KSS Crew Challenge # 20 -- Tag It

I created these three gift tags using Kitchen Sink Stamps. I used the Build a Garland set for the tag with the candy and cinnamon sticks and the tag with the gingerbread boy. The other tag was from the Christmas Lights set. The sentiment "A Gift Just for " comes from the set Gift and "from" is from the set Aloha. were from This was really a practical challenge from KSS. I'll really get to use the items I've made.

KSS Crew Challenge # 20 -- Bag It

This month's Kitchen Sink Stamp Challenge is "Let's Wrap it, Bag it or Tag it!" It's the Christmas season and there are gifts to prepare for giving. My challenge interpretation is a gift bag. I used the Holly and Mistletoe set to decorate the bag.

This is the color pallette I used for the various components of the stamping.

Holly leaves: layer 1 - London Fog (Memento), layer 2 - Leaf (Club Scrap), layer 3 - Moss (Club Scrap).

Holly berries: layer 1 - Topaz (Club Scrap), layer 2 - Lady Bug (Memento), layer 3 - Ruby (Club Scrap).

Bows: layer 1 - Lady Bug (Mementp), layer 2 - Mountain Rose (Adirondack), layer 3 - Ruby (Club Scrap).

The bag is actually brighter in real life; my photo taking ability needs some improvement. But, scanning a 3D object doesn't work well either. I know my Dad will appreciate the bag adorning his gift.

Twelve Tags of Christmas

As a finale to this large project, I thought I would add a photo of all of the Twelve Tags of Christmas. Even I am amazed that I was able to complete all of the tags. I'm so glad I did. It was fun!

Twelve Tags of Christmas Tags #12

It took me a few days to complete this tag, take a photo of it (too big to just scan) and to add it here. However, what a tag it is. Tim share his technique of making roses from grungepaper. It's something I had seen in pictures, but had no idea how to do it. I won't say it was easy, although it wasn't really too difficult either. The hardest part for me was being patient while the glue dried. I'm really glad I did the tag. I love it.

Twelve Tags of Christmas Tags #11

Tag 11 used one of my favorite Tim Holtz stamps--the reindeer. It was a bit challending for me since I was trying to follow Tim's tags as closely as possible. However, I did not have the tool he used to create the flower center brads. Well, I had some brads with very large heads . I used the sticky back canvas and computer images and created replicas of Tim's flower centers. I love the distress ink and Rock Candy Stickles on the flower petals. I can't believe that there is only one tag left to show.

Twelve Tags of Christmas Tags #10

Today's tag was a lot of fun. Grungeboard letters and shapes covered and shaped in metal tape. The coloring was done with alcohol markers and then distressed with pitch black ink. My only regret is that my metal tape was not wider than the tag, so I had to use two pieces. Oh well, sewing it with the tiny attacher staples kind of covered up the seam.

Twelve Tags of Christmas Tags #9

I can't believe that Tag #9 is history. I actually like how this tag turned out. I have to admit that I had my doubts at first. I didn't some of the major supplies, so I had to improvise. The filmstrip is an old film negative that I was able to find. I had to glue the pictures to the front in order to see them. The pictures were shared by Tim. However, I had to work to size them to my filmstrip. I didn't have the numbers either, so I used grungeboard numbers painted with crackle paint. I didn't think I had the photograph stamp either, but I was wrong. It was part of a set that I owned. I had never used it before, but it's been discovered now. Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.

Twelve Tags of Christmas Tags #8

I just finished tag #8. I think it was my favorite so far. It's hard to judge, I've loved them all. Creating antiqued vellum with just distress ink and heat was awesome. I love the music background and I've always loved the street lamp stamp. I had to substitue the key. However, the word keys are on my wish list.

Twelve Tags of Christmas Tags #7

Tag #7 is complete. I love the look of simplicity with this tag. It really seems peaceful to me. The muted background is balanced by the sparkly holly and gold embossed "Merry Christmas." The new technique for me was the use of a clear mask. I didn't have Tim's clear mask package, so I had to improvise. I used a clear transparency and sprayed stencil tack on the back. It did leave a slight residue, but it came off easily with the adhesive eraser.

Twelve Tags of Christmas Tags #6

Halfway there and having more fun than ever. Following Tim Holtz's Twelve Tags of Christmas has been a blast so far. Today's tag used one of my favorite stamps--the car. I know it was one of the first Tim stamps that I bought. Tying the tree to the top of the car was such a cool idea. Grungeboard is really great for making items to pop off the paper. Using the distressed dictionary page as a background was a brilliant idea for this tag.

Twelve Tags of Christmas Tags #5

What can I say...Another fun tag from Tim Holtz. This is my version of Tag #5. I had to improvise a little for some of the tag, but it follows Tim's basic steps. I used Tag #4's technique of making an ink pad for another TH collage stamp for this tag. Using the fragment charms with a bit of metal tape was so cool. I like the use of wire to hang the ornaments.

Twelve Tags of Christmas Tags #4

Tag #4 is now complete. It needed a little dry time before assembly. I was really excited to do this tag. Tim shared the house ornament assembly. I had seen images of this technique from participants in some of his classes, but he didn't share the technique until his tags. How cool! The house ornament can also be used as a pin. Tim used the one inch frame for his pin, but I only had the 1 inch by 3" alternative to work with. When I get other supplies, I may use the smaller size and wear the larger as a pin.

The other technique I loved was using the cut 'n dry felt pad to make an ink pad. This is especially great for intricate collage stamps. I stamped the image on the pad and then I colored each part of the stamped image with the reinkers. Then when I stamped with the collage stamp, I used the felt pad as my ink pad and voila, the collage is in color. This is another technique that I had seen demonstrated, but never tried. Wow, it works like a charm.

Twelve Tags of Christmas Tags #3

Today was a kind of twofer. Tim showed two tags. Basically they both used the same techniques with one variation. The base of these tags was making plaid using alcohol inks. The variation was to make a lighter spot to stamp in using the blending solution (the Santa tag). I had to make both tags so I could try out the variation. It worked for me...wow!

Twelve Tags of Christmas Tag #2

Tag #2 used distress inks, distress embossing powder and pieces from Tim's Ideology Line. This time we distressed the metal corners and created a dimensional flower from two almost flat flowers. Took the flower to a whole other level.

2009 Twelve Tags of Christmas Tag 1

It's that time of year and Tim Holtz is busy creating his Twelve Tags of Christmas. I decided that I would play along and try to do each tag of the day. I did complete tag #1 yesterday, but couldn't post until today because the stickles needed to dry. Tim used his tried and true techniques but added a little something extra for us to try. The scarf around the snowman's is made from two pieces of ribbon with a wire encased between them. By bending the ribbon with wire, it gives dimension and the look of the scarf blowing in the wind. The icicles at the top were made from Stickles. I decided to try and replicate what Tim creates as closely as possible unless I don't have the supply. I figure that he is the guru and I have a lot to learn from him.

Kitchen Sink Stamps Crew Challenge #19

Whew. I'm just under the wire in adding my submission to the Kitchen Sink Stamps Crew Challenge. Less than an hour to go. (I misremembered the deadline.) In this challenge, Lisa gave us a template and we were to create a card using Kitchen Sink Stamps. I used the bow from Build a Garland and the ornaments from Ornament and Stars. All inks used were Adirondack. For the bow--layer 1 was cloudy blue; layer 2 was sailboat blue; layer 3 was stonewash; and layer 4 was denim. For the ornaments--layer 1 was shell pink; layer 2 waspink sherbert; layer 3 was raspberry; and layer 4 was cranberry. KSStamps are so much fun to use!

Halloween Review

Halloween is over and October swaps were sent and received, so it's safe to post a few of the cards I made. For some reason this year I got more into Halloween than usual. Maybe it was because of the enthusiasm of my 3 year old grandson. Whatever the reason, I had fun making these cards. Except for "Black Magic Woman", all of the stamps are from Stampsmith. I should also mention that I just got the Cricut Gypsy and I had fun learning to use it. All of the die cuts on the first and third example were made using the Gypsy.

Stampland Post

A favorite stamp company of mine is Stampland. Darlene Domel and Picasso Gaglione create the artwork and make their own line of stamps. The have a lovely shop in Chicago which also houses a stamp museum. If you've ever seen Darlene at a stamp convention, you will see her booth surrounded by stampers standing mesmerized while she creates with her stamps, dye ink, eclipse tape and dusters. these are a few of the pieces I created using Stampland stamps.

KS Crew Challenge #18

This is the first time I've entered the Kitchen Sink Crew Challenge. This was a 1-2-3 challenge--1 pop dot, 2 embellishments, 3 stamps. The dog is popped. The two embellishments are the raffia and the leaves. The three stamps are the squirrel, the hay bale, and the dog.

The squirrel, from Autumn Squirrel, is layered with Marvy ochre, Marvy brown, and Marvy dark brown.

For the dog, from Kittens & Pups, I started with the 2nd layer to get the white fur. Layer 2 was Memento London fog; layer 3 was Marvy grey; and layer 4 was Marvy black.

The hay bale was layered with Memento desert sand, Marvy ochre, and Marvy brown.

Have I mentioned that I love Kitchen Sink stamps!

Kitchen Sink Stamp Discovery

I have just recently discovered Kitchen Sink Stamps for myself. It's a system of multi-level stamps that when stamped result in the most beautiful, detailed images. OK that description doesn't do justice to the stamps. If you want a better description and demonstration, their website is http://www.kitchensinkstamps.com/ I have had so much fun playing with some of the sets I have. These are a few examples.

Stamping in Savanna

I spent several days in Savanna, Illinois with a group from Stampscapes II Yahoo group. I had a great time. Not only was I was among friends (and two of my sisters), I was surrounded by so much talent. These are a few of the art pieces I finished there.

Another Henna Collection project

Each month Club Stamp has a project for members. This months was a wall hanging. I especially liked this one since I had the perfect place in my studio to put it. That doesn't happen often, since my studio doesn't have a lot of "place" for anything right now. I'm working on organizing. (Does that sound familiar?)

Club Stamp Projects

I worked on my OCAM (One Card a Month) swap today. I was playing with the stamps and paper from the Henna Collection. This card is what I came up with. Sometimes a card just comes together. Unfortunately, part of the coolness of this card is the texture which, of course, never comes through in a scan. I hope the recipient likes it as much as I do.

Another TJ Technique

This card was another fun one to make. On a piece of newspaper I stamped the Cornish Heritage Bird Watching stamp with Versamark Ink and then embossed it with clear embossing powder. Brown dye ink was brayered over the piece. The areas that were embossed resisted the ink. With a gentle wipe to remove the ink, the newsprint shows through. This technique is called Newsprint Reveal.

TJ Stencil Fun

Anyone who knows my art, knows that I love to try new things. That's why I subscribe to Technique Junkies Newsletter. I love to use cool backgrounds to highlight my stamps. I created this card for a swap. It was easy and fun! I used the wet stencil technique. I used the Eiffel Tower stencil from Club Scrap/Stamp and scribbled watercolor crayons over it. I sprayed with water and laid the stencil face down on my cardstock. A gentle rub transferred the image to the cardstock. When the paper dried, I stamped French images (mostly Club Stamp) over the stencil image.

April Art

These are two atc's that I did for swaps in April. I know they have been received so I can post them. the top atc was for a quotation swap. The background was a TJ technique. I covered the card with pigment ink and then let it dry. I then used a second pigment ink, sprayed it with water and pounced with a plastic bag to remove some of the ink. The white flourish was done using white ink and a stencil. The butterflies were stamped over the flourish.

The second atc was for a rain swap. The background was brayered on using a rainbow pad. Then it was sprayed with Simple Green. The stamp is from Club Stamp. The top layer is acetate which was streaked with stickles to represent rain. The layers are held together by brads.

Art Week in Wisconsin

I spent a fabulous week in Wisconsin at my sister Pat's house. My sister Diane joined us. We had a week of stamping and project making, all in the name of relaxation. I did stamp some cards, but mostly I spent my time putting together projects from past Club Stamp kits and from Club Stamp projects purchased or won. Most of the items were books. I love making books! I also made an atc display easel stand and a drop spine book box. I love doing my art any time. However, a week with my sisters who also love art spent in beautiful surroundings was fantastic. Pat took a picture of my projects laid out on a table. Now I have to find uses for all of these books.

Zindorf Part 2

I added photos from the beginner's class with Michelle Zindorf yesterday. Today I'll add the cards we did in the advanced class. I'm so much happier with these. I think a day of practice and a night to think about techniques really helped. In addition to brayering and sponging, we did embossed resist.

Meeting Michelle Zindorf

Last weekend I had the pleasure and privilege of taking two brayering classes from Michelle Zindorf. What a fantastic experience! Michelle is such a wonderful and very talented person. I learned so much and enjoyed working (playing) with a group of great ladies.

In the beginner's class we learned the basic brayering techniques. It's amazing what one can do with a brayer, a few Adirondack ink pads, a few sponge pieces, and a couple of rubber stamps. These are my first works of art. Remember that these are my first attempts.

Starting again!

Tempus Fugit! Yes, time flies. I knew I had neglected my blog for a few months, but I had no idea that it has been over a year since I last posted. I have been busy working on art, but I just didn't post. I've decided to try again. I've done so much over the past year, but it would be impractical and almost impossible to catch up with everything here. So from time to time when I come across something that is memorable to me, I'll add an "oldie, but goodie".

One of the swaps I've participated in the last two months was a postcard swap. The cards are 4"x6" and are decorated and sent through the mail without envelope. There is something about this idea that I enjoy. Maybe it's the thought of the postal employees seeing something so out of the ordinary. These are two of the postcards I have sent.