Industrial Grunge Tag for TT

After seeing that the Theme Thursday challenge was 'Masculine', I knew just what I'd make. I recently came across this metal canvas piece by Hermine, one of my favorite artists, and was inspired to try something similar, but using different materials.

I started with a tag cut from cardstock, using Tim Holtz's Tag and Bookplates die. Next, I cut chipboard gears using both the Mini Gears and the Gadget Gears dies. I tacked them onto the tag with a bit of glue and then covered it with foil tape (I didn't use it, but Ranger's Inkssentials Foil Tape Sheets would be perfect for this!). After burnishing it, I coated the whole thing with black paint, using an Adirondack Pitch Black Paint Dabber. After a bit, I wiped it off, making sure some paint stayed in the creases.

After the paint was dry,  I added stamped images from Artistic Outpost's London Underground and the new Apothecary stamp collections. If you don't have these yet - you need them! And if you use my code: stamptramp, you'll get 10% off of your order. :-)

Once my stamped pieces were attached using Inkssentials Wonder Tape and the Idea-ology Tiny Attacher, it was just a matter of loading up the tag with some cool Idea-ology bits and pieces! I've used Sprocket Gears, Numerals, Muse Token, Light Bulb, Washers, Mini Fasteners, Swivel Clasps, and Long Fasteners.

Don't forget, there's still time to enter the Inspiration Emporium  'Texture It' challenge! Check out the fantastic artwork by the Inspiration Team and read all about the challenge here. You could be the lucky winner of a $50 gift certificate!

A Witch's Apothecary

Have you seen the new rubber stamp releases from Artistic Outpost? If not, you're in for a treat! They have three new stamp sets that you will definitely want to own: Halloween Treats, which features wonderful vintage Halloween images and labels; Apothecary, a fantastic vintage ode to your local pharmacist; and Frosty and Friends, which is full of delightful and whimsical Christmas and winter images. I love them all! If you enter my discount code: stamptramp, when purchasing anything from Artistic Outpost, you'll receive a 10% discount - how cool is that?!

When I saw the vintage label stamps on the Apothecary and Halloween Treats sets, the wheels in my (somewhat) crazy mind started turning. I just happened to have a nice little collection of bottles and skulls - why not combine them all into a Witch's Apothecary?

Adirondack Dabbers in Silver and Pitch Black helped transform my dollar store skeleton parts into metal-looking embellishments for my bottles.

A little twine, some MeltArt beeswax, and your witch's brews are sealed tight. The labels were stamped with Jet Black Archival ink, aged with Brushed Corduroy Distress ink, and adhered using Claudine Hellmuth's Matte Multi Medium.

The boney bits were attached to the corks using Idea-ology Memo Pins and wire.

The Idea-ology Word Key was given a rustic look with a little bit of Walnut Stain Distress embossing powder. It's attached to the twine using an Idea-ology Charm Clip and a Jump Ring.

The wooden disk (craft store) was stained with Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain Distress stain. I also added some layers of color using various Adirondack Dabbers.

It's so hot right now in Mississippi - this project has me longing for fall! Now is the perfect time to get a head start on your Halloween and Christmas projects, so make sure you go check out these wonderful Artistic Outpost releases. Don't forget to enter my coupon code: stamptramp to get 10% off your order!

An Easel Card for Grungy Monday!

Well, after a two week absence, I'm finally back! I really didn't mean to take such a long break, but life kept getting in the way of studio time. Hate when that happens! This week is a bit calmer, so I'm hoping to have lots to share in the coming days.

I don't know how many of you are fans of Pinterest, but I am seriously addicted! I spotted this card that someone had pinned from A Path of Paper. I fell in love and knew it would be my next project. I'm sure I'm embarrassingly late to the easel card party...I'm always so behind the times. ;-)

Ooooh, here it is doing its easel thing. Amazing! I changed mine a bit from the inspiration piece - mostly by using chipboard for my 'platform' and also on the top. I really wanted this to be sturdy and I thought card stock would be a little flimsy for the look I wanted.

This is one of my favorite parts! It's my new invention - Faux Crazed Porcelain. How cool is it?? I know I am a bit obsessed with the whole porcelain/enamel thing, but really, this is insanely cool. The tutorial will be up on my blog and also on the Inspiration Emporium blog next Tuesday, so make sure you check back to see how it's done!

Ah - here is my Grungy Monday bit! This week we were inspired to use Tim Holtz's Rock Candy products - either Rock Candy Distress Stickles or Rock Candy Crackle paint. It's so hard to see, but my French text flowers are coated with Rock Candy Stickles. It adds such a nice sparkle and also gives the paper a little extra body.

My favorite part! Think of all the cool stuff you could fill these drawers with. I think I'm going to try making a little dresser next. Wouldn't that be amazing?!

This little drawer is filled with all kinds of Idea-ology bits and pieces. The size is just perfect to hold stuff like this. I think it would also be fun to do a tea-themed box with different tea bags tucked into each drawer.

 

I got the idea for this clip from the brilliant Tammy Tutterow. She is a genius when it comes to altering things with paint and embossing powder. In one of her recent posts she showed us how to paint metal elements using Adirondack Dabbers and then emboss them for an enameled look. So cool! Like most of these pictures, you definitely want to click on it for the larger version.

So many little drawers! This one holds a roll of Idea-ology Tissue tape. It's a perfect fit! I love how well the Idea-ology Hitch Fasteners work as little knobs.

This is another piece I made using the Faux Crazed Enamel. Doesn't it look like a real metal enamel tag? So easy to make!

Here is another shot of the card/box with the top down. Since the theme for Simon Says Stamp and Show is Anything Goes, I'm also entering it for that challenge!

Don't forget that Inspiration Emporium also has a challenge this month. The theme is embossing and you could win  $50 gift certificate! Read all about it here. Thanks so much for stopping by - I promise I'll be back with some more fun stuff in the next few days!

Products used:
Stamps: Tim Holtz - Stuff to Say, Reindeer Flight, Winged Things 1
Ink: Ranger Distress ink - Brushed Corduroy, Barn Door, Ranger Distress Stain - Vintage Photo
Embellishments: Idea-ology Hitch Fasteners, Hinge Clips, Swivel Clasps, Long Fasteners, Game Spinners, Philosophy Tags, Foliage, Light bulbs, Game Pieces, Washers, Muse Tokens
Paper: Idea-ology Kraft Resist, Kraft Glassine, Tissue Tape, Adage Tickets
Adhesive: Inkssentials Wonder Tape, Rock Candy Distress Stickles, Scotch Advanced Tape Glider
Paint: Adirondack Paint Dabber - Pitch Black, Ranger Distress Crackle Paint - Picket Fence
Dies and Embossing: Sizzix Mini Labels, Weathered Clock, Collage and Notebook Texture Fades

Cheepers!

Hi everyone! I haven't had much time to blog lately, but wanted to share a pic of our new baby, Cheepers! She was hatched out in an incubator a couple days ago. Unfortunately, she was the only one to hatch, so she'll be an only child for a bit. I'm taking a quick trip to Nashville to drop my son off at the airport (will miss him so much!). Hope to be back to creating sometime this week!

Grungy Monday #14, Simon Says Stamp & Show, & a Brand New Challenge!

I had a little extra time this afternoon and thought I'd hurry up and get my Grungy Monday challenge done. This week our inspiration comes from Tim Holtz's March technique from 2008. It's a resist technique using Adirondack Dabbers (love them!) and homemade shimmer mist. This technique is absolutely gorgeous; the photos don't do it justice at all!

Simon Says Stamp and Show asked us to use a flourish this week. I used one of my favorite little flourish stamps from Tim Holtz's Nature's Discovery stamp collection. My background is from the Papillon stamp set and was stamped using a Snow Cap Dabber.

My sweet little bird and cage were cut using the Sizzix Mini Bird and Cage dies. The cage was given a metallic look with my faux tarnished metal technique, and hangs from an Idea-ology Swivel Clasp along with an Idea-ology Philosophy Tag. The bird was painted with Picket Fence Crackle Paint. I loved the look, but it was a little dull. I wondered what it would look like with a nice, shiny coating of UTEE.Ooooh, it looks so cool! Like crackled enamel. What's also neat is that the top layer will crack too, if you bend it, so you get a multi-layered crackling thing going. I love experimenting!

Speaking of embossing - it's a new month, which means a new challenge over at the Inspiration Emporium blog! This month your challenge is to use any kind of embossing. One lucky participant will win a $50 gift certificate, so get out those powders and folders and get busy!

4th of July Rosette Wreath

Happy Independence Day to all of my American friends! I hope you're all having fun celebrating with friends and family. At my house, we're especially excited because my son, Luke, is home for the first time since he joined the Air Force in February! It feels like old times and I will be shedding more than a few tears when he has to leave for his new base.

In honor of the holiday, I created a patriotic wreath using Tim Holtz's Sizzix Rosette Die. I wish I could claim this as my own idea, but I can't! I found it while browsing on Pinterest (tell me I'm not the only one addicted to that site!). It's from All You magazine. I adapted it to my own taste and what I had on hand. The paper is from a pad that I've had for years and never used. That's why I hoard - you just never know when something will come in handy! Since the directions called for different sizes, and I don't have the Mini Rosettes die (yet!), I had to improvise.Here's a quick tute to show you how to downsize your regular rosette to make a smaller one.

Cut paper using Sizzix Rosette Die. Using your scissors or paper cutter, cut off about 1/4" from the straight edge.

On the reverse side, run a strip of tissue tape down the length. You need the tape to keep the segments together, since you cut off the solid edge. After taping, trim off about four segments from the end.

Pleat and glue as you would a regular sized rosette. That's it! It's surprising how much smaller this is after trimming such a small amount off, but it really makes a huge difference.

I can honestly say after making so many rosettes (about 40!), I am a Master Rosette Maker. A sensei of rosettery, if you will. I am also proud to say that I came out on the other side of this project with not one finger burned after extremely heavy glue gun usage. ;-)

Have a great week!

Recognizing Our She-roes and Heroes + a Freebie!

I wanted to make a patriotic tag in honor of the upcoming Independence Day holiday and realized I'd never used a fantastic set from Artistic Outpost called She-roes. I love that they created rubber stamps to honor all the women who have served or are serving in the military; I can't think of any other stamp company who has done that! If you are interested in these stamps, the new London collections, or any other stamps from Artistic Outpost, you can use my code: stamptramp to get 10% off your order.

My background was created by swiping a Snow Cap Dabber over a tag and then inking it with Faded Jeans Distress Stain, then wiping the ink off the painted areas. The rosette was made with the Sizzix Paper Rosette die. I wanted a smaller rosette, but I don't have the Mini-Rosettes die yet, so I cut down the regular die and placed a strip of Idea-ology Tissue Tape along the cut edge to keep it together. Worked great! I backed it with some tinsel I bought on clearance after Christmas - you never know when it will come in handy. :-) The number four is an Idea-ology Numeral that's been colored with Denim Alcohol Ink. My 'She-ro' was stamped with Jet Black Archival ink and colored using Distress ink and a water pen. Finally, I stamped the sentiment on an Idea-ology Journaling Ticket and attached with with my Tiny Attacher.

When I was creating my tag, I felt like it needed some kind of text or music. Luckily, I found the perfect piece of music in an old children's hymnal. Please feel free to download it and use it in your work!