Were BAAAACK!

Had an amazing time on our vacation. Our first stop Vegas.

Met up with some friends for a Fabulous dinner at Mirage. 

Mindi, her hub-bum Mike and Deb.

The Mirage hotel. Great place to stay!

Our next stop the Grand Canyon. Vic originally didn't want to see it

said it was just a big hole in the ground.

His First reaction. That's one AWESOME hole in the ground. LOL

Next was on to Texas to see the kids. 

Spent a day at the Zoo with our Grand son Emmett.

So much fun and miss him already. sniff sniff.

They had an area there where water shoots out of the ground.

 We must have watched him for an hour playing .Pure bliss

At the kids. Vic and our son were working on the sprinkler system. Emmett

decided to par take in the local cuisine. Mud. hahahaha

Emmett with the new swing set we got him! One happy little boy!

Next was on to Colorado to see my sister, her hubby ,
My Niece and her boys.

A couple of days on the lake fishing.

Here's my little sis.

Tiffany and her boyfriend.

and her three little fishermen ! 

Vic and Alan on the lake fishing.

Sad to have to leave. Hoping we can do it all again next spring.

Vacation bound

House sitter set up. Check!
Lawn care set up. Check!
Dog, fish, chickens,cat care set up. Check!
Work Schedule postponed. Check!

Vacation bound for Vegas, Grand Canyon, Texas and Colorado.

 See you in two weeks with lots of photos

A Vintage Journey

When I was approached by A.Vintage Journey  challenge blog to do a guest spot how could I resist!!

With the "Vintage/shabby/Mixed Media"  style influenced by Tim Holtz it was right up my ally!

This weeks host Jenny has us painting/dripping/splatting ,etc
 using Distress stains! and while I only have
three bottles of Distress stains (hangs head in shame) 

I did mange to create my project.

An altered book made from two Canvases.

Stencils seem to be all the rage right now so I grabbed some of my favorites

and used Tim's music embossing folder and some 

tissue paper to protect the folder

and slapped on some texture paste.

I call this my Hidden Art!! 

I Laid out the stencils and  slapped on more texture paste.

If you look close you can see Tim's Crown I made from a stencil.

I let the entire thing dry, painted on a coat of white Acrylic paint 

and began the fun part of  coloring my canvas of hidden art.

I splotched, splattered and dripped on all those Distress Stains.

Misting with a water bottle when I wanted a softer look. 

I die cut one of Tim's Fleur-de-lis and pulled out his 

Grungeboard hinges. Inked them up and added a bit of gold

I even used the stains for my crinkle ribbon to match.

Another one of my favorite techniques via Tim!

The Bezel comes from A Gilded life I used Rangers Patina to give it a vintage look.

Love those Jade Verdigris and moss colors!

What to get in on the fun???

Check out

 A Vintage Journey