Heading East

Last weekend, with a to-do list longer than my arm, I abandoned everything I was supposed to do in favor of what I wanted to do.  I recently signed up for an ATC swap at Little Bird Creations, something I haven't done in years.  I literally have hundreds of these little works of art from years ago swaps, but have rarely done any since I've gotten into art journaling and collage.  Anyway, the theme is Japanese/geisha, and since I have a ton of related supplies, I decided to go for it.  They're not due until June, but you know how it goes with me and my stubborn muse....strike while she is hot or she will run away and hide.

I began by covering a sheet of 8 1/2 x 11" cardstock with some Japanese text.  I remembered a trick I'd read for getting 10 ATC from one such piece of paper, and cut them out.  Here's this handy tip:

1. Cut two lengthwise strips 2 1/2" wide, leaving one strip 3 1/2" wide.

2. Cut the strips crosswise: the 2 1/2" strips will be 3 1/2" wide, and the 3 1/2" strips will be 2 1/2" wide.

Then I added some texture with this embossing folder (I was able to do two ATCs at a time):

 

 

And then some transluscent color with these paints:

 





So much for the background; now onto the main image, which I got from this:

The above is 8 1/2 x 11", so I only used the head and shoulders, and that pretty much filled up the ATC.

All of this resulted in:

 

 

To color the images, I used my favorite cheap-o art supply:

 

 

 

And to decorate the colored kimonos, I used some of my favorite pens.  Because the Portfolios have a waxy surface, not every pen will write well over them.  I've ruined many a good pen learning this, but my Sharpie poster paint pens, Molotow acrylic pens, and Sakura glaze and souffle pens glide over the Portfolios with no problem.

 

 

 

Although the design is identical, the decoration changes from ATC to ATC.  And though it wasn't my intention,  even the faces all look different.  The face on the original image was very faint, so I had to go over the lines with a pen.  Even the slightest difference in my drawing changed the expression.  I'm not complaining, just explaining.  And of course I totally enjoyed coloring and doodling on the clothing, using varying colors and patterns on each.

 

 

 



 

 

 

I used very narrow red German scrap for the hair accessories.  The flowers are tiny Primas over small Stampin' Up blooms, with a dot of platinum stickles in the center.













This and That

This is what I've been up to lately.  I was too tired yesterday to blog, so I posted some of these on FB.  But, there is something new here.  :)

One of the many gifts from Elena at Keys4Art was the complete collection of Julie Nutting's whimsical doll stamps.  Even a confirmed old anti-cutenik like me finds them irresistible.  I used them on a tag and a card.

Stamped on Ranger's Specialty Paper, colored with distress markers, doodled on with glaze pens and souffle pens, and cut out.  The conversation bubbles were traced and cut from a template of various sized and shaped bubbles I've had for years.  The words are all bits of two different (and very old) Stampin' Up stamps.



 

 

The tag (from Prima's tag book, the perfect size for Julie's stamps) was inked a bit.  Instead of coloring all of this doll, I stamped the clothing (and headband) on various papers from Jenni Bowlin mini paper pads, cut them out and attached them to the doll.  I added the bouquet of flowers and the two flowers in her hair.  The sentiments are also old Stampin' Up stamps.

 

The challenge at Everything Wendy Vecchi was to use distress embossing powder and at least one of Wendy's stamps.  I did that and then some on a journal page.

 

 

 

The two striped flowers are Wendy's stencil, filled with her gold embossing paste.  The third flower is from Stencil Girl, and that was embossed with broken china embossing powder.  More distress embossing on the leaves, and the rest is stamping.....Wendy's and even a few I've cut myself.

 

Remember my polymer clay mouse from last weekend?  The oil paint we used finally dried enough for me to add some embellishments.  Striped stockings, polka dotted sleeves, and some pretty shocking shoes.  And you can't see it, but....I filled her crown with gold micro beads.  As befits a royal mouse.

 

 

 

I received another book in the Kindred Souls round robin.  This one is Deb's, and her theme is "vintage feminine."  I used one of my favorite images.

 

 

 

By using both Tim's regular sized and mini cabinet card die as an insert, I was able to create the frame, which was embossed with Cuttlebug's vintage wallpaper folder.  It was cut from a piece of Ranger's foil tape sheet, and altered with a mix of Ranger/Vintaj patinas and distress paints.

 

The flourishes on the left are not stamps....they're Tim's rub-ons.  The flowers (sprayed with perfect pearls mists) are Primas, and the stick pins were made by my friend Carla.....she gifted everyone with a set of them at Keys4Art.  The pearls and lace are from my stash.

 

So, I'm caught up again.....just waiting for the next journal delivery.







Distress Markers/Inspired by Asia

Before I sat down to work on my friend Lori's (no, not Lori of I Been Thinkin' 'Bout Inkin' fame; another Lori) Asian inspired journal, I decided to head over to Linda's blog to check out this week's Compendium of Curiosities 2 challenge.  As luck would have it, the technique (on page 50 of Tim's book) coincided with my plans for the journal.

It's all about distress markers this week; using them for coloring, using them for stamping.  Here is the page where I used them on just about everything:

 

The kimono (a Judikins stamp I've had forever) was stamped on Ranger's specialty paper.  I used embossing ink and black powder.  I like to emboss the outline of a stamp I plan to color; the embossing helps keep each color from straying into other areas.  The color palette used:  tattered rose, worn lipstick, scattered straw, shabby shutters, crushed olive, and wild honey.

 

You can also see those colors in the background, which is layered.  I started with paper run through a Cuttlebug folder (from their Asian set).  I highlighted the raised areas with worn lipstick and shabby shutters, which came out way too bright.  So I covered the whole thing with tissue paper.  That helped a little, but not enough, so I then dry brushed some gesso until I got the look I was after.  Then the bamboo leaves (a Stampin' Up stamp) were applied around the edges and colored with crushed olive.

 

The kimono was attached with pop dots to paper that had been embossed with another folder from that Cuttlebug set, colored with worn lipstick (and then some vintage photo to tone that down), then sprayed with Perfect Pearls Mists in forever red for a little sparkle.  Here's a closer look at the kimono:

 

 

 

This is what the two page spread looks like.  The background for the other page is similar.  Bits of joss paper were applied and covered with dry brushed gesso to soften the bright colors.

 

 

 

The photos on the bottom came from an old Japanese catalog, given to me by my friend Kyoko on the last Tim Holtz cruise.  I've made great use of that gift in this particular journal group.  And by the way, the bits of color in those photos came from.....you guessed it.....distress markers.

 

 

 

I haven't said it lately, but thanks to Linda for hosting these challenges; they always inspire me.  And if that isn't motivation enough, this week Linda is going to randomly select a participant to receive a gift, courtesy of Mario and Tim.







 



Tagathon, and more

I've been in a tag making mood this week.  Normally, when it comes to challenges I like to try to qualify for as many as possible with one piece, but for some reason, this week was different.

Tim's June tag for The 12 Tags of 2012 featured the technique of tinting photos with distress markers.  You can see his tag HERE.  My take is oddly romantic and feminine, a departure from my usual style.  Hey, I sit down and something inside me tells me what colors to grab and I take it from there.  My motto (well, one of many) is don't argue with the muse.  The muse doesn't like that and will retaliate by leaving you. 

The image I chose to tint is one I found ages ago on the internet.  The stamps are from a set by Darcie's that I've had for a while and never used. 

Over at the Everything Wendy Vecchi yahoo group, the current challenge is based on the piece on page 28 of Wendy's third book.  The deal is, create something that contains three circles and two hearts (and of course, at least one of Wendy's stamps).  I hope Lori meant AT LEAST three circles and not JUST three circles because I went a little circle happy.

The large circles in the background were done with a Crafter's Workshop stencil and a Dylusions spray, but everything else is a Wendy stamp.  In addition to the stamping, I punched several holes in the tag and then backed the tag with green paper.  Some of the circles were outlined with a black glaze pen, and some were also filled with glossy accents.  The hearts were accented with a white gel pen.

My third tag of the week is for the Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge, and the theme is texture. 

The tag itself has texture from a Cuttlebug embossing folder called clockworks.  Some antique linen distress crackle paint was applied kind of randomly on the right side and bottom of the tag for another kind of texture.  The gears were cut with Tim's steampunk on the edge die from a scrap of black cardstock that already had some embossing on it.....more texture.  The wire strung with tiny springs and fastened with the little staples in the tiny attacher is yet another layer of texture.  The small tag on the top (actually part of the packaging from grungeboard sets) has a suede feel to it, so more texture.  And last of all, the man (a Wendy stamp) was highlighted with both white and black glaze pens for even more.

That's it for the tags.  Remember my beaded cuff bracelet?  Sure you do.  If not, here it is again.

The other thing I was busy with this week was figuring out how to make a pair of beaded cabachon earrings.  I didn't have any pattern or directions to follow, and really winged it on the edging, but all in all, I think they're wearable.  I had planned to add some dangly things, but ran out of steam.  Well, I CAN go back and do that someday.

I just realized that I have no tag for the current Compendium of Curiosities 2 challenge.  Now, how did I miss that????  

OMG, A Non-Cruise Post!!

Grungy Monday #22 - A Tim Inspired Halloween

and

Simon Says Stamp and Show Something With Wings

I was so happy to see Grungy Monday reappear, and lucky for me, I was able to create something that also works for the Simon Says challenge this week.

I'm not much of a Halloween person, but I know plenty of people who are, so this tag will be headin' out sometime soon.

The base is a black Ranger tag which was embossed with Cuttlebug's spiderweb folder.  Embossing ink was swiped over the raised parts and then brushed with copper and grape Perfect Pearls.  The top of the tag (where there was no embossing, is covered with some of Tim's Halloween tissue tape.

The bird is from Tim's Raven/Scaredy Cat die.  It was cut from grungeboard, inked with black embossing ink and covered with black embossing powder.  Then it got a coat of rock candy crackle paint.  When I went to finish drying it with my heat tool it did some crazy bubbling, but I'm going to say it was deliberate because I like the texture.  (But it really was a happy accident).

Behind the bird are both sizes of the mini rosette die. They were cut from some Cosmo Cricket Halloween paper that I've had for about two years.  The Happy Halloween ticket is hanging from a bit of ribbon behind the raven.

OK, I think I'm done with spiders and black cats and ravens and witches.  Bring on Santa!

Grungy Monday and Showin' Some Metal

Today's challenges:   Grungy Monday #12 refers back to a technique Tim demoed in April of 2008.  Click HERE to see it from the man himself.  Click HERE to see what Linda L. and her guest designers did for the challenge.   Over at Simon Says Stamp and Show.....the show part is metal.  Click HERE to go to that blog and see all the projects the team did.  The third challenge, a personal one, was to create something that strikes fear in the heart of most card makers.....a masculine card.  I think I've scored a threefer here:

The background, which is the technique from Tim's blog, was done on the vintage license plate paper from Lost and Found.  I used Wendy's houndstooth background stamp and Ranger's hazelnut paint dabber.  

Metal shows up in two places.  First Ten Seconds Studio rock star black metal was embossed with a Cuttlebug folder.....a houndstooth design to echo the background stamp.  It was then cut with Tim's Hanging Sign die.  You'll notice that I trimmed the hanger part to fit this somewhat smaller than standard card.  The metal was lightly sanded and then rubbed with archival ink in sepia.  Some leftover bits of chain connect the sign to the hanger.  The other metal comes from the brads in the four corners....they are actually very glittery, and come from Stampin' Up.

Speaking of SU, I used a punch of theirs that is a very similar shape to the hanging sign to cut the cardstock that the birthday greeting (also from SU) is on.

BTW, the background technique is one of my favorites.  Although I used a really nice looking paper to stamp on, what I love about this technique is how it can totally transform the appearance of patterned paper you don't much care for, turning it into something special.  Try it.



Bling It On

Yesterday, Lori (intrepid leader of the group of Wendy Vecchians known as EWV, or....Everything Wendy Vecchi) announced this week's MakingArt! challenge.  It is based on the card on page 14 of Wendy's second book, and besides using a Wendy stamp, the only requirement is that you add some bling. 

Well, artsy chick was still on my work table, so I thought I'd use her yet again.  I also went with a card and blinging it up was no hardship.

I had a few drops of paint on my palette from another project, and rather than waste them, I sponged them on a piece of white cardstock, and this became my background. 

Using some tape right on the stamp, I masked off the flower that is usually on her head before inking it. (Don't forget to remove the inky tape before stamping.  Sounds obvious, but oh so easy to skip this crucial step).  Black archival ink was used.

The crown was done with a Cuttlebug die/embossing folder duo on a piece of paper with a metallic finish.  Some crystals finished the bling portion of the crown.  I mounted this piece on black cardstock for the card base, then added the sentiment (from Wendy's Regal Art set).  When it comes to bling, sometimes less is more and sometimes more is FABULOUS.  So I continued with some gold German scrap around the perimeter of the card.

I'm thinking this may be a birthday card, and inside it will say something like,  "may you be treated royally on your special day."  Unless something more clever hits me.



Show Me A Word

Well, that's what Simon Says this week....show me a word.  My piece is doing double duty for a change, as it is also my entry in challenge #5 at the Wendy Vecchi group.

And (drumroll, please) my word is...............QUEEN.  No, not a tribute to Freddie Mercury, but a fine little sign to place on the door of the studio, don't you think?

All of the stamps are Wendy's and the torso is one of her fab new art parts, which I painted white, dried, colored with broken china distress stain (LOVE Tim's new stains!), then covered with one of Wendy's backgrounds (using black archival ink).

Challenge #6 at EWV is to use only one of Wendy's sets on a tag.  I chose Fashion Style and Art, because I love the little stamps of clothing, and this is what I came up with:

First I used three Cuttlebug border embossing folders to create the tiny buttons and stitching you see in the background.  Then several blue and green distress inks, using Tim's wrinkle-free distress technique.  Sanded the embossing a bit and then darkened it with chipped sapphire.   In between the "stitching", mostly hidden by the dress, are two of the text stamps from that set.  The dress itself was stamped on a scrap of paper I found on my work table.  I made the hanger from black wire and it is hanging on one of Tim's hitch fasteners.  Find your style is stamped on a bit of ribbon.   I finished it off with some real buttons and on top, a bit of an old cloth ruler and a trinket pin.

And, speaking of challenges, in less than a week, a new one begins at StudioL3.  Just click on the logo on my sidebar for the scoop on that one.  Can't wait! 





Showing Some Love With Painted Metal

Wow, it's getting harder and harder to be clever combining the weekly challenges into a snappy blog title. 

So, the Compendium of Curiosities challenge is Tim's altered metal with paint technique, and over at Simon Says Stamp and Show, the topic is LOVE.  That's it.  Just  LOVE. 

If you read my pal Lori's blog (she's on the Simon Says design team) you know that she struggled with the topic.  We share the same aversion to things that are too pink, too girly, too lovey dovey.  But I think I managed to circumvent all that with my own interpretation of the theme.   But enough about that.  Here's my piece.....a mini magnet board with an altered metal with paint frame.  The purpose of this board, which sits on an easel, is to hold your love letters and other expressions of adoration.  See how I managed to make it fit the theme?  I'm not sure how Director Linda E. and Co. will feel about it, but I say it does.  That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it.

The frame measures 5"x7" and I used Ten Seconds Studio rock star black metal to make it.  It was cut and embossed with a stunning Cuttlebug folder called Brocade Window.  I glued it onto a piece of magnet board, and then attached the whole thing to chipboard (covered with nice paper so the back looks finished).

Here's a bit of a close up so you can see how cool the paint looks on the metal:

                                                       
The paint I used for the technique is Lake Mist (an Adirondack paint dabber).  I also used the technique on the little binder clip, the word sticks, and the embossed heart (also TSS metal), though on those I used Snow Cap and Red Pepper dabbers.

Oh, and to answer your unasked question, yes, there is an actual love letter in that tiny envelope.  Yep.  Sure is.  Prove otherwise.

And, if you haven't already visited my OWOH blog post, please do, leave a comment and maybe win something.  And that does it for the self  promotion portion of this program.  LOL!  (If I have a mission in this stage of my life, it's a two-fold one.  First, to not take myself too seriously, and second, to encourage the same in everyone else).



All (Well, Some) About Me, and a Sketchbook Project Request

It's snowing again.  As much as I love to look at the stuff, living with it in NY is not for the weak.  I have no idea why we have so much trouble with it; it's not like we don't know we'll get some every winter.  Our mayor is in trouble with the public after last week's blizzard, and he promises to be out there with his shovel today.   But, I digress.....

I'm in a tag swap where I'm to create a tag that showcases me, who I am, my personality.  Tall order.  My problem wasn't what to include, but more, what to omit.  Don't want the tag to be too busy now, do we?  Anyway......what I decided on, was to include some photos that tell a bit about me, (BIG thanks to Lori who helped me out with this idea) to include some embossing, since I love the look, and most definitely to include a bit of machine stitching, since I am very proud of my new found ability to thread and then actually use, a sewing machine.  Because of my recent eye surgeries, I also needed to say something about that (without actually saying anything about it at all), and I'm pretty sure I managed to do so.  And no work about me would be complete if I didn't include Tim. I'm quite sure he can talk about himself without a nod to me, but the reverse is not true.  So, before I put you to sleep with all this blah blah blah......

The embossing folder is Clockworks from Cuttlebug.  First I sprayed the tag with lettuce color wash and heirloom gold perfect pearls mist, blotted it with a paper towel, and when dry, highlighted the raised areas with  walnut stain distress ink. 

The eyeglasses are a rub-on recently snagged in the 50c bin at Michael's.  I cut the filmstrip with Tim's die, just using some random pieces of scrapbook paper.  In the strips:  Tim and I on the Mexico cruise, me on a boat approaching the Statue of Liberty (which didn't fit in the frame),  me, all dressed up with my finest devil horns, Halloween '09, at my friend Heidi's place, and finally, Pat and I, artfully sketched by Pat herself,  from the sign adorning our cabin door on last year's cruise to Canada and New England.  (And notice the near perfect zig zag stitching on the left.  Gratuitious, I admit, but I needed to showcase my enviable sewing skills).

I used a fragment charm for the ribbon embellishment.  That's a Red Lead stamp on a scrap of Tim's paper.   As for the tickets on the bottom.....the top one is from the Lost and Found salvage stickers pack.  The bottom one I did on the computer (with the fabulous bleeding cowboys font), then cut out and distressed.  Both are stapled with Tim's tiny attacher.

And now, for my request....many of you are participating in The Sketchbook Project, (the link is one my sidebar if you'd like more information) and I've read several comments on blogs and in groups, that some of you are sad that you won't be able to see any of the books in person.  Well, I'd like to be your representative in NYC.  I plan to visit the library in Brooklyn when the tour begins, and I'd love to pick up your book, hold it in my hands and enjoy each and every page.  If photography is allowed, I'll take pictures too.  So, if you're reading this, and you're in the project, please email me with whatever information will help be locate your book amongst the 28,000+ others that will be on display.  I'm thinking, your name, the name of your theme, and the ID number we were given will be all I'll need.   Please click on the "email me" logo on my sidebar and send this information so I don't miss your book.  Thanks!



The 12 Tags of Christmas -- Day 10

I know you've heard this from me before, but I LOVE today's tag.  It may be my favorite one so far.  (Subject to change upon viewing tomorrow's tag.)

The major technique is cutting a tag shape from scrap plastic and then embossing it.  That piece is put on top of the actual tag and it is such a wonderful look.  For Christmas, using the snowflakes folder and with the snowman underneath, it is almost magical.

Tim cut his snowman from grungeboard using his snowman die.  I don't have that (hard to believe, but I really don't own everything Tim has ever created).  Here's how I adapted:

I do have the snowman stamp, and what I did was use a light colored marker to go around the outline of it only (not touching the snowflake decoration on the body), stamping it on grungeboard and cutting it out.   The stamp doesn't have quite the same arms, so I cut those out freehand.  After that, I just followed Tim's directions on painting, distressing and assembling the snowman.  Since the stamp is much smaller than the die, I made a further adjustment so the snowman wouldn't look lost on the tag.  Instead of stamping the sentiment ON the snowman, I did it separately and placed it underneath.

I think my favorite part is the way the scarf comes out from behind the plastic. 

For my Wendified version, I once again used that flower/pumpkin stamp to create two ornaments and glitzed them up with stickles. 

The "strings" from which they hang were done with gold embossing powder, after drawing them with a versamark pen.  Danglies on the bottom and little bows on the top finish off the ornaments.

Instead of the snowflake embossing folder, I used a Cuttlebug one called Victoria.  It felt much more Wendy to me.  I also substituted
Stampin' Up's glimmer brads in black for the regular brad and washer that Tim used (and that I also used on the first tag) as a way to put the two pieces together.

Now, aren't you glad you've been saving your plastic packaging material?





The 12 Tags of Christmas -- Day 7

A Tale of Two Sticky Back Canvas Flowers

The focal point of Tim's Day 7 tag is a very beautiful poinsettia that he made from Claudine Hellmuth's sticky back canvas.  Beautiful AND labor intensive.  Made even more so for me by a broken hot glue gun.  Oh, this would have gone so much faster with that tool.  But enough whining.

The real star of this tag, though, for me, technique junkie that I am, is what Tim did with his embossing folder.  He inked the folder itself (the side that would be considered the bottom or back), placed the tag in face down and embossed.  What happens is, the color of the ink winds up in the debossed areas instead of the raised areas.  So then you can swipe some color on those parts without affecting the first color.   Clear as mud?   Please visit Tim's blog for the details.  (Actually there is a YouTube video on Tim's blog post from yesterday that explains this technique).

I did make the poinsettia for my Tim tag; I couldn't resist.  There will be something else, however, on my Wendy tag. (If this is your first visit, here, well WELCOME, and to explain, some of we Wendy Vecchi fans are attempting to not only do a Tim tag each day, but also using Tim's techniques as a jumping off point, we're creating tags using the stamps and style of  Wendy ).

So, here is my version:



Tim used his woodgrain folder.  I chose a Cuttlebug folder called holly ribbons.  I inked it with fired brick, which created the red background, and after embossing, used the blending tool to get the pine needles on the raised areas.  Pretty cool, huh?

Tim applied rock candy distress stickles all over his embossed background.  That's great to do when you want to blend the colors you've used, as the stickles will reactivate the inks and move them around.  Not such a good idea if you want to keep the colors separate, as I did, so I eliminated that step.

As I complained mentioned before, no hot glue gun, so I used glossy accents to adhere my poinsettia leaves.  It works, of course, but not nearly as quickly and efficiently as hot glue would have.  I also wound up positioning the flower a bit too high on the tag, so instead of attaching anything to the top, I hung my type charm from a little length of chain in the middle. 

The grungeboard word I  used is different, and I colored my flourishes differently as well. 

My opinion:  the poinsettia is a little cock-eyed but all in all, I'm happy with the tag.

My Wendy version:

Yikes!  My color is a little off.  The word JOY sure looks purple.  It isn't.  It was inked with aged mahogany, so it's really a reddish brown.

The embossing folder I chose here is from Stampin' Up and is called petals-a-plenty.  I've always liked this folder for Christmas projects;  though I'm sure it wasn't meant to be a holiday folder, to me, the flowers resemble little poinsettias, especially if colored the right way.   I inked the folder with worn lipstick, then after embossing, applied peeled paint to the raised areas.

Tim's tattered florals die was used again, but instead of making a poinsettia (once was really enough without a working hot glue gun), I stamped the pieces with some of Wendy's background stamps, curled the petals and put them all together to create the flower (and I used the leftover flower from the Tim tag).
Wendy's stamps were also used on the leaves and flourishes.

Seven down, five to go.  And enough new techniques to last for a good long time.  Thanks,Tim!



Feelin' The Spirit....

......the Halloween spirit, that is.   I've been busy getting things done, including some not due for a month.  Want to leave on the cruise (which is in TWO WEEKS!!!!) with nothing on the to-do list.
I'm in a tag swap where the theme is Halloween, and the material that must be used is metal.  Here's what I came up with:

And for the blow-by-blow.....ran the tags through the cuttlebut spiderweb folder, added some spiced marmalade and black soot ink.

Cut the fence from balsa wood with a sizzix die, inked the pieces with vintage photo and black soot.

The bat is from Tim's Retro Halloween set.  He's done with black embossing powder and then some mustard seed ink.  Some champagne stickles on his eyes finish him off.  And he's on two layers of foam to give him a little lift.

The pumpkin is where the metal appears.  I punched three ovals for each one, using spiced rum (the color, not the drink) metal from Ten Seconds Studio.  I used one of their tiny wheels to create a little dimension, and the stem is some green craft wire.  Then I just wrote "boo" on the fence post.

Four Tags, Six Canvases and Two Journal Pages

Had to do some tags with a wedding theme, and decided to use the Graphic 45 Romantique papers I've been hoarding saving.  Except for the bride image in the scallop circles, they're all the same, and here's a closer look at one:

I ran some Core'dinations paper (dark brown with a coral core) through my Big Kick, using a new SU! embossing folder called Vintage Wallpaper.  Very pretty.  Sanded the raised areas.  The bow on top is one of those bright brassy cheapo charms, and I toned them down with some shell pink and espresso alcohol inks,  The little bride and groom image inside the oval charm blank is from the Graphic 45 pad, and I covered it with glossy accents. 

I punched the bride image using the SU! scallop circle punch, and layered it with foam dots on top of two more scallops, these punched with the new SU 2 3/8" scallop circle punch.

The sentiment is from Wendy Vecchi's Homemade Art set, and I stamped it on the coral side of some Core'dinations scraps.

One of the swaps I recently joined is a 5x7" canvas swap at ATT.  I have to make 6, and Sharona, the host, will assemble collages for all participants, similar to the chaos swap.....except that all the canvases are the same size and done in landscape orientation.  I started working on this a while ago, and finished this past weekend.  

I love these collaborative projects, and tried to include many techniques and products in my creations.

The background is a collage of dictionary pages, lightly inked.  The large label was cut from grungepaper, using Tim's Styled Labels die.  There are two designs on the die, and I used them both.  I inked the labels with vintage photo distress ink, covered them with vintage photo embossing powder, and heat set.  Then, to add a little patina, I dabbed the pieces randomly with the distress embossing ink pad, drizzled some Ranger verdigris embossing powder from the Antiquities line over top, tapped off the excess, and re-heated the piece.

I topped it with a keyhole (with a tiny picture under the hole).  The label isn't really attached to the canvas with those tiny staples (I used sticky tape); they're just there for effect.

Over to the right....grungepaper border cut with Tim's Brackets on the edge die, embossed with Diamonds in the Rough Cuttlebug embossing folder, and inked with wild honey  and vintage photo distress inks. Next to it, a strip from one of Tim's Lost and Found papers.

Other embellishments:  two tiny bottles wrapped together with wire and decorated with a resistor, attached with sticky tape.  A key given a rust treatment with distress ink and distress embossing powder, and another key from my stash.

The leaves are cut from Tim's Regal Crest die....I just cut them apart into different lengths.

Under the four fragments on the bottom are elements from Lost and Found again, except for the largest fragment, which covers the eye from Tim's Oddities stamp set.

Finished it off with a corner in the upper left hand......well, corner!

Oh, and I attached a bit of chain underneath the large label.  I thought I'd have a charm dangling from it, but I think I'm going to just leave it as is.

My Frida Kahlo journal group got off to an on-time start, and the first one I received was Elena's.  I have a month to complete her pages and send it on, but as sometimes happens, I had an idea, and ran with it.  I've found when I don't do that, I usually just lose the whole thing.

I was thinking about the haphazard way we sometimes save the little bits and pieces that we call memorabilia. Some are stuck into a picture frame or around the edges of a mirror.  Some are in a box, maybe a vintage cigar box, and we open it up, we see a collage of photos, ticket stubs, dried flowers, postcards, documents.  I wanted the pages I did for Elena to have that look.  Here is my two page spread:

And each page separately: