Buttons, Grunge and Banner

While that title could be the nicknames of characters in a TV show, it actually contains the key words in the latest (number nine!) Making Art challenge at the Wendy Vecchi yahoo group.  Wendy's original project (in book 1, page 24) was a card, but all you need to know in order to participate is that your piece needs to contain at least 3 buttons and 1 dimensional item made of either grungeboard or grungepaper.  So, though I may think you should have the book, you don't need to.  What you do need to do, though, is join the group.  So, if you have any interest in the art and products of Miz Vecchi, c'mon over; you'll like it there.  And no, Wendy doesn't pay me to say those things; I honestly love her stamps and art parts and they all work so well with the twelve tons of Tim Holtz products I also have crammed into my tiny work space.

I created a little canvas for this challenge.  It measure just 4" square, and I did enjoy working on it.

And here's why I love Tim's new distress stains so much.  It literally took seconds to cover the canvas with a perfect coat of wild honey (the sides and edges are vintage photo), which I then stamped with Wendy's polka dot stamp, using coffee archival ink.

The dress mannequin is one of Wendy's art parts.  All I did to it was ink the bottom a bit with stained walnut, then covered the torso with natural colored sticky back canvas.  I trimmed as close to the edge as possible, then used a sanding block to complete the trimming and distress the edges.  The word 'style' is part of a phrase stamp.  All I did was ink only the word I was interested in using.

For the grunge part of the challenge, I cut the spool from grungeboard with Tim's new Sewing Room die, colored it with antique linen and edged it with tea die.  Then I wrapped some fiber around it.

The measuring tape is actually an image stamped onto fabric.  I don't know where it came from, but suspect it was sent to me either with a swap or a RAK.  I sewed the buttons onto it and then glued it down.  Some hat pins (origins of all unknown, but at least one of them is from Jenni Bowlin.  Or Maya Road) finish it off.

So, if you're really alert, you're probably thinking, what about the word banner?  Well, not at all part of the challenge piece, but I just wanted to share another project I did this week.  I was at my friend Heidi's open house (celebrating five years in NYC as well as five years of creativity) on Sunday.  It was joining Heidi's Meetup group that started me on my papercrafting journey.  I'd been doing one or another art form for years, but at that point was mainly scrapbooking and taking painting classes.  One thing led to another, one Meetup group let to another, which led to yahoo groups and online classes, and Tim cruises and......well, one little click on the enter key substantially changed my life.  So it always pleases me to attend one of Heidi's events.  Our make n take was an art banner, done with coasters, and using plenty of Prima,  gorgeous 7 Gypsies paper, and assorted other bling.  Though I love it very much, I have already sent it to someone who I know will love it too.



Flower Power

No!  Don't go away....this is not a post about the 60's, though I'm certainly old enough to write about those days.  It's about the latest Making Art! challenge going on at the Wendy Vecchi yahoo group.

Every week our fearless leader Lori posts a challenge based on a project from one of Wendy's books.  This week, the original piece was a wall hanging, it contained MANY grungepaper flowers, and one non-floral piece that had been "perfectly pearled."  That is all the information required to join in.  You don't even have to own the book.  Though you really should.

Now, I'm not really all that much into flowery stuff, though I do enjoy assembling grungepaper flowers, but I do like this one, and think that in spite of all the vegetation it isn't overly girly.  And no disrespect meant towards those who like girly.  I love diversity.  Diversity is my middle name (well, actually it is Ruth, but you get my point); diversity is a good thing.  In art and in life.  But, as usual, I digress.  Here is my wall hanging, inspired by the beautiful work of Miz Vecchi:

A few details:   The base is chipboard from Stampin' Up.  The bottom section was gessoed, then colored with fired brick distress stain, then stamped with a Wendy floral border in coffee archival ink.

The top section (what makes it look like a gear) was also gessoed, colored with vintage photo distress stain, then covered with rock candy crackle paint.

As for the flowers, the top one was cut with Tim's tattered florals die, inked with wild honey and fired brick distress inks, and then stamped in black archival ink with one of Wendy's backgrounds.  Below it are two grungepaper roses.  The larger one was done using Wendy's technique of first covering the GP with white pigment ink and then inking with distress ink, which creates a new, more pastel shade.  It was then inked with another background stamp.   The smaller GP rose was inked with fired brick, stamped with another background stamp, then covered with some rock candy distress stickles.  The last flower, the small one with the leaves, was stamped on GP (Wendy's stamps, of course), colored with distress ink and cut out.  Some small idea-ology foliage pieces are in the center.

The butterflies are from Tim's new mini dies (movers and shapers) and they were both inked and then sprayed with a perfect pearls concoction (vintage photo reinker + heirloom gold perfect pearls + water).  I attached little keys for the bodies.

The sentiment is also a Wendy stamp; I just cut the words apart so they would fill the space better.



What Do Weathered Wood And Childhood Memories Have In Common?

Absolutely nothing, but I'm once again getting a twofer out of one project for this week's challenges.

While Simon Says stamp and show us a childhood memory, Linda says, use Tim's weathered wood grunge technique.  And Eileen (that would be me) says continue using up some of the junk  stuff on and around your table (which includes the floor as well as any other surface that will support a pile).

So, here's what I came up with, and I have to say, I'm liking it.

First of all, let me assure you, I did NOT attend classes in a little red schoolhouse.  But I thought it conveyed a nice old time feeling.  With a little snipping, I converted Tim's Rickety House into a schoolhouse.  I cut it from a bright red tag I had lying around, then ran it through the brick embossing folder, and toned the red down with both black soot and vintage photo distress inks.

Both the background paper and schoolhouse door are leftovers from something.....a salted background technique which came out a bit too dark for the intended purpose.

The weathered wood grunge technique can be seen on the picket fence.  My elementary school (P.S. 213 in Brooklyn, NY, USA) was three stories high, built of light colored brick, and had an iron gate around it.  Let's just call it artistic license and move on.   The fence is one of Tim's dies, it was cut from grungepaper, and without giving away the directions, I used the wood embossing folder, lake mist paint dabber, and walnut stain distress ink.  I hope you can get a close up view of the fence because I think it really does look like weathered wood.

The flying American flag is a salvage sticker (the seasonal pack).  The little girls sitting on the fence (on a part of the fence where the points had broken off, of course) are from a Red Lead stamp, a stamp of an all girls class photo.  I'd stamped it several times for a project and this was one of the rejects.  So I just cut out this section, which had stamped well, and sat the girls down.  I used pop dots, so in person they do appear to be on top of the fence.

So, there you have it.  A weathered wood fence and a childhood memory.

Oh, and completely off topic, I'm very excited to say I just signed up for a stamp carving workshop with Julie Fei-Fan Balzer at The Ink Pad.  I'm going with friends and I can't wait!



A Masking Triple Challenge

Oh, lucky me....this week both Simon and Linda say:  show me some masking.  Well, Linda actually says to do the distress misting masks technique, but you see my point.  Two challenges, one technique.  Hence, the oh lucky me comment.  And what does the word triple refer to in my blog title?  Both challenges are posted by 8am my time, and at 10 I have to leave for the airport.  So, the third challenge is a personal one.  Create something and blog about it in time to finish packing and get out of town.

I had fun with this one, because a) I love masking and b) I love spraying and c) I love greens and blues, my chosen colors and d) I love embossing, not that anyone told me to emboss, but I threw that in anyway.

If it looks a bit unfinished, two reasons for that....I just didn't want to cover up the masking on the bottom.  I think it looks too cool to hide.  Also, at some point I plan to add a small sentiment down there and send this off as a card.  It has NOTHING to do with my time constraints.  NOTHING.

What did I do?   First I put some color (wild honey and broken china) on a piece of cardstock.  Then, I placed a Heidi Swapp mask down and followed Tim's technique.   A bit more color was added with the blending tool, then another mask (Tim's flourish) went down, and more misting (with different colors). 

When all that goodness dried (OK, I rushed that along with my heat tool), I cut the tag shape and then ran it through the regal flourishes embossing folder.  Last step on the background.....highlighting the raised area with some forest moss.

I went through my box of semi-finished projects and found the rosette and grungepaper flower (made with some of Wendy Vecchi's stamps) and added those to the top, since the colors went well with the tag.  (There are some scallops behind the rosette).

Phew....now I can enjoy my visit with my mom without wondering if I'll be able to do this week's challenges.  I know what you're thinking, but I admit it....I'm addicted to these challenges and hate the thought of missing any.

See ya in about a week!

Of Rusted Grunge and New Stamps

The holidays are over, and we're back to weekly challenges.  The latest Compendium of Curiosities challenge (week 26 already), can be found by clicking HERE, and it's called rusted grunge.

Over at Simon Says Stamp and Show, we're to do a project that includes our newest stamp, or even an older one, but one that we've never used before.

The rusted grunge technique was done on the bird (from the Nature grungeboard pack....which I heard was no longer available, but which I found....yippee!).  Tim specifies the color to use for this one, which I did, but then I did the same technique on the weeds, or are they flowers?  What I don't know about plants could fill a book. (They are also from the Nature pack....isn't it wonderful?!) but with different colors.  Guess it can't be called rusted grunge since it doesn't look like rust, but hey, I like it anyway.

As for the newest stamp.  I was fortunate enough to win three sets of Tim's clear stamps on the cruise, and they have never been used.  The little flowers (or are they also weeds???) in the background are from the Flights of Fancy set.  First I sprayed the tag with lettuce color wash and heirloom gold perfect pearls mist, and blotted it with a paper towel.  After it dried totally, I stamped that flower/weed randomly on the tag with embossing ink, covered it with clear embossing powder and heat set it.  I then inked over the whole thing with dried marigold distress ink, which really made the embossed flowers/weeds pop.  I thought it needed a little brown, so I then used the same stamp, but this time inked with coffee archival ink.

The 12 Tags of Christmas -- Day 12

If you never did, you should. These things are fun, and fun is good.

                                                                                                                    Dr. Seuss

And the above sums up my feelings about the 12 tags.  If you haven't tried one, what are you waiting for?  Fun is good.

Before I get into today's tag, let me take a moment to announce that
I AM A WINNER!!!!  My comment on Tim's blog yesterday was one of those chosen today to receive a prize.  Color me tickled pink.  Just having the tags for inspiration is reward enough, but who doesn't love seeing their name in print (on the master's blog, no less).

I was thrilled to see that not only did Tim use movers and shapers dies today, but he even threw in a video.  I've had a few of these type dies for a while, and though I understand the concept of how they work, I don't think I ever knew all they could do until today.  So, another big thank you to Tim.

Another great technique was the coloring of grunge with ink direct from the pad and then painting over it with rock candy distress crackle.  Awesome!  Very hard, shiny, glass-like finish.  (NOTE:  Tim used grungeboard to cut his ornament.  I used grungepaper.  It worked out OK, but it dried totally wonky and I had to flatten it out under some heavy books.  Just wanted to let you know in case you use grungepaper too.)

Of course, I changed up some things on my tag.  Click here to visit Tim's blog and see the gorgeous ones (yep, he went ahead and did more than one tag today) he did.

I did use the same ornament and word insert as Tim, but instead of red, I did the ink/crackle technique in green (pine needles).  And I added some beads to the tip because....beads are fun. And fun is good.  I chose a different background paper from the seasonal stack.  I auditioned several by holding the ornament over them, and the word joy showed up best over the music.

Instead of the December calendar Tim put on the bottom, I went with some tickets.  The one on the top is a stamp; the ones under it are salvage stickers.  All were distressed on the edges and inked with walnut stain.  I held them together with a hinge clip, which was fastened to the tag with a brad.  Tim put some tiny acorns over the calendar.  I tried that, didn't like the way they looked with my tickets.  Then I remembered (now, why couldn't I recall this on the days when Tim used tinsel???) that I had a wee bit of vintage tinsel from my recent Absolutely Everything order.  I snipped off a little and I think it works well peeking out from behind the tickets.

Any other differences?  Well, instead of using a hook made from wire for the top of the ornament (my wire isn't very thick and the hook I made just looked flimsy to me), I used that swirly embellishment that just happened to be on my work table.

For my Wendified tag, I concentrated on the techniques and came up with this un-Christmas piece (which photographed a little out of focus):



I used the baroque movers and shapers die, and a heart insert I had (not a Tim product).  Behind the heart is a Wendy saying, stamped over a Wendy background.  I glued some red ball chain around the heart and love the way that looks.

The flower is grungepaper cut from Tim's tattered florals die and inked with worn lipstick and pumice stone then stamped with a variety of Wendy's backgrounds.

Hanging from the ribbon are a bunch of danglies I made.  Speaking of which.....I never buy beads any more (unless I'm in a store and fall in love); I've just put the word out to friends, family, and neighbors that they should direct all their old, unwanted, broken and even ugly costume jewelry to me.  There is always at least one element, often more, on each piece that I can salvage and use.  Every bead in the danglies I made came from such donations.

So, what do you think I'll do tomorrow morning?  Find another project immediately, or go through Tim-tag withdrawal? 

The 12 Tags of Christmas -- Day 11

I conked out early last night, and consequently was wide awake before 5am this morning.  Grabbed a cup of coffee, headed to Tim's blog, and once again, was rewarded with a great technique ..... cutting custom stamps with dies, using ..... are you ready for this ..... fun foam!

One minor problem.  After a thorough search, not a bit of the foam in my possession.  I found some foam-like substance that was part of some packing material, but it was way too thick for the dies to cut.  Now, I'm not close enough to a store to buy some, and I certainly lack the patience to order it and wait.  I've made 10 tags on the days Tim published his, and today would be no exception.

I went to the one place that often provides me with very satisfactory crafting solutions ..... my kitchen.

This is what I found in the under-the-sink cabinet:

I love this product for cleaning, but would it work for stamp making?  It's not quite as wide as Tim's on the edge dies, and on the thick side, but I thought it might work.  First I sliced it into two pieces as though cutting bread (thinking it was too thick as is).  The serrated knife glided through it like butta!  I followed Tim's directions from this point, and created these two stamps, one for my Tim tag, the other for my Wendy version:

So far, so good.  But would they take the embossing ink?  Would they stamp a clear image?  A great big resounding YES on both counts!  I'm not one to brag, but c'mon....is this a solution or what?  I'm not claiming that these stamps will last as long as the ones made from fun foam (which I sure intend to get), but they allowed me to complete my day 11 tags on day 11.  Which is all I wanted.

Here is my first tag:

I used my new snowflake on-the-edge stamp on the side, just as Tim did. (As I mentioned before, my stamp isn't long enough to cover the entire length of the tag, but I was able to reink part of it and continue the line of snowflakes seamlessly.) 

Instead of cutting the pine tree die that Tim used (from grungeboard), I used the branch tree instead.  Inked it with stained walnut and vintage photo and embossed with stained walnut distress embossing powder.  I don't have sparkly fluff, so I used white flock for the snow covered branches.   Pretty much everything else is according to Tim's directions, just in my own color choices.

This is the Wendified tag I made next:



I discovered that the crucial part of one of Wendy's stamps fit perfectly on the paper that goes behind the ornate plate.  All you have to do to use only part of a stamp is mask off the unwanted parts with tape, ink, remove the tape and stamp.  I even had a little room on the side for Wendy's small dandelion.

No need for a snow covered tree on this tag.  I used Tim's fanciful flight die and arranged it so you just see a profile of the butterfly.  The bottom layer was inked with wild honey and rusty hinge, then over stamped with one of Wendy's backgrounds.  The top layer (with the cutouts) was inked with faded jeans and broken china and then embossed with broken faded jeans distress embossing powder.  And keeping with all of Tim's techniques, I covered the head (is that what it is???) of the butterfly with brown flock.

I added one of Wendy's butterflies to finish it off, and created the antennae with some wire and two small beads.

Eleven days of wonderful tags, lots of inspiration and a whole bunch of fun.  Thanks, Tim!



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!



The 12 Tags of Christmas -- Day 6

Day 6!! Oh no, we're halfway through.  What am I going to do with myself on December 13?  Well, I'll worry about that later.  It's funny, but for the last 20+ weeks, I've looked forward to Monday mornings when Linda posts the new Compendium of Curiosities challenge.   I've been so totally obsessed with the 12 Tags, this morning I completely forgot about the CCC.  Unheard of!  LOL....I'll bet I'm not the only one.   No fears, Linda....I'm working on that too.

Today was the first day that I really really wanted to just copy Tim's tag.  It's that good.  And another technique-rich one.  But, I controlled myself and went my own way. (and I really still want to copy it!)

Tim demonstrated stamping on the blank side of an embossing folder (he used the Tall Pines which only has images on the left), and then inserting the tag and running it through the machine.  I'd smeared ink on the inside of a folder before, but never thought of stamping.  Another brilliant idea from the master.  He also showed us how to make a little banner out of pleated tissue tape.   Here's what I came up with:

I also used the Tall Pines folder, but instead of the reindeer (oh, so adorable!  I don't have the die but I do have a grungeboard reindeer from a seasonal grunge set....and I didn't succumb to temptation and use it!) I used the Branch Tree.  I have a forest thing going on here.  Tim stamped flourishes on his folder; I stamped snowflakes.  I did use the splatter stamp to add the gold flecks.  Awesome look.

The tree was embossed with the snowflake folder then painted with espresso.  When dry it was sanded (quite an upper arm workout) then inked with weathered wood.  I like the blue/brown combo, even though the photo makes the tree look more black than brown. 

First major goof of the day:  I glued the tree down with glossy accents and then realized I hadn't done the tissue tape banner.  Note to Ranger:  GA is a really really strong adhesive.  I did manage to pry the bottom of the tree up enough to attach the banner, but to tell you the truth, I don't think I should have bothered.  Not enough of it shows in my opinion.

Anyway, Tim hung a little wreath around his reindeer's neck.  I didn't want a wreath on my tree.  Also, Tim had a sentiment on a journaling ticket on the bottom left.  My tree is so wide I didn't have much room for that, plus it would have hid even more of the banner.  So I opted for making my sentiment a sign, hung from the tree with chain.  I like that.

The only other thing I want to mention is the green you see in the star charm and word stick.  I pressed some paint into the crevices and  then wiped all the excess off.  That's another Tim technique from I don't remember when.

And now, here's how I Wendy-fied the tag:

There aren't that many embossing folders around that have big blank spaces.  I didn't want to use the Tall Pines again, or the two other Tim folders with empty areas (Branch Tree and Snowman), so I picked this beautiful one of bamboo from Cuttlebug.  I stamped Wendy's dandelions (both sizes) on it in walnut stain.

The two butterflies are grungeboard from the nature set, and both were embossed with Tim's Regal Flourishes folder.  Then painted, sanded, inked with vintage photo.  Nothing hanging from anything here, just some rhinestones on the butterflies.  Instead of a sign, I made a little bookplate and put it under the ribbon.  The words "Make Art" (Wendy's mantra) are from one of her stamps.

I really like the way the tissue tape banner looks on this tag (much more than on the first).  I also colored it slightly with faded jeans and chipped sapphire.

Yesterday's tag was my favorite....until today.  Wonder if this one will get upstaged by tomorrow's?????



The 12 Tags of Christmas - Day 2

Before I get into today's tag, can I just say that this has been one remarkable week?  Well, this is MY blog, so why am I asking your permission?  IT'S BEEN ONE REMARKABLE WEEK!!!!

First, I won something on Wendy's blog just for leaving a comment.
Then, last night I managed to win something by being the first to respond to one of Mario's tweets.  Me.....winning with a tweet?  Insane!  Totally dumb luck, as I'm not exactly the techno queen around here.  Something else pretty cool happened yesterday.....my Vagabond arrived!  And wouldn't you know it....today's tag does not require any cutting or embossing.  LOL!  (Oh, and I guess I'll mention that tomorrow is my birthday.  What a way to start the celebrating!)

OK, enough about me and my good fortune.  On to the tag.....Tim's main technique today is to create your own custom stamp pad with cut-n-dry felt. (Click HERE to see Tim's tag on his blog.) Scratch that.  I have none.  I do have a sponge product that I scored at last year's Ranger warehouse sale, but I think it must be meant to be used with something other than distress reinkers, because I tried it and.....well, let's just say it wasn't a pretty sight.  Back to the drawing board.

After several false starts and discarded tags, here is what I managed to come up with:

I stamped the Santa image with brown archival ink, then did some coloring with gel pens.  When that was dry I covered the whole image with embossing ink, using a perfect medium brush pen.  Then I covered it with clear embossing powder and heat set it.  Tim is right.....it would have been easier with the custom pad.  But, we make do with what we have and then create a wish list.

The background colors are weathered wood, stormy sky, and pumice stone.  The script was stamped with pumice stone and the snowflakes with stormy sky.  Barn door and aged mahogony were used on the sentiment.

Tim added a bauble to his tag, and his bird accoutrement.  I tried a few options and they all looked busy to me on my tag.  I finally decided to scratch the bauble and use a small snowflake charm.

If you look at Tim's tag, he used black enamel accents to add dots to the letters of his greeting.  I didn't think black would work on mine, so I used some white enamel accents and hated the dots so much I swiped them off immediately.  If you look closely, you can see remnants, but that just adds to the vintage look. (At least that's what I'm telling myself.)

Now on to my Wendy-inspired version of today's tag....which I actually like quite a bit better than the one I just showed you.



Background colors started out with the same blues I used on the first tag, but eventually peeled paint and forest moss changed all that to green.    The word believe is from the Just Word Art set.

The script in the background (done with frayed burlap) is from Wendy's Botanical Art set. There is a flower in that set which I think looks like a poinsettia when you stamp it twice, side by side, bottoms facing each other, slightly overlapping.  That's what you see in the background, in worn lipstick. 

As for the focal point.....the ornament.  It is actually the cool round pumpkin-like flower from Wendy's Lower Case Art set.  I stamped it with embossing ink on grungepaper, covered it with black embossing powder and heat set it.  I did this twice, and cut them out.  Then I used barn door ink and a blending tool on part of each one, and did the clear embossing powder/heat set thing.  When cool, I finished coloring with peeled paint and repeated the embossing, heating. 

You can't tell from the photo, but the ornament is dimensional.  I cut away the outside sections of one of the flowers, and stapled it to the full flower, folded it in half so it pops up a bit.  I covered the staples with black ribbon.

On this tag, one of Tim's baubles looked just right, at least where I put it.  I didn't bother trying any enamel accent dots....learned my lesson on tag 1!

Now I'm off to play with the Vagabond!!



The 12 Tags of Christmas, Day 1

I admit it...I'm a complete dork when it comes to Tim.  I was sound asleep on the couch, the TV watching me, and at 3am on the dot I awoke without an alarm clock or any disturbances outside my door.  Why?  Because that's when Tim would be posting the first tag in his annual 12 Tags of Christmas event.

What can I say?  I love that man's style and techniques, and look forward to this event all year long.
Tim started off with a bang.  He used A LOT of techniques and materials in this tag.  Click HERE to go to his blog to see what he created......fantastic!

I am determined not to just copy Tim this year, even if I have every item he uses.  Well, not a problem today, as I do not own his Rickety House die.  I always thought of it as a Halloween embellishment, and that isn't my favorite holiday.  Boy, was I ever wrong.  Tim shows how he uses it for Christmas, and even for a beachy, summery piece.  The man is a creative superstar!

And I should mention now.....I did not one, but two tags.  Some of the crafty folks at Everything Wendy Vecchi decided that they'd make tags this year using Wendy's stamps and/or in Wendy's style.  I decided I'd try to do tags each day both ways.  Pretty ambitious, but hey, I'm retired, what else is so pressing that I can't devote an entire day to making tags?

Well, I think 5 paragraphs without one picture is more than enough, so here is my Tim-inspired tag:



Tim's focal point was the rickety house, and he put his fence in front of it.  I kind of combined the two, and instead of having the house as the main image, I went with trees.  The houses on the bottom (the Townscape die) take the place of the fence. (And I did manage to find some mica chips in my stash for the windows).

The pine trees were made by running the entire tag (after it was colored with various blue inks) through the Tall Pines embossing folder.  Tim has a die of the bare branch tree (I don't....yet), but I do have the embossing folder.  So I used it on a piece of grungepaper, inked it, and cut it out.  (The die would be MUCH easier).

I did use Tim's technique for creating the snow.  I don't have sparkly fluff, so I just mixed some plain white fluff with glitter.

The very tiny wreath was made from some moss which I shredded and glued on a really tiny circle.  I'm grateful I have the Ranger scrubbie, because my fingers were just a giant mess of ink, paint, and glue.

While that tag was drying, I got to work on my Wendy-inspired one. 

The background on this one is pretty much the same as on the first.  Instead of snowflakes, I stamped some trees.  Here's how I made the houses:   the first one was pieced together from bits of grungeboard and chipboard.  The roof was "shingled" with little rectangles of inked manila paper.  The house itself was run through the Notebook embossing folder, first in one direction, then the other, just for some texture.

The next house is part of a stamp from Wendy's "Homemade Art" set .  It was inked with mustard seed and then overstamped with one of her background stamps.  I added the chipboard piece on top of the roof, and used a marker to ink in a door.

The last house is just pieced together from bits of grungeboard.  A rectangle was embossed with the Bricked folder, then inked with aged mahogony, black soot, and vintage photo.  The roof is a triangle, inked with rusty hinge, then stamped with another of Wendy's background stamps (in black archival ink).

I changed the way I did the snow.  For no particular reason...just to experiment.  I created it with white enamel accents, and while it was still wet, sprinkled it with white glitter.

The little pine cones and berries are left over from the stash of miniatures I bought to make Christmas configurations.  The sentiment is a stamp from "Homemade Art."

I don't know if I'll be able to do two tags each day, but I'm sure gonna try.   Are you following along with Tim this year?



Double Distress, Oh Yes!

The challenge this week at Simon Says Stamp and Show is to use distress inks.  Well, yeah....I use them every day.  And, as luck would have it, the Compendium of Curiosities challenge is to use Tim's double distress technique.   Oh lucky me....another twofer.

I went whimsical this week....not my usual thing, but I don't argue with inspiration.  I just go where it takes me.  It took me to the corner of Silly Street and Cutesy Corner today, but hey, it's good to get out once in a while.


Here we go:

 C'mon...you know it made you smile.

The double distress technique can be seen in the background, on the leaves in the corner, and on the turkey's head.  I just HAD to do this once I got the idea of using parts of rosettes as turkey feathers.  

The frame and the scalloped base are all from Wendy Vecchi's art parts line, and I'm loving the way they work so well with Tim's stuff too.  Speaking of which, the word gobble is from his new seasonal salvage stickers.

When Shabby Met Grungy....

Monday, which means my two favorite challenges are up and running.  The Compendium of Curiosities challenge (week 20!!) is Industrial Grunge,  and over at Simon Says Stamp and Show, the theme is Shabby.   (Click on the links to learn more about the challenges and the cool prizes up for grabs this week).

Hmmm....not two styles that seem to work together.  Or do they?  Well, you know I like to get two for the work of one, so I'm determined that my project will qualify for both challenges. 

Here's what I came up with.  Did I succeed?  I like to think so.  

The industrial grunge technique was done on the raven (that die was one of the freebies on the cruise and I just love it).  I used copper metallic mixative and black soot and aged mahogany distress inks.

Nothing says shabby to me like crackle, and that is the top layer of the background.  But I should begin at the beginning.  I had the idea of using a technique from an earlier C of C challenge....alcohol ink agate on grunge....but it just didn't work with the raven.  So, I covered it with some green paint.  Then I dry brushed some white over top, most definitely a shabby look.   A whole lot of rock candy crackle paint on top, and when that dried I went over it with black soot to highlight the crackle.

The bottom of the tag was cut with Tim's new iron gate die, and some black lace and netting (another nod to shabby) finished it off.

Off topic, I've been whining for a while now about autumn not really making an appearance here in NYC.  Where are those crisp days, the orange and yellow leaves?  Well, finally, finally, summer-like temps have vanished and this is what I saw from my window this morning.....Autumn on the Hudson River:

Ahhh, life is good!

Grungeapalooza

Ah, once again the ink gods smiled upon me, and made it possible for one project to fulfill two challenges.  

Compendium of Curiosities

Week 15

Alcohol Ink Agate on Grunge 

(Click on the above link to get the scoop from Linda, grand host and creator of this wonderful challenge)

Simon Says Stamp and Show....
Your Grunge 

(Click on this link to get the deets on this challenge)

The word grunge appears in both challenges, and though that can mean different things, for me, it means grungeboard and grungepaper.....lots of each.

 

I decided to do a wall hanging, perfect for the resident artist (that would be me, though I may just gift this one).

Just about everything is grunge...paper or board.  The base is GB cut with Tim's ornamental die.

I did the alcohol ink agate technique on GP cut from Tim's regal crest die (the banner and leaves).  BTW, this technique calls for a specific paint dabber which I do not own, but found that a liquid pearls that I do have to be a good substitute.  Just sayin'.....

The large flower is GP cut from Tim's tattered florals; the small flower, also GP was done with some of Wendy's stamps.  The phrase "resident artist" is also a Wendy stamp. 
What are you waiting for.....show your grunge!

Altered Tins, Oh My!

So, the Gotham City Stampers had an altered tin swap.  I already shared the tin I made for my friend Heidi, but it was not until we met Friday night that I got to see the FABULOUS tin(s) that Pat, my good friend and future cruise cabin-mate made for me.  Pat is extremely talented and creative (and very funny), and for this project she outdid herself in all three categories.
Here is what I saw when I first unwrapped the package:

A great mix of grunge and vintage.....would love it if there wasn't any more to it, but there is.  Lift up the lid and what did I see, attached to the inside of the lid?

Yep, it's another tin, attached with velcro for easy removal, and inside, a little vignette that tickled me so......

 In case you were wondering why there are some little holes in one

side of the tin.....

Pat says they're air holes so Tim and I can breathe. 

Need I say more?

Well, if that wasn't enough, at the bottom was yet another altered tin, this one an altoids, and quite beautiful.

I guess by now you realize that Pat loves surprises, so it should come as none to find something inside.....I lifted off the cover and attached to ribbon, letters that spell out my name.

And on the other side of the letters, the makings of a party.

Pat is crazy, and I mean that in only the very best way.  We are going to have so much fun on the cruise this fall!

 

A Tag and A Necklace

I really do love NY, which is a good thing, since I live there.  Here's a NYC-themed tag I just finished:

The background is part of a NYC subway map (I live in the upper left hand corner. The blue on the edge...the blue that is part of the map, not the chipped sapphire distress ink blue I used there...is the Hudson River, and I can see it from my windows).

Anyway....the NYC skyline is a Tim stamp and it looks grungy, purposely, of course, because it was inked and embossed with black distress ink/EP.

The Statue of Liberty surrounded by scaffolding is a Stamping Ground stamp inked with olive pigment ink.

The banner is one of the elements on Tim's Regal Crest die.  I found those faux typewriter keys in a dollar store and scooped up every package they had.  I made the heart disc by gluing a tiny blue paper heart to the back of a black bingo piece, edging it with a gold pen, and covering the top with Glossy Accents.

I recently admired the fabulous charms my friend Val makes and uses to create gorgeous necklaces.  Next thing I know, she's asking me what colors I'd like my necklace to be.  Val's enormous talent is exceeded only by her generous heart.  I asked for black and white with only a little pop of color (hey, I'm a New Yorker, and to steal a line I heard once in a movie -- and no, I can't remember which one-- "in NY we wear black, and will continue to do so until they invent a darker color.")

Check this beauty out.  Click on it and admire the charms.  Each different, unique, and fabulous.

Well, that's all I've got for today.   Go make something!

Tags & A Card

One thing I really like about making tags is the size.  Large enough to create an interesting (I hope) design, but small enough to complete without investing an entire day.  First up, a tag with a Paris theme:

Way in the background, almost entirely covered, is a stamp we received in one of our classes on the Tim Holtz/Wendy Vecchi cruise to Mexico.  It's a very cool stamp with room for journaling, the place visited, and little calendars for circling the date visited.  Great for any travel themed project.  I stamped it directly on the tag with archival ink, then sprayed it with some color wash, inked it, and generally distressed it totally.  I added part of a die cut of the Eiffel Tower and then just a collage of french labels and logos.  I LOVE the tiny letters that spell out JOURNEY.  They're from Jenni Bowlin, and I glued them to 1/2" circles of red cardstock, and attached them with pop dots for some dimension.

My next tag combines grunge, steampunk, some recycling,  a little Tim and a little Wendy...wowza!  All my faves rolled into one small tag.

For the background, I sprayed the tag with a couple of earth tone color washes.  While still wet, I sprinkled some salt on it.  That didn't do exactly what I'd hoped, but it did result in a little bit of a pitted look.  I also used Tim's compass mini mask, inked over with vintage photo distress ink, but I think most of that ultimately got covered up.  But it's there somewhere.

The gears.....I glued one of my totally colored paper towels I love to save onto scrap cardstock and used Tim's Gadget Gears die to cut them.  I arranged them on the tag and then wondered what to do next.  I decided that Wendy's art chick stamp would look great, especially if I substituted some more gears and sprockets for the usual flower on her head.  These from Tim's idea-ology line. I stamped her on cardstock with vintage photo distress ink, then added some vintage photo distress embossing powder.   The typewriter key letters were a mad steal I found in one of those bargain stores.  I think I bought every package they had.

I needed an anniversary card and I hate almost every one I see.  They're either too sentimental for my taste, or their "humor" rubs me the wrong way.  I kinda like the one I came up with, and I found yet another non-seasonal use for Stampin' Up's Christmas ornament punch.

I don't know what the background is (besides being gorgeous) because I didn't do it!  My talented friend Nancy sent it to me along with a TON of other goodies, and I thought it was the perfect setting for my kissing fish.   Yep, those fish started out as that ornament punch.  Can you guess what I used for their tails?  Don't hurt yourself thinking.....I used SU's 5-petal flower punch, and just snipped off two of the petals together and glued it right over the little top of the ornament.  Looking at them now, I realize a heart punch would have worked too.

Instead of bubbles, the kissing fish have little sparkly hearts over their heads.  Just my opinion here, of course, but I really don't think this card has totally gone over to the world of cute.  A little cute, maybe.  But not completely over the top cute.  Right?

Grungepaper Quilt

I recently participated in two swaps at the All Things Tim (ATT) yahoo group. One was for grungepaper twinchies (2" squares), the other for grungepaper tags, flowers and other dimensional items.

The swaps arrived this week -- wonderful -- but what to do with them? Plus, I had a bunch of extras I'd made.

When grungepaper first came out, Tim showed a beautiful wall hanging done with them; it looked just like a quilt. Why reinvent the wheel? A quilt it would be.

Then, deep in the back of a closet, I found a horrible frame. Ornate, faux gold leafing. Yuck! But it just so happened to be exactly the right size for my quilt. So, I sanded, distressed, crackled, painted, inked that sucker until it was more....grungey.

Then the embellishing began. Rub ons, stamping, hardware, stitching, grungeboard elements, even stickers...I had to force myself to stop.

The photos aren't the greatest, but it is a treat for the eyes in person. And a lasting memory of a very enjoyable swap.

Here are some details:

Use What You Have Challenge!

Here is a challenge I made to the other members of my fabulous SU team: find something you love, something you must have, can't live without, but really can't afford. Hmmm, pretty easy to do that, right? Then, use what you already have and make it yourself!

What inspired me was a visit to a very nice but very expensive scrapbook store. I fell in love with these paper flowers:

I love the irregularity of the edges, and the use of sheet music. They are kind of grungy and edgy, and I really wanted to buy them. But....after tax they would be about $2 per flower, and I just thought that was nuts.

So, I went home, pulled out some scraps of sheet music, some inks, glimmer mist and patterned paper, a few brads, and created these:

What do you think? I'm liking my knock-offs a lot! And I didn't spend a dime.