CC#3C - Alcohol Ink Ombre

Hello to all of you wonderful crafty people and I hope you are doing great! Yes, I am still having Internet issues and until Verizon actually makes the much needed repairs, this will be ongoing! Just trying to edit a picture is so frustrating when you do whatever changes and go to save and then the "page is not available" and that is why I am lacking on blog visits! OK, enough of my problems with Verizon and just know that I am still looking and enjoying your wonderful artwork! Really I am!

I decided to work my Artistic Outpost Generation Redux and Flower Market stamps right into Linda's CC#3C lesson, "Alcohol Ink Ombre," on page 57 of the Compendium of Curiosities III. Tim's book is amazing and to play along you must work from  your own copy! The wonderful sponsor this time around is the Funkie Junkie Boutique and of course there is always sometime from Tim and Mario as well, chosen by that lovely and talented Curiosity Crew! I decided I would go with a tag and used the more pastel colors of alcohol inks and although I can't share the technique, I can tell you that I used Mountain Rose and Salmon!

Thank you for visiting me today and especially that I have been lacking and hopefully this will all be resolved soon.

CC3C - Remnant Rub Resist

It seems like ages since I played in a CC3C adventure conducted by Linda and the Curiosity Crew, but made it for the current "Remnant Rub Resist" challenge! All the lessons can be found in Tim's Compendium of Curiosities III and as always the details can be found there on page 51. The Funkie Junkie Boutique is the fabulous sponsor this challenge and again there is a prize to be won via the CC choice from Tim and Mario.

Following the instructions, I decided to go with a blend of Peeled Paint, Wild Honey and Broken China stains to color my background. I used a variety of stamps from Tim, added a word band and some Alpha Letters. The tie was dyed using the same stains.

This was a fun playtime and I will add this to my travel journal. We are playing a trip to Wisconsin very soon and I can see the weather is getting cold and there may be snow! Not quite what us CA folks are used to! Yikes!

Have a wonderful day and thank you for visiting today!

The Travels of Skully and Friends

Hope you all are doing well and enjoying the cooler season upon us! I am combining Tim's 12 Tags of 2014, September and Linda's Compendium of Curiosities III, #11 Challenge! Linda and the CC have instructed us to open our books to page 52 to learn all about "Effect Powders." What great projects the CC shared with so much inspiration! Now to play along you must have your own copy of Tim's awesome book! This challenge is being sponsored by Inspiration Emporium and there is a $50 prize and always a chance to win a lovely package from Tim and Mario, so that is pretty darn cool!

And so it began with the background for September's tag and I used the "Gothic" stencil (I picked from a previous CC#3C win at the Funkie Junkie Boutique) and I followed Tim's instructions mostly!! I made a few attempts with poor results, so instead of the blending solution, I decided to try it with clear embossing ink that I lightly heat set. The alcohol inks I used were Sunshine Yellow, Sunset Orange, Lettuce.

The leaves treat with the same colors, but mostly Lettuce and a touch of black. I used a script stamp from one of Tim's Halloween sets and touched the edges with Red Geranium.

Now for the "Effect Powders" CC#3C challenge, I can't tell you how I did that, but I did use Black Soot, Antique Linen and Vintage Photo. My creepy crew will be traveling over to Inspiration Journal to join in the "Fall is in the Air" challenge and Lisa's Bloggers Challenge "Fall Colors"

Thank you so much for stopping by for a visit!

The Journey Begins and Blog Candy!

It is finally here and challenge #1 is all about Tim at "A Vintage Journey! Our first "Anything Tim" challenge has been chosen by the fabulous Brenda! You will so want to stop by and see what all my lovely DT Sisters have created for your viewing pleasure and will be so inspired to join in! There is also a prize from our sponsor Country View Crafts  and other fun events! Warning in advance that this will be a long post and photo heavy, something I don't like to do to you, so forgive me and bear with me as there is so much to share. A vintage journey could only be about "Tim" and all the inspiration he shares all over the world and some really amazing products.

When I was invited to join in the launch and be a member of the "Creative Guides," I could hardly contain my excitement! I just love everything Tim and he is the reason I ever continued stamping after seeing him in action in 2008. Now I have grown from my first workshop and continue to learn when I can and how I can, so don't ever think you can't do something! I had an idea what I was going to do, but like so many of you, it evolved into a mixed media altered project. This will be linked to Frilly and Funkie's "Stencils and Texture."

My idea was to make my own stencil, using some of Tim's movers and shapers and that was the start. When I finished my tag, I loved it so much that I could not cover it up and so the journey began!

I remembered those pictures and decided to use them and have a little shadow box covered with the glass, but this was the start and I will share the details a little later. It was finished off by backing it with some Kraft resist and torn text from the same paper, some gears and distressed trim.

The Traveler was stamped in Sepia Archival and using an applicator, I color him with Antique Linen, Brushed Corduroy and Tattered Rose, fussy cut and popped up a little.

And my Traveler needed to know where he was going, so I made him a compass cut from foil backed paper, painted and sanded off in areas. The compass was stamped on clear packaging and the entire compass backed in white. At certain angles you can see the reflection and if you look closely, the subtle crackle can be seen on the board.

The background of the print was covered in white gesso. After this dried I applied a washy coat of Antique Linen and Crackle Medium, then added some stenciling when that dried. Again when dried, I gave a spray of Butterscotch Color Wash and blotted most off, highlighted with Treasure Gold, and then a heavy coat of Espresso Color Wash, then misted with water to blend and left to dry. Once dried (gosh all the layers take so much time with drying), I flicked on some large water drops, flicked on Vintage Photo Paint with a toothbrush, bits of stamping and then sealed with Matte Spray.

Finished off with some Idea-ology metal that had paint rubbed into the words and ball chain.

The actual frame was gesso, covered with the paint and crackle mix, stained with Vintage Photo and Picket Fence and then varnished.

So do you love that before or what? And now my BLOG CANDY offer to celebrate my new and exciting venture and just in time for Linda's CC3C a signed copy of Tim's new Compendium of Curiosities III! I made contact with Mario about how I wanted to give a copy of this fabby book, who is just as rocking as Tim and he cooks and was thrilled at the idea. So you must let me know you would like to enter the drawing, be a follower of my blog and if you already are a follower a second toss in the hat and if you want to share my blog candy, I will even add your name again! It would also be wonderful if you follow AVJ! I will announce the winner on March 21st the date of the second challenge at AVJ. The winner will need to contact me by the 23rd, so Mario can get it signed and shipped, so do check back! Good Luck!

Now the steps for my own personal Tim stencil! Arrange movers and shapers where you desire and I actually had some blank stencil material. Next lay over tag, clear emboss the ink well, heat set, next stamp wood grain (or whatever you wish) in Archival, clear emboss.

Now the inking begins of the shapes, clear emboss, heat set and then ink your tag as desired. I then ironed away the embossing.

Thank you so much for stopping by and joining me on my new travel adventure! Sure hope to see you join in the challenges and have a great time! Remember it is all about Tim and our love of his techniques and products! Have a great journey!

Stamps: Tim's
Distress Inks: Clear Emboss, Vintage Photo Antique Linen, Walnut Stain, Old Paper, Pumice Stone, Brushed Corduroy, Tattered Rose
Archival Sepia
Distress Paints: Vintage Photo, Antique Linen
Distress Stains: Vintage Photo, Antique Linen
Clear Embossing Powder
Dies: Tag,  Movers/Shapers, pocket watch, ink & feather, Vintage Lace
Mixed Idea-ology
Kraft Resist
Foil Backed Paper