Chalk It Up!

Hello to all of you! When I saw the current challenge chosen by the Shelly at Frilly and Funkie "Chalk It Up," well I had to get busy with my Artistic Outpost's Chalk It Up and Christmas Chalk stamps!

I painted a black tag with DecoArt Chalkboard paint in black and while still wet grated on a little white chalk and using brushed it with a mop paint brush. Gave this a spray with clear sealer. A few chalk lines were scribbled in as well.

The frame was stamped with VersaMark and embossed with white. The snow flakes, deer and sentiment were stamped in VersaMark and sprinkled with a mix of grated white chalk and Perfect Pearls Confetti White.  To finish I added some of those brads from years back and layered up with paper. Easy enough for those many cards/tags we need to send at Christmas!

Thank you for visiting today and there are only a couple of days remaining at AO's "Show Us Your AO Art" challenge, but October is just around the corner and a hole new challenge will begin!

Merry Christmas!

It certainly is beginning to look a lot like Christmas and I still am not ready! Are you? I did package up gift boxes to send out to family, which will go to the Post Office tomorrow along with Christmas cards and I did manage to wrap my hubby's gifts, but still so much to do. I do hope you are further along than I am and if not, don't stress it! Now before I give you the details on my collaged Christmas tag,  Artist Outpost, ODBD, and NCC are running a "Gift Certicate Special" through December 20th. With every $50 gift certificate purchased, the consumer will be given a $5.00 gift certificate, so it is like the gift that keeps giving! For more details just click the links above. The December "Show Us You AO Art" is now a that middle point, but you still have time to join in! Will enter this at Simon Says Stamp Monday for their "Anything Goes" and Inspiration Journal's "Sing, Sing it Loud."

I don't do very many collages and not sure why, but I am not in my comfort zone putting those together. Yesterday I started working on Tim's December tag and just was not enjoying it, so off in another direction totally. I love the sweet little AO sisters from "Birds of a Feather" and have used them a couple of times for Christmas. So using up some of the spray that was left on the craft mat from the start of Tim's tag, I applied color with the water brush. The remaining colors were applied directing from the ink pads (Festive Berry, Brushed Corduroy, Tattered Rose). Then the little darlings were fussy cut just waiting for their placement. The kraft tag background was inked in Archival Red Geranium from "Ephemera Backgrounds" and this reminded me of Santa's list. The little torn sheet of "O Little Town of Bethlehem" is from ODBD Christmas Paper 2013. This was shaded with leftover ink on my foam applicators. Merry Christmas and the package were stamped and cut from "Christmas Chalk." Next I added some little bits or Rick Rac trim, snowflakes cut and misted with gold and a couple more Tim type goodies. And there you have it!

Hope you are having a wonderful week and thank you so much for stopping by today!

Let It Snow!

Hope you all are doing fabulously today. This is a quick post today, because these are pretty quick cards and just what the doctor (Santa) orders during the busy time of the year! These are Christmas cash/cards that double for "thank you" cards for those special people who provide us service during the year.

The stamps I used are from Artistic Outpost's Christmas Chalk and where stamped and embossed using white or black, cut and then mounted. I used the Christmas Paper from ODBD and that helped save a little time.

The little tags were punched and edged with white paint and Tim's clear glitter was sprinkled on while wet. If you have AO stamps, come on and join in the December's "Show Us You AO Art" challenge for a chance to win.

Thank you for stopping by today and I am working really hard on catching up. My daughter stayed a little longer and that was nice, but I spent time with her and not in the craft room as I am sure you can all appreciate. Now I must get cracking!

Yuletide Greetings!

Happy December to you all and are you ready for Christmas?? No I am not and I am embarrassed to say I am really only starting on Christmas cards and the such, but this year I am not going to stress out, because I had enough of the "S" word worrying about that hubby of mine. BTW, he is doing quite well and is mostly recovered.

Friday's are my day to share at Artistic Outpost, so this Christmas card and all the details with more photos can be found right HERE if you would like to hop on over there and of course that would be nice.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend and thank you for stopping by today. My Holly is going to be over for the weekend, so I am looking forward to that visit!

Let It Snow

Let It Snow and how that would be nice! Once in a while we do receive a little of the white stuff here in the high desert of CA, but not often enough! I decided to take a Halloween break and make a Christmas card. If you have Artist Outpost stamps, you should get them inked up and join in the monthly challenge for October, "Show us you AO Art." There is a $15 store gift certificate and someone will win the random draw!

It sure makes it easier when you don't have to mess around with a background, so I used some lovely Christmas Paper from ODBD for two of the panels. The center one was cut using the mini pinking edge. Kind of went with the Christmas Chalk pinking edge, which was stamped using Coffee Archival and clear embossed on another Christmas Paper and then I applied a little color from my medium brown color blending tool.

"Let It Snow" was also stamped in brown and embossed and layered with red and I added some berries and tied it up with a bow. The most difficult part of this card was tying that bow! Oh how I fumble with that!

Thank you for stopping by for a visit. I do apologize for not being as active, but there is quite a bit going on here at the moment and soon all will be back to normal. Well you know what I mean!!!

Christmas In July!

It is never too early to think about Christmas and Artistic Outpost has a 25% off sale on Christmas and Winter stamps, now through Saturday, July 26, 2014 11:00 PM EDT and so is Our Daily Bread Designs and they have Christmas paper and dies!! Whether you are thinking of starting your Christmas cards or gifts for those rubber stamping friends, now is a good time! Go have yourself a look!

What a better way to announce a Christmas sale than to make a Christmas card? Well that was my excuse to start early and have a little stash. For this card, I used Christmas Chalk and MidWinter and combined some bleach stamping and embossing.

Since I was looking for a more chalky background, but without the mess, I applied Black Soot Distress Ink over white paper and then did the bleach stamping. Before I did any inking, I stamped the Chalkboard frame using clear Embossing Ink and then applied powder. After all the inking was done and bleach stamping, I removed the EP via that iron. Layered up with green and red and tied it up with some twine! Pretty much a quick and simple card with a few layers for extra interest. In fact I am thinking this will be my main card to send out this year, but of course with mixing up stamps!

Thank you for stopping by today and joining me on my Christmas in July and go take advantage of a pretty nice sale! Oh and that Christmas paper at ODBD is gorgeous and works so well with AO stamps! Just Saying!

Oh Christmas Tree!

How are you all doing? All caught up and ready to enjoy the Christmas season? I am still working on it and need to finish up my cards/tags will be traveling a distance! Hey, at least I finally went out and did a little Christmas shopping this last weekend! Seriously, where does time go??

As you can see, I am still having some fun with snowy effects! It is so cold here and I mean really cold and yet there is not a snowflake to be found! I feel if it is going to be that kind of cold, at least let there be snow!  I do believe these lovely little "Birds Of A Feather" Artist Outpost sweeties are pretty excited about their Christmas tree and can't wait to open up the packages! Lisa's Bloggers Challenge is "Joyeux Noel" and this will be linked over there!

I first inked the background with Distress Inks (Antique Linen, Old Paper, Brushed Corduroy) then did a spritz and flick with water and added a little snow! Next was to use my new Hollybough stencil and Bundled Sage, Fired Brick and Brushed Corduroy was applied.

The tree was cut from a greenish paper, but further inked and snow applied on the branches with whit paint and some flicks for fun. It is not a Christmas tree if not decorated and the lovely girls wanted some lights and garland and a star for good measure (which was colored with red alcohol ink).

The girls were stamped in Coffee archival and watered colored. I use Tattered Rose for flesh tones! And of course they were fussy cut. I stamped part of the sentiment from Christmas Chalk in Coffee Archival.

I do believe it was the younger of the two, who suggested standing of the box for a closer view of the decorated Christmas tree. Doesn't it appear as if they are enjoying the festive moment?

The packages were cut using my new die from Mr. Tim! Love that die!

Well I do thank you for visiting me today and I know you are all busy with your Christmas preparations. I will be finishing my inky part of Christmas this week, but will be around during breaks to visit you! The current challenge at Artistic Outpost is still "Anything Goes" and there is a random gift certificate to be given to someone, so come on over and join in!

Christmas Thank You!

Hope you all are doing well and getting ready for fast approaching holiday season! It is so hard to believe it is already December and I have not done one bit of shopping! Wish I could get back to when I started in October and had my entire house decorated the weekend following Thanksgiving!

Like many of us, there are those people who you want to give a little "thank you" gift to during Christmas and this is what I have done using the Christmas Chalk and MidWinter stamp collections From Artistic Outpost.  My little collection will be linked to Frilly and Funkie for the "Gift Tags and Note Cards" challenge.

I was wanting to go with a black and white theme (minus the chalk) with pops of green and red. The images were simply stamped using clear embossing ink and then white embossing powder. After I framed the moose another black layer was edged with embossing ink and powder, because I just liked it that way. Very easy and simple, but a nice little touch to give a cash gift or gift card.

Thank you for stopping by today and you have plenty of time to join in AO's new December Anything Goes Challenge, so come on and get inky!

In The Bag!

It is a Designers Choice Blog Hop at Artistic Outpost and I am sharing a gift bag idea with you! Be sure to stop by and visit all the AO designers for great inspiration and ideas!

  Lisa, Suzanne, Tracy, Linda, Alison, Terry (Me), Kate

It is a more personal touch when giving a gift if it arrives in little bag designed by hand! The fun part is that you can make the bag as simple or detailed as you chose! I wanted a festive and somewhat simple bag and gift tag! Both Christmas Chalk and Chalk It Up stamp collections were used.

I first started my inking the bag with Peeled Paint and Barn Door, using tape for masking the stripes. Next I used Embossing Ink and White EP for the frame and stamped images and edged the same. I also flicked a few pieces of White EP here and there for a little bit of a snowy feel.

The tag was stamped on both sides using Distress Markers and shaded. Easy and quick which is kind of nice during the busiest time of the year!

Thank you for visiting today and I hope you are enjoying the start of the Holiday season! If you have not already joined in the November Monthly Referral Program, you have time to ink up those AO stamps!



Let It Snow!

Hope you all are doing well and getting ready for the upcoming Holidays! Hence is why I decided to go with a Christmas theme for Tim's November 12 Tags of 2013! And normally I would use all or mostly "Tim" products and stamps, but since Artist Outpost came out with the Christmas Chalk line in September, it just seemed like a natural fit to me! Not to mention Artistic Outpost is having a 15% off sale until November 18th, so stock up and use code November2013.

I followed the guidelines from Tim for the most part for the chalking technique.

I inked and chalked the frame from Christmas Chalk and then the little cottage scene from MidWinter, which I did mask off a little at each side to fit inside the framed area before inking with clear embossing ink.

And has the title of my blog posts states! This was stamped on white, shaded with black and layered up on black and green and I added foam underneath for a little extra dimension! Oh and of course a little extra chalk here and there. The snowflakes at the top are from Chalk It Up.

Enjoy the rest of your day or evening and as always, I deeply appreciate your visits! And if you have some of those fabby AO stamps, join in the November Referral Program!

Have Yourself!

Oh my goodness and you know who is coming to town? Where is the time going and how can I slow it down a little?? Somehow I think we all ask that question. AO JUST ANNOUNCED THAT UNTIL NOVEMBER 18TH ALL STAMPS ARE 15% OFF! CLICK HERE FOR THE SALE.

This is a simple Christmas card and all the details can be found at Artistic Outpost, if you want to know. 

The new Christmas Chalk stamps were used and I think this collection works so well for not only cards, but gift tags and bags. Even though time is slipping was, there is still time to join in the November Monthly Challenge.

Hope you are having a fabulous week and thank you for taking that precious time to visit!

Apples and Pumpkins!

I hope you are all doing well and enjoying the Autumn season and you know who is around the corner, right? Today is World Card Making Day, so what a great day to start off a new challenge,  "Use A Mask or Stencil" at Fashionable Stamping Challenges, chosen by the lovely Ellie. Be sure to stop by an check out all the fabulous art my DT Sisters have for you. There is a prize from Flonzcrafts, the FSC sponsor and a Top 3 selection and you never know when you might be spotlighted, so come on and join in!

It is that time of year for Hayrides, Apples and Pumpkins and cooler weather and I don't know about you, but I am ready for it! This year's heat just did me in! Working with Artistic Outpost's "Hayride" collection, I stamped the background panel using Archival Olive on vanilla card stock, heat set and then colored in the leaves with Shabby Shutters. Then I inked over the entire panel using Peeled Paint, Scattered Straw, Shabby Shutters, water flicks and shaded with Vintage Photo and further distress the edges. Taking this card over to Frilly and Funkie's "Colors of Autumn."

The frame was stamped in Archival Sepia and then clear embossed. The sweet little kids were also stamped in Sepia, heat set and watered colored with Peeled Paint, Scattered Straw, Tattered Rose, and Frayed Burlap. The kids were masked and then the background inked with Peeled Paint, Scattered Straw and then flicked with water and Distress Stains of Vintage Photo and Peeled Paint.

The sign was stamped in Brushed Corduroy and cut and lightly inked with Antique Linen and Peeled Paint, before the words were stamped in Black Archival and clear embossed.

The Apple Basket stamp was colored using Distress Markers, Barn Door, Weathered Wood and Tea Dye. I did add a little color using Vintage Photo to white card stock prior to stamping where the basket would be, to give more of a wood look.

Well that it is for today and I do thank you for stopping by!

Come On!

Come on and join in the Artistic Outpost's New Release of "Hayride" and "Christmas Chalk"  Blog Hop with Gerrie, Lisa, Suzanne, Tracy, Linda, Alison, Terry (Me) and Kate.

Today I am sharing a wall hanging using Hayride and Chalk It Up!

This ended up being a fun project, but it did not start out as such! I first inked up some paper with Antique Linen and a little Brushed Corduroy, knowing I would use the ledger stamp from Ephemera Backgrounds for a subtle background. Once the background was stamped using Brushed Corduroy, the Frame and Tractor (love this) was stamped in Coffee Archival. The edge was die cut with Tim's notebook!

That was my start and I tried this and that and this and that and could not find a decent home for my duly noted tractor!

I looked around at this and that, you get the picture and then saw the frame that I had from my good old painting days! The brain power kicked in!  The frame was painted in French Vanilla and stamped with Sepia Archival and clear embossed. I did think about adding some crackle, etc., but decided no.

Something told me to go with corrugated cardboard and make some leafy matter!  Once I cut the leaves and pine cone, I stained them using Mustard Seed, Barn Door, Bundled Sage, Rusty Hinge and Dusty concord. After nice and dry, I applied Crackle, let dry and brushed on Vintage Photo stain. I was thinking these were a little bright and remembered that talent ball, Astrid, mentioning toning down color with Dylusions "White Linen" and this worked quite nicely! Thanks, Astrid!

The corrugated cardboard background was cut and cracked and stained with Vintage Photo. All cardboard edges were highlighted using Treasure Gold, White Fire!

Really love these new releases and I can't wait to share more of my completed projects over the next few weeks. The September Monthly Referral Program is waiting for you and your AO stamps, so come on and have some fun!

Thank you so much for visiting today!