Packed and Ready to Depart

No crafting today.  Just a note to let your know I'll be out of service for a couple of weeks. If you aren't interested in hearing a little more about my Chiari Malformation  health journey come back tomorrow for my latest an last craft post for awhile.  

 My mom and I are getting ready to board our plane to NewYork.  Note the bags and Starbucks.  Taking a little bit of this crafting world with me.  I will be having surgery on Tuesday at 8 am. The surgery will be approximately 7 hrs long.   I'm literally having my head screwed on right:). I have secondary condition that makes my skull unstable on my neck. It isn't being supported well so my brain, brain stem, and spinal cord  are being compressed. It's affected my vision, ability to swallow, and muscles on left side of my body. Fun times. When I get finished with this surgery,my neck X-ray will look like my neurosurgeon's best steampunk project.

As I said before, I'll post my latest project tomorrow. Wishing you all well and will try to give you an update some time soon. By the way, I have packed my distress markers.  I have to be in ny for at least 10 days. I think crafting is the best therapy!  Don't you agree?  --  Mary Elizabeth

 

April (snow) Showers bring May Flowers

I am so honored to have been asked to be a Guest Designer over at Country View Challenges today.  To be chosen as Top 3 in Country View Challenges BLOGAVERSARY Challenge was incredible.  Since it was my mom's birthday present that garnered the merit, it made my mom's birthday all the more special.  She was thrilled:)

This month's challenge theme at Country View Challenges is "Nature's glories".  When I saw this theme, I had to smile.  We had a very long winter and it was still snowing in April.  I so very much wanted spring to arrive and this challenge inspired me to create my own spring!!  One of the very first flowers that bloom in spring here in the mountains of North Carolina are the sunny yellow Daffodils.  I created these paper blooms while waiting for the real thing to make its appearance :)

One afternoon while the snow was flying outside, I sat down with some newly acquired Tim Holtz Tissue Wrap (for some translucency) and started playing around with the idea of creating daffodils.  First, I thought about how to create the flower itself.   I mixed various colors of Distress Ink and Distress Stains with Matte Multi Medium and painted the tissue wrap.  I let that dry.  It added some color to the Tissue Wrap as well as gave it a little more rigidness.  It needed to be a bit more sturdy to run through my Vagabond.  The petals were made with Tim’s Tattered Flower Garland.  I used some half circles to create the center of the flower (the outside edge of the circle was cut with pinking scissors).  I edged the petals and semicircles with some Distress Ink and got ready to put the flower together.

The semicircles were folded to create the cone-shaped center of the daffodil.  I use "bendy"plastic drinking straws for the stem.  I cut the top of the straw at an angle to create a "cradle" the center of the bloom.  I glued it to the straw and then added the petals one at a time around the base of the cone. I then wrapped the entire straw with more Tissue Wrap that had been treated with Distress Ink and Multi Medium.  Tim's Tissue Tape (colored with alcohol ink markers) was used to make the transition from stem to petals.  Some small pearls were glued in the center of each of the daffodils.

I wanted to make a special vase for my daffodils.  I bought a simple glass corked bottle for about a dollar at Michaels.  Then I used a very special treatment on the glass to create the faux cracked glass effect.  This technique (using Glue-N-Seal and Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint) was created by Wendy Vecchi and was featured in Tim Holtz's Creative Chemistry 102.  (Seriously, if you have not taken either Creative Chemistry 101 or 102, you really should!  You still can.  All of the content is still online!)  I actually used a Distress Marker to color the crackle finish.  Other inks tended to melt it.  Ugh!!

I used some of Tim's Ideology Paper Stash to create the butterflies.  They were die cut using one of his Sizzix dies and then sanded around the edges.  I used a gem clip (gem painted with alcohol ink) as the body of the butterflies.  Then I used Tim's Tattered Banner Sizzlit die for my Spring Beauty banners.  The butterflies were clipped to some dried Wisteria vine from my back yard to add to some "airiness" to my bouquet.

A ribbon of wired burlap was added to the vase with one of Tim's Ideology customizable brads.  So much fun!!

I hope you enjoyed checking out my little taste of spring.  I certainly enjoyed making it while the snow fell.  Thanks for dropping by.  Here's wishing all of us some beautiful spring days here in the Northern hemisphere :)  -- Mary Elizabeth

Homage to the Number Five

Ok, final grades were due today and I had to finish grading my final exams and average grades together.  Unfortunately, I was unable to finish the project I had started for the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge that was all about "FIVE".

 Grades got turned in today, the sun was shining and I finished my project.  Here it is :)

I hate to say it, but I'm too tired to blog about it.  Just wanted you to know that it is a very happy tired.  I got to create today.  I hope you did too!  -- Mary Elizabeth

CC3 Challenge 1: This Is a Happy Life!

I managed to squeek in some time to play with paints this week in between giving final exams, grading and getting ready for a major surgery in NY (in less than two weeks).  I loved every minute.  I found myself humming a lovely melody and smiling as I painted and spritzed.  Thank you Linda Ledbetter for this amazing Compendium of Curiosities challenge over at Studio L3.  So much fun!!  (And if you haven't gone over and looked at the Curiosity Crew's incredible projects, you need to go now.  Gorgeous!!  Love how each person took the Paint Marbling technique and made it their own.  So much personality :) ) I too had a great time exploring and playing with Tim Holtz's Distress Paints.  I wanted to see how the Paint Marbling technique worked on different paper.   I created this wall hanging by applying the technique to Tim's Kraft Resist paper and also on some watercolor paper.  

The Kraft Resist experiment was interesting.  As you might expect, the Distress Paint didn't really seem to be resisted by the "resist" designs on this gorgeous Ideology paper.  I used a kitchen sink assortment of Distress Paint Colors: Spiced Marmalade, Salty Ocean, Barn Door, Mustard Seed, Wild Honey, Peeled Paint and Seedless Preserves.  They really were absorbed by the kraft paper.  I am sorry I don't have a picture of this part of the process.

I actually like watching paint dry; it gives me time to think "I wonder what will happen if I ..."  This time, I wondered if I could actually use something to bring out the resist pattern through the marbled paint.  I immediately thought about Distress Stain.  I quickly grabbed my heat tool in one hand (to help the paint to dry faster) and my Vintage Photo Distress Stain in the other hand.  As soon as the paint was dry, I began applying the Vintage Photo Distress Stain directly from the bottle onto the painted kraft resist paper.  I grabbed the heat tool again and started to dry the stain.  Oh my ... it worked!!!!  And I love the effect.  In some places, the resist ended up picking up the color of the paint.  Wow!!  This two-stage technique on kraft resist creates an amazing muted backbackground.   Here are some close-ups:

Then I decided to play with Picked Raspberry and Spiced Marmalade on Watercolor Paper. Oh my ... so much fun to see the paint marble on this paper.  Love it!!  The colors are so intense.   After I dried the paint, it was almost perfection without anything else on it.  I added just a little Walnut Stain Distress Ink around the edges and then one of Tim's Remnant Rubs (because these colors really did make me happy :) ) .  Finally I added a butterfly embellishment.

 Really ... check out this color ... soooooooo amazing!

To add some dimension to the wall hanging, I used some Black Soot Distress paint on Grunge Board elements and then covered them with Glossy Accent.  I also used Antique Copper, Brushed Pewter, Broken China and Black Soot Distress Paint in layers on this Grunge Board keyhole.  It too was covered with Glossy Accent.  Aren't the wings behind it fun?

 I used Tim's tissue tape around the edges of the wall hanging and took my Distress Marker in Gathered Twig and Rusty Hinge to add some dimension around the edge of the Kraft Resist Paper. 

Well I hope you enjoyed the results of my experimentation with Paint Marbling.  Hope you get a change to try out all of Tim's techniques in his new book Compendium of Curiosities 3.  So much to learn and inspire you!!!

Thanks for visiting.  Have a fabulous weekend. -- Mary Elizabeth
 

Climbing the Garden Trellis with Tim ... Holtz April Tag for 2014

Hello everyone!  I have not felt the best lately and  has been some time since I've visited Crafty Blogland.  I apologize for not being by to see all of your wonderful work.  I managed to take a quick peek on Pinterest the other day and oh my ... you all have been busy creating gorgeous pieces:)  Hopefully things will get better over the summer and I hope to have more time and energy to catch up with everyone.

Of course, I did manage to find a little additional energy (aided by much caffeine and Easter candy) to create my version of Tim's April tag for 2014.  I won't go into all the details.  He did a phenomenal job with the step-by-step process on his blog.  Drop by and see it if you have not already done so.  He made such a great inspiration piece this month.  I absolutely adore his trellis die from Sizzix!  

My tag has a couple of differences.  I added the twine (dyed with Mowed Lawn Distress Stain) for a climbing rose vine in the trellis along with some small leaves die cut out of book pages (ah .. yes ... Jane Austen has made another appearance) using Tim's Tattered Garland die.  I also cut my roses out of Tim's Tissue Wrap (I used colored it with some Glossy Multi Medium and Picked Raspberry and Victorian Velvet Distress Ink).  I must confess that I really longed for some bright color over the last few weeks, so I used three drops of Picked Raspberry Distress ReInker and some spritzes of water to get the intense pink hue for my crinkle ribbon.  

Here are few close-up pics of the details. 

 

 Time to get in a nap this afternoon.  I hope you all had a marvelous weekend.  Until next time ... Mary Elizabeth

Dreaming of Spring with Tim ... Holtz March Tag for 2014

Alas, more snow fell last night.  If you caught my post from yesterday, you will know that I am quite tired of snow.  So, my March tag for Tim's 12 Tags of  2014 is all about my dreams for spring!

This month, Tim Holtz used a "smudged stamping" technique that is pretty awesome.  I did okay with the stamping part; however, I really got carried away with the bright colors when using the Distress Markers. 

To somewhat ground the color, I grabbed some of Tim's tissue paper and added it to the bottom of the tag with some Matte Multi Medium.  I love being able to see the stamping underneath the tissue paper.

  I also added the wonderful tissue tape on the edges.

Two tags in one weekend has pushed my creative and energy limits :)  I wouldn't have had it any other way.  Happy, blessed weekend.  -- Mary Elizabeth

Scraps of Words

Have you ever created one of those tags that you didn't plan to make; however, it just kept screaming at you until you made it?  Well ... this is one of those tags!

In a wild frenzy of die cutting, I managed to misalign the cutting pads (on more than one occasion) and Tim's Tattered Flower Garland die strip.  Alas ... poor Jane Austin ended up with several of her lovely pages of Sense and Sensibility partially cut with flowers.  As usual, I laid them off to the side and plunged on with my pursuit of perfect blossoms and leaves. And there they lay for days.  And each day as I entered my craft room, these lovely scraps of words cried out, 'do something with me'!  Perhaps, it was not the paper crying, but the voice of a quite peevish Jane.  Regardless, this week ... I picked them up.

I grabbed a tag and began to push the strips around the borders of the tag.  I liked what I saw.  Now to create a background.  On that day, this was the view outside of my window:

Spring is slow in coming to the mountains of NC and I long for the sunshine and clear blue skies!  So I went to my Distress Paints and picked out Mowed Lawn, Broken China, and Salty Ocean.  I dabbed each on my craft sheet, spritzed with water and dragged my tag (sans Jane's lovely words) through the watered-paint.  I spritzed the tag with a little more water to let the colors mix and drip a little more.  Then it was time for the heat tool!  When the paint was dry, I went over the entire tag background with Peacock Feather Distress Ink.  I flicked it with some water to add some distressed water spots to my bright and cheerful background.

I used some Matte Multi Medium to adhere my scraps of flowery words (or wordy flowers) to  the borders of my tag and cut off the excess.  I first used an Antique Linen Distress Marker a fine-tip water brush to go over the petals.  Then I came back with Brushed Corduroy to add some shadowing.  I distressed the edges of the tag with sandpaper and added some Walnut Stain Distress Ink.   The right bottom corner, looked a little anemic, so I found this lovely sticker from K & Company to go on it.   The entire tag was covered with a layer of  Matte Multi Medium.  It gave the paint and ink the look of a fresh spring rain shower (rather than the blustery snow storm that raged outside).

Now for a little movement!  I stamped this wonderfully wordy butterfly from one of Tim's sets onto Specialty stamping paper.  I colored it with some Ripe Persimmon, Antique Linen Distress and Vintage Photo Markers.  I let it fly above the tag with some adhesive foam squares.

I topped it off the tag with some raffia, a couple of blossoms and yet another word mounted on a bit of Jane's manuscript ... Hope (which is what I still have for a spring here in NC).  And thus bringing life out of these scraps of words, I am entering this tag into Alison's Say It With Words Challenge over at A Vintage Journey. 

 And that is how this lovely tag came to be.  I bet you have some similar stories to tell.  I look forward to reading about how your art speaks to you!  -- Mary Elizabeth