Texas | Catered Crop

Courage is being scared to death
and saddling up anyway.
~ John Wayne

Happy Wednesday everyone, and thank you for stopping by. You know I just can't resist these new Western-themed stamps, right? They put me in a Texas Lonestar State of Mind.

Oh, and darlin's, I love those cowboys. They just make my heart race faster than a bee stung stallion.

But, enough of that. Here's the inside of my card.

Tips & Techniques

The fonts in this set, Inspired by the Wild Wild West, make me happier than a tick on a fat dog – they're so fun to work with. I used a "Rock and Roll" stamping technique to add a little extra ink at the edges and make the words look like they were burned into the wood.

Ink your stamp they way you normally do. (I like to ink the stamp with the image facing up.)
Take your stamp and "roll" just the edges against the ink pad again for a greater concentration of ink on the outer edges of the image.
If you want a more dramatic difference on the edges, use a on a second, darker color of ink for this second pass. For this card (The Yellow Rose of Texas) I inked the stamp first with brown ink and then rolled the edges with a black ink.
Stamp your image. Because of the extra ink on the edges, your image may take longer to dry. I used a heat gun to heat set the extra ink before running this through the die cut machine with the frame from the You Move Me Die-namics.

I like to stamp on fabric for the beautiful texture it gives. For such a detailed stamp I needed a fabric with a tight weave, so I chose muslin over linen. I applied a heat transfer fabric interfacing to the back of the muslin before I cut it with the Circle STAX Set 1 Die-namic so it wouldn't ravel. A cork sheet cut with Circle STAX Set 2 Die-namics is layered behind the muslin.

If it's Wednesday, that means it's time for another My Favorite Things (MFT) Wednesday Stamp Club sketch challenge, (MFTWSC113). I love how versatile this sketch is this week. You can find all the details for playing along on the MFT blog where you can also see what the Design Team has done with it. (Lots of sketchy hombres over there, ya'll.)

Here are all the ingredients I used for this card.

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Finished size 5-1/2" by 5-1/2". Other ingredients include October Afternoon Sasparilla 8" x 8" paper pad, Tim Holtz Distress Ink Vintage Photo, Tim Holtz idea-ology Accoutrements Fanciful Buttons, My Mind's Eye Lost & Found "You & Me" buttons, cotton muslin, cork shelf liner.

Thanks again for swinging by. Ya'll come back!

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February 27, 2013 | Filed Under: Card Gallery, Inspired By, My Favorite Things, Texas, Wednesday Stamp Club | 5 Comments

She's the sweetest little rose bud that Texas ever knew
Her eyes are bright as diamonds they sparkle like the dew
You may talk about your Clementine and sing of Rosa Lee
But the yellow rose of Texas is the only girl for me
~ 1955 Mitch Miller Rendition

You knew I couldn't resist, right? In Texas, if My Favorite Things gives you a new big a** rose (the Large Hybrid Heirloom Rose Die-namic) and four new Western themed stamps, you start singing The Yellow Rose of Texas!

My Yellow Rose of Texas will always be my beautiful and talented daughter. While the rest of us got to Texas as fast as we could (almost 30 years ago), my girl was the only one of us who was born here.

And it's her birthday.

It's also time for another My Favorite Things (MFT) Wednesday Stamp Club sketch. You can find the sketch on the MFT blog where you can also see what the Design Team has done with it. (Lots of sketchy hombres over there, ya'll.) You can find the sketch again and play along with us at the MFT forum on Splitcoast Stampers.

Tips & Techniques

With a fast-drying permanent ink, like Memento, you can stamp on cotton twill. I used the sentiment from the new à la modes Cowboy at Heart. Can you see how there's just a little black on the edge of the brown ink?

I did that again on the inside. Ink up your stamp Western Sentiments stamp first with brown ink, then rub just the edges of your stamp with Black Licorice ink before you stamp with it. It gives your image a wonderful ombré look. I love how it makes the image look like it was branded onto wood.

The Mix and Match Banners Die-namic combined with a slot punch makes a great little belt buckle – almost mandatory in a Western themed card, right?

I used yummy Banana Split Felt for my rose. I love the look of felt. Gluing down felt can be tricky, but a glue gun works great. It has just a little give but it still dries quickly.

I used the Natural cardstock. It's a lot like Kraft but just a bit softer. It coordinates really nicely with this twill.

Here are the rest of the ingredients.

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Finished size is 5-1/2" by 4-1/4". Other ingredients include rope twine, Cosmo Cricket Wanted pattern paper, and 1/2" Cotton Twill.

That's all for me except to say how very, very proud I am of my Texas born and bred girl. Happy birthday sweet darlin'.

Now . . . ya'll go get sketchy.

Get Sketchy

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February 13, 2013 | Filed Under: Card Gallery, Clearly Sentimental, My Favorite Things, Texas, Wednesday Stamp Club | 10 Comments

My heroes have always been cowboys.
And they still are, it seems.
Sadly, in search of, but one step in back of,
Themselves and their slow-movin' dreams.
~ lyrics by Sharon Vaughn, performed by Willie Nelson

You all have been so, so amazing with all your encouraging comments throughout the month's Teaser Times. Thank you for all your sweet comments. And now, it's time for the big finale – the New Product Tour.

All the designers are highlighting each of the new sets and Die-namics NOW. And, even better still, all the new sets, inks and Die-namics have been corralled into the Brand Spankin' New Boutique – no more teasing. Yay! Oops, I mean, Yee Haw!

This new à la mode set, Cowboy at Heart, makes my Texas heart go all flutter. Now, I love my Yankee husband, but, dang, those Cowboys . . . well, that's all I'm saying. If I say more, My husband might get a rope.

Can you tell how much I love the Fishtail Flags STAX Die-namics? I used those for the calico, plaid and polka dot banners.

The handsome cowboy is fussy cut, Copic colored and paper pieced onto some distressed paper and framed with the Oval STAX Set 1 and Oval STAX Set 2 Die-namics.

I like to use just a hint of black to make other colors pop, so I used the Black Licorice Cardstock for borders and the new Barbed Wire Fence Die-namic. The Black Licorice Dye Ink is so juicy and gives such lovely thick lines, it makes cutting out all the details just a tad easier.

I decided to spice up the inside of the card. Yes, bad pun intended.

I used Hemp Cord to tie some Tabasco sauce to the inside of my card. Cute, right? (And, handy, if you like pepper sauce.)

Tips & Techniques

Here's just a little tip for this card. The red bandana pattern on the inside of my card is actually fabric. I just loved this vintage fabric and I knew it would be perfect for a Western-themed card some day. If you use an iron to apply a heat transfer fabric interfacing to the back of your fabric before you run cut it with your dies, it won't ravel. I ran the Black Licorace cardstock and this fabric through the die-cut machine with the gorgeous but super simple Bracket Edge Duo Die-namic.

Use a Sand colored Spica glitter pen to make the gold belt buckle shine.

Here are the rest of the ingredients to my heart-fluttering cowboy card.

Other ingredients: October Afternoon Sasparilla 8 x 8 Paper Pad; Memento Tuxedo Black Dye Ink (around Copics),Copics (E30, E00 and E000 for skin; E31, E33 and E37 for rope; YR24 and YR21 for hair); vintage blue seam binding; Tabasco Brand Pepper Sauce. I used this week's Deconstructed Sketch No. 87 (DS87).

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Time for me to ride off into the sunset. Have fun shopping!

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February 4, 2013 | Filed Under: A La Modes, Card Gallery, My Favorite Things, Texas | 48 Comments