Good Thursday morning!  I’ve got to tell you that so many exciting things have happened this week and I’m just bursting at the seams to tell . . .  only I can’t just yet!

I finally got to work in the studio late yesterday afternoon.  My card today is for the Crafty Secrets Challenge on Splitcoaststampers.  I love this weekly challenge . . .  it has become my favorite actually!  This week’s challenge is to emboss.  Since I can’t dry emboss, I decided to work with UTEE.  The only thing is, I experimented a bit and came out without something totally different than  what I had planned on or even expected.

I stamped the Santa image in cocoa on watercolor paper and lightly color washed the image with Ranger Distress Reinkers.  Once the painting was dry, I sponged Old Paper Distress Ink over the entire image to age the paper, and die cut/embossed with Spellbinders Classic Circles.  After the image was die cut, I began applying layer after layer of UTEE.  I probably had 4 layers built up when I decided to go one more.  I stamped on some embossing ink, applied Gold Perfect Pearls and then sprinkled on another layer of UTEE.  While still heating the UTEE, I continued to sprinkle on more.  I worked the Gold Perfect Pearls out to the ends and it looked like the edges were gold polished.  However, this is where I took the turn.  Once the UTEE had cooled, I decided to crack it.  Well  . . . . Santa’s face cracked right off!  Instead of melting the UTEE again (which would have been the obvious solution) I decided to peel the UTEE off the image.  What I had left was an image that feels like it’s coated in wax.  It is so cool!!!!  You can still see some of the UTEE and Perfect Pearls on the image, but in the process of peeling it all away . . . the paper crumpled and creased!  It looks even older now! 

At this point I had all this gold UTEE and nothing to do with it.  Remembering some small bottles I bought back in the summer, I grabbed one and filled it with the UTEE making the UTEE an embellishment.  HAH how cool was that!

• Stamps:  Vintage Christmas from Crafty Secrets
• Paper:  Arches Watercolor; Red and Green; Memory Box Spiceberry
• Ink:  Ranger Archival Coco, Distress Embossing, Old Paper, Peeled Paint, Broken China, Scattered Straw, Tattered Rose, Fired Brick, Weathered Wood, Faded Jeans and Vintage Photo
• Accessories:  Spellbinders S4-125 Scalloped Circles – Large, S4-114 Classic Circles – Large, and S7-014 Grand 12” Classic Lace Border; Ranger UTEE and Matte Accents; Tsukineko Sponge Daubers; May Arts Ribbon; DMC Embroidery Floss; Sewing Machine; Foam Tape

That’s all I have for right now.  I hope you have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Avast ye mateys! It be Tuesday, Treasure Hunt Tuesday at Rubbernecker! You can find today’s clue and all the necessary deets on the Rubbernecker Home Page. While you’re there, take note that this week’s Sale Product is the Mini Scor-it. The Colorbox Fluid Chalk Pads are on sale for one more week too.

Don’t forget to visit the blogs of the Design Team Members to see what they have for you today.

Bev - Savor the Journey

Broni - Splashes of Watercolor (Blog Candy)

Candy - Candys Land

Jules - Stampin with Inky Fingers

Kittie - Kittie Kraft

Linda - Linda’s Works of Heart (Blog Candy)

Shelly - Stamp with Shelly

Tami - A Walk on the Mild Side

As you know, I’ve become addicted to soldering. Well . . . over the weekend I was working on a project using chalk inks. When it was complete, I kept looking at it thinking okay, I can solder this and it can become

A Sun Catcher!

A few days ago, I was browsing some of my favorite blogs and sites, and ran across this video tutorial by Suze Weinberg for Faux Sea Glass. I just HAD to try it. The top piece of the sun catchers is a 2″ square of Frosted Memory Glass. Instead of using pigment inks that Suze did in her tutorial, I used chalk inks. Actually I made two, one with chalk inks and one with pigment inks. I like the one with the chalk inks better, and the technique works just as well as with the pigments that Suze demonstrates. I’m not going to go into detail here. It’s all on Suze’s video. If you don’t see it right away, click one of the videos and then stop it. A panel will come up across the bottom of the screen and you can search for Faux Sea Glass.

The bottom panel is a piece of 1×3 Memory Glass that I inked the back with chalk inks and then embossed with two coats of clear UTEE. The sentiment was stamped on the front of the glass in Archival Jet Black Ink. To finish off the sun catcher, I added some wire and beads so that the sentiment panel would hang below the diamond. The hanger is double wire looped at the top so that I can hang it in my kitchen window (when it’s clean). By the way, when you solder the Faux Sea Glass, the UTEE on the front will melt, so be careful. I actually thought that the melting gave the glass a more distressed look and LOVED it!

I had a heck of a time getting decent pictures, but here is one of the sun catcher showing the actual colors of the glass.

• Stamps: Stamp Oasis Face ATC Set from Rubbernecker Stamp Company
• Ink: Pink Pastel, Lavender, Aquamarine and Ice Jade Colorbox Fluid Chalk, Ranger Archival Jet Black
• Accessories: Ranger Perfect Medium, UTEE, Gold and Pearl Perfect Pearls, 2″ Square Frosted Memory Glass, 1×3″ Memory Glass; Soldering Tool and Solder; Wire; Beads; Copper Foil Tape; Jump Rings

I hope you’ll be back tomorrow, when I post the first Twisted and Demented Challenge. I am sooooooooo excited!!!! Hints: socks, swingin’ and now tails!

Have a great day!

Happy Weekend! How much fun – a weekend of stamping! One of my challenges in the Dare to Get Dirty event on Splitcoast is today! I hope you’ll join me in the Challenge Chat Thread and in the challenge. If you aren’t a Fan Club Member, it’s not too late!

Those of you who have followed my blog for awhile, will recognize this card and technique.

I tried to use a few other stamp sets with this technique, but darn it all, they just didn’t look right to me. I was compelled to go back to my favorites, Roses in Winter and Petal Prints.

For more details please see my Challenge Thread on Splitcoast or you can view it here in the gallery!

Stamps: Roses in Winter, Petal Prints, Flannel Plaid, French Script, Baroque Motifs

Ink: Cameo Coral, Apricot Appeal, Perfect Plum, Certainly Celery, Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Ink

Paper: Whisper White, Certainly Celery, Chocolate Chip

Accessories: Hodgepodge Hardware, Ribbon, Ranger UTEE, Water Mister, Sponge Dauber

Today I bid a farewell to my most loved and most used stamp sets - Roses in Winter and Petal Prints. My RIW are the most gnarly and nasty looking stamps you have ever seen. The wood is completely discolored, the rubber is coming off of some of the small stamps – glued back together with tender loving care. The Rubber Lovers, my stamp club, actually made fun of me last week about the condition of these stamps. They have been well loved and well used. I’m going to put these sets away now – and hope to find something to take their place. You’ll see them again - eventually! I know that I will use them again – sometimes certain colors just cry out for RIW. Petal Prints doesn’t look nearly as bad as RIW, but they were inspiration for a series of cards that I did some time ago. One day I’ll upload them all hear for you to see. It is also a favorite set that I like to combine with RIW.

Last week when The Rubber Lovers met, they wanted to learn the technique of stamping on wet watercolor paper. It is one of my favorite techniques, so I was quite eager to show them. There are so many ways to maneuver the colors around, make them bright or dull, let them run together or have them stay put.

The first thing you need to do, is to completely saturate your watercolor paper with water. I use a mister bottle and just spray until the water literally runs off. I let it set up for a few minutes, allowing the water to soak into the paper and then I start stamping. You really need a solid image stamp for this (RIW being one I’ve used for many projects). If your paper gets dry, give it a light mist and continue stamping. For an all over blending effect, once you are done stamping, you could re-mist the paper and watch the colors run. IF you want to tone down the colors, after you have misted your final stamping, you can take a piece of paper towel and lightly dab to remove some color. This is what I have done on today’s card. But, I couldn’t stop there. I also combined the cracked glass technique to give an overall aged look.

Now for today’s card. I actually started this card for today’s Color Challenge on SCS. When I saw the colors of Rose Red and Apricot Appeal my brain clicked into overdrive and all I could see were roses. I knew that this was probably going to be one of my last cards with this set, so I really wouldn’t to try and experiment with a number of techniques with it. Plus, I’m out of Whisper White cardstock!

I misted my watercolor paper, inked the Roses in Apricot Appeal and rock and rolled them in Rose Red. The fern like stamp from Petal Prints was stamped in Tempting Turquoise, the leave in Green Galore and the small flower in the different colors. I misted the image again to let the colors blend a little and dabbed a paper towel in certain areas where I wanted to remove some color. While the paper was still a little damp, I stamped French Script in Ranger Walnut Distress Ink (after stamping off 4 times before). I sponged the edges of the image in the distress ink and then once the image was completely dry, I stamped the sentiment in the distress ink. I liked what I had, but wanted to add just one more touch. I inked up the image with Versamark and embossed 3 coats of UTEE. Once the image had been placed in the freezer and cracked, instead of just sponging across with the distress ink, I took my stamp pad and pressed and pulled across the image. I was amazed (doesn’t take much sometimes) to see how well the ink went down into the cracks. I then figured out where I wanted the ribbon and brads, and mounted the image on Rose Red cardstock. To tone down the layer, I sponged just a smidgen of distress ink on the edges. The layers are then mounted on a Rose Red card.

Stamps: Roses in Winter, Petal Prints, French Script

Ink: Rose Red, Apricot Appeal, Green Galore, Tempting Turquoise, Ranger Walnut Distress Ink

Paper: Watercolor, Rose Red

Accessories: UTEE, Misting Bottle, Wedge Sponge, Brads, Ribbon

AND, I just decided this! I have been wanting to offer up some blog candy, but the term blog candy is not that appealing to me. I’ve been wrestling with a new term for weeks now and really haven’t hit upon anything that I like. Bear in mind, that I have been trying to incorporate it with *BAD*. How can Bad Sherry offer up blog candy that is not *Bad*? So here’s my offer: anyone leaving a comment on this post with an alternative choice for blog candy (for this blog only), will have an opportunity to win this card! It must go along with the theme of the blog - bad, wild, etc., you get the idea. I will pick my favorite alternative and that lucky person will receive this card!