Dog Days of August

Aren't they just adorable. These two clowns love it when I spend time in my craft room, so they can power nap. They have two speeds...go for a walk insane and this one.

I've been busy over the last week between crafting with house stuff. The last of the new carpet was put down yesterday. Mom and I made new curtains for the living room Tuesday, and today is re-upholstery day. You know how it is when you do something like put in new carpet or paint, then you have to update everything. It's starting to come together.

When I was a kid we always re-decorated in the summer. Dad was away fighting fires for long stretches, so Mom got busy with her time and the over-time money. We painted alot in August. I haven't started painting, yet, but I know if it gets hot enough I will.

And, the final post of eye candy

All of the tags in this post and the one just below are from the alcohol inks class I took this weekend. Tim had little stickers all printed up of each technique with directions that are on stuck to the back of every one of these tags. It was so wonderful to not have to take notes and just play. The tags in the first eye candy post from yesterday are all distress inks. I really need all 24 distress inks now....ok, well I must admit that I have 14 of them, guess I shouldn't be such a hog!

To answer Barb's question about the cut & dry foam, all but 2 of the tags in the distress inks post are made with it. It was cut to the size of the little felt things you put on the handle tool for alcohol inks and was attached to one of those handles with double sided tape. The velcro was removed first...Tim says we should all have 8 of these ready to go-one for each color family. Well, he gets them for free doesn't he. Anyhow, you tamp it on the inkpad to pick up the color and then set it down on a scratch piece of paper next to your project and start moving it in little circles. Move over to your project, but work fast, so you don't get streaks. Keep moving in circles all around the project. You can then go back with other colors over in or next to it. Clear as mud? A whole 8 x 10 sheet of it was only $5.75, and I can cut enough squares to have one for each of the colors he recommends...pinks & reds, oranges, yellow, greens, blues, purples, light browns, dark browns. You just rub it on a paper towel between color hue changes. And for me I'll have to change the pads around onto my one tool.

More Eye Candy

Eye Candy

Color Challenge Mondays

Here it is Monday and there is no color challenge. After 15 weeks of challenges with 45 entries from all you talented stampers, I'm taking a rest. I decided today that I'm changing it to first monday color challenge. I'll post a new color challenge the first monday of every month. Really, there are so many wonderful challenges out there. This way you have a whole month to play along or not.

So, with those 45 amazing cards that were created, I assigned each entry a number. I went to a random number generating site and it chose #41...which happens to be farnorth, Jan. She had the edge on this drawing since she had the most entries. Congrats Jan...a package will be making it's way to Alaska soon! Thanks to all of you talented designers for playing in the challenges. You have amazed me with your willingness to join in and your amazing entries. I hope you enjoyed the stretch and that you'll join me on the first monday of each month for a new challenge.

Tomorrow I'm just going to post eye candy...way too many words today! Oh, and one last thing about Tim today...he signed my apron:

Distress Crackle Paint Product Review

Ok, today I submitted my first review article to craftcritique. Since it's all from my class yesterday it fits in with my Tim Holtz week theme I'm sharing it here. I don't know exactly when this month it will be on craftcritique. I promise that I'll answer all your questions by the end of the week. Just be patient with me...there is so much to cover. Also, I'll be getting to the color challenge drawing later this afternoon....thanks to all who have joined in. Here is a sneek peak of my article for my bloggin' buddies....

Tim Holtz Distress Crackle Paint is the subject of my first article. I had an opportunity to play with this new product during a mystery class with Tim that I took yesterday. This new paint by Ranger will hit the stores on September 1st. The product comes in a 2 1/4" tall plastic jar that holds 1.1 fluid ounces and has an applicator attached to the inside of the lid. No messy paint brushes with this one, it's similar to a rubber cement applicator. It comes in all 24 colors that the distress inks and distress embossing powders come in.
Ok, down to what it can do. It works on "cardstock, chipboard, paper mache and more". In the class we used it on naked chipboard and it worked beautifully. It is a self-leveling paint. That means that you just glop it on any old way with lumps and streaks and it flattens out as it dries leaving a smooth appearance with lots of great crackling. You do need a medium to heavy layer of paint for this. It is a very thick paint with a consistency like honey or a really gooey mudbath. You can't dry the paint with a heat tool until the crackling has begun which takes quite a bit of time. If you use a heat tool right away, it won't crackle because a skin forms on the top of the paint. Waiting for the paint to dry is the only down side of this product for me. We painted first in the class and then did a zillion other things while it dried.



The paint was very uneven and looked like a mess to me when we glopped it on.. But, then as it dried it leveled off and made the most beautiful crackling effect. I love how this is a one step process. After the paint was dry we used distress inks to ink the edges and smoosh down in the cracks, then rubbed off the excess ink. You could do this with the same color or contrast. You can also base coat your project and let that show through the cracks.


In the finished project and you can see the little chipboard pieces after they have been inked. This is an Ikea mirror that we glued all the finished little chipboard pieces on. Only 8 of the pieces are the crackle paint. The others are paper or distress embossing powder. I had to cover the mirror in the center to get a decent picture.

I tried my own little experiment with the part of the description of what you can paint that says "and more." I found that it works beautifully on wood, cork, coated chipboard, and cardstock. On the metal, plastic, and glass I tried it flaked off. It did not crackle on felt, but did cracle a bit on the burlap. I used a little glue dot on the back of each of these items to hold them steady for painting, which is a great little tip I learned in class. All of these items were painted with vintage photo distress crackle paint. Inking up the items after they have been painted adds some extra depth to the projects. I love the variety of looks I got with this one bottle of paint.


I will definitely purchase this product when it hits the stores. I love how you can change the appearance of the paint with some ink after it dries. I love how messy the application looks, but what a beautful finish it gives. I love that I don't have to clean up any paint brushes. I think the drying time is a factor in deciding to use this, but it would be worthwhile to paint up a stack of goodies and keep them on standby to use as needed.

My Happy Day!

I made it into all three of the classes today. I spent 8 full hours of instructional time with Tim along with 30 other middle aged women (and men) who were all groupies just like me! My head is swimming. I think I'll have to space out the projects & techniques over the next week. Honestly it's just way too much for one post. I can't get a decent pic of anything tonight to show you projects. So, here is a quick run-down of the day.

I got to play with alcohol inks, distress inks, distress embossing powders, distress crackle paint(new), a bunch of Tim's stamps, and a few tools, embellishments, and so many goodies. During our second class he had to improvise. The box with the kits did not arrive. So, he refunded our money, will send us the kits anyways, and gave a full class on playing with distress inks. I had to spend the $ on more ink of course, and some cut & dry foam, and a fun distressing tool. Tim was charming and really knows his products. Here are a few tips for you.

~Don't use distress inks on white paper because it has been bleached and will change the ink. Use manilla or darker paper.

~If you want to use alcohol inks on a transparency, don't use any blending solution. It will act like an eraser. (Duh...this is why I could never get them to work on transparencies)

~Black Soot distress ink really has soot in it and is the blackest ink of all. It's a must have.

~Distress Embossing pad smells like cinnamon and will work with any embossing powder, not just distress powders.

~Mustard Seed distress ink will brighten up a dull project. If you have a bunch of colors of distress ink together and they look a bit dull, just rub mustard seed over the whole thing. Instant light.

Tim Holtz Day

Yipee! Today is the day that I get to hang out with Tim Holtz. I am taking two classes, and am on the waiting list for the third class. I think I may be a groupie. The first class is alcohol inks and the second one is words & windows and has to do with vintage images, mica, words, and we are making a journal. The third class that I'm hoping somebody drops from is the mystery class. So, I've got the camera packed with fresh batteries, have my scissors, fine tip pen, and sharp scissors ready to go. I'm going to try to not make a fool of myself, but he is seriously my crafty idol.

Inspired by Julie

Today I was inspired by one of my crafty blog friends, Julie. She has this awesome little book that she uses to keep track of her inks and things. So, I made a purse sized version for my own inks, including alcohol inks & markers. I started out with a pile of large tags that I picked up somewhere along the way. I used one tag per type of ink and stamped each color, writing in the color names as I went. I left the backs blank, so I have room to add in new inks. I then took a ready made library pocket and decorated it to hold the tags which are tied together loosely with a piece of twill tape.

In doing this I learned that I don't have much yellow or orange ink, but I have tons of brown & green ink. I really thought that making this would be mostly good to use as a tool for shopping, but when I stamped the pocket I used it to choose my colors. What a handy little tool this is already turning out to be. Thanks for sharing your idea Julie. I'll think of you every time I use it.

Stamp Credits for the pocket, the main image is Art Declassified, the script background is Penney Black, the swirls are Inkadinkado, and the postmark is PSX clearbydesign.

Just Stuff

It's been busy around here-so just a little update. Kyle and I went to the fair yesterday. Oh, what fun. A day that includes chocolate covered frozen bananas, cinnamon rolls, the giant slide, baby animals, beautiful arts & crafts, acrobats, and lemonade just has to be the best. It was wonderful.

Today we are having new carpet installed...hooray! It was just about time and then we got that cute little puppy a few months ago, so now it's past time. It's going to be a bit darker than what we have now, so will be very rich looking. Can't wait till they get here.

I'm working on some stuff for my new feature reporter assignment for craft critique. I'm so honored to be a part of such a fun group. And, I finally sent out a package of cards for publication--so keeping my fingers crossed on that one.

Saving the best news for last....guess who I get to hang out with Sunday morning? He's adorable, he's talented, and he's my crafty idol. Give up? Tim Holtz! He's going to teach me all about alchol inks. Woohoo! I am positively giddy with excitement.