Tour de Craft Guest Designer - Emily Leiphart!

Another day, another awesome guest designer! Emily Leiphart definitely shares my love of bikes, and her bike-themed cards are always fabulous!! I'm always so happy when she joins me on my blog in July. Take it away, Emily!

This is my third year participating in Libby's annual Tour de Craft celebrating Le Tour de France! As many of you know, my husband is a bike designer, having designed bikes for many well-known manufacturers over the years so bikes are close to our heart.

For my card this year, I chose to feature a couple of Hero Arts stamps that I haven't used in a while - Bike with Basket - or were left uninked since I bought it - Absolutely Awesome. I kept the stamping very simple by using Hero Arts Blackboard ink. Then I layered the Spring Branch die with vellum and black cardstock, accenting the leaves with some white enamel dots. The diagonal stitched frame die is by My Favorite Things.

Thanks Emily! Your card is absolutely awesome! :-) Be sure to visit Emily over on her blog, Art from the Heart, and leave her some love!

Thanks for stopping by,

Tour de Craft Guest Designer - Linda McClain!

Today I'm fortunate to have one of my very favorite stampers - and heck, one of my very favorite people - joining me for a guest post. Linda McClain hasn't had a lot of time to get crafty this year (I can relate!), but when she does, it's always absolutely fabulous! And lucky me, Linda is one of my Texas friends, so I've had the pleasure of her real-life hugs. Take it away, Linda!

Yay! It’s time for Libby's Tour de Craft, Libby's annual craft homage to the Tour de France (the 21-stage, 3,660 km bicycle race). Joining Libby and her stamp-happy, bicycle-bonkers friends to honor the Tour makes me as happy as a down hill racer!

Have you noticed the Tour riders grabbing snacks out of their sweaty back pockets in the middle of the race? I decided to go a little off the map with a look back to the snack of champions - GORP.

Remember GORP? It was popular in the 1970's with hikers because it was lightweight, easy to store, and nutritious and, well, because powerbars weren't on the scene yet. I used to pack GORP in my bike bag for quick fuel between food stops.

Although GORP is short for granola, oats, raisins, and peanuts, let's be honest, granola and oats sounds like something you'd feed your horse. I make mine with nuts, dried fruits, sunflower seeds, pretzels, and most importantly, M&Ms.

The carbohydrates in the dried fruit give a quick energy boost while the fat and protein in the nuts provide sustained energy. The M&Ms are just tasty! And, like their ad says, M&Ms melt in your mouth, not in your bike bag.

For giggles and grins (and, hey, maybe a fun party favor), I packed my GORP today in decorated pillow boxes and plastic push pop containers. They're stinkin' cute and yummy, right?

That's all for me. If you're crazy enough like me to want to decorate your GORP packages, you can find links to all the products I used over at my place, Catered Crop. Thank you, Libby, for letting me roll with you!

Mmm GORP!! I love this Linda, it's the cutest GORP ever! Thank you for sharing it here today!!

Be sure to visit Linda and leave her some love!

Happy GORPing,

Tour de Craft Guest Designer - Joy Taylor!

Today I have another amazing friend joining me for a guest post, and I am so in love with her fabulous card!! Welcome Joy Taylor! She visits my blog by way of Australia, where they have to stay up late into the wee hours to watch the Tour de France live... in the past, Joy and I have enjoyed a good laugh watching some of the crazy things the fans do along the routes through the mountains!

Are you enjoying The Tour de France and also the amazing creations that Libby is sharing here, so much eye candy to behold..

I love when the Tour comes around each year and was super jealous this year as my cousin and his family took the time to follow the Tour, he looked like he was having a blast...dreaming will always get me there one day LOL, but secretly as I say each year I do enjoy seeing the sights and countryside, plus the antics that seem to happen along the way from the stupid people LOL..

Sadly with being home looking after my Mum this year I have not been able to view it as much as I would like, but I do sneak in a little at a time to make me happy..

So in order to honour the race this year, I have created a card that is really different, I figured there are so many different men from all around the world that ride in this race each year, so fitting that I was able to use the Neat and Tangled Origami Map stamp set, embossing with white embossing powder on water color paper and playing with my Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers, that I have to say I am in love with..

Adding two different greens and blue for the outer part of the embossing, finishing the card off with some wood veneer and a sentiment was all this card needed..

Here is a close up of the card..

Thanks Libby for asking me to play along again this year, I always look forward to creating and enjoying the Tour, I hope you all have enjoyed the posts and creations, still more to come..

Thank you so much for joining me today, Joy! Be sure to visit Joy's blog, Simple by Design, and leave her some love!

Tour de Craft Guest Designer - Leslie Hanna!

Today my friend Leslie Hanna is joining me as a Tour de Craft guest! Leslie is one of my best Twitter buddies. She's not really a Tour de France fan, but she kindly puts up with my obsessive tweets every July. And, she loves bikes! I told her today's Stage 8 is described as "hilly", and here's what the stage inspired...

I used to bike, like 30-45 miles at a pop, but I didn't do hills. So this whole "let's bike up some mean mountains" mentality is just more than my brain can handle.

I realized the card I had designed in my head was a large part of  the very cool video Libby posts each year to educate those of us who are largely TdF-ignorant, and it's totally worth the watch. I assure you it was pure accident that my card is so similar. Also, that's me at about 2:18 in the video.

Thank you, Libby, for inviting me to participate again this year. It's always fun to blow the dust off my bike stampy supplies and use them!

Thank you Leslie!! I love that her card is inspired by my favorite TDF video, subconsciously or not - her colorful little bikes taking on the hills are adorable! Be sure to visit Leslie's post today for more info about her card.

Thanks for stopping by,

Tour de Craft Guest Designer - George Panayiotou!

Today's guest designer comes to my blog by way of Cyprus! George Panayiotou is one of my favorite stampers. His designs are always so crisp and perfect. I'm thrilled to share his gorgeous cards on my blog today!

Hi Everyone! I am really happy and honored to be joining Libby’s celebration for the Tour de France! Today is Stage 6 for the Tour de France, and I am sharing two ‘Hello’ cards I made for the Tour. The cards are similar, just different color combinations and different bicycles!

I started by die cutting the large stitched rectangle from Wplus9 Love Mom Layers Die out of some smooth white cardstock. Then I die cut the Hero Arts + Sizzix bikes out of some masking paper and adhered it on the white stitched panel.

Using my favorite combinations of Distress Inks and a mini blending tool, I created a soft background around the bike. The trick here is to start on the mask and blend the color out so you end up with a soft background. (for the blue card I used Peacock Feathers and Mowed Lawn, and for the orange card I used Picked Raspberry, Wild Honey and Spiced Marmalade). Then I used the Distress Inks along with some water and flicked it on the paper to create a splatted effect.

After letting it dry, I used my stamp positioner and stamped the bikes (after removing the masks) with Versafine Onyx Ink, and heat embossed with clear superfine embossing powder. (Give some time for the Distress Inks to dry before you do the heat embossing otherwise you will end up with clear embossing powder all over the panel – ask me how I know!).

Next, I sliced off a thin strip from the bike panel and replaced it with colored cardstock on which I heat embossed the bike, so when everything is adhered on the card, it gives a continuous image. Or, use a plain cardstock without the heat embossing – that works great too!).

I finished the cards by adhering the bike panels on to a light gray card base and then added the Altenew Label Love greeting, which I stamped with Versafine Onyx Ink and heat embossed in clear embossing powder. I cut the greeting and adhered on the card!!!

Thanks again for sharing these fabulous cards, George! There are so many little details that I didn't even notice when I first looked. The embossing on the little strip of paper to match up with the bike? WOW! George is just amazing with his attention to detail. :-)

Thanks for stopping by!

Tour de Craft Guest Designer - Els Brigé!

Today I have my first guest for this year's Tour de Craft - Els Brigé. Els crafts from her home in Belgium - so naturally I had to ask her to join me while the Tour is traveling through her country!

Hi, it’s Els Brigé here today. I’m so honored to be a guest here on Libby’s blog on this beautiful Tuesday. The Tour de France is riding for a big part through Belgium today – too bad I’m on the other side of the country. So you’ll find me snug in front of the TV this afternoon. I do have a bicycle card for you today however.

A week or two ago a new bike shop opened next door to us, the perfect occasion to make a fun bicycle card for my new neighbors. I just loved that sticker from Crate Paper’s Poolside stickersheet. Items like that make it very easy to make a beautiful card with minimal efforts.

Thank you very much, Libby, for inviting me to your blog for this year’s Tour de Craft!! Enjoy the rest of the Tour! - Els.

And thank you for joining me today, Els! And be sure to stop by Els' blog, Be Stamped!

Tour de Craft Guest Designer - Lisa Spangler!

My final Tour de Craft Guest Designer is my #1 cycling friend, Lisa Spangler! There are many reasons why I adore my Lisa, but we initially bonded over stamps and BIKES! We have a pact, that SOMEDAY we WILL be at the Tour de France together, cheering as they make their way up the classic mountain stages! So of course I have Lisa sharing a card today, during Stage 18 of the Tour de France, this year's final mountain stage through the Pyrenees.

Today's stage includes some classic mountain climbs, including the Col du Tourmalet, one of my personal favorites. I love love LOVE how Lisa incorporated the stage details into her card design. Awesome!!

Lisa watercolored one of my favorite Bicycle stamps from Hero Arts. What a cool look!! And she used the Bubble Confetti stencil to add the fun dots.

And... of course the photographs today are amazing. Because Lisa is amazing. I mean - sunflowers for the first photo!! That's so le Tour. Sigh. I wish we still lived near each other, I'd bring all my cards to her to photograph! LOL! (I know I could easily bribe her to do it for me - I'd just need to bring a donut or a cupcake!) ;-)

Thank you SO MUCH, mon ami, for joining me today. As always, I *adore* your card!! And I miss you soooo much!

Be sure to visit Lisa at Sideoats and Scribbles - you'll be inspired by each and every post!

Vive le Tour!

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 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....

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!

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,