Life is...

all about making time for another Compendium challenge!  This week we're playing with metal and alcohol inks. 

I started off with a tag that I had stained with coffee grounds.  The tag almost looks burnt in some places - a really cool effect!  I stamped Tim's image (Just Thoughts) in Black archival ink and colored in some of the letters with permanent markers.  Glossy Accents was applied over those letters.  Along the edge I stamped a mini harlequin border (Artful Things) with Versamark.  I brushed Capuccino Perfect Pearls over the border and brushed off the extra, making sure to wipe off heavier in some spots.

The house is air dry clay that I cut with a cookie cutter then pressed into an embossing folder.  I distressed the edges with Black Soot then added Black Soot and silver Rub & Buff to the embossed portion.  The edges of the tag were also distressed with Black Soot.  The pen nibs (a neat find at an antique store) were treated to the technique that can be found on page 56.

It's a boy!

No, NOT for me!!!  Gasp!  That's all I need at my age!  lol  Nope, my baby bro is turning 50 in April so I'm creating a scrapbook (8"x8") for him.  It will be a complete surprise and some of the pics he may wish I didn't share but they are so darned cute.  Oh, we'll see.  Anyway, on with the share.

Stripes are the 'in' thing over on the Simon Says Stamp & Show blog this week.  Seems like this just played into my hands.  I already had the paper in mind for the scrapbook so not only am I able to enter it for the challenge I get 2 pages done.  Woohoo!

Don't know the manufacturer of any of the paper but the stamp set is Soft & Sweet by Stampin' Up, the hand & foot prints are Stampcraft, the oval dies are Spellbinders, the block, lettering and photo corners are Sizzix and the green edging is a Fiskars border punch. 



Wonder how many other challenges I'll be able to use by the end of March to complete the album????

The heart can hold a multiple of dreams

Fortunately the 3rd challenge on the EverythingWendyVecchi Yahoo group is for 2 weeks because I certainly needed more than the usual one week to come up with a plan and then execute it.  Never knew incorporating a heart and costume jewelry onto a hanging piece of art would cause me such consternation and  I don't like to look at the inspiration piece until I'm done and have posted my version. 

I started out with a chipboard tag covered with scrapbook paper (unknown manufacturer).  I quickly dispatched with the clean look by sanding, not cutting, around the edges and applying plenty of Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain distress inks.

Six of Wendy's stamps sets came into play.  The sentiment comes from In Love With Art; the heart is from Love To Make Art; one of the leaves, the medium and the large flower are from Dimensional Rose Art;  Rose Art Part 2 provided one of the backgrounds on the flower layers as well as the small flower; Let Your Art Have Wings provided another background on a flower layer as well as the 2nd leaf; while another background layer and the scroll/flourish came from Art By The Number.

I stamped the 3 sizes of flowers in Black archival ink onto a sheet of reddish scrapbook paper by Carolee's Creations.  A different background stamp was used on each layer (Crimson arch ink).  The edges were distressed with Vintage Photo distress ink then crumpled up.  The flower center is an old earring. 

Using the same paper as from the flowers, I stamped the heart in Blk Arch Ink and distressed with Vintage Photo distress ink.  The leaves were stamped in Blk arch ink on green cardstock, a background stamped over them in Olive arch ink, distressed with Walnut Stain and cut out before running an embossing tool around the edges and along the veins to create dimension.

The scroll/flourish was stamped at the bottom in Blk arch ink.  I stamped the sentiment on white cardstock, glued it to chipboard, cut apart the words then distressed each with Walnut Stain.  I also stamped 'dreams' onto the red paper and cut out just the 'D' for another elevation.

The heart, scroll/flourish and leaves were highlighted using a gold ballpoint pen.  The hanger is a Christmas ornament hanger that I found on clearance.

Cherry blossoms

While those in Washington, DC and similar areas may be seeing the cherry blossoms soon, we here in central IL sure won't.  Though the weather has been quite mild of late it is still February.  And since these don't look like cherry blossoms, it doesn't really matter anyway. 

I'm trying to put ink to a more of my stamps that haven't been used in quite a while...or not ever.  Gasp!  This is a set from Rubber Stamp Tapestry (maker of peg stamps) called Cherry Blossoms that I enjoy using.  Not only did I not use the suggested colors I didn't use the suggested type of ink (pigment).  Distress inks being my favorite 'go to' ink that's what I used in Peeled Paint, Walnut Stain, Wild Honey and Rusty Hinge.  A bit of Diamond Stickles and you've got a dynamite card.  The center lace panel was cutth a Martha Stewart punch.  The vellum butterfly, also a Martha Stewart 'anywhere on the page' punch, was run through a script embossing folder (Provocraft).

Dancing in the rain

Okay, so once again the weather forecasters were wrong.  But our snow is melting rapidly with the above average temperatures.  Oh well.

Hey, the Compendium of Curiosities challenge is winding down.  At week 32 we are playing with inking and stamping masks that can be found in full detail on page 59 of the book. 

Umbrella Man was still out on my table so I decided to work with him again.  The tag background was created with distress inks and water...plop, smear and spritz.  Yes, all technical terms.  I used some sequin waste to create the dots at the upper left and lower right.  The bird was stamped in Coffee & Black archival inks on grungeboard and is carrying a tiny tag with the page number of this technique.  All stamps are Tim's and Wendy's (rock on, Stampers Anonymous!!!).

Playing along with so many others from around the world, this challenge has helped me see outside my comfort zone and get to know the properties of the various items used.  I'll be sad to see it end but I'm sure Linda has something equally challenging up her sleeve to keep us on our toes and get us to spread our wings.

Rain, rain

Well, our forecast says a chance of light rain.  It will probably take away the last remnants of our snow, except for the really big piles.  :(

Over on the Simon Says Stamp & Show blog this week's theme is to create a tag.  Now, if you've been following my blog you know this is NOT a problem.  In fact, I love this size & shape and have even been using them on card fronts.

While rummaging through a drawer, I found the waterproof tag from a garment or footwear, don't remember, not important.  Hmmm...that could work with Umbrella Man.  And I just happened to find a piece of sheet music entitled 'Umbrella Man' so I was off and running with my idea. 

First I made a mess on my craft sheet with ink pads and sprays then dipped my tag into it.  Umbrella Man was heat embossed onto black cardstock.  The sheet music was scanned, shrunk, distressed.  The Sizzix cloud was cut out of shrink plastic; the sentiment was created using a label maker. 

Tomorrow you'll see another take on Umbrella Man on my tag for the CCC challenge, Inking and Stamping Masks.  Sure can't wait for this new die to appear on the retail market.  Cutting him out isn't always the easiest thing to do, as many of you know.

Sharing inspiration from others

Last week it was my birthday and I showed you a display rack I'd created from a large picture frame that I found in the clearance aisle at Michaels.  I drilled holes through the sides and ran fishing line back and forth, giving the cards someplace to hang.  I've been told that more cards are on their way but I thought I'd better share the inspiration and good wishes I've received thus far so you wouldn't think me ungrateful. 

I've also uploaded the handmade cards individually into my PictureTrail album (nimblefingers) if you want to see any of them up close.  http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/23695747

Thank you to all who sent me birthday greetings.  You made my day so special and brought me much joy.