Another ATC, another challenge

I have been working on ATCs for the cruise for awhile and try to work them into challenges as much as I can.  Today I created a couple of ATCs for the Gingersnap Color Challenge #64  -Yellow, Orange, & Red.  I could not decide which one I liked better so I am posting both, since they both fit!  Be sure to check out the link and see all the other creations for this challenge!

This first one I used a piece of "recycled" tea box, covered with gesso, then added yellow, red and orange oil pastels, covered that with a thin coating of multi-medium.

For the 2nd ATC, I used Alcohol Inks-including copper (it looks brown in the picture). The stamp is one of Tim's.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Linda

Trip Planner

If you read the comments on this post, Charlene was right.  She knows the secret and it's all hers! 

It all started with a simple plan based on some light harassment.   The "light harassment" came from me, not that I make it a habit to harass or tease you understand.  It was just an odd moment for me, really.  The recipient was Charlene!

Charlene & I were talking about the cruise and things that we needed to do, plan, prepare, etc.  She said something about making lists and having everything planned out so she knows what she is doing and when she is supposed to do it. As she says, she is not the spontaneous sort. Me on the other hand, I can go either way, plan it or wing it. . . once the  vacation is planned and I know the general plan, I usually switch to wing it mode.  One thing lead to another (this was over a couple of weeks) and I told her to hold off on a planner.  This was probably sometime in June.

Luckily for me, Charlene had a trip to ComicCon a couple of weeks ago, so that was distracting her (at least I hope it was) from the fact I hadn't come through with the planner.  Since she got back, I reminder her not to get a planner.  I have worked on it steadily, but it just kept growing, and Growing and GROWING!!!   Even as I was putting finishing touches on it Sunday, I thought of and added 2 more elements!

I am happy to say on Sunday, August 1, she finally got her planner!  The original idea was to buy a binder, alter it a bit and hand it over.  That lasted as long as it took me to go to a couple of stores, looked at what was available, and decide that I  could use my bind-it-all and make something much better.  Simple, but better.

I started with a composition book and tore it apart - literally.  I wanted the covers for the journal.  I covered the front with grungepaper AFTER I applied the CCC Week 4 technique to it.  I also ran the (horizontal) center through my  Sizzix "Burlap" Texture Fade, added the label, dusted off my Fastenator, applied some alcohol ink to the fastener and came up with this. 

Not all the tabs are visible, but there are 16, one for each day we are gone plus one to get "ready", "set", and "go".  Don't worry, I am not showing  you everything, just my favorites. . . I will leave some for Charlene to show on her blog too!   Like I said, the planner kept growing, and there are not bind-it-all wires that are big enough, so then the plan was to use Tim's "D-rings".  Guess what? They weren't big enough either.  I ended up using  "giant" (3" binder) rings!

In addition to each tab, I included a pocket on the back of each tab, at least 4 pages for notes and journaling, confirmations we have already received (i.e., ship's itinerary) and a page for photos.  One other feature, since this is a rather "lumpy" book and writing in would be difficult, I made a portable "writing table" that can be slipped under the page she is writing on!

Even though it took me forever to complete, it was a fun project!  I used lots of techniques, some tried and true like "smooshing" (distress ink & water or alcohol inks on the craft mat then smoosh the paper into it)  and some new techniques like the page above with the ship.  For that page I lightly painted the paper in a couple of colors, wiped it off,  then stamped, then added a couple of collage elements. 

The "real" reason I made it for Charlene is so she will have all the details and I won't have to remember anything except to have fun!

So now you know what the "secret" project that kept me MIA!  If I am mostly MIA for the next couple of weeks, I will be getting ready for my youngest daughter's engagement party!   Hope you have a fabulous week.

Linda

PS - Watch Charlene's blog for more of the journal, but she may wait until we are back from the cruise as she said she'd show it a page at a time after she filled it up.

With days to spare (and a special request)

With days to spare I went into overdrive for the 3rd week of  Compendium of Curiosities Challenge (CCC) at Studio L3!   Using this week's challenge -Alcohol Ink Monoprint - I created a ton of ATC backgrounds (about 30!) and 4 card backgrounds!  I have even managed to complete 6 ATCs!!!  I have other ATCs in progress and a few that are being "re-purposed" (or you could ATCs I screwed up and "saved" them by using in other projects! lol)

Now I find a fabulous way to use a fragment!  (The piece under the fragment is one of the re-purposed pieces I mentioned above!)   The tree image is a Penny Black Stamp using Staz-on Jet Black.  The sentiment is by Great Impressions. The birds in the top left corner are from one of Tim Holtz' Visual Artistry set.

Next up is an ATC that not only works for the CCC but also the Gingersnaps Challenge #57 - Wings The sentiment was stamped using Staz-on Jet Black from a Hampton Art Stamps. (The background of the main words is another re-purposed piece!) The background stamp is Hero Art's, "Sandra's Letter Background" stamp. I used Coffee Archival Ink.  The hearts and wings are grungeboard.  The hearts and small wings were inked with Distress Ink (Hearts -Barn Door; wings Vintage Photo, I think).  The large wings were covered with Distress crackle paint (Vintage Photo). 

And here is a glimpse of the "ton" of ATC backgrounds that are waiting to become masterpieces!

If you are lucky, I will show you the other ATCs later in the week, unless of course I get distracted and make something else!  Did you see Tim's (Holtz) post today? Did you know I can get distracted pretty easily? lol  And if you haven't looked at his post, you really should! Then you will understand!

Before you leave, I have a request.  My son-in-law, Tim, (not to be confused with Tim Holtz) is preparing to depart on a deployment as I type. He is in the US Army.  He will be gone for quite awhile.  My daughter is 1,000s of miles away from the rest of her family.  Please say prayers and/or send good thoughts for his safe return and for them both to looked after by angels. 

 I love you Rebecca and Tim. 

Take care,

Linda

Gettin' Ready

Editorial note: I really try to keep my posts short, but did not even come close to succeeding this time! Grab a favorite beverage, sit back and enjoy. If you want to see my creations, just skip to the bottom!

We may have 100 days or so until we leave for our FABULOUS cruise, but we are getting ready, NOW! Charlene and I started looking at excursions to see what we want to do in each of our ports. . .I am pretty easy to please (although my husband might disagree with that, lol) - my one big thing I want to do while on the cruise is have lobster somewhere. . .I mean if you are in Maine, you gotta have lobster at least once, right? Other than that I am willing to do just about anything. Charlene is the planner and is very organized about trips, so I sent her a list with 2 or 3 things that looked fun in each port and now it is in her hands. She also selected activities in each port and then compared the lists. She said they were very similar, so she is going to do some research and see if we book through the ship or find something independently. It's so much fun to imagine the possibilities!

When we get back from the cruise, my friend Chris is going to pick us up at the port and then we are heading up to Sleepy Hollow area and are going to the Blaze Saturday night! Charlene was there for the first year when they had 1,000 carved Jack O'Lanterns and said it was AWESOME!!! This year there will be 4,000 carved Jack O'Lanterns! Both Charlene & Chris love Halloween and decorating their houses! I am looking forward to the seeing the Blaze too!

What I am looking forward to at least as much as the cruise is seeing Mamma Mia on Broadway in NYC!!!! That is what we are going to do on Sunday evening! I bought our tickets on Thursday! If you heard a strange noise it was probably me cuz' I was super excited about getting the tickets! Our seats are FRONT & CENTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you are planning on seeing a play in NYC I would suggest you check out Telecharge.com, prices there were almost half the price that I found at other ticket brokers.


I guess since we've been talking and planning about the cruise so much this past week, it put me in the ATC mode yesterday! The plan is to make 150 or so, we'll see how that goes. Last year I planned to make 160 for the Mexico cruise but only got around to making about 75 I think. It turned out a perfect number, I only brought home 2 or 3 of my own.

This one was the first. . .the background is one the "oops" from the water stamping experiment on Monday. I stamped a "tire track" (Art Impression) in frayed burlap, the sentiment (Hero Arts) was stamp and cut apart, the motorcycle is by Jolee's. (Unless otherwise noted, it is Tim Holtz stuff) The others are all "cheaters", the backgrounds were all leftover from last year and are alcohol inks. The butterfly ones have a 7 gypsy transparency over them. The "believe" stamp is Wendy Vechhi's. Even though you can tell in the pictures, the butterflies are both sprayed with Perfect Gold Perfect Pearls. I received the butterflies in a swap awhile back.

The butterfly on the red "Mona" is a small Sizzix flower with 2 petals cut out, don't ask what color because it was in my stash and I don't remember, but it is stamped in Rusty Hinge.  (While making roses on Scrappin' Saturday, as she cut the petals SJ said, "Hey, that looks like a butterfly!"  She's right, it does!  Thank you for the idea!!!)    FLY was stamped on some scraps of the water stamping pieces, cut out and covered with Glossy Accents.    The sentiment was stamped on yet more "oops" water stamping pieces, cut out and attached with glossy accent.  The dictionary piece  (under the "T" [misc. brad], above Mona's head) had been attached to "fragment"  I tried to put a hole in it with my crop-o-dile.  It didn't work so well, but when the fragment snapped into two pieces, it left the dictionary piece in tact with a covering of Glossy Accents, so I used it!

If you are going on the cruise and you see an ATC or two you love, let me know and I will set it aside. And if you love it as much in person, it's yours!  If you are not going on the cruise and see an ATC you love, let me know and I will send it to you!

Hope you are having a fabulous weekend!

A few weeks ago Charlene told me about a project she was working on.   Her church is having a beach party today (June 6) and she was in charge of the favors.  She wanted the favors to be picture frames.  She had a good idea of what she wanted and could even "see" them, but wasn't quite sure how to get there.  To keep with the theme of the party she wanted something "beachy" but not tropical.  She wanted to use dominos with alcohol inks. She wanted to know if I would help.   Are you kiddin' me?  Of course I want to PLAY!  All that ink PLUS spending time with Charlene - that has the makings of a fantastic day!

Last Saturday (May 29)  morning Charlene brought over stacks of glossy finish photo frames (75 to be precise),  some dominos, some Perfect Pearls,and some distress ink ! She wanted a little sparkle on the frames.  We tried perfect pearls, straight - not enough color.  We tried perfect pearls with water and painted it on - more color, but still not enough.  We tried adding Distress ink with a blending tool, we tried alcohol ink, we tried lots of combinations.  (The backs of the frames also had the same glossy finish, so the experiments continued on the back.) 

We ended up using one of my favorite techniques. . .applying Distress Ink to a craft mat, spritzing with water (and perfect pearls) and smooshing!  (That's Charlene getting ready to smoosh!)  We ended up with 2 color combinations - one pastel, one bright.

For the dominos, we lined 78 (more or less)  dominos on two craft mats, inked up the inking tool - one with bright colors and the other with light colors.  We were done in about 5 minutes.  Then we inked up the lighthouse stamps (I think they are Stampin' Up) and stamped half the dominos with each stamp.  (That took us a little longer than 5 minutes, lol!)

A fantastic day it was, but  it was time for Charlene to go home and take all the pieces with her. We did more that just play  -  we took a field trip to Stampers' Corner, picked  up a birthday cake for her daughter, dropped off the cake at her house and went out to lunch.

Charlene assembled all the pieces by herself  (and with her permission) here they are, well two of them anyway:

Didn't she do a fabulous job?  I love the "light" in the light houses!

Please note, newer posts are below this one.  Thanks for stopping by!

******February 10, 2010, update ***** 
I still plan to have the drawing on February 15, however, we are dealing with a MAJOR family medical issue, that could cause a delay in the drawing. If it is delayed, I will have the drawing as soon as possible after the 15th but no entries after the 14th as stated below will be accepted.  Thank you for your patience and understanding.  Linda

Finally! I finally got my magic carpet ticket! So, are you having FUN yet?  One World One Heart was started in 2007 by Lisa Swifka as a way for bloggers to meet other bloggers!  As I just started my blog about 1 month ago, this is my first year participating!   I am  excited to participate and am happy that you have dropped by!  Please take a look around, leave a comment and come back often for a visit!

What took me the longest to join this awesome event was trying to decide on a prize.  So here is what I came up with, I hope you like the prizes!  The will be two (2) winners.  The first prize package includes 2 gift tags created by me along with a brand new package of Tim Holtz' Visual Artistry "The Journey" stamps.  I have a set of the same stamps and used them to create the 2 tags!

Prize 1

The 2nd prize package is some "process" art.  I made a similar piece for an art class I took last year and had so much fun, I decided to make other pieces!!  I used spray paint and alcohol ink.  (I like it in person much better than the photo.)

Prize 2

To win, just leave a comment by 11:59 p.m. PST ("California" time) on February 14, 2010.  I will use a random number generator to select the winners on February 15, 2010.  The first name chosen will get his or her choice of prizes and the second name chosen will get the other prize.  Please be sure to leave a way for me to contact you.   I will contact each winner and will post the winners on my blog.   I look forward to "meeting" you!  Please feel free to "follow me".  

Good luck!  Hope we get a chance to visit soon!

Take care, be safe,

Linda