InkySplatters

Creative thinking and a moment to share some gratitude for a someone who paid it forward

InkySplatters — Thu, 09 Apr 2020 01:15:00 GMT

Hello dear crafty friends! I hope this post finds you and your family happy and healthy. I want to tell you that I wrote a blog post the other night and then decided not to send it. But I had a couple of very kind things happen yesterday that made me think that maybe I really should send out a blog post hello. This post is a bit longer than usual but please bear with me.

I know it has been some time since my last blog post but is not for lack of trying – my current workload has been busy and has not left a lot of time for creativity moments in my craft room. Right now, we are all in uncharted waters – most of us are subject to stay at home orders and we worry that the slightest sniffle or sneeze might mean more than those pesky, seasonal allergies. The news is filled with reports of numbers of cases, graphs with sharply rising lines, and families have lost loved ones without really having a chance to say goodbye.

Like many of you, I am subject to a stay at home order and although my job is considered essential, I try to do what work I can at home but still travel into work several days a week. While it seems that my social circle has shrunk to about the number of a poorly attended dinner party, I still come into contact with others in our community. It’s hard not to have contact with other people, right? Whether I get petrol for my car, go to the grocery store, get curbside pickup from my local scrapbook store Simple Pleasures, order takeout at a local small restaurant, take the puppy for a walk, or even to get the mail, our governor has strongly recommended wearing a mask.

As many of you know the decision by the CDC regarding masks changed late last week. Friday to be exact. And I know that the recommendation comes with some disagreement but I’m a Type A and that means I’m a rule follower. Once I saw the recommendation come in from our governor, I hopped on the internet to see what our state was recommending and checked out the Colorado Mask Project site. After reading the recommendations and watching a few videos, I set on a task to see what I could do. I knew I already had some Tim Holtz Eclectic Elements fabric. I checked multiple online stores for elastic and, alas, none. And given my sewing skills, I was not looking forward to making bias tape for ties. I also wasn’t enthusiastic about tracking down a couple yards worth of ribbon to use as the ties. So, I figured I would have to come up with something, but I had no idea what. I guess the last resort was ribbon.

Sunday evening, as my beloved was cooking dinner, I decided to just get moving on my mask-making project. The next 45 minutes could best be described as a comedy sketch peppered with some choice cuss words as I wrestled with my sewing machine. See it was one of those times when I really wish I had stuck with it when I learned to sew. My first sewing machine was a Singer that my dad bought for me at the flea market that had its own lovely cabinet. I learned enough sewing to obtain my Girl Scout sewing badge and while I learned the basics, I was pretty horrible (i.e. lead foot) with the whole darn thing. So, I started off this little project with a bit of skepticism and a whole lot of hope.

Fast forward 30 years or so from my days as a girl scout and we’re in the middle of a pandemic and my state governor decides we should all wear masks. Great. Where is that new Singer sewing machine I bought on super sale a couple years ago for stitching on paper? Oh yeah, my craft room closet.

Nothing like a little advanced notice regarding the necessity of masks, right? And considering there is a whole stockpile of medical grade masks, toilet paper, gallons of hand sanitizer, and bleach wipes at my local grocery store, I’ll just toodle on over there and pick some up when I go to grab some fresh fruit to make a pie. Not. Happening. At. All. We all know that our grocery stores are a little light on some items these days and masks are being reserved for those heroes who are working the front lines – the nurses, doctors, paramedics, firefighters, police officers, and many others who have stepped in to help. They need those medical grade masks much more than I do.

Thus, I started working on my homemade masks. I used this post on the Sarah Maker website for direction and guidance. I started thinking I would see how the first one worked came together and figure it out as I went along – kind of like doing a mixed media project. I cut the fabric from one of the lighter-colored choices from my Tim Holtz fabric stash since the recommendation is to use lighter colored fabric so you can more easily see if a mask becomes dirty. I grabbed the only thread I have besides DMC thread -- Tim Holtz’s Eclectic Elements Craft thread by Coats and made my bobbin and threaded the machine. I then used my Tim Holtz ruler and marked my stitch lines on the fabric. After fighting with my sewing machine for about a half hour (my stitch tension was all messed up), I finally got going on the sewing part. I was desperately hoping that now that the government has given me a license to drive a car that maybe, just maybe, my foot pedal action for my sewing machine would be more controlled. And voila! I managed to make a mask and it’s not the worst sewing job but I certainly won’t be winning any prizes!

Elastic with metal tabs

And, then came the big question – how to attach it to my face. Well, nothing like a little bit of creativity, thinking outside the box, and digging around in my craft room to find something that would work. We’ve all done it right? We’ve used something in our craft rooms for something not “crafty.” I found this little plastic bag with a “Club Scrap” sticker on it that had the elastic bands with metal barbs on the ends that we use to close folios that we make. I remembered that I bought them for a project I have planned for my scrapbooking group. They seemed to be about the right size in length so I figured I would give it a try.

Eyelets for the masks

I grabbed my Crop-A-Dile and some eyelets and punched holes and put in the eyelets. The good thing is that the elastic ear loops can be moved to another mask – this will be great when one gets washed and I need to use the other in the meantime. And, the washing machine won’t break down the elastic as soon.

Large and small masks

Here is the first one and the other two that I made from the Tim Holtz fabric. The larger one is for my beloved. Mine is the smaller one because the “adult” size was a bit too big so I had to size it down a titch. The elastic bands are just the right length because it’s not too stretched but it’s also not too loose. I did not put in a wire or pipe cleaner for the nose clip – for those of us who wear glasses those things just don’t work. The next step is to cut the furnace filter and put it inside my mask as recommended but for today in my rush to get to work on time triple folded paper towel did the job. Again, all I have to do is transfer the elastic with barbs back and forth between my homemade masks.

I decided Sunday night I would just make more masks and give them to our neighbors, my co-workers, friends, or whomever. Obviously, I’m limited by how many I can produce but I figured it was worth a try. Yesterday morning I ordered more elastic from Club Scrap and hoped that they would arrive by the weekend and then I went about my day. Late in the afternoon I received a text from my husband asking me to call Tricia at Club Scrap about my order. My first thought was that they were out of the elastic cords. When I called Tricia, we shared a very kind, lovely phone call and she inquired whether I was using the elastic for masks. When I told her yes, she told me she was going to donate the elastic cords to the cause. One of her very observant and amazing employees, Beth, called the order to her attention – probably thinking I mistyped the amount of items I needed but she quickly figured out that I was probably going to use them for masks. Beth’s careful attention to my order and Tricia’s desire to help out is what connected the three of us. I am very humbled by her kindness. It is just another way that shows that the crafting community is full of kind, compassionate people who reach across divides of language, borders, and politics to come together to take care of people. Please stop by Club Scrap and order one of their kits, some paper, and/or embellishments and thank her for her act of kindness. I have paid it forward and made a donation in the amount I would have spent on my Club Scrap order to Kidpower and to Pikes Peak Region Peace Officer’s Memorial. Both are great small non-profits in my community, both of whom have had to cancel their annual fundraising events due to COVID-19.

I do hope that all of you and your families stay healthy and safe. Take some time to make a card to send to a loved one or someone you know who doesn’t have a loved one near, put together a scrapbook page of pictures of you and your friends, or think of a happy memory and transform it into a mixed media project. A little creativity and art can be good for the soul and the brain. And, please keep on supporting our small crafting companies and small crafting stores. Many of them are deeply woven into the fabric of our communities and right now need our continued patronage and support.

Please observe the stay at home orders and follow any other recommendations and guidance provided to you by your local and state health departments – they are working tirelessly to determine the best course of action in your communities. It’s important that we all do our part. Every little bit of help counts. Please be kind to each other, check in on each other, and please take care of yourselves.

My full mask making kit!

Now, back to the sewing machine… Wish me luck!

P.S. Dr. Leon Kelly, the deputy health director of our County Department of Health and elected Coroner will be posting a video on mask etiquette and I will update the blog when I get the link. For now, here are the recommendations for wearing masks and how to care for them. One should always know the proper etiquette for wearing a mask.

A message from Dr. Leon Kelly, Deputy Medical Director of the El Paso County Department of Health:

The CDC and your local public health department are asking you to wear a mask to help stop the spread of the pandemic coronavirus.

We know that the COVID-19 virus is spread through small droplets that exit your mouth and nose during talking, sneezing, or coughing. So, the purpose of the mask for most of us is to keep those droplets and virus particles inside your mask so they can’t infect other people. We also know that some infected people have no symptoms or can spread the virus up to 2 days before symptoms appear so it’s important that even those of us that feel well wear a mask when we’re around others.

You can help protect your friends and neighbors by wearing many types of homemade or cloth masks instead of true surgical or respirator masks which need to be reserved for our doctors, nurses and first responders. Our healthcare workers need those special kinds of masks because they have to protect themselves from even smaller droplets containing virus that are created during medical procedures or when caring for people who are very sick.

The CDC and other websites have clever and easy examples of masks you can make at home even without sewing or buying new fabric including bandannas or old t-shirts. Many of our talented and crafty citizens are making beautiful masks for friends, family, and our first responders.

The most effective types of homemade masks are made of tightly woven fabrics like cotton that can be layered and tied over the head or secured behind the ears. They should be worn well-fitted around the face covering both the mouth and nose without gaps around the edges.

However, even well-made masks, if not used properly can risk spreading infection. It’s important that while wearing your mask or taking it off or on you don’t touch the front or inside where droplets or virus particles may be. This may spread germs from your mask to your hands or from your hands back to your mask. To remove your mask, always untie it from the back of the head or pull from behind the ears. Don’t lay it down when not in your home and always fold it so that the inside is always protected from contamination.

Cloth masks should be washed in your washing machine or sink with detergent and warm or hot water once per day and never reverse without washing it first. Make a couple of masks so you always have a fresh one ready or to match your outfit.

The most important thing to remember is that wearing a mask is not a replacement for staying home, avoiding gatherings or social/physical distancing. These are the best ways to prevent the spread of disease. But when you must go out to get food, care for someone else, or exercise or if you work in an essential job where you can’t be sure there won’t be other people around, a mask is another simple but heroic action you can take to help us in our fight against COVID-19.

Stay healthy, stay safe, and stay home.

Artist Trading Coin – Frilly & Funkie

InkySplatters — Wed, 06 Mar 2019 00:55:00 GMT

Hello! I’m back with a smaller than normal project this week but one that I had quite a bit of fun working on it. We had another cold, snowy weekend here but it gave me time to step away from work and join in on the Frilly & Funkie challenge of creating an Artist Trading Coin. The challenge is sponsored by Linda at the Funkie Junkie Boutique.

This week’s project is an ode to my puppy as this weekend was his anniversary weekend – 2 years with our little family. My beloved, you could say, wasn’t a “dog” guy. He was more of a cat guy but has a heart of gold and even though we had never had a dog before, we took a chance on Sirius. Our little boy came to us having been rejected and abandoned by four other families all before he was 6 months old. A friend of ours asked if we would consider taking him and I’m glad we did. We know very little of Sirius’ back story and every day we continue to work with him – he’s scared silly of kids and bicycles but he loves going to puppy daycare where they use him to introduce the new puppies to the day care pack.

He loves his squeaky toys but thinks the Amazon delivery guy is evil (it’s the “beeping” on the van). He loves to sprint after his chuck-it-ball but will walk a half a mile out of the way so he doesn’t get wet because of a sprinkler. And forget summertime pool fun – simply not happening. He loves riding in the car, running around in his backyard, curling up on his Mutts & Hounds puppy beds, and asking for a tummy rub but he absolutely hates double doors (the ones where you go through one door into a “holding area” before the next door). He is a lovely little pup who runs next to me when I’m out running—his little tail wagging like a flag and his ears bouncing as he prances down the street.

Our puppy Sirius

Never in a million years did I think I would need to make sure my running gear has pockets for puppy potty bags but now I have little green bags in my jacket pockets, purse, running jackets, car door pocket, and my desk drawer at work. I’m pretty sure there are probably even a couple laying around in my craft room! He’s a good pup who is now completely loved and has a clowder for brothers (one of which loves him to pieces but don’t tell the other pups at doggy day care…). He is safe, warm, and loved just like his kitten brothers. Of course, his name is not that of a popular book character but of one a bit more celestial – Sirius is the name of the dog star – Orion’s faithful friend. Since all of his brothers have Greek names, so must our darling, handsome puppy. And, my beloved, is the best puppy dad ever!

So with that, I made my ATC coin two sided – one side that Hope is Never Lost and the other side Fresh Start. There really is something about the saying that saving one dog might not save the world but for that one dog his world will change forever. My little pup never lost hope, he kept trying and he made it to us and we gave him a fresh start. I used a Impression Obsession stamp (Abstract Circles) stamped in TH Distress Ink (Vintage Photo) with a smaller circle cut from scrap paper and offset. I cut down a TH Idea-ology Word Chip (which, by the way, is not easy), brushed it with TH Vintage Photo Distress Ink. I grabbed the puppy and little girl from the TH paper dolls and then added a TH Gumdrop Heart that I colored with Terra Cotta alcohol ink.

On the flip side of the coin is the “Fresh Start.” I made a jean pocket filled with flowers. I used the denim piece from TH (I think it was in a textured piece package but I’m not sure). I added the pocket “stitching” with a gold gel pen and used a variety of scrap cardstock for the die cuts from the TH Funky Florals 3 die. I added a Prima Nailhead and found the badge in a container of random one-off pieces. For the main flower, I grabbed Wild Plum alcohol ink for the faceted gem from Prima for the flower center, added some Nuvo Glitter to the edge of the flower center, and added some Wendy Vecchi Red Geranium Blending Ink to make the flower a bit more red on the edges. I had a glitter pen on my craft table and added some touches to the purple flower, used a smidge of glossy accents for the beige berries, and the used Cranberry Stickles for the other flower.

I hope you like my ATC coin – it’s a first. And it is definitely smaller than most of my other projects but it was a good challenge. Thank you to everyone who visits my blog and thank you for the wonderful comments. I truly do appreciate it. I hope everyone has a lovely week. And, I hope, each of you has a furry friend (or two, or three, or ….) that you too have opened your homes and hearts to and that you provide each other with unconditional love, kisses, and cuddles.

Let Me Count the Ways–Frilly & Funkie

InkySplatters — Sun, 24 Feb 2019 13:00:00 GMT

Hello! Welcome from snowy Colorado – although it’s not really that much snow but it was nice to see a little bit of wintery weather over the weekend and before winter starts to wane. It was a long, tough week at work and so I decided I just needed to be in my craft room this weekend. I managed to get caught up on putting some stuff in new containers and making sure my color swatch books were up-to-date. I started in on the latest Frilly and Funkie Challenge Let Me Count the Ways. The challenge requirement – something of threes. Sure, that sounds easy, but that was a bit of a tough one for me. Although I had fun trying! The challenge is, as always, sponsored by the lovely Linda at the Funkie Junkie Boutique.

This project is hard to describe for me – it turned out a bit steampunk but not. It’s a bit vintage-like but not. I’m not sure how I would classify it other than it’s “different.” As the challenge wanted us to do something in threes, I also challenged myself to use three things I haven’t used or use rarely and that turned out to be Yupo Paper (new), Distress Crayons (rarely), and Concentrated Watercolor (new). Granted, I used several other “new” things too but I wanted to use at least three.

The bodices

The faceted heart die was also new but I didn’t count that because I always use die cuts. I really do like this die cut and I knew that I wanted to use it for something from the second I received it. I was bummed that I didn’t manage to use it for Valentine’s Day projects but I thought I might be able to come up with something. And, playing around with things to do on this project, I pulled the die cut out and when I die cut the heart it reminded me of a dress top. Maybe that’s a bit weird but I went with it. So, I started on a design for a dress. I die cut several faceted hearts out of Yupo paper and used alcohol ink for the colors. I also grabbed some foil adhesive and made the lower part of the dress. In order to make the skirt, I have a set of Julie Nutting stamps that are skirts. I snagged them a while back with the Bootiful girl stamp. I used both of those as my guides although Bootiful girl almost make it on to the canvas instead of the TH relative. I also tested out (for the first time) one of the 3D-embossing folders for the skirt.

The wings

In the past, I have not had good luck using Distress Crayons so this time I really made the effort to figure it out. I think I am getting the hang of it and I produced a background on this one that I really like. I like the neutrals because it gives just enough that I didn’t want to lose it by changing all of the colors of the gears. For this project I used some tissue tape, grit paste, a stencil, and stamp on the background. The concentrated watercolor came in at the end to fill in some of the “too much white” sections. I also decided to add to the background some of the TH remnant rubs. I don’t always have luck with the remnant rubs works so I took a chance at the end that I wasn’t going to muck it up with a half messed up remnant rub.

The gears

The steampunk side came when I started playing around with the gears and other metal pieces. And, for some reason, I gravitated toward the angel wings – using alcohol inks to change the metal color. And, then I started to put it all together. I love the Yupo paper effect with the alcohol inks but I also had great fun with all of the metal gears, tags, button, and bits of pieces to choose from for the rest of the canvas.

The dress

And, if you can’t find them, here are my threes: 3 small hearts, 3 white mélange, 3 of the small gears (same design), 3 of the screws that you need a wrench for, three bronze dome pieces, 3 words in title.

Let me count the ways

I hope everyone has a lovely week. Thank you for stopping by to check out today’s project. Please let me know what you think!

Here’s the stuff I used:

Design Tape/Tissue Tape: Prima (Collector’s Notes); Tim Holtz Idea-ology (Symphony)
Distress Marker: (Tea Dye and Gathered Twigs
Distress Crayons: Victorian Velvet, Gathered Twigs, Tea Dye, Vintage Photo
Prima: Concentrated Watercolor (Café)
Archival Ink: Wendy Vecchi Potting Soil
Prima Metal Embellishment: Finnabair Mechanicals Rustic Washers, Finnabair Mechanicals Mini Hardware, Prima Tiny Junkyard Findings
TH Idea-ology: Hex Fasteners, Angelic, Nailheads, Gadget Gears, Sprocket Gears, Mini Gears, Word Chips, File Tabs, Remnant Rubs, Paper Dolls
Foil: Sizzix Foil Adhesive (Copper);
Die Cuts: Thin-lits Faceted Heart
Embossing Folder: TH Sizzix 3D Embossing Folder (Foundry)
Other Embellishments: Prima Art Ingredients Melange (Vintage); Funkie Junkie Mini Metal Gears, Gauze
Adhesive: Dina Wakely Ultra Thick Gel Medium
Tim Holtz Grit Paste
Stamp: Carabelle Art Stamp Background Ecriture
Adirondack Alcohol Inks: Rust, Gold Mixative, Terra Cotta, Teakwood, Cranberry
Paper: Yupo Paper, Bazill
Stencil: TH (Crossed)

Winter Blues–Frilly & Funkie

InkySplatters — Mon, 11 Feb 2019 03:55:00 GMT

Hello crafty friends! I know that it has been a long time since I posted to my blog – too long perhaps but I’ve emerged this weekend to create a Snow Day! I know that as adults we always wish we could get a snow day but it seems to be very rare. In our part of the Rockies, we are a little dry for this time of year but it’s been windy as all get out lately.

And, while I have not posted on my blog since late summer, I have not been lacking in visits to my craft room. I decided to get caught up on some scrapbooking projects, reorganize and outfit my crafting space, and treat myself to some scrapbooking retreats and art classes. Of course, I still have a busy work schedule but we also found some time for a couple of vacations (England and Portugal), I ran two marathons (Chicago and Disney), and the front yard landscaping project is inches away from being finished!

But late this week I decided it was time to play with my mixed media stuff again. So, I’m joining in on the Frilly & Funkie Winter Blues Challenge. The challenge is graciously sponsored by Linda at the Funkie Junkie Boutique. The challenge wants us to focus on the “winter blues” we get – the post-holiday, pre-spring slump that I refer to as “February.” While February might be the shortest month of the year by days, it is simply the longest one for me. I’m past the January post-holiday cleanup and organize and not quite to the longer days and get-my-garden-ready March.

So for the challenge, I decided I wanted to stay in winter and focus on the color blue. I had a couple of ideas but finally ended up with a snow day. I started off with a piece of Distress Woodgrain Cardstock and cut it down to 5x7 and used Distress Paint (Tumbled Glass) to color the cardstock. When it dried, I grabbed my Newton’s Nook Snowfall Stencil and Ranger Opaque Matte Texture Paste to create the snowflake background. I used a very thin layer of texture paste so that some flakes seemed thicker than others.

While the texture paste was drying, I worked on the large snowflake. In my chipboard and wooden pieces, I found a wooden snowflake from Art Minds. I covered it in Finnabair Art Basics Heavy Gesso (white) and then painted it with Finnabair Art Alchemy Acrylic Paint (Sparks – Magical Pond). When the paint dried, I added some Ranger Foil Sheets (blue) to add some bits here and there for texture and to add a touch of a darker blue.

The second snowflake uses the Sizzix Tim Holtz Layered Snowflake. I used the Sizzix Foil Adhesive Sheets (there is an ice blue color in the pack) and attached it to some manila cardstock. Once I die cut the snowflake, I embossed it, and then took some Adirondack Alcohol Ink Mixative (Silver) and used a q-tip to color the embossed lines of the snowflake.

The top snowflake is die cut using the Sizzix Tim Holtz Ice Flake. Using Versa Mark and Ranger Embossing Powder (Blue Tinsel), I made the snowflake a brighter blue.

Now that I had the snowflakes and the background, it came to putting it all together. I went digging through my frames, canvases, and other bits and pieces and found a Prima Wooden Frame. I thought about painting the frame but instead went for a “stained” look and inked the frame using Distress Ink (Faded Jeans). The inside of the wooden frame was a bit over 5x7 so I trimmed the snowflake piece a smidge and used Tonic Studios Speciality Paper (Crushed Metal) as a layered background. It’s barely visible but gives some depth on the sides.

I grabbed every type of metal snowflake I have in my bits and bobs. I found some from Finnabair (Mechanicals – Winter Trinkets), Tim Holtz Idea-ology (Snowflakes), and various charms and metal pieces I’ve picked up from The Funkie Junkie Boutique. I also found some snowflake brads. For some of the snowflakes I alcohol inked my fingers and the snowflakes in Adirondack Alcohol Ink (Sailboat Blue). I decided not to do all of the snowflakes in blue and because there was also some leftover glitter on my craft mat some of them got a bit of glitter added to them too!

I added the Tim Holtz Ideology Icicles to the top of the frame after I covered them in Nuvo Pure Sheen Glitter (Glitter Diamond). I found that this glitter worked better than the Stickles Dry Glitter. As I was glittering the icicles I didn’t try to make it perfect because icicles never are!

For the title I used the new Sixxiz Tim Holtz XL die cut alphabet (Society) in Core’dinations Distress Cardstock (Faded Jeans). I also used the Tim Holtz Ideology letters (Typography) in white so there is a quasi-layered effect between the die cut letters and the smaller letters. I decided to keep the smaller letters white for a little bit of a contrast.

I assembled all of the snowflakes and glued the piece to the Tim Holtz Idea-ology Vignette base. As those were setting, I grabbed the two Tim Holtz Ideology ancestors and added a touch of Distress Ink (Faded Jeans) to the hat and jacket collar of the boys. Two young boys hoping for a snow day!

I think that’s all of the work and all of the items used for this project. While we slowly plug our way through February, maybe there might be a snow day coming soon! I hope everyone has a lovely Valentine’s Day and thank you for stopping by to see my project. Stay warm and enjoy a cup of hot cocoa.

Frilly and Funkie: August!

InkySplatters — Mon, 13 Aug 2018 22:30:00 GMT

Happy mid-August crafty friends! As we wind our way toward September, in Colorado we are just at the height of Palisade Peaches where we get big, juicy, sweet peaches from the western slopes. Today I made a ginger peach pie which turned out rather lovely! As the pie was baking in the oven, I also decided to head to my craft room and work on a project for the latest challenge for Frilly and Funkie. The current challenge is about August and the challenge asked us to include marble and columns and the like. The challenge is essentially an ode to Augustus and August. The challenge is generously sponsored by the Funkie Junkie Boutique.

I started off this project by doing a bit of research on August and Augustus to see if it would spark something for me to create for the challenge. I found out that poppies are the “birth flower” for the month of August so I set out to find anything poppy related in my stash of goodies. I stumbled upon my DarkRoom Door Collage stamp and decided to try and use my Distress Oxide Inks to color it. Having already decided that I wanted to add some marble as the background, I started off with a marble background stamp from My Favorite Things and stamped it on a canvas board in Versa Mark Ink. I wanted to stay true to the marble color of black, greys, and white so the stamped image was embossed in Ranger Ink Embossing Powder (White). I then used the Finnabair Art Alchemy Acrylic Paint Sparks in Raven Black to “watercolor” my canvas. While I like the sparkle it added to the marble effect it wasn’t as workable as regular acrylic paints when you water them down so it’s not as uniform as I would like the range of greys in the marble.

Next, the poppies. I stamped the image in VersaFine Black Onyx Black Pigment Ink and embossed it with Ranger Ink Embossing Powder (Clear). The background paper was a grey textured cardstock that I had in my stacks of paper. I grabbed my Distress Oxide Inks, took the plastic wrapping off of them, and decided to take the Distress Oxide Ink plunge. Yes, I know, it’s taken me a little while to get up the gumption to use them. I had no idea how this was going to turn out but I decided if it didn’t work I could go in a different direction with the same stamp. But, it seems that the image came out well for a first use. The colors I used for the stamped image are: Black Soot, Vintage Photo, Fossilized Amber, Candied Apple, and Fired Brick. I’ll have to keep working with the oxide inks to get the techniques down.

Once I started to lay everything down, I decided that the canvas needed some dressing. I found some extra paper clay pieces I made a while back. Since everything is so dry here, I have to use a whole package of the paper clay or it dries out and is useless. I’ve tried everything possible to keep the paper clay longer but, alas, the lack of humidity has resulted in several packages being tossed in the trash. I wanted to find a piece that was like the type of decorative reliefs on Roman buildings and found that I had a piece from the IOD Moulding I group. I broke it down to the size I needed and then to make it pop a bit, I brushed it with some Finnabair Metallique Wax in Brushed Iron. I didn’t want to mess with it too much because I liked the dried clay color.

I also decided to try and make a poppy flower. I grabbed my paper flower book that I bought in May and started my first-ever paper flower and let me tell you what a disaster that proved to be! Back to the drawing board I went and tried to break down the pieces of the paper flower instructions from the book. I made a marginal version but it was way too big and too long for the canvas. Not to mention it looked like marginally better than my first one but still not great. I needed to take a break and think about it so I went for a run. Yes, the pie was out of the oven and sitting on the cooling rack so don’t worry about it burning in the oven…

When the pup and I returned from our run, I decided to just go with the shapes I thought worked and see what happened. In other words, I free formed it!!! I started to go through all of my die cuts for a circle-type shape for the petal but something that had a bit of a ragged edge. In the end, I used the die cut from the Hero Arts Besties Stamp and Cut. It’s a circular-type die cut that is for a stamp that is a piece of wood so the edges of the die aren’t perfectly round. I shaped the die-cut shape into a cup by creasing and gluing the middle of it at the bottom. I then glue each petal to a round piece of chipboard that I used as the base. I worked slowly because I really didn’t know what I was doing but it worked! For the flower, I used some beautiful two-toned flower crepe paper that I found at a lovely paper store in Boulder (Two Hands Paperie). Their store window always has some type of artsy piece that was made during one of their classes and it was there that I decided I would try my hand at paper flowers. Considering how the “book learning” went, I might just have to sign up for a paper flower making class. The black center was black flower paper from Little B and the felt center of the poppy was from Benzie Design. I decided to add some bleached leaves that I had in my “miscellaneous embellishments” box. I decided against a green leaf as I thought it would pull too much from the rest of the canvas.

Finally, I added a black bow using Hemptique Twine (Black), “August” from Tim Holtz Sizzix Thincut Calendar Words: Script, an “8” from Tim Holtz Idea-ology Numeric, and a Roman numeral “VIII” from Finnabair’s Vintage Trinkets.

I hope you like my “August” project. August seems to be flying by already – the neighborhood kids will all head back to school next week, the nights are starting to get a little cooler, and the garden flowers are starting to look a bit worn. Fall is just around the corner. But for now, we’ll enjoy the last waning days of summer and enjoy some lovely peach pie!

“B” Happy – Frilly & Funkie Challenge

InkySplatters — Mon, 09 Jul 2018 21:55:00 GMT

Hello crafty friends! I know it has been a while since I’ve posted to my blog but now that my work commitments have eased up I should be able to get back into my craft room. It has not been an easy task to focus on work instead of opening all of the boxes of crafting goodies that arrived over the last several months. So, this weekend, I checked the Frilly & Funkie Blog and started working on the “B” Happy challenge. The challenge is generously sponsored by the Funkie Junkie Boutique.

The “B” Happy challenge is one about making me happy and features birds, bees, and/or butterflies. After much deliberation and thinking about maybe a rooster/chicken, a butterfly, or birds, I focused in on the bee. And, let me tell you, I don’t think vintage bee images get a lot of credit. I have a ton of birds and butterflies but really only a few bees. I had to resort to vintage images for the project and literally go through all of my stamps to find something that resembled a bee that wasn’t “cutesy.” At the end of it, I created a “bee” notebook. And, of course, making it makes me happy because I’m back in my craft room!

I initially started with the new die cut from Eileen Hull’s Book Club Chapter 2 Wrap Journal. I love journals so when I saw the die I was very intrigued. I must admit, though, I’ve learned some things the hard way when putting this project together with the die cut. It’s a fun die but it also makes me wish that there was a bigger version! I used the Little Sizzles Mat Board from Sizzix (mainly because it’s roughly the length of the die cut and I didn’t have any other chip board that was long enough) and since I only had white mat board, I then coated it in Art Basics Black Gesso.

Due to the length of the die cut (and if you want a full wrapped journal without piecing it together), it is helpful to have a cover cut from a material or paper that is over 13 inches long. Of course, this leaves out most scrapbook papers and other items that we get at a 12 inch dimension. Since I did not want to go out to the store and I just wanted to be a homebody, I decided to piece together a couple of the Sizzix leather paper sheets. I also embossed them with the Tim Holtz Flourish embossing folder and then rubbed on some Finnabair metallic wax (White Gold and Rich Copper). On the inside of the journal I used paper from Graphic 45 (French Country), Bazill (Paprika), Tonic Studios craft papers (Cinnamon Silk). I added some stamped and embossed touches to the inside of the journal with bee stamps from Dina Wakley (Scribbly Insects) and Tim Holtz (Tiny Things #164). I added some vintage images that I printed that had bees on them (one for the pocket and one for a carte postale in the back). I made little journal books for the inside from some graph papers that I had from Close to My Heart, some watercolor paper, and some mixed media paper. I adorned each individual journal with another vintage image of a bee.

On the cover, I used some Echo Park magnets to act as a closure instead of a metal piece or wrapped ribbons. I edged each of the covers with the Tonic Studios craft paper for a bit of a different look. I grabbed a Tim Holtz Thinlit (Stitched Rectangle) for the base of the centerpiece of my journal cover. I stamped the bee image from Dina Wakley’s Scribbly Insects on to some watercolor paper in Tim Holtz’s Distress Inks (Rusty Hinge, Wild Honey, Ground Espresso), cut it out, and used a fine-tip watercolor brush to “color” in the image. I also put the inks on my craft sheet to add more color when I needed it. I brushed the wings with Rose Gold Metallic Paint that was watered down which gives the wings a faint sparkle. I then restamped the image when it was still damp but dry enough so I could bring back some of the detail. While my bee was drying, I used Fossilized Amber, Rusty Hinge, and Wild Honey Distress Inks and dabbed them on to a honeycomb chipboard piece from Market 49. I put some of the multi-colored ribbon under the honeycomb piece and glue it down on the stitched rectangle, grabbed some Prima and Market 49 flowers and glued them down as well. Once those were all dry, I glued on the bee and the quote token from Tim Holtz.

To finish off my little journal, I put eyelets in the spine of the journal and attached the smaller journals with May Arts waxed cord. I attached some ribbons that were died with Tim Holtz Distress Inks (Wild Honey, Rusty Hinge, Tea Stain, and Ground Espresso) and some more of the multi-colored ribbon to the spine. I also added a small charm which includes a Memory Hardware French Regalia crown (a small ode to a queen bee) and Memory Hardware Parisian Amber Stone (yellow for honey).

I hope my project inspires you to join in the “B” Happy challenge! It was lovely to spend time in my craft room after such a long absence and I think this project was a good start to work my way back into paints, texture pastes, inks, and all of the goodies in my craft room. I hope everyone is having a safe, happy summer.

Frilly & Funkie Guest designer spot: Bloomin’ Marvelous

InkySplatters — Thu, 29 Mar 2018 16:20:00 GMT

Hello Crafty Friends! Welcome to each of you and thank you for visiting my blog. Today’s post is my project for the guest designer spot at the Frilly & Funkie challenge blog. The theme was set by the challenge host, Zoe, to create something “Bloomin’ Marvelous” and it comes just in time for Spring.

As some of you may already know, I live in the beautiful state of Colorado where springtime is a bit of summer one day and a bit of winter the next. We had a beautiful, albeit windy, weekend only to be shoveling snow on Tuesday! Nothing like springtime in the Rockies. However, today’s project was inspired not by the Colorado springtime but by a Parisian flower stall in a market that my beloved and I stumbled on last spring while we were wandering around the Île de la Cité. While the flower stalls are a bit modernized now, I decided to make it a bit more vintage.

I grabbed the Tim Holtz Tiny Houses die and die cut a house in chipboard. I painted the house in Dylusions Paint in Vanilla Custard and took some Finnabair Metallique Wax in Rich Copper to add some texture. The corners of the house are covered in Tim Holtz Design Tape (Rose). For the roof I grabbed a Tim Holtz Substrate sheet and Flourish embossing folder. I rubbed the embossed design in the metallique wax. I also added a shelf to the front of the house for the flowers.

The base of the project is one of the vignette boxes from Tim Holtz that is covered in an embossed substrate sheet. I used the Tim Holtz Stitched Plaid embossing folder and again rubbed the metallique wax for added color and dimension.

I grabbed some glass vials and covered them with Silver Alcohol ink so I could use them as “metal” containers for the flowers. I grabbed a variety of pre-made flowers from my stash of flowers and used them to create some of the bundles of flowers. I also used some inked tags and scraps of pastel colored papers that I had laying around to die cut out some flowers. I also decided to finally open the package of Tim Holtz flowers and spray them with Victorian Velvet Distress Stain. I found some green cardstock scraps to die cut some foliage as well.

The project was finished off by adding a puppy dog, the flower stall lady from the Tim Holtz paper dolls (with some added coloring in Spun Sugar and Victorian Velvet) as well as opening some of the new Tim Holtz Ideaology metal pieces to add (the piece on the house, the ribbon (which was colored with alcohol ink and markers), and the ruler.

Thank you to the Frilly and Funkie Design team for inviting me back with another project to share with everyone. While I was a bit pressed for time because of my work commitments, I hope this project has inspired you to join in the challenge. I could have worked on rolling flowers and creating more of the flower stall scene for days but, alas, one must know the value of time and get to work on the “to do” list.

Happy Spring! Please feel free to leave any comments on my project. I appreciate all of the kind words.

Mixed Media Monthly Challenge – Love this life

InkySplatters — Tue, 27 Feb 2018 19:25:00 GMT

Just under the wire… here is my project for the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge. This month’s challenge was a photo inspiration very much in the theme of February and Valentine’s Day.

I was inspired by the “spilled” look of the background in the photo, the hearts, the colors. I started off by using a Prima stencil (grungy grid) and the Finnabair Paper Texture paste. Once that was dry, I added some Prima Color Bloom Sprays (Peony and Boysenberry).

I traced out where the Wooden Heart would go so I had a guide mark for where the mini art stones would go. I painted the mini art stones in Finnabair’s Metallique Acrylic Paint (Red Wine) that was watered down. I then glue on some art stones and painted them with the same paint but at full strength. Next, I added some sparkles (Unicorn Crystal Gems and Flower Crystal Gems from Honey Bee Stamps), sequins (Studio Katia (first time I’ve ever put sequins on my project)), and mélange art pebbles.

For the Heart I covered it in Prima’s Crackle Texture Paste (Copper), inked a canvas heart in Distress Stain (Victorian Velvet), and added a white gessoed Finnabair Rustic Washer. I finished it off with an Tim Holtz Quote Chip inked in Distress Ink (Victorian Velvet and Tea Dye).

Love This Life - click to view

I hope everyone had a lovely February. As it is almost March – Springtime is coming!!!

Dare to Resist – Frilly & Funkie Challenge

InkySplatters — Mon, 26 Feb 2018 00:50:00 GMT

Hello crafty friends! This weekend I worked on the current challenge on the Frilly & Funkie blog – Dare to Resist. The challenge set by Autumn was to use a resist technique in our project. The challenge blog is generously sponsored by the Funkie Junkie Boutique.

This weekend was one of those “calm before the storm” weekends. I don’t get them very often and I probably won’t have another one for quite a while. I managed to get a lot of stuff done including more of the reorganization and revamp of my new craft room. Like everything else, it has been a process and is finally starting to come together. It also helped that the Olympics were winding down so there was less time sitting in front of the fire on the computer watching some sports that I don’t normally get to watch anymore – anyone remember that you used to be able to watch all sorts of athletic events on the NBC Wide World of Sports?

For this challenge, I chose an embossing resist technique and relied on that technique to create a marbled background for my project. The background was a bit of an experiment and I wasn’t even sure it was going to look right or that I would be able to achieve the look I wanted. So, the background on the project is the experiment and I had no real intention of actually using it until I realized how much I liked it. I’m not one for using green as a main color so it was even more surprising to me that I liked it enough to keep it.

I started off with a canvas and used the Marbled Background stamp from My Favorite things. I stamped on the canvas in Versa Mark and used Gold embossing powder. Once I had the main embossed background, I used a Versa Mark pen to fill in some minor gaps in the placement of the stamp – the nice thing about the marbling is that it all can be easily joined. As I was just experimenting with the background, I figured I would also use a color paint I wouldn’t normally pick. In this case, I grabbed the one of top and it was the new Prima Finnabair Acrylic Metallique Paint in Golden Moss. I added some water to the paint and I was able to get the additional marbling effect by adding more paint to the water in stages and then adding each stage to the canvas. In some places I just let the water/paint pool.

At this point, I almost put the canvas aside. I looked at it and thought there wouldn’t be much I can do with it. I mucked around with several ideas – a set of gears, some insects, some butterflies, a travel journal with a map, and a fly fishing theme. The project almost ended there. And, then, I spied a Venetian Shutter from Frank Garcia’s Memory Hardware line. I remembered I had some Market 49 flowers that had a faint green tinge to them. First, I had to grab the wood glue and repair the shutter (it came out of the package in a couple of different pieces but it was easily fixed). As the glue was drying, I dug through my basket of flowers and found the Market 49 flowers I was looking for (and some additional Ecru ones to compliment) and thought they were the perfect compliment to the background. Yay! I love it when a project goes from stutter to puttering right along.

As it was coming together, I came to an almost screeching halt when I thought to myself, what would be inside the window? I grabbed one of the very old Tim Holtz stamps (I think it is from his classics line?) and stamped the dragonfly. There were the leftover beaded bits from the Market 49 flowers and I started to look for what could be the body of my dragonfly – a corked vial from Tim Holtz’s Idea-ology line. I stamped the dragonfly wings on Bundled Sage paper, embossed them in Gold Embossing Powder, and fussy cut them.

I put it all together adding some smaller white Cosmos Daisy Mulberry flowers, a Market 49 berry spray, a background using Forest Moss and Gold Glitter paper from Tim Holtz, and Tim Holtz Idea-ology Quote Chip inked in Bundled Sage Distress Ink. And, finally, I decided it needed a background to set it off so I used a bigger canvas and covered it in Canvas Corp. Brands chocolate fluted paper.

I really like this project! When I woke up this morning and looked at it in the daylight I decided it was a keeper. I hope you enjoy it and it inspires you to experiment a little too! I hope everyone has a lovely, safe week.

Frilly & Funkie Challenge – All You Need Is Love (Potion No. 9)

InkySplatters — Mon, 05 Feb 2018 23:10:00 GMT

Happy February to everyone! I took a little time this weekend to work on organizing my craft room, putting together furniture pieces for the room, getting rid of some things I don’t need/use anymore, and “refinding” some fun things! While I was doing all of that I also worked on a project for the current challenge at the Frilly & Funkie Challenge – All You Need Is Love. The challenge is generously sponsored by the Funkie Junkie Boutique.

I haven’t done a tag in while and since the Tim Holtz 12 Tags Challenge is now defunct, I almost forget to use tags. So it was good to work on a project that was on a smaller scale. My first thought when I saw the challenge was – hmm, last week’s project was a couple days too early! My second thought was Love … Potion No. 9. Who knows why but that’s the phrase that popped into my head. So, from there I started my project wanting to focus on the number 9, a bottle, and something chemistry-like. I also wanted to create a project that used some of the new colors of the Finnabair Metallique Paints – and what lovely colors they are!

This project also means that I grabbed some standbys that haven’t been used in a while – like my Distress Inks and Stains. I also tackled some things that continue to be a bit of a nemesis for me – mini art stones and remnant rubs. Somehow, I managed to get a good set of remnant rubs today and slowly but surely I’m getting the art stones. I guess practice helps you get closer to marginal.

I hope everyone has a lovely week! Be safe and enjoy the week.

Items Used for this Project

Inks/Stains/Paints/Wax: TH Distress Ink (Vintage Photo); TH Distress Spray Stain (Spun Sugar and Victorian Velvet); Adirondack Alcohol Ink (Gold and Pearl Mixatives); Finnabair Art Alchemy Metallique Acrylic Paint (Red Wine, Romance Pink); Finnabair Art Alchemy Metallique Wax (Vintage Gold);
Embellishments: TH Eclectic Elements Coats Cotton Thread; Finnabair Mini Art Stones; Honey Bee Drops; TH Ideaology (Arrows, Glass Bottle, Treasures Adornments, & Number Brads); TH Ideaology Remnant Rubs (Words, Gothic, and Numbers); Hearts from Funkie Junkie Boutique