House Rules

Last year, while working on a totally unrelated project, I cut some extras from Tim Holtz's Artful Dwellings die.  I was playing around with them, and put them together to create a little three dimensional birdhouse.  And there it sat, always on or near my work table in it's unfinished state.  Until this week, when Simon Says Stamp and Show announced their latest challenge......house rules. Create a house, alter a house, stamp a house, do anything related to a house.  Also, on the Wendy Vecchi yahoo group we have an ongoing challenge to use Wendy's products on a holiday project, so this qualifies for that as well.

I'm happy I waited a year because now I have Wendy Vecchi's yummy embossing paste and Tim's equally yummy rock candy dry glitter, and I used  both to make the snow.

 

I love the texture of the embossing paste and the sparkle that the dry glitter adds.  The shingled roof was made from strips of different shades of brown cardstock.

 

 

 

The house was covered with some of Tim's tissue wrap, which was distressed with a few brown distress inks.  Before assembling, I cut the circle on the front piece and attached a stick (it goes through the opening and is glued to the back wall) to form the perch. 

 

The bird, the nest, the wreath and the pinecones were all found in various places that specialize in scaled down objects for doll houses.  That bird, by the way, was a horrid purple color, but a tiny bit of paint fixed that problem.

 

 

 

This is a bit blurry, but it's the only photo I have that shows what's in the bird's nest (besides the bird, of course).

 

 

Yep, my faux cardinal is sitting on some faux eggs.  Never toss your broken jewelry is all I'm saying.









A.R.T. - Altered, Riveted, Taped

I've had this paper mache mannequin for years, and it has been on my never ending list of things to be altered.  Yesterday it finally made it off the list.  Thanks to Linda's Compendium of Curiosities 2 challenge.  We're working this week on Tim's riveted patchwork technique, which is not only on page 57 of his CofC2 book, but is also the featured technique on his September tag.  Linda said we could use our tag for this challenge, but I decided to try in on the mannequin instead.

As luck would have it, the challenge over at Simon Says Stamp and Show is.....tape.  Now, it says quite clearly on the label that the Ranger product I used is a foil TAPE sheet.  The caps are mine, but you get the point.  They say it's tape, who am I do disagree?  So, my piece will also be an entry there.

Before I show you my A.R.T. (Altered, Riveted, Taped....aren't I clever? LOL) let me just say that as a complete amateur at photography, taking a decent picture of  a shiny piece is just ridiculous.  And by the way, any pink you see is not in the piece, but a reflection of the blouse I'm wearing.  Ridiculous.

 

 

I enhanced (?) her lady parts with some of Tim's idea-ology pieces, and she is wearing a necklace (dangling off her back) I made some years back on a Tim cruise.  I think she'll look nice on my dresser showing off a favorite necklace (or two).

 

Why not join in the challenges?  At Linda's the possible reward is a gift certificate thanks to The Funkie Junkie.  And as always, the Simon Says site will be giving away one from their shop.



Artist's Choice

I'm in a small online group for sharing art, sometimes trading, and just hanging out with like minded people.  Membership is by invitation only, and not to sound snobbish, the point was to gather together some folks who have a good track record for quality work and responsible swapping.  Since we're not affiliated with any person, product, or store we're free to create whatever we want without constraints.  All we've agreed to is to always do our best work.

After a couple of weeks of getting to know one another, we've embarked on our first swap, and made it a simple one.  A tag.  Any theme.  Anything goes.  Artist's choice.  Works for me!

I actually completed my tag long before I knew who I'd be sending it to.  As it turns out, I'm mailing it to one of my cruise pals, Stephanie.  So, Steph, if you need to be surprised, stop now and go away!

I feel like this tag is a good example of my true style.  A little bit of grunge, a little bit of steampunk, a little bit of humor,  and a whole lot of texture and layering.

The background was done with lots of sprays, inks, paints, and stencils.  I'm not sure if it shows up in the photos, but I applied some light modeling paste through the harlequin stencil to raise it up and add some texture.

Hanging out around the clock, (Tim Holtz's weathered clock die) some stenciled people.

Does that little guy hanging onto the clock for dear life look familiar?

Well, he started out in life as a Wendy Vecchi stamp (from the gentlemen art set), about 4" high.  He was just what I wanted, but obviously way too big.  I stamped him, scanned the image and reduced it in size.  He was cut out, then completely covered with black ink, followed by a coat of glossy accents. 

Instead of using the usual clock hands I used two old keys, a rusty washer and a beat up brad.

And, since this week's Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge is 'anything goes,' I guess I have another twofer.







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????  

Two Projects, Three Challenges, and a Cool Technique

I know I said no more challenges or swaps until I finished some old projects, but I couldn't resist this month's tag in Tim's 12 Tags of 2012.  It features the beautiful faux porcelain technique, and it found me in the mood to haul out the melt pot.

I don't like copying Tim's tags exactly, so I just concentrate on the techniques, and my tag includes the faux porcelain flowers (I also used Primas, plus some others found in my stash), as well as the tissue paper background.  Instead of a spool, I placed my bouquet in one of Wendy Vecchi's art parts....the flower pot, which was gessoed, inked with the new peacock feathers distress ink, dusty concord and (also new) shaded lilac.  It was then stamped with one of Wendy's fab backgrounds with berry purple archival ink.

The sentiment is a Wendy stamp.  Next, a close up of the flowers.  The small ones started out purple, but the others were white, and I tinted them with two of the new distress inks.....shaded lilac and squeezed lemonade (which is a great yellow) before dipping them in the melted UTEE.  Please click on the link to Tim's blog (above) to see the step by step details for this technique.

Since digging out the melt pot and actually using it is not an everyday event around here, I wound up making way more flowers than I needed, so I thought this would be a great opportunity to participate in the current challenge over at the Wendy yahoo group.  The theme is ATCs and the only rule, other than sticking to the theme is to use at least one of Wendy's stamps.  I did that, and more, and also included more art parts than you'd think would fit on a 2 1/2 x 3 1/2" piece.

The scallops, leaves and vase are all art parts.  Actually the vase started out in life as the base for a lamp, but I easily sliced off the lampshade.  I used pretty much the same colors on it as I did on the flower pot and added a dusting of lemon sparkle perfect pearls (which goes so well with the touches of squeezed lemonade distress ink I used throughout the ATC. 

I tried faux porcelain flowers once before with less success.  The difference this time, I think, is that I really filled the melt pot with UTEE.  It works much better if you can actually submerge the flowers into the UTEE.  It still requires a little finesse, and Tim's blog has some helpful hints,.

As luck would have it, this week's challenge at Simon Says Stamp and Show is "anything goes."  So, I'm submitting the ATC there as well.

And now, back to working on some of my unfinished "masterpieces," LOL.

A Perfect Pair

What makes a perfect pair?  Well, today I'm talking about a Tim technique paired with some Wendy Vecchi stamps.  The current Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge is to make something featuring one of Tim's techniques.  I took one of my favorites from his online Creative Chemistry class...alcohol ink agates...and filled an entire 8 1/2 x 11" sheet with it.  I think if you're going to the trouble of doing a background, you may as well do it BIG and have lots on hand for future projects.  As I'm in need of a bunch of greeting cards, I cut the background up and used them for that purpose. 

Here is my entry for the challenge, a birthday card for my brother. Cards for men always give me pause, but Wendy's "serious" man (from the Serious Art set) works well.

Besides the "serious" stamp, I used the number background from Wendy's Dimensional Rose Art set, and the polka dots, which are also from the Seriously Art set.

Inside the card is the sentiment from Card Art Essentials, which you will see in the next card. 

Speaking of challenges, over at the Wendy yahoo group, our challenge is inspired by the piece on page 38 of Wendy's third book.  We're to do something that includes two eyes and a hand. 

The eyes come from the An Eye For Art set, and the hand is from Mail Art.  The sentiment you already know about; I've been using it a lot lately on my birthday cards.

Like I said before, I cut my original background into several pieces, and here are a few more cards.  These have no sentiments yet, though I did leave room on the bottoms for that.  You'll see the large weeds from Well Worn Art, the smaller ones from Botanical Art, and a swirly flower, also from Botanical Art.  Plus some twine and a little bling.

Oh, and I have to share something I discovered while making these cards.  I screwed up the stamping (archival ink, by the way) on one and really felt terrible about tossing it, so I tried something I'd never done before.  I swiped it with Stazon stamp cleaner and guess what?  It removed the archival ink but left the alcohol ink background untouched.  How cool is that?

One more card, not from the above group.  The background has distress inks, sprays, picket fence stain, patterned tissue paper, and some stamps by Wendy (those weeds again....love 'em! and the birthday sentiment too) and Tim (the splatter stamp from Urban Tapestry, and the curved floral spray from Fairy Tale Frenzy).







And you know what starts tomorrow.......can't wait......the first challenge from Tim's Compendium of Curiosities II.  Head on over to Linda Ledbetter's blog to get the scoop.

Creative Chemistry, A Simon Says Challenge, and The 12 Tags of 2012

I completed my tags for the final technique at Creative Chemistry 101.  It is one of the easiest, and yet most lovely backgrounds I've seen.  In fact, I did two tags; one with the distress inks that Tim used in his example, and one using archival inks, just to see the difference.  Apart from the colors, not that great a difference.  I was just wondering about how the distress inks would react when remoistened, but it wasn't a significant amount.  I like it both ways.

The one on the left was done with distress inks; the one on the right with archival inks.

I liked this technique so much, I used it on my entry in this week's Simon Says challenge....which is to make something using Wendy Vecchi's products and or style.  I need a few thank you cards, so made multiples of this one:

The background stamp is the beautiful lace from Wendy's Sentimental Art set.  The large weeds are from her Well Worn Art set, and the smaller ones are from the Botanical Art set.  The background was done with distress stains and inks, but the weeds were stamped with archival ink, so they would remain intact after the last part of the technique was applied.  Sorry!  You'll have to take Tim's class to get all those details.  The sentiment is an old and much used Stampin' Up stamp.

Now that we're in a new month, Tim posted his April tag for the 12 Tags of 2012 ongoing project.  Click here to see what he did and all the step by step instructions.  And here is my interpretation.  I followed the technique as given, but used different die cuts.  I also don't (yet) own any of those cool word bands, so I made my own with a scrap of thin metal, some rub-ons, and archival inks to give the metal a softer patina finish.

I've been keeping busy with all this stuff to avoid what I really should be doing.....my taxes.  Yikes!  I just can't get in the mood for that! 

So Many Challenges, So Little Time

I'm back from a blissful week cruising the Caribbean; I feel invigorated, but still haven't figured out how to squeeze an extra hour or two into the day.  So, when I get the opportunity to create something that can be used for more than one of my favorite challenges, I do jump at the chance.

Here's the rundown:    Grungy Monday 37 calls for wearable art
                                     Simon Says Stamp and Show.....idea-ology
                                     Tim's March edition of the 12 Tags of 2012 features a beautiful mosaic
                                          technique

Tim used his butterfly movers and shapers to create the mosaic; I went for the tattered florals.  He used Ranger's cement embossing powder from the Antiquities line; I used their ancient gold.  And I have a surprise.....the flowers on my tag are actually a pin that can be removed and worn.  My flowers are embellished with some idea-ology that has been colored with distress embossing powder (I used scattered straw, shabby shutters and worn lipstick), so I'm covered for all three challenges.  Wearable art, check.  Idea-ology, check.  Mosaic technique, check. 

Without further blah blah blah, here is my tag:

My background is a gorgeous Hero Arts stamp, lightly inked with tea dye distress ink.  Some antique linen was sponged on afterwards, followed by a spritz of pewter perfect pearls mist.  I wanted a very subtle background so that my pin would pop.

The sentiment is a Wendy Vecchi stamp and the stick pins are from Maya Road.  And here is a closer look at the pin.

Tip:  if you're trying the mosaic technique on very small shapes (like the smallest of the flowers), and therefore using very small bits of paper, you might find it a little difficult to precisely place the glossy accents on the paper only, and not the heat set embossing powder.  I just squeezed a blob of it on my craft sheet and used a small brush.  I didn't exactly brush it on; it was more like a gentle dabbing, but it got the glossy accents exactly where I wanted it, and it self leveled nicely.  BTW, I used a tie tack finding  to make the pin, and all three flowers were glued together with matte multi medium (held in place with small clamps until dry).

Oh, and this is completely off topic, but here are a few shots of Caribbean tranquility:

My Funny Valentine

Big announcement from Tim yesterday.....no more 12 Tags of Christmas (sigh....), but instead, the launch of the 12 Tags of 2012.  A new tag, chock full of techniques and step by step directions each month.  Starting with February, a Valentine's tag.

Not that I'm cynical about love, but whether I've been in or out of a relationship come February 14, it has just never been one of my favorite holidays.  But I couldn't resist the challenge, not to mention I had an idea to put a less than serious spin on things.

Tim's main technique involved the use of a specialty paper that results in a honeycomb (and very dimensional) image.  You have to click on the 12 Tags link above to see it.  Now, as much as I own in the way of supplies, this paper is not in my stash.  Somewhere in the back of my mind, however, was a vague memory of making homemade honeycomb paper with my kids way back when I was an elementary school teacher.  I did a quick google search and found this totally easy tutorial which is just the way I remember doing it.  Does it result in the exact same perfect honeycomb effect as the Inky Antics paper?  Of course not, but if you want to give it a try and are too impatient to wait until you can find the real thing, I don't think you'll be disappointed.  I'm not trying to take business away from Inky Antics, but not everyone has the means to buy every cool product, and besides, it's always nice to know your alternatives.

Before I go into details, this tag will be my entry for two challenges besides Tim's.

Grungy Monday #36 :  V-Day, Tim Holtz style.

Simon Says Stamp and Show :  anything goes

And by the way, both of the above challenges will have prizes sponsored by Simon Says Stamp.

I used Tim's paint resist technique with his Rock Star stamp, then used just about every shade of red distress ink over the entire tag.  The embossing you see on the top and right side was done with one of those skinny embossing folders from Sizzix.  Instead of the lace die for the bottom (which I don't have....and why is that?  Something else for the wish list), I used two Martha Steward border punches on Core'dinations whitewash paper.  I followed Tim's directions to make the heart with the tissue tape ruffled edge, and made the honeycomb heart following the tutorial directions I mentioned above.

When I saw cupid on Tim's blog, believe it or not, I was instantly reminded of the running man from Wendy Vecchi's Gentleman's Art stamp set (similar pose, no?), so I had him holding onto the heart,  and instead of covering him with red stickles, I used black diamond.

I used a plain old office date stamp for the one-day-too-late-for Valentine's-Day date, and right below it, the "oops" is from Wendy's Destination Art set.  The "I'm Late! I'm Late!" is from a Stamping Ground Alice in Wonderland set.

And I'm thinking this tag will go out in the mail to a friend who I know is also no great fan of V-Day, and won't mind a bit it's being late.



Cracked and Bricked

I'm happy to report that yesterday I managed to create a birthday card that is also OK for Grungy Monday Challenge 34, and the Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge.
The lovely Linda Ledbetter of GM, asked us to do something that incorporates Tim's crackle resist technique.  And over at Simon Says, we're to do a piece inspired by a song title.

I know this is not a card for everyone, but I'm pretty sure its recipient will like it.  It's grungy and graffiti inspired.

It started with black cardstock, which I embossed with Tim's bricked embossing folder.  I then applied a coat of antique linen distress crackle paint, thick in some areas, thin in others, just like Tim demonstrated in the video.  While the paint was still wet I removed some around the bricks so they'd be more recognizable as bricks.  Then I just sat and waited for the paint to dry and the crackling to begin.

I added some shreds of 7 Gypsies tissue paper to look like the remnants of posters on the wall.  Adhered them with Ranger's Glue N Seal and being tissue paper, they really did kind of "melt" into the wall.

The writing, deliberately wonky (well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it), was done by dabbing black paint through Tim's stencil type.

The shadow of the woman staring at the wall is actually a Wendy Vecchi stamp, from her Regal Art set.

As for the song title.....are you old enough to guess, LOL?  Well, it's Another Brick in the Wall, by Pink Floyd, released in 1979.  And now you have a pretty good idea of just how old I am!

Grungy Monday 31 -- Happy Birthday Tim!

Linda Ledbetter, the brains behind Grungy Monday came up with a real winner this week....this Saturday is Tim's birthday, so Linda's challenge is for us to use whatever Tim products/techniques we'd like and create a birthday card for Tim.  I actually did mine on Monday, even popped it in the mail for Tim yesterday morning, but today is the first chance I've had to post about it.

While I was at it, I noticed that the challenge over at Simon Says Stamp and Show is "something old, something new," and my card (and envelope) fit this challenge as well, so here we go with another twofer.

It's an easel card, and what you see peeking from beneath it is the envelope I made for it....which is what constitutes the "something old" part of the Simon Says challenge.  It was made from a sheet of vintage advertising, attached to some sturdy cardstock.  And it was part of a package of goodies sent to me by my good pal Nancy in Arizona.  (BTW, the "something new" is the distressed doily on the edge die I used to keep the easel open.....it was the very first time I used that die).

Here are some more shots of the card and some of the supplies I used.



The background paper, as well as the paper used on the triangles is from Tim's Lost and Found paper stack.  The letters that spell out FUN are Jenni Bowlin stickers, and they are attached to cardstock, placed inside blank brads (an old Stampin' Up product), and the whole thing covered with a layer of glossy accents.  I edged the triangles with some white paint so they'd show up better against the background, and they're glued to the string with glossy accents.



The filmstrip was cut from the filmstrip frames die.  Where did I get a stamp that says "Tim?"  Haha, I didn't.  It is actually a stamp from an Oxford Impressions set that says "Time."  I just covered the e with tape before inking, and voila!  A Tim stamp.   (As I take a bow for my cleverness, LOL).

And here is a better look at the envelope.  Although I used s a strong adhesive to seal everything, just to be on the safe side (and to add a bit of decoration) I used tissue tape around all the edges. 



Oh, and my message to Tim is above the doily where it can remain unseen while the easel card is displayed; one of the great benefits of this style of card. 

Only one last thing to say:  HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TIM!!!



Gearing Up For The Holidays

Last year I dawdled around for so long, my holiday cards mostly said Happy New Year.  I've got a decent head start this year, and feel like I'm on a roll.

What started me off was a play date I had with my pals Pat and Teri.

Good thing we are all able to create in chaos.  So many supplies, so little room.  We weren't making cards for ourselves, but Cards for the Troops.  Even with plenty of gabbing, coffee breaks and lunch out, we managed to get close to 30 cards done.

I was so inspired, I continued my card making over the next few days.  When I want to produce a quantity of cards that are not quite identical, what I'll do is cut a bunch of embellishments and other card elements (mats, borders, etc), lay them out in front of me and then do a mix and match thing.  Here are some cards from my "reindeer series" and all feature die cuts from Tim's Reindeer Flight Sizzix die.

I discovered that I didn't have any Christmas paper left, but I'm going to show you that doesn't really matter.  I took some scrapbook paper with colors that work for the season and stamped and embossed right over the patterns.  I then used a Stampin' Up ornament punch to create these cards.  I have a bag full of the ornaments, and tried different color embossing powders, so I'm ready to make at least a dozen or more of this style of card.

I only did one with Tim's snowman folder, but I'm sure I'll do more.

This week's challenge at Simon Says is to "show us a house."  Still in the holiday mind set, but wanting to do more than a card, I created this little decor item using Tim's Artful Dwellings Sizzix die, and a whole bunch of embossing folders to give each house a different look.  It stands up nicely by itself because I attached Tim's small easel die cut to the back.  By the way, the easel is way taller than my little village, but just so you know, you can really trim it a lot (I did!) and it still works perfectly.

First a photo of it lying on my table (so you can actually see the houses), then a darker photo of it standing up, and then a side shot so you can see the easel.

The snow is a combination of Liquid Pearls and glitter glass.  The smoke from the chimney is some twisted wire.  And I think I know someone who is going to receive it as a gift.

Now, back to card making......