A Little Ornament for Grungy Monday

"Shipment Out For Delivery." Don't you love those words? I just got a box full of treats from Inspiration Emporium and couldn't wait to use some of my new goodies - this week's Grungy Monday challenge gave me all the excuse I needed. This week our challenge is to use Tim Holtz's masking technique from his 12 Tags of Christmas.

One of my new treats was the Artful Dwellings die. I've been wanting this for ages and am so glad to finally have it. I used the largest of the houses to create a little ornament.

I thought this image from Artistic Outpost's Sleigh Ride stamp collection was perfect for this technique! After stamping and masking, I colored my cardstock with the new Iced Spruce Distress ink from the Limited Edition Winter collection, and Faded Jeans Distress ink. I overstamped the music background from Artistic Outpost's Ephemeral Backgrounds set with Stormy Sky and stamped the snowflake (also from Sleigh Ride) with Faded Jeans. Oh, and my flourish is actually part of a frame from AO's Songbirds collection - I used my Snowcap Dabber on just a little section. I thought it worked great!

I added a little Peeled Paint Distress Stickles to the tree and highlighted the flowers in the little girl's basket with Tumbled Glass Distress Stickles. To give my ornament a bit more of a vintage feel, I covered the whole thing with Rock Candy Distress Crackle paint.

I know...I need to stop with the Faux Crazed Porcelain. I just love this technique so much! This photo really shows how much it looks like a vintage enamel tag. The sentiment is from Artistic Outpost's Snowy Woods collection - one of my all-time faves (the Santa is awesome)! It was stamped on a tag cut from chipboard using Tim's Tiny Tabs and Tags die and attached using an Idea-ology Jump Ring.

Finally, I couldn't resist trimming out my ornament with a little glittered lace. It was cut from plain white cardstock using my new Sizzix Vintage Lace Die. Is that gorgeous or what?? It looks just like a piece of German scrap/trim. I added a little sprinkle of Martha Stewart glitter, just to make it really sparkle.

Be sure and check out Inspiration Emporium for all your holiday craft supplies. When you use my coupon code - stamptramp - you'll save 10% off your order!

Wednesday Stamper - Openings

I was incredibly flattered when Belinda asked if she could use my ATC that I made for the Oxford Impressions swap as an inspiration piece for today's Wednesday Stamper. I absolutely love interactive art - from slider cards to pop-ups and everything in between. It takes something static and makes it more interesting.

Since I gave my muse the week off, I didn't participate in the Gothic Arches 'Grunge' challenge or the Created Byhand 'Love' challenge. I decided I'd try to incorporate both into my WS piece.

My background is made of pieces of aluminum I cut from cans and then ran through my Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder. Probably not the way most people use it! I think it looks really industrial. The heart, wings, hinges, and oval piece are all Grungeboard. The love stamp is from Oxford Impressions' My Story plate. This is definitely best viewed large.

I think my muse just needed a break. Now, if I could just get that Madonna song out of my mind. :-)

Wednesday Stamper - Gesso

I almost didn't do Wednesday Stamper today, even though it's one of my favorite challenges. And, I love gesso! What's wrong with me? Sometimes the muse just flees......

I decided I would just throw something together without thinking. I grabbed an old French cookbook page thinking I'd do some kind of French Country thing w/black gesso and a chicken. Whatever. Just do something! I had a piece of tagboard that I thought, huh, glue it on that I guess. I had some acrylics sitting out so I grabbed those and did a wash. Hmm....I'm liking it now. Grabbed the closest stamp - a flourish by Tim Holtz - and stamped part of it using black gesso. Used the Painted Mesh technique from Technique Junkies to cover it more.

Ahhhhh...now what? Photo stamp? Collage image? How about some Grungeboard? Paint it with the black gesso. Oh yes, that's it, coming together now. A few words, more Grungeboard letters, stitching to tie it all together. Done. And I'm glad I did it too. Sometimes you just have to slap your muse around a little. ;-)

Grungeboard Stencils

This is just a quick tip for those of you who hate throwing things away! I love Grungeboard and awhile back I noticed that the 'waste' (the piece that was left after all the flourishes had been punched out) seemed like it would be a perfect stencil. I went to work with my cranberry Adirondack Color Wash and came up with this card. There are some Grungeboard designs that probably wouldn't work as welll, but it's definitely something worth experimenting with!

Angels are from Oxford Impressions.

Glue with UHU - Saunders Aluminum Box

I was lucky enough to get one of these Saunders Aluminum boxes from Alyssa, a designer on the Glue With UHU blog. I had so many ideas for what I wanted to do - I ended up setting it aside while I finished up a slew of design projects. I'm really glad I did because, in the interim I discovered stamping on Grungeboard! I pulled the box out today and immediately knew the direction I would go.

First, I covered the top with a piece from an old Algebra book I bought a couple weekends ago. After that, I inked the visible metal parts with Ranger alcohol inks in Espresso and Butterscotch. Next, I inked the top with Corduroy Distress ink. I stamped various images from I Brake For Stamps new Grunge sheet (LOVE these stamps!) using Black Soot and Corduroy Distress inks. I Stamped the two men (from an Oxford Impressions sheet that is no longer available), and the watch face (also from Oxford Impressions) on Grungeboard using black Archival ink. I inked them with Corduroy Distress ink and cut them out. I punched a hole in the clock face and added a idea-olgy gear and spinner. The key is also Grungeboard - it's painted with silver acrylic paint and tied with a piece of vintage twill tape. Vintage buttons and a strip of metal measuring tape finish it off. I really love doing masculine things like this - I plan on giving it to my husband for him to keep his pens, memory sticks, etc in.
Check out the UHU blog - they have lots of fun stuff going on!

Innovative Stamp Creations Artwork

A few things I did recently for Betsy @ISC.

The first piece is made up of various wood pieces and blocks I had laying around. Everything is stamped using black Stazon and then aged with Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink.

This piece is a grungeboard necklace inspired by Tim Holtz's Industrial Grunge. Grungeboard base was painted silver and then run thru the Cuttlebug (Swiss Dots folder) to give it more texture. The rest is mostly just junk (do you sense a theme here?) that was laying around on my work table.

The last piece is one of my favorites! This is made from a burnt mint tin and various found objects. The base is a piece of yardstick that I found when we tore down an old shed - when I say 'found objects' I really mean it!