I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS IS THE LAST COMPENDIUM OF CURIOSITIES III CHALLENGE!

Hello everyone!

Well, here we are ... the very last challenge of the Compendium of Curiosities III Challenges.  Our FIRST CHALLENGE debuted on April 26, 2014.  It was Paint Marbling.  Do you faithful followers remember that one from over 15 months ago? 

My dear sweet friend, Ranger U Sister and Roommate at CHAs, Linda Ledbetter of L3 Studios, has done such a FABULOUS job hosting ALL of the Compendium of Curiosities Challenges.  Myself and all of the gals on the Curiosity Crew were so honored to have had Linda ask us to help her showcase Tim's amazing Volume III Compendium of Curiosities series of books.  A huge THANK YOU to her for bringing all of us together over the years to share our love of Tim Holtz' products and his techniques. 

I cannot tell you how much FUN this has been for me ... to share a piece of myself with all of you throughout this challenge, creating with some of the dearest people on the planet to me, and seeing all of the beautiful art that everyone who joined us shared with our community every challenge.  I am truly so thankful for each and everyone one of you ... for sharing your specials gifts, your hearts as you wrote your blogs and the inspiring, positive comments you left for me.  Your thoughts are so important to me!!  

I can tell you this ... we are not going away.  But more about that when we announce the winners of this last challenge ... so stay tuned for that!  

For our last challenge, we are turning to the last undone technique in the book!  It is on page 48 and it is titled "Layering Stencil: Monoprint".  Tim shows the same technique using either Distress Ink or Distress Paint, so take your pick or mix it up and use both!

Here is my final challenge project ... an art journal page using all sorts of Ideaology, Tim Holtz products and Tim's Distress Paints and Inks to create my backgrounds. 

Our most recent challenge was all about Altered Surfaces.  In that challenge, I paid tribute to my father with a completely altered vintage tobacco tin.  For this last challenge, I am continuing with my nostalgic look back.  This art journal page commemorates the day my mother and father said "I do".  They were married for a little over 49 years before my mother's early passing in 1995.  Daddy followed her 6 years later.  

I love creating vintage nostalgic pieces because they transport me back in time; when life seemed to be so innocent and less complicated.  I am once again in the presence of departed loved ones (if only through photographs or memories that are conjured up when dreaming of days gone by).  Memories come flooding back and for a while, I'm a child again surrounded by those feelings of peace and comfort and a sense that all is right with the world.

Hopefully you have a few minutes to watch the transformation of my art journal page(s) unfold.  I began with an soft cover childrens' book that I am altering into an art journal.

Here are my basic pages with just a bit of White Gesso and a soft yellow acrylic paint added to it that was then brayered over the pages.  You can still see some of the images and text peeking through the Gesso.

After using Tim's Distress Paints:  Rusty Hinge, Cracked Pistachio and Adirondak Espresso and several layers of stencils:  Cargo, Latticework, Splatters, Bubble, Crackle and Mesh, I added some Distress Inks: Hickory Smoke, Fossilized Amber and Walnut Stain for more depth.  These are the new and improved art journal pages.  Since I was using a combination of both acrylic paint and inks, I decided to seal my pages by spraying them lightly with Workable Fixative (a clear, fast drying arerosol sealer).

Once the technique was complete, it was time to start making my embellishments for the art journal page.

I decided I wanted to collage the art journal page with some of Tim's Ideaology pieces. They needed to be flat (because they are in an art journal) yet have that vintage "personality" that would compliment that nostalgic theme that I was looking to create.

I began with one of the largest pieces from Tim's Pocket Cards.  I loved the heading of this piece "The Story Begins" ... perfect!  I added the beautiful butterfly from Tim's Crowded Attic Salvage Stickers.  I stippled the entire piece with a stippling brush and Antique Linen Distress Paint to sort of blend it all together.  Then I lightly added Tattered Rose Distress Stain to the butterfly.  The tag is distressed with Frayed Burlap then Walnut Stain then Black Soot just around the edges of the tag. I attached a piece of dainty vintage lace between two Washers and Long Fasteners that have been given a patina look with Cracked Pistachio Distress Paint (using my finger).  Finally, I gently held my finger on the spray nozzle of a can of Honey Stain and created the age spots that appear on the tag.  Within a minute or two, this new piece of paper was transformed back to 1946 ... the year my parents married.

I wanted to add a photograph to this page and the Mini Cabinet Card frame was the perfect size!  But, the paper sort of has a slick, almost shiny finish.  So, I scuffed it up a bit using a sanding block.  Then I distressed the Cabinet Card with Antique Linen over the entire frame, Vintage Photo and finally Black Soot Distress Inks more around the edges.  I also made sure that the white paper edge on the inside of the frame was darkened with a Black Soot Distress Marker.  

If you look at old photo albums, they often had gold embossing on the ornate frames.  So, I tried to mimic that a bit by brushing Gold Acrylic Paint from an Adirondak Paint Dabber onto areas of the ornate design printed on the Cabinet Card.

Hopefully you can see the gold randomly added to the ornate brown printed trim.  It is sort of tough to photograph but in person, when the light hits it, it's worth the extra time to add the gold paint.

And here is the aged Mini Cabinet Card.  I really like the aged version for this art journal page.  It's much more believable that it is an aged piece with all of the distressing and scuffing.  The photograph is of my parents cutting their wedding cake.  So young, so much in love and their whole lives ahead of them.

Another addition to this page was a miniature copy of my parent's wedding invitation.  I aged it with Tea Dye Distress Ink followed by a touch of Gathered Twigs and Black Soot just at the edges.  (You will see it in future closeup pictures).  

My parent's wedding began at 8 o'clock.  So, I created this vellum clock from Tim's Thrift Shop Vellum Ephemera Pack.  I glued the clock onto white cardstock and distressed the edges with various brown inks and paints.  Then I added the distressed clock hands.  They were originally an antique silver color and I distressed them to look like patina gold using Gold Adirondak paint and Cracked Pistachio Distress Paint.  Again, I used my fingers to do the distressing.

I wanted to layer another of the large tags from Tim's Pocket Cards.  I distressed this one using Tattered Rose Distress Ink and distressed the edges with Gathered Twigs and a touch of Black Soot around the edges.  I also colored some white seam tape to create a soft pink "vintage' ribbon.

To color the seam tape, you can simply place the ribbon on your Non Stick Craft Mat, place the Distress Ink pad face down on top of the ribbon and pull it from one side to the other of the ink pad.  Then spritz the ribbon with a little water, wad it up and heat set it dry.  This creates a shabby, wrinkled ribbon.  (You can also mix and blend Distress Ink colors using this same method).

I colored enough ribbon to create a band cross the Pocket Card and also to create a shabby bow.  I then distressed a Typed Token using Cracked Pistachio Distress Paint and my finger to create a patina look on the metal token.  "Adore" was the perfect sentiment for this page!  I slipped the token through a Mini Safety Pin and attached it to the center of my shabby bow.

I also used a couple of Tim's Elementary Flash Cards and Label Letters to create that ever so popular phrase said in wedding vows, "To Love And Cherish". These were distressed around the edges with Gathered Twigs and a touch of Black Soot just on the ends.

Here is a better photograph of the layering of the butterfly Pocket Card, the miniaturized wedding invitation and a portion of the Label Letters and Flash Cards.  I love the monoprint stencil layering technique in the background.

And here is a better closeup of the "To Love and Cherish" Flash Cards layered with the Mini Cabinet Card, the shabby bow and the attached Typed Token.  Finally, I added a strip of very vintage looking silver trim across the bottom of my art journal page.  This is from Tim's Frame and Trims Industrial Stickers.  So many wonderful little intricate metal trims and frames to choose from!

I'm not sure what I will do on the page across yet ... but I wanted to share what that monoprint stencil layering looked like as well.

So there it is ... sadly, my last piece for this rendition of the Compendium of Curiosities III Challenges.

Linda Coughlin of The Funkie Junkie Boutique is hosting this, our last challenge.  She has generously donated $25.00 for every other challenge and we would like to sincerely THANK her for her support throughout. 

Please stop by her online store and check out all of her wonderful and unique items as well as all of Tim's products and other favorites!  

I would also like to thank the wonderful folks at Inspiration Emporium for their generous $50.00 gift certificate donated every other challenge.  Their support has also been so appreciated and I know that those of you who won our random drawings have really enjoyed these lovely gift certificates from BOTH of our sponsors.

And last but certainly not least ... where would we be without Tim Holtz and Mario Rossi?  These two dear men have provided ALL of the Tim Holtz products that we were able to divide into REALLY NICE overflowing prize packages for every one of our challenges.  THANK YOU doesn't seem like enough to say for all of their support and generosity ... but thank you from the bottom of my heart.  You guys are so special!

So now, please join us for our last challenge.  Just enter your art created using Tim's Layering Stencil: Monoprint technique.  As always, there will be TWO winners ... one voted on by the Curiosity Crew and the other from a random number selection.

Good luck and THANK YOU AGAIN for ALL of your support!

The Compendium of Curiosities III may be coming to an end but we girls are not!  Be sure to check back when we announce the winners for this challenge in two weeks and see what what's next for us girls! 

For me personally, I am so proud to be a member of DecoArt's International Design Team. Their NEW Media Line of paints and other mixed media mediums are simply amazing!

I will continue creating art and tutorials that can be seen on the DecoArt Mixed Media Blog and also on Facebook.  So I hope you'll come along for that new journey.  There are so many talented artists from all over the world sharing their techniques, talents and art with you.  Be sure to check it out.

And ...

Just a reminder that if you've enjoyed hangin' with us girls here at the Compendium of Curiosities III Challenges, you might want to consider hangin' with us in beautiful Costa Rica, September of 2016!  We're "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Paints" and we'd LOVE to just have one huge creativing extravaganza with all of you!

ALTERED VINTAGE TOBACCO TIN

Hello blogging friends! I'm so glad that you've stopped by to see what's new at

 Creativity Is Contagious!

It's time for OUR NEXT TO LAST CHALLENGE at Linda Ledbetter's really fun and inspiring 

COMPENDIUM OF CURIOSITIES III CHALLENGES.  This is number 33 of 34.  Can you believe that we've already covered all but ONE of Tim Holtz' wonderful products or techniques that he's expounded on in his Compendium of Curiosities III book?  TIME FLIES!

The Curiosity Crew has some wonderful projects just waiting to share with you at the Compendium Challenge so be sure to check that out. This next to last challenge is a favorite of mine.  Turn to page 45 in your books and feast your eyes on "ALTERED SURFACES". 

I am really getting into manipulating acrylic paints. I totally LOVE that they can be super opaque or with a bit of water or another medium added in, they can be semi transparent to almost transparent.  You can get some amazing results using acrylic paints! 

ALTERED SURFACES is all about using Tim's Distress Paints to achieve some very cool effects; from a chipped metal look to aged and rusted ... whatever your heart desires.

For my project, I chose to alter the surfaces of some of Tim's wonderful Ideaology pieces.

This is a vintage tobacco can that I have transformed into a little vintage piece that could be used to hold ATC cards, a gift tin containing gift cards or just a little home decor piece. 

This piece is very special to me because the vintage photograph is of my father when he was a senior in high school.  He was a member of the ROTC squad and was a "crack rifleman" at the tender age of 18.  Pretty much right after this photograph was taken, my father entered the draft and served this country in the Pacific Theater during World War II.  A proud Veteran, I dedicate this piece to him.  I miss him and love him with all my heart.

Let's explore how this altered vintage tobacco tin came to be ...

I began with this vintage tin that I bought at a flea market for $2.50.  The paper behind it is from Tim Holtz' Destinations Paper Stash.  I used a section of this paper to cover the tin.  I used 1/4" Scor Tape around all sides and intermittently placed on the tin itself to hold the paper in place. 

Notice that the tin is a weathered silver color and already has some rust and aging on it.  But, I will transform it with the help of Tim's Distress and other Ranger and DecoArt products.

Here is the tin with the Destinations paper on it.  Nice but really boring and plain!  I brushed on a light coat of DecoArt's really wonderful Media Ultra Matte Varnish.  This sealer truly gives a soft, matte finish and I love the way it makes the surface feel. I added the Ultra Matte Varnish now so that if I decided to add paint or some other medium to the paper surface, I did not want it to soak into the paper.

In this photograph, you can see the before and after of Tim's Altered Surfaces technique (you will need to read the instructions in the book to see exactly HOW this is done).  On my tin, I've done some variations to the Altered Surfaces technique shown in the book.

I created trim for the top and bottom of my altered tin using these silver metal strips from Tim's Borders Industrial Stickers.  I used a combination of Crackled Pistachio, Rusty Hinge and Gathered Twigs Distress Paints to totally transform the surface from shiny silver to a weathered, rusted, patina metal look. 

I also employed this same technique on the exposed metal parts of the tobacco tin.  To give an even more patina look, I used a stippling brush to add extra Cracked Pistachio paint to areas of the trim and the altered metal surfaces.

What a difference! From a sort of rusted silver finish to this really lovely weathered antique gold, rusty patina look!  Now it was time to start adding my embellishments!

I had an ornate plate cut out of Grungeboard laying around.  It worked perfectly behind my Tim Holtz Industrial Stickers Frame.  I sized the photograph of my father and stuck it behind the already self adhesive metal sticker frame.  It has a nice antique brushed nickel color already.  So, I decided to sort of keep with that by covering the Grungeboard first with Brushed Pewter followed by Adirondak Pitch Black acrylic paint. It wasn't a perfect match but I was going to do A LOT more altering of the surface to this frame! 

Using basically the same paint colors (exchange Adirondak Espresso for Gathered Twigs acrylic paint), I totally transformed one of Tim's Typed Tokens.  If you look in the photograph, you can see that they are a brushed nickle color.  Compare the new and improved "aged, rusted and patina" look by altering the surface of the silver metal! Love it!

Here is the back side of my little altered frame made out of Grungeboard.  I am showing you this to further convince you just how much this altering surfaces technique using acrylic paints REALLY is amazing!  Here is the grungy PAPER surface ...

And here are two of the embellishments finished and ready to add to the altered tin.  Both altered using Tim's Altering Surfaces technique and the same acrylic paints shown above.  AMAZING TRANSFORMATION!!   I added two distressed Long Fasteners to the frame to give more of the impression that the frame is actually riveted into the altered tin. 

I also added a bit of DecoArt's Amazing Media Quinacridone Gold and Media Transparent Yellow Iron Oxide to both surfaces to give a more rusted, deep rich aged tone to the pieces to make them look even more metallic. I LOVE how they turned out!  

Inside of the frame, to protect the photograph, I first brushed a light matte varnish over the copy paper photograph to seal it.  I heat set that dry and then added a light coat of DecoArt's Media Crackle Glaze over the photograph.  

** TIP - I USED JUST A VERY LIGHT COAT OF THE DECOART CRACKLE GLAZE OVER THE FACE BECAUSE I DIDN'T WANT TO DISTORT IT IN ANY WAY. I APPLIED THE GLAZE A BIT MORE LIBERALLY AROUND THE EDGES OF THE FRAME. THE MORE GLAZE YOU APPLY, THE MORE CRACKLED THE SURFACE BECOMES.  BUT THESE CRACKLES ARE MORE LIKE A PORCELAIN CRACKING, NOT DEEP CRACKLES.

Once the DecoArt Crackle Glaze air dried, I added a light wash of water and DecoArt Media Transparent Yellow Iron Oxide to the perimeter of the frame to give it a more aged look.  I love the deep, rich sepia tones the wash added to the photograph.  You can actually see the crackling in the photograph.  Really a GREAT vintage look!

I used the same altering techniques to alter Tim's Heart Charms that originally come in the brushed nickle finish to match my other altered Ideaology pieces. There are several images of paper hearts to chose from that comes with the Heart Charms.  These fit in the metal heart and then are covered with a clear cabochon that no only seals and protects the paper heart but magnifies the image.  I LOVE these sweet little charms!  

In the photograph above, you can see how I altered the more white paper surface to look more aged and weathered ... like the metal heart it is encapsulated in. To do this, I simply brushed a touch of the DecoArt Media Transparent Yellow Iron Oxide wash to the surface of the paper heart and kept adding layers of it plus a touch of an Acrylic Paint Espresso wash just around the edges.  I heat set it, added the self adhesive cabochon heart over it and instant aging! 

I like things that dangle and move.  So I decided to take this Ideaology Memo Pin and bend over to create something I could clip onto my altered tin that could serve as a charm holder as well.  The Memo Pin on the left has been bent to clip onto my altered tin.  The pin on the right is what they originally look like.

Another fun way to alter a surface that is not part of this technique, is to use Distress Stains! 
 Remember I had previously sealed the paper surface with a coat of DecoArt Media Ultra-Matte Varnish so that I could add more layers.  I carefully sprayed some Walnut Stain Distress Ink Spray onto the paper to give it an even more interesting aged look.  If I had not liked my spray, I could have easily wiped it off because I had sealed my paper.  But, I LOVED the randomness of the splatter. I did this randomly over the entire surface of the paper on the tin.  I really like the character that the spray adds and it is a more convincing aged look!

Here is a closeup look at my charms assemblage hanging from the altered tin.  These consist of Tim's Type Charms (at the top), his Ideaology Typed Token, and finally Tim's Heart Charm.  All are joined together, hanging from the Memo Pin by one of Tim's Wire Pins and small Jump Rings to form the chains.  All metal pieces were altered using the acrylic paints and Tim's altered surfaces technique.

Here is a closeup of the totally transformed silver top of the can and the silver trim into the rusted, patina finish.

Here is the finished rusty frame.  I added "1942", the year this photograph was taken to the frame using Tim's Label Letters that were glued onto a piece of distressed cardstock and cut out, leaving just a tiny border around the numbers.  Using Glossy Accents, I glued the numbers to the frame. 

Here is the back side of the tin with the added Walnut Stain spray and the very faux weathered, rusted and patina finish to the lid.

   A simple project to do but what a keepsake it can be ... or a great gift idea to really personalize a gift card or ATC holder for a friend or loved one!

Thanks so much for joining me on this creative journey of the Altered Surfaces tin!

Now it's YOUR turn to create something wonderful using the Altered Surfaces technique and enter our COMPENDIUM OF CURIOSITIES III CHALLENGE.

Our sponsors this week are the lovely folks at Inspiration Emporium.  They have been so generous throughout our entire challenge by donating a $50.00 gift certificate with each of their sponsor weeks.  A huge "THANK YOU" to them!  You can purchase all of Tim's wonderful products at their wonderful online store!

And of course, Tim and Mario donated a mountain of Tim's amazing products to be divided up and given away with every challenge.  "THANK YOU" doesn't seem enough to say to these two super sweet guys.  They are amazing! 

So, join us today and share your amazing art with everyone in our fun little community of Tim Holtz technique and product lovers!

And also ... as a reminder, many of the Curiosity Crew will be traveling to COSTA RICA in September of 2016 with the inspiring Jim West and his fabulous Craft Tours!  We will calling ourselves "THE SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PAINTS". 
CLICK ON THE PHOTOGRAPH ABOVE to be taken to the Craftour website for more details. 

Good luck with this challenge's Altered Surfaces! 

Is it raining where you are?  It's been raining off and on all week here!

I NEED some SUNSHINE!  But, at least when it's raining outside,

you can be spending time in the craft room and that is exactly what I have done.

Welcome to challenge number THIRTY ONE out of thirty four of the 

Compendium of Curiosities III Challenges hosted by the lovely Linda Ledbetter.  The multi talented Curiosity Crew has once again created an array of very creative pieces to inspire you.

This challenge showcases the products, techniques and style of the one and only 

Tim Holtz. We invite you to join in on the fun and create your own original art and link to our challenge. There are two chances to win with each challenge and you can win some really generous and wonderful prizes!

Speaking of the Compendium of Curiosities III Challenges, have you guys seen the entries to our last challenge using the Faux Cracked Glass technique?  If not, you really need to check them out! There is some seriously fabulous technique and art there!

Back to THIS challenge ... turn to page 47 in your Compendium of Curiosities III books and check out the Layering Stencil: Paint Resist technique. 

Here are my finished art journal pages done with Tim's technique in the background.  While I can't share the actual technique with you ... that is what you need the book for ... I will share with you all of the products I used and the steps leading up to and following the actual Layering Stencil: Paint Resist technique.  I will also share some little tips with you along the way.  

If you follow my blog, you know that I love to create as I go ... nothing pre planned ... just got for it.  I paint more with my fingers and baby wipes than I do a brush. At least for me, when I work this way, I seem to get  more "into" what I'm doing and I "feel" the surfaces and direction my project wants to go much better than when my hands are clean.  I hope that makes sense. 

Okay, let's get started talking about these latest Compendium of Curiosities III Challenge inspired art journal pages.

I really love altering things.  When I have some free time, I've been altering pages in a paperback children's book that was given to me; in effect, creating my own art journal! 

While art journals are nice, with a little imagination, you can pretty much make one out of anything!

The pages measure 8" x 9" each ... plenty of room to play, experiment and create!  I began this art journal spread by covering the pages above with a generous coat of White Gesso, using a palette knife.

Once I spread the Gesso, I let it air dry.  I love using Gesso on top of a substrate because it gives me a totally different surface to work on.  It allows some of the images from the pages below to still show through (depending on how heavy I apply the Gesso) and it provides me with a surface that will accept a lot of different mediums I may chose to work with.

Once the Gesso was dry, I began adding some of Tim's Distress Paint to the surface to soften the stark white background. I used a baby wipe to apply the color.  I began with Scattered Straw, a wonderful soft vintage yellow-ish golden color.

To the Scattered Straw, I added the rich and orange-ish Wild Honey followed by Tim's new luscious green Cracked Pistachio Distress Paints. Again, I was working with a baby wipe to apply the paint to my art journal pages.  Then I heat set them to speed up the drying process.

I love the richness of this background!  The colors dry to a beautiful matte finish.  But, as I was about to discover, to do the Layering Stencil: Paint Resist Technique, Tim's Distress Inks did not want to adhere to my slick new surface.

So, I sealed them with some clear drying Matte Medium.  I used a brush to apply the Matte Medium and gently heat set it to dry.  Then I lightly sanded the pages so that the inks would grab to my modified surface.

Using Tim's Layering Stencil Paint Resist Technique, I went to work.  In the photo above, you can see a closeup of my pages with all of the layers of color and stenciled images.

The resist paint portion of this technique was done using Picket Fence Distress Paint and Tim's Numbered and Splotches Stencils.

To create all of the layers of color on top, I used the following Distress Ink Colors:

Fired Brick, Wild Honey, Peacock Feathers, Gathered Twigs, Ripe Persimmon, Twisted Citron, Mermaid Lagoon

The Tim Holtz Stencils I used to create the layers of images were:  Bubble, Harlequin, Cargo, Bricked and Latticework.  

If you look closely, you can see most of those stenciled images in the photo above.

Remembering that I was working with Distress Inks and that they are water soluable (meaning that they will change or can be removed with water), I decided to spray seal my pages before going forward.  So I chose a clear, matte sealer and lightly sprayed the surface of the pages then gave it a bit of a heavier coat to seal my pages ... for whatever I may decide to add to them next.

And here is a larger picture of the finished Layered Stencil: Paint Resist Technique pages.  I am always amazed at how much depth you can achieve by layers upon layers of color and images.  And you NEVER get the exact same look twice!  (Before I began adding my embellishments to the pages, I used a messy, artsy script stamp from Dina Wakley's Textures stamp set to randomly add touches of black and yet another pattern to the pages.  The black stamping really pops the characters and marbles I was about to add.

My pages were really bright with color and have a very whimsical feeling to me.  So, I decided to add some character from Dyan Reaveley's stamp sets.  They are fun and who doesn't love playing with paper dolls???

So I stamped some of her funky people with mix and match body parts onto some Specialty Stamping Paper using Jet Black Archival Ink. (Heat set the black permanent ink.) I brought them to life using Tim's Detailer Water Brush and various colors of his Distress Inks.  I heat set all of the characters, fussy cut around them, leaving a white border and glued heads to bodies.

Some of the Distress Ink colors I used to paint onto my characters are:  Ripe Persimmon, Squeezed Lemonade, Cracked Pistachio, Mermaid Lagoon, Tumbled Glass, Festive Berries, Gathered Twigs, Picked Raspberry, Peacock Feathers, Tea Dye, Fossilized Amber and Tattered Rose and Scattered Straw when mixed together make a great flesh tone then add Tattered Rose for the cheeks.

These images were mixed and matched from the following Dyan Reavely stamp sets:  Pondering Petunia, Dependable Dotty, Doolally Dorris, Traveling Travis, and Rainbow Ruby (not all pictured above).   I also used two sentiments from Dyan's newest Laugh 'Til You Leak stamp set.  The sentiments were actually what inspired these art journal pages ... "Who left the bag of idiots open?" and "You may not have lost all your marbles but there's definitely a hole in the bag."   

I decided that I would need a bag and also some marbles to go along with my "idiots" I'd just created.  So, I wiped some Distress Paint onto a Non Stick Craft Sheet, spritzed just a bit of water, swiped a Manila Tag through the paint, gently spritzed it again and let the colors run and move on the tag and I gently heat set it.  You can repeat this process until you get the layers and the look you are going for.

Once I was happy with my colors for my "marbles", I punched them out of the tags, using various sizes of circle punches.  I inked the edges in black using my Black Soot Distress Pen and added a white highlight on each one using a Uni Posca pen.

Here is a closeup of the marble bag that I added to the left side of my page ... full of my marbles and "idiots".  I cut the back of this Glassine Bag (measuring 4" x 6 1/2". I also tore a piece out of the bag so that the marbles could "escape" from the bag, as suggested in the sentiment.

Then I began at the bottom, gluing my marbles in place using Glossy Accents on the front of the marbles to stick them to the glassine front of the bag.  I chose a glassine bag so that the marbles and my "idiots" would clearly show through.  I continued this process, stacking the marbles and adding the heads, body and sentiment.

I glued the bag in place and added shading around the bag using a Graphite Pencil, a Detailer Water Brush and my finger to blend in the grey shadowing effect. I love the depth it adds.  Next, I added the character standing to the left and shaded around her as well.  The umbrella and shadowing was added at the top of the page and I began to add the marbles spilling out of the bag. Once they were glued in place with Glossy Accents, I added Glossy Accents to the tops of the marbles and let it air dry, to add a glossy dimension to the marbles.

The characters on the right were glued in place using Glossy Accents.  Then I added the marbles underneath them in the same manner I had done on the opposite page.  I shaded around all of these elements using the Graphite Pencil, water brush and my finger to blend.

Once the sign toting characters were in place and the marbles were dry, I added black sketching lines around the marbles and the characters using a Black Permanent Pen.  I really like the lines as I think they add a bit of fun and whimsy to the pages.

Finally, I added some random white circles that were added using the cap from a bottle of white paint, dipped into the paint and randomly "stamped" onto the pages.  Using my finger, I added some random swipes of black acrylic paint to the edges of pages to sort of frame them and pull everything together. 

So there you have it ... my art journal pages using Tim's Layering Stencil: Paint Resist technique in my background.

I hope you've enjoyed going through the process with me and this has inspired you to join in the fun at the Compendium of Curiosities III Challenge.

Our wonderful sponsor for this challenge are the good folks at 
INSPIRATION EMPORIUM. 

They have generously donated a $50.00 gift certificate for every other challenge and we thank them so much for their participation!

And our other over the top prize packages full of Tim Holtz products have been donated for every challenge by Tim and Mario!  
We thank them so much for their generosity and support!

So what are you waiting for?  You would be one of our lucky winners!

Good luck!