I Love, Love, Love This Page

 This page in my journal is very personal, which is one of the many reasons that I love it. I had an old picture of my grandfather and I wanted to use the Tim Holtz cabinet card die to display it in my journal.  I won't go into all the methods that I used because honestly I don't think that I could remember.  One thing led to another and then another.

  I used Tim Holtz cabinet die and the mini "movers and shapers" cabinet die to create the cabinet card on this page.  To see how I cut out the pieces using these two dies, check out the video HERE.  She gives a very easy explanation.
  

I will explain some of the details that I used.  The letters above the card are his initials.  I used Rock Candy crackle on them to age them a bit.  I stamped the year that my grandfather was born on the front cover.

This is a closer look at the front cover.  I covered chip board with some scrapbook paper that looked like old leather.  I would love to take credit for making it look like worn leather but luckly for me it is just the way it came.  The pocket watch is a stamp that I stamped on some scrapbook paper and used a Perfect Medium Pen, went around the outside of the watch and embossed it with Pirate's Gold embossing powder.  My sister gave me some watch faces and they were a perfect fit. 

 Here is the inside of the card.  My handsome Grandfather probably in his early 20's.  Some of the methods that I used putting this together were new to me and I did learn that vellum does not work well with glue.  Hence the bubbles in the images on the left.

A closer look.  Although I was extremely disappointed when it happened, now I think it give it character.

I chose a "Dream" charm to add because I thought that this picture was taken before he had made any decisions about the path of his life.  I wonder if at this moment he new that he was going to go to law school, become a lawyer and eventually aspire to be a District Court Judge.

Some Journal Fun On A Snowy Day

 
I did this page a while ago and didn't have time to post it. It is my fist try at Steampunk.  I'm happy with it.  It could probably use some more grunging up or  something but it is as steampunk as I could get.

 This is a tag that I did using a method I saw on the internet. First I used some scrapbook paper and covered a tag that I had.  I blended Vintage Photo around the edges and smudged it over the tag.  I used a stamp and black archival ink around the edge.  Then I went around the edge of the tag with a gold leaving pen.

 I used Ferro "Metal Effects" Modeling Paste through a key stencil.  Then I went over it using Viva Modeling Creme (Mother of Pearl).  I let that dry, which surprisingly didn't take long at all.  Then I used Silks acrylic glaze (Nutmeg) with my finger and I lightly tapped this on the areas of the Modeling Creme.  I love the way the key looks.  Nice and old and gungy.

 

I added some scrap lace to the bottom and some ribbon that was originally off white but I colored it with Distress spray Vintage Photo.  

 

 This cute little girl I found HERE (the page is photo intensive and takes a little while to load) As soon as I saw her I thought of the child's poem "Mary had a little lamb and wanted to do a page based on that.  I did a search for school houses and I found this  (HERE):

 

  I copy and pasted this picture into Microsoft Word and sized it to fit the page that I was using.  I cut out the desks and half of the chalk board.  I covered my background with scrapbook paper and added some stamping.  I embossed a clock stamp using a mixture of black and copper embossing powder.  I love how it turned out.  I don't think the picture does it justice.  Then I inked the edges with Vintage Photo ink.  I colored the little girl using Distress markers and a water brush and glued everything in place.  I only glued the sides and the bottom of the desks, leaving the top open so that I would be able to insert a tag.  I wrote Mary had a little lamb, added some ribbon to the top and glued some paper flowers to the top of the tag and placed it inside the desks.  So cute, if I do say so myself.

Butterflies!

Isn't she something?  I collaged the background with various scraps of scrapbook paper using a gel medium.  I went over the whole background with Tea Dye Distress ink, then around the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. I covered the entire background with a coat of Gel medium to seal the distress ink.  I pieced the lady using a photo I found on the Internet and Tim Holtz Caged Bird Die.  I cut the bird cage from chip board and covered it with embossing ink.  I coated it withe Recollections Pirate's Gold embossing powder and heated it.  I love the look of the Pirate's Gold!  Once I tried the lady to the cage, I thought it was a little too big, therefore I cut off the outer two bars of the cage.  Much better!  Then I added some legs that I found on some printable paper dolls that I found on the Internet.  I LOVE her!  Then I went through my stash and found all the butterflies.  I added the flowers.  I typed the quote in Microsoft Word, printed it, cut it into strips and colored them using Scattered Straw Distress Stains.  Once they were dry, I used a black Sarpie pen and drew a boarder around each and glued them down.  I think it turned out pretty nice.

I Love A Good Fairy Tale.

Isn't she sweet?  She looks so dismayed. I can't even begin to say how the background was done as it was several mistakes...or attempts that I didn't like and covered over with gesso to start another try. The pictures are from various images found on the Internet. The gold border are flourish stamps embossed with gold.  I added gold flourish to the pumpkin with a gold metallic pen.  The rays for the moon were done with a white signo pen but It looked too odd so I went over it with a yellow alcohol marker.  The saying says, Once upon a time, this pumpkin was a coach, the mice were horses and I had TWO shoes..."  Someone had quite a night out!

Oh, the little girl was a black and white photo that I printed on white cardstock.  I colorized her using water color crayons and a water brush.  I enhanced her facial features using Distress markers. Then I went around the edges of her with Vintage photo distress ink.

Happy Halloween!

 

I haven't added anything to my blog since March!  Wow!  Spring came and I played in my garden, went on vacation and  dealt with other events in life.  As the cooler weather is coming so is the desire to be back in the craft room.  What better way to start than with Halloween.This was created with various images found on the internet, Tim Holtz Houses die, fence, cat, and bat from a Cricut cartridge.  Background was Distress inks with random stamping.  I had a lot of fun and love the Gargoyles on the house, the little trick or treater's and the skeleton man.

I Made Sand

This is another Vintage photo that I found on the Internet.  When I saw her it made me think of the children's song, Little Sally Ann.  I cut her out and colorized her with water color crayons.

Then  I thought, surely someone on the Internet has found a way to make sand.  I did a few searches and Of Course, Tim Holtz has a great tutorial on how to make sand HERE  He did it on a tag and I wanted it for my journal.  I wasn't sure how well it would come out but I think the end result is pretty good.  My sand isn't done drying yet.  I was too excited and wanted to get it posted.

This is a closer picture of the sand.

I would love to read your comments.

So Much Done Today!

I found the picture of this little boy through Pinterest and as soon as I saw him I thought of this childhood rhyme.  You can find the picture HERE.

I used Tim Holtz Distress Paint Daubers (Peeled Paint and Broken China) to start the background.  I added various stencils using TH Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain distress Ink.  The wrought Iron fence was done by using an edge stamp and adding lines for the fence using a Pitt pen.  I don't know the name of the stamp because I misplaced the packaging but this is the set below.

Sorry there is a glare on it but you can see the stamp that I used at the very bottom of the set.  I used TH Hanging Sign Die for the sign.  I colored it using Scattered Straw, then went over that lightly with Vintage Photo.  I sprinkled it with water, let it dry and then went over it again with Vintage Photo.  I printed the saying on computer paper, tore it to fit the sign and distressed it the same way I did the sign itself. I used a black Gelato to edge the sign.  I added eyelets to the sign and then did this.....

 

I put my trinket case back on the shelf and it slid off, hit the floor and spread all my brads. eyelets, buttons, keys, etc. ALL over the floor.  So I swept them up and dumped them back in to be sorted at a later date.  UGH!

Lastly I drew music notes using a Pitt Pen.  I also drew circles at the top of the sign for chains.

NEXT CAME THIS LITTLE CUTIE!

 

 

 I did the background using TH Scattered Straw, Broken China and Stormy Sky. I used TH Moon and Stars Die and colored them using TH Distress Paint, Scattered Straw and Wild Honey.  Then I used TH Splatters stencil, an Embossing Pen and Stampendous Pirate Gold Embossing Powder to add some dimension to the moon.  I also randomly outlined the stars with the embossing pen and used Stampendous Gold Tinsel Embossing Powder.  I drew some dangley lines from the moon to the stars and added some bling stars that I had in my stash.  The sweet little girl was also a Pinterest find,which can be found HERE.  I colorized her using water color crayons, added a paper crown cut from an old Thesaurus.  I managed to cut the word Moony, which I thought fit nicely.  I added some bling to the crown and pearl buttons for the dress.

I am very happy with both pages BUT, I am finding that Little Tommy Tucker is getting gold glitter all over himself because these pages are opposite each other in my journal!

Best Snow Day Ever!

I had the day off due to the snow storm and I had the best creative day ever.  This was so much fun to make.  I took two pictures, one with the flash and one without.  The flash shows the details but washes out some of the color.  The one without the flash is a little darker but you see the color a little better.

  I started with my background using Tim Holtz Distress Paint " scattered straw" (one of my favorite colors".  I added some stenciling using "wild honey" distress ink.  I don't know the name of the stencil (sorry).  Then I found the little girl in a stash of vintage photos and cut her out.

 I used Tim Holtz "Angel Wings" die and colored them with tumbled glass, used a Signo pen to add dimension and distressed the edges with "vintage photo" distress ink.  I found the bird and nest from a book about birds.  I scanned it and cut it out.

 

This is the picture I scanned.  It was too big to get the whole page.  But the bird and the nest were perfect for what I wanted to do.  The leaves were done using the stencil technique here.  This is a close up so you can see the texture.
 

I glued the girl, the wings and the nest together and let everything dry.  I used a heat tool on the texture paste leaves to help it along.  Once the texture paste dried, I sprayed them with Tim Holtz Adirondack spray "Meadow".  Then I glued the girl and nest to the page over top of the textured leaves. 

I punched a tag from scrapbook paper with old writing on it using the tag punch shown here.

Then distressed it with "tea dye".  I went around the edge with "walnut stain" but that didn't seem to make it pop so I used "black soot".  I glued a violet on that I had in my stash for a long time.  I either got them at Michael's or Joanne's. They are very fragile.  After the glue dried, I went over the whole tag with Tim Holtz "Rock candy" crackle paint.

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This is a close up of the tag.  You can see a little more detail.  It is reallllly beautiful.  I'm not sure the picture does it justice.  I stapled the tag with a scrap of old lace to the page.

The border at the top was using a Martha Stewart edge punch from scrapbook paper. I also used distress inks on it so that it blended with the page.  I cut the eggs from a picture in my stash.  I used "Pumice Stone" distress pen to go around things to help them stand out a bit.

The flowers were made using Tim Holtz "Tattered Flower Garland" die.  I cut them from white card stock and colored them with Tim Holtz distress Pens.

I LOVE how this page turned out.  Now I am inspired and have all these ideas in my head but it is back to work tomorrow.  Hopefully I can stay inspired till the next chance I get to play!!!!!

A little late with this post...

These are two pages that I did a couple of weeks ago, but a friend borrowed my camera so I couldn't get a picture.

The flash from the camera washed out the color a little.  I can't wait for winter to be over so that I can get natural lighting again.  I love this little girl.  The original photo is below.  I cut and pasted her into a Word document, sized the picture and printed it on card stock.  I did the same thing with the birds and the mushrooms.  The cage isTim Holtz "caged bird" die.  I embossed it with "aged silver" embossing powder.  Then I gave it a patina look by rubbing "Broken China" distress paint and then rubbing gold "rub n buff" randomly.  The leaf branches are from a Martha Stewart edge punch that I cut and colored with distress markers.  I added a flower that I made from the Tattered Flowers Die, cut from white card stock, colored with distress marks and attached with a brad.  I added buttons to the coat from "adhesive faux pearls" by "Recollections".  The background was created by gluing Tim Holtz tissue paper to the page. The page was then given a wash of color by spraying the page with water and  covering it using distress paint daubers.  I added some molding paste through a stincel in various areas.  I used a white Signo pen to outline some items and added the phrae "A bird's song is sweeter when he is free".  The doodles covered my phrase a little.

This was inspired from a pocket folder that my sister gave me.  When I was cleaning my work space I found the pocket and opened it to see what I had put in it.  Low and behold, it was a pocket full of posies that I punched from Tim Holtz "Tattered Flowers" die. I put them in the pocket to use at a later time.  Seeing them spill out onto my work space gave me the idea for this page.

A Very Rainy Weekend Produced Three Sweet Photo Art Cards.

Relaxing, Peaceful Day

I tried to get bolder with layering.

 Not so sure I like it.  I think I need to come back and look at it tomorrow.  My first thought is that it needs "something".  I just don't know what that something is.

I was playing with lettering and did the word "Faith" and left it for a while.  Today, I looked at it and added some flowers and colored them with Distress markers.  I colored the background with a yellow water color pencil.  I'm not sure how well it shows up.  I like it and it is a good reminder for me.

Several Things I Have Been Playing With...

I have worked on a few things over the last couple of weeks and decided to post them all at once.

 First are the magnets that I made for my Dry Erase Board. You can find all kinds of tutorials for these on the Web.  They are the half marbles that you buy in the flower section of Michel's.  You use a 1/2 inch circle punch to cut out any picture or design paper that you like, glue it to the back of the marble with Glossy Accents, wait for it to dry and glue a magnet on the back.  You can use a glue gun for this.  I used the Glossy Accents since I had it out.  The marbles magnify the picture and give them a real cute look.  For these, I used the 1/2 inch punch as a template and drew circles, then drew a simple picture and colored them in with Sharpie markers. After they were colored in, I punched them, glued them and there you have it. It was very hard to get a good picture due to the reflection from the glass.

 Next a couple Photo Art Projects:

This probably looks familiar because I used this same lady and bird to do an ATC.  Here she is glued to chipboard and is a stand up decoration.

This just tickled my fancy.  I thought the little girl was adorable and I thought it was funny to have her holding fish.  I don't know about anyone else but it makes ME laugh every time I look at it.

Onto Some ATC'S:

I did the background on this with the Dylusion inks (Love them).  Then I stamped the image of the house and colored it in using sharpie markers.

 These are to finish out my ATC shelf from 7 Gypsies that I posted a couple posts back. In the one above, I was playing with embossing resist and layering.   I think it's cute but wish I had gone with a different background color.

 You can't see it but this is the word "Dream" from an old Dictionary page.  I did some doodling and used some old lace that I distressed with Tim Holtz "Vintage Photo" distress ink. I glued some black lace and some punched flowers and stuck a bow made of baker's twine.

This was inspired because my sister likes owls. So what better than a whole collage of owls?  Then I used Washi Tape to finish off the sides and give it a border.

While I was doing Google searches for owls, I came across this guy and he just looked like he had bed head and wasn't happy about it.
 

 I love the vintage feel of this one.  I cut out an image that I had of some violets and glued it to a background of some old newsprint scrapbook paper.  I used "Vintage Photo" distress ink around the edges and glued some blue lace down.  The flowers were from some white trim that I had.  I used Tim Holtz distress ink daubers and colored them "Victorian Velvet".

Next Are A Hodge Podge Of Items:

I was simply playing with some new stencils that I had just bought and thought that this came out beautiful.  Unfortunately the photograph doesn't show the gorgeous richness of the colors.

I made this because I watched the following YouTube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yP2kGHQGTjU.  It is amazing.  I didn't use the Tim Holtz "Artful Dwellings" die cut, but I did use the brick embossing folder and the Martha Stewart lace border punch for the roof. I cut my own house and roof by hand.  Then embossed it with the brick embossing folder and inked it using the Tim Holtz blending tool and vintage photo distress ink.  I cut the windows and door from some tags that I had inked previously.  I used a black marker to go around the edges and frame in the windows and then a white paint pen to go around the outside of each.  I had a spider web stamp that I used in the bottom two windows.  I love how it turned out.  Now I just have to figure out what project to use it in.

 This is an ATC where I folded aluminum foil around the card and then embossed it in my Cuttle Bug.  I then painted it with black acrylic paint and wiped it off with a paper towel before it dried. This is actually the wrong side of the card.  If you look real close you can see the folds of the aluminum foil.  BUT, the numbers in the upper right corner are embossed correctly.  Below shows my mistake.....

This is the front of the card. Notice the numbers at the top left.  They are the mirror image because I didn't pay attention to which side was going to receive the embossing when I put it in the folder.  Oh well, I still love the metal look to it.

Playing in my journal:

I was practicing drawing eyes and this is what the page turned into.  The eyes are colored with Distress markers and sharpies (the sharpies bled through the back of the paper).  I colored the background in with water color pencils and then used my water brush.

 

 This journal page was inspired by a picture I saw from Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/repacheco/5508119472/in/set-72157614255985873/ and thought that I would try to draw the flowers.  Although it doesn't look much like the original, I do like how it turned out.

 This is a new Tim Holtz Alterations die cut that I bought.  I just can't seem to put the bird in the cage.  He NEEDS to fly free.  Anyway ,I embossed his wing with a Cuttlebug folder. and then distressed it with distress inks and a blending tool.

Making Flowers:

These are two flowers that I made after watching this video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51xEsr5HtEg  My flowers didn't come out anything like hers but I am still happy with them.  I obviously did not have the same flower punch that she used.  I tried her method with two different punches that I did have and put a button in the center of the bigger one and a brad in the center of the smaller one.  I am sure that I can find a fun project to use these in.