Everything Wendy Vecchi: Making Art Challenge #26

This week Making Art Challenge #26 rolled around on Everything Wendy Vecchi...and List Hostess extraordinaire Lori challenged us to create a Studio 490esque project based on Page 27 of Wendy Vecchi's Making Art Book #2.  Rough guidelines were to use polka dots, a face and, of course, at least one Studio 490 stamp.

Inspiration struck when I received my package from the wonderful gals over at Absolutely Everything which included a sampler package of Wendy's Clearly For Art.  I decided to try to play with it a bit for this project...learned a few things!  (Um...this stuff gets hot.  So does the air coming out of a heating tool.  So do the tweezers or clamps you use to hold your Clearly for Art embellishment.)  I have a lot more to learn about this fun medium...in the meantime, I like the flowers. ;-)  Also tried a different--for me--color palette than my usual blues & greens, and I think I'll have to try these colors more often.

EVW MAC #26: Face & Polka Dots

Lacking possession of a Wendy face, I had to go a different route.  Luckily, I benefited from a recent stash sale by Susan K, a  fellow Wendy Vecchian.  I started with a Studio 490 Art Parts ATC, thinking I would crop the face quite a bit, but when I saw the whole face together, I just had to leave her the way she was. ;-)  (She did lose a bit of her mouth...but the eyes were the key feature here anyway!)  The lady on the base is stamped on a background of Dried Marigold, Antique Paper, Scattered Straw and a wee bit of Pumice Stone.  Script background is from Hero Arts stamped in Pumice Stone.  My gal is stamped in Frayed Burlap.

Wings are more Art Parts, stained with Fired Brick.  I softened the color a wee bit with some Worn Lipstick Distress Ink on top. To make the flowers, I used a couple of different Wendy stamps on Clearly for Art and grunge paper.  Orange floral bits are punched from the same background as the framed sentiment.  The grunge paper flower is stained & inked with Fired Brick & Dried Marigold. 

Sentiment is Wendy's, stamped in black archival.  I wanted to punch up the color a little--was hoping to pull more of the orange tone from the base--so the sentiment background is Wild Honey, Dried Marigold and Scattered Straw.  Frame is another Art Part, stained in multiple layers of Dried Marigold.  Polka Dots on sentiment background are in Frayed Burlap; on the frame in Vintage Photo.  I put a layer of Rock Candy Distress Stickles on the grunge flower, wings and the small frame to give 'em some sparkle.

Artful charm is from Tim Holtz.  Random other stuff from my stash.

Thoughts?  Tips?  Suggestions?  For TRUE inspiration, join the fun with the talented ladies at Everything Wendy Vecchi ...Challenge #27 should kick off on Wednesday morning!

Catching Up: Everything Wendy Vecchi MAC #25

I've been behind the 8 ball for a few weeks....in my house, this is how we know that school started again!!...jumped into the Making Art Challenge #25 over at Everything Wendy Vecchi, but didn't finish it before the challenge time was up.  But since I went to all the effort to finish it up, I'm gonna inflict it on you, despite my tardiness!! hee hee hee

The challenge was to create a tag using only one or two of Wendy's Studio 490 stamp sets.  Since I had a crazy idea to do a tag that told a little story, I picked Gentleman's Art and Residential Art.   Tried my hand stamping onto an Art Part, too.

EWV MAC #25

 I started with a manilla tag, stamping a Stamping Up background stamp called "Ticking" in Scattered Straw, embossed with clear.  Inked it up with Peeled Paint and Shabby Shutters.  The gentleman is one of Wendy's Art Parts; he's inked up with Distress Stain in Story Skies.  I stamped the coordinating stamp on top of him in Black Soot, then embossed with black Zing powder.  Helpful tip...make sure you are stamping the right side of the guy!!  (That whole spatial relationships thing still eludes me!)

A few Creative Memories punchies--flowers & heart--and some thread from my stash make up the bouquet.  Journaling ticket is from Tim Holtz; edged Pumice Stone. Last touch?  A few dots of black Enamel Accents and....VOILA!!

Never guess it took me so long to finish this simple project...but packing 5 lunches is really time consuming!! LOL!!

We've moved on to Making Art Challenge #26 (post to follow soon!) and Challenge #27 will begin on Wednesday this week.  But do check out the fun by clicking here:  Everything Wendy Vecchi.

Everything Wendy Vecchi...MAC #22

This week's challenge from Lori at Everything Wendy Vecchi is from Wendy's first book, page 15.  We needed to make a card using two similar border strips and a scalloped edge.  Use of at least one Wendy Studio 490 stamp goes without saying, of course!  I learned three valuable "whoops!" type lessons with this project...

Keeping with my plan to learn some new techniques and try working with new materials this week, I made my base from a piece of grunge paper, something I'm still trying to figure out. I used Peeled Paint distress stain to ink it up...I really wanted a nice brightish color.    (Sidenote...cannot seem to get a decent picture of the colors here...in real life, the greens are nice and bright, offset by nice light, medium & dark blues. *sigh*) Once it was dry, I spritzed it with a little Faded Jeans. Rounded the corners on the left edge; used a Martha Stewart scallop punch to create the required scallop edge.  Okay, not so creative, but well...


EWV MAC #22

I used two coordinating pieces of Making Memories paper--a light blue gingham print and a bright green stripe--for my borders.  Stamped 'em with Wendy's polka dot and splatter background stamps in CTMH Outdoor Denim. On the blue gingham, I topped it off with some Pumice Stone just for fun.  'tude Lady was stamped on grunge, inked in Outdoor Denim and embossed with clear.  Lesson Learned #1...If you are going to cut out your image, do it BEFORE you emboss!!

Lesson Learned #2...heating grunge makes it curl, which makes it even weirder when you've already attached regular paper that doesn't curl.  Harder to flatten, too.  How did I learn this?  I stamped & embossed Wendy's sentiment (and my little twist--there's a question mark under the flower petals) AFTER I had the border strips attached.  Also added part of another Wendy sentiment in Peeled Paint along the right edge..."Attitude.:

The crown to go with the royal sentiment is a bit of grunge board from Tim Holtz's random die cut package.  First attempt, I inked it in Outdoor Denim, then embossed with both clear and diamond sparkle powders.  Lesson Learned #3...apparently, you CAN over emboss.  You'll note that the crown now bears a coating of Stickles in Tiara. ;-) 

Rayon seam binding dipped in Peeled Paint and Faded Denim stains makes my card a tag.  Flowers & buttons are from my stash.  Needed a wee bit "more" so my Peeled Paint distress stickles came in handy for some dotty fun.

Join the fun yourself and check out the talented contributions of fellow Wendy Vecchians by clicking here.

PS:  Lesson Learned that I Should Have Already Known...when used to cover up embossing mistakes, stickles take a REALLY long time to dry!!  But I have a nice sparkley thumb now...

Simon Says...Stamp & Show us some Tim Holtz

The talented folk over at Simon Says Stamp & Show asked us to show them a Tim Holtz technique.  I pulled out my personal copy of A Compendium of Curiosities and perused the volume on a quest to find something new and fun to try.  Settled on a couple of new—to me—techniques:  Rusted Grunge (page 45) and Double Distress (page 40).  Here goes:

Simon Says Stamp & Show Us some TIM HOLTZ

My base is a piece of grunge paper inked in Vintage Velvet and Peeled Paint.  After it dried, I ran it through my Texture Boutique with a Postcard texture fade (also from THE Tim)  Next,  the Double Distress technique calls for you to take a coordinating color and rub the pad direct over the raised areas.  I used Forest Moss for that step.  Next, you take a darker color—I used Black Soot—and wipe the pad directly on your nonstick mat.  Face down, swipe the embossed item across the darker ink.    I like the results…the second step only hits the highest points and really highlights the texture of the design.  That Tim Holtz is a smart guy!

The Rusted Grunge bit is the bookplate in the upper right corner.  Originally, it was a grunge board bit from Tim’s assortment of pre-cut designs.  Embossing ink, Vintage Photo Distress embossing powder and a few swipes of Vintage Photo Distress Ink later…and there we go! Years of rust in a few short minutes.

The photo, clock face, ticket & 27 are from Tim’s Lost & Found Idea-ology sticker book.  Sentiment is also Tim’s, as are the foliage leaves and paper clip.  Crackle Accents helped age those up a bit.  Flowers, brads, rhinestones & charm are from my stash.

Ended up mounting the whole thing on a piece of cardstock that I inked up in the same colors—Vintage Velvet and Peeled Paint.  I like how the white cardstock took the ink differently from the grunge, but sets it all off well.

This was a great learning experience…thanks Simon Says Stamp& Show!

Making Art Challenge #21...Distress Resist

Howdy, howdy, hi HI!!  Welcome...please do NOT fall out of your chair.  Two posts in one week?  YIKES!  This might just become a habit!

This week's Making Art Challenge over at Everything Wendy Vecchi was to create a card based on Wendy's book 1, page 15.  Wendy's fabulous example uses a pigment ink resist technique.  But since I'm not overly successful at doing it myself, I'll let you see it from the wise woman herself...click here to check it out!

Here's my take:

EWV MAC #21

I struggled with this one a bit, since when I tried it the first couple of times, I ended up with more white pigment ink on my inky blender than was left on the cardstock. *sigh* So....I used the couple that turned out well--smaller bits!--and used them for accents on a larger card.  Pretty simple, but I think hubby will like it when he finds it on his car seat tomorrow morning!

Base is a simple kraft cardstock.  I covered it with some 7 Gypsies paper from their Lille 8 x 8" pad.  Top edge continues into the inside of the card and is anchored with another freehand pink heart.  I inked the base patterned paper with Worn Lipstick & Antique Linen.  The patterning on the paper was so pretty I didn't want to mess with it too much.

The brown distressed items are actually two torn pieces of the same stamped & inked image.  Base stamp is the ledger from Studio 490 Artfully Noted, stamped on kraft paper in white pigment, dried, then distressed in Vintage Photo.  I tore the whole image into a few pieces and roughed up the edges.  Added more Vintage Photo to the torn edges and called it 'mah-velous, dahlink'!  Stamped the "happily ever after" sentiment from Homemade Art on the larger bit.

Hearts are freehanded from a piece of cardstock that was also resist stamped.  For those, I used the number background from the Studio 490 Dimensional Rose Art stamp set.  Inked in Worn Lipstick over the resist, cut out and then edges inked in a bit of Vintage Photo & Fired Brick.  Here's a close-up so you can see the resist background a bit better--but you still have to look closely to see the numbers in the background:

Close-up of Hearts

Inside, I stamped the "Let your heart lead the way" stamp from Gentleman's Art--from Wendy Vecchi, of course!!  Hubby will find this wee bit of lovey-dovey-ness in his car tomorrow morning...hope he likes!

Hope you like it, too!  Somehow, my stuff never quite makes it to the level of the other players in this game, but that's OK.  hee hee hee  Just bought a Stampotique stamp that says "Bad art is better than no art!"  I quite agree...  Now...get out there and join in the fun.  Get a little--or a lot!--of ink on those fingers!  (or glue, or marker, or whatever floats YOUR boat!)

Simon Says...Stamp & Show Us a TAG

Greetings & Salutations, Fellow Travelers of the Crafty Road!  This week's challenge over at Simon Says Stamp and Show was to create a tag.  Now, I'm throwing my creation in the ring, but I gotta tell ya'...these gals are AMAZING with the stuff they can figure out how to put on a single tag. 



SSSS a Tag

 I picked up Tim Holtz' Umbrella Man in a set just last week, so I felt the need to get him inky. ;-)  Brolly Boy needed a storm to back him up...mine was created with Ranger's Distress Inks in Tumbled Glass, Dusty Concornd, Faded Jeans and some Black Soot.  A spritz or two of water with my mini-mister and one stormy background was in play.  I stamped my guy in CTMH black archival directly on the tag.  Stamped him again on another bit of cardstock in Black Soot DI and embossed it in clear.  Fussy cut him out and then popped him up on a few foam dots to give him some dimension. Rain drops are both "Rain Dots" by Cloud 9 Designs and some Glossy Accents. 

I filled in one of Tim's memo pins with Glossy Accents to highlight the word "be"--a tidbit from another Tim stamp.  (Can you tell I just read that part of Tim's Compendium of Curiousities book?!)  Tacked on the "Courageous" token for a bit of an accent in the corner.  The sentiment, of course, is but a well-worn cliche...the extra is my own take on making lemonade out of lemons. ;-)  I printed it on plain paper, snipped the words apart, then inked it up with a bit of Dusty Concord and Faded Jeans.  The brackets are brads from my stash.  I thought I was done but for the ribbons, but when I looked again, it didn't have that "pop" factor, so I added a backing of textured black cardstock spritzed with some Tsuneninko Frost.  Now, the ribbons could finish things off!

It's not too late to join the fun...I'd imagine you're much faster at this than I am!  Check out the weekly challenges over at Simon Says Stamp and Show. 

Now off to work on my Challenge #21 for Everything Wendy Vecchi!

ANYthing Goes at Simon Says Stamp & Show!

This week, the gals at Simon Says Stamp & Show are busy with Design Team selections, soooooooo it was time for an ANYTHING GOES Challenge.    I figured that since ANYthing would go, I could try my hand working with some new things for me...ATCs and grunge paper.

SSSS--Anything Goes!

I bought the grunge paper awhile ago, but haven't had the courage to play with it yet.  Dove in today...errr...dipped my toe in.  I inked it up--both sides!--with Dusty Concord, Faded Jeans, and Broken China.  Then I kinda thought.."now what?"  Stamped a whole buncha different Wendy flowers and fussy cut 'em out, when I remembered that flowers weren't really part of the original plan.  hee hee hee But now I have a random stash for when I need 'em!  And--as you can see--a couple even made the cut. ;-)

The ATCs are another item I bought awhile ago after seeing the amazing ones created by my fellow Wendy Vecchians in a swap.  The smaller format is appealing, but WOW! smaller is right!!  I started with a sticky backed canvas ATC that I inked in Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Dusty Concord and a smidge of Faded Jeans.  Added the birds in black archival from one of Tim's stamp sets, but only used a few of the larger ones.  Decided I needed a few more and a little depth, so I stamped the same birds on the grunge paper and fussy cut those out, too.  Popped 'em up on varying heights of pop dots.  Then I stuck the canvas onto an ATC Art Part...wanted to give it some heft.

The sentiment is one of Tim Holtz's.  I was really happy that I bought the smaller size of this sentiment...it's the perfect size for creating ATCs!!  The tickets are Tim's, too.  Brushed those with the Dusty Concord and Tumbled Glass.  Ribbon trim is rayon seam binding dyed with Distress Stain in Dusty Concord and Tumbled Glass--that was another first for me, too!  I love how the colors just mixed themselves all up!!  Added the grunge paper flowers and a dangley jewelery bit (Industrial Chic from Michael's) for the finishing touches.

So....whaddya think?  I know I've only scratched the surface of these new (to me!) things, but this was FUN!  Suggestions are welcomed!!

Walkin' on the Wendy Side: MAC #20

EWV MAC #20

Greetings! Faithful List-Mom Lori over at Everything Wendy Vecchi threw Making Art Challenge #20 at us this week. If you are lucky enough to have Wendy Vecchi's Make Art, Studio 490 Style Book 1, take a peek at Wendy's creation on Page 12. This week, we were to use 4 squares as our background and at least one Wendy Stamp. Since I'm on a Basic Grey roll this week, figured I'd work that in, too. I've been itching to start working with my newest of the BG Collections...Out of Print. I just LOVE this paper.

I started with a black 5 x 7" folded card. I trimmed about 1/2 inch from just the front along the long edge. For the first layer, I cut the BG stripey paper so that the stripes would be horizontal. Embossed that layer in my Texture Boutique, used Tim Holtz' Tonic distresser on the edges, then ran a little Black Soot over it to bring out the pattern (that's the Xs you see). I also cut a 3/4 inch strip from the stripey paper and adhered that to the inside of the card, along the open edge. So...when the card is closed, you can see the vertical stripe along the right edge (can't see it in the photo..oh well!).

Since I'm a scrapper first, I decided that I just couldn't mount squares straight on that stripey background, so..I cut 4 squares of light pink paper (the reverse of one of the patterns on my squares). Distressed each one with a little roughing up and more Black Soot ink. After I stuck those down, I used a script stamp across the pink tiled background for another layer.

Each of my other squares is a different bit of BG Out of Print paper. A couple of different tries with different background stamps turned into several "well, THAT didn't work" moments. Ended up leaving the squares 'as is' with just a wee bit of Black Soot on the edgest...and just a smidge of Spun Sugar & Worn Lipstick. Each square is embellished with a variety of flowers, brads, bling & ribbon from my stash. The sentiment is a Wendy stamp, stamped in black archival and embossed in clear. That last square, I popped up on foam dots and tried to make it look like it's hanging from the square above.

So there it is...MAC #20.  Now, y'all oughtta play along!  Hope on over to the Yahoo! EWV Group, check out the fun and then..GO MAKE ART!! Thanks for stopping by!  Please do leave me a comment...would love to know what you think!

Everything Wendy Vecchi--MAC #19

This week's challenge over at Everything Wendy Vecchi--use a bird and at least one Studio 490 stamp--was truly a challenge for me. 

EWV MAC #19

Not really sure why, but I just struggled with finding ANY kind of creative mojo this week. Admittedly, it's been a wee bit of a rough one with the Zoo Crew, so...anyway, inspiration was running low. But I felt like I REALLY needed to do this...stretch a little, FIND a little something. So, without further ado, my MAC #19. 

Taking a page from Marjie's book, I decided that I REALLY needed to use some of my Basic Grey paper stash.  (Hi, My Name is Angie and I'm Addicted to Paper...I'm working the steps, but seem to be stalled outside the local scrapbooking store!)  Anyway, the papers are all from the Origins collection, as are the bird and the chipboard embellishments.  

The "a little birdie told me" is a Pink Paislee stamp.

Wendy's Studio 490 stamps used are the sentiment (black archival, embossed in clear), Queen Anne's Lace flowers (stamped multiple times in Frayed Burlap), and the bubbly background (Tea Dye). Added some texture & gloss with Glossy Accents and some bling from my stash...VOILA!

Check out the creations by my fellow Wendy Vecchians by clicking here:  EWV! Great gals with amazing talent!

While Mommy Creates...

The Zoo Crew crafts right alongside me....

How I love sharing crafting time with the beasties!  Patrick likes to do things on a grand scale, thus the poster board cards.  The best part of this project was the caption he put on the picture of Daddy..."You take that picture and you're dead meat!"  Almost verbatim a quote from Dad when he saw me taking pics for the blog, LOL!

Ben is all dialed up on techniques and how to get the best detail in his designs--and he's not afraid of mixed media and 3D.  His most amazing creation used 100 bright red plastic cups and army men...sadly, no photo exists of THAT lovely item. Oh...and he wanted me to take it to work for my desk!
Abbey digs the bling & the bright colors--she is the queen of more, MORE, MORE!!  is better.  (hmmmm...wonder where she gets that from?) Matthew is more of a straight-line guy...and he prefers to work in pencil and monotones.

Katie has moved away from paper crafting and is loving her ceramics classes at school; she's made some wonderful animals...including a purple porcupine with hand sculpted quills!!

We have fun planning "projects" for our company, too.  For the Fourth of July, Abbey and I chose some cool summery paper palates and set up a card-making session for the Pigg-Kabrick ladies:

I'm glad these guys share my love of crafting!

Challenge Two-fer! MAC #18 & SSS

Greetings! I know, I know...it's not 11:57 pm!! Pick yourself up off the floor...

FIRST things FIRST: HUGE big THANK YOU!! to Simon Says Stamp and Lori for my new Wendy Vecchi stamp set, Nature's Art. I am sooooooo appreciative of your generosity! And very much in love with this set!!!

Now, on to the deets:

EWV MAC #18 and SSS Some Stitching!

Lori, hostess extraordinaire at Everything Wendy Vecchi, challenged us to work with Book 1, Page 20's example and create with striped paper and a rectangular frame. I'm tweaking that a bit, as I believe squares are just an extra special rectangles. ;-) Hopefully, my fellow Wendy Vecchians will agree. My base is actually a random dollar bin find at Jo-Ann; it's a slightly padded frame with a lovely texture...but you have no way of knowing that since my original plan to ink the frame fell through. I have NO IDEA what kind of paper was covering that thing, but NOTHING I tried worked..not even alcohol inks. Weird. Could be lack of expertise, but what a MESS! Thank God for Backup Plan A! Textured chocolate brown cardstock to the rescue!! Rubbed some Vintage Photo DI on the top to give a little more depth to the design, but the swirls were handily already on the paper.

Striped papers are from the fabulous Mr. H's Retro Grunge stack--an interesting combo of deep greens, reds & cranberries that I did NOT want to go "holiday" with. Inside the frame, I inked the stripes with Fired Brick DI and a little Tea Dye. Then used my brand spankin' new Wendy gingham background from Nature's Art in CTMH Brown Bag. The sentiment is Tim's, stamped in CTMH Archival Black & embossed in clear to give it some pop. The brads are from Bo-Bunny, Mamarazzi. The outer frame is one of Wendy's Art Parts, covered in the same striped paper. Edges inked in Fired Brick and Tea Dye. I left the background stamp off this frame use of the striped paper. A few brown toned buttons and Voila!

The flower is also a Wendy Art Part, the smaller of the two flowers in the Florals set. Paper covering the flower (and making the butterfly) is from My Mind's Eye LifeStories stack. Flower edges are lightly inked with Fired Brick, then brushed with Tea Dye. Flower's center is a Wendy stamp from Homemade Art stamped in CTMH Garden Green on vellum. Roughed up the edges a wee bit, then inked with Antique Linen DI. Finished the flower with a button, key and Cranberry Waxy Flax (CTMH). Tag is from 7 Gypsies. That one came down to a choice between one that said "Real Life" or "Become"...went with this one because the tear-off bit at the bottom says "No. 47." Forty-seven is a bit of a cultural phenomenon at my alma mater, so I just HAD to go with the 47!! Actually kept wondering if the tag crossed into 'too much of a good thing' territory, but now that I'm looking at it more, I like how it offsets the symmetry of the piece a bit.

Butterflies are both stamped from the super awesome dotty butterfly in my new Wendy set. (Have I mentioned that I LOVE it?? THANK YOU again, Simon & Lori!!) Bottom layer was given the same treatment as the center of the flower. Top layer matches the flower, but is stamped in CTMH Barn Red. Both layers were embossed in clear. Butterfly's body was given the Glossy Accents treatment.

This week, our friends at Simon Says Stamp & Show asked to see some stitching (faux or otherwise!). Since I'm not so handy with a needle, this artist greatly appreciates the leniency to be faux! I incorporated "stitching" on the striped frame & flower on this creation. Stitch stamp on two sides of the frame is from Tim's Seamless Experience set. "Hand-stitching" around the flower done courtesy of my CTMH Chocolate pen.

I'm liking this project so much,  it just may go with me to kick it in my cubical at work!

Still time to get yourself inky and play along--Simon's challenge goes 'til midnight tonight.  EWV 'til Tuesday midnight. Click the links above to get started!

Simon Says...Show us a FLOURISH!

Simon Says Stamp & Show...a flourish!

So the team over at Simon Says Stamp and Show challenged us to show 'em a flourish. And here's my valiant effort, LOL.

The base is a light cadet blue, inked in Vintage Photo over a Tim Holtz compass mask. I added a wee bit of Antique Paper DI after I removed the mask. Then, I used my favorite Wendy Vecchi spotty background stamp from A Ticket to Art in Tea Dye lightly misted with water.

The flourish in the upper left corner was stamped on the reverse side of some Graphic 45 Steampunk Debutante paper with a CTMH stamp, then cut out. That brown paper has got a small print of lighter brown & golden gears all over it. Finished off that element with a Tim swivel clasp and tag charm.

The reverse side of the darker brown paper is used in the lower right corner as a mat for a Tim Holtz stamp "Not all who wander are lost" which I stamped in Faded Jeans on vellum.

NOTE: ANY and ALL tips on working with solid stamps like that so they turn out more legible will be gratefully welcomed!

Under that matted stamp is pleat folded vellum, stamped with a map background. Another couple of flourish-y stamps and some random gears and brads to round out the fun. Top it all off with some Vintage Photo Distress Stickles...and VOILA!

Now...since I'm posting this at the last possible second, there's not much time to play along this week, but DO join the fun for the next challenge at Simon Says Stamp & Show!

Wency Vecchi: MAC #17 Red, White & Blue

The challenge at Everything Wendy Vecchi this week was to make something Red, White & Blue. And, of course, a Wendy stamp is required! I decided to try my hand at using a bingo card as a base; last week at GASC I saw some lovely things done with bingo cards. Mine is from Jenni Bowlin. Not sure I did it justice, but well, I'm still claiming "newbie"! Thanks to another nice sale at Jo-Ann, I'm also the proud owner of Wendy Vecchi's Seriously Art stamp set...one I've been coveting for quite some time. Pretty much all of the stamps on this 'creation' are from that set.

EWV MAC #17: Red, White & Blue

I started with a bingo card with HOME as the title. A little distress ink in Fired Brick, Faded Jeans and Broken China turned it into the beginnings of my base. I stamped the polka dot background in both Fired Brick and Faded Jeans by dabbing both on the stamp at the same time. Using a large star as a stencil, I lightly sprayed sparkly mist in a star shape...mostly on the larger red section in the middle. Doesn't really show up here, but you can see it better in person. The red got a little watercolor-y and darker. It's a nice effect and I wish it showed up better on the photo!

I stamped the Serious dude twice..first in Faded Jeans, then in Fired Brick. Embossed both in clear. To give him more dimension I mounted the blue version on cardstock inked in Black Soot. I cut out the Fired Brick hat and bow tie, then popped them up on him with foam dots. I think he's my favorite part of this project.

After I goofed up the letter heading that was on the card, I attempted to resolve the problem with some chipboard letters. Inked 'em in Fired Brick, then embossed with clear.

Fireworks on the left upper side are done in stickles over a lightly inked Wendy Stamp--it's a Queen Anne's lace looking floral that, when upside down, looked firework-y to me. Patriotic brads, red rhinestones, chipboard button are from Jenni Bowlin. (I scored a $20 grab bag at their booth at GASC that had TONS of awesome goodies!) The jean pockets are die cuts from my stash. I roughed 'em up a bit and then put Crackle Effects on them. First time using the stuff. I think I'll get better. ;-) Stars are chipboard from my stash inked with Adirondack ink in Denim.

I'm glad I dove into this one...my fingers haven't been inky in a few weeks, but...this is one of those "it looked better in my mind" projects, LOL. Anyway, my friends from Everything Wendy Vecchi have done some AMAZING stuff (REALLY--don't let my ineptitude keep you from checking out their talent!). Join the fun and check it out by clicking the link above.

Happy 100th, Marjie!!

YAY for my friend Marjie!  She's already hit her 100th blog post...and to celebrate, she's giving YOU the chance to win a present!  An AWESOME prize package, really, that goes wwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy beyond a mere "present."


Check out her super creative artwork on her blog...leave a comment on her 100th post and you just might win!! (And even if you don't, we are all a little richer for her presence on the web!  So check out her blog and get inspired.)  On the other hand....maybe don't...betters my chance at winning, right??

Keep blogging & making art, my friend!

Tear it Up!! Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge

This week's challenge over at Simon Says Stamp & Show...Tear It Up! And get a little Distressed. Here's my pitiful attempt...

Simon Says Stamp & Show: Tear it Up!

Never have been very good with the whole "torn paper" thing, but I have to admit that I do LOVE the way the distress ink makes the edges pop. My card is simple enough...chocolate brown 4 x5 base with edges distressed in Tea Dye, Frayed Burlap and a wee bit of Faded Denim. I used a Stamper's Anonymous script background in CTMH Chocolate over that.

Cadet blue card was stamped in the bubbly background stamp from Wendy Vecchi's Studio 490 She Created Art set. First stamped in Faded Denim, then in Frayed Burlap. Misted with water and pounced. I let it dry, then used the watercolor stamping technique to stamp the dotty background from Wendy's Ticket to Art set in Tea Dye. Next, I tore the edges, then inked 'em up in Antique Linen and Frayed Burlap.

The saying is from Tim Holtz, stamped on dotted vellum in CTMH Chocolate. Roughed up all the untorn edges with a Tonic Distresser (on the brown base, too!).

Butterfly charm is from Industrial Chic and is hanging on a Tim memo pin. Waxy Flax from CTMH; bling flourish is from my stash.

The whole thing is a wee bit simple (and perhaps too boxy), but since I stink at tearing it up, I'm gonna call it a win. ;-) Check out the entries this week by clicking the link above. And...if you're up for more fun, a new challenge will post each Monday!! Now get out there and make some art!

Simon Says Stamp & Show: A Tag

This week, at Simon Says Stamp and Show, our mission was to create a tag.  Yup!  That's it...a tag.  Overwhelmed by the abundance of the mailman's offerings yesterday--4 new Wendy Vecchi Studio 490 stamp sets, courtesy of a fabulous sale at Jo-Ann's!--I puttered with this assignment for quite some time.  The final project uses not a single one of those new stamps, LOL.  But I like it anyway!  (And all the other puttering has lead so some elements for future challenges...so YAY!)

So here you go...

Simon Says Stamp & Show: TAG

All the paper is from the LUSH collection by My Mind's Eye.  I love the deep blues and textures of this line, but the ivory background seemed a little bright for me, so I used Faded Denim distress ink with just a touch of Broken China mixed in.  The base tag is stamped with a script Stamper's Anonymous stamps in Outdoor Denim from CTMH. Stamped the flowers (from my stash) with the same stamp.

The next layer is the LUSH Navy Dot paper, also distressed; I used CTMH Liquid Glass on all the dots to give 'em a little UUMPH.  Tried a bunch of different ways to use the flocked Fleur-di-Lis paper and ended up just cutting one of the elements from the paper.  Popped it up with some foam dots. 

DREAM is just a snippet from one of Tim Holtz's stamps: LIVE, LOVE, DREAM.  Couldn't resist a splash of hot pink...

Brads are also from the LUSH collection.  Ribbons, pearl flourishes, charm & flowers are all from my stash.  Upper right edge element is from CTMH.

Thanks for popping by!  Be sure to visit Simon Says Stamp & Show for more fun weekly challenges...then grab your gear and get a little inky!!

Making Art Challenge #15: BLING it ON!!

This week's challenge from the Yahoo! Group, Everything Wendy Vecchi is to model a card after Page 14 in Make Art,  Studio 490 Style II and use some BLING--oh and don't forget the ever crucial Studio 490 stamp!  Inspired by some funkadelic projects I've seen lately (and the coupon code provided by a fellow Wendy Vecchian!), I recently acquired a pad of Graphic 45's Steampunk Debutante paper.  Seemed just right for this challenge...so here you go:

Be Yourself:  EWV MAC #15

 The gal looked pretty kinda just like she was, so I cut that frame from a sheet of the Graphic 45 paper; she's distressed with a bit of Peeled Paint and Antique Linen. I inked the backside, too and turned the corner down, anchoring it with a brad and some layered flowers.  After painting her fleshy parts in Spun Sugar Distress Stain, I blinged the babe out with some clear crystals.  Here's a wee bit of a close-up of the corner:

I found the mirror charms at Michael's and had been looking for an excuse to use one with some girly thing.  I'm thinking if I were gonna get all dolled up and blinged out, I'd be lookin' for that mirror! 

Butterfly close up

The teal paper was already printed in an accounting style ledger, so I just added some distressing with Tea Dye and Antique Linen and then overstamped with another background, using Wendy's ledger script background stamp from her A Form of Art set.  Be Yourself is also from A Form of Art. I can't remember which butterflies I used, but to keep them teal, I stamped them on the backside, then cut 'em out.  The butterfly bodies are pearls by Amuse and match the smaller ones along the right side of the card. 

Layered flowers & Paper flower

To pull more of the roses from one of the background papers into the design, I stamped several small flowers from A Ticket to Art on a scrap...ended up only using one, but I like it as a small accent item. ;-)  

Hard to see in the larger photo, but I swiped a quote from a Johnny Diaz song to put on a journalling spot.  It's printed on regular paper in a black text box, then inked with Peeled Paint, mounted on coordinating Graphic 45 scrap and attached to the background paper with a Tim Holtz mini-clip.

Quote is from a Johnny Diaz song

 Other flowers are painted with Wild Honey, Vintage Photo and Antique Linen stains, then splashed with a bit of Tsunineko Frost. 

All the brads, bling & pearls are from my stash. 

So..............now, what're you waiting for?  Grab your gear, get some ink on your fingers and MAKE SOME ART!!  Click the link above for more inky inspiration and fun.

 Thanks for stopping by!

Simon Says Stamp & Show: Your Favorite Stamp

Life is too Short to Match Socks

FIRST...a quick shout out and THANK YOU to the Design Team over at Simon Says Stamp and Show...last week, my entry was chosen as one of the Top Three in the Challenge.  Little Ol' Me!  Check out my super cool blinkie on the sidebar! I'm so very flattered and honored...thanks folks!

Okay, so this week's challenge at Simon Says Stamp and Show assumes that I could even choose ONE.  Do they realize they are challenging a woman who picks 3 entrees from the menu and doesn't decide until the server asks??  I mean REALLY! Okay, venting done, the challenge was to use your favorite stamp.  Yup, easy peasy breezy, right?  WRONG!

Now, y'all might make the assumption that I'm going with a Wendy Vecchi Studio 490 stamp.  But I just couldn't choose ONE of them.  So I went a TOTALLY different direction...and took off from the goofy scrappy angle.

I found this stamp at Angela's Happy Stamper...it's by Unity Stamp Company.  Two pieces that say so much about my life.  Truly.  Been meaning to make a scrapbook page with it and this challenge just gave me the kick in the rear I needed!

The papers are from Close to My Heart, the Sweet Home collection.  Rick rack also from CTMH. I stamped the min-title with the sentiment; socks are stamped, embossed, colored with Pebbles colored pencils and then cut out. Photos are the actual feet of my family.  Yes, this was a weird photo shoot...you should have heard the beasties complaining.  Katie kept trying to primp, but I told her I was just interested in her feet, LOL.   Photo across the top are my kiddies feet.  And, of course, the Zoo Crew Sock Bucket...the true star of this layout!

Here are a couple of close-ups of the stamps:

Close up of Socks--both are one stamp, but I cut them out.

Unity Stamp Company: Mini-title of Page

 In case you've made it this far and want to continue...the journalling on the page reads:

With 7 people in our family, keeping up with the laundry is an ongoing challenge.  A continual reminder of that struggle is the dreaded sock bucket.  Yes…BUCKET!  Most people use buckets like this for toys, outdoor equipment, beverage coolers…but not the Zoo Crew.  Nope.  Our 14 feet worth of socks go in…and sometimes never come out. 

*sigh* 

Sorting the sock basket is not a happy task…sometimes used as a punishment, sometimes bribery works (a dime for each matched pair!), and sometimes a source of family fun (Sock it to ‘em, Daddy!). But rarely is that bucket empty.  *sigh*

How we look forward to summer days…Bring on the barefooting!!

Thank you for checking out my creation for this week's challenge!! Check out the fun and join in!

Simon Says Stamp & Show: Wendy Vecchi Challenge

This week's challenge for Simon Says Stamp & Show was to create something in the style of Wendy Vecchi a la Studio 490.  Since she's become my new favorite, both a difficult and an easy challenge for me...but I gave it a whirl.

Simon Says Stamp & Show Challenge

I started with a square Art Parts frame & backing.  The leaves are from Ticket to Art; those are inked with Distress Stain in Peeling Paint, then pounced in Shabby Shutters and then outlined with Peeling Paint Distress Embossing.  The ink bottle is from Wendy's Destination Art stamp set; inked that in Antique Linen Distress Stain, pounced a little Tea Dye on, then embossed in clear over Java Versa Mark Chalk.  Sentiment is from Tim Holtz.

Kaiser Craft paper is used throughout, with the exception of the ivory cardstock I covered up in ink.  I used a combination of Shabby Shutters, Peeling Paint, Antique Linen and Tea Dye Distress Inks to jazz up the backgrounds and frames.  I haven't yet acquired any of Wendy's amazing flower stamps, so I used Martha Stewart punches on coordinating papers, layered with some fabric flowers inked with Antique Linen and Spun Sugar Distress Stains. Brads are Bo Bunny from my stash; copper pearls are from Amuse.

Thanks for checking out my creation this week.  Grab your gear and join the fun...or do like I did...lurk for awhile and get inspired as you get up the courage to toss yourself out there!  

Everything Wendy Vecchi #13

This week, Lori at Everything Wendy Vecchi spurred us into action with Challenge #13...use the Brushless Watercolor technique highlighted in Wendy's first book on page 19. Pretty fun technique...ink your stamp, spritz it with a wee bit of water and stamp. What fun was this? I made a graduation card for my colleague Carly, who just received her MBA. YAY Carly!

I started with a black matte 5" x 7" card and a chunk of watercolor paper. Using Tim's Distress Ink in Dusty Concord and Faded Jeans, I inked a Wendy background stamp from Ticket to Art--that's the little bitty dotty thingies in the background. (Hmmm...wonder if that's why it's a background stamp?) LOL! The lady--a fellow Wendy Vecchi group member calls her "The Impatient Woman"!--and the sentiment are also Wendy's. I did the brushless watercolor thing with the Tim Holtz bird stamp in Faded Jeans and with Autumn Leaves flourishes in Peeling Paint and Shabby Shutters.

So Marjie tells me that you can "paint" with Distress Stains. Of course, I just had to try it for myself! Thus the wings! Stamped the outline on vellum in black archival, then I used Spun Sugar in the middle and Dusty Concord on the outsides. LOVE how they turned out!

All of these colors look a wee bit off in the pic, but they blend pretty nicely in person...looks like I'm gonna have to break out the big camera again...this little "go anywhere" guy just ain't cuttin' it!

Grab your inks and join the fun by clicking the link above!

Mother's Day Creation

Now that Gramma has received her package, it's safe to share with you the shadowbox I made for her gift.  I'm REALLY excited about this project!!

My mom has long been the caregiver of our family photos--both sides, too!  On a recent visit, she brought out quite a few to share with us.  We missed them when packing for her return trip, so I had the bright idea to have them all scanned and put in electronic format.  Had that done by Harbor Scrapbooking (MARVELOUS LADIES...I'd trust 'em with my life!!).  While we were sorting through the pics that they were going to scan, we stumbled upon a letter, written by my grandfather (now passed) to my mother.  The letter accompanied the original of a photo of my mom with her mother (also passed), wearing dresses made by my grandmother.  Grandfather's letter talks about how Grandma loved her children and delighted she was to be a mom.  My mom is 1 in the photo and my grandmother, 21.  Also in the stack of pics was a shot of just my mom, taken at the same time.  I got to thinking that these items needed to be displayed together.  So here we go...

Straight on view.

This one shows the colors a little better.

My Wendy Vecchi Art Parts arrived just in time, so I covered a flower with a paper that was sprinkled with little blue flowers--like Grandpa described the dress fabric. I scanned Grandpa's letter, then printed it on vellum to give it a parchment type texture.  The kids helped by inking the edges of everything and picking out the ribbons and other embellishments.  (Ben has a GREAT eye for layering the flowers!  Abbey picked the ribbons.  It was Matthew who suggested the bow on the Art Parts flower stem.)   We played with the arrangement, then layered 'em into the shadow box with a whole lotta foam pop dots.

On of my favorite parts of this creation?  The deal I got on the now repurposed frame!  I went looking for a largish shadow box, but found that they were rather pricey.  For Mom, no problem.  But then I noticed that the pre-framed artwork at JoAnn's all clearanced at 75% off.  Found a few candidates...and ended up with this one ($7.50).  Took about 10 minutes to pull everything apart and cover the old background.  Previously the clearance rack UGLY seashell print nightmare...now a lovely (if I do say so myself!) personal Mother's Day presink. 

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

Everything Wendy Vecchi Challenge #12

This week's challenge on Everything Wendy Vecchi (an awesome online Yahoo! group of folks) was to create a card based on Wendy's book #1, page 32. We had to stamp on patterned paper and use a bookplate. Of course, using Studio 490 stamps is also a must!

My card is a thank you note for a wonderful gal who has been picking Matthew up from Lego Robotics when I've been stuck in traffic. I started with a brownish copper metallic finish 4 x 5 card. I picked paper by Kaiser Craft from the Chanteuse collection--two different florals in shades of rose & greeen. The pad of paper I picked had a couple of sheets of diecuts, including borders. Nabbed one of those (the pink floral running vertically on the fold of the card). Last paper is a brown with coordinating green & pink polka dots--also vertical on the left side of the card.

I put the two florals together, and used Distress Inks in Shabby Shutters and Worn Lipstick to give it some dimension. Next layer is background stamped in Tea Dye and Shabby Shutters with the dotted background from Studio 490's "Ticket to Art" set. After that dried, I used Versa Magic Jumbo Java chalk ink to stamp Autumn Leaves flourishes. Flowers are done in Antique Linen and Spun Sugar Distress Stains. Sentiment is from "Regal Art" by Wendy Vecchi. Bookplate is Heidi Swapp. Copper pearls are from Amuse. Brads & charms from my stash. There are some spritzes of Copper Tsukineko shimmer mist randomly applied in there, too.

Join the fun & play along by joining the group! Then...go make some art!! (to quote one of my new favorite artists!)