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.