Never Give Up Compendium of Curiosities Final Challenge

Hello crafty friends!

It's been a while since I've been able to make anything in the Closet, so it is with great pleasure I get to enter the final Compendium of Curiosities 3 Challenge hosted by Linda Ledbetter. The final challenge is Layering Stencil: Monoprint found on page 48 of Tim Holtz' book A Compendium of Curiosities Vol. 3.  You can purchase your own copy autographed by Tim himself  here. Be sure to pop in Linda's blog to check out all the amazing inspiration from the Curiosity Crew, and then visit each of their blogs to get all the details on their great projects.  Of course, if you want to have some real fun, give Tim's monoprint technique a try yoursellf, and join in the challenge...you still have a few hours! There are two prizes you can win: one-- a huge pile of goodies donated by Tim and Mario, and the other, a generous shopping spree to The Funkie Junkie Boutique donated by the lovely Linda Coughlin, owner of the shop.

I chose to make a tag this time, and I had a lot of fun using a new color combination for me, as well as using my  Tim Holtz Ephemera Packs. I had my good blog friend and Anything But Cute Teamie, Branka aka Vintage Handmade, in mind as I was making this tag.  I made and sent her two birthday cards and neither of them arrived! I just knew the next thing I made would be in celebration of her birthday, even though that special day is months behind us now!  The bouquet is for her, the ephemera is self explanatory (or so I think) and the quote is for me! So Branka, this tag is to honor you, and if I ever get to the post office again, I will try one last time to get your birthday greeting to you! Because I never give up!

I can't tell you how to actually do the Layering Stencil Monoprint technique (that wouldn't be fair to Tim), but I can tell you I used Tim's Flourish Layering Stencil and Distress inks in Bundled Sage and Victorian Velvet. Here's a shot of the technique before I did anything else to my tag. I actually did this twice, but I used the Gothic stencil the first time, and was not pleased with my outcome.

You can skip down to the close up photos if you don't want to read through the process, but I failed to take any more photos until the tag was complete. I really have to apologize for the photo quality, too--my mobility is really limited at this time. As always, you can click on any image for a closer view.

After I did the monoprint, I placed my moth where I wanted it to go and  laid the stencil carefully back over the inked design, so now the "empty" spaces were exposed. Working around the moth, I used Wendy Vecchi's Crackled Texture Paste through the Flourish stencil in the areas devoid of color.(I wish I had taken a photo at this point, but I was on a roll and forgot. It looked so dimensional!) Once dry, I blended on Hickory Smoke Distress ink to expose the cracks.

I chose 5 pieces from Tim's Ephemera packs (I can't say exactly which ones I used--I have 3 packs, and they have kind of gotten jumbled since I dropped the entire mess on the floor! What a clutz!) I colored the moth using the same inks as the monoprint, and then swiped on some Antique Linen and Picket Fence distress paints.  I buffed Antique Linen distress paint on each of the remaining ephemera pieces except the bouquet and distressed each of the pieces with Hickory Smoke Distress ink. I wanted the moth, stamp, postcard and special delivery tag to blend  into the background, so they got the paint job. I wanted the flowers to become the  focal point, so I omitted the Antique Linen on that piece.  I hope I achieved my goal.

I adhered the moth in his snug place amongst the texture pasted flourishes, and the remaining three background pieces were adhered on TOP of the flourishes.  I chose a phrase from Tim's Small Talk sticker pack and distressed it with Hickory Smoke ink and the tiniest dab of Antique Linen paint and adhered it.

I distressed and inked the edges of my tag with Hickory Smoke ink, and gave the entire tag a coat of Multi Matte Medium. I allowed this to dry, and once dry, edged the background ephemera pieces and Small Talk stickers  with my Hickory Smoke Distress marker, and swiped with my finger to blend for a shadow effect. Then I took a little Picket Fence Distress paint and added some splatters to the back ground, before adding the bouquet with foam dots for dimension. The final  vintage touch is the Black Soot marker spritzed randomly on the background with Tim's Marker Spritzer.

I dyed a length of Tim's Crinkle Ribbon with Victorian Velvet and Bundled Sage Distress inks and Wild Honey Distress marker, spritzed and crinkled, dried slightly with a heat gun to stop the blending process and left to finish drying while I painted some metal Ideaology trinkets. These were fastened with a jump ring to the ribbon which I knotted at the top.

So, there you go, Branka!  I'm sorry my original cards never made it to your side of the globe, but I won't ever give up on you! Just the postal service!

I want to extend a huge thank you to Linda Ledbetter for organizing these challenges at Compendium of Curiosities 3 and the Curiosity Crew for all their hard work and lovely inspiration. There are so many things I've tried that I wouldn't have without the motivation of this challenge, all the great creative ideas from the Crew, and the creativity of the entrants in these challenges. Also a BIG thank you to Tim and Mario, Linda Coughlin at Frilly and Funkie, and Joy and her family at Inspiration Emporium for all their generous sponsorship of these challenges.

I would like to enter my tag into the following inspirational challenges:

Linda Ledbetter's Compendium of Curiosities 3 Challenges: #34 The Grand Finale

A Vintage Journey "Things With Wings"

Mixed Media World MMW #6 "Gorgeous Textures"

That Craft Place "Mixed Media Anything Goes"

Country View Challenges "Summertime" Nothing says summer like flowers and butterflies!

Vintage Utfordring Challenge #106 "Butterfly" I hope my moth resembles a butterfly!

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge "Homegrown Summer" The background reminds me of my late summer garden, all overgrown and a little bit tangled.  The flower bouquet and the flower embellishment remind me of some late blooming  coneflowers and  the roses on my trailing rose bush.

Thank you for visiting my blog today and for leaving all your encouraging comments!  I read and  truly appreciate each and every one of them!  Hugs and blessings!

Sara Emily