AN OLD WIVES' TALE

Hello Everyone and Happy Monday!  

I have got to say that our last challenge was so much fun and even with the Blogger mess, we had the best participation since the SIMON SAYS STAMP AND SHOW CHALLENGE began!  Over 300!!!!  So...a huge THANK YOU to everyone who joined in the fun of creating "Anything Goes" last week!  There were some AMAZING entries...just totally blew me away!  It's so much fun to be everyone's interpretation of the same theme...we had everything from cards to altered clocks!  You guys are so inspiring!!!


Are you ready for this weeks challenge?  It's .... AN OLD WIVES' TALE!

When I saw this theme, I immediately was 5 or 6 years old again, hearing my Mother tell me not to cross my eyes.  Why do kids do that?  Anyway...can you finish this old wives' tale?

That's right....Don't cross your eyes!  They will stick like that!  

I started this project with a 5x7 stretch canvas that I coated with Claudine Hellmuth's Matte Multi Medium.  Next I created an interesting background (also taught by Claudine Hellmuth) by applying Matte Multi Medium to text pages out of an old book and letting them dry.  Once dry, I took several pieces of masking tape and attached and burnished them to the text in various places. Then I pulled off the tape, creating layers of texture and text.  Next I used Claudine's Studio Dab of Yellow and Classic Teal paints to create a vibrant background that went from bright yellow and teal to blended green tones.

After that dried, I used the Matte Multi Medium to create a haunting transfer of a man's face from a black and white inkjet printed image.  Then I stamped a vintage eye chart on the right side of the canvas from Tim Holtz' Oddities Stamp Set.  

Next I dusted a combination of Perfect Copper Perfect Pearls and a touch of Blue Patina Perfect Pearls to create that special little shimmer.  

I found the vintage image of the cross eyed boy, sized him, printed him on semi gloss photo paper and cut him out.  I inked his edges with Chestnut Roan and Black Sepia cats eye ink pads.  Then I glued him in place. 

Finally, I decided to add two optical lenses to the canvas to look resemble glasses on the haunting man's face.  I thought they were the perfect touch.  Then I typed and sized "DON'T CROSS YOUR EYES...THEY WILL STICK LIKE THAT" on my computer using "Vintage Typewriter" as my font.  I cut the words out separately, inked around the edges of each and glued them in place.

So there you have it...my take on an "Old Wives' Tale"!  

Now go to Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge and check out the amazing samples and projects that my very talented and creative Design Teammates have for you.  Then get your creative juices flowing and bring your favorite old wives' tale to life!  Post it to our blog. 

YOU could be the lucky winner of our generous sponsor's gift of a $50.00 credit voucher to Simon Says Stamp!  If your creation is chosen as one of the TOP 3...you will be awarded with our coveted BLINKIE to proudly display on your blog!  So, what are you waiting for?

Also...did you SEE Tim Holtz' new lines of finished goods he introduced last weekend in New York?  They are called DISTRICT MARKET.  If you've not seen them, hop over to his blog and check them out.  They are really cool and I'm quite sure I'll be owning them as soon as they hit the market!  After all, it IS TIM!!!

   

FUNKY "ART" FUN

This week's Simon Says "SHOW A TIM HOLTZ TECHNIQUE!"  For those of you who are HUGE Tim Holtz fans like I am, you KNOW that you have TONS of techniques to choose from!  Betcha can't choose just ONE!!

So come with me on this journey...I'm going to wave my magic paint brush (made from a toothpick, copper tape and Fantasy Fiber and Wha-lah....

We're transported into the land of TIM and his amazing techniques!  How do you like my little version of me?  I'm standing on a 5x5 stretched canvas that is covered in Molding Paste textured with a palette knife and some sequin relief. It is painted with a bluish acrylic paint and then highlighted with various Perfect Pearl colors including Berry Twist, Interference Green and Copper.  

I love Tim's "Grungeblock Technique".  You know the one...where you put his Alphabet Soup letters on Grungeboard, sand them, paint them, distress ink the letters and edges and they look like printer blocks?!  Well, I did my own twist on that and instead of using Grungeboard as my base, I used Wendy Vecchi's Residential Art Parts.  I didn't want them to look like printer blocks.  I wanted them to look like funky little fun houses!

 I made my own sides and back on the "R" house so it would be 3D.  I did Tim's Grungeboard Blocks technique to create the basic houses. Then I added some designs either thruogh the sequin relief or Tim's mini checkerboard and brick stamps. Then I stamped or drew in designs on the roofs.  Before gluing them together, I did Tim's Rusted Enamel technique found on page 41 of his wonderful Compendium of Curiosities book.  This gave my houses a nice shiny, durable rusted enamel finish. I glued the roofs onto the houses and embellished them.

The butterfly features Tim's new Pen Nib for the body. The butterfly wings are heat embossed with Copper Embossing Powder over a blue card stock.  They are then brushed with Distress Rock Candy Crackle for that fine cracked porcelain look.

The little light bulb on the "R's" roof is from Tim's new Light Bulbs Ideaology.  The crown on the"A" house was made by pouring hot Bronze UTEE into a mold.  When it hardened, I added a bit of Antique Gold Rub 'N Buff to highlight the detail.  I added the little trinkets hanging from the roof of the "A" house and the Maya Road Cream Organza Roses Ribbon sprayed with a concoction of another Tim Holtz idea; mixing Fired Brick Refill Distress Ink and Perfect Bronze in a Mini Mister with water.  Then I put all the houses in place.

The round medallion featuring the lovely vintage lady is also made using hot UTEE.  I stuck a distressed doily behind her and she's peeking out from behind a metal patina butterfly with a little Vintaj clock hanging on a chain.  The other end of the chain attaches to another Tim technique.  I metal stamped "CREATE" onto a piece of thin copper metal.  Then I ran a little bluish paint over the metal with my finger, wiping off the excess and leaving a patina look.

The back side of my little ART village features a Tim saying that I love and yet another Tim technique...one that I dearly love...COLORIZING vintage photos!!!

 This is such an easy and  FUN technique with dramatic results!  You simply print out a vintage image (preferably black and white or sepia tone) on either glossy or semi glossy photo paper.  Then, taking a Cut 'N Dry Pen Nib, rub it onto the surface of a Distress Ink pad and begin colorizing your photo.  Use this technique to highlight elements in your picture!  In this case, I used Broken China for the head band and Victorian Velvet to lightly colorize her cheeks, the rose in her hair and the tulle she's wrapped in.  After you finish coloring the areas of interest, lightly go over the entire photo and the edges with Vintage Photo.  I LOVE this technique!

Thanks for coming on this little Tim technique journey with me!  Now...hop on over to SIMON SAYS STAMP AND SHOW CHALLENGE and drool over the wonderfully creative and informative Tim Techniques that my design teammates have waiting for you!

Then use YOUR imagination to create something using a Tim Technique and enter it in our challenge!

Our wonderful sponsor, SIMON SAYS STAMP is awarding one lucky person with a very generous prize of .... (drum roll) ....

If you are chosen as one of the TOP 3 artists for the week, you will receive our coveted TOP 3 Blinkie for your site!  So, what are you waiting for?  Get your Tim on and get inky!!!

ENCAUSTIC ART CAN BE VERY DISTRESSING!!!

Happy Monday Everybody!  Time for another SIMON SAYS STAMP AND SHOW CHALLENGE!  This time....it's DISTRESSING!!!  No...not literally DISTRESSING as in "suffering anguish or agony"~dictionary meaning~.  Although sometimes when I'm working on a project, I feel some anguish when the products I'm working with aren't doing what I want them to do!

But, this distressing is the F-U-N kind!

I started out with a 6x12 stretched canvas that I covered in papers from Tim Holtz' Lost and Found Paper Stash.  Then I used some thinner dictionary paper and covered the smaller canvases with it.  I did Tim's "fossil technique" to create the butterfly image on one of the larger protruding canvases.  When the butterfly "fossil" was dry, I lightly went over the it with Vintage Photo to make it pop.  Next, I wrapped the outer edge of the 6 x 12 canvas in Journeyman Tissue Tape.  After putting all of the smaller canvases in place, I applied various Distress Inks; including Fired Brick, Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain to the surface of the canvases and the Tissue Tape.  This gave some extra depth and color to my piece. 

I antiqued some of the elements I chose to use on my canvas by dabbing them with a Pool Paint Dabber.  I then wiped away the excess paint and left a patina looking finish to my Clock Face and the edging I created to use on portions of my smaller canvases.  I made the edging with Tim Holtz' Stripes Grungeboard and the On The Edge Ornate Die Cut.  I then painted it with Pitch Black and antiqued it with Pool Paint Dabbers.  I added Tim Holtz' Measuring Tape along the left side of my canvas.  You can see a lot of dark colorizing on the tape.  There is also darker colorizing in areas of the canvas where I used a graphite pencil to shade and even scribble in areas for added interest.

Then it was time to encase it all in Natural Beeswax!  I have to admit, I have not done a lot with beeswax and I'm a bit intimidated by it.  But, I melted it in my extra Project Pan of my Melting Pot and began to brush the hot beeswax all over my canvas.  Then I worked and smoothed the beeswax with my heated stylus.

The last step was adding all of my elements to the canvases.  I melted Black UTEE and poured it into a molded heart.  As soon as it cooled; which doesn't take long, I added some Antique Gold Rub 'N Buff to my heart, added some little wings and glued it in place.  Then I added my little porcelain doll head (love those things) and some other Ideaology elements to complete my canvas. 

So, now it's time for YOU to get DISTRESSING!!!  

Hop on over to the SIMON SAYS STAMP AND SHOW CHALLENGE blog and check out what my fabulously creative Design Team members have waiting for you to feast your eyes on!  Then link up your creation to our challenge blog!  YOU could be the lucky winner of our most generous sponsor's $50.00 credit voucher to be used at SIMON SAYS STAMP STORE! 

If your work is exceptional, you can be rewarded with our coveted TOP 3 BLINKIE AWARD to proudly display on your blog!  So, what are you waiting for?  Better get distressing!!!