here's how I got started...

here's how I got started...
a 20 minute podcast by Crazy BeYOUtiful

Friday, September 27, 2013

celebrating STAMPTEMBER...


Simon Says Stamp was founded in 2002 with an interest in exclusively selling rubber stamps. It didn’t take long until we realized we couldn’t stop there. During the past 11 years we celebrate rubber stamping in its full glory by giving access to people around the world to a one stop shop. Rubber stamps still remain the heart of our business and we are celebrating by hosting STAMPtember® event intended to inspire, educate, and celebrate the greatness of rubber stamping. Part of the enticement of rubber stamping is that stamps can be used in creating or complementing ANYTHING! From stamping dates on bank documents and postage parcels in the early 18th century, rubber stamping has dramatically expanded to include card making, scrapbooking, mixed media, life documenting, art journaling, and many forms of altering and expressing art.



it's my pleasure to be participating in the STAMPTEMBER celebration over at SIMON SAYS today...

here's a tiny peek at the project I created...





you'll find all the step by step details over on their blog...

and...NEWS FLASH...it's a SALE!!!

wstudi

is the CODE to get 20% off all studio 490 products...
from 9/27/13 through and until 11:59pm EST 9/30/13.

here's a list of the supplies I used to create this piece...

art parts flowers leaves & hand

clearly for art

create a flower stencil

vintage mesh & ornate dots background stamps

orange blossom, fern green, cornflower blue archival inks

Glue N Seal

vol 3 stamp

ART stamp

hand stamp

screw eye

wild honey, broken china, peeled paint, rusty hinge distress inks

wild honey, peeled paint, scattered straw & broken china stains

broken china & scattered straw distress markers

detail water brush

I hope you'll pop over to Simon Says to see the whole piece...
and scroll thru the daily posts. I bet you'll be inspired to...

make art!
wendy






Wednesday, September 18, 2013

eclectic Paperie blog hop...

congrats to Kim at eclectic Paperie on her first birthday!
she doesn't look a day over...9 months!

here's a message from Kim...

ohhh...there are PRIZES involved!
PAY ATTENTION my friends!

Welcome to eclectic Paperie's Belated Birthday Bash!  Today we're celebrating the (belated) one year anniversary of the store's new ownership! It's been an amazing year, full of inspiring projects, wonderful classes, and many, many new products!!  eclectic Paperie wouldn't be where it is today without the ongoing support of our customers and as a BIG thank you you'll have an opportunity to lots of great prizes!  

now...back to me...


I showed the start of this tag on the previous post...
so here's a quick recap...

I used the blending tool to create my background with the distress paints...
the more I use the distress paints, the more I LOVE them...
yes...

all CAPS...

LOVE 

THEM!


when the paints were dry, I inked over the tag with rusty hinge on the blending tool, then misted water thru my polka dotty stencil to create another layer in the background...

the water lifts only the distress ink (since distress reacts with water) and does not affect the distress paints, since they are waterproof when dry...

next, I used antique linen distress paint to stencil the dots from the dots/stripes border stencil on the left side of the tag...

once the dots were dry, I used fern green archival to stamp the flourishes. there's one large flourish stamped & 3 small flourish stampings...
make sure to dry the archival, since it's used over the paint...

I used the same dots/stripes stencil to add borders at the top & bottom of the tag, with orange blossom archival...again...make sure to dry...

I LOVE how it pops!

and now the tag looks like this...
 oops...forgot to say at the beginning that I cut this tag to 5 1/2 inches tall...


I always say that stamps are versatile, but guess what?
stencils really are too...

they don't always need to be stenciled flat in the background...
and you don't always have to use them with embossing paste either...

here's how to use stencils to create sturdy dimensional embellishments, that you can customize with any color your project requires...

paint a thin layer of Glue N Seal onto one side of Clearly For Art, then cover with a vintage dictionary page, brayer & dry...

you can apply the inks with a blending tool or you can use Cut N Dry foam...

I used the smaller stencil flower for this tag, but either will work just fine, depending on the size of your base...

make sure to stencil on the paper side...
NOT the plastic side...






cut out the stenciled flowers...
the red is the full flower...
for the orange layer, I cut off the outside petals to make a smaller flower layer...

I'm loving the red geranium/orange blossom combo...

I also die cut 2 of the smallest flowers from the tattered florals die, using scraps of the CFA that was covered with the same paper...

I used red geranium with my reverse dots background to stamp over the 2 small flowers...

once the archivals were dry, I inked over all 4 flowers with scattered straw on a blending tool, to tone down the stark white dictionary paper...

I heated the flowers to soften the Clearly For Art, then shaped them...

***REMEMBER***...CFA can be reheated & reshaped many times...
so, if you're not happy with the flower, just blast it again with the heat-it tool & shape it again...

then inked over with scattered straw...

the New York stamp has great graphics & it's fun to use just portions of the stamp this way...


and here's the finished tag...

I like that the flower looks like a paper flower & it IS!
but...with the Clearly For Art under the paper it is very strong & sturdy...

2 gold berry centers from Blossom Bucket create the flower centers...

a little pen stitching & glaze pen dots on the borders...
DONE!

I LOVE the fall-ish colors with the pop of red geranium!

red geranium will be AWESOME for all holidays...
just you wait & see...





now back to Kim...and the prize info...

eclectic Paperie will be giving away the following prizes!  You have until midnight tomorrow (9/20) to comment.

 A full set of Tim's NEW Distress Paints
6x6 Paper Pad Bundle
Dylusions Stencil Bundle
A set of NEW Wendy Vecchi Archival Inks (yippee)
Crafter's Workshop Stencil Bundle

 To be entered into the prize drawing, please be sure to comment on the eclectic Paperie blog and on each of the eTeam blogs.  Check out all of the thumbnail links below to view the rest of the eTeam projects!  Enjoy the hop!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial & that you'll get out your supplies and...

make art!
wendy
ps... happy hopping!










Monday, September 16, 2013

and the 6 winners are...

WOW WOW WOW!!!

thanks so very much EVERYONE for all the blog comments, FACEBOOK comments,  new FACEBOOK LIKES & shares...
we both had a blast reading the comments...

for as many stamps as I have, it's still a major thrill for me to get new stamps...I hope the winners feel the same!
like I seriously stalk the UPS guy, when I get the shipping confirmation...

without further chit chat...
here are the 6 LUCKY winners, chosen by Rick...

from my FACEBOOK page...

#1...Elves In The Attic Wendy, Seattle is calling. Come here to do a class!


#2...Pamela Thompson These are spectacular! I have all of your ink pads and just love them, every bit as good as I hoped!


#3...Trent Miller This is way cool and think that new inks I just bought of yours would go great with these stamp sets


and from the blog comments...

#1...Blogger Julie Steed said...

The paint over the EP really does look great. I NEED to pick up some of the clear EP!
September 14, 2013 at 10:15 AM
 Delete




#2...Blogger Eileen said...

Thank you so much for the chance to own such fabulous goodies ... Eileen xx
September 13, 2013 at 10:12 AM
 Delete



#3...Blogger barbarayaya62 said...

Wendy i love all your stamps, stencil embossing paste archival ink...... all!!!!!!!!!!! Thamks for a chance to win! BARbarayaya
September 13, 2013 at 9:50 AM
 Delete


please email me with your shipping info so they can be on their way to you...
enjoy them...an UNINKED stamp is an UNLOVED stamp!

I'll be back on Thursday and I'll be participating in a blog hop...

so far I have this much done...


I inked over the dry paints with rusty hinge, then misted with water using the polka dotty stencil...that's the subtle dots you see in the background...

then I stenciled some polka dots with antique linen distress paint onto the left side...

not sure where this is going...but so far I'm liking the multiple layers in the background & the fall-ish colors too...
guess we'll see on Thursday!




now I'm off to make (blog hop) art...
wendy
ps...I have MORE stamp sets to share...
stay tuned! we'll do this GIVEAWAY stuff again for sure!

Friday, September 13, 2013

it's a GIVEAWAY times 6!

good morning and happy weekend...

let's get this weekend started with a GIVEAWAY...

or 2...

or 3...

or 4...

or 5...

no...let's make it 6!

I have 3 stamp sets to giveaway here on my blog...


and another 3 to giveaway 
on my FACEBOOK PAGE...



more on the giveaways in a few...

since I don't have any new art to share today...
I thought I would share a sneak from my "mixed media tag art journal"... this is one of the techniques we have fun with, using the awesome distress paints...over my translucent embossing paste...

they are really AWESOME...beautiful fall colors!

see the art parts wings?

now they look like a plant/leaves to me...
things don't always have to be used the original way...

the polka dot leaves are stamped with my new reverse dots background stamp, using fern green archival...
and they are stamped on clearly for art, that I covered with Claudine's sticky back canvas...

we alter the yellow Blossom Bucket flower with distress paint too...

tim's new industrious stickers are my most favorite product from this past CHA...so alterable...so much fun...

so if you have signed up for this class at The Queen's Ink in Savage Md, (next weekend) or for this class at The Scrapbooking Studio in Bloomington, Illinois...(October 19)...

you'll make this and a whole lot more...

I taught this technique loaded class last weekend at Everything Scrapbooks & Stamps & we had a really fun day...




ok...the giveaway scoop...

leave a comment on this blog post for your entry ticket...

and leave a comment on my FACEBOOK page for your second chance to win one of 6 sets!

and while you're there...if click the LIKE button, you'll see my posts on your feed...and you'll make me happy too!

I'll be back on Monday, after Rick has chosen the 6 lucky winners...

until then, enjoy your weekend and remember to take some time for yourself to...

make art!
wendy
ps...GO BEARS!

Thursday, September 5, 2013

painted paste & parts...

make that painted translucent embossing paste & art parts...

this is long, you might want to get comfy...

I'll show you how I made this...



cut a #8 manila tag to 5 1/2 inches, then spread translucent embossing paste over the tag, with a palette knife...
do not cover the whole tag...I like to leave some of the sides un-pasted...is that a word?

while the paste is wet, mist the script background (from set LCS038 live & make art) with water & press the unmounted stamp into the wet paste...
set the tag aside to dry & clean the stamp before the paste dries...
an old toothbrush is a handy cleaning tool...


wow...that was quick...
the tag is already dry...
the magic of the internet...

you'll see in the photo below that the paste has now magically changed to clear...


I chose these distress paint colors...

remember...always shake the paints before using...

you'll see that my foam is dirty...
I've been using this guy for a while with paints...it's cool that the paints do not dry crunchy, so I'll just keep using this one...

I used the same foam for this whole tag...
when you use small amounts of the distress paint, the foam dries quickly...
I usually tap in onto a paper towel just to make sure most of the paint is gone...

plan B...you could use one foam for each color, then rinse them out, dry & use later...


dispense a small amount of salty ocean onto the craft sheet & pick up with the blending tool...
tap, twist & turn the blending tool over the dry paste in 3 areas...


the tag looks like this...
then do the same thing with wild honey...


now we have this...
dry...


next use rusty hinge & dry...


getting better...
can you see how different the paint looks over the paste & over the un-pasted tag areas?


and finally add peeled paint & dry...


use cornflower blue archival with the normandy lace unmounted stamp & press a section of the stamp onto 3 areas of the background & dry...
this stamp with tiny text is a great background filler...
I LOVE it for art journal pages...


the more layers, the better it looks...



 use watering can archival (on a blending tool) to stencil striped borders...
dry...

use the honeycomb stencil with fern green archival  (on a blending tool) to add the honeycomb in 3 areas & dry...


it still needed more in the background, so I used the same stamp as before, but this time with watering can archival...
you'll see the stamping I added in the lower left corner, top left & a bit on the right side about the middle...


one more layer...
dispense a small amount of broken china paint onto the craft sheet, pick up with detail water brush & tap over the tag to create tiny paint dots...

flood the brush with water to clean/remove the paint...




paint the art parts flower with a small amount of rusty hinge paint, spreading the paint with your finger & dry...
this creates a chalky effect...

use orange blossom archival with the ornate dots background & stamp over the flower & dry...



to create the other components...
paint the art parts stem/leaves with peeled paint, dry & use fern green on the New York label to stamp over the stem/leaves...
***a different way to use the label***
*the graphics are really cool*

paint the art parts banner with rusty hinge, and use jet black archival to stamp a portion of this sentiment...add some pen stitching detail...
***fun not to use the whole stamp***

IGNORE the art parts word ART...lol...
in the end it was too light for the background, so I painted right over it with black soot distress paint...
ah...much better!

to create the small orange-ish flower...
use matte Glue N Seal to glue dictionary paper to clearly for art, then stencil the flower using orange blossom archival...

cut out the flower, add the flower center color with the scattered straw distress marker & heat to soften the CFA, then shape...

the mini black star & the flower center are from Blossom Bucket...


trim off one side of the trimmings ruffle...
mist with water...then paint with the broken china paint, dry, then stamp over the trim with watering can archival, using the polka dot border (LCS034 seriously art)...


assemble like this...
add 2 screw eyes to accent the stem & draw some dashes leading to the star...


lots of layers...
lots of dimension in the background...

painted paste & parts is a fun technique...


I think this textured background will be fun on a larger scale...
maybe a mixed media canvas...

and speaking of fun...
YIPPEE...we just had a change in the Stampers Anonymous convention schedule, so I had a free Saturday pop up...

I chatted with Amy over the weekend & we added my new "mixed media tag art journal" class to the schedule for The Scrapbooking Studio in Bloomington, Illinois, on Saturday October 19th.
it's a 9 hour art marathon (1 hour for lunch & SHOPPING) ...and we'll use all of the newest products from this past CHA...plus LOTS of distress inks, paints, stains, markers, embossing pastes, stencils, archivals, Blossom Bucket & so much more, to create this...



I hope to see you there!

that's it...
back to packing for the next stop on my art adventure...

I'm headed to Everything Scrapbooks & Stamps in Lake Worth Florida. we have 2 fun...all day art journal workshops scheduled...

I can not wait to...

make art (in Florida!)!
wendy
ps...I hope you're inspired to try something new...
got any ideas?
talk to us...audience participation is good!