Happy Anniversary Baby!

Yes, it has been a long time since I posted to my blog and it is hard to keep up these days! I see I have lost a few followers and that is sad, but unfortunately, there is not much that I can do to keep actively blogging at the moment. There has just been so much going on and time is very limited, but I am trying the best that I can, so I hope you will stick with me over the next couple of months. I do apologize for lack of visits and only the occasional blog post, but I do see what most of you create and especially on Facebook. OK, well today I am sharing an anniversary tag for my hubby that I created using a variety of stamps from Artistic Outpost. We have reached the 33 year point in our lives and I have got to tell you that I am so incredibly blessed to have not only my best friend at my side, but that today is his last day of work! He is retired! Not sure what he will do!

I took a kraft tag background and used the music sheet from "Ephemera Backgrounds" which was clear embossed. Next I placed Tim's time stencil over the tag and inked over that in Black Soot. The frame from "Chalk It Up" was stamped in Coffee Archival and fussy cut. All remaining images were stamped in Black Archival and a slight amount of color was added to the "Flapper Fashions" gal. I think the sentiment from "Typography" is perfect for my hubby. Added a few stencil hearts and some dyed ribbon and "Life is Good."

To update all of you, we now have a house in Wisconsin (so two at the moment and now you can understand the lack of time), I apparently had/have the flu (but getting there) and now with Steve all retired, I am looking forward to a more relaxing never going to get up at 4:30 AM again life! I hope you all are doing well and enjoying the soon to be spring season! Thank you so much for sticking with me and visiting today!

The Baker!

Hope you all are doing well! It is fast approaching Valentine's Day and this little cutie, "The Baker," is cooking up some sweetness over at Artistic Outpost! If you have the time and would like all the details and some extra photos just click HERE.

We actually have some plans for the Valentine's Day weekend and I hope you all are doing something wonderful with someone you love! Thank you so much for stopping by to visit!

Merry Christmas!

It certainly is beginning to look a lot like Christmas and I still am not ready! Are you? I did package up gift boxes to send out to family, which will go to the Post Office tomorrow along with Christmas cards and I did manage to wrap my hubby's gifts, but still so much to do. I do hope you are further along than I am and if not, don't stress it! Now before I give you the details on my collaged Christmas tag,  Artist Outpost, ODBD, and NCC are running a "Gift Certicate Special" through December 20th. With every $50 gift certificate purchased, the consumer will be given a $5.00 gift certificate, so it is like the gift that keeps giving! For more details just click the links above. The December "Show Us You AO Art" is now a that middle point, but you still have time to join in! Will enter this at Simon Says Stamp Monday for their "Anything Goes" and Inspiration Journal's "Sing, Sing it Loud."

I don't do very many collages and not sure why, but I am not in my comfort zone putting those together. Yesterday I started working on Tim's December tag and just was not enjoying it, so off in another direction totally. I love the sweet little AO sisters from "Birds of a Feather" and have used them a couple of times for Christmas. So using up some of the spray that was left on the craft mat from the start of Tim's tag, I applied color with the water brush. The remaining colors were applied directing from the ink pads (Festive Berry, Brushed Corduroy, Tattered Rose). Then the little darlings were fussy cut just waiting for their placement. The kraft tag background was inked in Archival Red Geranium from "Ephemera Backgrounds" and this reminded me of Santa's list. The little torn sheet of "O Little Town of Bethlehem" is from ODBD Christmas Paper 2013. This was shaded with leftover ink on my foam applicators. Merry Christmas and the package were stamped and cut from "Christmas Chalk." Next I added some little bits or Rick Rac trim, snowflakes cut and misted with gold and a couple more Tim type goodies. And there you have it!

Hope you are having a wonderful week and thank you so much for stopping by today!

CC#3C - Cabinet Card Pocket

Happy Veteran's Day to all of you who serve or have family members who do or have! We owe so much to those that keep us safe and enjoying our many freedoms! On the subject, I had more free time to play around in the dungeon and worked those gorgeous Artist Outpost stamps into the current Compendium of Curiosities III, found on page 38, "Cabinet Card Pocket." Linda and the CC sure have some amazing artwork up for inspiration and this go around Inspiration Emporium is the sponsor of a $50 store gift voucher and again you can win something sweet from Tim and Mario! Here we go and this time we can share the details as this is more about the product and not a technique.

For my cabinet card pocket, I applied clear embossing ink over the crocodile stencil and used Distress vintage photo EP and matted this on red and distressed the edges. All was mounted on a piece of Tim's paper. My sweet young lady from Generation Redux was stamped in Coffee Archival over some Blooming Garden paper from ODBD, which I had did a white paint wash over the area where the image would be stamped. The November "Show us you AO Art" challenge has started, so hope you will join in!

I colored the rose with Watermelon and Lettuce alcohol inks and added a word band tied with a dyed silk ribbon. 

Now working the cabinet card, gave me the idea to also enclose a secret little inspirational tag for my Granddaughter's 21st birthday, which easily pulls out and has a little secret hiding spot!

The sentiment is from Chalkboard Wisdom and a favorite of mine and I think just the right words for a 21 year-old! For a little extra background interest, I sued stamps from Ephemera Backgrounds and Whimsical Melange.

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you are having a wonderful week!

Trick or Treat!

In just a few days all the kids will be going house to house bagging up some candy! So how many of you check your kids stash and sample a little just to be sure? Well I did when my kids went "Trick or Treating" and I remember the sound of, "Mom, I am missing a Butterfinger." Today I decided I would make a Halloween treat on the softer side, no blood or gore, just fun! I will also be sharing this on Friday at Artistic Outpost if you would like to visit and remember there is still a few days to join in the October "Show us you AO Art," so please join in!

As you can see the girls from Paperboy have finished their day at work and are getting ready for a Halloween celebration. I think the taller one is going to dress up as Lois Lane! Well that is what I had in mind when I started this! The image was stamped using Coffee Archival on a piece of leftover paper from ODBD Blooming Garden and I white washed it a little. I did like the subtle background and also have another project started that I will share at a later time doing the washing painty thing. This was shaded with Rusty Hinge and Vintage Photo. Added some alpha letters.

Now the background was great fun to make and that is why I continued on with another piece for another time. I inked up the leaf stamp from Generation Redux using markers. First by covering the entire stamp with Walnut stain and then added bits of Barn Door and Spiced Marmalade right over the WS. I did try Dusty Concord and Mustard Seed, but those did not show up as well. This was then stamped onto my inked tag background. I also stamped some music sheet in Vintage Photo from Ephemera Backgrounds.  I really did love the background and had a hard time covering it up!

Thank you for stopping by today and I hope you are having a wonderful week. On a personal note, my hubby is having surgery on Monday and I will be hit and miss for a while, depending on how much he needs me. My mind as been a little distracted lately with getting this all set up and getting things (extra) done around the house, so we won't have to do much. I just want him to relax and get all healed up really quick! So I will pop around whenever I can!

Thinking of You!

I hope today finds you well and enjoying the ending of summer while join in on the Artistic Outpost Designers Choice Blog Hop.  Today I am sharing a card and tag I created using Artistic Outpost's "Bluebird" stamps and have teamed it up with ODBD "Blooming Garden" paper pad and "Fence" die. Now through August 30th AO, ODBD and NCC have a 20% off "Dog Days Of Summer Super Sale" using code DOGDAYS, so click the links for all the details.  And as always the rest of the team has some great inspiration for you!



Terry * Tracy * Gerrie *  Lisa * Kate * Linda 



Some vanilla card stock was inked lightly with Antique Lines and then the image was colored using Distress markers Vintage Photo and Black Soot, but first I inked up the little cutie with Vintage Photo ink. I wanted to ensure the image would have full coverage. Obviously I inked the text in black. I tore around the stamped edges and then shaded with Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain and Black Soot on the corners mostly.

The background for the sentiment was stamped using Walnut Stain. I used a very neglected Stampin Up punch and punched several layers to build this up. I just liked the shape of this with the sentiment.

Cut and colored some greenery and inked over a paper rose to distress it slightly. Of course I had to make a white picket fence and crackling finished it off nicely. Will be sharing this with Inspiration Journal's "Anything Goes" for their August challenge.

The tag was pretty much done the same, except for the background. I stamped music from the AO "Ephemera Backgrounds" and then inked some color over that. Applied some leftover  torn paper from the card. Did a little more inking and then toned it down with gesso, more inking and some spritz and flicking of water. I then decided to apply a couple of coats of embossing powder.

 

Then it was just layering it all up and adding a few little flowers and everybody was happy! 

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you have a most enjoyable day. Hope to see you along the Blog Hop and also the August Challenge "Show us your AO Art."

Laughter Is Timeless!

Dies and Distress is the current challenge chose by the fabulous Annie at A Vintage Journey! What a great line up of Tim inspiration my DT Sisters have for you, so you must pop over there for all the details. There is always a prize to be won from our sponsor, Country View Crafts and of course you could be among the "Pinworthies."

For my project, I decided to make a card using Tim's Pocket Watch dies and plenty of Distress products, along with stamps from Artistic Outpost, which with their vintage appeal work so well keeping in Tim style. First I started with a "Faux Batik" background that was stamped with the AO gears (Industrial Backgrounds) with clear embossing ink, powder, heat set. I inked over the surface with Peacock Feathers, Dried Marigold and Vintage Walnut. One thing I like to do after the Spritz and Flick water treatment is to dab your foam applicators over the wet spots. It just adds a little extra interest. When I was pleased with the colors and added a little subtle background stamping, I removed the embossing and inked over with the various colors, but mostly Antique Linen and Vintage Photo.

The Chalkboard Wisdom sentiment was stamped using Black Archival and clear embossed. I used Tim's water brush and Peacock Feathers DI to color in the banner, before inking and spritzing. For this piece, I wanted the water drops to remove color, so left well enough alone. The Pocket Watch was die cut using grungeboard and covered with Rock Candy Crackle. After it was dried, I inked over the surface using Peacock Feathers. I shaded around the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and then applied some VP paint to my mat and with a tooth brush flicked on some paint.

The movers and shapers were done as above, except they were inked with Dried Marigold and flicked with VP and PF paint. For the spinner, I dabbed both paints and flicked on some thinned black and then covered with clear EP and heat set.

Both the stamped gear and clock from AO were stamped using Archival and clear embossed. I used Tim's circle movers and shapers and all just fits so well!

A few gears were added and one eBay find, some rub-ons, a Key and Word Band and all is happy!

I hope you have enjoyed your visit as much as I enjoy your taking the time to stop by. Have a wonderful weekend.

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope you are all doing well and enjoying some nice weather! With Mother's Day in the US just around the corner, I decided to share a simple tag for Artistic Outpost. There are more photos and all the details to be found at AO, so I would love it if you would stop on over and thank you for visiting today.

Whatever you do this weekend or how you celebrate, have a wonderful time and Happy Mother's Day to all the moms who take care of human and animals alike!

Come On!

Come on and join in the Artistic Outpost's New Release of "Hayride" and "Christmas Chalk"  Blog Hop with Gerrie, Lisa, Suzanne, Tracy, Linda, Alison, Terry (Me) and Kate.

Today I am sharing a wall hanging using Hayride and Chalk It Up!

This ended up being a fun project, but it did not start out as such! I first inked up some paper with Antique Linen and a little Brushed Corduroy, knowing I would use the ledger stamp from Ephemera Backgrounds for a subtle background. Once the background was stamped using Brushed Corduroy, the Frame and Tractor (love this) was stamped in Coffee Archival. The edge was die cut with Tim's notebook!

That was my start and I tried this and that and this and that and could not find a decent home for my duly noted tractor!

I looked around at this and that, you get the picture and then saw the frame that I had from my good old painting days! The brain power kicked in!  The frame was painted in French Vanilla and stamped with Sepia Archival and clear embossed. I did think about adding some crackle, etc., but decided no.

Something told me to go with corrugated cardboard and make some leafy matter!  Once I cut the leaves and pine cone, I stained them using Mustard Seed, Barn Door, Bundled Sage, Rusty Hinge and Dusty concord. After nice and dry, I applied Crackle, let dry and brushed on Vintage Photo stain. I was thinking these were a little bright and remembered that talent ball, Astrid, mentioning toning down color with Dylusions "White Linen" and this worked quite nicely! Thanks, Astrid!

The corrugated cardboard background was cut and cracked and stained with Vintage Photo. All cardboard edges were highlighted using Treasure Gold, White Fire!

Really love these new releases and I can't wait to share more of my completed projects over the next few weeks. The September Monthly Referral Program is waiting for you and your AO stamps, so come on and have some fun!

Thank you so much for visiting today!