Robin's Birdhouse: MOO

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

MOO Art Greeting Card

Hello friends! It’s Trending Tuesday over at the Altered Pages Artsociates blog. Every month a different crafty trend is highlighted and the whole team joins in the fun! We are teaming with Unruly PaperArts and Leaky Shed Studio in April to bring you some fun projects with … MOOs.

A MOO is a small piece of art that can either stand alone or be part of a larger project. The monthly theme over at Unruly PaperArts is “Mail Art and MOOs” so I’ve incorporated mine into a greeting card with (faux) postage today.

I found this wonderful cream colored paper from Art Papers Online. Textured paper is a great way to add some dimension and interest to a card project. Several layers of the three Colorbox chalk inks shown were added to it. These are the only inks used throughout the project. I started by simply rubbing the stamp pad over the ridges. Then I used sponges to add more layers. Finally, I dipped the edges in the dark brown ink pad to give it a defined edge.

Because my theme for this card was “Paris” I chose to use the rubber stamp set from Altered Pages’ sister company, The Mailbox Muse. These wonderful red rubber stamps were part of the All Things French kit. The butterscotch ink was sponged onto a sheet of cream card stock and then stamped with three stamps - “evening in” “Paris” and the Eiffel Tower in the dark brown.

Two collage sheets of faux postage from Altered Pages were used for the images on the MOOs. I was so excited to have a reason to use my patterned scissors! Using the postage stamp edged pair I cut out several of the more colorful images that I thought would blend well with my color scheme. I brushed the edges with butterscotch ink to highlight the fancy cut. Each MOO is 1 1/8” by 2 3/4” and two images fit perfectly on each one. They were adhered with an Elmer's X-treme glue stick and then I trimmed the excess and inked the edges. A wide band of burnt sienna went around each of the MOOs and then a thinner band of dark brown on top. After dipping each side into the brown ink pad, a Fleur de Lis brad was added to one on the corner to balance the flower attached to the other side of the finished card.

I smooshed the Leaky Shed Studios crown down onto the dark brown ink pad so that it would have an even coating of ink. Once it was glued onto the card three tiny Prills by US ArtQuest were added to it over the laser engraved pattern.

Everything was adhered to the textured paper using Helmar 450 Quick Dry glue. I went with liquid glue because the paper is extremely bumpy. I wanted to be sure the images stuck well. I admit that I did weight the whole thing down with a sheet of bubble wrap and a heavy book…just to be sure!

And what would mail art be without an envelope? The space for the receiver's name is reserved by using my favorite (retired) tea cup image from Auntie Amy. Then I stamped the Stampendous! crown at an angle and added a little Stampin' Up steam. Both images were colored with Bic Mark-Its permanent markers. After masking the cup, the same three Colorbox chalk inks are sponged around the cup and the rest of the envelope. Two textured stamps inked with the butterscotch ink were added at random to give it a little texture.

Be sure and come back on Friday for my next design team post! Happy crafting!

Supplies:

Paris Faux Postage collage sheet

Art Faux Postage collage sheet
Paris red rubber stamp set

Leaky Shed Studio crown

Fiskars Postage pattern scissors

Art Papers Online

US ArtQuest Prills

Brown flower – Michael’s dollar bin
Tea Cup stamp from Auntie Amy
Crown stamp by Stampendous!
Steam stamp from Stampin' Up
Mini Circle texture stamp from Sin City Stamps
Diamond Grid stamp by Stamp Camp

Oriental Trading Company Fleur de Lis brad

Colorbox Chalk ink – butterscotch, burnt sienna, dark brown

Helmar 450 Quick Dry glue

Be sure to visit Unruly PaperArts for additional inspiration

Friday, April 11, 2014

Mail Art - an all-in-one card

Hello and welcome to my first post as part of the Altered Pages design team! I appreciate the opportunity to share my art with you! This month, Altered Pages is teaming up with Unruly Paper Arts, which is a BlogZine with wonderful art, and Leaky Shed Studio products. Their theme this month is Mail Art and Moos. I had never heard of a MOO before. We’ll get back to that. First, let’s see my mail art project!

The Unruly Paper Arts April issue features an RAQ (ReaderArt Quest) challenge for their readers to play along and create using a theme and a visual prompt. Teacups and Tiaras was the theme this month. I made an all-in-one greeting card/envelope combo.

If you have an envelope template that would make an awesome starting point. I don’t have one so I cut mine out by hand to measure 10” x 7 1/4”. Using the paper in portrait format, score in 3/4” on each side, 2 1/2” up from the bottom and 3” down from the top. Fold along all lines and then cut out the four rectangle pieces in the corners as shown.

To create the inside greeting panel I used a Prima stencil and Versa Mark ink to give the background some texture.

While that was drying I started on the chipboard crown from Leaky Shed Studio. These little crowns are beautiful and since they are laser cut some of them have intricate patterns. I chose to gild the crown for this project so I chose a plain surface. I brushed on a coat of US Art Quest Duo adhesive. Once it was ready I brushed on the gold leaf by Gildenglitz. It created a beautiful shiny gold finish. I used a Leaky Shed teacup on this project, too. It was painted with bright blue acrylic paint with a matte finish. I wanted the only shiny thing on this project to be the crown!

I chose several images from Altered Pages collage images for both inside and outside of this project. I’ve provided a list and links below for you.

Finally, I knew I wanted a border at the top and while I was looking for one…I found three! All of them again from my favorite Bazzill package. (I’m starting to run out of these so I had better get some more!) The swirly border was cut in half to use as steam for the teacup. All four were inked with Dark Brown Colorbox Chalk Ink.

Because the envelope is part of the card I thought a word of caution was warranted and wrote “Open Gently” across the flap.

Now, what’s a MOO, right? For anyone who doesn’t know, they are bigger than an inchie and smaller than an ATC. They measure in approximately at 1 1/8” by 2 3/4”. I think they make cute little pops of color and design. Altered Pages has a page of MOO backgrounds or you can certainly make your own.