Gentleness ATC

I recently bought a digital collage kit from Zorana (blog / etsy) after seeing this post on Stamping Mathilda's blog.  I used some pieces from that kit on this atc.  I also used a leaf/vine punch from Martha Stewart (I punched old music paper and colored it with distress inks), some German scrap (it was white.. colored with distress inks and just a tiny bit of highlight with gold paint dabber), sticky back gems, and black paint dabber around the edges of the atc.

Snow Day ATC

I guess I must be feeling a bit blingy!!  The background is one I had in my stash and I'm not sure what was used on it but it does have some shimmer.  I put white distress crackle paint around the edges and it seeped up some of the color from the background instead of staying white... after it was crackled and dry I added picket fence distress stickles over it and let it dry.  I embossed a piece of white cardstock with a snowflake embossing folder (Cuttlebug)... rubbed a little distress ink tumbled glass on it, spritzed it with pearl glimmer mist, dried it and tore a piece to add to the atc.  The girl image is from Paper Imagery Designs... punched it out with an oval punch.. added white paint dabber to the edges.. layered it to a piece of blue cardstock, cut around it with deckle scissors and added rock candy distress stickles to the edge... added it to the atc.  Finished things off with some sticky back gem flourishes (I just cut part of them to use).. snowflakes punched from white cardstock and a gem added to the centers... words hand written.

Created Byhand Challenge

This weeks challenge is Giving Thanks/Shades of Brown and I've included both in my card... blog or forum.  Almost everything I used on this card is available from Quietfire Design.

The background is from the Tim Holtz Seasonal Paper Stack... a fun piece that has all kinds of recipes on it related to things we often have on Thanksgiving... I used brushed corduroy on the edges and then also Gold Krylon.  The leaves (Tim Holtz tattered leaves die) were cut from a piece of paper I had left after teaching the Embossing Folders - Unexpected Impressions class for Quietfire Design in September and then some brushed corduroy sponged on the edges.  The ribbon is 13mm white silk ribbon dyed with brushed corduroy distress ink (put the ribbon in a plastic bag, spray it with water, drip on a drop or two of reinker, squish it around until all the ribbon is colored, take out the ribbon and dry it with the heat tool) and stamped (music) using Archival Ink jet black.  The center piece... both layers are cut with Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels Four dies... the brown cardstock layer has some brushed corduroy sponged around the edges and then a line of Gold Krylon.  The main piece started as manilla card and I did the wrinkle-free distress technique on it (rub distress inks - brushed corduroy, tea dye - onto a craft sheet, spritz with water... but I used a water & perfect pearls gold mix... press your card into the puddle, dry, repeat, dry, and continue repeating and drying until you want to stop).  Thanks was stamped with Archival Ink jet black.  Give was computer generated, punched out with a 1/2" circle punch, edges sponged with brushed corduroy, glued into the disk with loops and attached with brown brads.

CCC #22 - Alcohol Ink Splatter

This is a very fun technique that I have played with before.  I decided to really change things up for me by using all colors for the lights group of alcohol inks.  It was fun!!  I did manage to smear the stamping a little but it still looked ok for the tag so I didn't allow myself to start over (even though I thought about it).

To learn more about this challenge head on over to Linda's fabulous blog here.

Stamps and embellishments are Tim Holtz!!

A Great Class

Many thanks to everyone that could be at class tonight!!!  I had a great time!!!  

If you missed the class (or forgot something you need to look at again), there is a project page on the Quietfire website

Here!

Pop on over and see all the projects along with supply lists and directions.

Class Reminder

Tomorrow night - Tuesday, November 16th - at 8:00pm Central Time, I will be teaching a Free online class for Quietfire Design called "A Christmas that's hard to Resist".  The chat room where the class takes place in on the Quietfire Creations Forum - you need to be a member of the forum - It's free, just sign up.  I hope to 'see' you there!!!!

CCC #21 - Perfect Distress

This weeks technique for the Compendium of Curiosities Challenge is perfect distress found on page 38 of Tim's book.  I did this technique several times after Tim first shared it on his blog but hadn't done it since and it was fun playing with it again.  I should have used a different color of ink on here as the technique didn't show up really well but I learned something from that and learning is good.  For all the details of the challenge see Linda's blog.  All stamps used on my tag are Tim Holtz.  Distress ink colors are weathered wood, bundled sage, and forest moss.  Archival ink for the black stamping.  Ideology pieces and some trim to finish it off. 

Free Online Class - Tues, Nov. 16

A Christmas That's Hard to Resist

This is a heads up to let you know that I will be teaching another online class for Quietfire Design this upcoming Tuesday, November 16th.  The class is Free.  You have to be a member of Quietfire Creations Forum (that's also free) to be able to access the chat room to attend class.  I hope you can be there!!!

Love Ornament

Before they were even available to buy I knew I wanted to get the Tim Holtz Alterations Ornament die and word inserts.  I just 'loved' the thought of being able to cut an ornament with a word cut out in the center.  This is cut from grungeboard... inked with Distress Ink crushed olive, dried.. the white Inkssential pen used to add some details... a piece of old sheet music attached behind... I cut another ornament from matching cardstock and glued it to the back (so it looked pretty :-)...  added rock candy Distress Stickles on just the 'frame' part... added a hanger and the holly brad (Spare Parts)... I didn't want the prongs showing on the back so I cut them off and just glued it on.

Joy Blocks

There has been talk on the All Things Tim Yahoo Group (that Tim is Tim Holtz) about the made to look like printers block letters used in some workshops and I just had to give it a try.  This is 3 layers of grungeboard... the letter on top and 2 layers for the block.  I immediately went to my packages of Alpha grungeboard... found I didn't have any plain... totally forgot at that moment that there are letters in the mini pack and seasonal pack and nature pack... so I decided to go ahead and try it with the swirls.  I think it came out very cool.  All the layers are glued together, painted black, sanded, and then inked with Distress Ink... I used victorian velvet here.  Now to decide on a project to include them in.....

Noel

Noel is another new stamp from Quietfire Design.  The letters are open allowing you to add color.  For this card I've stamped with black and then used a gold gel pen to color in the letters.  I think next I'll try doing some variegated coloring... that would be very pretty.  The edges of the noel panel are colored with Distress Inks aged mahogany and tea dye.  The black line was done with a fine point pen.  The background and the rosette are both cut from Tim Holtz's seasonal pack.  The blue is the flip side of a printed area.  The little snowflake (also a new QF image), was stamped over the background with Versamark ink and embossed with gold powder.  One more snowflake was done a scrap left after cutting the background piece.  After the rosette was made I added Distress Stickles rock candy in the valleys and glass glitter around the edges, Glossy Accents to attach it.  The edges of the background and the noel panel are both embossed with gold powder... press the edge straight down on the versamark pad (the paper would be at a 90 degree angle from the pad), dip in powder, heat.  Some scraps of old music paper along the top and bottom of the noel panel slightly colored along the torn edge with DI brushed corduroy.  This charm and the star from Tim Holtz's Adornment pack were used for the embellishment piece.  Cut one hole off the disk (use a file to sand smooth if needed), punch extra snowflake from paper using a 1/2" paper punch, glue into disk with Glossy Accents (or other clear glue) and top with a thick coat of clear glue...  it will be cloudy at first but will dry completely clear.  I added gold embossing powder to the silver star... heat the star, dip in embossing powder, heat powder until melted (you can add another coat if one isn't enough - I did).  A jump ring was used to attach the star to the disk.. foam tape behind the disk to attach to rosette.

Let it Snow

I really don't want it to snow yet but I do like the new Let it snow stamp from Quietfire Design.... and the new Tim Holtz winter wonder die, snow flurries on-the-edge die, and snow flurries texture fade folder are all fabulous!!!!  For the background I used the texture fade to emboss.. keeping the embossing more to the left so I had a small unembossed area along the right to stamp in.  A blending tool and foam with tumbled glass ink (I just used the left over ink already on the pad as I didn't want it too dark) was rubbed over the embossed snowflakes.  "Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow" was stamped along the right with black ink... I stamped first in the middle and then again before and after letting it run off the page.  The dies were cut from white cardstock... 1 snowman, 3 snowflakes, and 1 border.  The individual snowflakes and border have Distress Stickles on them... rock candy on the individual snowflakes and then because I am AGAIN running low on rock candy I used picket fence on the border which actually works very well for snow.  For the snowman I masked off the arms and nose, then used tumbled glass around the snowman and black soot on the hat... the arms are brushed corduroy and the nose is rusty hinge.  The folded base is pink.. I sponged a little tumbled glass along the very edge which made purple.  It's all finished off with ribbon, buttons, and sticky back gems. 

Blessed is the Season

The sentiment is another new stamp from Quietfire Design.  The background paper is from the Tim Holtz Seasonal paper pad.  The die is Tim's die, reindeer flight... cut from grungepaper and inked with Distress Ink vintage photo.  4mm silk ribbon colored with DI barn door.  Small bell attached with a jump ring.  The folded base card is stamped with the small Merry Christmas snowflake using vintage photo ink and more vintage photo just sponged on the edges.  The sentiment is stamped on cream cardstock and the edges inked with DI peeled paint and just a little vintage photo.  The mat under the sentiment is red cardstock, edges distressed with the Tim Holtz paper distresser and then inked with vintage photo.  The gold layer between the background and base is white cardstock with the edges painted using Lumiere brass for a nice bright gold look with a bit of shimmer.

Joys of the Season Card

Check out those mittens!!!  They are just one (actually 2) of several new stamps just released by Quietfire Design.  Take Time to delight is not a new stamp but still a favorite of mine.  Printed paper is from Basicgrey's Jovial paper pad.  Distress Inks - barn door, antique linen, bundled sage, vintage photo.  Paper Distresser used on the sentiment panel. 

Birthday Card

Happy birthday rubber stamp is from Quietfire Design.  Bird 3D sticker and printed paper are both K&Company.  White panel is embossed with an embossing folder from the Cuttlebug heritage set.  Happy birthday is stamped onto white cardstock with Archival Ink jet black.  The edge is colored with Distress Ink wild honey.  Stitching is done with a dark green Glaze pen.  Distress Stickles rock candy added around the happy birthday.  Finished card is about 5 1/4" x 5 1/2".

Compendium of Curiosities Challenge #20

This weeks challenge is Industrial Grunge, found on page 54 of Tim's book.  As usual see Linda's blog for all the details of the challenge.  Here I've used Tim's flourish and bird dies, his Ray texture fade embossing folder, and some Ideology pieces (snaps, word stick, and philosophy tag).  The paper flowers are from Prima.  Ranger's black enamel accents for the dots in the small flowers.  Distress ink colors on the background are worn lipstick, tea dye, and vintage photo.

Created Byhand Challenge - Words of Love/Friendship

Wouldn't this be a wonderful Christmas card for a special friend!!!!  All stamps are from Quietfire Design.  The ornament is cut with Spellbinder's dies - the ornament and an oval for the cut out piece... it was cut from glossy white cardstock, colored with alcohol inks, edged with gold Krylon, and then covered with Rock Candy Distress Stickles so it glistens as the card moves.  'BfF' is stamped on a scrap of regular white cardstock and colored with Distress Inks bundled sage and pine needles and then I decided to cover the piece with clear embossing... cut it to fit behind the ornament and attached it.  Added a gold 1/8" eyelet to the top.  Colored 4mm white silk ribbon with gold paint and looped it on.  For the background piece I used white glossy cardstock... stamped the Merry Christmas snowflake with Versamark ink, dried it a bit with the heat tool, sponged on Distress inks bundled sage and pine needles blending as I went... then flicked the piece with water, blotted it up and dried it.  Stamped the friend stamp with Archival Ink jet black.  Cut the edges with a deckle scissors and edged it with gold Krylon.  Adhered the ornament to the background taping the ribbon ends to the back and stuck it all to a folded red card. 

CCC #19 - Extreme Masking

Well, I almost threw this tag away but now that it's all done, I can live with it.... LOL. I was "extremely" unhappy with it after the spritzing and bleeding part. I sprayed too much water and the tag was curling so that the bleeding wasn't going into the area that had been masked so I'm trying to hold it down and dry it and not burn my finger because... why did I NOT pick up my tweezers this time, they are after all laying right there, duh!!... so there were some blotches I didn't like but I persevered -as you can see. Distress inks used are fired brick, pine needles, faded jeans, dusty concord, pumice stone, and scattered straw (when I did the reverse mask part I added some scattered straw to the ornament area making the bleeding much more bearable to look at :-) Tim's new reindeer die (deer cut from grunge) and ornament die (custom mask). All rubber is Tim Holtz. Gold paint dabber around the edges and lightly dabbed here and there on the background.


Hopefully I didn't give away too much information when I explained a couple of things as the rule in this challenge is not to share the technique which can be found on page 61 of the Tim Holtz book, Compendium of Curiosities. If you don't have Tim's book, I really REALLY recommend it. It's a wonderful book filled with step-by-steps for techniques, lots of info on products, a totally fabulous project ideas.

To find out more about the challenge, pop on over to Linda's blog.

Chunky ATC Swap on the Everything Wendy Vecchi Yahoo Group

 

This is the first Chunky ATC I've made... it's for a swap on the Everything Wendy Vecchi Yahoo Group and is making it's way to Mary.  I really enjoyed making it!!!! 

If you are not sure what a Chunky ATC is... you start with a piece of 2x4 wood cut to a length of 2 1/2".  A 2 x 4 is actually only 1 1/2" x 3 1/2" so when you cut the length you, you have a piece of wood that is 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" x 1 1/2" thick... very cool. 

I first painted the chunky with Distress Crackle Paint tattered rose and let it dry.  I then used espresso Paint Dabber.. working in small sections I rubbed it on getting into the cracks and then wiped the extra off with a damp towel... leaving the cracks a dark brown and tinting the crackle paint a very nice old look.  All stamping and die cutting was done on either grungepaper or board. 

Another Thank you Card

Once again I've used the Gratitude stamp from Quietfire Design and the block stamping technique I mentioned in my last post.  Distress Inks used are Victorian Velvet, Spun Sugar, Tumbled Glass, Crushed Olive, Wild Honey, and Mustard Seed.  These were used for the block and also on the background.  For the background I used the Tim Holtz Texture Fade embossing folder Dot Matrix... embossed white cardstock and then added the Distress Ink colors to the side where the dots are debossed.  Grungepaper roses, leaves, and flourishes.  The flourishes are painted with Gold Paint Dabber.  The leaves and background stamp on small rose are Wendy Vecchi Studio 490 images.  

Thank you Cards

The gratitude and dragonfly stamps are from Quietfire Design.  The weed stamp is a Studio 490.  On Two Peas in a Bucket there was a video about block backgrounds, you can find it here, and I just had to try it.  It's very cool... you use distress inks and acrylic blocks... I have much more playing to do!!! 

In the top card the square of color that the quote is stamped in uses this technique.  Distress colors are scattered straw, wild honey, and fired brick.  I stamped it on plain white cardstock... then stamped the quote inside the square and stamped the weeds.  Added fired brick and just a bit of rusty hinge around the edges of the card and then decided the white was just too white and toned it down with some antique linen.  I added black pen stitching around the edge of the whole piece and black dots around the edge of the block area.  Then I also added one white dot to the center of each weed cluster.   It's finished off with some string, a friend charm (I used a glaze pen to color the inside of the flower) and an Ideology bird charm that I added a bit of paint dabber too and wiped off the extra. 

For the bottom card (and this was actually the first one I did), the block was done with crushed olive and stormy sky but when I stamped the quote, I got it crooked so I tore it out and added some black soot to the edges.  For the background I stamped the dragonfly using white paint dabber just on plain white cardstock, dried it with a heat tool, and using my blending tool and sponge went over it with crushed olive and stormy sky and then took a damp towel and wiped the extra off the dragonflies.  Distressed the edges with the Tonic edge distresser and then inked it with stormy sky.  Black dots by the corners made with a Glaze pen.  A piece of white lace and a dragonfly charm to finish it off. 

CCC #18 - Dabber Resist

This week brings us to the halfway point of doing every technique in Tim Holtz's book, Compendium of Curiosities.  If you don't know what this is all about, head on over to Linda Ledbetter's blog, Studio L3, to get all the details.  Linda is an absolutely wonderful hostess!!! 

The Distress ink colors used on the background of my tag are stormy sky and crushed olive... wow, do these look fabulous together!!!  All stamps used are Tim Holtz images.  The bird/branch is stamped using a black paint dabber.   The bottom of the tag is cut with an On The Edge die.  There has been talk about the tissue tape flower the cruisers did in one of their classes and I just had to try one... pretty cool, but next time I'll start with a little larger circle.  The green piece under the tissue tape is a juice bottle lid.  If you haven't seen any of my plastic bottle cap flowers, take a peek at this post and this post.  This time, however, I've used a much larger cap than the ones from the water bottles.  The edges of the tag and the bottle cap flower are dabbed with the gold paint dabber.  Also used is Tim's Ideology film strip ribbon, memo pin, and accoutrement.  Some gold cording and green lace to finish things off. 

Imagine and Metal

This was very fun to make!!  It was inspired by Hels' post for the Sunday Stamper Challenge here and I also included metal (Tim Holtz Ideology foliage flowers) to meet the Simon Says Stamp and Show Metal challenge here.  I started with a cheap wooden frame.. added antique linen distress crackle paint to about half of the top and also the sides of that part and let it dry... then added light modeling paste to the rest of the top... let it dry until I could still press the thicker areas but it didn't stick to my finger and pressed an open Tim Holtz texture fade embossing folder (Damask) onto the paste.... lifted and pressed another area, etc... let the paste dry completely.  Used Distress Ink victorian velvet on the paste and dried it with a heat tool.  Rubbed espresso Paint Dabber onto the crackle working it into the cracks and then wiping off the extra with a damp cloth... used a sponge to lightly add some on the high spots of the modeling paste and also dabbed it on the open wood areas and wiped off the extra.   The larger flowers are from Tim's die tattered florals and the small leaves are from the regal crest die all cut from grungepaper.  The rest of the flowers and leaves are Wendy Vecchi Studio 490 stamps on grungepaper... actually all the stamps used in this piece are Studio 490 backgrounds and images.  The layered frame and square on the inside are Maya Road Chipboard.

27 Years!!!!

That's how long we've been married as of yesterday.  We went to the Texas Steakhouse for supper with friends last night and that's when this picture was taken.

CCC #17

This weeks Compendium of Curiosities Challenge is the technique found on page 64 of the book.  To get all the details of this challenge stroll on over to Linda's blog. 

Some details from my tag.  The blue/green piece is another piece I had done when working on the Alcohol Ink Agate on Grunge technique... it was just lying there in my work area so I decided to use it.  The girl image is from Tim's Lost and Found paper stack.  Be confident find your wings and fly rubber stamp is a Studio 490... all other stamps are Tim Holtz.  All die cuts are Tim Holtz.  Die cut leaves were painted with distress crackle, rubbed with brushed corduroy after the crackle was dry, extra wiped off, gold paint dabber added lightly and brown dots made with a Sharpie.  Gold paint dabber used on all edges and also for some stamping.  Black Glaze pen for black dots.  Shabby Shutters distress Stickles used on the rosette flower and on the ribbon at the top.  Ideology pieces for embellishments except the butterfly and it is from a Petals A Plenty set.