WOYWW #251

This week definitely flown past quickly!  I think I must have slept through it or something cause this is WOYWW #251 and my desk is messy as usual!  I have been spending more time doing crafting and fun stuff.   Okay lets get on with it!  Here is my desk this week.  I  am working on a multimedia canvas and just laid down a coat of gesso and some leaves in coarse texture paste. 

             

I have had this stencil since I don't know when...before stencils became so popular and have used it for paints and all sorts of fun stuff. The paper peaking through the gesso is from a Tim Holtz Paper Stash from a few years ago.  I will get this finished tomorrow and will put a post out for you to see.  I love 12"x12" canvases and someday I am going to try my luck with a bit bigger one? This package was taking up space on my desk before I cleaned it off to start my canvas.  

It is the kit of the month from Red Rubber Cafe.  I love their stamps and this kit is perfect for making cards, scrapbook pages etc.  It came complete with ribbons, flowers, card stock, stickers and a paper pack!  After I am done with the canvas I am going to start playing with it!!  

Thought I would share a photo of a tag I just finished for Easter!  I it is a little brighter then most of the tags I make but hey...I love making tags!  

If you are wondering what all this desk business is about go to Stamping Ground and Julia will fill you in on the deets.  

Brigita from Gita's Creations and I will be meeting up for supper and a visit tomorrow!  I have been following her on WOYWW for quite awhile and it is nice to be able to put a real person to the name.  Brigita has been in town since Sunday for classes and training at the FAA here in OKC.  I am really excited to finally be able to meet up with someone from WOYWW face to face!

I think that the warmer weather makes me want to be out and about a bit more and that is making time fly past too.  The weather here has been at least in the 50's and some days have climbed into the 70's+....ahhhh spring I am so glad it is here!  Another week and I will start planting the garden and getting the pool up for the summer!   Hope the weather is being kind to you where you live!  Have a great week and I will hopefully be able to make it around to a few blogs later today!

Steampunk Sunday!

I decided I was going to start doing more steampunk stuff and I think I will start posting them on Sundays...why?  Because I think it rhymes...sort of.

I had never heard of steampunk until about 3 years ago when a student in a card class asked me if I ever made steampunk cards.  No I hadn't but I have been ever since.  I don't know what about it appeals to me so much but tugs at my heart and I love steampunk!  Urban Dictionary defines steampunk as:

a subgenre of speculative fiction, usually set in an anachronistic Victorian or quasi-Victorian alternate history setting. It could be described by the slogan "What the past would look like if the future had happened sooner." It includes fiction with science fiction, fantasy or horror themes.
Medieval Steampunk: Speculative fiction set during the Middle Ages.
Victorian Steampunk: A modern Science Fiction work (post-1930s) that is set in the early parts of the industrial revolution.
Western Steampunk: Science fiction set in the American Old West.
Industrial/Modern Steampunk: Science fiction taking place in the late industrial age, early modern age; i.e. World War 1, World War 2 

Examples of steampunk:
Wild Wild West
Final Fantasy 7
Van Helsing
The Time Machine
Hellboy
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow 

I have to say I love the Industrial and Victorian Steampunk most of all.  I didn't realize that there was such a thing as Western or Medieval Steampunk and will have to look into it!  

Here is my Victorian Steampunk tag for today.  I tried something a little different that an artist on another blog suggested...I cut 3/4" off the bottom of this tag to try her size tag.  The artist says she loves this shorter length but I am not so for sure about it yet.

The shortened tag makes everything look closer together and gives less play room. 

Victorian elements:  flowers, balloon, top hat, lock and key, Victorian gentleman, feather...btw that feather is one of my grand bird Nyasa's feathers!

Industrial elements: gears, clock, pen nib, film strip

I love playing with these tags!  I used Tim Holtz Tiny Things stamp set, Ideology film ribbon strip, paper tape, Pen nibs, gears and clock are from Michael's jewelry findings, black bubble bling.  I first covered the tag with silver metallic Distress Stain dried it with a heat tool, stamped the gear stamp several times on it in Archival black ink, then ran it through the Vagabond in a Sizzix gears folder.  I love the layers and depth!  Cool huh!  

Give Steampunk a chance it isn't all doom and gloom...  Here are some elements of Steampunk clockworks like gears, cogs and wheels that make up mechanical motion.  Steampunk doesn't mean steam has to power it and it can be run by wind or sun so small windmill like blades, balloons or dirigibles.  Weather vanes, compasses, goggles, and tools and weapons of the Victorian era.  Clothing of the Victorian era like top hats, feather hair pieces, and corsets...anything goes.  Try it and have fun!

WOYWW #250

I had a fun time in the craft room this evening making a tag and trying to figure out how to make it work out the way I wanted to.  It didn't come out the way that I wanted but I like it anyway.  Needless to say in the process of having fun making my tag my desk has become a really messy junked up heap of "schtuff"!  Okay! I know it always looks this way but I think it is even a little more so then usual!

 I try and keep it picked up but somehow it always gets too looking like this and it doesn't seem to matter if I put away after I use each product it still ends up a mess so I just quit trying to put it away during and just put away at the end of each fun time...or maybe at the beginning of the next!

 This wasn't the way I envisioned this tag turning out but I like it!  I first inked the card with various shades of green, yellow, and blue Distress Ink and distressed around the edges.  I used Tim Holtz Classics #1 dragonfly stamp and the flourish from the Spring Sprung stamp set.   I stamped the dragonfly in Archival black ink then stamped the whole dragonfly a second time and then the wings a third so I could layer them on the tag.  Using coarse texture gel and a wave stencil I gave the tag some depth...the texture gel picked up the color from the underlying Distress Ink and took on that color.  Kind of cool huh!  The dragonfly is colored with Luminart spray in green and blues.  I used some bling on the body and antenna.

a close up of the dragonfly wings.

I finished up the tag with some metal bits and coin charms I found at Micheal's on sale.

If you would like to see other desks and fun projects go to Stamping Ground and Julia will tell you how you can come play with us...it is a lot of fun!   Off to see if I can't find some more fun things to get into in the room of stash.  Have fun hopping around the blogs!

A Valentines Tag

Oh no!  I missed this tag some how when posting about Valentines tags!  Not that is unusual in that I don't post everything I make and/or do but...I thought this one was too cute to get away! 

I used all Tim Holtz Distress Inks, dies, embossing folders, and crackle paint I had left over that hasn't dried out yet.  I hand lettered the Love Potions labels.  Cute huh!

a tag or two!

I thought I would share a tag today that I taught in a class last Thursday night.  There were a total of 3 tags taught  and everyone seemed to have a great time making them.  I know I enjoyed visiting with the new students and look forward to having Denise and her daughter Heather come again whenever they can...now I say that cause Heather lives down in Houston and only gets to Oklahoma infrequently.  Hope to see Denise next month though!

I make all my tags using manila folders to cut down on cost cause I make so many of the darned things.  I think they do as well as the 20 tags for $5 card that you buy pre-cut.

In celebration of St. Patricks Day

The St. Patrick's Day tag was made using a Tim Holtz picture frame folder, Tim Holtz sentiment, Distress inks, Graphic 45 Paper, Martha Stewart 4 leaf clover punch, paper roses, gold coin from the party shop, and a cross that used to be a button!  The ribbon fob is jewelry findings from Hobby Lobby and the ribbon is seam binding from Stampin' Up!

A key to the city!

The key to the city was made using the Tim Holtz mini stamp set  Paris to London that came out last year and the voyage sentiment stamp.  I first inked with distress ink, stamped the collage stamp in white and then the fleur de leis and postage stamp in black.  The Eiffel tower is stamped on manila card and cut out and pop dotted up.  I found a bunch of these keys and cards of crowns in the dollar bin at Michael's and bought several of them for future use.  The leaves are cut out with the Tim Holtz Tattered Foliage die and I love the paper roses.  

The three tags together.

I posted the middle tag a couple weeks ago...if you want to see a bigger picture go here.  All the products used on this tag are by Dyan Reavely of Dylusions and Ranger Ink except for the Tim Holtz sentiment stamp!

I love tags.  Little pieces of art and so much fun to make!

WOYWW #249

Wednesday and I remembered...OMG!  I think something must be wrong here.
It was such a beautiful day on Monday and Tuesday with temperatures getting into the upper 70's and lower 80's that it must have released a chemical that activated my brain!  All joking aside it is WOYWW and I think you should go check out the blog hop that is originating on Julia's blog Stamping Ground!  Each Wednesday we get together and show off our desks so the other bloggers can take a snoop and see what we are working on.  Go check it out and come join in.

This my desk this week.  Once again there isn't much change but I have cleaned it up and trashed it out 3 times since last week!  Today there is a whole lot of bling laying out there because I have been busy trying to enter it into a new program I am beta testing for the iPhone. 

 

My son in law is developing a new inventory program app and if you are interested in testing it go here...http://tflig.ht/OICxCv  where you register and he will get back to you.  It looks very promising as a way to inventory and store our stash in a logical way!

If you would like to see the self portrait canvas I was working on last week go here to see it.  I think it represents me totally but looks nothing like me.  Everyone at the store loved it though!

Here is a fun tag thing that I have been working on.  I love making tags!  They are little works of art.  My DD bought me a wall decor bird cage that I can use to display my tags on for Christmas.  It is a real problem storing these things and I really like to have them out on display.  It is a lot of fun hanging tags on the rack to show off. 

Just a few tags and I have room for a lot more to be displayed!

All done for today.  Hope everyone is enjoying the nice weather.  Look forward to being able to get out and garden soon.  Have a great week!

Latest endeavors from the room of stash

I can't remember if I told you I teach classes at Scrap That a scrapbook store in Norman, Oklahoma.   Terri the owner decided she would like every instructor and every employee to make a "portrait" of sorts to put up in the store using products from the store.  I am the only multimedia instructor...if you will that is a loose way to say I have no limits or bound to what I will use in my creations.   I love to stamp, I love to paint, I love to play with paper, stencils, pens and inks.   Needless to say sometimes my 'creations' become works of art and other times pieces of crap that are only fit for the can but...I try.  Here is the canvas I made and turned in to be put on the wall of infamy...

Its got the multimedia down...all the paint, stamps, stencils, sparkles, flowers, ephemera etc etc etc.  I don't look like that of course but the canvas is definitely me....  what do you think?  Should I bring it home when they are done with it or leave it for the can?  I actually kind of like it!

WOYWW #248

It has been a couple of weeks since I have been able to participate in WOYWW due to various obligations on my time!  I have been thinking about all the fun have been missing but I have also been having a great time visiting with friends and traveling a bit.  What's WOYWW?  Click the link here or to the right and it will take you to Stamping Ground and Julia's explanation of how to play!

We went to Colorado over the weekend of Valentines holiday and stayed in an awesome suite in a fantastic hotel in Denver.  Not all was fun and games for DH as he had to give a talk at Chaser Con 2014 I had a blast chasing around with a girl friend shopping and having a good time.  Luckily we had time to visit with friends and had an all around enjoyable time. 

Okay here is a picture of my desk today.  I admit it is a bit staged but I had just finished making my tags for a swap on the Yahoo group Stampers Anonymous and decided to pull out stuff to make a self portrait that will go up in the store where I teach lessons.  It is suppose to relate to who we are and what we create...hmm...interesting possibilities to be had here.  I love purple, steampunk, and grunge so I will try and create something!

 The canvas is a 12" x 16" black gesso prepped so I thought purple doily, purple flowers, some purple glitter paper for hair and a few gears and keys to dress it up.  You will have to come back next week to see how it turns out.

Here is a picture of the tags I just finished for the swap.  It is a large tag...#10 that is suppose to be "girls rule"!  I love this stamp set by Dyan Reaveley and figured it was a good example girls rule!

 It is a little different then what I usually do but ya' know I think I like it.  I stamped the dolly on red cardstock, cut it out and did a little painting and futzing about.  The tag itself was sprayed with Dylusions inks, and a Dylusions stencil was used to layer and texture.  The sentiment is from Tim Holtz. 

That's it folks, nothing more!  Hope everyone is keeping warm and dry this week.  It has been in the single digits here with snow and ice since last Sunday.  Today it got above freezing but it is still very cold and miserable outside.  I am going to try and venture out tomorrow to take my DH to the airport so he can go to Pennsylvania for a talk he is giving there! 
Have a great week!