Distress Stickles party: Grungy Monday

Welcome to the Not a Moment to Spare Grungy Monday post ... on Monday!

Today we've been asked by our Lovely Leader Linda to play along with a Distress Stickles party! Woohoo!

Aside from any kind of embossing, I'm pretty much all about the challenges that ask us, nay, require us to use glittering, shimmering, shining goodness!

You won't be surprised that next up in my world is a post for KennyK Krafty Girlz' Summer Sparkle challenge ... but that's a whole different post.

So, back to the original subject: Dig out your Distress Stickles people! Those little squirty bottles full of glitter glue ... but really, really fantastic glitter glue. With great big distressy glitter chunks ... in colors which conveniently match many other Distress colors! Woohoo again!

I started with a bit of last week's challenge which focused on a technique from the blog of Tim Holtz (the leafy vine is cut from an embossing folder package and inked with Citrus alcohol ink).

We see next a technique that's not technique so much as just stamping on a vintage letter background. Then I met this week's Grungy Monday challenge with the tea dye Distress Stickles on the grunge Regal Crest (also inked with tea dye).

You can see how that worked out in the second, closeup, photo. And isn't it completely freakin' awesome? If you think I'm nuts and it's not awesome ... you're correct that I'm nuts, but it is awesome! Erm ... was that phrase confusing? Being nuts isn't awesome: The art. The art is awesome.

Technically Linda and Tim's art is awesome since virtually everything here today is pretty much due to teachings I've received via Linda and Tim. Still. I take the credit because otherwise ... what the hell am I doing here?

OK, okay, really swinging back to the awesomeness you see: In the main photo of the entire card I created ... click on the photo to enlarge and note that the crest looks a lot like the outside border ... a lot like the outside border that is actual rusting cast iron.

Don't they really look so very similar? What the hell other reasonably-priced, easy-to-use, easy-to-clean products do you know of that can create a faux rusty cast iron? NONE!

I told you it's awesome!

And I'm telling you that you have got to, absolutely must participate in  the Studio L3 Grungy Monday post this week ... because it's also awesome!

And you want to be awesome. Don't you?

12 Tags Christmas 2010 Day 10: Grungy Monday

Only yesterday I was telling you how cool the stuff is at StudioL3 Grungy Monday, and here I am to prove it again!

First, though, I'd like to thank Tim Holtz for sharing techniques that are designed, that almost require, we artists reuse and recycle. Everyone should do what they can to keep our planet as healthy as possible and in my opinion artists' responsibility in this area is even greater.

OK, so this week the project is based on Tim's 12 Tags of Christmas 2010 project for Day 10. It's a supremely fun concept for which you'll need some grunge board and a bit of leftover plastic packaging (among other neat stuff, of course).

You'll also need to drop by Linda's StudioL3 to see what she and her two designer of the week have come up with to emulate Dear Tim.

My tag uses some textured grunge board that I cut and others that came in a package of pre-cut pieces. It also includes silver acrylic paint dabber with broken china distress ink and actual honest to Jebus vintage watch parts.

The "ribbon" place on my tag is instead occupied by two game spinners attached to a swivel clasp, and the four corners of this tag are connected and spaced with four nuts under four long fasteners.

Why the mix of old watch bits and hardware store nuts and the numbers "3" and "7" you ask? Because this tag is for My Guy!

It's his 37th birthday on Monday! I know. He's old. But not as old as me. Which means I got for myself a younger man!

So, Happy Birthday to My Guy, forever my younger man. And thanks for understanding my craft and art addiction ... and even more thanks for not being too snarky in your teasing ... "Oh! Tim Holtz! It's made by Tim Holtz ... I have to have that."

12 Tags Christmas 2009 Day 8: Grungy Monday

Grungy Monday is always the coolest stuff. Lots and lots of neat things. So many in fact that frequently I'm not sure about the challenge.

Drop in at StudioL3 to see what everyone has created this week: They know what's happening and it's awesome. I'm the only one who is confused.

Because this week focuses on Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of Christmas 2009 Day 8 there are three, erm four, techniques involved, but we're supposed to do it our way. So, well, I feel slogging though a muddy ditch stuck. How unique is something going to be if I have to do four things the same way as the first thing?

I'm not complaining: Linda is the nicest artist ever and Tim's ideas are fantastic. I'm only saying that I get bogged down trying to figure out what exactly is the challenge.

And all of that is stupendously stupid since I rarely attempt to emulate what's already been done, let alone actually understand how to follow freakin' rules or recipes in the first place.

Anyhow, in what is now more than a couple hundred words already, the point we were trying to get 'round to is that I first thought the technique was the vellum thing, here it's the poison label.

Then I figured it's the splotching, beat up background, see my grunged up drippy drop tag?

Oh! No! It's the black embossed stamp on grunge! That's the challenge: See my death guy there? Got that challenge nailed.

Oop. Hold on. Now Tim's teaching us how to attach a little something with a hitch fastener. Erm, grmph ... got it ... wee corked vial filled with glitter and flock ... ahm, I mean filled with poison.

So, whatever the challenge was I managed to create it. All in one weird, boring, but still sort of enjoyable tag.

Thanks for journeying with me through the strange thought processes that fill my addled brain and frequently cause horrible hiccups in the creation of art.

Don't forget to visit Linda at StudioL3, check out Tim's techniques that were used for this tag and then click around Tim's blog that has buckets of amazing ideas!

A thank you and Big Rock Candy Mountain: Grungy Monday

I dislike doubling up on posts, but it's a must lately if I'm to get everything posted. Surely everyone involved will understand as they too are always struggling to find an extra minute.

Or they won't understand and I'll find a "Tsk, tsk, don't do that" message in my Inbox.

Here we go, then: Back on June 20 our friend Nigel of Freebird's flights of fancy took a moment to show off his incredible undersea chest creation and to offer a little blog candy.

Turns out that I won candy, which arrived while I was on vacation a couple of weeks ago. And what a wonderful surprise it was! I posted a photo here of what Nigel included for me, packets of tea and art stuff and even a creation of his very own!

That's right! I now own a limited edition Nigel!

While that might read as a bit snarky, I promise that I'm in earnest. I always feel exceptionally lucky when a fellow artist shares something with me that they've made. What greater honor can we hope for in life?

So, many thanks to Nigel for his gifts and especially for his art!

On to my own piece for today: Fittingly it includes two items Nigel sent to me, a stamped image and a bit of handmade paper.

The piece also features distress inks in spiced marmalade and mustard seed, some of Tim Holtz's, ahm, designer tape stuff (I never can remember what it's called), and Distress Stickles and Crackle rock candy!

Ah! There! Were you beginning to wonder how I was ever going to circle around to Grungy Monday?

The Grungy Monday challenge for this week is rock candy, which I think fit perfectly here though I probably used the tiniest bit of anyone in the challenge!

Go here to see what Mr. Tim Holtz does with rock candy!

March 2008 technique challenge: Grungy Monday

Hello Grungy Mondayers! This week our friend Linda at Studio L3 is challenging us with an amazingly fun and interesting technique!

Check out what Tim and Linda have us revisiting from Tim's March 2008 technique challenges: HERE. For this one you'll need some perfect pearls, distress reinker and paint dabbers (among other products that I feel sure are already sitting nearby).

Also remember that if you want to venture out on your own occasionally Tim has plenty to offer on his blog to keep you busy for days and weeks and, as far behind as some of us are: Forever.

Back to this week's challenge for me, though! I misted with perfect pearls-infused sprays in fired brick, crushed olive and chipped sapphire over a swirly sort of image.

My spraying technique never results in anything even remotely close to as clean and defined as Tim's, but I like it anyway (foot stomping on ground).

I stamped over the entire pearly inky tag with a peacock stamp, then embellished with a corner adornment and grunge "E" that is inked with peeled paint, embossed with black "escape" text and is holding a beaded dangly thingy.

My own twist for this project, because you know I can't Just Stick To The Plan Ma'am, can be seen in the stamping of the main image: The peacock.

Our beautiful bird is actually stamped twice, once in opaque white, then again in black, slightly offset from the white to create a shadowed effect.

Tell me what you think of my project, then go to Studio L3 to check out what artists from around the world are doing with Tim's techniques!

Distress Ink color blocking: Grungy Monday

Hi again everybody! Shocking, I know, but after my Tuesday post in which I bemoaned my nonexistent muse, all of you managed to get me back in the game -- twice today even!

Let's not go on and on about it this very second, but if you come back tomorrow afternoon you'll find a big thank you in the form of blog candy!

Until then ... we're talking about Studio L3's Grungy Monday ... on Friday! Woohoo!

OK, this week's Grungy Monday focuses on Tim Holtz's Distress Ink Color Blocking technique, and it is such fun!

Not only because, as with everything Tim does, it results in a very cool finished piece, but also because this one is dead simple.

It's alright friends. We can admit it: Occasionally Tim's techniques, well, until you've had a few hours to try and try again and go at it one more time ... it feels as if you'll never create anything that remotely resembles his example.

That does make sense since he's an expert, but it's still nice once-in-awhile to use a technique like Color Blocking that makes us all feel a bit of expertise.

My piece features seven Distress Ink colors, three lines of hand-sewn stitching, a fragment and Octopode's Steampunk Lady Audrey.

She was colored in an image-editing program and is showing off an uber-cool Glossy Accents mask lens.

Take yourself to Studio L3 to check out what Linda, the guest designers and participants from around the world have created!

And, as my Steampunk Audrey says, Pull yourself together! Make your own Color Blocking piece and then give us a peek!

A new dimension: Grungy Monday

Few things are better than a project that comes together just the way you’d hoped.

This one started awhile ago, but it was brought to fruition by Linda at Studio L3. Or, by the Studio L3 Grungy Monday Tim Holtz technique of the week: Tim's video challenge originally featured in May 2008.

So, awhile back I found the Carousel Cricut cartridge that is packed with a fantastic font, but also some images that I was sure would be perfect for Holtz projects.

After all, what in the world is better to grunge up than a circus? What is more steampunky odd than a bear in a tutu? Perhaps it’s a monkey with an umbrella, which is awesome, because both images are on the Carousel cartridge!

Past Holtz technique-based projects of mine have featured Cricut cuts, but very few. Cricut just isn’t a grungy-ready source. It’s more, ahm, cute and cuddly. Unfortunately this means that Cricut isn’t exactly Octopode friendly, either.

What? You don’t know Octopode? Shame on you for not reading my entire posts with the attention they deserve!

Owned by Lily Chilvers, Octopode is home to a slew of fantastically steampunky creatures. Some are based on fairy tale characters while others are based on … Lily’s imagination (and whew, her imagination has definitely maintained a sense of wonder).

Anyhow, Octopodes are currently my favorite people. They’re charming and cute and cuddly and very What The Hell. I love them, and have known they also would be so fun with the methods and ideas that Tim Holtz shares on his blog.

Yet, my past is full of Cricut, Octopode, Holtz failures that were tossed aside with the incredibly frustrating knowledge that it wasn’t the techniques, products or stamps … it was my lack of artistic ability.

Until I found the carousel cartridge, the Octopode Whimsical Circus and Tim’s new dimension technique.

One shuffling of some mini tarot cards and tada! A grungy circus with Octopode’s Fortune Telling Nellie, Cricuts circus tent and Tim’s outstanding inks, glitters, text stickers and found object idea.

Yessir ... it all came together just the way I'd hoped ... in only a few days, weeks and months of prior attempts.

Texture fades and distress: Grungy Monday

Monday April 18, the very same day that Linda announced the newest StudioL3 Grungy Monday technique, I dutifully trotted right over to watch Tim Holtz's technique video.

And procrastinated about doing my own Grungy project until roughly two hours ago.

Why? I guess I couldn't decide what to do. I mean, our Mr. Holtz calls for us to use a Texture Fades folder and Distress ink.

Do you know how open that is? How many colors there are? Several dozen, right? How many folders? Several dozen again. Just look around Tim's blog! There are millions of options!

As of last night I had still not made any decisions, and I don't even own half of the available colors or folders.

Today I finally decided that it was again time to beg My Guy for help: I dropped my pile of about a dozen texture fades folders into his lap, explained the overall technique and said, "Choose a folder."

He asked, "What's your theme?" To which I responded "Choose a folder and then I'll know."

Unbelievably, that's all it took: Fixing my attention on the one starting option, the one folder he chose, got me creating.

I used four Distress ink colors on the embossing folder and a vintage-look Tequila Sunrise recipe from the DezinaWorld ephemera collage sheet for a centerpiece image.

The scrolly-leaf embellishments and oranges are made from grungeboard bits with a few orange leaves cut from metal. Those are colored with Bic permanent markers and alcohol ink.

My Guy has decided that this piece looks "classy" and should be hung, in a frame, above our bar.

Unfortunately his decision has left me pondering: Why is the first time he's called one of my creations "classy?" What does that say about my other pieces? Were they the opposite of classy? Were they tacky?

And, more importantly: Do I care? Not really. He's got some scrap metal and a torch. He can make his own art!

So, I'm sure most of you finished your classy Grungy Monday piece six days ago. Those of you who are even tardier than me: Find a friend, roommate or lover to choose a folder for you and then get your fingers inky!

Adirondack Color Wash: Grungy Monday

Yesterday I said the Octopode's March Hare would get an updated color job and reemerge as the Easter Bunny to create a holiday card: Turns out he wanted to adorn my first ever chunky ATC instead.

He is correct though, don't you think?

Surrounded by a few UTEE eggs, wrapped in real chocolate egg foils, a fuzzy chick and some quilled flowers he's right at home, and stressed out as expected.

We even found a real woven basket for him to carry, which he so obviously appreciates!

OK, so before I forget, this is my second Studio L3 Grungy Monday post in honor of the techniques of Tim Holtz. Check out his fine work and creative inspiration at www.timholtz.com. Many of you are probably on your third: I missed last week. I know, I know. And what's worse is I didn't even realize I'd missed one until it was too late.

Anyhow, back to the action: This week's challenge focuses on a the Adirondack Color Wash product rather than a specific technique. And that's super fine since this color wash stuff is brilliant. Messy, too, so keep on eye on your work space and everything within two or three feet.

Depending on how much you spritz it'll create a fine mist, puddled finish or fully coat your intended surface (and, as mentioned, some unintended surfaces).

I used it over a layer of white appliance enamel spray paint, so in some places it's soaked through to the wood base and in others it dried into perfect little bird's egg splotches.

This enamel with wash background is something I've used before and can guarantee you'll see again since I think it's an amazingly cool look.

Today I also discovered another "technique" that you'll see from me again ... wrap-around stamping.

See those birds? They're from the Lost and Found Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous set. I dipped the stamp in black archival ink, pressed it carefully against the edge of the chunky, and then "rolled" it around to the back side, creating a single stamped image that curves around the ATC.

Neat, huh?

If you haven't been over to Grungy Monday yet this week you've still got a few hours to join the creative fun!

And so it begins *insert applause*: Grungy Monday

Visit StudioL3

I'm sure all of you remember our Lovely Linda at Studio L3 promising us that something wonderful was already in the works to replace the Compendium Challenges which ended March 13, 2011.

And here we are at ... dah dah DUM ... Grungy Monday! Whistle! Cheer! Clap! Another excellent challenge series focusing on our friend Tim Holtz!

Of course, I'll admit that best of all for me is that Linda asked Terry and I to be her first ever Grungy Monday guest designers!

Color me tickled freakin' PINK people! Or, as you can see, blue. Tickled blue and purple and pearly perfect. With a feather even.

This first ever Grungy Monday challenge is a fun one focused on Tim's 2008 12 Tags of Christmas Day 10. This also fits another first: The first time I've participated in any way in the 12 Tags techniques! Shhh. Don't tell.

Alright, so I've reworked Tim's fun reindeer tag with some of his Stamper's Anonymous wings, new colors and a "Fly" theme rather than Ho Ho Ho (actually I reworked it three times and this is the one that I finally liked).

His inspiration and beautiful techniques on this piece are wonderful! I love Step 22, add perfect pearls to a pool of water, the most.

Why is this? Because it's like playing with a puddle of mercury minus the possibility of a trip to the emergency room! Honestly after you finish this step come back here and try to tell me it wasn't fun as hell glooping your brush around in the pearly goodness that always returns to itself.

Plus, those wings! Isn't that a supremely cool-looking set of wings? I know you're going to create your very own embossed grunge papery bit, so I don't need to emote so much.

In fact, take only a second or two more here with me (I'm about to provide a Products Used list with links where available), then get out of here and start creating your own non-Christmas version of Tim's tag!

Products Used:
Stamp: Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous (wings); Close to my Heart Delightful Alphabet (FLY){product retired}.
Ink: Distress Ink reinker chipped sapphire; Distress Ink broken china and embossing; Color Box Black.
Additives: Perfect Pearls Forever Blue; Perfect Pearls Forever Violet; unknown brand black embossing powder.
Embellishment: Vintage paper strip 1950s California middle school music book; JoAnn Craft Essentials alpha brads {product retired}; Close to my Heart Mini-Medley in pewter; Feather from some sad featherless bird.
Various: Tim Holtz flourish mask; Mini misters (for pearlized mist and water pool).

p.s. have you ever wished you could stalk Tim Holtz? Well, he's nothing if not accomodating: You can see what he's up to by clicking here and visiting his blog!