Distressing with Jenny

Hey there! Jenny, here with you today for a Wednesday Trend.  I have a fun trend/technique to share with you, that I happen to think is perfect for fall and Halloween projects! Distressing is honestly so much fun and easy to do, and fixes almost any imperfection (yes, I know, you're shocked that a seasoned stamper like me even makes mistakes ;) ). Smear an inky finger onto your image,  accidentally rip your patterned paper, or sew like you're legally blind? All can be fixed up with a little distressing!

I made what is possibly one of my FAVOURITE cards this year, or maybe even life, using this technique! OMG. This is the most handsome zombie on the block! 

Here are some details:

• I coloured him up using my copics. Again, you are creating a distressed, or 'rough' looking project. No need to be perfect!
• After copics, I went in with a black pastel pencil and 'dirtied' him up a wee bit more. And Oh My Heavens! Did you see the paper-pieced tie???? EEp!
• I crumpled up the main image (trying to keep to the perimeter and away from the actual stamped image), flattened it back out, more or less, and then used my Distressed inks and a foam applicator tool to rub around the image. The folded marks will catch the ink and be more pronounced. I like that.
• Now this next step is fun. I have a making memories distressing tool that I use to really rough up the edges, but you can also use your scissor blade and run it along the CS edge. And don't be afraid to get in there and actually rip spots. More is more. Ink up the torn edges so they don't look so stark white against the other sponged areas.
• I did some machine stitching. Again, you don't want this to look perfect AT ALL. This is the perfect technique if you want to try machine sewing but are scared to death to have a runaway foot pedal. You cannot screw this up. Pedal to the metal, girls! The more crooked and out of control, the better the effect is. And leave your ends to just hang there! Snip your thread and call it a day.
• See my DP there in the back? The one with all of the vintage ads? That was actually sitting in a little ball on my desk while I coloured the image. Uncrumple, smoosh down, ink, haphazardly sew down and you're done.
• I also like to use twine when I'm distressing. Sometimes ribbon can look a little too polished for this wreckless style of card making. After all, my card looks like it was just pulled out of a house fire. Gorgeous satin or grosgrain ribbon would not fit the theme. I used a natural jute twine here, that is quite 'hairy'. Perfect.
• OMGosh- one more detail I need to point out- THE BRAIN! I love it!!! This brain isn't so fresh. It's got some necrosis.....I also added a nice layer of crystal effects to shine it up and add to the creepy factor. Same with the bone sticking out of that waxy hand! I just love the macabre!
• I felt like the card wasn't quite done, so I did add some of those new, trendy enamel dots, which I think cost an arm (pun intended) and a leg, so you want to be somewhat frugal. But they are nice, so I forked out and got a few packs.

Here is the link to the new set I used- No Tricks, Only Treats. This is a fabulous set, trust me, you need it. Go now and buy it, you won't be sorry! Thanks for sticking with me! And as always, Happy Hump Day!

Trendsetter Tuesday-Jenny Peterson

This week's Trendsetter of the week is the fabulously funny, and OH so talented Jenny Peterson. I swear, with this chick around you get two things: belly laughs and eye candy...and I'm not just talking about her cards(hubba hubba).

Here are a few of her cards...so you can see what I mean...her coloring, layering, use of embellishments...she's just amazing, amiright?

Love her use of black paired with Scootin' By!!

A PERFECT Halloween card using TOADally Awesome!!

Card. Good. using No Tricks Only Treats.

Be sure to check out Jenny on her blog, she's a hot mess, but we love her more than the common cold!!

TSG228-Color Challenge

This week our challenge is brought to us by Jenny! She is challenging YOU to make a card or project using the colors pumpkin, aqua, and chocolate!! 

To be eligible for the giveaway, create a NEW card or project using this week’s challenge and then come back to the TSG Blog to add your name and a link to your project in the InLinkz that is located at the bottom of this challenge post. This challenge is open until the winner has been announced on the following Monday (October 14th). The winner will get a $5 gift certificate to use in the TSG Web store!

By participating in this challenge, you may also find yourself in the Trendsetting Spotlight that shines on the TSG Blog every Thursday. We will be on the lookout to find challenge cards that stand out and show Trendsetting qualities. TSG stamps are not required to participate in the challenges but are appreciated :) 

You do not need to have a blog to be able to participate in the TSG Challenges! You can simply add the URL link from your project after it has been uploaded to your online craft gallery. If you upload your card to an online craft gallery, please use the keyword TSG228 so we can check out your beautiful work!

The winner of TSG227 is:Christine Garner 
Here are your random numbers:

19
Timestamp: 2013-10-07 13:04:55 UTC

Need some inspiration to help you get started? Check out these great cards made by the following Trendsetters!!
~Jenny

~Torico

~ Karin

~ Sarah

~Wendy
~ Chaitali
~Kim
~ Tobi
~Jessie

Week In Review-September 29th-October 5th

What is Week In Review (WIR)?- WIR is where we showcase cards made by the Trendsetters and myself throughout the our release peeks week. Not only to you get to see gorgeous projects made using TSG stamps, but you also have a chance to WIN one of these cards! Leave a comment on this post and next WIR I will choose a winner using a random number generator. That person will then get to pick out their favorite card and the Trendsetter that created it will send it to them :)

Last Week's Winner Is:Indy

Here are your random numbers:

5
Timestamp: 2013-10-07 13:08:01 UTC

Chaitali (Henna Swirls)

Sarah (Freeze The Moment)

Tangii (Bomb Diggity)

Stampbook Saturday

Hello, happy weekend!!!!  Tangii here with this week's Stampbook Saturday.   This started off as a Grad page for #1 son, but then I found a couple of other pics I wanted to add.

The sentiment panel is from This is My Life, then I added some elements from Mixed Media Backgrounds... I LOVE the 'clumps of dots', I just kinda used them as filler here & there.  The heart, arrow and star are also  from MMB, I cut them out and popped them up a bit.

The "celebrate" and "love" are from Handwritten.  All 3 sets also have coordinating Slhouette Cut Files.  Well that's all I've got for ya... thanks so much for popping in :)  Have a great weekend!

Anything But a Card Friday!

For today's ABC Friday, I decided to make a little framed pretty for our library!  Recently I picked up some burlap from a local art store so I cut it down to size and anchored the corners with some fabulous brads I've had for quite some time.  I used Handwritten and Mixed Media Backgrounds.  

I stamped most of the words & images directly on the burlap, but I also wanted a little more dimension so I added a large heart diecut from patterned paper and stamped the arrow from MMB on white cs and cut  it out.  The arrow is attached with Popdots.  This would make a great gift as well.  The Handwritten set has several perfect words for making a gift for a variety of people/reasons!  Well that's it for me this week... thanks for popping by.  I'll see ya here tomorrow for Stampbook Saturday.

Wednesday Trends - Silhouette Cut Files

Tangii here with this week's Wednesday Trend!  Did you know TSG sells Silhouette Cut files that coordinate with our sets?  Not only are these UBER affordable, but they can make quick work of some detailed cutting!  If you hopped around during Peek Week, you may remember seeing this Halloween goodie bag I made using the NEW Halloween Tags set, today we're going to use the Halloween Tags Silhouette Cut Files as well as the stamp set to make a set of 4 tags... quick and easy!!

I've started out with a basic "Tag" shape that I already had in my Silhouette library.  When you purchase the Halloween Tags Silhouette Cut File ($1.50), it comes with a SMALL version (these are the pieces you stamp on once cut) as well as a LARGE version (these are intended for "matting").

Here I have taken all of the shapes I want to cut out as well as their "mat" pieces and layed them out on the tags... I'm a visual person.  Now I'll break these up and cut the pieces out.  

Here are all of my pieces!  tags, mats and shapes ready to be stamped!  I decided to cut my shapes out of white so that I could color them, but you could certainly cut them out of colored cs and then stamp in black, etc.  Because the stamps are clear you can easily get your stamps right where you want them even with the pieces cut.  I do recommend using a piece of black cardstock under your stamping just to help ya see better.  This is also probably a good time to tell you that I'm 'blind in one eye and can't see out of the other', so if I can stamp these fairly easily yall should be able to no problem ;)

Voila!  Here are my finished tags ready to be added to the front of some goodie bags.  To be honest if it weren't for the Silhouette Cut files, these tags would have been MUCH more plain (or more likely, non-existent)!  

Here you can see the label and the pumpkin are popped up from the tag.  The best thing about using these Cut Files is it's just as easy to make 4 different tags as it would be to make 4 of the same... let the machine do the tedious work for me?  Works for me!!  Thanks for popping by for my Wednesday Trend, if you'd like to see some better pics of each of the tags, feel free to visit this post on my blog.