"RUSTY GEARS"

     It's a beautiful, unusual Sunday here in our little corner of Iowa -- it's sunny and only 70 degrees, which is pretty cool for a high temperature in July.  We've had two mornings in a row with temps only in the 50's and I'm not complaining!  It's much better than heat and humidity.  Now on to my latest project which I'm entering into two different challenges, one with a "rust" theme and the other has "captured moments" as a theme, hence the photograph. 
     I started with a #10 tag which I sponged with Antique Linen Distress Ink, stenciled with Rusty Hinge Distress Ink, and antiqued around the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  I stamped the three gents (a Tim Holtz stamp) with black Memento Ink.  The photograph is of my handsome great-grandfather who is sporting a moustache.  I edged the photo and bottom of the tag with Tim Holtz tissue tape as an accent. To carry out the "rust" theme, I cut gears with Tim Holtz dies, and embossed them with Stoney Red and Ultra Thick Copper Embossing Powders (brand unknown).  The moustache was also a die cut and embossed with Black Soot Embossing Powder a Tim Holtz product.  I really had fun creating this card, which probably took me more out of more comfort zone than anything I've done before.  I'm trying to "loosen up" and get more funky and frilly!
     This tag is entered in challenges at the following websites:
           sandee-and-amelie.blogspot.co.uk/
           ourcreativecorner6.blogspot.co.at/

                   

     Thanks for stopping by.  Comments are always appreciated!










      

"CAPTURED MEMORIES" 

     When I discovered the challenge with the theme "Captured Memories" requiring the use of a photograph, at Our Creative Corner, I knew exactly what photograph I wanted to use.  I absolutely love the photograph of my grandmother, Agnes, and her sister, Clara, which was taken by a professional photographer in the late 1800's.  The quality of the photo amazes me and I think their dresses and hats are so elegant.  My grandmother married a farmer, so she seldom dressed like that after she was married, although I do have later pictures of her wearing "jaunty" hats when she was dressed in her "Sunday best".
     I wanted to achieve an elegant look, so I choose to cut a gold cardstock frame for the photograph, using the Sizzix Ornate Oval Frame die.  I mounted the framed photo on a piece of watercolor paper I had sponged with Antique Linen Distress Ink and stenciled with a leaf border using Crushed Olive Distress Ink.  This was then double matted with Crushed Olive and Seedless Preserves cardstock.  The flowers I used for embellishment came from my "stash, as I thought they were the perfect color.
     I really enjoyed this project and plan on displaying it on my dining room hutch.  I hope you enjoy it too and thanks for stopping by.  
      I am entering the Captured Memories Challenge at:  ourcreativecorner6.blogspot.com.at           

 

              

   

"SUMMERTIME AND THE LIVING IS EASY"

     It's "summertime and the living is easy" or so they say -- it's been our warmest week of the summer so far (mid-90's) and we're ready for it to cool down.  However, because of the heat I've spent more time inside and tackled moving some of my papercrafting supplies to a better location and worked on a project to enter into a couple of challenges.  I am happy to say that I was selected as the winner of the Funky Challenge last week for my "Get Your Wendy On" entry, so I'm inspired to keep on creating!  
     For my current project, I cut a 5 1/2" square of watercolor paper and inked the background with Shabby Shutters, Crushed Olive, Weathered Wood, and Stormy Sky Distress Ink.  Next, using white stenciling paste, I stenciled the honeycomb design in a couple of places for texture, and colored it with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  I then stenciled some leaves with Crushed Olive Distress Ink to accent the white paper flowers that were sprayed with Tattered Angels Pashmina Glimmer Mist.  After the dragonfly from the Tim Holtz Classics #1 set was stamped with black Memento Ink, I colored it Distress Markers and then went over it with Polished  Pigment to give it shimmer.  I finished off the piece by cutting a ticket and spelling summertime with Tim Holtz Label Letters.  I'm entering this piece in the Simon Says Stamp and Show "Good To Be Green" challenge and the Frilly and Funky "Summertime" challenge.
                                      frillyandfunkie.blogspot.com
                                                        simonsaysstampandshow.blogspot.com

     Thanks for stopping by and have a nice day!

 

"PLAYING TAG"

     Our summer is beginning to heat up today (90 degrees), so I'm "playing tag" where it's nice and cool -- designing tags for a "Get Your Wendy On" Challenge.  Wendy is Wendy Vecchi,  a talented designer, teacher, etc. in the papercrafting world and since I've taken a couple of classes from her in the past few years and have collected many of her rubber stamps as well as some new stencils from her line, I decided to play along.  I really like the look of stencils and like to combine them with stamps, which I have done on both of my tags.
     The first tag was colored with Antique Linen and Stormy Sky Distress Ink and and then antiqued around the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  I next stenciled a flower and some blades of grass using the Wendy Vecchi stencil "3 Fresh Flowers", and Crushed Olive and Dusty Concord Distress Inks.  I then decided to try the black Wendy Vecchi Embossing Paste by stenciling along the right edge of the tag using a honeycomb stencil.  Next, I stamped a flower head and two butterflies with stamps from Wendy Vecchi collections.  After coloring them I cut them out and attached them to the tag.  I also cut out a blackbird with a Tim Holtz die for an added accent to the tag.
     I wanted to try some different things on my second tag.  I first
decided to stencil a background using the new brick stencil which I just received in the mail this week from the Funkie Junkie Boutique.  I used Antique Linen Distress Ink for the bricks and then colored the background with Stormy Sky and Tea Dye Distress Ink.  For something different, I mixed a drop of Dried Marigold Distress Ink refill into some white Embossing Paste and stenciled the flower head with it.  It wasn't quite dark enough, so after the paste dried, I colored it with Dried Marigold and Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  I stenciled the stem with Crushed Olive.  The fence and saying were from Wendy Vecchi collections and I used Memento Black Ink to stamp them.  
     The tags were a lot of fun to make and gave me a chance to play with some new materials and stamps and stencils I had never used before.  I really like the "folk art" look that I think I achieved.  I hope you enjoy them too.
     These tags are entered at:  frillyandfunkie.blogspot.com
                           

  
    

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

     This is a birthday card I made for my great-niece, a little sweetheart who loves my Magnolia cards.  I used 2 layers of background papers from my stash and punched the top layer with a Martha Stewart punch.  The 2 images were stamped and colored with Copic Sketch Markers before I cut them out.  I used pop dots to attach the girl which gives the card some depth.  The flourishes were made with a Fiskers punch.  The paper flowers came from my stash as did the pink gemstones. 
     I am entering this card in the Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge which has the current theme of "anything goes".
     simonsaysstampandshow.blogspot.com
  

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY

     It's a beautiful day here in Iowa -- a great day to celebrate our independence!  Our flag is gently waving in the breeze as a symbol of our freedom and long may it wave. 
     In honor of this day, I've created a patriotic tag using Distress Inks (Stormy Sky and Fired Brick) and Wendy Vecchi stamps.  First, I colored the tag.  Then using a Wendy Vecchi honeycomb stencil, I added a touch of texture with white embossing paste.  Using Memento black ink, I stamped some stars representing fireworks and the word "imagine".  The heart was stamped separately, colored, and cut out.  I used pop dots to attach it to the tag, thereby adding depth.  It was a fun tag to make as I didn't use all of the traditional symbols for the 4th of July, but used my imagination in choosing some stamps I had never used before instead.  I hope you enjoy it too.
     This tag is entered in the "anything goes" Challenge at:  simonsaysstampandshow.blogspot.com