CAS Mix-up

Here we are with a lil' entry for April's CAS Mix-up:

I painted these Dina Wakley birds like zebra finches.  These are both male, however, because of the cheek patch. Maybe father and son. I had zebra finches in college named Johnny and June, and they had babies right in my apartment! They had a son and a daughter, and I named them Rosie and Pedro (based on patron saints of when they were born or something...) Well, I couldn't run a finch farm and study forestry, so I gave my best friend, Sarah, the females. I kept Johnny and Pedro. So maybe this is a picture of them... yeah, yeah... that's it!

Here's the challenge graphic for the CAS Mix-up this month:

Supplies and notes:

• As mentioned, Johnny and Pedro is a Dina Wakley stamp [stamp component]
• MementoLuxe ink in Tuxedo Black
• Loew Cornel watercolors ["my choice" component]
• Ranger Transparent Texture Paste through a Martha Stewart stencil [stencil component]
• ... all on a library catalog card base
• What you can't see is the easel adhered to the back, which is a die-cut by Tim and Sizzix.  I've said it before, but I love my easel die.  I love functional, and this thing is functional!  

So, no sentiment here.  I may come up with the perfect quote for this, but for now, it is just a cute reminder of past pets. 

STAMPlorations' April CAS

I made this for the current CAS challenge at STAMPlorations:

It's so simple it's silly, but this is what I call CAS... and, damnit: I can't help but to add birds to everything! I mean, to me, birds are so naturally beautiful-- color combinations, textures, movements-- I love to play on what already exists in perfection!

Here is the challenge card:

I used Dylusions spray in Fresh Lime through a Martha Stewart stencil for the stripes.

Also, FYI, this is another little card: folded, it measures about 3x4.25"-- perfect for a backpack, lunchbox, or gift tag.

Wicked Wednesday...

I made this for Wicked Wednesday#204: Garden Friends. 

Briefly: I prepared the background with a gesso'd ATC of cardboard, plus some surplus modeling paste (Teresa Collins) through a Tim Holtz StampAnon stencil. The top portion was sprayed with Dylusions in London Blue, and the bottom was Cut Grass.  It almost looks turquoise, but that's just the way it absorbed into the gesso. The butterfly was a cheap chipboard die-cut, gesso'd, then sprayed with Pure Sunshine, then plastered with Ranger Crackle Accents. Once dry, I sprayed with Lemon Zest. Yellow flowers from my stash. Bluebells made from Wilton stamen sprayed with more Dylusions. The beads glued to the bottom were from MONIKA, thank you!  The quote is from Ralph Waldo Emerson. 

Xo. 

Sketch Saturday #407

This is my entry for Sketch Saturday #407:

...and here is the sketch:

Initially, I viewed this as a scrap-buster, but I had this library card I'd played with in sight and I decided to cut it into pieces.  Here's how it came together...

Supplies and notes:
(I'll add later... No time now!)  UPDATED A FEW HOURS LATER... see, I remembered!

• The library catalog card base was first embossed with a Sizzix folder
• Next, I sprayed it using Dylusions inks in: Cherry Pie, Pure Sunshine, Lemon Zest, Cut Grass, London Blue, and Crushed Grape.  
• After that, I wiped some Distress Paint in Pickert Fence over the raised part with my finger. At this point, this catalog card sat for about a week... waiting for two days ago...
• I cut the now-fancy card into 1.5" squares and adhered them to the fab sea-green card (the card came in a pack from my homegirl/craft supply soulmate Autumn at Sew-Paper-Paint... thank you!)
• The butterfly was another bit of my stash that had laid around waiting to be used.  Do any of you imagine your supplies laying around like the toys on Toy Story, just waiting to be loved?  I do... This butterfly is from a Grungeboard Pack from Ranger/Tim Holtz purchased years ago.  I'd painted the butterfly pale purple and sprayed it with some Perfect Pearls mist, then never used it... until now.  I had it out to potentially use for a separate challenge, but didn't (awww... passed it over twice, but three time's a charm!)-- and thought I could add it to this.  Well, the pale purple was too boring... so I got out my Dylusions spray in Funky Fuchsia and fixed that!
• The stickers are from a pack by The Girls' Paperie... have had it for eons.

I plan to enter this into the challenges at  Sketch Saturday #407 and into Creative With Stamps First Challenge: Butterfly.  (I already shared THIS CARD there, but Sweet Monika reminded me I could add another... Thank you, Monika!)

Is it hare or is it deer?

It's neither! It's both! The fabled jackalope:

The quote comes from a Steve Earle song: Creepy Jackalope Eye.  I found it while looking for jackalope information for this tag... what a funky song! Definitely very '90s.  It has the sound of some of that alternative rock/par-grunge... kind of Presidents of the United States (remember "Peaches"?)  My favorite bands from this era (to this day) are The Breeders, The Toadies, and The Pixies.  Back in the day, I did a lot of The Cranberries and Stone Temple Pilots... and Beck! And of course that's when my generation found love for The Beatles and Led Zepplin, Aerosmith and The Steve Miller Band.  Ahhh, memory lane... What were you listening to in the 1990s?

Brief supplies list:

• Golden jackalope from a Maggie Holmes diecut pack
• Library card base with Dylusions in Vibrant Turquoise and Perfect Pearls in gold over a Heidi Swapp stencil
• Quote typed on typewriter on gold vellum, but I wrote over top in pencil because the type was faint on the vellum
• The jackalope's non-creepy eye is a gem from an antique piece of jewelry, glued on with glossy accents
• The diamond strands were bought in bulk from my FAVE scrapbook store called Paradise Scrapbook Boutique
• The gold wire is Darice

I plan to enter this into Tuesday Throwdown #288: Furry Friends.

Speaking of furry friends, for those of you who are dog-lovers, I'm sharing my baby... She's in her last days...

Outside again!

Ahhh, so happy the weather is warming up!

My cheerful spring tag has been in the works for weeks... which makes sense because spring has been on it's way for weeks!

Supplies and notes:

• Library catalog card base (duh) inked through a Martha Stewart stencil with Distress Ink in Scattered Straw and Rusty Hinge 
• The grass stamp in the background was stamped with Distress Ink in Shabby Shutters and Forest Moss
• The "tree" foliage was made with Peeled Paint Distress Paint dabbed right on with the spong applicator
• The image is from Heartwarming vintage and painted with Tim's crackle paint in Clear Rock Candy.  Prior to crackle-coating, I edged it with ColorBox chalk in Creamy Brown
• The little birds are Studio Calico veneer pieces
• The orange ribbon is antique seam binding... did I already tell you guys this?  Okay, brief chat session: I can not walk away from any old seam binding.  I can't.  We have a local thrift store that is great, and they support great causes... but DAMN!-- whoever does their pricing has the same affinity for seam binding that I do!  It's expensive!  I braided the binding with some awesome yarn from Tuesday Morning and some twine saved from a purchase
• Brads from my stash

I will share this long-coming project at the following challenges:

• Mod Squad Challenge's "Show us your background"
• Dutch Card Lovers #252: Use wood veneer (I ALWAYS have trouble with their linky...)

HLS CAS in April

This is pretty much as CAS as I get!

I like to say that I'm more grungy and complicated than clean and simple! :-)

Supplies and notes:

• The background was made using a Heidi Swapp stencil monoprinted with Tim Holtz Distress Spray in Black Soot
• For the leaf, I monoprinted a library catalog card (surprise-surprise) with Dylusions Vibrant Turquoise spray over a different Heidi Swapp stencil, stamped off then spritzed
• After that dried, I cut the leaf out using one of Tim's popular dies, and I added Glossy Accents to the geometric grid, then accented the edges with Pebeo's Dimensional Liner in Lead
• The "hello" was was written with a Zig Emboss Writer and embossed with Recollections EP in snow on a scrap piece of black cardstock

What do you think?

Per the title of this post, I plan to share this at Happy Little Stampers' April CAS challenge.