Big Giveaway from The Idea Room!

TheIdeaRoom is giving away a Cricut Explore! Run, don't walk........

TheIdeaRoom big giveaway

Good luck Everyone!

Steampunk Canvas Tutorial

I had a few requests for a Tutorial on my Steampunk Canvas.  I took a bunch of video, pulled it all together and attempted to upload it here on the blog...no go! Blogger just isn't co-operating. I then tried to upload it to youtube but an hour into uploading it was only at 6%.  Soooo, I'm afraid you're going to have to settle for photos and text.  Feel free to ask any questions here on the blog and I'll answer them as quick as I can.

Supplies:  Canvas (any size), Cheesecloth, Gesso (black and white), Ranger Glue n Seal, Thick Tacky Glue, E6000 glue, Flowers ( I use flowers from I Am Roses, Petaloo and Prima), metal pieces ( I use a lot of the Tim Holtz Idea-ology metals, gears from old watches, springs from old pens and watches, nuts, bolts, the pop tops from soda cans, zipper pulls and any old stuff I find in the garage.) Buttons, laser cut wood shapes, grunge board shapes, and anything else that looks interesting to me.  Dylusion Ink Sprays.

Cover your Canvas with a layer of Glue n Seal and let dry.

Arrange your cheesecloth on your canvas and cover with Glue n Seal, let dry.

Start glueing your items all over the canvas...no rhyme or reason, just have fun glueing it all on...you can even stack items if you like how they look together.

Once you have all of your items glued to the canvas, cover the whole thing in a good solid coat of black gesso.

Once the black gesso is dry, take a scruffy paint brush , dab it into the white gesso and brush it across the canvas..go in all directions brushing lightly in some places and heavy in others.

 Once this layer is dry, cover any photos with paper towel and using Dylusion Ink Sprays have fun adding splashes of color all over the canvas.

If your canvas is a stretched canvas, paint the edges with black gesso.    There is no "right" or "wrong" way to do these canvases and they are very forgiving, for instance: you can always add more layers of stuff at any point, even after adding your sprays. Just be sure and do each of the steps again if you do add more.

12 Tags of 2014 with Tim Holtz-February

I absolutely squeeled when I saw Tim's Tag this month.  Is anyone else drooling over that gorgeous stamp?!!  It's at the very top of my wish list!  I had to improvise again, and I'm really loving my tag :-)  

Tim  used one of my favorite techniques from his CC102 Class,  you can see his Tag on his BLOG.
Thank you for looking :-)

12 Tags of 2014 with Tim Holtz-January

And we're off to another fun year of Tags! I believe this is one of my most favorite things to do in my craft room...I enjoy the challenge and love the inspiration I get from Tim's Tags. As usual for me I had to do some improvising, but that's part of the fun!  Check out Tim's January Tag on his Blog , it's a real beauty!!

I've wanted his Pocket Watch die since he gave us a sneak peek of it, luckily I was able to get it on sale a few weeks ago, and boy was I excited to see he used it for the first Tag of the year!  I was happily working on my tag when I killed my Vagabond (see previous post here on my blog), so finishing her up was a bit more of a challenge but I did get her done. 

I love working with Pumice Stone Distress Ink, it's one of my top favorites.  I also inked my ribbon up with Pumice Stone after stamping it with a Club Scrap Gear stamp.

 I only have Tim's Seasonal Chit Chat stickers at the moment so chose to use the one that says "Dedication".  Have you tried Tim's Stencils out yet? I've got 3 of them so far and LOVE 'EM!! 

List of Products I used:
Pumice Stone Distress Ink by Ranger
Black Archival Ink by Ranger
Manilla #8 Tag by Ranger
Black Soot Distress Paint by Ranger
Seasonal Chit Chat Stickers by Tim Holtz
Clockworks Stencil by Tim Holtz
Pocket Watch Frame Die by Tim Holtz
Foil Tape (from my Husband's tool box in the Garage )
Cog Embossing Folder by Spellbinders (My Tim Holtz Clockworks embossing folder is stuck in my dead Vagabond)
Misc. Gears from my stash

Thank  you for looking!

Vagabond Owners...DON'T do what I did!!!

I love , love , LOVE my Vagabond! It is my absolute most favorite tool in my craftroom.  If you have one, I'm sure you understand, right? This baby is worth it's weight in gold!  Now I thought I was a good Vagabond owner, I use it faithfully, talk sweetly to it, keep it from getting dusty, use wonderful Dies and Embossing Folders in it..yup, yup, thought I was good to my Vagabond.   Well I wasn't!

Today I was working on my Tag and ready to emboss some Grungepaper...put my sandwich into the Vagabond, turned it on and heard a funny noise then it stopped.  I tried to reverse it and it made a horrible grinding noise. I unplugged it and had a cry..then I got very angry with myself.  I foolishly used Cuttlebug cutting plates/mats instead of my Sizzix cutting plates!

How often have I heard Tim tell us in a video to only use Sizzix Accessories? MANY times, did I follow his advice? NO   I am madder than a wet Hen...at myself! 

Please don't use "other" brand accessories with your Vagabond...use the tried and true SIZZIX accessories!!  Don't kill your Vagabond!!  You can see my sandwich stuck in the machine in the photos above. 

You wanna win a $50.00 crafty shopping spree?!!

That's right, a $50.00 shopping spree from Blitsy! .  Blitsy is my favorite online store, they carry tons of the most popular paper crafting brands like Tim Holtz, Ranger, Wendy Vecchi, Spellbinders and more! Not a paper crafter? No problem, they also carry Paints, Brushes, Yarns, Sewing Supplies, and even Kid's Crafts..be sure to check them out...membership is free, prices up to 70% off suggested retail and fast shipping..check it out  HERE !!


Blitsy also has fun contests and giveaways, in fact right now you can enter to win a $50.00 shopping spree, woohoooooooooooo!  After you sign up for free membership, click on their Blog link and enter away :-)
Good Luck Everyone!