Santa's Coming!

Hello to all of you and thank you for stopping by! I also want to thank you for the good wishes and prayers concerning my recent skin cancer surgery and am thrilled to report the doctor removed it all! Now that is happy news! While still being careful, I went into my craft room to play with a little shadow box from a Hobby Lobby shopping day with Annie. I am thinking she picked up one as well. With a few challenges in full swing and of course some of the DT are among my favorite people, I had to join in!

My stamps of choice "Toy Emporium" from Artistic Outpost, were all inked in Black Archival and shaded with Distress Vintage Photo and fussy cut. All papers are ODBD "Winter Collection 2014."

The box was gessoed, sanded and then painted with a Delta silver metallic paint which is more of a glaze. Love that! I did a couple of coats. Cut the paper to size, glued down and sanded the edges and then shaded. Also using my fingers added a little of the silver paint and rubbed of the excess and then with a toothbrush flicked on some gold. The inside framing was glazed with both a silver and gold paint. I have had these cheesy colored foam snowflakes for some time and painted them gold to frame around that really cool Santa!

The outer edges were treated with DecoArt one step crackle and gold applied to fill the cracks.

All the tinsel sticks were cut to fit and hot glued down. Boy does that stuff get away from you and on you! Added bits and pieces I have collected.

Now for the fabulous challenges I am sending my little Christmas shadow box off to!

A Vintage Journey "Vintage Christmas" keeping it vintage and used Tim's Vintage Photo and Hickory Smoke Distress Inks, Holiday Word Band and Alpha Tiles.

Frilly and Funkie "Tis the Season" with vintage or shabby chic goodness!

Mixed Media Monthly Challenge "Silver and Gold" and I used both!

Hope you are having a wonderful start to the Christmas and holiday season. I have tons to do as usually, but what will get done will and what won't!!!! Thanks again for visiting! 

Christmas Tag Week #4 2015

Hope you all are doing fantastic and enjoying the Autumn season which of course brings about the Christmas season! I am determined to play along with Linda's 12 Tags of Christmas Funkie Junkie Style and already have to catch up! For Week 4, I have taken inspiration from Linda's plaid work and stenciled background and of course added a little poinsettia! The Funkie Junkie Boutique has so many wonderful products and many that I have used and always at 20%, so take a look at this fabulous store of goodies!

As I do not have Tim's Stripes stencil, I used a Prima Static one I had, which looks more like polka dots in Festive Berries and Mowed Lawn on one of Tim's Carved Ornaments. Both the tag and ornament were also slightly inked over with both colors. I cut two layers from the movers and shapers poinsettia and creased and highlighted the areas.

The tag background was stenciled using the Holly Bough in Mowed Lawn and while still in place I used a cotton swab to add the berries. The stamped images from Mini Holidays 3 were stamped using Black Archival and then clear embossed. All edges were shaded in Walnut stain.

Have a wonderful weekend and thank you for stopping by to visit!

Christmas Tag Week #1 2015

Happy Sunday to all of you and hope you have had or are having a great weekend! This year I sure hope to play each of Linda's  "12 Tags of Christmas Funkie Junkie Style" and so I start with Week One! Most of the supplies I used for my tag can be found at The Funkie Junkie Boutique, which is my favorite shopping spot for all my crafty addictions!

I took inspiration from Linda's tag using lots of gold, stenciling and poinsettias! The tag background was sprayed in reds and green using leftovers in the misting tool and then I flicked on some water drops and dried with the heat tool. Using Tim's Holiday Knit Stencil, I gold embossed with VersaMark and gold embossing powder. The poinsettias were cut from the Tattered Poinsettia and movers and shapers, inked in Mowed Lawn and Festive Berries layered up and finished off with a Faceted Acrylic Snowflake which I colored using Watermelon Alcohol Ink.

Shaded the edges with Ground Espresso and distressed and a Merry Christmas from Tim's Mini Holidays!

Thank you for visiting today!

Under the Boardwalk!

Under the Boardwalk is exactly where I would like to be and so with a little help from Artistic Outpost and the Sound of the Sea, this girl is California Dreaming! OK, I hope this will help cool you down a bit if you are living in some heavy duty heat!! Before I start, AO is having a Dogs Day of Summer 20% off sale and it ends today, so best hurry up! All the details can be found by clicking the link.

First thing I did was to apply some DecoArt Traditions paints to a tag misted with water and then I sprinkled on some Color Bursts and further misted with water and let the colors run together by moving the tag. Once I had complete coverage, I misted a second jumbo tag and then swiped the original tag over this, used a baby wipe to blend and lift off excess.

To finish the background, I used Tim's Ray stencil and applied DecoArt Media Crackle Paint, wait a minute to let it set, removed the stencil and then quickly painted over the entire tag with the DA Crackle Paint. When it dried, I reapplied the stencil and inked over it with Salty Ocean, shaded in Black Soot and stamped the Beach Huts in Watering Can Archival.

The sentiment and sign were stamped in Black Archival and cut apart. The little beach goer was also stamped in Black Archival, fussy cut and watercolored using Distress Markers.

Your visit today and comments are very much appreciated and I hope you are having a wonderful finish to summer!

CC#3C Layering Stencil - Monoprint

Hard to believe the Compendium of Curiosities III is in the final episode, so wonderfully headed by Linda and the Curiosity Crew! We have been instructed to open our books to page 48, Layering Stencil - Monoprint and the Funkie Junkie Boutique is the wonderful sponsor for the final challenge! As always there will be a prize to one lucky CC choice from Tim and Mario! Before I begin, I would like to thank Linda and the entire Curiosity Crew for taking us on such an artful journey and always inspiring us in so many ways! OK!

Now out of respect for Tim and all the effort into putting together a book of knowledge, I cannot explain the technique, but can tell you to "Buy" the book! It was overcast today, so I apologize for the picture quality. I added bits and pieces to make this a birthday tag, but stayed within the guidelines. It was hard to decide which side to go with!

The Flashcard were stenciled with Peeled Paint and shaded with Walnut Stain and a Wishbone hung from a Word Band.

The crown was painted in the above colors and a little Vintage Photo and then sealed with Multi Medium.  A bit of Tissue Tape and some dyed ribbon and all is good!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and thank you so much for visiting my blog!

Tim's August Tag 2015

Hello to all of you and thank you so much for stopping by! Last month I just got in on the last day, so I decided this time, it would be the first week! Here is my take on Tim's Tag for August.

I really had fun with this one and boy did I stain up my fingers pretty darn good. That would normally be OK, but we are meeting friends for dinner in just a few minutes! Even using alcohol wipes, some finger residue remains! My color choices below.

For shading as I wanted a softer touch, I used the Pumice Stone marker and used some Chit Chat stickers instead of the Small Talk. The stamp I used is from Tim's Artful Artifacts and that was stamped randomly across the tag and I did mask areas I did not want print.

Pretty much I followed the guidelines and really do like how it turned out! Enjoy the rest of the week and again I thank you for visiting.

Tim's July Tag of 2015

Happy Friday to all of you! I just made it in time to join in Tim's July tag of 2015 and this may be the first time I have slid in on the last day! Honestly, I have just not had time and it takes so much to motivate me lately, but I did it!!!

I will not bore you with all the details as he does a really good job of that! Here are the Distress Markers I used and blue print stamps. Pumice Stone was used for the shading on the image. I cut my paper from the Destinations stash and the Distress Inks I used for the final watercolor shading are Peeled Paint and Brushed Corduroy.

Now years ago I purchased a product from Judikins called Micro Glaze and I have it somewhere, but have no idea where and figured my local stores would not have Tim's version, so I improvised. Yup, I used regular Vaseline and pounced in on with my finger and then placed a paper towel over to lift off the excess. After I was done watercoloring, I rubbed off any excess. Hey you got to do what you got to do at times to play along!

Thank you for stopping by today and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

CC3C Layering Stencil - Paint Resist

Hope you all are having a bunch of summer fun! Can't believe it is July and I have been pretty busy and not so motivated to craft, but did manage to get challenge #31 for the Compendium of Curiosities III finished! Linda and that fabulous Curiosity Crew instructed us to open our books to page 47, lesson Layering Stencil - Paint Resist. The lovely Inspiration Emporium is the current sponsor of a $50 gift certificate and as always someone will be chosen by the CC for a special gift from Tim and Mario.

You all know we can not tell you about the details, but I will show you the supplies I used. Two set of stencil for the first part and four for the second part (I left Latticework and Schoolhouse out of the picture?).

What I can tell you is that after I stamped on the butterflies and a little here and there on the tag, I took those tiny little spools and colored them with Vintage Photo stain and added the little wires. The Trellis frameworks is a piece of grunge board, painted, crackled and stained from my stash.

Thank you for stopping by today and I hope you are having a great start to July!

Celebrate 60!

Hello to all of you and hope you are in the mood to Celebrate, because that is what we are doing at A Vintage Journey with "Celebrations" chosen by the fabulous Sandy! Be sure to visit the entire DT as they are fabulous! As some of you may know, I have had very limited Internet which eventually became non-existent and hopefully has now been repaired and I will be catching up on all your lovely blogs, which I have so missed!

My wonderful and amazing husband is/has turned 60 by the time this goes live and so I made this card using Tim's Pocket Watch die, which was painted and crackled. I decided to go with red colors! The tag background was embossed with a Cuttlebug large Domino folder and then highlighted in Black Archival. The card background was stamped using a few of Tim's stamps and then metal bits added along the way! A couple of Tim's Elementary Flash Cards, flicked and edged with the Paints mentioned below.

My Celebration will also be linked up to Linda's Compendium of Curiosities III challenge, which is Tim's Eroded Metallic technique, which I cannot share and hopefully you have your own book to open to page 44. I can tell you the colors I chose were Fired Brick, Black Soot and Antiqued Bronze. The lovely people from Inspiration Emporium are the sponsors this time around and there is always a second chance to win a package from Tim and Mario.

Thank you for visiting today and being patient with me while my Internet was acting so badly! Have a wonderful weekend!

Color Burst Fun!

Hello! Recently while I had little Internet and then none, my order of Color Burst from Linda came in and I had some extra playtime! I will be sharing a few projects soon. I got very interested in this when Gerrie had posted a pretty fabulous card using the Color Bursts. Now I am not usually one for the more vibrant colors on my projects, but we need to get out of our comfort zones and here is mine!

For this one, I did spritzed the tag first with water and then applied the color and misted a little more. Next I used a stencil to add a little texture with modeling past. The butterflies were cut using Tim's Movers and Shapers and then stamped in Sky Blue Archival using Stampin Ups French Script background.

I remember those tiny clothespins and thought those would be great for my butterflies in flight!

Had great fun with this stuff and hope you enjoyed my PRETTY post today! Thank you for visiting and now that I am caught up on all my DT posting and projects, off to visit and hopefully the Internet repairs stays!

CC#3C - Alcohol Ink Ombre

Hello to all of you wonderful crafty people and I hope you are doing great! Yes, I am still having Internet issues and until Verizon actually makes the much needed repairs, this will be ongoing! Just trying to edit a picture is so frustrating when you do whatever changes and go to save and then the "page is not available" and that is why I am lacking on blog visits! OK, enough of my problems with Verizon and just know that I am still looking and enjoying your wonderful artwork! Really I am!

I decided to work my Artistic Outpost Generation Redux and Flower Market stamps right into Linda's CC#3C lesson, "Alcohol Ink Ombre," on page 57 of the Compendium of Curiosities III. Tim's book is amazing and to play along you must work from  your own copy! The wonderful sponsor this time around is the Funkie Junkie Boutique and of course there is always sometime from Tim and Mario as well, chosen by that lovely and talented Curiosity Crew! I decided I would go with a tag and used the more pastel colors of alcohol inks and although I can't share the technique, I can tell you that I used Mountain Rose and Salmon!

Thank you for visiting me today and especially that I have been lacking and hopefully this will all be resolved soon.

Spring Colors AVJ Style!

Spring Colors are in order at AVJ and chosen by the lovely and fabulously talented Astrid! Keeping in Tim style (but of course) the team has some really wonderful and inspirational art to share with all of you, so be sure to hop on over and even better, join in! There is a prize offered from Country View Crafts, our generous sponsor!

The burlap panel was painted with Distress Peeled Paint, Deco Art Desert Turquoise and Hansa Yellow. The outer edge was shaded using Vintage Photo. When dried, I applied modeling paste through the Harlequin stencil and while still wet sprinkled on Distress Powder Peeled Paint, Verdigris, Antique Linen, a dark blue unknown name and gold. Let that stay on for awhile and then heat set to get a little shine and rough texture from the bubbled paste. Next I added some tissue tape and colored the butterflies with Sharpie Markers and a little trim.

The paper flower is one I have had for a couple of years and liked how the colors worked for this canvas, so I distressed the edges with Vintage Photo. Using the Pine Cone die, I cut the little branches from grungepaper, colored with Distress Stains Peeled Paint, Wild Honey and shaded in Vintage Photo.

The little birds were cut from Tim's Wallflower Paper and applied with gel medium. Next added a couple of Chit Chat stickers.

Thank you for stopping by today and have a glorious weekend!

I Can See Clearly Now!

"Through The Looking Glass" is the current challenge at AVJ and Julia wants to see a Tim inspired project that incorporates glass, acetate, mirrors, metal sheet, a window, clock face, a hand held mirror or glass bottle. You get the idea! Now for a chance to win a prize and now that our challenges run an entire month, the prize $$ has gone up. Big thanks to our sponsors at Country View Crafts. Make sure to visit AVJ and check out all the DT fabulousness! I have to give a great big shout out to JOY at Inspiration Emporium, who has so generously gifted me the $50 gift certificate for my Blog Candy! Thank you, Joy and IE! Wow!

The image was stamped in Black Archival, clear embossed, and segmented areas were water colored using markers. Once dried, masked and inked over in Antique Linen and Vintage photo. Next I flicked on some water, Black Embossing Paste was applied through Tim's eye chart stencil. When that was good and dry, I stamped a couple of Tim's minis using Black Archival and using Walnut Stain stamped the crackled background.

Oh and before I forget, the winner of my $50 blog candy gift certificate to Inspiration Emporium is the one and only Trash to Treasures,  LYNN! Congratulations and enjoy your shopping spree.

This is kind of my reminder to go those eyes checked! Thank you for stopping by today and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

CC3C - Remnant Rub Resist

It seems like ages since I played in a CC3C adventure conducted by Linda and the Curiosity Crew, but made it for the current "Remnant Rub Resist" challenge! All the lessons can be found in Tim's Compendium of Curiosities III and as always the details can be found there on page 51. The Funkie Junkie Boutique is the fabulous sponsor this challenge and again there is a prize to be won via the CC choice from Tim and Mario.

Following the instructions, I decided to go with a blend of Peeled Paint, Wild Honey and Broken China stains to color my background. I used a variety of stamps from Tim, added a word band and some Alpha Letters. The tie was dyed using the same stains.

This was a fun playtime and I will add this to my travel journal. We are playing a trip to Wisconsin very soon and I can see the weather is getting cold and there may be snow! Not quite what us CA folks are used to! Yikes!

Have a wonderful day and thank you for visiting today!