The 12 Tags of 2013 AND a metal etching update

April really snuck up on me.  I had an idea for the March tag but before I knew it, April was upon us.  Click HERE to see what Tim did on his April tag.  It was all about the new metallic distress paints, which, sadly, I do not yet possess.  However, I do have some fluid acrylic metallics, and as their consistency is similar to the distress paints, I thought I'd give it a go.  And finally get something done on time!

Instead of working on a tag I did a birthday card on a coaster (4"x4"). 

The background directly on the coaster is from a gelli plate print.  Within that is the piece I did with one of Tim's techniques.....swiping paper through small amounts of distress paints, including a metallic.  Over that I stamped the butterfly from Tim's mini blueprint set, using black archival ink.

On Tim's tag (he used the full size dragonfly blueprint stamp), he added wings cut from Wendy Vecchi's Clearly For Art.  I stamped the little butterfly on a piece of CFA twice.  Once with black and once with magenta hue archival ink.  I wanted to see which I liked better, and decided to use both!  So I have a double set of wings.



For the body of the butterfly I used a pen nib and yet another technique for working with the distress paints......dabbing them directly onto metal.  I used pickled raspberry and a bit of the gold metallic paint I had on hand. 

The sentiment is one of Tim's word bands.  I covered it with peeled paint and broken china distress paint and then wiped the paint off, so that it settled into the letters.  It was then strung on a piece of narrow ribbon that I colored with some of the leftover paint (after misting the paint with water).

 

 

The back of the card is ready to be personalized.

 

 

 

The cupcake is from Tim's Birthday Blueprint set.  It was stamped on the same paper the front image was stamped on, cut out and adhered to plain cardstock that I inked with just about all the red/pink inks I own.   I went over the cupcake with different colors of distress markers, and I'm happy to report that the metallic shine from the underlying technique still comes through.  The little birthday greeting is a Stampin' Up stamp I've had forever.

 

In my last post I mentioned that I was working on a better closure for my little book with the etched metal covers.  Here it is!

 

 

 

And I added just a few more charms to the spine.

 

 

 

Hey, sometimes less is more, and sometimes (this time) more is better.



 









  

Follow Your Own Path

One of my most interesting collaborative journal groups is Artistic Evolution, in which each artist's pages must evolve in some way from the pages that came before.  What inspires the evolution is up to the artist and it can be anything; color, theme, image.  The other unique thing about this journal is that the pages step up and down in size, so bits of prior or later pages can be seen behind your own.  Makes for a fun creative challenge.

I've been working on Inge's book, and I am the next to last person to do so.  Which means I get to see all the glorious pages that came before.  Very cool. 

Inge's preferred colors are blues in the aqua/teal family, greens and purples.  The person who went before me was Elena, and her pages had some bird images and a quote: "you are right where you should be."  This is what her work inspired me to do:

 

 

Two of the birds (the second one on the left page and the one on the right page) were done by spreading fiber paste through a stencil.  The others were cut (using the same stencils as a template) from some papers left over from the Lynne Perrella/Anne Bagby workshop I did last May.  They were collages done on deli wrap paper.

 

I didn't plan this out ahead of time, but when I started attaching the birds, I realized that the one done with the fiber paste on the right page was the only one facing in that direction.  At first I thought I'd cut a few more from the collage to put on that page, also facing towards the left.  Then I had a little "aha" moment. The majority heading in one direction, but one going its own way.  So I left it as is, and that's how "follow your own path" evolved.

 

 

 

 

The background began by applying a crumbled decorative napkin (blue and green) to the chipboard substrate, then adding MANY stencil designs using regular acrylics, metallic paint, and fluid acrylics.  There is also quite a bit of splattering.

 

The decorative edge you see on the right page was cut from cardboard using Tim Holtz's Distressed Doily die.  It was colored with blue and green ink, covered with clear embossing powder and heat set.  Afterwards some french script was stamped across it with deep purple archival ink.

 

The letters are actually Heidi Swapp rub-ons, and I love the fact that they are already distressed looking, so I didn't have to mess with them too much to make them look like they aren't rub-ons.  I did ink over them a little so they aren't as starkly white as they started out.

 

Just one more person to do their thing and this beauty of a book will head back to Inge in Belgium!

 





Great Technique From Wendy Vecchi

Wendy Vecchi is an artist/designer I really admire for many reasons, not the least of which is how she is always coming up with new ways to use the supplies I already own.  Check out her video here for a great technique involving white pigment ink, distress inks, stains, and markers, and black paper.

Meanwhile, over at the EWV (Everything Wendy Vecchi for those who don't know) yahoo group, list mom  (and my good friend) Lori  has been motivating us with various challenges for quite some time, and the current challenge is to use the technique that Wendy demonstrates in the video.

I'll give you a minute to check out the video.  OK, time's up.  You saw what Wendy did, now here is my entry for the challenge:

 

 

For the background I really followed Wendy's directions pretty much exactly.  I used the fish and the flourish from the Art For Men set.  The tiny letters are from the Art Inspiration set.  The "seaweed" is actually the stem from the Funky Flower Art set, and now that I'm looking at it, I think it would also make great octopus tentacles.  Not that I imagine myself needing an octopus in my art, but hey, you never know.

 

As for the fish that is NOT part of the background, I used the variation of the technique, stamping the fish on kraft instead of black paper.  I also did one other thing a bit differently.  While the white ink (Ranger's Adirondack snowcap) was still wet I sprinkled it with clear embossing powder and heat set it.  After coloring it with distress markers and inks I decided to add a little color to the embossed parts.  Distress inks won't stick there, so I used some archival inks.  The fish was then cut out and adhered with pop dots for dimension. 

 







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.



Splattered on Alcohol (Ink)

Tim Holtz's July tag in the 12 Tags of 2012 series is a patriotic one, perfect for this month.  It features a very fun technique that I believe I first saw in a video, and which was later in Volume 1 of A Compendium of Curiosities.  Or maybe it was the other way around.  All I know is, it made me rush out to Staples to get a can of compressed air.

I decided to go in a different direction, keeping to the techniques Tim used, but using a whole other color way and theme.  I love the water; my favorite colors are blues and greens, so here is my version:

I used willow, pool, citrus, and sailboat blue inks for the background.  Then I stamped those fabulous Wendy Vecchi fish twice.  First with emerald green archival ink, then right over top with black.  The dots (bubbles, really) were done with an old Stampin' Up wheel stamp.  I think the way the inks blew upwards looks a lot like seaweed, which is how I wound up going in the direction I went. The tag is topped off with some taffeta ribbon dyed with distress stains (peeled paint, shabby shutters, weathered wood and broken china) and a couple of ocean themed charms.

OK, I lied.  I didn't neglect Independence Day altogether.  I also did a red, white and blue tag; I just don't like it quite as much as the first one.

I was hoping my red pepper and stonewashed inks would resemble fireworks, but I'm not so sure about that.  The stamp, one of my favorite Statue of Liberty stamps (from Viva Las Vegas), was done with black archival ink.

I'm taking Joanne Sharpe's online lettering class, so decided to do my own writing.  Trust me, I've done better, but at least I'm trying.  It was written with a micron pen and colored with distress markers.

If I don't post again before then, have a safe and fun July 4th!

Layers Without Lumps

I love texture and layers and layers of embellishments as much as the next person, but sometimes (like when I want to send a birthday card without the extra cost of a padded envelope and additional postage) flat works best.  But it should only be flat, not look flat.

Just the other day I bought some masking fluid.  I know I made that purchase for a particular reason, but for the life of me can't remember exactly what the project was or where I saw it.  Sigh, story of my life.  Anyway, the universe decided to be nice to me today, and Splitcoast Stampers has a new tutorial on layering with masking fluid.  Bingo!  Rather than me trying to explain the technique, click on the link above and see for yourself.  It really is an easy way to create a richly layered look without adding a whole lot of bulk.

I was in the middle of working on a birthday card using this technique when I decided to take a break and check my email.  And once again, the universe was kind to me.  I'd been using rather bright colors on my card, and there, in my inbox, was a note from Lori, list mom of Everything Wendy Vecchi, announcing the new challenge......create something, use Wendy's stamps, and bright colors.  Bingo again.

Here's what my background looked like, after following the tutorial directions.

Except for the old wood background (a Stampin' Up stamp, stamped with coffee archival ink) all the stamping up to this point was done with one Wendy stamp (the leafy border stamp from It's Face Art) and several distress ink colors (broken china, faded jeans, peacock feathers and weathered wood).

Next step, some additional stamping.

The flower is from Wendy's Botanical Art set (I just stamped the flower, eliminating the leaves) stamped with magenta hue archival ink.  I decided to add leaves from another set (Nature's Art), and used olive archival ink.

Last step, adding the birthday wishes and just a tiny bit of bling.  Couldn't resist, but the sparklies don't add any real bulk, so I still consider this to be a flat piece.  That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

I recently received an order from one of the very best stores in the world, Absolutely Everything.  Patti, who fills all the orders always includes some extras, and not any cheapo ones either.  In that order I received this wonderful LaBlanche stamp:

These stamps are like no others.  They aren't rubber or acrylic, but are made of silicone.  They are definitely odd looking, but they stamp like a dream.  Here's what the stamping side looks like.

I used this stamp to make a birthday card for a musician friend.  All I had to do was add a bit of color, which I did with distress inks and markers.  Again, not a bit of bulk, but the stamp is so detailed and beautiful I think it doesn't really need any extra embellishing.

In addition to these two cards today I did something I've been wanting to do for some time.  I removed my large Stampin' Up background stamps from their wood mounts.  They were just taking up too much space.  I definitely feel I've accomplished a lot, so it is time to reward myself with some time on the couch and a few NCIS reruns.  What can I tell you?  Love me some Mark Harmon.

Christmas in June????

Yesterday I mentioned that it's not good policy to argue with your muse (bad things can happen), so when mine decided to ignore the calendar and start pulling out wintery, Christmasy supplies, I just rolled my eyes and went along with it.  I was attempting to complete the final challenge piece I wanted to do this week.....The Compendium of Curiosities 2 challenge, organized by the wonderful Linda Ledbetter. 

The featured technique (on page 62 of Tim's second CofC book) is called repurposed packaging, and Tim shows two variations.  I've included both in my tag.

I started with Tim's tall pines embossing folder, and used it on a background I had previously made and cut into a tag.  The embossed trees were darkened with several green and brown distress inks, but primarily forest moss.  The bird (close up below) was done with one of the techniques and colored with many shades of blue alcohol inks and blue prismacolor markers (alcohol based, like the inks).

For the second repurposed packaging technique I used Tim's pine tree die and colored it with just about everything I could think of, LOL.  I wanted it to pop off the background more than it did, and it took forever to get something I could live with.  So, in no particular order, the tree was colored with alcohol inks, alcohol based markers, archival inks, and stazon inks.  

The stars were made with a Sakura white glaze pen as well as their clear stardust pen.   To finish things off, I cut some black cardstock with Tim's townscape die, backed the open windows with yellow cardstock, and attached it to the bottom of the tag.

It isn't hot enough here (yet) for me to be yearning for winter again, but I know better than to fight with the mojo.  

Another Two-Fer

Before I get into today's challenge(s) piece, I just noticed that my last blog post was my 600th.  And I wonder why my laundry never gets done.  Who knew?  Well, here's to having the right priorities, and onward to the next 600 posts. 

This week's Compendium of Curiosities 2 challenge can be found on page 38 of Tim's second book.  It is called Tissue Wrap Collage, and I'm sure you'll enjoy it as much as I have.  As an added bonus, The Funkie Junkie's Boutique is the sponsor, so there is a chance of winning a gift certificate.  Just sayin'.

When Linda announced the challenge I already had an (unexecuted) idea for the current Make Art! challenge on the Wendy Vecchi yahoo group, so I used the tissue wrap technique for my background and some Wendy stamps for the rest.  The challenge there was to make a tag and include a house.

So, here is my tag, ready to go out to the next person I know who is moving to a new home. 

Tim's Branch Tree die (cut from grungeboard) is what I used for the tissue wrap collage.  With a little snipping, I transformed Wendy's Art Market stamp (from the Destination Art set) into a pickup truck, hauling a house (which is also a Wendy stamp (from the Homemade Art set), also edited somewhat.  Both pieces were stamped with archival black ink on scraps of manila tag, and colored with distress markers.



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.

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.



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! 

Grungy Monday -- Get Out the Tissues

This week's Grungy Monday is all about tissues.....Tim's tissue paper and tissue tape, that is.  The challenge is simple:  use either or both products on a project.  No other conditions or restraints.  So, remembering to be clever and multi-task, I decided to make a birthday card for my GM entry.

I started out with the idea in mind of using the tissue paper technique Tim used on tag 12 of the 12 Tags of Christmas this year.  Except that I didn't go back to review the steps.  I just plowed ahead, and as a result skipped a few along the way.  But no worries; my unintentionally simplified version works too.

I stamped the background with one of Tim's flourishy stamps, filling it up (using black archival ink), then covering it with a piece of the music tissue paper (using Ranger's matte Glue N Seal).  Since I skipped the step where you lighten the stamped images with Picket Fence Distress Stain, you can see quite a bit of the stamping under the music.  Which works for me.  I also skipped the wrinkling the tissue paper step as well as the cover it all with stickles step. 

To add even more tissue to the mix, the image I chose is actually cut from a decorative napkin, glued down with....you guessed it.....Glue N Seal.  I covered her printed feathers with some real ones and added a bit of bling in the center.

The bits of sparkle around the edges comes from Suze Weinberg's Beadazzles (in Purple Rain).  In case you don't know, Beadazzles are a great mix of micro beads and glitter, and I stocked up on a huge number of them at a Ranger Warehouse Sale a couple of years back.  I don't even know if they are still manufactured, but they are a very cool embellishment.  And a tip:  after adhering them to your project, a light coat over top with....yep.....Glue N Seal, will keep them all in their place forever.

The birthday greeting was made from Jenni Bowlin's mini letter stickers.

If you look closely, you can see some of the stamping/music tissue paper through the image of the dancer, and I think that is very very cool.





The 12 Tags of Christmas -- Day 2

Yes, I realize it's barely 6am in NY, and here I am, already finished with the Day 2 tag.  No, I'm not really that obsessed; I'm just not much of a sleeper, and  I conked out at about 10 last night, which means I was up and wide awake at 3, when Tim's new post went live in my time zone.  I just thought I should establish that I am not a total lunatic.

Click HERE to check out Tim's tag.  It is not a very complicated one to make, and I think the background is beautiful.  I had to improvise on this background (more on that in a bit), and I chose a different focal image, just to be.....well, different.

 

Tim's background called for using his seasonal kraft resist paper.  I do not have that pack, but I do have the "regular" kraft resist paper.  Here's what I did:  first I found a sheet that had a large enough area without any resist images to create a tag.  Here are two possibilities (I used the first one):

Once I had the tag cut from the center portion of the paper, I just stamped over the script with a variety of Christmas stamps, using clear embossing ink and clear powder.   And that is how to create your own seasonal kraft resist paper.  Ta da!  Now, if you don't even have the regular kraft resist pack, all is not lost.  Cut a tag from a plain old grocery bag and stamp the background of your choice with brown or black archival ink.  Then procede with the embossing as explained above.

While I dearly love the reindeer Tim used, (and have that die, by the way) I did want my tag to be MY tag, so I went another route.  Back in the olden days, before Tim teamed up with Sizzix, when we wanted seasonal grungeboard images we bought them, and I still have a ton of them.  In the seasonal pack I found the tree, and covered it with the sticky back canvas, which was inked with evergreeen bough and gathered twigs around the edges.  It was embellished with some tinsel and a star charm.

Back to the background for a minute.  Have you attempted to create snow flurries by holding, squeezing, spraying the perfect pearls mist, as per Tim's directions?   Were you successful?  No?  Neither was I.  So here is a tip if you, like me, lack the patience to practice Tim's technique (which I'm sure is awesome and doable, just not by me).   Spray some of the mist onto your craft sheet.  Load up a brush with it, and aiming at your tag, smack the handle of the brush over an extended finger on your other hand.  Repeat as necessary, then follow the rest of Tim's directions.  Voila!  Perfect perfect pearls snow flurries for the impatient and/or uncoordinated.

About the bottom of the tag......Tim used gold paint on the trim, but I thought silver would work better for my tag.  I couldn't find any silver paint, so this is how I created the tarnished silver look I wanted.  First I covered the grungeboard trim with clear embossing ink and silver embossing powder.  After it was heat set and cooled down, I distressed it with sandpaper and then inked it with gathered twigs distress ink (because it was on the table.....black or any other brown would work as well).   Here's a closeup, that unfortunately does not do it justice; it is really a very nice aged look:

I don't have the Christmas muse tokens, but the "believe"philosophy one seemed appropriate.  I just covered it with white paint, then wiped the paint off.  It settled into the letters and makes them pop.

And now, I think I deserve some breakfast.











Two Hearts, One Color

This morning I worked on two challenges, the current Making Art challenge at the Wendy Vecchi yahoo group, and the Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge.

Lori, the EWV list mom, inspired us with a card Wendy did in her second book, and the only requirement was that we use two hearts.  Well, I interpreted this rather loosely to mean AT LEAST two hearts, not ONLY two hearts.  If that's not OK I'm sure Lori will send the challenge police to my house.  NOT!!   At Simon Says, we're to stamp and show......only one color.

I have a third challenge in mind, a personal one.  And that is to start cranking out some holiday cards.  So, from now on, whenever I decide to enter a challenge, my piece will be such a card.  And here it is:

My one color, obviously, is green.  The background paper (7 Gypsies, by the way) seems to have photographed somewhat brown, but green it is.

Do you recognize that I created a wreath?  I hope so, LOL.  I just stamped a bunch of hearts in every distress ink shade of green around a circle.  The heart is from Wendy's In Love With Art set, and I added a bunch of dots with patina Stickles.   The sentiment is from Card Art Essentials, stamped on white cardstock with olive archival ink.  Peeled Paint distress ink was blended over top, and it is mounted with pop dots to give it some lift. 

Oh, and in the center of the wreath, some dark green ribbon from my stash.

Don't tell the folks at Simon Says, but I think before I actually send out the card I'll add just a bit of red.  :)



Tim In 10

Today's Grungy Monday challenge is perfect for me:  Tim in 10, or, create a card using some Tim
products in 10 minutes or less.  Great for anyone with time issues.  In other words, just about everyone.

I think the trick to accomplishing this is to have a plan, and by that I mean a really thought out plan, so you don't waste any of those precious minutes thinking or futzing around looking for just the right embellishment.  Added to that, I wanted my card to actually look like it might have taken more than the allotted time, so I figured I'd need to use a quick and easy (yet impressive) technique.  I decided on one from last year's 12 Tags of Christmas.  Click here for the details on Tim's blog.  And now, my card:

A piece of scrap plastic was cut to the same size as the white shimmery cardstock, then embossed with Tim's Snow Flurries folder.  If you click on the link to Tim's blog above, you'll see how you can use this technique to create a very impressive piece when you have more than 10 minutes to spare.

The blue snowflakes are part of Tim's on the edge die which is also called Snow Flurries.  It is the same blue cardstock I used as the card base.

I can't tell you the origins of the ribbon, it's just a scrap piece from my stash.

The Merry Christmas ticket is from the Odds and Ends set.  It was stamped with black archival ink on a scrap of white cardstock, then lightly inked with Faded Jeans distress ink.

The adhesive that holds the plastic to the cardstock was placed where the ribbon would eventually hide it, so nothing shows through.

If I had more than the 10 minutes (the whole thing actually took a bit less than that) I'm sure I would have added more "stuff," but I'm happy with the way it came out and wouldn't be embarrassed to send it off to someone.



More Steampunk And A Gift

I have two more steampunk tags to share with you; one came out of an Inspiration Showcase technique, the other was just me messing around.

This one used Jennifer's stamping on canvas technique for the background.  The man with the birdcage hat is from Tim's Pen and Pencil set, and he was heat embossed with black powder.  The tiny lightbulb was in my stash and I can't remember where I got it, but it's a size that has come in handy for several projects, so I hope I can recall the source and get some more.  The gears on the right are from Tim's on the edge die.  After cutting them from grungepaper, I ran them through the Cracked embossing folder, then inked them with several brown distress inks (but mostly walnut stain).  The words are rub-ons, found some time ago in Michael's dollar bin.

I admit, I love this one.  I used one of Ranger's new tags....the black one, and it is a great addition to their tag collection.  It went through Tim's Pocketwatch embossing folder, and the raised areas were highlighted with some copper paint.  The bird, standing on an idea-ology timepiece is from Oxford Impressions, as is the hat he's wearing.  Both were stamped with black archival ink, then colored slightly with old paper distress ink.  The bird was completely covered with glossy accents and the hat got the rock candy distress crackle paint treatment.  The words on the bottom are also from Oxford Impressions.  The tiny clocks are 7 Gypsys rub-ons.

As for the gift referred to in the title.  I'm in a yahoo group that has a monthly lottery, and the way it works, the winner (picked from those who participated in the prior month's lottery) gets to choose the theme for the gifts she'll receive.  My friend Angie was the winner for September, and being Angie, all she wanted was for us to "make art."  So, I did a small (5x7) altered canvas, using all of the layering techniques I love so much, and came up with this.

Lots of layers, lots of texture from tissue paper, paint, modeling paste, stencils, and random bits from my scrap pile.  The one really recognizable image, the woman on the right is from Graphic45's Steampunk Debutante set.  The piece on the left is one of Pink Paislee's artisan elements, white rubbery ornamental designs that can be altered in many ways, with ink, paint, stain, etc.  The canvas is already on its way to Angie and I do hope she likes it.

I don't know if I'll have any more blog posts until I return from the cruise.....and then I'll have plenty.  My plan for today is to clean up the studio and put everything away and begin the packing process.  We'll see how that works out.  Yesterday I received the three new limited edition seasonal distress inks, and I'm itching to play with them.  

Steampunk, Wendified

I can picture anyone new to this blog going, "huh?"  Well, in my world, Wendifying a theme just means using Wendy Vecchi's stamps to execute it.  It took me almost a week to create something for the current Making Art! challenge at EWV, but as it turns out, the delay worked in my favor, because the piece I did works perfectly with the new Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge.

The challenges:  at EWV, Lori says, make a tag and use stamps from no more than two of Wendy's sets; and Simon Says, show us some steampunk.

And here is my piece:

For the background, I ran one of Ranger's new (and fabulous) kraft tags through my Vagabond in Tim's steampunk embossing folder, and hit the high points with several distress inks....rusty hinge, vintage photo, and black soot.

The gears on the side were cut with Tim's on-the-edge die from grungepaper.  I painted it black, and when that was dry I dabbed it with brown and copper acrylic paint, very randomly so it looked like bits of rust.  And when that was dry, I covered the whole thing with a thick coat of rock candy crackle paint.  It is attached to the tag with glossy accents, applied only to the edge, so the gears sort of stand away from the tag and have a lot of dimension. (Especially since impatiently blasting the poor sucker with my heat gun made it kind of wonky.....sort of adds to the vintage charm, I think.  Well, that's my story and I'm stickin' to it.)

The steampunkish man and the words are all from Wendy's set Seriously Art, stamped on plain old white cardstock with black archival ink, then lightly colored with distress inks.  Mr. Serious got some enhancement (the shiny parts) with a black Sakura glaze pen....one of my most favorite art supplies, by the way.

The pointing hand (stamped on grungepaper with clear ink and embossed with black powder) is from another Wendy set, Mail Art.

By the way, the word seriously is actually part of the stamp of the man.....it appears right below the image.  I cut it off so it would fit on the brim of his hat instead.  It's always good to find variations when it comes to using your stamps.

Lace and Fabric and Tags, Oh My

As is often the case, inspiration began with a blog, was enhanced with a video, and just took off from there.  Elena, the ringleader of most of my collaborative projects sent everyone a link to this video, with the comment, "I HAVE to do this!" 
Prior to that, I was blown away by the lace journals my friend Sox has been making.
The result is kind of a cross between the two, and I'm really excited about it.
Over the weekend that NY was hit by hurricane Irene, I worked on making a book to distract me from the howling wind and torrential rain.  It was supposed to be an exposed spine book, but I totally messed up the sewing, so wound up covering the spine with fabric, which led to more fabric and lace. 

Above, the front of the book, embellished with some Prima loveliness and beaded trim.

The back....so far.  I'm not sure that I'm finished adding fabric, lace and trim.

The pages inside are paper, and some signatures were wrapped with patterned paper, and some with wide pieces of lace.  I think this does two things.....for sure it adds a bit of interest, but also, it makes the pages stand a little more apart from each other, allowing extra room for embellishing each page.



And some pages, like the one above on the left were cut from scrapbook paper instead of plain white paper.

If you checked out the video, you'll see that the tag project was done with a totally fabric journal.  I didn't have a huge selection of upholstery weight fabric in the right size, but I did put one together.  I sewed all the pieces together as one signature, and I did that sewing by hand, not wanting to risk messing up my very basic (and inexpensive) machine.  It's OK, and I may use it, but I'm thinking right now that I'll be a rebel and use the book I showed you above instead.  I have plenty of time to decide, as I have to wait for the other 15 people in this project to make and send me their tags.  Anyway, here are some snaps of the fabric journal.....totally unembellished, but when you view the video (if you haven't already) you'll see how cool it can turn out.

We decided that our tags could be any theme, but that we'd all include some Tim Holtz stamps, die cuts, embossing folders, etc.  Thanks to a lot of horrible rainy days I was actually able to finish all of them, waaaay ahead of schedule.  We're sending them on with coordinating lace trim and buttons to assist in the decorating of the books.  All my tags are of the same design, with some variations in color and trim.  The first picture shows a part of four versions:

The beaded trim is attached to the bottom of Tim's dress form from his "Sewing Room" die.  The forms were cut from several different colors of the Core'dinations paper that matches the distress line.  The torsos were covered with french text.

I stamped Bon Voyage (a Stampsmith stamp) on vanilla seam binding ribbon (Stampin' Up) with black archival ink, which is permanent, so I could then dye the ribbon by swiping it with Old Paper distress stain.  A quick blast with my heat tool and they were dry, and wrapped around the dress form.

I cut up some zippers to use as the tag toppers and kept them in place with some twine.  Why the staples on the top?  Well, the zippers I used are craft zippers and they came with adhesive on the back.  I folded them over, but the adhesive wouldn't hold and they kept separating.  I tried other glues with no success, and removing the adhesive was a nightmare, hence the staples.

The little butterfly resting on the dress form's shoulder is from a Stampin' Up sizzlet die, cut with Core'dinations paper left over from cutting the dress form.  With a little added bling.

And, here is a full shot of one of the tags.  The background is a piece of a brown paper bag, stamped with sewing themed stamps from both Tim and Stampin' Up, then embossed with Tim's Sewing Room folder.  Behind the dress form is the Eiffel Tower, cut with Tim's glasseine paper with an old Sizzix die.  I know I seem to have two themes going here.....Paris and sewing, but they feel like they belong together.

Oh, and how could I forget to mention that I attached the brown paper to my tag base by running a zig zag stitch around the perimeter....on my machine on all 15 tags.  Yes, I am  proud of myself for that.