All She Needs Is Love!

That is right, all she needs is love and this lovely from Artistic Outpost's Generation Redux is sending out the message! Hope you all are getting ready to have a lovely Valentine's Day filled with happiness and love! That is what really counts!

Let me start with the tag background which was first inked with Festive Berries and Frayed Burlap and then using the larger of Tim's movers and shapers hearts, I cut out three on a separate tag to use as a stencil, applied DecoArt One Step Crackle pounced on thickly with a piece of foam. Once dried, I reapplied the tag stencil and inked over in Festive Berries. The smaller hearts were cut from chipboard, painted gold, crackled and then inked with Ground Espresso. I edged the tag in gold and dry brushed on here and there.

The sweet gal was stamped in coffee Archival, fussy cut and colored with distress inks to suit the mood! The Love from Apothecary was masked off and cut to place over the crackled hearts.

Thank you for stopping by! Still working on so much house arranging and packing and then in a couple of weeks we go off to sign papers on the Wisconsin house. I sure hope we can get this house up and sold real soon and just have a little breathing time. I think we bite off more than we can chew! It is hard to believe that we have been here 19 years!

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.

Crazy Enough

Thank you for taking the time to visit today and I hope you are doing well. Did you make New Year Resolutions for 2015? I am always curious about that as I will make a few and then somehow I put them on the back burner! Inspiration Emporium's January's challenge is "Fresh Start" with the sky is the limit and no restrictions and so we are taking are first AO inking of 2015 over there!

I wanted this to be all vintage and masculine, so went with all neutral colors and of course mostly brown. The images I used are from Generation Redux, Secretary Pool, and Chalkboard Wisdom and were all collaged together.

Making backgrounds for focal images is always something I enjoy doing. Using the background (dots) image, I stamped this on ivory colored paper using Black Archival and then inked over with Vintage Photo and shaded with Black Soot and then I distressed the edges and torn in a few places. The Alpha Block background was first stamped using more of the dots and clear embossed and then the Alpha was stamped using Coffee Archival on to a lighter colored kraft card stock, then a few more dots and numbers using Black Archival.

The gentlemen were stamped in Black Archival and then inked over with Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap, shaded in Black Soot. Added the photo corners and cut apart the Chalkboard sentiment and there you have it. The January "Show Us Your AO Art" challenge is up and running and waiting to see your AO creations, so come on and play along!

Have a most wonderful weekend!

CC#3C - Cabinet Card Pocket

Happy Veteran's Day to all of you who serve or have family members who do or have! We owe so much to those that keep us safe and enjoying our many freedoms! On the subject, I had more free time to play around in the dungeon and worked those gorgeous Artist Outpost stamps into the current Compendium of Curiosities III, found on page 38, "Cabinet Card Pocket." Linda and the CC sure have some amazing artwork up for inspiration and this go around Inspiration Emporium is the sponsor of a $50 store gift voucher and again you can win something sweet from Tim and Mario! Here we go and this time we can share the details as this is more about the product and not a technique.

For my cabinet card pocket, I applied clear embossing ink over the crocodile stencil and used Distress vintage photo EP and matted this on red and distressed the edges. All was mounted on a piece of Tim's paper. My sweet young lady from Generation Redux was stamped in Coffee Archival over some Blooming Garden paper from ODBD, which I had did a white paint wash over the area where the image would be stamped. The November "Show us you AO Art" challenge has started, so hope you will join in!

I colored the rose with Watermelon and Lettuce alcohol inks and added a word band tied with a dyed silk ribbon. 

Now working the cabinet card, gave me the idea to also enclose a secret little inspirational tag for my Granddaughter's 21st birthday, which easily pulls out and has a little secret hiding spot!

The sentiment is from Chalkboard Wisdom and a favorite of mine and I think just the right words for a 21 year-old! For a little extra background interest, I sued stamps from Ephemera Backgrounds and Whimsical Melange.

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you are having a wonderful week!

Trick or Treat!

In just a few days all the kids will be going house to house bagging up some candy! So how many of you check your kids stash and sample a little just to be sure? Well I did when my kids went "Trick or Treating" and I remember the sound of, "Mom, I am missing a Butterfinger." Today I decided I would make a Halloween treat on the softer side, no blood or gore, just fun! I will also be sharing this on Friday at Artistic Outpost if you would like to visit and remember there is still a few days to join in the October "Show us you AO Art," so please join in!

As you can see the girls from Paperboy have finished their day at work and are getting ready for a Halloween celebration. I think the taller one is going to dress up as Lois Lane! Well that is what I had in mind when I started this! The image was stamped using Coffee Archival on a piece of leftover paper from ODBD Blooming Garden and I white washed it a little. I did like the subtle background and also have another project started that I will share at a later time doing the washing painty thing. This was shaded with Rusty Hinge and Vintage Photo. Added some alpha letters.

Now the background was great fun to make and that is why I continued on with another piece for another time. I inked up the leaf stamp from Generation Redux using markers. First by covering the entire stamp with Walnut stain and then added bits of Barn Door and Spiced Marmalade right over the WS. I did try Dusty Concord and Mustard Seed, but those did not show up as well. This was then stamped onto my inked tag background. I also stamped some music sheet in Vintage Photo from Ephemera Backgrounds.  I really did love the background and had a hard time covering it up!

Thank you for stopping by today and I hope you are having a wonderful week. On a personal note, my hubby is having surgery on Monday and I will be hit and miss for a while, depending on how much he needs me. My mind as been a little distracted lately with getting this all set up and getting things (extra) done around the house, so we won't have to do much. I just want him to relax and get all healed up really quick! So I will pop around whenever I can!

I Believe in Miracles!

Today's post is brief, because all the details are over at Artistic Outpost if you would like to visit and say, "hello."  My card was created is in honor of  "Breast Cancer Awareness" month and all of those who have been or know someone who has been affected by cancer.

Thank you for stopping by today and an extra thank you if you hopped on over to AO! Have a lovely weekend!

Coffee and Friends!

I am so happy that you would stop by on this day before the weekend. Friday is my day to share at Artistic Outpost, so stop on over for all the details and photos if you would like. This is kind of a Generation Redux meets Chalkboard Wisdom over a cup of coffee! The September challenge "Show us your AO Art" is again anything goes and as always a chance for a store gift certificate, so come on and get inky with us!

I will tell you about the  tag background which was stenciled using Black Soot and then clear embossed, inked over with Peeled Paint and then the embossing was removed. I did outline the black edges with a gold glitter pen for a little extra interest and then this was splattered with water and shaded.

Thank you for visiting today and enjoy the weekend!