Let Sleeping Cats Lie

I'm back with one more from this awesome book set today.

This time it's a wee bit more of a traditional use of the set, with the adorable kitty. Maddie has this way of just sitting on whatever I'm turning my attention to at the moment, so I had to have a kitty lying on a book. Black cats are really hard to paint and I haven't mastered it yet, so I thought I'd paint the very first stray cat I ever met in Austin. I was living in an apartment in north Austin in graduate school, and there was this GORGEOUS seal point Himalayan that used to visit me for snacks. I never understood why anyone would leave this beautiful cat outside just yards from an interstate, but they did. I loved this kitty - he was so pretty and sweet and his little grey markings were so cute.  So I used Daniel Smith watercolor to try to recreate him.

I have a giant old illustrated dictionary on my shelf that I use for cards all the time - if you have a Half Price Books near you - take advantage of the wealth of fun ephemera you can find there. And no, the book nazis won't come get you for tearing up a 25 cent book. Let them try! :)

I stamped the book image onto the page, making sure to get that fish in there - it's like the kitty is dreaming of the fish - and then cut out just the pages. I stamped the book again on a piece of Kraft cardstock. I used Connect Glue to glue it down. I stamped the kitty on there too - so that his whiskers would still be there when I cut the watercolor version out. The kitty was stamped in Amalgam ink first. Then I glued the watercolor cat down on top of the stamped cat. I mounted the whole thing on Turquoise Sea cardstock - did you know she sells her cardstock pre-cut in either orientation? True. The sentiments in the set are builders, so I stamped the appropriate one. So much fun to make - this book has a lot of possibilities. I hope you have a weekend that looks sort of like this card.

Clear Stamps- Open Book - Gina K Designs [ GNK ] GKD Amalgam Ink Pad- Jet Black [ GNK ] Copic Sketch MARKER C5 COOL GRAY Grey [ SSS ] Heavy Base Weight Card Stock- Kraft -... [ GNK ] Heavy Base Weight Card Stock-... [ GNK ] Envelopes 10 pack- Turquoise Sea -... [ GNK ] Daniel Smith Extra Fine Watercolors [ BLIC ] Escoda Versatil Brushes, Travel Round... [ UTR | BLIC | INK ] Fabriano Extra White Cold Press... [ BLIC ] Connect Glue - Gina K Designs [ GNK ] MISTI Stamping Tool [ HA | UNT | MSW | SSS | ELH | MFT ] Rotatrim Professional Series Cutter -... [ BLIC ] Lawn Fawn STAMP SHAMMY Cleaner LF1045 [ SSS | ELH | CST | ART ] Nesting Porcelain Bowls - BLICK art... [ BLIC ] My Favorite Watercolor Sketchbook [ UTR ] Xyron ADHESIVE ERASER 23675 [ SSS | ART | AMZUS ] LightView 2in1 LED Magnifier for... [ BRG ] Die Storage - Clear Storage Pockets... [ CHC ] Essentials by Ellen Storage... [ ELH ] XL Stamp Storage Pockets [ ELH ] Teflon Bone Folder - Ellen Hutson LLC [ ELH | SSS ] Tall Cut Card Stock- Turquoise Sea -... [ GNK ]

Loveyameanitbye.

A Few Thoughts About Books

I've always loved books. I loved the books my dad read to us - I think that's why I prefer Audible and podcasts to TV now. I loved the physical books my mom took me to our toy store to buy - back in the olden days - you could only get the latest Nancy Drew book at the toy store that also sold Madame Alexander dolls. I remember the Nancy Drew books were $3.50 which was an INSANE amount of money at the time, so I had to save my allowance for them. I still have the ones I had as a child, with a few holes in the series I need to fill.

However, I also have the practical perspective of Marie Kondo, which I've had from birth. Books are just things. They aren't people, or animals, and they don't have feelings. So one of my favorite things to do is to use them as art tools. I have been roasted for this in the past, which I care nothing about, except for the amount of amusement it brings me.

But my love of books and all things book related really was cemented when I first discovered art journaling. I wish I remembered that first introduction to it - it was probably my sweet and beautiful friend Vicky Pappaioannou, who I'm so glad I got to see again last week at Creativation. Her creations are fantastic, and the book format for creating art just brings together all the things I love in one neat little package.

So when I saw my friend Melanie's new stamp set with an open book, and lots of accessories - the first place my mind went is to an art journal.

I took a Gel Press print I made at Creativation while demoing in the booth, and stamped the beautiful book image onto it using my MISTI and Amalgam ink. Then I cut it out and set that aside. I took a white card front, and set the bookmark image up on the MISTI and stamped it onto the card front. Then I took a contrasting Gel Press print and stamped the bookmark onto that and cut that out. I got to use Pebeo paints for the first time at Creativation and I am hooked. They have some shimmery paints that do amazing things on the Gel Press. Hopefully that will be coming to a video near you soon.

Next, I used Connect Glue to adhere the book image onto the cardstock, lining it up with the bookmark image on the card panel. Then I used the 1/8" side of my Crop-a-Dile to punch out the hole in the bookmark (see the print peeking through?), and glued that down onto the book - lining it up with the tassel that was on the book and the card base and on the print. Then came the fun part.

I stamped the butterflies and sentiment from this stamp set onto the Gel Press print, and embellished the bookmark and stamp images with a white gel pen and my .3 multiliner. I took the rest of this print and cut a card front sized piece to mat the panel with and glued that down on a card base. I shaded the crease and under the bookmark with a cool grey marker for a realistic shadow. I just love this image so much - so many possibilities, and the perfect size to do all the things.

Clear Stamps- Open Book - Gina K Designs [ GNK ] Clear Stamps- Women of Faith - Gina K... [ GNK ] GKD Amalgam Ink Pad- Jet Black [ GNK ] Sakura CLASSIC WHITE Fine Line 05... [ SSS ] Gel Press 5 x 7 REUSABLE GEL PRINTING... [ SSS | BLIC ] Inovart Pro-Roller Brayer [ BLIC | BLIC ] Copic Sketch MARKER C5 COOL GRAY Grey [ SSS ] MISTI Stamping Tool [ HA | UNT | MSW | SSS | ELH | MFT ] We R Memory Keepers Crop-A-Dile -... [ BLIC ] Pebeo Iridescent Gold Acrylic [ BLIC ] Pebeo Extra-Fine Artist Acrylics -... [ BLIC ] Connect Glue - Gina K Designs [ GNK ] Purell Advanced Hand Sanitizer... [ AMZUS ] Hammermill Paper, Color Copy Digital,... [ AMZUS ] Heavy Base Weight Card Stock- White [ GNK ] Rotatrim Professional Series Cutter -... [ BLIC ] LightView 2in1 LED Magnifier for... [ BRG ] Mudder 10 Pack White Buffer Sanding... [ AMZUS ] Xyron ADHESIVE ERASER 23675 [ SSS | ART | AMZUS ] Die Storage - Clear Storage Pockets... [ CHC ] Envelopes 10 pack- Key Lime - Gina K... [ GNK ]

And what's crazy is - my friend Melanie - who lives here in Austin, designed this set for my amazing friend Gina, who is just the cat's meow. She had her first booth at Creativation this year, and it was beautiful. Here's a picture of her booth.

And here's a picture of us - you can see her husband behind us.

I'm glad to have found a calling where I can spend my money with people I know and love. Gina is someone I know and love. Melanie is someone I know and love. Good feeling.

Speaking of spending money - while I was gone, the last order I placed with her arrived - I was so happy to come home to Key Lime envelopes and Connect Glue - the glue has such a tiny opening it's perfect for die cuts and just general glue use.

Loveyameanitbye.