Saturday, January 31, 2015

Rock Candy Distress Glitter

For this 21st challenge I couldn't wait to create a Valentine themed project using this technique found on Page 55 of Tim Holtz's Comdendium of Curiosities III book!  I have noticed that we have some "newbies" (yay!) who have recently joined us for these challenges, so, as they discovered, it's not too late to get your own autographed copy of Tim's book here.  Then head on over to Linda Ledbetter's site to read all the rules!

Rocky Candy Distress Glitter is awesome!  It is just perfect for anything that needs a bit of sparkle!  Here is my project:


I started off by following the technique on Page 55.   I used Tim's Stampers Anonymous Flourish stamp and Victorian Velvet.  The background is Antique Linen.  The tag looked like this:


Don't know if you can see the sparkle very well on this photo.  Here is another look at it:


I stamped the "With all my Heart" image (B Line Designs) with Black Archival ink at the bottom of my tag over the background.

I then stamped and cut out a heart and cupid image (B Line Designs) to add to my tag.  I used Barn Door Distress ink for the heart.  I created a black mat for the heart and attached it to my tag using foam tape.  I watercolored the cupid image with Distress inks (tea dye and tattered rose for flesh color) and used a Barn Door Distress marker for Cupid's sash.  I added some Rock Candy Distress Glitter to Cupid's wing too.  After cutting out Cupid, I attached him to the tag with foam tape and positioned him alongside the heart.  The final touch for the heart was the addition of an Idea-ology Arrow Adornment on the heart.

I used Barn Door Distress Stain to dye Tim's Crinkle Ribbon which was then crinkled and heat set.  A bow was tied using a thin piece of thread and an Idea-ology heart charm was added.

The final additions to this tag were the numbers 14 from Idea-ology Alpha Parts Newsprint, a small bunch of red rose buds tied with a red bow, a a small bit of lace trim adhered to the bottom of the tag!

Here's a close up of a portion of the tag.  I think you can see the sparkle a bit better from this angle:


A huge thank you goes out to the Inspiration Emporium for sponsoring this challenge.  They will be providing a $50.00 shopping spree to the winner of a randomly chosen entry for this challenge.  Tim and Mario have yet another fabulous prize package awaiting the Curiosity Choice winner as well.

Good luck to all!  We can't wait to see your entries for this glittery challenge!

Susan




























The Inspiration Emporium is generously sponsoring this challenge and has a $50.00 shopping spree on their site just waiting for one lucky randomly chosen winner.  Tim and Mario have yet another prize package for the Curiosity Crew choice winner as well.

Good luck to all.  Thanks for participating in this glittery challenge!

Saturday, January 17, 2015

Distress Watercolor - Part 2

I know I say this every time, but I really can't believe we have arrived at Number 20 for the Compendium of Curiosities III Challenge!  I hope all of you are having as much fun as we are creating these projects!

I finished this piece just before I was lucky enough to go to the Craft and Hobby Trade Show in Anaheim, California with most of my dear friends and fellow members of the Curiosity Crew, including the lovely Linda Ledbetter (unfortunately several members could not attend this year).  We have returned with lots of new ideas and inspiration which we hope to share with all of you.

Here is the card I created using this wonderful Distress Watercolor Part 2 technique:


I have wanted to use this fabulous Tim Holtz dragonfly stamp by Stampers Anonymous for such a long time!  Even though we are still in the midst of Winter, I must say that, after being in California and returning to snow and cold, I am ready for some warmer weather and dragonflies!

Have you used Ranger's watercolor paper yet?   I love it! There is so much detail on the paper and the ink colors stand out so beautifully!  

I apologize I don't have a lot of step by step photos.  However, here are a few close-ups of the card details:


After following the technique found on Page 40 of Tim's Compendium of Curiosities III book which can still be purchased here, I added some more detail to the card.  This is a silver dragonfly brad from Creative Impressions to which I added some Seedless Preserves Distress Paint (my favorite color) and placed it inside the "dragonfly" circle which is part of the stamp.


I took a scrap piece of the watercolor paper and stamped Happy Birthday from Tim's Simple Sayings.  I cut the paper to the same width as my dragonfly piece and adhered pieces of aqua card stock to the backs to create two mats.

Next I had some beautiful Birdsong Cherry Blossoms paper from Graphic 45 which I thought would make a lovely background. I adhered both stamped and matted pieces to the G45 paper.   I also wanted to add a few extra flowers, so I fussy cut several of the flowers from the paper and layered them to some foliage cut from Tim's Sizzix Alterations Spring Greenery die using green card stock accented with some Peeled Paint Distress ink.  I then adhered more foliage to the base of the card underneath the Happy Birthday sentiment from Tim's Simple Sayings stamp set.

The watercolored dragonfly image and the Happy Birthday sentiments were both layered onto aqua card stock and adhered to Cherry Blossoms background paper.  To finish this piece I used Tim's crinkle ribbon which was dyed with Tattered Rose and Spun Sugar Distress Paint, tied into a bow and adhered to the bottom of the card.

This 20th challenge is being sponsored by The Funkie Junkie Boutique.  A $25.00 shopping spree will be awarded to one lucky randomly chosen winner.  I had the pleasure of meeting the lovely owner, Linda, at the trade show.  What a wonderful and sweet person she is!

Tim and Mario have another prize package awaiting the winner of the Curiosity Crew choice for this challenge.  Head on over to Linda Ledbetter's site for all the rules on how to participate and possibly win this terrific prize package.

Come join us!  We would love to see your creations!

Susan


Saturday, January 3, 2015

Fabulous Frayed Fabric

Happy New Year, everyone!  I can't believe I am sharing the 19th CC3 Challenge, Frayed Fabric, with all of you!  Somehow I managed to get it done even though I had company for the holidays.  Here it is:


I will confess that I had never used Tim's Eclectic Elements Fabric before.  However, I LOVED the finished product!  The fabric is such good quality which made it so easy to work with.

I wanted a "natural" look to this project so I decided that a burlap panel was in order to use with the fabric (LOVE Tim's burlap panels).  I also wanted to keep it simple.  I referred to the technique found on Page 66 of Tim's Compendium of Curiosity III book and followed the instructions to create the fabric background.  I used the Eclectic Elements Timepieces Neutral fabric.

This piece is dedicated to my father, so I copied his high school graduation photo which I adhered to a slightly larger black mat and then to the fabric.  It started out like this:


My grandparents had very little money (remember the piece I did with the imaginary Paris honeymoon? - that's them), and my father had a dream to be a dentist.  Without any money or emotional support, he set out to make his dream come true.  After much sacrifice, he did indeed graduate from the University of Washington with a degree in Dentistry and was a Navy dentist for many years.

I used the Alpha Part - Remember and backed it with a piece of red card stock.  I then poked a hole in the card stock below the "R" and threaded through a piece of thin jute .  The other end of the jute was used to attach a Philosphy Tag that says "Journey".  I wanted my Dad to remember this journey he was on as his accomplishment is a source of great pride, as it should be.

I loved the expression "Dare to Dream" from Tim's Simple Sayings set, so I stamped it on a piece of extra cream card stock, inked around the edges with Fired Brick Distress ink and adhered it to the piece.  I also used Alpha Tiles to spell out "D A D".  A Word Band which says "Life is about creating yourself" was threaded through a piece of natural trim, a pen nib (representing his studies) was added to the upper right portion of his photo and finally a metal Timepiece with game spinners attached was adhered over a piece from the Thrift Shop Ephemera pack.  I used Fired Brick Paint to highlight the words on the Philosophy Tag and the Word Band and also on the metal timepiece to add some color.

Here's one last look at the finished project.



There you have it!  I truly hope you will participate in this fun challenge.  Whether you are new to this challenge or have participated before, we would love to see your work!  You can still order your very own copy of Tim's book here and you will find this particular challenge technique on page 66.  Then head on over to Linda Ledbetter's site to get all the information you need about participating, including all the rules.

This challenge is generously sponsored by the Inspiration Emporium.  One lucky randomly chosen winner will win a $50.00 shopping spree to their site.  A fabulous prize package generously provided by Tim and Mario will be presented to the winner of this challenge as chosen by the Curiosity Crew.  Good luck to all of you!

All the best
Susan