Compendium of Curiosities Challenge Week 35

My submission for the final Compendium of Curiosities Challenge (#35) over at Studio L3 is a cover for my Letterboxing journal. What is letterboxing, you ask? I'll tell you more about that below! It's very addicting. Anyway, I've used papers from Club Scrap's To You With Love collection, Tim Holtz Lost and Found pack, Graphic 45 Steampunk Debutante, and finally DCWV Travel stack. I've also added some grungeboard hinges and flourish which i've painted with bronze metallic paint. The other elements were done using T!m's design ruler. The center area is 4x6 and will serve as a mat for whatever photo I want to feature.

As I said in my post last week, the end of these challenges is bittersweet for me. I've learned so much and really pushed my boundaries which is awesome for any artist. The downside has been finding the time to do it and maybe not prioritizing what I should over it since i enjoy it so!

A HUGE thank you to Linda for being such a marvelous hostess and always finding something wonderful to say in her comments. In addition, thank you to all who have commented on my submissions; I truly appreciate it. Thanks also to all who have played along...you've given me so many great ideas for these techniques. Lastly, but definitely not at all least,

THANK YOU T!M.

You are an amazingly talented man and your art provides endless inspiration.

Hugs to all.

WHAT IS LETTERBOXING?

Letterboxing is an intriguing mix of treasure hunting, rubber stamp artistry, navigation, and exploring interesting, scenic, and sometimes remote places.

Here's the basic idea: Someone hides a waterproof container (box or zip baggie) somewhere (in a beautiful, interesting, or remote location) containing at least a logbook and a handcarved rubber stamp, and perhaps other goodies. The hider then usually writes directions or "clues", which can be straightforward, cryptic, or any degree in between. Often the clues involve map coordinates or compass bearings from landmarks, but they don't have to. Selecting a location and writing the clues is one aspect of the art.

Once the clues are written, hunters in possession of the clues attempt to find the box. In addition to the clue and any maps or tools needed to solve it, the hunter should carry at least a pencil, their personal rubber stamp, an inkpad, and his personal logbook. When the hunter successfully deciphers the clue and finds the box, they stamp the logbook in the box with their personal stamp, and stamps their personal logbook or journal with the box's stamp. The box's logbook keeps a record of all its visitors, and the hunters keep a record of all the boxes they have found, in their personal logbook or journal

Check it all out at:

http://www.letterboxing.org/

http://www.atlasquest.com/

Compendium of Curiosities Challenge Week 34

It seems this is the 34th challenge put forth by Lovely Linda at Studio L3. By my calculation, that means we only have 1 more and although i have THOROUGHLY enjoyed this journey, i will admit that I'll be a little relieved once i have posted my final submission. Maybe I'll focus more on work and school (but i doubt it, lol). At the same time, I will be sad to see it go. This has definitely made me stretch my wings and fly into some unchartered territory (at least uncharted by me!). For that I am so thankful.

The piece I did for the Dimensional Collage Fragments challenge (which is found on page 63 of this book) came together rather quickly for me. This is rarely the case. And, although i say quickly, here I am posting on Sunday AGAIN. But since I only came up with it yesterday, that's quick work for me.

I was flipping thru my mini reproduction of the Sears & Roebuck catalog for inspiration and came across this advertisement for a cure to make one stop drinking. Pretty laughable stuff. The old prospector image I grabbed online, but my family has a history with this particular gentleman. I grew up in Newport, Kentucky, which is where a/the Wiedemann beer brewery was located. Many of the men in my young life (Dad, uncles, neighbors) drank Wiedemann; some even worked at the brewery. I can actually still remember the smell of it in the air. Later in life, my Dad collected Wiedemann memorabilia and my sister purchased a reproduction of this image on canvas for him several years ago, which is now resides in my creative center and looks upon me with those watchful eyes.

So, that's my story and I'm stickin to it...much like my elements are stuck to this fragment, lol! The bottle cap image is mounted on top, but is only a place holder until i can lay my hands on one of my actual Wiedemann bottle caps.

This famous paper litho sign employed between 1890-1918 portrays a haggard gold prospector holding a glass etched with the words

"Wiedemann FINE BEER"

A white bill of sale in the prospector's pocket displays the name of

George Wiedemann Brewing Company, Newport, KY.

Compendium of Curiosities Challenge Week 33

Hello...it's me; running late as usual. I'll try to keep this brief as I have a presentation to prepare for tomorrow. I really tried to photograph this many times and I just can't get it to capture the colors quite right. That card base and feather are almost exactly the same color, but it's just not reading that way (feather looks more blue for some reason).

I'm submitting this for the 33rd Studio L3 Compendium of Curiosities challenge. I've followed the instructions on T!ms' book; page 56 (Altered Metal Alcohol Inks).

Cardstock and feathers are all Club Scrap. Mask is my own design cut on my Silhouette.

Purple card base from Blossom Kit.

Teal panel from Expressions Kit

Yellow from Solstice Kit

Feathers from Birds of a Feather Kit

Compendium of Curiosities Challenge Week 32

I will come back later and fill in all the juicy details, but wanted to get this posted before I leave the house today!

LATER....so i'm finally back online to give the 411 on this card. :). I made this for my SO's daughter who finally completed a long overdue task and has made her Father a very happy & proud man. It's a gatefold card, but I removed one of the flaps and adhered the top panel to only the upper flap. I made a pocket (for a gift card) out of the lower blue piece but didn't think to take a picture of that before giving the card to her yesterday. duh.

Paper: Club Scrap - Stratosphere, Vogue and Surf's Up Collections

Stamps: Club Scrap - Medallion and sentiment are from the Henna Kit (side note: Henna now has an amazing remix available that i must get my hands on...find it here).

Congratulations & feather are random stamps from my stash.

Ink: Tri-colored Brilliance ink pad called Peacock. Brayered onto cardstock and CS india ink for black stamping.

Embellishment: clear gem colored with my margarita green "redneck copic" (lol, Bic Mark-it's) and white inkssentials pen.

Technique: I can't tell you any specifics, but it's found in T!m's book on page 59 and its called inking and stamping masks.

A HUGE thank you to the beautiful Linda at Studio L3 for offering these challenges every week. We're winding down to the end and I and keeping my fingers crossed that I'm able to complete the rest. I have so "enjoyed the journey"!

Compendium of Curiosities Challenge Week 30

I found the planter/bin above at a goodwill for less than a dollar I think. Nothing special, but I loved the olde world look of it, but also thought it would look good with a shabby chic/whitewash finish. Then, along comes challenge #30 from the beautiful and talented Linda at Studio L3. This one is called altered metal with paint and is found on page 48 of T!m's Compendium of Curiosities. So, I don't know if this really counts for the challenge, but it seemed a good opportunity for me to finally do this project.

Compendium of Curiosities Challenge Week 29 AND...T!m's 12 Tags of Christmas - Day 10

Sad but true, I am still not done with my interpretations of T!m's 12 tags of Christmas. This is my version of his day 10 tag combined nicely with the Compendium of Curiosities Challenge #29 that's been going on over at Linda's blog. I've used the purple twilight paint dabber on harlequin patterned grunge paper but that's about all I'll tell you of the technique known as Weathered Wood grunge found on page 50 of T!m's book.

The acetate flowers are a Technique Junkies technique. It didn't go very well for me for reasons I can't really go into without divulging too much info ;-]. I've only used 2 Club Scrap items for todays challenge...the soft flower and the bronze brad in the center of my acetate flower. The chain and washers were purchased at the hardware store. I gave the washers a few coats of AI to grunge em up a bit.

Now, onto the important part. The adorable little girl is my Grandmother (Dad's Mother). I never met her as she passed away only months after my Dad met my Mom. I grew up not knowing much about her (other than that she was an orphan)and had only seen a couple photos that I can remember. Some time ago, I came into possession (from a relative) of a treasure trove of old family photos. One of which is this one (i've used a laser copy, not the original!). I hope she likes what I've done with it.

Compendium of Curiosities Challenge Week 28

Here's a simple little everyday card that uses the technique described on page 57 of T!m's Compendium of Curiosities. This is the 28th week of Linda's challenge and I'm proud to say I've participated in each and every one!

I don't have a lot of details to share, but I'll give the few i do: All cardstock, stamps and stickers are from Club Scrap's Artifacts collection. The paper ribbon is from the Castaway Kit. I've used what me and my sister refer to as "our redneck copics" to color in the stamped image. They are actually Bic Mark Its. Oh, and I've used my Position-it Tool to perfectly place those fish stamps along the edge. I LOVE THIS TOOL!

Compendium of Curiosities Challenge Week 27

I spent a few hours yesterday making scrapbook page layouts using a technique called ALSB™ from Club Scrap. I will normally do an entire kit this way and store them in albums waiting for the perfect photos. I find this method much, much easier than starting with a handful of photos and working the other way. It seemed backward to me when I was first introduced, but now I know it's the best thing that's ever happened to my scrappin' life! This layout (and the ones I will post below) are from the May 2010 Blossom Kit (not much of it left to purchase!) which is one of my personal favorites as it uses the most yummy shade of my beloved purple. Ironically, the butterfly (which was cut on my silhouette) was used as a mask on an earlier challenge.

I've incorporated Linda's CCC #27 challenge into this particular layout by misting over a club scrap mask from the Arts N Crafts kit using Glimmer Mists and a homemade distress mist. If you want all the details of this homemade concoction, and for a million other reasons, you must purchase your very own copy of T!m's book here.

Here are some of my nekkid (without photos, lol) Blossom layouts:

Compendium of Curiosities Challenge Week 26 AND...T!m's 12 Tags of Christmas - Day 12

Once again I am combining challenges. Linda's CCC task this week is Rusted Grunge which is on page 45 of T!m's book and my personal challenge to interpret each of T!m's 12 tags of Christmas for 2010. The technique has been applied to the heart to give a nice rusted appearance.

The door hanger print and the reds (print & plain) come from an old Club Scrap kit called Chocolate Shoppe. I actually took mine from a remix released just a year or so ago. The button, flower, mesh and twine are all plucked from my stash of goodies. The LOVE is my interpretation of Tim's movers and shapers die which I've designed and cut with my Silhouette.

Compendium of Curiosities Challenge Week 25 AND.... T!m's 12 Tags of Christmas - Day 9

The 25th challenge on Studio L3 is one called scribble stain distress. I'm was not at all familiar with this, so I had to carefully read page 34 of T!m's book. I have chosen to combine this 25th challenge, with T!m's 12 tags of Christmas Day 9 (yes, I'm still working on that project, lol)

There are so many things going on here, but i'll try to capture as many details as possible:

Technique done on a full 8.5x11 sheet of Club Scrap paper from the Bugs collection (just a nice off white color). Then I ironed it and I ran it through my printer to put the words and music to John Lennon's Imagine on it. I cut the pieces to fit my photo block and then I started blinging things up a bit. Added rhinestones to a peace sign stamp from a Recollections stamp set called Feelin' Groovy. I cut the peace dove and the treble clef on my silhouette and then inked them with Dusty Concord distress ink and sprayed with pearl glimmer mist. The Rosette is made with an amazing Club Scrap paper from the Time & Space kit and edged with gold glitter. I typed up a lyric of the song and printed it on a bracket I cut with the Silhouette. Also, there are dots of bisque liquid pearls along the bottom of each side.

Compendium of Curiosities Challenge Week 23

Hello to all. If you celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope you had a blessed day full of good food, friends, family and fun! I've been loving my 4 day weekend which is sadly coming to a close tonight. But, I thought I'd get my submission in early just in case I can manage to find any time to play along with T!m's 12 tags of Christmas later this week. I'm so excited i can hardly stand myself!

Linda's challenge this week over at Studio L3 is the Double Distress technique (details of the challenge can be found here at her blog and details of the technique can be found on page 40 of T!m's Compendium of Curiosities. I've departed from my pennants for this week.

Double distress was done with the brick & woodgrain texture fades (on the fireplace front in grungeboard & and trim pieces in paper, but my Silhouette was working OT on this challenge. I cut about 45 holly leaves for the wreath and several sets of flames, all of which were colored in one way or another with distress inks and sprayed with perfect pearl mist. The stockings were also cut on the Silhouette. The paper (as almost always) comes from Club Scrap (it's just the best quality stuff out there!!). I've used several pieces from an older kit called Old South. The fireplace and hearth are constructed from book board (which I cut on my power miter saw....felt good to use a power tool for a change!) The Peace On Earth text was just done in PSE and printed onto another piece of CS paper from Old South, and the banner is a trick I picked up from the abundantly talented and lovely Jennifer McGuire.

I'm planning to dig through my basement stash and find an 8x10 shadow box frame (which I know i have somewhere, lol) to put this in. I was thinking of making these as gifts, but this one took me so long, I'm not sure i have enough time to invest for the number of them I'd like to make. Now that I've made one though, I'm sure subsequent ones would go faster.

Compendium of Curiosities Challenge Week 22

I'm going to keep this short and sweet as time is a precious commodity for me lately. This is my Compendium of Curiosities Challenge submission for week 22 (yes, 22!!!). You can find the details of the challenge here but you have to buy the book here for the details of the technique (which might be my favorite so far) It's well worth the money.

I've used a variety of stamps from a bunch of names I don't know right now. I've used Club Scrap paper (from the Blossom Kit) for the base & the offset shape around the r.

Take care all and thank you for looking.

Compendium of Curiosities Challenge Week 21

My muse is apparently back on it's late track. It's been a crazy busy week for me, so I'm just happy to post anything. Starting school is proving to put a real cramp in my crafting, so I've got to get better about budgeting my time.

This week the challenge put forth by Linda at Studio L3 is called Perfect Distress. All the wonderful details of which can be found on T!m's Compendium of Curiosities Book Page 38.

I really do like this technique all the way up to the last couple of steps. Then it feels like I'm ruining a perfectly (pun intended) lovely image! Oh well, I did it anyway and didn't get a lot of result from it, so I was happy with the way it turned out. This is the E for my CRE8 banner. Just one more letter to go and I'll have to come up with another inspiring word (suggestions welcomed and appreciated!)

I've used papers from Rusty Pickle & Club Scrap (Gratitude & Scholarship kits). Fired Brick & Vintage Photo distress inks. Heirloom Gold perfect pearls.

Have a great week y'all!

Compendium of Curiosities Challenge Week 20

Something must be seriously wrong because I've already completed my Compendium of Curiosities Challenge and it's only Tuesday??? What's up with that? This week, Linda has tasked us with the Industrial grunge technique which is found on page 54 of this fab book by the genius T!m Holtz.

I've used the wings & crown grunge shapes and a piece of K & Co paper for the pennant itself. The 8 (for banner CRE8) is cut on my Silhouette from a piece of paper from Club Scrap's Scholarship kit. The metal time piece is from another Club Scrap kit (i just don't know which!).

Hope all is well with you and yours on this election day....thank goodness the commercials can stop airing!!!!

In addition, I'm submitting this piece to these other challenges (all first timers for me!) Go check em out.

• Paper Playtime - Clock, ticket or tag
• Aly's Sunday Challenge - Distress
• For Fun Challenges - Use Metal
• Incy Wincy - Anything Goes
• Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes

Compendium of Curiosities Challenge Week 19

Taking it to the EXTREME with masking this week over at Studio L3's Compendium of Curiosities Challenge. Check out T!m's blog for information about getting your very own copy of this inspirational manual. This technique appears on page 61.

Give me a C!! So, here's what I've decided to do for the remainder of my submissions. I'm creating a pennant banner for my room that says CREATE (and whatever else I can come up with)...so here's the C. Back to using the reds, yellows and oranges with this one. Guess I'll have to face the fact that i'm drawn to these colors although I never wear them.

I've used a number of reds, oranges & yellow Distress Inks for this on paper from Club Scrap (Gimme a Ring & Scholarship kits); a cutting file courtesy of Laina Lamb and stamps from a variety of sources (too many probably, lol).

The mojo is slowly making it's way back to me, but finding the time to do anything about it is getting increasingly hard.

Compendium of Curiosities Challenge Week 18

Another week, another Compendium of Curiosities Challenge at the Studio L3 blog....this week it's Dabber Resist. My papers (as almost always) are from Club Scrap....these are from the Textiles & Notions and Simply Beautiful kits (oldies but goodies). I think this corner stamp is from Kelly Panacci, but don't quote me on that! I've added some dollar tree jewels and some lavender stickles for a little sparkle. Oh, and I used dusty concord & Rusty Hinge distress inks as well as my favorite pearl glimmer mist.

I'm still feeling like someone has stolen my creative mojo, but I managed to eek this out just under the wire. I wish you all a productive and creative week ahead! I'm super excited because I'm starting an accelerated college course tomorrow night (yes, at 43 years old I'm going back to school!) I guess you're never too old to learn, right?

Compendium of Curiosities Challenge Week 17

This weeks Compendium of Curiosities Challenge (graciously hosted by the lovely Linda at StudioL3) is Fragment Charms. I'm embarrassed to even submit this sorry little piece, but it's all i had time for since I just returned from a wonderful 10 day vacation!!

After the Club Scrap Retreat, my sister and I spent several days exploring Door County in Wisconsin. If you've never been, I highly recommend it. Just a wonderfully quaint and beautiful area with oh so many picture taking opportunities. We saw (& photographed) a few of the peninsula's lighthouses and I plan to make a mini scrapbook of them (and some others I've visited). This will be one of a few charms which will adorn the spine. It's a photo of the Cana Island Lighthouse which is really the only "traditional" lighthouse in Door County. The rest were different than any others I've seen. Click here if you want to read more about it.

I hope to be able to submit something a bit better for the next go round, but thanks for looking!

Compendium of Curiosities Challenge Week 15

It doesn’t matter how many times I use AI’s, I fall in love all over again! They give such amazing results (usually!). So, for this week’s Compendium of Curiosities Challenge over at Linda’s fabulous blog the technique is called Alcohol Ink Agate on Grunge (it’s on page 53 of T!m’s amazing book).

I departed from making cards again for this one because I have had it on my list to do for far too long to make one of these earbud holders that I saw here. That one is leather and much more costly, but I knew I could duplicate this with Grungeboard the minute I saw it. I just created a pattern, traced and cut it out of grunge board (harlequin). For the strap, I just cut a straight rectangle of grunge and notched it so that you can easily hook and un-hook it. I used glossy accents to glue the strap to the shape and voila, my creation is fini (mixing my languages a bit there I think). Of course I could punch the hole and add a grommet/eyelet and chain to be able to clip it to something, but I've chosen to not do that just yet until I decide how i plan to carry it. I made 2 of them (including the strap) quite easily out of one sheet of grunge board and I plan to make more as gifts. The blue one is for my phone earbuds, so I stamped it with the words Call Me! and Hello from Club Scrap kit called Gimme A Ring. The pink/purple one is for my ipod and is stamped with the words Rockin Girl and a very small stamp of sheet music. You could also add your name or initials or anything you want.

Pardon my blurry photos...not sure why I had such trouble photographing these.

Compendium of Curiosities Challenge Week 14

Mask Basics - Oh how I love a good mask! For my card I used T!m's mini mask called Florets and a mask i made from my butterfly cut on my QK Silhouette. I cut the butterfly and the square in the lower right from T!m's Lost & Found paper pack. Initially I used the mask on that square, but i didn't feel like that was quite enough, so then I decided to ink the entire front of the card. Once again, I'm using the wonderful papers of Club Scrap. This time from the Castaway collection. I sprayed the whole works with pearl glimmer mist. Oh, and I followed sketch # 71 on Priscilla Styles Midnight Madness Sketch challenge blog.

Compendium of Curiosities Challenge Week 13

For this weeks Studio L3 challenge, Linda has us making Grunge paper flowers using the instructions found on page 65 of T!m's Compendium of Curiosities.

I don't normally do "cute" Halloween...I'm much more into the macabre, but I chose to use my flower as an embellishment to a paper drawstring basket which I will fill with Halloween candy for my desk at work. The instructions for how to make this cutie can be found on the Club Scrap site here (I'm not sure but you may have to be a member to view the video tutorial....so, if you wanna join, let me know!!). It's very easy to make, and if you can't view the video, i'm happy to send you written instructions. The green paper is from Club Scrap's Wheel & Sprocket kit and the black is from the Expressions kit. The patterned paper is from a DCWV Halloween pack.

My flower is inked with DI's (peeled paint & dusty concord) and embossed with the checkerboard & retro circles texture fades. Leaves were cut with pinking shears. I added the eyeball eraser center & plastic spider just for fun.

Thanks for looking and be sure to take a moment today to say a prayer for all of those touched by the events of September 11, 2001.