Frilly & Funkie Challenge

Have you seen the new website "Frilly & Funkie"?  I love the vintage style that is promoted there.  They are even offering a discount until the end of this month on product that you purchase from their store.  You might want to check it out.  For my first entry to their weekly challenge I must admit I lean toward the Funkie style.  I made a tag, of course, since I'm participating in the Tim Holtz class this week.  I now have a lot of tags with background inks on them just waiting to be embellished.    This tag has been stamped with the Diesel Punk stamps by Artistic Outpost (another of my latest crushes).  The die used for the gears is Tim Holtz's "Steampunk", the metal gears are also Tim's.  I cut the wings off of some of Tim's butterflies and glued them to the driver's shoulders.  The red in his scarf is Copic pen R29.  The bow is made from torn gauze that has been spritzed with watered down Wild Honey re-inkers.  My best wishes to the success of the new website Frilly and Funkie!

Sunday Stamper::Week 198- Bird theme

This is my submission to the Sunday Stamper's Challenge using the theme: Birds.  Our yard is full of all kinds of birds right now!  I love Spring time!!

This made from some left over bird and flower stamps that I rec'd in Dyan's class last week.  I used her spray inks for the background, London Blue and Bubblegum Pink.  A few circles using the cap from my Snow Cap Adirondack acrylic paint container.  The phrase is also Dyan's.

Hurray!

My brooch was the #3 favorite in the Stampotique Challenge!  Made my day a little brighter.  : )

Stampotique Challenge....something wearable & GDT

This is what I came up with as a wearable for Stampotique.  It is a brooch with Smushallaum stamped on an old room key card that had been partially covered with white acrylic paint.  I also stamped "Diva" on it, then spritzed it with a little of Dyan Reaveley's London Fog spray paint.  I heated the card with my heat tool and bent the bottom part of it in a little bit of a ruffle.  After it cooled off I attached a peel and stick 1 1/2" plastic pin back to the reverse side.

I had a friend that was a Pediatric nurse who told me that nurses like to wear unusual pins or brooches to distract the children when they have to get a shot.  If any nurses would like this pin just let me know and I will send it to them,  free of charge.

Tags--Simon Says

I have gone completely BONKERS over Dyan Reaveley's stamps and inks.  I can't stay away from "Ink About It", my local art store.  I went there three days in a row.  Every time there is one more thing that I need.....  I just completed a bunch of book markers/tags all done with Dyan's stamps and inks.  The stamps are "Quintessential Quotes and Dependable Dotty".  The inks are all that I have collected so far:  Cut Grass, Squeezed Orange, London Blue, and Bubblegum Pink.  I sprayed and stamped on watercolor paper.  There are some parts stamped on book pages, those are left overs from my class with her last week.  I feel very refreshed using these colors.  This is strange since it is not my "normal" palette.  I am a beige girl after all.  Hmmm.....must be love.

DT Challenge from Stampotique

This is the last day to submit for the DT Challenge at Stampotique.  What is better than a tissue box after all the colds and flu of this past winter season?  I made a tissue box cover with all my favorite characters to cheer me up and then sprayed it with Dyan Reaveley's "Dylusions" ink sprays.  I used London Blue, Bubblegum Pink, Cut grass, and Squeezed Orange.  If those colors don't brighten your day nothing will!

Bolton Common Article

It is that time again!  This month I did a recipe that kids can have a "hand" in preparing.  This was our go-to cake to make for kid parties when Holly was little.  It didn't take much time and I always had the ingredients in the house, plus it tastes good.  :-)

The Mixing Bowl

By Renee Zarate

When my daughter was little I used to teach a cooking class at her school every Friday, just for her class.  I often wonder if any of those kids became professional chefs since they were so enthusiastic and loved to eat what they made.  Her elementary school actually had two full kitchens for the kids with stoves, microwave ovens and sinks.  This recipe was one of their favorite no-bake cakes.  I would heat the butter and marshmallows on the stove top and they would do the messy part of blending it together with their freshly washed hands and then packing it into the cake pan.  It is both pretty and yummy.

Popcorn Cake

4 quarts of popped corn

½ pound of butter

1 pound of marshmallows

½ pound of gum drops

½ pound of Planter’s Cocktail Peanuts

Melt butter and marshmallows together until smooth.  Pour over popcorn and mix.  Add peanuts and candy to mixture and blend.  Press into a well-buttered angel food cake pan and refrigerate overnight.

I am EXHAUSTED but I had the time of my life!

Well, I'm still tired.  I don't know how Dyan has so much energy, she had to teach this weekend in Framingham, MA at the Collins Group Show.  That is probably why she is Ranger's International Senior Educator.  If you have a chance to check out her signature line of inks, etc. they are called "Dylusions".  Her spray inks are very bright and amazingly clear.  I photographed one of my projects that I have completed.  It is Canvas Art using her spray inks and also her stamps.  My friend Diane from Concord, MA was also there and took a photo of me with Dyan.  I look like a stalker who has had the restraining order lifted for the day.  Keep in mind I'm tired.  My husband laughed when he saw it since I am normally very reserved!  I also met my blogger friend Marjie who just happened to be here from New York.  I spent all of Wednesday evening with my back to her.  We figured it out on Thursday morning so we were able to finally meet and have lunch together!  It was great.  Here's a few photos for you to enjoy!

There is my friend Marjie in the far right hand corner!

My color choices were pink and orange.  I love it!

Dylusional

I just finished 3 classes (about 10 hours) with Dyan Reaveley and hopefully by tomorrow I will have recovered enough to share photos of what I learned.  If you get a chance go to her website, just google Dyan, and check out her unique techniques.  There is a really great article on our classes at this site:

New England Paper Crafts

Tim's Class

Tim Holtz started teaching his first on-line class ever on Monday.  It is called "Creative Chemistry 101".  The purpose of the class is not to do projects but rather teach techniques that Tim is famous for.  I must admit I have learned more about ink than I have ever known.  I personally love all of Ranger's Distress Inks and this class is really teaching me how to get the most out of my inks.  You can still sign up.  The beauty of this class is that you can go at your own pace and you have life time access to the videos.  I will share with you each day what we ended up with.  Yesterday Tim showed us how to blend Distress Inks using the Blending Tool and then how to use water to activate the inks.  We did all the work on tags.  I had three tags to show at the end.  It is a really fun class.  Speaking of fun classes.....this afternoon I have a class at the local scrap booking store with Dyan Reavley.  I'll let you know how it goes, I can hardly wait!

Steam Punk Lady

I thought it would be fun to use news print to make something.  I made the flower out of 15 layers of newspaper, glued together, inked the edges and glued a metal gear to the center of the flower.  I cut the lady from Graphic 45 paper, stamped travel stamps randomly all over the paper.  I adhered the flower to her skirt.  Glued a piece of mica over her face, attached flowers on her hat, glued metal objects, clock and compass onto the panel.  Affix the panel to a piece of distressed cardboard, the matted it onto black card stock.    I die cut the gears on the side from Tim Holtz's die out of card board.  Painted them with ink and distressed them, glued it to the left side of the project.  The back has an easel.

Ten minutes and lots of scraps

I just received some new stamps today!  WooHoo!!!  I ordered some Artistic Outpost and Stampotique stamps and finally received them.  Of course I had to try them all out.  I put this card together with the little boy image from Artistic Outpost stamps called "Diesel Punk" and lots of scraps of Graphic 45 paper.

The hearts are precut grunge board (Tim Holtz) that had been painted red and rubbed with black ink.  There is a small sliver of mica over the boy's face.  Quick and so cute!

Bird Tag

Well, Holly is back in California already.  What a quick visit!  We had so much fun yesterday visiting local antique stores, we found all sorts of treasures.  She always looks for vintage jewelry and I look for things that I can incorporate in my projects.  She found a ring and I found some beautiful glass drawer pulls!  Everyone was happy.
So today I made a little bird tag.  I used Tim Holtz's #8 size Kraft tags.  I  stamped the tag with a bird phrase that I picked up last year from StampLand.  The bird is a sticker from K and Company.  I filled a little bag with punched out eggs of different colors and sizes.  After sealing the bag I attached a peach colored velvet ribbon from Alpha Stamps and tied a matching piece of ribbon on the top.  The edges were distressed with Ranger's Frayed Burlap and I stamped some of DeNami's polka dots randomly all around.

Well, at least I got to spoil my daughter for a few days.  It always goes too fast!

Kayce

My daughter, Holly, has been here from California visiting for a few days.  Of course, we spent time creating things together like always.  Holly has a 10 year old niece named Kayce that loves owls, green and purple so we had to make her a little gift.  What better thing than a mood box.

Steampunk

This card has a masculine touch to it.  First I stamped Tim Holtz's 3 men at the top of a piece of scrap paper and the phrase by Stampers Anonymous at the bottom.  I used Ranger's Frayed Burlap ink for both.  I tore the edges of the paper and distressed them with the same ink.  I glued that to a 5" x 7" beige card then cut a strip of brown paper to go across the middle.  I punched the bottom with my EK punch and glued it across the middle.  I then glued one of Tim's tickets to the left side and 3 of Tim's gears center and to the right.

If you have ten minutes....

This is a quick 10 minute card.  I got some new stamps and I was just itching to anoint them with ink!  The phrase is by Stampers Anonymous and the pen nibs are from Tim Holtz.
First, I carefully inked up my pen stamp with multiple Ranger's Distress Inks starting with Fired Brick, Worn Lipstick,  Ripe Persimmon, Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed, Stormy Sky and finally Broken China.    I tried to just get one color per nib but some of them bled over to the next one, which is fine.  One big huff on the stamp to activate the inks, stamped my image and then I heat embossed it with clear embossing powder.  I cut the yellow scrap of paper 3 1/2 " x 3 1/4" and punched the bottom with my EK punch that looks like torn notebook paper.  I stamped the phrase on a scrap piece of white card stock using black Archival ink and then inked the edge with Ripe Persimmon.  I glued that to the yellow card stock piece and attached the panel to the 5" by 7" white card.  I used a little baker's twine in orange and white to tie a bow at the top of the card.

Less is More Challege-One Layer Script

The week 58 challenge at Less is More is a call for projects that are just one layer with some script included, either stamped or handwritten.  Both of these stamps, the girl and the script, are by Dina Wakley.  I made a 5" x 7" white card with black ink stamping.  Then I did a direct to paper rub of Inkadinkado's Turquoise ink.  The splats are made with Ranger's Distress Stain, Wild Honey.  This is a great example of a 5 minute card.

Be Yourself

I am finally at the end of the pink and purple moment.  It took me a long time to figure out what to do with all that pink stuff I started working on for a challenge a while back.
This girl reminds me of Oscar Wilde's wise words:  "Be yourself; everyone else is already taken".  Unfortunately, most young people do not see how beautiful they are until time and age has taken all that youthful beauty away.  Years later while browsing through old photos they are usually shocked to see how amazing their skin looked, how white their eyes were and what gorgeous smiles they had.  So, enjoy it while it lasts!
The girl stamp is by Stampotique.  The stars and mirror frame are made from grunge board that has been inked and highlighted with a little Glossy Accents.  The pink and purple background was done on a piece of watercolor paper and some acrylic paints.  I ran the dried painted paper through my embossing machine using Tim Holtz's Cracked and Patchwork Texture Fades.  That pink paint swirl is a piece of plastic that I recycled out of a magazine.  The girl's image is colored with Copic inks and then a tiny bit of Rock Candy Distress Stickles.  The finished card measures 5" x 7".

Inspiration Journal Monthly Challenge--Go Green

I thought I would enter another tag for the Go Green-Color Challenge.  This tag is Steampunk style.  I used mostly Tim Holtz products.  Size 8 manila tag.   The gears are die cuts from Alterations Steampunk and also Gadget Gears.  I cut all of the gears out of cork and then distressed them with a little of Ranger's Walnut Stain ink.  I colored the tag with Ranger's Crushed Olive and Evergreen Bough inks.  Then I used the Crackle stamp from IndigoBlu inked up with more Evergreen Bough and stamped all over the tag.  The three men stamped at the bottom are from the Tim Holtz Collection called Visual Artistry and I used StazOn Timber Brown ink for them and the phrase, also from the same collection.  The butterfly is cut from Graphic 45s Steampunk paper and highlighted with some Ranger Distress Stickles, Rock Candy.  To complete it a green and greenish blue ribbon tied at the top.

Sympathy Card

A dear friend of mine recently lost her uncle and I wanted to make a really special card for her.  What better use for one of the butterflies that I made using the Tim Holtz mosaic method.  I wanted something simple but elegant and I think this filled the bill perfectly.

I love that glitter paper, it is cut with an EK punch to look like a torn page.  The stamp is an old one, made by Rubber Soul and stamped with Black StazOn ink.  I used glue dots to attach the butterfly.

Monthly Challenge: Go Green--A Color Challenge

This month the website "Inspiration Journal" has a color challenge.  The challenge is to make a monochromatic project that is green or mostly green.  I chose to make a tag.  I used a piece of water color paper and cut it to measure 7" by 3".  I ran it through my Big Kick machine to dry emboss it with a Tim Holtz Alterations Texture Fade called the Patchwork set.  Then using my Inkssentials tool I colored the tag with Ranger's Peeled Paint, Pine Needles, and Bundled Sage.  I distressed the edges with a little Rusty Hinge ink.  I used my large grunge board wings that were first painted with silver acrylic paint and then distressed with the same inks that I used on the tag.  I glued the wings on the back of the tag.  I cut the cards out of DCWV "The Timeless Type Stack" paper, I also cut some of the other embellishments out of this paper.  The three dimensional stickers at the bottom are made by K & Company.  The centerpiece of this tag is a domino that has been colored with alcohol inks, stamped with a girl's image (Stampers Anonymous) using StazOn black ink.  I used silver foil around the edge and burnished it.  A hole is drilled in the bottom of the domino in order to attach a jump ring that holds a tiny hand (Alpha Stamps).  The metal wings are Tim Holtz.  I sealed the image with Glossy Accents, let it dry and attached it to the tag with glue dots.  I attached a Swivel Clasp (Idea-ology) to the top and added a couple of ribbons.  That is about as green as I can get!

Simon Says Stamp and Show--Bottle It

The Challenge at Simon Says this week is to make a project using a bottle somewhere in it.  Here I go on my recycling kick again!  I have a lot of paper tubes saved up, large and some very small.  This tube measures about 4" high (translates: toilet paper roll).  I cut out circles from old ribbon holders and prepared them to use on the top and bottom of the spool by covering everything with the Graphic 45 Halloween Alice in Wonderland paper.  I love the hand on the top of the spool.  The stamped phrases for the rabbit being late are from Stampington's collection of Alice in Wonderland stamps.  I used Black StazOn ink.  The clock pieces glued onto the base randomly with Glossy Accents are by Alpha Stamps.  Just about all of the dangling things are Ideaology, just whatever I had in my stash.  The tiny bottle (Alpha Stamps) is full of clock works, glued shut with Glossy Accents and tied with a piece of twine.  It makes a nice paper weight for your desk or you could look into the tiny hanging mirror to check your make-up when no one is looking.

The Edgar Project

I am still working on all of my Edgar Allen Poe themed items for a publication.  I double checked and the deadline is April 15th, 2012, so who knows what else I can come up with between now and then.  This piece is based on the little boxes I did a few months back that ALMOST made the cover of the next issue of The Stampers' Sampler.  At least I was in the running!  Oh, well, my congrats to the winner.  Anyway, back to the project.  The little box is cut out using my Cricut machine and their Cricut Everyday cartridge.  I made the box as large as I could, it measures 2" square when it is assembled and glued.  I wrapped a piece of floral Styrofoam in old pattern tissue and secured it in the box with glue.  Edgar is affixed to the outside of the tea cup in a cameo look, I tangled around the edge with a Micron 01 pen.  The stamp is by Rubber Stamp Tapestry and looks like a tiny tea bag tag.  The Edgar images are all found on the Alpha Stamps Poe Collage sheet.  The golden hand is also by Alpha Stamps.  The crown on the top is made from grunge board (Tim Holtz) and has a light golden acrylic paint wash on it.  To finish I glued a thin sheet of Mica onto the cup and stuck some pearl headed pins into the tissue paper.  This would make a cute party favor for a literary group or book club tea.

Blessings of JOY

I really like that neutral palette of taupe and white.  Today I made a five minute card using Dina Wakley's grungy circle stamp, Ranger's Frayed Burlap ink and some stickers from K& Company.  I just got those stickers this week.  They are beautiful birds, eggs and nests.  I started with my "goddess" blank template from the latest Stampers' Sampler and cut her out of some patterned taupe paper. 
I used a 5"x7" blank white card.  First I stamped the circles in the background.  Glued the template to the center and blinged it up with the stickers.  Her face is a glittery egg from the sticker collection.

The sticker on her body says "Blessings of JOY".  Keep looking for your blessings and be grateful every day.  I am.  It is important never to lose your joy.  There is just so much to be grateful for! If you don't feel that way, start small, just be grateful you can breathe.  Be grateful when you see the sun.  Etc.  It takes a little practice but everyday you see more and more things to be thankful for.  No one can take that joy from you since it resides deep inside.  Be joyful.

Less is More Challenge-Neutral colors

The challenge at Less is More this week is Neutral Colors.  I decided to use just white and a dark taupe.  I love this card so much that when I get my new website up and running this will be featured as the top banner.  The lady's face is a piece of clip art that has been transferred with packing tape.  I stamped the IndigoBlu crackle stamp on a 3" circle using Ranger's Frayed Burlap ink.  I glued the transfer tape face on top of that.  I used 3 strips of Tim Holtz tissue tape on the left side of the card.  After I glued the circle on the left side, I balanced it out with 3 fabric flowers (also Tim's).  I stamped the words "Artistic License" (Postmodern Design stamp) on a piece of white card stock and heat embossed it with clear powder.  I trimmed out the phrase and glued it to the bottom right hand side.  I did add one lonely rhinestone that was dyed to match the Frayed Burlap ink. 

Simon Says Stamp Challenge-Anything Goes

Simon says anything goes so here is my submission.

The card measures 5" x 7".  The bird stamp is by Stampers Anonymous, the eggs are a digi download from Art Chix.  The bird phrases are also by Artchix Studio.  I tangled around the eggs to make the nest with a Micron 01 pen.  Popped a googly eye on the bird and tied a ribbon at the top.

12 Tags of 2012-March

Tim Holtz has started something new this year.  Instead of 12 tags all done in the month of December he is branching out and doing one tag for each month of the year.  It sounds like a good idea to me, less rushed and more participation friendly for those of us who are not as fast.  This month his tag contains a mosaic of spring colors.  The butterfly that I used is pre-cut from grunge board and decorated with tiny scraps of paper then sealed with Ranger's Glossy Accents.  I had to improvise the background since I don't own a wood grain stamp, I used IndigoBlu's crackle stamp, then I ran the tag through my Big Kick machine with Tim's cracked embossing folder.  I gave it a spritz of Cafe colored Glimmer Mist.  I colored and attached the flowers in the bottom corner with brads and tied some ribbon scraps at the top of the tag  This was a very fun challenge and is a great way to use scraps.

Cruise on over to Tim's website and take a look at his tute and all the entries, it is really inspirational!

Still trying to get the pink out of my studio!

I still have pink, purple and black projects left over from last week's challenge that I am still trying to move out of my line of sight.  Maybe I am secretly starting to have a little fling with the purple and pinks.  Who knows.  Today I finished a canvas I started last week.  It has layers and layers of acrylic colors on it, lots of stamps and of course some things that I cut out and glued on.  It measures 13 1/2" by 7".  After all of the fussy stuff I finished the edges with black card stock that had been put through my crimper.  The top hanger is actually a large Tim Holtz grunge board key that has been inked and distressed with Ranger inks.  I painted the hooks on the bottom black, screwed them into the wooden edge of the canvas and now it becomes a key holder to hang on the wall.