Hero!

Here we are at the start of May and that means a new Product Focus at Artistic Outpost and we are being "Patriotic"! I chose stamps from the "Hero" collection and you will just have to visit the rest of the team to see what they came up with right here Kate, Shari, Tracy, Lisa, Gerrie. All stamps is the Patriotic category are also 20% off through May 9th as well!

The flag image was colored with Stampin Up markers Not Quite Navy, Night of Navy, Real Red and Black. After I huffed and puffed to reactivate the inks (and felt dizzy), I stamped the image to white card stock. The background was then inked over in Distress Stormy Sky, Fired Brick and shaded with Vintage Photo and Black Soot in the corners.

I decided to collage images around the flag, which were stamped in Black Archival. The two Hero sentiments were stamped in Black Archival as well and then clear embossed. I stamped a third Hero and cut it apart and shaded around the edges with red and blue!

As this is the beginning of the month, the new "Show Us Your AO Art" has started and we would love to have your AO inky goodness join us! Thank you for visiting me today and have a wonderful week!

Spring Colors AVJ Style!

Spring Colors are in order at AVJ and chosen by the lovely and fabulously talented Astrid! Keeping in Tim style (but of course) the team has some really wonderful and inspirational art to share with all of you, so be sure to hop on over and even better, join in! There is a prize offered from Country View Crafts, our generous sponsor!

The burlap panel was painted with Distress Peeled Paint, Deco Art Desert Turquoise and Hansa Yellow. The outer edge was shaded using Vintage Photo. When dried, I applied modeling paste through the Harlequin stencil and while still wet sprinkled on Distress Powder Peeled Paint, Verdigris, Antique Linen, a dark blue unknown name and gold. Let that stay on for awhile and then heat set to get a little shine and rough texture from the bubbled paste. Next I added some tissue tape and colored the butterflies with Sharpie Markers and a little trim.

The paper flower is one I have had for a couple of years and liked how the colors worked for this canvas, so I distressed the edges with Vintage Photo. Using the Pine Cone die, I cut the little branches from grungepaper, colored with Distress Stains Peeled Paint, Wild Honey and shaded in Vintage Photo.

The little birds were cut from Tim's Wallflower Paper and applied with gel medium. Next added a couple of Chit Chat stickers.

Thank you for stopping by today and have a glorious weekend!

A Masculine Birthday!

A big hello to all of you and hope you are doing well! It will shortly be my Grandson's Birthday and so I thought a fun masculine tag was in order!

Steampunk, Paperboy and Secretary Pool all stamps from Artistic Outpost were stamped in Black Archival directly to the tag. Each of the four areas were masked off and then inked over with Tumbled Glass and then I flicked on some water.

Next with the masking still over the stamped areas, I stamped the text from Paperboy using Dove Grey from Stazon, shaded the edges with Vintage Photo and using a toothbrush flicked on some Vintage Photo Stain.  Distressed the edges and stained the tie. No metal as this will be going on an airplane and no need to be screened! Keeping it simple!

Thank you for visiting me today and enjoy the day!

Open! Open! Open!

It is a "This and That" blog hop with Artistic Outpost and I chose The Baker and Windows and Doors to play along! Be sure to visit the entire team for more fabulous inspiration!.

Tracy, Gerrie, Kate, and Lisa. 

You have about a week left to join in the monthly "Show Us Your AO Art" challenge, so hope you are inspired by all of us to share your AO inky greatness!

I just love this little Baker and I don't know if I told you or not, but my Grandson in Portland is in the process of opening up his own little "Food Cart" and that was the inspiration behind my card.

All images were stamped in Black Archival, inked with Antique Linen, Vintage Photo and colored with Stampin Up markers.  The background Brick Texture Fade was inked over in Fired Brick (of course) and a little Vintage Photo and then I applied Black Archival directly to the embossing folder to set in the grout! I always give a quick spray of matte sealer to all my inked images.

Thank you so much for visiting today and I hope you have enjoyed your visit!

Spring Is Here!

"Spring Is Here" in my neck of the woods (or desert) and I hope you are enjoying some warm and lovely springtime weather as well! Today I am using Artistic Outpost stamps from Flower Market and Birds of A Feather for my little tag.

The tag was cut from vanilla card stock and Distress Peacock Feathers and Squeezed Lemonade were inked through the Lattice stencil. Next I inked over the entire tag with Antique Linen and shaded the edges with Vintage Photo and then distressed the edges. The little butterflies and dragonflies were stamped in Black Archival.

The frame was cut from a burlap sheet using ODBD Vintage Labels and also shaded with Vintage Photo.  The sweet little butterfly catcher, along with the butterflies were stamped in Black Archival and watercolored using the above inks as well. Her skin tone was done with Spun Sugar. The sentiment was stamped and cut apart! "Everything Goes" at Inspiration Journal, so we are going!

Thank you for stopping by for a visit today. I have been taking advantage of a little yard duty before it becomes too hot here!      

April Showers!

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend! I have wanted to play along with The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge for awhile and today, I decided I was going to play along with "April Showers" using Mr. Umbrella Guy, Alpha Letters and Speckles texture for that rain effect bringing on those May Flowers!  They have a wonderful DecoArt  prize package for 3 winners and that is very tempting! Most of the products I used are actually from the DecoArt Media line or Americana also DecoArt. Frilly and Funkie's current challenge is "Spring Time Die Cuts" and I have used Mr. Umbrella Guy and Butterflies!

It all began with a 6" x 6" canvas, which was gesseod and then painted with a mix of Phthalo Green-Blue, Ultramarine Blue and Opaque White and blended with a baby white. I also added a little Quinacridone Gold. The brickwork first had a path painted using a mix of Quinacridone, Raw Umber and Carbon Black lightly dry brushed in. The texture bricks was a combination of Quinacridone Gold, Raw Umber and Raisin Alcohol Ink mixed with Modeling Paste. I wanted a rough texture and when dried, Carbon Black was used to highlight. The sun was a bit bright and some of the background colors just did not show up well, so sorry.

The pot was a plastic cap that I saved from our refrigeration water filter and cut it in half, spray primed and then applied black gesso, One Step Crackle and then a mix of QG and Naphtnol Red. The pot was filled some long stem roses, moss and a trellis made with the help of oval dies and thin strips of black card stock. The Butterfly Frenzy were leftovers cut and inked from tissue wrap.

The Umbrella Guy was cut from black chipboard, painted with Black Chalkboard Paint and the umbrella handle was colored with silver metallic paint. I cut and trimmed a second umbrella piece from grunge paper and that was painted with QC.

Thank you very much for stopping by and have a wonderful week!

Transportation and Aviation!

A big "Hello" to all of you and I hope you are enjoying some wonderful springtime weather. I was not able to join in Monday for Artistic Outpost's Product Focus, but I could not resist sharing a SALE with you and of course inking up my SteamPunk stamps! All stamps in the "Transportation and Aviation" area are 20% off through April 11. And as always the "Show Us Your AO Art" is up and running and waiting for your wonderful creations!

Wanting to keep it very masculine, I chose colors of Antique Linen, Vintage Photo and of course black! All images were stamped in Black Archival.

I so love this gent daydreaming about his travels and so patiently waiting for his train to arrive and take him on his long awaited journey.

The black tag background was stamped using the gears from Industrial Backgrounds and bleach. I happen to love that effect, but certainly not the smell! I also ran the edges of the tags along the bleached paper towel and flicked on some using a toothbrush.

This card I am sharing went to a friend who has lost someone very dear to her and my heart just aches for her loss. I find it so difficult to make a card for someone who is grieving as I tend to get pretty emotional. The background was inked, debossed and then flattened and then I embossed the card stock using the same folder and highlighted it. The sentiment is from AO's Flower Market.

Thank you so kindly for stopping by to visit and have a fabulous week.

A Gentleman!

I hope you all are doing wonderful and having a great start to April. Well I had a busy finish to March as we went to Wisconsin for just about week, so that is why I have been a little MIA. Of course it takes me forever these days to do anything and that includes planning and making arrangement for a trip! However as most of you now know, my little great-grandbaby Hailey came out for a visit! Totally cool!

Anyway, I am sharing this handsome "Hat's Off" gentleman over at Artistic Outpost today. If you would like to see all the details, just click HERE.

Thank you for stopping by today and I will be catching up with all you fabulous artists! Enjoy the weekend and Happy Easter!

I Can See Clearly Now!

"Through The Looking Glass" is the current challenge at AVJ and Julia wants to see a Tim inspired project that incorporates glass, acetate, mirrors, metal sheet, a window, clock face, a hand held mirror or glass bottle. You get the idea! Now for a chance to win a prize and now that our challenges run an entire month, the prize $$ has gone up. Big thanks to our sponsors at Country View Crafts. Make sure to visit AVJ and check out all the DT fabulousness! I have to give a great big shout out to JOY at Inspiration Emporium, who has so generously gifted me the $50 gift certificate for my Blog Candy! Thank you, Joy and IE! Wow!

The image was stamped in Black Archival, clear embossed, and segmented areas were water colored using markers. Once dried, masked and inked over in Antique Linen and Vintage photo. Next I flicked on some water, Black Embossing Paste was applied through Tim's eye chart stencil. When that was good and dry, I stamped a couple of Tim's minis using Black Archival and using Walnut Stain stamped the crackled background.

Oh and before I forget, the winner of my $50 blog candy gift certificate to Inspiration Emporium is the one and only Trash to Treasures,  LYNN! Congratulations and enjoy your shopping spree.

This is kind of my reminder to go those eyes checked! Thank you for stopping by today and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

No Fooling!

Hello all you lovely people. I have been MIA as we were away visiting family and while there,

I became a great-grandma!

Here is my Christina with Hailey!

Anyway, I just wanted to share a few photos and I will be visiting you all as quickly as I can. Please stop back tomorrow for the newest AVJ challenge and I will announce the winner of my blog candy as well.

Hope you are having a wonderful start to April and thank you for stopping by!