A Blessing to Me

Hello, again!  I hope you've had a good week and are ready for a pleasant weekend.

Let's get started!  I made this masculine looking card for my sister's birthday, not because she likes masculine things, but I wanted to let her know what she means to me, and to include one of my favorite old hymns--"Jesus Savior, Pilot Me" by Edward Hopper. The rest seemed to just go along with the words. If you get a chance, look up the hymn--it is lovely!

Taken outdoors--same ink colors-different paper-makes a big difference, especially in natural light.

Taken indoors--colors don't look too "off".

Starting with the background, I did some stamping on my base card with a stamp from CI Stamping in Archival Ink.  I colored with Distress Inks, and gave a silver lining to the clouds with Distress stain, except it did not turn out silver, like it did on my test paper.  Oh well!  Thought that counts! Lesson learned here: let well enough alone!

The focal panel is done on watercolor paper, and the background here is done with Distress Inks, stains and markers.  Images and sentiment are by Stampin' Up, again stamped in Archival ink, and the lower sentiment touched up with marker to be seen better against the dark background. I used a home made stencil for the two "clouds" in the upper left corner. I used a brass Christmas tree stencil masked off to make the "waves", and added "foam" using Picket Fence Distress Marker and Tim's spritzer tool. Black and silver molding paste by Momenta was used with a TCW stencil, and while the paste was still wet, I added blue, black and silver micro beads and allowed this to dry.  I edged this panel with Walnut Distress Ink. Now I know why it's been so long since I've used micro beads! They are all over the place!

Sorry for the blurries-wanted to show the "foam" and the spritzer tool splats!

More "foam" and spritzed Picket Fence details

Threatening "clouds" made with my home made cloud stencil.

 I added the focal panel to the background base card without any matting, as I wanted to tie it directly to the background, and the use of a mat gave it too much separation.

Next came the inside of the card.  I printed out my hymn in part on my computer and printed it out on cardstock.  I purposely left room at the bottom to write a personal message. I inked my embossing folder (Tim's Sizzix Texture Fade) with Walnut Distress ink, placed my printed cardstock in to deboss it.  Then I used Tim's burlap stencil with Distress Ink. I distressed the edges with Tim's distressing tool, and inked the exposed areas with Walnut ink. The first time I tried to make this, I was able to achieve more of a wood grain look to the ink applied to the embossing folder, but I found out I couldn't send an embossed card through my printer, or it would no longer be embossed! So I'll save this pretty piece for another project.

Oops!  Forgot to rotate!

In the background, I've stamped a chart from Stamper's Anonymous, colored with DI.

I made two embellishments with stamped images from Stampin' Up and 7 Gypsies, colored the compass rose with watercolor pen, fussy cut with scissors,  and covered with Crackle Accents.  The ship's wheel is heat embossed on some scrap woodgrain stamped paper from my junk pile (which is growing quite large).  I fussy cut using an X-acto knife and added Glossy Accents. I attached this with a brad. I added  the compass to my card using dimensional foam adhesive.

Again, blurry, and it's hard to see the crackle, but it's there!

You can see how pretty those beads are on the black molding paste.

Because of the nautical subject matter, I'm entering this into Country View's September Challenge "Nautical", and because I've used so many rootin' tootin' stamps and stencils, I'm joining in at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge "Stencils and Stamps", too!

Inside of the card, photographed outside.

Photographed indoors.

I thank you for sitting through another one of my long, detailed postings.  I'm really trying to change, but I think progress is slow in that department!  Have a great weekend, and thank you so much for leaving your lovely comments on my blog.  They are truly a joy to read, and I try to respond to each and everyone of them, eventually.

Makin' the Grade!

We sure have enjoyed some nice "fall" weather this week, which has allowed me to be inside my Closet to get another project done for a few challenges. Last Saturday, my daughter and I  went out junkin', and I found this great aluminum clip-boardy thing. It opens up to 2 separate levels to store your papers, and a special little place for your pens, too!  I've always wanted one, so I can do my paperwork while I wait  to pick up my kids at school and at the farm while I wait for my daughter to do what she does best--ride and care for horses--her love!

It just so happens that Craft Hoarders Anonymous is hosting another great challenge:  #16 Who Loves School and Office Supplies?  The Design Team has really outdone themselves, putting their supplies to use on some awesome projects!  I'm pretty sure Gloria started this blog with me in mind...at least the "hoarders" part!  (Huge grin)  I really love vintage anything, and I collect  hoard old office supplies and a few school supplies, too. So this seems to be the perfect time to use some of those great supplies and create something that is both fun to look at and that is functional, too.  Always Miss Practical!

 I cannot help but imagine each person's life as I pick up what they once used and think of what they were doing at the time they were holding it.  For instance, one of the items I used on my school supplies portion of my project is a freshman school schedule.  I can imagine this girl keeping her folded schedule in the pocket of her parochial school sweater,  where she could check it after each class to see where she needed to go next.  (Just like my sweet daughter.)  I can almost hear the giggling at her locker, while she shares a secret with her best friend.

Because this is a clip board, and I intend to use it as such, I needed it to have a somewhat smooth writing surface. Therefore, I had to make this in a one-dimensional collage--an extreme challenge for me.  If anyone asked me to list my creative strength, I would have to say it is that I really understand and enjoy  using dimension in my projects.  I do want to include a few dimensional objects  here, though, and I was able to carefully place a few where they won't interfere with my work.

Many of the items I've used on this are photocopies of the original, if they were a part of a book or set, or a box, but some are the originals.  Not everything I've used is old, however, as I wanted to show some contrast between Then and Now on my project.  I am just tickled pink that I could put some of my packed away treasures on something I can use!

Other than Tim Holtz' Faded Layers Technique, I really didn't use too many special techniques on this.  To age  the copies, I used Distress Inks, spritz and flick technique, and  Tim's Spritzer Tool to add some "age". In some cases, the photocopies already showed the item's aging, so there was no enhancement, and I did not age  the old originals at all.  I used some Antique Linen on newer items and the old school schedule to take the brightness down a bit.

The background is masking tape; taped  over freezer paper--an item no craft studio can be without, in my opinion. I colored it with alcohol inks and blending solution and used Tim's Faded Layers Technique using various Tim and TCW stencils. Once dry I covered it with a coat of Perfect Paper Adhesive, and allowed that to dry.

I had to show some of that Faded Layers technique before I covered it all up!

I couldn't resist joining in with the "Fall Back" September Challenge at Eileen Hull's Art With Heart blog, since September is a month when most students "fall back" into school.  I've used lots of school supplies and related ephemera on this.

I used a lot of fall colors on my background, some are seen on the tag, the back and in some of the items I've used in my collage, so I am entering it into the following autumn colors challenges:  A Vintage Journey would like to see a strong Tim Holtz influence on our fall colored projects in their challenge #15 The Colors of Autumn (I think Tim has influenced me plenty on my purchases of my vintage items--I know he has a love for the old stuff, too, and has his fair share.  His influence is also shown in the techniques I have borrowed from his Compendium of Curiosities Vols. 1,2, and 3 and in my use of his stamps, stencils and Idea-ology.) AVintage Journey has a generous shopping voucher for Country View Crafts On-line store for the winner.   The Artistic Stamper September challenge Autumn Colors wants to see Autumn colors on our projects, too! I would also like to enter Eclectic Paperie September e-Play Challenge "Fall". (I've stepped out of my comfort zone by making a near one dimensional collage!)

I'm joining in at Inspiration Journal's challenge, "Fall Is In the Air", where they have a generous $50 to spend at Inspiration Emporium if your entry is the lucky winner!  They say back to school is one way to interpret their theme, and I've got a lot to say about back to school here!

The current challenge at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge is Stencils and Stamps, and I wanted to join in, since I used so many stencils and some stamps, too!  My stencils used are by Stamper's Anonymous; Tim's Collection, Dylusions, and TCW.  All stamps used are by Stamper's Anonymous; Tim's collections and Stampin' Up and were stamped in Archival Ink. Distress Inks were used with  stencils from TCW and Dyslusions.  The "Received" stamp is a self- inker from my husband's office.

I recently found a new challenge blog called The Mirror Crack'd, and their first challenge is Anything (Mixed Media) Goes.  I am super excited to join in with my clip board project, and expect there will be others, in the future. Check it out and join in!  There's some great talent from the design team there!

I used real typewriter ribbon for my bow.  Let me tell you, this is not the easiest to coax into a bow! The clip is from my daughter's stash of school supplies, which I altered with a little alcohol ink to tone it down a little. The ribbon came on a spool in the red and black box at the bottom of my clipboard. I added a favorite Bible verse, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart." Proverbs 3:5 stamped ( Stampin' Up)on a tag from my husbands office.  He used these tags to label his architectural drawings.  I sprayed Dyslusions ink on a    Recollections stencil, laid my tag on it and pressed it with a clean paper towel for a reverse stenciling.  I dried this and inked with Distress Ink. I like having this reminder with me.

Next to my bow and glued to the clip at the top is an Idea-ology pen nib which I altered with alcohol inks. This pen nib reads "Notes". I also used alcohol inks to age the metal hardware at the top of the clipboard.

I included an original page out of an engagement calendar (now we would call it a planner, right? And who uses one of those?  We have our smart phones for that!) dated 1961, since that is my birthday year.

The "Office Inventory" list dated August 2, 1940 is a page out of a ledger when a local doctor was first opening his office. I acquired this at his estate sale a couple years ago. I laughed out loud when I read the automobile was $900! I stamped the chair next to "office furniture" and the pen nibs, and included a postage stamp from another of my collections, since it has another example of old office supplies in it's artwork.  I used a few other original postage stamps from my collection as well, as they had an office supply look to their artwork.

The Rolodex card is one from my still-used address file.I stamped it with a Tim image and colored the nibs with Silver Distress Stain.  I adhered an ad from a 1960's Student Directory.  Perfect for the office and school supply challenge!

The ad for Typewriter Inspection Company  also came from the Student Directory from Wilmington College, now known as University of North Carolina Wilmington, where my husband is a student. I included a partial statement from the TCW stencil on that, because I think those old typewriters are a thing of beauty!

I also included an original Western Union telegram blank and addressed it to "Art".   I love how it explains what office supplies to use to fill it out!  The cover of the book, which I ended up not including, says to "keep in touch with home and office"--how charming! My message is stenciled using that Art TCW stencil.

I've included a ruler, which my husband so happily sawed off for me.   It is one of many old ruler's and yardsticks I've collected.  I'm happy it will be useful on my clipboard to prevent papers from slipping off as I hold this in my lap, and for a handy measurement tool, too! (Miss Practical)

The lid lifts up, and on the inside lid I've included some of my school "supplies".  I actually purchased a handful of these old pencils at a yardsale a while back.  I bet they thought I was crazy to buy those!.  The "double-edged" pencil is one of my son's from elementary school! It makes me smile! I guess he just couldn't write enough!

My background is paper from Graphic 45 I've been hoarding a long time.  I've already mentioned the school schedule.  I love how I found it--all perfectly folded, and the classes she had checked off.  Looks like a late lunch period for her!

I've copied and  included a page out of my husband's childhood pocket New Testament, with the dates he completed each of the Books of the New Testament written in.  He gave this to my daughter who carried it to school, in addition to her required King James Version of the Bible when she was in Christian elementary and middle school.

Another stamped Rolodex card and a piece of  an index card  with Distress ink to take the brightness out and a gold star stenciled with Brilliance Gold Ink. Separating the two is a newly acquired book plate.  I sacrificed one out of a vintage box full.  That's the original grunge-perfect!

At the bottom, an original library card pocket and the check out card from one of my vintage books--due back in the library December 13, 1957!  Also a copy of a library card from my stash of vintage ephemera and a musical note paper clip--reference to my kids taking piano in school.  Lauren still takes, but outside the confounds of school. A brand spankin' new "Sign here" post-it from our tax preparer for some color.

Bottom left is a page from a very old book  "First Lessons in Arithmetic". The little  brownish-orange squares down the left side of the collage are pieces of old tape that were holding photos and ephemera in an old scrapbook from the 40's.  I love the look of the old tape.

Here's a few shots of the back end of my clipboard. I like to use lace on my work, but real lace wasn't so fitting for this type of project.  I used  a roll of adding machine tape, and a border punch to make the "lace", aging it with Distress Inks.  The ABC strip under this is a piece cut from a manila folder, which I've sprayed and spritzed with Dylusions Ink sprays and stenciled Distress Ink through a Dylusions stencil.  A star sticker from my stash was colored with alcohol ink and added.  I've sent all my gold stars to my sister who is a teacher.  She needs them more than I do. Or so I thought. I photographed this part before I completed the front, so my typewriter ribbon bow doesn't appear in these photos.

I think I've used pretty much every office and school supply I own.  Oh, this picture shows my kids first lunch and apple from kindergarten--just KIDDING!!! I don't consider this a finished piece...I'm thinking I will add some of my kids school work from their early years, perhaps in one of the cubby spaces, and already have one or two things picked out. You might guess I've saved a few!

Thanks so much for taking your time to read this long posting or at least to look at the pictures.  I'm happy to be able to share some of my vintage school and office items and ephemera with you!  I appreciate all your thoughtful comments, and read and enjoy everyone of them!

Happy Halloween!

Thank you for visiting!  I hope you like my Halloween framed piece!  I love altering anything I can get my hands on, and this has quite a bit of that going on, so it was a super fun project!

First, I will tell you about the frame--I picked it up at a yard sale last weekend--I thought it had "good bones".  (Ha, Ha!) I can rarely  remember to take before photos, because I get in the Closet and just start going, and usually don't even think of how I'm going to write about what I did. Anyway, it started out shiny black, and had a pretty heron card in it that I will get to use later!

The challenge over at Studio L3  Compendium of Curiosities 3 Effect Powders is to use the technique found on page 52 of Tim's Compendium of Curiosities Vol. 3.  Two prizes are up for grabs:  The Curiosity Crew  will chose a worthy winner, who receives a great prize package of Tim's goodies (could use that!), and a random winner will win a very generous $50 shopping spree to Inspiration Emporium.  Wow!  That would be an awesome treat, too!

So I'm putting Tim's great (and my  new favorite) Effect Powders technique to use on this frame, and other parts of my project, too!  I have really enjoyed this challenge!  I can't tell you how to do it, but I can say I used Tim's Distress Powders and Inks to achieve my effect.  You can see it on the frame, the skulls, the thumbtacks and the paperclip!  Too much fun!  I gave my frame a final coat of clear matte acrylic sealer, because I knew it would be handled a lot and I didn't want my effect to go away. If you want to learn this technique for yourself (and I recommend you do--it's easy and rewarding), get a copy of Tim's book mentioned above, go to page 52 and see how you can do this yourself!

I gessoed one of my spiders, and painted him with black Paint Dabbers using a brush.  Drybrushed with a little copper Paint Dabber and glued him on the frame.  The skulls are Idea-ology, altered first with a little blend of alcohol inks, dried and then the magic begins with the Effect Powders technique again.  I used Stickles for the eye sockets.  These were glued on, too.

The stamped back ground was actually the first generation stamping I did from my project "Dirty Little Secret".  I used a Recollections stamp and Distress Ink, laying the water color paper on the inked stamp and procuring the image by rolling with a brayer.  Before it dried I spritzed with water to let it bleed ever so slightly.  I dried it, and inked with Distress Inks, spritzed with water to blend slightly and dried it again.  I patted  the paper in a light spray of Dylusions Pesto Spray ink and mopped up some leftover Seedless Preserves stain and water mixture left on my craft mat from another project, spritzed it  and dried it once more.  Basically this is goulash!

Next I stamped my Tim Holtz images from the Trick or Treat set and a Martha Stewart partial image in Archival Ink.  When everything was fully dry, I covered the entire piece in Rock Candy Crackle Paint (another favorite technique with such gratifying results) and let it dry. I then swiped and swirled Walnut Stain Distress Ink with the ink blending tool.  This did not give the look I was hoping for on water color paper, but there are some areas that crackled nicely.

Trying to show the crackle here.

So now for my school/office supplies!  Craft Hoarders Anonymous wants to know "Who Loves School and Office Supplies?" and is going to award the worthy winner of this challenge a $30 gift certificate to their generous sponsor  Lindy's Stamp Gang!  Boy, I would love to win that!  So I've added a few school and office supplies to this creepy piece--a paper clip and 3 thumb tacks altered using the Effect Powders technique (wish I had that Vintage Photo--it's on my wish list, but not available in stores here).  I had to remove the plastic cap on the tacks in order to do my technique, but they are the real deal. I cut off the pointed ends.  But there's one more school supply I used on here--can you guess what it is?  It's the "blood" dripping down the right side of the stamped paper. I did not prick my finger on the thumb tacks, but I dribbled on Elmer's school glue, let it dry, and inked with Barn Door Distress Ink. (I hope I don't offend anyone with this; I really don't look at Halloween  in a spooky, macabre way usually.  But rather a fun time to dress up things in a silly way!  I just could not think of another way to really use that glue, and I had just pricked my finger on the tacks, which gave me the idea.) I guess water color paper would be considered a school supply, too--it was in my high school art class!

The Halloween Ticket is die cut from Tim's  Ticket Strip die and is stamped with a stamp from Tim's Odds and Ends collection.  I inked it with Distress Inks and stains.

The current challenge at  Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge is "Rock the Techniques", and they've got a $50 gift certificate to Simon Says Stamp for the randomly selected entry. They want to see what we've got!  I've already talked about using the Effect Powders technique and Distress techniques, and lifting of left over inks and sprays, but I used another technique with an embossing folder, vellum, Distress inks and metallic rubs for the orange background. To emboss a larger piece of paper than the size of the folder,  I  embossed my vellum with the Sizzix folder by running it through just  to before I get to the edge of the folder, back it out, and repeat after lining up the folder with the first embossing.  I'm sure most crafters have done this before, but I often forget the folders are capable of doing more than just the standard size embossing.  Next I used the ink blending tool to apply a light coverage of ink to just the raised lines.  Following this, I applied metallic rubs randomly with my finger.  I backed my vellum with cream card stock in the frame to make it stand out against my darker stamped panel, which I adhered with PPA. I purposely left the glass out of the frame so the viewer can appreciate the textures.

A Vintage Journey Challenge #15 "The Colours of Autumn" wants to see a strong  Tim Holtz influence on our projects using the colors of autumn.  They have a generous shopping voucher to Country View Crafts to award the winner chosen by the Creative Guides.  I'm influenced by Tim in using his many great techniques from his Compendium of Curiosities Vols. I, II, and III as well as using his grungy color palette and style he is so popular for.

In addition, I am entering the following challenges which are looking to see our interpretation of fall and the colors of autumn:

• Inspiration Journal Fall Is In the Air (they have a generous $50 Gift Certificate to Inspiration Emporium to award the winner)
• Crafting For All Seasons #86 Colors of Autumn
• The Artistic Stamper September Challenge- "Autumn Colours"
• Eileen Hull's Art with Heart Challenge September "Fall Back"

I hope you like my Halloween framed art. As always,thank you so much for stopping in and for leaving your sweet comments.  I hope to see you back again soon!

For a Friend

Hello!  I hope you are enjoying your weekend!  It is beginning to feel  a little like fall here in the south--finally!  We usually keep our humid conditions until October, but it is cooler today.

I made this card especially  for a well-loved artist out there in blog land.  I have chosen to use a technique I know she enjoys and employs quite often in her wonderful work.  I have also chosen to add a crow or a few, because they are one of her favorite birds.  She has been a terrific inspiration to me and others alike, so I wanted to send her a card to honor her.  Shhh!  Can you guess who it is?  Here's my card, and it's in the mail already.

I was trying to get a photo in the sun to show the metallic flecks of copper of the leaves, but the sun wasn't  cooperating!

I stamped a Stampin' Up tree image in Archival Ink, used the water coloring technique as described below, stamped the crows by Hampton Art and Tim Holtz, and sentiment by Stampin' Up also in Archival, and then heat embossed the "leaves".  I distressed the panel's edges and adhered it to the card blank.  I purposely did not ink the edges, because I wanted to really focus on the colors of the focal image.

There's a fun challenge at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Rock the Techniques with some really great inspiration from the design team. They want to see what we've got! Hop on over and check out all the great techniques and make sure to link up your entry. My technique used is to swipe some Distress Ink onto my craft mat and then swish and smoosh my paper through the puddle, drying with each pass.  I also use my mini Distress Inks in the same way on my craft mat, and use my waterbrush to add details.  I have also used a dry brush technique to add "grass".  Another of my favorite techniques is an old one--using heat embossing.  I used orange and copper embossing powders, Versamark Ink and a stamp from Stampin' Up to make "leaves".

Another blog challenge with some fantastic inspiration is Inspiration Emporium's Inspiration Journal Fall Is In the Air. If it's a part of your fall, then it's a part of theirs!  They have a generous $50 gift certificate to Inspiration Emporium's on-line store to give away to the winner of this challenge. I think my fall scene is reminiscent of an early fall day in the country.

Eileen Hull's Art With Heart Challenge Fall Back wants to see how we'll interpret fall in her challenge.

The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog September Challenge "Autumn Colours" says we can interpret their theme any way as long as it has a stamp on it.

I would also like to join in with"Trees With Autumn Colors" Challenge #82 at Fashionable Stamping Challenges.

Claudia has some awesome photography on Our Creative Corner September Challenge Autumnal Image Inspiration to inspire our artwork. I was inspired mostly by the colors-orange, greens, blue-grays, pinkish-purple, and the black of the berries and by the texture of the grasses. Please see the photo collage below.

Thank you for your visit.  I appreciate all your kind comments!  Please let me know if you know who I made this card for!

(images and collage: Claudia Neubacher)

Our Dirty Little Secret

Good evening, and thank you for visiting my Closet to see what I've been making here. This is my project that I made for my husband.  Our 19th wedding anniversary is coming up at the end of the month, and I wanted to make him something special.  Here's a dirty little secret we have...we can never remember what year we were married!  I can almost hear those gasps!  At least we both forget, but we can always remember the month and date.  So I did some sleuthing today, and found our marriage certificate.  This inspired me to create something with the actual year we tied the knot on it, so we won't forget AGAIN!

 A Vintage Journey Challenge #14 With a Flourish wants to see what we can do with our flourishes on our projects-- we can use our flourish stamps, stencils, die cuts or whatever we have.  The winner of this challenge will receive a generous shopping voucher from Country View Crafts on-line shop. I'm up for the challenge, and I've used Tim's Alterations Scrollwork On the Edge Die (yes, I checked the definition of scrollwork and it includes flourishes!), Recollections Flourishes stamp, an old brass flourish stencil and my daughter brought it to my attention the frame has flourishes!

 I started by making this background on watercolor paper.  I inked up the flourish stamp with Vintage Photo Distress Ink by swiping it on, laid my first piece of paper on the stamp and used my brayer to get the image.  I did this again, using the second generation print for my background.  Before it dried, I spritzed it with water.  Then dried it, inked it with my ink blending tools with various Distress Inks, dried again, spritzed lightly with  Dyslusions Pesto spray ink (so happy to see Tim has his line of spray inks out now--missed that post and chance to win some:(.  Going to have to make some room in the Closet for these!), spritzed again with water, dried again, more Distress Ink and finally gold Perfect Pearls Spray Mist. It's just gorgeous, but couldn't get the true effect in the photo.

After this was dry, I added texture paste through a flourish stencil.  I love how the color of the sprays and inks comes through.  This photo was taken before the left side paste was dry, so it still looks white.

 There's a new challenge at Compendium of Curiosities 3, Challenge 11 to use the Effect Powders technique on page 52 of Tim's Compendium of Curiosities Vol. 3.  The Curiosity Crew will select a winner who will receive an awesome assortment of Tim's goodies, courtesy of Tim and Mario. And a  lucky entrant will win a very generous $50 shopping spree to Inspiration Emporium !  You've got to go check out all the wonderful inspiration the crew has made for us and join in!

I have some old Distress Embossing Powders--Peeled Paint and Tattered Rose--they must be at least 12 years old!  But so pretty, so I just had to use them along with my newer Effect Powder--Antique Linen. I was inspired by Curiosity Crew member Marjie Kemper to mix it up a bit, by using one of the Effect Powders along with one of the old colors. I used the Effect Powders technique on Grungeboard I die cut with Tim's Scrollwork On the Edge die. I can't tell you anything else without giving away the technique. This looks a little bright, since it was photographed under my work light.  You can see from this photo, my finished piece ended up a little different!  Initially, I had stamped my sentiment in Sepia Archival Ink over some Distress Ink using a masking technique, but I wasn't happy with how if faded into the background, so I had to go with Plan B and make an oval to go over it for my sentiment, now stamped in black.

 There's a challenge over at Frilly and Funkie From the Heart that says to create a vintage project with hearts as the focal image.  I'm not sure this is the focal image--there seems to be a bit going on here. I used the same technique on my pink heart, but since it is not listed as one of the Effect Powders, I'm not thinking this is the technique.  I liked it anyway, so I stuck it on there.  My other heart is cut from a scrap I was trying things out on, that went into the scrap heap. The paper was too pretty not to use.

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 I was inspired by Tim in this piece by the busyness, grunginess and the use of vintage things he uses in his work, not to mention borrowing some of his great techniques and using many of Tim's awesome products.

There's a really fun (as usual) challenge from Craft Hoarders Anonymous-- Craft Hoarders Anonymous #16 Who Loves School and Office Supplies?--to use at least one office or school supply on our projects. There is some awesome inspiration there by the design team-so get over and take a look!  Who doesn't love school and office supplies???  I know I do!  I have quite a few vintage  office and school supplies, and I wanted to put one of my very special hinge clips on this. Yes, I have a small hoard of these!  I think I can spare one; it's already rusty and crusty--just perfect for this project. That's a found -on- the- road ball chain that I added a little alcohol ink to and used it to hang some Idea-ology and a trinket that I (no kidding) pulled out of a pile that just happened to have the #19 on it!  Since it is our 19th anniversary, it made the cut.  I antiqued that a little with alcohol ink also. Those two little gold balls are map pins--another office supply?

This was taken early on in the process, before I decided to add the map pins and the "19" trinket.  I included this shot because you can really see that pretty antiquing on the chain and the great authentic rust on the clip.

 While this is not an authentic office supply, it is a paper clip from Spare Parts.  I jazzed it up a little using a manila folder (office supply) and a Creative Memories circle punch to make a disc to put over the circle at the top of the clip.  I stamped the year we were married (lest we forget) using Hampton Arts calendar stamps.  I inked it with Vintage Photo and added Crackle Glossy Accents.  It made some lovely crackling, and wish I had used this product on my Assemblage clock.

 The calendar page is from Tim's Lost and Found paper stash (a calendar is an office supply, right?), distressed with a little Pesto Dylusions spray I had left in the spray box, and Walnut Distress Ink--hmmm...should have used the distress tool on those edges...hindsite 20/20 and all. Antiqued one of Tim's pen nibs with alcohol ink and used it to direct our eye toward the circled date.  You can see the yummy texture pasted stenciling here.  Anne Redfern inspired me to make a second Scrollwork die cut out of the manila folder and offset it to make a shadow.  I distressed it first with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  It actually was kind of necessary  to give some separation and definition to the darkness of my  layering pieces. Thanks for the great idea, Anne! I think it looks a lot better using with letters as you did!

You can really see the flourishes on the frame--good eye, Lauren!

Another view of the layering and the flourish detail on the frame.

 I mentioned earlier I had to cover that poor judgement call of using sepia instead of black ink on my sentiment. (The sepia looked good on my trial piece of grunge.) I die cut and embossed the edges of  the oval using Nestabilities die, and stamped my sentiment in Archival ink. To make this,  I used a piece of scrap card stock that I had been testing first and second generation stamping of the flourish stamp--it was too pretty to throw out. It's pretty much done like the background, but I did only the stamping, then some Wild Honey and Vintage Photo Distress Inks. It looks quite different because it is a different paper base and I didn't use the Dylusions. I layered it with an oval chipboard piece and foam mounting tape. (Everything that was adhered to the grungeboard and the embossing powders had to be done with either super sticky dimensional glue dots or Crafter's Pick glue--nothing else would stick.)

A little bit too much light on this , but it helps to show the layering I did with the sentiment.

A little peek around the back of the oval die cut.

I would also like to enter this into Inspiration Emporium's Inspiration Journal Fall Is In the Air since our anniversary is in the fall, and I've chosen fall colors for my project. They say "you name it, if it's a part of your Fall then it can be a part of ours".All entries have a chance to win a very generous $50 to spend at Inspiration Emporium's on-line store.  You've got to get over there to check out all the inspiration!

I so enjoy all your comments, and appreciate you taking the time to hang in there with my long posts!  Have a wonderful week!