Tuesday, February 28, 2017

What Seems Ordinary is Extraordinary

Hello friends and visitors! I have a quick little canvas I made just for the 'Out of the Cold' theme at Frilly and Funkie hosted by Cec. I already made an entry, but it seemed a little dark, so I poked around my scraps bin to see if I could whip something more appropriate up before the link up closes in just a few more hours.



  I found this little stenciled panel I made last summer and didn't like. I added some Twinkling H2O's to make it a little sunnier and some gesso to make it a little shabbier.Then I colored some paper flowers from my stash with the brightest sprays I have in my arsenal--Dylusions. A few old Sizzix daisy die cuts, a Tim Holtz butterfly die cut, also from the scrap bin, two half pearls colored with alcohol inks, and a Chit Chat phrase to finish it off. Oh, and because I had gotten a little sloppy with the glue, I sprinkled some embossing powder on had on my work top in the flower centers, which added a little sparkle.








Then I took it outside for a look at what inspired me in the last of the evening sun.



I'm sharing with these challenges:
Well, it seems that Amazon's Web services are down, so I missed a few tight link up deadlines.
Thank you for stopping by and for your amazing comments!
Hugs and Blessings!
Sara Emily

Sunday, February 26, 2017

Keeping Promises to Myself-Early Christmas Card

Hello friends and visitors! Back in the beginning of the year (yesterday, it seems!), I made a little crafty promise to myself, several in fact. One of my resolutions was to make at least one Christmas card per month, so I would not feel so stressed during the season. Another promise I made to myself was to use one of the crafty goodies my good friend, Autumn (SewPaperPaint) sent me in my gigantic Christmas package. I paired these two resolutions up and met them for February with this Christmas card.


The star of the show here, the lovely ornament die cuts were a few that Autumn sent me. They were cut from patterned card, but I wanted them a little simpler, so I gave them a coat of black gesso, and
heat embossed with Stampendous and Tim Holtz stamps in gold.



I did some stamping using my new Peeled Paint Distress Oxide and in Frayed Burlap Distress ink. The image is a Tim Holtz Blueprint stamp and I had to mask off the lines and words before inking the stamp. This perhaps was the most time consuming part of this card.


You might be able to see the little flecks of sparkle on the background paper. After I inked, I spritzed a little Perfect Pearls mist in Heirloom Gold on my mat, and pressed the inked card into it here and there. It's quite shimmery in real life, but as you know, so hard to photograph. The flecks of gold on the ornaments is another story. I did use my antic static thingy before stamping, but the powder still melts into the gesso. Perhaps next time I need to paint over or otherwise seal the gesso before heat embossing.


I had some of these glittered pine boughs in my stash, and I was happy to include them at no time cost to me. They had been previously glittered with Tim's Glitter Dust.


This is seam binding ribbon I had in my stash, and I attempted to dye it with the oxide and ink, but the colors wouldn't 'stick' well, nor did the ribbon want to hold a shape, so I gave that a good drenching of the Perfect Pearls mist which helped to tie this all together. A quick dash into the fibers drawer and I found this gold twine to make a little bow for the ornament. Finished in less than 30 minutes! I think I do better without a plan! If I had more time, I think I would change one thing: put an extra coat of gesso on. Oh, well, two things--I would also seal the gesso before heat embossing.


Challenges entered:
Country View Challenges-February 2017-Time Challenge 30 Minutes or Under
Paper Artsy 2017 Topic #2 -Masks
So inspired by Ingrid's use of gold glitter and in her title Let Your Imagination Fly. Masking can't be seen on my card, but I masked my stamp before inking.
Scrapy Land Challenge #60 Add Texture I used a Sizzix Bigz die and die cuts given to me:).
Creative Artist Challenge #23-Anything Mixed Media Goes
Penny Black and More-February-Use Your Favorite Stamp This old Christmas greeting is my favorite way to say Merry Christmas! It has gotten so much use and is so old, it's falling apart.
A Vintage Journey-February Challenge-Words That Are Special What could be more special than "Merry Christmas"?
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge-Anything Goes
DL Art Thankful Thursday Challenge #199-"Green"
Your Next Stamp Sketch and Color Challenge #58

I chose cream, green and brown and used a lot of black (neutral).
Crafty Cardmakers #182-Add Some Texture
Stamplorations February Challenge-Stamps and Retro



Thank you for your visit today! I love reading your comments, so if you have time to leave one, I am very grateful!
Hugs and Blessings!
Sara Emily

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

30 Minute Tag-A New Beginning

Welcome friends and visitors! I was tempted, once again, by a few challenges out there, including that mind blowing " Time Challenge-30 Minutes or Under" at Country View Challenges. And it's "Out of the Cold" for Cec's challenge theme at Frilly and Funkie, so my butterfly is flitting away from the snowflakes. And a new one for me--PaperArtsty, where the challenge is to use a mask. 


 I was inspired to use my Color Burst granules after reading about and seeing Alison's (Words and Pictures) beautiful works of art using Infusions. Of course, my watery backgrounds don't look anything like her gorgeous, inky backdrops for those detailed Lynne Perrella images.

Like my last 30 minute project (which bombed, by the way), I followed Brenda's tips; I  made a recipe and gathered my ingredients. Before I got started, I even did a little test on a scrap of the same paper I would use as my substrate. Why is it that the experiment always turns out better than the actual project? Well, it does for me! Look at those beautiful colors all from one Color Burst--they didn't materialize as well on my finished tag, nor did my masking turn out as well. But 30 minutes is all I truly had, because this to make the mail today. There was no time for do overs.


This is as far as I got within the 30 minutes. You can see I didn't have time to thread the ribbon back through, but I laid it there for the finish line photo.


I thought I would show you the gorgeous watery color at the top and the crackled snowflake before I added the ribbon and word token. Another crafty conundrum: why are the best parts of a background always covered up by the embellishments?



I'll share my ingredients and step by step directions below. By lumping it all together, it will give you the option to skip through to the photos I took (mainly) outdoors.

Ingredients: Stencils: Tim Holtz Snowflakes, TCW Harlequin; Die: tim Holtz Tag and Bookplates; Stamp: Unnamed from my stash; Color: Distress Crayon Picket Fence, Peacock Feathers, Distress ink Peacock Feathers, Distress paint Black Soot, white acrylic paint, Color Bursts Lamp Black; Other mixed media products: DecoArt Crackle Paint, Distress Micro Glaze; Heavy watercolor paper, black card stock, seam binding, Ideaology Word Token, word stickers from my stash, Distress sprayer and splatter brush. I later added Tim Holtz Woodland Scribble stamp.

Recipe:
X  Die cut tag and circle from watercolor paper.
X  Using tag as a template mark black card stock on where to cut.
X  Ink butterfly stamp, spritz with water and transfer image to tag. Heat dry.
X  Stamp a second time on post it to use as a mask
X  Roughly cut butterfly image  from post it and apply to tag.
X  Apply crackle paint through stencils. Put stencils and palette knife into tray of water.
X  Remove mask and set tag aside to dry until cracks start to form.
X  Stain seam binding to match using leftover ink on butterfly stamp and ink pad, spritz with water and crinkle. Set aside to dry.
X Cut tag from black card and punch hole.
X Apply Distress Crayon to word token and word stickers.
X Continue drying process on crackle using heat tool.
X Apply micro glaze to butterfly and buff with clean, dry paper towel. (I got a little carried away with the buffing, apparently.)
X Sprinkle (very) lightly with Color Burst, spritz with water.
X Pat butterfly with clean paper towel to soak up color. Continue to dry with heat tool. Repeat.
X Adhere painted tag to black tag.
X Continue to dry seam binding and thread through word token and hole in tag. (I didn't thread the tag's hole with the ribbon.)
X Apply word stickers.

At this point I had just under 7 minutes left on the timer, so I decided to add stamping with white acrylic paint and a Tim Holtz Woodland Scribble snowflake image. I also splattered on watered down white paint and Black Soot Distress paint and changed the color of the recesses in the word token from blue to black to white. This left me short of time to thread my ribbon through the tag's hole.







I think making these 30 minute projects teach me ways I can improve on my work, but I've enjoyed the process and the outcome isn't that bad. Here's another look at my tag.  


I'm sharing this tag with the following challenges:
Country View Challenges-February 2017 -Time Challenge-30 Minutes or Under
Frilly and Funkie-Out of the Cold I chose a bright color for my butterfly coming out of the dark snowy wintry background.
PaperArtsy 2017 Topic #2 Masks I was inspired to use post it paper for a mask by Gabrielle Price's post I Just Wanted to Say. Why? Post its are the quickest way I know to make a mask, other than the Micro Glaze I also used.
A Vintage Journey February Challenge-Words That Are Special I can't say why these words are special yet, but this tag is going to someone special, and she will understand New Beginnings that will Inspire.
Scrapy Land Challenge #60-Add Texture I used a Sizzix tag die.
Word Art Wednesday Challenge Weeks #270-271-Anything Goes
Allsorts Week 403-Anything Goes
Creative Artiste Challenge #23-Anything Mixed Media Goes
We Love to Create Challenge #3-Anything Creative/Mixed Media Goes
Penny Black and More-February Challenge- Use Your Favorite Stamp This is my favorite butterfly stamp that I actually keep on my display shelf. Sadly, there is no manufacturer name on it.

Thank you for stopping by today and for all your wonderful comments! I read and appreciate each and every one of them.
Hugs and Blessings!
Sara Emily

Thursday, February 16, 2017

Words to Remember-Guest Designer at A Vintage Journey

Welcome friends and visitors! I'm super excited to be a Pinworthy Guest Designer at  A Vintage Journey today, where this month Jennie has chosen the theme 'Words That Are Special'! I've chosen several favorite quotes from my collection of Tim Holtz stamp sets and a not so pretty decorated wooden block for my project. If you scroll down you can see how this looked before. I've also written a tutorial on how this all came together.




Here's what I started with: a decorated wooden block,  a plastic pocket watch shaped frame (I broke off the bow), wooden "feet" (the one shown below is actually a different shape than the ones I used on my project), and a knob from my junk drawer,all of which I gave 2 coats of gesso. My hubby graciously drilled a hole in the block for the screw on the knob to fit down into.


To make the crackle background on the block, I first painted it with a DecoArt chalky finish paint followed by DecoArt Americana Decor Crackle medium. When the crackle dried, I painted on another chalky paint to reveal the cracks. The chalky paint colors I used are Relic and Primitive.


I repeated the same process on the knob before gluing it in place. The rusty ring around the knob is made by embossing a  Prima gauge image from the 'Rust and Dust' set on plain tissue wrap using Ground Espresso Distress ink and brown embossing puffs. I adhered it with DecoArt Matte Medium, adding the chain from my stash, DecoArt Sand Paste, glass bead gel, and Prima mini art stones. I colored it with Prima Alchemy paints in Metallique Steampunk Copper and Light Patina, Deco Art Burnt Umber and Quinacridone Gold media paints, and Patina Green Antiquing Cream.


While the Alchemy paint was out, I put a little on my craft mat and spritzed with water. I dipped the crackled block in the paint and allowed it to dry. I repeated using both colors listed above. I heat embossed  two of my quotes in Versamark embossing ink and black powder. The 'Simplicity' quote came in a set I got with Distress crayons, and the other two are from a set I won for one of Tim's tag challenges called 'Ponderings'. The ring (previously a pocket watch frame) was given the same rusty treatment as the topper minus the art stones.




I stamped the quote shown below in Ground Espresso Distress Archival ink, and shadowed it with a Sharpie pen, and highlighted 'create' and 'wish' with my white pen. I'll show some step out photos on the flowers later in the post. Since the surface is a little bumpy, this isn't the neatest work I've done, and the ink bled through the white pen, so that led me to decide on my 4th set of important words...



What I constantly need to remind myself is to embrace imperfection. Happily I had one more word band left in my stash to age with some Distress paint, Alchemy paint and some heat embossing. I twisted up some wire and sealed their sharp ends with gel medium and embossing powder heated to finish off the ends of the band and adhered it to my 'broken watch'. This was a stamped image I had in my leftovers box. It was imperfect to start with so I thought it was 'perfect'! I gave it a good coating of UTEE and cracked it, showing off the cracks with Distress stain. The outer rim of the watch was done in the same fashion as the topper. 



Here's a closer glimpse of those little wooden feet.  I was going for a tarnished brass look. What d'ya think? I used Distress paints in Tarnished Brass (Yeah, I know, right?!), Cracked Pistachio and Black Soot to get the patina.


To make the industrial flowers and greenery, I used a scrap of manila folder to which I had added contractor's foil tape. I used Tim Holtz Tattered Florals and my old Spring Greenery strip die, shaped them and colored with Tarnished Brass and Black Soot paints. I heat embossed with Distress powder and added touches of the Prima Metallique paints. I added tiny gears (Memory Box and Tim Holtz Thinlits) for the centers painted with Prima paint and heat embossed with Emerald Creek's Hammered Metal. The greenery is colored with Peeled Paint and Black Soot Distress paints.





Here's another look at the four sets of words that are special.








I'd like to thank the talented Creative Guides for having me as their Guest today. Please drop by A Vintage Journey for some incredible inspiration from the Creative Guides and the other Pinworthy Guests. I hope you will take some time to share what words are special to you!

I'm sharing this with the following challenges:
Scrapy Land Challenge #60-Add Texture I used 3 Sizzix dies and one from Memory Box.
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge-Use Your Favorite Tool Well, that's easy--my heat tool; can't live without it for embossing, special effects and even to speed up the drying process. Next in line would be my Big Kick, although sometimes it hates me.
SanDee and amelie's Steampunk Challenge-New Stash/Forgotten Stash  My new stash is DecoArt products: Chalky Finish paints and crackle medium and Tim's Ponderings stamps. Old stash is practically everything else.
Happy Little Stampers February Mixed Media Challenge-Tear/Rip Please read: I checked for "tear" synonyms and included in them were "Crack, hole, break, damage, fissure, imperfection and tatter", all of which I have on this one block.



 Thank you to my friends and visitors for stopping by and for all your fabulous comments! They mean so much to me!
Hugs and Blessings!
Sara Emily