Amazing

It's time once again for the Compendium of Curiosities II challenge at Linda's. It's week 24 already. And as always, we're basing the challenges on the book by Tim Holtz. This week's challenge is all about Alcohol Ink Resist and can be found on page 59.

Cheryl Mezetti posted a quote the other day and it just spoke to me. "Because when you stop and look around, this life is pretty amazing." I decided to use that as the basis of my tag and it just sorta evolved, as they so often do! I used some GrungeBoard pieces and since I was inspired by Cheryl and she is one of the lead designers for Creative Imaginations, I painted them with Luminarte (formerly known as Twinkling H2O's) for some shimmer. To know how to do the Alcohol Ink Resist, ya gotta go buy the book! I can tell you that is the chicken wire that the Grunge pieces are on.

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.

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!

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!

Fall Feeling

OK, so this IS Florida and we most likely won't start feeling fall til mid November sometime. But I got some new t!m stamps yesterday that I had pre-ordered and since it was Friday, that means it's time for Compendium of Curiosities II challenge 20 at Linda's. And as always, we're based on the book by Tim.

This week's challenge is Enameled Stamping and is found on page 44. I inked up the new Autumn Blueprint stamps using the acorn in Gathered Twigs and the oak leaf in Ripe Persimmon and then continued on with the rest of the technique. I added some flowers, leaves and a  beetle bug from my stash and painted them with Paint Dabbers then used embossing powder to make them shine.

Double the pleasure

Double the fun! Isn't that how that old saying went?

It's time once again for the Compendium of Curiosities II challenge number 19 at Linda's. As always, we're basing our fun on the works of Tim Holtz and he also provided a video to this week's challenge which is Kraft Resist and it's found on page 41 of the book. But this week, if you don't have the book (and you REALLY should!) you can watch the video and participate should you chose.

I ended up doing two tags. Because I had  to try this technique using Dyan's Spray Inks and her bleach-out technique. For the tag that's more in the "t!m style" I gathered up a bunch of hearts from my scrap table and assembled them on the tag and pretty much how I laid it out is how it ended up. The bottom heart is from the Guilded Kraft Glassine technique and the top heart is from the Enamaled Metals technique.

Take a risk

It's week 18 in the Compendium of Curiosities II at Linda's, which means we are half way thru the book by Tim. Which makes me wonder if there's a Book III in the works?! This week our sponsor is The Funkie Junkie and she is giving someone a $25 gift card. And you can't win if you don't play!

This week's challenge is on page 47 and is called Whitewash Stamping. I decided to mix up my artists again and used a couple of images from Dyan Reaveley's Doodle Parts and sentiment from The Right Words stamp sets. I used t!m's Limited Edition Summer Distress Inks; Salty Ocean, Mowed Lawn and Picked Raspberry to color the tag with, then edged in Gathered Twigs. The bird perched on the 'shroom is one I picked up on clearance at Michael's. The butterflies are from CTMH.

Wish

I know! Two posts in one day!

It's time for Compendium of Curiosities II at Linda's. We're at challenge 17 already. As always, we're based on the book by Tim and this week our generous sponsor, Simon Says Stamp will be donating a $25 gift certificate to one lucky player.

This weeks challenge is all about Core'Dinations and can be found on page 61 of the book. Don't look too closely at my tag. It's upside down! As soon as I put the last stitch on the burlap I realized what I had done and decided I was too lazy to start fresh, so upside down it shall remain. As t!m would say, I'm embracing my imperfections!!! Or, taking a cue from my earlier post today, Just the way I am I'm perfect, and so is my tag!

Challenge duo

Or maybe that should be Duo challenge! t!m posted his August tag the other day and Linda posted Challenge 16 for CofCII yesterday, so I am being thrifty and combining challenges! Somehow, I don't think either will mind. t!m used one of his new silhouette images to make his tag and since I don't have any of them, I improvised with a "silhouette looking" snowman Christmas stamp, which is also covered in Distress Rock Candy. The challenge at Linda's is to use the Perfect Pearls Technique found on page 54 of the book. I *think* you can see that once I embossed my tag and colored it using a mixture of Sailboat Blue and Cloudy Blue Paint Dabbers, I then used the Perfect Pearls technique over it. All of the other embellies on the tag are from my stash. I've got loads of Christmas stuff!

Enameled Birthday

It time for challenge 15 at Linda's and it's based, as always on CofCII by Mr. Grungemaster himself, Tim Holtz. This week our challenge is Enameled Metal and it's found on page 56.

Since I was such a baaaad Aunt Sue and brain farted Favorite Only Niece's birthday, I thought I'd go ahead and work a full month in advance and get Favorite Youngest Nephew's 13th birthday tag done using this challenge. I used t!m's gears texture fade for this and added a bunch of gears and screws (that John nicely cut the heads off of for me!) and I even found in my stash a piece of a ruler with "13" on it, so I added to the tag as well. I even used another technique in the book, Faux Patina, on the largest gear! Now I have a month to get a gift card and get it in the mail in a more timely fashion so it gets to him before  his birthday and not after like his sister's did! It's hell gettin' old, I tell ya!

Guilded Glassine Birthday

Baaaaaaad Aunt Sue here. Completely brain-farted my Favorite Only Niece's birthday which is tomorrow. But Linda rescued me!! It's time for Compendium of Curiosities II, Challenge 14. As always, based on the book by Tim Holtz, who's latest and greatest thing is his own app! Yep, Tim Holtz...there's an app for that! You can get it for your I-phone or pad and also for Android. Just click his name above and look for the app link in his sidebar. One really cool feature is you can input all of your Tim Holtz supplies based on manufacturer as an easy reference for when your shopping so you don't get duplicates. :::not that I know anyone who has done that!::: And there's also a "wish list" section so you can put all the things that you don't already own that you want. Ummm...wouldn't that be everything else he's created that I don't own?! This week, our sponsor is The Funkie Junkie and one lucky player will win a $25 shopping spree to her Zibbit store.

This week's challenge is the Guilded Kraft Glassine technique located on page 39 of the book.  I decided to do a "Dyan-esque" tag for Miss Joy since she's more of a girly-girl than gears and sprockets (not that there is anything wrong with that!) So I started with three of Dylusions Spray Inks and then used Dyan's ghosting technique with stencils and water, then splooshed a bit of Spray Inks on some stamps and rolled them here and there for some layering and texture. Used the head and legs from Pondering Petunia and painted them using Dylusions Spray inks. I did the guilded glassine technique and used my Heart Wings die to cut out the heart for her body and crown, which I applied some pink bling to since Joy is a Princess and must  have some bling on everything Aunt Sue creates for her! There's also a tiny bit of the glassine on the right leg of her pants which had a bit of a hole in them! Since she will be 10 tomorrow, I used a 10 BINGO chip and painted it white then once it dried, painted it with Dylusions Squeezed Orange Spray ink. A little Vintage Photo Distress Ink around the outside edges and a piece of grosgrain ribbon dyed using Squeezed Orange, Lemon Zest and Bubblegum Pink Spray Inks finished this tag off.

Remember

It's a new week! Didja miss me? John was on vacay last week and we worked on honey do's all week. I did not get inky a'tall and I can tell you I was suffering withdrawls! So I was pleasantly surprised when I saw Linda had one of my all time (and relatively easy!) challenges, Spritz and Flick on pg 42, for Week 13 of Compendium of Curiosities II based, as always, on the ingenious mind of t!m! This week our sponsor is Simon Says Stamp and one lucky player will receive a $25 gift certificate. And with all of the new toyz fixin' to be released at CHA, this would be a GREAT prize to win!!

So I knew I wanted to use my new Limited Edition Summer Distress inks. Have you seen them? They are lucious beyond words! It almost looks like Dyan and t!m collaborated and came up with this BRIGHT (for t!m anyway) color pallate! Mowed Lawn, Salty Ocean and Picked Raspberry are the three colors. And they mix and make the best other colors that end up looking so different every time you use them. So I smushed my inks into my Kraft sheet and then sprayed my tag and the colors with water. Drug the tag thru the colors and dried it then turned and drug it thru again. Dried it and then just laid it down and picked it back up without dragging and then dried it one final time. Then did the Spritz and Flick technique over the whole tag. Distressed the outside edge of the tag using Vintage Photo. I used some Acrylic paint to do the circles and doodled and painted the insides of them. The images of the bathing beauties are some that I got from Red Lead and I used the Ripe Raspberry and my paint brush to color one of the bathing suits. The roses are colored using Dyan's Lemon Zest Spray inks and it's really more a vibrant yellow than the picture shows. I used some white acrylic paint on my BINGO chip to cover the red then once it was dry, smooshed it into the Salty Ocean ink pad. The "remember" quote is one of Dyan's that I stamped in Archival Black then went back with my white Signo Uniball pen and doodled around.

Now my fingers are inky for this Sunday and I'ma happy girl!

Configurations for Compendium

How's that for a mouthful?! Linda is giving us two weeks to complete the latest Compendium of Curiosities II challenge. So this is week 11 and 12 combined. As always, the challenges are based on the works of t!m and he and the wonderful Mr. BTS, Mario are also sponsoring this fortnight challenge with an amazing t!m Holtz goodie bag full of prizes. This challenge can be found on pages 33 and 34 in CofCII.

I bought this Confugurations box over two years ago. And it's sat. I didn't really know what I was going to do with it and was waiting for inspiration to strike. And when Linda said this was the week for the box, I knew inspiration HAD to show up! I had the wooden "J" and "S" letters (for John and Sue!) so that was my starting point. I covered the J in foil tape and distressed it using my t!m Craft Scratcher and a pen. Then I painted the whole thing using Claudine Hellmuth Charcoal Black and quickly wiped it off. For the S, I covered it in a scrap of blue and white dotted cs since blue is my favorite color, then distressed the edges of it. Then I was at a loss of what else to do. So I sat the box on my side table and stared at it for a couple of days. Finally, lightning struck! I would do different places we had been on vacations through the years. We've been able to take some great trips over the last 24 years. We have many happy memories of the trips we've taken.

 Completed box

 Japanese Torri Gate. I made this out of a Kraft stick. Painted close to the same color as the one at the entrance to Miajima Island. John's letter "J" and my letter "S'. Marie Laveau's Voodoo Potient represents New Orleans.

 Wasted away again in Margaritaville can be no place else than Key West, FL! The Great Smoky Mountains, one of my favorite places on earth. Grand Tetons in Wyoming.

 Bison represents Yellowstone National Park. "Vacation" definition taken from an old dictionary. And below it is Chippewa Square in Savannah, GA and the "Forrest Gump" bench. Turtle is for Grand Cayman Island and the turtle farms where they raise Green Sea Turtles to return them to the sea.

Bridge of Lions across the intracoastal waterway in St Augustine, FL. Thomas Jefferson Memorial in Washington, DC. Coke bottle for the tour we took of the Atlanta, GA bottling plant and Jack Daniel's label for the tour at Lynchburg, TN.

Paper Posies

For those of you old enough to remember, my title is a play on the old Anita Bryant and later Marie Osmond song, Paper Roses. And you're welcome if you did remember it! Now you'll have the song in your haid for the rest of the day!!

It's week 10 over at Linda's and as always, it's based on the wonderful Compendium of Curiosities II by Tim who is enjoying some vacation AND work time down under in Australia. This week we are sponsored by The Funkie Junkie who will be providing a $25 gift certificate to one lucky player. This week's challenge is all about tissue paper flowers and can be found on page 37 if you're playing at home.

I used plain white tissue paper since I STILL (I KNOW, I KNOW!) don't have any of t!m's. I used some of t!m's stamps on my Squeezed Lemonade flower, random stamping on the tissue paper. For the Shaded Lilac flower, I used Christy Tomlinson's SheArt word stamp. And for the Peacock Feathers flower, I used one of Dyan Reaveley's stamp sets with flowers. I used Dylusions Spray Inks to color my tag.

1 Love

Week 9 of Compendium of Curiosities II at Linda's, based as always, on the wonderful mind of t!m. This week our sponsor is Simon Says and one lucky player will recieve a $25 gift certificate!

This week we are delving into t!m's pocket watch, which is found on page 35 if you're playing along. I had all sorts of ideas and all kinds of things laid out on my table prepped and ready to go into my watch. Lets face it, I had enough stuff to do FIVE watches!! It's a pocket watch, not a jumbo tag!!! So it ended being 1 Love. I used some of t!m's new tiny numbers and his new muse words.I used some tissue paper and crumpled it as I covered the number 1 and let it dry, then tore the paper so I'd have some jagged edges and used my Vintage Photo Distress ink on the edges.  I used my Snow Cap Paint Dabber to highlight the "love" and used my Barn Red Distress Marker to go around both since the heart I had painted and enameled was too big to go in the watch, I thought it needed juuuust a bit of red coloring in there somewhere! Pretty simple, but I like it! This will be my Father's Day gift to John.

Reuse

It's Repurposed Packaging week at StudioL3. This week, t!m shows us how to reuse packaging to make art! You can find this technique on page 62 of Compendium of Curiosities II.

I used two different types of packaging for my tag. Both plastic and cardboard. I ripped some of the paper off of the cardboard to show the layers. The plastic is colored with alcohol inks, Distress Markers and Paint Daubbers. To color my tag, I used the smoosh my tag thru puddles of Distress Stain, then water Spritzed and Flicked.