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.



Blended Stains

Blended stains:  not a weird laundry problem, but this week's technique featured in Linda's Compendium of Curiosities 2 challenge.  Turn to page 45 in Tim's C of C 2 book and try it yourself.  It's easy, and it results in a very pretty background.  And this week all entries are eligible for a $25 gift certificate from the lovely peeps at Simon Says Stamp.

Although I did follow Tim's directions, I added one of the new metallic stains to the mix (antiqued bronze), and love the bit of shimmer it gives.  I'm not sure just how much of the background you can see once I finished embellishing it with stamps, rub-ons and flowers, but here is my piece, a 4x4 card for the birthday club I'm in:

 

 

The main image is one of my new purchases, a Dina Wakley stamp called Grungy Silhouette, stamped in black archival ink.  On the left, in sepia archival ink, the blueprint stamp from Tim's steampunk set.  On the right, stamped vertically, also in sepia,  bits of an old French script Stampin' Up stamp.

 

Both the stitching and the birthday greeting are rub-ons from K&Company.

 

The flowers, leaves and stem are Prima, and I added the tiny pearls around the head and the somewhat larger ones in the center of the bouquet for a little bling.  It felt like something was missing, and that's how the brown lace made an appearance.



Getting To The Core

I've missed the last few Compendium of Curiosities 2 challenges (insert sad face here), but with a day to spare, I did complete a piece for the current one. Yea for me. Click here for all the details on Linda's blog.

This week the technique is Creative Core'dinations, found on page 61 of Tim's book.

My piece is a 4x4, and though it lacks a sentiment at the moment, it will be a birthday greeting.




I'm in a birthday card club and we've decided to do 4x4s so that the recipients can create a little book when their birthday is over. We did that in another group last year and it was a great success, resulting in a wonderful memento.

Join in, why don't you? There is even a chance to win a gift certificate from SimonSaysStamp!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

A New Challenge and A Sentimental Piece

Keeping my fingers crossed that google/blogger is finished messing with my photos.  I knew I enjoyed having a blog, but I had no idea how much it meant to me until I discovered all my photos gone and replaced with those hideous icons.  But enough about me and my technology woes.  This post is about a piece that means a lot to me.

Linda Ledbetter, the lovely lady behind the Compendium of Curiosities challenges directed us to page 35 of Tim's second book, and the pocket watch technique.  We did a pocket watch pendant on the last cruise, and I even taught a class on it last year.  I had several extra watches, and an idea I've had for some time.  After my mom moved back north to be closer to us, my brother and I went to her Florida condo to clear it out of personal stuff and ready it for rental or sale.  I wound up with lots and lots of photos and other memorabilia.  I've wanted to do a shrine project for the longest time, and with Father's Day approaching, decided to make my dad the focus.  He's been gone for going on 19 years, but hardly a day goes by that I'm not reminded of him by something I see or hear.

The shrine was created using pieces from two of Wendy Vecchi's art parts packs, artful shrines and scallop trim.  The pieces were colored with walnut stain distress stain, then covered with rock candy crackle paint.  Except for the scallop trim, which is barely visible.  That was covered with irregular dabs of old paper crackle paint. It's the second shelf that the hankerchief and belt buckle are resting on.  For the background I chose the vintage subway sign paper from one of Tim's paper stacks.  It has Brooklyn subway stops, and since my family is from Brooklyn I thought it appropriate. 

Inside the watch is a photo of my dad as a very happy 20-something.  In fact, the picture was taken on the Atlantic City boardwalk by my mom.  They were on their honeymoon, and the year was 1946. The ring inside is my dad's wedding ring.  Because the word 'memories' was raised up with foam, the ring is kind of trapped there and won't wander around the watch.  It's not glued down or altered in any way, and can easily be removed if I ever want to do that.  Beneath the watch is one of my dad's handkerchiefs.  I added the little car (a mini movers and shakers die) because I have fond memories of our early family cars.  The first I can recall was a Studebaker.  Am I dating myself or what?

Peeking behind the handkerchief is an Israeli coin.  I included it because that was a trip my parents very much enjoyed, and was probably the last big vacation they went on before my dad got too sick to stray very far from home.  The belt buckle with his initials was attached with a bit of wire, so it too was in no way damaged or altered.  The little NYS license plate is actually just paper, again from one of Tim's paper stacks.  It was covered with a bit of glossy accents and four tiny brads were added to look like the screws that attach plates to cars.

I attached Tim's easel die cut to the back so the piece would stand, but I was worried that because of the heaviness of some of the embellishements that it might tip over.  I thought about what I could add to the bottom of the easel to give it more stability, and came up with what I think is a pretty clever solution.

Can you guess what those two discs are?  Super strong (and weighty) magnets!  Their attraction to each other keeps them in place, and they really do a great job of preventing any toppling.  By the way, I cut the easel from very thick cardboard, reinforced all the folds with tape, then covered it all with gesso and then stain.  It was attached to the shrine with very strong adhesive, so I'm pretty confident about its durability.

If you're inclined to participate in this challenge, an extra bonus (besides just creating something) is that Simon Says Stamp will be given away a $25 gift certificate to a randomly chosen entrant.

Happy Father's Day, dad.  I miss you!

Compendium of Curiosities 2 Challenge Begins!

Everyone who loved participating in the first Compendium of Curiosities Challenge (me! me!) was thrilled when Linda announced that with the publication of CC Volume 2 there would be a new series of challenges on her blog.  Finally, that day has come.  Click HERE to get the total scoop from Linda herself.  And, if you don't already own Tim's new book, click HERE to get your own autographed copy.  And just in case you recently returned from a lengthy alien abduction, click HERE to find out more about Tim.

The first challenge is to make a custom foam stamp and then use in on a project.The directions can be found on page 66.  I made a stamp from Tim's Townscape on-the-edge die, and used it to decorate a small unfinished wooded frame.

After a coat of gesso on the unfinished wood dried, I colored it with distress stains.  I used peeled paint and broken china.  I stamped the townscape foam stamp with black paint, then colored in the windows with distress markers (mustard seed and spiced marmalade).

In the tiny opening of the frame you'll see two separate Wendy Vecchi stamps (from her Homemade Art set) that I combined together.  The house is part of a much larger stamp, and in the original has writing inside the house.  Using painter's tape, I masked off the writing and the rest of the stamp, leaving only the house with nothing inside.  In that same set is the sentiment, which fits neatly inside the little house.  Random luck?  I think not.  Wendy is just too good about creating stamps that fit well together for me to believe in coincidences.

I used Ranger's black archival ink for the stamping, and Tim's distress markers for the coloring.  Now, if only someone I know would move into a new home I have the perfect gift.

The generous folks over at Simon Says Stamp are going to be giving away a $25 gift certificate to a randomly chosen participant, so what are you waiting for?  It's time to make a foam stamp.