BOOKS AND BLOSSOMS FOR CREATIVE CARTE BLANCHE

Greetings all!  Welcome to a new challenge over at Creative Carte Blanche!

It is our mission to inspire and support each other in this community.  We love to share our ideas, our techniques, our knowledge of products and get to know everyone who is traveling this art journey along with us. I hope you will join us and share your talent with us.

It is not our intent to recommend one product over another.  We, like everyone else, have certain products that we have found we love but they may not be the same ones you love.  So, please, by all means, use what you love and share them with us!

This month, the lovely and multi-talented Hels Sheridan is hosting our art adventure.  I think Hels is known for many things but particularly her beautiful dimensional flowers that she so often uses on her art pieces.  I for one love them!  So her theme of "Books and Blossoms" is a perfect theme from her.

I decided to create a couple of simple art journal pages for this theme because sometimes less is more and I really wanted to experiment more with my concentrated watercolors.  More about those in a minute...

I began by brayering white gesso and then some DecoArt Media Cobalt Teal Hue and a touch of Hansa Yellow Media Acrylic Paints onto the surface of a child's paper back book that I am altering into an art journal.  I let this dry and then moved on to the next step...

I brushed Matte Medium (any brand will work) onto the surface of the art journal pages and then pressed a piece of Tim Holtz' Terminology Tissue Wrap over the surface of the two pages. I chose this particular Tissue Wrap because I thought it was perfect for the "Book" portion of the theme; book text glued into an altered children's book!

I didn't want the book text to overpower my images that I would soon be adding to the pages, so I randomly scraped some white gesso over the print and let it dry.

Now for the "Blossoms" portion of the theme.  I sketched a flower pot and placed the stems from Tim Holtz' Flower Garden stamp set where I would want them to be arranged in the pot.

Next I painted the flower pot to look like a terra cotta pot using DecoArt's Media Fluid Acrylics.  First I brushed on a coat of Vermillon followed by Transparent Red Iron Oxide to add depth and shadows. Then I added Burnt Umber lightly along the shadowed sides and in the center to represent the dirt.

Next I masked the gentle curve of the flower pot so that when I stamped the stems in place using Jet Black Permanent Archival Ink, they would not stamp over the pot.  Next I painted the stems with DecoArt Titanium White Fluid Acrylics to cover any orange pot or brown dirt going up the stems.  When I paint them with green paint, I wanted them to be a uniform color of green up the entire stem.

Next I stamped three different flower tops from Tim Holtz' Flower Garden stamp set on top of the stems (using Jet Black Archival Ink) and heat set them.  

I broke out my Dr. Ph Martin's Concentrated Water Colors and began brushing color onto the flowers.  The concentrated colors are really vibrant and fun to manipulate with water and a small brush.

I moved from flower to flower, adding color, shading and bringing them to "life".  Then I heat set them dry.  Now, if they were to be touched with water again, the water would activate the watercolors, so I sprayed them with Krylon's Workable Fixative to seal them.

Next I sized some images of vintage seed packages that I saved on my computer.  I cut a piece of scrap paper to the size of the seed packets, cut the printed images a little larger than the kraft paper, wrapped the printed imaged onto the kraft paper and glued them in place using 1/4" Scor Tape.  I then distressed them using Ranger Vintage Photo and Ground Espresso Distress Inks on the edges.  I would be using a couple of them shortly on my art journal pages...

I wanted to add a little color to the background of my pages.  So using Ranger's ink applicators first with Peacock Feathers Distress Ink followed by Fossilized Amber, I created a soft, gentile background.  The left side is colored, the right side is not.  You can really see how the inks warm up the background.

I decided to use this sweet vintage girl from Tim Holtz' Found Relatives cards on my art journal pages.  I cut her out and colorized her using Neocolor II Watercolor Crayons.  This was a little tricky as there is a slick finish on the image.  So, I sprayed her with Workable Fixative first to sort of seal her and hopefully give some "tooth" to the surface.  It helped a little and I was able to add the color from the crayon and then smudge it in place using my fingertips.  When I tried to use the water brush, the color would just bead up.

Here is the arrangement of the vintage little girl amongst the seed packets and some little foliage from one of Wendy Vecchi's Build A Blossom stamp/stencil sets.  They are colored with a combination of the concentrated watercolors and the watercolor crayons.

Here is a photograph of the art journal pages at this point.  I have also added black acrylic paint around the edges of the pages to frame them.  But the top right has a very distinct bare spot.  That is where I planned for my sentiment to go.

I sketched "BLOOM" in place and then computer generated "where you are planted" to be cut and glued underneath "BLOOM".

I outlined the letters with a permanent black pen and then filled them in using a small detail brush and DecoArt Carbon Black Fluid Acrylics paint.  I really love how the black letters and black blocks pop on the page!

And once again...here are the finished pages.  Books and Blossoms ...
Bloom where you are planted.

I hope that your creativity blooms as you contemplate what you will create using this theme.  Then join us at Creative Carte Blanche by linking your project to our blog.  That way, you can share not only your art but your techniques and your step by step with everyone else.  It's so fun to learn new things from each other.

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!

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!