Time to Get a Little Inky!

Today I'll be driving up to Absolutely Everything, in Topsfield, MA for the first of the sessions with Tim Holtz.  The actual classes are on Saturday and Sunday but he is doing some demonstrations of new products this evening.  It will be great to finally meet my friend from Maine and I think there may be some other people that  I "know" only through the internet who will be there.

I really enjoy the colors in the Distress Palette.  In addition to the inks and stains, there are some additional products available in these colors (of course I want them all since I am a collector by nature!).  I got this small pad that includes the Distress cardstock colors that are made by Core'dinations from Blitsy recently.  (Blitsy also has Tim Holtz Distress Stains on sale this week for $2.99 - a good time to stock up if you have been wanting more colors).

I decided to make a handy reference book for the distress colors.  I cut two inch strips from one piece of each color and punched the tops to make tags (I used the Creative Memories Tag Maker punch and just left the extra length sticking out so it wouldn't be cut.  I didn't take a photo but I will another day to show you how to do this).  I added the labels that I printed out from the Ranger site HERE and also put clear reinforcements on the holes since they are likely to get a lot of wear and tear on the ring.

I am planning to use this to help me keep track of the items I have in each color as a reference when I am out shopping.  I did buy some colors in 12 x 12 cardstock when it was on sale at Joann's - they often have sales for 5 sheets for $1 which is a great deal so watch your ads! 

I have been "messing around" with some inks and sprays when I get a few spare minutes.  It is a lot of fun to just experiment and see what happens.  This flower is made from parchment paper that I die cut with the Tattered Flowers Alterations Sizzix die I bought recently.  I made a few test cuts that were sitting around on my table so I got out my new Dylusions spray inks and made a bit of a mess.  The inks totally saturated the paper of the large and small flower.  The ink colors are Crushed Grape. Bubblegum Pink and Vibrant Turquoise.  The middle flower was just dipped in the remnants of ink on my craft sheet. 

I'll try to post a few photos of the classes during the weekend but if things are too hectic it may have to wait until next week.  I hope you have some fun plans for the weekend - the weather looks like it will be wonderful around here.

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Water Marbles and Journals

While I was looking for an Easter photo for another project, I came across this image of a vase of water marbles on my kitchen windowsill with the sun shining through them.  I found the water marbles at the Boston Flower Show last year and I am still fascinated by them.  The post with more details about the marbles can be found HERE.  The bright clear colors remind me of the Dylusions spray inks that we worked with at the workshop with Dyan Reaveley on Thursday (for a You Tube video of Dyan demonstrating one way to use the inks, click HERE.)

I was thinking some more about Dyan Reaveley and her art journaling and I remembered this book that I got for Christmas last year.  The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt, by Caroline Preston, is a novel told in pictures in the form of a scrapbook. 

It is very interesting to read with all of the vintage images and the typewritten notes remind me of my mother's old typewriter.  In a lot of ways the book reminds me of the Smash books that are so popular right now.

I realized that I have lots of random paper ephemera from all of our trips and it might be fun to use them to do some collages.  I tend to come back from a trip and put all of the bits and pieces in a bag from the trip and that is where they stay for as long as it takes to get around to doing something with them.

What do you do with the paper items that you collect on a trip?  I do put them into albums...eventually, but I think it might be fun to do something like these pages.  I just want to add some colorful backgrounds made with Dyan's inks as a base.

I'll be working away all weekend, getting my projects in frames, cutting out a few more designs, writing my "artist's statement" and preparing a photo board for the show.  I need to have about 25 pieces framed to hang and they all need to use the picture wire system so a lot of my frames will need to have screw eyes and wire added.  Wish me luck with getting it all finished up!

I hope you have a great weekend - and that you can find time to do something crafty!

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