CC3C # 27:: Embossing Diffusers, Pg. 61

Welcome to another installment of the Compendium of Curiosities Challenge, Vol. 3, hosted by Linda at Studio L3.  This is the Twenty-seventh challenge in where we work through the techniques of Tim Holtz from, you guessed it…his 3^rd Volume of the Compendium of Curiosities!!  As in the past challenges, we can’t give details on the challenge, so don’t ask, but do go get your own copy of Tim’s fabulous book.  Also, InspirationEmporium has offered an extremely generous $50 Gift Certificate for all the odd numbered Challenges! So grab a copy, and join in to play!!  All the deets are here, at Linda’s blog!

First; I love the idea of these Embossing Diffusers, and have had them since they came out.  I do wish they were a bit more “moveable”, as centered doesn’t always work for me, but I do understand there are physical limits, so I’ll deal! LOL!  Now, while I can’t go into details…you need to get our own copy of Tim’s great book, I will say WoW! What a difference the last 3 steps make!  So I’ll find myself centered more often! LOL!

Here is the card that I not only got to use this technique on, but I also finally got to play with the new Flower Garden Stamp set.  I used Tim’s watercolor paper, used Distress Markers to color, discovered the Sizzix oval dies fit perfectly with the diffuser size, and that oval worked best with the Black Eyed Susan.  I then chose the burlap texture folder, as it seemed a more natural choice for this flower. Gave it a quick distressing around the edges and sanded the top for good measure.

My Bee is my disappointment; when will I learn, when seeing something cool (in this case, really cool Bee Charms at a stamp show a few years ago) Buy Them!  Yes, it adds to the hoard mentality, but then I‘d have a really cool bee, and not this stamped one that I tried to jazz up with Rock Candy Glitter. But overall, I’m pretty happy with it. 

Now go visit the wonderful Curiosity Crew’s work to see how they used the Embossing Diffusers! Have a great week everyone.

WOYWW #308

Welcome to WOYWW…the “What’s on Your Workdesk Wednesday”  blog hop created by Julia at the StampingGround,  so hop over there to join the fun.

 I’ve missed a few weeks, but mostly because work has been too crazy for me to post, because I’ve actually managed to spend quite a bit of time in my craft room lately! Yay Me!  Not that this quick shot from last night shows that, as I’ve actually been able to tidy up as well. 

But you do see the new My Favorite Things Poppy stamp set (the matching dies are underneath) I finally acquired…and the card that sent me on that quest.  It was an example in a Just One Layer article in last October’s issue of Craft Stamper…and it has stuck with me.. so when I found them on the Simon Says Stamp site…they were mine.  I will say; that card is an excellent exercise in advanced masking! (I need more practice! LOL!)

Here it is up close, along with my Compendium Challenge card..(which will be my next post today), another card I made with the Poppies using my new Spellbinders Curved Border Dies I had to acquire because of Pinterest (no...I’m not easily swayed! Lol!)  And the Birthday card for my Sis in Law that was in the works on my last post.

Now go say Hello to Julia and see what this WOYWW phenom is all about!  Have a great week everyone!

CC3C Challenge #26 Smudge Stamping, Pg.42

Welcome to another installment of the Compendium of Curiosities Challenge, Vol. 3, hosted by Linda at Studio L3.  This is the Twenty-Sixth challenge in where we work through the techniques of Tim Holtz from, you guessed it…his 3^rd Volume of the Compendium of Curiosities!!  As in the past challenges, we can’t give details on the challenge, so don’t ask, but do go get your own copy of Tim’s fabulous book.  Also, TheFunky Junkie Boutique has offered an extremely generous $25 Gift Certificate for all the even numbered weeks! So grab a copy, and join in to play!!  All the deets are here, at Linda’s blog!

For this challenge, I fell back to my “go-to” subjects/ colors: butterflies and yellow, and a tag because I just couldn't work out a card theme right away.   I used black soot, forest moss and walnut stain DI’s for the technique, which nicely softens and mellows the background.  I then filled with Cracked Pistachio and Wild Honey DI’s. I used the Butterfly Duo die and embossing folder, as well as one of the clear sets for all the background “smudges’.  I had some washi tape with the butterflies that I ran down a bit of the edges, and used Mustard Seed Stickles on the butterfly to give it a bit of sparkle.   A bit of Forest Moss and Cracked Pistachio on the linen ribbon, and Done!  It seems a bit brighter in person, and I’m thinking of finding a way for it to fit on a Mother’s day card…we’ll see…

Now go visit the wonderful Curiosity Crew’s work to see how they used this Smudgy technique! Have a great week everyone.

WOYWW #305

Welcome to WOYWW…the “What’s on Your Workdesk Wednesday”  blog hop created by Julia at the StampingGround,  so hop over there to join the fun.

 

The Mayhem continues….spent the weekend working on the April Birthday cards…ended up scrubbing one of them, but 2 are now done, and this last one is still in progress: having fun with the Bird Crazy Tim Holtz stamp set, and my new Simon Says Stitched Rectangle dies-off to the right (OK, for those of you who have used them…you do cut them apart? Right?  While together they leave a nice double stitched frame, they will also cut your image into small rectangles...but separating just the outer two trashed my scissors…suggestions?) The new Banner dies are to the right as well; also still attached.

The Distress Markers are still out; a few of the stamps are there, my new Wendy Vecchi Archival ink pads are there (Hydrangea is visible, Carnation can’t be seen) Yup, a right mess, but as soon as I figure what to do with the birdies for my Sis-in Laws card, I’ll do a good clean up; I’ll have too; went berserk with orders lately; need to get my new stash put away!

And here are the 2 finished cards; one for my Brother, one for my Mother in Law…

I used the small layered butterfly/embossing folder set from Tim Holtz on the one, and the Clarity Stamp Blue Tit stamp for the other; can't remember the companies for the sayings...

 

Now go say Hello to Julia and see what this WOYWW phenom is all about!  Have a great week everyone!

Compendium of Curiosities Challenge 3, #25; Frameworks Page. 35.

Welcome to another installment of the Compendium of Curiosities Challenge, Vol. 3, hosted by Linda at Studio L3.  This is the Twenty-fifth challenge in where we work through the techniques of Tim Holtz from, you guessed it…his 3^rd Volume of the Compendium of Curiosities!!  As in the past challenges, we can’t give details on the challenge, so don’t ask, but do go get your own copy of Tim’s fabulous book.  Also, InspirationEmporium has offered an extremely generous $50 Gift Certificate for all the odd numbered Challenges! So grab a copy, and join in to play!!  All the deets are here, at Linda’s blog!

 I can’t believe I missed the last challenge…time has just gone crazy!  So, for this one; I purposely aimed at adding a framework die frame to a birthday gift; two deadlines are better than one!

I decided to make my Brother a Wine Journal, (odd, as we’re getting him a bottle of Macallan Scotch as it’s his 50^th) The cover stamp is by Inkadinkado, colored by Distress markers, the inside saying from Stampscapes, the paper from The Paper Studio’s Tattered and Worn paper pack, I used the Trellis Framework die (hard to tell, but one of the "fillers" is cork!  the Latticework Layering Stencil on the back cover and insides, and the In and Out Decorative Strip die for the letters.  I made normal pages, and then cut a bunch of tags to go into the Tag Pockets, in case they wanted to save labels to go with notes.  I still need to add the Ideology file tabs to divide red/white, etc. fingers crossed my order arrives in time!

 

This is my 2^nd wine journal I've given away….I think I need to start one for me!  Now please go visit the Curiosity Crew’s sites…where they show you some other great examples for these amazing dies!

 And Happy Easter everyone.

WOYWW #304

Welcome to WOYWW…the “What’s on Your Workdesk Wednesday”  blog hop created by Julia at the StampingGround,  so hop over there to join the fun.

 I had a lot going on my desk; a true jumble over the weekend. Then on Wed. night, I made a final push to complete the wine journal I’m giving my Brother for his birthday.  As an added benefit, as I used the Tim Holtz Frameworks dies, I’m entering it for this week’s challenge.  Whew! Gotta love 2-fers! LOL!

So there is the finished journal, the Distress Stains I haven’t put away yet, the Distress Black ink, which needs re-inking (I never have much luck with that; fingers crossed) some bling-bits I ended up not using, the stencils off to the right that need to be cleaned, and odd scraps and tools lying everywhere.

Here is a close up of the journal...you get to see it here first! (unless you follow me on Instagram--@Pussnflutes)  Shockingly, not one of the 3 April Birthday card parts are visible…unless I dreamed I was working on them..hmmm.  Hope they didn’t get tossed somewhere inappropriate in the clean-up frenzy (I had gel medium spewed Everywhere!  Still peeling out from my nails this morning! LOL!

Now go say Hello to Julia and see what this WOYWW phenom is all about!  Have a great week everyone!