Beauty of the Season

Happy Friday!  It took me all week to create two tags. Slow creative process. :)  I am playing along with Linda's Funkie Junkie Tags sponsored by her Funkie Junkie Boutique.  I also mixed in the colors from the Mixed Media Color Challenge #10 into one of my tags.  I am going to share that tag today and share my other tag later this week. 

I didn't have some of the elements found in Linda's  tag, so I decided to focus on the layout and the design.    The background was created using a gelli plate, sequin waste and pearlized paint.  After it had dried I smeared a dye ink over the surface to capture the pattern and the coral color found in the challenge. I added birds from Artistic Outpost and colored them with STAEDTLER Karat Aquarell pencils.  The flowers were dabbed with gold paint.  The trim is metallic and from Ranger / Tim Holtz smeared with the same gold paint.  The background is painted with Ranger Metallic Stains.

Products: Artistic Outpost - Snowy Woods, Artistic Outpost - Midwinter, Birds of a Feather, Ranger Distress Paint - Gold, Ranger Distress Stains - Gold, Brass, Pewter,  Ranger Archival Ink - Coffee, STAETDLER - Karat Aquarell Watercolor Pencils

My inspiration:

Thanks for stopping by!

Suzz

Leaves are Falling

Happy Fall! Welcome to the Artistic Outpost Monthly Blog Hop!  This month the Design Team created Fall themed projects to share.

I really like when the weather is crisp and the sun is shining.  That is perfect fall weather for me!  The leaves start to change and there are so many beautiful trees in varying shades of colors.  I started with those beautiful leaves as the inspiration for my project:

I stamped the beautiful leaf from The Outpost plate. I inked it up with a variety of colors from the distress inks.  I used yellow, orange, red and brown dye ink  to create the leaves. I inked up from lightest to darkest colors on the stamp.   After the leaves were stamped I hand cut them. (This took time but I like to do this busy work while watching TV)  After they were cut I sponged the edges with brown dye ink.  To finish them off I added a layer of Distress Crackle Paint.  I stamped the house and tree using black ink and added color with distress inks to the tree.  I stamped in the background the ledger from the Ephemera Backgrounds. I finished off the scene with several layers of clear embossing powder.

The sentiment is from the Flower Market.

When I finished my first project I had some of the beautiful leaves left and decided to create a tag.

 My inspiration was a nest of leaves for a bird.  I decided he needed a tree in the background and stamped the tree from The outpost along with the ledger.  I added the sentiment from the Kudzu Kafe. 

Products: Artistic Outpost Birds of A Feather, The Outpost, Ephemera Backgrounds, Kudzu Kafe

For more inspiration hop along to the rest of the design team:

Linda Coughlin

Tracy Evans

 Lisa Somerville

Have a wonderful day!

Suzz

Artistic Outpost May 2012 Release - Kudzu Kafe

Today is the May release day for Artistic Outpost!  The new set being released is called Kudzu Kafe.

The new plate includes nostalgic images featuring a roadside cafe, children from the early 1900's,
and Thoreau sentiments  which work beautifully with so many of the
other collections.

I was inspired by the Kudzu Kafe stamp shape to create a mini book:

The book partially opened to the center:

The first two pages:

I used the birds from the Bluebird set along with the Kudzu Kafe images. I added a little banner along the side from the Country Life plate.

The images and backgrounds are from Bluebird, The Flower Market and Kudzu Kafe.

 

The last two pages on the inside use The Outpost, The Flower Market, and the Bluebird set. 

 

The back cover is from The Outpost and I  love the contrast from the store to the scenery.

For more inspiration and fabulous creations take a peek at what the rest of the DT has created!

Anita Houston  

Gerrie Johnnic

Lisa Somerville  

Linda Coughlin 

Yvonne Garner

Thanks for stopping by! 

Suzz

Keep a song in your Heart

Week two of the beautiful colors  at  CR84FN. I created a card using the colors and for the Simon Says Stamp and Show Anything Goes.

I was inspired by a couple of projects on pinterest.  They used paints, birds, and text all elements I love to mix together. :)

My project doesn't look like there is any lavender in it, but it is there. :)  I promise!  I started with a surface of white acrylic paint misted with Lavender glimmer mist.  I also misted the soft mulberry paper used in the nest.

The background was painted, misted and stamped using the text from Bluebird. I love the text as it is from the book To Kill a Mockingbird. The edges were distressed with the distressing tool and sponged with brown dye ink.

The center house is from Whimsical Melange stamped with black archival ink.  The banners and butterfly have  a touch of green watercolor pencil.  The bird is from the Birds of a Feather plate. The sentiment is from the Songbirds plate.

Here are the beautiful colors:

For all the details on the challenge this week go to the CR84FN blog. 

Please visit the wonderful CR84FN Design Team:

Deborah Frings * Sue Lelli  * Andrea Matthews *  Stephanie Kraft * Suzanne Czosek (me)  *  Heather Jensen * Mona Pendleton  * Lisa Somerville * Monika (Guest Designer)

Thanks for stopping by!

Suzz

Music & Years

 

This card was designed with the Card Patterns Sketch # 133, the Color Throwdown #160 colors and the music is for the City Crafter Challenge of Music. 

The main circle was glimmer misted with pink chalkboard mist over a music mask.  I cut a circle from the background and mounted it on a brown circle. Sponged the edges with a hint of brown dye ink. 

The flowers, ribbon and sheet of music also received a coat of the same chalkboard mist. 

The bird is from Artistic Outpost - Birds of a Feather plate and the sentiment is from Verses Rubber Stamps - Music & Years - BB0412-F

Thanks for stopping by!  

Suzz

Keep A Song in Your Heart

I love the ruler image in the Artistic Outpost Whimsical Melange. When I was working with the ruler I thought wouldn't it be fun to create a background of rulers. I think it turned out pretty cool.

Recipe:

1. Stamp ruler multiple times using black archival ink on ivory cardstock.
2. Sponge with yellow, orange and brown dye inks. 
3. Distress edges using distressing tool. 
4. Piece together a staggered background.
5. Stamp little birds randomly on background using black ink. 
6. Stamp birds on ivory cardstock using black ink. Watercolor with green and reds. 
7. Punch hearts from music sheet and spray with red glimmer mist. 
8. Stamp sentiment on ivory cardstock using black ink. Sponge background with yellow and orange dye ink. 
9. Cut out sentiment and mount on black cardstock. 
10. Assemble. 

Products:

• Artistic Outpost - Whimsical Melange
• Artistic Outpost - Typography
• Artistic Outpost - Birds of a Feather
• Artistic Outpost - Songbirds
• Ranger Distress Inks - Vintage Photo, Mustard Seed, Rusty Hinge
• Ranger Archival Ink - Black 

Thanks for stopping by!

Suzz

Anything Goes

Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge this week is anything goes. They are having a special blog hop with lots of fabulous projects from the design team. 

This card uses the beautiful new stamps from Artistic Outpost Whimsical Melange blended with the images from Artistic Outpost Birds of a Feather plate and the Old Grist Mill.

I am working on some really fun projects that I can't share right now. :)   But enjoying the process. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Suzz