Baby cards and more

As I mentioned in my last post I had some baby cards to make.  Then the good news came that my niece got a job teaching art part-time at our local high school.  And I heard a long-distance friend needed a bit of paper cheer. 

Now I have the weekend to play in my art space...and it's the perfect weather for it...upper 90s and above for at least the next week.  Whew!  

1st grandchild

Baby girl

New teacher

Paper cheer

Busy, busy, busy

Between celebrating a special anniversary, family reunion, helping friends, refinishing a school desk and life in general, I've not had much time, or inclination, to be creative.  However, I did need to make cards for surgical patients and thank a friend who had treated me to lunch. 

The first card was water colored and is from the Burt & Anthony collection that Sunday International had.   Card #2 was also water colored and is by House Mouse.  The third card features a flatware punch that is on its last legs.  The restaurant is called 'The Brown Bag' so this design is perfect for the occasion. 

Now I find I need to make some baby cards...a friend's daughter had triplets, another friend's daughter had a little boy and a friend had a little girl.  Guess I'd better get busy!  With this heat wave in place for maybe the rest of the summer, I think I'll be spending a lot of time in my art space.  Hope you find time to be creative, even if it's just for yourself!

Pretty in pink...and gold...and green

I know, Tim didn't colorize his Tissue Wrap Flowers but I did!  Another CCCv2 challenge has been met.  For #10 Linda chose to challenge us to create these very simple flowers.  The instructions can be found on p. 37 of Tim's 2nd book.  I didn't like the way my first one turned out so I refolded it and made the cuts deeper.  On the gold one I chose to make pointed cuts but then cut between the petals; the green one I folded the short side so the flower is a bit smaller in diameter.

Once I cut the tissue wrap I colored each one with a different medium.  The pink was colored with Dusty Concord and Barn Red distress stains.  The gold one was colored with Butterscotch and Sunshine Yellow alcohol inks while the green one was colored using Pool and Butterscotch Adirondack inks.  I attached each to a floral pick and added a button for the centers.  I can't believe the color coordination - perfect!

The small jar has a Wendy Vecchi technique used on it.  She used Glue 'N Seal and Crackle Paint.  The jar is filled with sand so it's hard to see the cracks.  A remnant of burlap was wrapped around the jar and tied.  Another button was glued on top (after it was sanded to distress and covered and wipe clean of black gesso).

Here's a view from the top.  Leaves were cut from the Sizzix/TH Tattered Garland Die using the tissue wrap scraps.  They were colored with Crushed Olive, Peeled Paint and Vintage Photo distress markers.


















This week's challenge is sponsored by The Funkie Junkie's Boutique and they're giving away a $25 gift certificate.  Can you say 'shopping trip'?    Hope you find a bit of time to make your own bouquet!

Warhol inspired

We know Wendy favors a grungy or distressed look and feel to her art but Lori's urging members to think outside their box or comfort zone with this challenge.  While I'm not a fan of bright colors I did use brighter colors in this piece of art that I'm submitting to the challenge she has posed to the EverythingWendyVecchi Yahoo group. 

I inked up the background stamp from Rose Art Part 2 in Mustard Seed, Peacock Feathers and Seedless Preserves distress inks and cut the into pieces to fit an ATC.  With a Sakura black glaze pen I drew around each piece.  The letters 'a', 'r', 't' were stamped in Jet Black archival ink using an old Hero Arts alpha set. 

There is a smaller layer of black under the ATC to give a bit of dimension to the card.  Another layer of white and black Bazzill cardstocks come between the ATC and the white card (A2) itself.

While this card may not use the brighter colors such as fuschia, lime green, or hot pink, they have taken me outside my normal range of colors.  Challenge accepted and met!  And NO browns!  Gasp!

An anniversary gift

Walt and I don't exchange cards or gifts on our birthdays or anniversaries.  But this year is special so he's getting 2 cards and a gift.  As you know, over at Studio L3 Linda is hosting the 2nd Compendium of Curiosities weekly challenge.  This week she chose Tim's pocket watch that can be found on page 35 of Tim's book.  And to encourage you to participate, Simon Says Stamp is giving away a $25 gift certificate to their store to a randomly picked entry.  Yowza!  Who doesn't like to go shopping?!?!!?

This photo was taken on a glacier in Alaska...we got to dip our hands into a crack in the glacier where a small stream had formed and drink some of the purest water on the planet.  That is one memory we will never, ever forget!   

Tim's small airplane (Warehouse District) was stamped on shrink plastic in Manganese Blue archival ink.  'travels' was stamped on scrap paper and edged with brown distress ink.  The stamp is one of the pre-inked ones from JustRite Stamps.

I'll be putting the pocket watch inside this altered Altoid tin.

Tim's Lost & Found paper covers the tin.  The tutorial that inspired this package used Mod Podge matte to adhere all the papers.  The airline ticket (Warehouse District) was also stamped on shrink plastic but in Jet Black archival ink.  I sponged a bit of Coffee archival ink around the edges before I shrank the image.

Using a scrap of gray cardstock, I cut one of the smaller banners from the TH/Sizzix Tattered Banners die.  'Embrace. The. Adventure' was stamped in Jet Black archival ink.  This stamp is from the 'Dressed For Art' Studio 490 set.

Here's a front view and an interior view.   I wrote many of our travel destinations all around the outer edges of the tin.

More papers from Tim's Lost & Found were cut to size for the inside.  I edged the papers with Coffee archival ink.  More CAI was added to the inside walls to soften the gold interior.

With the theme of 'Anything Goes' over at Simon Says Stamp Show this week, I think I'll submit this altered tin.  Maybe I'll  win a $50 gift voucher or even get a 'Top 3' blinky award.  

You have to participate to win!

Another anniversary card

Inside (pull) is a library card that says 'Happy Anniversary' on the top line then I've written Walt a letter, thanking him for the adventure thus far, etc.

Ingredients:  Ranger's Jet Black, Olive, Coffee and Crimson archival inks; Walnut Stain and Black Soot distress inks; Studio 490 stamp sets: Label It Art, Dressed For Art, Optical Art, Quality Art, So In Love; Sizzix/TH pennants on-the-edge die; Penny Black (good mate stamp), Bazzill card stock

This card will tie in with the theme of  tomorrow's post of my version of TH pocketwatch (CCC v2 Wk 9) and altered Altoid tin.

Vintage through and through

Here's the tag I created based on Tim's June tag from the 12 Tags of 2012.  The photo is my husband's grandfather standing in front of his Brooklyn grocery store, or whatever it was called, in the early 1900s.  The dairy cap is authentic as are the World War II meat ration token (small red round disc) and the cancelled check from 1937.  Even the silk tape knotted to the 'cherish' Idea-ology token is vintage - found a large spool of it at a flea market.

Ingredients:  Remnants stamp set; Jet Black archival ink; Sunshine Yellow paint dabber; Vintage Photo, Barn Door, Wild Honey distress inks and stains; binder clip (sanded to look older)