I Found A Nice Little Surprise In My Tim Holtz Embossing Folder!

 I bought a Tim Holtz Embossing Folder from Sizzix to try in my Cuddle Bug.  When I opened the package I found a nice surprise inside (besides the wonderful folders).

Sorry, I couldn't prevent the glare, but hidden in the packaging is this little foam block.  It doesn't look like much and if you have bought any of these embossing folders in the past, you probably threw it away not knowing the possibilities that it holds.

This is a better picture of what the block looks like.

The magic happens when you heat the block with a heat tool. You don't have to heat it long.  Just a little bit to warm the foam.

After the foam is warm, press the heated side on anything that leaves an impression.  In this case, I chose the numbers on the Bingo embossing folder.

 This is what it looks like after pressing it to the folder.

Then, ink it up and press it.  I applied it several times to show the ink fading.

 After your done stamping with it, simply clean it with a wet wipe or wet paper towel.

Now here is the really magical part, when you reapply heat to the impression on the foam it disappears.

Now you can use it again and again, using anything that leaves an impression.  How cool is that?

These are a few samples of the things that I tried stamping.  The top stamp is the impression from the lid to my Golden's Gel Medium.  The next impressions were using the long side of the block, and are  are from two different shaped paper clips.  The next is ribbon, and lastly, I stamped from one of my rubber stamps.  I can't wait to use these in my Art Journal and ATC's.

ATC's For My New 7 Gypsies Artist Printers Tray

I saw this tray in the background when I watched a "How To" Video from Michael's Craft store.  The video was explaining a masking technique with rubber stamps. After the video was over it displayed other videos to watch and they had one showing this tray.  I watched it and the video explained that the tray was from 7 Gypsies.  Of course I had to have one because I thought it was a great way to display ATC's.  This also inspired me to make some new ATC's and try some new techniques with inking, layering, and collaging.  I managed to create eight ATC's and I have four more to do.

Even though the tray isn't complete, I am loving it.  I had so much fun and can't wait to finish it.

I collaged the background using various scrapbook papers.  The Marble Yard advertisement came from a bag that I had from an antique store.  I cut the  little girl from a vintage photo I found on Google.  I printed the saying from my computer and colored it with Butterscotch alcohol ink.  I used the Tim Holtz Distress tool to grunge up the edges of the card.  I then used distress inks over the edges of the card.  I added the ribbon, which was originally cream color and sprayed it with some walnut ink. I added the lace at the bottom to finish it off.

I used scrapbook paper and covered the whole card.  I stamped the background with a tea cup stamp using the masking technique that was in the Michael's video.  The stamp had three tea cups and it was too big to fit on the 2 1/2 by 3 1/2 card.  I inked one cup and covered two of the cups with scotch tape, then stamped it on the card.  I added Washi tape with music notes. Then I wrote the word "Tea" and filled it in with stripes using a fine point pen and colored it in with a Copic marker.  I found the Tea pot and the Tea cup through Google.  Again, I distressed the edges with "Tea Dye" Distress ink.

The idea for this came simply because I wanted to use one of the vintage keys in my stash.  I did a search on Google looking for antique doors and found this wonderful vintage lock.  I collaged the door lock and some scrapbook paper of old newspaper.  I stamped the top with a number stamp, distressed the edges with distress inks, added the key and the saying was printed from my computer that was inked with Alcohol ink.

This card just evolved.  I didn't have any idea what I wanted to make.  I started by using the resist technique with embossing.  First, I used a the flourish stamp with embossing ink. Then covered it with green embossing powder and heated it with my heat tool.  Then I repeated the process using blue embossing powder and heated it.  I added pictures of a bird nest, a bird and a butterfly from my stash and covered the card with walnut distress ink.  I added a the flower and leaf that was distressed  with Vintage Photo distress ink.

This card is very simple. I distressed the card with "Tea Dye" distress ink. I used a pumpkin stamp and a crow stamp.  The harvest moon is alcohol ink and outlined with a black marker.  I added the words from my computer and covered it with "Faded Blue Jean" ink.

I wanted to use one of my Marie Antoinette pictures and again kept it simple.  I added Washi Tape at the bottom, added some feathers and used a button after I cut the shank off.

The inspiration for this one came from a freebie sheet of dresses that was posted from Pinterest.  I searched Google images for a torquoise shoe.  I sprayed the card with dylusion ink sprays and added a strip of scrapbook paper of old newsprint and distressed the edges of the card.  I feel like this card needs more but I have no idea what.  Any ideas?

I love this one.  I collaged a paper background and was very messy with the glue (completely unintentional).  Then I distressed the card using "Tea Dye" distress ink.  The glue worked as a resist and added to the distressed look of the card.  It was a happy surprise.  You can really see it in the upper left corner.  The pictures were from my stash.  I added the quote and the bronze flower that was a necklace.

I can't wait to make more.  I wish I had more free time  to play.

Good Day For Journaling

Here are the latest entries in my Art Journal.  I have been trying to work under the concept that "there are no mistakes" in Art Journaling.  This is very difficult for me as my "inner critique" is shouting....you didn't mean to do that, what were you thinking. This leads me to the first entry below....

 I completed this page and was very happy with the way it turned out.  I love the bird with the extra long legs, singing out to the world. I love the colorful flowers and the borders that I was trying to incorporate.  This was my first attempt at this lettering method and I thought it came out very nice.  The page was beautiful.  Then.... The mail came and I received the Dylusion Ink Sprays that I had impatiently been waiting for and proceeded to try them immediately...on the next page in my journal...I didn't realize how much they would bleed through the page <sheepish grin>.  Thus the big ink blobs on this page and the green polka dots on the girls face.  The ink blobs I can live with but the polka dots make the girl look like she is ill.  Very, very hard for me to think..."there are no mistakes" and..."I didn't mean for it to turn out this way, but I like it" because, I' don't really like it.

 

This is the page that I did that ruined the previous page.  My sister was up for a visit and had just returned home.  I was missing her and wishing that she lived closer.  She has a thing for Owls and I was feeling a bit silly and came up with this page.   I love it!  I love the colors, I love the new  Dylusions "Further Around The Edge" leave stamp, I love the owls, the girl, the highlights on the leaves, everything.  I am so glad that I bought the Dylusion inks.  They are beautiful and I am so glad that I got them.

I used the Dylusion sprays on this background but I was a little trigger happy and sprayed a bit too much.  I didn't like the way the colors blended so I painted the page with Gesso, thinking that I would start over again.  Turns out that the water based ink sprays didn't cover as well once the Gesso was on the page.  I then switched to alcohol inks, which worked great.  I stamped the bottom of the page with a flower stamp using archival ink.  Then I used markers to color the flowers. I stenciled the tree, drew some bees and added a butterfly sticker that I found in my stash.  I added a bird from some pictures I found through Google and added the saying, which is a subtle reminder to myself.

I wanted to play with lettering and I also wanted to keep a list of supplies that I felt my sister needed to have.  I thought this would be a good way to have some ideas for Christmas presents this year. I started by cutting some scrapbook paper to cover the page because the ink from the previous page bled thru so badly.  Then I drew some lines with a pencil and drew the Title in pencil.  I traced over the pencil letters with a black marker and added the detail.  I will continue to add things to our wish list as I find things that we "need" and once the page is full, I will erase the pencil lines.  As a last thought, I used Perfect Pearls and stamped the little sparrow in the upper right corner.  I think he is very cute.

I Love Art Journaling.

 

 

 I did the background for this page a while ago but I didn't know what to put on it.  I was finally inspired after I played around with some vintage photos in my stash.  I also wanted to experiment with some new techniques.  Well, new to me that is.  Anyway, I attempted to use Mod Podge to lay the items on the page.  I watched several videos and it looked pretty simple.  What I didn't realize is that there are different types of Mod Podge and I have the one with a glossy finish to it.  This makes taking a photo very difficult due to light reflecting from the page no matter what you do.  I also tried using a stencil with acrylic paint.  Can you say disaster.  That would be the big blob of green paint in the mason jar.  Everything I read about art journaling says there aren't any mistakes.  So, listening to this advice, I stuck a butterfly over the blobbiest part and then added swirls with a pen.  I actually like it.  Turns out it was good advice.  I practiced a little stenciling and gave it another shot with the wording on the page.  I had much better results.  I went around each letter with a black pen to help them stand out a little better.

 I played with layers on this background and I love the way it turned out.  I started by covering the page with Gesso.  Then I sprayed it with water and dripped alcohol inks on the page.  I helped them "move" on the page with a mop brush.  Once it dried, I stamped the page with vintage writing in sepia and a crescent moon in black archival ink.  Then more experimenting with stencils.  I sprayed water through the stencil and dusted Perfect Pearls over it and "pounced" on this with my brush.  I don't know if the photo picked it up very well but I really liked the look of it.  I also sprayed some Walnut ink through a number stencil.  I had some lace and I glued this on. It is just to the right of the girls head.  You might be able to see it if you enlarge the photo.  I stamped the bottom of the page with a flowers and fern stamp and colored them in with markers.  Then I drew the girl on a separate piece of paper, colored her in using watercolor pencils, cut her out and glued her in place.  I had some bubble wrap, used for packing and I covered it with Gesso and pressed this on the page.  I traced around the moon with a white gel pen and the girl with a black pen to help them stand out a little bit.  Then I found the quote and thought that it fit how I was feeling and wrote it on a label that I had and presto, my page was done.

 Since I had such good results with the Gesso and alcohol inks, I wanted to try it again.  However, when I looked back at some of my art, I noticed that I really tend to use greens in my work...a LOT.  So I wanted to get as far away from green as possible and went with orange, butterscotch and watermelon.  WOW, very bright.  Then I tried some stenciling which did not work so I covered the whole page with a pealecent spray.  Now I had no idea what to do with the page.  I looked up at some of my supplies and saw the washi tape and used it to put a frame around the page.  Still no inspiration.  Then I doodled around the frame.  Still no idea what to do with this brightly colored page.  Then I took a break, got something to eat and did some browsing on Pinterest and found this page  http://www.bobandterristeffes.com/2011_01_01_archive.html

I printed out the picture of the bird from my files.  I cut it out and used it to draw the girl. I colored the girl with watercolor pencils, cut her out and glued her to the bird. ...Huh, I just can't get away from green.  I went through my stash of scrapbook embellishments and added them to the page.  While going through my scrap, I saw the quote and thought, "perfect".  I made a tag with the quote and used "Tea Dye" distress ink to age it a bit.  Wow, another page done.  This was so much fun and so relaxing.  What a great weekend this has been.

Two New Entries In My Art Journal!

I had a wonderfully relaxing and productive weekend.  I was able to finish two entries in my Art Journal, I made some more Zucchini Bread (Only 8 Zucchinis to go), and I have another project that I was almost able to complete.  It is taking up a lot of time because I have to wait for coats of paint to dry before the next step can be completed.  If I have time to finish it this week I will post a picture.

My first thought was that I was going to cover the front of my Journal with some art.  However, when I finished this page, I didn't want to use it as a cover because I didn't want it to get ruined with the abuse that a cover can receive.  So to protect it I am using it as the first page of my Journal.  I figured that it needed a title page.

When I sat down to do this page, I wasn't sure what I was going to do  The blank page was staring at me.  I knew that I wanted it to be titled so I started with the lettering and filled them in with some patterns.  Then I saw a peacock on the internet and it inspired me to draw this little guy.  I LOVE how he turned out.  But...he was just kind of in the middle of the page and I wasn't sure what to do.  I knew that I wasn't going to be able to draw legs for him, which led me to think well then I have to put something there to hide where his legs would be.  So I started drawing flowers. I added the sun to balance the page and put a cute little Robin (yes it is suppose to be a Robin) on the "L".  I used water color pencils and a water brush to color everything.  I actually surprised myself at how well it came out.  I love the colors.

 

My daughter had her wedding shower last weekend and this idea has been brewing in my head all week.  I finally had time to put pen to paper and had a lot of fun doing this page.  Her Bridesmaids planned a Southern Belle theme and everyone wore beautiful dresses with the most gorgeous big hats.  The colors for her wedding are Emerald Green and Gold, which explains the choice of colors for this page. I'm still not sure if I should add some more filling patterns to the border.  I'm worried that it might become too busy and distract from the picture. I do tend to err on the more conservative side....I'm working on freeing my inner bling but still lacking the confidence.  I have a fear that I will ruin the whole thing after putting so much work into it. (heavy sigh)  I'll wait a day or two and revisit it and see how I feel.....more pattern or fine as it is......hmmmm.

I think I'm getting pretty good at my Zentangling.  These were done on small cards about the size of a business card.  The top one I used a stamp design for the middle and Zentangled around it using different patterns.  The next two are various Zentangle patterns. The last card is a method called stacks.  I saw an on-line tutorial on this page http://rainbowelephant.com/slapple-and-soft-stacks-pattern-share/#more-1542 and I thought it looked fun.  These will be my new book markers.

Laughing With My Sister.

This journal entry was inspired by a text conversation that I had with my sister.  I think that it could probably use more details in the background.  I tend to be on the conservative side when it comes to ...well pretty much everything.  I am always afraid that I will totally ruin the piece if I add too much detail.  Although, I love all the gorgeous backgrounds that I see from other artists.  I need to learn to be more daring and color outside the lines.