Drunken Stampers Party Like It's 1999

Hard to believe, but already it's our half-birthday at Drunken Stampers! Peggy and Spike started the blog last January, and the first challenge ever was "Celebrate with a Frosty Beverage!" That's the theme for our party this week, too!

The slightly boozy babe on my card is one of those cool Loralie Designs stamps, colored with Copics and blinged up with some stick-on pearls. The "Cheers" sign (where everybody knows your name...) and the cocktail glass were both cut with the Silhouette SD, and I used Crushed Olive and Forest Moss Distress ink for the martini and olive. I airbrushed three clear rhinestones with an orange Copic for the extra sparkle on the right.

You're joining the party, right? Come on, it'll be a blast! Link up your homage to your favorite frosty beverage at the Drunken Stampers lounge anytime before 11:59 PM August 6 (PST), and we'll toast to your talent!

Hugs,
Linda

A Big Thank You and a Little Giveaway!

My sweet friend Theresa, hostess of the gorgeous Faerie Moon Creations blog, has been running a weekly series called "Terrifically Talented Thursday" for quite some time now, in which she generously shares the work and stories of two fellow crafters. Her final installment (for a while, at least) was posted today, and I'm honored... no, make that beyond honored... to be one of her featured artists! I'd love if you'd check it out!

Part of the fun of TTT is sharing the love, and that means I get to do a giveaway! Here, perched among the basil, is the gift I'll be sending to someone.

This box combines techniques and products from the two artists who have most influenced my own art over the past year: high-octane genius Tim Holtz (of course!), and the amazing Claudine Hellmuth, from whom I'm currently taking an awesome online multi-media course. 

The info on how to enter to win this little treasure box is on Theresa's blog, and the contest is open through August 4!

While you're there, you'll also get to enjoy the spectacular work of Theresa's other featured artist, Tracey of Glitterbug Studios, of whom I'm now a big fan. I just love her style! And, Theresa herself is a magnificent jewelry artist whose ETSY Shop is overflowing with magical handcrafted beauty. I'm wearing one of her gorgeous necklaces today, in fact!

I'm so excited, my head is spinning!

I want to take a sec to thank Theresa—who is the very definition of "gracious"— for her kindness. Following her blog over the months, I've been introduced to so many wonderful artists, and to now be featured myself is just unreal. It's a very Wayne & Garth experience— all I can say is "I'm not worthy!" But I am very, very grateful. ♥

Hugs to all,
Linda

The chipboard cigar box is faux-stuccoed with Claudine's Studio Gesso and painted with several shades of her Studio Paint. Tim fans will recognize the images from his new Falling Leaves stamp set, which were "grunged up" with Distress Embossing Powder for a heavily-textured, skeleton leaf look. The butterfly is from Tim's Fanciful Flight die, and the veining in her wings is multi-colored metallic leafing. 

Gingersnaps Color-iffic Challenge!

This week at Gingersnap Creations, we're hosting a color challenge! This is one of my favorite ways to get inspired, and with Yellow, Orange and Red as the theme, well, you can go in a million different, fun directions.

Me? I skipped the next two months and went right into October!

I love the ingenious stamp-on-stamp sets from Kitchen Sink Stamps! Have you seen these? They're RAD! There are two or more stamps for each image, from silhouette to detailed, and you stamp them in a certain order, building color from light to dark to get these cool, realistic, shadowed and highlighted images. Whoever thought system up should get some kind of award for stamping ingenuity! They're really easy to work with, too.

I used two Kitchen Sink set for this little card: The Three-Step Autumn Squirrel set, and the Multi-Step Owl and Autumn Moon set. The inks are all Adirondack, and the background is the same ink smeared onto glossy paper, with some black embossing powder sprinkled around and melted for texture.

Just a little homage to one of my four favorite seasons.

You have all the way through August 22 to share the love at Gingersnap Creations! We can't wait to see what you do with Yellow, Orange and Red!

Compendium of Curiosities, Week 7!

Challenge #7: Tinted Vision Fragments

That's my mom, sometime in the late 1940s! Isn't she lovely?

Happy Monday, everyone! I had a blast seeing all the cool Multi-Medium work you guys did last week, and I can tell it was a challenge people had a lot of fun doing. You're all so incredibly talented, and your enthusiasm for Tim and his techniques is a joy to see and read about! Thank you so much for taking this journey with me!

Ready to do it again? Let's go! Please open your Compendium of Curiosities to page 55, where you'll find Tim's Tinted Vision Fragments Technique. I had a great time making the sample card for this one. It's an easy and sort of mad-scientist-y method of getting a really unique, vintage/distressed look, and besides that, it's just a whole lot of fun to do!

You may use any of the Idea-ology Fragments for this challenge, including the regular or the charm style, as long as you follow the instructions in the Compendium for this specific technique. If you haven't yet made the small investment in a package of Fragments, now's the time! Remember, there are still several more challenges coming up that will utilize them.

Are there prizes this week? But, of course!

Gloria, the lovely List Mom at the All Things Tim group at Yahoo, is again sending a gift to one lucky member who adds their creation to the Compendium of Curiosities album at the group's home page. Please be sure to tag your photo "CCC #7" when it upload it there. And, if you're not a member of All Things Tim... good grief, get on over there and join the fun! You'll never find a nicer bunch of people!


Now, let's see... There was something mentioned last time about a very special announcement with this week's post. Gosh, what was that...?

Oh! I remember...

About a week and a half ago, I received the loveliest email from the loveliest gentleman. Mario is his name— maybe you've heard of him? ;-) Mario is Tim's Business Manager, and an all-around wonderful guy. Anyway, Mario asked for my mailing address, and a few days later, a HUGE box showed up (seriously, my FedEx guy has a hernia now)! This box was packed full of goodies, courtesy of Tim and Mario, for me to offer as prizes for the Challenge participants!!! Holy cow, HOW COOL IS THAT?!

So, I get to go through this treasure trove and put together some really amazing prize packages for you guys! Here's what one lucky participant will win this week, courtesy of Tim and Mario:

Look closely at that stamp set. See what's going on here? Yep: It's autographed!

Hold on to your shorts, because it gets even better. Throughout the remainder of the Challenge series, at random intervals, an equally cool assortment of Tim Goodness will be up for grabs. The winners will always be chosen by Random Number generator, but to keep things interesting I may not always tell you when one of these awesome prize packages is on the table! I love a little intrigue, don't you?

Our wonderful sponsors will still be offering their generous prizes most weeks, too, so oftentimes a Tim and Mario Extravaganza Box of Happiness will be given in addition to the sponsor prize! And, every one will contain an item autographed by Tim himself!

I know! I'm jumping up and down, too!!!

So, bring on your Tinted Vision Fragments this week, and please remember these Two Super-Simple Rules to be eligible to win: Follow the technique as it's written in the Compendium (with your own personal flair!), and, out of fairness to Tim, don't post the instructions on your blog!

This Challenge is open until 11:59 PM (MDT) next Sunday, August 1. When your masterpiece is ready, simply add it to this post using InLinkz form below.

Have a great time, and a wonderful week. I can't wait to see what you all create!

A huge, heartfelt thanks to Tim and Mario for their incredible generosity and kindness! 


Big hugs,
Linda


Details from my Tinted Vision Fragments card:

• Background paper is from Tim's Shabby Chic collection
• Base is Grungeboard, embossed with the Swirls Texture Fade  folder and colored with Worn Lipstick and Vintage Photo Distress Inks.
• On the right-hand side, the little stars are Grungeboard painted with Copper Adirondack Paint, and the swirly thing is copper wire, hammered flat and attached with wire twists. 
• The "One in a Million" text is an inkjet print attached to a Grungeboard plaque. 

Compendium Challenge Week 6 Winners!

Good morning, Compendium of Curiosities fans! Your art for last week was nothing short of magnificent! It's way before the break of dawn here in Boise, and time to announce the winners of the CCC #6.

The great oracle (a.k.a. "Random Number Generator") has spoken, and big congratulations go to:

Lynn Stevens, of Trash to Treasure Art! 

Check out Lynn's ROCKIN', Elvis-themed tag in a more up-close-and-personal way by visiting her wonderful blog!

Lynn, you're the winner of this magnificent  prize package from our wonderful friend Daisy at Eclectic Paperie! Have fun, girlfriend! I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say that I can't wait to see what you do with all this cool stuff. :-)

At the All Things Tim group at Yahoo, the lovely Gloria has chosen a winner from among the members' uploaded photos. Congratulations to Wanda H! You can read her post and get a closer look at the lovely tag by visiting her at the Art By Wanda blog!

To all who didn't win, fear not! The new challenge will post in just a few minutes, and I have a pretty good hunch this week's prize package is going to knock the flipflops off your feet! Stay tuned...

Daisy and Gloria, thank you for your boundless generosity! ♥

Drunken Stampers vs. Seasonal Disaffected Disorder

♪♫ It's the most wonderful time of the year!

There'll be much mistletoe-ing and hearts will be glowing

When loved ones are near...

AAIEEEE!!!

(Exactly when did "mistletoe" become a verb, anyway?)

You guessed it, folks. At Drunken Stampers, we're spiking the eggnog just in time to bring you a little Christmas in July!

Personally, I would find this entire idea far less unsettling if I hadn't seen actual Christmas decorations on display when I went to the craft store last week. I mean, really? But that's beside the point. Smart people who make holiday cards actually do begin now, if they haven't already, and by December they're sitting sweet on a stack of gorgeous, glittery, tinsel-festooned Christmas/Hanukkah/Solstice/Kwanzaa/Ramadan/

Boxing Day/Twelfth Night masterpieces, already addressed in pristine calligraphic handwriting and sealed with gold foil ornament stickers. 

I am not that smart. 

In fact, this is likely the only holiday card to be produced by Yours Truly until the second Saturday after Thanksgiving, when it dawns on me that— holy crap!— there's a Big Holiday a'Coming. At that point I'll run around in circles waving my arms and screaming "WHERE'S THE FREAKING DOUBLE-SIDED TAPE?!" until I finally discover that I sat on it and it's now stuck to my butt, along with a half-dozen rhinestones and enough cat fur to knit a cardigan for Andre the Giant. 

On that fateful day, much paper will be sacrificed on the alter of overly-rushed crafting. Ink will be smeared, glue will be spilled, the house will look like it got sucked through a wormhole, spun around twice and spit out on the other side of the galaxy. And there's a high probability that the cards produced will be so irredeemably awful that no self-respecting preschooler would claim them.

May you never have to actually witness this horror. It would kill Christmas for you entirely. 

But, returning to the present moment, it's still five glorious months until Ralphie dons his pink bunny suit and the leg lamp gets broken, and I have, ironically, taken an almost Zen-like approach with my sample for the Christmas in July Challenge. The message is the same one I always try to pass along during my frenzied December Craftmania sessions, but somehow it feels more authentic knowing that I didn't trash the house while trying to say it. Simply put: May Peace Prevail on Earth. 

Come on over to the Drunken Stampers Lounge and show us your holiday spirit!

Merry... nope, can't do it. Have a very happy day!

Hugs,

Linda

The Deets:

• White cardstock inked with several blue and gray shades of Distress Ink.
• Deer stamped with Black Archival Ink.
• Stars and "Peace" stamped with Distress Embossing Ink and embossed with gold metallic powder.
• Funky holographic white fluffy glitter was used to make the snow.

Gingersnap Creations: Get Your Shine On!

We're soaking up the rays at Gingersnap Creations this week with a Sunshine themed challenge!

I love this sweet Sun Hug image from Stamp Oasis. However, the version I have is from a long-discontinued mini-sheet and it's exactly half the size of what it says on the website (a mere two inches wide!), making for a really interesting experience trying to color it. I'm not talking "stronger reading glasses" interesting, either, I'm talking "electron microscope" interesting. In the end, I decided to play the Artistic Licence card and just blacked out some of the teeny tiny details.

(Here's the original)

A black Copic marker can be a real sanity saver, friends!

Once I'd made the image post-Lasik-friendly, I colored it with super-bright Copics. I did her hair with a brown dimensional gel pen so it wouldn't literally fade to black. The background panel is inked with Spiced  Marmalade, Wild Honey and Tea Die Distress Inks, and coated with gobs of orange Distress Stickles. The the behind-the-background background is made from light green cardstock stamped with Lettuce Adirondack paint using Tim's stamp that looks like sun rays, from his Bitty Grunge set. The "SHInE" letters are little metallic stick-ons.

And that's my little homage to the sun. I'd love to see yours, too, so blurf on over to Gingersnap Creations and shine a little light on our lives. This challenge is open through August 15.

Wishing you all a bright, bright sunshine-y day!

Compendium of Curiosities, Week 6!

Challenge #6: Multi-Medium Collage

Sponsored by Eclectic Paperie

Happy Monday/New Compendium Challenge Day, everyone! Thanks a million times over for making last week so much fun, and for all the stunning art you posted! It's a huge treat to see your submissions popping up on the blog every day, and I so enjoy having the chance to get to know you all through the beautiful work you're doing.

Please open your Compendium of Curiosities to page 66, where you'll find Tim's Multi-Medium Collage technique! I think this is one of the most fun project in the entire book. Once I start creating these little paper-enhanced pieces, it's hard to stop!

This is another technique where having the right product can really make a difference. I love working with Claudine Hellmuth's Multi Medium from her Studio line, and can honestly say it's by far the best papercrafting adhesive I've ever used. It dries quickly, it doesn't curl up your paper, and it holds substantial objects together beautifully. If you've never used it before, please consider this challenge an opportunity to fall in love with it. Yes, it really is that good!

That said, I realize that some of you may not have access to Claudine's Studio products at your local stores, so please know that you can substitute other adhesives for this technique (or, you could order some from Eclectic Paperie, this week's sponsor, and get a discount! More on that in a moment...). Do be sure to use a matte finish product for the best results, though. And have a blast with this!

Let's talk prizes, shall we? As she does every week, Gloria, the sweet and generous List Mom at the All Things Tim group at Yahoo, is offering a prize for one lucky member who adds their creation to the Compendium of Curiosities album at the group's home page. Please be sure to tag your photo "CCC #6" when you upload it there.

And here at Mission Control, the always-wonderful Daisy from Eclectic Paperie has put together a knockout of a prize package for this week's lucky winner! Behold the bounty:

Cut-B-Dry stamp foam pad

Package of NUMERALS - Tim Holtz idea-ology

4 fl oz jar of Multi-Medium Gloss - Claudine Hellmuth Studio

6x6 Kitschy Kitchen Paper Pad - Melissa Frances

Chris Box - Bare Elements by Creative Imaginations

Marcelina Brag Book - Bare Elements by Creative Imaginations

And here's more great news from Eclectic Paperie: Daisy is offering a discount to all Compendium Challenge participants for an entire month after this challenge closes! How cool is that?! Just enter the coupon code StudioL3 at checkout, and you'll get 10% off any purchase of $20 or more! This is good on both regular- AND sale-priced products.

Daisy said to tell you: "This is eP's way to say 'thank you!' We are in this together till the end...and let's keep up the stamping fun!"

And remember: There's a whole BUNCH of new Tim goodness coming out in the next few weeks, so keep that coupon code in a handy place!

To be eligible to win this gorgeous Eclectic Paperie gift, create your own work of art using Tim's Multi-Medium Collage technique and link it here before this Challenge closes at 11:59pm (MDT) next Sunday, July 25. The winner will be chosen via Random Number Generator. 


As always, please do not post the technique instructions at your blog. All participants should have their own copy of the Compendium of Curiosities and use that as their guidebook.  

Just a couple more things before you go. Please hang in here with me— it will be worth it!

First, did you guys know that Eclectic Paperie has an awesome video series at their own YouTube channel? You've gotta check it out. There are tutorials, product reviews... and lots of Tim Holtz to be seen! You'll probably want to subscribe, in fact, I highly recommend it! You just never know what kind of good things might pop up there.

And finally... There's going to be a huge and VERY exciting announcement here at the CCC next week! Things are about to get a LOT more interesting. Stay tuned...

Okay, friends: Go forth and create!

Hugs,
Linda

Compendium Challenge Week 5 Winners!

Good morning! Thanks so much to everyone who submitted their fabulous art to the Compendium of Curiosities Challenge, Week 5! Everyone did an amazing job with their Distress Powder projects! Before we move on the Challenge #6, let's give a big round of cyber applause to the Challenge #5 winners. The Random Number Generator has spoken, and the winner of the $25 shopping spree at Simon Says Stamp is...

Daniele from the Musings of a Chocoholic blog! Congratulations, Daniele! Check out her gorgeous tag below, and please stop by her blog to see more of her beautiful work.

Gloria, the wonderful List Mom at the All Things Tim group at Yahoo has chosen her winner at well. Congratulations to Esther Peck! Get a closer look at Esther's gorgeous, sea-themed tag at her blog, Crafty Effusions!

Thanks again to all the wonderful artists who shared their talent at the Compendium of Curiosities Challenge last week! This week, there are more prizes up for grabs— and a fun new technique to try!— so be ready. Challenge 6 opens in just a few minutes...

Drunken Stampers Go Sketchy!

This week's theme at the Drunken Stampers Challenge Blog (and Beach-side Tiki Lounge) is one I haven't played with nearly enough in my crafting life: Yep, it's a SKETCH challenge! 

I loved doing this. What a pleasant break it was to remove the whole, "How the HECK do I lay this thing out?!" aspect of card-making and just focus on color and texture and stamping. For this one easy piece, I used the Orpheus stamp from Rubber Poet, shiny silver cardstock embossed with Tim's Retro Circles Texture Fade Folder (don't you love how I'm now on a first name basis with Tim Holtz, even though I've never actually met the man?!), some paper from his Shabby Chic stack, a little Faded Jeans Distress Ink, some Denim Adirondack Paint, and three little blue rhinestones. Fun and simple to make. I like that!

Gosh, it's been a while since I've bored you with one of my Mini Mangled Mythology Lessons, so let's revisit the story of Orpheus. Poor guy, he was one of those ridiculously talented Greek heroes who just couldn't catch a break. He played his lyre so beautifully that even the rocks were moved to tears, but his own life pretty much sucked. You see, his wife, Eurydice, had chosen the wrong reptile to play with, and she died of a snake bite. 

Orpheus was so bummed over his wife's untimely demise that he flew down to the underworld (never a good idea) and played his mournful music for Hades. This must have been somewhat unsettling for the god of hellfire, who was no doubt more accustomed to hearing Iron Maiden and Metallica. Nonetheless, Hades (the ol' softie) was so touched by Orpheus's grief that he agreed to let him take Eurydice back to the world of the living. The only condition was, they could never look back. Oh, those ancient Greeks and their conditional generosity! We all know what happened next: On their way out, Orpheus saw the sun and turned around to say something to Eurydice (probably involving his forgotten sunglasses) and POOF! His beloved wife vanished, never to be seen again. 

And that's how The Blues were born. 

But here's some good news: You don't need a myth or a legend or even The Blues to rock the Drunken Stampers challenge this week! All you have to do is follow Peggy's handy sketch:

Put your own brilliant spin and it and show it off in the lounge! This challenge runs through Friday, July 23, and we can't wait to see what you create!

Have a fab weekend, everyone!

Gingersnap Creations: Make Your Mark(er)!

We're busting out the markers for our Spicy Supply Challenge at Gingersnap Creations this week!

I was never much of a marker fan, to be honest, until about a year ago. I always found them unforgiving, paper-destroying and really hard to work with, all the while knowing that the true issue was Operator Error. Then, as you have no doubt already surmised, I tried an alcohol-based marker and everything changed. I started with Sharpies, which were okay, then Spike told me about Bic Mark-Its, which more more than okay.. and at that point I swore I'd never spend more than a dollar-fifty on a marker because what I had was plenty good enough. I didn't want those high-falutin' expensive, fancy, refillable things.

Then one day, I really needed a good Caucasian skin tone. Bic didn't have one. I floundered. I bit my lip. I hemmed and hawed. But finally, I gave in and bought a Copic. Now I have like 300 of them. And I love markers! LOVE THEM!

Moral of the Story: A good tool makes all the difference. So does a credit card with a low interest rate.

This is one of the first things I used my Copics on, and this was before I'd received my certification training or done any real study in how to use them correctly, so the blending is pretty lousy. But I love the images and the colors, so let's go with it, anyway. Both the Night Sky Maid from Stamp Oasis and the Egyptian curtain (which I think is also from Stamp Oasis, but I couldn't locate it online), were stamped onto white cardstock, colored with assorted Copic markers, colored again with Copic Spica glitter pens, then cut out and layered onto sky-themed paper using pop dots. The little goddess up top is a pewter charm that I tinted with Copics, and the dancer's veil is a bit of magenta ribbon. There's a little gold foil tape across the top, and the sides and bottom are blinged with a gold Krylon marker.

It's like Marker Mania!

Easy card to make; brutal card to photograph! Holy cats, all those teeny little glass sparkles in the Spica pens really wreak havoc on the old auto-focus! It actually looks kind of cool in real life. Honest, it does.

Now, you don't have to have fancy, high-falutin' markers to play along with the Gingersnap challenge. All you need are a few markers of any kind... and a dream! Submissions are open through August 8. Come on over and color our world!

Hugs,
Linda

Compendium of Curiosities, Week 5!

Challenge #5: Distress Powder

Sponsored by Simon Says Stamp!

Hi everyone! As you see, I've changed things up a bit this week, and congratulated the winners of last week's challenge in a separate blog post a just few minutes ago. I'll be doing it this way from now on, so don't forget to back up and see if you're a winner!

Before we get to this week's technique, I want to give a big welcome the folks who've just discovered the Compendium of Curiosities challenge! It's been absolutely wonderful to see so many new names popping up on the link list, and, of course, to have the opportunity to see all the beautiful art you're creating!

Those who are newer to this challenge series may not have had the opportunity to go back and read all the posts from the beginning, so I just want to pass along a quick reminder that you really do need to have Tim's Compendium of Curiosities to participate. When Tim gave me his permission to host this series, I promised him that I would not post details on how to do the techniques, and one of the few "rules" I have is that none of the participants do, either. This isn't just an issue of copyright (although that's certainly a consideration). It's about respecting Tim and the tremendous amount of work he put into his wonderful book. So, while I know it's counter-intuitive for most of us who blog about our art, when it comes to the actual instructions, mum's the word!

For the purposes of this challenge series, think of the Compendium as your text book, and approach the weekly challenges as a way to really perfect the technique as Tim presents it (with your own personal flair, of course!). And, if you haven't had the opportunity to get your own copy, please do! You can order it directly from Tim, or from any of the fabulous sponsors listed on the sidebar over there. →

And now... let's talk about Distress Embossing Powder!

Please open your Compendium of Curiosities to page 43, for the Distress Powder technique!

I get the impression that Distress Powder is something people either really love, or really don't like at all. I fall wholeheartedly into the LOVE camp, and my mission this week is to convert anyone who doesn't. I'm not exaggerating when I say that I consider it one of the coolest products to ever hit the crafting market.

The thing is, it's so much more than just an embossing powder, and as I've played with it I've come to think of it more as "Distress Heat-Activated Texture Enhancer of Wonder." When I want the utmost in grungy, down-and-dirty, been-around-the-block-and-all-the-better-for-it art, this is my go-to product. When I want to create a sandy beach, a gravel pathway, or even a flocked faux fabric, I grab the Distress Powder. And of course, when I want a cool, texturized, completely unique embossed effect, nothing else comes close.

I could go on and on, but I know you'd much rather hear about the prizes this week and get started on your own Distress Powder masterpiece! So, I'm happy to announce that our good friends at Simon Says Stamp are back with another fabulous $25 shopping spree! Just think... you could use that to order one of Tim's new stamp sets!

And that's not all! The lovely Gloria at the All Things Tim group is again offering a prize for one lucky member who adds their creation to the Compendium of Curiosities album at the group's home page. Please be sure to tag your photo "CCC #5" when you upload it there.

To be eligible to win either prize, simply create your own work of art using Tim's Distress Powder technique. You only need to use one color of powder,  but please be aware that you really do have to use Distress Powder for this. Plain old embossing powder just won't have the same mojo.

(SPECIAL TIP:  For the best results with the least frustration, follow all the instructions, and pay extra attention to Step 4! )

All right, my texture-loving friends, I can't wait to see you ROCK the Distress Powder technique! This challenge is open until 11:59 PM (MDT) next Sunday, July 18. I have a feeling this is going to be the coolest set of submissions yet...

Big hugs to all!
Linda

CCC Week 4 Winners!

It's time to announce the winners for last week's Compendium of Curiosities Challenge #4!

The Random Number Generator has spoken: 

Congratulations to Gerrie Johnnic!!!

Gerrie's beautiful, Shabby Chic Buddha can be seen in its full-size glory at her blog, Queen of Grunge. 

Gerrie, have a BLAST with your $30 shopping spree from Nona Designs! Can't wait to hear about the fabulous new goodies you get!

Thanks so much to Wenonah of Nona Designs for being our Week 4 sponsor!

From the All Things Tim group at Yahoo, the lovely List Mom, Gloria, has chosen a winner, too, 

Congratulations, Nancy Dare! 

Here's Nancy's lovely and dramatic Shabby Chic piece, which you can also see at her blog, Dare to Be Unique. 

Congratulations, Nancy! Please contact Gloria through the All Things Tim mailing list with your shipping info! Gloria, as always, thank you for your generosity and support! You're the bomb, girlfriend!

Ready for Challenge 5? It's coming at 6 AM (MDT)/Noon GMT.

Drunken Stampers Get Sloshed!

Over at the Drunken Stampers Challenge Lounge and Tiki Bar, we're cooling things off with a Water theme this week. Ah, the refreshment! You can almost feel the temperature dropping...

I've been firmly entrenched in card making lately, so I thought I'd change it up and send over a multi-media piece. This little altered wooden tray has been hanging in my bathroom since, well, three bathrooms ago, and it's one of the very first 3D projects I ever did. So, even though it's a little silly, it has a special place in my heart, and when I bought my townhouse last summer, I kind of might have painted the main bathroom to match it. 

The base is one of those cheap, unfinished serving trays you can find at any discount super-mega craft emporium. It's painted with zillions of layers of blue and green Lumiere paint and then collaged with an old greeting card and a bunch of fancy papers. There's even a little iridescent cellophane. An antique(ish), miniature hand mirror and some little pearl beads were added to make the mermaids happy. 

In the very upper left-hand corner, that overly shiny, blurry thing is actually a glass pebble with an image from Botticelli's "The Birth of Venus" (better known as "Venus on the Half Shell").  Here's an extreme close up, which still isn't a very good image, but poor Venus deserves to at least have her moment. 

Okay, now you've not only seen my goofy multimedia work from long ago, you've also seen my bathroom. That makes us really good friends! So, please come to the party! The Drunken Stampers Water Challenge is open through next Friday, and it won't be nearly as much fun if you don't join us! 

Have a fabulous weekend!

♥ Linda

Gingersnap Challenge: Is It Getting Hot In Here?!

Okay, ready? Sing along with me:

♪  ♫  I'm riding in your car, you turn on the radio

You're pulling me close, I just say no...

This week's challenge at Gingersnap Creations is HEAT, and you're welcome to interpret that however you wish! Sunny beaches, chili peppers, salsa-dancing teddy bears in gold lame' costumes... you name it! Even with all that flexibility, though, I had a little trouble coming up with a concept for this theme. So, I went to the place I almost always go when I'm struggling to find inspiration: The world of popular music. It didn't take long to land in New Jersey. When he's downtrodden, he's really downtrodden. But when he's on fire, there's no one more on fire than Bruce Springsteen!

So, once I had the appropriate, heat-related song in mind, the card came together pretty quickly. The lady is an old favorite from Lynne Perrella, stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink and colored with every bright red and orange Copic I could get my hands on. I glued her to black cardstock and cut around the outline so she'd stand out against the backdrop. The flames were hand-drawn, Copic-ed and cut out.

Behind the red-hot hottie is a panel of glossy cardstock, brayered with Adirondack Brights Ink (Sunshine Yellow, Sunset Orange and Red Pepper), then embossed with Tim's "Rays" Texture Fade folder. For added flaminess (not a real word), I rubbed some gold metallic goo across the raised areas. This was mounted onto black cardstock, then onto a leftover piece of shiny paper painted with Luna Lights. The lyrics were ink jet printed, and yes— I did actually burn the edges this time. Nothing else caught on fire. It was a good day.

I think it's best to view this card while listening to its musical inspiration (although the video is so much fun you'll probably ignore the artwork completely), so here it is, fresh from the Wayback Machine:

FIRE!

Okay, guys, put on your fire-proof suits and show us your hottest art! This challenge runs until August 1, and we can't wait to see how YOU turn on the heat!

♥ ~Linda

Compendium of Curiosities, Week 4!

Challenge 4: Shabby Chic

Sponsored by Nona Designs!

Boy oh boy, you guys ROCKED the Alcohol Ink Monoprints last week! I hope you had the opportunity to blurf a little and check out each other's art, because everyone just knocked this outta the park. Bravo, friends!


Before we get all shabby and chic, I'll announce our lucky winners for Challenge 3:

The Random Number Generator has spoken, and  big congrats goes to Rinda of the wonderful Gallo Organico blog! Rinda won that awesome Eclectic Paperie gift package, which includes Tim's Circus stamp set, Archival Ink, Ranger Glossy paper and Maya Road Trinket pins. Rinda, have a BLAST with all those cool new toys!


Thanks, as always, to my friend Daisy of Ecletic Paperie, who's been an incredible sponsor from the very beginning. ♥

Click on this image to check out Rinda's beautiful blog.

Gloria from the All Things Tim group has chosen her Challenge 3 winner, too, and congratulations go to Jane of the Creative Stamping blog! Jane submitted a great piece of art, which you can see at this link. The always-generous Gloria will offer another prize this week just for All Things Tim members who do this challenge, so if you haven't joined, get on over there! (ATT members, please remember to tag this week's photo with CCC #4 when you upload it to Gloria's folder). ☺


Okay, ready for Challenge 4, and another opportunity to win a great prize and strut your artistic stuff? Me, too!

Please open your Compendium of Curiosities to page 49, where you'll find T!m's "Shabby Chic" technique!


This one has a special place in my heart, as it's the first tutorial I tried when I got the Compendium. It's so easy, but the resulting art has such depth and texture. And, it's kind of like chocolate— once you start, it's hard to stop at just one!


Nona Designs is this week's sponsor, and when Challenge 4 closes, one lucky participant will win a $30 shopping spree at their fabulous online shop! Wenonah, who runs the store, is an absolute sweetheart—and she does a spectacular job of choosing the coolest, most cutting-edge products for papercrafters and mixed media artists! Her customer service is wonderful, and she even hosts lnks to a bunch of great instructional videos, including our favorite of 'em all (Tim, of course!).

To be eligible to win this generous prize, simply create a piece of art using Tim's Shabby Chic Technique, and link it here before this challenge closes at 11:59pm (MDT) on Sunday, July 11. The winner will be chosen via the Random Number Generator, and will be announced when the Compendium of Curiosities Challenge #5 is posted next Monday morning.

As always, out of respect for Tim and the tremendous work he put into creating the Compendium, please don't post the actual technique instructions on your blog. But, do tell us all about your colors and stamps and backgrounds, of course!


Have a wonderful week, everyone. I can't wait to see your Shabby Chic masterpieces!
♥ ~Linda


A few details from my card:

• The archway was cut with Tim's On the Edge "Ornate" die. I painted the clouds with Adirondack Dabbers. 
• The background papers are both from Tim's Lost and Found paper stack. 
• I've discovered that "Stream" is currently my favorite Adirondack paint color. I used it all over this piece!

Drunken Stampers Take a Vacation!

"Vacation, all I ever wanted
Vacation, had to get away..."

Oh, sorry. That was a little Go-Gos for you to kick off the holiday weekend.

Over at the Drunken Stampers Challenge Blog, we're celebrating by making summer- and vacation-related art.  Granted, it's not quite the same as a weekend on a beach in Tahiti...smelling the salty air and suntan lotion...sipping frosty cocktails served by cute cabana boys....

What was I talking about?

OH! Right. Yes, we're doing the summer/vacation theme at Drunken Stampers.

I was happy to finally have the opportunity to play with one of the lovely Seaside Sketch digital stamps from Lindsay's Stamp Stuff, which I printed on white cardstock and colored with Copic markers. As you can see, I made liberal use of the Colorless Blender (which really should be called a "color REMOVER") for the sky and beach. Oh, to have a Colorless Blender to so easily remove other things from my life...

I layered this panel onto a couple sheets of patterned paper, and embellished the edges with some little Grungeboard flourishes I'd painted with Adirondack Dabbers. The final touch is that "Dream" ticket from Tim Holtz.

Here's where I should be able to say this was a "quick and easy" project, but I can't because I first tried to watercolor it. Why do I do that to myself? I know I suck at watercoloring.

So, anyway, there's my summer vacation for you, all two dimensions of it, and now I have some great news to share: Tracy, who you might know better as "CuddlyBunny" in the blog world, has joined the Drunken gang as our new Designated Stamper! I've been a fan of Tracy's art for a while now, and the card she created for this challenge is just gorgeous, Be sure to stop by the DS Lounge and give her a warm welcome!

I'll look forward to seeing your own summer/vacation art this week. Happy Independence Day, everyone!