StarLitStudio

Memory Box dragonfly card

Layered card showcasing two colored dies.  Finished card measures 4.25 x 5.5 inch card using the new Memory Box Dragonfly Stems Left Corner, Tall Grassy Stems Left Corner and Little Dragonflies dies.  

Arches Watercolor Paper used for all:  I cut two (2) of the Dragonfly Stems die cuts.  Colored just the dragonflies on one die cut, and just the grasses on the second.  

For dragonflies: blended Distress Inks Twisted Citron and Peeled Paint using a blending tool; Copic YG25 for the bodies - same for the Little Dragonfly.   For grasses: blended Distress Inks Peeled Paint and Twisted Citron.  Cut dragonflies away from grasses and adhere in place on the second die cut.

Nuvo Aqua Shimmer Glitter Gloss Pen was used to add shimmer and shine to the dragonflies.

Lower die cut layer is the Tall Grassy Stems Left Corner - I cut one and blended Distress Inks Peeled Paint and Gathered Twigs with a blending tool.

Sizzix new Flourish embossing folder - embossed white cardstock, then applied Mermaid Lagoon Distress Ink direct to paper, misted with water then burnished and blended color with a paper towel.  This provided a very nice pop of color to the card. 

Ranger Multi Medium Matte used to adhere the two inked layers together plus the little guy on the right. 

Hope your day was buizzzzy and fun filled! 

first floor bathroom remodel before & after

This post highlights before and after photos of a recent bathroom remodel (full gut) here at my home.  The bathroom featured in this post is on the first floor - right beside the room that is my studio.  

There is a bathroom above this one on the second floor, and it was also fully gutted and remodeled at the same time.  I'll detail that one in a separate post.  My son's bathroom was completely remodeled and done immediately after these two were complete.  I have one more to go.

I purchased all materials and items needed six weeks in advance and had them delivered prior to beginning the rip out:  tile, faucets, toilets, tubs, light fixtures, exhaust fans, fan switches, vanities and so forth.  Everything was researched by me - toilets, faucets and so forth - I don't want to do this again anytime soon and wanted to create something not only beautiful but durable.

This was my palette.  I used these swatches to pick out everything.  The carpet swatch is the kids' bedrooms.  These materials were used in all bathrooms and will be used in the master bath when the time comes.

It took six months of my life to plan all three bathrooms.  It took six weeks to purchase and accumulate all materials and items needed.  I used a bay in the garage and an area in the basement as the storage hubs.

Everything was planned down to the grout lines and tile layout I designed using graph paper.  My inner control freak had a ball.

My Houzz ideabook served as great photo reference for everyone working on this project - a photo does indeed say a thousand words.

Tile installers:  Atlantic Tile of Flemington.  Kenny is wonderful to work with and his crews are so talented with tile.  General Contractor:  Eckelmann Brothers.  George and his crew are beyond amazing, wonderful and brilliant.  I've known George for 15 years personally - my oldest daughter and his went to school together.  Rip out started mid-February, 2016.

Here goes:

  

New floor is indeed tile, and many that have seen this in real life have had to touch it to know for sure, saying 'no way!'

Vintage by Cisa Ceramiche - color is Melange.  A 1/16 inch grout line using the darkest brown grout available - appropriately labeled 'espresso', along with a mix of both 10x40 inch planks with the 6.5 x 40 inch ones provided the natural look I was going for.  Atlantic Tile's brilliant work at its finest.

   

Undermount sinks with wall faucets - speed and ease in cleaning.  Bowl sinks are too trendy for me, and I know I wouldn't like cleaning behind them.

  

24x12 porcelain wall tiles throughout - floor in shower is 2x2 marble.  It's sealed, but we never use it.  We never used the old one.  I wanted a closet.  Friends screamed, 'No! - Think of resale!'  Like, 'No! - Think of the children!'.  Good grief.  The large tile in the room is capped with a carrara marble pencil border.  Height of tile on the wall was determined by the height of the switchplate.  No more cleaning fingerprints off of sheetrock!

  

I added a window wall in the shower, and moved the heat/AC vent by the toilet up.  I centered the vent under the new window in the shower.  The old vent would blow up onto the toilet paper - it would resemble an air dancer you see roadside.  Oh and I have boys here.  They pee.  Standing.  I would soak the old vent in a bleach/water solution in a bucket then scrub it.

Poor location then - better location now.  New toilet is higher.  If they miss now it was intentional and THEY get to clean the vent.

  

I wrapped the room in tile - no baseboards to clean.  I hate cleaning baseboards.  Wrapping the toilet area in tile was important to me - I never want to clean pee off of sheetrock again.  Ever.

The new toilet is a Toto.  I had my son's toilet replaced a few years ago and asked my plumber, 'So what's the best toilet?' - he replied, 'Toto - we never fix Totos'.  It features a 'skirt' base for easy cleaning.

All 'after' photos here on out:

   

The new wall window in the shower has its own recessed light that serves as a nightlight or low lighting when needed.  The window lets lots of natural light into the shower and is visually appealing when entering the bathroom.   I also added a recessed light in the shower itself.  That small silver hook is a robe hook - you really need one of these for a shower that is never used - ha.

This is the shower niche - since we never use this shower it holds little soaps that are too pretty to use, or fresh eucalyptus.  The shelves show off the 'rule of thirds' and the niche gave me an excuse to repeat the 2x1 marble backsplash tile used at the sink elsewhere in the room.   

The top shelf is tall enough to hold the largest pumper bottle of shampoo that Costco sells though (rolls eyes).

Lights off in this photo.  That shower would be dark dark dark without the wall window cutout.  Behold the power of planning. 

  

Switchplate features a timer for the bathroom fan...no more hearing someone yell, 'who left the fan on!'  Wall paint color is Benjamin Moore Intense White.  Trim is their Simply White.  Hugh Burley is my painter and he is a master.  And a perfectionist.  We got along splendidly.

Backsplash at sink is 2x1 Carrara marble - has very small flecks of gold for a bit of warmth and I love it.  Countertop and shower sills are quartz - Caesarstone in Buttermilk color.  Shower and sink faucet fixtures are from Grohe.

I changed to wall faucets in all the bathrooms.  I love them as I don't like cleaning around them on the countertops.  Wall mount faucets require planning and sometimes moving studs, and are generally a PITA to deal with during construction.  Faucet has to line up with the center of the sink, and so many factors must be known at the rip out phase:  faucet reach has to be taken into account for center bowl placement, any future tile grout lines taken into consideration, height of vanity must be known, thickness of tile must be known, thickness of subflooring, the list goes on.  Also the wall light fixtures have to be centered accordingly.  I had a ball!

The painting is a Pier1 find - it complements the room perfectly.  The new bathroom walls have been bare for months - I was content to wait until the perfect piece was discovered, and I knew it when I saw it.

Hope you enjoyed the tour of the new throne room.  Here's a sneak peek from a future post - the bathroom on the second floor above the one in this post - the girls' Jack and Jill bathroom:

   

Poppystamps Wandering Vine Squares card

Simple and easy watercolor card - today's post will detail its process.

 

Using white (Bazzill Card Shoppe Marshmallow) cardstock die cut the Poppystamps Wandering Vine Squares.

 

Place diecut on a 4-1/4 x 5-1/2 piece of heavy Strathmore Bristol cardstock and run thorough die cut machine using same sandwich used for die cutting.  

 

This will gently emboss the diecut image into the watercolor paper, providing a guide for coloring the squares.  

 

I used Mijello Mission Gold Watercolors - purchased on Amazon.  You could use any watercolor paints, reinkers, Copic markers, colored pencils with or without Gamsol, and so forth.  Try and stay within the square outlines.  The square frames of the die cut are forgiving, and will hide/cover most mistakes made at the edges of the colored squares.  

The sentiment is from Penny Black's newest release - a clear stamp set - Happy Wishes.

 

To pop up the white die cut, I used rolled (one inch size) Scor Tape (technique learned from Kittie Caracciolo) and a Ranger Non-Stick Mat.  The Ken Oliver Mat is so repellent this Scor Tape technique will not work with it - tape does not stick to the mat.  Ranger's mat is excellent for this technique.  

 

Snip the rolled Scor Tape into tiny pieces and adhere to larger areas of die cut back.  I used tweezers for this and pretended I was doing surgery.

 

I added a tiny butterfly die cut using Memory Box Mini Butterflies and Bazzill Pauly Poo cardstock, then a few 2mm, a few 3mm and a 5mm clear bling.  Thank you for stopping by! 

 

 

 

1canoe2 hazelwood collection cards

Here's a post with a bunch of cards made with American Crafts Hazelwood collection from the folks at 1canoe2.  All cards are A2 sized (4-1/4 x 5-1/2 inches) in size.  

 

A few of these cards incorporate fun gold-tone shaped paper clips.  Flat clips on cards are easy to slip into envelopes, and can be protected from postal sorters with a corrugated (or other type of) insert in the envelope.

These were fun and fast to create and I really don't want to put it away...but the Valentine papers are calling...

alcohol ink bookmark

Metal bookmarks from Prima Marketing feature an acrylic cabochon - excellent for highlighting a small piece of alcohol-inked Yupo.  

Yupo (I used white Yupo) is a non-porous surface that works well with Ranger's alcohol inks.  These bookmarks make fantastic gifts and sell well at my local artisan market on Saturdays.

Ranger Alcohol Inks used:  Rust, Mushroom, Lettuce, Pesto, Turquoise and Denim.  I used E-6000 and adhered the cabochon to the inked Yupo.  Allow to dry to completely then trim around the cabochon.  Adhere to metal bookmark using E-6000 and allow to dry 12-24 hours.

My technique uses small spurts of heat, drying the inks intermittently using Ranger's Heat Tool, which I embellished with alcohol inks years ago.

tag sale! like new goodies - updated

Updated Thursday, April 5, 2018

Products listed here were either seldom used or have never been used.  Please do not hesitate to email me (starlitstudio@gmail.com) with any questions.

The process:  Shop, then email a list to me (starlitstudio@gmail.com) with your zip code (or country, if international).  Items ship from Flemington, New Jersey.  Items will be weighed then exact shipping cost advised by return email.  First come, first serve.

Shipping within the USA and her territories:  Use of Priority Mail Flat Rate and Regional Rate boxes will be utilized if there is a cost-savings for you, along with First Class Mail where possible.  Parcels exceeding thirteen ounces in weight must be sent Priority Mail.  Exact shipping including any discounts received from the USPS can be calculated after your list is received.

Shipping for international customers outside the USA and her territories:  First Class Package International is used up to four pounds; product exceeding four pounds must be sent Priority Mail International.  Insurance is required and will be outlined as a separate line item in my email with postage cost.  Parcel will be insured for full value (full value is merchandise value paid, insurance paid and postage paid).

Payment:  invoice will be sent via PayPal; payment appreciated within 24 hours.  I am absorbing the cost of the mailer if using First Class Mail, along with the PayPal fees incurred and fees associated with printing the postage and all other incidentals.

Poppystamps / Memory Box:  

The Memory Box / Poppystamps sets in this section are housed in Avery Elle clear pockets with white 100lb cardstock liners.  Stamp sets are organized using the product packaging of the stamp set, and labeled with 'mb/poppystamps' in the upper left of the pocket in black on a clear label, and on the right is the stamp set name in black on a white background using a label maker.   Dies are neatly arranged on a magnetic sheet stabilized on a chipboard base and located behind the white cardstock liner (stamp set is in the front).  Any questions please email me.

Poppystamps Cat Friends CL433 stamp set and coordinating die set: Cat Friends 1626 - both new in packaging.  $5 for both.

 

Memory Box / Open Studio - Botanical Christmas Tree: stamp set and die set - both new in their packaging - $10

 

Poppystamps Stacked Stars #1306 - no packaging; die (set of 3) intact and not separated (not cut apart) - $8.00

 

 

A Fox Tale - clear stamp set and die set - dies are attached/not snipped apart - $8 for complete set

Spellbinders dies:

Spellbinders Picot Edge Circle dies - set of four - $5.00

 

Spellbinders Beaded Ovals dies - set of four - $5

 

Spellbinders Lacey Circles - set of five - $5

 

Spellbinders Tear Drop Circles - set of four - $5

 

Spellbinders Botanical Swirls - $5.00

My Favorite Things:

Die-Namics Horizontal Stitched Strips die set of four - $5

Die-Namics Vertical Stitched Strips die set of three - $5

MFT stamp sets with coordinating die sets:  stamp sets are neatly mounted onto heavy chipboard trimmed to size of the stamp packaging.  Die set is housed in a cardstock envelope mounted to the back of the chipboard and features a magnetic closure.  My own design - clever, keeps everything together - clever storage that is functional and visually appealing.

Cozy Mittens - stamp set and coordinating die set  - $9

 

 

Cozy Greetings stamp set with coordinating sweaters dies (2 sizes with trims) - $9

 

Winter Warmth stamp set with coordinating die set - $9

 

Perk Up - stamp set with coordinating die set - $7

Sizzix thick steel dies:

Sizzix Karen Burniston Card with Floating Frames 3-D (Pop-Up) - Manufacturer directions are enclosed in a slim pocket that is adhered to the die itself for easy access.  Remove directions prior to use; attached pocket to die does not affect use and acts as an insignificant shim. $5

 

Sizzix Bow, Create-a-Flower #657374 - $5

 

Papertrey Ink Stamp Sets in CD cases:

I maintain the plastic CD cases and they are in top-notch condition.

Unless the stamp set states 'new', the set has minor staining on one, some or all pieces - this does not affect usability; simply makes them easier to view in the CD case.  If 'new' is stated - stamps have never been used and are brand new and unstained.  

All sets are in clear CD cases with PTI set label on spine.  If it's an older set before Nichole began including the name of the set with the index labels, the CD spine is neatly labeled with a label maker.  

All stamp sets (except where noted) have the image index label(s) that came with the set with the protective layer intact....index labels were not adhered to the CD; instead, I kept the protective layer of the index label intact, save for the slim label that is on the CD spine.  The protective layer of the identification label was adhered to a sheet of cardstock, and I neatly (yes, alphabetized - my OCD runs rampant!) organized the labels in a binder behind clear sheet protectors (so I could flip through the binder and get ideas).  As a result, the protective layer of each identification label sticker is still intact - and I have concealed the small strip of adhesive residue remaining from when I removed it from the cardstock sheet/my binder, by affixing a post-it note to the back of the protective layer.  This way, if you want to adhere it to the CD you can, or keep it in a binder like I did, or another storage/organizational method that works for you. 

Holiday Sparkle (with index label) - $7.00

 

Papertrey Ink Text Boxed (no index label) - $8.00

 

Papertrey Ink Butterfly Dreams (with index label) - $6.00

 

Papertrey Ink Stamp Sets in AE pockets:

The Papertrey sets in this section are housed in Avery Elle clear pockets with white 100lb cardstock liners.  Stamp sets are organized using the Papertrey index label on a clear acetate sheet(s).  Sets are labeled with 'pti' in the upper left of the pocket in black on a clear label, and on the right is the stamp set name in black on a white background using a Brother label maker.   Most of the stamps within these sets are used.  Any questions please email me.

Papertrey Ink Fruit Fusion - Mini Apple and Mini Pear Clear Stamp Sets (photos above) - includes apple and pear dies too - $8 for everything.

Papertrey Ink Love Birds - includes coordinating die set - $5

Papertrey Ink Dot Spot - $2

Papertrey Ink Mat Stack #2 plus three dies - the three dies all coordinate with this set; they are the Mat Stack 2 die, Layerz plus the Mega Mat - $1

 

Papertrey Ink On Ice stamp set - with ice skate die - $8

 

Papertrey Ink Take Three: Winter stamp set - $4

 

Papertrey Ink - Just the Ticket stamp set and die - $10

Stampin' Up:  

   

Stampin' Up Holiday Blocks (new in box) - $3.00

 

   

Stampin' Up Holiday Woodcuts - $4.00

 

Stampin' Up Wheels:

 Stampin' Up Spooky Skyline Jumbo Wheel - $1.00

jazzing up die cuts

Back in the early 2000 I watched a few DVD's from Susan Pickering Rothamel - owner of USArtQuest.  

Sprinkling a light layer of chunky clear embossing powder onto inked die cuts then heating from underneath - accent/emphasize with Perfect Pearls.  This is a fun and quick way to add subtle detail to handmade cards.

Quick video detailing the technique:

christmas door knocker art

I've shared the front door knocker artwork in a few other posts: halloween 2012, christmas 2012, spring 2013.  Today's post features Carta Bella Christmas Delivery collection paper, Penny Black Nature's Friends (deer) and Tall Trees dies, and Simon Says Stamp snowflake die.  

All components were leftovers from other projects.  

The garland above the front door in the photo below was created by using lightweight outdoor ornaments and stringing on a sturdy cord with hanging loops at each end.  

It adds a pop of color without fuss.  We had a dusting of snow this morning - happy December!

tim holtz halloween coffin decor

Only at Halloween can you get away with decorating with coffins.  At least in my house.  

Tim Holtz idea-ology halloween product - pumpkins, broom, spider, patterned cardstock, word bands.

 

spider attachment loop was removed and body color altered with Festive Berries paint.

Spooky times ahead! Headed for the weekend - hope yours is a great one!

anniversary and love cards - doodlebug flea market

Doodlebug's Flea Market collection - adorable and fun papers for autumn anniversaries...this card also uses the new Sizzix Mini Globe die and Memory Box (new) House in the Country.  Finished card size: 4.25 x 5.5 inches.

 

I added small drops of Nuvo Gloss Black to the adorable noses of Mr. and Mrs. Mouse and allowed to air dry.  Added a bit of machine stitching to complement the needle and thread theme.  Hope you have a wonderful weekend!