The Compendium of Curiosities Challenge - Week Five

Distress Powder

Click on the link above to be taken to Linda's blog, Studio L3, just in case you've been out of the country for the past few weeks and have no idea what the Compendium of Curiosities Challenge is all about.

First, congratulations to Gerrie, who won a  prize on Linda's blog, and Nancy D., who won on the ATT group for last week's challenge.

Distress Powder, this week's technique, is one I've done before, and one I enjoy.  So much, I wound up with two samples.  The first is a tag, and I used soot black distress embossing powder and barn door distress ink.

Did you notice (sneaky me) that I also did a little water stamping on the right, one of the techniques we've already covered?  I added some dots and dashes with white and black glaze pens.  I'm surely not the sticky sweet sentimental type, so I generally like any love themed pieces I do to have a bit of an edge.  This technique, and Tim's cool stamp go together really well, I think.

I recently got a stamp from Red Lead that I absolutely love.  It is of a vintage all girl class photo, and I wondered how it would work with distress powder.  Pretty good, in my opinion.  I used those little cut-n-dry pen nibs to color individual sections. I also used the black distress powder on this piece.

The notebook paper on the left and the three pen nibs are Tim's stamps.  The bottle of India ink stamp.....I wish I knew where that came from.

Keeping up with this challenge has been fun and I find myself looking forward to 8am (well, that's the time on the east coast anyway) when Linda posts the new challenge.  Why don't you play along this week too?

Found Art (Was It Ever Lost?)

I've been very busy creating lately, though much of what I've done has been either a present for someone or for a future design team project, and so had to be kept under wraps.
But, last night my friend Pat and I went out to celebrate her birthday, and I gave her a little piece I'd made, so now it's OK to share it with you all.  I loved doing it, and yes, Pat loved receiving it.
First, a little background.  A few weeks ago, I was looking at Tim's blog, and came across some shots he took of his newly reorganized studio.  This is one of the pictures:

Very cool, and what I kept staring at was the spelling out of his name with old game pieces.  That was the inspiration behind this:

Some details:   the base is a 4x4 piece of masonite, and I have no idea where it came from.  I inked, painted, and crackled it, then started attaching a variety of found (OK, and some bought) objects.

A broken old ruler (well, bits of two, actually), little bottles, a key I rusted,  a polymer clay tile and tiny bird's nest, both of which I made in Key Largo, some of Tim's idea-ology, of course, buttons and other bits and bobbles, and my personal favorite:  a piece of genuine Montana rusted barbed wire, courtesy of my pal Julie, artist and rancher extraordinaire. 

Two more views:

More Shabby Chic

I enjoyed this week's Compendium of Curiosities challenge so much, I did another....this one with a twist.

The base color is denim, the top coat lettuce.  The stamp is from a Martha Steward bird set.  What's the twist?  I overpainted with some mica paints for a little sparkle.

The Compendium of Curiosities Challenge - Week Four

Week Four -- Shabby Chic

Wow!  We've been doing this for four weeks?  Linda chose the Shabby Chic technique for this week's challenge.  Click on the link above to get the deets directly from Linda.  

This is not a difficult technique, but I do have a tip.  Without giving anything away re: directions (which we've all promised), do not be in a rush to do the last step.  That's all I'm sayin'.   I was (patience is NOT my middle name), and that resulted in a do-over.

Anyway, here is my shabby chic piece:

It photographed a little dark.  Here's what I can share:

 

     stamps used:  

the bird on the branch is from Tim's Urban Tapestry set

the nest is from Artful Flight

the words are from a stamp in Wendy Vecchi's Homemade Art set

        colors used:    

 espresso and lettuce

       other:             

the leaves were cut from scraps of paper from Tim's Lost and Found paper stack, using a Sizzix sizzlet die  

the border on the right was cut with Tim's Brackets on-the-edge die

Again, thanks to Linda for organizing this ongoing challenge.  I am really enjoying it, and my little technique journal is growing and is already full of such goodness.

Also, thanks to the sponsors Linda has gotten.  Every week someone is randomly chosen to receive a super prize.  Go to Linda's blog to read all about that.

And last of all, thanks to Gloria, our list mom at ATT who is also giving away gifts each week. 

Have you joined the challenge?  Why not?????  It's probably too hot to go outside anyway (well, it sure is in my world), so turn to page 49 in Tim's book and create something!

When Tag and ATC Collide

My online friend Shoshi has been working on combining greeting cards with her ATCs.  She makes a supply of card bases, attaches a pocket to hold an ATC, and is always ready when the need for a greeting cards arises.   A great idea.....I'm often asked (about ATCs), "what do you do with them?"  Well, I don't really feel a need to do anything with them, other than make, trade, and collect them, but other people are more practical than I.  So, using them as a focal point in a card or scrapbook page seems like a good solution.  Then the lightbulb went off above my thinking cap and I thought to myself, why not on a tag too?   We could get into a discussion about what you do with tags, but let's not.
Anyway.....I'm in a beach-themed tag swap, and created one with a sewn on (yep, sewn with a sewing machine,  by me) pocket for the ATC.  Here's the whole enchilada:

I used both Graphic 45 paper from the On The Boardwalk collection, and some leftover DCWV Mariposa paper on the tag. The pocket and top border are finished with the Stampin' Up Eyelet border punch.  The words On The Boardwalk are straight from the Graphic 45 paper, and a bit of Tim's Filmstrip Ribbon fit right over them.  I love when products from different companies play nice together.

As for the ATC, the background is NOT paper.  It is actually a scrap of fabric I had and I sewed (yes, sewed again, on a machine) it onto a cardboard ATC base with (in my very unhumble opinion) a very neat zig zag stitch.  Here's a closer look:

I strung together some beads and shells, and the only other decoration needed for this rather busy fabric background is the vintage bathing beauty, again, from the Graphic 45 Boardwalk collection.  Did I mention that I used fabric and a sewing machine?

Have A Safe And Happy Fourth of July

Greetings from New York City

Backgrounds done with the alcohol inks and compressed air technique (Tim Holtz),  topped with my favorite Lady Liberty stamp.  

Enjoy the holiday weekend, everyone.

Color Journal and Embossed Tags

Once upon a time, I did a page for Daisy's Journal of Dreams.  Gina saw it, and ever since has been  hinting
begging  asking for a similar page in one of  her journals.  Well, you know, we don't repeat ourselves, but I felt I could create something new and still give Gina what she wanted.
Here is the page I did for Daisy, a long, long time ago:

And here are the two pages for Gina.....her colors are sepia, yellow, orange, red, black and gold.

First page:

And the second:

The background is colorwash, collaged papers, more colorwash, oil pastels.  The fantasy city is kind of a mix of NY and Moscow, created from photos, clip art, postcards and my own drawings.

By the way, Gina is very pleased with them.  (Me too!)

Stephen at ATT is hosting a tag swap.  Only rule....we have to use Tim's new embossing folders (called texture fades) somewhere on the tags.  Now, I'd ordered the folders ages ago, and have been waiting not so patiently for them to arrive.  I really thought I'd have to drop out of the swap, but they came yesterday, and I was so excited, I got right to it.  We were to make 6 tags (and we'll get 6 back), and mine are mostly alike.  I did use a different texture fade on each one (simply so I could play with them), but other than a few other minor differences, if you've seen one, you've seen them all.  Having said that, I'm still going to show you three.  See if you can spot the differences.  

I used Core'dinations paper....very cool stuff.  The core of the paper is a different color than the outside, which makes for some interesting effects.  After embossing, I sanded the raised areas so the core color shows through.

The heart and wings are cut with Tim's die called (oddly enough), Heart Wings.  I stamped the eye with embossing ink and embossed it with black detail embossing powder.  The crown is chipboard from Maya Road, and I used a glittery EP called African Gold.  It turned out a bit too glittery, so I toned it down (yep, this is the toned down version) with some olive Stazon ink.

The tag is edged with a gold pen, and under the flying heart is a criss cross of black and gold ribbon.  Some gold trim on the bottom finishes it off.

The sentiment (which I pretty much chose because size wise it fit on the tag, and it contains the word heart, and I do like it) is from Invoke Arts.

The Compendium of Curiosities Challenge - Week Three

 Alcohol Ink Monoprints

We were instructed to turn to page 51 in Tim's book, and have at it.  Well, I just cut up the paper we're to use and made a whole bunch of samples.  First I did some monochromatic ones.

Then I just started using some colors randomly.

I left most of them as is for my technique book, but decided to turn one into an ATC.

The border is some paper from the Lost and Found stack, cut with Tim's scallop On The Edge die.  I embossed the chipboard butterflies with some bright EPs, and wrote "fly" with an embossing pen and then used one of the same EPs on that.

This is a very cool technique that (believe it or not) I don't think I've used before.   Check out Linda's blog for all the details, and join in.  Still lots more prizes to be won.

Journal of Dreams -- Thinking of Days Long Gone

I received Heather's JOD last week and as sometimes happens, had an immediate idea for my pages, so got right to it.  I've been using old family photos in my altered book, and continued that theme on these pages.

This is the front.  The background is watercolor paper with distress inks and colorwash, then stamped with clear ink on a fabulous flourish stamp, embossed with clear EP, then inked some more.

The vintage pens are from a Graphic 45 sheet.

The gate is a die cut I found in my stash; the leaves are also cut from a die.....but this one I can identify.  It's on Tim's Regal Crest die.

The photo is of (in order of appearance), me and two cousins, Jack and Sandi.  It was taken one summer in the yard of my grandmother's beach house, and I have VERY fond memories of those times.  I highlighted the little faces with tiny grommets.  

And, on the flip side:

The background is a used dryer sheet, sprayed with homemade mica spray and glued to a previously colorwashed piece of watercolor paper.  You can see a few sprays of leaves peeking out from behind the journaling tag.....they were made with what was left when I cut the leaves from the TH die.  I used this negative as a stencil and pounced some Vintage Photo distress ink over them.

The strip on the left is made of bits of leftover papers from a page in the TH Lost and Found stack.

The photo is of my father and his two younger brothers.  I get a kick out of it.....they all look so solemn, and I can't help wondering how the photographer got three little guys to stay so still and appear so serious.

Four Tags, Six Canvases and Two Journal Pages

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And each page separately:

The Compendium of Curiosities Challenge - Week Two

 

FRAGMENTS BASICS

Wow, we're in week two of the challenge...where did the last 7 days go?

If you're new to this, check out Linda's blog for all the details.

This week the challenge technique is "Fragments Basics," found on page 62 of Tim's book.  I was feeling a little whimsical, and used the technique to create my "fragmented traveling man":

I got a little more practice in the water stamping from last week's challenge on my background paper.  Sneaky me.  Used some Heidi Swapp clear extras as well as paper from Tim's Lost and Found stack.  Finished it off with some travel stamps.

Congrats to the prize winners from week 1, and my fingers are crossed for this week's giveaways on both Linda's blog and the ATT group.  Yep, more prizes, so go create something!

Friends, Food, and Fathers

So, yesterday I met some friends on Arthur Avenue, the heart of the Little Italy of the Bronx.  There's nothing I can say in words that would be more descriptive than a few pictures.

 And today is Father's Day.  Mine has been gone for almost 17 years, and I miss him and still think about him every day.  Here's two of my favorite shots, both taken before I was even born.

The first was taken in our backyard in Brooklyn, the second on the boardwalk in Rockaway Beach.

Happy Father's Day, Dad.

And Happy Father's Day to all you other dads out there.