Grungy Monday 32 (and some news!)

I LOVE the latest Grungy Monday challenge! All you have to do is pick your favorite Tim Holtz technique from the 2011 12 Tags of Christmas, and create a non-Christmas project with that technique! And ... one very lucky person from this challenge will receive a $25 gift certificate from Simon Says Stamps! Woo hoo!

The 2011 tag challenge was my first try at Tim's annual 12 Tags of Christmas. Taking part in the challenge really pushed me and made me feel more confident in using Tim's products. Like Linda said on her blog, Tim shared sooo many new and amazing techniques!

It was so hard to pick just one favorite. So before I reveal my little project, I wanted to share some of my favorite techniques from the 12 Tags:

Double embossing from tag #9. I never realized that you can emboss with Tim's Distress Inks, and on top of that, double emboss with clear powder to create texture. Amazing!

Creating a drop shadow with die cuts from tag #12. Usually when you want to add depth or dimension to a project, you reach for some foam dots or squares. Well, Tim showed us how you can create depth by simply cutting out two sets of dies and using the darker color dies as your drop shadow. So simple, but so genius!

Picket Fence Distress Stain as a background element from tag #2. The milky glaze that this stain creates is sooo cool. It really makes for an antique look, I love it!

Creating a crackled/weathered look with Rock Candy Crackle Paint from tag #4. When I saw Tim's icy snowman tag, I totally fell in love ... the colors, the crackly weathered look ... It's amazing how much some Crackle Paint can do for your project! So, I decided to try this technique from Tim on an artist trading card.

The background was creating using Fired Brick and Picket Fence Distress Stains. I distressed the edges with an emery board (still need the little distresser!) and inked with Walnut Stain. My sentiment is a Stampers Anonymous stamp, and the lovely crochet ribbon and liquid pearls are some recent finds from Paper Mermaids. Have you ever played with these before? If not, you must! It takes some practice and quite a bit of patience, but in no time you'll be making perfect little pearls. :)

Now, for the crackle paint technique. Instead of the snowman Tim used, I used my Movers & Shapers Mini Hearts die. I don't have Snow Cap so I covered my grungepaper hearts with Picket Fence Distress Stain. After the stain dried, I covered my grungepaper with Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint. Very important: Per Tim, you MUST apply a medium/thick coating of the crackle paint. If you do not, you will NOT get the deep cracks that this technique is all about. (See the dark red hearts underneath my white ones? Those were my original grungepaper hearts. I didn't apply enough crackle paint to them so I decided to use them as dimensional pieces instead.) When my hearts dried, I filled them in with Fired Brick, versus the Weathered Wood and Tumbled Glass colors that Tim used for his tag.

I made a button for this tag using my Sewing Room die. I applied some Gold Dabber on top then threaded some tulle through it, ala tag #4! I also darkened the gold by applying some Black Soot around the edges. I like applying this color to gold and other metal-y colors; it gives your embellishment a more antique look.

There you have it, a Valentine's artist trading card using Tim's crackled/weathered technique.

Before I type out my supplies list, I wanted to share some exciting news! My husband got promoted!! Here's the catch: We'll be moving 5.5 hours north to the greater Seattle area ... and we need to be all settled in by January 23rd!! Since most of my family lives there, and my sister relocated to the Queen Anne area just last month, I know Scott and I will have plenty of watchful eyes over us. That, and I've found a scrapbook store or two, so I'm all set. :)

With that said, this may be my last project for the next couple of weeks, as I've got lots of planning, phone calling, packing, and moving to do!! So thank you for your patience and while I'll fall behind on a couple Grungy Mondays, I'll still have time to peek at your creations!

Thank you all for looking and have a great rest of your week!

Supplies:

Grungepaper
Movers & Shapers - Mini Hearts die
Gold Paint Dabber
Distress Ink - Walnut Stain & Black Soot
Distress Stain - Picket Fence & Fired Brick
TH Alterations - Sewing Room die
Liquid Pearls - Petal Pink

Operation Write Home: Sketch Challenge #103

Graphic 45 recently posted on their blog about a special CHA project with Operation Write Home, a nonprofit that puts handmade cards into our troops hands. After browsing through OWH's website, blog, and Facebook pages, I knew without a doubt that I wanted to contribute to this heartfelt cause. If you're interested in sending your card creations to our service men and women, check out their website for guidelines, current needs, and other helpful info!

For some added inspiration when making cards for the troops, OWH's Stars & Stripes blog has put together sketch challenges as well as monthly challenges. Here is the latest, sketch #103:

The hearts represent embellishments, and since the deadline for V-Day cards was December 31st, I opted to go for a more generic theme. Using my stash of Graphic 45's Proper Gentleman paper, here is my card: 

I just love Graphic 45's vintage style. To give my card a more aged look, I used my Distrezz-It-All on the edges of two of my paper embellishments.

Since I used three different kinds of pattern paper, my card also met Our Daily Bread Design's January challenge. 

Thank you for looking!

Supplies:

Graphic 45 - A Proper Gentleman paper
Fiskars stamp
Walnut Stain Distress Ink
Zutter Distrezz-It-All

Grunge Monday 31: Happy Birthday, Tim Holtz!

Today is Tim Holtz's birthday, woo hoo! Happy Birthday to you, Tim, and thank you for inspiring the world with your unique creativity!

After perusing through my talented friend Sannie's blog, I've decided to take part in as many Grungy Mondays as possible! I was sad when the 12 Tags were over -- so I'm stoked to have another Tim-related challenge brought to my digital doorstep each Monday thanks to Studio L3!

With that said, the latest Grungy Monday project involves making a birthday card for the King of Craft himself. All you have to do is use at least one of his products! Here is the card I made for Tim:

I used a mixture of water, alcohol inks, and Picket Fence distress stain for the color-portion of the background. The gold netting look was achieved from one of Tim's Stampers Anonymous stamps and some gold Ranger embossing powder. I took another Stampers Anonymous stamp, inked it with Walnut Stain and Peeled Paint distress ink, and stamped over the background. I then flicked some water onto bits and pieces of the background.

The flowers were created using kraft glassine paper and Tim's Tattered Florals die.

The ticket is another one of Tim's Stampers Anonymous stamps. I wrote the words "make a" on a piece of cardboard then stuck underneath the flowers. I applied Crackle Accents over the sentiment. I tied some twine around one of Tim's word sticks then affixed to my card. I applied some gold Paint Dabber to a piece of Vintage Lace.

My little bird is one of Tim's Movers and Shapers dies. I cut him out using grungepaper then inked him with Distress Stain. His "feathers" are two pieces of grungepaper flourish elements. I felt like adding them to the bird made him look more regal and striking ... I then added Rock Candy all over the bird and his "plummage." :)

I wonder what fun plans Tim has today? Maybe a spontaneous trip to Disneyland? Thank you for looking and have a great weekend!

Tim Supplies:

Alochol Inks - Cranberry, Lettuce, Salmon, and Stream
Distress Stain - Picket Fence
Distress Ink - Black Soot, Broken China, Peeled Paint, Spun Sugar, and Walnut Stain
Kraft Glassine paper
Tattered Florals die
Movers & Shapers Mini Bird & Cage die
Rock Candy Stickles
Idea-ology - Word Stick
Stampers Anonymous - Odds and Ends & Ultimate Grunge
Crackle Accents
Glossy Accents

January 2012 Girlie Grunge Challenge

I love the details for this month's Girlie Grunge challenge by Donna Salazar:

*White and blue

*Ribbon

*Bling

*Any DS product

I started my project by using a 4-way memory frame from Plaid; a neat wooden box that I originally bought for another project. Well ... it turns out I get to use my memory frame for my other idea, as I opted to make some altered bottles for the challenge instead! 

Lately, I've been inspired by all these gorgeous altered bottles that I've found by pouring through some of my favorite blogs ... like this one from Norwegian crafter Ingvild Bolme ... and these purple and green bottles by the talented Michele Kovack. I love papercrafting but I also love breaking away from a paper canvas once in a while, and now that I'm stocked with some alcohol inks from Paper Mermaids, I'm excited to experiment with glass! 

With that said, here is my entry for the January 2011 Girlie Grunge challenge: 

I thought this funky, eclectic set of jars would be a fun and colorful way to house some of my supplies. Being the New Year and everything, I always go through some sort of organizational change, so this is how I'm ringing in 2012! 

The small and medium jars once housed jam. The large mason jar used to contain some Trader Joe Vodka Marinara sauce up until Tuesday night. :) 

The vibrant aqua color on all three jars was achieved with blue- and salmon-colored alcohol inks. If you want to make your own, just apply some alcohol ink to your applicator and blot your jars until you like what you see! I applied some Rock Candy to each jar for some added texture. 

For my small jar, I tied a piece of white ribbon around the neck of the jar and fringed the edges with my fingers. I attached a Tim Holtz word stick with a ball and chain set, then added a flower I created using my Rose Creations die. A couple leaves from the die set were tucked underneath the flower.

My medium-sized jar has a grungepaper element in the middle with white distress stain. The beautiful chain around the neck was a recent find while I was out of town. This flower was also created with my Rose Creations die and spritzed with Tattered Angels glimmer mist. I added more of my fringed-up white ribbon behind the flower. The chunky cardboard tag was distressed using my Distrezz-It-All and attached via twine. I applied some blue rhinestones and another Donna flower that I created.

The last jar is the funkiest of them all! First, I took a wide strip of lace ribbon, misted it with an aquamarine color, then glued it together to create the base of my flower. I performed Donna's heat gun technique to my lace flower by heating the edges of the flower. Then, I cut some off-white cardstock using her Rose Creations die. I inked, stamped, and embossed each petal and spritzed with more Glimmer Mist. I glued my paper flower onto the lace flower, then attached the entire piece to some cardboard packaging that I salvaged from a scone mix box. I used my Distrezz-It-All to distress the edges of the cardboard, then glued the piece onto the front of the jar.

I cut out some words from some K&Company stickers I got last week then fit them into some Tim Holtz mini platez. I looped some ball and chain pieces through each to create a necklace effect around the neck of the jar. To top it off, I tied some twine around the jar, and added some old beads.

My Marvy markers, long die cuts, feathers, and mini misters now have a home. And ... I think I'm officially addicted to alcohol inks and glass bottles now! We have a couple antique stores here in Newport, so I know what I'll be doing on my day off! ;) Thank you for looking and have a great week!

Supplies: 

Alcohol Inks 

Donna Salazar Rose Creations die

Zutter Distrezz-It-All

Rock Candy

Distress Ink

Distress Stain

Tim Holtz Idea-ology Ball & Chain and Mini Platez

January Card Challenge #1

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope 2012 has been good to you so far. Do you have any resolutions, specifically, creative ones? Are you going to be as organized as Tim with his new storage line? Participate in more challenges?

Speaking of challenges, here is a card I made for my first challenge of the year. No rules or theme; all you have to do for this challenge is to make a card! I thought with Valentine's Day coming up, a love-themed card was a must.

I created the background using a mixture of Distress Stain and water. The tree image is a mask that I found at Whimzee's when I was in Portland a few weeks ago. I used Distress Stain to ink the image, then embossed it. I then spritzed the background with Glimmer Mist.

My picket fence was created using a Tim Holtz die from Paper Mermaids and some grungepaper. I used a mixture of Distress Stain, white acrylic paint, and Rock Candy to create its aged look.

All my flowers, except for the teal Prima one with the square Bo Bunny brad, were created using my Rose Creations die. This is probably my favorite Spellbinders die because I love flowers and I can create so many different kinds with this die!

I added some feathers and a grungepaper key.

My butterflies came from my Movers and Shapers die. I actually used a red Distress Stain for the base color ... doesn't it look more like a maroon? That's one of the neat things about grungepaper ... because of its porous, leather-y nature, the color of Distress Stain you use can look completely different when you apply it directly to your grungepaper. I stamped the butterflies with a Stamper's Anonymous stamp using purple Distress Stain, embossed the ink, and lightly inked the edges.

The result is one chunky card ... just the way I like them!

Thanks for looking, have a great day!!

Supplies:

Tim Holtz On The Edge die - Picket Fence
Tim Holtz Movers & Shapers die - Mini Butterflies
Donna Salazar - Rose Creations die
Crackle Paint
Distress Stain in Fired Brick, Picket Fence, and Vintage Photo
Distress Ink in Peeled Preserves, Peeled Paint, Gathered Twig, Chipped Sapphire, and Spun Sugar
Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Pearl
Bo Bunny brads
Grungepaper
Stampers Anonymous - Ultimate Grunge stamps
Prima flower
The Crafter's Workshop - 6x6 template