Fragmented Collage

I recently received a few Fragments in a birthday swap package (thanks, Kavi!) and was inspired to make some quick and easy refrigerator magnets. Using papers and embellishments from Tim Holtz's Idea-ology line, and stamps from his Stampers Anonymous collection, these magnets go together in minutes and add an artsy touch to your fridge or metal bulletin board.

First, gather your supplies. Pull out papers with images that will fit your Fragments (mine are all from Tim's Lost and Found Paper Stash), stamps, embellishments, etc. - this is a great way to use up those scraps you can't stand to throw away! For my magnet backing, I recycled some freebies I'd received from drug stores. Glossy accents is the perfect glue for adhering the Fragment to your collage as well as holding the embellishments securely.

Choose a background paper, cut it to fit your Fragment, and then begin to layer pieces on top, gluing them down securely. I cut a clock out of another sheet of paper and then added a stamped image from the new Steampunk stamp set. When you're happy with your composition, cover the Fragment with Glossy Accents and adhere it to your collage, making sure the glue covers it completely. Wipe off the excess glue that seeps out, if necessary.

When your Glossy Accents has set, you can begin embellishing the outside of your Fragment. I wrapped my large Fragment with copper wire and then added a Sprocket Gear embellished with a Type Charm. I layered that over a gear that I cut using the new Mini Gears die, which was embossed using my Faux Tarnished Metal technique. To finish it off, I added an Idea-ology metal corner. When you're ready to glue your magnetic sheet to the Fragment, make sure you peel off the plastic coating to reveal the paper underneath. It will make a much better surface for the glue to 'grab'.

There you have it! A quick and easy way to add a little flair to your fridge!

I was worried that the magnets wouldn't be strong enough to hold the embellished Fragments, but they have a very strong grip! If you wanted even more strength, you could use the small disk magnets that you can buy at the craft store. I liked using the flat pieces because they were free - free is always good! :-)

Thanks so much for stopping by - have a wonderful, creative weekend!

Grungy Colorwash Dress Form + a Challenge!

This week over at Linda's Grungy Monday challenge, we were asked to use Ranger's Adirondack Colorwash sprays in our creations. I LOVE the Colorwashes, so I was thrilled! Our hostesses this week are Hels Sheridan and Kate Taylor - be sure and check out their blogs, they are both fantastic artists! In addition, this week we have a sponsor - Outlaw Women Scrapbook Emporium - who is offering a $20 gift certificate to one lucky participant - woo hoo! I'm also entering it into the Simon Says Stamp and Show Distress challenge, 'cause, let me tell you, there is a whole lotta distressin' goin' on here! ;-)

Ever since I saw Tim Holtz's CHA project combining the Dress Form die and the Caged Bird die to make a Steampunk-y dress form, I have been dying to try it myself. I usually don't like to be a copycat, but this is such a cool idea! My dress form was created by adhering the new Craft Resist paper to chipboard and cutting it using my Vagabond (love that thing!). Side note: Did you know you can dilute Colorwash to make more subtle colors? I mixed Adirondack Meadow with water (about 50/50) in a Mini Mister bottle - I also added a little Perfect Pearls to give it some shimmer. It looks so good on the new resist paper!

I have so many different techniques and products on here, it's hard to know where to start! My dress form birdcage thingy was made by die cutting chipboard and then embossing it using my Faux Tarnished Metal technique. On the bottom, I die cut two gears using the new Sizzix Mini Gears die and did the FTM on them too. The tag was colored using Vintage Photo Distress Stain (I also tinted my ribbon with it!). I adhered a torn piece of the new Distress Core'dinations paper that I'd embossed with Tim's Regal Flourishes embossing folder to the left side. I sanded the raised portion and then inked it with Vintage Photo Distress ink. The background of the tag was stamped with one of the stamps from the new Haberdashery set.

Are you wondering about the challenge I mentioned in the title? Over at The Inspiration Journal blog, we are having our first challenge! All you have to do is create a project using Idea-ology Fragments and upload it to your blog and leave a direct link on this IJ blog post. What might you win? A $50 gift certificate to the Inspiration Emporium store!!! What a prize! Seriously, you could get a lot of great stuff with that kind of dough!

Even though I am a bit 'Fragment-ally' challenged, I love the little embellishments I made. I created them by first stamping the needle label from the new Haberdashery stamp set onto cream cardstock using black ink. I adhered two small Fragments with Glossy Accents and then trimmed them when they were dry. To finish off my tag I made a little flower by cutting the small flower from the Tattered Florals die out of the new Kraft Glassine Paper. Oooh, that stuff is very cool! I stamped them with the same stamp I used on the background and adhered them to my tag, along with a little button.

Thanks so much for stopping by - I'm heading out of town to see my son graduate from Air Force basic training (so excited to see him after two months!!), so I may not be around to comment back right away, but I do appreciate your comments! Please make sure you visit Linda's blog and see all the fantastic artwork created for this challenge and PLEASE be sure and enter your artwork for the Inspiration Journal Fragment challenge!!

Wednesday Stamper - Let Them Eat Cake!

I love today's Wednesday Stamper theme! I needed to make a card for a swap and was having a difficult time coming up with an idea - cake and birthdays pretty much go hand in hand, so my problem was solved.

I love putting a feminine twist on Tim Holtz products. A lot of people think they're only for grungy looking projects, but that's not true at all! My card uses quite a few products from TH, but I don't think you could classify it as anything but girly! Here's how I made it:

Using paper from Tim's Shabby Chic collection, I created a cupcake using an adorable stamp from Oxford Impression's Fairy Sweets collection and sepia Archival ink. I stamped the top on white cardstock and applied a liberal coat of white Sparkly Fluff. The pieces were cut out and pieced together as shown.

The little girl from Tim Holtz's Winged Things 1 set was stamped on white cardstock and colored using Distress inks. Her wings were stamped on acetate and adhered to the back. I created my card base using the Sanded Core'dinations technique from the Technique Junkie newsletter and the Collage Texture Fade embossing folder. The text piece (a gift from a sweet friend!) was cut using the Tim Holtz Baroque die. I added a little more sparkle by edging it with Cotton Candy Stickles.

To finish off the card, I added a strip of ruffled ribbon from Tim's Trimmings, secured with Wondertape, and a piece of vintage rickrack. After adhering all the layers, I attached a Memo Pin holding an Adage Ticket that's been covered with Rock Candy Distress Stickles.

I wish I could show all the sparkly bits better! It is so pretty in real life. I sure hope the recipient likes pink! ;-)

Grungy Monday Meets Gothic Arches

Hopefully, I'm not hearing any moaning and groaning that my take on this week's Grungy Monday challenge is a bit similar to last week's! I honestly can't get enough of these new Steampunk stamps from Tim Holtz. Plus, in my defense, the Gadget Gears die makes such a great foam stamp!

I had way too much fun playing around with different techniques, in addition to the 'Distress Ink With Studio Multi-Medium' challenge technique. One of my new favorite things is using Tim's Faux Rust technique on everything! Here, I used it on a frame that was cut from thick chipboard using the Tag and Bookplates die. It looks so cool!! I had actually made it awhile ago and then stashed it away to use later. When I opened my stash box, I spotted it and thought it would be perfect. I stamped the men from the new Steampunk stamp set from Tim Holtz and cut one out to use in the frame. I stamped the background from the same set onto a green piece from the Lost and Found paper collection, and mounted the man onto it and then secured it to the frame with Glossy Accents. I use a Versamark pen to apply ink to the cavity and then filled it with clear Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel. I heated it and repeated a few more times. Love this look!

I had a piece of cardboard lying around that I thought would add a nice bit of texture to my Gothic Arch. I did a random bit of Faux Rust here, too. This time I used Vintage Photo Distress Stain to add color. The metal piece was stamped with an Artistic Outpost stamp and then 'rusted' up a bit. I attached it using my Tiny Attacher (can't live without it!).

This is one of my favorite bits! I wanted to experiment with stamping on copper. I stamped the pointing finger from the Steampunk set using StazOn. I heat set it and then applied liver of sulphur - oh, that stuff stinks!! But, it blackens the copper beautifully and gives it a great vintage look. After it dried, I buffed it and was thrilled to see that the stamped image was still there.

Finally, I embellished the frame with an Idea-ology Philosophy Tag attached to a Hitch Fastener with Jump Rings. I also added Sprocket Gears to the upper part of the arch.

Be sure and pop over to both Linda's Grungy Monday and Gothic Arches blogs to take a gander at all the fantastic artwork!

Grungy Monday Premieres!

After having so much fun experimenting with the techniques from The Compendium of Curiosities and following along with everyone at Studio L3, I was thrilled to hear that the challenges would continue! This week's challenge is to create a tag inspired by Tim's tag #10 from the 2008 12 Tags of Christmas.

I created the background of my tag by cutting out acetate gears using my Vagabond and the Gadget Gears die. I carefully laid the gears in place and spritzed over them with my homemade shimmer mist I created using Brushed Corduroy Distress reinker and gold Perfect Pearls, which I combined in a Mini Mister bottle. After removing the masks, I inked over the gears using Weathered Wood Distress ink.

For my focal point, I stamped the men from Tim's new Steampunk stamp collection on Grungeboard and embossed them using Ranger's black embossing powder. After it cooled, I trimmed around it and spritzed it with the same shimmer mist I used on the tag. Here's a tip! You know how you end up with a raw, uncolored edge when you cut something out of Grungeboard or even regular paper? I hate that! Well, the new Distress Stains work great for covering that raw edge! I used it on my stamped men and it gave the piece a nice, finished look.

Finally, I stamped the 'Admit One' - also from the Steampunk set - onto the back of an Adage Ticket. To give it a little more interest, I overstamped it with the background stamp from the same set. It's attached to the tag using Tim Holtz's Tiny Attacher.

Please be sure and head over to Linda's blog and check out the great artwork that is being posted. Thanks so much to this week's hostesses, Terry and Tracy!

Spring Tag

This tag ended up being a bit of an experiment. To begin with, I fell in love with Linda's crinoline flowers and had to try them. I didn't have crinoline, so I used an old man's hankie....wait, that sounds wrong. I did not steal a hankie from an old man. It was a brand new vintage hankie that my friend Becky gave me. I cut my flowers using the Tattered Florals die and dyed it with my new Spun Sugar Distress stain. I swear, that is the prettiest shade of pink, ever! My flowers ended up looking more like a ruffled mess, but I enjoyed playing around with it.

Next, I had watched Tim Holtz on HSN and was intrigued with how he used the Adirondack Paint Dabbers. I swiped Sunshine Yellow over a white tag that I cut using my Sizzix Tag die. When it was dry, I inked over it using Peeled Paint Distress stain. I loved the effect! After that dried, I inked the background stamp from the Papillion stamp set using Peeled Paint Distress stain, and stamped it onto the tag. Love that look, too!

For the center panel, I covered a piece of chipboard with French paper, die cut it using the Styled Labels die, and washed over it with a little white paint. Remember when Tim made the foam stamps during the 12 Tags of Christmas? I cut one using the Caged Bird die, inked it with the Sunshine Yellow dabber, and stamped it on the panel.

My last experiment was also the result of watching HSN! The segment following Tim's showcased various scrapbooking items. I'm not sure who it was, but someone demoed the tiny Xyron sticker maker by using it to apply adhesive to chipboard letters and then covered them with glitter. I'm sure the whole world knows this trick, but I thought it was brilliant and had to try it. I cut the word Spring using Tim's Chip Block alpha die and, after running the letters through my Xyron, covered them with Martha's glitter. So pretty!

The bottom of my tag is finished with a ruffle made from Tissue Tape that's been inked with Peeled Paint Distress ink. The tie at the top is a torn strip from the hankie that was dyed using the same stain - Spun Sugar - that I used on the flowers.

Whew! So much experimenting! I hope everyone has been having as much fun as I have with all of their new Tim Holtz and Ranger products. I'm submitting this to the Simon Says Stamp and Show a Word challenge, as well as The Artistic Stamper Spring challenge and the Wednesday Stamper Fabulously Colorful challenge. Thanks so much for stopping by!