I Brake for Brave Nieces!

Hello and happy Saturday!

Today I'm sharing the other two Bravehearts cards that I made for my nieces.  The first 2 were blue/green and these two are obviously pink.

This one's called Be-You-Tiful Set.

I have 4 nieces and they're each getting one of these.

You can see my other two HERE.

This sweetie is You-Nique set.

I love these sets for young girls. 

The inspirational verses are just what they need to hear!

I Brake for Dinosaurs!

Hello and happy Saturday!

Today I'm sharing a card that I made for a 2nd grade boy at my school.

I work in his mom's classroom and I know he has recently become obsessed with dinosaurs.  I used an image from the Carmen Medlin line and hand-wrote the speech bubbles.

This set is called Me and My Lil Buddy and it's from the Curiosities 3 Set.

Hopefully Henry enjoys puns the way I do!!

I also made a slightly less 2nd grade version below for a friend of mine.

I know this will make her laugh.  We're all stressed due to the state of the world right now but I think a little humor will help us get through this together...yet socially distanced!! lol!!

I Brake for the Spotlight!

       Hello and happy Thursday!

Today I'm sharing a card made with one of the funny images from Carmen Medlin found over at I Brake for Stamps!

This one's called Spotlight.

He can be purchased individually or in the Curiosities Set 4.

Since he looks like he's dancing I decided to use some paper with music notes on it.  I also placed him in a "star-studded" frame.

I used the verse on the inside of the card.

You can find the entire line of Carmen Medlin stamps at IBFS.

I Brake for the Hokey Pokey!

Hello from design team member, Heidi!  When I saw this Hokey Pokey sentiment in the IBFS store, I just had to have it, it is so funny!  I loved how it went with one of the Carmen Medlin Curiosities called the Monster Mash.

I first colored the monster using alcohol markers and some glitter gel pen.  I trimmed it out with scissors.  Then I stamped the sentiment on my white panel and die cut out a pattern in the corner using a Tim Holtz die.  The panel was placed over a Distress Oxide background and the monster popped up on foam adhesive.

I really had a lot of fun with this card!

Have a wonderful day!

I Brake for Clueless!

Hello from design team member, Heidi.  I have a funny card to share today.  I really did laugh out loud when I saw the sentiment in this set called Clueless.

I found a card on Pinterest with a fun way to use up scraps. I altered this layout to work for my stamped image and using an embossing folder for the kraft background.  I actually had so much fun coloring this stamp, I just can’t wait to color it again in different ways.  

Hope you have time for stamping today!  

I Brake for Sugar Skulls!

The weather has been cool lately, which makes me think of Autumn, which makes me think of Halloween and the Day of the Dead.

Here's a card with Sugar Floral Skull from the Skellies in the Closet rubber stamp collection by Carmen Medlin Designs, available at I Brake for Stamps.

The Sugar Floral Skull was stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink (Imagine Crafts) onto Neenah cardstock, fussy-cut, colored with Copic markers, then edged with a black marker. 

Patterned papers from an old 6x6 pad were layered, then matted with yellow-orange cardstock. The Sugar Floral Skull was adhered and the card front was mounted onto a square black card.

I Brake for Stamps has a huge and varied collection of rubber stamps that you ought to check out right now. Just so you know, I Brake for Stamps ships internationally!

Click HERE to be whisked I Brake for Stamps to check out all of the goodies! 

Thanks for visiting today!

Kathi

I Brake for Steampunk Sea Creatures!

Another Tuesday, another IBFS Steampunk project! This one is a journal page featuring Steampunk Nautilus from the New Steampunk rubber stamp set by Carmen Medlin Designs, available at I Brake for Stamps.

Steampunk Nautilus was stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink (Imagine Crafts) onto Neenah cardstock, then the image panel was die-cut with one a rectangle die.  Steampunk Nautilus was colored with Copic markers and the image panel was sponged with Vintage Photo Distress Oxide ink.  I used a q-tip dipped into water to wet the ink, then heat set the image panel, matted it onto metallic copper cardstock (Neenah) and set it aside.

Mixed Media cardstock was cut down to fit in my journal. Salty Ocean Distress Oxide ink was sponged onto a gears stencil and spritzed with water. Once the water beaded, the journal page was placed over top and smoothed over the stencil.

Peacock Feathers Distress Oxide ink was smooshed onto my craft mat, misted with water, the journal page was dragged through the puddled ink, spritzed with more water, then heat set. This was repeated a few times until I was happy with the coverage. This process was repeated again with Cracked Pistachio Distress Oxide ink.

Vintage Photo Distress Oxide ink was sponged across the bottom of the journal page, spritzed with water, and heat set. Iced Spruce Distress Oxide ink was sponged over a vines stencil  at the bottom of the page and over a Gears Corner stencil at the top of the page. The ink was misted with water, allowed to spread a bit, then heat set.

Strips of 140 lb. Mixed Media cardstock were sponged with Abandoned Coral Distress Oxide ink, misted with water, then heat set. These pieces were die-cut with a coral die.

Other strips of Mixed Media cardstock were sponged with Peeled Paint, Twisted Citron, and Lucky Clover Distress Oxide inks, then die-cut with seaweed dies.

The die-cuts were adhered along the bottom of the journal page, then Media Texture Sand Paste was spread over the ink at the bottom of the page and the die-cuts. Some tiny pewter, brass, and copper  metal gears were pressed into the Media Texture Sand Paste. The page was set aside while I made and ate dinner. When I returned, the Texture Sand Paste was mostly dry, so it was heat set to totally dry it out. I did use my Vintage Photo Distress marker  to add some depth and detail to the "sand".

Metallic copper cardstock was die-cut with an alphabet die set, detailed with a bit of BG72 Copic marker,  and adhered to the top of the journal page.

A rub-on was used to add the caption to the Steampunk Nautilus image panel, which was then adhered to the journal page using black photo corners.

I Brake for Stamps has a huge and varied collection of rubber stamps that you ought to check out right now. Just so you know, I Brake for Stamps ships internationally!

Click HERE to be whisked I Brake for Stamps to check out all of the goodies!

Thanks for visiting today!

Kathi

I Brake for Steampunk Journals

I seem to have a lot of Steampunk mojo, so I'm sharing another Steampunky project. This time it's a journal cover featuring Steampunk Beauty from the Eclectic Steampunk rubber stamp set by Carmen Medlin Designs, available at I Brake for Stamps.

Steampunk Beauty was stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink (Imagine Crafts) onto white cardstock and colored with Copic markers. The image panel was die-cut with one an oval die. A Glaze pen was used to add shine and dimension to the Steampunk Beauty monocle, the watch crystal, and the screws.

Black cardstock was die-cut with the matching scalloped oval die to serve as a mat for the Steampunk Beauty oval.

I used a Worn Journal as the base for my third Steampunk Journal. Gold metallic textured specialty paper was sponged with black ink to bring down the shine a bit. I cut the piece to 3" x 7", scored it, and backed it with double-sided tape to adhere it securely to the spine. 

Patterned papers were edged with Jet Black Archival ink and layered onto the front and back covers of the journal. 

A scalloped border die was used to die-cut black cardstock. The textured gold metallic cardstock used for the spine was die-cut with a chain die and two sizes of alphabet dies.

The image oval and the die-cut elements were adhered to the journal, then the ring binder insert was attached using screw-top brads. Tiny gears were adhered to the center of metallic flowers  with brads and/or glue. These flowers were added to the top right corner of the journal cover.

A hole was poked through the spine, a ring fastener was inserted, and a watch charm on a  chain was added. I wanted to add bird and  heart charms, but I couldn't find them. No doubt they're someplace safe in the black hole that is my craft room (currently undergoing a remodel).

I Brake for Stamps has a huge and varied collection of rubber stamps that you ought to check out right now. Just so you know, I Brake for Stamps ships internationally!

Click HERE to be whisked I Brake for Stamps to check out all of the goodies! 

Thanks for visiting today!

Kathi

I Brake for Steampunk Budgies!

I guess I'm still in a Steampunky mood because today's card features the budgie from the Special Delivery set from the Mech-Animals Set 1 by Carmen Medlin Designs, available at I Brake for Stamps.

The Special Delivery Budgie was stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink (Imagine Crafts). I fussy-cut around the tail, then slid one of the dies from a Stitched Postage Rectangles die set under the tail, and die-cut the image. The background was added with Copic markers, which were also used to color the Special Delivery Budgie. A black pen was used to edge Special Delivery Budgie's tail. Clear Glaze penwas used to add shine and dimension to the Special Delivery Budgie's eye, talons, rivets, and collar spikes.

Map patterned paper was trimmed, edged with Hickory Smoke Distress ink, then matted onto silver metallic cardstock. A scrap of the silver cardstock was die-cut with a stitched fishtail labels from and a Key Corner die. The sentiment sticker sheet was added to the silver fishtail label, which was then adhered to the card front. The Special Delivery Budgie image panel was adhered to the card front, which was then mounted on a white card.

I Brake for Stamps has a huge and varied collection of rubber stamps that you ought to check out right now. Just so you know, I Brake for Stamps ships internationally!

Click HERE to be whisked I Brake for Stamps to check out all of the goodies! 

Thanks for visiting today!

Kathi

Thanks for visiting today!

I Brake for Steampunk Owls!

Here's a Steampunky card featuring Victorian Steampunk Owl from the New Steampunk set by Carmen Medlin Designs, available at I Brake for Stamps.

Victorian Steampunk Owl was stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink (Imagine Crafts) and colored with Copic markers. The image panel was die-cut with a stitched rectangle die. The background was added with Copic markers, which were also used to color the Victorian Steampunk Owl. Clear Glaze pen was used to add shine and dimension to the Victorian Steampunk Owl's beak, screws, rivets, and the Steampunk piece on her belly.

I found a perfect piece of 6x6 patterned paper in my stash, which I cut to 5 5/8" square, then matted onto gold metallic cardstock. A scrap of the gold cardstock was die-cut twice a fishtail label die. Words from a sticker book were added to the labels which were then adhered to the card front. The Victorian Steampunk Owl image panel was adhered to the card front, which was then mounted on a 6" x 6" card.

I Brake for Stamps has a huge and varied collection of rubber stamps that you ought to check out right now. Just so you know, I Brake for Stamps ships internationally!

Click HERE to be whisked I Brake for Stamps to check out all of the goodies! 

Thanks for visiting today!

Kathi

I Brake for Rock Star Birthdays!

Hello and happy Saturday!

This is a very emotional weekend for me!

Today my son Dominick graduates from high school.  Tomorrow my daughter Makena turns 17 and officially becomes a senior in high school!

Phew...I wouldn't want to be me.  Oh, wait...

Seriously though, I'm so proud of both of them.  My son graduated with a Merit Award,  a technology award from the Air Force (though he's not enlisting) and a local technology scholarship. We couldn't be happier and tomorrow we get to celebrate a birthday!

On my card I've used ROCK STAR EYES ALEX.

She's part of the Carmen Medlin line in the Eyes of Beauty section over at

I Brake for Stamps.

I also used the Light Green Fusible Glitter Sheet and the Old Gold sheet.

I Brake for...Radiance and Positivity

Hi there, Hannah here! I have been dying to share this card with you! I started playing with this moth the second I got it into my hot little hands. I also knew I was going to use this die with it, but I struggled with how I was going to put it together.

I admit that my husband helped me there. It was his suggestion that I colored the strips so that they appeared more dimensional. Using distress inks I worked the darker colors in the curved area and then worked out on both ends to the brighter inks.

Look at that moth though? Isn't it FABULOUS, with its circuit board wings? I just think it is incredibly different than many stamps currently on the market. This is another Carmen Medlin design, whose designs I have used a lot! I love her animal mechanical designs! When I was done coloring it I fussy cut it out, ran a black Copic marker around the edges, and hit the lightbulb head with some Wink of Stella.

I will absolutely be playing with this stamp a bunch more, it was so fun to color. If you like this stamp you should check out the other Carmen Medlin designs that can be found at I Brake for Stamps. If this isn't your thing, you are in luck! I Brake for Stamps has over 3000 designs to choose from. I promise I'll showcase more of their amazing designs!

I Brake For....Loves Me!

Hello friends, Nancy here today!  Take a look at this little guy and tell me it's not love at first sight!!

Is that not the cutest face!  The stamp and sentiment are from the adorable Carmen Medlin Curiosities line.  This one is called Loves Me and can be found here.  It is also part of a larger set called Curiosities Set 3 found here.

I colored him with mostly red copics.   I used a rounded stitched rectangle die for  the front panel, an EK success punch for the mat and a cute heart embossing folder for the background.  I thought the heart embossing folder was perfect for this set - I've had it in my stash for awhile and never used it.   And take a look at that little bow - it's a two part die that  was a bit difficult working with those little pieces to put it together!

I hope you hop on over to the IBFS store - take a look at the entire Carmen Medlin line for some great stamps.  

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

I Break for Cute Curious Critters!

Here's a card with the Sew Easy rubber stamp set from the Curiosities Set #4 by Carmen Medlin Designs, available at I Brake for Stamps. By the way, IBFS ships internationally!

The seriously cute critter from the Sew Easy set was stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink (Imagine Crafts) and colored with Copic markers that were selected to match the patterned paper from the old 6x6 pad. The image panel was die-cut with a stitched rectangle die.

Patterned paper from the pad were layered and then die-cut with an A2-sized stitched rectangle die. The edges were sponged with Black Soot Distress ink (Ranger). Striped washi tape was adhered to the seam between the floral and solidish patterned paper. A fine point pen was used to detail the stitches, then the Sew Easy image panel was adhered. 

The leftover solidish patterned paper was die-cut with a banner die and the sentiment from the Sew Easy set was stamped with Jet Black Archival ink (Ranger). The banner was folded and the white bits were colored with Copic markers to match the patterned paper, then the banner's edges were sponged with Black Soot Distress ink.

The sentiment banner was adhered using dimensional foam adhesive in the center of the die-cut and flat adhesive on the ends.

I Brake for Stamps has a huge and varied collection of rubber stamps that you ought to check out right now. Click HERE to check out all of the goodies! 

Thanks for visiting today!

Kathi

I Brake for...Going Outside the Lines!

Hi, Stampers! Hannah here, from Fanciful Spaces!

I love squid and octopuses. I REALLY love them. I also really like the animal mechanical images by Carmen Medlin, if you couldn't tell. ;) You'll be seeing quite a few more cards based off of her designs in the near future. How could I not fall in deep, deep love with them, they are so creative! I Brake for Stamps has SO many Carmen Medlin designs to choose from, I encourage you to check them out!

Wow, do I have a lot of video for you today! I filmed myself painting the background and the squid in two separate sessions. I went into painting this card with zero ideas of how it would turn out. I very much wanted to do it in the spirit of the sentiment, but I just couldn't.

Painting the Background with Zig Markers, watch this.

Painting the Squid with Zig Markers;

My filming of this card was inspired by a conversation that happened in a Facebook group about how some people found it hard to paint with Zig brushes. I get that, boy do I ever. I almost sold mine because I couldn't figure them out. In fact, they were in my house for a solid year before I finally "got" them. It is so funny to think back on how much trouble I had with them, especially since my family and I are taking a trip shortly and I think I've decided that they will be the coloring medium I choose to use while away from my stash!

The videos show what ended up being the background of the main panel and the critter itself. I do not show how I built the card. Honestly, I didn't know how I was going to finish the card for the longest time. It floated around my craft room for a couple of weeks while I pondered that.

In the end, I'm extremely pleased with how the card was finished. I re-created more background for the back panel. I feel like the black middle panel acts like a black line in a coloring book and the background that I re-created is the color going "outside the lines".

I silver embossed all edges, because that is my MO, and finished the card off with single strands of silver embroidery thread. I also took a black Multiliner from Copic to color the card panel corners black, thus providing a more finished look to the card, instead of leaving the corners white.

I worked hard on this card, I spent more time thinking about it and trying to decide how it would look than most cards. I am extremely pleased by how this turned out, and I hope it inspires you!

I Brake for Steampunk Sea Turtles!

I celebrated Mother's Day all weekend as my gifts started arriving on Thursday. I guess that put me in the mood to create this card!

Today's card features Steampunk Sea Turtle and Steampunk Baby Sea Turtle from the Eclectic Collection 2 by Carmen Medlin Designs, available at I Brake for Stamps. By the way, IBFS ships internationally!

Steampunk Sea Turtle and Steampunk Baby Sea Turtle were stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink (Imagine Crafts), colored with Copic markers, fussy cut, and edged with black markers. Steampunk Sea Turtle and Steampunk Baby Sea Turtle's eyes, beaks, the screws on their armor, and the lenses on Steampunk Sea Turtle's periscopes were coated with several layers of Clear Gelly Glaze pen. Steampunk Sea Turtle and Steampunk Baby Sea Turtle were then set aside for some mother-child bonding time while I created a scenic background for them.

Three colors of Distress Oxide inks were applied in various ways to 140 lb. cardstock. When I was happy with the look, Peeled Paint Distress ink was sponged over a vine stencil and Broken China Distress ink was sponged over a gear stencil.

Dimensional paste was scraped across the netting pattern of a nautical-themed stencil in three places and allowed to dry. When it was dry, sand texture paste was scraped along the bottom. Some tiny gears and an anchor charm were embedded in the wet paste. When the sand paste was dry, Vintage Photo Distress ink was lightly sponged to highlight the texture and add a depth to the color. 

The netting was touched up with a white gel pen, then Steampunk Sea Turtle and Steampunk Baby Sea Turtle were adhered. The image panel was matted with metallic copper, then adhered to a green card.

I Brake for Stamps has a huge and varied collection of rubber stamps that you ought to check out right now. Click HERE to check out all of the goodies! 

Thanks for visiting today!

Thanks for visiting today!

Kathi

I Brake for Beautiful Fairies!

Here's a card with Hannah from the Mythical Reflections collection by Carmen Medlin Designs, available at I Brake for Stamps. You can buy separately or as part of the wonderful five stamp set. By the way, IBFS ships internationally!

Hannah was stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink (Imagine Crafts) and colored with Copic markers. The image panel was die-cut, then kept in the die while I added the grass underneath Hannah's feet and the sky around her.

Patterned paper from my stash was layered.  Distress ink was sponged over the word "Magic" on a stencil and heat set. When dry, "believe in" from a rub-on sheet was added. The image panel was adhered, then the card front was added to a white card.

I Brake for Stamps has a huge and varied collection of rubber stamps that you ought to check out right now. Click HERE to check out all of the goodies! 

Thanks for visiting today!

Kathi

I Brake For...No Mixed Signals!

Hello IBFS fans! I'm excited to introduce myself to you! My name is Hannah, I'm new to the design team and I've got A LOT of great ideas to share with you! Today I'm showing you a card using the No Mixed Signals set.

This card I'm sharing is a card that I struggled a lot with but the struggle was SO worth it!

There are actually a lot of firsts for me on this card. This card marks the first time I figured out my Zig Real Brush pens. The first time I successfully got ALL of the LEDs in a card to light up. The first time I used lighting Gel to color my lights. This is also the first time I've posted for the I Brake for Stamp team! To say that I'm excited is an understatement.

This card was painted on Arches watercolor paper from Canson. I actually did my die cutting first, so that I could figure out the placement of my stamps. I stamped both the adorable snail and the sentiment, in StazOn black. I then re-stamped both stamps with VersaMark Watermark Ink, over that I poured some clear embossing powder (WOW! brand). Don't forget to de-static your paper before putting the embossing powder on!

Next, I painted my snail. Because my previous attempts at coloring with my Zigs were less than successful, I applied my color to a laminated sheet of paper, and then applied the pigment with a paintbrush. I had A LOT of control! This step helped me gain the confidence to use my Zigs, as intended, in the next couple of cards that I'll be sharing. If you struggle with these markers like I did, I do hope I inspire you to keep them and to keep trying!

My Zig color choices

When the painting was done, including the ground for the snail and the border, I punched holes out of the ends of the antennas. I know there are a variety of tools out there for this, but I used the Making Memories Hole Punch because it is what I have. Then I adhered the two front pieces of my card onto some Neenah Solar White Cardstock in 80lbs, after I carefully traced and cut out where the holes would be onto the backing piece. This made the front of my card extremely durable and secured everything together.

This Jellyfish Lantern stamp is also from IBFS!

As you can see in the above card, I CAN mess up Chibitronics lights. There were supposed to be 3 working LEDs up there, not two....and I was lucky I got two working for this photo. Fortunately, my husband alerted me to these, which were MUCH easier for me to work with: 

LilyPad White LEDs and copper Tape

A lifetime supply of copper tape and 10 LEDs were far less expensive than the Chibitronics set that I ruined, and they worked far better! 

In the Jellyfish Lantern set above, I tried to color my lighting with vellum that I had used yellow Copic Markers. The result was OK. But I got BETTER results on my snail using gels from a gel swatchbook for theatrical lighting. These can be purchased online if you don't have a lighting nerd husband like I do, he had one on his desk.

There is foam mounting tape between both the card base and the watercolored panel. I removed all of the backing of the tape, except for one small area where I decided to leave a pull tab. I put all of this together and viola!

I am so pleased with how this turned out!

I LOVE these designs by Carmen Medlin that are available on I Brake for Stamps, there are SO MANY to choose from! I Brake for Stamps has over 3000 images, there really is something for everyone! Please follow the linked image below to see all the amazing designs!

Thank you for visiting today! I hope I have inspired you!