Digi Rub-ons for Christmas

Gotta add some digi stamps to your Christmas list. These things are waaaay cool! I use them all the time, but I finally figured out a way to get them on non-paper items! And since these days I'm all about Christmas, I thought I'd show you how I put a digital image on a Christmas ornament. Yep, you heard (read) right! I put a digital image on a round, glass Christmas ornament. Okay, it didn't fit in the printer, but I found this cool product that lets you make your own rub-ons. I used a product called Grafix Rub-onz Transfer Film. It's expensive (well, I think $9 for four sheets is expensive), but I did use a 40% off coupon at Hobby Lobby.
There are tutorials out there for making homemade rub-ons using transparency film, but I could not get them to work for me. I tried everything I could think of: different brands of film, different printers, longer drying times, etc. All I ended up with using the regular transparency film was a wet mess. The Grafix Rub-onz has an adhesive component to it that allows the image to actually transfer to a smooth surface.
So, basically, I printed out my digital stamp onto the transfer film following the instructions provided, colored the image, and then rubbed it onto my ornament. Look at the stunning results.

I chose an image from Lindsay's Stamp Stuff Christmas Cupcake Wrappers Digital Stamp Set. Love that set and I have yet to make a cupcake--so much versatility. I sized the image in a word document and did a couple of test runs with plain paper to make sure the size was what I wanted before printing on the transfer film. Once I got it the right size, I printed it out on my rub-on paper, colored it with copic markers, and rubbed the image onto my ornament. I added a few dots of Frosted Lace Stickles to the berries for highlights. Isn't that so cool! But wait till you see this next one!

Ahhhh! Love the intense green on this one! Same exact process as above, but instead of using copic markers, I used Clearsnap Smooch and some red stickles. Have you seen Smooch? It looks like a bottle of fingernail polish but has a much more precise brush. In fact, I didn't color in this image until after I transferred it to the ornament, so I actually "painted" the image in on the ornament itself instead of the transfer paper. I loved this so much, I promptly returned to Scrapbook Gadgets (Angela's got a great selection and shipping was super fast!) for more Smooch in more colors! My poor Christmas tree won't know what hit it after I'm through decorating the decorations!
Now, if you're thinking you'd like to jazz up your ornaments, jars, metal containers, etc with some cool, custom-made rub-ons, let me encourage you to do a little Christmas shopping at Lindsay's Stamp Stuff where you can pick up this great Christmas Cupcake Wrapper set or her brand new Christmas Potpourri (to "die for" cute) set. You might also try googling "homemade rub-ons" and see if you can find a cheaper method of creating rub-ons. If you find something that works, leave me a comment. I'd love a more affordable option, but I must say, I still have lots of transfer paper left. It goes a long way. And digi stamps are so affordable, you can afford to splurge a little on the transfer film.
Be sure to check out what the ladies of the Lindsay's Stamp Stuff design team have prepared for you, and Lindsay's sure to have a Christmas treat or two, so don't forget to stop by her blog. Have fun and have a homemade Christmas!
Project Recipe
Paper: Graffix Rub-onz Transfer Film
Stamps: Lindsay's Stamp Stuff Christmas Cupcake Wrapper
Accessories: Old Christmas ornament, copic markers, Clearsnap Smooch Green Apple and Moonlight, Ranger Stickles Frosted Lace and Glitz Ruby Slippers

Playing With New Papers

Why, oh, why cannot I not get my pictures to show true color? Always Artichoke looks positively khaki in this picture and it looks just gorgeous IRL. Yes, I played with settings in Photoshop Elements. Maybe, I overplayed with it. Ever done that? Anyway, this is a gorgeous, sparkly card that I created using My Mind's Eye Organic Papers. I love that stuff. Paired with a great Verve stamp set called Fairy Tales and it just positively glows! I added some crystals to the swirls for added sparkle (can't have too much sparkle!). There's even some glimmer mist sprayed on the flower that you can't see in the picture. Hope your day sparkles, too!

Project Recipe

Paper: SU Always Artichoke, SU Mellow Moss, My Mind's Eye Organic Papers PP

Stamps: Verve Fairy Tales

Accessories: SU Brown Craft Ink, Ranger Embossing powder, heat tool, Martha Stewart lattice border punch, SU Pretties Kit flower, copic markers, copic airbrush kit, Jolees Jewels

Christmas is in the Air

I warned you I would be gearing up for Christmas and here's my first project. It's a little gift box just the right size for some jewelry or a gift card and some candies, perhaps. We do secret Santa's at work and this would be great for a little treat for my secret Santa, but as soon as I put this in the workroom, everyone will know who it's from, lol. If I want to remain a secret, I have to go with store bought, but that's no fun!
You can find the tutorial for creating the box here. You need the top note die if you want this particular cover, but once you create the box, you can probably come up with all kinds of ways to cover it. I love this new paper I found by My Mind's Eye. You will be seeing a lot in the future from this paper pack called Organic Glitter Papers. You see the sweet little Santa in the circle? He's an adorable digital stamp from Lindsay's Stamp Stuff called Christmas Cupcake Wrappers and these stamps aren't just for cupcakes! I printed Santa out on some PTI Vintage Cream Cardstock, colored his hat and cheeks with  copics, and then used Liquid Applique and some glittery embossing powder on his hair, beard, and hat. Once the Liquid Applique dried, I heated it up and "puffed it" with a heat gun. He's a cutie patootie!
I cut out the swirl using my cuttlebug and a sizzix die, put a Kaisercraft flower on top of the swirls, and "popped" Santa on top of the flower. These little digital stamps make this type of project fast and easy! This will be so simple to mass produce.
Be sure to check out Lindsay's Shop today. She has a new set perfect for creating recipe cards. Also, don't forget to stop by her blog. It's Thursday and that usually means freebies! She's also got the complete list of design team members and you will want to stop by their blogs for more holiday and crafting inspiration!
I'm in Houston right now, so it may be a few days before I can get back in the craft room, but I've got a cool holiday ornament to show you next week so stay tuned!

Fall Fest

This is it! My last fall project. I'm heading full force into Christmas after this! I have to if I plan to finish everything I have planned (like that is ever going to happen). But I did want to put together a couple of hostess gifts and it is, afterall, Autumn (though you'd hardly know it with the temperatures we're getting).

First up is a candle I made using a digital image. There are lots of tutorials out there for traditional stamping on candles. I referenced this one but modified the instructions for using a digital stamp.
To begin, you need to print out your digital stamp onto tissue paper. I used the Maple Leaf Digital Stamp from Lindsay's Stamp Stuff. I inserted the image twice into Microsoft Word and sized the images appropriately. I like to do a test print on regular paper to make sure everything is going to fit and look how I want it. Once I have the image adjusted the way I want, I take a piece of white tissue paper and tape it to matte photo paper, but you can use cardstock.

Smooth out your tissue paper and tape it down all the way around. I use a printer that feeds from the back so I have fewer issues with printing on non-standard papers, but if you make sure everything is smooth and well-secured, you shouldn't have any problems. I do suggest you use a paper that is a little thicker than plain copy paper, though. If you are using a printer with a front feeder, you should should do a test run to see what will run through your printer without ripping or getting jammed.
Once the image was printed, I waited a few minutes to make sure the ink was really dry. Then, I colored the image in with my copics. I've really darkened the image in the picture above so you could see the tape. You'll get a better look at the leaves in the finished product below.
Next, I cut out the image in a tight rectangle, but you can crop the image closer if you prefer.

Now, take a piece of wax paper and wrap it around the tissue paper and the candle. Use your heat embossing tool to heat up the wax on the candle until it "absorbs" the tissue paper. Be careful not to overheat. You don't want the candle to completely melt, but the tissue paper should look like it is disappearing. Take the wax paper off, let the candle cool a little, and you're done! I can't wait to do some more with Christmas images!

Isn't this pretty? I added a flower that I colored with copics to match and put the candle inside an acorn candle ring.
I also wanted to create a paper "acorn" that I could put a few little treats in. I used Kelleigh Ratzlaff's pumpkin template to create an acorn. (See this post for a look at how I used the template to create a pumpkin.)

I printed out the bottom portion of the acorn using some digital paper designed by the LSS design team's very own Shannon of Desert Designs. And guess what? The paper is part of a FREE set you can get at her blog today. The top portion is printed on brown cardstock with a ribbon added for a stem. I ran the top through my cuttlebug with an embossing folder. The little acorn tag is a digital stamp from LSS called Three Acorns. Yes, I cropped out two of the acorns so I could use just the one. Don't ya love the versatility of digi stamps!
Be sure to check out Lindsay's Stamp Stuff for all your Fall and Holiday crafting needs. Also, be sure to visit Lindsay's blog today. She always has lots of eye candy and a sweet free treat or two! Also, if you're just lovin digi stamps, send Lindsay some samples of your stuff. She has a design team call going on until Saturday! I know she'd love to see what you've been doing! Don't forget to check out what the rest of the LSS Design Team is up to today! There's lots of ideas for the holidays and gift giving! It's that time of year, afterall!
Project Recipe
Papers: Desert Designs Fall Gradient Digi Papers, PTI Dark Chocolate CS, SU More Mustard CS, scrap tissue paper
Stamps: Lindsay's Stamp Stuff Three Acorns and Maple Leaf
Accessories: candle, sheer green ribbon (Walmart), PTI Dark Chocolate satin ribbon, Prima white flower, copic markers and airbrush kit, cuttlebug, Tiny Bubbles embossing folder, Kelleigh Ratzlaff Pumpkin Template, sponge and brown ink

Friends Who Make a Difference

I have to confess that SU's Sage Shadow is about my all-time favorite color. And because I love it so much, I force myself NOT to use it. Is that crazy or what? Well, I could hold out no longer! Verve holds a weekly Viva la Verve sketch challenge with a twist, and this week's challenge only allowed us one type of embellishment. I chose brads. Then, I paired brown and my favorite Sage Shadow. There are three different stamps on here (also part of the challenge). All three are from Verve's Fairy Tales set...so very pretty!
I just love the sentiments in this set (well, in all the Verve sets). This is going to be a pick-me-up for a dear friend who's going through a rough time right now. She can expect this card and a Verve-a-licious treat in the mail next week! Go here for more info on Verve's challenges.
Project Recipe
Paper: PTI Dark Chocolate, PTI Kraft, SU Sage Shadow, K&Co. Classic K Baily PP
Stamps: Verve Fairly Tales
Accessories: cuttlebug, Victorian embossing folder, brown brads (unknown), Paper Studio blue pearl brad, Fiskars Effervesence border punch, embossing powder, heat toold, Paper Shaper 1.5 scalloped circle punch, SU 1 3/8 scalloped circle punch, Nestabilities Classic Scalloped circle die, SU Boho Blossoms punch

Purple Goodness

I wanted to play with this digital image from the moment I saw it! I love dragonflies and this one is just perfection. It is part of a new digital stamp set called Doodle Flowers from Lindsay's Stamp Stuff. There are several other beautiful stamps in the set, and I'm sure I will get to them, but I so wanted to use my copics and my spica glitter pens on this one. But the rest of the set has great sentiments and floral images you are going to just love to use again and again. I always seem to do dragonflies in purples and green, but that just works for me. Besides this was a great switch from all the fall colors I've been using lately.
Be sure to check out Lindsay's blog for more crafting goodness and if you haven't seen all the new stuff in the store, be sure you drop in there, too. As always, spend $5 and get a free single stamp! From here, be sure to check out the rest of the design team. I've seen some sneak peeks and heard some talk about some great projects. You are sure to get plenty of inspiration!
Project Recipe
Paper: DejaViews PP, SU Old Olive CS, DCWV Latte CS
Stamps: LSS Doodled Flowers Digital Stamp Set, PTI Handwritten Notes (sentiment)
Accessories: cuttlebug, Spellbinders Oval Nestabilities dies, ProvoCraft Divine Swirls embossing folder, PTI Perfect Plum Satin ribbon, SU So Saffron ink and sponge, copics, Spica Glitter Pens

Pixie Cottage Challenge

Aren't these little fellows just the sweetest?  I love those sleeping mice! It looks like these guys really partied hard last night and they're all just hanging out resting up. This is a new stamp from a new stamp company called the Pixie Cottage. The stamp is appropriately called Cuddly Cute by Alisa Ramirez.
The Pixie Cottage has a challenge blog and once my stamp came in, I just had to ink it up and try it out with the Challenge blog sketch. Of course, I waited to the very last day to get this in, but in all fairness, the stamp only came in on Friday and I had a crop on Saturday that I co-organized, so this is really my first chance to really work with it. Be sure to check out the Pixie Cottage blog to see what the design team has done with all the stamping goodies and visit Michelle's Scapbooking and More store to find Pixie Cottage stamps.
In other news...Saturday's crop was just a load of fun! My two best buddies were there and we actually got some work done--can you believe it! Of course, this morning we're a little hoarse from all the gabbing we did, but we had A LOT of catching up to do! Although I usually don't get much accomplished during a crop, I always learn so much from everybody there. I missed my mom who couldn't make it to this one, but everyone that could make it were so fantastic to work with! I think Jana and I are not even going to think about planning another crop until March or something. We are definitely ready for some personal crafting time.
Project Recipe
Paper: PTI Lemon Tart, PTI, SU Basic Black CS, GinaK White Pure Luxury CS, PTI Bitty Box BasicsPTI Black and White Basics PP
Stamps: The Pixie Cottage Cuddly Cute, CTMH Boutique Borders
Accessories: Cuttlebug, Spellbinders Classic Ovals Nestabilities, PTI black twill ribbon, copic markers, Sandylion Essentials Yellow & White flower stickers