Time for class!

All right, so most people are out of school now but art classes are on-going at your local stamp/scrap stores and even some on-line ones.  Yesterday I took a neat class at Prairie Art Stamps in Springfield, IL.  My good friend, Judy Hauffe taught it.  The class was one of the first to be offered during the week day so I was psyched.  I don't like to drive at night and the store is 1+ hours away for me so a 6-8 class is hard.  There were 10 of us enjoying the creative session.  We had lots of fun getting inky and plenty of laughs.

The project was an adaptation of one that was in the Design Originals book 'Trends & Trinkets'.  Shari Carroll's project was 'Love' Canvas.  Ours was 'Tattered Rose' Canvas because most of us used Tattered Rose distress ink and crackle paint as the base color.  My canvas is 8"x10" and was primed (by Judy - thank you!!!) with Gesso.  We used Tim's masks and distressed around them before adhering bits of paper wherever we wanted.  More distress ink and crackle paint formed the base.  Gaffer's tape, lace, flowers, and Idea-ology items filled in the rest of the canvas.  The sentiment on the center piece is Wendy's.  I use it on a lot of my artwork.  My chipboard letters were covered with Shabby Shutters crackle paint; I smeared  brown distress ink over them.  I think I distressed every element, including the ribbon.  Since I moved away from the Tattered Rose it was too pink for me.  I just kept adding oranges and browns until I was happy.

I can see me making more of these, especially in a smaller format like 6"x6" or even smaller.  Time to go make more art since I'm behind schedule on several projects!

Celebrate today

Recently I made a few more banners instead of cards for some special events.  I wasn't keen on the background paper (too cutesy, not vintage enough but the overall color was okay) so I smeared some pearl paint dabber over them.  The chipboard frame was run through an embossing folder, inked up, pearlized, inked up, wiped off, etc. to mimic the new background pieces.  There's some old film behind the frame.  The little girl was sent to me so I don't know anything about her (except that she was printed using an inkjet printer and didn't like Glossy Accents!).  I stamped Wendy's 'Celebrate today' on a fragment, there's deco paper behind it, glitzy black eyelet fibers finished it off.  The heart is a ribbon slider but I just stamped out the initial and glued it behind the heart.  A few Prima flowers and pearls, MS punch front and the banner was complete.  Oh, in case you're wondering, the banner is 3.5" wide by 5" long.

Happy anniversary to my dh of 23 years!

The chipboard heart book came from the $1 section at Michaels last year. I didn't like the papers that came with it so I turned them over and distressed them to my heart's content. Distressing can take me out of my mind and onto a happier plane, no doubt about it!  The calendar page was distressed  as were the backs of the puzzle pieces and the chipboard letters.  The text stamps are Wendy's (Black Archival Ink) and the flourishes (top and bottom of heart) are also hers but I used the gold paint dabber on them.  There's a bit of Stickles on the monogram, don't know if you can see it.  Well, better for my art to be distressed than my marriage!  Here's to many, many more years with this special guy!   

Compendium of Curiosities 2nd challenge - fragments basics

If I hadn't felt the compelling need to run out to a local stamp/scrap/craft/antique store this morning I would have posted much earlier today.  I also might have made a different tag.  :)  However, I had a 30% off coupon (that was good on most merchandise in the store!) and just couldn't pass up the opportunity to add to my stash of art stuff.  LOL  I did get the last 3 of Tim's embossing folders that I didn't own and scored big time on a 10' roll of Xyron magnet/laminate refill...$3.50!!!  I don't own the machine but figured I could still use the refill - somehow.

Lots about this tag that was changed from my original idea.  Sigh.  The background is blue and purple distress inks with a bit of Worn Lipstick to make it more plum in color.  The notebook paper was stamped on kraft paper using Plum Archival Ink.  WW Distress Ink was rubbed onto the paper after I tore off the bottom portion.  The pen nibs were stamped using Black Archival Ink - too bad I didn't notice until aferwards that they were upside down.  Another sigh.  The alpha background was also stamped using PAI.  I edged the tag with the black paint dabber.  I tried to add a spiral using Black Enamel Accents but it looked goofy so I added the dial (reverse side out because I liked the color better) and spinner.  I stamped my initials from Tim's Grunge Alphabet onto a scrap of tag.  Smushed blue and purple distress inks over them; Glossy Accents adhered the fragments to the letters.  Let dry.  Cut out.  Edged the fragments with the black paint dabber. 

Remembering dad

As I mentioned the other day, my dad has been gone nearly 2 years now.  Even though we didn't have a Norman Rockwellian relationship I still miss what we did have.  One of dad's favorite activities when he was younger was hunting.  I clearly remember him taking us on a pheasant hunting trip; hence, this card.  I think the trip was more to teach us about being quiet, listening, watching, etc., not about hunting per se.  I can't imagine having 4 youngsters hunting with you would have provided much game. 

The large background piece was created by stamping TH flourish stamp in white pigment ink, heat setting, then rubbing Bundled Sage, Peeled Paint, Weathered Wood, Vintage Photo and Black Soot distress inks over the cardstock.  With a slightly damp towel I carefully wiped off the white so that it would show up better. 

The other stamps are from SU's 'Pheasant Thoughts'.  The cardstock with the pheasant image uses the Camouflage technique that can be found in the Oct/Nov 2008 TechniqueJunkie newsletter.  I thought this was a perfect combo.

The hanging sign is from TH; I used his rusted grunge technique (see his book Compendium of Curiosities for details) on the grungeboard.  Flattening the brads added to the rustic look.  Spellbinders Labels 4 and Ma Vinci Graven Tiny alpha in Sepia Archival ink were used to create the date embellishment.  I had a piece of wood from my mulch pile that was just the right for this card.  Two wire Christmas ornament hangers were wound around the piece to complete the card.

Mood when done?  Happy with the card, sad otherwise.  Happy Father's Day to all the dads in my life!

A dream...Africa

Over on the ATT group there's a Texture Fades tag swap.  A trip to Africa is on my bucket list and a win for the US Soccer team would be another dream come true.  I know the US goalie (Tim Howard), watched him play all through high school, so this tag idea really spoke to me.

I chose Tim's Rays texture fade embossing folder.  First I inked up the tag with distress inks (Mustard Seed, Rusty Hinge, Barn Door, Fired Brick, Mahogany, Walnut Stain and Black Soot - yes, all of them!).  Then I ran the tag through my Wizard.  I heat embossed clear powder over the rays; stamped 'dream' (TH) with StazOn Jet Black over the rays.  The flower, mask (100 Proof Press), and grass are part of a pack of papers called Eco Africa by Provocraft.  The postcard was stamped in Sepia Archival, distressed around the edges then I curled one corner.  The elephant was black heat embossed on gray paper (both stamps TH - Purely Random set).  Miscellaneous beads threaded onto hemp and an alpha tile complete the tag.

Vintage meets Contemporary

I needed a thank you card but didn't want anything too sappy.  I've always enjoyed these vintage images so I paired them up with a contemporary layout and color scheme.  Clean, simple and the card makes me smile.  I have no idea who makes the images; they are on odd-sized blocks, the red rubber is thin with virtually no cushion behind it.  I also have a set of vintage air machines (planes, balloons, etc.).  'Thank you' is from a Stampin' Up set. 

'Thank you' for visiting my blog!