Reflections of Christmas - Day Twelve

Hurrah!! The project is completed!  I have had so much fun playing along with Linda Coughlin's Funkie Junkie 12 Tags of Christmas challenge, I'm sad to have it come to an end.

The 12th tag was so much fun because I actually had a small Artist Trading Card sized window die so I could interpret Linda's version more literally.  And then I found a wreath stamp that fit the window - how lucky could I be??  What a great ending to a fantastic 2 weeks putting this whole project together.  Thank you again Linda for all the inspiration and fun!!

Inspirations from Linda's twelfth tag:  Everything!!

Frame

• Trim: Bo Bunny Woodland Winter
• Back Panel: Tim Holtz Sizzix “Dot Matrix” Texture Fade (not embossed, painted resist technique)
• Decorative Cutout: Tim Holtz Movers and Shapers Bird and Tattered Pine Cone Pine Branch
• Reflection: Printed in MS Word, Segoe Print Font
• Pediment: Tim Holtz Pediment die
• Metal Sentiment: Tim Holtz Christmas Word Band

Reflections of Christmas - Day Eleven

Almost there - here's day eleven!  Something new again today - embossed foil, with alcohol inks and heat embossing on top of that.  Be sure to check out Linda Coughlin's version in a faux galvinzed finish on her Eleventh Tag of Christmas - really cool!

Inspirations from Linda's tag:  The embossed foil background, snowflakes and the sentiment,

Frame

• Trim:  Bo Bunny Woodland Winter
• Back Panel:  Crafters Workshop “Branches (Reversed)” Stencil
• Decorative Cutout:  Tim Holtz Movers and Shapers  Ice Skate
• Reflection:  Printed in MS Word, Segoe Print Font
• Pediment:  Tim Holtz Pediment die
• Metal Sentiment:  Tim Holtz Christmas Word Band

Reflections of Christmas - Day Ten

Holly and Hearts was the theme for this tag.  I got to try something totally new today - I ordered some of the Wendy Vecchi Embossing Paste from the Funkie Junkie Boutique and experimented with it on this tag.  It's easy to use and clean up, and boy does it shine - although you'll have to take my word for it - try as I might, I could not capture the sheen in the photos.

My inspiration, as usual was Linda Coughlin's  tag in her "12 Tags of Christmas", since I am playing along with the Funkie Junkie's 12 Tags of Christmas challenge. Now we're up to number ten in the series.

Inspirations from Linda's tag: Holly stencils, "trellis" (although I had to use a punch to create the effect), heart, embossing paste. 

Frame

• Trim:  Bo Bunny Woodland Winter
• Back Panel:  Tim Holtz “Hollybough” Stencil
• Decorative Cutout:  Tim Holtz Movers and Shapers  Holly Leaves
• Reflection:  Printed in MS Word, Segoe Print Font
• Pediment:  Tim Holtz Pediment die
• Metal Sentiment:  Tim Holtz Christmas Word Band

Reflections of Christmas - Day Nine

I hope you are enjoying seeing this Christmas project come together.  It sure has been fun  playing along with the Funkie Junkie's 12 Tags of Christmas challenge - Linda Coughlin's tags are fantastic and a great source of inspiration.  Between them and a Pandora Christmas station, I'm really in the holiday spirit.

Again another serendipitous discovery from the bag of goodies Linda includes with each order - the gold mesh ribbon already tied in a bow with some dyed seam binding.  Perfect for this ATC - thanks again, Linda!

Inspirations from Linda's tag:  I used both the same Tim Holtz stencils as Linda did, the sentiment is the same (although I used the rub-on version) and the gold mesh ribbon. Since I had already used a snowflake rosette on an earlier ATC, I had to settle for some stickers to incorporate the snowflake theme.

Frame

• Trim:  Bo Bunny Woodland Winter
• Back Panel:  Tim Holtz “Christmas” Stencil
• Decorative Cutout:  Tim Holtz Movers and Shapers  Candy Canes
• Reflection:  Printed in MS Word, Segoe Print Font
• Pediment:  Tim Holtz Pediment die
• Metal Sentiment:  Tim Holtz Christmas Word Band

Reflections of Christmas - Day Eight

Up to day eight now.  Since I made all the frames to begin with, I've actually been able to keep up with making the ATCs and keep the project on track to get completed before Christmas.

My inspiration, as usual was a tag in Linda Coughlin's  "12 Tags of Christmas", since I am playing along with the Funkie Junkie's 12 Tags of Christmas challenge.

Inspirations from Linda's tag:  Tim Holtz Stencil background, sentiment, rickrack and stocking (since I was using the stocking die cut I didn't want another one on the ATC, so I thought - who fills the stockings?  Santa of course.

Frame

• Trim:  Bo Bunny Woodland Winter
• Back Panel:  Tim Holtz “Holiday Knit” Stencil
• Decorative Cutout:  Tim Holtz Movers and Shapers  Mini Stocking
• Reflection:  Printed in MS Word, Segoe Print Font
• Pediment:  Tim Holtz Pediment die
• Metal Sentiment:  Tim Holtz Christmas Word Band

Reflection of Christmas - Day Seven

A variety of bits and bobs decorate this next Artist Trading Card (ATC).  My inspiration was the seventh tag in Linda Coughlin's "12 Tags of Christmas".  Sometimes it is tricky to find elements of the correct scale to fit the size of an ATC but for this card I was very furtunate.

Inspirations from Linda's tag:  Background for the ATC (similar to the "Gothic" stencil), ornaments, holly and the sentiment "Yuletide Greetings"

Frame

• Trim:  Bo Bunny Woodland Winter
• Back Panel:  Crafter’s Workshop Mini “Cosmic Swirl”
• Decorative Cutout:  Tim Holtz Movers and Shapers  Bell
• Reflection:  Printed in MS Word, Segoe Print Font
• Pediment:  Tim Holtz Pediment die
• Metal Sentiment:  Tim Holtz Christmas Word Band

Reflections of Christmas - Day Six

We're still looking for snow, so I'm glad to focus on the flakes again!  My inspiration, as usual was Linda Coughlin's  tag in her "12 Tags of Christmas", since I am playing along with the Funkie Junkie's 12 Tags of Christmas challenge - this time it's the sixth tag in her series.

Inspirations from Linda's tag:  Script background, snowflakes - two ways, "Joy" sentiment - three ways-word band, ATC, reflection and the use of the Distressed Doily die.

A fun little side note...several years ago my niece was looking through my die collection.  I have the "On the Edge" dies sideways so they can fit on the shelf space, so I printed the names of the dies in Sharpie on the narrow end.  Apparently for this one my penmanship was lacking, because she thought it said "Distressed DOLLY"!  Now we always call it that and share a little laugh.

Frame

• Trim:  Bo Bunny Woodland Winter
• Back Panel:  Crafter’s Workshop Mini “Doodling…Art Is”
• Decorative Cutout:  Tim Holtz Movers and Shapers  Small Poinsettia
• Reflection:  Printed in MS Word, Segoe Print Font
• Pediment:  Tim Holtz Pediment die
• Metal Sentiment:  Tim Holtz Christmas Word Band

Reflections of Christmas - Day Five

Up to the 5th tag in the Funkie Junkie's Christmas challenge.  My inspiration, as usual was Linda Coughlin's  tag in her "12 Tags of Christmas", the fifth tag in her series.  This one was a little challenging because I didn't have many of the items that were in the inspiration piece, so I did my best.  And then a little serendipitous event took place...Linda always includes a little bag of goodies when she ships your order, and in the last one I got were some stars and a diecut from Tim Holtz Clustered Stars On the Edge die.  Woohoo!  I'm going to have to get that die, but in the meantime I colored the one she sent and added it to my ATC,  Thanks Linda!!

Inspirations from Linda's tag:  Background "Rays", Stars:  Background Stamped Stars, On the Edge Star Cluster die,"Twinkle" sentiment.  I didn't have the "Festive Gent"die, so I made do with soldier/nutcrackers.

Frame

• Trim:  Bo Bunny Woodland Winter
• Back Panel:  Handmade Stencil
• Decorative Cutout:  Tim Holtz Movers and Shapers  Soldier
• Reflection:  Printed in MS Word, Segoe Print Font
• Pediment:  Tim Holtz Pediment die
• Metal Sentiment:  Tim Holtz Christmas Word Band

Reflections of Christmas - Day Four

Day four, and my accordion book of Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) is growing.  My inspiration, as usual was Linda Coughlin's  tag in her "12 Tags of Christmas", since I am playing along with the Funkie Junkie's 12 Tags of Christmas challenge - the fourth tag in her series.

Inspirations from Linda's tag:  The "Festive" background, the red rickrack, little heart, the deer and the sentiment (I used a word band with the same sentiment)

Frame

• Trim:  Bo Bunny Woodland Winter
• Back Panel:  Tim Holtz “Festive”
• Decorative Cutout:  Tim Holtz Movers and Shapers  Small Deer
• Reflection:  Printed in MS Word, Segoe Print Font
• Pediment:  Tim Holtz Pediment die
• Metal Sentiment:  Tim Holtz Christmas Word Band

Reflections of Christmas - Day Three

We haven't seen much snow yet this year which is kind of unusual.  Maybe this snow-themed Artist Trading Card (ATC) will shake some loose from the sky!  My inspiration, as usual was Linda Coughlin's  tag in her "12 Tags of Christmas", since I am playing along with the Funkie Junkie's 12 Tags of Christmas challenge - the third tag in her series.

I'm making frames for each of the ATCs and then joining them together to make an accordion book.

Inspirations from Linda's tag: Snowflakes...snowflakes...snowflakes, including the snowflake background (I followed the same process as Linda, except I used the stenciled results), the Tim Holtz metal snowflake and lots of other snowflakes.

Frame

• Trim:  Bo Bunny Woodland Winter
• Back Panel:  Homemade stencil from smallest snowflake Tim Holtz Stacked Snowflakes
• Decorative Cutout:  Tim Holtz Movers and Shapers  Snowflake
• Reflection:  Printed in MS Word, Segoe Print Font
• Pediment:  Tim Holtz Pediment die
• Metal Sentiment:  Tim Holtz Christmas Word Band

Reflections of Christmas - Day Two

Here I am with my second "Reflections of Christmas" Artist Trading Card (ATC).  My inspiration was Linda Coughlin's second tag in her "12 Tags of Christmas", since I am playing along with the Funkie Junkie's 12 Tags of Christmas challenge.

I'm making frames for each of the ATCs and then joining them together to make an accordion book.

Inspirations from Linda's tag:  I used a similar background in the frame.  The ATC also has a checkered background.  There are a couple of Christmas trees; the one on the ATC has a red bow as Linda's did.  The "wish" sentiment from Linda's tag is echoed in the Reflection and the Christmas word band.

Frame

• Trim: Bo Bunny Woodland Winter
• Back Panel: Crafters Workshop “Cubist”
• Decorative Cutout: Tim Holtz Movers and Shapers Tree
• Reflection: Printed in MS Word, Segoe Print Font
• Pediment: Tim Holtz Pediment die
• Metal Sentiment: Tim Holtz Christmas Word Band

Reflections of Christmas - Day One

Ever since last year I have wanted to participate in the Funkie Junkie's 12 Tags of Christmas challenge.  I'm getting kind of a late start, so I'm not sure I will get all 12 done, but at least I will have fun trying!

If you are a mixed media artist or paper crafter I hope you already know about the Funkie Junkie blog and boutique.  Linda Coughlin always has cool ideas on her blog, and her shop and customer service are outstanding.

The challenge is to make something inspired by each of the 12 tags that Linda has created. It can be anything you want as long as it is Christmas/Winter related.  I'm making a set of Artist Trading Cards (ATC) in little frames instead of tags.  Since ATCs are only 2 1/2" x 3 1/2"they have a lot less real estate then the tags Linda used, so I can't include all the wonderful ideas she used, but I'll be able to include several for each card.

Inspirations from Linda's tag:  I used the same background, included a Santa and reindeer, the same sentiment, a music tag and the 25,

Each of my ATCs is in a frame - it's about 5/8" thick, stands a little over 7" tall and is made out of medium weight chipboard.  My plan is to link them together to make an accordion display.

Frame

• Trim:  Bo Bunny Woodland Winter
• Back Panel: Tim Holtz Holiday Knit stencil (I used Antique Linen Distress Paint to stencil which formed a resist for inking ontop)
• Decorative Cutout ”25”:  Tim Holtz Die
• Reflection “merry”:  Printed in MS Word, Segoe Print Font
• Pediment:  Tim Holtz Pediment die
• Metal Sentiment:  Tim Holtz Christmas Word Band

Christmas Village Construction

Would you like to build your own 'Twas the Night Before Christmas Village (see yesterday's post), or just see how it was constructed?

Well, for this project I made a series of videos as I built the project. These videos show the construction of all the parts and pieces that make up the village,

'Twas the Night Before Christmas Village

I've finished my "big" Christmas project just in time, because it is a countdown to Christmas calendar and it is almost December 1st.

The village has 24 buildings on three levels, each one hiding little treats that can be enjoyed as you count down the days until Christmas.  It is 12" x 18".

The project features Graphic 45 'Twas the Night Before Christmas paper collection and Tim Holtz Woodland Trees.

I also made a series of videos as I constructed the project - more on that later.

Dr Dreadful's Apothecary (aka The Wonky Halloween House)

This year’s “big Halloween project”, Dr. Dreadful’s Apothecary, aka the Wonky Halloween House is finally complete.  This project uses one of my favorite Graphic 45 papers - Steampunk Spells.  The idea for the design had been percolating in my mind for a while and I thought there’s no better time to make it happen than Halloween!

ApothecaryTour
Let's start at the front door (although actually it was the last thing to be built because it had to fit in between all the other rooms).

The door itself is almost perpendicular - it might be the only thing that is!  It's made out of chipboard covered with decorative paper and a window cut in it (more on the windows later).

There's a chipboard cutout from the paper collection above the door and a little "poison" symbol hanging from the doorknob.

The columns are made from bubble tea straws covered with cardstock and wrapped with decorative paper at the top and bottom.  The base of each column is a little chipboard cube.

Hanging by the door is a Tim Holtz Mini Lantern - I hope you can see that the light is on!

To the left of the door you can see the front parlor with its shingled roof.  It's a little hard to see but there is a light in that window.

Halloween Treat Jars

This weekend my niece and I finished up a quick Halloween project - these treat jars.

We got the idea and instructions from one of Joggles Mid-Week Muse videos.  If you are not familiar with Barb's videos and you are into mixed media I highly recommend you visit the Joggles site (which is a cool place to shop) and sign up for emails.

Now back to the jars...

We used some very inexpensive glass jars from Michaels - but the beauty of this project is you can do the technique on anything that you can paint.  In the video Barb used Tim Holtz Distress Paint but I didn't have enough for all these jars so we used Golden Fluid acrylics mixed with a little liquid Matte Medium to dull down the gloss.  We first prepared the bottles by coating them with Golden's GAC 200 so the paint would adhere better (something not necessary with the Distress Paint).

We added texture to most of the jars with some light molding paste.

It was EPIC! 2014 Steampunk Soiree

I was fortunate enough to be able to attend Epic Paper Arts 2014 event, the Steampunk Soiree.  This 3+ day event was held at the end of July-beginning of August in the Washington DC area.  It was an event put on by Kathryn Krieger (Kathryn Scraps), Jim Hankins (The Gentleman Crafter) and Kathy Orta (Paper Phenomenon), who each designed a project especially for the Soiree and then taught us how to make them.

There was so much more than the projects - the Steampunk theme carried through the event with themed hats one night, "fascinators"  and a gala costume event where the creativity of the costumes was unbelievable.  There was face painting, a themed photo booth and a cake by Charm City Cakes.
There were many terrific sponsors who provided goodies for the event.  The support staff was awesome and made this a really great time for all!

Of course one of the best things about an event like this is getting to meet so many people who share a common interest.  The Soiree was just the right size so that friendships could be made and conversations held with the Kathy, Kathryn and Jim both individually and in small groups.

Now on to the projects...
Several months before the Soiree a hint about the projects was posted - it was a Faberge egg.  I didn't know quite what to make of it but once I saw the projects I got it - they all had intricate designs on the outside and opened to even more awesomeness inside.

All of the projects featured Graphic 45's Steampunk Debutante paper, incredible chipboard designs by Blue Fern Studios enhanced with gold Mega Flakes by Indigo Blu, Prima embellishments and Tim Holtz hardware.  They each were based on a different size cylindrical papier mache box.

So here they are in their closed states - from left to right...

• Kathryn's "Radical Revolution"

• Jim's "All Geared Up" 

• Kathy's project

Shave and a Haircut - 2 Bits

Several weeks ago, when watching one of Laura Denison's UStream shows, someone mentioned that a Barber Shop would make a great addition to her Maple Street series.  I thought that sounded like a fun idea so I decided to give it a go.

It's a skinny building and the window tower is a riff on the windows from the Couture Dress Shop.  I wanted the downstairs to look like the shop, with an apartment above.

Most of the paper is from Graphic 45's "Good Ol' Sport" paper collection, although I did find a couple of images in G45's "Ladies Diary".

Maple Street is Growing!

Laura Denison added another design to her Maple Street building series - it's a Pet Shop.  This building is extra cute with all the little animals in the windows.

The building is made with BoBunny's "Happy Tails" collection.  This is a fun paper line - lots of bright colors and pet themed graphics - perfect for this project.

I love the curved awning on this building.  It really gives the building a special look.

Mother Goose Pop Up Box and Mini Book

I love pop-ups!  When I saw the Graphic 45 Mother Goose paper collection I knew I wanted to make a pop-up to feature all the different characters.  And when G45 introduced their new Book Boxes a plan came together.

The box allows plenty of room for the pop-up, which with all its tiers and elements is actually quite thick, along with extra space below to fit a little mini book.

Maple Street Tea Shop

Laura Denison has done it again!  Isn't this Tea Shop she designed for her Maple Street series the cutest thing ever?

It uses Graphic 45's "Botanical Tea" paper collection which I have to say is one of my favorites.  I love how the browns complement the softer pastels - perfect for this shop.

By the Sea Tunnel Book Construction

If you are interested in how I constructed the By the Sea Tunnel book, I've posted two videos on YouTube.

• PART ONE - Shows the design process and the development of the individual panels

• PART TWO - The book comes together and covers are added.

By the Sea Tunnel Book

I love making tunnel books, and when I saw the new Graphic 45 By the Sea paper collection I knew it would be perfect for one of these books.

The design for the book was taken right from the primary pattern paper ("By the Sea") which has the perfect scene - a foreground (the beach), some middle ground (lighthouse), distant objects (sailing boat) and the sky. And this particular paper line has three sheets of each patterned paper, making it even easier when you need multiple objects from a pattern, or want to use the front and back more than once.

The book is a gate-fold construction; the cover opens in the middle.  The lighthouse image is the closure.  It is backed with chipboard and is permanently attached to the left cover and the right side has two hidden magnets that attach it to the right cover.

The outside border with the shells comes from the primary pattern paper.

On the left and right side, the front covers are attached to the back cover with red corrugated paper.  I colored white corrugated paper using Distress Ink to coordinate with the Graphic 45 paper.

Construction Begins on Maple Street!

I was so excited when Laura Denison started talking about her newest design series that will have different buildings making up a street in a small town.  The possibilities seemed endless and her first building in the series - the Couture Dress Shop - is sure a fun way to start.

This project uses Graphic 45's "Couture" paper collection, which couldn't be more appropriate.  The mannequins in the display windows come right from the paper as do the posters behind them.

The Chemistry Laboratorie

Finally my latest project – the chemistry lab – is done!!

I designed the laboratory as both an art piece and storage for all the tags I made in Tim Holtz’ online classes – Chemistry 101 & 102.  It also has color charts for Distress Inks, Paints, Stains and Markers, as well as Alcohol Inks.

While I was working on the tags for Chemistry 101, the germ of the idea for this project was born.  Fortunately in this case it took a little while to reach fruition, because two things happened in the meantime- a second class, Chemistry 102, and the release of the perfect paper line, Tim Holtz Laboratorie.