The Shabby Chic Experiment!

Well, I have made it to week #4 of Studio L3's Compendium of Curiosities Challenge! And I'll admit, I wasn't sure how this one would turn out...as "chic" is not really an active word in my lifestyle...Shabby, yes; but Chic, definately not!

The only grungeboard I have is the Harlequin Elements...so I thought I'd be jinxed before I even started. I tried practicing on one of the larger pieces, figuring if that worked, I'd use the large heart for the challenge...so I used the large skull. It was, how shall I say..."eh".

Then one of the posts said to really be patient for the last step...so boldly going forth...I jumped right in! (Now, it was hot; and my stamp room is the bonus room over the garage, only 2 skylights, and no heating or cooling..so, on the hottest day of the year so far, temps in mid 90's, my room easily that as well, with moderately high humidity...do you think anything would dry beyond tacky??? And the paper holds so much moisture that EP's stick everywhere...) and yet...Yipiee!!! I think it came out wonderfully!

The pink edging is really Barn Door and Fired Brick; to match the tag, but got "pinked-out" with the snow cap dabber. The rose flourish is from Inkadinkadoo's Floral Flourishes set, and the saying is from Tim's Urban Grunge set. The harlequin pattern does show through where I had to rub a tad harder, but I don't think it hurt it at all. Phew!

Compendium Challenge #3!

WoW!! How much fun is this??!! This week was a bit hectic, so I only had Thursday night to play, since I can only upload images by Friday at work. Well, I pull out my basket of beautiful inks...and in additon to the Ranger Inks, I also have most of the Pinata colors as well...and then my brain sort of short-circuited--so many colors!! Which to try first...(only 15 sheets of glossy paper left...ghaah!) After the first set (blues and greens) got done...things got a little crazy! Next thing you know, I have only 3 sheets of glossy left, it's time to go to bed, and all I have are backgrounds!! Well, I open a stamp drawer...and Bam! Heather!! Hydrangea!..(what?? Where's my black archival ink???? ) Tried another type...forgot to heat-set...but, wow, this is awesome!! (If my christmas stamps weren't tucked away I'd be all set with the pale blues and silver...) So..with the rambling out of the way....TaDahhhaaa...(The picture doesn't do it justice! Bit blurry and a color shift to pink-ish-should be more blue)

Had to add this one too!

Challenge #2--Fragment Basics!

So, week one was a huge success! (and not just because I won the giveaway! LOL) but everyone's work was so amazing!! Thank you so much Linda for having this challenge...it has definately gotten me out of my summer funk (yeah, I'm one of those...I hate summer, heat, humidity...yuck!)

Last week I had a vision, and while I had to work a bit to get the waterstamped image to look the way I wanted..I knew were I was going. This week..not so much. I had some fragments, but hadn't even opened the package. And starting this challenge was...to put it mildly...a challenge! I think I touched every single piece of paper in my room!! Found my fav Graphic45...and went from there. So here we are..love the colors..not sure if it was the best use of the fragment...

Blockheads Contest---and paper addiction

So...I go up to my stamp room to start work on the 2nd week's Compendium Challenge...and I got nuttin'. OK..lets start with cleaning up the work area...lets put away some of this paper...and I notice something..well, I did know I had a paper problem..and I am totally aware I am a horder of all objects..but as much as I like oranges..I really can't recall doing many orange cards...so why in the name of Sam Hill do I have over 23 sheets of the different hues of Bazzill oranges?? Not to mention a few of the fourz packs and monopacks??? Really Kim?? Get a grip! And you know I won't use them...'cause you never know if you can get those exact colors again...it is a disease!!

Now, papers organized, back in their proper slots, back to the fragments challenge...hmm hmm, still nothing..put some ink down on an atc...hmm, nice colors..oh, that new stamp from Blockheads...waterstamp it?? Very nice..so, here is an ATC that I'll enter into their contest...

As for the fragments...I got a pear...lets see where that takes me..

Water Stamping

This is my example for the first technique of the Compendium Challenge.

I used Dusty Concord, Faded Denim, Pine Needles and Chipped Sapphire inks. The stamp came from Impression Obsession and the saying came from StampScapes. I also

used Faded Denim and Picket Fence Stickles to create a bubble/current effect around the edges. Really hard to photgraph well.

I found this to be a tad tricky to get the effect I wanted; ink had to be thick, but not to dark, and stamp had to be left for a moment or two...too quick and no noticable effect; too long, and a wet blob. I had tried with different papers, and the papers couldn't be too absorbent. I went with the tag for the most notable effect.

First Steps

OK, for a creative person, my first start in pretty un-inspiring...need to figure out how to change this stuff around.

So, why am I doing this?? Because I've just joined a stamping challenge, and needed a place to link my projects to. Now, this is not without some problems: I am on dial-up...yes, the old, crackly modem, 24.4 k connection on good, dry days..so uploading and downloading is a challenge. I'm hoping this won't be a huge issue. Time-consuming, but not huge. Next, I am doing this to share my art, pets, and other items I find amusing or interesting. That can be alot...so depending on the dial-up, this may be pretty busy!
So, enough for now...as this is only a test...