Happy Halloween!

Ingredients:  Sizzix Thankful embossing folder, Lattice o-t-e die; Stampers Anonymous Halloween layering stencil, Mini Halloween 2; Ranger distress inks, Jet Black archival ink

All about love

Claudine's Altered Playing Card Challenge, week 8, is all about love.  You can check out the link to follow along with her tutorial of how she created her altered playing cards.  The first card uses colors I often find when I bruise so the sentiment came from that thought.  (See, you really don't want to go inside my head!)  The second was a play on the word 'love'.  With it being autumn and the colors of the leaves changing I just wanted to honor their presence.  Fall is the most wonderful time of year!

Ingredients:  playing card, gesso, Metallic Rub-ons by Craf-T Products, Worn Lipstick distress paint, Sketch & Wash Graphite pencils by General, Botanical Remnant Rubs, Artful Things (CSS27829) - text by Stampers Anonymous, Plum & Cornflower Blue archival inks, Adirondack Pitch Black marker

Ingredients:  playing card, gesso, Spiced Marmalade & Peeled Paint & Dusty Concord distress paints, black & white card stock scraps, Autumn Gatherings Sizzix decorative strip die, distress inks, Black Fude Ball Pen by Ranger, white Gelly Roll pen by Sakura

Happy 25th anniversary!

One of my sisters is celebrating her 25th wedding anniversary so I wanted to make a special card for her and her husband.

The base card is white, there's a sage green layer and a patterned paper layer.

I made 2 cuts from the Lattice on-the-edge die; one green, the other white.  The green one was run through an embossing folder and topped with silver distress paint.  The white one was colored with silver distress paint.  Both were run through the Xyron.  I really like how these look overlapped.

Love the new Alphanumeric die set.  I covered a white scrap with more silver distress paint, ran it through my small Xyron, then cut out 'Embrace'. 

Isn't this Layered Butterfly gorgeous?  I cut it out of white paper then colored it with various blue and green distress ink, a bit of brown, then highlighted the raised areas with the silver distress paint and also heat embossed some silver powder.  The butterfly has a bit of foam tape beneath the body and hinges were made from recycled packaging so the wings would stay up.

Happy anniversary, S3!

Worn Covers

Doesn't this sound intriguing?  How about a nice, cuddly blanket to keep you warm on this cool, damp night?  Well think again because it's all about using Tim Holtz's 'Worn Covers' as seen in his book on p. 31.  Which means it's time for another challenge over on Linda Ledbetter's blog!



A few rules to follow but they're easy peasy.  And some prizes...one from Tim and Mario that will be chosen by the Curiosity Crew and a $50 gift certificate from Inspiration Emporium to a randomly selected winner.

First I taped off the spine's edge and label.   I dry-brushed Old Paper distress paint across the front.  Mustard Seed distress paint was pounced through the Clockwork Stencil on 2 corners.  Texture Paste mixed with Wild Honey distress paint was worked through the Schoolhouse stencil.  Peeled Paint distress ink was smushed through the Speckles stencil.  'One of a kind' (Simple Sayings CS155) and the heart (Artful Things CSS27829) were stamped in Red Geranium archival ink.  Metallic Decor red dots were added to the sentiment to replace the 'o'. Dry-sponge Brushed Corduroy and Frayed burlap distress paints over entire cover. 

Uncover the label.  Run a strip of Terminology tissue wrap through the Xyron; ditto for a piece of white card stock.  Swipe Barn Door distress ink across the tissue wrap.  Using the Alphanumeric Thinlits dies, cut out the words 'tag art' from each.  Because there are repetitions of the letters I was able to cut out both words at the same time!  Haphazardly paint Barn Door distress stain over the white letters; add a touch of brown distress ink to the edges.  Using a black Fude Ball pen and white marker, draw lines indicating shadow and light.  Place the solid letters on the label; offset the tissue wrap letters.  This looks quite dimensional IRL.  Coat with Multi Medium for better adhesion.

A few Botanical Remnant Rubs were strategically placed on the cover.  These were also given a light coat of Multi Medium.  The Industrial Sticker strip was painted with Barn Door distress paint and dried.  Sand lightly; tap Tree Branch and Jet Black archival inks over the strip.  Remove the tape on the spine's edge.  Place a narrow strip of red-line tape for better adhesion.  Add a dab of Multi Medium to each pointy bit; press down firmly.

On the spine I created a 'tag art' stencil.  I pounced on Old Paper, Barn Door and Wild Honey distress paints and again used the black and white pens to create shadow and light.  IRL this looks raised, not flat.

I attached the large binder ring with brads that had been coated with embossing liquid then covered with Chinese Red Antiquities embossing powder.  Sand lightly; tap on Tree Branch and Jet Black archival inks.

Inside are 12 page pockets.  I created my own divider pages using plastic packaging cut to size.  At the bottom of each is the new ShadowPress Months set.  I hope to be able to use this for the 12 Tags of 2015 (please, Tim, keep up the tradition!!!!!!)

I opted to keep the cover rather flat so that I could store it, with others, on my shelf. IRL the yellow in the corners does not stand out at all but is rather muted. 

Week 7 - Altered Playing Cards

You can check out Claudine's blog for all the pertinent info about the challenge.  She chose a nautical theme for these cards and it was hard to come up with an original idea of my own...her's was just super!

 Waves emb. folder; grungeboard; mini m & s seahorse and branch; Spring Greenery dec. strip die; distress inks; distress paints; archival inks; Stamping Sensations (text); plastic packaging

Archival inks; Bazzill card stock; photo turns; brads; Fude Ball pen; distress markers; Stampers Anonymous Travelways CS162 stamp set

Love my first card, I would like the 2nd one better if I hadn't taped off so much space for my image.  C'est la vie!

I really am enjoying creating these little works of art and look forward to each new post!

Fall bloom

I was wanting to try Wendy Vecchi's faux graniteware technique as seen on her blog here and had a blast trying out all the colors she's released thus far.  Sure hope she add more in the future!  I chose this one for my first playtime.

This is an ATC using the Watering Can mediums.  You'll have to check out Wendy's blog to see just how that works.

The flower comes from Wendy's 3 Fresh Flowers stencil and her amazing crackle embossing paste.  The word is from her Artful Words stencil and Texture Paste.

The butterfly was stamped on a scrap of cream cardstock 3 times.  One is my main image; the other two I carefully cut out the upper and lower pairs of wings to create stencils so I could color them with the mini ink blending tool and distress inks.  After the butterfly was colored to my liking I smeared Rock Candy Distress Stickles over it and let it air dry.  I figured out where I was going to place the butterfly; masked off the body and stamped the antenna in a silver ink.  The butterfly was adhered using Glossy Accents. 

Love my fall bloom!  Looks very similar to the remaining ones in my garden!

Altered playing cards - week 6

It's time for another round of altering playing cards with Claudine.  She's chosen the theme of Halloween for week 6.  Fall is my favorite time of year so the color palette and ideas seem to come to me rather quickly.

Top card: Claudine Helmuth Studio Paint in Altered Orange, tissue tape, Mini Halloween CMS093 stamp set, Versamark Ink, SuperFine Detail Black Embossing Powder, Jet Black & Vermillion Archival Inks, Black Fude Ball Pen, White Sakura Gelly Roll Pen, Matte Medium

Bottom card:  Adirondack Sprays in Butterscotch, Terra Cotta & Pesto, Halloween & Shatter Stencils, Mini Halloween CMS093 & Mini Halloween 2 CMS113 stamp sets, Jet Black Archival Ink, Studio 490 Black Embossing Paste, watered down black acrylic paint

She is brave

Oh my gosh, I love Tim's 12 Tags of 2014 October version!  Of course, fall is my favorite time of year so the sights and sounds really speak to me.  Here's what I took away from his tag.

I pretty much followed along but chose to make some substitutions based on what I have on hand.

stamps:  used Trick-or-Treat CMS050, Mini Blueprints 5 CMS170, and Mini Halloween 3 CS140

distress ink:  Gathered Twigs, Black Soot

distress markers:  Pumice, Black Soot

trims:  linen ribbon

embellishments:  created my own monocle using a fragment charm, Pumice Distress Paint; holiday token with Picket Fence Distress Paint and Jet Black Archival Ink; created my own alpha blocks using chipboard painted with Picket Fence and Iced Spruce Distress Paints and Sizzix Alterations Typeset alpha cut from black card stock

I was going to try this with another stencil and theme but decided to stick with the tried-and-true...this time.  

P.S.  While I am always flattered to see my artwork being pinned by others, to have a recognized artist such as Tim do so is quite a thrill for me; he recently pinned my September tag.  Thank you, Tim!  Pinterest has become such a hit...so much inspiration from all over the world regarding virtually any topic.  I have to set a time limit when I enter that world!  lol