An Altered Journal

I found this great journal in a dollar store........where everything was not a dollar but multiples of a dollar. I bought several......the quality was great & so was the price. I added them to my stash......some day I would alter them.

A few weeks ago, that some day became reality. I was thinking of writing a journal again.....something I've done off & on since a college writing class....so I pulled this pink one out of my stash.

It would never do like this! Definitely not me!

It had a classic art print glued to the area that's not pink. I peeled it off. I'll add a stamped image or maybe some embossed metal.

........so I started adding color with Aged Mahogany Distress ink...

I started applying it with a piece of Cut n Dry foam from the ink pad. Way too slow........I wasn't getting anywhere. The paper on the cover was so absorbent. Then I used the ink right from the re-inker applied to the Cut N Dry foam. That worked.....lots of color but a little too bright!

I wanted it to be darker so I added Walnut Stain. I mixed it with water in a Mini Mister & sprayed on a light mist. I also applied Walnut Stain & Antique Linen with the foam until I liked the color.


I wasn't going to color the paper on the inside of the cover.........well inky fingers left a few smudges. An incentive for creativity.........how to cover up the smudges. I took the coil & journal pages out.


Then I started stamping........I used this stamp set by Tim Holtz called Slight Alterations. First I stamped the dotted image in the corners using Anitque Linen. Next, I stamped the more solid image using Distress Aged Mahogany to cover the whole inside. Lastly, I stamped the scratches with Walnut Stain. I misted it all with Anitque Linen mixed with water in a Mini Mister to set the ink into the paper, add color & blur the stamping.
It's beginning to look pretty old, don't you think? Exactly what I want!

Next.........a title for the cover out of embossed metal.


First, I cut a cardboard frame to size to fit the blank space on the cover. I laid out my title using Grungeboard letters over some drywall mending mesh all stuck to lightweight chipboard.

Then, I ran it through my Wizard with craft metal.......it embossed beautifully!

I used some of my metal tools to refine the edges around the letters.

I used lightweight spackle to fill in the back of the letters so they won't dent or crush easily. I didn't leave the Grungeboard letters in place. I have those to use on another project.......they just served as a mold.

I folded the metal under to finish all the edges. The embossed title was great but not the color.......way too bright for my vintage looking journal.


Time for black acrylic paint, alcohol inks.......and many applications of color. What a change, huh?

Now it looks more aged........ I added a clear satin spray to protect the color from rubbing off. (Caution: solvent based sprays can change the alcohol inks.) I also sprayed the journal with the same clear finish to protect it.

I added a piece of cotton twill for a marker......it was red until I added Walnut Stain & Aged Mahogany to change the color. Not a permanent color.....water will make it bleed........okay for my journal as long it doesn't get wet. The "listen" charm is from Tim Holtz Ideaology as well as the tiny pins & chain with fastener. I fastened the marker to the coil behind the paper pages.

......the finished journal.......
Whew! That was a long project!

Almost too nice to write in it!!!

Smiles.........

Flowers for You

I created this card with stamps from Cornish Heritage Farms.



I actually started it several weeks ago.........it just didn't go together then. Today, I was sorting through some odds & ends of stamped images and found the stamped & colored flowers & printed & dark green mats already cut. I added a narrow white mat & a red one, too. Although the flowers were already colored with Copic markers, I touched them up a bit by adding more shading. I also added glitter with Spica markers (hard to see in the photo). I stamped the verse & cut it out with a Spellbinders oval tag. I think the DP is from a Basic Grey 6x6 pad.

I pleated the red grosgrain ribbon (stuck together with glue dots) and added Hero Arts pearls. Three strands of pearl cotton are tied together for the little bow. The flower circle & tag are mounted with foam tape.

Have a great day!

-judy

Happy 4th of July

I hope you're all enjoying this celebration of our nation's independence!

I was lucky enough to have Friday off, too, so I'm enjoying a 3 day weekend. This is the first weekend in about a month that we haven't had family visiting or events to attend.........I'm enjoying just being home, catching up a bit on some chores & relaxing.


The best part........I found time to play today.



My inspiration for this card was a tag on a new T-shirt........a great start for a patriotic card.


I trimmed off the top edge to eliminate the hole and the bottom edge just above the perforations (about 1/4").



I then matted it on navy, white, navy & red cardstock. I stamped the greeting from Artistic Outpost's Hero set with Versamark & embossed it with white EP. I used a Spellbinders oval tag die to cut and emboss it. I added the white faux stitching with Ranger's Inkessentials White Gel pen (the best white gel pen I've ever used!) I punched holes at each end and added white eyelets. I threaded a red satin ribbon through the eyelets & tied a "half bow"(only 1 loop). I cut & embossed the little star from glossy white cardstock. Before I removed it from the die, I colored the center embossed star with Copic B39 (use rubbing alcohol or hand sanitizer to clean any marker off the die). I attached it to the bow with a Glue Dot.

I love the crispness & boldness of the red, white & blue!

I posted a totally different 4th of July card on Artistic Outpost's blog today. Click here to see a card in military green.

Enjoy a safe & relaxing 4th!

Take Me Home

Here's a card I created for Artistic Outpost using the Home set of stamps.

This barn reminds me so much of "home"where my parents still live........so I added the trees in the background to look even more like it.

The barn scene as well as the trees are stamped with Memento Rich Cocoa and colored with Copic markers. I masked off the upper edge of the stamp before I inked it to eliminate the word "greetings" & postmark. I used a piece of Core'dinations paper for the frame cut with a Spellbinders Deckle Edge Rectangle and sanded. The DP is from a Basic Grey Wisteria 6 x 6 pad. I distressed the edges with Antique Linen and added a few buttons plus a piece of pearl cotton across the green Bazzil mat.I trimmed around the barn to layer it over the trees background. I added some foam squares under the barn and the frame.

I added a few trees to the inside. These are inked with Peeled Paint & Brushed Corduroy, once stamped off. "Home" is stamped with Brushed Corduroy as well. I inked the edges with Antique Linen & Brushed Corduroy.

Thank you for visiting........please stop back soon.

-judy

Time is Priceless

I sat down tonight to create a retirement card for a co-worker. I couldn't think of any specific retirement stamps in my collection. Truth is, I didn't feel like digging them out...... Instead, I pulled out some Tim Holtz sets: Slight Alterations for the background & Elements of Time for one clock & the verse.
....lots of layers of inks, a mask & some stamps to create the background. Then I added elements until I was satisfied with it.
The "Time...." verse at the bottom is from CHF Time to Stamp set as well as the ornate clock & the black partial clock faces in the corners.

I added Glossy Accents to "Time is priceless" because it didn't stand out. I couldn't emboss it with clear because all the back ground Distress inks were still damp. The embossing powder would have stuck everywhere......not a look I wanted.

It was fun to get inky again. I've been busy with other things this week so I've missed my stamping time. I did manage to make a card to post on Artistic Outpost for Saturday. Stop by then to see it here, too.

So glad you stopped by.......come back soon!

Supplies:

Tim Holtz Elements of Time, Slight Alterations

CHF Time to Stamp

Distress inks: Broken China, Peeled Paint, Antique Linen, Vintage Photo, Black Soot

Ranger Archival Black

Glossy Accents

Tim Holtz mask

Flowers to Enjoy

Here's a few flowers for you to enjoy.........all from my gardens. It was a great day for photos when I took these......cloudy yet bright.

pink roses

dark purple irises

clematis

Take time to smell the flowers........and enjoy their beauty!

Butterfly Blue

For this card, I used my last piece of alcohol ink colored paper that I had created in order to duplicate Tim's creation on my last post.
I needed a card to send to my sister to say "thank you" for my stay. As usual, I had limited time.......it was about 9:00 pm & I wanted it done before bed. I thought this piece of alcohol ink colored paper would be an easy start to put together something quick....... So I thought.... I finished it that night but much later than anticipated. It was worth it........I love how it turned out!

I used 2 of Tim's stamp sets: Fairytale Frenzy and Floral Tattoo. The images in black (verse, butterfly and stem with hearts) are from Fairytale Frenzy. There are various stamps from Floral Tattoo in the background. I can't begin to tell you all the steps. I stamped until I was satisfied with the outcome. The darker blue images were stamped with Ranger Pigment Denim ink. I rubbed Distress Broken China ink around the edges.



The butterfly was cut from a piece of clear acrylic packaging from a Spellbinders die set (I trim the ridges off all the bigger packages & save the flat pieces for future projects.) I stamped it with Archival ink & cut it out. I added Aqua alcohol ink to the back side. It's glued in place with Glossy Accents. I also added Glossy Accents to the bigger hearts & flowers. It's not really apparent in the photo.

I had fun stamping this......even if it keep up late. I never mind staying up late to stamp......it's the next day getting up for the work that's so hard. That's when I'm tired.......

Thanks for visiting!
Until next time......smiles to you!
-judy

Supplies:
Tim Holtz stamps: Floral Tattoo, Fairytale Frenzy
Ranger Archival Black Ink
TH Alcohol inks: Denim, Stream, Stonewashed, Silver mixative, Aqua
White Glossy Card Stock
Ranger Pigment Denim
Distress Broken China
Clear Packaging
Glossy Accents
Bazzill Aqua Card Stock

A Tim Holtz Creation

Here's the piece of art that inspired me to create the alcohol background that I used on yesterdays cards......

.......a Tim Holtz creation from CHA last summer.

While I was in the Ranger booth getting all the information about the new products & placing an order, my sister was watching Tim demonstrate. He demonstrated the technique for the background & then created this sample. He actually handed it to another "watcher" who then gave it to Kathy. She thought Kathy really liked the colors. How exciting for her! She did really like it! She took it home & framed it. I really like her choice of frame....it's so eye catching setting on this trunk.Here's a little closer look. My camera really picked up the Silver mixative in the back ground.

Because I liked it so much, I tried to duplicate it while I was at Kathy's house last weekend. Here's my attempt........

What do you think? I can see that I didn't get as much Silver mixative on mine.

So far, I just matted it on black glossy cardstock. I plan to frame it to hang in my craft room. Kathy suggested I frame the tags I have that Tim created at other CHA shows. Great idea! I just added frames to my shopping list......

Hope you enjoyed your stop today!
-judy

Card Blues

.........times two.

Today, I created 2 cards for Artistic Outpost using the Bluebird stamp set. The image on both cards is stamped on a background created with alcohol inks on white glossy paper. I used Denim, Stonewashed, Stream, Silver mixative & Extender on my craft sheet. I laid the glossy paper on the inks & twisted & slid the paper off the mat. I repeated this step until I had most of the white covered with color. I used Ranger Archival black ink to stamp the images.

I chose to accent the bluish-purple color of the background on this card. I added a lace edge using a MS punch. The ribbon is very irridescent (couldn't capture the shine very well in the photo) and actually has a purple tint. The pearls are from Hero Arts.

I used blue paper scraps for this card. The texture was created with QuicKutz Gooosebumpz embossing dies. I rubbed Ranger Ocean Aqua over it. I used a Spellbinders Oval Tag to cut "thinking of you". It's mounted with foam dots. The white card is ribbed but it didn't show up well in this photo. The little black pearls are also from Hero Arts.

Supplies:

Ranger Alcohol inks: Denim, Stonewashed, Silver, Stream
Ranger Archival Black Ink
White Glossy cardstock

Martha Stewart punch

Hero Arts Pearls

Ranger Lights Ocean Aqua

QuicKutz Goosebumpz Swirl

Ribbons

Thanks for visiting! I hope you enjoyed your stay!

Come again soon!

-judy

A Cute Birthday Wish!

Finally, something to post! I've been so busy outdoors weeding my flower beds, mowing lawn, and just enjoying the wonderful late spring weather!

I created this card with stamps from Penny Black. The cute image is from Garden Friends and the verse is from Critter Party - both are clear sets. I colored the image with Copic markers. I used Spellbinders Label One for the shaped cutout of the image. Papers by Bazzill and American Crafts.

I'm off to visit my sister in Wisconsin today with my mom. If we get a chance to create something, I'll post from there. We have plans to go to a garden fair & shop, enjoy her gardens......and visit.

Happy Day!

-judy