A Masculine Birthday!

A big hello to all of you and hope you are doing well! It will shortly be my Grandson's Birthday and so I thought a fun masculine tag was in order!

Steampunk, Paperboy and Secretary Pool all stamps from Artistic Outpost were stamped in Black Archival directly to the tag. Each of the four areas were masked off and then inked over with Tumbled Glass and then I flicked on some water.

Next with the masking still over the stamped areas, I stamped the text from Paperboy using Dove Grey from Stazon, shaded the edges with Vintage Photo and using a toothbrush flicked on some Vintage Photo Stain.  Distressed the edges and stained the tie. No metal as this will be going on an airplane and no need to be screened! Keeping it simple!

Thank you for visiting me today and enjoy the day!

Transportation and Aviation!

A big "Hello" to all of you and I hope you are enjoying some wonderful springtime weather. I was not able to join in Monday for Artistic Outpost's Product Focus, but I could not resist sharing a SALE with you and of course inking up my SteamPunk stamps! All stamps in the "Transportation and Aviation" area are 20% off through April 11. And as always the "Show Us Your AO Art" is up and running and waiting for your wonderful creations!

Wanting to keep it very masculine, I chose colors of Antique Linen, Vintage Photo and of course black! All images were stamped in Black Archival.

I so love this gent daydreaming about his travels and so patiently waiting for his train to arrive and take him on his long awaited journey.

The black tag background was stamped using the gears from Industrial Backgrounds and bleach. I happen to love that effect, but certainly not the smell! I also ran the edges of the tags along the bleached paper towel and flicked on some using a toothbrush.

This card I am sharing went to a friend who has lost someone very dear to her and my heart just aches for her loss. I find it so difficult to make a card for someone who is grieving as I tend to get pretty emotional. The background was inked, debossed and then flattened and then I embossed the card stock using the same folder and highlighted it. The sentiment is from AO's Flower Market.

Thank you so kindly for stopping by to visit and have a fabulous week.

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.

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!

Happy Anniversary!

Good Wednesday to you all and thank you for stopping by on this very special day! It is our 31st anniversary and I am pretty excited! 31 years is a long time to spend with someone and you actually can't hardly remember a time they weren't there! Looking back on when we met, we were actually young adults (28 and 31) and so often we both wonder where did the time go? And while on the subject of "Tick Tock," this is perfect timing for Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge! Will also share this with Frilly and Funkie's, "Stencils and Texture" and Inspiration Journal's "Splash of Color."

This is a taggy kind of card I made for my hubby and of course I wanted to keep it in a manly theme, no flowers for my guy! The stamps I used are all Artistic Outpost, Apothecary, SteamPunk, Typography and Whimsical Melange. Since Wednesday is my day to share at Artistic Outpost, you can find all the details and more photos over there in my DT post! So stop on over HERE and remember the new March Referral is in full swing!

Have a great day and be sure to stop by on FRIDAY! I am going to spend some quality time with my hubby today. Thank you again for taking the time to visit and comment!

Do Not Conform!

Hope you are all doing well! I just returned from 5 days in the Portland, Oregon area and can say I am a bit tired and had a great time! So that is why I have been MIA and will be getting around to visit all of you! I had my mobile phone, but just no time to see what you all have been up to!

This tag is being shared today over at Artistic Outpost and all the details and extra photos can be found there. Sorry, but I just had to hurry up with these posts!

Will be linking this up to Frilly and Funkie's "Anything Goes" and Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge "Emboss." Can't get easier than that!

September 11th will always be a day to be thankful for the people in our lives and to never take anyone for granted. My heart goes out to anyone who lost a loved one on 9/11 and also to those who have lost someone to a sudden and tragic event. Loss is such a difficult part of life, but sudden loss just adds to that grief! Always remember those little words and use them freely! Hugs to all and thank you for taking time to visit!

A Man Among Boys!

It is a Blog Hop at Artistic Outpost with a "Masculine" theme!  With Father's Day fast approaching and graduations, you never know what might just inspire your imagination!  Follow the hop Gerrie, Lisa, Sue, Tracy, Linda, Alison, Terry (Me) and Kate, to see what the rest of the design team has for your viewing pleasure.

Nothing speaks more manly to me than the "SteamPunk" collection with the "Industrial Backgrounds."  All main images were stamped with Coffee Archival and heat set.  The Gentleman had a little extra inking help to add a little color and we popped him up. 

I could not believe the "Gentleman's Choice" was a perfect fit for Tim's new "bottle cap" die and I stamped it dead on center with the first try! 

 Can't you almost hear the whistle blowing?

The background was done by wrinkling up card stock, highlighting the raised areas, running it through the crimper in both directions and then I bleached stamped the gears.

Hope you enjoyed today's visit as much as I enjoyed your stopping by!  There is still two week's left to join in the "May Monthly Referral Program," so ink up those AO stamps and join in!

 

Brenda and me wrapping it up on Saturday!

 

Stamps:  Artistic Outpost; SteamPunk, Industrial Backgrounds

Ink: Distress; Tattered Rose, Antique Linen, Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain 

Why Creep When You Can Soar!

WooHoo it is another Blog Hop at Artistic Outpost and it is all about "Backgrounds, Typography or Sentiments."  I had such a great time working on this tag and I know you will love what all DT members have in store for you as well!   Gerrie, Lisa, Sue, Tracy, Linda, Alison, Terry (Me), Kate.

The background I created was inked with Peacock Feathers and Brushed Corduroy and the gears, from the Industrial Backgrounds set,  stamped in the same colors.  The sentiment was mostly inked with Peacock Feathers and shaded and gears stamped using Archival Sepia.  Both were given a quick spray of water! Some of the gears are Tim's and others are bits from my DH, which I inked with black alcohol ink.

The Steampunk Gentleman soaring to new heights was stamped in Black Archival and colored using Distress Inks.  I find that Tattered Rose is a perfect skin tone!  Both the Gentleman and Plane were obviously fussy cut!  I did a little slit at the man's arm to have him kind of resting on that awesome Sentiment, from Quotes and Quotables!

For the back black tag panel, I cut the edge using the Steampunk Gear, embossed and then highlighted with Opalite.  Added a tie using an old ham bag!!

There is still plenty of time to join in the March Referral Program and hopefully this Blog Hop has inspired you to pull out your AO stamps!  Thank you so much for visiting and have a wonderful Day!

Artistic Outpost Stamps:  Industrial Background, Quotes and Quoatables, SteamPunk
Inks:  Distress Walnut Stain, Brushed Corduroy, Black Soot Tattered Rose, Peacock Feathers, Archival Black and Sepia, Opalite, Winter Rust
Misc. gears, Dot Matrix Texture Fade, On the Edge Steampunk Gears

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

I Can See Clearly Now!

OK not really, but at least I can find my glasses case!  For a long time I have wanted to alter the many cases I have and this has laid around with a crackle finish and those Steampunky eyes for several weeks.  Today we decided it would be a good day to finish what was started!

So here is why I did!  I used the SteamPunk and Secretary Pool stamp plates from Artistic Outpost and everything was stamped on tissue paper and cut out, using Archival and heat set!  The block letters are all from one stamp and after I heat set, I colored the reverse side with Distress Markers.  I did give this a quick spray of Matt Sealer to avoid any running once I glued these down with a gel medium.  I was wanting a collage of letters, so these were just randomly placed.  After I was happy, I gave this another coat of gel medium and then a coat of matt varnish!   I am also linking this up to The Cheerful Ink Pad's "Anything But a Card" challenge! 

Remember there is still time to pull out those AO stamps and join in the February Referral Program, so come on and play along.

As always I am thrilled when you stop by and comment.  Hope everyone has a most fabulous weekend!