Thursday, May 10, 2012

Hope is a Thing With Feathers


I am seriously bringing up the rear with this week's CCC2 challenge! Oh well, better late than never, right? The technique chosen by the lovely Linda Ledbetter (I just can't say Linda Ledbetter without adding 'lovely'!) is Faded Layers, which can be found on page 43 of Tim Holtz' wonderful book, Compendium of Curiosities Vol. 2.

As always, I used this challenge as an excuse to try a few new things! First of all, I had a chunk of wood lying around from some work we're having done on our porch (main reason for my lack of posting lately). Anyway, I love all the little bits and pieces that are left over from construction and thought one would make the perfect base for a collage. I thought about it more and was like....hmmm...what if I covered it with Claudine Hellmuth's Sticky Back Canvas? I could make my own little chunky canvas for under a buck!

And it worked great! What makes it so much better than a regular canvas is that you can stamp right onto it without worrying about getting a good impression. Also, you can make this any size, depending on the wood you have. I am getting pretty hooked on Sticky Back Canvas!

I also used this as an excuse to get out my new Spring Distress inks - yay! I used the new Sizzix Harlequin border die to cut my mask/stencil. It's a little hard to see after all the layering I did. I also cut a scrap of French text and layered that to the collage. The letters were cut from chipboard using the new Sizzix Word Play die, sponged with Vintage Photo Distress ink, and stamped with the same ink, using a script image from Artistic Outpost's Secretary Pool collection. The wonderful Emily Dickinson quote is from AO's new Quotes and Quotables collection.

I'm so totally in love with these flowers! They were made by sponging the new Peacock Feathers ink onto a manila scrap, which I then cut using the new Tattered Flower Garland die. The edges were inked with Vintage Photo ink and the whole flower was sprayed fairly heavily with Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls Mist. You can barely see the shimmer in the pic, but it adds so much!

My other experiment looks fantastic in real life, but didn't photograph well. It's my little rusty verdigris fence above. I might do a little tute for the technique if I can get a decent photo.

Speaking of flowers, that is the theme over at the Inspiration Journal blog. We would love to have you join us - you could win a $50 shopping spree at the IE online store!

All the supplies I used can be found at Inspiration Emporium via the links below. If you use my coupon code - stamptramp - you'll save yourself 10% on your entire order!


35 comments:

  1. Wow this is stunning, love the colours.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Well, it may be late but it is certainly beautiful!! I love those flowers....

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow, another awesome creation!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Shelly I love this!! I have to say the colors are lovely and the details are perfect!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Shelly you rock!! Love!!

    kaz x

    ReplyDelete
  6. Beautiful! I love the colors and the flowers! Makes me want to finish the chunky board I have sitting on my desk from OUR front porch project that we just finished. I snagged 3 pieces before they hauled the rest off to the landfill, and I have one of them covered in white gesso just waiting for inspiration! Never thought of covering it with canvas!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow, this is fabulous! There's a construction business near where I live that leaves scrap wood in their parking lot that's free for the taking! I know where I'm going tomorrow after I get off of work! Thanks so much for the inspiration!

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is STUNNING, Shelly! What a great tip about the wood scraps and sticky back canvas. Oh, and those flowers are divine!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Well, you have used my absolute favourite colours. Your flower are gorgeous too. You always impress me with your talent.

    ReplyDelete
  10. That's really lovely! I think I win the prize for bringing up the rear this time... made my tag in under 30 minutes! I really love how you've done this, though, and I'm inspired to spend a little more time and revisit the technique :) Fabulous project!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Bravo!! that turned out fab. I am so bummed I've been too busy to do the last few CCC2 challenges. Hopefully next week.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Incredible and inspiring. Love the flowers.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Wow! Wow! This is just so incredible!!! I hope you manage to do the rusty fence tute - it looks great!

    ReplyDelete
  14. good morning Shelley,

    As soon as I saw this project I knew you used the new sping distress ink ! I received it past week from my friend in the UK and I think I have a new favorite distress ink ( before it was broken china) !!

    This color works great for verdigris ! I've used it also on a project and I see you using it here on your picket fence :it has a great outcome.

    I love all the layering on your piece of wood ! It's hard to figure out what layers you added so that intrigues me :)
    Your flowers attract me a lot too and I was surprised you made them of manila. They seem to have a special texture, but maybe that's because of all the layering of ink and sprays. Must try this out :)

    Thanks for inspiring me today !
    greetings from belgium
    Inge

    ReplyDelete
  15. may I say..a masterpiece, Shelley!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Amazing what you can do with a piece of wood and some canvas! I have done something recently with an old canvas I found. Your piece is beautiful, blues and brown are my favourite colours at the moment and your flowers are just gorgeous. Anne x

    ReplyDelete
  17. Beautiful!! I love the colors, the design, the layers, the quote!!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Absolutely fabulous Shelly!!! Love the size of the make shift canvas...it's like a chunky tag!!! Love the color and the AO quote as well!!!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Gorgeous! I really love the colors you chose!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Shelly, this is such a beautieful piece of eye candy! WOW!!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Another wow - beautiful colors and techniques - and I love the use of leftover wood - every time you post a new project, I think, that's it, that's the best - and then you top it again and again. Love your blog and techniques,
    Danita

    ReplyDelete
  22. A real beauty Shelly
    Love it very much .

    Greetings Janny

    ReplyDelete
  23. Shelly-
    A new porch sounds fun! We tore about our deck a couple of weeks ago and I was fascinated by the wood which was, well, rotten - hence why we tore it out - but I've not done anything with that or the bits of new wood left over.

    There's the word play die again; I'm just biting the bullit this morning and ordering it. All your pieces are such an inspiration to me, I love seeing new posts from you. Thanks!!

    ReplyDelete
  24. So very beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Fabulous. Love it. The sentiment is just lovely too.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Love all the different textures, the color combo and those flowers, awesome tag !

    ReplyDelete
  27. oops...that's not a tag ... I knew that!!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Gorgeous! I hope you can do a tutorial on the rusty verdigris fence!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Oooh, this is a beauty! Love your colors, especially the flowers... fantastic!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Absolutely beautiful, Shelly!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  31. You're so sweet, and for the record, I can't say "Shelly Hickox" without adding, "The BRILLIANTLY talented..." And, you've gone and proven me right again with this amazing canvas. You are the goddess of gorgeous details-- truly, you put so much thought and vision into everything you create, and it never fails to knock the socks off my feet! I think Emily D would be proud to be featured on such a lovely masterpiece, and I'm very honored that you shared it at the challenge.

    ReplyDelete
  32. I love your canvas, the quote and the amazing techniques you have used on this art.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for taking the time to share your thoughts. I appreciate your comments so much!