Thank you for being my friend!

Have safe, happy and blessed Thanskgiving!

Splatter! Edited (edits in red)

Hi!  Did you have a fabulous weekend?  I sure did!  We celebrated Thanksgiving a bit early as ALL four of my kids were home this weekend!  It was the first time in what seems like forever that we have all been together!  We had a house full of family and friends yesterday - about 26 people in all!  It was glorious, everyone had a fantastic time!


I am running a bit behind (what else is new) on  A Compendium of Curiosities Challenge 22 so I am having another mad dash to post before the deadlines.   Good thing I work well under pressure! lol  Details about the challenge and prize can be found on the fabulous Linda Ledbetter's StudioL3 blog.  She has a new challenge every Monday!  This week we were told to turn page 52 for Alcohol Ink Splatter!


I started with some acetate (recycled from an old report cover) (so much for following directions), using a negative mask I spray painted the image with black paint on the acetate, after the paint dried I applied the technique of the week directly to the acetate and over the black paint, added some embellishments and was done!

Have a fabulous week!


Linda

Holiday Workshop Projects and Typeset Tutorial

On November 6 & 7 I was fortunate enough to take Tim (Holtz) Holiday Workshop classes here in Elk Grove!  We created three fabulous projects including a "Seasonal Memoirs" (holiday journal) (forgot to take a picture),

"Festive Creative Blocks" (canvas wall hanging)

and my favorite "Configurations of Your Imagination" (Configuration Shadow Box). 

One of the tricks we learned was how to make faux "type set blocks".  Did you realize the ones in my box were not "real" blocks?  They are super easy to make and here in my own words are what you do!

Supplies needed: Extra thick chipboard/cardboard (grungeboard could be used, but to "save" gb, Tim had us use chipboard), grungeboard letters, black Dabber (paint), distress ink, blending tool,  Studio Matte Medium (or other "glue"), sanding block (not pictured)

1) Using the Matte Medium glue grungeboard letter to chipboard, leaving a small space between the edge and the letter, trim chipboard so there is space between the letter and edge on all 4 sides.  (Trim before moving to the next step otherwise the block will be too thick to cut.)

2) Glue the chipboard with the grungeboard letter onto another piece of chipboard, aligning the edges. Trim as necessary so all the edges are even.

3) Once glue is dry, gently sand edges to blend seams. Wipe dust off.  (The left block has not been sanded in the picture below)

4) Paint black.    (Sorry, no picture here, but I think you can figure out this step!  Then again, you can probably figure out all the steps without pictures.   lol)

5) After paint dries, sand edges of chipboard to expose. Sand top of grungeboard letter to expose bits of the grungeboard. (Don't sand too much paint off, you want it looking distressed) Wipe dust off.

EDITED NOTE:  If you use chipboard letters/numbers when you sand be gentle as chipboard letters may disintegrate with sanding.

6) Apply ink with blending tool. I used vintage photo, resanded some and added aged mahogany.

There you have it, easy to make faux type set blocks!  If you want "real" type set blocks you have to glue the letters on backwards, so when the block "prints" on paper, the letter is right side up!

If you give this a try, please let me know how it worked for you!

In the next week or so, I will be stocking my Etsy store with items, including charms, ephemera, the "Festive Creative Blocks and "Configurations of Your Imagination" (Configuration Shadow Box) shown above.  I will let you know when I get the store stocked and hope you will drop by!

Take care,
Linda

I am not LAST this week or CCC challenge 21!

As the title implies, I am not (at least I hope I am not) the last one to post an entry for the 21st Compendium of Curiosities Challenge over at Studio L3!!!  I am excited as it seems lately, I have just been squeaking in before the deadline!  You have until Sunday evening (November 14) to get something posted! So if haven't checked out (the other) Linda's blog, you really need to get over there and check it out.

This week, I admit I had ahead start. . . I had the background paper already made. . .not because I knew what the challenge was going to be, but because I am working on "Save the Date" cards for my youngest daughter's wedding!  As long I am admitting things, not ALL the cards will have the "Perfect Distress" technique applied, in fact only a few, if any, will make it to the mail.

Here are 2 of the 50 or so backgrounds I had already made using the "smooshing" technique. 

 

Here's where I used the challenge's technique which can be found on page 38 of the Compendium of Curiosities.

The next few pictures are the almost final prototype I made to get the bride & groom's approval. . . .and it is not very pretty, a slip of a stamp is not a good thing, but it gave them a good idea of what the cards will look like. The prototype was also a learning exercise for me!  The most important lesson - emboss before attaching the elephants. lol

You can see the results of the Perfect Distress just above the elephant on the left.  And another important lesson - do not use too much "wet glue" (in this case Studio Matte Meduim) on the elephants.

This is the "almost final" prototype because the insert with all the details is on the computer waiting to get over it's virus. (Along with all the addresses to mail). The insert will be printed on the same blue as the heart between the elephants and mounted on the darker blue inside. I need to make a slight design change as Kristine has requested the heart only have K + R.

I will spend most of the weekend getting the cards put together as much as possible, finishing a wedding album for a co-worker, making a few miscellaneous cards and getting ready for Rebecca (my daughter who lives in Hawaii) to come home on Tuesday and Erinn & Kristine will be here Thursday night!!!  I am excited all 4 kids will be home and we get to celebrate Thanksgiving together on the 20th!   What are your plans for the weekend?

Hope your weekend is fabulous!

Linda

PS - If you were one of the winners from my drawing on Halloween, I haven't forgotten you, it just seems like I blink a days have flown by.  I apologize for the delay and will get your prizes out to you soon!

PSS  - A special thank you to my awesome son, Joseph, who has been uploading pictures for me so I can get them posted!

CCC #20

The 20th challenge over at StudioL3 could be found on page 54 of the Compendium of Curiosities - Industrial grunge.  

Sharon Jane & I are making a pack of cards for a raffle prize.  My intent is to use the stars on  a 4th of July card but it didn't get quite finished yet.