The Last Egg!!

Are you bored with eggs yet?  I promise it's the last one!  The reason I get so repetitious is that I keep finding new things to do with a project.  Sometimes it's playing with different products and sometimes I actually find better ways to make it work by the time I'm on my 3rd, 4th, or 5th one.  I like to share these tips.  Also, often these tips can be applied to other projects, especially with the Posies.  So here are a few are a few more tips!  If you want more specific instructions, go back to the  previous blogs: Feb. 10th and 24th.

Adding Flower Soft to the tips gives a new look.  I like it.  We carry mostly the Ultra-Fine Flower Soft.  It is just what it says, ultra fine, and goes on nicely in small areas.  Their colors are a little limited in the Ultra Fine, but we offer what they have.  However I just found out, rather late, that they added some new ones, including white (yeah).  These have been ordered and will be available as soon as we receive them.

Scoring the petals for a different look, again adds a new look.  I turn the Posy over and score it from the center down to the end of the petal, then pinch the petal together from the right side.  You can see the different look that is achieved.  You could also pinch the petal together the opposite way and get another look.  I also always score the petal around the center to make bending the petals easier.

I decided that these really need spacers between the petals.  On previous instructions I said I used bead caps which turns out was a bad move.  Just a little square of foam tape with a hole punched in the center with a hand held plier type punch works really well.  Add a few drops of glue or Crystal Lacquer to keep them securely in place.  They really like to twist and turn.  By the way, Dr. Scholl's small round corn pads work well but could get pricey.

I added a fourth layer at the top by using the smallest petal twice and cutting the tips off.  When you are doing other projects with the petals don't forget this.  You don't always have to leave the tips on them.

Just a little note about the wires from Flower Soft.  If you don't own them you need to!  They do all kinds of good things.  I used them for hanging the eggs and put some gold paint on them.  They are very pliable, they can be colored, or you can add dots of flower soft to them to add to a project.  I haven't done this  yet, but they will work well for antennae on butterflies.  I like working with these better than wire.

Enough for now!  I've got to get working on some jewelry for Mandy to take to the Indiana show tomorrow, so I had better get started!  You will see some great jewelry tips on next week's blog so check it out!
Kathy

Challenge 41 - St. Patrick's Day

Our Outlines Monday challenge theme this week is to.....

make something with a St. Patrick's Day Theme

We would like you to join this challenge for a chance to win a $25 Shopping Spree at Outlines Rubber Stamp Co.  To enter the challenge you must use only stamps from Outlines; only one entry allowed  Please add the URL to your actual blog post or online gallery to the InLinkz you will find at the end of this post. Please do not link to your main blog.  Also, please link back to our challenge in your blog post  or gallery..

So let's see what our design team has created for you this week.

Jeanne Streiff

Stamps used: D-1020 Clover Jewel, 

Jenny Gropp

Stamps used: D-1020 Clover Jewel, AA-848 TIny Happy Shamrock Day

Julie Warner

Stamps used: H-1018 Sketchy Clovers

Kecia Waters

Stamps used: H-1018 Sketchy Clovers

Lisa Silver

Stamps used: D-1020 Clover Jewel, H-451 Circle Background

Sue Kment

Stamps used: H-1018 Sketchy Clovers

Challenge 40 - Make it Square! Challenge WInner

Using Random.org a winner was chosen from last week's

Make it Square Challenge:

RANDOM INTEGER GENERATOR

Here are your random numbers:

3 

Timestamp: 2012-02-27 02:01:47 UTC

Congratulations to Shirley!

Please contact us for your winning prize of a $25 shopping spree at Outlines Rubber Stamps. And thank you to everyone who joined in on the challenge. We hope to see you again this week.

More Eggs!

Hi!
I'm still on an egg kick. I'm having such fun creating these eggs that I can't stop!  As I go along I keep finding new things to do with them and tips that are helpful and I can't resist sharing.
My blog on Feb. l0 gives the basics for doing one of these.  I took my own advice and got creative
with combining different Posies and different papers.  I had mentioned about hanging beads which really add another dimension to them. I want to give you a few tips about adding them.

I did not have the color beads that I wanted, but I did have white pearls, so as you can see I colored them to match with Copic markers.

Before you cut you beads apart, look at the strip carefully and you will see that there is a thread that will unravel.  If this happens the beads will fall apart, so apply dabs of Crystal Lacquer or glue and let them dry before cutting apart.

After cutting them apart attach them to the underside of the bottom petal using Crystal Lacquer or glue.  I also decided that there needed to be a separator between the petals to give them a little lift.  I used some bead caps that I had hanging around. I glued them in place to keep the petals in place.

I always use a bead cap for the top to give a finished look. This time I added drops of  Pearl Pen to the top to finish it off.  The edges were painted with Smooch paint.

Enough for now!  I think I might have to do one more egg next week because there are still a few
more tips I'd like to share. See you then!

Challenge 40 - Make it Square!

Our Outlines Monday challenge theme this week is to..... KEEP IT SQUARE! 

Make a card or project, the finished size just has to be square. 

Any theme, any colors... just keep it square!

We would like you to join this challenge for a chance to win a $25 Shopping Spree at Outlines Rubber Stamp Co.  To enter the challenge you must use only stamps from Outlines; only one entry allowed  Please add the URL to your actual blog post or online gallery to the InLinkz you will find at the end of this post. Please do not link to your main blog.  Also, please link back to our challenge in your blog post  or gallery..

So let's see what our design team has created for you this week.

Jeanne Streiff

Stamps used: H-1014 Sketchy Dad

Jenny Gropp

Stamps used: AA-839 TIny Happy Birthday, H-1066 Split Layering Collage -Enjoy

Julie Warner

Stamps used: F-1049 Posy Greeting Center, E-401 Candles Square Large, D-1040 Round Posy Small

Kecia Waters

Stamps used: I-1153 Hide and Seek, AA-951 TIny Happy Easter

Lisa Silver

Stamps used: E-403 Flower Balloon Square Large

Sue Kment

Stamps used: E-780 Happiest of Birthdays Square Large

Challenge 39 - Color Combo Challenge WINNER

Using Random.org a winner was chosen from last week's

 Color Combo "Red, White and Black" Challenge #39:

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

2 

Timestamp: 2012-02-20 04:17:35 UTC

Congratulations to Kathy B.!

Please contact us for your winning prize of a $25 shopping spree at Outlines Rubber Stamps. And thank you to everyone who joined in on the challenge. We hope to see you again this week.

Revisiting our Easter Egg Tree stamp with Viva Paper Soft and Pearl Pens!

Because I have been using this stamp to demo Pearl Pens and Viva Paper Soft at shows, I decided I'd

like to revisit the Easter Egg Tree stamp (F-934).  This is the right time of the year and it's so easy to work with and so effective!

Stamps: Easter Egg Tree (F-934) , Alphabet (I-583).
Papers:  Graphic 45 Once Upon A Springtime and new (to us) Paper Cut - Gold Linen Metallic for the layering and Paper Cut Rose for the word "Easter".

Viva Paper Soft: Dark Sand and Moss Green.

Pearl Pens used are: Gold, Light Yellow, Light Blue, Silver, Lilac, Salmon and Kiwi. Just a reminder about Pearl pens, the lighter colors are very pearly and the darker one are more enamel looking.

Embossing powder: PK Glitz -Timber Brown .

Directions:

1-Stamp and emboss egg tree.

2-Cut out free hand as shown.

3-With Paper Soft, add color to tree portion and a little to grassy area using the smallest round ponce brush.*

4-Fill in eggs with pearl pens. 

5-I decided at this point that white did not look quite right, so I added color using Color Soft again.

6-Stamp the Alphabet stamp, emboss and cut out and layer onto small green squares to just off-set them.  You can stamp the whole alphabet stamp and cut out the portions you need. I tend to cut a strip of paper, then cut it into small pieces. Ink the letter you need, place your small piece of paper over, press well with your finger, or better yet place a small block of wood or acrylic over and press down.  You'll get a better inking that way.  Using our Pixie Pick-Ups for placing the squares helps.

7-I decided that I wanted little pearl brads in the corners so I added them.  This is a really great Pearl Pen tip if you don't already know it. When I couldn't decide if I wanted dots of peals in the corners or what color I wanted, I dropped some on wax paper. When these dry you can pop them right off and decide what you want to do with them. Save the leftover ones for future use.

8-Layer as shown.  I used a corner punch to round edges and mounting tape to give the tree a lift.

 *I gave some tips on using Viva Paper Soft in Volume #44 Newsletter(June 9th).  I was trying to tell you how great this product is for getting nice feather edges of color on white backgrounds.  I don't

 know if I described it as well as I could have.  I'll try again.  The top of the container is a sponge that will have no color when new.  You have to pounce it with the large brush to get the color to come to the top.  Once it's there it is ready to use.  When using it pounce the round sponge brush to get color onto it, then transfer to your paper with a very light touch.  It won't look like much color is being added but you want to add it gradually.  You keep adding color till you have reached desired shade.  As you can see I used the small brush to get the green color onto the tree.  I used a larger brush to add the sand color.

Here's an important for getting nice smooth results!  After inking your brush, roll the edges off on a paper towel or just another piece of scrap paper.  Do this every time after inking the brush!

 

Challenge 39 - Color Combo Challenge

Our Outlines Monday challenge theme this week is a Color Combo.....

create your card using the colors RED, WHITE and BLACK.

We would like you to join this challenge for a chance to win a $25 Shopping Spree at Outlines Rubber Stamp Co.  To enter the challenge you must use only stamps from Outlines; only one entry allowed  Please add the URL to your actual blog post or online gallery to the InLinkz you will find at the end of this post. Please do not link to your main blog.  Also, please link back to our challenge in your blog post  or gallery..

So let's see what our design team has created for you this week.

Jeanne Streiff

Stamps used: I-696 Layered Heart

Jenny Gropp

Stamps used: H-1004 Grand Heart

Julie Warner

Stamps used: E-91 Dotted Flower Large, D-92 Dotted Flower Medium, B-93 Dotted Flower Small, A-101 Dotted Leaf Small, F-1049 Posy Greeting Center

Kecia Waters

Stamps used: H-918 Growing Hearts, B-387 With Love

Lisa Silver

Stamps used: H-918 Growing Hearts

Sue Kment

Stamps used: H-911 Sparkle Love

Challenge 38 - February Sketch Challenge WInner

Using Random.org a winner was chosen from last week's Sketch Challenge:

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

7 

Timestamp: 2012-02-13 03:37:56 UTC

Congratulations to ljhart!

Please contact us for your winning prize of a $25 shopping spree at Outlines Rubber Stamp. And thank you to everyone who joined in on the challenge. We hope to see you again this week.

Create a Faniful Easter Egg Tree

Back from Atlanta.  It was a great show and we met so many nice people!  Well as promised, some basic directions for creating some very pretty Easter Eggs for hanging.  A bare branch from outside is a nice way to hang them, no need to go looking for that special tree.  I was lucky enough to find one that actually had a bird nest in it!  Cute addition!  I perched a little yellow chick on it.

I found the eggs I'm using at Pier One.  These were a good find because they are styrofoam which means

you can poke your wire into the center for hanging.  They did not look like they were styrofoam because

there was a hard coating over it.  I removed whatever they had at the top to hang it with and there was

a nice opening to stick a wire into!  I added glue to the wire to be sure it held. You can probably get plain old white styrofoam eggs and decorate them, I haven't tried that yet.

(1) I used paper from Graphic 45-Once Upon A Springtime paper pad. There are lots of nice papers in this pad for this project.

(2) I used stamps from our Mix and Match Posie Series.  For this particular one I used all the same

posy in all four sizes: Pointed Posy X-Large, Large, Medium & Small. Usually I use only the medium, small    and extra small and mix and match them.

(3) Stamp and emboss with gold embossing powder.

(4) Add glitter to tips.  I used a Quickie Glue Pen and Cupid Micro Fine Glitter from Art Institute which we

 offer on our website. This glitter is transparent so it doesn't show to its full potential over the blue paper, but it was the effect I wanted to achieve.

(5) I put a coating of Crystal Lacquer over the Posies, let dry and then put a coating on the backside

 before cutting out.  This will give a nice gloss and make the Posy more durable.

(6) I cut out along the edges and poked a small hole in the center to put the wire through.  I used the wires from Flower Soft that we also offer on our website. They are white and very fine and pliable.

(7) I added some of our crystals to give it some bling but not too much.  Light rose and Aquamarine were my choices.

(8) Before placing petals on the eggs bend them all forward and down so they will embrace the shape

of the egg.

(9) Have fun doing these and get creative with the posy shapes and combining papers!

You probably saw the eggs last week that had beads hanging from them. This adds a beautiful look!

They are sold in fabric departments attached to a ribbon.  No stringing of beads involved, just snip one

off and attach to the underside of the petal!

Have a great week and stay warm!

Kathy

Challenge 38 - February Sketch Challenge

Our Outlines Monday challenge theme this week is to.....

create a card sing the following sketch.

Sketch designed by Lisa Silver.

We would like you to join this challenge for a chance to win a $25 Shopping Spree at Outlines Rubber Stamp Co.  To enter the challenge you must use only stamps from Outlines; only one entry allowed  Please add the URL to your actual blog post or online gallery to the InLinkz you will find at the end of this post. Please do not link to your main blog.  Also, please link back to our challenge in your blog post  or gallery..

So let's see what our design team has created for you this week.

Jeanne Streiff

Stamps used: H-1017 Sketchy Mom

Jenny Gropp

Stamps used: F-1181 Lilly and Layla, B-603 Nature's Delights

Julie Warner

Stamps used:  B-1053 Just Because

Kecia Waters

Kecia is off this week, but she'll be back with us next Monday!

Lisa Silver

Stamps used: I-1149 Tiptoe

Sue Kment

Stamps used: H-798 Split Layering Collage Sweet Pea