Happy Father's Day

Hello!

It is Father's Day and I hope you are all giving the special men in your life some extra special love today.  A Happy Father's Day to my Dad, the best of the best.  You really are pretty amazing.  

I love this Tim Holtz Stamp Set, Bird Crazy.  I stamped him with Versafine Black Ink onto mixed media paper and painted him very loosely with my much loved Ken Oliver Colorbursts.  

He was fussy cut out and then paired with a mixed media background I had in my stash.  I used my Gel Press Plate and a rubber brayer, along with some craft store acrylic paints to make the print.  

I used the sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches~

Colors are from Sunday Stamps~ 

A few black sequins finish the card.  Sentiment is from a retired SSS stamp set. 

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

Lee Ann  

Supplies used in today's project(s)

Ken Oliver Color Burst Watercolor Powder Blick	Gel Press Printing Plates SSS | Blick
3M Scotch ATG Advanced Tape Glider SSS	Versafine Onyx Black Ink SSS | scrpbk
EK Success Cutter Bee Scissors SSS | scrpbk	Tonic Craft Guillotine Trimmer SSS
Canson Mixed Media Paper Blick	MISTI SSS
Gel Press Brayer SSS	Tim Holtz Bird Crazy Rubber Stamps SSS

Time Flies

 Hello All!  

Time is such a strange thing, don't you think?  Goodness, how it flies the older you get!  And boy, does it crawl when you are bored or doing something you do not like!  But in the end, time is indeed fleeting.  Spend it well! 

I did a bit of watercoloring with my fave- yes, my Ken Oliver Colorbursts- on some Tim Holtz watercolor card.  Once the paint was dry, I stamped the clock images from the Sweet n Sassy Stamps set, Time Well Spent.  To give the card an aged look, I used Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink.  For the main image, I stamped the smaller of the two clock images on a separate piece of Tim Holtz watercolor card using the same Brushed Corduroy Ink.  I stamped with my MISTI to allow my to stamp the image multiple times.  Once stamped, I used a wet brush to pull the color from the stamped edges into the image.  Once I was happy with the colored image, I stamped it again to crisp up the lines.  

Next, I took the wing images from the Going Postal Stamp Set and with my MISTI and a bit of masking,  stamped the wings on the sides of the clock, again using the Brushed Corduroy and pulling the color in with a wet brush.  I fussy cut the image out.  After stamping the sentiment in Walnut Stain Distress Ink, I popped the winged clock up on foam tape and added a few sequins to finish the card. 

I am linking up to Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge- Let's Be On Time

and Just Us Girls- 'Masking'. 

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a blessed weekend!

Lee Ann  

Freshly Made Sketches # 445

Hello and Happy Wednesday, All!

Oh, you are going to love the latest FMS sketch!  It is so unique and fun! Jen M. knocked it out of the park with this one.

Curious about the sketch?  Here you go!

For this card, I started with a background panel that I was hoarding.  It was made with Distress Spray Stains and a Tim Holtz Schoolhouse Stencil.  To that I added a black circle die cut and a strip of white cs to ground my butterflies.  The butterflies are from the Sweet n Sassy Stamps Flower Garden Stamp Set and were stamped with Versafine Onyx Black Ink on Neenah Solar White cs, then fussy cut out.
A sentiment from The Future Stamp Set (snss) was heat embossed with Brutus Monroe Alabaster White ep.

Head on over to the Freshly Made Sketches Blog to check out the rest of the amazing inspiration from the team, then join us!

Thanks for stopping by!

Lee Ann  

Simon Says Stamp
Picked Raspberry Spray Stain
Broken China Spray Stain
Mermaid Lagoon Spray Stain
Evergreen Bough Spray Stain

Sweet n Sassy Stamps
Versafine Onyx Black Ink
MISTI

Getting a Little Holtz-Like'

Hey All! 

I have been really enjoying following along with Tim Holtz's fb live demos.  I did a lot of ink smooshing with Distress Inks for this card~

This was actually the first card I made for Freshly Made Sketches #436, but after I was done, I did not do a good job of following the sketch! 
I used Tim Holtz Watercolor Paper and smooshed distress inks in yellows, oranges, pinks and reds onto my craft mat, then spritzed with water with the Distress Sprayer and smooshed my paper into the inky goodness.  I repeated this multiple times, drying in between, to get the spotty goodness.
Once I was happy with the distress ink panel, I stamped the butterfly from the Perspective Stamp Set in Versamark ink and heat embossed in black with Brutus Monroe Raven Fine Embossing Powder. 
The image panel was then die cut with a stitched rectangle die.  
To add more texture, I used a stencil and  some transparent embossing paste randomly on the panel.  Before the paste dried, I sprinkled some chunky antique gold embossing powder on it and heated it. 
The sentiment is from the Sweet n Sassy Stamp Set, Encouraging Thoughts Stamp Set and was heat embossed in Gina K Designs fine gold embossing powder.   

That's it for me!  I hope you like it. 
I am trying something new by trying to link all products below for your convenience.  Let me know what you think and if it is helpful or not. 

Have a great day! 

Lee Ann


Products Used~
Tim Holtz Distress Sprayer 
Tim Holtz Watercolor Cardstock
Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pads
Tim Holtz Cling Perspective Stamp Set 
Ranger Transparent Texture Paste
Ranger Non Stick Craft Sheet

Gina K Fine Gold Embossing Powder
Brutus Monroe Raven Fine Embossing Powder 

Sweet n Sassy Stamps Encouraging Thoughts Stamp Set from SnSS
Sweet n Sassy Stamps Encouraging Thoughts Stamp Set from Simon Says Stamp

Feathered Friend

Hello All!

I have been playing around with mixed media again, as my hands have seemed to have forgotten how to color.  So lots of inky goodness today, compliments of Tim Holtz~

Gesso Resist is a technique I wanted to revisit and one that I love.  I started with some Tim Holtz Mixed Media Heavy Cardstock, gesso and an old credit card.  I loaded one thin edge of the card with white gesso and very lightly pulled the card along the surface of the cs.  The gesso coated areas of the paper very thinly and dried almost immediately.
Next up, Distress Spray Stain in Candied Apple, Evergreen Bough and Wild Honey.  I spritzed Wild Honey Spray Stain on my craft mat and pulled the cs through it, spritzing and spraying water as I went along as well.  Once that was dry, used the Wild Flower Stencil and dabbed on some Distress Micro Glaze through some of the flower areas.  The micro glaze seals the paper making it waterproof.  I then spritzed some of the Evergreen Bough Distress Spray Stain over the leaf and stem areas.  Once dry, I added more Micro Glaze.
I then played with the Candied Apple, Evergreen Bough and Wild Honey Stains until I was happy with the look. 
Next up, another Bird Crazy Bird!  I colored this guy on Neenah Solar White paper and fussy cut him out.  A sentiment from the Sweet n Sassy Stamps In This Together Stamp Set and a few enamel dots finish it off.

I am linking up to Mix It Up Challenge~

That's it for me!  Thanks for stopping by,

Lee Ann 

Today I Played

Hello Everyone!

Today, I played.  And I enjoyed it! 
I have been in a crafty rut and really struggling with the creative process.  I came upon the Tim Holtz videos that he has been doing weekly, and started watching.  I have a few of his products, mainly inks, and I do enjoy some mixed media, but I have never done the kind of experimenting that he encourages.  You need to just go for it.  Be loose, lol.  That is sooooo not me.  I tried my best to just play, be loose, and go for it.  I did find myself trying to plan and did make an entire card in the end, but I PLAYED.  And I learned. 

Not the best card ever, but, someone will like it!  I started with Distress Paints that I have had for ages.  Not even sure why I bought them in the first place.  I quickly realized that you have to have colors that will go together well.  I did not have a great palette for that.  I ended up working with Barn Door, Wild Honey and Forest Moss.  In between the layers, I added some text using the Typewriter Text Background Stamp from Sweet n Sassy Stamps with Versafine Onyx Black Ink.  The Forest Moss quickly muddied everything so I dabbed a lot of that off.  I needed more color though, so I decided to use a stencil  and some Distress Micro Glaze.  Lesson Number 2- the Distress Micro Glaze does not work on top of acrylic paint; so when I applied my Peacock Feathers Distress Oxide over my stenciled with Distress Micro Glaze areas,  I just ended up with large areas of solid Peacock Feathers.  More dragging through the Barn Door and Wild Honey paints.  Colors started to blend and I ended up with lime greens, pinky purple and purple in the end.  I then spattered the entire background with black acrylic paint. 
It was looking a bit dark and muddied in areas and since the first go of stenciling did not work, I stenciled on some  Embossing paste with the Tim Holtz Burlap Stencil.  That was a bit too white, so I sponged on a bit of Peacock Feathers.  THAT was too blue so I patted on some white acrylic paint (insert eyeball roll here). 
Next, they easy part.  I stamped a  bird from Bird Crazy in Memento Black ink and loosely colored it with Copics, trying to mimic the colors in the background.  I fussy cut him out, stamped him directly onto the background with Versafine Onyx Black Ink and then adhered the colored version onto the card (once the ink was dry).  The sentiment is from an old retired SNSS set; I stamped it in the Versafine ink and then heat embossed it in clear ep.  Lastly, Glossy Accents was added to the eyeballs.  Final mistake- I forgot that I had added the Glossy Accents and stood the card up.  Of course the liquid pooled to the lower part of the eyeballs (insert another eyeball roll). 
I am so glad that I am trying new things.  I have always said I never have enough time; well now I have it.  May end up taking a class or two as well.  I have been wanting to take a drawing class from Sandy Allnock.  I certainly have the time! 

I am linking up to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge- E is for...
In my case, E is for embossing- both heat embossing and embossing paste.
 
I am also linking up to The Mod Squad Challenge- Add a Bird. 

Thanks for stopping by,

Lee Ann