Dear Friend

Hello Friends!  With all the ice and freezing temperatures we've been having, I am ready for Spring.  Since Spring is still a little more than a month away, I decided to create a little bit of Spring.

Creative Nugget: I found this background in my stash that was created with a stencil, Distress Oxide inks, and a little stamping using the Typewriter Text Background by Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps.  I created a second panel using the same colors to coordinate with the background.  Both panels were cut with SB Matting Basics dies.  A pair of daffodils from the new Spring Blossoms stamp set just released by SNSS was colored with Copic Markers and cut with my ScanNCut.  Part of the sentiment from the same set was white embossed on a hand cut banner. The design for the card was inspired by the Freshly Made Sketch for this week.

This card will also be submitted for the following Challenges:

Freshly Made Sketches 323 - FMS323

Crafting From the Heart Challenge 193 - Anything Goes

Stamp, Ink, Paper Challenge 136 - Cabin Fever

Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge - TTTC034 (Die Cut, Emboss, Floral)

Thanks so much for stopping by...hope you enjoyed a little bit of spring!

Hugs,

Cathymac

Tiles Tutorial

Hello, everyone!  Hope you were able to enjoy the wonderful weekend weather.  It's my turn to share a tutorial on the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Blog today so I thought I would share it here as well.  Before retiring from teaching, I used to make coasters out of unglazed tiles for my parent helper gifts at the end of the school year.  I often get asked at paper craft festivals how they are made, so I thought I would share my process in this tutorial.

Begin by gathering all of your materials.

Supplies:

Non-Stick Craft Sheet

4" x 4" Unglazed Tiles (purchased from building supply store)

Adirondack Alcohol Inks in a variety of colors

Adirondack Metallic Mixatives (Optional)

Alcohol Blending Solution

Felt Applicator Tool

Archival Inks

Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps
Sharpie Markers (Black and White)

Paper Towels

Vinyl/Latex Gloves
Cork
Tacky Glue
Spray Varnish

Lightly sand your tiles and wipe off the fine dust with a damp paper towel or baby wipe.  Make sure the tiles are completely dry before beginning to apply the inks.

Be sure to put on those vinyl/latex gloves if you don't want inky fingers!  Choose three or four colors and give a little squirt of each into the felt on the applicator tool keeping each of the colors separated on the felt.  Then add a little squirt of metallic mixative to the middle of the felt. (Optional)  If you use the metallic mixative, you must remember to shake it well before using. 

Dab and swirl the colors onto the tile remembering to cover the sides as well.  No need to worry too much about what it looks like at this point…just be sure to cover the tile with color.

Now comes the fun part!  Squirt some Blending Solution on the felt applicator tool.  You can even squirt some right on the tile if you want.  The more blending solution you use the lighter the colors will be.

Continue dabbing and swirling with the Blending Solution until you get the look you like.

Here are several color combinations, although using exactly the same colors will yield entirely different results.

Allow the tiles to dry.  You can stop at this point, but we are going to add some stamped images to the tiles, so grab your Archival inks and choose the stamp sets you want to use.  

Generally I like using SNSS silhouette images, but the for the tile on the left, the coneflower from the Flower Blocks 3 set was used.  The middle was masked and the Typewriter Text Background was stamped in Jet Black Archival ink, then the coneflower was stamped.  Tender Thoughts and the new For My Father set was used for the tile on the right.  A black Sharpie pen works great for any touch ups that are needed.

Nature Silhouettes 2, Faith, and Serene Silhouettes stamp sets were used to make the tile on the left.  For the tile on the right, the Typewriter Text Background was stamped using Deep Purple Archival ink.  The flourishes from the Leafy Flourish

Background and More stamp set were then stamped using the Jet Black Archival ink.  White accents were added using a white Sharpie Paint Pen.

To make your coasters water proof, give the tiles several coats of clear glaze or acrylic varnish.  Allow the tiles to dry between each coat…about 1/2 hour.  (I applied 4 coats of Clear Glaze to mine.) Be careful to use the spray in a well ventilated room or outside.

Trim cork to fit the back of the tile using a craft knife.  Apply Tacky Glue to the back of each tile making sure to cover all the way to the edges. Stick the piece of cork to the back and place a lightweight object on top of the tile until the glue dries.

The tiles are now finished and ready to be used or given as gifts!

Here are the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps used for the tiles above:

Thank you for joining me today...I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial!

Have a marvelous Monday!  

Hugs,

Cathymac

Typewriter Text Background

Hello Sweet 'n Sassy friends…Welcome to Day 2 of the December Feature Blog Hops!

Today's feature is:

Typewriter Text Background

• Includes 1 background stamp
• Measures approximately 3.75" x 3.75"
• Designed by Korin Sutherland
• Stamp set is priced at $11

Here is my sample for this very versatile 

background stamp:

Creative Nugget:  Panels of Authentique papers were stitched to Smokey Shadow card stock and mounted to a Vintage Cream card base.  All of the layers were sponged with Brushed Corduroy Distress ink to age the papers a little.  The Typewriter Text Background was stamped right on the DP using Basic Gray ink. Do you see the ink splatters?  They are from the new Grunge Elements stamp set we are featuring tomorrow...you won't want to miss tomorrow's hop...the samples are fabulous!!  The typewriter from the Keep in Touch stamp set was stamped on the matching die and popped up on the card.  The sentiment was stamped on one of the labels from the Bookmarks & More Die Set.  A seam binding bow, Heart Pin from Maya Road, and several pearls were added to finish the card.

Click on the thumbnails below to see more amazing samples created by the Sweet 'n Sassy Design Team!

Be sure to leave a comment on each blog along the way because we're giving away (4) $15 store credits (1 winner from each of the 4 blog hops).

The deadline to comment for a chance to win is Friday, December 13th at midnight EST.  The winners will be announced on our website homepage by Monday, December 16th.

Thanks for stopping by...Enjoy the hop!

Hugs,

Cathymac