BLISSFUL ATC SWAP "Steampunk"

(FROM EASTCOAST TO WESTCOAST) The theme for the month of April at Blissful ATC Swap was "Steampunk" and I had the pleasure of swapping with my crafty buddy from NY, Tina. She so creatively put together this wonderful steampunk ATC and sent in on it's way to me here in California. New to the whole world of Steampunk was Tina, and I think she captured the essence perfectly. Thank you for all the special little details you included. She even chose a favorite color palette of mine Red & Black, and if that wasn't enough she sent me a package of special goodies, which included a boxful of handmade flowers... yipee !!!!!

(FROM WESTCOAST TO EASTCOAST) Then off in the mail my atc went to Tina... a bit late due to a minor back injury and laid up for awhile.

Mine is titled "Wishing you many good hair days". I so enjoy meeting new friends that share the same passion for art as I do. What a blessing to be able to ispire and encourage each other on our artful journey. Thank you once again Tina for the special delivery!!! xoxo Toni

Our Vintage Affair "Pearl Layout"

Hi bloggers and happy April 20th. It's time for April Layout @ Our Vintage Affair and the theme this month is "Pearls". The base paper for my layout was from our wonderful sponsor this month and the winner of this challenge will win their gorgeous collection of papers

The top layer of paper is a Prima Paintable in which I painted the roses and leaves dipping my brushes into Tattered Angels Glimmermists. The pearls were from my old stash of goodies and adhered to the layout. The flowers were also Prima "Craftables" and painted with the following colors: Coral Reef, Tiger Lily, Key Lime Pie, Olive Vine, Crushed Shells & Old Lace

Congrats to our Designer of the Month Jolanda... one very talented and creative lady. Take a jaunt over to her blog for some wonderful inspiration. And don't forget all the other challenges that are still open for participation this month: April Tag Challenge "Easter", April Altered Object "Easter Decoration" and also our 9 Candies that we are giving out to some lucky blog followers . So much crafting to do, so little time, so what are you waiting for go get messy ....xoxo Toni

Blog Candy over at Our Vintage Affair

Everyone I know loves candy, but this is some special candy.... sugarfree, fat free, carb free & money free. Each designer at Our Vintage Affair as well as OVA put together a lovely bag of candy for 9 lucky winners... that's right "sweets for our sweet followers". How exciting... Here's some of the candy that is awaiting to be mailed off to some lucky followers:

To participate in this yummy giveaway jump over to Our Vintage Affair blog for the requirements and also to get our Blog Candy Badge to place on your blog. This is open til May 31st, and winners will be announced on June 5th. Happy Blogging !!!! xoxo Toni

Have a Hippity Hoppy Easter

It's that beautiful time of year, when everything is coming into bloom and we have the gorgeous sunshine. It's time for our April Tag Challenge over at Our Vintage Affair and the theme is.... yep you guessed it "Easter".

Only a couple rules, must be a tag and must include the following image. Our sponsor this month is and the winner of this challenge wins their newest collection of paper goodies On my tag, I ran my bunnies through my Xyron machine and then Diamond Dust was applied for an old vintage crystal effect. Flower Soft was used on the fence for the grass and I Am Roses flowers were sprayed with Tattered Angels Glimmermist "Watermelon".

There is still time to participate in the following challenges we have open which are:

March Altered Item "Kitchen" (open til April 20th)

April Altered Challenge "Easter Decoration" (open til May 1st).

Take a moment and hippity hop over to Our Vintage Affair to view all the other DT creations for inspiration and enjoy making your Easter tag. xoxo Toni

Your That Missing Piece of Puzzle

Tanya Tucker sings this song called "Your That Missing Piece of Puzzle" and it fits how I feel about my daughter. I really don't think my life would be complete without her and everyday I thank God for his gift to me. Theme Thursday challenge this week is "game puzzle piece" so I thought I would just make my entire project a puzzle. Took a photo of my daughter and myself and applied it to a lightweight piece of chipboard. Sprayed photo with Lindy's Stamp Gang Moonshadow Spray in Treasure Island Aqua. Used a puzzle template I found on Google and traced it on my photo then cut out the puzzle pieces. Attached the pieces to black card stock with Goldens Matt Medium and coated the top with beeswax. The edging of the black card stock was embossed with Lindy's Stamp Gang 2 Tone Embossing Powder in "Fiddlehead Fern Green Blue". Thank you for dropping by... smiles and hugs Toni

Altered Easter Decorations

Happy April everyone, and it's time for our Altered Project over at Our Vintage Affair. This month our sponsor is and the prize for the winner this month is this beautiful collection of paper and embellishments The theme is "Easter Decoration" and I got a bit carried away. Had so much fun I made three.

I purchased this little tin bird house at Michaels Craft Store for $ 1 and aged it using Tim Holtz's "chipped enamel" technique then rubbed Gold Metallic Alcohol Ink wherever I chipped the paint off. Added vintage tinsel for the nest. Added flowers from "I Am Roses", ribbon from my stash and this wonderful aged magnetic bird. Next, I purchased a package of paper mache eggs from Michaels Crafts I believe they were $3 for 6 eggs. The technique I used here is the "glue crackle" technique. Added ribbon, some little dry flowers (not sure where I got them), vintage stamens, and flowers from "I Am Roses". Last but not least is my my other egg that I blinged up with several different colors of German Glass Glitter. I think this will look real pretty once it starts to tarnish. I hope you enjoyed and wishing everyone a Blessed Easter. xoxo Toni

Help Hudson !

Happy Wednesday everyone ! Well it's premier week for Grungy Monday challenge over at lovely Linda's blog. For all you T!m Holtz lovers this week the technique is "12 Tags of Christmas 2008, Tag 10". Jump over to see the deets on the technique and give it a try. In my opinion (and a million others) Tim's techniques are priceless and opened up a whole new world for me in mixed media. If you are one that is a bit hesitant on getting your fingers dirty but for some reason are really drawn to it, Tim is your man. He not only gives you permission to get messy, he pushes you right in the puddle of paint. Give it a try !This tag I created is also going out for 3 Muses which never disappoints on their themes. This week it is "Steampunkerie". Yes, these gents do seem to be having a bit of attitude amongst the mayhem.Some of the products I used on this was Perfect Pearls Blue Patina, Oxford Impression stamp collection "Steampunk Elements" and some embellishments from the Tim's Ideology collection. Now what are you waiting for, go get creative and have fun . xoxo Toni

Hang In There

Collage Obsession provided an image this week if we wanted to use it and the theme was "Lazy Days", but of course I went in a different direction with this photo. This was so much fun because I made a huge mess, paper and gesso and fibers all over the place.

Ursula (pictured here) is trying to lift someones spirit... hummm... well you know what I mean. Well I hope she lifted yours. Thanks for looking :)

xoxo Toni

Keeping it Simple

Sunday Postcard Art challenge has a theme this week of "WHITE". This was really fun for me because I just love the pureness that white gives to a creation. This project was pretty simple but I think effective.

Using recycled cardboard I applied PK GLITZ White Pearl Embossing Powder. I then took a Tim Holtz Texture Fade "Postcard" and rubbed DI Pumice Stone all over the embossed side of the Texture Fade and ran my cardboard through the diecut machine. This left the embossed letters with just a hint of shadowing.

Altered my butterfly embellishment by covering it with white embossing enamel and then once cooled chipped away at it. A technique that Mr Tim shared in his wonderful book Compendium of Curiosities (love this book). Rubbed some white paint on top of my muse token to enhance the word "Simplify" and all finished. Hope you enjoyed xoxo Toni

It's All About Him

Happy 3rd Birthday Gingersnap Creations, and for their birthday theme it's "Copper, Ginger or Rust". I'm also entering this for Drunken Stampers challenge which is "All About Him". I used several products that I would like to give a shout out to. First, the background was created by smudging Black Soot DI all over it and then applying PK Glitz embossing powders in New England Autumn and Bronze Patina (PK's products are my very favorite glitters and embossing powders). Then just here and there I added UTEE in Copper. Used an old script stamp (can't remember where I got it). For the background colors of the picture I used Lindy's Stamp Gang MoonShadow in Crow's Nest Copper. The picture is a stamp from Oxford Impressions "The Family Man" collection. Added some jute that I tattered and inked up with Black Soot and some old copper embellies from my treasure chest. Hope you enjoy.

xoxo Toni

Project Runway

This tag was made for 2 challenges this week. First, Theme Thursday which is to create something "ORANGE", and Dragons Dream Tag It On, which their theme is "DREAMING HAUTE COUTURE".

I colored my tag then used Matt Gel Medium to adhere vintage pieces of pattern. Stamps were from Oxford Impressions collection "The Dressmaker". Used several sheets of pattern and diecut using Tim Holtz "Tattered Florals". Used a brad to hold all flowers together, gave it a good scrunch and distressed the edges with DI Walnut. Hope you enjoyed.

xoxo Toni

"ART" Journal

This week at Simon Says Stamp Challenge the theme is "Show a Word". The word I chose is 'ART'.

I picked up this little cardboard book at Michaels for $2.00. Fell in love with it because it had 100 empty kraft paper pages. Immediately I knew it would be perfect for me to keep my art journal, with all my little technique notes and such. But first I had to make it "ME". So I altered the cover with some mulberry paper and this beautiful ribbon, then added the brass letters , butterfly and flowers. Added a little key to the ribbon that acts as the book binding and.... ta da !

"Smile"

This week at Collage Obsession the theme is "Tramp". You were provided a image if you wanted to use it or just create something depicting a tramp :
The physical attributes of the Tramp include a pair of baggy pants, a tight coat, a small derby hat, a large pair of shoes, a cane and the famous small mustache. The Tramp walks strangely and uncomfortably because of the ill-fitting clothing; either he is wearing secondhand clothes, or they are originally his but he cannot afford new ones. The Tramp may have seen better days, but he maintains the attitude and demeanor of a high-class individual; as long as he acts like one he can believe that he is one, and is able to keep his hope that some day he actually will be again. (Wikipedia)
I created this piece by using an image I found on the web and printed it on Sticky Back Canvas, as well as the quote by Mr. Chaplin. Attaching it to a 6x6 canvas that I had painted black. Aged a picture frame with black flat spray paint, scratched it up with Tonic Craft Scratcher and stained with Walnut DI. Made a small tag to hang onto some cheese cloth stained with waterdowned Black Soot DI.

Charlie Chaplin wrote the instrumental in 1936 and then lyrics and a title were added in 1954. The singer is telling the listener to cheer up and that there is always a bright tomorrow, just as long as they "Smile".

What's Cookin' ???

Our Vintage Affair altered project for March starts today and the theme is "Kitchen" - anything related to kitchen topic, it might be decorated spoon or any other kitchen item, or recipe book, or just a picture with a lady cooking. This months sponsor is The winner of the challenge will win the whole set of 6 papers from the newest 3ndypapir collection "Sweetheart and a spot of Guest Designer for the upcoming challenge! Congratulations to Anne Gro, this month's guest designer. Please stop by her blog to view her wonderful creations.

For my kitchen altered project I used a huge clothespin that I purchased from Michaels Crafts Store and altered it to hold my recipe cards. Using my G45 Domestic Goddess paper I cut the paper and used DI Walnut to distress the edges. I then applied Modge Podge to adhere all the paper in their proper places. Then embellished with tiny rosettes from I Am Roses, added some lace trim and black pearls from Studio Garage Band Etsy Shop. And topped it off with white feathers to trim one of the ladies hats. Very easy and fun ! Hop over to Our Vintage Affair to see what everyone else is cooking up!

I'M CUCKOO !

This week at Kard Krazy the theme is "Birds of a Feather and at College Obsession the theme is "Many" (so I used many feathers).

"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" was created using Oxford Impressions "Steampunk Elements" line. And my birdcage was made using Copper UTEE Background of tag was made using DI Pine Needles and Old Paper then sprayed with water, distressed the edges with Walnut. Hope you enjoyed.

xoxo Toni

He Aint Heavy He's My Brother

Simon Says Stamp theme is "Show Some Metal" and CCC #35 FINALE (or is it????) is Design Details on page 67 of "The Book".
I love things with dimension and textures and inks and paints and and and .... when I was done with this, I had blisters (from my glue gun), cuts and scratches (from the wires) and ink and paint everywhere.... mmmmmm so much fun! Picture is of my very talented brother Tracy G. For some "heavy inspring music" drop over to his website.

Using Golden Gel Medium, I coated a black gesso painted canvas to adhere the picture. The title was made using pieces of metal that were formed around Grundgeboard letters, some were attached to twinchie canvases for added interest.
Hope you enjoyed !!! Now go get messy !

xoxo Toni

Spring is in the Air

This weeks theme @ Drunken Stampers is "Faux Wood", they suggested to....Ink it up, emboss it, color it any way you would like. I have had this piece of faux wood paper for a long while and decided it was time to be used. I chose to make the flowers from the wood. I distressed the edges of the tag and embossed it with Gold UTEE also using the UTEE for the stamped words and splatters. The flowers were sprayed with Lindy's Stamp Gang sprays (from top to bottom) Amaryllis Burgundy, Creme Brulee, French Lilac Violet, Tibetin Poppy Blue, Dark Chocolate Truffle, all the center flowers are Bayou Boogie Gold.

This piece qualified for a few more challenges so it has been entered in the following:

Gingersnap Creations # 92 Jewel Colors + Gold

Three Muses "Spring"

Dragons Dream Tag It On "Buttons and Bows"

Enjoy each moment of each day... hugs and kisses Toni