BE THANKFUL BLOG HOP AND TUTORIAL

Hello there!  How is your week going?

I am pleased to be a part of a joint Blog Hop for Craft Hoarders Anonymous and My Artistic Adventures. The theme for this blog hop is "THANKS" ... very appropriate for this time of year, don't you think?  Now, your project doesn't necessarily have to be about Thanksgiving, but "THANKS" needs to be included somewhere.

This will not be a blog hop where you have to go from one blog to another to get the next link.  Each of us are listing all of the designers participating and you can visit whoever, whenever. So let's get started with all of the gals participating ...

Heather Hudson of My Artistic Adventures ~ Host & Sponsor 
Gloria Stengel of Craft Hoarders Anonymous ~ Sponsor

Amber Milone of Pink Chic
Christy Butters of Creating With The Girls
 Debbie Seyer of A Peek Into My Stamping Room
 Donna Idlet of Creative Lady
Ginny Nemchak of Polly's Paper
Glenda Brooks of Magpie's Corner
Helene of 2amScrapper
Shawn of Poetry In A Pot Of Tea
Carol of Scrappy Daze
Lizette of MrsBeez
Sandi of Scrapbookin' With G
And myself...but you're already here!!

Have fun as you hop from blog to blog seeing everyone's "take" on this challenge theme.  In keeping in the spirit of using "hoarded" items to create for the Craft Hoarders challenges, everything except Heather's collage sheet images was made from stuff I have proudly hoarded and forget that I have from time to time.  (smile)

Heather Hudson of My Artistic Adventures is not only co-hosting this event but 
she is also sponsoring it with a
 $25.00 gift certificate to her Etsy Store.  

And ... she is also hosting her own sponsored challenge at her My Artistic Adventures Blog with another $25.00 gift certificate! So be sure to check out her blog for all of the details and enter it as well as this challenge!

Now...onto the "THANKS" challenge!

I will gladly share with you what I created and how I did it.

I have chosen three different collage sheets from Heather's vast array of fun images to create my little "thanks" scene that could be used in several different ways.

 

Here is my finished project featuring Heather's images, a Tim Holtz Postage Stamp Die cut frame, and several other die cuts from Simon Says Stamp and Memory Box die cuts.  This could be mounted on a canvas background to be used as a wall hanging, pieced as card fronts or as I have chosen to do here; create a little scene that can be free standing on a table. 

Here are several parts of the parts I have used in my piece. The Bingo Card, the little girl sitting next to the pumpkin and the harvest man in the moon are all Heather Hudson designs and are available in her ETSY shop.

The picket fence, postage stamp frame are Tim Holtz and the banners and tree are either Simon Says or Memory Box die cuts.

The picket fence is cut on a piece of plain grungeboard and crackled using Picket Fence Distress Paint and Gathered Twigs distressing. 

I began by die cutting three frames using Tim's Postage Stamp and middle Sized Rectangle die cut out of black chipboard.  I glued them together then I coated them with Distress Embossing Ink.  Next I sprinkled Vintage Photo Distress Embossing Powder randomly over the black inked frame and wiped away some of it with my finger, creating a random pattern of powder with black showing through.  Then I repeated this step using Tea Dye Distress Embossing Powder and heat set them to the chipboard. I absolutely LOVE the grainy texture of the frame and the almost rusted appearance of it.

I ran my finger with some gold paint from Paint Dabber over the edges of the frame to highlight the edges and give a more distinct appearance. 

Next I used Tim's smaller ray Texture Fade on my vintage Bingo card. I then highlighted the rays with the Gold Paint Dabber followed by a light topping of White Fire Treasure Gold Guilding Wax.  I also added some White Fire to the man in the moon to give him that warm, harvest glow.  I glued the Bingo card in place on the back side of the frame, pop dotted my man in the moon in place and laid my frame to the side.

Next it was time to make some little autumn leaves for my tree die cut out of brown cardstock, distressed with Walnut Stain Distress Ink and given a "moon glow" with the Gold Paint Dabber.

 

I sprayed some manila cardstock with Dylusions Pure Sunshine, Tangerine Dream and Postbox Red.  I also dabbed some of the punched leaves with Pine Needles Distress Ink to give them a greenish cast.

Once the leaves were punched out,  I began gluing them to the tree and the picket fence with Glossy Accents.

I decided on this banner for my "THANKS".  I cut it down to the size I needed it to be and transformed it from plain manila cardstock to flags colored with Scattered Straw topped with a touch of Rusty Hinge and the "string" is Vintage Photo Distress Marker.  I wrote "THANKS" on the flags using a small Brown Permanent Marker then covered the flags with Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint.  I also added Rock Candy to the pumpkin sitting by the little girl.

I decided to take a small battery operated tea light and add it to my scene. I painted the top of the light with Gathered Twigs Distress Paint. 

I added Tim's Tissue Tape all around the outside edge and then distressed it with Rusty Hinge.  Finally, I added some more leaves using Glossy Accents.

Once all of the elements were complete, I simply needed to glue, pop dot and put everything together.  Here is a closeup of the frame portion of my scene with the man in the moon shining his rays of light onto the tree.

Here is a photo of the tree portion of my scene, catching the moonlight as the little vintage girl sits quietly underneath resting against her pumpkin and gathering the falling leaves

And here is a photo of the finished piece without the tea light.

"THANKS" for checking out my blog and I hope that I've inspired you to join in on the fun of Heather's Blog Hop in conjunction with Craft Hoarders Anonymous' Challenge and also Heather's challenge at My Artistic Adventures.

I hope you have fun hopping around from blog to blog and that you get all sorts of "THANKS" ideas from everyone you visit!

HAVE FUN!!

LAYER IT! ~ A CRAFT HOARDERS ANONYMOUS CHALLENGE

It's Monday!  

Welcome to my blog and my other Guest Designer Spot for Gloria Stengel's Craft Hoarders Anonymous Challenge.  The name of this challenge blog cracks me up because there are SO MANY OF US HOARDERS OUT THERE!!

This challenge is being sponsored by Lindy's Stamp Gang and Add A Little Dazzle. THANK YOU to these fine folks for their sponsorship!

For this challenge, we are asked to pull out all of our hoarded goodies and layer them up!  It could be papers, laces, buttons and trims.  It could be inks, texture pastes, paints and glitters.  It could be stamps, rubons, dies and punches.  Whatever you've got ... layer it up and join in on the fun of this challenge.

Grab a cuppa something and I hope you will enjoy this creative journey I am sharing with you as I definitely "LAYERED IT"!

The project I created is truly fitting for this challenge as it is layers upon layers of pockets and tags and flaps. Half of the pockets have layers upon layers of all sorts of things to create unique designs on each one.  I will open the box and reveal all of the layers in a minute.  But first, let me tell you about the box itself ...

This is a wonderful pattern by my friend, Jim The Gentleman Crafter.  It is appropriately called "The Falling Photo Box" and the pattern is available in his Etsy Store. Click HERE to whisk you away to the store and all of his amazing patterns. 

The box is a very showy piece measuring approximately 7 1/2" x 5 1/2". From the outside, it looks like an interesting but regular vintage box. But ... open it up and ...

Wha-lah!  The sides fall down and there are cascasdes of pockets and flaps and tags for journaling and matting treasured photographs!  Now you see what I mean about layers upon layers??

Just the exterior of the box contains several layers:  heavy chipboard, glue, Scor Tape, patterned cardstock, ink, lots of Tim Holtz Ideaology pieces including Box Corners, Pedestal Legs, a Pull Knob, a Monocle, Vial, Light Bulb, Link Chain, Enamel Tag with Rubons and ink, Type Charm, Cash Key and Collage Keys.  

While I would love to give you the step by step in creating this fabulous box, that would not be fair to Jim The Gentleman Crafter.  So, I will share as much as I can about the layers involved. You can purchase the easy to follow instructions from Jim and get all of the construction instructions from him.

After creating the exterior box and covering it with some papers I've had for a long time from Tim Holtz' French Industrial and Prima's Engravers, it was time to make all of the components for the interior.  I used papers from Prima's Ledger Pad to create all of the pockets.  

There are 17 pockets in all.  They all started out as pictured above ... the Ledger Pad paper that I then distressed with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink.  I used the lesser scripted papers to give half of the pockets their own special look.

For example ... here is one of the pockets in the beginning stages. I pulled out and tore some old book text; then distressed it with Gathered Twigs ink. Since this is a photo box, I really liked the sentiment on this piece of ribbon that I've had forever. So, I added the distressing with Gathered Twigs. I also liked the Prima brads. I would add more layers to this pocket, but this seemed like a good start.

Here is the finished pocket.  There are at least FOURTEEN layers on this: the base cardstock, the ink, the glue and Scor Tape used in adhering all of this pocket together, the "journey" stamp and ink, the distressed book text, the sentiment ribbon, the brad, the Journaling Ticket, the Remnant Rubons on the Journaling Ticket and the harlequin design on the pocket, the Tissue Tape of the eye glasses, the filmstrip, the measuring tape, the butterfly and dragonfly stamps, the Perfect Pearls Powders and water to colorized the butterflies and dragonfly and the lace. 

As you can see, each layer adds something of interest to this pocket and contributes to the design.  Don't be afraid to layer!  It adds so much!  

In this Falling Photo Album, I used primarily Tim Holtz stamps but there are some other random ones as well. I also used a variety of tissue/washi tapes that I have had for a long time, old buttons and laces; whatever I thought might look neat. Nothing is new.

So, how do you build layers?  

Well, here is a step by step example of how I did another pocket:

I began with the basic distressed pocket made from the Ledger Pad.  Using Jet Black Archival Ink, I stamped this beautiful face from one of Tim's Classics stamp sets.

I cut a "mask" out of manila cardstock and laid it over the face image.  Then I laid this beautiful Finnabair Prima vintage doily stencil on top of the pocket and masked face.  The color spray is Heidi Swapp's Teal (my favorite color) Color Shine.

Removing the mask to reveal this lovely subtle shimmery pattern, I then colored the face using various Distress Inks and a Detailer Water Brush. You can already start to see the "warmth" that the added layers provide. I also added a striped ribbon using 1/4" Scor Tape across the bottom of the pocket for interest and also to hide the obvious line at the bottom of her neck.

Next I added a piece of torn fabric that I gesso'd on the backside of the fabric so that it would soften the color and allow me to stamp a sentiment on it. I have a friend, Andrea Ockey Parr who does some AMAZING stuff with fabric. This is one of her little tricks; to turn the fabric to the wrong side. You still get the color and pattern.  It's just not as vivid.  Adding the gesso on top further softens the fabric color and patterns and gives you a good base to stamp a sentiment. Leave the stringy stings. They are fun!

  

I added a little almost dry brushed gesso over her head to try to remove the obvious line up there. Next I did a little more stenciling above her head and blended the colors of the pocket with distress inks, further erasing that line. Now, it almost seems as if her face is emerging from the background, not stamped on top of it.  Here you also see the added sentiment to the fabric strip (glued on using Matte Multi Medium) and a vintage button with one organza rose from Tim Holtz' rose ribbon trimmings (sprayed with pink) that was hot glued in place.

So this pocket has a total of at least TWELVE layers: basic cardstock, glue, Scor Tape, hot glue, ribbon, vintage button, sprayed organza rose, torn fabric strip, gesso, inks, stamps, stencil (spray). 

  

Here is another pocket with stamping, Remnant Rubons, Filmstrip Ribbon, stamped images and sentiments, stencils (done with Distress Inks), Tiny Attacher staples, Perfect Pearls Powders (mixed with water and used more like a paint), Distress Inks to color the gentleman with a Detailer Water Brush. 

Still more stencils, stamps, Perfect Pearls Powders used as paints, Distress and Archival Inks, Tissue Tape, a button

  

A pocket mainly done with stamping and both Archival and Distress Inks, a ribbon running across the top held in place by 1/4" Scor Tape. There are less layers here but sometimes not as many layers is still very effective.

A little more "artsy fartsy" design using Tim Holtz' dressform and sentiments paired with red washi tape, Dina Wakley's script stamp and Tim Holtz' Queens Gold embossed wings stamp. The little red circles are from a little stamp set that I've had for ages and ages.

I love this washi butterfly tape and I thought it went perfectly with Tim's Papillon butterfly stamp.  All are colored with Distress Inks and a Detailer Water Brush.  The black circles are from dipping a paint lid into black paint and randomly "stamping" it on the pocket. The script is added using Texture Paste and a Crafter's Workshop 6x6 script stencil. 

I HAD to include this sweet little gentleman from Tim Holtz' Paris Memoir stamp set. He is one of my favorites. I masked the center of Tim's famous Weathered Clock stamp so that I could add the sentiment. I like the way it turned out. The elephant at the top of the clock face is from Tim's Tiny Things stamp set. I really like his randomness as well. 

Here are all eight of the special pockets I created for the Falling Photo Box.  I love how different each one is and it is the LAYERS that really give them depth, color, interest and design.

Once the pockets are all made, they need to be attached to the opposite sides of the box so that when the box opens, they will cascade out.  I used 1/4" Scor Tape to attach each of the pockets to their perspective "tabs" created out of black cardstock. 

Here is one side of the Falling Photo Box with all of the pockets in place.  See how they cascade?  Isn't that cool? The opposite side of the box also has this same arrangement of cascading pockets. To the left, you can see the back of the box with the "tabs" in place to attach large tags for journaling.

And here are the large journaling tags attached to the back side of the falling photo box.  They will also be layered in between the photo pockets when the box is folded up. Each is distressed and stamped with various (mostly Tim Holtz) stamps at the tops.  But, they are mostly left blank so that lots of journaling can be done ... or more photos or other ephemera could be added here as well.

When the box is folded up, this what the interior looks like:  layers upon layers of pockets and large tags. 

Yet ANOTHER layer coming up!  These are the blank tags made from manila cardstock that are slipped into each one of the pockets.  Photographs are to be mounted to them.

And here is the way the tags look inserted into the pockets as they cascade.  I love it!

And again ... here is the Falling Photo Box when it is removed from the legged base, the top is removed and the box is left to open similar to a square "exploding box" design.

NOW do you see why this Falling Photo Box was such a perfect project for this Layer It Challenge?  Layers, Layers Layers!!!

I hope that you've enjoyed this blog post and that somewhere in all of this, you found some inspiration to start rummaging through your hoarded goodies and create something with layers for the challenge.  The link up your design to the challenge.  You may be a winner!

Thanks for sharing part of your day with me and GOOD LUCK with the challenge!

HAPPY FALL Y'ALL CHALLENGE OVER AT CRAFT HOARDERS ANONYMOUS

Hello and welcome to my blog!  

I am sooo super excited and honored to be doing a couple of Guest Design spots for

 Gloria Stengel's Craft Hoarders Anonymous Challenge this month.  This is such a fun challenge and who among us is NOT a craft hoarder???

I am a HUGE craft hoarder and no, I'm not in any sort of treatment program!  I don't want help, I want more space!  haha  Seriously though, when I saw the theme for the first challenge... "Happy Fall Y'All", I was in love! 

I absolutely LOVE the fall season.  It is my favorite time of year with all of it's splendid color, that unmistakeable crispness in the air, the rustling of fallen leaves, the hearty soups and stews, the multiple craft fairs, all sorts of pumpkin bars and pies and particularly Halloween! I love Thanksgiving, too but Halloween is ... other than Christmas, my favorite holiday to decorate the house.  So, this was an easy challenge for me to come up with a theme!

I promised to create and share a Halloween Assemblage Clock when I wrote my blog post for my Christmas Assemblage Clock. I adore these little Assemblage Clocks and am fast becoming addicted to them!  Yes, I am a hoarder and I have a few more of these on hand. My Halloween clock sitting next to my Christmas clock just makes me smile!

Everything that I used on my clock was mostly out of my "Halloween stash". I have a couple of big plastic containers full of things I have collected over the years that I figured would come in handy when I create vintage Halloween pieces to decorate my home.

I began by painting my Assemblage clock with a basecoat of white gesso to give the shiny silver metal finish on the clock some "tooth" to grab the paint I would later be using. (Some people take their clocks completely apart before they paint them.  I don't). When the gesso was dry, I brushed over it with black acrylic paint. When that was dry, I added a middle coat of Americana's Crackle Medium and when that was dry, I added a top coat of an acrylic vintage pumpkin colored orange paint.

I added some Renaissance Treasure Gold Guilding Wax to the edges and randomly over the orange crackled surface of the clock.  You can see it glistening in this photograph. Then I hot glued the vintage black and orange beads (a garland I tore apart and restrung to fit) around the clock face. Finally, I added the vintage gold tinsel garland behind the bead garland.

Moving to the interior of my vintage Halloween clock ...

I created this "false back" just in case I decided to add Tim's little lantern or something to it. I used some scraps of paper that I save after making projects, put them together and used orange and black Distress Inks to colorize them.

Using Ranger's Black Diamond Embossing Powder, I heat embossed the numbers from Tim Holtz' Mercantile stamp set.  Then I simply cut them out and glued them onto my clock background.  I did not use the "6" because it would be covered up with other things.  I also added Gold Paint Dabber then Platinum Stickles to Tim's Mirrored Stars and let them dry. Once dry, I glued them in place on the background. (I later drew in a few more starts on the left side using the Platinum Stickles after my girls were in place). 

I found these darling little vintage children in one of my many vintage images folders that I have on my computer.  I sized them to fit in my clock and printed them out. I couldn't decide which one to use so I colored all of them and then waited to see which one emerged as the one who wanted to be a part of my clock.  

~ The Progression Of The Little Girls ~

The two little girls won. Their clothes are colored with Scattered Straw, Wild Honey and Spiced Marmalade Distress Inks using a Detailer Water Brush. Their little cheeks are blushed with Tattered Rose Distress Ink. I had decided to add dimensional witches hats to them, so I developed a pattern to fit their heads. (The girls were backed with kraft cardstock before I cut them out and edged with a Black Soot Distress Marker).

Here are the little girls with their little witch hats going on. They are cut from black cardstock and glued in place. The hat brims are elongated ovals that are slit in the center and slipped in place on their heads.  There is a small bead of glue on the back sides of their heads, holding them in place. The rest of the hats are actually rounded in the front and glued to the back of their heads.

I added black tulle to their hats as hat bands and a spooky shawl around the one little girl. The other little girl received her bat wings.  These were heat embossed onto manila cardstock using Black Diamond Embossing Powder and then outlined with Platinum Stickles.

Finally, I added a magic wand to the little bat girl.  This is a toothpick that I colored with Black Soot Distress Ink and added another of the gold and Platinum Stickles covered Mirrored Stars. I cut a slit at her hand and glued the toothpick in place in the back.

I made my own little spooky picket fence out of little pointy craft sticks (found at Hobby Lobby), painted white and then distressed with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink. I joined the pickets together with a thin wire.

Here is the completed picket fence, cut with a rounded bottom and ready for it's placement inside the clock.

Here are most of the interior things that I made out of stash of stuff. I stamped the vintage half moon from an Oxford Impressions stamp set that I have had for a long time. It is stamped onto Specialty Stamping Paper and colorized with Scattered Straw, Mustard Seed, Vintage Photo and blushed with Victorian Velvet Distress Inks.  I also added Platinum Stickles around the edges for a more vintage look.

I added the orange and black "31" Bingo piece to one of my little witches. Since I decided not to use a false back to add the Tim Holtz Lantern, I glued my completed circle onto the metal back of the clock and added a Platinum Stickles edge around the rest of the metal backing.  Once dry, it was ready to pop into place.

But now I needed to create the foreground scene of my clock.

Back to the plastic containers I went to dig out some miniature pumpkins and skulls.  I also added a little greenish mossy stuff for some color and I hot glued everything into place.  I added the picket fence and pulled it apart a little bit so when I got the back in place, you could more easily see the little girls and the magic wand.  The moon is held by a wire glued to the upper side of the clock interior.

I snapped the clock back in place and started working on the exterior embellishments.

I created these three charms from Tim Holtz' Charms Fragments and portions of vintage Halloween Post Cards that are saved on my computer.  I sized them to fit, glued them in place using Glossy Accents, cut off the excess paper and sanded them on the back side. The chains are some junk chains that I have and they are joined onto the charms by Tim Holtz Jump Rings.  I added them to the bell portion of the clock with larger Jump Rings around the handle.

The two vintage tags hanging on the one side of the clock.

The vintage witch tag hanging on the other.

The bats are heat embossed onto Manila Cardstock using Black Diamond Embossing Powder. They are edged with a Black Soot Distress Marker.  I cut out the bats and cut out a manila cardstock backing for them as well.  I distressed the backings and slipped a wire between them.  The wire is then wrapped around the handle on the clock so make the bats appear to be flying.  The Happy Halloween Banner is also heat embossed on Manila Cardstock using Black Diamond Embossing Powder.  I made my own banner and distressed it with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink, edged with Black Soot Distress Marker. It is hot glued in place. Finally, I added the spider webbing from my stash of spooky stuff stored in my good ol' plastic container.  The Happy Halloween stamp can be found on Tim Holtz' Mini Halloween 3 stamp set and the bats are from his Retro Halloween stamp set.

 Here is a photograph of the back of the clock.

Here is a closeup of the scene in side of the clock. These are sometimes hard to photograph with the glass clock front ... but you get the idea. 

As I was sifting through my stash of stuff, I ran across this little piece of metal fencing that was already rusted and everything! So I just hot glued some mini skulls (from Michaels) onto the prongs, bent the sides around and created a scary little fence that I could set in front of my clock if I so desired.

And here it is ... 

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog and checking out my vintage Halloween Assemblage Clock.  I hope that this tutorial has helped you and that you're all fired up and ready to create something to celebrate FALL!  Then link up to the challenge over at Craft Hoarder's Anonymous where you might win a fabulous prize from this challenge's sponsor,  POLLY'S PAPER STUDIO.

Good luck everyone!  See you again soon!