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Challenge: "Anything Goes!"

4/28/2015

This week's (April 27, 2015) Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge is another "Anything Goes". Since I had just read Yvonne Blair's tutorial on acrylic block stamping on the Ranger Ink Blog and wanted to try it out, I decided to do a tag and enter it in this challenge.

I followed her instructions to the letter, even to the inks used, for the background tag. It worked! If not exactly like hers, it worked!

So now I had a tag and I didn't want to do exactly what Yvonne did but it did cry out seascape to me so I searched my stamp stash for an appropriate stamp and found an old Outline Rubber Stamp Company stamp (H796). I stamped if in Archival Jet Black, colored it with Distress Markers and cut it up to adhere to my tag.

The finished product is:

Products used included:

Distress Inks: Peacock Feathers, Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean, Broken China, Gathered Twigs
Distress Markers: Peacock Feathers, Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean, Evergreen Bough, Peeled Paint, Wild Honey, Scattered Straw, Spun Sugar, Pumice Stone, Mowed Lawn, and Pine Needles
Archival Jet Black
Outlines Rubber Stamp Company H796
Embellishments: Hero Arts Hero Hues Gems (Smooth Clear)

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Compendium of Curiosities Vol. 3 Challenge - #27

4/25/2015

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Not that easy to see, yes? So... I used the direct to paper approach with Distress Inks Fired Brick and Vintage Photo (I really really like Vintage Photo!) to color the bricks:

This series of challenges, based on the contents of Tim Holtz's book, Compendium of Curiosities, VOl. 3, is hosted by Linda Ledbetter from her blog Studio L3, and she is assisted in this challenge by a design team of eight talented artists, two stores and the team of Tim Holtz and Mario Rossi II. Linda and the design team put together their interpretations of the bi-weekly challenges, the stores offer gift certificates for winners in alternating weeks (challenge #27 challenge is sponsored by The Inspiration Emporium and Tim and Mario have donated a cache of goodies form which another prize is assembled.

The rules are simple:
   •   One must work from the book and not reveal Tim's techniques (If you don't have the book, you can get one, autographed, no less, from Tim (there 's still time as there are a few challenges left in this series!)
   •   You need to link your creation to Linda's blog
   •   You need to visit the design team's blogs and leave comments on their interpretations.

This week’s challenge is to implement the technique described on Page 61 “Embossing Diffusers”. This is a product *and* technique-oriented challenge so there is very little I can do to tell you how I made my tag. I decided to use the “Bricked” texture fade folder (656644) and the oval from the Sizzix Set#1 (657945) for this technique, and it worked reasonably well, even though I didn’t have the proper pads to make up the sandwich for the final step and had to improvise (Needless to say, I immediately purchased the necessary set of pads as I love, Love, LOVE this technique!).

Using INdia Ink Black, I stamped the number "5" from the Stamping UP! set "Parisian Plaza", trimmed it from the larger image, edged it in gold and attached it to the center of the oval, which I also edged with a gold marking pen. Then I cut several sprigs of ivy using two shades of green paper and the Spring Greenery die (659573). I randomly blended Vintage Photo ink on each sprig and then spritzed Distress Inks (Shattered Shutters, Mowed Lawn and Spiced Marmalade) over all five sprigs. The spritz is very subtle, but it is there. I then glued the sprigs to the tag:

Finally, I stamped a bird (on cream cardstock using "Vintage Photo") and some butterflies from the “Shabby French” stamp set (using “Black Soot” directly onto the bricks) and then colored each using Distress Markers (Picket Fence, Black Soot and Spiced Marmalade). I adhered the bird to the ivy vines to get "Summer at #5 Ivy Lane":

Summer may be wishful thinking! After all, it snowed here last night. But I can dream, can't I?

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The Frilly & Funkie Challenge - Stencil Mania

4/25/2015

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The Frilly and Funkie Challenge Blog (sponsored by The Funkie Junkie Boutique) issued a challenge in their April 22 post: create a vintage or shabby chic project following the challenge theme of stencils taking centre stage,the more used the better. How serendipitous! I was planning a tag binder cover for my Tim Holtz layering stencils a la the one done by Anita Houston for the Compendium of Curiosities, VOl. 3, Challenge #26 and had begin the assembly when this challenge came to my attention. I didn't have all the product I wanted to use on the tag binder, however, so I decided to use the stencil motif I had planned for ceterstage on the binder cover and make a card instead.

Now I don't know if this is "frilly" --- I'm not much of a frills person --- or "funkie" --- I take that to mean "modern and stylish in an unconventional or striking way" as cited in Google's online dictionary --- or even "vintage" --- not that much aged or vintage about this card. However, it does use Tim Holtz product (which the DT uses as part of their definition of "funkie") and I did use stencils --- or at least one stencil in three or four ways. So, what have I to lose?

Anyway, I atarted with a small cut of mustard colored card-stock and used the Tim Holtz layering stencil "Rays" (THS003) across the top, sponging on Color Box "Frost White" pigment ink. After lettig it dry, I moved the stencil slighlty to the right and down and sponged again, this time with "Mustard Seed" distress ink. This is a technique demonstarted a week or so ago at our "local" stamp store by a dear freind, Sherry Bass, which results in what looks like three layers of color in one!. But I took the technique two steps further: I shifted the stencil back to the left but still lower on the page and sponged "Abandoned Coral" distress ink in the lower porion of the rays. Finally, I sprayed through the stencil with Sheer Shimmer spray by Tsukineko.

I stamped a silhouette field of flowers ("A LIttle Bit Scenic Silhouette" stamp set by Sheena Douglas of Bristol, UK) in India Ink Black at the bottom of the card and a message from the same set top middle. I trimmed the final card to fit an A-4 card, wrapped a gold organza ribbon/bow around the field of flowers, and glued it to a yellow Bazill card. Final touch --- one of Tim's Industrial Border stickers at the very bottom of the card.

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!2 Tags of 2015 - April

4/19/2015

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I've been fighting a busy schedule, a lack of sleep and a very nasty (two weeks now) cold and sinus infection, so my creativity is at a real low. But I finally mustered enough energy together yesterday to put together a small tag using Tim's tutorial as a very literal guide. But, lack of some ingredients (notably his water color papers) and my tendency toward smaller tags (I use 3 x 5 tags), means I had to modify the end result a little.

I glued some Bazill navy cardstock to a white tag, stamped it with Versamark ink and "A Little Bit Scenic Silhouette" stamps (by Sheena Douglas, Bristol, UK), and heat embossed with Deep Impressions clear embossing powder to create my background tag instead of distressing a manila tag. That led me to a blue color scheme so I used Iced Spruce and Salty Ocean Distress Markers to spritz a wetted down piece of speciaity stamping paper (smooth matte finish), stamped flowers and stems from "Flower Garden" (CMS215) in Archival Jet Black and colored images with Distress Markers (Tumbled Glass and Everygreen Bough). The dies used were Thinlits Adventure 660212 and 650224 and the charm is a freebie from a British card-making magazine, altered with Sailboat Blue alcohol ink to kill the bright silvery shine. A pale blue ribbon from my stash finished off the tag.

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Compendium of Curiosities Vol 3, Challenge #26

4/11/2015

8 Comments

After that, I wasn’t totally sure what I was going to do, and then I had a brain f**t! Why not use one of those steel rule word dies I had been “hoarding” and cut the word “DREAM” into the bottom left of the card? So I practiced and it worked so I applied it to my tag. Oops!

This series of challenges, based on the contents of Tim Holtz's book, Compendium of Curiosities, VOl. 3, is hosted by Linda Ledbetter from her blog Studio L3, and she is assisted in this challenge by a design team of eight talented artists, two stores and the team of Tim Holtz and Mario Rossi II. Linda and the design team put together their interpretations of the bi-weekly challenges, the stores offer gift certificates for winners in alternating weeks (challenge #26 challenge is sponsored by The Funkie Junkie Boutique) and Tim and Mario have donated a cache of goodies form which another prize is assembled.

The rules are simple:
   •   One must work from the book and not reveal Tim's techniques (If you don't have the book, you can get one from Tim there 's still time as there are still challenges left in this series!)
   •   You need to link your creation to Linda's blog
   •   You need to visit the design team's blogs and leave comments on their interpretations.

This week’s challenge is to implement the technique described on Page 42 of the book: “Smudge Stamping”. My intent was to make a simple background with this technique using stamp from Tim’s “Daydream” (CMS 179), “Papillon” (CMS 106) and “Paris to London” (CMS 160) sets and the Distress Inks “Black Soot”, Vintage Photo”. “Stormy Sky” and "Firebrick Red” on an “Antique Linen” background.

This is what happens when you aren’t paying attention to which way the die has to go to read right-side up and sideways! So now i had destroyed my tag! Back to the inks and the stamps to recreate the tag as best I could on another tag (although I no longer had one of the same type of paper so the texture was totally different). I then layered this new tag on a third tag of French blue cardstock and then positioned the damaged tag, minus the backwards word, on top of that.

But now the tag is basically three layers of cardstock thick and more like a cover than a tag! Why not a travel journal made of tags? Not that I have any plans (or hopes of plans) for visiting Paris, but once starting with the Parisian theme, it made some sense!

(Given that I was thinking travel journal for my Challenge #25 tag, I must be getting itchy feet, and given the predominance of French themes in my entries into the challenges this year, it may well be I have a hankering for Paris! Who knew that crafting was a form of psychoanalysis?)

So I stamped and inked and rubbed on remnant rubs and added pockets with mini-tags and other bits and pieces from my stash and created four tags, attached them with a ring decorated with a red ribbon (which seems to have disappeared in teh following picture --- take my word for it, it's there!). There is room for journaling, photos, souvenirs (and new tags can easily be added if more “pages” are needed):

Here's a slideshow of the pages so far...

Products used were:

Stamps: "Daydream" set, "Papillon" set, and "Paris to London" set from Stampers Anonymous; “French Flight” set from Alterations;“Wish You Were Here” set, and “Parisian Plaza” set from SU!
Inks: Distress Inks - Black Soot, Vintage Photo, Stormy Sky, Firebrick Red, Antique Linen and Vintage Photo; India Ink Black
Markers: Distress Markers Stormy Sky and Fired Brick; Micron Pen Fine tip (black)
Papers: Authentic “Abroad” Collection (“Route” paper) and miscellaneous scraps of card stock in white and blue
Remnant Rubs from “Words” and “Life Quotes”
Ephemera: Salvage Stickers (“French Industrial”), Authentique “Abroad” collection pockets, tags and die-cuts; Word Bands (“Observations” and “Words”); Muse Token (“Journey”)
Fibers - Teresa Collins Christmas Cottage Trims