Creative Squad

Inspiration from my Creative Squad

Our friend and Creative Squad member Judi Kauffman shared some inspiring extras with us this month: an upcycled calendar collage and some beautiful envelopes.

Last year Judi created a calendar for the year ahead that we shared with you here in this post.

She used my Grove Street, Groovy and Gnarly foam stamps to create this page.

And then Judi totally surprised us this month with a reimagining of the calendar. She saved her stenciled calendar pages from 2020 and for most of the months she turned them into bookmarks and card fronts. But for this one she decided to cut the whole piece into 1” squares and reassemble it into a mosaic. She said it’s her way of giving visual form to this horrible year when everything felt like it had crumbled into tiny pieces by making it into something interesting and cohesive. It’s going to become the first calendar page for 2021! Turning over a new page, as it were.

Judi also created a fantastic wall hanging from another calendar page redo.

She writes, “I made mosaics out of another of the stenciled calendar pages, adding some dimensional bird, tree, and mini buttons for embellishments.”

What a fantastic idea for those old calendars.

Judi also shared with us some envelopes she created using my Mini Motifs rubber stamp set. She writes, “The method: My go-to “Stamp & Drag” where there’s the look of motion.” Love the look and the softer lines.

Envelopes definitely deserve just as much love as the cards that go inside them and we think these are beautiful! 

Are you sending snail mail these days? Follow Judi’s lead and try stamping some of your envelopes too.

Here are some of the supplies Judi used:

Nat

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Happy Holidays – Maura Hibbitts

Hello from my Creative Squad and a post today from Maura Hibbitts. Maura is sharing with us a super cute ornament and gift tag idea using my Grove Street stencil and my Large and Small Circle Jumble rubber stamps. This month’s theme is: Happy Holidays – It is a time of year where we are celebrating and coming together and enjoying some merriment. Create something holiday related (whatever holiday you may be celebrating) and enjoy the season!

Wishing you all a very merry holiday season! Here in the U.S. it’s a really short run between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, with the usual hustle and bustle of meeting up with friends and family, baking extra goodies, and looking for the perfect gifts. I’ve been busy already working on cards and small items for friends, so our theme for this month is perfect to get a bit more completed. I decided to work in traditional green and red, and make some tree ornaments and tags.

I’m using one design, and repeating it in several sizes, with the Grove Street stencil and Small and Large rubber stamps.

I started with a mix of the green paint on my gelli plate, then added a bit of gold, stamped onto the plate with the large stamp, and transferred the image to heavy watercolor paper.

I knew I wanted to mix the colors with the sizes, so next up on the gelli plate is a mix of red and gold. I used the small stamp with the red paint, and stamped these images on the watercolor paper also. Note – be sure to clean the acrylic paint off your stamps right away.

The Grove Street stencil is the largest image, and I laid the stencil down on the red paint on the gelli plate and pressed the paper down onto it. Then I lifted the stencil and pressed it onto another paper, so I would have both a negative and a positive print.

Once all the paint is completely dry, it’s time to cut them out. I just do it with scissors, but if you had a punch in the correct size that would work well.

I got the idea in my head that I could make a 3D ornament, so I started by gluing two of the stenciled circles together. Next, on two green and small red circles, I cut a slit to the center, then formed it into a cone and stapled it. I made sure the little red one fit onto the green circle, and glued the cap on. I added a layer of glue to the bottom of the green circle and attached it to the stenciled circle. I had to apply pressure and hold in place for awhile to get the glue to hold. I repeated the process on the other side, then decided it needed a bit of glitter, so added a bit more glue and glittered it up.

I made two more ornaments, a flat one, and another 3D one in which I cut slits into both circles to the center and slid them together. On each of these, I glued a double layer together and added glitter to the flat one. I had a lot of circles remaining, so turned these into gift tags. I punched holes in the tags and ornaments and attached some bakers twine. It’s easy to add words on the acrylic paint with a carbon ink pen.

I like how the ornaments came out looking unique, while using the same materials. These are ready to hang on the tree.

I love adding a bit of homemade to the holidays! I always hope when someone receives a handmade gift or card, they feel that extra bit of love that went into it. Wishing you and yours a joyous holiday season and blessings for the new year! -Maura

Thank you Maura – love how you created some 3D ornaments and those tags are such a great idea for giving gifts with a personal touch.

Want to give Maura’s project a try? You can find all my Stencils and Rubber Stamps in my Online Shop and here are some of the other supplies Maura used:

Feel inspired? Working on something yourself that you’d like to share?  I love to see how you interpret our monthly themes. Email me or tag me #natkalbach how you used my stencils and stamps – I would love to share your projects in my next  “n*Spiration From Around the Globe“.

Nat

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Inspiration from Around the Globe – August 2018

Ready for some inspiration? Today we have some projects from around the globe. It’s always fun to see how you’re using my stamps and stencils and I am so happy to share some examples today. So let me know if you’re doing something cool with my products, and you might see yours on the next Inspiration from Around the Globe!

First up is a beautiful wall hanging from one of our former Creative Squad members Gwen Lafleur, from the US. She is using my Manhattan stencil for the blue background pattern on this funky design!

Next is Barbaree King also from the US with a cool mixed media postcard using my Grove Street foam stamp on the left in pink.

From the UK we have a pop of color from Colleen Melody, using some stamps from my Marks stamp set in red here.

From the US we have a neat mixed media index card from Cathy B who has created a nifty wedding scene using my Mailbox, US Flag, and Main Station stamps, all from the fun Stroll Through the Hood 2 set :)

And finally we have some pages from Jade Sutton in the US who is using my Manhattan foam stamps to create a bold background to unify her spread.

If you’re working on something fun with my stamps or stencils, be sure to tag me and share! I’d love to see! Here are some of the supplies used in this post:



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Nat

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Endless Summer – Judi Kauffman

Today we have a very special Creative Squad post from Judi Kauffman, an honorary Creative Squad member and dear friend! Judi will be joining us from time to time with some awesome projects of her own, working with our monthly themes. (You can learn more about Judi from our Nice to Meet You blog post featuring her creative story and artwork.) This time Judi brings us two projects, using my Amsterdam stencil and my Grove Street foam stamps, inspired by our theme: Endless Summer – The days are long, the sun is shining, the air is soft… it must be summer! Let’s take a stroll down memory lane and save a summertime memory forever.

This month’s Creative Squad challenge theme – Endless Summer – conjures up long days at the beach, vacations in exotic places, away from work and the usual routine. In other words: Good times! For me, it’s the opposite. Endless Summer – yuck! I can’t think of anything worse than summer lasting an instant longer than it already does. Spring is lovely, I adore fall and can’t wait for winter. I’d be happy to skip summer altogether. It’s too hot, too humid. If I’m promised a lobster roll or fried clams, I’m willing to venture onto the sand, but only if I can leave the beach before nine in the morning or start the visit at sunset. And only if the seafood is followed by ice cream…

My take on the theme is about keeping summer at bay: A FAN! And about staying indoors to make a big batch of cards. Now that’s my idea of a good time.

Instructions: If you have a lot of experience with stencils and stamps, scroll through the photos and head straight to the supply list. If you’re a beginner,I’m providing complete instructions. (A lot to read, but worth it, I hope…)

Trace an existing fan (import stores offer many options), draw your own original fan shape, or find a template online. Choose a stencil (I chose Nat’s Amsterdam stencil) and two or more foam stamps (I’m using Nat’s Grove Street set) that your eye tells you would make a good combination. A fan handle and some flat wooden sticks are also needed. A stir stick from the paint store and thin stir sticks from a coffee shop are good alternatives.

Cut a window opening in newsprint or other lightweight paper, place it over the stencil, and move it around until the position of the stencil looks good within the fan shape. Position the foam stamps over the stencil to get a sense of the scale and proportions. This is the planning stage where it’s easy to change your mind and customize the project. And it lets you in on the design process – showing exactly how I created my fan.

  

Use the template to trace and cut a fan shape from light color heavyweight watercolor paper, cardstock, mat board or chipboard. (Use mixed media shears that cut heavy materials or a craft knife and self-healing cutting mat.) Cut a curved mask from newsprint to cover the bottom area of the fan. Tape the mask in place. Use a wide brush and random strokes to paint the surface with red paint. When dry, use a wide brush and very little paint to stroke on purple paint. Remove the mask. Let the paint dry. While you’re at it, brush excess paint onto pieces of tan cardstock and newsprint scraps. Set them aside.

Cut a clean mask to again cover the bottom area of the fan. Stencil the allover pattern using a stencil brush and gold paint. (Hold the brush upright, use very little paint as you go – work slowly and take care to keep the pattern as pristine as possible – there are lots of thin lines in the Amsterdam stencil and if you use too much paint it will seep under the stencil.)

Remove the mask. Cut another mask, this time to cover the stenciled area of the fan. Use a craft sponge to apply ink to shade the edges of the almond shape at the bottom of the fan. Use very little ink and a light touch so the effect is softly shaded.

If you like the look of the fan with no further embellishment, this is the last step. Cut pieces from the flat sticks and glue them to the almond shape; glue the top portion of the handle to the back of the fan and you’re ready to face the summer heat! (Or survive a hot flash in mid-winter…)

If you like more embellishment, keep going as follows:

Alter a 5” x 12” piece of Shimmer Sheetz with gold metallic alcohol ink. Shown: Ruby Gemstone SS dabbed with an ink applicator tool and Ranger Metallic Mixatives. Back the SS with double-sided adhesive sheet.

Using the same purple paint that was previously used, stamp the altered SS with the two foam stamps, alternating positive and negative images to fill the space (four complete and four partial circles. Shimmer Sheetz is a nonporous surface. Lift the stamp straight up to avoid smudges, but don’t worry if the images are not perfect. Paint that is pulled just a bit adds dimension and interest.

While you’re at it, stamp the circles with purple and Emperor’s Gold paint onto the cardstock and newsprint scraps set aside above.

Cut out the circles and the partial circles. Also cut out one lightweight paper circle. Trim the lightweight paper circle to use as a template when cutting the Shimmer Sheetz circle that fits near the almond shape at the bottom right of the fan. Position a full circle toward the left. Then arrange and adhere all other circles as shown, trimming at the edges of the fan after they are in position.

Hold onto the scraps from the circles, returning them to the release sheet to keep the adhesive from sticking to anything on the work table – they’re going to be part of the bonus card projects coming up…

Arrange Red/Gold glitter dots peel-offs around the edges of some of the Shimmer Sheetz circles. If you like dimensional gems, add them as well. In the photo below, I ‘auditioned’ flat-backed faceted gems to show as an option, but I did not glue them in place.

Instead of gems, keep going with LOTS of glitter dots in Violet/Silver, Gold/Silver, and more of the Red/Gold. Be sure to add a tiny one to the top of each of the flat sticks! (To order the dots – The color name is listed first, the metal rim is designated second.)

BONUS PROJECT – Use the stamped cardstock and newsprint pieces, plus the leftovers from the stamped Shimmer Sheetz (partial circles as well as surrounding areas) to create a series of collage-style cards! Shown: A2 size, 4.5” x 5.5”, cardstock in red and Kraft brown.

The photo gallery that follows is for inspiration only since it would be impossible to precisely duplicate the randomly stamped cardstock and newsprint.

  

  

Thank you Judi – love your rich colors and all the different ways to use the stamps and stencil that you’ve shared with us. Just gorgeous! In addition to a fan template and some chipboard or heavy cardstock, here are some of the supplies that Judi used:




Do you feel inspired? I’d love to see what you’re working on with my stamps and stencils. I post projects almost every month in my Inspiration From Around the Globe posts!

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Nat

Comments (1)

  • Jean Marmo

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    I am a big “fan” of Judi’s work. This is just spectacular! Love the many layers and finishing details! Wonderful cards! Thanks for the inspiration!

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This Must Be the Place – Jennifer Gallagher

  

Happy Tuesday from the Creative Squad! Today we have a beautiful and certainly inspirational art journal page from Jennifer Gallagher using my Grove Street ArtFoamies, my Kassel stencil, and my Adirondack Chairs and Numerals rubber stamps along with our monthly theme: This Must Be the Place –We’re all on a journey to somewhere or something. Sometimes we’re just making preparations for simple things like dinner or weekend plans. Other times we’re aiming for bigger goals, bigger places. Whether it’s a location or a state of mind, you’ll know when you get there. Where are you headed?

This month the Creative Squad is asking, “Where are you headed?” I am not exactly sure. I focus more on my state of mind and how I feel about my current state of being, rather than worrying over individual goals. Yes, I have goals I want to achieve, but I am more concerned with finding happiness in my personal life, family, and art than I am anything else. And so this month I am saying, “This must be the place.” There is a great amount of peace that comes with loving your life in this moment in time.

So, this month I want to share with you an entry in my art journal. I wanted this page to reflect the happiness I feel at this moment in my life. You will see this reflected in content and color. Starting off I chose Nat’s Kassel stencil. It’s the perfect design for a fun background. I went with an ink-blended background using my distress inks in twisted citron, carved pumpkin, wild honey, and picked raspberry. This is a very easy technique using your mini-blending tool.

Then, using seedless preserves and black soot, I blended in a dark section in the very center of the page.

I raided some of my gift wrapping supplies and pulled out a large sheet of plain white tissue paper. I applied some heavy body acrylic paint onto my Grove Street negative and positive ArtFoamies and pressed the designs onto my tissue paper.

While those were drying, I stamped Nat’s Adirondack Chairs stamp onto some watercolor paper and colored it in with my distress markers.

I chose a few of my Grove Street circles to fit across the center of my page (across the dark stripe). For my journal, I only needed three. Tear or cut the excess tissue paper from around the edges so they don’t overlap. Then using matte medium, fix the circles to your page. If you prefer not to have the dark background behind these circles you can skip that earlier step.

While the matte medium dries, stamp Nat’s Numerals stamp onto white tissue paper in a line.

Cut this strip out. Also, cut out some more of your grove street circles to apply to the top and bottom of the page. Use your matte medium once again to fix these down. Once the matte medium is dry, I used my Sakura gelly roll black pen to add doodling to the circles.

When I placed the stamped Adirondack image onto the page I really felt like the chairs needed to be separated. So I cut the stamped image in two. I added just a touch of handwritten journaling and glued down the chairs. I hope this page inspires you today. No matter your plans, or where you are headed, remember to enjoy your life now. Enjoy each moment.

Thank you Jennifer! I love the page and the idea of focusing on the happiness that we have at this moment :) Here are some of the supplies that Jennifer used:


Play along with us too: I love to see how you interpret our monthly themes. Email me how you used my stencils and stamps with the theme and email me an image – I would love to share your projects in my next  “n*Spiration From Around the Globe“.
Nat

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