a bit depth to the image.

“I’m feeling like this is not a complete waste now”.

Edged the card stock with a Metallic Gold Sharpie Marker, by holding it half on the card stock and half on the scrap paper and running it straight down the edges.

Also did this step to my Always Artichoke panel.

Started assembling my card front. Added Dimensionals to the main image panel.

Hello! How do you get the paper off of the back of these *!@*!@# things? Sorry, a little frustration coming out, lol.

Whew, here we go the finished card, measuring 5.5″ square.

Thanks for hanging in there through my craziness. My next tutorial should be better, let’s all hope so anyway. Maybe tomorrow I will have two cookies, yeah, that’s what I need. 🙂

May your day be smooth sailing.

Until my next post. . . . .. . . . . .

Hugs,

Michelle

Links to all my tutorials can be found here: https://zindorf.splitcoaststampers.com/tutorials-ive-written/

Here is a link to my workshop calendar if you want to get info on beginner and advanced Brayer workshops: https://zindorf.splitcoaststampers.com/workshop-calendar

48 Comments

Posted in Tutorials

Tagged card making, emboss resist, Michelle Zindorf, rubber stamping

Fall Swan – Tutorial #134

Posted on October 14, 2008 | 38 comments

I’m really loving this Swan stamp that I got from www.FirecrackerDesignsbyPamela.com. I paired it up with the Stampin’ Up Best Blossoms leaves that I already had sitting on my work space from a couple of projects I made earlier this week. I also put a twist on the brayered background by brayering at an angle to create an interesting light effect. Check it out in today’s tutorial.

Let’s get started. 🙂

Supplies:

Stamps: FireCrackerDesignsByPamela “Swan Song” & Stampin’ Up Best Blossoms

Paper: Stampin’ Up Whisper White, Kiwi Kiss & Baja Breeze

Ink: Adirondack Butterscotch, Lettuce, Stonewashed, Aqua, Denim & Purple Twilight, Palette Noir Black

Accessories: Versamark Pad & Marker, Prismacolor Markers, Brayer, Fine Detail Clear embossing powder, heat gun, Sponge, Brads, Ticket Corner Punch

Stamped Swan on a 4″ x 5.5″ piece of Whisper White card stock using Palette Noir Black ink.

Colored the darker parts of the Swan with a Cool Grey 10% Prismacolor marker.

Added darker shadows on the Swan with a Cool Grey 50% Prismacolor Marker.

Went back over the greys again with the 10% Cool Grey marker to blend them together.

Colored the beak with a Goldenrod Prismacolor Marker.

Colored over the entire Swan being very careful not to go outside of the design lines with a Versamark marker and then heat embossed the image with fine detail clear embossing powder and a heat gun.

Stamped the leaves multiple times by first loading my stamp with Versamark, then Lettuce ink, then adding a bit of Butterscotch ink to the leaf tips with the corner of a Butterscotch ink pad before stamping.

Heat embossed the images using clear embossing powder and a heat gun.

Brayered Aqua ink all over the card stock.

Brayered Stonewashed ink at an angle on the bottom right corner and the top left corner.

Brayered Denim ink on the bottom right and top left corners not covering the the Stonewashed ink entirely.

Still brayering at an angle, added a bit of Purple Twilight with the brayer on the bottom right and top left corners not covering the Denim ink entirely.

Over stamped the embossed leaves with Oregano ink to add some depth to the scene.

Wiped the ink from the embossed images using a soft rag.

Sponged Denim ink around the outside edges of the card stock.

Used a ticket corner punch on all my panels except for the largest (bottom) panel.

Decided the background panels were a bit plain so I brayered on some Purple Twilight ink at the bottom right and top left corners of my Baja Breeze panel.

Assembled the card front and added some brads. Here it is finished measuring 5″ x 6.5″.

Hope this tutorial has inspired you to try brayering from a different angle to see what happens. It may surprise you!

May your day be as relaxing as this Swan scene.

Until my next post. . . . . . .. . . . . . .

Hugs,

Michelle

Links to all my tutorials can be found here: https://zindorf.splitcoaststampers.com/tutorials-ive-written/

Here is a link to my workshop calendar if you want to get info on beginner and advanced Brayer workshops: https://zindorf.splitcoaststampers.com/workshop-calendar

38 Comments

Posted in Tutorials

Tagged Brayer, card making, emboss resist, Michelle Zindorf, rubber stamping, Stamped Art

Whirling Leaves of Autumn – Tutorial #133

Posted on October 13, 2008 | 59 comments

Autumn, Autumn, Autumn, I love Autumn! This past weekend had the most perfect temperatures, warm during the day, the sky was blue the nights were cool. We had family over for a Bonfire Saturday night. Nothing fancy, just a big pot of Chili and grilled hotdogs. Lots of hugs and laughter. It was perfect!

Of course, I am in the mood for Autumn, hence the tutorial today of these whirling leaves.

Let’s get started. 🙂

Supplies:

Stamps: Inkadinkado “Fall Season” & Stampin’ Up “Lovely as a Tree”

Paper: Stampin’ Up Baja Breeze, Basic Black, Whisper White

Ink: Stampin’ Up Night of Navy, Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze, Old Olive, Really Rust, Basic Black

Accessories: Tim Holtz Ruler, Push Pin, Ribbon, Silver Brads, Prismacolor Metallic Silver Marker, Coluzzle Circle Template, Sponge, Versamark Pad, Fine Detail Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Gun

Stamped the leaves twice by first loading my stamp with Versamark, then loading it with Old Olive ink, used the corner of my Really Rust ink pad to add a touch of Rust on the leaves before stamping the stamp on a 3.5″ x 5″ piece of Whisper White card stock.

Heat embossed the images using fine detail clear embossing powder and a heat gun.

A long time ago I cut various circles of card stock out with my Coluzzle and I keep these and use them over and over again for masks. The card stock mask I’m using for this piece is 2″.

Holding my mask in place I sponge Baja Breeze ink all over the card stock using a circular motion.

Note: The more ink you use when sponging the less blotchy your sponging will look.

Ripped a piece of card stock to use as a mask.

Note: I ripped a much longer piece of card stock than I thought I would need so I can move it around and not have the same pattern each time.

Held my masks in place and sponged Not Quite Navy lightly at the masks edge.

Moved the mask and repeated.

I kept moving the mask and sponging Not Quite Navy until I got the look I wanted.

Removed the mask for the moon too. Stamped the trees at the bottom of the card stock with Night of Navy ink.

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

Added some trees with Black ink and sponged Black ink on the very edge of the card stock.

Over Stamped the whirling leaves with Not Quite Navy and a little off center from my original stamping of them to create a shadow.

Be careful with this step. Wiped the Not Quite Navy ink from the embossed leaves. If you use a swiping motion, from left to right with your rag, it will give you streaks across your moon.

Added Silver to the edge of my piece by holding a Prismacolor Metallic Silver marker half on the card stock and half on the scrap paper and pulling it straight down the edge.

Did the same thing with the Silver Marker again only on my 5″ x 6.5″ bottom panel of black card stock.

Added a panel of Baja Breeze card stock to the black card stock and pierced holes in the top and bottom of it with a Tim Holtz Ruler and a push pin.

Assembled my card front and added ribbon and brads. Here it is finished measuring 5″ x 6.5.

I hope this tutorial has inspired you to try a different approach to getting some variation in your skies.

May your day be filled with sunshine and perfect temperatures.

Until my next post. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Hugs,

Michelle

Links to all my tutorials can be found here: https://zindorf.splitcoaststampers.com/tutorials-ive-written/

Here is a link to my workshop calendar if you want to get info on beginner and advanced Brayer workshops: https://zindorf.splitcoaststampers.com/workshop-calendar

59 Comments

Posted in Tutorials

Tagged card making, emboss resist, Michelle Zindorf, rubber stamping, Stamped Art

Framed Blog Candy Winner!

Posted on October 12, 2008 | 3 comments

Yikes! I totally forgot to announce the Blog candy winner yesterday from the previous Saturday’s post. The winner is. . .. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Phyllis who wrote “Its always a good day when one learns a new technique. Today you showed me how to use plastic wrap other than in the kitchen! And what a beautiful touch it adds too. I’m trying this right after the Cowboy game today. Thanks and have a wonderful day yourself.”

Phyllis, please e-mail your mailing address to me at [email protected] and I will put this in the mail to you.

Thanks to everyone that enter. I wish I had something for each and every one of you.

Hugs,

Michelle

3 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Fallen Leaves – Tutorial #132

Posted on October 11, 2008 | 39 comments

A while back I asked the readers of this blog to leave me a comment telling me their most favorite thing about Autumn. Close to half of the comments mentioned walking through fallen leaves, feeling them crunch beneath their feet. I agree whole heartedly that it’s a wonderful thing in the Autumn months. Today’s card is my version of fallen leaves to try to echo that feeling and put it on paper.

Let’s get started 🙂

Supplies:

Stamps: Stampin’ Up With Gratitude & Touch of Nature

Paper: Stampin’ Up Whisper White, Chocolate Chip & Old Olive

Ink: Stampin’ Up Close to Cocoa, Really Rust, Basic Black, Chocolate Chip & Old Olive

Accessories: Crop-a-dile, Eyelets, Brads, Raffia, Tim Holtz embellishment, Tim Holtz Ruler, Sponges, Prismacolor Markers, Versamark Pad and Marker, Dimensionals, Fine Detail Embossing Powder, Heat gun, Photo Corner Punch

Stamped acorns by first loading my stamp with Versamark and then loading it with Close to Cocoa ink before stamping it on a 4.5″ square piece of Whisper White card stock.

Heat embossed the images using fine detail clear embossing powder and a heat gun.

Colored the bottom half of the acorns with a Prismacolor Sienna Brown marker.

Colored the top half of the acorns with a Sand marker.

Stamped leaves by first loading my stamp with Versamark and then loading it with Really Rust ink before stamping them.

Heat embossed the leaves with fine detail clear embossing powder and a heat gun.

Colored the leaves with a Burnt Ochre marker.

Let the marker dry and then went over the darker parts of the leaves again with the Burnt Ochre marker to give a bit of variation in color.

Colored over the leaves and acorns with a Versamark marker and heat embossed the images with clear embossing powder and a heat gun.

Stamped the leaves a few more times by first loading my stamp with Versamark and then loading it with Always Artichoke ink before stamping them. Heat embossed the images using clear embossing powder and a heat gun.

Note: There is no need to wipe the Always Artichoke ink from the already embossed images before heat embossing them. Once you heat emboss the Always Artichoke leaves the ink will magically disappear from the already embossed images. Try it you will see. 🙂

Colored the green leaves with a Limepeel marker.

Added Light Olive marker to the darker parts of the green leaves.

Colored over the green leaves with a Versamark Marker and heat embossed them with clear embossing powder and a heat gun.

Sponged, using a circular motion, Chocolate Chip ink all over the card stock.

Decided I wanted a warmer tone to the background so I sponged Really Rust ink all over entire piece of card stock. A girl can change her mind if she wants, right?

Over stamped the entire card stock with the leaf stamp using Chocolate Chip ink to create the look of brown leaves under the more colorful leaves.

Let the Chocolate Chip ink dry a moment and then wiped the Chocolate Chip ink off of the embossed images using a soft rag.

Sponged Basic Black ink around the edge of the card stock.

Ok, I’m not one for a bunch of embellishments. It’s not that I don’t own a ton of embellishment. I have drawers and drawers full of them. I usually just can’t figure out what to do with them, lol. I can spend more time trying to place just one embellishment on a card then it took me to create the rest of the entire card. So I usually don’t embellish.

This is probably the most you will ever see me embellish, lol.

I added punched corners.

Used my Crop-a-dile to add eyelets. Man those eyelets haven’t seen daylight in over a year, lol.

If you want a cheap solution to ribbon for your fall cards try Raffia. 🙂

Added Raffia and a Tim Holtz embellishment that has the sentiment of Wonderful on it.

Frayed the raffia ends.

Pierced holes in two sides of my out card-stock layer using the Tim Holtz ruler and a push pin.

Dimensionals, Wow! I really haven’t popped something up for the longest time.

I used lots of them, especially in the middle of the main panel so it wouldn’t cave in. 🙂

Here is my finished card front, popped up and embellished. It measures 5.5″ square.

Hope you are able to get out today and enjoy the sites and sounds of a beautiful Autumn day.

Until my next post. . . . . . . . . . .

Hugs,

Michelle

Links to all my tutorials can be found here: https://zindorf.splitcoaststampers.com/tutorials-ive-written/

Here is a link to my workshop calendar if you want to get info on beginner and advanced Brayer workshops: https://zindorf.splitcoaststampers.com/workshop-calendar

39 Comments

Posted in Tutorials

Tagged card making, emboss resist, Michelle Zindorf, rubber stamping, Stamp Art

Forest Wolf

Posted on October 10, 2008 | 81 comments

Hello all! A few of you have commented and e-mailed me wondering why I haven’t posted in a few days. Tell you the truth, sometimes life gets a little to overwhelming for me and I have to just step back, take a breath and regroup. I really appreciate your concern though.

Todays tutorial is using a retired 2001 Stampin’ Up set “Wolf” and 2006 set “Best Blossoms”. I love to pick up retired sets on Ebay. Been wanting this Wolf set for so long, but there is only so much I will pay for stamps. So I bid my max amount and hope that I’ll win, only on occasion I do. Especially for some of the highly soot after sets like “Wolf”. It has taken me 2 years of bidding to get it, but I got it for a fair price. 🙂

Let’s get started on the tutorial.

Supplies, Oops missed the supply photo this morning:

Stamps: Stampin’ Up “Wolf” & “Best Blossoms”

Paper: Stampin’ Up Whisper White, Basic Black, Always Artichoke

Ink: Stampin’ Up Basic Black, Always Artichoke, Really Rust and Old Olive

Accessories: Versamark pad, Prismacolor Pencils, Faber-Castell Artist Pen, Sponge

On with the tutorial.

Loaded my stamp with Versamark, Old Olive and then tapped the stamps leaf tips on a Really Rust ink pad to color the tips before stamping it on a piece of 4.5″ square Whisper White card stock. Stamped it 6 times.

Heat embossed the images using fine detail clear embossing powder and a heat gun.

Stamped Wolf face with Basic Black ink.

Colored the face with a Prismacolor Cool Grey 50% pencil.

Added some Prismacolor Black pencil to the nose, between the eyes and darker parts of the ears.

Colored the eyes with a Prismacolor Goldenrod pencil.

Colored the mussel and inner ears with a Prismacolor Beige pencil.

Sponged Almost Artichoke ink all around the wolf.

Stamped leaves with Always Artichoke ink.

Wiped the ink off of my embossed leaves with a soft rag.

Sponged Basic Black ink at the bottom of the card stock and a bit around the edges of the card stock.

Stamped some more leaves at the bottom of the card stock with Basic Black ink and then wiped off my embossed images with a soft rag.

Darkened around the eyes, nose and a bit around the darkest parts of the ears with a Faber-Castell fine point black marker to make them stand out more.

Assembled my card front and here it is finished measuring 5.5″ square.

I hope your day is filled with relaxing and fun filled moments.

Until my next post.. . . . . . . . .

Hugs,

Michelle

81 Comments

Posted in Tutorials

Tagged card making, emboss resist, Michelle Zindorf, rubber stamping

Autumn Forest Floor – Tutorial #130

Posted on October 7, 2008 | 41 comments

Color Challenge Time! I love the color challenges on Split Coast Stampers on Tuesdays. I took a stab at today’s Color Challenge CC187 to use the Stampin’ Up colors Chocolate Chip, Kiwi Kiss and Tangerine Tango. I found this to be a great color combo for Autumn. Here is a link to the challenge if you want to play along: https://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=388280

You may have noticed lately that I have been trying to make use of the white of my paper. Today I used the white of the paper and made it my light source in the scene.

Well this is tutorial #130. Are you crying Uncle? Had enough?

If not, let’s get started on the tutorial. 🙂

Supplies:

Stamps:Inkadinkado “Fall Season”

Paper: Stampin’ Up Whisper White, Kiwi Kiss, Tangerine Tango & Chocolate Chip

Ink: Stampin’ Up Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip, Tangerine Tango & Basic Black

Accessories:Versamark Pad & Marker, Sponges, White Gel Pen, Fine Detail Clear embossing powder, heat gun, Stampin’ Up Markers Chocolate Chip & Old Olive, Copper Brads

Stamp tree by first loading stamp with Versamark and then loading with Chocolate Chip ink before stamping. I also did not put the Versamark or the ink on the very bottom of the tree trunk to omit the root part of the stamp. After stamping I extended the trunk of the tree with a Chocolate Chip marker and colored over the marker with a Versamark marker.

My Whisper White card stock measures 4.5″ square starting out, but I cropped it at the end to measure 4.25″ square due to a nice chocolate chip fingerprint at the top, lol.

Heat embossed the image using fine detail clear embossing powder and a heat gun.

Over stamp the tree a bit to the left by first loading the stamp with Versamark and then loading it with Kiwi Kiss ink before stamping it. I omitted the root part of the tree again. Extended the trunk with an Olive Marker and then colored over the marker with a Versamark marker. Heat embossed the image using clear embossing powder and a heat gun.

Sponged on Tangerine Tango ink, using a circular motion and be more heavy toward the outside edges.

Note: If your sponged ink looks really splotchy add more ink until it smooths out.

Sponged on Chocolate Chip ink.

Stamped the top of the tree with Chocolate Chip ink at the bottom of and left side of the card stock.

Sponged on Basic Black ink at the bottom two corners.

Stamp the top of the tree image with Kiwi Kiss at the bottom of the card stock.

Added a few white gel pen highlights to the tree and the plants at the bottom of the card stock.

Here is the card front finished measuring 5.5″ square.

Hope this tutorial has inspired you to use this color combination. I love it.

May your day be filled with light!

Until my next post.. . . . . . . . . .

Hugs,

Michelle

Links to all my tutorials can be found here: https://zindorf.splitcoaststampers.com/tutorials-ive-written/

Here is a link to my workshop calendar if you want to get info on beginner and advanced Brayer workshops: https://zindorf.splitcoaststampers.com/workshop-calendar

41 Comments

Posted in Tutorials

Tagged card making, emboss resist, Michelle Zindorf, rubber stamping, Stamp Art

Monthly Archives: October 2008

In the Shadows Wreath – Tutorial #135

Fall Swan – Tutorial #134

Whirling Leaves of Autumn – Tutorial #133

Framed Blog Candy Winner!

Fallen Leaves – Tutorial #132

Forest Wolf

Autumn Forest Floor – Tutorial #130

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