Hats Off Birthday!

Hello to all of you and we have an artistic treat for you at Artistic Outpost! This month it is a Designers Choice Blog Hop, so come on and hop along and see what everyone has done! Also a little reminder that we are close to the end of the August "Show Us Your AO Art," so hurry!

Tracy, Shari, Kate, Lisa

Using Tim's Cameo Frame to start and cut from kraft paper and stamped the Hats Background in Watering Can Archival, inked over with Antique Linen, spritzed with water and then shaded with Weathered Wood. A second frame was cut and the very edge cut away with an craft knife and then clear embossed. The Gentleman and Sentiment from Hat's Off were stamped in Black Archival and then cut apart/fussy cut and shaded in Black Soot. The background panel was inked over in Weathered Wood through the Harlequin stencil and shaded in black soot. This will be a birthday card for a man!

Thank you for visiting and have a lovely finish to the week.

A Gentleman!

I hope you all are doing wonderful and having a great start to April. Well I had a busy finish to March as we went to Wisconsin for just about week, so that is why I have been a little MIA. Of course it takes me forever these days to do anything and that includes planning and making arrangement for a trip! However as most of you now know, my little great-grandbaby Hailey came out for a visit! Totally cool!

Anyway, I am sharing this handsome "Hat's Off" gentleman over at Artistic Outpost today. If you would like to see all the details, just click HERE.

Thank you for stopping by today and I will be catching up with all you fabulous artists! Enjoy the weekend and Happy Easter!

Hats and More Hats!

Hope you all are doing fabulously and getting ready for the weekend! Today is a quick DT post for Artistic Outpost, using the Hats Background and Hat's Off new release stamps. If you would like all the details, please click HERE.

Thank you for stopping by and taking the time to let me know you were here!

Transportation Destination at Artistic Outpost!

It is a "Transportation" blog hop at Artistic Outpost and all of the DT has some amazing art to share and here they are! Tracy, Terry (Me), Lisa, Shari, Gerrie, Kate. If you missed the AO new release, you have to check it out right HERE and I will be sharing more of that during the next few weeks.

I do not journal, so this is a first and I decided to go with "Planes, Trains, Automobiles and Bicycles" for my journal cover and just maybe I will do something inside! Now I am open to any suggestions as this is new territory for me. Inspiration Journal's challenge is "Fresh Start" with no restrictions, so we go there.

To start, I cut a piece of Bristol to fit my cover, applied white gesso, white paint and then added Distress inks to get an idea what colors I might want to use before painting with Acrylic Paints, very light tans, browns, burnt umber and black to finish. I applied paint using a brush started with the lightest color in the center and working my way to the edges in the darkest, never cleaning my brush and working quickly. I did use a baby wipe to lift off color where I did not want it and finished by blending with a large stencil brush. Stenciled in the TCW Clock and later decided I needed a little more texture so added more stenciling. As you can see I was playing with my layout, before painting. Highlighted the raised stenciled areas using Treasure Gold, White Fire and Indigo and to finish I flicked on some of the paint.

Going in line with the movie, but with a bicycle twist, the plane from Industrial Backgrounds was stamped in Black Archival, inked over in Antique Linen, shaded with Vintage Photo and of course fussy cut.

The SteamPunk Train and ticket stamped on a die cut ticket was also inked as above. The green and blue on the arrow is not quite that bright. For some reason the camera just decided to be generous with color. Oh I did get a new camera, so having a little fun there!

I added bits of Route 66 map, which was stamped on tissue paper and decided I would go with the Automobile from Gatsby. The Bicyclists from Hat's Off were stamped directly on the painted background using Black Archival and heat set.

All the metal bits were gessoed, and then painted with the mix on my craft sheet and the I gave them a spray with Dylusions Cut Grass and London Bus, dabbed off a little and then highlighted with Treasure Gold and now I have a journal to keep my journey in check.

Thank you for visiting me today and have a wonderful day!

Artistic Outpost New Release!

Talk about a great way to start of 2015 with a New Release from Artistic Outpost, which will knock your Hat's Off and a Blog Hop with prizes!! Prize details and blog links to follow, but first let me share a couple of the projects I completed with more to follow! I have to say I loved the entire New Release and had a blast creating and ideas are still flowing! Nothing like the smell and touch of new rubber and then add the incredible design elements!

It was hard to decide what to share today, so I went with the two projects I completed and number #1 uses Hat's Off and Hats Background. The background panel was cut to 5x5 and then inked with Shabby Shutters, Crushed Olive, Pumice Stone and Brushed Corduroy. Peeled Paint was used to shade the brown areas and Walnut Stain on the green areas. Edged lightly with Black Soot and flicked on some good old water and then stamped the Hats Background in Black Archival and then distress the edges. Added a couple more layers of paper for the final card base of 5 1/2 x 5 1/2.

After I stamped and colored this gentleman with Brushed Corduroy, Shabby Shutters and Tattered Rose, I lightly inked over the entire image with Antique Linen. I did cut two hats as I was going to prop him up a little and I wanted more stability on the hat edges.

Next I stamped, inked and cut apart a sentiment from Hat's Off and placed on the film strip, added washi tape, glued down some ball chain and added a few more bits. Love all the stamps in this set!

Pretty cool aren't they??

My second feature today is a single, Winter Walk with the sentiment from Skating Emporium. Right about now I am pretty sentimental where dogs are concerned and this reminds me so much of the bond between humans and their dogs.

The image was stamped in Black Archival and water colored using Tumbled Glass, Frayed Burlap, Vintage Photo, Fired Brick, Tattered Rose and Peeled Paint. I added a little snow texture to the snow covered ground and roof top by thinning some white acrylic paint and added Rock Candy glitter and painted it on with a liner brush and finished with photo corners. For the background I applied paint to the snowflake stamp from Skating Emporium and stamped this on white paper. Once dried I inked over with Tumbled Glass and shaded with Vintage Photo. The sentiment also from Skating Emporium was stamped inked and cut apart and placed along the snowflakes.

Here is a little looky at the rest I will be sharing over the next few weeks and hope you have enjoyed my part of the New Release Blog Hop and thank you for stopping by. Now be sure to visit all of the DT during this blog hop for three random winners will be chosen and awarded a $15 gift certificate to the AO store of rubber goodness. The winner will be announced on the AO Blog January 24, 2015 and you have until January 23, 2015 10:00 PM EST to leave comments on participating designer blogs, so get hopping! Here they are!

Tracy - Shari - Terry - Kate - Gerrie - Lisa

Thank you for visiting today and have a lovely week!