Make The Cut and Make It Spooky Canvas

The challenge this week for the Simon Monday Challenge is Make The Cut. I love Halloween and have been planning (mostly thoughts running through my head) with projects for this fun day. Why not use some die cuts for my project and Make It Spooky?

I used a 5 x 7 canvas sealed with Claudine Hellmuth multi-medium matte to start my spooky house. Three papers were torn, inked with Black Soot and Mowed Lawn, and glued to the canvas. The green was used to look like green slime oozing out of the crack of the house. The burlap was cut, inked with more Mowed Lawn and glue on with the Matte. You can see where I glued some burlap on the right side, then pulled it off to get a little more texture. The door is framed in corrugated cardboard.

The window is the first die cut which was a little too big so I trimmed off the bottom to fit my canvas and painted it black and framed it with more of the corregated cardboard sprayed with Dylusions Ink Spray - Cut Grass.

You can see the finished window and now a witch is looking out from the window. I'll color her face green in a bit. 

The witch is a purple paper from Graphic 45 - The Magic of Oz.

The Sizzix - Tim Holtz Alterations Weathered Clock die was also cut using The Magic of Oz paper then the edges were inked with Black Soot.  I sprayed the clock with Dylusions Ink Spray - white linen. The hands of the clock were sprayed with Lemon Zest, inked with Black Soot, then positioned to allow the witch to keep peering out the window. I'll add something to secure the clock hands shortly. The Iron Gate die was cut using black paper but too dark to show up on the house. I sprayed it with Dylusions White Linen then again with Melted Chocolate for a rusty look.

The tree, also a die cut from Tim Holtz, was sprayed with the Melted Chocolate then Viva Crystal Gel - Hologram was applied after the tree was dried with a heat tool. I would have preferred to use a black tree but knew it wouldn't show up. 

A small black stick-on was added to the clock hands.   

The cat die cut is  from the Tim Holtz Movers and Shapers Mini Cat & Raven Set.

The spooky sign was stamped, inked, scrunched just a little,  and the edges rolled before it was glued to the house. You can really see the purple paper of the clock and the White Linen spray in this image. 

A dimensional tattered roof and upstairs window were added to complete the spooky house.

Challenges:

Simon Monday Challenge: Make The Cut

Letter To A Soldier - Airmail

The Simon Monday Challenge this week is Airmail, so my thoughts are airmail letters to soldiers. 

I would like to think this letter is a special one to a World War II soldier from his sweetheart.

The project began with a selection of Basic Grey porcelain dresden paper that had a nostalgic look. I have had the paper for some time and it must have been waiting for this project.

I opened an A2 envelope and traced it on the back of the Basic Grey paper, cut it out then inked with Ranger Distress Ink - pumic stone. 

The paper was not double sided so I cut a duplicate and glued them together and added more pumic stone to the back side of the envelope.

The front of the envelope was addressed to a special soldier and was ready for stamping. First a postage stamp from Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Collection - TINY THINGS was stamped on a separate piece of paper, colored a bit with a red colored pencil then glued on the envelope. The letter shows the cancellation mark and the date & place the letter was delivered to the care of the Postal Service.   These were from the Close to My Heart - Live Inspired stamp set. The Air Mail stamp is also from the same set.

A envelope contains a letter to the soldier expressing love and prayers. Nothing was more special to a soldier than a letter from someone at home.

There you have it, a Letter to a soldier - Airmail - Judy.

Going Green- Enjoy The Journey

For the Good to be Green Challenge over at Simon Says, I am going green in more ways than one. 

I am using a recycled cardboard muffin box for my tag. 

The tag was cut turned over to the plain side then sprayed with Ranger Dylusions ink spray LEMON ZEST Dyan Reaveley.

My second way to use green for the challenge was with Ranger Dylusions ink spray CUT GRASS Dyan Reaveley. While the green was still wet, I wanted to add texture to the green by rolling a roll of paper towels through the green spray. You can see the excess of green on the paper towel plus the texture pattern. 

The texture is beautiful. As the green was  absorbed on the paper towel, tiny bits of yellow became visible. I thought it looked like thousands of tiny leaves. 

A spritzer filled with water can also be used for additional effects. 

A flourish stamp from Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Flights of Fancy was stamped with Archival Coffee ink. The tag was spritzed with Sheer Shimmer Spritz Sparkle.

I'll add little drops of gold Stickles to the flourishes later in the process. 

Now time for flowers that were already shades of green and only needed a little misting with the Ranger Dylusions ink spray WHITE LINEN Dyan Reaveley. and Ranger Liquid Pearls gold.

Archival Ink Jet Black was used to stamp the Stampers Anonymous Tom Holtz Collection Simple Sayings  "enjoy the journey." The key represents the key to start the journey. It was also cut from recycled cardboard then painted with Ranger Antiqued Bronze Metallic Distress Paint by Tim Holtz and sprayed and dried several times with Ranger Dylusions ink spray WHITE LINEN and CUT GRASS Dyan Reaveley to get an aged affect.

 

On to the butterfly, which was stamped with Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Collection MINI BLUEPRINTS 2 using clear embossing powder directly on the tag and embossed with Ranger Super Fine Detail gold embossing powder. For the 3-D affect, I stamped the butterfly on velum using the same process. The butterfly was cut out and glued using only a little glue applied on the body; then the wings were gently fluffed and the second butterfly was glued on top of the first stamping with Glossy Accents.. 

To record the journey, a small booklet and brush were added. The booklet is Graphic 45 paper.  

Here you get a better glimpse of the shimmer spritz and the Stickles on the flourishes. 

The ribbon for the tag wasn't the shade of green I was looking for so Dylusions to the rescue again with a little CUT GRESS green ink spray. 

The ribbon was attach and a Tim Holtz Trinket Pin added.

Now you have it, my Good to be Green  tag. 

Challenges:

Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge: Good to Be Green

Journal Cover - Memories

Needing a gift for a teacher was my inspiration for this project. 

Many times teachers need to write notes or jot down reminders or even write about their teaching Memories. 

I have created a Journal Cover for a small notebook about 5 x 7 inches in size. 





The papers used in the project are Graphic 45 with stamps from Tim Holtz and Ali Edwards.

I made the measuring pieces by inking white paper with TH Mustard Seed and Wild Honey then stamping with 
TH Artful Tools. 
I cut the stamped image apart and inked lightly with TH Vintage Photo and along the edges with Black Soot.

The Tim Holtz Sizzix Die 

Mini Paper Rosettes along with 
Graphic 45 - Le Cirque paper was used to make the three rosettes. The front and back of this paper was used; the center brads are from Close to My Heart.

The notebook was covered with three Graphic 45 papers including a striped paper for the Simon Says Challenge - Stripes. Each paper was inked along the edges with Black Soot plus Vintage Photo on the red paper.

Glossy Accents was used to glue the paper to the notebook. I like to use Glossy Accents so I can nudge the paper before it dries.


I selected the Ali Edwards stamp 

for her unique handwriting and 
stamped it using Range Archival 
Ink - Jet Black then placed the 
measuring pieces around it. 



I stamped the brushes from the TH Artful Tools stamp and cut out a small brush.

The brush was attached just to the end of the word to look as if "memories" had just been written.

The assembly of the cover was just 

as fun as making the individual pieces. The cute little girl sitting at the school desk is from Graphic 45 - ABC Primer and the metal pieces are from a local hardware store.

Glossy Accents worked great in attacking the gears.

More gears and rosettes were added to the bottom section of the cover with a black piece of ribbon in the corner.




Open the journal and the first page 

included a pocket which was perfect for a couple of tags.
The "Telling Time" verse and 
"This book belongs to" tag are 
also from the ABC Primer collection and were inked with Black Soot.

Another touch was added 
to the 

bottom edge using TH Idea-ology 
Collection tissue tape - Elements.

There you have it, my project is ready to give to an appreciated teacher.

.

Challenges:

Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge - Stripes

Kraft Challenge with a Card

Simon Says is having a challenge this week that allows me to use one of my favorite kinds of paper- Kraft paper. 

This challenge allowed me to use kraft paper and cardboard plus lots of Tim Holtz Distress Stains and Distress Paint. 

 

My project began by 
using kraft paper 
and distressing it 
with TH Gathered Twigs.












Then embossing it with  

Sizzix Embossing Folder 
TH Alterations Textures Fades 
America Background and Border Set.

I used such a combination of Distress Stains and paints trying to get the look I was after. 

Stains: Barn Door, Salty Ocean, Antique Bronze, Tarnish Brass
Paints: Brushed Pewter, Chipped Sapphire, Barn Door, Picket Fence



I used a small paint brush 
on some of the raised letters at first but kept distressing with additional paint and stains.

I worked on the folder print for two days, painting, staining, drying, more painting, more staining. It took many times before I had what I thought I was looking for. 






Next I used another 
Sizzix Die - 
TH Alterations Old Glory. 

I used cardboard to cut the die 
then began distressing the flag with Barn Door, Brushed Corduroy Stain and Picket Fence Paint. I painted the stars again after this picture, you'll see in the final product.


After that I wasn't sure what I was going to do with my project, I didn't want a card, I wanted something bigger - a collage. It began with the inside of a pizza box. I started painting it with Picket Fence Distress Paint for a washed look.

The box also went through many stages with more layers of paint - Picket Fence and Tarnished Brass. Drying, painting and over again. The final layer was stamping with  TH Mixed Media and Ranger Archival Ink - Coffee. 

I printed a patriotic images of an 
eagle and shield from The Graphics Fairy on watercolor paper, tore the edges, stained then with Gathered Twigs and added just a tiny bit of color on the shield. 

I add a little blue to the shield at the end.



I started putting the collage together by just laying everything in place for a visual then adding a few more touches.

In a corner I stamped a USA from the TH Mini Blueprints CMS 146 with Ranger Archival Ink - Vermillion.  The reverse of the stars from the embossing folder was used as a stencil and dabbed with TH Brushed Pewter.



"Freedom" letters from 
Sizzix TH Alterations - 
Wanted Alphabet strip were used. These were cut from kraft paper then painted with 
Brushed Pewter Distress Paint.

There is a very light stamp of the Statue of Liberty Head just below the "Freedom" letters also from the Mini Blueprints CMS 146 collection of TH.

I added some burlap ribbon that I dabbed with Adirondack Dabber - Gold and began gluing it all together with CH Studio multi-medium matte.

Challenges:
Simon Says Stamp and Show - Kraft Challenge