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!

Tim's March Tag of 2015

OK some one needs to slow down the passing of time! Seriously, I just can't seem to catch up on anything and with Spring in the air, that means lots to do! I hope you all are doing well and enjoying the warmer weather. Tim's tag for March was simply gorgeous, but I did not have any of the more pastel paints, so my colors of choice were Peeled Paint, a touch of Chipped Sapphire, and Brushed Pewter.

Now I wanted to stick with a theme of Spring and all that brings and I could not help but think of my yard birds and in particular the Blue Scrub Jays. These birds and I assume they are the same due to personality, have been coming around for a few years now. There is one that is very friendly as far as wild birds go and will sit right outside my kitchen window and wait for breakfast. Blue Scrub Jays love peanuts and I am not sure how I realized that, but believe when I used to toss out my Fred's leftover seeds in the morning, I must have watched them carry them away. These birds will hang out in the yard when we are working and now even have accepting Steve.

The other day, I watch the friendlier of the two gather up nesting material while I was just a foot away. So my yard Blues as I call them are the inspiration of my March tag! I am also linking this up at Frilly and Funkie's Challenge Blog for the "Bring on the Bling" with my sparkly Silver EP and Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, "Lions and Lambs, oh my" and my animal inspiration is obviously my yard birds!


After I stamped Tim's bird, I cut slits around the feet to be able to pull through some dyed cheesecloth as to represent my Blue's carrying off their soon to be babies new house material. You know we have never seen the little ones, so maybe this year. These birds hang around all year and a few times a year they don't show up for a couple of weeks and I worried at first, but now I just wonder what they are up to!

Finished it off with adding a painted grunge number 3 for March and adding a little birdhouse charm that Brenda gifted me some time back. Tied it off with dyed ribbon and cheesecloth.

I have to tell you something kind of funny! We have been really busy working around the yard as pretty soon it will become extremely hot and much better to take advantage of the cooler weather. The last two weekend we have (mostly the man) have been putting together the new storage shed. Actually the last three weekends as first we had to tear down the old rusting away metal shed. No wonder I have no time! Well we are kind of small people and of course older. First we buy this very heavy (two big boxes) "Lifetime" shed and there was help to load, but not to unload once we were home. We literally had to take the pieces out of each box to move them from the truck. So now the man starts to read the directions and of course a "platform" is required! Next day off to buy the wood to make the platform and that took a weekend. Further reading states it is a 3 Man job!!!!!!! We did it and yes I did help and now we have a lovely little looking cottage shed. We did realize that we are getting a little on the old side to be carrying on in such a manner!! This weekend we will be getting stuff packed and ready for a little mini trip next week, so I am sure happy that shed is done!

I sure do thank you for stopping by today and listening to me ramble on.

Happy Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary to AVJ and how much fun we have in store for you and with prizes! Brenda and Chris work so hard keeping A Vintage Journey the amazing challenge blog that it is and you could not ask for a better and more supportive DT group and I am honored to be a part of and so excited to start year #2! To start off our second year with our new monthly challenge, we are looking for ANYTHING TIM and to make it easier on us, please let us know what your Tim influence might be. Now my fabulous and totally talented DT Sisters also have some incredible art to share and you will find all the details of our challenge and information on all the prizes, along with our sponsor Country View Crafts. So you know a prize package was sent to AVJ from Tim and Mario! Aren't they just so sweet and generous?? And not only is AVJ celebrating an anniversary, but this is my 5th year of blogging as well as something very special. So here we go with what my little deal is!
 

Happy Anniversary to my hubby of 32 years and as it would be, today when the post goes live in Europe, it is our anniversary! To celebrate three special occasions, I would like to offer a little BLOG CANDY to one of my followers as well and that includes my lovely AVJ DT Sisters, who many have been with me from my first days of blogging! Details to follow. "Gear It Up" is the challenge at SanDee & Amelie's Steampunk Challenge blog, so we are taking our celebration over there to share.

Oh I love that man and I wanted to make him something a little different than the usual card or tag and so Tim's Pocket Watch came to the rescue along with many other Tim elements and products.

Tim's Pocket Watch die was cut from three layers 2 grungeboard and 1 chipboard in the center for stability. Applied a coat of gesso and then using a gel medium, I added texture using various bits and trims, modeling paste through a couple of stencils and then this was all covered up with gesso, before I applied crackle over the entire piece. Once that dried I added all of my metal pieces, mostly Idea-ology and a few I just had to add and again covered these with gesso.

Color Wash sprays used, Espresso, Denim, Stream, Butterscotch and Meadow, which are all colors my DH enjoys. These were sprayed on and dried a little using a heat gun and then with a paper towel I blotted off the excess color. Once I was happy with the colors, I did give a quick spray with sealer.

Next step is adding touches of gesso (and or Treasure Gold) lightly brushed on. Using a black marker, I added a few shadows. This was a little on the dark side to begin with, so I was careful to not add to many shadows. Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge is looking for a "Just A Hint Of Clover" and with a green heart (and other hints of green), we are good to go.

The grunge wings was just my thinking about how time flies and boy does it ever!

The magic of the gesso really makes everything pop! You can see some of the extra little watch gears and bits I added if you look closely. 

I did flick on some more Color Wash just for a little more interest using a toothbrush and let me tell you about stained fingers and fingernails. Oh so lovely! Truly I have so much fun when I work with mixed medias like this. I think this is about my 4th piece going this style and I love the end result.

Now for the reverse side, I wanted it to be a little softer and distress inked some of Tim's paper and where the face of the woman writing the love letter was stamped, I gave a little wash of white paint. A little more stenciling and a few fun elements and all is wonderful!

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed my project as much as I enjoyed it from start to finish. Now for a chance to win my BLOG CANDY in celebration of March and all the anniversaries, a $50 gift certificate to Inspiration Emporium, just leave a comment by April 1st, 2015. The winner will be announced shortly thereafter and good luck and mostly thank you for being a part of my journey.

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!

Snow Had Fallen

Well snow has not fallen here in the desert, but at Artistic Outpost, we are having a Winter/Christmas Blog Hop and there is sure to be some falling snow! You won't want to miss what my lovely DT Sisters have in store for you, so here is the list of talent.  

 

Tracy * Terry * Kate * Lisa * Gerrie * Linda 



I started by using Christmas paper from ODBD, cutting it to size and adding some snowy effects with white paint. That little birdie is adorable and then some! Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge has an "Anything Goes," so I am taken this wintery card over there for a visit.

The pinecones from MidWinter were stamped directly on the Christmas paper in Coffee Archival and then clear embossed, colored using Vintage Photo and then highlighting areas with a white gel pen.

Next I stamped the MidWinter snowy sentiment on white, using again Coffee Archival and clear embossed, cut using the Vintage Label die from ODBD, inked in Antique Linen, shaded in Black Soot and then flicked on some snow. Added some snowflakes and holly leaves that were touched up with white paint.

Thank you for stopping by today and hope you will join in the blog hop and also ink up your AO stamps and share at October's Show us your AO Art challenge. You could win something!

Good Old Summer!

So is it hot enough for you? Well it is Summer and the temps are reaching the high 90's here and baby that is hot! This is also being shared (my day) over at Artistic Outpost, so if you would like more details and pictures, stop on over and say, HI.

I really wanted to do something to celebrate summer and all it's glory and as luck would have it, Linda's new challenge at Frilly and Funkie is, "Just Case It" and she is talking about one of her 12 Tags from Christmas 2013, but the fun part is that it must have a summer twist!

Linda's Tag

My "CASE" is Linda's tag of Week 10 and my inspiration was obviously Tim's Ornate Frame (Distress Ink no Glitter) and in place of the pretty red bow and holly leaves, cheesecloth and sea shells, a little black "Speckled" stenciling replaced the Holly. Since "Anything Goes" at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, we will be linking over there.

Thank you for stopping by today and I hope you have a wonderful weekend filled with summer fun!

CC#3C - Layering Stencil-Texture Paste

Linda Ledbetter over at Studio L3 and her Curiosity Crew have instructed us to open Tim's Compendium of Curiosities III to page 49, Layering Stencils: Texture Paste for challenge #4. This time around The Funkie Junkie Boutique is the sponsor of a fabulous $25 store gift certificate and Linda always offers 20% to begin with! Pretty cool and speaking of, a prize from Tim and Mario as chosen by the Curiosity Crew to one lucky winner! Let's start!

For all the details on the technique you must have the book as we are asked to not share out of respect to Tim and all the work that goes into the making of the BOOK. Will also share this with Simon Says Stamp Monday's "Anything Goes."

For the dress form while the TP was still wet between layers of paint and paste, I sprinkled on some Rock Candy Distress Glitter. I know it does not show too much, but it is there!

See I told you!

After the technique, my tag was inked (Antique Linen, Pumice Stone, Gathered Twigs) and flicked with water. I wrapped some thread around the spools and cut a little slit to hold the thread and of course going with a sewing theme, used some threaded buttons and a little trim. Cut out a couple of doilies for a little extra interest and of course those were distressed with color.

Using some of Tim's paper, I layered that on top of a card base and again added a little trim and a few hearts. Other inks used were Black Soot, Walnut Stain, Vintage Photo, Rusty Hinge and Dried Marigold.

Tim's June Tag of 2014

Hope you all are having a wonderful day! Before I start with my June Tag, I would like to thank you all for the comforting words concerning the passing of my brother and my needing a little time away from blogging. While the painters were here and finishing up on Saturday, I did actually start my Tim tag and with all the activity going on, my mind was kept quite busy. The house looks pretty nice and that was a great distraction, although three days with plastic on the windows was so weird! Anyway, I do thank you and am getting back slowly and have missed visiting all your lovely blogs.

Now onto Tim's tag for June and what great fun I had working with background. I actually worked with a few different stencils, because once I started, I wanted to keep going! For this tag, I started with watercolor paper and followed Tim's instructions for the background.

My collection of supplies and various backgrounds! The Eye Chart stencil was also inked with Black Soot. It really was such a relief to get inky!

I do not have the framelits, so after coloring and stamping were fussy cut and placed on top of the second set I stamped on the watercolor paper. My butterflies were colored with the same background colors.

The wings were left unglued for extra dimension!  And speaking of wings, the newest challenge at A VINTAGE JOURNEY is "Wings & Things." so stop on over and join in with your Tim inspiration! "Anything Goes" is the challenge at Simon Says Stamp Monday, so off we flutter to there.

I decided my pretty little butterflies needed to be placed on one of those jumbo tags, so out came another stencil and I inked through it again using the same color palette. After all the inking was done, I lightly stamped the background using Watering Can.

The bow was next and as I always say, "I am bow incompetent," but carried on! The second piece was cut at 18 inches, so not quite as fluffy. Black paint was added to the word band.

I wanted a rusted look on the pen nib, and experimented with first pressing in to Black Archival Ink, then sprinkling Vintage Photo glitter over it with another layer of clear embossing powder. I like the look!

Thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to visit my blog and leave a comment. Wishing you a wonderful week!