Tim's Tag May 2015

It is Tag Friday at A Vintage Journey and I am just getting this in on time to enter Tim's May Tag challenge for 2015. Oh be sure to check out all the lovely tags my talented DT Sisters have for you!

Already having sheets of Burlap paper, I did adhere a sheet of double sided adhesive to the burlap and card stock and then cut it using the Tag die. My stencil of choice was the stars and then I colored with Peeled Paint and Mowed Lawn. Not having Tim's Photo Booth pictures, I colored one of the photos from Vellum Thrift Shop Ephemera Pack using Shabby Shutters and Spun Sugar markers. I then mounted the photo on to white card stock that I distressed and snipped off the corners just so slightly. The collaged ephemera is from a couple of different packs and I really do like the vellum!

The flowers were cut from the Tattered Flowers Garland and the greenery from the Tattered Pine Cone dies. All were lightly distress and inked over in Vintage Photo. Tim's Bird replaced the arrow and was alcohol inked with Caramel and Mushroom as was the tag. The ribbon was stained with Bundled Sage and Peeled Paint. Not having the "Small Talk" stickers, I used Chit Chat stickers and outlined with a DecoArt Paint Pen to finish. Inspiration Journal's challenge for May is "Get Pasted" and so we are off to visit those nice people!

Thank you for stopping by and have a lovely weekend!

Letters to Friends!

I almost forgot to post these two letters I altered using lots of mixed media for a couple of fabulous friends! Sure hope Brenda and Chris like their letters as much as I enjoyed making them and trying to add elements and colors to suit them. This did take quite some time between figuring out what to add and of course various drying times. It is hard to take photos during the various stages as you can get really caught up in the moment or just need a break. Be forewarned this will be very photo heavy! I have done several of these Mixed Media projects, but this has been the largest! The Sun was quite bright the day of photos, so these are a little less in your face than it appears!

Both wood letters were purchased at a local craft store and are close to a foot tall, gessoed and then I added various layers from texture paste, crackle, fabric, metal and so on! Once all the elements were glued down using gel medium, again all was gessoed. I just wanted you to see this before the white gesso layer.

Next step was to add sprays and this is what I used. For the "B," Color Wash in Denim, Espresso, Meadow and Dylusions in Melted Chocolate, London Bus and Pure Sunshine. For the "C," Dylusions Crushed Grape, London Bus and a few colors of Tattered Angels in pinks. I then used a heat tool to dry most of the color on and then blotted off the excess with a paper towel. I also will use a soft paintbrush to move color where I wish or where I think one color is too overly saturated. Once this was all dried and I was happy with the colors, I gave a spray of matte sealer to set colors.

From this point layers of white gesso and white acrylic paint is used to highlight the areas and you can go as light or heavy as you like. I don't think the highlighting is quite as heavy as the photos may show. If you click on the photos, you can also see more detail.

The "B" in halves!

Now the bits and pieces!

The "C" in halves!

 

And the bits and pieces! I am thankful for the friends I have found in this lovely blogging world of ours, so I am linking this up to Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, "Thank You," Frilly and Funkie's "Happy, Happy, Happy," because these two projects and playing with so many different mediums and elements so does make me happy and Inspiration Journal's, "Pasted."

Thank you for stopping by today on this long photo journey! Next I have an "H" to work on for my Great-granddaughter! Have a lovely day!

Spring Is Here!

"Spring Is Here" in my neck of the woods (or desert) and I hope you are enjoying some warm and lovely springtime weather as well! Today I am using Artistic Outpost stamps from Flower Market and Birds of A Feather for my little tag.

The tag was cut from vanilla card stock and Distress Peacock Feathers and Squeezed Lemonade were inked through the Lattice stencil. Next I inked over the entire tag with Antique Linen and shaded the edges with Vintage Photo and then distressed the edges. The little butterflies and dragonflies were stamped in Black Archival.

The frame was cut from a burlap sheet using ODBD Vintage Labels and also shaded with Vintage Photo.  The sweet little butterfly catcher, along with the butterflies were stamped in Black Archival and watercolored using the above inks as well. Her skin tone was done with Spun Sugar. The sentiment was stamped and cut apart! "Everything Goes" at Inspiration Journal, so we are going!

Thank you for stopping by for a visit today. I have been taking advantage of a little yard duty before it becomes too hot here!      

Spring Blog Hop at Artistic Outpost

Spring is in the air and I am sure many of you are very happy about that. It is a Blog Hop all about Spring at Artistic Outpost and the DT has some warming creations for your viewing pleasure, so come on and have a look! Shari, Kate, Tracy, Lisa.

My "Spring" started with some lovely Blooming Garden paper from ODBD, which was embossed with a tulip frame and highlighted using Walnut Stain and shaded around the edges. The Potted Daffodils and Butterflies from Flower Market were stamped in Coffee Archival and then colored in using markers. The sentiment was stamped and cut apart. It is so nice to have a few cards around that are easier for mailing! Will be linking this up to Inspiration Journal's "Spring Blooms."

Thank you for joining me on this beautiful day. Hope you are having a wonderful week!

Tim's February Tag of 2015

Had almost forgot that I had not done Tim's February Tag, but here it is! As always I stuck pretty much with Tim's guidelines and just changed it up a bit to be a little less for Valentine's Day. Wanting to play along with Inspiration Journal's "Love Is In The Air," I added some travel ephemera elements as well as a red heart!

Using various bits for the background, my paint choice was Antique Linen for the shabby look. I did also flick on some paint using a toothbrush.

I did have some felt, but remembered I had this piece of red crackled grunge paper and decided to use something I had been saving! You know I wanted to use a flash card for the background and could not find the pack! It is so sad I tell you!

When all was finished I decided to use a crackle stamp (or I think) from Tim's Joyful Song to add a little extra interest. That was the extent of any stamping! This was another fun tag!

I sure hope you are having a wonderful weekend or ending of the weekend. Thank you so much for taking the time to visit and comment!

Skating Sweethearts!

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you and I hope regardless of what you do or with who, that your weekend is full of love and beauty! "Love is in the Air" at Inspiration Journal and this literally is just that!

This little wooden heart was altered seriously, just to wish you all a day of love and the belief that friendship never does melt, but I know there are a few of you that want that snow to melt! To begin with I spackled on some gesso , as I see Astrid do with her gorgeous creations, which when dried, I painted with a mix of white acrylic paint and Dylusions London Bus spray. When this was dry, I added some stenciled hearts using white paint. The little cuties from Artist Outpost's "Skating Emporium," were stamped directly on the heart using black Archival and heat set. Next was some watercoloring using Brushed Corduroy, Antique Linen, Vintage Photo and Tattered Rose. I did give their little faces a little wash with white paint, but noticed some of the blue came through anyway. Oh such is life.

The snow is a mix of white paint, gloss varnish and Rock Candy glitter. Stamped and cut apart the sentiment and all was sealed with a spray and gel medium. Added a little bouquet of roses to finish.

Thank you for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend!

Tic Tac Toe at AVJ!

I am so glad you have stopped by today and hope your week is going well. Tic Tac Toe is the current and what a fun challenge at AVJ and chosen by the wonderful Annie. For a chance to win a prize from Country View Crafts, please share your Tim inspired projects with us and for more inspiration and a feast for the eyes, you will want to see what the rest of the team has for you! There are going to be some exciting changes with AVJ's challenges, so be sure to check out the main challenge blog for all the details.

For this challenge I went on the diagonal with Idea-ology, Ephemera and Stains. No stamps or ink this time around and that was a challenge for me! Now you can incorporate those items, but I wanted to just stick with the TTT! The tag was cut from Tim's Wallflower paper and edged and splattered with Stains of Barn Door and Walnut Stain. I also carried that onto the Ephemera pieces as well. A Sharpie marker was used to color the Industrious Stickers.

We are flying to see our Holly for her birthday, so this tag has lots of elements in celebration of being together on a special day and over Valentine's Day! "Love Is In The Air" at Inspiration Journal and so we go there for a visit! What a great excuse this challenge of Tic Tac Toe was to use up some of those items just sitting around. I did have fun just layering them up and playing!

Have a lovely weekend and thank you again for taking the time to stop by.

Sea!

Here we are with the fast approaching weekend and I am ready for it! How about you? We will be going out for Super Bowl and that should be fun! Now I am doing a little DT duty using one of the New Release single stamps from Artistic Outpost, "Sound of the Sea." I just think this is adorable and dreamy and this is what I did. Being this is new and freshly inked :-), I am linking this over at Inspiration Journal's "Fresh Start."

I stamped the image in Black Archival, and wiped away the black in the netting and sea shell area and patted on some Sepia. When that was good and dry, using a water brush and Stampin Up markers of Bashful Blue for the "SEA," and her dress, Creamy Caramel her hair and the seashell she is holding, Blush Blossom for her skin. The ocean behind her and the land were colored using chalks. Shaded the edges with Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain. Once I was happy with the colors, I gave a it a spray of matte sealer to set. Matted on black and distressed the edges.

I stamped and cut a second set of Seashells to add a little dimension using Sepia Archival, watercolored and shaded in Walnut Stain and Black Soot as was the image and sentiment from "Boardwalk."  For the background, I stained a piece of cheesecloth using Antique Linen stain and Vintage Photo, tore off a little extra to wrap partially around the focal image. This was adhere using gel medium as were the little tiny seashells in the corner.

This is also being shared at Artistic Outpost, so if you would like to stop by for a visit, that would be lovely. There is also just a wee bit of time left to join in the January "Show Us Your AO Art." Thank you so much for visiting today and I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Transportation Destination at Artistic Outpost!

It is a "Transportation" blog hop at Artistic Outpost and all of the DT has some amazing art to share and here they are! Tracy, Terry (Me), Lisa, Shari, Gerrie, Kate. If you missed the AO new release, you have to check it out right HERE and I will be sharing more of that during the next few weeks.

I do not journal, so this is a first and I decided to go with "Planes, Trains, Automobiles and Bicycles" for my journal cover and just maybe I will do something inside! Now I am open to any suggestions as this is new territory for me. Inspiration Journal's challenge is "Fresh Start" with no restrictions, so we go there.

To start, I cut a piece of Bristol to fit my cover, applied white gesso, white paint and then added Distress inks to get an idea what colors I might want to use before painting with Acrylic Paints, very light tans, browns, burnt umber and black to finish. I applied paint using a brush started with the lightest color in the center and working my way to the edges in the darkest, never cleaning my brush and working quickly. I did use a baby wipe to lift off color where I did not want it and finished by blending with a large stencil brush. Stenciled in the TCW Clock and later decided I needed a little more texture so added more stenciling. As you can see I was playing with my layout, before painting. Highlighted the raised stenciled areas using Treasure Gold, White Fire and Indigo and to finish I flicked on some of the paint.

Going in line with the movie, but with a bicycle twist, the plane from Industrial Backgrounds was stamped in Black Archival, inked over in Antique Linen, shaded with Vintage Photo and of course fussy cut.

The SteamPunk Train and ticket stamped on a die cut ticket was also inked as above. The green and blue on the arrow is not quite that bright. For some reason the camera just decided to be generous with color. Oh I did get a new camera, so having a little fun there!

I added bits of Route 66 map, which was stamped on tissue paper and decided I would go with the Automobile from Gatsby. The Bicyclists from Hat's Off were stamped directly on the painted background using Black Archival and heat set.

All the metal bits were gessoed, and then painted with the mix on my craft sheet and the I gave them a spray with Dylusions Cut Grass and London Bus, dabbed off a little and then highlighted with Treasure Gold and now I have a journal to keep my journey in check.

Thank you for visiting me today and have a wonderful day!

Steampunk!

Today was a day I needed to go hide out in my craft room and so Artistic Outpost came to the rescue! I have been looking around at different blogs and challenges stressing "New" or "Fresh Start" as with Inspiration Journal's new challenge. I realized that I had never used the Train from the "Steampunk" collection and thought it was about time to apply some fresh ink to that Train. Will also link this to Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, "Backgrounds." For those of you who have Artistic Outpost stamps, January's "Show Us Your AO Art" is waiting for you to join the challenge for a chance to have your AO Art showcased and to win a store gift certificate.

The background behind the Conductor and the Train was inked over using Vintage Photo, Frayed Burlap and then shaded along with touches of Black Soot. The Train Station was stamped using Stazon Dove Grey. I wanted a very subtle background. The Conductor was stamped in Black Stazon, inked with Vintage Photo and Tattered Rose, then a little water coloring using Fired Brick and a paint liner. The moving Train scene was stamped in Black Archival all areas were watered colored using paint brushes and Distress inks Faded Jeans (Sky), Crushed Olive, Shabby Shutters (Trees), Vintage Photo, Frayed Burlap (Ground), Black Soot and Weathered Wood (Train) and then shaded. I always give a spray of matte sealer when I am finished. Added a few sentiments and that was that.

Oh a very sad note, our Molly has crossed over the Rainbow Bridge. She will be deeply missed and we so wish things could have been different. We tried as best we could and my hubby took extra time off from work to spend with her and in hopes her condition would improve, but it did not. She did have a lovely day and we fit in another trip to the park and she has lots of her favorite foods and treats. As I know many of you have gone through and are still, the pain we feel when we lose a beloved pet family member is overwhelming, but the love and care we give them stays with them. Thank you for all of you who have asked and sent me messages about my old girl. One day I will tell you all about Molly.

Have a wonderful day!

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!

CC#3C - Worn Cover

Challenge #13, "Worn Cover" is the current lesson Linda and the Curiosity Crew have us working on. All the details can be found on page 35 of Tim's Compendium of Curiosities III and for extra inspiration really check out the CC team! This month's sponsor Inspiration Emporium has such a nice $50 prize for some lucky winner and for extra fun there is a package from Tim and Mario, chosen by the CC, so two ways to win.

You know the routine and you must work out of your own copy of  Tim's book, so I can't tell you all the details.

When I started this, I did not have a Christmas theme on my mind at all! Halloween crossed my mind, but I felt I had done enough Halloween. I had pulled out a few things earlier in the week and nothing was clicking. Honestly I am not sure how this came about! I thought I had to use the Window die that had never been touched, so I cut this on card stock and then added crackle and layered this up on two more chipboard cutouts.

So at that point, I decided we would go for Christmas and used Barn Door stain to add red to the cracks. Inspiration Journal's challenge for October is "In Disguise" and will go for a visit over there as well.

The front was card stock that was stamped, inked and stenciled. The little window insets were all cut from Tim's paper and I used some rubs and stickers, which had been treated with Cranberry alcohol. Added the photo corners.

All the little Christmas trims/embellishments are from my collection and the little deer and candy canes from Michael's just yesterday! Nice find!

The book spine, I added a ribbon that was saved from something my DD gave me and yes, I tied the bow. I did it!!! Added some fun items.

The back was inked and stenciled and all is good to go. I am thinking this may be a gift to my granddaughter to start collecting Christmas memories and photos.

Hope you enjoyed my little worn cover transformation. I had great fun working on it and have a second one waiting!! Thank you for visiting and enjoy!