IT'S ALL ABOUT WENDY!!!

Good Monday morning everybody!  Last week's challenge was "Men Only"  This weeks' challenge is all about the girls....in particular....one very talented and super creative lady.... THE WeNdY VecCHi of Studio 490!!!  Don't you just love her stamps and Art Parts??  Wendy, if you're reading this, you are a genius!!!

I have a lot of Wendy's stamps and Art Parts.  There were so many inspiring things to choose from that I really had a lot of trouble zeroing in on what to use.  The only thing I knew before I started was that I wanted to use her new Art Shrine and her Dress Form Art Parts.  Other than that, I had no clue where this challenge piece would take me!!  And that is typically how I create....I just start in and let what I'm making tell me where it wants to go.  Here is my finished piece:

As I said, I started with an Art Parts Shrine.  I painted a base coat with white acrylic paint  because I wanted to go for more of a "fresco paint" type of look.  I then inked the background with Broken China and Wild Honey Distress Inks.  I love the subtle chalky looking finish I got.  Next I stamped the entire background with a text stamp using Jet Black Archival Ink.  

The frame for the Art Parts Shrine really tested my patience!  I started out with a base coat of white acrylic paint.  Then I covered it with Spiced Marmalade Crackle Paint.  When it dried, it looked amazing!  I distressed it with Black Soot but some of the crackle kept flaking off, exposing the white underneath.  I was not happy with that at all.  So, I ended up sanding all of the crackle off.  BUT...THAT'S NOT A PROBLEM WITH THESE STURDY ART PARTS!  Then I decided to paint the frame using a Terra Cotta Paint Dabber followed by a light washing with some Picket Fence Distress Stain.  Finally, I very lightly brushed a touch of Juniper Paint Dabber on to my finger and distressed the frame.

As I was working on the shrine, I thought it would be cool to add a shelf.  So, I pulled out the largest of the scallops from Wendy's Scallops Trim Art Parts which coincidentally is exactly the same size as the bottom of the shelf!!! That would be the front of the shelf.  I cut a 5 1/2 x 3/4 inch piece of out chipboard to be the actual shelf.  I painted both with white acrylic paint.  I wanted them to look sort of like an old weathered farmhouse door, so I sanded them.  Then I lightly distressed them with Wild Honey Distress Ink.  I poked a hole on either side of the shelf that I would later use to attach some swivel clasps.  I attached the shelf bottom to the frame using black masking tape and then I also hot glued the joint to strengthen the shelf.  Then I glued the interior of the shrine and the frame together using Glossy Accents. 

I decided to combine a couple of Wendy's Art Parts together to create a top for the shrine.  They are the Pocket Watches and the largest of the flowers from her Florals Art Parts.  The pocket watch was distressed using Gathered Twigs from Tim Holtz' new Fall Seasonal Distress Ink Three Pack.  What delicious colors!!!  I chose to not use the pocket watch as a pocket watch but rather as a "doo hickey" (for lack of a better word) to showcase Wendy sentiment.  I lightly distressed a piece of white cardstock with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and then stamped "Remember...Life Every Day of Your Life" from Wendy's Life and Art stamp set.  Next I lightly brushed over it with Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls to give it a subtle shimmer.  The large flower was heat embossed with a mixture I made using Ranger's Queens Gold and Copper Embossing Powders.  When I finished that piece, I knew that I wanted to string Tim Holtz' Swivel Clasps from the pocket watches to the shelf I had made.  So I joined two clasps together on each side at the jump rings so that they would perfectly reach.  I attached them to the pocket watches but waited until the end to attach them to the shelf.  

The Dress Form from Dress Forms And More was also base coated with white acrylic paint.  I lightly distressed it with Pumice Stone and Tumbled Glass Distress Inks.  I then heat embossed leaves onto the dress form from Wendy's It's Face Art stamp set using Gold Embossing Powder.  I lightly dusted over the dress form using Biscotti Perfect Pearls Powder for an extra subtle shimmer.  I used two sets of wings from Wendy's Simply Wings Art Parts.  The largest set were colored using Seedless Preserves and the smaller wings were colored using Ripe Persimmon from Tim's new Fall Ink Triple Pack.  The larger wings were stamped with Wendy's famous polka dot pattern from her All About Art stamp set.  The smaller wings were stamped with a little cross hatch pattern and gold heat embossed around the edges.  The larger set of wings were glued to the back of the dress form and the smaller wings were glued on top of the dress form.  For added interest, I added a key hole from Tim Holtz' Locket Keys Ideaology.  The dress form needed a head!  

I LOVE the faces on Wendy's It's Face Art stamp set.  So I used the smaller of the Queens And Crowns Art Parts (base coated with a flesh tone acrylic paint) and stamped a partial face onto it.  I then colorized the lips using a small Sakura Water Brush and making my own paint from Forever Red Perfect Pearls Powder and the water brush.  Then I gave her a blue eye by making my own paint with Blue Raspberry Perfect Pearls Powder and the water brush.  I added some Perfect Copper Perfect Pearls to her eye lid using the same paint technique.  Next I lightly added some Victorian Velvet Distress Ink with my finger to give her cheeks a blush and finished off her face with a light dusting of Biscotti Perfect Pearls.  The crown attached to the face was heat embossed with gold embossing powder.  I added another crown Art Part on top and heat embossed it with my Queens Gold and Copper Mix.  I off set that crown just a bit when I glued it on for a more three dimensional effect.  Then I cocked her head to give her an attitude and glued it onto the dress form body. 

The tall flower to the left is from Wendy's Florals Art Parts.  It is painted using Butterscotch and Bottle Paint Dabbers.  Because I love Wendy's polka dots so much, I chose to reuse them on the flower.  The center of the flower is a three dimensional flower I created from Wendy's 6 petal flower stamp on her Dimensional Rose Art stamp set.  The flower was created on manila tag paper using Wild Honey and Broken China Distress Stains and water.  I lightly brushed it with Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls for more shimmer.  The flower is growing out of an ink bottle from Wendy's Borders and Bottles Art Parts. 

I first base coated the bottle with white acrylic paint and then covered it with an Aqua Paint Dabber.  Then I highlighted it a little with a Silver Paint Dabber and distressed the edges with a black cats eye ink pad.  The label on the bottle is from Wendy's Tools For Art stamp set.  It is stamped onto kraft paper and then covered with Crackle Accents.  

The smallest flower in the little "spool pot" is also from Wendy!  The wooden spool pot is painted using a Butterscotch Paint Dabber.  The little flower is from Wendy's Ticket To Art stamp set.  The flower was stamped three times onto the scrap manila paper I used to create the three dimensional flower.  I then cut out the small flower, glued the centers together and spread out the petals.  I added a black button as the center for the flower.  I added a chipboard stem, painted with Bottle and Butterscotch Paint Dabbers and the leaves stamped onto a Peeled Paint distress cardstock are from Wendy's Nature's Art stamps set.  

After all of the pieces were glued into place on the shelf, I joined the Swivel Clasps to the shelf.  Finally, I embellished the pocket watch at the top by adding a silver bee charm, that I toned down by rubbing Gold Paint Dabber over the surface with my finger.  I added a stamped hand from Wendy's Mail Art stamp set.  It is heat embossed with my mixture of Queens Gold and Copper embossing powders over cardstock colorized with Broken China Distress Ink and then edged with a black cats eye ink pad.  I tied a little black cord around the finger, reminding you to "Live Every Day Of Your Life" and it is also pointing upwards towards Wendy's sentiment that the bee is holding;  "Believe in Yourself" from her Art Inspiration stamp set (stamped onto kraft paper).  Isn't THAT sentiment so true??

So there you have it...my Wendy Vecchi project for this week!!!  I hope you enjoyed seeing it and reading about all of her wonderful products I used in this piece!  See...I TOLD you I had a lot of Wendy stuff!!!  (smile) 

Check out the wildly creative and super cool pieces my Design Teammies have made for you at 
SIMON SAYS STAMP AND SHOW CHALLENGE!!!

Then enter your Wendy Vecchi piece in our challenge.  You could win our wonderful sponsor's very generous gift of.....(drum roll).....  

You may also be selected as one of the Top Three artists for the week!!!  So, now it's YOUR turn to get your Wendy on and get busy!  I can't wait to see what you'll create!!  Good luck!! 

 

 

IS IT POSSIBLE TO HAVE ONE FAVORITE STAMP?

The challenge for this week's Simon Says Stamp and Show is themed "Your Favorite Stamp".  I don't have just one.  How could I choose?  I love so many wonderful stamps from Tim Holtz, Wendy Vecchi, Hero Arts, Magenta, Invoke Arts...the list goes on and on.  TODAY; however, my favorite stamp(s) are "Tools For Art" by Wendy Vecchi.  So, that set inspired my challenge piece for this week.

I started with a plastic artist's palette and the cover page from Tim Holtz' Kraft Resist Paper Stash.  I loved all of the papers in this stash and couldn't decide on just one to cover my palette.  So, I decided to use the cover of the collection.  That way, I could incorporate several of the papers on my palette.

A little bit of this and a little bit of that and before long, I had gone from the plain white plastic palette to this ... 

I began by cutting another of the artists' palettes out of black chipboard to use as an offset background piece.  Then I covered the plastic palette with the cover page from the Kraft Resist Paper Stash Collection.  I inked around the edges with Black Soot Distress Ink.  

The pools of "paint" are various Color Wash colors.  I used 6 of Wendy's sentiments from various stamp sets and heat embossed them onto white cardstock using Clear Embossing Powder so that the words would really stand out among the "paint".  Then I sprayed each of the white pieces of embossed cardstock with random colors and wiped around the embossed words.  Next I cut random splotches from each to look like paint on a busy artist's palette.  

  I used the paint brush, the Speedball bottle and the Diamond Inks Stampine label from the "Tools For Art" stamp set.  I also used one of each of the bottles from Wendy Vecchi's Borders and Bottles Art Parts set.  The art parts fit perfectly under the stamps from Wendy's set. 

   

I stamped 6 paintbrushes onto kraft cardstock using Black Archival Ink.  I wanted the brushes to appear to have been dipped into the small pools of "paint" on the palette, so I heat embossed the corresponding color of "paint" to the ends of the brushes.  Those were done by using the corresponding colors of Adirondak Embossing Powders.  I then wrapped a piece of 1/4" silver Memory Metal Foil Tape around the brushes for added detail.  I arranged them in order onto a small brad and topped the brad with a little Wendy Vecchi flower stamped onto white cardstock sprayed with Butterscotch Color Wash.  I popped the brushes in place using black pop dots stacked three high underneath the brad. 

 

Next I stamped out one Speedball bottle and one Diamond Inks Stampine label onto the kraft cardstock.  I covered the smaller of the two bottles (the one that used the Diamond label) with the kraft resist paper and inked it with black ink.  Then I wiped off the ink to reveal the resist.  Very subtle but pretty cool.  I added a little top to the bottle out of black cardstock.  I added some detail to the bottles by using Crackle Accent on the Diamond Inks label and also all of the detail on the Speedball bottle.

My palette was fun ... but it needed something else.  It needed Wendy's flowers and leaves!!  So, I wiped Fired Brick, Broken China and Peeled Paint Distress Stains onto white cardstock to create the colors for the flowers and leaves.  I stamped polka dots and the grid pattern to accent the flowers and a subtle script on the larger leaves set.  The flowers are free standing by using green floral wire.  After I arranged my flowers and leaves the way I wanted them, I popped the two bottles in place.  

So, my favorite stamp (this week) is actually a conglomeration of Wendy Vecchi stamps all rolled into one creation inspired by "Tools For Art"....a fun and colorful artist's palette. 

Check out the SIMON SAYS STAMP AND SHOW CHALLENGE blog.  There you will find the Design Teams' favorite stamps and some really wonderfully creative, inspiring ideas that will encourage you to pull out your favorite stamp and get busy!  Create something wonderful and link it to our blog.  YOU could be the winner of our very generous sponsor's prize of a $50.00 credit voucher to be spent at Simon Says Stamp Store....THE place for all of your papercrafting and beyond needs!

Thanks for stopping by my blog!  I can't wait to see what you've created with YOUR favorite stamp!

STUDIO 490 ~ WENDY VECCHI STYLE !

Great Monday morning everybody!  It's time for a new SIMON SAYS STAMP AND SHOW CHALLENGE!  This week's challenge is based on the unique and unmistakeable style of Wendy Vecchi of Studio 490.

I decided to combine Wendy's wonderful Art Parts and some of her amazing stamps with a really cool Santos Cage Skirt/Jointed Paper Doll.  This is what I got....  I hope I "did you proud" Wendy! (smile)
 

The head of the doll is from Wendy's Residences Art Parts.  It is the smallest of the houses and is the one with the "picture window" in it.  I covered the house with 7 Gypsies Life Collage Tissue Paper, using Matte Multi Medium as my glue.  I have a really cool set of stamps from Invoke Arts called Block Faces.  I chose the eyes from one of those faces as the eyes for my doll.  Those are peeking out of the picture window.  Next, I cut a couple of butterflies from a sheet of Graphic 45's Botanicabella Collection.  I stacked them, glued the at the body only so that the wings could be more 3D.  Then I added them to the face.  Reminiscent of Silence of the Lambs...don't you think?  The "hair" aka "roof" of the head is colored with Black Archival Ink.  I made a layered tissue paper flower from the 7 Gypsies Life Collage paper.  I stamped it with the flower from the Dimensional Rose Art stamp set as the pattern.  I also used a smaller flower from Wendy's Ticket To Art stamp set as the center for this multi-layered flower.  I used an antique brass brad to put them all together and added a piece of black netting behind the tissue flower for extra interest.

This is a jointed doll.  She was stamped out on cream cardstock using Black Archival Ink. I lightly distressed her using Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  She is put together using small antique copper brads.  The body of the doll was a piece of color on color stripe that I had.  I added the polka dots using Black Archival Ink and yet another of Wendy's wonderful stamps.  This time is was All About Art.  I think the polka dots add a lot and they are "vintage Wendy".  The flowers adorning the body of the doll are also from the same sets I used to make the layered tissue paper flowers on the head.  This time, I cut the larger dimensional rose out of the Graphic 45 Botanicabella paper.  The smaller flower is the 7 Gypsies tissue paper.  The leaves are stamped using Peeled Paint Distress Ink and are from Wendy's Nature's Art stamp set.  "Be Yourself" (don't you LOVE that?) is stamped using Black Archival Ink onto cream cardstock.  I distressed it with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and edged it in Black Soot Distress Ink.  I then glued it onto a piece of kraft paper and edged it with Black Soot Distress Ink.  I added the antique copper eyelets and a small ball chain to "Be Yourself" so that my doll could be holding that sentiment.  Be Yourself can be found on Wendy's very hot A Form of Art stamp set.

The skirt for the doll was cut from one of the papers from Graphic 45's Le Cirque Collection.  The actual skirt is in several pieces on the stamp and is put together with antique copper brads.  The sentiment "Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try" is also part of Wendy's A Form of Art stamp set.  I edged everything with a black cats eye ink pad.

Now, I encourage you to visit our site at SIMON SAYS STAMP AND SHOW CHALLENGE.  The design team has some outrageously creative samples to share with you.  Just amazing stuff!!!  Then it's your turn to create and share!  Post your entry to our blog and YOU could win a $50.00 credit voucher from our ever so generous sponsor.  

And....if your work is considered to be among the TOP 3 entries for the week, you will receive our coveted Blinkie to proudly display on your blog!

Enjoy your week and I can't wait to see YOUR Wendy style! 

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!!!