Sunday Stampers - Paint It BLACK!!

Yepper doodle, that's the theme this week. Check out Hel's smashing piece, and other folks entries HERE.

So, some of you might know, or not, lol, that I'm leaving tomorrow, today, whenever I decide to post this, let's just say, Tuesday, September 28, to visit my good friend, Eileen, in New York, for a couple of days, prior to embarking on the TIM HOLTZ CRUISE TO CANADA/NEW ENGLAND!!! I'm so excited I can hardly stand it! That's what all the ATC's have been for, you know!

My point of saying this, you ask? So you'll know why I haven't been leaving comments on the blogs I follow. I have some posts scheduled along the way, let's just hope those go according to plan. I can't wait to see how much catching up I have to do on Google Reader when I return, YIKES!

Any who, on to the arty part.  Decided to clean up my desk a little (very little, I might add) prior to leaving, so I tried to use pieces that had been carelessly tossed to the side after they didn't work on other projects. Here we go:

Er, a little cock-eyed, (or perhaps the photographer was), but I decided to use Rocky's weather worn doghouse as a backdrop, and as usual, the wind is blowing. I do like the natural light, though.

The roses were leftovers, and I just decided to cut a bunch of Tim's leaves from the Regal Crest die to fill in around the flowers. Then I saw the Heidi Swapp mirrors that I've had for ages, and thought, hey, why not? So I put that in the corner, after stamping with Staz On and Tim's Fab Flourish stamp, and adhering some Prima Say It In Pearls to the middle.

The background goes like this - white chipboard 4 x 4 inch square, placed a Heidi Swapp mask over it, inked with Black Soot Distress Ink, stamped over everything with the French Script stamp in Archival Black. No really, those are my exact steps. Believe it or not.

Then I thought it looked French Shabby Chic, so I went with C'est La Vie for a sentiment in the middle on white card, edged with Black Soot.

Oh, the paper on the big rose is the new 7 Gypsies Paddington line. The other two roses are grungepaper, covered with crackle paint.

Ta da!

Wait! I'm not done yet! heeeeee

I was bestowed a blog award from my new arty blog friend, Netty.  You should check out her blog, really. Very TALENTED and FUNNY!   Yep, a total package! It is the "One Lovely Blog" Award, and rules state that I am to pass it along to 15 other bloggers! Yes, 15! Since a lot of the blogs I would pass it along to have been bestowed this award by other bloggers, I'll just leave it like this: I want to thank Netty for thinking of my blog and giving me the award, and I would like to pass it along to all my loyal friends who leave comments on a regular basis. Means the world to me, and gives me the feeling that at least I'm accomplishing something worthwhile. So, thank you! And by the way, my first anniversary of this lil ole blog is coming up shortly, so keep your eyeballs peeled!

Now, enough blithering, GO BE CREATIVE!

Simon Says Stamp and Show Me - Distressed and/or Sanded!

Zowie, these challenges are right up my alley! He he.

You can check out the other design team entries and place your entry HERE.  Make sure when you place your entry, you link to your direct post of the entry, not your general blog URL, please. 

Alrighty then, got out the Salvage Stickers this week, some Idea-ology, some grungeboard, paint and molding paste, stamps, Ten Seconds Studio metal and molds, some found objects, and altered what was formerly a cheapo canvas frame with a hotel picture from the dollar store. About 12 x 12 inches.  Come on, 

It's TIME TO UNLOCK YOUR CREATIVITY!

Dad gum it, I thought I had taken the glare out. There's a lot of crap stuff on here, so I'll just try to hit the highlights so your head doesn't hit the keyboard. lol.

Covered the frame with molding paste, let dry a bit, then spritzed some water on some various Timinator stamps (oh, alright, Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz) and stamped into the molding paste. Let dry. Painted with various acrylic metallic paints in shades of red, brown, and a platinum color. Thought it was too shiny, so went over some areas with Rub 'N Buff.

Using Ten Seconds Studio metal in mocha and two of their Kabuka molds, embossed the metal, sanded, and adhered to area where the picture was there in the middle with TSS Humungo Killer Adhesive. Then I thought that was too shiny, (we are going with distressed, after all) so I toned it down with more Rub 'N Buff.

Salvage stickers were adhered to Grungeboard Shapes, did you know the Grungeboard Shapes pack were specifically made to fit the Salvage Stickers? Now you do. Sanded the edges, inked with Black Soot distress ink. Some of these are adhered in layers on top of the other letters to give some more dimension.  The big "C" is from the Grungeboard Alpha set, painted with black acrylic paint, sanded, and swiped with a Lettuce Paint Dabber. The piece on the "C" is bronze UTEE, melted and stamped while warm.

Various grungeboard keys, arrow and keyhole treated with a mix of Distress Embossing Powder in Black Soot, Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain.

Some Idea-ology pieces, an old watch, and a piece of rusty metal I found on the road (yes, it's true) to finish it off! 

If you would like to visit the Simon Says Stamp store, click HERE!

So, go on now, it's

TIME TO UNLOCK YOUR CREATIVITY!!!

More Fun With ATC's Continued...More of the G45 Series...

Told you I'd have more.

CCC #15 - And I Still Have My Spleen

No offense to those who might not have theirs for some terrible reason, but it just popped in my head, and it's a fact. So....
Alrighty, the theme this week is Alcohol Agate on Grunge. You can check out the details and enter your piece on lovely Linda's blog HERE.  It was a challenge I was anxious to try, but didn't exactly turned out the way I wanted the first time, so I had a re-do.

I took two different angles, hoping it would show the pearly background, but, alas, that didn't work as planned either.  You'll have to try it yourself so you can see!
I ran the piece of grunge thru the texture fade and sanded it. Prior to doing that, I had stamped the word "dream" with white acrylic paint and Tim's now discontinued foam alpha stamps. Outlined the letters just on the right side with a black Sakura glaze pen so they would pop.
Added some batik fabric scraps, some pearls, and a grungepaper rose learned from my SSS teamie Lynne. 
Simples, but I learned a new technique, so it's all good!
Go Be Creative!

Sunday Stampers!!!!

Ok, the theme this week over in Hels land, is MOVIES.
She so kindly mentioned my little popcorn box that I had made for the Simon Says Stamp and Show team, and made her own which turned out AWESOME. Minus the glue incident. lol You'll have to go read the post to find out what happened there.
Any who, using Tim's At the Movies stamp set was an obvious choice. And the Lost and Found paper stack. And the film strip ribbon. Had to come up with something a LITTLE different than Hels piece, and the piece I had created before, so....here we go:

That funky background is black chip run thru the rays texture fade, then swiped with perfect medium (embossing ink), and pearl UTEE sprinkled on and heated. Two pieces of that, facing each other. Thought it gave that movie "WOW" factor. lol (You're a star, baby!)
Created the popcorn box the same way I did before, using the rays texture fade, swiping with Barn Door distress ink, ran thru again to flatten the surface so you can stamp on it. Then on this one, which I should have done on the last one, is stamp and cut out individual pieces of the popcorn, which had been colored with a water brush and mustard seed distress ink, (I like my popcorn buttered) and glued in strategic places.
Used the film strip stamp in the set to stamp with Staz On on the film strip ribbon.
The sale bill or whatever they call those is also a stamp from the set, on a manila card, crumpled up and inked within an inch of it's life. I'm not sure about this, but I like to think that Tim was thinking of my friend Eileen, when he created this stamp, don't you think?
The Admit One ticket is a stamp from the set, and the other tickets are cut straight out of the Lost and Found pad, distressed and inked.Ta da!
When I see the word popcorn, I always remember how my nephew used to say it when he was little. "I want some pa-corn Aunt Ori."  Cute, huh? He's much older now and can fully pronounce his "p's" and "l's". lol.
Go Be Creative!

Simon Says Show Me....Grunge!

..ok, I was going to say Your Grunge, but that sounded bad to me, so I left it at grunge. lol
You can check out the other wonderful design team entries, and place your entry at the Simon Says Stamp and Show Blog!
Everybody's definition of grunge varies. It also depends on whether you're talking about music or art style.
Of course, when I see the word grunge, I think of grungeboard and grungepaper, both of which I use extensively. On the other hand, sometimes it means an especially distressed style, I don't want to say dirty, but if the shoe fits.....
I went with another jumbo tag, 4 x 8 inches. And I got out my Lost and Found paper stack for inspiration.  I saw the vintage bottle cap sheet of paper, and went with that. Then I saw the vintage photos of people, and thought the two little boys would go with the bottle caps, since all little boys like soda (or pop or Coke, depending on where you are in the US, lol). From there, I went with the "little boys get grungey and carry all sorts of stuff in their pockets, so I'll make this tag look like it came out of one of their pockets" rationale. Yes, amazing isn't it? rofl....
Here we go.......

Covered the tag with the bottle cap paper and ran it thru the Collage and Notebook Texture Fades, then inked the raised areas with Vintage Photo distress ink.  I tore some of the theater themed paper and put on opposing corners, distressing the torn edges like crazy. I also used the Tonic Paper Distresser tool along the edges of the tag, then inked with Vintage Photo. That distresser tool is something I put off buying, because, really, can't I just use my scissor blade? Let me tell you, I was given one, and use it ALL the time. I'm sold on it. And I'm a hard sell (most days, lol).
I used a Maya Road Mega Bottlecap to put the boy's picture in (also from the Lost and Found stack), and bent the edges over and beat it with a hammer. Then I put a mixture of Black Soot, Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain distress embossing powder on the edges. After that I also covered the picture with Rock Candy Crackle paint.
I cut some grungeboard with the Gadget Gears die, and put those pieces thru the same treatment as the bottlecap edges. 
The wings are from the Grungeboard Elements pack, painted with Lettuce paint dabber, sanded, and inked with Vintage Photo.
The keyhole at the top right corner is cut from grungeboard using the Hardware Findings die, and once again treated with the mixture of distress embossing powders.
Stamped a sentiment from the Mini Ornate stamp set on a journaling tag, and distressed and inked the edges.
I used various Idea-ology pieces to attach the small items. Note the little pair of binoculars on the bottom? Every little boy likes binoculars, right? (certainly not for spying on the neighbor girl, lol!)
Added some bits of torn denim, some twine, and I had some really cool fabric strips with numbers that I used for the top of the tag, but I ran it thru some Vintage Photo ink with water first!
Alrighty, here's some close-ups:

Whew! All that for one tag!
Here's sumpin' kinda funny....I had Dewbird look at it, and he noticed the extreme distressing around the tag edges and especially around the journaling tag with the sentiment. He said, "how did you get it to look like that?" He was serious. I said, "I just used my fingers and ripped, pulled and rolled them". 
"oh" he says. "looks cool"
"Thank you" I said.
Maybe he was expecting some big scientific procedure? Dunno. As long as it looks cool.

More Fun With ATC's Continued...The G45 Series

Yes, how many ways can you use the Botanicabella series of Graphic 45?
Many, I'm here to tell you.
I'm trying to use up stash, but it looks like I really haven't made a dent, lol. In my defense, ATC's are rather small, you know, so it doesn't take much paper.
I was visiting some relatives, and I knew I would have a little time here and there, so I took the paper, scissors, a Frayed Burlap distress ink with a piece of foam, a glue stick, and a few vintage looking stickers. That's it. I was challenging myself to see what I could come up with, using a minimum of supplies. Not to mention the paper is so gorgeous it doesn't need much embellishment.
Here we go:

Ok, I did take a few rub-ons, too. That should be enough for you today, trust me, I'll have more to show you later....lol....
Go Be Creative!

Sunday Stampers Challenge!

Let's see, the challenge this week, presented by the lovely and talented Hels, is Ruby Blue, or, anything with Blue and Red, and no stamping if you want! Which is kinda good, because the idea I had didn't include stamping. lol. 
So, I had taken an online class from Lisa Pace over a year ago, and had a project that I didn't even start. Ok, it was started, but the only thing accomplished was a re-do of a thrift store frame. I think the class was called Americana, and she may have had it out there again this year, I'm not sure. At any rate, I went with the blue and red, and added some white, for a patriotic theme:

The paper is Melissa Frances, and her Patriotic Ticket Book. If you want, you can click the picture to make it bigger.
I mounted the tickets on chipboard tags, sanded and inked the edges. It isn't completely like the instructions said, but that's one way to call it your own, rofl. I had red, white and blue grungepaper roses made up, but after trying all different configurations around the frame, decided they didn't look right. The frame does look somewhat plain, but I gave up on that after a half hour, too. The piece itself is only about 5 x 5 inches. Kinda small. But, it's a finished project! Yay! One more off the list! Thank you Hels, for these challenges each week!

Winner of Simon Says Stamp-Tember Blog Hop!

The winner of a package of the Idea-ology Word Sticks from all the lovely comments is CAROLINE from Keep It Sweet and Simple!

Caroline said:

Keep It Sweet and Simple said...

What a fabulous tag - beautiful colours and I love the ditressing techniques you used. Caroline xxx

September 10, 2010 9:44 AM

 

Thanks so much for the sweet comment Caroline, and congratulations!  And thank you so much everyone for all the wonderful comments and playing along! There really was some fabulous artwork submitted, if you have a moment, you can go check out the entries HERE!

Postie Brings the Goods...and CCC #14

Let's start with the 14th challenge over at Linda's blog, aka CCC. The theme this week is Masks Basics.
You know, this is an underused technique in my arsenal. I really don't use it that often. It produces fantastic results, I really don't know why I don't use it as often, guess it's not in my "top five techniques", lol.  
Any who, sorry to bore you, but I made some more ATC's... I'll show the mask part prior to embellishing, you can see it better.

On this one, I inked then applied the mask and sprayed with a mister of reinker and Perfect Pearls. This angle shows it best. 

On this one I used the technique straight out of the book.

 I just wanted to show you a cool thing that I did with the mask after I had sprayed the first one above. I carefully peeled it off and flipped it over on another blank. Another way to get more bang for the buck (or mask, in this case, lol)

 Completed ATC's.
And thought I would keep going, so made some more:

Now for the really fun part! I received a package chock full of art goodness from my dear friend from England, the one, the only, HELS! You can view the details on how she made these lovely pieces on her blog HERE. She has better pictures, too!

Isn't it AWESOME!  The texture is just beyond belief.  I just sat and stared at it for a while. Then I had to snap out of it. I did wipe the drool off the table, though. She also sent me this card and tag, I just love the plaid technique with the alcohol inks, it's my fave!

Gorgeous, just gorgeous! Thank you so much Hels!
I've already instructed Dewbird that I am to be buried with these, and all the other pieces from my art friends. At this rate, another plot may be required. rofl. Morbid, maybe, but funny, none the less.
I think that's it for today, now...
Go Be Creative!

A Few of My Favorite Things...

These are a few of my favorite things....da da da da...however that song goes....
Hels challenge last Sunday was to use everything. (that's your favorite stash)
Well, obviously, I can't use EVERYTHING that's my favorite, I suppose I could, but trying to make everything look good would be too taxing for my brain. Trust me.
So I stuck with ye olde Lost and Found paper stack, the texture fades, and distress ink.
Yes, more ATC's.

I think the fades add a cool texture to the already wonderful lost and found paper. Love it.  Some other embellies that I've had for "yonks" as Hels would say....and viola! 
Go Be Creative!

CCC #13

..hate to disappoint, but no rhyme with that. Too tired. lol. If you would like to give it a go in the comments, feel free.
So, the theme this week is GRUNGEPAPER FLOWERS.
You can click the link to check out all the other wonderful art and Linda's lovely blog.
Oh man.
My favorite.
Flowers and grungepaper.
I've had an idea of my dear Gram and Gramps wedding day picture for a while, so I went with it for this week's challenge.  I used 7 Gypsies new paper line, Paddington. Love it. It's all black and white.

Ok, it looks better in real life. But, you can click on the pic to make it bigger, maybe that will help. The black frame around the photo is the negative to the Baroque Tim die. Some vintage buttons for the flower centers, and I'm sure the flowers are fairly self explanatory. Tim's wonderful Tattered Floral die. I adhered the Paddington paper to the grungepaper prior to cutting, of course. Used some Black Soot distress ink on the edges of the flowers, and some Picket Fence crackle paint on some. And there is some Black Soot crackle paint on one layer too. The frame around the "memories" is a Heidi Swapp ghost frame. I'm stash busting, what can I say. Goes well here, I think. Ok, on to some other challenges, so I must run whilst the ideas are still rattlin' around. Have a great weekend,
Go Be Creative! 

Stamp-tember Blog Hop!

Welcome to the STAMP-TEMBER BLOG HOP, sponsored by Simon Says Stamp!
You should be here after visiting the lovely and multi talented Lynne!
If you've gotten lost, please go back to Simon Says Stamp and Show   to find your way again!
It's hard for me to get into Christmas when it's 80 plus degrees out, HOWEVER, I saw a cool technique (oh, I just realized I made a clever play on words there, cool, Christmas. Totally unintentional) on Jennifer McGuire's blog about using Glossy Accents as a mask. Her card was awesome, of course, so I decided to use the same technique with a Christmas twist.  I used Tim's new Grunge Flakes stamp set and stamped in Dusty Concord, Chipped Sapphire, Broken China and Stormy Sky distress ink.  I then covered them with Glossy Accents and let dry.  Then blended some of the same inks on the background, along with some stamping of pine boughs in ... Pine Needles, ha! 
Then, stamped Santa and Merry Christmas from The Santa's Wish set onto grungeboard, embossed with black embossing powder and cut out. Applied some white acrylic paint over the pieces, and wiped off the embossed areas with a damp paper towel.  Gives more of a "shabby chic" look.  Not that Santa's shabby, by any means, but, well, you know what I mean.....

This is a jumbo tag, by the way, about 4 x 8 inches.  Cut some chip with Tim's flourish die, and covered with some snow looking stuff that is ages old. I thought that was too stark of a white, so I rubbed some weathered wood distress stickles on them.  Some Idea-ology for the corner and the "wish", and I had some leftover fabric strips that had snowflakes on them, and there you go! Ho, ho, hO..... (there's your clue! see it in RED there?)

Your next stop on the hop is NANCY, so click her name and you will be magically transported to more wonderful art! Don't forget, you need to hop in order to get the clues in the correct order, know what I'm sayin'?
Oh, what is my blog giving away, you ask? I know, you were asking at the beginning but you had to read all the way till the end, didn't you? Or did you just scroll down for the important stuff? rofl! Either way, I'm giving away a package of the Idea-ology Word Sticks, just like the one in my project that says "wish". So then, you can make your own Christmas tag! Make sure you leave a comment to be entered to win here, and also, make your project and enter your link at the Simon Says Stamp Challenge blog!
Thanks for hoppin' by! 

More Fun With ATC's....

...hee hee.

The left one is a painted paper background, the right ones are crayon backgrounds with embossing. They crack me up....what can I say, I'm easily amused...

Tag Tuesday!

...the theme this week - BUTTERFLY(IES).  OOooo, I LOVE butterflies.  They're second behind flowers...
You can check out Louise's wonderful piece and other great art by clicking HERE.

I'm still trying to use up stash, so here's some more of Graphic 45's wonderful Botanicabella paper, which I really haven't put a dent in...yet....

Look at the difference in color from two different backgrounds and two different spots in my studio. I really need to get a photo editing software. I upgraded to Windows 7 a while ago, and haven't had a chance to look into some decent freeware. Any suggestions?
Any who, the butterfly is a PSX rub on, very realistic looking, I like it. Then I just collaged different pieces of the G45 paper after inking the edges with Walnut Stain Distress Ink, and added some ribbon (Maya Road) to the bottom, viola!
Don't forget there's still time to enter the Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge this week, the theme is LAYERS!  Till then...
Go Be Creative!

Giveaway Winner and a little something....

Thanks for all the wonderful comments on my piece for US ArtQuest!  I think it's unanimous that the cobalt turquoise hue paint is an awesome color!  I asked my random generator to pick a number based on the comments left, and ....

ROSEMARY is the winner of the sampler pack! 

Thanks everyone for commenting and playing along!

Ok,  I was blurfing, and Jennifer McGuire had posted a video on using Glossy Accents as a mask.  You can check it out, HERE.  Very cool, so I thought I would give it a go.  I tried not to copy exactly, but she makes it look so easy.....I used Tim's new stamp set Falling Leaves and distress inks.

You should try it, it's really fun! The only bad thing is, you have to wait for the Glossy Accents to dry.  Yeah, I should have done the leaves in more of a random pattern, but, next time!
Later!