Delightful Distress Effect Powders!

As I am currently traveling with my mother in her home state of Washington, I must confess to getting this blog post in right under the wire for the announcement of the latest CC3C challenge, Distress Effect Powders.  However, I certainly was not going to be left behind on this challenge as I was really excited about participating in this fun one!  I finished my project before I left.  Here it is:

Here's another confession...Can you all believe I have owned Tim's fabulous hot air balloon stamp for awhile and I hadn't used it yet!  I know, I know!  I do believe I am hearing audible gasps right now!

Well, I was playing with stamps and saw my Fabulous Flourishes stamp set.  I thought it would be fun to put the Fabulous Flourishes with the Hot Air Balloon, which, in my imagination, created a "time machine".  Thus, the theme for my tag was born!

I started by stamping and embossing the Fabulous Flourish with Verdigris powder onto paper from Tim's Destinations Paper Stash cut into a tag shape.  I then stamped the Hot Air Balloon over the flourish and again onto a piece of scrap cream cardstock and watercolored it with Distress Inks.  Using a stamp positioner, I lined up the Fabulous Flourish onto the balloon and then cut apart the balloon and the basket from the stamped image.  I used foam tape to adhere the balloon and basket over the top of the stamped image on the tag.

I had some lovely thin fibers that I decided to adhere to the balloon to accent the "ropes."  I adhered them all using Matte Medium.  I finished off the hot air balloon by adhering the flag attached to the basket with foam tape..

The three gents is truly one of my favorite stamps and I knew they would work well with my Time Machine theme, so I stamped them on a separate piece of cream cardstock, colored with Distress Inks and cut out.  Once again I used foam tape to adhere the image below the hot air balloon.

This piece would not be complete without the use of my favorite Ideology.  I dyed some Crinkle Ribbon with several colors of Distress Stain and placed a finished bow I created at the top of the tag, placing a Custom Fastener with the word Traveller in the center.  I also added a sproket gear to the center of the balloon along with a game spinner and as Chit Chat Stickers that spell "Journey Through Time".  The last accent piece was a word band with embossed Verdigris powders around the edges.

To complete this project, I used the technique described on Page 52 to create a "rusted" look around the edges of the tag.  I used Vintage Photo Distress Powder.  I was pleased at how well this technique finished off the project.  Lastly I adhered the entire tag over a black tag.

The  gift certificate for this challenge is generously provided by Inspiration Emporium to one lucky randomly selected winner and the creator of the winning CC3C judge's choice project will receive a fabulous prize package from Tim and Mario.  Another big thank you to them for providing these incredible prizes!

Good luck to everyone

Susan

Compendium of Curiosities Challenge 10-Assemblage Clock

I can't believe we have already reached the 10th challenge!  I have had so much fun with all the challenges, but I have especially been looking forward to this one!  The minute I saw this wonderful Tim Holtz Assemblage Clock just waiting to be filled with something fun and the technique on Page 33, I knew exactly what I was going to do!  Here it is:

I wanted to put this photo of my Great Aunt into a nest and this clock gave me the perfect opportunity. Isn't she sweet?  I decided she needed a little rose in her clasped hands and sheer fairy wings.  

I started by removing the alarm bells and handle so that it would be easier to paint.  I had been warned by my fellow member of the Curiosity Crew and friend Marjie Kemper that it was real glass on the front, so I needed to be very careful.  I thought I would use painters tape to cover the glass.  Problem solved and I didn't need to take the whole clock apart!  

I then applied three coats of gesso to the clock and bells as a base and followed with Bundled Sage Distress Paint.  After the paint was dry, I used a rag to apply some streaks of color using Gathered Twigs, Peeled Paint and Shaded Lilac.  Once dry, I reassembled the clock.

This is what the clock looked like while it was being painted:

Now the real fun began when I could decorate the inside of the clock!  

The first thing I did was to trace the back of the clock onto some of Tim's fabulous Wallflower paper and then cut it out.  I adhered it to the clock back using Scor-tape.

I had a nest that was slightly too big for the clock, so I cut it in half and inserted this half nest into the clock.  First I adhered down some excelsior moss and then the nest.  I added some more excelsior inside the nest and then placed the photot of my sweet Aunt Nita that I had decorated earlier inside the nest.  I had some silk flowers that I thought would look nice around the nest, so I adhered them around the nest to add color and interest.

I closed up the back of the clock and set to work on decorating the outside of the clock.  I just knew I had to use some of Tim's Ideology Nature Adornments.  The bough and the flying bird were perfect!  I painted both of them using the same Distress Paints I used to paint the clock.  I found the Word "Special Delivery" in Tim's Ideology Paper Pack and decided to cut it in two so that I had one word I could adhere to each "bell" of the assemblage clock.

The last thing I added were the words "loves" and "adventure" which are from Tim's Remnant Rubs.  Here is a close-up of the inside design:

I truly hope you have as much fun with this challenge as I did!

This 10th challenge is sponsored by the generous folks over at the Funkie Junkie Boutique.  There is also another fabulous prize package from Tim and Mario waiting to be shipped to one lucky winner!  Head on over to LindaLedbetter's site for all challenge rules and links to all the Curiosity Crew's blogs.  Don't forget to leave a comment!

Hope you enjoy this challenge!
Susan

Stamps and Framelits (and Family)

They're BAACK!  Yes, some of you have commented that you would like to see more projects done combining Tim's fabulous techniques with my family photos and stories.  After taking a break from using my photographs last week and instead using Tim's Three Gentleman (love that stamp!), who anyone can claim as relatives, I decided to use a beloved photo of my grandparents (my Dad's parents) on their wedding day for this ninth challenge. Here it is:

For this Stamps and Framelits challenge, I used Tim's wonderful French Flight set which includes Paris scenes as well as the butterflies we all know and love!

My grandparents had very little money when they were married.  Belle and Irvin met in Devil's Lake, North Dakota and instantly fell in love.  Grandpa traveled for work logging, harvesting wheat, etc. eventually settling in Bellingham, Washington, quite aways from North Dakota.  They exchanged love letters which I was thrilled to inherit in which Grandpa always called Grandma "Sweetheart"  He was determined to marry her and worked hard to save $50.00 to send her for the train fare to come out to Bellingham and marry him!  She got on that train and never saw her parents again (that part I find so sad)

As they had very little money, they had a simple wedding.  This photo was taken in front of a house.  I decided to create a canvas of a place where I imagine they would have loved to have been married and honeymooned, Paris...

I used a small white canvas as a base and colored it, using Antique Linen, Victorian Velvet and Shaded Lilac Distress Paints slightly watered down to paint the canvas.  I wanted a pastel, soft, romantic background and these colors worked well together.

I then found and printed out the sheet music to the song "Let me Call You Sweetheart" which seemed appropriate for this piece.  I tore around the edges and adhered it to the canvas with Matte Medium and more Distress Paints.  I wrapped some of Tim's Music Tissue Tape around the bottom on the canvas and painted it as well.

Following the technique found on Page 63 of Tim's Compendim of Curiosities III book, I stamped and cut out the Eiffel Tower and Paris signs, colored them and added them to my collage long with some wonderful Ideology pieces, including the Word Band and Word Key which I colored using the Shaded Lilac Distress Paint.  One of my favorite pieces is this adornment I created  from a length of Trimming,  an Accoutrements Fanciful Button and a Bauble placed in the top left corner.  Here is a close up:

I also used the Heart Charm and the Plaquette with the number 17 representing my father's birthday.  I used the  Stampers Anonymous Tiny Words stamp, stamping it directly onto tissue paper and cutting the words apart.  I then adhered my chosen words to the canvas with matte medium and, once dry, drew around them with Victorian Velvet and Shaded Lilac Distress Markers.

Hope you all have fun playing with Stamps and Framelits!  I sure did!  This 9th challenge is generously sponsored by The Inspiration Emporium who is providing a $50.00 gift certificate to a lucky random winner and, of course, by the fabulous Tim and Mario, who will be providing the wonderful package of goodies to the Curiosity Crew Choice winner!  Good luck to everyone.

Just joining us?  Head on over to Linda Ledbetter's blog where you can find all the information you need to play along with us, including how to get your very own autographed copy of the Tim's book and all the contest rules.  Upload your creation based on the technique and enjoy viewing the wonderful projects made by so many talented people!  

Thanks for joining us!

Susan

Fun with Faded Layers

Here we are at the 8th challenge for the CC3C!  Hard to believe!  I am having so much fun exploring all these wonderful techniques from Tim's book!  How about you?  I am honored to be a member of the Curiosity Crew and I can tell you that we have SO enjoyed seeing your wonderful projects - you are all so incredibly talented!

Here is my project:

Am I hearing gasps from those of you who were expecting a project featuring one of my relatives?  Don't worry, they'll be back, just wanted to try something different. (no, these guys are not my relatives)

I started by cutting out an extra large tag from glossy cardstock and then followed the technique found on page 58 of the Compendium of Curiosities III book.  I love it!  I apologize that I forgot to take a picture of the tag before I got very far on it.  Here is a bit of a close-up so that hopefully you can see a bit of the final look that you get using this technique.

Can you see the letters?

Once I finished the technique, I die cut Tim's  Weathered Clock using a piece of Core'dinations cardstock and distressed it a bit with his sandpaper block.  I then adhered it to the tag along with several stamped images including the three gentlemen and the hand and writing fluid bottle which I colored and cut out from the Typography stamp set.  I stamped the alphabet from the same set along the bottom of the tag.

Next were the Ideology pieces (I am addicted to Ideaology!).  I used the Note to Self and Arrow from the Alpha Parts set, two pen nibs, one hinge clip, one wire pin and , of course, the wonderful word band.  I used Tim's Natural and Cream trimming to attach the word band.

I finished the piece with a ribbon bow that I created using Tim's crinkle ribbon colored with Rusty Hinge and Walnut Ink Distress Stains.  I added some chain and the Believe Philosophy Tag.  Here is the finshed piece once again:

I hope you have fun with this challenge.  This time it is sponsored by the wonderful folks at The Funkie Junkie Boutique who have a $25.00 gift certificate for one lucky recipient!  Hop on over to Linda Ledbetter's website for more information and to see all of the fabulous projects!

Happy crafting!

Susan

Painted Industrial

The CC3C fun continues with the latest challenge, Painted Industrial, found on page 46 of Tim's Compendium of Curiosities III book.  It's still not too late to buy the book here and play along!

I know, I know what you're thinking....Susan, didn't you get the challenges confused?  We did the Altered Burlap panel last challenge!  Well....when I thought of Painted Industrial, I immediately thought of my grandmother who was a "Rosie the Riveter" during WWII at the Boeing plant in Seattle, Washington.  What could be better to use than Tim's Riveted Metal Texture Fade and what better way to tell a story than on a burlap panel?!  I love it!

Grandma was one of many women who went to work at the Boeing factory building planes for the war effort while the men were overseas fighting.  It was a doubly hard time for her as her oldest son was a pilot in the war and she worried about him a great deal.  The work not only gave her satisfaction but helped get her mind off the constant worry regarding my uncle's safety.

My Grandpa also worked at the factory, taking the night shift so that my mother was not left alone at home.

I started this panel by adhering two of my finished painted metal pieces to the burlap panel.  I then added some small pieces of red cardstock in the corners to pick up some of the red in the Rosie the Riveter poster I found and downloaded online.

I adhered the printed and reduced size poster over the top of the metal.  I then cut a slightly larger red circle for a mat for Tim's ephemera clock and added several ideology pieces to the top, including a clock, small gear and game spinners.

I reduced in size a photo of my grandmother and matted it with a small piece of dark blue cardstock and then framed it with another piece of metal.  The word "documented" from Tim's Alpha Parts was painted white with Picket Fence white Distress Paint and the whole thing adhered to a piece of red cardstock behind it.  I finished the lower left section by adding some gears.

To finish the top right section of the panel, I enlarged a stamped airplane from B Line Designs.  It's not quite the same as the ones Grandma was building, but with the addition of some small propellers I made, it is closer.  I added another gear and  then added the year "1943" using Tim's Deco Type Industrious Stickers on a piece of navy blue cardstock and adhered all to the right upper corner.

Now I can display this panel dedicted to my grandmother in the same room as that of my grandfather. See what fun you can have by combining different techniques from the book?!

Once again here is the finished panel.

Get Tim's book out and get started!  This week's sponsor is Inspiration Emporium.  They have a $50.00 gift certificate just waiting for a randomly chosen winner.  Tim and Mario's prize package is another fabulous one as always, so what are you waiting for?  If you are not sure about all the rules, head on over to Linda Ledbetter's CC3C site for all the details.  Remember not to reveal the secret of the technique!

Happy crafting

Susan

Altered Burlap Panel

Here we go with yet another wonderful challenge from the CC3C!  I don't know about you, but I am having a TON of fun with these challenges!  Here is my latest project:

Besides creating art, one of my favorite things to do is geneology.  The man in the photo is my grandfather.  I thought we knew quite a bit about him until I found his WW1 registration card online that said he was a fireman working for the railroad.  We had thought he was a auto mechanic his whole life!  So....I thought it would be fun to explore that part of his life.  Now the cap he is wearing makes perfect sense, even though he is also working on a car!

I started this piece by enlarging the photo of my grandfather and placing it inside one of Tim Holtz's cabinet cards (love those things!)  I  used Antique Linen and Vintage Photo Distress inks to add color to the edges and finished up with a bit of Aged Mahogany.

I stamped the train, railroad crossing and tracks along with the quote from Tim's clear set onto cream cardstock and colored and cut them all out.  I had stamped the tracks twice so that I could make a longer border.  I slipped the tracks inside the cabinet card on the left side, adhered them down and placed the railroad crossing sign over the place where the two sets of tracks met.  I then glued the train over the top of the tracks at the base of the photo.  The quote was the last piece adhered to the photo.

Boy, did I have fun with Ideology after that!  I adhered a Ring Fastener, Jump Ring and Word Key to the Cabinet Card and a Word Band that I wrapped around the card with one of Tim's Naturals Black and Cream Trimmings.  I used Aged Mahogany Distress Paint to color in the recesses of both metal pieces.  You just need to dab the whole metal piece with the paint and then wipe off the excess.  Cool!

Finally, I adhered the number 46 from one of the Plaquettes to the cabinet card.                    .
Here is that section of the panel finished:

To finish the burlap panel, I used Glue 'N Seal to adhere two pieces of red striped paper from Tim's French Industrial paper stack to the burlap along with a clock and rail ticket from his ephemera pack.  I wrapped ribbon around the top of the panel and added an Ideology Buckle.  The final additions were the metal Box
Corners and the  Number Brads that spell out 1895, the year he was born.

Hope you like this project!  Come join us and submit your Altered Burlap Creation!  This week's sponsor is The Funkie Junkie Boutique who will be providing a $25.00 to a random winner.  Tim and Mario will be providing lots of goodies to the winner of this challenge as well.

Get started and join us!  Don't forget to leave a comment on all of the Curiosity Crew's blogs.  Go to www.lindaledbetter.com for all the details!

Happy crafting!

Susan

Distress Watercoloring - Part 1

Boy, we are really changing things up with these challenges aren't we?  We have gone from using heavier Distress Paints to making roses and, this past two weeks, using texture paste with layering stencils.  For the next two weeks we will be focusing on a softer look - Watercoloring with Distress Ink, Part 1 which can be found on Page 39 in Tim's Compendium of Curiosities III book.  Here is the project I created for this challenge:

I used B Line Designs stamps this time around - Miranda, the flower and leaf from the Sunkissed cube and Just Sittin here.  I used Tim's Distress watercolor cardstock and was extremely pleased with the results!  It is a fabulous weight and takes the color beautifully! 

Here are the supplies I used:

I love these soft color combinations - Shaded Lilac, Squeezed Lemonade, Tumbled Glass, Tea Dye, Shabby Shutters and Peeled Paint.

I followed the technique on Page 39 and colored the background and Lady.  I then stamped the flowers and leaves on a separate piece of Distress Watercolor cardstock, watercolored the images and cut them out. They were then adhered to the main image.  I finished the card by matting it with lilac cardstock, layering it with a piece of Graphic 45 paper from the Secret Garden collection and finally adhering all to one last piece of lilac cardstock.  I finished by gluing a bow to the left top corner.

Hope you like this week's project.  As always, Tim and Mario have provided a fabulous prize package for one lucky winner chosen by the Curiosity Crew. The Inspiration Emporium is sponsoring this challenge and will provide a $50.00 gift certificate to a random winner.  Good luck to everyone.  Don't forget to leave a comment on all the Curiosity Crews' blogs for your change to win!  If  you are still in doubt as to who we are, head on over to www.lindaledbetter.com for links to all our blogs and official challenge rules!  Most importantly, have fun!

Susan