OFF THE HOOK!

A couple of weeks ago, Wendy Vecchi sent me her "Call It Art" stamp set as a prize for leaving a comment on her blog.  (Thank you again, Wendy!)  I love that set and wanted to do something kind of quirky, steampunk-ish and fun with it!  I think it works perfectly with this week's Simon Says Stamp and Show Theme:  Ideaology Bonanza!

I started with a Wendy Vecchi Art Parts Film Strip Frame as my background.  I heat embossed the frame using Versamark Embossing Ink and Gold, Copper and Queen's Gold Embossing Powders.  I sprinkled the gold first and collected up the extra powder.  Then I sprinkled the copper, collected up the powder and then I sprinkled the Queen's Gold.  THEN I heat set all of the sprinkled embossing powders.  I like to use this technique because it (in my opinion) really mixes up the colors and gives a much neater aged metal look.  Next I distressed the embossed frame with Black Soot Distress Ink.  

Since this is an Ideaology Bonanza, I decided to intertwine Tim Holtz' Filmstrip Ribbon in Wendy's Filmstrip Frame.  I sized some vintage photographs of gentlemen and adhered them to the filmstrip ribbon with Glossy Accents.  I hot glued the filmstrips in place on either side of the frame.  I like the dimension and character it added to the frame.  

The background of my frame was done in several steps.  First, I used a striped piece of G45 Paper that was in my scrap box.  I washed it with Picket Fence Distress Stain to dull the vintage red and gold stripes.  On the right side of the background, I stamped a really cool background from Tim Holtz' new Remnants Stamp Set using Jet Black Archival Ink.  I added texture to the left side of the background with Tim Holtz' Bricked Texture Fade.  Then I added the brick-ish color with Fired Brick and Aged Mahogany Distress Inks. 

I stamped a little "graffiti" using Dyan Reaveley's Basic Backgrounds and new release, Word Love stamp sets.  Finally, I inked around the edges with Black Soot Distress Ink.

I cut out a portion of the center of the background and added a stamped hand from Tim Holtz' Steampunk stamp set.  Then I glued the background in place. 

I added the little scalloped shelf from Wendy Vecchi's Scallop Trim set.  Before I hot glued it in place, I stamped a design on the shelf from Wendy Vecchi's "Forever Art" stamp set. 

Now the real fun began...adding all of my elements!  

The gentleman, the vintage telephone and the two sentiments are from Wendy's new Call For Art set.  All were stamped on white cardstock that was then distressed using Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  The saying in front of the man was distressed using Broken China Distress Ink. "Curiosity" was stamped onto a newsprint type of drawing paper.  This is from Tim Holtz' "Curiosities" stamp set.  I tore the paper and inked the edges with Black Soot then glued it in place on the background.

"BE DIFFERENT, STAND OUT IN THE CROWD" was placed in an Ornate Plate and then covered with Crackle Accents to make the "glass" appear to be crazed and very old.  I wired some Sprocket Gears on to the Ornate Plate to give this piece more character and dimension. 

Next I added the gentlemen in his place.  He is an odd sort of fellow.  His pink shirt was colored using Fired Brick Reinker and Tim Holtz' New Detailer Brush.  The black polka dots are courtesy of a black detail pen.  This delusional fellow fancies himself to be King, so he wears an Ideaology crown from Regal Adornments.  Gotta admit...he DOES stand out in the crowd of gentlemen on this piece.  (smile) 

The vintage telephone is my favorite!  It was stamped twice onto white cardstock and cut out.  I altered the stamp just a bit because I wanted the receiver to be detached from the base of the phone.  So, I cut the telephone out, minus the receiver and added a "cradle" for the receiver.  I used the second stamped phone to cut out just the receiver.  Then I heat embossed it with Clear Embossing Powder so that I could preserve the detail of the phone and also make it look shiny...like old vintage telephones were.  I stamped the old rotary dial one more time and heat embossed it.  

 
Then I stacked the three rotary dials using black pop dots.   I sprayed a piece of gold metallic wire with some flat black spray paint.  I coiled it and hot glued it to either end of my telephone.  Now you see where the title for this Ideaology piece comes from..."Off The Hook".  The receiver is off the hook and the old man is "off the hook".  (smile)  I pop dotted the telephone in place on the shelf.

Next I added an Ideaology Vial to the shelf.  It is holding three Pen Nibs that are hot glued onto wooden skewers to give them height.  The little label on the bottle is from Tim Holtz' Little Labels stamp set and is distressed with Broken China.  Again, I added Crackle Accents to further age the label.  Once dry, I glued the bottle in place.  Next I added the Light Bulb to the shelf followed by two Trinket Pens; one dangling a Muse Token.

I added a small keyhole from Tim Holtz' Locket Keys set to the bottom of the frame.  I added a "LIFE" Word Key to the background and tied some black cording on to it for extra interest.

Finally, I added "OFF THE HOOK" to the top of the frame.  The letters are from Tim Holtz' Ransom Alpha Parts and I attached them using Glossy Accents. 

Ideaology Bonanza!!!  What fun!!!  Now it's YOUR turn to create a wonderful piece using pieces of Tim's Ideaology!  Then link your creation to our blog at Simon Says Stamp and Show.  You could be the lucky winner of our random prize of...

If your project is chosen as one of the Top Three, you will receive special recognition of that!  Still having trouble thinking of something?  Stop by Simon Says Stamp and Show.  The Design Team has some really wonderfully unique and creative ideas to share with you!  Their work is always, I mean always so cool!!!

Have fun with this challenge!!

LONDON CALLING ...

SIMON SAYS TAKE YOUR PICK ... LONDON/PARIS/NEW YORK.  

In honor of my British buddies I've come to know and love, I'm "chuffed" to say that I chose LONDON.  I "lurve" that city...it's beautiful architecture, it's rich history and SOME CRAZY TALENTED PEOPLE! (smile)

This week, yet again, I am stepping out of my comfort zone to try a new transfer technique that I incorporated into a 5x7 canvas featuring LONDON!

I began with a basic canvas that I painted with Claudine Hellmuth's wonderful Studio Paint color, Traditional Tan.  While that was drying, I pulled out my new set of "London Underground" Artistic Outpost Stamps.  LOVE THEM! 

I wanted to cover most of my canvas with the Union Jack but the stamp was smaller.  What to do....  Ahhh!!!  Idea!!!!  Using Stormy Sky and Barn Door Distress Inks, I brushed color onto the Union Jack Stamp and stamped it onto a piece of white cardstock.  Then I scanned the stamped image and saved it to my computer.  I could then size the image to the 6 1/2" x 4 1/2" size that I wanted it to be.  I printed it out on white paper, cut it out and using Matte Multi Medium, I glued and sealed it in place on the canvas.  Perfect!

 

I then created a wash with a little water and the Traditional Tan Studio Paint and added it all over the Union Jack image.  For more depth of color, I created another wash using a little water and Sable Brown Studio Paint and washed the outer parts of the canvas with it.  Now only a hint of the Union Jack remained in the background but that was okay because I was adding lots of images and elements on top of it.  

Now...for the new transfer technique....Big Ben.  I intentionally left a strip of Traditional Tan so that my black illustrated image of Ben Ben would show up better.  I found the image online and sized it to fit my canvas.  Then I printed out the image on a LASER printer.  That is important!  This technique works much better with a Laser..not inkjet..printed image.  I turned the image facing down onto the canvas and applied a heat tool to it.  This heat tool has interchangeable tips.  The one I used has about a 1" flat round head that you can apply directly to a surface in order to transfer an image.  It worked really well as you can see from this picture.  Big Ben is behind Queen Elizabeth.  Then I added just a little more paint wash to blend the image into the canvas background.  Love it!

Next I added the other background stamped images; all from the London Underground set.  Next to Big Ben is a partial image of a London Newspaper. Cheerio! is a blend of two inks:  Archival Manganese Blue and then a touch of Stazon's Stone Grey to tone down the brightness of the blue.  "KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON" was stamped using Blank Canvas Studio Paint and then outlined using a black permanent marker.  If you look closely, you can see the remnants of the Union Jack I used as my background behind "KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON".  Underneath "Keep Calm" are a couple of London Beefeaters stamped in Jet Black Archival Ink.  That completed the background for my canvas.  Then I added the "vintage postage stamp" to give a bit of red color on Big Ben.

Now to add the other elements that really gave my canvas that British spirit!  What would a London piece be without the Queen?  Queen Elizabeth was taken from a "vintage" souvenir London postcard.  I sized her and cut her out, inked the edges with a Sepia Black cats eye ink pad and glued her in place using Matte Multi Medium.  Then using Stardust Stickles, I gave her crown and jewels some sparkle. 

Next I added the beautiful Parliament Buildings in front of Queen Elizabeth.  I found them online, sized them and cut them out to fit my canvas.  Again, I edged them with the cats eye ink pad to remove any white paper edges.  I ran a piece of Tim's Traveler Tissue Tape across top of the Parliament buildings and heat embossed "UNDERGROUND" on top of the tape using Black Embossing Powder. 

The inspiration for this entire piece was given to me by this precious little vintage British girl that I found online.  Isn't she just adorable?  I sized her to fit the canvas, cut her out, lightly distressed her with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and then edged her with a black cats eye ink pad.  Then I pop dotted her in place.

Finally, I added pieces of Ideaology to give the canvas some dimension and I love metal!  There is a Game Spinner and a Sprocket Gear right underneath "KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON".  Then I added this stacked Ideaology pieces consisting of an Ornate Plate, a Time Piece and a Regal Adornments Crown.  I think it resembles a royal crest.  I antiqued all of the Ideaology pieces with a Juniper Paint Dabber.

That's it!  Cheerio and Carry On right on over to SIMON SAYS STAMP AND SHOW to see the wonderful creations that my Design Team buddies have waiting for you!  Inspiring!!  Then create your own piece of art showcasing London/Paris/New York and post it to our blog.  You could be the lucky winner of our randomly chosen ....

Be one of the TOP THREE entries for the week and you'll receive special recognition on our blog and also a TOP THREE BLINKIE to proudly display on your blog!  
 I can't wait to see YOUR challenge piece!

A HEART TAG

It's Friday!  I finally had a chance to make a Valentine's style of tag for several blogs that I love to follow:

GRUNGY MONDAY- the challenge is to make anything with a Valentine theme using at least one Tim Holtz Product.  No problem!

TIM HOLTZ - 12 TAGS - a new concept Tim has announced on his blog.  Instead of his annual 12 Tags of Christmas that we've all come to know and love; Tim is switching it up a bit.  He's still doing 12 Tags...only now it will be one a month, to feature a holiday or something that month is known for.

INSPIRATION JOURNAL - Simply make something with a heart on it.

Here is the large tag I have made for these three challenges...

 I used an oversized manila tag and began with a masking technique used by Heidi Swapp.  Then I started randomly stamping around the masked heart and blending the black around the heart outline.  I then reversed the mask and used Fired Brick and Barn Door Distress Inks to color the interior of the heart.  Then I randomly stamped the background of the tag using Black Soot Distress Ink and various Tim Holtz and Dyan Reaveley stamps. When I finished stamping, I added the colors of Vintage Photo and Barn Door to the background of the tag; blending them together.

I used Gold Embossing Powder to stamp over the wings and to create a crown at the top of the heart.  I replaced the exterior of the heart mask over the heart and heat embossed the gold script in the center of the heart.  I used Tim's technique to create the dimensional heart in the center using honeycomb paper.  I cut a slightly larger mini heart out of Grungeboard to use behind the dimensional heart.  I heat embossed it with Gold Embossing Powder and put all of those elements together.  Finally, I added Gold Stickles to the honeycomb portion of the heart for that added detail.

Next I added some random Gold Embossing Powder around the edges of my tag and topped it off with just a hint of a Black Cats Eye Ink Pad swiped around the edge. 

The bottom of the tag features a Tim Holtz sentiment that I thought was appropriate for this heart themed tag:  LISTEN TO YOUR HEART ABOVE ALL OTHER VOICES.  I first distressed a scrap of a manila tag with primarily Vintage Photo, some Gathered Twig and a hint of Barn Door.  Then I used Tim's distressing technique; flicking water onto the tag.  Next I sprayed the tag with a hint of Sunflower Sparkle to give it a subtle glisten.  I tore the edges and distressed them with Gathered Twig and swiped a Black Cats Eye Ink Pad around the edges.  I glued it in place and then added the distressed Grungeboard Keyhole and the "Memory" Word Key.  

The keyhole is embossed first with Gold Embossing Powder then sprinkled with Black Embossing Powder and then topped with Clear UTEE.  I added antique gold Long Fasteners that I pounded with Tim's Hammer Tool.  The key is held in place by wire wrapping it in place.  At the very top of the tag, I have placed 6 more antique gold Long Fasteners that have also been pounded with Tim's Hammer Tool.

Thanks for stopping by my blog!  If you've not already entered these challenges, create something with a heart and enter them!  Have a great weekend and take time to play!!

ANYTHING GOES

Good Monday morning everybody!  I hope you had a nice weekend!  It's MONDAY and time for another Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge!  This week....."ANYTHING GOES".  Stop by the Simon Says Stamp and Show blog and check out the amazing creations the Design Team has for you this week.  I just love the unique and wonderful ideas they come up with each week!  

This time, three of us decided to use some of the most lovely and uber talented Dyan Reaveley's stamps in our projects.  You would think that our projects would look a lot alike.  But they don't!  Ellen used Paint Dabbers, Tracy used Distress Stains and I used Distress Inks in conjunction with Dyan's stamps.  I think this is a wonderful testament to how versatile Ranger's products And Dyan's stamps are.  We used the same style of stamps yet we all attained amazingly different results by using the different mediums. 

I've been a fan of Dyan Reaveley's work for a long time.  But again...the old "fear factor" kept me from dipping my toes into the Dylusional waters.  But this year, I'm all about getting out of my comfort zone (as I've done in a couple of my latest Design Team pieces).  So, here is my first attempt at getting Dylusional.

The tag is a #8 manila tag that I lightly misted with water and then sprayed with Butterscotch, Sunset Orange, Stream and Red Pepper Color Wash.  Although it's hard to see, I also added some random honeycomb texture using a stencil and Haystack Fresco Paint. To further enhance the background, I used Dyan's ghosting technique to add some shimmer.  

It's hard to see in the picture but the technique is really cool.  I laid a stencil with letters over the tag and then spritzed it with Sunflower Sparkle Perfect Pearls Mist.  Then I removed the stencil and dried the mist with my Heat It Craft Tool.  It's called "GHOSTING" because it's just a subtle effect.  When you turn the tag, you can see the images of the letters glisten.  Really cool technique.  

After adding the ghostly letters, I stamped those lovely leaves from Dyan's Further Round The Edge stamp set.  Aren't they fantastic?  Next I painted in the leaves using my Small Sakura Water Brush and a mixture of Peeled Paint and Shabby Shutters Distress Reinkers for my color.  Just a dab of color will go a LONG way when using it as a "paint" to fill in the spaces.  Just like coloring!  It's so fun!!  Then I used my Inkessentials Opaque White Pen to add some highlights to the leaves.  Finally, I used a black cats eye ink pad to swipe the edges of my tag and the background was finished!

My colorful girl was put together from a couple of Dyan's stamp sets.  She is stamped on white cardstock using Jet Black Archival Ink.  Her body is from Doolally Dorris and her head is from Pondering Petunia.  That is one of the wonderful things about Dyan's stamp sets.  So many of the images are interchangeable and not to mention complete FUN!  I again used Distress Reinkers to "paint" my character using my Sakura Small Water Brush.  I used Spiced Marmalade, Broken China and Mustard Seed for her clothes.  Her light brunette hair was achieved using Tea Dye.  Her face has that fleshy tone thanks to Tattered Rose.  Her eyes are a Tumbled Glass blue and her lips are courtesy of Worn Lipstick.  I gave her "goggles" using Glossy Accents.    The mushrooms are from Doolally Dorris and were colored in using Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade and Broken China Reinkers.  It only takes a drop of each color on a Non Stick Craft Sheet to fill in everything!  And when you're finished with each color, just swipe the water brush a few times to clear the color from the brush and move on to the next color.  When you're finished coloring, just wipe the remnants of color with a paper towel and the mess is gone. It's that simple of a clean up!  After everything was dry, I cut out each of the pieces, leaving just a hint of a white border and glued them in place.

Dyan has some wonderful sentiments on her stamp sets.  I chose this one from The Right Words.  It was stamped onto white cardstock using Jet Black Archival Ink.  I cut out each word, leaving a bit of white cardstock for border and glued them in place.  HOW FUN!

Now it's your turn to cut loose and create!  ANYTHING GOES!  Post your creation to our challenge and you could be the lucky winner of our generous sponsor's ...

You may also be selected as one of the TOP THREE artistic entries for the week and receive special recognition.  So, remember ANYTHING GOES!!

 

THANK YOU WENDY!!!

Guess what?!?!  I was just looking at all of the blogs I follow and low and behold...I WON one of WENDY VECCHI'S new stamp sets... CALL IT ART!  Here it is:

 

I LOVE this set as well as so many other of her new releases! Don't you just LOVE the vintage gentleman and the vintage telephone?  I love it all and I can't wait to get it and create something wonderful with Wendy's fabulous designs!

If you've not already, you need to check out Wendy's BLOG.  She's so generously offering many of her new release stamp sets as prizes just for leaving a comment!

THANK YOU WENDY!!!

SIMON SAYS SHOW US A RECIPE

SIMON SAYS STAMP AND SHOW is all about details this week....in the form of a "RECIPE"...as in the ingredients for a project.  If you haven't already, stop by the challenge blog and take a look at all of the wonderful projects the Design Team has posted for you this week!!  Mind blowing!!

I went WAAAAAY outside of my comfort zone this week!  I did something I have never done before but I had so much fun doing it!  I have wanted to try this for a while but I had to work up the courage.   Why are we like that?  That fear of trying something different?

Anyway....

This is an 8x10 stretch canvas.  I saw this technique on a YouTube VIDEO posted by the very creative, talented artist and a fellow Ranger U grad in my class last April, Christy Tomlinson.Take a few minutes to check it out.  It's way cool!

My dimensional canvas has a lot of "ingredients" in it's "recipe", but that is what makes it so unique. I think the end result is worth it!  Here are all of the "ingredients" for this recipe:

The Basic Canvas

1. Gesso

2. Classic Teal Studio Paint

3. Matte Multi Medium

4. Blank Canvas White, Altered Orange, Dab of Yellow Studio Paints

5. Copper Inka Gold

The Dimensional Heart

1. Terra Cotta Paint Dabber

2. Teal, Landscape Green, Dash of Red, Altered Orange, Dab of Yellow Studio Paints

3. Wild Honey, Broken China, Picket Fence Distress Stains

4. Vermillion, Lettuce, Jet Black, Monarch Orange Archival Inks

5. Bitty Grunge, Artful Artifacts, Ultimate Grunge, Papillon Tim Holtz Stamp Sets

6. The Right Words Dylusions Stamp Set

7. Black Embossing Powder and Versamark Embossing Ink
8. Book pages

Embellishments

1. Various sizes of White Prima Roses

2. Marigold, Jazz Blue, Dreamsicle Glimmer Mist

3. Word Keys, Ornate Plates, Keyholes Ideaology

4. Juniper, Gold Paint Dabber

Here are the instructions for putting all of the ingredients together:

The Basic Canvas

Begin by painting the canvas with Gesso.  When dry, cover the canvas with a basecoat of Classic Teal Studio Paint.  When that is dry, add some old tissue pattern pieces to the canvas using Matte Multi Medium to glue them in place.  When that is dry, add interest to the canvas by stamping the wire mesh looking image from Tim Holtz' background stamps onto the canvas.  Paint Blank Canvas directly on to the stamp, stamp the design and then be sure to immediately wash off the stamp.  Make a thinner paint out of the Altered Orange by adding just a little water and mixing it with a brush.  Flick the paint on the brush onto the canvas, creating the little random orange splotches on the background.  After I added the dimensional heart, I went back and added some Copper Inka Gold in random areas of the background before I added the embellishments.

The Dimensional Heart

The dimensional heart is made out of rolled pages from an old book.  Using thinner paper works better on this as it rolls so easy.  Tear pages out of a book.  You can leave them plain or add patterns and color to them.  Above are the pages I made using various paint and stain colors.  The polka dot patterns was achieved by stenciling paint through some sequin waste.  When I finished applying all of the color I wanted to, then I used Jet Black Archival Ink to stamp random images onto some of the pages.

Closeup of a section of the rolled book pages that formed the heart shape.

I began in the center of the "heart" and worked down to the small point at the bottom of the heart.  I used Matte Multi Medium as my "glue" to adhere the rolled paper to the canvas in the shape of a heart; measuring and tearing smaller strips when necessary to achieve the heart shape.  Once I completed the bottom of the heart, I moved from the center upwards to create the top of the heart.  Then I stamped Dyan Reaveley's sentiment out on manila cardstock and heat embossed it using black embossing powder.  I cut out around it and used color coordinated cardstock to double mount the sentiment.  Then I pop dotted the sentiment onto the dimensional heart.

The Embellishments

Some of the embellishments are made from Prima Roses that are lightly sprayed with Marigold Glimmer Mist.

The largest of the roses is nestled in a shabby bow made from white Hug Snug that is sprayed with Jazz Blue and Dreamsicle Glimmer Mists.  I tipped the edges of this rose with Altered Orange Studio Paint.

The little Prima roses at the lower left are glued into two large plastic buttons: one bright yellow and one bright orange to coordinate with the canvas and the dimensional heart.  There is also sprayed ribbon behind them.

The little Prima heart on the lower right side of the canvas is nestled in the center of an ornate plate that has a key hole stacked on top of it.  The Ideaology pieces have been given a patina look by rubbing a little Juniper paint from a dabber onto the metal surface, using my finger.  The ornate plate is glued onto a corrugated heart that has been painted first with gesso then Altered Orange Studio Paint. I then added a touch of Picket Fence followed by edges of Juniper paint to antique the heart and pick up more of the colors from the canvas and dimensional heart.

The upper right corner of the canvas features a Tim Holtz Word Key with some more dyed Hug Snug ribbon dangling from it.  This ribbon was sprayed with Dreamsicle and Marigold Glimmer Mist.  Finally, the little "broach" attached to the dimensional paper heart is just a little decorative brad I had laying around and loved the touch of "bling" it added.

So, that's my recipe and my finished dimensional canvas.  I love it and it will be hanging in my studio as soon as I can find a nail and a hammer. (smile)  

Now it's YOUR turn to share your recipe for your entry into our challenge this week.  If your entry is chosen by a random drawing, you could win a .....

And... if you are chosen as one of the TOP THREE entries this week, you will receive that special recognition on our blog and also a TOP THREE BLINKIE to proudly display on your blog!  So...get out your "ingredients" and start creating!