CCC #3 and an idea....

...the challenge this week, hosted by the talented and awesome Linda, involves alcohol inks. Love them.  I haven't picked up a flower stamp in, oh, 24 hours, so I had to use one on this week's challenge. It's a Hero Arts Silhouette stamp. Highlighted with white pen, mounted on a piece of chip cut with Tim's On the Edge die, which was inked with Tumbled Glass and Chipped Sapphire distress ink. The butterfly, dragonfly and wee little hummingbird are also Hero Arts, clear stamps.

Easy technique with striking results because of the intensity of color with the alcohol inks.

Ok, now for my idea. You remember I was hostess for a twinchie swap on the Everything Wendy Vecchi group. Well, if you don't remember, I was a hostess for a twinchie swap on the Everything Wendy Vecchi Yahoo group. rofl.
I was agonizing (ok, exaggerating there) about how to display them, as I wanted to be able to see who made them, which is usually a signature on the back. I know, I could have made little labels or something, but it was more important to me that I be able to read the back. Hey, it's my display.
I had a Eureka! moment this morning before work. If any of you have bought Tim's new Texture Fades, you know they come in a long, two pocketed clear plastic holder. And you also know, that I don't throw any packaging away that might become useful to me in the future. Enter the twinchies. Take two pieces of packaging, they will be facing back to back, cut off the edges of ONE piece, just enough so it slides in the edges of the other, and VOILA! you have a holder that is clear, encloses the art to keep it dust free, and enough depth to hold dimensional items. Here comes your visual aid, although hard to see 'cause it's clear:

Obviously, I'm going to use small glue dots to hold them in place in the base piece, but I was so excited it worked, I had to share...so, now, I could decorate it with alcohol inks, paper round the edges, put a chipboard title up on top, and the beauty is, it already comes with a hole for hanging. Coolio....now.....you....better....
Go Be Creative!

Sunday Stampers

..theme this week - PEARLS. You can check out other entries, Hel's fantabulous art, and details HERE.  Hel's used Wendy's stamps among other things, and she's right, Wendy's stamps go really well with pearls.  So, I thought, why ruin a good idea? 

I had made a fabric postcard (4 x 6 inch) a couple of weekends ago over at my Mom's, using strips of her scrap fabric. I just randomly sewed strips of material, (haphazardly, no there is nothing wrong with your eyes) batting and a back piece together, then zig zagged round the edges. Didn't know what I was going to do with it, so I put it in the "pile o' unfinished ideas", which is similar to the Island of Misfit Toys.  Well, I'm happy to report,  I used it today! That's almost unheard of for me, using something unfinished within a month of the actual inception. lol. It's also unheard for me to finish the Sunday Stamper challenge on that very Sunday, although right now it's Monday in the U.K.......

Here's what I came up with:

 Close up of the left side:

Here's what I used and how I used it, lol:
The label is cut from chipboard using Tim's Stylized Label die. Inked with Bundled Sage, and round edges Forest Moss.  Stamped Wendy's plaid background with Archival Olive. Stamped Wendy's Garment Cutter stamp with black Archival. The image at the top and bottom of the Garment label is Tim's stamp, I just masked off the label stamp.
The lace on the left - I glued two pieces back to back to look like a placket. Then some twill ribbon dyed with Brushed Cord distress ink, stamped Wendy's buttonhole stamp with Coffee Archival, glued buttons on top, and half pearls on top of the buttons.
The hanging scissors, sewing machine and dressform are from Maya Road's mini Sew Cute chipboard. I love them, 'cause ....they're.....so cute. ha ha The scissors have black and silver paint dabber on them, the sewing machine has black crackle paint, and the dressform is inked with Brushed Cord, stamped with Coffee, and inked the edges with Black Soot, and gold paint dabber for the dressform "stand", and tiny half pearls for buttons.
Attached the chipboard label with Tim's trinket pins.
I thought it turned out kinda cute! Love the sewing theme, of course, it's all the rage right now. And since my Mom was kind enough to let me borrow her old Kenmore for my studio, I'll be sewing a lot more on my projects, I'm a thinkin'. My regular sewing machine is in the house. It just wasn't feasible for me to traipse in the house, run upstairs, use the sewing machine, then back out to the studio 50 times. While it would have helped my physique, it wasn't happenin' for my art projects. That poor machine doesn't know what it's in for.....
Thanks for stopping by, and you know what's next....
Go Be Creative!

Zoom Zoom

...now that you've got that commercial in your head for the rest of the day.....
theme this week for Tag Tuesday is POSTAGE.  Lots of entries this week, so go check it out!

I have to admit, I collect stamps. Only the ones I find interesting. I have a pile that I've collected in my studio somewhere, I just can't seem to locate it right now.  rofl.  But I did find one in the theme I wanted, so it's all good.

A little different art for me this week, I hope you like it.  As most of you know, I like to ride motorcycles, I think of myself as a biker babe....at least in my mind, don't know how other people think of me. Ok, let's just say I'm a seasoned biker chick.  No tattoos, though.  So, I went with a motorcycle theme, and I've been able to find several motorcycle stamps.  Here we go:

I thought it turned out pretty good, in the beginning I wasn't so sure...Dewbird REALLY thought it was cool, so it's probably going in his office. He never really says much about my pieces, other than Wow, that's really nice, or, you do good work, so when I got the "that's really cool!" comment I know he really likes it...rofl.   Alrighty then, in case you want some details, and if you don't, well, have a good weekend...
I have a cool stamp that looks like tire treads, so I stamped and embossed that with black embossing powder on the base tag on the diagonal. Same thing with the "Cruising" stamp, only not on the diagonal, lol. I then inked over the tag and image using Brushed Corduroy distress ink.
The postage stamp that I ripped off a piece of mail (yes, my mail, just because I'm a biker chick doesn't mean I'm a felon...much.... rofl) speaks for itself, although you can tell by the price of the stamp it's several years old.
The silver and reddish color on the stamped motorcycle wheel is metal leafing. I used USArtQuest Duo adhesive to fill in the areas I wanted to leaf, let dry till clear and tacky, and rubbed the leafing on.  I was trying to pick the pieces that were more reddish in color, to match the motorcyle in the postage stamp, but it came out a little varied, which is ok, still has that nice metallic sheen to it.
I also leafed around the black cardstock underneath the postage stamp in silver. Used a silver Krylon pen to edge around the black cardstock that the motorcycle is stamped on.
Used Black Soot distress ink and a waterbrush to color in the tire.
The paper that you see at the bottom of the tag and as the "ribbon" at the top is the coolest paper, the texture looks like rubber, and I had a piece left from a long ago project that fit just right. And of course, a biker chick always has to have something studded, and since I refuse to have my nose or bellybutton studded,  I used silver brads along the bottom edge of the tag. After all, it's all about the chrome when you're scooter trash. (I'm actually thinking of painting that on the back of my helmet or the fender of my bike, that term is hysterical to me).
Oh, the "let's ride" are the Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type letters. Ok, gotta run...
Zoom Zoom and..
Go Be Creative! 

CCC #2

That's short for Compendium of Curiosities Challenge, hosted by Linda at Studio L3. You can check out the other art goodness, HERE.
We're on Week numero 2. The theme is something to do with Timinator's fragments. That's all I'm sayin'. Don't want the CCC po-po (sp?) comin' after me....

Colors of Distress Ink used: Rusty Hinge, Fired Brick, Aged Mahogany, Brushed Corduroy (hey, I hear corduroy's are kinda groovy, lol). Also used Black and Coffee Archival inks.
Bird is embossed on chipboard, inked with BC.
All stamps are Tim's except for the French Script background, that's Stampin' Up.
The fragment was glued to a piece of Jenni Bowlin mini paper.
And hey, the new Enamel Accents works great to edge a fragment, but it does take a steady hand, so I wouldn't recommend doing it after the morning coffee or a margarita, well, ok, maybe the margarita makes it a little more steady, depends on the person, rofl.
Blow up the pic and look closely at the left edge of the fragment. Besides seeing the little glob of enamel accents, see the phrase "journey of a lifetime"? Yeah, that's the itty bitty rub on phrase at the bottom of all the Maya Road rub-on sheets next to the logo. See, my cheap, eagle eye misses nothing. NOTHING, I tell you.
Updated weather report:
Bad storms last night, looking at our back yard, this was the scene:

Rarely, if ever, do we have water running across the corner of the yard.  What this means is, you better beat a path to the ark, I'm just sayin'.....
Go Be Creative!

Sunday Stamper Challenge - Rin Tin Tin

..theme this week, METAL. You can see the details and other's entries HERE.  Now, this is a theme I really love. I decided to go with another altered candy tin.
And, here we go:

Oo, the blue of the Kleenex box in the background sets it off nicely. rofl. Used Ten Seconds Studio chocolate metal and molds. Fitting the Inspire on there was somewhat challenging, I can tell you. I smeared some distress stickles over the INSPIRE, and Glitz stickles underneath the bird, there. I also used Cinnamon Stickles round the lid edge, which you will see next photo. 

Yes, in retrospect the bird (Stampin' Up punch, love it) should have been all blue or something that would have stood out more. 
And yes, the bird is the only thing that has stamping on it, which is a requirement for the challenge. (I'm on the line with that one, rofl.)  Birdie and leaves were embossed with clear embossing powder after inking and the aforementioned minimal stamping.

What? Those things on the end? Don't ask.
Yes, I buy the family size Kleenex. Puffs brand if you must know, no lotion or anything, just normal Puffs. Yes, I'm saving the box because it has a flower on it.
I saw some cool, different grungepaper roses that Lynne Forsythe came up with. Have to practice a little, but they turned out pretty good. Just need to cut them off the paper and spray with ink mix.

Beauty part of these are they lay flatter than Tim or Wendy's roses. Not that I'm dissing theirs, by any stretch, but you don't have to put forth a lot of effort to get these to attach, some glue, and you're done. Made all of these with one sheet of 6 inch by 12 inch grungepaper. 
Weather report - in case you wanted to know - hot, humid, rainy, stormy with a chance of the same through tomorrow. Yikes!
I just saw animals walking two by two down the sidewalk. I've ordered blueprints for the ark, just need to find the lumber.....have plenty of glossy accents....
Go Be Creative!

Tagged...

...finished the ones I had started last week...used Ranger's Black Polysparkle Embossing Powder for the sentiment and center of the flower to give it a little bling bling....stamps are all Wendy's.....

Go Be Creative!

Tag Tuesday and a Little Junkin' Detail

..the theme this past week for Tag Tuesday was MEN. Now, keep in mind, if you please, that I did this in about 10 minutes, and it had to serve double duty as my nephew's birthday card. lol This was one of the FEW man/men stamps I had.
I slathered on Vintage Photo crackle paint as a base, inked over with VP distress ink, and stamped the design that resembles the stitching on blue jean pockets repeatedly over the background. Stamped and colored the cowboy, who I shall name Rusty (Hinge, hee hee), and edged the image with Black Soot distress ink. Stamped and cut the Sheriff star out of metal, attached with a star eyelet. Made a fringe out of denim for the top of the tag, attached with the same star eyelet.
Rusty is the Sheriff of an old western town called Pine Needles, Wyoming. His horse is named Wild Honey.

 
And now, the junkin' report.  Went garage sale-in' Saturday morning.  As I explained in my post on Friday, there was a 100 mile stretch of small towns around here that were having garage sales. They've done it about three or four years in a row now, and it keeps getting bigger. A lot of "out of towners" come check it out. I only went to the town nearest me, and one other. That was enough. Here's the stuff I got:

A little iron hanger with leaves that I plan on adding some grungepaper flowers and stuff to, a little wood box that I thought was unique simply because of the slant of it (covered with metal, perhaps?), a bag of vintage trims, some upholstery fabric to die cut, a folding ruler that I plan on cutting for altered projects, a couple of paper measuring tapes, and those two surgical type tools leaning up against the box? I will use those to scoop perfect pearls into mini misters, they'll work PERFECTLY. hee hee They'll also be good for scratching surfaces, picking lunch/supper from betwixt my teeth, etc.

How about these old stamp sets, huh? They're awesome, and a grand total of....$8. Sah-weet!

Some old jewelry, and BINGO! chandelier crystals! Freakin' awesome.

  
Game ON! Old wooden Chinese Checkers board, Parcheesi, Monoply and a Sorry game.  If I had a game room, would be awesome to make huge altered wall hangings out of the games, but since I don't, I'll settle for cutting them up for altered books, and the game pieces for other altered art, jewelry, etc. By the time I had rifled thru things for these items, I was getting tired of, well, rifling. So I called it good and headed home. I was quite pleased with my results for only a couple of hours of "rifling".  Oh, and, sorry Eileen, I didn't find an old globe.
Now....you know.....
Go Be Creative!

My New Fave Color Combo

..well, ok, ONE of my new fave's.
I'm talking about Distress Inks (what else is there, lol?)
Now, honestly, some of the new ones, I wasn't sure I would like. (gasp) Yes, it's true. The ones that came immediately to mind were, Victorian Velvet (reminded me of the old 80's COUNTRY MAUVE, remember that?), Spun Sugar, (not a big pink person) Crushed Olive (too limey) and Pumice Stone (gray? isn't that the same as Weathered Wood? lol). But I'm happy to report, I have reversed my opinion on several of the above, after I tried blending on some tags.

Trust me, it looks better in person.  Better yet, after I'm done explaining what I did, you try it and you'll see what I mean.  No, I mean it. Just do it. I'm not trying to be bossy. rofl It'll take you, like, 5 minutes, stop your whining.
I covered the entire tag with Pumice Stone. Dried. (IMPORTANT-DRY IT)
Blended Frayed Burlap over part of the tag. 
Blended Victorian Velvet over part of the tag.
Sprayed with Sunflower Sparkle Perfect Pearls/water only mix.
GORGEOUS! Love the little sparkle added with the perfect pearls.
I did three tags, and they are all a little different paper wise, so the end result was just a little different on each:

This one is blurry, darn it:

Hence the side view above. The two on the ends were tags I just cut from manila folders, one was a cheap version, the one on the right was the older, heavier manila folder. The one in the middle is a regular shipping tag.
Any who, I like it! Just wanted to share my experience. Make sure you do dry the Pumice Stone base layer first, before blending on the Frayed Burlap and Victorian Velvet, I'm just sayin'.  Now, to work on the Crushed Olive and Spun Sugar.....
Hope you have a great weekend, this weekend some of our local towns are banding together and having 100 miles of garage sales along Route 34, from Sandwich to Galesburg, Illinois. A junker's dream come true. I'll be your roving junk reporter, and will have a fully detailed report for you on Monday. Maybe I should wear a video camera on my head, to give you full, unabashed detail. rofl. Now....
Go Be Creative!

From a Twinch to an Inch

...huh?
My new blog/pretend/imaginary friend, Jana, is hosting an inchie swap on her blog called Bits of Me, but when you look at the URL, it's  I Can't Wanna. If she started another blog, she could call it Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda. I crack myself up.
It's a four for four swap. Not 444, FOUR for FOUR.
I started simple, but as usual, got involved and lost track of time. I had made a few inchies before, but none for a swap or anything. I just couldn't see myself trying to decorate a 1 x 1 inch square and having it look half way decent. Once I got started, however, I was on a roll.
Here are my first ones just using stamping (Inkadinkadoo inchie stamps, perfect!), enamel accents, and a little bling on the one:

I was really dredging the corners of my mind for tiny little things I could put on an inch. Then I remembered the Grungeboard Elements pack. When I first looked at the little grunge pieces, I thought, what in the world am I going to use these little things for? lol
Now I know.
So, here's four I came up with:

Look at those itsy, bitsy hinges, aren't they CUTE?!  I filled the little holes with enamel accents on the one on the right and glitter on the one on the left. And the little mini butterfly, all inked and stickled, CUTE!  The "FLY" is the Tiny Type stickers from Cosmo Cricket. Love them. Nice and ...ah...tiny. And how about that one inch fragment? Those are Maya Road rub ons on top of the fragment, by the way. The hardest part was trying to write my name on the back of these, lol.  I like the way they came out, kind of addicting little critters once you get started. 
Go Be Creative!

Compendium of Curiousities Challenge

Factoids:

1) Tim Holtz just released his book, Compendium of Curiousities, earlier this year
2) Linda, is hosting a challenge each week, on Monday's, using a technique from Tim's book
3) There are some awesome sponsors that are hosting giveaways periodically
4) Challenge #1 was posted today - water stamping
5) I think it's gonna be a lot of fun, and everyone should do it
6) I like Reese's
7) Here's my entry:

My friend, Eileen, had a great idea. She always does. She is going to compile her completed techniques into an art journal/book.  Splendiforous, I thought. My take on it is this: I'm going to cut some white mat board with Tim's On the Edge dies, and do my techniques on that, then compile them into a mini book, probably with just book rings. I don't have one of those nifty Zutter's or the new Cinch, but, I do have a Crop a Dile Big Bite that can punch two different sized holes, Oooooooo, I know you're impressed. lol No, I didn't get the hole punches that go with Tim's dies.


For this I used Tim's Fairytale Frenzy stamp set. Distress Inks - Bundled Sage, Forest Moss, Broken China, Chipped Sapphire. I'm going to keep it simple, just the technique and some stamping. I might embellish later, but, I think just trying the techniques right now is good enough. So, if you have the book, why don't you play along? Can't wait to see what others create....now...
Go Be Creative! 

WINNER!!! and another WINNER!!!

..you guys ROCK!  Thanks for all the wonderful comments on my 100 follower giveaway, and thanks to those who joined as followers, it really does mean a lot. Had I not gotten any or few comments when I started this journey, I probably would have given up on it by now... so...thank you!  
Without further ado, since I received so many lovely comments, I used the random generator to pick TWO winners, and after deleting some comments that were doubled up, one weird one in a foreign language from someone who apparently walks on the dark side (that's ok, I'll sick Rocky on him/her), winner number one is:

Glynnis said...

Hi Lori, well I thinbk I've worked it out! What a great offer and thanks for the opportunity to be in the draw. I love your blog also--just my colours!!

Glynnis

And the second winner is:

Anonymous said...

You always have the coolest show and tell in blog-land. I can't wait to be a winner of your luscious give-aways. You never cease to amaze me.

Vicki B. in OP NY 

Congratulations Ladies! Click on Rocky on the sidebar to email me your address!

I also wanted to share some of the comments that were pretty funny, from some of my regular commenters.

Since I made the reference to pets making comments, I did get a lot of Fido/Fluffy comments, which I found really amusing:

Linda said...
Thank YOU Lori for the always fun blog! And for the encouragement/comments you leave on others' blogs including mine... it is greatly appreciated. Thank you for the opportunity to win some awesome prizes! See ya in less than 4 months.

As soon as I get home, I will have Max leave a comment for you too (he needs help with the keyboard - his paws are a little too big to type will.lol)

Linda

Lillian Child said...
My cat, Boink, told me to "paws" for a moment and leave a comment for you! I've had you on my "favorites" list for a while now, but just signed up as a daily follower. Thanks for the chance to win some awesome products (Boink thanks you too)!

daffy said...
HI
I love your blog so much fun things to see and try .
I really like the cd cases sooo pretty .
I also added myself as a follower . im not sure but i think this is my first time to your blog.
signing of as
Fluffy, err ah I mean Carolyn
LOL

Alexandra said...
Hi Lori, you always make me laugh, Well done on having so many followers. I like to peek in to see what you've been up to, errr...that sounds bad, I should have said, to see what you've been creating.... yup! I think that sounds better, lol.
What a load of lovely stuff you're giving away, not to mention all the lovely ideas you share too, thanks

hugs
Fluffy
I mean,
Alexandra lol.

Then there are these, just plain funny people leaving funny comments, right up my alley, you know what they say, birds of a feather flock together, don't know if it says much about their choice of who to follow, rofl:

Helen said...

You are such a nutcase, Lori. You have to be a little nuts to do this Helen, don't you? Please include me for your fab giveaway, your blog always (just had a typing mistake there, typed bog (which is English slang for the toilet/w.c/ladies/restroom depending on your preference; I know how you like your English slang)- where was I? Oh yes, your BLOG always makes me laugh! Even when I'm in the office and meant to be working..... better go! my verification is "undid"... I'm not undoing anything. Going now, really I am!!

connie said...

love love your blog and all of your work!! I wanna be like you when I grow up ;o) Seriously, you may want to rethink that.....

paperqueen said...

OK everyone, not to brag or anything (I'd NEVER!), but I do remember sitting in a hotel dining room last October,the day we were leaving on the Tim Holtz/Wendy Vecchi cruise, having breakfast with Lori (who I had just met), and encouraging her to start a blog. I think my exact words were, "if I can do it, anyone can. Hell, Lori, a monkey can follow the blogger directions." I'm not sure what I was telling her about my abilities there, but I am so glad that Lori took the plunge, as her blog is now one of my favorites, and one I try to get to every day.

Congrats on your 100 followers....there really should be a lot more. Get with it, people! All you have to do is press the "follow" button. Hell, even a monkey.......

I'm shutting up now.

Eileen (what a crack up, I remember that day as well. I walked in, after a somewhat sleepless night, and I looked over, and thought to myself, isn't that that Eileen chick from the All Things Tim Group? (I had clicked on her blog a couple of times prior to this, so I remembered her blog pic, in which she was holding a drink, lol, she got some ribbing about that on the cruise) The rest is history....

Electra said...

Lori, you know how kind, sweet, compassionate and wonderful I am. You know that I have taken in over 459 orphaned and disabled house pets, IN SPITE of the fact the the federal government WILL NOT PAY for the glasses so that blind dogs can drive, or a colostomy bag for guinea pigs who have eaten too many smarties..No, they won't!

Having said that, I do know where you live and I have a Martha Stewart Butterfly punch and I KNOW HOW TO USE IT! Are we clear?

Oh, and congratulations, you are loved by many for good reason. Met Electra through her blog and entry on the One World One Heart event, her humor got me hooked from the first post I read...

Hels Sheridan said...(anyone that knows Hels through her blog knows she is side splitingly funny)

Now then Lori, cos you are so special I have composed a little song for you....here goes...

Oh, Lori

You bring the spring, the summer, fall

Ooo and winter

By the season

Oh, Lori (oh, Lori)

**wonders if anyone will notice that it is actually the song by the Alessi Brothers...**

That, BTW, as soon as I come to see you on your Blog, I start singing, over and over and over...

Anyways...I am thinking that cos I made you a song *ahem* that I might be the winner ROFL

*well, if you don't ask, you don't get!*

Thanks for the chance, tis fabbylicious candy hun... loving your other art here too... hugs x

And that's just a random sampling....thanks everyone, and here's to ya! (I'm raising my Reese's in my right hand, Diet Coke in the other...)

100 FOLLOWER GIVE AWAY!!!

For current posts, scroll down, cause I'm keepin' this one at the top until June 14.

Can you hear the trumpets??? Angelic chorus?? Actually, I was going to put the sound of a police siren on this post somehow, but didn't have the energy to figure out how to do it...
Never woulda thought that so many people would read the drivel I spew forth for the whole world to read.
Never.
I am shocked and pleased all at the same time.  rofl  That being said, here's what I'll send one lucky follower/commenter that leaves a comment on THIS post, to be chosen randomly on Monday, June 14th, and I better add the year 2010 (just in case, lol). And yes, I'll ship internationally.

  
Here's what I have in the pile so far:
Ranger Cut N Dry Felt (great for making your own custom ink pad)
Heidi Swapp stamp "together"
Maya Road Chipboard Tree (5-6 pages, hey, if you don't like the tree thing, run it thru the die cut machine, it's great chip!)
Maya Road Gear Calendar 
Maya Road Microchip Buttons
Mustard Seed reinker
Espresso Paint Dabber
Some of my painted paper and crayon background paper
Some lace from one of my infamous garage sale finds, I would say there has to be at least two yards there.
Not in this picture, but I just bought a new Distress Ink pad-Old Paper and Adirondack Pigment Ink Pad-Denim, that I'll throw in.
Let's see, if I get over 50 comments (one per person, please) I might throw some other stuff in, so tell your friends, family, pets (how would I know?although if it's signed FIDO or FLUFFY, I would be a little suspicious), enemies, whatever, and start leaving comments! And I'd be pleased as punch to get more followers, that would probably deserve more stuff, so get crack-a-lackin'! If you don't have a blog or an email link on your profile, please be sure to put a way to contact you in the comment, ok? For the most part, I know where a lot of you live... scary. For you, I mean.
And thanks to all of you who regularly leave comments, they are greatly appreciated, even the one worders. Seriously, they are! I'm truly grateful for all the new friends I have made thru this blog, the sharing, the talent, it's all good! Thank you!
Now, go be creative!

Sunday Stampers Challenge Week 107

....aaannnndddd the theme this week, NUMBERS. Oh, and before I forget, there is some blog candy involved this week, so....you might wanna check it out. You can view the deets HERE. Hel's birthday was Sunday also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY HELS!!!  She hit the big "4-0".  Don't worry Hel's, you're only as old as you feel.  I won't comment any further than that....lol.

You might have to look at the background hard to see the numbers, but they're there. I used one of Wendy's number stamps:

I embossed the stamped image, which was stamped several times on a piece of black chipboard cut with Timinator's die,  with clear embossing powder, then swiped Pool paint dabber over it, and with a damp rag, wiped the paint off the embossing. Grungeboard and grungepaper for the hearts and flourish, and also to back the metal wings and crown.  The metal was run thru embossing folders, both Tim's texture fades (wings) and the crown was a Cuttlebug folder. Then sponged black acrylic paint over them and wiped off the excess.  The heart was covered with Cranberry pigment ink, sanded, then inked with distress ink. I used a regular stapler to attach the wings and crown to the heart. The flourish was painted with Pool, I thought it was too bright, so I sanded it and swiped black paint over it. Then I thought it was too dark, so I swiped Silver paint dabber over it.  I decided it had enough paint at that point.  The sentiment was stamped with Staz On Black on a piece of metal, and mounted on chipboard and framed with black chipboard. Added some bling, and some of the new Maya Road hanging chandelier pieces to the bottom, which you can't see very well against the text paper. I used the black Enamel Accents quite liberally, as you can see.  And there's some Silver paint dabber round the edges of pretty much everything. I think it looks better in real life.
I also played around with the Tattered Florals die, and some garage sale material (I scored big yesterday, fabric remnants, $.50) :

Need to find some cool buttons in my stash to put in the centers. Otherwise, I thought the color selection turned out ok. Used some upholstery fabric in there to give it some bulk and more texture. Guess that's it for today, hope you all had a great weekend! Don't forget to stay tuned tomorrow for the winners of the giveaway!
Go be creative!

It's a Dog's Life...

No art today, but I do have a story for you.

It's kinda long, but if you can picture it in your mind, very funny. Best part, completely true. So, grab a beverage, possibly a snack to fortify you and read on.....

Let me start by giving you some background factoids, for those new to my blog:

Dewbird and I have a black Lab, approximately 75-80 lbs, (sometimes feels close to 100 lbs, we're not sure because he won't stand still on the scale at the vet's...too much people food) named Rocky. According to the vet, he’s about 2 ½ yrs old, not sure, as we got him from the local animal control, who found him alongside the road, dumped by some moron.

We live in the middle of nowhere in north central Illinois. Lots of flat farm ground around us.

We walk Rocky in the morning and after we get home from work. We use a walking harness on him, and a retractable 26 foot leash. We have to walk him with the leash, otherwise he would take off along the creek/field/woods near us, chasing deer scent, among other things. We walk him a lot (EVERY DAY, TWICE A DAY) because, as those with labs know, they have a lot of energy until they hit about 3-4 years old.

On with the story.

We were walking him the other night, oh, about 4:30 p.m. Per usual, we walk on the road, and Rocky takes advantage of the 26 foot leash and walks along the ditch edge in the cornfield. He usually has his nose to the ground, and stops and digs if he smells a mouse or some other rodent. Sometimes I don’t think he has a reason to start digging, other than to get us cheesed and exasperated.

Suddenly, Rocky stops short and starts barking. We can’t see anything.

Then, all of a sudden, we see the snake. It was about 3-4 feet long, light tan with brown spots on it. Had never seen one like it before. Of course, Rocky is barking his fool head off, dancing around the snake, who strikes out occasionally, being somewhat PO'd at having his territory invaded. Now, Rocky isn’t the most brave dog in the world. He backs up of course when the snake strikes out, still barking, just dances around to a different spot. At this point, there is a lot of shouting, barking, expletives, sidestepping (i.e. dancing), etc. I’m the one holding onto the leash, or trying to. I’m trying to pull Rocky away, using the leash, but I’m telling you right now, there is nothing that will stop a 75 pound dog when it has something else on it’s mind.

Dewbird shouts, “Give me the leash!”

“Fine, here!”

Dewbird grabs the leash.

After months of walking on the leash, Rocky has figured out how to extract himself from the harness, once someone is pulling on the other end. It’s kind of like watching a little kid when you’re taking off their t-shirt. He just stretches out his front legs, puts his head down and backs up while the human on the other end pulls. Bam, he’s free! 

And I shout “Quit pulling on the leash, he’ll get out of the harness!”

Too late.

He’s free, and still barking and dancing around the dang snake. Now, we have to try and grab a loose dog as well as getting him away from the snake, which means we need to get closer to the snake, not knowing what kind of snake it is.

All sorts of things run thru your mind.

Is it poisonous?

Will it hurt if it bites me?

What’s it going to feel like to die from a snake bite?

Should I just run and leave the other person there to figure it out, using the excuse that I’m going to get help?
Can I grab it with my bare hands and kill it like I've seen on TV?

Why did I say yes to getting another dog?

All this while you’re dancing with the dog in a circular motion around the snake, trying to grab the dog and avoid the snake. Crikey.

Dewbird keeps repeating over and over “that’s the biggest snake I’ve seen this close” or “that’s a really big snake”. Yes, I can see that.

I finally am able to grab Rocky by the collar that is still around his neck, fortunately. So then, Dewbird grabs and holds Rocky while I try to put the harness back on. The snake is still about 3-4 feet away, not moving, thankfully. While I’m trying to harness up Rocky, my bum is facing the snake.

Dewbird says “Don’t worry, I’ll let you know if it comes toward you”.

“Thanks, is that before or after it bites me in the a**?” I say.

That being done, Dewbird literally had to pick Rocky up, no easy task, and carry him away just to distract him. At this point everyone involved is panting and sweating profusely. So, we decide to take Rocky to the creek, as he loves the water, and needed to cool off. We leave his leash on, as there is lots of wildlife to chase there, too. So, Rocky is in the water, enjoying the moment, we’re standing on the bank, laughing about the snake incident, when we look in the water and…

”What is that?” Dewbird says. It was white and flat, then it turned, and it was a turtle, which can snap, and was floating right towards Rocky. I’m like, oh crap, hope he doesn’t see that in the water. Thankfully it floats by without incident.
Dewbird says “ Geez, what’s next? Is a black bear going to show up on the other bank or what?” I’m like, “I don’t know, but I’ve had about enough close encounters with nature today, let’s go home”….so we did.

This is a TRUE story. Did I tell you about the run in with the coon at the creek? That’ll be for another day….

Oh, come to find out, via Google, the snake was a Prairie King Snake, common I guess, in the Midwest, but not venomous. You can Google it and see what we saw……

Tag Tuesday

Alrighty then, the theme this week - these are a few of your favorite things. Use your favorite products, ones you use all the time, a tag that represents things you like, etc. You can see the other wonderful entries HERE.
This leaves the door WIDE open for me. I like to use so many products, that it was hard to choose just a couple. lol. Ooo, guess I coulda stuck a Reese's on there, too!
I was able to narrow it down to a few things:
Graphic 45 paper
Studio 490 stamps (Wendy)
Distress Inks
Grungepaper
Reese's
Here's my entry:

And here is yet another example of my poor photography skills. I took this outside, leaning up against the house, which is light gray. Colors aren't as intense. Crap. You know, it's hard to see what the picture looks like on a screen that is 2 x 2 inches. 
On the top half, I used the embossed layer resist technique. The Harlequin stamp I used is Tim's. Then I just left the bottom half plain, using distress ink to darken the edges. The flower, stem and leaves are grungepaper, the flower is Wild Honey, Rusty Hinge and Spiced Marmalade. Stem and leaves are Peeled Paint.
Some lace, other trim, and Enamel Accent dots.  
Now, here's your tip 'o the day. The Make Art is on grunge board. On one of the sets of grungeboard letters, the inside of the "O" is a perfect little oval, just right for my sentiment. So, don't be throwin' the insides of the "O's" out, I'm just sayin'. They're stamped, inked and covered with Rock Candy Crackle paint, hence the slight sheen in the poor picture. lol

Ok, now on to a little plug for the Everything Wendy Vecchi Yahoo group. No, this is not a paid advertisement. My friend Susan is hosting a tag swap on the group, a collaborative tag swap, which means you make 12 tags, send them to Susan, and get 11 back (one set is going to Wendy), which you then can mount on a background, and a diagram is provided for the layout. This idea was taken from the Collaborative Chaos tag project that Tim Holtz and Jennifer McGuire did for one of their classes. It's posted on Tim's March 30 blog post HERE, scroll down in the post. Jennifer also posted it, but I'm not sure which post it was. The All Things Tim Yahoo group just finished up one, it turned out really cool. So, Susan thought it would be cool to do with Wendy's stamps. I agreed wholeheartedly. If you're interested, you can join the group and sign up. Just click the picture on my right sidebar. Yes, we welcome international swappers.
Guess that's all the drivel I have to spew forth today. Although if you give me a minute... kidding. Go Be Creative!

Sunday Stamper Challenge

Theme this week - LETTERS.  You can check out Hel's big, honkin' "H" she made HERE, it's awesome!
Well, I definitely knew what background stamp I wanted to use, one of Wendy's that... is.... wait for it... all letters.Then I thought to myself, Self, let's do something without a flower for a change. Ok, very hard to do, but I'll give it a go. Nothing like challenging yourself on a challenge. lol. Here's my slightly out of the box piece, (for me anyways):

The eyeballs are Wendy's, too. Well, not really HER eyeballs, but from her, what I like to call, "the eyeball stamp set".  I believe the correct name is, "An Eye For Art". 
Here's the skinny: (I wish!)
Base - Timinator die, white matboard, inked with Crushed Olive and Forest Moss. And I have to insert here that I was not real fond of the Crushed Olive color originally, but with the Forest Moss, I like it. You can barely see the aforementioned background stamp, it was stamped with Forest Moss, but it's there. I stamped Timinator's Fab Flourish over it in Archival Black.
The "LOOK" is grungeboard, inked and sprayed with Perfect Pearls mix. I stamped the eyeballs on manilla folder scrap, glued on the "O's" and cut round the "O's". The eyeballs were colored with Stormy Sky and my handy dandy water brush.
Fleur De Lis is a Sizzix die, Peeled Paint crackle paint, rubbed with Espresso Paint Dabber and stickled with Walnut Stain Distress Stickles.
There's some Brushed Corduroy ink (brown) involved in several areas.
Enamel Accents round the one eyeball stamp (frame) and on the Fleur De Lis. Love them.
Coupla Dew Drops on the frame, too. Sssseeeewwww....there you go. A piece using letters and no flowers, although I was sorely tempted to put one in the lower right corner. Now, that's restraint! Wish I could say the same for chocolate or ice cream. lol.
Go Be Creative! 

Twinchified

Finally had a moment last night to finish up the 6 Twinchies for the swap on the Everything Wendy Vecchi Yahoo! group, that, ah, I'm hosting. One of the advantages of being the hostess, well, there's a couple really, are:
1) You can put it off till the last moment
and 
2) You get to see all the great art people make in person
and
3) Since you are the host/hostess, choosing what you get first is really cool. rofl.

Here we go:

I know, I've been on a Bingo kick lately. Oh look, is she actually using old text paper as a background for the photography? Holy cow.
Components:
Base-white chipboard
Grungepaper used for flowers and stems
Bingo background stamp and all other stamps- Wendy's (Studio 490, Stampers Anonymous)
Tim's film strip ribbon and, remember those Distressable Doo Dad sheets he had a couple of years ago? Do they still make those? I don't see them around much. Any who, I used the little Bingo cards and markers from those, mounted on grungeboard.
Heidi Swapp black bling
Sakura black glaze pen
Used Denim and Juniper pigment inks and Sunflower Sparkle Perfect Pearls as the background, then overstamped with the Bingo background in Denim pigment ink. Film strip ribbon frames the Bingo stamp quite nicely. lol 
I just couldn't break the Wendy flower habit I have. Sorry.
And, over the weekend, I received my wonderful giveaway from Helene, who does the most awesomest 12 x 12 layouts, EVER. I can't believe I won. So cool! Thanks, Helene! And how awesome is it that it included my most fave chip ever?

The ribbon is really cool, love the color. Alrighty then, don't forget about the giveaway, it's HERE if you haven't left a comment yet, please do so!
Go be creative! Toodles! (I've always wanted to say that.)

Tag Tuesday on a Friday

..some weeks you have that. The theme this week...MUSIC. My all time fave subject. You can check out the other entries HERE.

Here's my submission:

Mostly paper on this one, a little distress ink, that's it! The base, the dragonfly stamp and dragonfly, the heading, the "con molta espressione" and the cherry branch are all from Graphic 45, Bontanicabella line. One sheet of the Dragonfly Duet paper. The black background is from Mary Green's online class, Vintage Glue Book.  The image of the woman holding sheet music is from The Graphics Fairy. I cut two dragonflies out of the G45 paper, to make it dimensional.  I kinda like how this one turned out, I think I'll put it in my "fave" pile. Oh wait, I don't have a fave pile, everything is piled together. lol

CD Cases, They're Not Just for Music Anymore

..I finished the CD case I was working on to go with the altered CD I had made for the entry in Tim's challenge.  Since I used the Bingo paper from the Lost and Found stack on the CD, I decided to stick with the number thing.  I'm also going to enter this into Hel's Sunday Stamper challenge, the theme this week is WINGS. I thought flying numbers would be a nice fit. And here we go:
 Front cover: salvage stickers mounted on grungeboard, then stuck some of the Doo Dads on top

Inside front cover

Back cover

I might have overdone the collaging  part, hope you don't get dizzy looking at it. rofl I used grungeboard numbers and wings, ran thru the NEW texture fades, inked within an inch of their life and glued on.  On the front cover, I put a fragment over the FREE part of the Bingo stamp.
And, thanks to the wonderful Linda Cain, I now have 100 followers! Can you believe it? So stay tuned, there's a giveaway comin'!

Random Bloviating

..do you ever get tired of trying to think of creative titles for your posts? I do. Sometimes I just can't think of anything really original, so I stick with the boring obvious. I do however, like the word bloviate. It's pronounced blow-v-ate. It means, according to an online dictionary:  1857, Amer.Eng., a Midwestern word for "to talk aimlessly and boastingly;
I found it rather interesting that they put the "Midwestern" in there. Go figure.
I talk aimlessly, but I hope it's not boastingly......too much. lol
Ok, I received the mini banners from the EWV group swap, and I must say, they are REALLY cool.

Everyone did a bang up job on these, I'm so happy I entered the swap!
And, I completed some more glue book pages:

Ok, so if you don't put any spaces in between your pics in blogger (or basically just don't touch anything, just keep adding images), you can put them next to one another. Did not know that until this very moment. lol. My glue book pages kinda pale in comparison to some I've seen from the class, but, I'll give myself the ole "beginner handicap". lol
Other news in "The World According to Lori":

One of my blog buddies, Linda, is hosting a challenge based on Tim's book, "Compendium of Curiousities". Linda is a very creative, funny (and I do mean FUNNY) person, and I can't wait to see how this challenge progresses. If you love the Timinator and all the creative goodness he oozes, you might wanna check it out.

You may be tired of hearing this, but I've got strawberries coming out the wazoo.  I'm grateful for them, don't get me wrong, but it's a lot of work.  My Mother has been kind enough to come help me pick and clean them, I'm oh, so thankful for that. I feel like Forest Gump: strawberry pie, strawberry jam, strawberry shortcake, strawberry bread, strawberry jelly, strawberries..... Dewbird says he swears he saw me making the stemming motion in my sleep....

I see that the workshops for CHA in Chicago are open for registration as of today..anyone in the area going? Saw some I might be interested in. I gave up on the CREATE retreat, it was way too expensive. 


Guess that's it for now, Oh, wait a minute, I did have something else to say bloviate about. I see, according to the list of followers on the right sidebar that I only need one more follower to hit 100. I can't believe it!  So, as the blog world goes, it's time for a giveaway once I hit 100 followers! I'll think of sumpin' good, don't worry. And I'll try not to make it something from one of my garage sale finds, unless you're into that sort of thing! lol 
Go Be Creative!