2nd Tag - Leaping Reindeer

Day 2 provided a few challenges.  I didn't have a few of the items, but was able to improvise.  I really liked the way the Picket Fence Distress Stain muted the kraft resist paper and created a perfect background for the reindeer as he flies through the skies.  I didn't have the die cut, but was able to use a mask I had leftover from an old grunge board seasons set of cutouts to trace the reindeer.  I found some fabulous tinsel made by Webster Pages. I tried dying it green with alcohol inks, but it didn't work quite as well as I had hoped.  I must admit - this is really fun.  I haven't participated in the challenges the last few months due to other commitments and it is really fun using some of the items that have been sorely neglected in my collection of Tim Holtz/Ranger Products.

First Tag - Pine cones and foliage

Day 1 was packed with ideas and new techniques.  I love love love flowers, foliage, and all things outdoors - so was thrilled to have already picked up the 2 new dies that Tim used in todays tag.  I was however intimidated by the complexity of the pine cone.  How cool that he included a video to show us all the tips and tricks to success.

I used the new kraft Coordinations paper, it is colored on the outside, kraft color on the inside.  After I used the sizzix snowflake embossing folder, I sanded off the the tops of the snowflakes, exposing the craft color.  Really nice effect.  A fun technique to use with the embossing folder, is to use embossing ink on the inside of the folder before you emboss.  It embeds the ink on the indented parts, allowing you to emboss just the background, not the raised pattern.  WAY too cool!  Check out the link above for more details.

12 Tags of Christmas Marathon

Wow,  2 days in my wonderful craft room, creating the 12 tags of Christmas!  It was a blast!!  Here is a photo of all of them...then I'll post the details one by one.  If you have no idea what I'm talking about...Check this out - Tim Holtz 12 tags of Christmas.

This was an amazing 2 days.  I didn't have all the tools, stamps, embellishments, colors, etc.  BUT - I did have all that I needed to make the tags as close to the original as possible.  I know some folks like to mix it up, and make their tags very different - not me.  I follow everything as close as possible, learning the technique so I can use these tags as reference all year long to spark creativity, and generate new ideas.

I challenge all of you to check out the Duke of Distress, and his magical talent.  Also,  feel free to check out my blog entries detailing each tag.  let me know what you think!

Grungy Monday 28 - It's good to be back!

Life does have a way of getting away from us doesn't it?  I cannot believe how long it has been since I made it a priority to create art!  Linda over at Studio L3 challenges us each week to try a new technique by the King of all things wonderful - Tim Holtz.  This week the challenge was too wonderful to not join in.  We get to play with my favorite Ranger product of all times - Alcohol Inks!  In fact,  I had such fun,  I have 2 entries this week.

Alcohol Inks Challenge

I have a good friend having a birthday next month, so this gave me time to play and see what I could come up with.  For the first card, I used the adhesive foil sheets by Ranger.  I ran it through the Vagabond using a Cuttlebug Happy Birthday embossing folder.  Then the fun - I used my 3 favorite Alcohol Inks - Lettuce, Wild Plum, and Stream.  I rubbed a  black ink pad over the top to highlight the embossing.   The flower was from a Rubber baby buggy bumpers kit I received many years ago, and I loved the way it brought out the turquoise coloring.  I matched it with a banner cut from one of Tim Holtz dies from last year.  The paper was misted with Patina, Denim, and Biscotti Perfect Pearls, to match the flower.  

The snowman card  was a little different;  I started with navy blue metal, that I de-embossed with the sizzix snowflack folder.  Then - I tried a technique that Tammy , a friend of Tim Holtz's posted a few days ago.  I covered the entire piece with Rock Candy Crackle paint, then scraped it off.  The crackle stayed 'in' the snowflakes making them sparkle.  Pretty darn cool - check out her tutorial.  Then I covered the whole thing with every color of blue AI I had along with snowcap to mute the colors a bit.  I used 2 colors of blue distress stains along with picket fence on grunge board to create the snowman.    The snowflakes are made from the new glassine paper, spritzed with patina and biscotti perfect pearls.  I added another banner, and a fun little ticket to top it all off.

I hope you enjoy my card,  and I can't wait to see what everyone else has posted this week.  Be sure to check them all out.

Christmas is in the Air!

Oh how I have missed the Outlines Rubber Stamps Weekly Challenge!  I'm glad to be back for Christmas in July.  They have some amazing design team members - go check them out.  Each week they give us a theme, and an opportunity to create art with their wonderful stamps  - AND - get this - win a $25 gift certificate to spend in their store.  How cool is that!

This week I used some of my absolutely favorite stamps.  This was my very first flower stamp that I purchased from Outlines.  It is SO versatile.  I hope you enjoy my design - and I can't wait to go check out everyone elses art!

Stamps used:
Merry C-279
Swirly Leaf SM C-136
Swirly Leaf MD C-103
Clematis Med E-111
Clematis Lg H-108

Grungy Monday 15 - Getting Rusty

Oh my - is it really Grungy Friday?  Work really got in my way of having fun this week.  The truly amazing artist Linda, over at Studio L3 has challenged us to us Tim Holtz's 'Get Rusty' technique this week.  This is a technique he debuted in 2007!  There are actually 2 technique challenges in this weeks tutorial.  One for the 'rusty' technique, and the other where you use multiple ink pad to add a touch of color to a stamp.  Both were fun and deliver great results.  Although I had to test this a few times to get it right.

It was fun to pull out many of my favorite colors this week.  For the background piece I made using the main technique, I used Broken china Distress Ink with Vintage Photo rubbed over the top for the 'rust' look.  The flower is a new stamp that I got last week from Wendy Vecchi.  It was a great bold image to color with many beautiful colors (barn door, peeled paint, forest moss, scattered straw - DI).  I sprayed it with a bit of water to blend the colors, then stamped on watercolor paper.  I painted some tattered angels glitter paint over the leaves, but it didn't show up in the photo - BIG surprise :-)

I also colored the ribbon with some more tattered angels copper spray, and added some doo dads for extra interest.  I hope you enjoy the card - it is going in the mail tomorrow for a dear friends birthday.

Thanks for stopping by - I also posted another card a few days ago that I did for Hels Sheridan's Sunday Stampers.  I Love Love Love the Kraft resist paper! Check it out.

Sunday Stampers - Something Flying....

Oh how I love Sundays.  Hels gives us the most inviting challenges.  AND - entertains us with her wit and creativity.  This week was no exception!  If you have no idea what I'm talking about - check out the details here.  Her artwork is always amazing!  This week she has challenged us to something in 'flight'.  Since I do not have any airplanes...I have chosen butterflies.

This week I decided to use some new items in my 'stash'.  I pulled out Tim Holtz wonderful Kraft Resist paper.  OMG - this paper is amazing.  It is kraft, with embossed designs, as well as black 'stamped' images all over it.  I selected the butterfly (papillon) paper.  I used my favorites - Victorian Velvet and Dusty Concord Distress Inks to bring out the image resist.  I have added another new fave - Sizzix Butterfly 2 collection which includes not only that delightful 2 part butterfly - but the wonderful 'dream' script.  I also used a fun saying from Wendy Vecchi as well as a butterfly from Tim's die cut collection with a fun pen nib as the body (ok  - totally stole that from so many others that have used that -but loved it).