Holidays Blog Hop with AO!

It is time for the Holidays at AO and we have a festive Blog Hop in store for you! Visit all the DT for more Holiday Inspiration! Tracy, Shari, Kate, Gerrie, Lisa.

I so love that gorgeous Cardinal from the MidWinter collection and he looks even better on the Christmas Paper 2013 from Our Daily Bread Designs die cut using Tim's Carved Ornament. Stampin Up markers in Pretty in Pink, Going Gray, Crushed Curry (beak,feet) and Certainly celery were used to color in various areas. I stamped the image a second time and fussy cut the pine cones.

The Sentiments were stamped in Black Archival on the same Christmas Paper collection, torn and also layered on more torn CP.

The background was done first with a coat of tan paint and while still wet, I sprinkled on Color Burst (LOVE) in Pthalo Green and Alizarin Red and then I spritzed on water and allowed some to drip. Once this was completely dry, I applied a two step crackle and did allow the 2nd step to dry for 8 hours. Next I sprayed on Chalkboard Hot Chocolate Glimmer Mist and wiped off the excess. Stamped on the Pine Branches in Black Archival.

Thank you for your visit today and I hope you are having a great day! There are only a few days remaining to join in the "Show Us Your AO Art," so come on and play!

Wish!

My "Wish" is for all of you to have a fabulous finish to 2014 and a most wonderful 2015! Wow, how time flies and next year, I am going to be ready early for Christmas! Since it is still Christmas here in the US, MERRY CHRISTMAS. Now on to the current challenge at A Vintage Journey is "Ring Out The Old, Ring In The New" as chosen my the talented and most lovely Brenda! Be sure to visit AVJ and treat your eyes to some real gorgeous work from the team! There is always a prize from Country View Crafts, so come on and join in the last challenge of 2014!

I decided I would combine this challenge to "Ring Out" the old craft year by finishing Tim's December Tag with a few improvisations! The tag background was done as directed and for the embossing I used his snowflakes and ice edge little folders. I sanded these slightly and then applied white paint with my finger. After all I am wanting a little snow effect.

Next I stamped the the MidWinter sentiment from Artistic Outpost in blue and clear embossed and then cut apart and shaded the edges. Again I was keeping in step with the Snow!

Not having the thinlits, I used the "Wish" movers and shapers and cut this from using ODBD Vintage Label Dies and sanded and then edged in white paint. Cut an oval in white and then did the glue n seal thing and added Rock Candy Glitter. Can't have enough snow and sparkle when you live in the desert!

Now I do not have that gorgeous Prancing Deer (but it is on the list) and I do have Tim's other deer, but I decided I really want to use the little movers and shapers and having them looking up at the "Wish". These were done using the guidelines and I just added a little more white paint and of course they have to have a nose to breathe! Finished off with the wintery greenery that also got a little snow treatment and added a few jingle bells and what a nice sounding tag. That is that!

Thank you so much for stopping by and will see you all in 2015! Well maybe before, but I am thinking I might take a week off and seriously organize my craft room. It is hard to venture out and try new things with such chaos!

Yuletide Greetings!

Happy December to you all and are you ready for Christmas?? No I am not and I am embarrassed to say I am really only starting on Christmas cards and the such, but this year I am not going to stress out, because I had enough of the "S" word worrying about that hubby of mine. BTW, he is doing quite well and is mostly recovered.

Friday's are my day to share at Artistic Outpost, so this Christmas card and all the details with more photos can be found right HERE if you would like to hop on over there and of course that would be nice.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend and thank you for stopping by today. My Holly is going to be over for the weekend, so I am looking forward to that visit!

Enjoy The Beauty

Hope you all are doing well today! I am sharing this as part of my DT time over at Artistic Outpost, so for all the details, please hop over there for a visit. This is also the start of a new month and that means a new "Show us your AO Art" challenge as well.

Thank you so much for stopping by today and have a wonderful weekend!

Snow Had Fallen

Well snow has not fallen here in the desert, but at Artistic Outpost, we are having a Winter/Christmas Blog Hop and there is sure to be some falling snow! You won't want to miss what my lovely DT Sisters have in store for you, so here is the list of talent.  

 

Tracy * Terry * Kate * Lisa * Gerrie * Linda 



I started by using Christmas paper from ODBD, cutting it to size and adding some snowy effects with white paint. That little birdie is adorable and then some! Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge has an "Anything Goes," so I am taken this wintery card over there for a visit.

The pinecones from MidWinter were stamped directly on the Christmas paper in Coffee Archival and then clear embossed, colored using Vintage Photo and then highlighting areas with a white gel pen.

Next I stamped the MidWinter snowy sentiment on white, using again Coffee Archival and clear embossed, cut using the Vintage Label die from ODBD, inked in Antique Linen, shaded in Black Soot and then flicked on some snow. Added some snowflakes and holly leaves that were touched up with white paint.

Thank you for stopping by today and hope you will join in the blog hop and also ink up your AO stamps and share at October's Show us your AO Art challenge. You could win something!

Christmas In July!

It is never too early to think about Christmas and Artistic Outpost has a 25% off sale on Christmas and Winter stamps, now through Saturday, July 26, 2014 11:00 PM EDT and so is Our Daily Bread Designs and they have Christmas paper and dies!! Whether you are thinking of starting your Christmas cards or gifts for those rubber stamping friends, now is a good time! Go have yourself a look!

What a better way to announce a Christmas sale than to make a Christmas card? Well that was my excuse to start early and have a little stash. For this card, I used Christmas Chalk and MidWinter and combined some bleach stamping and embossing.

Since I was looking for a more chalky background, but without the mess, I applied Black Soot Distress Ink over white paper and then did the bleach stamping. Before I did any inking, I stamped the Chalkboard frame using clear Embossing Ink and then applied powder. After all the inking was done and bleach stamping, I removed the EP via that iron. Layered up with green and red and tied it up with some twine! Pretty much a quick and simple card with a few layers for extra interest. In fact I am thinking this will be my main card to send out this year, but of course with mixing up stamps!

Thank you for stopping by today and joining me on my Christmas in July and go take advantage of a pretty nice sale! Oh and that Christmas paper at ODBD is gorgeous and works so well with AO stamps! Just Saying!

It's Almost Christmas!

Only six more sleeps and it is Christmas! I hope you are all doing well and trying not to stress too much during the merriest and busiest time of the year! Oh and I sure do thank you for taking time to stop by for a visit! I have finished all my card and package mailings and wrapped the gifts for my hubby! Had a little time to play and just had to make one more Christmas tag/card! I had everything put away as well, so now I have to clean it up again.

We started by inking the background with Shabby Shutters, Crushed Olive, Barn Door and Vintage Photo on vanilla paper and a manila tag. Then the tag was embossed and highlighted and spritzed with water and a bit of white paint!  Sorry about the photo below, the weather has been really odd here and it was hard to get a decent photo to show the background, which was stamped using Distress Markers.  All stamps are from Artistic Outpost's MidWinter collection and I just love these!

The ornament was cut from manila paper and stamped using Sepia Archival ink and clear embossed. I added color to the cardinal and pine using an applicator and Distress Inks. Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge is "Stamp Out 2013" and so it is!

Hey I tied a bow and had to show you! I am so bow tying incompetent, it is not even funny! Even managed to get a bell attached! Miracles do happen this time of year!

Added little bits of white paint for a snowy touch.

Frosted the large metal snowflake!

Well there you have it! If you have some of those fabby AO stamps, there is still some time left to join in the December "Anything Goes" Referral Program for a sweet chance at a gift certificate! Enjoy the days leading up to Christmas, which I hope will be wonderful! Thank you again for stopping by.

Christmas Thank You!

Hope you all are doing well and getting ready for fast approaching holiday season! It is so hard to believe it is already December and I have not done one bit of shopping! Wish I could get back to when I started in October and had my entire house decorated the weekend following Thanksgiving!

Like many of us, there are those people who you want to give a little "thank you" gift to during Christmas and this is what I have done using the Christmas Chalk and MidWinter stamp collections From Artistic Outpost.  My little collection will be linked to Frilly and Funkie for the "Gift Tags and Note Cards" challenge.

I was wanting to go with a black and white theme (minus the chalk) with pops of green and red. The images were simply stamped using clear embossing ink and then white embossing powder. After I framed the moose another black layer was edged with embossing ink and powder, because I just liked it that way. Very easy and simple, but a nice little touch to give a cash gift or gift card.

Thank you for stopping by today and you have plenty of time to join in AO's new December Anything Goes Challenge, so come on and get inky!

Let It Snow!

Hope you all are doing well and getting ready for the upcoming Holidays! Hence is why I decided to go with a Christmas theme for Tim's November 12 Tags of 2013! And normally I would use all or mostly "Tim" products and stamps, but since Artist Outpost came out with the Christmas Chalk line in September, it just seemed like a natural fit to me! Not to mention Artistic Outpost is having a 15% off sale until November 18th, so stock up and use code November2013.

I followed the guidelines from Tim for the most part for the chalking technique.

I inked and chalked the frame from Christmas Chalk and then the little cottage scene from MidWinter, which I did mask off a little at each side to fit inside the framed area before inking with clear embossing ink.

And has the title of my blog posts states! This was stamped on white, shaded with black and layered up on black and green and I added foam underneath for a little extra dimension! Oh and of course a little extra chalk here and there. The snowflakes at the top are from Chalk It Up.

Enjoy the rest of your day or evening and as always, I deeply appreciate your visits! And if you have some of those fabby AO stamps, join in the November Referral Program!

Christmas In July AO Blog Hop!

Christmas In July and it is a Blog Hop with Artistic Outpost! It is never too early to start on those Christmas cards, tags or gifts ideas and the AO DT is here to inspire you! Join in on all the fun!

Gerrie, Lisa, Sue, Tracy, Linda, Alison, Terry (Me), Kate

I chose the MidWinter collection, which I absolutely love the vintage and homey style in these stamps! For the background, I stamped the pine needles randomly in Stazon Green on Shimmery paper, so pretty and adds that snowy feeling! Did shading with Antique Linen and Vintage Photo.

Tim's Clock was cut from Grunge paper and then painted white and again with a lighter green, crackled and then coated with Pine Needles stain. Added a little white paint for snow! The tinsel around the clock are actually trimmings from gold and green tinsel sprinkled over glossy accents. The beads/berries were colored with alcohol ink.

The lovely house was stamped on watercolor paper using Coffee Archival (tapping on to avoid the trees) and Stazon Green.  Squeezed Lemonade (windows), Barn Door (Chimney), Tumbled Glass and Stormy Sky (Sky), Antique Lined and Vintage Photo for shading using the water brush. A layer of Rock Candy Stickles was applied to the ground, roof and chimney top, with a thicker coating on the roof edge!

Hope you enjoyed the little cool down and there is still plenty of time to ink up your AO stamps for the July Monthly Referral Program, so join in fun and a chance to win!