ten thirty-six arts and crafts ... ellen vargo

Simon Says Stamp and Show - A Song Title

2012-01-23T00:01:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone,

This week's theme on the Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge is to do a project based on a song title. I chose the song "Imagine" by John Lennon.

I started by taking the compass page from Tim Holtz' kraft resist paper and covered it with aged mahogany distress stain.

Then I cut some of Tim's gadget gears out of grungeboard and gave them a coat of crackle paint in vintage photo, pewter, and black soot, added some idea-ology game spinners, sprocket gears.

added some measuring tape and film strip ribbon to the top, and a keyhole, and finally stamped the "imagination" stamp on to a journaling ticket and attached it with a memo pin.

Hope you enjoyed my project this week - remember, as always you'll have a chance to win a $50 shopping spree to Simon Says Stamp if you join in this week's challenge!

Hope you have time to get crafty this week!

~ ellen

Scraped Paint Art Journals

2012-01-20T20:51:00.000-05:00

Hello!

Hope you all had a great week - I, for one, am VERY glad it's Friday! We may get a little bit of snow and ice tonight so I'm ready to snuggle in for the weekend.

The other project I worked on last weekend at "Stamp Camp" was creating what I have named "scraped paint art journals". I learned this technique when I took the "painted pages" class at The Queens Ink, and fell in love with it!

I started with 8 sheets from my Canson Multi Media paper, 11x14 inches. I cut each page in half, so I was working with 16 sheets of paper, each of them 7 x 11 inches.

Now comes the "scraped paint" part.... I chose various colors of Golden fluid acrylic paints and Lumiere paints (Jacquard) and squeezed 2 or 3 different colors all the way across the top of the page, going 11 inches across with all 2 or 3 colors, ending up with 2 or 3 lines of paint. Then I used an old gift card (any old credit card will do), started at the top and literally scraped the paint down the length of the page, scraping several times to go across the full width of the page.

I discovered some variations along the way, which I think are really fun. Squeeze 2 or 3 lines of paint at the top, but then put some random drops of paint in other parts of the page. When you scrape down from the top, the "drops" of paint get stretched out and look sort of like raindrops - cool!

I did this to all the fronts and backs of all 16 pages. The great part of this technique is that you are putting such a thin layer of paint on the pages that they dry really quickly!

Once they were dry, I got out my Crafter's Workshop stencils, gesso, spray inks, and even some bubble wrap for stamping with paint, and added a few accent areas to each page.

Now comes the book-binding part that turns these pages into a journal. I folded each page in 1/2, and nested 5 folded pages together to form a single "signature" of pages. So, in the end I had 3 journals, each with 5 nested pages, painted front and back. I made covers slightly larger than 7 x 11 using all the same techniques described above, but left enough on each end to have a small "flap" on both the front and back covers.

I used waxed linen cord to sew the pages and cover together, and voila! 3 custom art journals... backgrounds done and ready for further stamping, collage, embellishing and journaling! Here's a shot of all three journals standing up with pages fanned out - gorgeous colors!

And a few more finished pages...

The funniest part to me is... I'm not even an art journaler! I just LOVE making these books! I'm hoping one day the art journal bug will BITE.... when it does I'll be all set! 'Til then.... I have some good friends who might enjoy these!

Have a wonderful weekend! Think snow... and... being from Baltimore... GO RAVENS!!! :)

~ ellen.

Getting Dylusional Again...

2012-01-18T19:57:00.000-05:00

Hello!

Hope everyone is having a great week - things are a little crazy at my day job at the moment, but I've been having a blast making art lately, and that helps me keep my balance...

As I mentioned last time, I spent last weekend with 6 of my artsy BFF's. Twice a year we rent out a lodge and spend the whole weekend making art - (affectionately known by me as "Stamp Camp" - but it is FAR from camping). It is SO good for my soul! What could be better.... awesome friends, awesome art, lots of laughter, great meals (that we don't even have to cook!)... life is good....

One of the projects I made over the weekend was another Dylusions Printer's Tray! I've made a few varieties of these in the last several months, but just couldn't resist the urge to make another! Perhaps it's because I just found out that Dyan Reaveley (a.k.a. "Her Royal Gorgeousness") is coming back to teach at The Queen's Ink right after CHA! (and you know I'm signed up for ALL the classes!)

Here's the results...

Sorry about the somewhat blurry pic - difficult to shoot a large piece in less-than-ideal light... I've got some close ups below that are much clearer...

I started by taking one sheet of Canson multi media paper, 11 x 14, cutting it in half, and then sprayed each piece with different color combinations of Dylusions spray inks (sadly, these sprays are in the "not available anywhere zone", as the entire line has ended in the UK and is making it's debut with Ranger at next week's CHA show). I LOVE the bright vibrant colors - I'm soooo hoping that the new line with Ranger will have these awesome colors, too!

Then I got out some of my stencils (I used harlequin and swiss dots from Crafter's Workshop, and an alpha stencil I got at Michael's), and started spraying ink and scraping gesso through various patterns to create interesting textures on each page. The last step to the backgrounds was spritzing each side with perfect pearl mists - I used mint and forever blue.

Then I had to measure and cut up both sheets to fit in each of the little section of the printers tray. I jumbled up the patterns as I cut so there is lots of variation from section to section. This takes a bit of time and careful measuring, but it is so worth it!

Once all the pieces were cut to fit, I laid them out on my craft sheet in order and stamped the leafy border around the entire piece - all the way across the bottom with leaves growing up and all the way across the top with leaves growing down). This was the beginning of bringing some cohesion to the jumbled up pieces.

I painted in all the leaves with perfect pearls paint (just spray some water on your craft sheet and add perfect pearls pigment powders in colors of your choice - makes a wonderful pearlescent paint!) I used patina green and forever red). I sketched around all the leaves with a white gel pen (Gelly Roll white by Sakura) and accented each leaf with a highlight.

Then the real fun began! Choosing stamped images to fit in all the sections! I stamped each image (all from the Dylusions line) on white card stock in jet black archival (except the girl with red glasses... stamped her with Vermillion archival ink). All the images were painted in with either distress stains or dylusions spray inks, then cut out and adhered to the section background. I love overlapping a large image over several sections - it gives nice movement and helps more with that whole idea of "cohesion".

I added stickles to some images (mushrooms, cuffs of the pointing hands, and hat of red glasses girl), accented others with glossy accents (hearts, red glasses), and used a copper pearl pen to fill in the "dreadlocks" of the girl on the right. Accented lots of the images with more white gel pen, and traced around everything with a black pitt pen.

This was definitely a labor of love, as I am totally *in love* with Dylusions stamps and sprays! I can't wait to see what Dyan has in store for us at CHA - can't believe it starts next week! I started this project on Friday afternoon and finished on Saturday before dinner.... so all told... about 20 hours. EEK! That's probably why I waited to do this project at our art retreat - a whole weekend of dedicated time with no distractions! Hope you enjoyed it!

I'll be back soon with pix of the other project I did at "Stamp Camp". 'Til then....

~ ellen.

Simon Says Stamp and Show - Anything But a Card

2012-01-16T00:01:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone!

Hope you had a great week - I just returned from my twice-a-year art retreat with my crafty friends. We spent the whole weekend in our pj's making our respective styles of art and it was FABulous! Stayed up too late, ate too much, laughed ourselves breathless, and generally had a blast. Always good to go away, but also good to be home.

This week's theme on the Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge is to do "Anything But a Card". I decided to go mini this week and made at ATC (Artist Trading Card - 2 1/2" x 3 1/2").

I used alcohol inks on all the elements, and started by attaching Ranger Metal Foil Tape to some white card stock and then embossed it with one of Tim Holtz' texture fade folders. I used stream, wild plum and snow cap mixative alcohol inks on the background.

Then I grabbed some of Tim Holtz' fragments, alcohol inking them with several different contrasting colors (upper left: butterscotch and lettuce, top right: rust and espresso, and bottom: red pepper and caramel).

Then I added the heart from the adornments set (red pepper), a pen nib (butterscotch and espresso), and the keyhole (rust and gold mixative) and attached each piece to a fragment using matte multi medium.

As usual, if you join in the challenge this week you will be entered in the drawing and have a chance to win a $50 shopping spree to Simon Says Stamp! CHA Winter show is only 2 weeks away - lots of new yummy products coming out! A few extra dollars would sure be easy to spend!

Hope you have a great week - I'll be back soon with some pix of the projects I worked on over the weekend... 'til then...

~ ellen.

Simon Says Stamp and Show - A Red Letter Day

2012-01-08T20:33:00.000-05:00

Hello!

This week's theme on the Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge is to do a project which recognizes a "red letter day".... what's THAT you ask??? Well, I'll tell you... I didn't know either... here's the definition I found via Google...

Meaning: "In earlier times a church festival or saint's day; more recently, any special day."

So... not so confusing once you know what it means. This week I chose to do a very simple project to celebrate a very simple man... my father. He passed away several years ago, and it just seemed like the perfect day to remember.

I started by printing out an old photo of my Dad on Neenah white card stock (isn't that old jalopy awesome?) and adhered it to a #8 manila tag with multi medium matte. Then I added some alpha parts to "remember", including "dad" and the date he passed away. I accented the alpha parts with snow cap paint dabber, which was then lightly brushed over with some vintage photo distress ink.

I used a pearl pen to add the black dots between the numbers in the date, and to highlight 'dad' at the bottom. Added some brushed corduroy distress ink to the edges to add to the vintage feel, and some ribbon to top it off.

This is one of the simplest tags I think I've ever made, but the subject matter more than makes up for its simplicity. My dad wasn't one to make a big fuss about much, so it seems a fitting way to remember him.

Hope you have a great week and take some time to join in the fun of this week's challenge. As always, you'll have a chance at winning a $50 shopping spree to Simon Says Stamp! At this time of year, with CHA looming close on the horizon, I know we could all use a chance at some free stash!

Next weekend I'm heading off to my semi-annual "Stamp Camp" with all my local arty friends - can't wait! I've got a few projects in mind but haven't decided on which one I want to do... time will tell!

'til next time....

~ ellen.

I Challenge Thee.... A Dylusions Tag!

2012-01-04T00:00:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone!

Over the New Year's Holiday my friend Hels Sheridan and I had a long Skype session and thought it would be fun to re-visit our "I Challenge Thee" projects! I haven't played with my Dylusions stamps in a while, and Hels got a few sets for Christmas, so that seemed perfect! We came up with several products that we both had to use on our tag, agreed on a time to post to our blogs, and then spent the rest of our Skype time making our tags together in real time! FUN! What did we ever do without Skype? So cool!

Here's the "recipe" we came up with:

Jumbo size tag (4 1/4" x 8 1/2")
Dylusions stamp sets: Basic Backgrounds, Quintessential Quotes and Around the Edges
Color Wash spray inks
Stencils optional
White and/or Black gesso
Tim's Rosette dies (small, medium and/or large)
Idea-ology / embellishments of choice
White pen

(all products are available from Simon Says Stamp)

Here's what I came up with:

I started by creating a color wash spray background, using butterscotch, wild plum, sailboat blue, lettuce and red pepper sprays. I sprayed a generous amount of water on the tag before I sprayed the colors, and did two layers of color, drying with a heat tool in-between layers. This gives you more intense colors, which I love.

Then I used the alphabet stamp from Basic Backgrounds, and stamped it randomly using red pepper color wash spray as the ink. I just sprayed a few times on my craft sheet and dabbed the stamp into the ink. I used the same technique with the harlequin (diamond) stamp, but used gesso for the stamping.

Then I used the "squircle" stencil from Crafter's Workshop and sprayed Dylusions granite spray ink through the stencil. It's important to spray from a bit of a distance so you don't get puddles of ink under the stencil.

Now that the background was done, I stamped the leaf/vine stamp over the background with jet black archival ink, and colored in each leaf with perfect pearls powders mixed with water (makes an awesome paint) - I used green patina and perfect gold. Accented each leaf with a white gelly roll pen.

Now it's time to embellish! I used scraps of leftover paper from my Painted Pages book (click HERE to see that post) and cut the large and medium rosette from Tim's die, then stacked them together. Added a timepiece and game spinner to the center, and some idea-ology wings to the sides.

I also made a small rosette and added just a portion of it to each corner, adding a mini bottle cap in the corners as the rosette centers.

The final touch was to add the sentiment from the Quintessential Quotes stamp set. I cut the words apart to make the sentiment flow down the length of the tag.

This was so much fun! I'm glad Hels and I decided to get back to our "I Challenge Thee" projects - it's a great way to craft/make art with a friend, no matter the distance... thank you SKYPE! Be sure to check out Hels' amazing creation on her blog HERE. It always amazes me how we can use the same products and come up with something totally different!

Hope you're having a good first week of the new year! See you soon!

~ ellen.

Simon Says Stamp and Show - Something Old, Something New

2012-01-02T00:01:00.001-05:00

Hello and Happy New Year!

This week's theme on Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge is to incorporate something old and something new, appropriate to kick off the new year. I decided to incorporate antique hardware, key and pin for her "something old" with new art parts by Studio 490 and a quote from the "Twilight" book.

I started with the large heart frame, coloring the top frame with brushed corduroy distress stain and stamping with the script stamp.

Then I added the art part leaf/scroll, coloring with crushed olive distress stain, and stamping with forest moss distress ink and embossing that with clear embossing powder.

I found this old hardware at an antique store and I just LOVE how old and grungy it is. I didn't do anything except adhere it to the frame with some long fasteners.

I wanted to use a sentiment that gave a nod to the "old/new" theme and thought this quote from the Twilight books would be perfect, since the book is about the relationship between things that are very old blending in with the new (Edward and Bella). Yeah... I know... I'm a Twilight geek.... :) I stamped the quote with a mini alpha set and adhering the words to corrugated cardboard in the center of the frame, and added some 7 Gypsies dome studs to the corners.

Hope you enjoyed today's project - if you're able to join in the fun you'll have a chance at winning a $50 shopping spree to Simon Says Stamp!

Have a great week!

~ ellen.

Happy New Year! What a start!

2012-01-01T21:30:00.000-05:00

Hello all!

The gods were smiling on me today! I was checking my Google Reader today and noticed that Tim Holtz had a new blog post up so I went to check it out.... imagine my surprise to see I had been selected as a prize winner just for finishing the 12 Tags of Christmas this year!

YIPPEE! The odds must have finally caught up with me! So I wanted to take this opportunity to thank both Tim and Mario for all the hard work they put in to give us the 12 Tags this year... their FIFTH year! And for being so kind and generous to those of us who follow along on their journey.

I thought it would be interesting to look at my blog stats to see if there was any extra traffic... ummm.... WOW! Just a tad! Look at that spike! Amazing what one little mention will do when it's mentioned on Tim's blog... unbelievable!

What an awesome way to kick off the year! Just wanted to express my appreciation for the prize and my utter shock at what a difference one day makes... you just never know when something amazing will happen...

Happy New Year!

~ ellen.

12 Tags Leftovers...

2011-12-31T09:18:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone,

I hope you had a fabulous Christmas with your loved ones this year. We had a wonderful time with both the Smith and Vargo families, gathering in big groups and little ones too. Always great to see everyone and be together.

Well, the holidays are famous for leftovers, normally food, but for me... I had some leftovers from Tim Holtz' 12 Tags of Christmas and wanted to use them up, so I made a reverse image tag using up the scraps...

So, you can see, this tag was inspired by the leftovers from Tim's steampunk tag, which was from Day 7. I used the remaining half of the clock and flipped it to the other side of the tag, and had one sprocket gear left so cut it into sections. All the grungeboard pieces were painted with paint dabbers (black and copper), sanded down a bit, inked with walnut stain ink, and then hit with a bit of gold for highlights.

Added some idea-ology sprocket gears, game spinners, keys, and a star pin by Maya Road, some filmstrip ribbon, and one of Tim's sentiments to finish it off.

Hope you have fun ringing in the new year - we're not big party people, so we'll be having a quiet night at home.... but first... must go to visit The Queen.... Queen Patti that it... at The Queen's Ink! It's been entirely too long... who knows what stashly bits will call my name today!

Happy New Year!

~ ellen.

Simon Says Stamp and Show - Tim and Tags

2011-12-19T00:01:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone!

This week's theme on the Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge is "Tim and Tags". I had so much fun doing Tim Holtz' 12 Tags of Christmas this year - I couldn't wait to do another Tim-inspired Christmas tag.

I started with some Christmas kraft resist paper, the tags and bookplates Sizzix die and winter seasonal distress inks for the background, then added an ornate plate with stamping from Christmas mini 3 stamp set, adding rock candy crackle paint on the greeting.

Then I cut the pine tree out of grungeboard, used peeled paint and walnut stain distress stains to color the tree, and added diamond dust on the branches using art glitter glue (my wet glue of choice... dries clear with a matte finish... sets quickly - love it!).

Finally, added a christmas muse token, a stacked mini rosette cut from Graphic 45's Christmas Emporium paper, and some of Tim's trimmings and lace to finish it off.

If you're still working on this year's 12 Tags, make sure you post it on the challenge site and you'll have a chance to win a $50 shopping spree from Simon Says Stamp! And remember - this week's challenge will last for TWO weeks so you have plenty of time to join in over the Christmas Holidays.

I'll be back with the next SSS&S challenge on January 2nd - hope you all have a very merry Christmas and enjoy celebrating the New Year! See you in 2012!

~ ellen.

I Finished! Tag #12

2011-12-12T21:57:00.000-05:00

Hello!

Well, I'm happy and sad... happy that I was able to stay on track and do each tag on the day it was posted, but oh so sad that this years 12 Tags of Christmas has come to an end. This annual event has turned in to a real tradition for me, and I always enjoy seeing what Tim will come up with. What a treat! 12 straight days of pure creativity from Tim. As I've said before, I don't always love everything about every tag, but I *always* find a technique or other element that I *do* love, and enjoy the challenge of making them with my own twist or touch. Here we go with Tag #12...

Once again, there were several elements that I had to improvise for. I didn't have Tim's new tissue paper, so I used 7 gypsies tissue paper instead - worked fine, just has more of a kraft colored tone, rather than white, but with an additional coat of picket fence distress stain, it helped tone it down a bit.

I did the dwelling house the same as Tim, but didn't have the "fractured doll" that Tim used... sorry... not a fan... so used a die cut reindeer instead. I coated the reindeer with picket fence stain and then gave it another coat with brushed corduroy distress stain. Having the white stain underneath makes the color on top much lighter than normal and gives it a chalky appearance. I added a coat of rock candy distress stickles on the reindeer as well.

Didn't think Tim's sentiment went with my images, so chose to use "silent night" instead, and used alpha parts swiped with white paint dabber, rather than Tim's die cut letters, which I didn't have. I also had to improvise on the tissue flower, but as luck would have it, I just bought a set of pre-made tissue flowers by Basic Grey from the new Little Black Dress collection - perfect! Once again, I didn't have the lace trim die, so used the "on the edge-pinking" die instead and then pierced tiny holes in each tip with a needle. Didn't have silver tinsel so used white roses from Tim's trimmings collection.

Decided to put the snowflake adornment at the top of the house rather than dangling from the top of the tag, and added a pearl bauble instead. The last improvisation came by using a pearl pen for the trim around the edges, rather than platinum stickles.

I think the thing I'm most proud of with this year's 12 Tags is that I didn't buy ONE thing specifically for the tags! Nope! I managed to stay away from the craft stores, both local and online. Because mostly, when I've done this in the past, and trust me I have, I'll buy something for the 12 tags and then never use it again. This year proved that you CAN make beautiful tags that are slightly, or in some cases, not-so-slightly different than Tim's, have a TON of fun doing it, and not spend a lot of extra money in the process! CHA is around the corner and I'm quite sure there will be lots of new things I'll want... saving my $$$ for that!

It's been nice blogging every day (sometimes more than once a day) for the last 12 days... but I expect that trend will not continue for a while... I've got a lot to do to get ready for Christmas, and lots of things going on at work, so.... until next time... happy crafting!

Thanks for stopping by and sharing the joy of this year's 12 Tags...

~ ellen.

Simon Says Stamp and Show - Some Dimension!

2011-12-12T00:01:00.001-05:00

Hello!

This week's theme on Simon Says Stamp and Show has me really excited... I've been wanting to tackle a Configurations project for a *long* time, and this has given me the perfect opportunity! I've done some printer's trays and ATC trays, which gives a little bit of extra dimension, but the Configurations boxes give you a LOT of room to work with! It's a little overwhelming at first, but once you start thinking "outside the box" (hahaha... bad pun...) the world becomes full of Configurations possibilities! And off we go...

I started with a medium configurations, and rather than leaving all the boxes inside the frame, I took 4 out and attached them on either side.

I used christmas kraft resist paper, seasonal paper from Tim Holtz, tissue tape, and 7 gypsies antique brass corners to line and wrap the piece. Tim Holtz has 2 excellent videos on Configurations, and they saved me a ton of time trying to figure them out.... hope it helps you! They will definitely get you started and take some of the mystery out of Configurations.

Part 1 - http://youtu.be/EaaZfKYKvV0

Part 2 - http://youtu.be/KkOqsbJ6MGQ

Then I had to fill it with lots of yummy embellishments and knick-knacks. But where to start? Well... I made a few really cool discoveries... 1st... ornaments sold for *mini* Christmas trees will fit in a Configurations compartment! Like the snowflake and stocking below...

2nd... and this was really fun... my husband is a model train fanatic and has drawers and drawers full of mini sized things for his train boards. I raided the mini fence/gate, reindeer, both the large and small snowy pine trees, lamp posts, mail/post box.

Other elements used were: corked vials altered with butterscotch alcohol ink, optical lens, wreath from christmas adornments, xmas red stickles, ornate plate, WISH stamp, mini old jalopy, bingo piece, seasonal salvage stickers, and melissa frances glass glitter.

I hope you have a chance over the holidays to tackle a Configurations project - it's a great challenge, and can be used for any theme or occasion - let your imagine run wild! And have FUN!

But remember... you don't have to tackle a project this big to join in this weeks challenge - any project with some dimension is great! Maybe you want to try one of Tim Holtz' 12 Tags of Christmas, using that fab new pine cone die! Just have a good time. As always, Simon Says Stamp is offering up a $50 shopping spree if you join in and link your project on the challenge blog!

See you soon!

~ ellen.

Holly Jolly.... Tag #11

2011-12-11T16:43:00.000-05:00

Hello!

Well, I survived my busy day yesterday - had a lovely visit with my Mom and got to see the amazing train layout at the community where she lives. Jack was in *heaven* !! Then I headed out to pick up my nieces... they were kind enough to come with me to see Breaking Dawn: Part 1 (they're 14 and 16 yrs old, so you can imagine it was a real struggle for them to come along... NOT! LOL!) We had an awesome time, and all really liked the movie - we all agreed that we wanted to see *more* of the honeymoon part... heehee!

And this morning there was another gorgeous tag from Tim Holtz waiting for us! I can't believe we're already up to Tag 11, which means... so sadly... tomorrow will be the grand finale of this years 12 Tags of Christmas. I've really enjoyed ALL of the tags this year, and mostly enjoyed the process of making something every day! Here we go with tag #11... LOTS of differences from Tim's...

I absolutely loved the shrink plastic/UTEE idea, so I latched on to that part right away. However... I wasn't feeling inspired with the bright/retro colors Tim used, and I didn't have the Santa or the greeting he used, so I just went in a totally different direction...

For my background, I used the woodgrain texture fade embossing folder. I inked the whole tag with antique linen DI first, then inked the folder with brushed corduroy DI and ran it through the Vagabond. After that I inked the whole tag again with frayed burlap DI to blend the colors a bit more. Then I smeared a thin layer of rock candy distress stickles over the entire tag and set it aside to dry.

As I said... I loved the shrink plastic idea, so I used Tim's technique from the video for the holly leaves and branch. I took it a step further and added some white acrylic paint and picket fence distress stickles to the edges for a snowy look. I also used the idea an earlier tag for the berries - pearl baubles with red pepper alcohol ink, set into the leaves with a hot glue gun.

I loved the shiny holly leaves so much that I decided to do a BIG version, too! I die cut the branch and leaves out of grungeboard, painted with gold paint dabber, and then alcohol inked with lettuce and pesto inks. They gave each leaf two heavy coats of UTEE (not in the melt pot... just used embossing ink first, then 2 coats of UTEE melted with a heat gun).

Here's another shot which shows the beautiful shine of the UTEE leaves.

So that gets us through the main tag.... however... I also did the mini tags shown on Tim's blog, too! I die cut a whole load of images out of shrink plastic, coated them in UTEE in the melt pot, and alcohol inked them. As Tim said, after the alcohol ink is dried, it helps to give a coat of a light colored paint to the back so the alcohol ink really "pops". I decided to use GOLD paint and this gives a GORGEOUS metallic sheen, similar to the metallic ornaments with made with facets yesterday... Here's the results - lots of pics....

And here's the weathered clock die... all shrunk down... this one was REALLY tricky... so many little holes that the UTEE just pooled in... so after the initial coat of UTEE dried, I used my heat gun to re-heat and get the excess UTEE to melt away - PERFECT!

I layered the clock on top of the gears to see what it would look like... not bad! Didn't glue it down (yet), but I like it!

Well... that's day 11 folks! Can't wait to see what Tim comes up with for Day 12! Stay tuned!

~ ellen.

Believe... Tag #10

2011-12-10T10:16:00.000-05:00

Good morning!

Ooooooh.... I'm definitely a morning crafter... no doubt about it! Give me a cuppa coffee and I'm ready to go! Up and at 'em early with Tim's 12 Tags of Christmas - tag #10... here mine...

Made more substitutions with this tag... Rather than the Christmas Carol music background that Tim used, I used the generic music background - no big difference there. Then I had to use the mini holly stamp rather than the full size one. I just stamped it a few times and embossed as usual.

I love the way these vintage foil ornaments turned out! Who would think to use packing tape and foil tape for image transfers... Tim would, that's who! Brilliant! Love this!

I added some black archival over the painted gold letters to tone them down a bit and give a little more contrast with the tag and banner.

I couldn't be bothered with more greenery so I just did 3 ornaments instead of 2.... gotta keep this brief ... busy day ahead... visit with Mom and then off to see Breaking Dawn: Part 1! (Team Edward, by the way... I'm just sayin'... Jacob's no slouch, but Edward is such a romantic... *swoon*... yeah, I know... but I just love it...)

Have a great day! See you tomorrow for Tag #11! Can't believe it's almost over... boohoo....

~ ellen.

Peace and Light... Tag #9

2011-12-09T22:33:00.000-05:00

Hello!

Back again, a little late tonight, with tag #9 from Tim Holtz' 12 Tags of Christmas. Maybe it's because it's the end of the work week, but tonight's tag really gave me a fit! It worked out in the end, but it took forever to move from one step to the next... I must be tired... TGIF! Here's my rendition...

Once again, had to make several substitutions today... of course I didn't have the background stamp that Tim used, since it's yet to be released by Hero Arts - but it's a beauty and I'll probably *need* to have it! So I decided to use Tim's flourishes embossing folder for the double embossing technique. I used Colorbox Chalk in (soft green) to pre-ink the folder, then embossed the tag with the Vagabond, then used clear embossing powder per Tim's instructions. Did use festive berries distress ink for the second round of inking and clear embossing, per Tim.

Die cut the candlestick and embellished same as Tim, but had to substitute for the festive greenery again. Used the autumn gatherings die, mini flourish mover & shaper die, and some gold pinecones I cut off some floral picks.

Close up of the pinecones/greenery. I tried and tried to get the lacey trim into the picture, but it just wasn't working for me tonight... so moved on without it.

And, finally, I didn't have the letters or the flourish for the words, so used alpha parts and a very old mini flourish from a grungeboard set I've had for... well... a very long time...

Oh, and if you look at the top picture, I added some detailing with a black pearl pen (Viva) across the top of the tag... it needed something to separate that blank space from the texture of the rest of the tag. I love my pearl pens!

Love the rusted enamel technique, and I think I like it even better with some additional texture from the embossing folder. Off to check out Mario's BTS and then head off to bed. Busy day tomorrow - lunch and a visit with Mom, and then taking my nieces to see the new Twilight movie! (OK... I'll be honest... I was in desperate search for fellow squealers/swooners, and Jack has *no* interest in these movies... so they (happily) agreed to come with me.... my treat of course.... I love being an Aunt! :)

Have a great weekend! I'll be back with tags 10 and 11 over the weekend at some point. Til then...

~ ellen.

Have a Very (Steampunk) Christmas? - Tag #8

2011-12-08T19:25:00.000-05:00

Hello again!

Another STUNNER from Tim! Today's tag from Tim's 12 Tags of Christmas is definitely my favorite so far... It's not a traditional Christmas theme or style, but there are lots of layers and components and I just think it's *stunning*! Off we go... here's my tag...

I followed along really closely with Tim's style and instructions on this one... as my stash permitted. Used same inks and stamps on the background.

No changes or substitutions on the gear section - LOVE that there are FIVE layers to this element! Awesome.... and that mini bow... I never think to make a bow but it's the perfect addition.

On the steampunk men, I had to make a few changes... I didn't have #25 in my plaquette stash, and really no other number would do, so I substituted some metal foliage/flowers painted with red pepper and juniper paint dabbers. Then there were those teeny tiny itsy bitsy holly leaves that Tim cut out for each of the top hats... I tried... really.... more than once... too tiny... didn't work for me... so xmas red stickles across the brims of their hats was the best I could do...

Decided to do some holly leaves after all, but used the mover and shaper die to cut these two (much larger) holly leaves out, painted with lettuce paint dabber, gave them a light dabbing of rock candy distress stickles, and added some more xmas red stickles for the holly berries.

Didn't have the mini labels Tim used, so made my own. Stamped the "admit one" on the back of an Adage Ticket and used a very small paint brush to paint red pepper around the edges. Not a bad impersonation...

One final look at this steam-punky-licious-ness... This is a style I'm not comfortable creating myself, but to see how Tim does it... love to copy it!

Have a great night - see you tomorrow! TGIF!

~ ellen.

Seventh Heaven....

2011-12-07T20:34:00.000-05:00

Hello again!

I think I must be setting some sort of consecutive days of blogging record here.... but here I am again! Today I'm coming to you from a much different perspective... the last two tags I wasn't gung-ho about at the beginning, but challenged myself to make it my own and in the end I loved the results.... however...

Today, I woke up and saw Tim's Tag #7 and LOVED IT!!! In my mind today's tag is the most quintessentially "Tim" (like I'm some expert... NOT... but for me.... this is the style that drew me to Tim's products from the beginning)... and here's my version...

I stayed almost completely with Tim's instructions this time... from the distress stain background, stamps used, kraft glassine with alcohol ink, and embossed greeting...

Where I ran into trouble was with the bunched up lace... didn't have anything but lace trim... I tried and tried to make it look right, but it just didn't work for me... So instead of forcing the issue, I decided to add a mini rosette to the bottom corner of the tag. I like the way it turned out, and give some balance with the black rosette center to the black greeting at the top.

Thanks for stopping by! I'm determined to keep doing these each day and I'm having so much fun doing it! See you tomorrow!

~ ellen.

Double Embossing - Tag 6

2011-12-06T22:01:00.001-05:00

Hello!

Back again with Tag #6... Getting this one in late... it's my own fault... I decided to add an element with a thick layer of glossy accents, which of course takes a million years to dry... but I decided it was *dry enough* to photograph .... here we go...

Much as I hate to admit it... when I saw this morning's tag, I once again didn't *love* it... I suppose we all have our specific tastes when it comes to these things, but I remembered how yesterday's tag went, and that I loved it in the end, so I had to try it with my own spin....

I didn't have the embossing folder that Tim used, so I substituted with the other holiday folder, and added the swirls and snowflakes embossing folders as well. Also, rather than using the bright colors that Tim used, I toned it down by using red pepper, juniper and cloudy blue paint dabbers.

Once I had the pieces embossed, sanded, and glued down to the tag, I used a Ten Seconds Studio texture wheel to add some detail between each word/section of the tag. Then, I swiped over each element with a black paint dabber and wiped it away with a paper towel (technique courtesy of Lin Brown - thanks Lin!). This gives a beautiful aged look to the metal and gives the appearance of shadows.

Then I used the clear embossing powder over the whole tag. LOVE this technique! Never seen that done before and this is my favorite part of this project. Great results!

My final addition was the ornate plate, which I also painted with juniper, cloudy blue and black paint dabbers and clear embossed. Added "25" with alpha parts, painted with white paint dabber, and filled in the frame with glossy accents (which you'll notice is still not *quite* all the way dry, but...).

So... half way through this year's 12 Tags, and still managing to keep up. The best part of this annual event for me is getting to see 12 days in a row of Tim's pure creativity. Even if I don't love every tag he does, I always find an element that I DO love, and am inspired to try the project and make it my own. Love that!

Hope you're having fun playing along! See you tomorrow!

If at first you don't "Believe".... Tag 5

2011-12-05T20:43:00.000-05:00

Hello!

Well, here it is Day 5 of Tim's 12 Tags of Christmas already, and I'm still on pace... it's a miracle! I must say, when I saw today's tag this morning, I wasn't over the moon for it, but it really does represent MUCH better in real life!

For today's tag, right off the bat I didn't have the reflections stamps, so I knew I'd have to improvise... but I found a way to make it work!

I followed along with the alcohol inking technique, but added some bottle green for some contrast in color and different layers of interest in the background. Then, I stamped the "Believe" stamp in black archival, dabbed off, just like Tim so far...however....

the difference is... "Believe" wasn't stamped backwards like the reflections stamp would have been.... so.... rather than turning the alcohol inked tag over before gluing to the white tag, I simply added another acetate tag on TOP and sandwiched the inked tag in the middle.... rather than gluing the tags together, I used my tiny attacher instead, an "x" in each corner.

I followed along to the tee for the wreath and bow... so pretty! I like the contrast of the alcohol-inky-grungy background with such an elegant wreath. Nice combo!

Another great Tag with Tim.... even if I didn't "Believe" at first... I love it now! I'm hoping to stay on track with the rest of the tags, so if all works out I'll be back tomorrow night!

~ ellen

Simon Says Stamp and Show - Elements of Time

2011-12-05T00:01:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone!

I was so excited when I found out this week's theme on the Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge - TIME... I love clocks and watches so this was right up my alley. We put our Christmas tree up the week after Thanksgiving so my Christmas Spirit has kicked in... so, naturally, I wanted to do a Christmas themed project. Here we go...

I started with the Studio 490 art parts pocket watches (both large and small). I covered the center cutout from the large art pocket watch with with paper from seasonal paper stack, and then gave it a coat of rock candy crackle paint. Then I used the weathered clock die cutting it out of grungeboard, painted with black paint dabber, then using my finger to swipe gold paint dabber over that. Adhered to the center cutout. I attached the hands of the clock with idea-ology gears.

I painted the base and the top frame with gold paint dabber, pouncing on the paint so it leaves peaks, which I then highlighted with black archival ink. I sandwiched the center cutout between the base and the frame (the weathered clock die is slightly larger that the cutout... see side view...

I added a Christmas muse token, "25" plaquette, some antique brass chain, a rhinestone brad from Jennie Bowlin, and an antique brass key (eBay find...). And of course, stamped the sentiment with a mini alpha set.

On the small pocket watch, I painted the base with black paint dabber, and lightly swiped white paint dabber over the top in streaks. I added a distressed timepiece to the center, and a game spinner painted with gold paint dabber. The frame is painted with gold paint dabber, with black ink over the peaks.

I had a blast with this week's project! Hope you get a chance to play along and have a chance at winning a $50 shopping spree from Simon Says Stamp! Free stash at this time of year is definitely a good thing!

Have a great week!

~ ellen.

Back on track... tag 4!

2011-12-04T15:19:00.000-05:00

Back on track.... hahaha.... after a train trip... hee!

Much as we had a fabulous time on our train trip (see earlier post below)... I was excited to get home and get caught up on Tim's 12 Tags of Christmas! After catching up with Mario on FB and Twitter, I'd say we are all awfully fortunate... not even a snow storm and lack of internet can stop Tim and Mario... thanks to both of them for being so dedicated!

Here's my 4th tag... loved this one!!! (of course I did... I love them ALL!)

I used slightly different colors on my tag background, because I already had one done, just waiting to be finished! On mine, I used pine needles and picket fence stains... because as I learned from the amazing Hels Sheridan... it makes the most lovey sea-foamey blue-green! Beautiful! And the darker background gives a little more contrast for the snowman, which I like...

The only other substitution I made was with the flourish stamp used for ghost-stamping (which I also learned from Hels just a week or so ago! She's so smart..) I followed along with the rest of Tim's suggestions pretty much to the tee on this one...I figure why mess with a good thing if you have the stash to do it.... :)

And here's a close up of old Frosty... great technique with the distress stains over rock candy crackle - lots of options there!

Ok - the plan worked! I'm all up to date, which means I have a clean slate to keep up during the work week, which is always more difficult... darn day job.... always getting in the way of good art! LOL! (aaaahhhhh... but it allows me to *afford* the stash I need.... so I guess I better keep at it....)

Have a great week - I'll be back on Monday evening with Tag 5... and don't forget to pop in tomorrow morning for this week's Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge! Great theme this week, and lots of *amazing* projects from the Design Team! You won't be disappointed!

~ ellen

Trains and Tags.... (Day 3)

2011-12-04T14:17:00.000-05:00

Hello!

We're back from our trip and I've managed to begin catching up on the 12 Tags of Christmas! But before I get to tag #3, here's a few pix from our trip... what a fab time we had. Felt like we went back in history... if you missed yesterday's post... we went to Cumberland, MD to ride the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad. It's about a 3-hour tour (no Gilligan's Island jokes, please... haha!) that ends in Frostburg, MD.

Mountain Thunder steam engine pulling in to the station to pick us up.

This is the car we rode on... first class no less! (*schmancy!* LOL!)

Here's the engine at our destination point in Frostburg, MD.

And a close up...

This shows a bit of the station - so cute!

And here's how they turn the engine around to go back the other way... Clever!

This sculpture was in the station - it's not truly made from the bricks, but it sure looks real to me, and so cool!

Ooooooh! Get this!!! We got on board the train, and since we had splurged for first class (not as big a splurge as you might imagine, so why not?), they had a name plate set out on the tables so we'd know where to sit. When the other couple at our table arrived, the woman saw our name plate and said... Oh my God... is that your last name??? It's mine, too! Now... if you have a name like Smith (my maiden name, I might add...) that's not such a big deal, but we have NEVER run into another Vargo! Turns out she has family from the same general area as Jack's family, but neither of them knew enough details to decide officially that they were long lost cousins or something... but we decided they had to be.... SO COOL! (hope she doesn't mind me posting her pic.)

OK... now back to art... every year Tim does one of these custom stamp pads, but this is the first year I've actually done it - I've managed to find a way around it the past 2 years, but this year... I went for it. Here's my finished tag and a few close ups... enjoy!

First off.... I don't have any kraft tags.... so how did I get it to look like a kraft background? Well... I made my stamp pad, stamped the image on a regular manila tag, but before I put it in the embossing folder, I rubbed my frayed burlap ink pad across the de-bossed side of the folder... so when I ran it though my Vagabond the ink was pressed into the background! It worked! For the bottom section I just gently applied more frayed burlap ink over the stamped image.

As you can see... I decided to subtsitute the festive greenery die that Tim used with some greenery of my own. I bought a mini holiday wreath last year with all these elements on it, with the full intention of cutting it up for parts, precisely at a time like this. And since I don't have the festive greenery die... this was the perfect opportunity! And I think it looks rather festive, don't you?

I love the shimmer that heirloom gold perfect pearl mists give.... just gorgeous!

Hope you all are enjoying the 12 Tags this year - I sure am! I'll be back later with Day 4's post!

~ ellen.

Still on Track - Day 2!

2011-12-02T20:14:00.000-05:00

Hello!

Day 2 of Tim Holtz' 12 Tags of Christmas and I'm still up to date! I woke up early again and looked at today's creation by Tim and thought.... hmmmm... maybe I could even get that done before work! And I did! Didn't have time to take pix and blog it until now, though...

Had to substitute the 12x12 version of the 6x6 paper Tim used, so can't see the whole "Christmas Carols" phrase, but again.... I still like the way it turned out. Just one pic today - not a whole lot of detail to show on this one....

Tomorrow morning we're leaving early to drive about 3 hours out to Cumberland, MD to take the "Western Maryland Scenic Railroad Tour". Jack is a railroad enthusiast and loves model trains, but we don't get many chances to actually RIDE on a train, so I thought this would be the perfect birthday gift for him.

So... alas... I will not be able to make tomorrow's tag TOMORROW.... but we'll be back by Sunday mid-day, so the plan is to make TWO on Sunday. I'm saying it out loud and on-line as incentive to stick to the plan!

See you Sunday!

~ ellen.

12 Tags Have Begun! Day 1

2011-12-01T20:24:00.000-05:00

Hello!

Well it's official! The Christmas season has officially begun and that means it's time for Tim Holtz' 12 Tags of Christmas! This has become a real tradition for me and I'm so excited to get started with another year of fabulous projects with Tim.

I knew that the first tag would be posting at 4:00 am my time and I jokingly said to my husband that I'd set my alarm to get up and see it... well.... my mental clock must have been working overtime because at precisely 4:00 am my eyes opened up! I managed to stay in bed until 5:30, but it was with great effort and lots of tossing and turning....

So I got up, got my coffee, and sat myself down to check it out - GORGEOUS! I thought to myself.... I bet that Hels has been up for hours and probably has her tag DONE by now... so I called her (switching to Vonage means *free* international calls! How convenient!) Come to find out she had only been up for a short time and hadn't even peaked yet! Shocking! LOL.... So we spent the next hour talking and looking at the project, and I managed to get mine started before heading off to work.... ughhh!

I finished it up when I got home and I love it! I had to improvise with the "Noel" die since I don't have that one, but I rather like the ornament! I also had to improvise by using the Autumn Gatherings die along with some movers & shapers instead of the Festive Greenery one, but... again... I think it turned out pretty well!

Considering the great effort that was those pinecones... not bad for a first effort.... will have to keep playing with those - I'm sure once I get comfortable with them it will be much easier.

I also substituted diamond stickles for the rock candy distress stickles - I wanted a more golden tone to match the glitter I used on the ornament.

Well that's Tag #1.... eleven more to go and I can't wait to see what's next! So far... I'm up to date - let's see how long I can keep it going!

(I can't believe that a year ago today I had spent the day in London with Hels! Time flies!!! Makes me want to go back! Wish I could....)

See you real soon!

~ ellen

Painted Pages Book

2011-12-01T00:01:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone,

At the beginning of November, I took an awesome class at The Queen's Ink, taught by none other than The Queen herself, Patti Euler! It was called "Painted Pages".

We started with an old Time/Life hardback book (approximately 8" x 10"). We used a utility knife to cut out the "guts" of the book, leaving only the two covers and the spine (all still in tact). We learned how to reinforce the binding using Tyvek paper, and used handmade papers to cover the front, back and spine, inside and out.

Then we set to the real purpose of the class.... painting pages! Patti showed us all different techniques for creating wonderful backgrounds for pages, but my absolute favorite was the one I called the "credit card smoosh" technique. Basically, you squeeze a long, thin line of paint across the top of a page - the whole way across - and then add another color (or two!) underneath. Then, and this is the FUN part, you use an old credit card to *scrape* the paint down the length of the page! It creates unexpected patterns that are absolutely beautiful! Once we learned this one... I was *done*.... that's all I wanted to do! Here are the results from the class.

It was a marathon class and we worked HARD the whole time! But it was SO MUCH FUN! Hope you enjoyed seeing the end results.... I'm acquiring a collection of hand made books that would be just perfect for art journaling.... I may have to make that a personal challenge for next year... I'm just sayin'.

I'm so excited to get started with Tim Holtz' 12 Tags of Christmas! Today is the day!!! I'm going to try really hard to keep up this year - I got really behind last year and it took forever to catch up! Hope you'll be playing along - I always learn so much and it has become a real Christmas Tradition for me. This will be my third year of doing all 12 tags! I'll be blogging my tags as they are finished... so see you soon!

~ ellen