Merry & Bright

For those of you who know me, this will seem extremely bright and out of character.  But that's what the title is all about...being merry and bright!

Gotta love those new Crazy Birds by Tim Holtz!!!!  And the Sizzix thinlits dies to match are super duper!

I first placed Tim's poinsettia stencil over my tag and drew the floral outlines of all the cutouts using Sakura glaze pens in red.  Once dry, I filled in the images using the Sakura glaze pen in pink.  The holly leaves got the same treatment but in green.  It took another layer of each color to really make them pop up and out and give me the look I was trying to achieve.  Once the second layer of color was dry I used various distress inks and water spritzes to age the tag.  Yellow and orange permanent markers created the poinsettia centers.

Not many sample or trial & error tags make it to my trash; hence, I had the perfect one for my ticket die and sentiment (Mini Holidays Handwritten).  I stamped it in red archival ink then wrote over it several times using the Sakura glaze pens.  The scribbly border was handdrawn.

The bird was stamped twice in Jet Black Archival Ink on watercolor paper colored with distress markers and inks.  From 'Crazy Talk' I stamped and cut out Santa's hat and the candy canes.  Both were colored using the Sakura glaze pens in pink and red.  The fur trim and pom pom were created using Stampendous Fuzzy Fun Flock in white.

The Charlie Brown Christmas tree (Holiday Greens thinlits dies) was fashioned from the tag used for the ticket; tiny pink gems are the ornaments.  Another scrap tag was used to die cut the mini poinsettia 3 times.  I colored it with the pink Sakura glaze pen (two layers) and outlined the leaves using the red Sakura glaze pen (again, two layers).  More tiny gems were added to the center.  I smeared brown distress inks over the front and back, wiping off where it didn't stick to the glazed portions.  Now it's aged like the rest of the tag.  A bit of silk ribbon tied at the top completes the tag.

Hey, Tim....how about some Crazy Cats and Dogs to accompany the birds?????  Pretty please???

Gourds

apple gourd

Pear gourd

These are gourds that I bought one fall and let dry for over a year in my garage.  A bit of washing and they looked pretty good.  Amazing how all the mold comes off so easy.  Wish I had taken photos so you could see how nasty they looked.  The discoloration lends a bit of flair to the dried gourds.  However, I knew that ultimately I wanted to seal them and maybe paint, stain or alter them in some way.  Using Ranger inks, paints and clear embossing powder, these are my finished gourds.

Owl I want to do is say 'thank you'

I just can't get enough of Tim Holtz' Bird Crazy stamps!  Here I used one (like to think this one's an owl) to send a thank you card to a very dear friend.

The base card is white Bazzil cardstock.  The blue layer is thin watercolor paper on which I've stamped the coneflower stamp several times in Watermark Resist Ink.  Several blue distress ink sprays were used to saturate the paper (along with some water sprays).  I let this air dry; watch the watermark images come to life!

The bird and coneflower were stamped numerous times on more watercolor paper; distress inks were used to color them.  Love the Sizzix die that coordinates with the bird images; soo much easier to fussy cut them now.  Thank you, Tim and Sizzix!  For the flower and stem I left the stamp in place and traced around it lightly with pencil; cut out the images. 

Foam tape was used to elevate the flower, wings and eyes.  The stem was tucked under the wing.  The edges of the leaves were folded up for more dimension.

'Thank you' was stamped in Jet Black Archival Ink.  This font is quirky enough to not be serious or too playful.

Stampers Anonymous:  Flower Garden CMS215, Bird Crazy CMS212, Handwritten Sentiments CMS219

Sizzix: Bird Crazy thinlits dies

Ranger:  Watermark Resist Ink, Jet Black Archival Ink, watercolor paper, distress inks, distress sprays, Glossy Accents

Happy birthday to my bestest friend...

soulmate, life's partner...Walt.  Together we're a bit crazy so using Tim's 'Bird Crazy' stamps are perfect for today's birthday card.  I can not wait for the coordinating die to get here.  Cutting out between the legs and around the tail feathers is very fiddly and I'm not too steady with my hands.

Stampers Anonymous (Bird Crazy CMS212, Documented CMS226, Handwritten Sentiments CMS219), Splotches stencil THS037

Sizzix Alterations Birthday Blueprint 659882

Idea-ology: Rub-ons 'Numbers'

Ranger (Distress Watercolor cardstock, distress inks, archival inks, embossing ink, Superfine Black Detail Embossing Powder)

Watercolor pencils; extra fine black marker, vellum

Wild thing

My Brazilian grandson (his mother was an exchange student with us in the latter part of the '90s) turns 3 today.  I don't have many children-related stamps but thought wild animals might be to his liking. 

Stampin' Up 'In The Wild'; Hampton Art Stamps 'Vintage Alpha'; Jet Black, Watering Can, Sepia Archival Inks; black mulberry paper; miscellaneous cardstocks

Happy birthday, Lucas!

Fredbird

Are you a fan of Wendy Vecchi and her Studio 490 line of stamps, stencils, inks, etc.?  I am and follow a MakeART group on Facebook.  This month's challenge is to use at least one of Wendy's products on a monochromatic artwork.  Uh oh.  The hostess chose brown for her theme; I don't want to copy her.  Hmmm...love red...wonder what I have in my stash that would work?????  Ah ha!  Art Parts! 

Ingredients:  gesso, distress inks, distress paints, Adirondack markers, Crackle Embossing Paste, clear embossing ink, clear embossing powder, gold foliage pieces, Clearly For Art (white), Art Parts (Birds With Wings, fence section), stencils (Basically Bricks, Dots & Stripes Borders), Vintage Mesh background stamp, stamp sets (All About Art, Dimensional Rose Art, Daisy Art), Sizzix Easter Elements (bow), Suze Weinberg's Mini Mosaics, Glossy Accents, alcohol inks, red gem, Vintaj Patina

I can't step-by-step this process because I just kept playing and layering until I was happy but I did use EVERY red/pink available in the mediums above.  The bird, wings, and legs were coated with gesso first so that anything else I added would not soak in and be a more true color.  I love the striped leggings...inked, stenciled and stamped.

Fredbird will be residing in one of the many windows on my porch.  Birds frequently slam into them thinking they can go through my house instead of flying around or over it. 

Birthday wishes

Sometimes I just 'shop' from my own shelves and drawers...I certainly have plenty of things tucked away and need to use them, not hold onto them for that 'perfect' project.

Bride's flowers (Michaels); unknown stamp layers over the flowers; Archival ink (Hydrangea, Cornflower Blue, Deep Purple, Violet, Watering Can); Stickles (yellow, lavender); Stampin' Up stamp (don't know what set...picked up loose at a re-sale shop); Sizzix (Gridlock Texture Fade, Garden Greens die); miscellaneous cardstock

All you need is love

Hey, have you had a chance to check out Tim Holtz's August tag?  I love the technique he used and I can see myself using it again in the near future.  Here's my version of his tag:

Ingredients I used:  2 #8 manilla tags, Seasonal Paper Stash; Christmas Nostalgia CMS207 (used the snowflake background as stars); Celebration Words: Block die; distress inks (Hickory Smoke, Abandoned Coral, Fossilized Amber, Twisted Citron); distress marker (Hickory Smoke); distress paints (Hickory Smoke, Brushed Pewter); archival inks (Rose Madder, Dandelion); chit chat stickers, vial label, rub-ons, paper doily, typed token, calendar page, fabric hearts, button heart, hearts lace, silk ribbon, spinner, long fastener, found relatives, gesso, MultiMedium

I opted to use Hickory Smoke instead of Black Soot; it was a better fit for my color palette and theme.

Anniversary wishes

While the card may look very wedding-ish to you I don't see why it can't be for anniversaries as well.  I saw this card on Pinterest and made some minor changes.  I used a rubber stamp to create the letters; the original used alphabet and shape beads.  Not sure what they used for the ring but I coiled wire into a circle and used a heavy duty glue dot to keep it in place.

White cardstock and ribbon; Sizzix Swirls embossing folder; Hampton Art Stamps - Vintage Alpha; Jet Black Archival Ink; wire

Altered puzzle - the last pieces

I can't believe another challenge has ended.  This one was for altered puzzle pieces.

13a

13b

13a
--Ranger:  distress paints (Dusty Concord, Milled Lavender, Shaded Lilac), archival inks (Jet Black, Potting Soil, Deep Purple), Glossy Accents
--misc.: cork paper, white cardstock scrap, Krylon 18kt Gold Leafing Pen
--Stamps: wine varieties background, cork (Rubber Baby Buggy Bumpers), wine! (Ann-ticipations 9845E)

13b
--Ranger:  distress paints (Fossilized Amber, Abandoned Coral, Mermaid Lagoon), archival inks (Jet Black), watercolor paper, Glossy Accents
--stamps:  books (Anita's), text (Art Impressions P-2125)
--Martha Stewart: butterfly punch
--misc.:  white cardstock scrap, vellum, foam tape

My puzzle had 25 pieces so I used it as my title page.  On the last piece (lower right hand corner) I painted it with several coats of Antique Linen Distress Paint.  Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink was lightly applied around the edges then spritzed with water and dried.  Potting Soil Archival Ink was added around the edge and heat sealed.  I found an old Stampendous clear stamp (Journal Border SSC605) and stamped it in Cornflower Blue Archival Ink.  'Favorite', from an old Inque Boutique stamp set, was inked in Jet Black Archival Ink.  The rest of my title was handwritten using a Sakura Micron Black pen, #05.

It also came with its own frame so I altered it as well.  I applied a generous coat of gesso to seal in the bright, colorful colors then covered that with lots of brown distress paints (Brushed Corduroy, Vintage Photo, Tea Dye, and Gathered Twigs).  I used Tim Holtz' Woodgrain stamp and Potting Soil and Tree Branch Archival Inks to make the frame look like it was real wood.  IRL you'd think it was!  Success!

Finished puzzle

Before alterations

Seasonal magnets

We get quite a few magnets in the mail, especially ones from credit card companies.  I decided to alter four of them to make a seasonal set of magnets.  While they won't hold much more than a single sheet of paper, I do like seeing them on my refrigerator or file drawers.

Sticky back canvas was applied to the front of the magnets (I tried gesso but it just wasn't covering well enough for me).  To seal the fabric and make the images stamp better I coated each with a layer of gesso. 

Ranger archival inks were used to stamp all the images.  The seasons are by Stamp Camp and the other images are Rubber Stamp Tapestry (Cherry Blossom SFL34068, Sand Dollar and Starfish Border AQU00003, Fall Leaves and Acorns SLE18008, Cardinal in Holly SLE18007).

I let them dry thoroughly overnight before spraying them with a Krylon matte sealer.  This way there should be no issue with fingerprints or sticky fingers.  (I know how it is at my house!)

Imagine

Imagination is boundless but I need to open up more because I keep finding boundaries.  Most likely they are subconsciously self-imposed.

Here's my tag for the 34th and final entry for the Compendium of Curiosities Challenge, Version 3. You can go to page 48 of Tim's latest book to see the 'how-to' information for Monoprinting with the Layering Stencils.

Items used: Sizzix (Tattered Banners, Spring Greenery); Stampers Anonymous stencils (Rays, Honeycomb, Cargo), stamps (Stuff To Say, Spring Sprung, Oddities); Ranger (Jet Black Archival Ink, distress inks, distress paints, grungeboard, sticky back canvas, Glossy Accents); Idea-ology (fragment charm, jump ring, bulldog clip); miscellaneous (silk ribbon, watercolor paper, green/white card stock, foam tape, #2 brad)

The sponsor for this challenge is The Funkie Junkie and they're offering a $25 shopping spree to a randomly chosen winner. And don't forget that the Curiosity Crew is also choosing a winner who will receive a wonderful package of Tim Holtz goodies.

 I can imagine this rabbit hurrying through my yard when he comes upon a young boy lying in the grass gazing at the clouds. Who is more surprised by the sight of the other?

Home

it's where I want to be in August.  School begins the middle of the month in my community.  While we don't have children and as such aren't affected, our lives are altered by the bus routes and parents taking and picking up their children in our neighborhood. 

Artistic Outpost 'Home' stamp; Jet Black Archival Ink; brown cardstock; black mulberry paper

Ranger distress watercolor cardstock; Dylusions sprays (Lemon Zest, Squeezed Orange, Postbox Red, Dirty Martini, Black Marble); green fiber; Sizzix 'Months' ShadowPress

paint chip strips