She Who Stamps & Scraps

Unruly Paper Arts - Sponging

We're kicking off our first ever Reader Art Quest at Unruly Paper Arts using Sponging as the theme.  In case you missed it, UPA is a new blogozine that just launched on April 1st, and I'm really honored to be a Columnist over there.

I've made this ATC using Evergreen Bough Distress Ink, Jet Black Archival Ink, a Crafters Workshop chickenwire stencil, stamps from Paper Artsy, and a bit of black plastic mesh. I adhered the mesh with Tim's Tiny Attacher under the main stamped image, which is raised up on foam tape.

Hope you'll come join us at UPA for the first Reader Art Quest.  Reader submissions of sponged art will be accepted from April 1-15.  Details are on the UPA blog here.

Thanks for the visit!

Marjie 

Grungy Monday 39 - an ATC Triptych

 

This week's Grungy Monday challenge involves alcohol inks and a plaid ink application.  You can find the details on Linda's blog and then hop on over to Tim Holtz's blog for stepped out how-to pics on the application.  The alcohol inks dry in no time so this is a pretty quick project.

Each one of these ATCs has a plaid base. I added a few layers of stamping so it may be a bit difficult to see the plaids, but if you double-click on the photo, it's a bit easier.

Trust me... they're there. I used five shades of blue alcohol inks, then stamped over with Manganese Blue and Jet Black archival inks. Because I went with a blue pallete there's little contrast, but the bases are indeed plaid.

The raised letters are Tim's Idea-ology and the small black stickers are Making Memories (I colored them with the Mag Blue, too.) I used black Enamel Accents for the antennae.

Hope you're inspired to try something on your creative 'to do' list... give it a try!

Thanks so much for the visit.  Have a great day!

Marjie 

 

Simon Says Stamp & Show - Ideology

At Simon Says Stamp and Show this week the theme is Idea-ology... as in Tim Holtz. I know, I know! You wonder who I am talking about (not).  The sentiment stamped on this ATC is one of Tim's new ones, from the Words for Thought set.

I cut the ATC with Tim's Sizzix die, then added torn map and text papers. Inked the papers with distress stains and inks, roughed up the edges and stamped the sentiment with black Archival Ink (Ranger).

I dipped it in melted Beeswax and let dry. (Have to thank my sistah Fern for bringing me real beeswax at Christmas... the smell is amazing and it seals the papers so nicely.  I'll always think of her when my Melting Pot heats it up!)

Used my Crop-o-Dile to set the big grommets and then used various Ideology pieces, a word charm, and three clasps. A bit of Claudine's paint smooshed into the word and number on the metal finished it off.

On a housekeeping note, today is the day Google Friend Connect stops working for non-Blogger based blogs. If you haven't already, would you please take a moment to click on Networked Blogs and/or Google+ (top right side bar) so we stay connected? Many thanks!

So glad you stopped by.  Have a wonderful day!

Marjie 

Grungy Monday 35: Tim Holtz ATCs

Linda Ledbetter is looking for ATCs this week for Grungy Monday #35.  All the Grungy Monday challenges are based on techniques or products from Tim Holtz.

I started out by inking an ATC with yellow, orange and red distress inks, then stamping Tim’s tiny text alpha stamp on it in red (Ripe Persimmon).  

I used Tim’s Rusted Enamel technique featured on page 41 of the Compendium of Curiosities. (Can't wait for Volume 2, which I have pre-ordered!) The large black collage stamp is from his Eclectic Palette set, stamped in black Archival Ink from Ranger.

I rubbed off some extra embossing powder from around the edges so I could ink them with Black Soot Distress Ink before doing the heat embossing.  I dyed my little white alphabet beads with Sunset Orange alcohol ink and edged them with a black Sharpie.  I added the ball chain as a border with Matte Medium.

Thanks for the visit!

Marjie 

 

 

 

First Blogaversary plus two Tim Holtz Book Giveaways

Singing the "Happy Anniversary" song... a year ago yesterday I started blogging!  

I've been amazed how many people I've met (virtually and in person) as a result.  It staggers my mind to see visitors from more than 70 countries.  I thank you so much for taking the time to visit so often and for all the encouragement I've received here in BlogLand.

As I was looking back on my year in photos, I decided to repost some of my favorites.  I ended up going with a Top 10 list, like a lot of people did at the end of last year.  Here they are:

 

Still with me?  Thanks! Just leave a comment and become a follower if you're not already. That's it! You'll be in the running to win one of these two fantastic books by Tim Holtz:

Distressables, and Distressables 2!  There will be TWO winners, and I'll ship anywhere.  These books from Tim's early days are chock full of great ideas.  Winners will be announced one week from today on Monday, February 6th.

Thanks so much for your visits and encouraging words.  Have a wonderful week!

Marjie 

Sarah's Challenge

Sarah's theme this month at My Mojo is Playing Petite... Altered Trading Cards (ATCs). This one has what I like  in small doses... lots of layers (inks, stamps, stencils, and a bit of texture from the black Enamel Accents.) Plus I used my Vagabond to cut the ATC from my Tim/Sizzix die.

I find ATCs to be a fun change now and then and a way to explore creatively. They're great for experimenting. It always suprises me how much I can fit on one.

This little girl stamp is an oldie that's quite small and hard to use on a lot of other things, but I think she looks good with the big sentiment.  I also used Tim Holtz (Stampers Anonymous) stamps and Ranger Inks and Stains.

Sarah's site is worth checking out on a very frequent basis. Her art is always out of the box and full of eye candy.  On top of that, she has regular month-long inspiration in the form of the My Mojo challenge, along with artist interviews and samples.  

Definitely give her a look but don't say I didn't warn you... you'll want to spend a lot of time there!

Marjie

Looking Back @ 2011

I've noticed three different spins in blogland this week.... some of the people I admire are doing wrap-up posts (showing some favorite pieces from the past year), some have said they're taking a breather and will see us next year, and some have gone Radio Silent.  All are understandable, of course.  It can't get much busier for us all than the last 2 weeks of December, no matter what holiday you celebrate.  

And on that note, I'd like to extend Best Wishes & Happy Holidays.  Please don't be offended if I'm not saying Merry Christmas - I'm not slighting you (and I personally celebrate Christmas) but I'm also acknowledging those who celebrate Hanukah and Kwaanza. 

Since I didn't plan ahead and thought I'd still be creating this week (!) I am going to join the first group, and share 5 projects I really liked from this year:

Those were all tags, and this one is an ATC triptych:

These are some of my favorites from this year.  I'll have another design team post for Our Creative Corner on Saturday, and then look forward to jumping back in next week (and next year) with many new creations.

Best wishes and Happy Holidays!

Marjie

Trio of ATCs

These are ATCs I made for Papercrafts.TV using Distress Stains, Distress Inks, and Perfect Pearls. I diecut the ATCs using Tim's Sizzix die. Most of these stamps are from Tim Holtz; the heart/woman is Inkadinkado and the Dream is Limited Edition.  

Thanks for visiting... I know everyone is running a bit ragged this time of year and I do appreciate your taking the time to stop by.  Hope you're have a great day!

Marjie 

Wendy Vecchi Group - Sewing theme

Sewing is this week's theme at the Everything Wendy Vecchi group, and the challenge at Fashionable Stamping  is Anything but a Card.  

I've gone with a tag colored with mustard seed and peeled paint distress inks.  I added one of Wendy's large background (numeric) stamps and her zigzag stitch stamp.  My kind of sewing!

Next I colored a manila ATC (cut form a scrap of folder with my Sizzix ATC die) with the same distress ink colors and then stamped Wendy's 'measure slip' stamp in black archival ink.  I left that wet (inked) stamp upside down, then pressed the ATC into it getting the parts of the stamp that I wanted to fit on the ATC.  Made a little sandwich with a piece of acrylic and flipped it over to press the stamp down.  The diecut brings it into the running for the theme this week at Anything Goes.

I added some eyelets and a ribbon to tie  my ATC down, a Teresa Collins chipboard clock and some of Tim's ideology spinners.  Printed the sentiment on my computer and inked the negatives from a chipboard 9 to add to the ATC.  Black soot distress ink on all the edges.

Hope you like it!

Marjie 

Be a Dire Warning

 

Hels Sheridan asks about Mojo this week, as in what do you do when you can't find yours? For me it's either trying something new or starting small.  My current kick is stencils so I pulled out my new favorite and some blank ATCs.

There's a male theme going on now at ATC Challenges and I thought this little guy would fit right in... the sentiment is by River City Rubberworks, jester is Ready Made Rubber and border is Great American Stamp.

I inked my ATC with mustard seed distress ink and added some peeled paint distress ink over a Crafters Workshop chickenwire stencil. The Just for Fun theme is 'Anything but a Card."

The edges have black soot distress ink and that's it.   

Thanks for popping by today.  Hope you have a great week!