Let Things Go!

Aren't those words so true, but not always easy to do! In our lives we all have things that are just to heavy to hang on to and in order to go forward, we have to "Let Go." When this plate from Artistic Outpost came out, "Chalkboard Wisdom." this of all sentiments hit me hard and hit home!  Anyway, this is one of those sentiments that is truly worth putting up all over the place!! Will be linking this up to Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog "Say It With Stamps."

I inked manila card stock with Squeezed Lemonade and Wild Honey and then embossed it with a Cuttlebug folder and a Diffuser, for an inset. I could have just stamped in the oval un-embossed center, but I decided I wanted a little more dimension, so cut an oval from manila and inked and stamped using Black Archival.

Using two of the Spellbinders oval frames, I cut a black panel. The butterflies were cut using dies from Cheery Lynn. This was an easy card to make as I wanted the focus to be on the sentiment.

This is the start of a brand new month and that means the new "October Referral Program" at Artistic Outpost, so I hope you will ink up some of those AO stamps and join in the "anything goes."  Thank you for stopping by today and have a great finish to the week!

Summertime Fun!

So is it hot enough for you?? It certainly is for me and although I am staying out of the Sun, I decided today would be a nice day to have some "Summertime Fun" indoors!  "Summertime" is also the current theme at Frilly and Funkie and we are just in time and also linking to Country View Crafts "Summer Sizzler."

Using the cool summertime "Boardwalk" stamps from Artistic Outpost, we decided it would be nice to have a little romantic twist! We started by making a foldable cabinet die cut and cutting out a Spellbinders sunshine burst in the inside for a frame inside a frame!

Alcohol inks were applied to glossy white card stock and all images were stamped using Coffee Archival. The sentiments were stamped on tissue paper and inked with the same alcohol inks.

The lovely bathers were stamped on watercolor paper and colored with Distress Markers and Stains. After I cut the "sunshine" opening, I decided to combine to of the dies for a frame.

Adhered a little dyed cheesecloth with gel medium and added the seashells and the "Atlantic City" emblem, which was placed in Tim's bottlecap die. 

Today was very overcast, so picture quality was more off than usual for me!  Thank you for stopping by and there is still a good week to join in Artist Outpost's July Referral Program, so hope to see you there!

These Eyes!

Yesterday I made it into my craft room to actually tidy up a bit and instead this happened!  First I thought about an eye looking through the new movers and shapers pocket watch die I own and then I saw a little tag laying around and thought the Steamy Punk Eyes, would look so cool on a tag.  Well of course the tag at hand was too small, so out came Tim's mini tag die and it all began!  Now that pocket watch was not going to go unused! 



All these delicious stamps are from Artistic Outpost.  Eyes were stamped with Archival black, I then used a VersaMark pen around the glasses and gold embossed.  Colored the eyes and then masked off before inking, flicking and splattering! 

The tag background was inked with various Distress colors, more of the above, dried and then stamped the gears in a random pattern using Black Walnut.  I actually added a light sprinkle of gold EP, heat set and then ironed this off in hopes that a little of the gold would remain and it did!

I used the resist piece of newsprint for the sentiment!  I thought that made a nice background!

For the pocket watch, I cut black chip board twice and glued together.  Made a little frame insert using Spellbinders circles and the clock was stamped in black archival on the same newsprint.  This was put together and then clear embossed several times to give a real pocket watch kind of look! 

We are popping over to Inspiration Journal as they are wanting us to "Add A Little P.O.P" and  Simon Says Stamp and Show is "By The Numbers."   Also am linking this up to V's Sweet Ideas for their "Masculine Theme."If you have some Artistic Outpost stamps, there is the March Referral Program and always a chance to win!

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you are having a wonderful week and have great and fun plans for the weekend!   I will be going to the Carson Stamp Convention this weekend and that should be some great fun and I am sure not very costly at all! 

Stamps:  Artistic Outpost, SteamPunk, Industrial Backgrounds, Whimsical Melange
Inks:  Distress, Tattered Rose, Peeled Paint, Salty Ocean Frayed Burlap, Black Walnut, Archival Black,
Marker: Stampin Up for the eyes
Distress Stain, Broken China, Bundled Sage, Walnut Stain
VersaMark Pen and Ink
Gold EP

Oh Dorothy Artistic Outpost DT Blog Hop!

It is a Literature or Children's Book Blog Hop at Artistic Outpost and I am thrilled to share with you a "mini book" that I created and had such a fun time putting together!  You won't want to miss out on all the inspiration the DT has for you so stop by and have a visit and let that inner child come out to play!  Gerrie, Lisa, Sue, Tracy, Linda Alison, Terry (Me), Kate!

For my mini children's book, I use stamps from the Oz Collage collection and I want to give each character equal time!  Now I will not bore you with every little detail, so if there is anything you want to know, just ask and I will answer you!  I already figure this will be photo heavy and I will be somewhat brief with details.  My little book will also be linked to eclectic Paperie's "Altered Books," as I think this is altered!!  First all the pages were cut using grungeboard, covered with Folk Art Crackle Medium, sponge painted using Fresco Finish "Haystack" and DecoArt "Emperor's Gold."   Once dry I punched the holes and shaded with Archival Coffee and Sepia.  All of the focal pieces were cut using Tim's new "Cameo Frame" from manila card stock.  Love that die!!!  I wanted a heavier texture for my book cover, so used a brick stencil from Crafters Workshop and mixed the modeling paste with Fresco Finish Haystack, after the cut piece was inked. 

Dorothy and faithful companion were stamped and colored, masked and shaded, then I used the Embossing Diffuser with Tim's brick texture fade.  I used two Spellbinders dies for the scalloped frame, which was cut from glassine paper.  The house is shrink plastic, which was sanded and inked prior to the oven visit. 

Lots of masking and inking here!  Both the "yellow brick road" and the little village also received a coat of Rock Candy Stickles for extra sparkle.  The walkway was inked and I drew the lines, cut and inserted under the gentle paws of the lion.  Added a flower border with Flower Soft.  The backing under the courage is embossed glassine and both received a few coats of clear embossing powder. 



The Scarecrow background was inked with Peeled Paint, Squeezed Lemonade and Antique Linen and given and stamped in Coffee Archival. 

I "Heart" the Tin Man!  Again there is masking and inking and coloring with sponge applicators.  All the sentiments have been stamped using Archival on Newsprint! 

For the back cover, I just stamped all the sentiments and added some ruby slippers.  This was tied up with some gorgeous fibers to finish it off.

Thank you so very much for stopping by and joining in this month's AO blog hop!  Remember you can enter any of your creations using AO stamps in the monthly Referral Program, which there is always a prize!



Stamps:  Artistic Outpost, Oz Collage
Ink:  Distress, Vintage Photo, Antique Linen, Pumice Stone, Tea Dye, Tattered Rose, Festive Berries, Barn Door, Worn Lipstick, Spun Sugar, Peeled Paint, Mowed Lawn, Weathered Wood
Archival:  Black, Coffee, Sepia
Stazon: Red
Clear Embossing Powder
Fresco Finsh Paint: Haystack
Crackle Medium
Delta Metallic
Sizzix - Tim
Spellbinders

30 Years!

Sorry I have been a little MIA, but sometimes we all need to just take a little break!  Well I am back and wanting to share an "Anniversary Tag" I made for my darling hubby.  We are coming up on 30 years and it is so hard to believe.  We were talking about that the other day and how time really does fly.   My tag to my hubby is joining Lisa's Bloggers Challenge. "Cut it Out,"  Simon Says Stamp and Show, "Metal-ology"  and Inspiration Journal, "L.O.V.E."

I first started by stamping the sentiment and clear embossing, which was then inked over with various Distress colors.  I was looking for a splattered look and tried something a little different thinning some Distress stains (including a metallic) with water and then flicking with a toothbrush and then taking my fingernail to give a light spray. 

When I was happy with that, I did some random stamping of the time piece with Coffee Archival.  At that point, I ironed away all the clear embossing.  The March calendar page was stamped and clear embossed.   I added some vintage watch bits along the way, but check out that tiny hand with the red!  How cool is that?  Oh our big day is the 5th!

Next we have the metal wings, which I used some Vintaj Patinas and Distress Metallic stains.  The heart was cut from corrugated cardboard, crackled and inked with Distress Stains.  All other TH metals were colored using alcohol inks and paint.  I was happy to find a "30" game piece! 

As always, I am thrilled when you stop by for a visit and take the time to comment!  I hope you all are well and enjoying the week! 

Inks:  Distress, Peeled Paint, Mowed Lawn, Walnut Stain, Vintage Photo, Faded Jeans, Stormy Sky, Tumbled Glass, Barn Door, Fired Brick, Aged Mahogany, Archival, Sepia, VersaMark
Stains:  Metallics, Antique Bronze, Tarnished Brass, Brushed Pewter, Barn Door, Faded Jeans, Broken China, Wild Honey (for heart)

Birds

It is all about "BIRDS" at Fashionable Stamping Challenges for the current theme chosen by Meggymay!  Come on and join us with your lovely stamping creations celebrating one of natures most beautiful gifts the lovely "Bird."  My lovely DT sisters have so much beauty to share with you, so please have a visit at FSC.

This was more than a challenge to me as I worked on this at the same time as keeping my pet bird, Fred, of more than 25 years company.  So this is a tribute to my Fred, who did pass away this morning and I will miss him dearly!  Now this sweet bird does not look at all like my Fred, who was pretty good size and green, but it is one of my favorite images.   "Birds of A Feather" and "Quotes and Quotables" are the stamps I used from Artistic Outpost and I found the quote I used so true and appropriate with how I feel at the moment. 

The bird and sentiment were stamped with Archival Sepia, heat set and then colored with Antique Linen and, Tattered Rose and Festive Berries, Squeezed Lemonade, Stampin Up Barely Banana for the beak and little feets.  The metal pieces were colored with Metallic Stain.  For both embossed panels, I used Cuttlebug folders and highlighted with Tattered Rose and touches of Festive Berry. 

Thank you for stopping by today and I hope you pull out some birdy stamps and join in the fun at FSC!  Also Artistic Outpost has a February Referral Program and that is anything goes using AO stamps!  I hope you have a wonderful week!

Show Some Love!

My DT Sisters Brenda and Joanna are asking all of us to "Show Some Love," for the current challenge at Fashionable Stamping Challenges and as always all of the Fashionettes have some incredible "works of love" to share.  Pop on over and have a look and then pull out your loving stamps and join in all the fun! 

Interesting thing about my card, which when I started I had Valentine Vintage on my mind!  While working with the Great Gatsby set at Artistic Outpost, I knew I would be using two of the characters sharing Valentine Love.  As I stamped the love birds on vanilla card stock in Coffee Archival and matted them on Chocolate brown, I thought a little gold edging would be nice and so it was done.  Actually the card base, and all panels as well as the bottles and hearts were all gold embossed.  Well onto what happened.  As I am looking at my two Gatsby characters, all set to go and the champagne bottles ready to be inked up, my idea for Vintage Valentine changed.  All I was seeing was a wedding card for a very special upcoming wedding, so the original plan changed.  Now I will redo this card for the actual event, because somehow this brilliant person managed to get some weird smudge on our gentleman groom.  Have not a clue, but hey, the second one should be quick!   Just a reminder that there is also a few days left to use your AO stamps and join in the January Referral Program.

With the scanner

This angle view shows some of the gold much better.  I had the most difficult time taking a photo of this card as you can tell by the photos.  The vanilla colors wanted to be white, the golds almost an olive color and the browns were somewhat off.  Used two different cameras, different times and lights.

Well come on and "Show Some Love" with us at FSC!  Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope you are enjoying your creative journey! 

Riley Is Making the Rounds!

Is Riley just a Little Man or what?  Riley is part of the new children's release at Scrolls Work Stamps.  These can be purchased as a full plate or individuals.  For the first time, Scrolls Work is also offering many of their stamps as full plates, so pop and over and take a look.

Riley is visiting Gingersnap Creations for their big third annual Copper, Ginger or Rust Challenge GC96.  I used Copper, Rust, Browns and Creams.  Little Man works well for Simon Says Stamp and Show a Word.  OK, it may be two words, but it describes one little cutie pie!

The technique I used from the Technique Junkies, is Wisped Frames.  I have to tell you that I love these Grand dies from Spellbinders!  This was made to hang, because Riley deserves to be seen!

Thank you for stopping by!  I really do enjoy your comments!

CCC#28, Vicki's "Let's Relax" and GC85

Gingersnap Creations challenge is "Hot Beverages." I had remembered seeing a very lovely stamp plate from I Brake For Stamps, so I had no choice but to send Della an order!  I also ordered the new Spellbinders Grand Nestabilities, Labels Four and boy are they grand!  For this wideload bookmark/tag, I used the two smallest dies!  And speaking of coffee, Vicki's current challenge is let's relax and what a better way to relax than with a nice cup of coffee!

We are on week 28 of the CCC at Linda's and we did "Colorful Layered Fragments."  I would have to say that three times is a charm and ended up with a partial cheat.  I say partial, because the background paper is glossy white, but was a leftover from a previous technique.  The fragment mug was stamped and inked as directed!  Now I did three fragments!  The first one was all fine and dandy and then I added the back and was trimming away excess paper, somehow my thumb removed the stamped image!  I am a medical marvel!  I know it was dry, so I guess it was the lotion on my hands.  I was quite shocked to see that, but not as shocked as last weeks ink all over carpet trick.  The 2nd fragment, who cares!  The coffee cup and saucer was cut out after stamped on yet another technique called "Alcohol Splatter" and I liked the look!  And you can't have coffee without the beans, so we embossed and cut them out!

I used Whisped Frames from the Technique Junkies on both die cuts.  Now I suppose I should actually do something not craft related and earn my keep!  Thank you for stopping by to see what I am up to!