Thursday, December 19, 2013

It's Almost Christmas!

Only six more sleeps and it is Christmas! I hope you are all doing well and trying not to stress too much during the merriest and busiest time of the year! Oh and I sure do thank you for taking time to stop by for a visit! I have finished all my card and package mailings and wrapped the gifts for my hubby! Had a little time to play and just had to make one more Christmas tag/card! I had everything put away as well, so now I have to clean it up again.
We started by inking the background with Shabby Shutters, Crushed Olive, Barn Door and Vintage Photo on vanilla paper and a manila tag. Then the tag was embossed and highlighted and spritzed with water and a bit of white paint!  Sorry about the photo below, the weather has been really odd here and it was hard to get a decent photo to show the background, which was stamped using Distress Markers.  All stamps are from Artistic Outpost's MidWinter collection and I just love these!
The ornament was cut from manila paper and stamped using Sepia Archival ink and clear embossed. I added color to the cardinal and pine using an applicator and Distress Inks. Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge is "Stamp Out 2013" and so it is!
Hey I tied a bow and had to show you! I am so bow tying incompetent, it is not even funny! Even managed to get a bell attached! Miracles do happen this time of year!
Added little bits of white paint for a snowy touch.
Frosted the large metal snowflake!
Well there you have it! If you have some of those fabby AO stamps, there is still some time left to join in the December "Anything Goes" Referral Program for a sweet chance at a gift certificate! Enjoy the days leading up to Christmas, which I hope will be wonderful! Thank you again for stopping by.


Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Oh Christmas Tree!

How are you all doing? All caught up and ready to enjoy the Christmas season? I am still working on it and need to finish up my cards/tags will be traveling a distance! Hey, at least I finally went out and did a little Christmas shopping this last weekend! Seriously, where does time go??
As you can see, I am still having some fun with snowy effects! It is so cold here and I mean really cold and yet there is not a snowflake to be found! I feel if it is going to be that kind of cold, at least let there be snow!  I do believe these lovely little "Birds Of A Feather" Artist Outpost sweeties are pretty excited about their Christmas tree and can't wait to open up the packages! Lisa's Bloggers Challenge is "Joyeux Noel" and this will be linked over there!
I first inked the background with Distress Inks (Antique Linen, Old Paper, Brushed Corduroy) then did a spritz and flick with water and added a little snow! Next was to use my new Hollybough stencil and Bundled Sage, Fired Brick and Brushed Corduroy was applied.
The tree was cut from a greenish paper, but further inked and snow applied on the branches with whit paint and some flicks for fun. It is not a Christmas tree if not decorated and the lovely girls wanted some lights and garland and a star for good measure (which was colored with red alcohol ink).
The girls were stamped in Coffee archival and watered colored. I use Tattered Rose for flesh tones! And of course they were fussy cut. I stamped part of the sentiment from Christmas Chalk in Coffee Archival.
I do believe it was the younger of the two, who suggested standing of the box for a closer view of the decorated Christmas tree. Doesn't it appear as if they are enjoying the festive moment?
The packages were cut using my new die from Mr. Tim! Love that die!
Well I do thank you for visiting me today and I know you are all busy with your Christmas preparations. I will be finishing my inky part of Christmas this week, but will be around during breaks to visit you! The current challenge at Artistic Outpost is still "Anything Goes" and there is a random gift certificate to be given to someone, so come on over and join in!

Thursday, December 5, 2013

December Tag 2013!

Woo Hoo I am done with Tim's 12 Tags of 2013 and boy was December's tag a blast! I had so much fun, that I had to make a few extra plastic pieces! Mostly followed Tim's lead. A big THANK YOU to Tim for a fabulous year of fun and creative learning!
First I made my poinsettias and snowflakes and inked them and then shaded around the edges. Yes, I got carried away with the snow effect and I did it on purpose!
I was thinking of my Mom and a painting class we were in and it required the splattering of white paint and boy did she go to town! I asked her why she was covering it up so and she just said she was having so much for! So the snow was for my Mom and a nice memory!
Well I meant to take a picture of the tag background, after I inked and stenciled Tim's stars in random sizes and places and did soft stamping on the background, but I forgot! Hopefully you can see a little of this.  "Bah, humbug" is the challenge theme over at Country View Challenges and so we go!
Thank you for taking the time to stop by during this most busy time of the year. I do appreciate your visits and have a wonderful rest of the week!
 

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Christmas Thank You!

Hope you all are doing well and getting ready for fast approaching holiday season! It is so hard to believe it is already December and I have not done one bit of shopping! Wish I could get back to when I started in October and had my entire house decorated the weekend following Thanksgiving!
Like many of us, there are those people who you want to give a little "thank you" gift to during Christmas and this is what I have done using the Christmas Chalk and MidWinter stamp collections From Artistic Outpost.  My little collection will be linked to Frilly and Funkie for the "Gift Tags and Note Cards" challenge.
I was wanting to go with a black and white theme (minus the chalk) with pops of green and red. The images were simply stamped using clear embossing ink and then white embossing powder. After I framed the moose another black layer was edged with embossing ink and powder, because I just liked it that way. Very easy and simple, but a nice little touch to give a cash gift or gift card.
Thank you for stopping by today and you have plenty of time to join in AO's new December Anything Goes Challenge, so come on and get inky!

Saturday, November 30, 2013

In The Holiday Spirit!

It is that time again at Fashionable Stamping Challenges for a new challenge which will run through most of December! The challenge theme "In The Holiday Spirit" was chosen by me and I wanted to keep it simple especially during this time of year! This is an anything goes kind of challenge celebrating the holidays in your way, but of course you must use stamps! The design team has so much festive inspiration to share with you and as always there is a prize from Flonzcraft and a Top 3, so come on and get inky and join in!
I decided another play with my new Tim stamps was in order as I just love this Santa! Santa was stamped using Coffee Archival on the backside of some designer paper (Tim's from the Valentine sheet). It was very subtle with a slight tint of vintage green! I masked him off and then stamped the background trees and those were actually layered. The layers were shaded with Vintage Photo and Peeled Paint
The vintage music sheet was cut and distressed and slide under Santa's drum after cutting around the drum with my craft knife.
Love this vertical Merry Christmas and it worked so well for a separate layer on the brown background. The corrugated cardboard was white and I sprayed it to match the green colors which is hardly noticeable, but add some dimension!

Hope you are having a great start to the holiday season and thank you so much for stopping by!

Saturday, November 23, 2013

Merry & Bright!

I hope you are all doing well and getting excited and ready for the Holidays. Sadly I am not a shopper, well except for crafty stuff. It sure would be much easier if my husband would start and then I would always know what to give him! OK, enough of my being silly! This tag/card was kind of a "Mystery" for me in a few ways and since Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge theme is "It's A Mystery," we are going over there for a visit!
So onto the mystery part of this! Not sure if my technique is a mystery, but what I was going to do with the tag after certainly was. It literally sat for several days as I had not a clue what I would do.
How it started is when my "Shatter" new Tim release arrived from Linda's Funkie Junkie Boutique! I ordered this as soon as I saw it and yes I saw the spider webbing, which of course is so Halloween perfect, but I also saw breaking ice from when I lived in New York.
I also took inspiration from Tim's new blog post with the bells and word band. While the paint was wet on the bells and my snowflake brad, I sprinkled on some of that Rock Candy glitter. The plan was to also add some rubs as I saw a delightful card from Brenda, but I just did not know how that would work over all this crackled texture! I had already stamped and cut out the gentleman silhouette, which I knew he would be walking on ice!
So here is the scoop on the tags background. I placed the stencil over the tag and applied modeling paste, let it dry, then I applied Rock Candy Crackle. Once it dried, the fun with colors began.
After I was pleased with the colors, I diluted some Glossy accents with water and brushed this over the entire tag and sprinkled on a little RC glitter. Love that stuff and you will hardly ever hear me say that about glitter.
Sorry this was kind of photo heavy, but it was a process and I know many times I am nervous about using different products and mixing it up.
Thank you for stopping by and taking the time to comment which always makes me happy! On a personal note, my daughter has opened an Etsy shop "Fraudess" for jewelry she creates. If you have some time and would like to take a look and give her suggestions that would be great! I know many of you have shops and would be better suited to give her ideas compared to me!

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

In The Bag!

It is a Designers Choice Blog Hop at Artistic Outpost and I am sharing a gift bag idea with you! Be sure to stop by and visit all the AO designers for great inspiration and ideas!
  Lisa, Suzanne, Tracy, Linda, Alison, Terry (Me), Kate
It is a more personal touch when giving a gift if it arrives in little bag designed by hand! The fun part is that you can make the bag as simple or detailed as you chose! I wanted a festive and somewhat simple bag and gift tag! Both Christmas Chalk and Chalk It Up stamp collections were used.
I first started my inking the bag with Peeled Paint and Barn Door, using tape for masking the stripes. Next I used Embossing Ink and White EP for the frame and stamped images and edged the same. I also flicked a few pieces of White EP here and there for a little bit of a snowy feel.
The tag was stamped on both sides using Distress Markers and shaded. Easy and quick which is kind of nice during the busiest time of the year!
Thank you for visiting today and I hope you are enjoying the start of the Holiday season! If you have not already joined in the November Monthly Referral Program, you have time to ink up those AO stamps!



Saturday, November 16, 2013

Shabby Chic Christmas

That lovely leader of the pack, Shirley, has chosen the them of  a "Shabby Chic Christmas" at Fashionable Stamping Challenges! How fun is that and there is always a random prize drawing to FlonzCrafts and Top 3 selection, so ink up some stamps and join in! My FSC DT Sisters have some amazing art to share with you, so go treat your eyes!
I will admit that Shabby Chic was a challenge for me, but I had fun with it! The stamps I used are from Stampin Up and much neglected at that! I thought this little stocking was just the right image for a Shabby Chic Christmas!
We started using the pink paper from Tim and on the raised side of a Cuttlebug embossing folder applied clear embossing ink, ran it through and then applied white EP. For this I wanted the snowflakes to be sent in.
The frame was cut using Tim's new die from an old cereal box and I torn away bits, inked and sprinkled on some Shabby Pink EP from Stampendous. Nice little shabby chic look. The stocking was colored with markers and shaded in pink!
The tinsel twine was alcohol inked, painted the brads and the sentiment. Glued down a few little silver bells and there you have my take on a Shabby Chic Christmas! Will also link this up to Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, Got Ink! Thank you for taking the time to stop by and comment! Enjoy your weekend and start those Christmas projects!

Enabler alert: Artistic Outpost is having a 15% off sale through November 18th! Click HERE for the details!

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Let It Snow!

Hope you all are doing well and getting ready for the upcoming Holidays! Hence is why I decided to go with a Christmas theme for Tim's November 12 Tags of 2013! And normally I would use all or mostly "Tim" products and stamps, but since Artist Outpost came out with the Christmas Chalk line in September, it just seemed like a natural fit to me! Not to mention Artistic Outpost is having a 15% off sale until November 18th, so stock up and use code November2013.
I followed the guidelines from Tim for the most part for the chalking technique.
I inked and chalked the frame from Christmas Chalk and then the little cottage scene from MidWinter, which I did mask off a little at each side to fit inside the framed area before inking with clear embossing ink.
And has the title of my blog posts states! This was stamped on white, shaded with black and layered up on black and green and I added foam underneath for a little extra dimension! Oh and of course a little extra chalk here and there. The snowflakes at the top are from Chalk It Up.

Enjoy the rest of your day or evening and as always, I deeply appreciate your visits! And if you have some of those fabby AO stamps, join in the November Referral Program!

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Have Yourself!

Oh my goodness and you know who is coming to town? Where is the time going and how can I slow it down a little?? Somehow I think we all ask that question. AO JUST ANNOUNCED THAT UNTIL NOVEMBER 18TH ALL STAMPS ARE 15% OFF! CLICK HERE FOR THE SALE.
This is a simple Christmas card and all the details can be found at Artistic Outpost, if you want to know. 
The new Christmas Chalk stamps were used and I think this collection works so well for not only cards, but gift tags and bags. Even though time is slipping was, there is still time to join in the November Monthly Challenge.

Hope you are having a fabulous week and thank you for taking that precious time to visit!

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Santa's On His Way!

Well here I am a little late with my DT post for Fashionable Stamping Challenges, which is "Anything But Ink" for stamping purposes only and chosen by Laura! For all the details and some real sweet eye candy, pop on over.
Now you can use ink, just not on your stamped images. My medium of choice was acrylic paint. Oh the reason why I am late! I had paint stamped and watercolored my Santa, masked him off, inked my background and then took him outside for a spray of matte sealer. Sadly, I had a can of grey primer in my hand. So after a few little sprays, I ended up with a dirty grey Santa, but I did like the shadow effect! The sleigh in the background was stamp colored with a Distress Marker.
Mr. Santa was then paint stamped a second time and then watercolored and fussy cut! I actually liked it better this way! I also dappled on some white paint on his beard, hair (and a few liner strokes) and fur areas.

The ornament was cut, stamped in white paint with a little toothbrush splattering for a snowy feel. Added a little Rock Candy to the snowy areas around the ornament and the snowflake brads.

The Poinsettias were stamped using red paint and then some Stickles for the center.  This was fun to play around with paints for a stamping medium, but you can use whatever your little heart desires as long as you don't stamp in ink! Remember there is a $20 prize from Flonzcraft and a chance to be among the Top 3, so come and join in!

Thank you for stopping by today and enjoy!

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