A Little Paint, A Little Glitter, A Little Book

"Finish Me!"

Although I was excited when I saw Linda Ledbetter was sponsoring The Compendium of Curiosity 3 Challenge back in May, I missed the first few challenges. I started the first one. I used a Ranger Inkssentials #12 Craft tag to create a cover using Tim's Paint Marbling technique along with about 4 pages for a little mini album. I went out of town and never got back to my project. When I missed the deadline, I put it aside. I missed the second challenge too. It was Distressed Glitter. I love Distress Glitter but only have 2 colors, Rock Candy and Pumice Stone.

This cover has just been sitting on my desk ever since I returned from my trip saying "Finish Me!". Well I finally have. This weekend I decided to combine both of the first two challenges I missed, get out my "An Altered Journey" DVD and create a mini art journal.

My Signatures!

 I've had "An Altered Journey" for some time. It is 127+ minutes of techniques and instruction with Tim creating some beautiful projects. One of the projects is a Domino Diary. He uses Alcohol Inks on the Domino to create the front and back of the diary. For the inside pages he shows how to bind the pages by hand stitching to create signatures, including how to make a "Kettle Stitch" to hold the binding together. I love the old book feeling binding the pages this way gives. I wanted to give it a try. As usual, Tim's instructions made it easy.

Mirrored!

Once my binding was complete and my cover attached,  I started to decorate it. I die cut an oval out of a piece of  Idea-ology Mirrored with Tim's Alterations Tag & Bookplates die. It fits perfectly into an Idea-ology Ornate Bookplate. Alcohol ink gives the outer edges of the mirror an antique look. I stamped the butterfly with Stayon Opaque Baby Blue. I also made a little pocket for the inside front cover and tucked some Apha Cards inside it.

Inside Front Cover Pocket

The closure is made from some ruffled elastic and a medium size pearl from the Idea-ology line.By punching a small circle in Grungepaper and centering it in a little bit larger circle punch I was able to make 2 reinforced holes that were a little larger than the one that comes on the tag. I painted it with Brass Distress Paint and gently stretch it until the pearl would slip through and hold the cover shut.  I love that the pearls already have the findings. I just had to twist the wire on the drop pearl open to attach it to the bottom of the Ornate Plate.

Painted Marble and Distress Glitter Tag Journal with Ornate Mirror and Pearls

Here is my finished Art Journal. In the spirit of the challenge I haven't given instruction for the Painted Marble or Distress Glitter. You'll have to check out Tim's book for that. Even though the  CC3C #1 & #2 challenges are closed I'm glad I finished my art journal. If you'd like more inspiration for these techniques you can check out Linda's Blog. To make it easy the link for Challenge #1 is here and Challenge #2 is here.

Thanks for stopping by. Please leave a comment. I'd love to hear from you.

Painted Industrial CC3C Challenge

CC3C #7 using Tim's Painted Industrial Technique!

Time is running out for Challenge #7 at Compedium of Curiosities III Challenge. The idea is to use your own copy of "A Compendium of Curiosities III" go to page 46 and Tim walks you step by step through the process, showing you how to create the painted industrial technique. Then you create a project and link it to the challenge page. The complete rules are here.

Here's mine. I finished it today. If you want to see some more projects using Tim Holtz's Painted Industrial Technique  you can find some gorgeous pieces at Linda's blog by clicking here. The sponsor for Challenge #7 is Inspiration Emporium and they will be giving away a $50 gift certificate to one lucky person. The Curiosity Crew also selects one lucky person to receive a wonderful package of goodies from Tim and Mario. Woo! Hoo! The Crew's choice also get a blinkie for their blog that says "I'm A Curiosity Crews Choice!"

I decided to make a box to display/store my tags. So I constructed a box from corrugated cardboard covered it with paper from the Wallflower Paper Stash, made my Painted Industrial pieces and put it all together. I wanted the box to compliment my tags but not compete. The Painted Industrial pieces are perfect. I have a tall Painted Industrial panel in back to support the tags. The die cut on the front of the box is also created using the Painted Industrial technique, but I have decorated it.

Pleats made using Tim's rosette die.

I wanted a slanted bottom to the box so that the tags would be higher in back but I didn't want them to slide. Using Tim's rosette die I cut 4 strips and used 2 to make pleated strips on each side of the bottom. The dashed lines made it easy to fold the pleats in a way that will keep my tags from sliding.

ARTIST heat embossed with Distress Embossing Powder on Vellum

I used Distress Paint to tint some of Tim's elastic ruffles, wrapped it around the box and attached it only at the corners and front. Now I can use it to hold small pieces if I want.

With the exception of vellum, a little kraft paper, corrugated cardboard and of course adhesive, everything used to create my box is from one of Tim Holtz product lines.
 
Of course I love getting comments. If you have any questions just leave a comment. I'll get an email and will get back to you quickly.. Thanks for stopping by.

P.S.

I know I said time is running out but you still have time if you want to join in the fun. Challenge #7 is open until Friday, August 1, 11:55 pm MST, so you have until next Friday! If you don't have a copy of CC3 you can purchase on directly from Tim and he will autograph it for you. There are still more challenges to come!

Altered Canvas Panel ~ First Time for Everything

If you have ever picked up one of Tim Holtz's Canvas Panels and thought "What would I do with this?" this challenge is for you. I don't know how many times I have thought about buying one and making it my own but this is the first time I actually bought one and brought it home. "Why now?" you may ask, well Linda Ledbetter's Compendium of Curiosity 3 Challenge 6 is to go to page 37 of Tim's book "A Compendium of Curiosities III" and play along. If you want more inspiration and ideas for your own panel, check out the Curiosity Crew's fantastic panels here. They have created 9 totally different and amazing canvases including a mini Christmas album.

The sponsor for Challenge 6 is the Funkie Junkie Boutique. There is also a prize from Tim and Mario. Check out the details and rules here.

3 Dimensional Butterfly

While I can't share the technique from the book on my blog (You need to work from your
own copy to participate in the challenge) I can tell you a little bit about how I created my 3D butterfly. I started by heat embossing Scattered Straw and Tea Dye Distress Embossing Powder onto a brass butterfly that was in a little gift goodie bag I got in a recent order from the Funkie Junkie Boutique. Tim's Melange Tissue Wrap has a large butterfly. I wanted to make it the focal point of my piece so I glued it to a piece of Wendy Vecchi's Clearly For Art Modeling Film and cut it out. After heating it with a heat tool, this film can be shaped any way you want, so I molded it to fit the shape of the brass butterfly. I used Distress Paint then a Distress Marker with the Marker Spritzer to tint the tissue butterfly and glued the pieces together with Sepia Accents by Ranger, giving it a stained glass look.

If you are looking for a copy of Tim's book, you can order one directly from him and he will Autograph it for you. Here's the link.

WOW!

P.S. I recently won a $25 gift certificate from Linda at The Funkie Junkie Boutique. I was surprised how much I was able to purchase and was so excited when my order arrived. It was my first time ordering from her. She has excellent prices plus fantastic and speedy service. The brass butterfly I used here was part of a little goodie bag she included with my order. Thanks Linda!

Challenges in July

Hope everyone has had a wonderful July 4th Holiday. I was blessed to be able to spend time with my family and see my Grandson watch his first fireworks.

Compendium of Curiosities 3- Challenge 5 ends tonight and I'm working right up to the wire. The challenge is hosted by Linda Ledbetter. The sponsor for challenge 5 is Inspiration Emporium.

I've stamped Lady Liberty from Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Collection Americana Silhouettes CMS122 using the Watercolor technique shown on page 39 of Tim Holtz's "Compendium of Curiosities 3".

The background is created using a sheet of blue from the Distress Collection of Core'dinations over a tag then dry embossing with Tim's layering stencil. After embossing I did a little sanding and inking.

I used alcohol ink on some of Tim's tinsel (it reminds me of fireworks) and also alchohol inked the Alpha Parts. I added some of his Remnant rubs on an enamel tag. Then added a few idea-ology elements to my tag. I like the way it turned out. The Watercolor and alcohol inks on the word Liberty are more vibrant in real life. I really need to work on a better way to photograph my tags.

If you want to play along be sure to get a copy of Tim's "Compendium of Curiosities 3" and check Linda's blog tomorrow challenge 6. She and the Curiosity Crew always create some amazing pieces to inspire us, and you have 2 weeks to complete the challenge.

PS:  I got up this morning and went outside to try for a better picture. It's a bit overcast this morning, so still not the best shot but Lady Liberty's colors are a little better and the Sparklers really shine. Loving the sunset look of the hint of Victorian Velvet Distress Color.

While I was at it this morning, I decided to checked out Linda's CC3 Challenge 6. All of you who love mixed media will be excited. The new challenge is Tim's Altered Burlap Panel Technique. The Curiosity Crew really went all out. So clicked the link here and check them out. I'm going back to take a closer look.