Happy Halloween!

I needed a RAK for a young man who has been hospitalized for a rare auto immune blood disease.  I still had some components left on my workspace from previous projects so I decided to make them the focus of the card.  It didn't take long and this was the result.

The base card was run through the Sizzix/TH Halloween background embossing folder.  Various purple, orange and green distress inks were smudged over the raised words.

In the center is a dark blue and black piece of decorative paper.  From the Sizzix/TH Halloween Shadows decorative strip die you'll find the fence, owls, tree and bat.  The harvest moon was cut with a circle punch.  The owls' eyes were colored with Kiwi Perfect Pearls.

I don't normally mail naked envelopes so I pulled out Tim's Apothecary stamp set and stamped the skull in Jet Black Archival Ink on the front.  For the back I stamped 'Happy Halloween' in JBAI and then again, slightly offset, in Venetian Orange AI.

 I'm so glad I didn't throw those extra pieces away when the previous project was completed!

Fall sympathy cards

Sympathy cards can be quite challenging to make.  I try to incorporate something of the person who has passed on the card.  If that fails, then I work with a seasonal theme.  Here is a card that had to go seasonal since I didn't know the individual, only her children.

The A-2 card base is off-white.  A 2nd piece was cut slightly smaller.  From that piece I die cut one of Tim's mini oak leaves.  Decorative paper was placed behind the cut out and added as a belt across the bottom of the card.  I placed the die cut atop this and added a mini acorn (Tim Holtz die) on top of that, also cut from the decorative paper. 

The sentiment is from the Renaissance Stamp Collection and stamped with Coffee Archival Ink.

I found the inspiration for this card on Pinterest (boy, can this place get you in trouble with time management!).  Here's the link to the individual's website.  Maybe you'll find it sparks an idea or two for you.

Boundless imagination

It's time for another CCCv2 challenge.  This being #26 it means the end is drawing near.  Sigh.  Sure hope Linda over at Studio L3 has something else in store as a continuation because I love these challenges.  This week's sponsor is The Funkie Junkie Boutique and a $25 gift certificate will be given to a randomly selected piece of art.  My shopping list is never ending so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I win!

The technique for this challenge can be found on page 40 of Tim's 2nd book.  It's called 'Crumpled Kraft Suede' and was quite fun to create. Without further ado....I bring you springtime!  Yeah, I know, it's fall but you go with the mojo and this is what happens.  lol

#8 kraft tag

From the world of Ranger, I used a Gold Paint Dabber, Perfect Ink Refresher, distress stains (Shabby Shutters, Forest Moss, Tea Dye), distress inks (Peeled Paint, Frayed Burlap, Scattered Straw, Squeezed Lemonade, Wild Honey), Cappuccino Perfect Pearls, and clear embossing ink and powder.

From the Sizzix world, I used Tim's mini bunny and bow, mini ticket and Tattered Flower Garland.

Other items that made it on to the tag...brads, fabric and card stock scraps, grungeboard scroll, and watercolor paper.

The sentiment comes from Stampers Anonymous/Tim Holtz set 'Stuff To Say'.

So, let your imagination wander...

Just plain weird

For some people this theme might be a piece of cake.  But I struggled with it.  Eh, it is what it is.  The latest challenge offered on the EWV Yahoo group is to create something creepy, freaky or just plain weird.  If that doesn't work, a fall theme would be fine.  I think I should have done fall.  Oh well.  Here's my entry...

My #8 tag is sporting stamps from the following Studio 490 sets:  Believe in Art (2 backgrounds, label), Visions of Art (face), Optical Art (glasses), and Original Art (weed spray).  I used plenty of Ranger Distress Markers (Tattered Rose, Dried Marigold, Spiced Marmalade, Broken China, Tumbled Glass, Barn Door, Peeled Paint, Forest Moss, Old Paper, Frayed Burlap and Walnut Stain) to stamp with and use as all over color.  Old Paper and Frayed Burlap Distress Ink pads were also used as was Jet Black Archival Ink, Turquoise Stickles and Bronze Distress Stain.  The glasses were stamped with embossing ink and Ultra Fine Copper Embossing Powder was heat set.  A Sakura Black Glaze Pen adds some doodles on the top portion of the tag.

I think she looks like she's ready for a masquerade party; love the soft colors in her hair using the markers to color the stamp.  Eh, maybe she doesn't look so weird after all.  I'll let you be the judge.

Studio 490 4 Seasons Art Journal

I was thrilled to see that over on the Simon Says Stamp & Show blog they were featuring the wonderful art of Wendy Vecchi and her line of stamps, stencils, Art Parts and Clearly For Art marketed under the name of Studio 490.  As the by-line says on my emails...I'm a Wendy Vecchian and I live in the state of Creativity! 

Wendy's line is quite versatile, especially when you think beyond the scope of what you might see at first.  Open your mind, let it wander and see what creative spark is just waiting to pop.

For the challenge and a chance to win a $50 gift voucher to Simon Says Stamp I've created a 4 Seasons Art Journal.  When you see all the products I used to create this 4"x4" journal, you'll see why I don't include many details.  But I'm sure you'll be able to figure them out for yourselves.  If not, send me an email and I'll do my best to answer your question.

back and front covers - Sticky-Back Canvas (natural)

inside cover - spring divider - spring page

spring page - summer divider - summer page

summer page - fall divider - fall page

fall page - winter divider - winter page

winter page - inside cover

I thought it would be neat to use Tim's On The Edge Sizzix dies to create the dividers.  Don't the gears make you think of suns?  All are cut from paint strip samples and offset with a black card stock die cut.

Distress inks, stains and markers created all the backgrounds.  I even used the stains to create my own version of plaid and stained glass.  Sometimes I colored with the markers, other times I colored the stamps first.  It was such fun to just sit and play with all the wonderful coloring products that Ranger offers.

Ingredients list:


Stampers Anonymous - Studio 490 stamps: Call it Art, Art Journal Basics, Botanical Art, Art Of Making It Merry, Art Gone Postal, Mail Art, Life & Art, Dimensional Rose Art, Lower Case Art, Destination Art, It's Face Art, Sketch Art, Art For You, Original Art, Evidence of Art (15)

Stampers Anonymous - Studio 490 stencils (3 Fresh Flowers, Dots & Stripes Borders) ( 2)

Ranger Distress Inks: Stormy Sky, Faded Jeans, Chipped Sapphire, Fired Brick, Dusty Concord, Forest Moss, Walnut Stain, Vintage Photo, Old Paper, Ripe Persimmon (10)

Ranger Distress Markers:  Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint, Forest Moss, Scattered Straw, Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade, Rusty Hinge, Weathered Wood, Chipped Sapphire, Stormy Sky, Faded Jeans = 11

Ranger Archival Inks:  Sienna, Cobalt, Jet Black (3)

Ranger Distress Stains:  Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade, Rusty Hinge, Peeled Paint, Forest Moss, Pewter (6)

Ranger Distress Stickles:  Picket Fence, Rusty Hinge, Spiced Marmalade, Crushed Olive, Barn Door, Dried Marigold, Forest Moss ( 7)

Ranger:  Manila cardstock, Sticky-Back Canvas/natural (Claudine Helmuth), Super Fine Detail Black Embossing Powder, Glossy Accents, Multi-Medium/matte

Stampers Anonymous - Tim Holtz: City Central, Remnants

Junkitz 4"x4" chipboard covers

Sizzix/TH dies:  Butterflight, Steampunk, Townscape, SnowFlurries, Halloween Shadows

Sizzix die:  Pine Tree



Miscellaneous:  Silver Sharpie, White Sharpie, black cardstock, Sakura Black Micron pen, WeRMemory Keepers eyelets, Idea-ology corners, Advantus grungeboard textured circle, recycled product package

I LOVE Studio 490!!!

Autumn leaves come tumbling down

As I look outside my window this morning, the sky is blue, the sun is shining, and it's blustery so the leaves are rapidly falling from my trees.  It's a pretty sight but I don't like what that ultimately means...raking and bagging.  Oh well, if it's pretty it usually means a mess somewhere along the way.

Over on the Simon Says Stamp blog they've asked for artwork featuring autumn leaves.  This is just one page of an art journal I'll be submitting to their sister site, Simon Says Stamp & Show, that is requesting art featuring Wendy Vecchi and her amazing line of Studio 490 products.

The journal is 4x4 and features four seasons.  Fall is my favorite...the colorful array of leaves, pumpkins, gourds, etc.  For me, it is a wonderful world!

I've used plenty of Ranger inks, Distress Stickles, 4 Studio 490 stamps and Kraft Core'dinations papers that I hope will be a winning combination with the Random Generator...a $50 gift voucher to their site is a nice enticement to make more art!

More details will be shared tomorrow when you'll be able to see the album in its entirety.  Until then...

 happy fall y'all!

12 Tags of 2012 - October

I know, I know...it's Tim's October tag but I've done enough fall and Halloween stuff at the moment and the 'Noel' die just screamed at me to use it.  My layout follows Tim's but theme and colors are not.

My Glossy Accents wasn't as wet as it could have been so my newly created Meadow glitter didn't stick very well.  But I actually like this look and chose to accentuate the grunginess by adding some Aged Mahogany Distress Stickles in the bare spots.  From my trash bin I found the word 'Joy' that had been stamped in a red color...this fit perfectly behind the 'Merry Christmas' ticket.

*Sizzix:  Mini Pine Tree, Vintage Noel, Ticket Strip
*Stampers Anonymous:  Odds and Ends (Merry Christmas ticket)
*Ranger:  Clear Rock Candy Distress Stickles Dry Glitter; Meadow Alcohol Ink; Frayed Burlap, Aged Mahogany Distress Stickles; Mushroom, Cranberry, Bottle, Pitch Black Paint Dabbers; Espresso Colorwash Spray; Festive Berries, Iced Spruce Distress Inks; Perfect Pearls Biscotti Mist; Glossy Accents; Collage Glue Stick

#8 tag, Sakura Black Glaze Pen, Stardust Glitter Pen, hinge clip, foam tape, Terminology Tissue Wrap, holiday wired ribbon, grungeboard

Ink palette - Perfect Pearls

Time once again for the Compendium of Curiosities v. 2 challenge hosted by none other than Linda, over at Studio L3.  This week's challenge can be found on p. 53.  I don't have the same ink palette but do have one I've used for watercolors over the years. 

Simon Says Stamp is sponsoring the challenge.  One lucky, randomly chosen participant will win a $25 gift certificate from their website.  They have tons of items for you to buy...Ranger, Sizzix, Tim Holtz, Wendy Vecchi.....the list goes on and on.  I already have my shopping list ready...sure hope I win!

I chose to make a card instead of a tag.  Pears are one of my favorite fruits and I have quite a few images of pears and pear-related text.  This is one that Tim and Stampers Anonymous released at summer 2012 CHA. 

From black cardstock I die cut Tim/Sizzix Mini Baroque label.  The image was stamped and black embossed using Ranger's Superfine Detail Black Embossing Powder and colored using Capuccino, Rust, Perfect Copper, Perfect Bronze, Forever Green, Kiwi and Perfect Gold Pe(a)rfect Pearls.  I outlined the label using Perfect Pearl Gold and added the 2 dots at each side; they kind of look like brads.

The label is elevated with foam tape and stuck down on another piece of A2 black cardstock that has been embossed with the Tim/Sizzix Book Cover 2 embossing folder.  Gold grosgrain ribbon is between the 2 layers.  I found a very pale green Bazzill card base worked perfectly with my color palette.

Delayed World Card Making Day

I wasn't able to participate in World Card making Day last Saturday so I made up for it this past Saturday by creating 2 cards, a tag for Tim's 12 Tags of 2012, a card for the Compendium challenge and I got started on Thanksgiving cards.  Oh, and I made homemade white bread from scratch and a pot of chili.  It felt good being so productive.

Here are photos of the two cards and the bread.  I'll be sharing the other 2 projects later this week.

The bread was just as delicious toasted!  It's a simple recipe that you mix up, let sit 8-14 hours (I tend to do this before I go to bed - preferably the weekend), knead a tiny bit, let rise, bake.  It can also be used for a luscious Cinnamon Swirl loaf.  Still warm and creamery butter?  Over the moon yummy!  Next time I want to try incorporating some whole wheat flour into the recipe.

Tower of ink

An email on the ATT group mentioned seeing a tower storage unit on Pinterest that made the sender want to make her own.  And that she did.  Here's the link that was included in the email so you can see it for yourself.  In the previous post I believe you'll find directions, etc.  A later post shows a similar unit but has included room for re-inkers. 

My tower holds all 48 distress pads.  It will be going on a lazy susan as soon as I can get to the store.  I couldn't find the plastic spinner she used.

This was quite easy to build and seems very sturdy but I guess that would depend on the weight of chipboard used for the process.  I had always loved the array of rainbow color piles on my desk but at 6" square this takes up less room on my work space. 

Halloween tags in disguise

Since Halloween is all about disguises it seems only fitting that the newest Frilly & Funkie challenge is all about using tags but not letting them look like tags.  Oh, and you need to feature fall or Halloween in your disguise.

I remember making gift boxes from tags way back when.  It took me a bit to remember how to construct them but once I did, disguising the tags was oh-so-simple.  I'll share a few construction photos; dimensions would vary depending on the size of the tags.

Now I'll show you how I disguised those 4 tags.

Side 1

Side 2

Side 3

Side 4

Top of box

Oh, I almost forgot!  There's a $25 store gift certificate to be awarded to a random artist!  Who can't use a shopping spree with the holidays upon us????













Ingredients:  #8 tags

Stamps: Stampers Anonymous 'Mini Halloween', 'Mini Halloween 3', 'Apothecary', 'Calendar 2'

Sizzix dies:  Scaredy Cat, Candlelight Fright, Mini pumpkin, Autumn Gatherings, Mini 31

Ranger:  Squeezed Lemonade, Ripe Persimmon, Mowed Lawn, Seedless Preserves, Gathered Twigs, Black Soot, Weathered Wood, Walnut Stain distress inks; Jet Black archival ink; Black Soot distress Stickles; Picket Fence distress crackle paint; Terra Cotta paint dabber

Misc.:  grungeboard, black bookboard, Plain Jane laser cuts by Laserline, black Micron pen, Clearly For Art (white), white Sharpie, black tulle, black organza, orange silk ribbon

I don't know why Blogger lets you format your page one way only to have them display it completely wonky.  Heavy sigh.

I'm stuck on you

Actually, I'm not stuck on you.  That would be uncomfortable.  But I can show you some Sticky Back Canvas that is stuck on Clearly For Art.  It's time for the 52nd Making Art Challenge on the EWV Yahoo group.  I haven't played with the Sticky Back Canvas by Claudine Helmuth as much as I'd like so I was glad when our hostess, Lori, chose this for the challenge.

My #8 tag was colored with lots of distress inks then spritzed with water.  More browns and the black distress ink were run along the edges.  I've stamped the spiders in Jet Black archival ink, some are 2nd generation stamped images.  The flies were stamped in Iced Spruce distress ink.

The 3-D insect (subject of the challenge) was stamped in Jet Black archival ink.  The wings were edged with the Tumbled Glass distress marker; a water brush helped spread the ink across the canvas.  Next I smeared Rock Candy Distress Stickles on them to give them pizzazz.  I gently heated the critter over a large paint brush to get the body to curve like it does in real life.

The honeycomb background was stamped in black and has black embossing powder to give the tag more dimension.  The text was stamped in JBAI; the bottom part was stamped on scrap paper, colored to coordinate with the tag, then glued on.

So, BE YOU, whether you're a freaky little thing or not!

If you'd like to check out Wendy's tag, go here.  It's quite colorful and full of other ideas and cool products!

Alcohol ink resist

Yep, it's time for another Compendium of Curiosities Volume 2 challenge sponsored by the lovely Linda over at Studio L3.  When I've tried this technique in the past I was less than pleased with the results.  But I think I found the secret...don't keep pouncing the ink!  And you need a lot of ink.   More is definitely better for this technique.

Stamps:  Falling Leaves, Calendar 2 (SA); sentiment (Serendipity)

Ranger:  Jet Black archival ink; Butterscotch, Terra Cotta, Red Pepper alcohol inks; shrink plastic; numerous brown & Black Soot distress inks

Sizzix/TH:  Ticket die, mini heart, mini acorn dies; Autumn Gatherings strip die

Kraft Core'dinations

Miscellaneous fibers, sewing machine stitched

I'm already thinking of a wintry version...how about you?