Monday Monday.... what a lovely day of the week...

Today is Monday...  and it is a busy busy day around here... even though it is raining, I am canning up some beans... and threw some blueberries into the freezer...  and made a card... yes ONE card for THREE challenges... usually it is the other way around... but this week is really hectic and I wanted to do something for all three of these challenges... 

Simon Says... I have to say again... THANK YOU all for the lovely honor of  Designer Spotlight...  it is truly a huge honor... and also the Winnings of a $50.00 shopping spree...  WOW... what fun is that...  so Please check out this FUN challenge... and ENTER today...    This week it is Mid Summer Challenge...  with sort of an anything goes type of theme...  for this theme I choose to do summer flowers... one of my favorites...  tiny blue bells... please check out this site and join in on the fun... 

The other challenge is Craft Hoarders Anonymous challenge and they ask that we use up STUFF we have... and get the old things and USE them...  I had to join... I keep on thinking that something miraculous will happen and my studio will become clean...!!!  LOL...  Anyway the theme this week is to EMBOSS...  dry or with a heat gun...  so I did a little of both... I embossed dry... with a tim holtz embossing folder and then I used many different colors of embossing powders all over the paper.. I love the way it turned out...   hope you can see enough of it... I also used little fancy spellbinder pieces on the corners and embossed them too...  so I do have some embossing going on here... I just did the first challenge here yesterday... and everyone seems so very welcoming and happy... I love that...  so here I am again with another piece... as I promised... 

Third.. but not least is the Shabby Tea Room challenge... which I have not done in over two years... I use to have dial up and it was so very difficult to get onto a site... let alone post, and do all that one has to do... so I gave up doing it... and this spring when we finally were able to get high speed... I got on line and started to PLAY... and here I am again...  Hi Debbie...  Okay... the challenge here is to do flowers... and also lace... I have the blue.. but not the pink... hope that the colors are okay... if not, I had fun adding my lace... and will watch to see if the colors have to be the same too... 


Okay... now some of the other things that I have added...  my background paper and the envelope of course I made also... I took Distress inks and put them onto a worksheet and spritz and created the papers... then I took a die cut and made a stencil with the butterfly die cut of tim's... and that is how I got the butterflies...  also used a small group of flowers on the card background... just because I love flowers... 

The center of the oval frame... (which is crackled) I took a piece of one of the green tall plants from the butterfly garden we have on the farm... and brought it home and sprayed it with some Dylusional ink...  I love the results... 

I made all the flowers... and used stamen that I did buy...  in the centers of each flower...  the ribbon is of course seam binding dyed... 

So... that is my card... now I guess you would like to see it...

 

Midnight Bloom 

 

Embossed paper in background and spellbinder fancy corner also embossed 

 

I adore butterflies... and this one I made using Tim Holtz's die cut... cut 100's of them... and painted the all different colors to use... if you want to talk about OCD Karen... we can now talk!!!  LOL..

anyway.. .I generally make the butterflies double... to show them flying FREE... and the underneath one is generally always different...  just the way it is... 

 

Here you can see the difference of the other butterfly...  also the spraying of the tall grasses...  I used sunshine yellow (?) and also a brown... love the effects I got. 

 

Some of the bluebells... 

With a large card like this, I generally try and make a matching envelope... which I did...  paper matches sort of... not the stamping on the butterflies... but colors and butterflies are a match...  

 

 

 

This is what the paper looks like close up... 

 

So that is it... hope you enjoyed this... and thanks for stopping in to see me...  I really love your visits and also love your sweet comments... thanks so very much for both... 

 

Hope you have a wonderful day creating and enjoying... 

Love, Light and Peace...Bonnie 

Framing the Ancestors

This time on Compendium of Curiosities 3 we are creating Painted Industrial ... which I really call Faux Metal... and I happen to LOVE creating it...  wow... you will see some old things that I had done in the past with this GREAT method... as I really love doing it...

For all the details and also all the EYE CANDY... please go to the site  to see it all...  I really think you should grab some toys and join in on the fun...  Tim's books are for sale on the site above... and in other places... but that and join in on the creations every other week...  what fun.  I love doing these challenges, as it keeps me on my toes...  and I love to see what I come up with... and also what everyone else does too... 

Here is mine for this challenge... 

 

So many times a family forgets where they came from... so I am leaving tid bits around so that our kids can understand who people were in their ancestry...  

 

This is a picture of my Husbands Grandparents... I am looking for the book (family blood line book, which I can't seem to find right now???  ) 

They were married around 1890....  yikes... that is a long time ago... 

 

Anyway... they had four children ...

Nellie and Alton McLain 

 

I wanted to do something special for this picture... as it is really such a LOVELY picture for the time it was taken...  her dress is so very pretty...  and I wanted to show that to the fullest... also the room that this was taken in... 

 

The frame is also a shadow box... about an inch deep.. and you will see why in a minute... 

I used the Faux Metal and created a frame and then also using the die cut, three times with chipboard and once with the faux metal...  to make a thick frame...  I guess you have to look very closely to see that... but the oval frame is raised...  and the back piece is against the panel...  The panel is a piece of paper from the Wallflower collection of paper... love that paper... 

 

I create faux metal flowers too...  and used alcohol ink on them... I didn't want a bright color flower... so I used a pearl white and then put mushroom dye on top of that...  I think they look a little vintage... which is what I was tying to create...  since this picture was well over 100 years ago... LOL...   

 

 

I put one on the top too...  smaller flower... these were cut from the Tattered Floral die strip by tim...  I have had that one for a long time... and really just started to use it a lot... love all the different flowers on that strip...  and of course the leaves...

 

So here is a closeup of the frame... 

 

I had to make this picture lighter, so you could see the ribbon and the little locket in the box... 

 

 

 

In here are the names, marriage date, birthdays of the 4 children and it will be kept with this picture... hopefully one day, someone will cherish this as I do.. 

 

 

 

NOW... here are some other items that I have made in the past with this WONDERFUL technique... I really do love this technique... and do use it a lot.. 

A frame...  the flower is embossed with the color... 

 

I made this for my Mom's 93rd birthday...  she just recently passed, and I hope that I will get this box back...  I love the different looks you can get with this technique...  that is why I am showing all these... 

Well you know me... more is always better... LOL.. .so here are a few of the boxes I have made... one year, I made all the men a box for Christmas... with a nice gift inside of it...  love it... the girls got the flower ones...

So Thanks to Linda Ledbetter and THE CREW...  for all the inspiration and love that they give to each of these challenges...  and also to all the people that give wonderful prizes... like Tim, Mario and Inspiration Emporium... thank you one and all... you are all great... I love all these super duper challenges... 

Hope you all will take a look over at the site   so you can see all the wonderful eye candy...  really some really good ART... 

Have a wonderful day and be creative...  Thanks for stopping by for a visit.. and see you tomorrow with more challenges and more fun...

Love, Light and Peace...Bonnie 

WATER. WATER and more water... not enough water...

I never would have thought that I could combine these two challenges... they are totally opposite... BUT... low and behold... today I am doing just that... 

On Mondays I do my Zentangle Challenge... with, I am the DIVA and the challenge this week is to create something with B.Y.O.B.  (bring your own Beverage)   and so that is pretty easy for me... WATER...  WATER and More WATER... 

and also SIMON MONDAY CHALLENGE... All about a FACE...

Okay... they really didn't click with me either... but I wanted to make a special card for my Son and DIL... and so I created this picture... I started it on Sunday night... way prior to the challenges being announced...  So after looking on Monday to the challenges... I was surprised to see that this would really fit into both of these challenges... so I finished the picture off with tangling and then colored it my INKTENSE colored pencils... and then scanned it, printed and made this card... 

Okay... I am trying to work thru which part to show you first... so I guess I will show you the front of the card first...  such decisions to make!!!! 

 

This is the front of the card... do you see the face peeking out at you????? it is there...  you will see it better in a minute. 

I made the paper with distress inks and my worksheet.... and then stamped and die cut all the other pieces... coloring them with distress pens and inks.   

 

when you open the card... this is on the top part of the card... the large seahorse and the turtle are stamps and die cuts and they were colored and then glued onto the paper, that again I made from white cardstock, distress inks and stamps... 

 

Here is the SPECIAL INSIDE of the card..  my Zen tangle also for the week...  water, water and more water...  a mermaid with her new little one...  with all the sea critters with her loving the new little baby... 

 

The border is a Martha Stewart sea punch set... and the background paper again, white cardstock, distress inks and stamps... love making special papers that way... so much fun and they really make the card look GREAT.. 

 

The back side of the card... another piece of Bonnie paper... 

 

Here is a close-up of the TIA for the week... 

in all her glory... 

 

I tried to keep with the theme of ocean dwelling 'tangles' like purk, mooka, and all the other ones...  click on any of the pictures to see them larger... 

They just had a baby boy on July 3rd... and I wanted to make a send them a special card...

 

My favorite drink is WATER...  cant' get enough of it... we all need to drink nice CLEAN water...  no fluoride, no chemicals... just nice CLEAN WATER... my drink of all times... 

 

Our son loves Mermaids... so I had to do this mermaid for him... as this is his mermaid and their little one...  Love it..

 

Hope that both groups of people from the two different challenges enjoy this piece... I know that it is entirely different than you are use to... 

 

I had to do it... and I hope you like it...

 

Have a super wonderful day...  create with all your heart... and enjoy it... and thanks again for stopping by for a visit...

Love, Light and Peace...Bonnie 

 

 

Sunday Stamper Birthday Book

Today is Sunday...  And it is time for Hels's Sunday Stamper Challenge... and this week.. it is BOOKS... make a book or use a book page etc... 

Well I have been working on this little book for the past couple of months... reason being is that I needed more time to actually finish it up...  and put some more things into the pockets...  and finally I finished it yesterday...  I love it... and I didnt' know when I started it what I was going to use if for... and when I finished it... I realized I needed a birthday book.. so that is what it is...  there are 12 sections to the book and each has a pocket, with a few tags in each and just enough room to write each of my special friends, family and others birthdays onto the tag...  and I got all the birthdays even into it yesterday!!!! 

So here it is... my little book is about 4X4 inches... not really big at all... but big enough... 

 

This little book is made with white cardstock...  and each page is colored with Distress Inks...  and I have used Tim's stamps and those fun little stickers ... I love them...  great things that match his stamps...  if you haven't tried them yet... do... you will enjoy them... perfect for something small like this... and the impact is GREAT... you will see... 

 

I used some other things in the ideology section of his STUFF... 

like the tape for closing the book... 

 

This little book will be able to stay by my computer as it is small enough and I can see whose birthday is when.... a great little tool for me... as I can't remember these things... 

 

I used a piece of tissue tape in each section of the book... love that stuff...  and used it on some tags too... all the sections have similar tags.. one is really narrow... for small little thoughts etc... and then there is a larger one with a piece of ribbon or fiber on it... and then there is a smaller tag ... 2.5 X 3 inches and on the back... the birthday, typed out and glued onto the back... the front of these tags have some chit chat... and other things on them... just fun tags.. 

 

I will let you look... 

In making this book.. it was really easy... since it is an accordion book.. I glues pieces of paper together to form a long strip... and then folded up the bottom of the strip to form the pocket... and then folded the pages to form the accordion style book... really so very easy... The most fun was getting all the white turned into yummy colors... as you can see there were many used... also many different kinds of techniques were used on the pages and tags... 

 

Here's a semi open book...  it is too long to get all in one shot ...  but you get the idea... I love it.. try one... any size and start to fill it up... I have another one that is like an art journal that has some of my flatter style tags in it... my puffy ones have to go into a box...  LOL.. wish I could stay sort of uniform in my creations.. .NOT...

 

Well hope you are having a lovely day... and that you enjoy every minute of it...

 

Thanks for stopping by for a visit and see you tomorrow with some more challenges... Zen Tangling and also Simon Says Monday challenge...  fun and games for me... two in one day... what fun.

 

Love, Light and Peace...Bonnie 

An Ode to the Wonderful BUTTERFLY

With Nature all around us... or at least around me... out here in the boonies... with all the critters and trees.... we tend to forget about how it all happens... and we need a reminder...  the sweet little butterfly that just flittered by... how did that come to happen??? Well one of the magnificent happenings is that the butterfly will lay its eggs on a plant ...and then next spring... they will hatch and create little tiny caterpillars that will turn into these magnificent BUTTERFLIES...  so our part is not to destroy all the 'weeds' or plants that we think are weeds... because then the butterflies will also be destroyed as well... one of these plants ( of many) is the Milk Weed plant...  if you are not sure what it looks like... please google it make sure you leave it alone if it is growing in your garden or yard...  Butterflies are a very essential 'critter'  to our well being...  just check it out... thanks a million...

So today, my piece is called an ODE TO THE BUTTERFLY... 
I have been playing with Tim Holtz's butterfly die cuts... the border and the little mini movers and shapers...  and have been having fun with them... tangling, painting with watercolor techniques... zen tangling them and also layering them in all kinds of ways...  needless to say, I have been having a blast with it... 

Well... being FRIDAY... it is A VINTAGE JOURNEY... and the challenge was a really fun and easy one for me...  do something that is TIM HOLTZ...  using dies and distress...  well that is easy enough...  this whole piece is that... oh well I did add a few pieces of Tissue Mélange... and a piece of plastic????  I think that is okay...  right??? 

So here is my finished piece... 

An Ode to the BUTTERFLY... 

 

size about 12 inches tall and about 9 inches wide... 

Lots of fun and layers... which also were fun to find, create and layer... 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see I used the tissue paper Mélange... and adhered a piece to a piece of paper..  and then colored the butterfly...  with DISTRESS Markers...  I also colored the Milkweed plant with Distress inks using a water brush and an ink pad...  the little flowers on the milkweed are from the Tattered floral strip die cut...  love it... and have been using it more often than I ever have... you really have to use a die cut quite a few to get use to the items on it...  so I have gotten to use all the different types of flowers on this die now many many times... and love them all..  this little one was perfect for my milk weed plant.. the leaves, I inked some paper... and cut them out freehanded... 

 

Now the BUTTERFIES...  oh my goodness alive...

I have been having fun with these... first off.. I got a new can of embossing paste... and have been having fun with that... I took my MINI Movers and Shapers BUTTERFLY dies, and cut a piece of plastic, using each one... then used that as a stencil and made tons of little plaster butterflies... they are all over my studio... I love them all...  I have painted some, to look like real (?well sort of real)  butterflies... and some just have color added for the color... yesterday I used a few on my butterflies that I used for the challenge Frilly or Funkie... and I just colored them... what fun... check them out... on my previous page...

 

But the day prior... I cut out a stack of the same butterflies with white card stock... and started to paint, zentangle them and color them with Distress inks... having a blast... so I was well armed with a lot of butterflies by this morning... I also had been playing with the border Butterfly die cut... I cut it out of many different papers and layered the butterflies as they took off from the strip of paper... what fun they are having flying all over the page...  LOL.. 

 

 

BUT here is the best part...

I had bought this BELL JAR die cut... in the fall.. and had never used it... that is so unlike me... and when I saw this I was shamed...  so I HAD to use it today... so here is the bell jar...

 

Please don't let the butterfly become an extinct insect... allow it to fly free... google and see what you can do to help this happen in your area...  it is really something that each of us can and should do... 

 

 

We planted a butterfly garden... full of wild flowers and also other things... milk weed grows wild there... and there are a lot of other butterfly plants there... like Queen of the meadow, phlox and also cardinal flower...(beautiful RED flowers) and lots of other showy flowers for the butterflies to enjoy... 

 

So I used a piece of scrap plastic and cut the bell jar... and then the pedestal is cut from card stock and embossed with a frame embossing folder... love the way it turned out... and yes I will use this more often too..  The background paper came from Tim's paper stash called Wallflower... love that paper stash... so many different LOVEs  in that pad...  great selection... 

 

A butterfly painted using Distress mini pads to color it and then distress pens for the accents... 

 

The fall leaves... the reason for the fall leaves is a reminder for the fact that in the fall the butterflies lay their eggs... leave your milkweed and other weeds do the natural thing...  so we can have butterflies next year...  the leaves are made from card stock that is inked with my mini misters that have perfect pearls in them.. and naturally distress inks... I love all my mini misters...  and the other leaves are the Kraft Glassine paper... which I really crumpled into the palm of my hand to create the fall look.. 

 

The Butterflies are escaping... 

 

Here is one of the plaster butterflies... painted with distress inks... and so much fun to have loose on this project... 

 

Well... I do hope that you have enjoyed this... I really had fun with this... and did use Distress inks and Die cuts...  I have a lot and am very thankful for all the ones I have ... I love using them all.. that is for sure..

 

Thanks for stopping by today... and please take a look at

A VINTAGE JOURNEY and see all the eye candy there... it is wonderfully creative... I think you will greatly enjoy it...

 

Have a wonderful day and week-end.. be safe and enjoy it all.   

 

Love, Light and Peace...Bonnie 

CC3 #6 Challenge...Altered Burlap Panel

This is the 6th Challenge for Compendium of Curiosities Volume 3...  and it is so very much fun... I hope that you have another book started TIM... as we are going to run out of new things to do pretty soon.. .and we need more challenges... LOL... 

Yes.. the truth is always STRONG...

Linda Ledbetter and THE CREW are always busy working on another challenge to tease us and encourage us to create more and more things...  this time is no different... the CREW really out did themselves.. more on that later... 

Here are some of the things that I need to tell you... ALSO  GO TO THE SITE AND SEE ALL THE ART THERE...


Happy July, and on behalf of the Curiosity Crew, welcome to the latest installment in our voyage through Tim Holtz’s most recent book! Whether this is your first challenge with us or you’ve been participating from the beginning, we’re so happy you’re here.
The winners of our Challenge 5 prizes will be announced in a new blog post next Saturday, July 12, so if you played along last time, remember to check back and see if you’re a winner!
Challenge 6 introduces Tim’s Altered Burlap Panel Technique, which you’ll find on page 37 of A Compendium of Curiosities, Vol. #3 (a.k.a “CC3″). You’re going to have all kinds of fun with this one, because you really get to make it your own: Incorporate memorabilia that’s meaningful to you, if you wish, or simply play! Please do note that you must use one of Tim’s Burlap Panels in your project in order to link to this challenge. You may use a District Market burlap canvas if you wish.
Everyone is welcome to participate in the CC3C, but you must work from your personal copy of the CC3. The Crew will not be posting technique instructions on our blogs, and participants must not, either. We require this out of respect and appreciation for all the work Tim invested in writing the book. If you don’t have a copy, you can order one directly from Tim, who will be glad to autograph it for you! If you have any questions about the challenge in general, check out the CC3C F.A.Q. here.
As always, we’ll select a “Curiosity Crew’s Choice” winner who will receive a fantastic collection of Tim’s products, courtesy of Tim himself and Mario Rossi, his business manager and everyone’s favorite “Behind the Scenes” social media luminary! Please note: In order to be eligible to win, you must visit each of our team members’ blogs and leave a comment there. You can easily access their blogs by clicking on their project photos (your comment on this post counts as your comment on my blog).

The Funkie Junkie Boutique is back to sponsor Challenge 6, and lovely owner Linda Coughlin is offering a fabulous $25 shopping spree to one very lucky CC3Cer! For a chance to win, link your project here and mention The Funkie Junkie Boutique in your blog post. Be sure to check out the shop– it’s great, and stocked to the brim with all our favorite crafting goodies!
 


Okay... now please don't forget to go to the above site to see all the goodies there... it is really special... also check out all the people that have left their art there too... a lot of FANTASTIC people creating and doing wonderful things... if you study it long enough...  you will find the need to join in...  so come on in... it is FUN...

This challenge was really a little bit of a challenge for me... as I couldn't find any burlap to play with... finally after digging thru three bins of fabric... I found a small piece... just large enough to cover a small panel and get a few flowers out of it...  yikes... 

My panel is 5.5 X 8.5... a nice size to play with...  and I of course could have covered the world... but kept it nice and small...  Wasn't really sure exactly what I was going to do... 

Well I have to back up a minute... THE CREW all did really nice pieces this time...  not that they don't always.. but each one of the pieces had something that I REALLY loved and wanted to remember for future use...  well how else to better remember than to do it now... so I did... 
I will tell you as I go along thru the pictures why I did certain things...  okay... so make sure you can see all the NINE things that were really special to me... (actually there were more... as I AM going to do a book like Anita did... that is really super... love it...  ) 

anyway... here is my project... 

You know I love FLOWERS... so I had to have some flowers on this panel... no two ways about that...  but what kind of flowers to make... I wanted something a little different this time... so I used  BOOK PAGES

BURKLAP

MUSLIN 

And a vintage earring...  100% RHINESTONE... 

I know for a fact that it is over 85 years old... any older I am not really sure of... it was my husbands Grandmothers earring... and there was only one... so ... it was perfect... 

 

I have to say at this point ... that I really enjoyed making this panel.. it was a lot of fun and technique I know I will use over and over... collage and this kind of thing is just wonderful to me... a great way to create... thanks Tim... 

 

 

 

I will start with the lower left corner... where My Maternal Grandmother is sitting in her wedding dress... she  was married in the early 1900's..  like around 1910...  give or take... I have her on here, as I loved the picture of Susan's Grandfather... My Grandmother was a pianist... and made her debut in Carnegie Hall NYC... very prim and proper and shy on top of it all.. 

 

The fleur di Lei is for Annette's piece... as I loved all the ideology that you used...  Mine is on a dangle that I made from beads and charms...  along with a heart... which I love these hearts and all the pictures that come in the set...  Ideology from this year... 

 

 

 

And Linda used her letters in such a creative way.. .I really loved it... and so I had mine turn the corner...  FREE LETTERS...  love it...  what fun.. 

 

I have really gotten into making paper beads... and these are two that I made... but they are straight beads... no shape... but I had to make them that way... as I wanted to put words on them... one has the word memories... and the other one has chit chat... like Marjie's piece had... mine says Artist with in...  You might be able to see With in... if you look close enough...   And the 'THOUGHTS' is for Anita's piece... I love the way she used them to hold the panels in look together... great going with that...   

 

On this area... I have two gals... Candy... the rose is for You.. and Hels... you said you were going to put three diamonds on each piece of your work...  so this diamond is for you.. only one though... 

 

This paper actually had the CC3 on it... funny huh...  a little off.. but still there... 

 

Now you can see the old earring...  pretty... a large stone in the center and many around it... small.. .but pretty... 

 

The NUMBER 6... Yvonne... I told you I loved the number 6... here it is... 

 

 

 

Cheryl, I didn't forget about you.. .the lace is for your background of pretty black lace...  Here I also used it for a topper and a place to attach the kilt pin...  and the other dangles of beads... and it needed something else... so what better than a little metal flower... colored with embossing powders... 

 

I use a lot of these foliage flowers... they are really pretty and you can put them in all kinds of fun places...  just add that needed punch... like that corner...  love it.. 

 

I had to add some of my favorite little flowers...  that I made... and if you are interested there is a story about them a few challenges ago...  like in late June..  I love making, having and using these little flowers... 

 

I used my mini distress ink pads to color the petals of the muslin flowers... as they were very delicate and the small pad allowed me to gingerly color them...  I love the way they came out... 

 

So here is my panel again... and I think I will go hang it up... where I am not sure... I think we have to move, so I can have some more wall space...  or maybe I should take some of the older pieces down and recycle the space... NOT!!  I love all my wall stuff... 

 

Oh well... my problem...  Thanks for stopping over today... and hope to see you again soon... 

 

Have a wonderful day... enjoy it all and create something fun and join in on the fun...

 

Love, Light and Peace...Bonnie