Tour de Craft Guest Designer - Joy Taylor!

It's another rest day at the Tour de France, and another guest designer day here on my blog! Today's guest comes to us all the way from Australia, where she has to have lots and lots of coffee to be able to stay up and watch the Tour! She's Joy Taylor, and she is just massively talented. And she's one of my mountain stage buddies - we love to laugh together about the crazy people lining the roads on the mountains! Hey Joy, the Pyrenees start tomorrow!! Will we see any devils? costumes? naked people??! :-)

When she's not being silly with me, she makes drop dead GORGEOUS cards...

Sigh. I mean seriously, could her card be any more gorgeous??

Thanks so much for joining me today, Joy!

Be sure to stop by and say hi to Joy on her blog, Simple By Design.

Tour de France Sympathy Card

Today was yet another rainy stage at the Tour de France. Is this one of the rainiest Tours ever? It sure seems like it. So... a sympathy card for those poor cyclists riding so many days in the rain... wishing them brighter days!

The message is from a Hero Arts sympathy set called Remember. I picked up the bike clips at Paper Source ages ago - I'm down to only one left! Eek! (But proud of myself for not hoarding them!) And the cloud is chipboard from Magenta that I picked up when they held a class at my LSS. I had fun with it! I painted it with gesso, then put down some embossing paste. I added the swirls with a toothpick. Happy clouds!

The sketch was inspired by this one from retrosketches:

With all the rain (uhhh, not to mention the daily body punishment of riding bikes over mountains...!), I keep hearing about different riders with sinus issues, chest infections and/or bronchitis. In a show of solidarity, I also wake up each day with a sneezing fit and massively runny nose. THAT'S just how much of a cycling fan I am... ;-)

Stamps: Hero Arts (CL577 Remember)
Paper: MFT (Blu Raspberry), Neenah (Solar White), Doodlebug Design (Kraft in Color 6x6)
Ink: Ranger (Archival Black)
Other: Magenta (cloud chipboard), Ranger (gesso), Dreamweaver (Wendy Vecchi embossing paste), circle punch, bicycle clip, sequins

Tour de Craft Guest Designer - Linda McClain!

Today the Tour de France has reached the Alps. Oh how I love the Alps!! The stage today ends with an HC, or "hors catégorie" climb - that's French for "beyond categorization". In other words - so insanely steep it's off the charts!! How these guys can pedal their bikes up such things I just don't know.

But what I *do* know it that I have one of my very favorite stampers in the universe as my Tour de Craft guest today! Yay!! I'm happy to welcome Linda McClain, and her incredibly gorgeous card that celebrates the mountains...

The sequins on this card make me beyond happy. Hey, this is an HC card!! ;-) And Linda's one of those amazing stampers who makes the inside look gorgeous too. I'm lucky if I just pull off a decent card front, but look what she does on the inside...

There's a lot more detail about this card over on Linda's blog - Catered Crop - including some life lessons and cycling metaphors and Linda's own mountain climbing experiences. Good stuff! Linda never disappoints.

Now here's hoping the boys don't disappoint me on today's final climb! Fingers crossed for a crash-free day, full of excitement, beautiful images on my tv and minutes chipped away from Mr. Nibbles....

Never Give Up.

Yesterday was a rough stage at the Tour de France for Andrew Talansky. He had started off the Tour as one of the favorites, with hopes of ending up on a podium in Paris. But then the crashes happened. And yesterday it all caught up to him. The television cameras stayed on him as he suffered to keep up, then drifted off the back of the peloton. And they remained on him as he pulled off on the side of the road and a team manager had a talk with him. Many thought that was it, he was getting in the car and calling it a day. But to everyone's surprise, he got back on his bike AND KEPT GOING!! He was obviously in tremendous pain,  wiping away tears as he rode. But he kept going. Thirty two or so minutes after the winner of the stage crossed the line, Talansky rode in to the sound of cheers. And it was heartbreaking and amazing all at the same time. So, today's card is inspired by The Pitbull, who I will think of every time I'm out of my bike and I think it's too hard to continue...

I played with my Hero Arts ink daubers for this one. I pounded them hard on my paper to get the awesome splotches. I love doing that - it's like taking out some aggression in the stamp room. I added some additional flecks of ink with a wet paintbrush, and stamped my favorite tiny little Hero Arts bicycle. The message is spelled out with Amy Tangerine stickers.

Talansky didn't start today's stage, his injuries were just too much. But the fact that he kept going yesterday, I will not soon forget.

Pedal to the Metal

The Tour is back today and the boys are putting their pedals to the metal!

I've been wanting to play with this stamp from The Cat's Pajamas which combines two of my very favorite things - bikes and bunnies! It's called Wheel Love. I think I have a bad case of wheel love!! I combined it with some scraps that had been gathering on my desk - the stitched woodgrain block was made ages ago and never used, and I always seem to have stray die cut clouds hanging around.

That adorable pink bicycle washi tape was sent to me all the way from the UK by Keren Baker! Love it so much!! (Thanks again, Keren!)

Thanks for stopping by today,

Stamps: Wheel Love from The Cat's Pajamas
Paper: MFT (Kraft), Doodlebug Design (Kraft in Color 6x6 pad), Neenah (Solar White)
Ink: Memento (Tuxedo Black), Copic markers, journaling pen
Other: Spellbinders die, MFT cloud dies, washi tape

Tour de Craft Guest Designer - Leslie Hanna!

After 10 exciting, stressful, rainy, crash-filled stages at the Tour de France, we've finally reached the first rest day. And let me tell you, I needed it. This tour has been rough to watch!! So many favorites are out - Chris Froome, Mark Cavendish, Alberto Contador - fan favorite Teddy King - it's been brutal on us fans. And I guess the guys actually riding the Tour can use this rest day too. ;-)

For today's rest day, it's another rest day for me - I have my fabulous friend Leslie Hanna joining me for a card! And she celebrated the rest day in style...

This is such a cool technique, with the background embossed and then gorgeous color added. And of course the French "reste" and the bicycle. Yup, I love it!!

Thanks so much for joining me, Leslie!!

And make sure to head over to Leslie's blog, The Crooked Stamper, and say hello!

Bonjour

Today is Bastille Day in France. It seemed like a good day to play with this cute stamp! His name is Pierre, and since he has the day off from school for the holiday, he has picked up a baguette and will be enjoying it while he puts his feet up and watches the Tour de France...

The stamp is actually called Pierre from Paris, and it's part of the World Kids Collection from Your Next Stamp. I paired him with this fun sketch from retrosketches:

Thanks for stopping by,

Stamps: Your Next Stamp (Pierre from Paris), Avery Elle (Bonjour), Hero Arts (On the Go Bike)
Paper: Neenah (Solar White), MFT (red)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic markers
Other: Spellbinders oval dies, embossing folder, washi tape

Tour de Craft Guest Designer - Amy Anderson!

Today's guest is the Queen of Mod Podge. I'm so excited to have the super talented, bicycle-loving Amy Anderson joining me on the blog again this year! I *adore* the bicycle bookends she uses here, but this is a great tutorial for altering bookends, regardless of the shape!



Hello! I'm Amy from Mod Podge Rocks - and I also blog at two other places (DIY Candy and Washi Tape Crafts). I'm busy between all of my blogs, but never too busy to watch cycling! My boyfriend is a cyclist, but even before I met him, I always loved watching the Tour de France. Between all the different types of terrain and the crashes, there's always action. I'm always sad when the 21 days is over! Last year I did some simple decoupage bicycle art, and this year I bring to you some simple bookends . . . with a special touch: crackle! I tried paint crackling on these floral bookends, and it was so easy. Here's how I did it. Gather These Supplies

• Wood bookends (mine are from Kaisercraft)
• Mod Podge Satin
• Acrylic paint - Orange, Warm White, Coastal Blue
• FolkArt Crackle Medium
• Scrapbook paper - 1 sheet
• Scissors or craft knife
• Pencil
• Ruler
• Paintbrush
• Craft glue

When I first saw these bicycle bookends, I knew I had to have them! So easy to decoupage.



Use the pencil to trace the bookends on your scrapbook paper. You just need paper facing the outside - so trace each piece of the bookend one time. Then cut out and set aside.

 

Paint the wood bicycle pieces with Warm White - I also painted the sides of the bookend pieces that would be facing the outside with the same color. This is especially important if your paper is thinner. If you were to paint the bookends completely orange, then that color might show through your paper, so it's better to back those sides with white.

 

Paint the other sides orange (or whatever color coordinates with your paper). Let all of your pieces dry.

  

On top of the wood bicycle pieces, you'll paint the Crackle Medium on top. Let dry for about 1 - 2 hours (or whatever your particular bottle instructions say).

 

When the crackle medium is dry, paint your contrasting color all over the bicycle pieces. And then it's amazing - the crackling starts!!! You don't brush over the area repeatedly, you only brush over in one direct with a medium coat of paint (you don't want to ruin what just crackled). Do this over both wood bicycle pieces . . . paint them completely and let dry.

 

Then decoupage the pieces of paper down with your Mod Podge. Let dry 15 - 20 minutes.

 

Glue all of the pieces together with the craft glue, and give a coat of Mod Podge to seal the paper and the bicycle.
 

Your bookends are "fini"!! Come visit my at my blogs any time for more exciting decoupage action. And special thanks to Libby for having me. See you soon!!

Thanks so much Amy!! Now I need to hunt down these bookends for myself...!

Thanks for stopping by,

Watercolored Cyclists

Today I'm getting slightly more artistic on the ol' blog. I've been following artist Greig Leach on Twitter (@artofcycling) - every day he shares wonderful watercolored images of the highlights of that day's Tour de France stage. (He even has a Kickstarter for publishing his paintings into a book!) I was inspired by Mr. Leach's art to give it a go myself, in card form!

I cannot draw. At all. So I had a little idea that I was hoping might work! I did a Google search for Tour de France images, and printed out a couple. Then I pulled out my trusty lightbox!! I absolutely love this thing, I've used it for other coloring techniques, and even though it's cheap and simple, it makes me very happy!

As I was hoping, it worked like a charm! With the lightbox turned on, I just traced the image really quickly with a journaling pen, leaving out a lot of the detail of the photograph. Then I used another one of my old, trusty friends - my ancient Stampin' Up Watercolor Wonder Crayons! I've had these for years and I don't think they even sell them anymore, but whenever I pull them out they never fail to make me happy. But of course any watercoloring medium would work.

Here's another image I used. If you watch the Tour de France, you'll recognize this superfan Didi Senft, or El Diablo! Seeing him along the road during tv coverage also makes me smile. He's part of the tour! He's typically on a mountain stage if he's there (he's had health issues in recent years) - the boys are starting to go uphill today, so maybe we'll see my favorite devil soon? Fingers crossed!

I stayed up too late last night making these, I was having way too much fun to stop. :-)

Thanks for stopping by,

Supplies: Stampin' Up Watercolor Wonder Crayons, MFT's WTG Enjoy the Ride (sentiment), Karen Foster Snap Stamps (sentiment), journaling pen, Neenah solar white paper (watercolor paper would be a better choice!)

Tour de Craft Guest Designer - Emily Leiphart!

It's another Guest Designer day here on the Tour de Craft (ie a "rest day" for moi! LOL!) and this time my guest is doing her stamping from up in Canada! I'm a big fan of her work and I am forever jealous of her because she's met Thor Hushovd. Or maybe it was her husband who's met him? Anyway, take it away, Emily...

Hi everyone, it's Emily Leiphart here! This is my second year participating in Libby's Tour de Craft, celebrating the Tour de France that takes place every year in July. As many of you know from last year's post, my husband is a bicycle designer, we got our son a balance bike at 22 months and, well, we just plain love bikes! For me, the Tour is not just about the race but the scenery. This year, the Tour started in Leeds, U.K. and today is their third day in France.

For my card, I used the new Background Builders Dies from Paper Smooches to create both a meadow scene as well as a mountain scene. I love the speed of the flatter stages but also the pain of the mountain stages. Haha! Both scenes are framed inside the Polaroid Die. The bike is from the Promenade stamp set and the sentiment is from the Get Outta Town stamp set.

I wish I had the time to make more than one bike-inspired card for this special occasion but, alas, time is not on my side these days. :)

Well I am thrilled that Emily created this one card today, it's adorable! Be sure to visit Emily on her blog, Art from the Heart.

See you tomorrow,