e-Play Embossing Challenge "Shark Bait's " Catch

Hi my friends over at Eclectic Paperie  http://eclecticpaperie.blogspot.ca/2014/08/august-eplay-challenge-embossing.html were doing an embossing challenge for the month of August... how could I not participate?
 " Shark Bait's " Catch

I saw this post and thought ( early on I would do it... I enjoy the challenges... then I decided not) I would participate with some great project... well I was so far behind in my other challenges I thought it won't happen... then a light bulb went on... dah embossing !

I made this cute little card in a hurry ... was to go to a birthday party for a cute 4 year old and I forgot to make his card ... OH NO ! I had bought the supplies and everything... bummer !!
!
Okay so two hours before I was to leave I had to figure out something quick to do ( my original plan was going to take too long to do). I remembered how easy Tim Holtz  Bubble Embossing Folder was ...Yay ! New plan ...

Thank goodness my circuit stays on the ready ! My great nephew's nick name is "Shark Bait " ! Humm... no sharks but I do have some  whimsical  sea creatures ... bright red, blue colors, orange, green ) ( Sticko ) .  He just turned four so cool... bright red numbers, blue tags ; which I stamped with the  Tim Holtz bubble layering stencil looking good ... umm need some bright color eyelets to repeat the bright colors of the fish, starfish and whale ... yay for my stash of bright eyelets ... I added eyelets to the tags, used my Tim Holtz  simple sayings stamps to stamp sayings in Blue of course ! That took care of the inside ... now the front ...

It's amazing how I worked backwards ( inside first then out side) ... LOL !  I created a larger blue tag and a larger 4; cut out a blue seahorse from Tim's Sand and Sea die, used plastic and embossed it with the bubble embossing folder ... little bubble stenciling added stickers... covered them with the bubbles ... viola... a 4 year old Birthday Card ... quickest card I've ever made !

The card was a hit ... everybody couldn't believe I made it. And my nephew loved it ... he walked around waving it as if it were a fish riding the waves... what joy to see the expression on his face !

Everything Goes

Everything Goes is the August Challenge for Inspiration Emporium http://blog.inspirationemporium.com/ . All month the Designers have shared some amazing inspiration!
I decided to give it a go...  I've created a card... Many of my friends are cancer survivors and periodically I like to send cards of encouragement.

I fell in love with Tim Holtz Wallpaper Stash ... so I used a paper from there as my background. It had soft colors that  " spoke " to me.  I wanted it to be unique; so I went with a folded stitched pocket  with an insert . It's such a fun design.
I've seen this design in the past and just fell in love with it. I don't recall the exact measurements for the card I had seen but my card measures approximately  5x6 ; with a  41/4 x 5 3/4 insert.
I folded the card and stitched it with ivory thread ( creating the pocket), folded back approximately
1 1/2 inch ( the measurements were not exact). I inked all the edges with vintage photo distress ink.

 Using my doily layering stencil  and pumice stone distress ink I created a doily on the folded flap; I then used the heart stencil and worn lipstick distress ink to add hearts. For the insert I used  a scrap from the same paper and stitched a piece of pink vellum over it. On the vellum I repeated a similar doily pattern with hearts.

 

 I used a cloth flower ( it was taupe/beige) I used worn lipstick distress ink on the petals sand spritzed them with water and used my water brush for more defined shading in areas. Then I used antique linen distress glitter to cover a button in the center... ok ,  that was fun I got carried away with the heat tool and it bubbled ... not to worry I carefully used my fingers to smooth the glitter around the button.

In my stash I found a paper bird ( I think it was from Michael's ) I lightly inked the edges with vintage photo; went around the birds belly lightly with worn lipstick distress ink... oh so cute!
I used  the Hope adage ticket inked the edges lightly with a combination of vintage photo and worn lipstick distress ink. I played around with the linen ribbon I loved the texture and the color... but it didn't quite work for me ... not "soft" enough for the rest of the card; so I used a taupe sheer ribbon !
I was pleased with the outcome ... simple but uniquely pretty !

12 Tags of 2014 August Tag

Wow ... it's finally done ! It has been sooooo HOT here , I had some down days last week... so I'm way behind on my challenges. I refuse to give in or give up ...

With that said here is my August tag...

You know I say it so often; but it is so very true ... Tim WOWS me with these tags
The techniques for this one were over the top awesome. I had so much fun with it I made two ( gonna send one to a friend). I thought last month was awesome ... well so is this month. I love the colors!
I'm guessing the stamp set CMS 189 is smaller than my  Purveyor CMS 187 ( I did not have CMS 189 so I used my CMS 187 and CMS 188 to get all the necessary stamps... you know I'm obsessed with Tim's stash and I have to use what he used ... right  ? Well I didn't have it so I worked we what I had ... YAY ME ) ! I made it work !
I so loved using the tissue tape as a mask... so cool ! The colors made me giddy ( I'm a Tim-A-Holic ... I get excited); and the technique for the look of rust ... OMG genius ... it looks so good! I had way too much fun colorizing the embellishments. But the highlight was digging out my sewing machine to do the stitching ... it's just way cool ... THIS IS A FABULOUS TAG !
Yes I know this is just August and there are  four more tags to go... so there will be MORE that I will say are fabulous ! I just love learning the techniques and doing them makes me feel like a true artist !

Really ... if you've never gone to check it out go check out Tim's  blog http://timholtz.com/ you too will be blown away by these tags and techniques. He's also got a Media Team that post projects all the time... these Designers are so amazing, just when you think you've seen it all they come up with something else! It will take you to your Happy Place !

CC3 Challenge #9

Hi everybody ! Is it hot enough for you ?  Hope you are all staying cool ! Are you ready for Challenge # 9 ?

AL righty  then ... let's go ...

Challenge #9 is Stamps & Framelits found on p. 63 of Tim Holtz's A Compendium of Curiosities Volume III .  Just in case this is your first visit to my blog. I'm playing as long with Linda Ledbetter over  at http://lindaledbetter.com/2014/08/compendium-of-curiosities-3-challenge-9.html . She and the Curiosity Crew are taking us on a journey through Tim's new book . If you go to her site you can find all the details about these fabulous challenges.  The Curiosity Crew has jump started us by sharing their own projects using the techniques for this week. Man oh man it seems they've stepped up their game yet again. Their projects are so amazing; you will want to check them out as well... show em' some love while you visit their blogs ... it could give you the opportunity to win some goodies from Tim and Mario. They have sent Linda an amazing "stash" to use as prizes for the Curiosity Crew's Choice Awards! Now the other prize which is so very cool is a $50  Gift Certificate
for Inspiration Emporium ; they are this weeks sponsor. You really need to go over to their site http://www.inspirationemporium.com/ and brose their store . You'll be able to find all your supply needs for the challenges ... you'll really want to join us after you see all the inspiration!
Come on ...  it will be fun ... you can go to Tim's site http://timholtz.com/a-compendium-of-curiosities-volume-iii/ order your own autographed copy of his book and get started !

Okay important detail I can not and will not give instructions for this challenge ( that's why you need your own book :) !

Fall is almost here ... I love the colors of the leaves in fall so I decided to make a fall card!
I can tell you I used the Leaf Blueprint Stamp & Framelit to make a card. I had so much fun with this.
I so love using my Tim Stash; so let's see I used Distress inks ( mustard seed, wild honey, peeled paint, shabby shutter , spiced marmalade and vintage photo) ; distress pens ( spiced marmalade, vintage photo, shabby shutters); and three  layering stencils ( holly bough, dot fade, and burlap).
 I used my spritzer.... oh so fun ; I decided I wanted to add some gold to my leaves ... well the gold pen doesn't fit so I figured out a way to do it ... funny thing I couldn't see it ... I thought I wasn't having much success ... WRONG ... my frayed burlap ink pad is now gold speckled ( the leaves did get some ) !

Side note you are probably wondering why I would use holly bough... the leaves and the branches were cool they sort of fit my theme !
Well I hope you enjoyed seeing my card. I do hope you will go and look at the Curiosity Crew's blogs even if you decide not to join us... there is so much inspiration there ... enjoy!

So sorry I just realized the photos were out of sequence. The last photo is the photo showing the use of  the holly bough stencil and also my cool background. The photo above it shows you how I inked my leaves; and the one prior to that is a close up showing the other stencil work.

My technical difficulties frustrated me and I forgot to check the sequence ... again I apologize !

 

 

CC3 Challenge #8

Challenge #8 ALREADY ... boy did that two weeks go by fast. I'm on tight schedule AGAIN!
Not to worry I GOT THIS ( I think... we have not Bluetooth yet... cross your fingers and your toes)...

Challenge #8  Faded Layers is found on page 58 of Tim Holtz's book  A Compendium of Curiosities Volume III.

Kudos to Linda Ledbetter for all her hard work and that of the Curiosity Crew. You much visit Linda's blog  http://lindaledbetter.com/2014/08/compendium-of-curiosities-3-challenge-8.html to read all the Challenge details that she has so nicely "spelled out" for all of us.
The host this week is The  Funkie  Junkie Boutique. Some lucky randomly chosen winner will receive a $25 Gift Certificate to their Boutique. You can visit them at http://www.thefunkiejunkie.com/Default.asp; they got some pretty cool stuff !

So umm Faded Layers ... was a fun technique ... so fun I did two !! For the one I'm sharing I used The Cottage Path Alcohol Ink set ( meadow, currant and slate) . Not quite the colors I was going for but close. I used two stencils doily and burlap. Wasn't sure it would show up the way I wanted... but OMG ... it was amazing... like magic the design seemed to just pop in as it began to dry! I was happy with it. I made it whimsical using lost relatives ... so fun !
My piece is going to go in a very special frame that I have not gotten yet ( saw it at thrifty store but have not been able to go back yet... hope it's still there when I go again.

Just had to give you a sneak peak of the second one... check out those colors, I used different stencils too!



We just get such a special treat when we do these challenges; not only do we get to learn awesome techniques; we get an opportunity to show off our work AND we get to see some awesome projects and get amazing inspiration from the fabulous Curiosity Crew. They give a Curiosity Choice Award and it's a special  "stash" from Tim Holtz himself... how cool is that ?!
So have I convinced you to join us yet ? Oh com on ... all you gotta do to be eligible is visit the blog of each one of the Curiosity Crew and show em' some love !  So easy to do... you can't help but comment on what they've done... you might have to pick up your jaw a few times ... but it's so worth it. I do hope you stop by Linda's Blog and check out All the goodness !