Suncatcher with Faux Cracked Glass CC3C 30

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When I saw Linda's beautiful red hummingbird feeder she made  from a syrup bottle I knew I had to make a Sun Catcher for the Faux Cracked Glass challenge. You can see Linda's beautiful feeder at her blog. It is one of the wonderful art pieces you will find  at Linda Ledbetter's Compendium of Curiosities 3 Challenge #30.

I actually finished it over the weekend but being NOT a great photographer had a really hard time catching the light for a good shot.

The sponsor for this challenge is The Funkie Junkie Boutique. Yes, one lucky winner will win a $25 gift certificate to shop for goodies. I love to shop there so wish me luck!  There is also a prize for The Curiosity Crew's Choice. It is a box full of fantastic goodies donated by Tim Hotz and Mario Rossi. You still have time to join the fun. Create your own entry and link it up the challenge is open till this Friday. You can find a ton of inspiration from the Curiosity Crew here and the rules here.

These little bottles are Tim's Corked Vials. I colored them using Tim's Faux Cracked Glass technique from page 54 of his amazing book "A Compendium of Curiosities Volume III". If you don't have a copy you can order it directly from Tim and he'll sign it for you.  You can see I've used Tim's screw eyes twisted into the cork tops to add his paper twine for hanging.

The little flowers on top of the cork are Idea-ology foliage painted with Picket Fence Distress Paint, then alcohol ink and finally Rock Candy Distress Crackle. Make sure each layer is completely dry before going on to the next. I placed Tim's Screw Eyes through the holes and then twisted them  into the cork stoppers to attach the flowers. 

 

I made a hanger for my Sun Catcher vials out of Grunge paper that I die cut with Tim's Styled Labels die, painted with Distress Cracked Brushed Pewter Paint and embossed with his Rays embossing folder. Years ago Tim showed us how to make an Alcohol Ink Palette by dripping alcohol ink into a palette and letting it dry. The Alcohol Ink Refillable Pen has a brush nib and a fine point nib. Filled with blending solution it makes an excellent brush for picking up the alcohol ink and coloring glossy surfaces. The Brushed Pewter Cracked Distress Paint dries glossy so I was able to easily color my labels with alcohol inks. I folded the labels in half, glued and stapled them together with the mini attacher and inserted a dowel into the center making the top for my sun-catcher. I used my crop-a-dile to add holes to hang the corked vials from. I topped off the top with a white wooden bead I had in my stash and another foliage flower. I colored both with Silver mixative alcohol ink and put a clear gemstone in the center of the flower. It reminds me of a little pineapple and the silver color goes great with the pewter. To finish it off I painted the dowel with Brushed Pewter too.

Now I can stick the dowel into a potted plant and place it in front of the window in my craft room.

CC3C 38 Alcohol Ink Ombre, Remembering the Moment

 

Here is my tag for Compendium of Curiosities 3 Challenge. If you are curious about Alcohol Ink and want to know more or even if you like working with them and just want some inspiration, you should check out this challenge. Linda Ledbetter and her Curiosity Crew create beautiful artwork for this bi-weekly challenge that promotes Tim Holtz's A Compendium of Curiosities Volume 3 and this week they all used the Alcohol Ink Ombre technique.

The background of my tag is created with Tim Holtz's Alcohol Ink on Gloss paper from Ranger. The technique is Alcohol Ink Ombre shown on page 57 of Tim's Volume 3 of A Compendium of Curiosities.

I've also used Wendy Veccki's Clearly for Art modeling film and Tim Holtz wood block Butterfly Stamp E1-1538 from Stampers Anonymous for the butterflies. I stamped the butterflies with Archival Jet Black ink on one side. On the other side of the film I used the Alcohol Ink Ombre technique. Then I cut out the butterflies and heated the modeling film with my heat tool and shaped it. Once it cools it holds the shape. You can heat it as many times as you need until you get the shape you want.

The other stamps I used are also from Stampers Anonymous, Urban Chic CMS086 and Mini Cirque CMS079.

Funkie Junkie Boutique is the sponsor of Challenge 28. I've shopped with Linda before and she has great selection and prices. Of course she has wonderful customer service too. There is also a chance to win a special prize (donated by Tim Holtz and Mario Rossi) awarded to the Curiosity Crew's Choice. Check out all the details at Linda's blog. This challenge ends tonight at midnight but a new one will start tomorrow.

I love the challenge and I love Tim's book. Of course I'm not the only one. There are quite a few talented artist that link their artwork to CC3C so If you are looking for inspiration you will find it just a click away.

Tim's March 12 Tags of 2015

If you want to see Tim's tag look here http://timholtz.com/12-tags-of-2015-march/. It was the inspiration for the tag I'm posting today, this last day of March.

I had so much fun with Distress Paints over Tim's tissue tape. The stamp I used here is from Creative Muse CMS046. One of Tim's earlier sets, it includes the infamous Umbrella Man. I needed a stamp with not only a solid area but an open area too. I picked the Rook Card because it reminds me of when my parents used to play Rook when I was a small child.

The most fun though was using a mask with a stencil and embossing paste and then using embossing powder on top of that. You can see step by step pictures on Tim's blog.
Let me just say that the effect is gorgeous.

Grungeboard and Rock Candy Crackle Paint

I Love Tim's Buckles!

I've also used some Remnant Rubs, some grungeboard with Rock Candy Crackle Paint along with Distress Stains and Alcohol Ink, and Filmstrip Ribbon.

Tim will have a new tag to inspire us in April and I've seen quite a few Easter theme works of art on his blog this month so I am really excited and looking forward to seeing his next 12 Tags of 2015.

Inspiring Curiosity

Yes! Another Compendium of Curiosities 3 Challenge completed. If you haven't check out Linda Ledbetter's challenge, maybe you should. This  is Challenge #22 and uses the Dimensional Cutting Pad as shown in "A Compendium of Curiosities Volume III" by Tim Holtz. On page 62 you will find 6 detailed photos along with detailed instructions that walk you through, step by step, how to use the Dimensional Cutting Pad. At Linda's blog you will find the challenge details and 9 fabulous projects created by the Curiosity Crew using this technique. If you don't have a Dimensional Cutting Pad yet, you may want one after seeing what Linda and her crew created. Everything from cards & tags to an art journal page. There's even a home decor project for a fireplace mantel that doubles as an accordion album.

Challenge #22 is sponsored by The Funkie Junkie Boutique  who has provided a gift certificate to one lucky winner so they can go shopping at their excellent online boutique. They not only carry Tim Holtz products but have just about anything you need for your vintage projects. You can even set up a wish list (which I have)! There is also a special prize awarded (thanks to Tim and Mario!) to The Curiosity Crew's Choice and the lucky selectee not only wins an amazing prize package but also gets a banner for their blog. Too Cool!

I did something a little different this time. I started with a #12 size tag. At 5 1/8" x 10 1/2", this tag is huge compared to the size I usually use. Why so big you might ask? Two reasons. The first is I wanted to use at least one product, technique or idea from each crew member's tag that inspired me. I needed lots of room because they are very inspiring. The second is I love Wallflower Paper Stash and especially the page with the two birds side by side on the branch. With the #12 tag I had enough room to use the 12x12 size which has the largest image of the birds and still have room for my die cuts.

Lots of fun techniques here. Everything from Distress Ink, to Distress Markers, Tissue Tape and Remnant Rubs to Idea-ology, Stencils, Stamps to Die Cuts and Papers. That is real bird seed in the vial and I didn't have green felt so the leaves for the felt flower was die cut from white felt and colored with Lettuce Alcohol Ink and Blending Solution.

I always want to give thanks to Tim Holtz for all his amazing products, tutorials and ideas and to Mario for his hard work behind the scenes and his amazing BTS updates and to both for their generosity is making time in their busy schedule to share so much.

This week I also want to thank Linda, Anita, Annette, Candy, Cheryl, Hels, Marjie, Susan and Yvonne.

Even though I used something inspiring from everyone's project here, there are still plenty more ideas that I can use to jump start another project. You guys inspire me... all the time.


P.S. Linda's challenge is open through Friday, Feb 27.

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.

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