Maddie-Bat and the Case of the Missing Dog

Anybody else a Nancy Drew Fan? She would have loved this one, lemme tell ya. I know you're all clamoring for some feline entertainment. I hear your pleas.

But first, a tutorial.

I get a lot of magazines, even though I'm very focused in what I subscribe to. It's pretty much Martha and stamping magazines. But some of them, like Martha, are so beautiful that I keep them a little too long before I toss em because I have guilt. I try to use the pages in stamping projects when I can, which is fun.

Tonight's tutorial is no exception. I'm using my bird with shadow technique (the cards are on their way to Stampin' Up!) from last night with a new twist.

First, take a page from your favorite doomed magazine and cut it to the size you need. Adhere it to some colored cardstock - in this case, Chocolate Chip. Paint it with white gesso and let it dry - waiting is the hardest part of this project.. What is gesso, you ask, as many have who have come before you... Simple - it's like Kilz for your cards. It serves as a primer, mostly, if it's white gesso (I like the Bob Ross brand that comes in a big bottle with a flip top.) So it can take something very slick like magazine pages and make them matte so that they will hold ink or adhesive, or a multitude of other things.

You can also put multiple layers on - on this project I just put a very thin layer on so it's still pretty transparent, which is perfect for magazine print.

Then, stamp an image on it in Versamark and clear emboss it. I took a sponge dauber and some Chocolate Chip Ink and rubbed it on to make the UpsyDaisy image pop.

Next, I tore the edges, which exposed my brown cardstock in a pretty cool way.

Then, I took my Riding Hood Red cardstock base and I used the direct to paper technique with both Chocolate Chip and White Craft Inks. Now tell me that doesn't look like some expensive Basic Grey Designer paper. But it's not. It's just me.

On my birds - Chocolate Chip and Riding Hood Red, I sponged the edges of the brown bird to make him look more 3D.

Wanna know the best part? That quote is one my mom sent me a few weeks back - it's a Chinese proverb. I loved it, and so I ordered it from Stampin' Up!

How did I do that? I hear your wheels turning!

Well those customized address stamps are not just for addresses, people!! You can make em say anything you want! So I made one with this quote on it.

Click my little clock top right and order one yourself! So even though this stamp isn't in the catalog, it's still Stampin' Up! all the the time, baby!!

So on to Maddie-Bat and the Case of the Missing Dog. So the day I got the kitties, I rushed over to Petsmart on my way to meet them for the first time and bought a million things kitties need, among them - a cute little purple dog I've named Punky. He has something crinkly in him and he's so teeny and cute. Almost instantly he disappeared.

Now I never put together the fact that we could not find Punky anywhere with the fact that as soon as I let them out every day, Maddie shoots under the bed for hours and emerges all smug and covered with dustbunnies.

Well, today I learned that what she's been doing under there is waterboarding Punky. Poor Punky. He's not looking too hot these days.

I came around the corner today and surprised her and this is what I saw. A very guilty looking M-Bat waterboarding Punky kind of furtively. She knows she can't do that out in the daylight. I tried to take Punky and she didn't want to let me have him, to put it mildly. He clearly has not confessed to whatever he did the first day he got here. Made that crinkly sound come out of his belly maybe. Look how she stands on her back legs and holds him with her hands when she thinks no one is looking. I'm starting to be a little afraid of them, I'm not gonna lie!!

Look - I know that these kittens have some issues they are going to have to work out - BUT ON PUNKY???

LOOK HOW CUTE HE IS!!!

So speaking of cute, I'll leave you with a little hot mess of napping kitties.

Tough life, these creatures have. Look how bright orange the neck splotches on Splotchy are. He's so cute up close.

You can see how their eyes are turning green here.

Have a great night.