ENABLER ALERT!!

Yes, I know, it's been a few days. I was working on Christmas gifts all weekend, actually. And since I can't post them before I give them, LOL, I decided to give the blog a break. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Always good to get together with family. 

Well, I'm not one to go out shopping the day after Thanksgiving, or any other time, for that matter. I avoid it like the plague. (You can verify that with my sister) I do, however, buy stuff online. And I'm an admitted cheapskate, so I use coupon codes whenever I get the chance. So I just wanted to pass along that I just ordered some stuff from Joann.com, they had some good sales on a few items. Now I have to tell you, that if you checked their online store over the weekend, they had a server crash and the website wasn't up until sometime yesterday. Which is really too bad for them, because I'm sure they missed out on a lot of income there. And after checking the Facebook page, there were a lot of angry people out there. So, I think in order to calm the masses, they are allowing you to use your codes that were only good for the weekend, up till midnight tonight. And they extended the sale items, too. For example, grungepaper was $3.59, Ranger black glossy cardstock pack was $5.99, ink blending tools were $3.49, some Sizzix stuff was 40% off. And I used my code for free shipping, email me if you want it, and it was still valid. Yes, I encourage people to support their local stores, but since we have none here that I can support, I think I can safely post this without fear of retribution. All I can say is, whomever was running the tech group at Joann's, is probably unemployed right now. So, don't say I never gave you nothin'. LOL
Also, it was my week to post a Christmas project on the Everything Wendy Vecchi Yahoo! group, all of the moderators are taking one of the four weeks left before Christmas and writing up a tutorial and project for the group. However, you must be a member of the group to see the project and get the instructions! Oh, ok, maybe I can post a little sneak peek:

That's all you get to see, so if you REALLY want to know the details, you need to get your booty over to Yahoo! Groups and join the Everything Wendy Vecchi group. We're also challenging the members of the group to make their own project based on the tutorial, post a pic, and then a random winner will be chosen from challenge entries, probably after Christmas, I'm thinkin'.
Since it is the giving season, I been thinkin' (HA!) 'bout posting some weekly tutorials here on a few things I have clanging around in my lil' ole head, and what? possibly a giveaway or two. Or three. Or four. Although after reading the beginning of the post and my offhand comment about being a cheapskate, maybe people would be afraid to enter a giveaway for fear of what they might get, LOL. I promise, it wouldn't be, say, a half used bottle of glue or anything. LOL I think it's about time for some of that, don't you? Because on a serious note, I really do appreciate all the comments and interest in my ramblin' thoughts!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!! Snarf, Snarf.......

Edited 11/25/09
 You'll get the snarf, snarf part later.

I have a few things to post about today....provided I'll be able to remember them that long, LOL.

First, if you haven't crawled out from that rock you have been under in art land, Tim is coming out with this again:

Let's hear it for the Tim-man! Yay! So get those tags and grunge bought, peeps, and get ready to rock!
EDITED 11/25/09, Cheryl is huntin' me down!! Wanted me to correct some statements here as apparently they received some phone calls about the sale, I personally didn't think that many read my blog to cause any trouble! Second, Ten Seconds Studio is having a special sale today (yes, it was only Wednesday), you have to use a special code at checkout, but I assure you, at 50% off everything (not everything was 50%, but a lot was), you might want to snoop around and check it out. I'm not going to give the code, because, well, I just don't want Cheryl and Megan to come hunt me down like a dog, (because they might, if you've seen their Taco Tuesday videos) and I don't need that kind of trouble.
Third, here's a tag I made for the monthly mailer on the AllThingsTim Yahoo! group, I wanted to wait and share until I knew the person had received it, plus it ties in well with this week:

this font thing in blogger is really starting to p*** me off.....somebody please tell me how to fix this.... Anyways, I started with a manilla tag, then I wanted to try the technique where you stamp a background stamp using Adirondack Snow Cap Pigment Ink, let dry, then use distress inks over, the white ink resists the distress ink, and you should be able to see the white design. I'm not sure what happened, I have tried this several times, and it never comes out right. Yes, I dried the white ink thoroughly before applying the distress ink, yes, I reinked the snow cap pad as I thought that might be the problem, but still, not the results I wanted. When I saw it on Wendy's blog, the white really stood out, I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I'm sure it's due to operator ineffiency, though. LOL. Anywho, then I cut some leaves out of some fabric scraps using Sizzix dies and attached those to the bottom. The stamped images are Tim's. The sentiment is from Stampin' Up, raised with foam dots. I put different colored distress stickles on the butterflies, the idea being dark on the edges to light in the middle, hard to see in the photo. Tied some ribbon on the bottom and thru the tag hole, and there you go.

Fourth, (what?) and last (wow, I did remember everything), anyone who grew up in the 80's will appreciate this:

OK, please tell me that my sister and I are not the only ones weird enough to have watched the Thundercats on Saturday mornings???? Thunder, Thunder, Thundercats, HO! (You have to do the arm movements at the same time.) And remember the cat....snarf, snarf? TOO FUNNY! I'm still laughing!
So, I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving with friends and family, wherever you are, and it's cliche I know, but be thankful for everything!

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year........

Yes, it is...and it's not even Thanksgiving yet!! LOL. But I am here to report that a great time was had by all at Linda Cain's Christmas Wall Hanging class on Saturday, held at Prairie Art Stamps in Springfield. Linda is a great teacher, and the store is just awesome. So are the ladies that work there! So artistic and talented. Here's some pics of the group:

 

Wowsa, here's my sis, concentrating so hard she doesn't even know I'm taking a picture!:

Here's a pretty good shot of Linda (left, LOL) and I. Yep, I wore the apron we made on the cruise, first time I had worn it for a class. Well, ok, it's the first class I've taken since being back from the cruise. 

One thing I would mention is that I am a tall person, and long waisted. (Really?) I always feel like Jolly Green Giant standing next to average sized people. I was kind of disappointed in the way the apron fit, although being so tall and longwaisted, I've had that problem my whole life. See where the waist string is hitting me? LOL. My sister said, so it feels more like a bra, right? (She knows me). I said, Yep. Then if I extended the neck strings, the top part would sit about the same level as the waist string, so I was screwed either way, LOL. Here's a pic of our tablemates, Donna and Sue, they were just a scream, they had the same sense of humor as my sister and I, (sometimes rude, sometimes crude and sometimes socially unacceptable) so we were laughing quite a bit. Actually, I stole this picture off of Linda's blog:

And here we are, posin' for the camera, (yay, I stole this one from Linda too, LOL), but we're laughing, and that's all that matters:

Oh, and my sis was kind enough to take one of me at the table:

What's with the bangs? Sheesh.
And here's a good one, Linda was trying to get out of the picture, NOT!

My sis and I also wore some fragment necklaces I made, actually it was the one from the cruise, that I broke up and made two, I'll post more of those later. Everybody just LOVED them. I also made some ATC's to share with the group. Now, I had stamped these on the cruise using Tim's Components stamp sets that were available for us to use. These stamps were especially made to fit ATC's perfectly. (A-Artist, T-Trading, C-Cards, for those who don't know) I colored them with distress inks, added some embellies, and some highlights with a white pen, and BAM, here they are:

Those stamps make it SOOOO easy. And I had just enough to give everyone in class one, even the teacher, right Linda? LOL
You're probably wondering when I'm going to get to the actually wall hanging project, ok, ok, here it is. And yes, I did ask Linda permission to put pics here! She's so nice!

So, we started with some Maya Road chipboard, I think it was a scroll frame book, but I'm not sure which one. Then we covered it with Graphic 45 Christmas paper, and embellished with the G45 Christmas tags and other goodies. 

Here is the top page:

And pages as they hang in order:

And here are some of the BACKS of the pages:

Yeah, I know, that one is kind of hard to see because the paper is so busy. Here's the last one, I promise!:

I had brought along some sets of Tim's Christmas stamps to use, one was the Mini Holidays set, and I just can't remember the name of the other, anyways, I just love vintage Santas, therefore, I love Tim's stamps, because he has some great images of vintage Santas. 
It was a great day, and my sister said she really enjoyed it, which I was glad of. She was definitely on a mission to get it fully completed in class, as she knew that once she was home, it was not going to happen! And, horror of all horrors, she actually finished before me! What? Unheard of! LOL. So, there you go, a full blown recap of my Saturday! Enjoy!

 

The Bird's and the Bees..................Wax

I love working with beeswax. Suze is the one that started me on it, it's all her fault. I mean, I knew it was out there, I just never became really interested in using it until I saw what she did with it. Amazing! So, I already had the melting pot, check, bought some beeswax, check, had some cool napkins and papers, check, bought the hot wax stylus, check. And away we go!
Now, I really love the Northwoods theme, you know, lodge, out in the middle of the woods, mountains, flannel shirts, lumberjacks named Sven, stuff like that. And yes, I do happen to like log furniture. Although, sadly, I don't have any, probably because of the MONEY thing. So I had found some cool napkins at a local farm supply establishment, (imagine, in Illinois) and found a piece of wood just the right size, a few pinecones, and Viola!:

Yeah, I know, the glare. Here's a closeup shot of the bear:

It always astounds me how you can take a paper napkin and some beeswax and make something totally cool. I drilled around the margin of the wood, cut some dowel rod to the size of the wood, covered them with Espresso paint dabber, and fastened the dowel rod to the wood with jute, twine, whatever you want to call it. Actually I made this for my Uncle, who has a cabin in northern CA, and loves the lodge stuff as much as I do. Hopefully he liked it well enough to actually hang it, and not burn it in the fireplace. LOL. I'm sure he did...hang it, I mean. I always hesitate to make stuff for family because I never know if they really like it or they're just being nice when they say, "That's nice".

So here's the "bird" part of the title of this post. I wanted to make a gift for my grandmother, who loves birds and lives in Michigan, with me?  And here's what I came up with:

Maybe this picture is a little better:

After the beeswax hardens and you buff it with a soft cloth, it really has a nice shine to it, hence the glare. Once again, I used some old sheet music, collaged with a bird image from The Vintage Moth, (see the button on the sidebar, oh fine, I'll link it here, sheesh), who has wonderful free vintage images. I stamped a script stamp on the background, too, before applying the beeswax. The vintage advertising rulers I just stumbled across on Ebay, and I am originally from Michigan as well, so I thought, why not? I bought them having no idea what I was going to use them for, and well, there they are. Want to know what the corner posts are that hold it all together? I had some screws left from a bathroom light fixture, with the fancy heads to cover them, soo......thought they worked great. I did stamp in the wax while it was still soft, but it's really hard to see, and I didn't get a good closeup shot of it before I gave it away! LOL. 
So, is the title of the post coming together for you now? Go up and read it again, you'll get it. Have a good one!

A Little of This, A Little of That

Not an original title, I know, but some days you have that. This is one of those days. My feet are cold. My feet got wet playing and walking the Rockstar this morning and got bone chillin' cold. (As I take a drink of my ice cold Diet Coke, what a dork). Yeah, yeah, I know I should have changed socks, but what's the fun in that? Then I don't have anything to complain about. LOL. Now that you've had too much information, I think the acronym is TMI, LOL, on to more artsy stuff. Only a couple of days left until I get to take the class with Linda Cain, YEAH. I'm totally excited. Oh, and before I forget, I actually WON something on Roni Johnson's blog the other day. I never win those giveaways, well, ok, I did win once from Wendy's blog, but THAT'S IT. So I am totally excited about that. You should check out the post she did on image transfer from SCRAPBOOK PAPER, (one of those, why didn't I think of that? moments). It was very cool. Let's see how many times I can use "totally excited" in this post. Kidding. Anyways, check out her blog, it's loaded with techniques and free images. She just came out with a book, too. So, before I forget the original theme of this post, I needed to make some cards for birthdays, and I thought, why not make them a one panel hanging card, so the person could hang them for a while? Here's what I came up with:

For a November birthday:

Let's do a memory test to see if I remembered what I used. Background is stamped with some no name brand stamp (the orangish piece). The piece behind the flower was rubbed over Fiskars texture plates, then highlighted the raised areas with ink. The square that the sentiment is on was colored with alcohol inks. The flower and vine are Sizzix dies, inked and stamped. Here's the other one I came up with the same weekend, (yes, it can happen, although not frequently, LOL):

On this background, you can see the Cuttlebug embossing folder design. Once again, the flowers were Sizzix dies inked, stamped and layered. The sentiment label on both cards were raised with foam dots. Attached some coordinating ribbon to hang, done.
Oh, and one last thing. I'm a member of the Everything Wendy Vecchi Yahoo! group, and the creator of the group, Allie, was asking for some moderator help, so I decided to toss my hat in the ring and offer help, soo....now I and about five other gals are moderators for the group. If you're into Wendy's art, stop by and join! I think we're going to have a great time, MAKING ART! 

A Little Heavy Metal....Because I LOVE Music...

You'll see how I came up with that title after reading the post. Ha! So, I finally finished my outlet covers:

I used the Chocolate metal from TSS . The one on the far left, I used a Fiskars texture plate, remember those? I'm not sure if I like it, but everything is trial and error while making art, right? The other two are my favorites. I used a portion of a Fiskars texture plate, and random molds and wheels from TSS. I thought maybe I was using too many different molds, but I actually liked how they turned out. So now, to get them installed... even though it really only takes a minute, or possibly less than that to install an outlet cover, I fear they may sit somewhere until I get motivated to actually do it. You know how it is.  So, that's the heavy metal portion of the title. I knew you would get it.

I was reading Wendy's post from a couple of days ago, and was absolutely SHOCKED when I read that Tim's Ideaology snaps are going to be discontinued. What the ??? I think this is a complete travesty of art justice. I mean, come on, you can't tell me that these weren't selling well so that's why the company decided to discontinue. Please. Why is it that you finally get a decent well loved product, and then, poof, it's gone. And here's more bad news. Apparently, Tim had most of his personal belongings stolen while demoing at the Carson Stamp Show. Correct me if that's not where or when it happened. How awful. I've had a couple of things stolen over my lifetime, and it's just an awful feeling. My heart goes out to the poor man. I sincerely hope the individual is caught.

Now, on a lighter NOTE, (refer to title of post), I made this little wall hanging a few months back. And yes, I do LOVE music. No certain genre, just music. 

What started this inspiration, you might ask? Well, I'm going to tell you even if you don't want to know. I was outside, walking across the driveway, when I glanced down and saw this piece of flattened, rusty metal. Of course, my first thought was, hey, maybe I could use this. Refer back to previous posts for my love affair with....junk. So, it kinda looked like a bookplate to me, but it was kinda hard to tell exactly what it was. Hence, the beginning of the music hanging. It's the top piece, don't know if you can see it well enough, I kinda covered it up with paper and other stuff. He. So then, I cut some chipboard to match the width of the top metal piece. Covered everything with a base of old sheet music. Now, let me digress here, (oh no, not again) and tell you about the deal on the sheet music. Once a year in our town, the library has a book sale to raise funds for, yes, the library. Everyone donates old books, I shouldn't say old, I mean used books, (although some look brand new), and then the thrifty public such as myself, can purchase said books for like, a couple of bucks. On the last day, it's "fill a grocery bag for $5 day". So that's the day I zone in on, right? Yeah, baby, a whole bag of old sheet music, books, and even maybe a music CD or two. Back to the hanging. Here's some closeups of the individual pieces.

Ideaology corner on the top, jump rings, a spinner for the butterfly body, which of course is one of Tim's grungeboard shapes, grungepaper flower, everything hit with distress inks, of course. Stamped with a music stamp, of all things. Imagine. Hey, at least I was smart enough to keep with the theme.

The green flower is punched from some old velvet ribbon I found at the local thrift shop. Must have been from the 70's. Ha. Nice avocado green color.

Another Ideaology corner to finish it, and what's that? I just HAPPENED to have a wooden clef note, (is that the right name? not sure, it's been a while since grade school band) that I covered with Peeled Paint crackle paint, and slathered some of the same color Distress Stickles on it. I may have made an error by putting more of the green velvet behind the note, not sure I like that. Although the idea was to make the note a stem for the flower, which I thought needed leaves. And of course you recognize Broken China, Peeled Paint and Vintage Photo distress ink, right? The base of the bottom piece is actually the Sizzix jean pocket die, I'm sure that's not the correct name, but it fit the width of the piece perfectly. So, I leave you with this thought today...

Stop...

and.....

LISTEN....

TO THE MUSIC. 

Another one! Crikey, Batman!

I was stoked to open up my email this morning and found out that Nancy had bestowed this award to my blog! I'm so honored! Yet again! Hope my head doesn't start swellin'....too much. Wow! Thanks so much Nancy! U R Kewl! I've always wanted to type that...kewl. Say it with me, KEWL. Maybe you have to have the Midwestern accent like me in order to make it sound right. Funny how I don't think I have an accent, but I think everyone else does. LOL. So, here's the scoopadoop on this award:

I need to pass this award on to five people, post a comment on their blog to let them know, and answer the following questions with ONE word:

 

1. Where is your cell phone?… desk

2. Your hair?…straight

3. Your mother?…generous

4. Your father?…deceased

5. Your favorite food?…everything

6. Your dream last night?…didn't

7. Your favorite drink?…milk

8. Your dream/goal?…debtless

9. What room are you in?…office

10. Your hobby?…art

11. Your fear?…cancer

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years?...debtless (again!)

13. Where were you last night?…studio

14. Something that you aren’t?…tolerant

15. Muffins?…oatmeal

16. Wish list item?…lottery

17. Where did you grow up?…Michigan

18. Last thing you did?…drink

19. What are you wearing?… nothing (Ha ha, gotcha)

20. Your TV?…off (hopefully)

21. Your Pets?…ZOO

22. Friends?…bestest

23. Your life?…boring

24. Your mood?…expectant

25. Missing Someone?…no

26. Vehicle?…truck

27. Something you're not wearing?…lipstick

28. Your favorite store?…Numerous

29. Your favorite colour?…brown

30. When was the last time you laughed?…morning

31. Last time you cried?…2004

32. Your best friend?…C

33. One place that I go to over and over?…Walmart (ugh)

34. Facebook?…yes

35. Favorite place to eat?…Anywhere

And here are the lovely, talented peeps I have chosen to pass this on to, who will love the award but will hate me for the questions, LOL. I can already feel me ears a burnin'.

Eileen - she is just a darn witty, artsy chick, what can I say. She is truly a mixed media artist. We met on the cruise, and enjoyed hangin' out together, albeit not that much as we were in different class groups. Something that will be rectified next year, eh?

Linda - she doesn't know me, well, she might remember me from taking one of her metal classes in Bloomington, but I doubt it. Such a great lady, who does just awesome work with, well, everything. I'm excited because I'm taking another class from her next Saturday. Woop, woop. That way she can give me the full verbal assault about all the questions, LOL.

Donna - we're both members of the Everything Wendy Vecchi Yahoo group, and she does awesome work as well. Check out her blog and the banner she has at the top, it's awesome!

Jennifer - she's the Queen of Cards, in my book. Just awesome work and ideas, holy moly!

Lisa - I've taken several online classes from Lisa, great instructor. She's got the "vintage" thing down pat. Just beautiful work. And now she has a book coming out! Yeah!

So, there you go, enjoy! More later...hopefully!

A Big Thank You! ....and a little art

Today, I want to express my gratitude to the men and women, both past and present, that haved served so valiantly to protect our freedom. Did you ever stop to think of where this country would be if not for their service? Not where we are today, I can tell you that much for certain. Thank you!

So, if you recall from previous posts, I mentioned that I have also decided to work with metal occasionally. Check out this website for "cool tools for cool people". These gals are just a riot, you should really check out their blog, and their infamous Taco Tuesday videos for some great info and tips for working with metal, and their, ah, well, chemistry they have as a mother and daughter that comes across on the video. I really just bust out laughing most of the time. Yesterday they featured putting metal on the backside of the acrylic fragments. I wanted to go home and try this immediately, and although it didn't HAPPEN immediately, here is what I came up with, using TSS Kiss Me Pink metal with some of their molds:

Yea, I know, I have to actually DO something with them, but they turned out so cool I had to share IMMEDIATELY. I'm thinking some pearls, maybe some Stickles, might look good on these, too. I have also been working on "metalizing" the switchplates and outlet covers for one of the upstairs bedrooms. This is one of the "home improvement" tasks I don't mind doing, LOL. I love the Chocolate brown metal:

I only have about 5 or 6 more outlet covers to go. Ha!
Whoa, baby, short post today after yesterday's marathon post, but I'm sure you can stomach it.

So, say thank you to a vet today, and maybe just not today, but every day, and remember, TAKE NOTHING FOR GRANTED!

It's Journal Time!

Yes, I believe I finally have the majority of the grungeboard journal done from the cruise! It still may get a little tweak here and there, but for the most part, it's done! It was the first class on the cruise, with the Timinator. Hope he doesn't mind nicknames. LOL. Obviously, the pages were made from grungeboard, and the front and back cover were a map of Mexico that was printed on Claudine Hellmuth's sticky back canvas, then adhered to the covers. Now, remember, the canvas was white to begin with. We were given a whole lot 'o embellishment goodness to apply as we saw fit. Also, paper from 7 Gypsies to use as background paper on the grungeboard pages, as well as bags from 7 Gypsies to hold all our mementos from the journey, though I couldn't get the empty wine bottle to fit in there. In looking at my front cover through my usually realistic eyes, I saw an opportunity to color the map with Broken China (water, hello?), Peeled Paint (land) and Brushed Corduroy (land). Now, I must interject here that Broken China and Peeled Paint are my two favorite colors of the distress inks. Vintage Photo is my favorite brown color. Aged Mahagony is in the top four (1,2,3, shh, I'm counting; yea, four). Here is the front cover:

I used Paint Dabbers in Stream and Bottle for the word "Artful", and Red Pepper and Terra Cotta for the word "Mexico". These words are made from the fabric Thickers stickers. (Say that real fast a couple of times). I then rubbed some copper pigment ink over those two words in spots, hard to see in the photo. When I applied the Terra Cotta paint over the Red Pepper, I used a pouncing motion just in certain spots, and it actually gives it an antique look, again, hard to see. "Voyage" and the ship icon are from the grungeboard Iconic set, which we received for FREE. Painted with Black Soot crackle paint, then rubbed the copper pigment ink over to give a more antique, grungy look, and to make those cracks stand out. Here's some closeups of the Ideaology pieces hanging from the D rings and attached with the little clip on the right:

And the inside of the front cover:

I used the salvage stickers were given, (yes, again, FREE), applied to the grungeboard Shapes. They were made for each other, LOL. I had the Shapes set at home, that I had gotten with an order a long time ago, and always wondered what they were for. LOL. When Tim mentioned in class that the stickers fit the Shapes, it all became crystal clear to me (insert angelic chorus here).Duh. So I used the stickers that had the calendar months and days to signify what the date was that we "set sail", and the metal numbers for the year, obviously. I hammered the numbers a bit and applied some Espresso and Gold paint dabbers in spots. We were also given the Prima collage flowers, which I LOVE, and used quite liberally throughout. So here's some pics of the inside pages, there is a lot of them, but it's my blog, after all, and I REALLY like how they turned out. LOL. I did a lot of this on Friday morning in the "at sea" studio when I was waiting for my dolphin excursion into Cabo, and I really took advantage of using all Tim's stamps that were available for us to use. I also had an opportunity to chat with Sherry, whom I hadn't seen since the ATC swap on reception night. We were the only two in the studio. I used a LOT of distress ink on the paper bag pages, I swiped those suckers all over the place! I love how it made the wrinkles stand out. The black letters were stamped with black paint dabber applied to Tim's foam stamp alphabet set, which I so loved that I proceeded to run to the marketplace to buy, as they were discontinued, and there is no WAY I was going to be without them. Oh, yes, the pictures:

Oops, excuse my finger, gotta love this stamp from the Rock Star set (above)

There's that annoying finger again. Well, at least my nails are clean. The colorwash finally wore off. LOL.

On the above page, I used the script stamp, sorry, can't remember the name of the stamp set, and applied it in different directions on the page. Turned out kinda cool, I thought.

And finally, I thought this stamp was appropriate for the back inside cover:

Don't wanna hear it, I warned you in the beginning there were LOTS of pictures. 
Back outside cover:

Told you I used a lot of stamps and ink. A Frida Kahlo print that my friend Eileen gave me, bless her generous soul, yep, it's going in the journal:

And I used these to keep a written journal of my escapades each day, and lo and behold, they just happened to be perforated, so I was able to rip them out and place them in the brown bags according to the day:

And here is a great big ole giveaway that you must absolutely, postively, check out!
Hasta manana, peeps!