I'M SO HONORED TO BE ON RANGER'S BLOG

Happy Monday everyone!

It's a particularly happy day for me as RANGER is featuring another of my tags coupled with the lovely Kaz Hall's wall hanging using her very cool glue stick resist technique.  HERE is the video of the lovely Kaz in action, showing this really fun technique.  

This is my dimensional tag currently being featured on Ranger's blog along side of Kaz' wall hanging.  All of the details in creating this tag are on their blog.  The wheel actually spins.  It's hard to tell, but the bee in Tim's "Oddities" hand is actually suspended above the hand thanks to wire.  Check out all the details HERE.

Here is Kaz' beautiful wall hanging, using her fab technique.  When you click HERE, you'll be taken to Ranger's blog for all of the details on how she created such a lovely piece.

I am so honored not only to have my work featured on Ranger's blog but to be featured along side of an amazing talent such as Kaz Hall.  She's is so creative!

If you don't follow Ranger's blog, you really should.  There are always great projects and interesting videos and details on how to use their wonderful products.  I am definitely a Ranger girl!  I love them ALL because they are so user friendly and you always get such great results! 

 

SPARKLE

I am not typically one to add a lot of sparkle in the form of glitter or bling to my pieces.  But, this week, Simon Says Stamp and Show is all about "sparkle".  

I made some vintage ATC cards for swap with a "Fairytales and Fables" theme.  I chose to create cards using Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella.  This was a great opportunity for me to add some bling and sparkle to my vintage ATCs to make them look even more like the vintage postcards of old.

I wish the camera could better capture the sparkle that these little ATCs have.  It's almost like "fairy dust".  They just twinkle and glisten as the light hits them.

The top two ATCs have gate fold openings, creating storybook covers.  They are tied in the closed position this picture.  I will show more detail of those in a minute.  The bottom ATC is a vintage image of Little Red Riding Hood from an old book cover.

Here is a picture of the top two ATCs not tied together.  I loved the little stage image I found online and thought it would make a perfect gate fold "storybook" cover.  The added Stickles just make them seem that much more magical.

Here is a closeup of the Cinderella cover.  Isn't it wonderful? I love all of the detail and the colors.  I added various colors of Stickles to really enhance the rich colors and create a more vintage feeling.  The Stickles used on this stage are:  Waterfall to highlight the curtains, Eucalyptus on the plant leaves, Platinum on the gold fringe and atop the stage and Fruit Punch in the highlighted areas of the pulled curtain. I could have done more; but sometimes less is more. 

Opening the storybook covers reveal a vintage Cinderella listening to her fairy god mother.  The letters are traced in Stardust Stickles.  They are clear and allow the colors underneath to show through.  I added little "bling" gold and "diamond" stars around "Cinderella".  Along the bottom of the ATC, I added some ornate gold metallic Dresden trim.  Then I added some small Kaiser Aquamarine Rhinestones with Glossy Accents.

The storybook covers are attached to the ATC by adding a piece of Tyvek (painted with a Gold Paint Dabber) as a "hinge".  This allows them to freely open and close without fear of wearing out the hinge.  I cut a backing for the storybook covers out of cardstock and colorized it with Distress Inks to blend with the fairytale scene.  Tumbled Glass provided a nice soft blue color.  Then I heat embossed a gold viney type design on the interior panels using Ranger's Gold Embossing Powder.  I added Platinum Stickles to the edges of the panels and let all of that dry.  Then I placed one end of the Tyvek in between the front and back covers and attached it with 1/4" Scor-Tape.  Next, I glued the other end of the Tyvek hinge to the backside of the ATC with the Scor-Tape.  The hinge was in place.

  I added a piece of organza ribbon to the back of the ATC and left ties on either side of the ATC so that the ribbon could be tied in the front; thus closing the storybook covers.  Finally, I covered the back of the ATC with a distressed piece of cardstock.  

I printed out the vintage Cinderella image twice; once to use as a background and the second time to cut the characters out and pop dot them for more dimension.  After they were pop dotted, I added Stickles to their clothes: Waterfall in the blue areas, Fruit Punch in the red areas, Platinum on Cinderella's hair and bottom of her dress and Stardust on the fairy's wings and trim of her clothes.

This Little Red Riding Hood was part of an old book cover.  I sized her to fit onto an ATC card and printed out the image twice.  The first image was glued onto an ATC card and I used the second printed image to cut out the character and pop dot it on top of the original.  I also added some gold tinsel behind her head; similar to the way old Christmas ornaments would traditionally use tinsel as a halo effect behind Santa and angel's heads.  I added some little Kaiser Red Rhinestones to the top of the ATC and used Stickles to further accentuate the colors and details of Little Red Riding Hood.  I used Fruit Punch in the red areas, Platinum on the wood background and also little highlights around her cape, Stardust on the letters and some of the white flowers, Waterfall on the blue areas and Eucalyptus on the leaves. 

I was lucky enough to find a Little Red Riding Hood stage for the storybook covers as well.  I attached the covers in the same manner that I did on the Cinderella ATC.  The Stickle colors I used on these covers are:  Stardust in all of the white areas and on the lettering, Platinum in the gold areas, Fruit Punch in the red areas, Lavender in the purple areas and Eucalyptus on the green leaves of the potted plant.

  
Open the storybook cover and you will find a vintage Little Red Riding Hood on her way to Grandma's house.  The image is printed twice: once for the background and the second time to be able to cut out the character and the little bouquet of flowers at the top left and pop dot them.  The insides of the covers were done the same as Cinderella; however the inside colors are different.  I used Aged Mahogany and Tattered Rose Distress Inks mixed with a little Picket Fence Distress Stain swirled together to create this background color.  Then the vine image was heat embossed with Gold Embossing powder.  I edged the storybook covers and the ATC using a Gold Paint Dabber.

You can see the dimension that pop dotting adds better in this picture.  The Stickles colors used on this piece basically the same as on the covers.  I also added the little blue flowers from some German Scrap.

I added a little piece of braided metallic gold trim along the bottom of this ATC.  In the center of each of the holes, I added some White Opal Liquid Pearls.

Three sweet little Fairytale ATCs ... covered in "fairy dust" (aka Stickles) and sparkling with bits of bling!

Now it's YOUR turn to create something sparkly!  Then post it to our Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge Blog! You could be the winner of our random weekly drawing for a wonderful prize of ...

You could also be named one of the TOP THREE artists for the week ... a very high honor, considering the caliber of entrees we have every week!

Here are the products from Simon Says Stamp that were used to create these ATCs.

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TAPE IT UP!!

Hello friends!  It's another Monday and you know what that means!  Time for a new challenge over at Simon Says Stamp and Show! 

This week, it is all about tape: masking tape, washi tape, tissue tape, metallic tapes...whatever!  We want to see what YOU can do with tape!  Have a look at the challenge blog and see what my amazing Design Teammates have waiting for you this week.  I never knew there were so many ways to use TAPE!  

A very special hello to Hels Sheridan, our first guest designer at Simon Says Stamp and Show.  Her altered frame is amazeballs!  Be sure to check that out!  

If you "like" what you see over there, be sure to "like" us on Facebook, too!

On my post this week, I'm going to talk about several different ways to use tape.  I am also going to show you how to make this gorgeous dragonfly.

He was my inspiration for this piece and graces both the top and the inside of my box...only in different finishes.  Do you recognize him?  He is Tim Holtz' dragonfly on his newly released Classics #1 stamp set.

Now...let's get to this week's challenge....

One of my favorite fascinations is taking something new and making it look old.  That is what I did this week.

I transformed a plain wooden box, measuring 9 1/2"x5 1/2" into a shabby chic-ish box that looks old, worn and like the paint is peeling off of the wood finish.

This is another of the techniques I learned from an online course I recently took from that acrylic paint genius, Andy Skinner.  This technique is called "peeled paint" and that is exactly what it looks and feels like.  The beauty of this technique is that it is all about using masking tape...perfect for this challenge!

Out of respect for Andy and his online classes, I won't divulge the specifics of the technique but I will share with you every detail that I feel is appropriate.  I will tell you I removed all of the hardware and completely covered the box in masking tape before I began.  After doing Andy's "magic" ...

 

my nice, smooth wooden box is altered to look like an old weathered box.  I covered the entire box with a coat of Claudine Hellmuth's wonderfully creamy Studio Blank Canvas White Acrylic Paint and let it dry.

Next I selected the acrylic paint colors to paint my box.  You can use any colors but at least two colors is suggested.  Again, I used Claudine Hellmuth's paints because they are so easy to work with and give such rich coverage.  The colors I used are Painterly Pink followed by Landscape Green.  After those dried, I made a light wash out of Sable Brown and water and washed over the box, to tone down the color a little bit and give it an even more worn, distressed look.  

Here is a closeup view of the really cool texture I was able to achieve with just masking tape!  Isn't that awesome?

Here is a closer look at the texture and the color on the lid of the box prior to my adding the Sable Brown wash.

Next, I finished the interior of my box before embellishing the outside.  Since this is a tape challenge, I decided to keep with that theme.  I measured the inside of the lid and cut a piece of chipboard a tad smaller than the lid.  I then covered the lid in various Tim Holtz Tissue Tapes.  They included Sketchbook, Nostalgic, Journeyman, Symphony and Traveler.  As you can see, I randomly stuck the tape in place.  I left that one area bare as I was planning to put something over the top of that.  No reason to waste my tape! (smile)  

Next I colored the tape using Wild Honey and Broken China Distress Stain.  I kept adding and blotting until I achieved the look I wanted.  Then I added some Gathered Twig Distress Ink and a touch of Black Soot around the edges.

Now I was ready to add the first dragonfly to my box, on the inside of the lid.  But, I needed a surface to stamp him on to.

I created this piece to put over the area that I left free of tape on my lid insert.  I mixed Victorian Velvet, Peeled Paint, Wild Honey and Picket Fence Distress Stains on a Non Stick Craft sheet and then swirled them together on a piece of manila cardstock; adding colors and drying in between until I got the color of background I was going for.  On my last coat of stain, I also thought I'd experiment with something I'd never done before and it worked!!!  I sprinkled a little Copper Embossing Powder directly onto the cardstock with was still wet with the Distress Stain and then dried it with a heat tool.  The embossing powder took longer than usual to react but it did.  It left a gritty feeling on the chipboard and a really nice subtle coppery effect spread on the background.  Next I heat embossed Tim Holtz' Carte Postale stamp in copper on the background.  I intentionally brushed away some of the powder BEFORE I heat embossed it so that I would not get such a vivid image.  It worked perfectly, too!  I tore all around the edges and inked them with Gathered Twig and a touch of Black Soot to age them even more.

Now it was time for my beautiful dragonfly.  I heat embossed him with Black Embossing Powder because I really wanted him to stand out.

I also added a little Juniper Paint to add some green patina effect.  The flower in the corner is a one that I pieced together after cutting two or three strips of cardstock covered in Tissue Tape from Tim's Tattered Flower Garland.  I colorized the flower using Distress Stains, stacked it, added an antique brass brad and stuck it in place.  Finally I added a few pieces from an adhesive metallic copper grid that I had and a few black rhinestones on the top right.  I pop dotted that square into place and then moved to the other side.

For this technique, I used Claudine Hellmuth's Matte Multi Medium both as a glue and a sealer.  First as a glue...I stuck a metal butterfly that I had onto a 3" square stretch canvas.  I did that by brushing the canvas with the Multi Medium and pressing down the butterfly.  

Then I took some text out of an old dictionary and brushed Multi Medium on the backside of the paper.  I then pressed the paper over the canvas, encasing the butterfly.  This technique really works well if you have an image with real definition.  While the paper was wet, I gently pressed the paper down into the crevasses of the wings and around the edges of the butterfly to really give it definition.  Then I tore off the excess dictionary paper and tucked the edges under the canvas.  I brushed Matte Multi Medium over the entire canvas, sealing it.  Then I let it dry.

After it was dry, I added Iced Spruce Distress Ink to the canvas (to draw in that green tone again).  To add a little sparkle and sheen, I lightly dusted the canvas with Kiwi and Sunflower Sparkle Perfect Pearls.  Next, I added a bit of Gathered Twig around the edge of the canvas for a more distressed look.  I put some Gold Paint Dabber on my finger and very gently added gold paint to the raised areas of the butterfly and to the edges of the canvas.  Around the butterfly, I added some shadowing with a graphite pencil and rubbed it in with my finger.  I added a Regal Adornments crown that was altered from silver to gold with gold paint and then given a patina look with a touch of Juniper Paint.  Finally I added a Tim Holtz Sentiment from his Mini Classics stamp set and the lid insert was finished.

Here is a picture of the butterfly canvas stuck in place using 1/4" Scor-Tape.  I love the background that the colored Tissue Tape provides.

I repeated the same technique of finishing out the bottom insert of the box as I did on the top; only I completely cover the piece of chipboard for the bottom.  I colored the bottom with the same colors I used on the top insert.

So, here is what the inside looks like (minus the butterfly above my butterfly which was an afterthought).  I really like the way it turned out.  Now for the top of the box....

I wanted to be sure that I finished the top so that it complimented the worn, peeled paint looking surface of the box.  As I said, I knew before I even started this box that I wanted to use Tim Holtz' dragonfly on the top.  So, this is what I came up with and I was really happy with the results.

To make the frame, I used a piece of manila cardstock and cut out the Spellbinders Fleur De Lis Rectangles die cut twice; once as a frame and once as a base.  I also covered another piece of cardstock with more Sketchbook Tissue Tape, colored it with Victorian Velvet and Evergreen Bough.  I added a little sheen to the finish with Biscotti Perfect Pearls.  Then I distressed the edges with Gathered Twig.  I placed little adhesive pearls all around the top frame, right onto the plain manila cardstock. 

  
Next I painted both of the frames with Raw Umber Acrylic Paint for the base color and then lightly dry brushed some Gold Metallic Paint over the top of it, for an antique brass type of finish.  When dry, I attached the Tissue Tape piece on top of the base of the frame.

Then I pop dotted the top frame piece directly on top of the base.  Don't you just love those little pearls?  They look like rivets and give so much more interest to just the plain cardstock frame.  It really looks and feels almost like a metal frame.

Now it was time to bring that beautiful dragonfly to life.  I stamped the image with Jet Black Archival Ink twice onto manila cardstock.  I cut one of the dragonflies out, including the wings and I colored the wings with Iced Spruce Distress Ink.  I cut the other dragonfly out...but I only cut out the body...without the wings.

The wings...these are so fun to do!  I almost forgot this technique, since I'd not done it in a while.  You take three pieces of Art Glitter Fantasy Film and stack them on top of each other.  You can use all the same color or mix them for a really cool iridescent look.  Then you stamp your image on top of the Fantasy Film (just on the top piece of film on the stack) using black PERMANENT ink.  Next, heat up a regular iron or a little craft iron.  Cover the Fantasy Film with PARCHMENT PAPER (to keep it from melting onto your iron ~ and YES, I forgot to add the parchment paper one time.  You don't forget it a second time!)  Press the iron over the Fantasy Film (that is underneath the Parchment Paper) for about 3 or 4 seconds...just long enough to fuse it all together.  Take your fused Fantasy Film and cut around your stamped image...in this case, two sets of the dragonfly wings.  Not only do you have the iridescent wings but the design is also stamped on the top of them.  Next, I glued the wings on top of each other and onto the body (with the wings that I had cut out) using Glossy Accents.  Then I glued the other body (without wings) directly on top of the other dragonfly to hide where I'd attached the wings.

In the sunlight, these wings are AMAZING!  Can you see the black stamped image of the wings, too?  Way cool huh?  Then I attached a couple of little 7 Gypsies Industrial Gears and attached this pretty frame and dragonfly to the center of the top of the box.  I added 7 Gypsies Antique Brass Display Trim Corners to each of the corners of the box I was all finished.

A really fun project.  There are several steps to completing it but really worth it in the end...especially the peeled paint look and feel of the box...all created just from masking tape!

Thanks for stopping by my blog!  Now it's YOUR turn to create something wonderful with tape and post it to our Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge.  You will have a chance to win our generous sponsor's weekly random drawing of a .....

If your entree is deemed one of the TOP THREE, you will also receive special recognition for that!  So, what are you waiting for?  Find some tape and get busy!

Here are the Simon Says Stamp products I used for this project:

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