I have been playing along with Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of Christmas - so much fun! Last year was my first year and I built a simple wooden stick tree to hang the tags from. When I get them all done I will post a picture. I love that he does not give out a supply list and that it is all on a whim for him - whatever he feels like that night. This also challenges me to use supplies is other ways and to come up with other products to substitute when I do not have what he uses - that is one of my favorite parts. SO much creativity that man has, I wish I had half as much so when doing the tags sometimes I make the tags exactly like Tim's, other times I mix it up and just do his main technique and sometimes they are similar but not exact. So far I have not done one too different - but I am just warming up. Here are pictures of my first four tags - I will post more as the series goes. Thanks for looking!
Day one: I do not have any of Tims Holiday dies, so I cut the house out of grungepaper using the Joy of Seasons Cartridge for the Cricut. The fence is handcut and the tree is stamped on grungepaper with a pine tree from Stampin Ups Living Trees stamp set. I also do not have any tickets or ticket stamps, so I hand cut this one and stamped it with a stamp from one of Tim's mini Christmas sets. I used liquid Applique for the snow and the paint Blingz over it for shimmer and shine. I really like how this one turned out considering I did not have mnay of the same supplies Tim used for this tag.
Day Two I did pretty much exactly like Tim's tag. The pearly bling is just some I had in my bead box. I have so many pearls and jewel beads that I can;t justify buying his Baubles - I just use what I already have. I liked the simplicity of this tag, especially after the complexity of day 1!
This tag is also similar to Tim's, but I do not have the tree stamp(yet!!) so I used a branch from on of his stamps that is a bird on a branch and just stamped the branch part over and over. I also used some mini pinecones and berries I picked up at Michaels over the Thanksgiving holiday. I also used Martha Stewart's tinsel glitter in place of tinsel ribbon. I love that stuff.
Again very similar to Tim's(hmmm I really do end up with at least one that is quite different - I swear). I used different bling at the bottom and put together my own "baubles" using my stash. I am happy that I purchased the facets a while ago - I had not used any yet and now that I have I will be using the rest of them for holiday gifts.
Here is an amazing giveaway from TodaysMama and GameStop.
Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme
TodaysMamaand GameStopare giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.
1. What is your holiday wish for your family? My holiday wish for my family is health, several members are having health issues now and I want nothing more than everyone to be healthy!!
2. What is your Christmas morning tradition? My niece and nephew wake us all(my parents, their parents, me, my daughter, my aunt, my cousin and her partner) around 7 and they hand out presents to everyone. Then we go around in a circle and take turns opening - letting the two little ones open more often as they have way more presents than everyone else,. After presents we do our stockings, my mom and dad still fill stockings for my sister and myself:)
3. If you could ask Santa for one, completely decadent wish for yourself, what would it be? My own home! Currently my daughter and I live with my mom and dad until my disability is approved(hopefully soon and hopefully I will not have to appeal). I am so grateful for them taking us in.
4. How do you make the holidays special without spending any money? We play board games, do christmas baking and make crafts.
5. What games did you play with your family growing up? We played ALOT of Yhatzee and Rummy. My sister got so she refused to play with me because I would ALWAYS win...lol. Not so much anymore though.
6. What holiday tradition have you carried on from your own childhood? Opening one present on Christmas Eve(usually a robe or PJs) and having Pillsbury Orange rolls for breakfast Christmas morning. If Pillsbury ever quit making these, we may have to cancel Christmas.
7. Where would you go for a Christmas-away-from-home trip? I would love to have Christmas in a fancy lodge-type home in the snowy mountains of Colorado.
8. Check out GameStop and tell us, what are the three top items on your GameStop Wish List this year? A Super Mario Bros. Bundle Wii w/DSi XL - ours, along with all of the games and gear was stolen in a home robbery :(, Just Dance for Wii, and Guitar Hero Warriors of Rock Super Bundle!!
I have not posted a Whats on Your Workdesk in forever. Seems like every time I remember - it's Thursday.
Anyway you can tell by the pictures I am in full force Holiday crafting mode = my desk is sooo messy, but thats how I thrive. The black ball of fur is Dea, she loves to sleep in my craft chair and when I am sitting in the chair she stands up on her back paws and gives my butt a nip in hopes I will get out of the chair -too funny :-).
Hope you all are enjoying your holiday crafting and getting lots done. Thanks for looking at my mess!
I spent the weekend in Madison, Wi at the One of A kind Rubber Stamp and Scrap Show. This was my second year attending, and I really had a nice time. This show is definitely more focused on the stamper than the scrapper - which fits me perfectly. I passed on classes this year, just nothing that sounded fun and also I felt they were a little pricey for what was offered. Last year I took a class from Wendy Vecchi, this year she demoed for Stampers Anonymous but did not have a class -bummer but she said the show producers wanted to much and it would have made the cost of the class prohibitive and she did not want to rip off her fans and customers - yeah Wendy!
I found plenty to spend my money on - including a Netflix type service for rubber stamps which I am so gonna try - Raisin Boat! They have tons of great quality stamps(I purchased one!) and big variety. When I get my first stamps from the rental program I will do a post all about it.
Here is my video of all the goodies...thanks for watching!
Bombshell Stamps has a new blog and is giving away 2 stamp sets to celebrate. Check them out, they have the most fantastic pin up girl stamps and vintage car rubber stamps, rocka billy, cowgirl - all high quality red rubber and great customer service. Here is a card I made using one of thier stamp sets.
Just wondering if anyone is going to this show? I went last year and it was cool - it was my first convention, it;s not to big but still some neat stuff and good deals (also an excuse for a long weekend in Madison with my sister and her family). They had Wendy Vecchi there and I was able to take a class from her. This year there does not appear to be any "BIG" names and Stampers Anonymous doesn't have anyone doing any classes for them - but at least they will have a booth., Last year there were quite a few vendors with some really good deals on unmounted red rubber stamps, so I will hit those up for sure. I am thinking about taking a class from Stamp Zia, her work is just beautiful and by watching her demo last year it looks like she uses alot of techniques that could be applied to many styles of papercrafting. Anyone ever took her class?
I took my neice one day last year and will again this year - she is really excited, shes my craft buddy as my daughter does not enjoy crafftig at all :(
Boys are hard to craft for. I have a nephew who is 9 and his sister is 7 - niece loves all things crafty and made by Auntie - nephew, well he liked the Star Wars box I made for him, but probably could care less about the frilly girlly name banner I made his sister. When I go up I always have something I have made for my niece and try to come up with something for nephew - struggle! struggle! struggle!. This time I think I nailed it - I had found these vinyl silhouettes by Little Yellow Bicycle that were boys skateboarding, biking and other extreme sports and some canvas tags with cool sayings on them and knew it would all be perfect. Then I painted up some 5 x 5 canvas's to match his room and went to work making them look well, grungy. I but the vinyl cutouts on cardboard or sturdiness and popped them up from the canvas's. I used the Industrial Grunge technique on his name. I really think he will like it.
Here is my very very last minute got it done just in the nick of time entry for Simon Says Stamps Vintage Challenge. The base is Wendy Vecchi's new Art Parts - Love them! The rest is all Tim Holtz - Seasonal grungeboard, stickers, paperpack, then also his grungepaper , dies and ink.
Here it is and thanks for looking!
Here is my entry for the Compendium Of Curiosities Challenge Week 18 hosted by Linda on her blog L3 Studio. Every week she hosts a challenge based on the techniques in Tim Holtz's book, this weeks techniques is paint dabber resist. I am really enjoying these weekly challenges, I do them every week, but don't always get done in time to enter becasue I always seem to forget or mix up the time zone difference! I have been thinking about setting up a spreadsheet of all the challenges I like to participate in - yes I am addicted to paper crafting...
Here is my entry, the card base is SU Baja Blue, the Many Thanks stamp is by American Craft I think, The label around the sentiments is SU's Vintage Label and matching punch. I used Willow and Denim paint dabbers for the butterflies and vine stamp (Tim Holtz). I used the following Distress Inks: Stormy Sky, Faded Jeans, Peeled Paint,Shabby Shutters and Brushed Corduroy. The big blue butterfly is grungpaper. Bling is Recollections. I sprayed the grunge butterfly and the the sentiment with a Faded Jeans/ Silver Perfect Pearls spray.
For technique instructions pick up a copy of Tim Holtz's Compendium of Curiosities book, it is a must have resource!
Thanks for looking!
Gaal Creative is holding a challenge to celebrate women this month. She has a very moving and interesting post about an organization called Women for Women International. The Celebrating Women challenge is to create a project for a girl or woman and send to them. My card was given to a special young friend Delila who just turned 12, it just so happend she had on a swimsuit with pink cherries on it when I gave it to her...lol.
Thanks for looking and be sure to check out Gaal Creative blog.
Here is my entry for the Simon Says Stamp Vintage Challenge. The frame is from the dollar store and covered with Salvage stickers. One flower is made with grunge numbers and stem the other is made using Tim Holtz's Tattered Florals die. The saying is from Tim Holtz also.
I am hosting a challenge for Stamptoberfest at Two Peas In A Bucket. Pretty simple - just create something that is a banner or has a banner on it and post it to Two Peas as outlined on my Two Peas Challenge post.
Stamptoberfest is a great time to challenge yourself with some techniques or styles that you don't create with frequently. Hope to see you over at Two Peas!!!
Thanks for reading!
It's Stamptoberfest time over at Two Peas in A Bucket. This is my favorite challenge festivity of the year. For those of you not in the know this is when members of Two Peas - anyone at all - can host a challenge. So far there are about 10 challanges available to participate in. It is great fun and there are always generous RAKs for some of the participants. So check out the stamping board over at Two Peas for some Stamptoberfest fun!! Two Peas is also hosting some challenges for World Cardmaking Day some are through the end of the month. Jennifer McGuire is going to be starting a Holiday Thinking Inking Class on the 4th of October - 3 projects a week for 4 week. October is an awesome month at Two Peas!
I will also be making a bunch of crafts for my niece and nephews school craft sale - Lowell Elementary in Madison, Wi so I will be a busy, busy crafter bee this month, which makes me smile :)
I am honored to be chosen for the Top 3 in the Simon Says Stamp Vintage Challenge. This means my log can wear Top 3 Blinkie with Pride. There were so many wonderfully grungy pieces of craft, I am so happy and honored that the design team chose my frame to be in the Top 3. Thank you!!
Below is the frame (again) and the blinkie is over on the right side of my blog.
Last night I was making some card sets for my Etsy shop using some Hero Arts stamps, distress inks and the Basic Grey Basics paper pad. I will finish up tonight, not sure if these will make the cut or not. Messy as always - the desk is only clean for a brief time every week. I think I thrive in the chaos, as many others do to.
Here is my entry for the Simon Says Stamp Vintage Challange - Grunge. I took a dollar store frame and covered it in distress inked grungepaper and then glued on fragments covered in grungy Lost and Found paper. I decorated piece of grungepaper with various grungeboard elements and distress embossing powder. For a final touch I added some tattered florals cut from the Lost and Found paper.
Thanks for looking!
I signed up to be part of this blog hop on Splitcoaststampers, there are 50 of us I believe. You can follow the trail at Unity Stamp Co. blog. I love Unity for their whimsical stamps and I love this new little stamp set Whats Shakin?...so freakin cute - I picked it up at Archivers during Scrapfest! I paired it up with some Cosmo Cricket Early Bird and Garden Variety papers - perfect!!! So thanks for looking!
I have been wanting to take a class from Tim Holtz since I started following him - maybe 2 years ago....but he had not come close enough to Des Moines, except for Scrapfest and last year I was recovering from surgery. So when it was announced he would again be teaching at the MOA, I was on it. I set my alarm for a half hour before registration, set my laptop next to my bed and tried to sleep - dreaming repeatedly of NOT being able to get into one of his classes. Luckily that was not the case and I was set for class at 10:00 AM on Friday Sept. 17. WOOOOHOOOOOO.
I headed up to Minnesota around 12:30 and checked into my hotel (See Post Why I Love the Microtel) around 4, then headed over to Scrapfest around 5:30. The registration line was fairly long but you could look at all the make and takes offered and the 7 Gypsies Tray Contest Entries while waiting - plus most of the other crafters were pretty chatty. After I got my Scrapfest badge I strolled through the bargain area, they had allot of 1.99 items -much of the same stuff they have in their stores - stamps, glitter, brad packages, small ink queues, stickers etc and lots and lots of Halloween items. They also had quite a really nice few paper pads ranging from 4.99 to 24.99, some were some great My Minds Eye and Fancy Pants value packs. I did not buy too much here, I find when I buy random dollar spot items I end up not using them. I am not a huge scrapbooker(though I should be!) and I tend to buy with a specific project or idea in mind so I do not buy much just because its a good deal and I did not come home with any of the pretty paper packs. Next I headed up to Archivers to shop, I will be honest - very disappointed that there were not any NEW stamps from Tim Holtz in stock. Absolutely nothing from summer CHA, I think considering that Tim is a headliner - they should be sure they have his stuff in stock! They also did not have any of the new Tattered Angels Glitz or Glam in stock. I even heard someone from TA expressing their disappointment in this. They did have ALOT of the new paper lines available which was awesome! While I had no trouble spending a good deal of muula - I would have spent significantly more had the new stamps or new TA been in stock. When checking out the Archivers clerk said it was a good thing to shop on Thursday because they were already getting low on alot of hot items and by Sunday the pickings may be slim. After Archivers I did a little shopping for my daughter picking her up a couple pairs of earrings, a necklace and a feather headband from For Love 21 - all for under $15! Then I was wiped so I went back to the hotel, drank a couple of beers and crashed.
I arrived at the mall around 9 am Friday morning, went to get in line for a make -n-take for Tombow - then realized I left my badge in the van. When I cam back the shortest line was for Cosmo Cricket so I made a cute tag, Lindsey and Julie were working the line so that was fun - plus I had been featured in their facebook a couple of days earlier so we chatted about that for a minute. Then it was time for THE CLASS. AMAZING, WONDERFUL, TOO SHORT, LEFT ME WANTING MORE. We made an adorable little book, which I show in my video. From class we took home a couple of distress ink pads, an ink applicator, a mini glossy accents and a gold paint dabber - then when we left - WOW WOW we received a package of elements grungeboard and a brand new not yet available package of Texture Fades - the snowman and the snowflakes no less....the one I was going to buy FIRST! I had my picture taken and had him sign a couple of things and then off I went to the land of make and takes. First I got in the Tattered Angels line - super long but a great make and take and Heidi Swapp was working the line - cool beans. Then I did the make n takes for Unity Stamps, We r Memory Keepers and I thought someone else but I can't remember. Then I ate some lunch, walked around a bit but the lines were super long and I was tired so I went back to Archivers and shopped a bit more then headed home.
I would say Scrapfest was exactly what I expected, no big surprises. I was pretty disappointed that they would not ensure they had the newest and most popular items in stock, and I heard this time and time again while waiting in line. Maybe next year they will do a better job or maybe postpone a week or two to make sure they get the product.I have an Archivers 5 minutes away and since there were not fantastic deals on the kinds of products I use, next year my money would be better spent taking some classes. I wiill also plan to spend two nights next year, the lines for the make-n-takes were long and there were a couple others I would have liked to do, plus I would have liked to have had some more time shopping at the mall and around Bloomington.
Please watch my videos showing all my goodies I bought, the project from Tim's class and the make and takes.
Thanks!!!!
This weeksCompendium of Curiosities Challenge on the blog Studio L3 is Alcohol Ink Agate on Grunge. I decided to use my new Texture Fades that I received for taking Tim Holt's Scrapfest class. He gave all participants the snowman and snowflakes Texture Fades and a pack of elements grungeboard. The background of my project is grungepaper embossed with the snowflakes, then inked with denim, pool, sailboat blue, pearl and silver alcohol ink, then swiped with a white pigment pad to pop the snowflakes. The snowman is grungepaper cut with Tim's die, embossed with the snowman Texture Fade then inked with white pigment and Tumbled Glass and stamped with Chipped Sapphire using the snowman stamp. I also sprayed everything with perfect pearl water. The snowflakes on the frame are from the Seasonal Grungeboard package and inked the same as the background. The fragment is also inked the same as the background and stamped with Archival Ink.
During CHA I won a received a VERY generous package from KI Memories and Two Peas in a Bucket containing the complete Posh and Enchanted lines - papers and every embellishment that went with.
My crafting buddy - my niece is quite the little crafter and whenever she comes to visit she loves to sit with me in my craft space and play with all my stuff. I LOVE IT!! This last visit while we were downstairs making cards I called her my crafting buddy and I guess she was so please that several weeks later her mom was reading to her at bedtime and she told her mom how I called her my crafting buddy.....so sweet. Last year I took her to the One of a Kind Stamp and Scrap Show in Madison and a few of the vendors were amazed at how well she could color in images and make cards. She had the best time looking at all the products and projects, she had brought along some money and bought herself some Shimmerz Bling and some stickers. We will be going again this November.
The Enchanted line from KI Memories matches her room very closely so I made her a name banner and I will be making her a Auntie's Craft Buddy sign. Below is the name Banner. I cut the banner pieces from canvas and sprayed them with glimmer mist and homemade re-inker perfect pearls mist in greens, pinks and blues. The rest of the items are all from the KI Memories Enchanted line.
Thanks so much for looking - check back soon as I will have my Scrapfest Review and Videos posted soon.
I am in my hotel room in Bloomington, Mn waiting for rush hour to end so I can zoom over to the mall and check in for Scrapfest. I am in the Microtel Inn - I stay here every time I come to the Minneapolis area - maybe once or twice a year. Actually I stay in a Microtel Inn everytime I travel if possible- I love the Microtel.
Why?
1. They are always spotless - I have stayed in maybe 5 or 6 different ones and never once have I seen a stray hair or even dust for that matter.
2. They are SUPER cheap.
3. See No. 1
4. The beds are very very comfy
5. The pillows are not too fluffy - I like flat pillows - I hate pillows in fancy hotels - they are too fluffy - I have to bring my own pillow when I stay in a fancy hotel.
6. See No. 1.
7. Very few children running the halls, or jumping on the bed in the room above me or babies crying - why you ask? - NO POOL!!! don't get me wrong, I like kids - just not loud ones when I am trying to sleep. My kid is 18 and would now much rather have $40 more bucks to spend on clothes or whatever than a pool at the hotel. YEAH!!
8. Free Continental breakfast - nothing fancy - but free if I am up early enough.
9. You can get a Suite type room with 2 queens , a pullout, fridge and microwave for about $70-80 bucks a night. hard to beat.
10. See No. 1.
What's on your work desk Wednesday? Well last night I was playing around with masking for L3's Compendium of Curiosities Challenge and my stuff is still there and no project is completed...lol.
Check out the other crafter's work desks at Stamping Grounds.
I am off to Scrapfest tomorrow. I hope to have lots to share on the blog when I return. This is my first Scrapfest and I am not sure if what I am expecting is what happens ;-) I will write up my experience and do a sort of trip review of expectations vs. reality. More importantly - I am taking my first class with Tim Holtz, I am so excited I doubt I will sleep at all Thursday night!
I filmed a haul video, it covers a couple of trips to Michaels and Archivers and one trip my wonderful LSS Memory Bound Scrapbooking. I do not have editing software, so all my mistakes and uhms and pauses are there for the world to see. I plan to to another haul video when I get back from Scrapfest.
I altered an oatmeal box to hold my paintbrushes, The paper is from October afternoon, letters are Maya Road and flowers are grungepaper and Olive Vine and Coffee Shop glimmer mist. This is my entry for L3's Compendium of Curiosities challenge.
Here is a door hanging I made with Graphic 45's Hallowe'en in Wonderland paper. There are 5 chipboard panels, which are from one of the $1 bind at Michaels. The first 4 each represent a specific character and the 5th has cards of some other characters. I used some Tim Holtz Holiday grungeboard, stickles and distress inks to embellish the pieces. The pieces are held together with a black satin ribbon. I really love this project, it is my current favorite but my daughter had called dibs to have this hang from her door - she is a big Alice fan.. I am entering this in Simon Says Stamp's "STAMP"tember Hop Challenge so be sure and check out all the wonderful projects on this Hop.
My camera is a very cheap on so it was hard to get a good picture of the whole project, so I will post some close ups also.
Alice small and tall
Grungeboard keyhole inked with brass distress crackle paint, walnut stain distress ink and then glossy accents over the top.
Mad Hatter
I used black and shabby shutters distress stickles on his hat and pants.
The White Rabbit
I used the Tim Holtz clock mask on the background paper with silver glimmer mist. You can kind of see that in this close up.
The Red Queen
Grungboard castle inked with Barndoor distress ink - one window is Alice, one is the queen the other is a heart. The wihte rose painted red is from Michaels wedding area the white rose with red center is made from Tim Holtz Tattered floral die, the red center is from Michaels wedding area also. The small flower has a white center from Michaels wedding area and the red part is made from Petaloo Color Me Crazy flowers.
Other Characters
Thanks for looking. If you have any questions about the project I will be happy to answer them.
