Fall Blueprint

It's time for challenge 23 at Linda's. This week we are exploring the world of Distress Markers on page 50 of Compendium of Curiosities II by Tim Holtz. And Mr BTS Mario has put together a nice prize package for one lucky player!

Even though it's still eleventy-billion degrees here in Florida, I love playing with Tim and Mario III's collaboration Autumn Blueprint stamps. This week I chose the Maple leaf. The few times I've been lucky enough to see the fall color in the Great Smoky Mountains, the maple always has the most brilliant colors to me. I know I didn't do the real thing justice in my coloring, but I had fun making my tag. I also used Tim's Autumn Gatherings die to cut the small leaves and acorns using a piece of Kraft Resist paper.

Nice haul

Out running errands today and a new Tuesday Morning has opened in the same plaza as JoAnn's, so I had to go take a quick peek. I normally don't find anything but you never know!

Imagine my surprise when I found a bunch of Tim Holtz stuff on clearance! I got over $40 worth of product for $12! I call that a score any day! I got a pkg of Grungeboard Mixed Mini alphabet that normally retails for $17 for $2.99! Adornments (that's the birds, wings, hearts) that are normally $8.00 for $2.99. Large Numerals that are $8.00 for $2.99. And Chain Tassels that are $7.00 for $2.99. Love it when I "save" John money!!!

Altered Art Journal Book

I spent Saturday at Posh Scraps with about 12 other wimmens and we were taught by the wonderful Roc Nicholas how to alter a book and make it our own. Without giving away all of Roc's trade secrets, we pulled the "guts" out of a book, then covered the outside and inside covers with our own conglomerate of shtuff and then made our own inside pages and re-attached them to the book. Mine is farrrr from finished, but it is going to be so much fun to finish! Anything that is plain now will not be in the end. I have Gesso and Modeling Paste and old papers and flotsam and jetsam to cover and ink and paint and do whatever my little heart desires!  I will share some pics as I get the book finished. It will be interesting to see how it turns out because while I DO have a couple of ideas for where I want to go with it, I have NO idea if that is how it will end up!!This is a picture heavy post, so let's go!!

 Roc shows us her book

 Front cover of my book. Found The Earth without Art is just "eh" in a magazine. It was an advertisement! Three stamped images on the bottom are Roc's and can be found at www.stampotique.com

 Inside front cover

 first page. I  had to put a couple of things in it to see how I was gonna like it. The name tag was mine in class so Roc didn't have to call us "hey you!" and limes for my Bloody Marys!

 second page. The tag swings independent of the page and it is a leftover from the Dina Wakley class I took during the summer at Whim So Doodle.

 two round coasters make up page three.

 then another tag is page 4.

 6 x 6 definitions is page 5.

 A couple of file folders are page 6 and yes, the bottom one is crooked. I think it adds to the "organic" nature of the book!

 Page 7 is a pocket that was shared by one of my classmates. We all shared things that we had extra of with each other. We even shared with Roc! Trying to bribe her to come back and see us again!!!

 Page 8 is another classmates share in a paint sample.

 Page 9 is a narrow 2" x 11" piece that I cut off my first page.

 Page 10 is another cut off piece. The top was sticking up above my book cover and I didn't realize it until I had everything adhered. So another happy accident and I used my Threading Waters punch then tied Bakers Twine in the holes!

 Left my flingers in page 11 so you could see that it is a clear bag. Don't know yet what will go in it!

 Page 12 is another tag. As I was deciding if it was going to be page 12 or 13, one of my classmates said she really liked the Kraft tag against the stamps , so page 12 it was!

Stamps is page 13

 Page 14 has a small pocket that also moves freely from the page.

 Page 15 is clock resist cardstock.

 Page 16 is two banner chipboard pieces.

 And page 17 is a brown mailer.

 Back of the mailer

 Inside back cover

 Back cover

Roc and I with our books.

Non-Riveted Patchwork

It's time for Challenge 22 at Linda's. This week our sponsor is Funkie Junkie Boutique and she is offering a $25 shopping spree to one lucky player. And we are, as always woking out of Compendium of Curiosities II by none other than Tim Holtz.

This week's challenge is found on page 57 and is called Riveted Patchwork. A few weeks ago, the employees at Ranger decided to make tags based on Tim's 12 tags of September and the one by Susan Baldwin really caught my eye. So I used her tag as my inspiration and put my own spin on it. All the pieces are covered in alcohol ink then I went in with my White Signo Uniball pen and doodled on each piece. Instead of rivets, I used "stitches" with my Black Faber Castell Pitt Pen. A few buttons tied up with bits of string and there's another tag for my ring!

Family

I cleaned the mess I call a scrap table the other day. I have a class this Sat at Posh Scraps with Roc Nichols. We will be creating our own journal/book out of an old book that we will recycle/upcycle. So there was a laundry list of things for us to bring. Plus the kitchen sink added to the laundry list! I figured rather than drag "new" stuff out to take, I'd start with the flotsam and jetsam that was right in front of me. Cuz I tend not to put stuff away when I am creating and have leftovers, figuring I will use them "later!" And "later" never comes! Will it kill me to tell you I filled two gallon size Ziploc bags AND a smallish brown paper bag? Just from the crap on my table! And then I used a 12 x 12 clear bag for my 12 x 12 papers that I DID pull out of from where they belong to add to it.

Since I have a nice clean table where I can once again work unincumbered, and found a great layout design on the Basic Grey blog, I decided I'd get back to scrapping the old family pics of John's that we found earlier this year. I used (retired) CTMH Bliss paper pack. John says this was taken just before they moved from Ft Rucker to Tarpon Springs.

Dyan mashup

A few of us (you know, the troublemakers who sit in the back of the class and spit spitballs at the goodie-goodies who sit up front near the teacher!) on the Art Journaling FB page that I'm a part of decided we'd take some of the "less flattering" pics of Dyan off her blog and use them as a theme in our art journals. I found one of her goofing at CHA with her plastic glasses and fake 'stache and decided I'd use the title "I've got friends in low places" from the Garth Brooks song back in the early 90's. I didn't want all of the background clutter, so I decided to cut the just Dyan's body out and her arms were at a weird angle with one on her hip and the other on a table and when I cut out the clutter, it made her arms look deformed, so I cut them off. One of the other Art Journaling ladies pointed out that it made Dyan look like the Venus de Milo!  I give you, our Lady Dyan as an Angel Queen.

Toy Soldier

It's challenge 21 in Compendium of Curiosities II at Linda's. As always, we're based on the book of the same name by Tim Holtz and his genius mind. This week we are sponsored by Simon Says Stamp who is donating a $25 gift card to one lucky player.

This week our challenge was all about Blended Stains and it's on page 45. I used Victorian Velvet, Barn Door and Spun Sugar Distress Stains. I am loving the collaboration Blueprint Stamps designed by Tim and Mario Rossi III. So fresh and fun. I've yet to see anything like them on the market. I knew I had to have the Christmas set because to me, the Toy Soldier looks like a Nutcracker and my friend Evan LOVES and has quite a large collection of Nutcrackers. So it was for him that I made this tag. All of the Christmas-y elements on the tag are for my stash. The Toy Soldier/Nutcracker is embossed with black embossing powder. And yes, the felt on the bottom is upside down, but I used Terrifically Tacky Tape on it, so it's there for.ever!

Ending or beginning?

Another page in my art journal. Lots of layers and white pen work on this one. The girl with the dog and basket were a free download. Everything else I used was all flotsam and jetsam from other projects that didn't get used and were cluttering up my scrap table. I've got a 6' table and generally work in about a 6" space!

Eleven years later...

Fortification

Just walked out to check the mail and for the second day in a row, a squirrel is fortifying his/her nest and quite possibly building a second one right in front of the garage. Yesterday the pile of castoff branches was all the way across the driveway in front of the garage. Today it's just most of the way across! It almost looks like a beaver has chewed the branches! The are pointed at one end. John said yesterday that the squirrel was just a fussin' at him as he was cleaning up the pile of branches. I told John we should tell Squirrel which branches we'd like cut back and see if he could get on them!!

Accordian Book

Dina did a wonderful tutorial last week Here at Stampington and I HAD to play! I started with Fresh Lime and Cut Grass Spray Inks. Then followed along with the rest of Dina's instructions, making it my own of course!