It's easy being green

Green. I love green, well, next to purple that is. I was excited to see the latest Monday Challenge over at Simon Says Stamp was the  "green challenge". http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/mondaychallenge/challenge-green/

I am particularly proud of this one because I used stuff just lying around my studio and recycle bin. I would love to say that I came up with the idea of the bell jar using a plastic bottle, but the fab MJ Girling had it on her blog last year. You can check out the Link here...http://lifeartcollide.blogspot.ca/2012/10/soda-bottle-bell-jars.html

 A huge thank-you to her, cause she's awesome and very creative.

I cut the base out of scrap foam core and stained the top with Gathered Twigs distress stain.

Now to build the scene...

I didn't have any floral foam, so I cut a cardboard paper tube and covered it with rustic wood paper..

I hot glued them to the base and started attaching my vines. Recognize the material? Brown paper bag strips that have been twisted up. I added some thin gauge wire around them to make it more "bendable" then it was just a matter of hot gluing everything in place.

Hibiscus is made from the Susan Tierney Cockburn die set from Sizzix.

Tropical leaves cut from Graphic 45 paper and Memory Box die

Aarrrggg, tried to take this picture 5 times. This was the best one. Kinda crappy but you can get the idea of the finished effect.

Thanks for taking a look today, I appreciate all the kind comments I've received. Cheers!

Twelve Tags of 2013 - July

Hi again

I have a quick post to share with you. I love the crackle stained technique that Tim posted for his tag this month. And the brayer technique? So cool, I need to practice a wee bit more with it though, I didn't really get the droplet effect with the stains but it's still a great way to lay down color on the background. Check out the step by step here: http://timholtz.com/12-tags-of-2013-july/

I used the specialty stamping paper for my tag because I wanted a true color read of the green. 

Here are the colors I used on the tag: Gathered Twigs stain and ink, Walnut stain ink, Bundled Sage stain and ink, Broken China stain, Archival Jet Black ink, oh and I threw on some metallic stain for the base of the globe too.

I used the Tim Holtz set from Stampers Anonymous "Air Travel"

And the "Simple Sayings" set for the label and words. I found this great washi tape at Michaels with globes on it. Cool.

Here you can see the great crackle effect with the Rock Candy crackle paint on chipboard and the SS paper. The frame around the compass is a gadget gear with the center cut out ( and being cheap, I saved the middle hole and used it on the top of the tag) hahaha.

Thanks for checking out my tag, have a great week. I will chat and share with you soon.

The Timekeeper

Hi again

I made this card a little while ago, but never got around to posting it. It's one of the sweet man's favorites. He kept bugging me to post it on my blog so here it is...

I love the stamp set(Time Travellers) from Tim Holtz. I used the gears in the background. Can you spot them? I also used Tim's paper stash (Destinations) for the whole structure of the card.

Here you can see the layers a bit better.

A time keeper gentleman that travels through time . The holes in the card could be rips in the time/space continuem. Sweet man thought they were bullet holes. That's cool too. I guess art is in the eye of the beholder. What do you think?

Thanks for surfin' by, I also want to submit this one to the "anything goes challenge" over at Simon Says Stamp and Show blog. You can check out the link here:

 http://simonsaysstampandshow.blogspot.ca/2013/07/challenge-anything-goes_1.html

For the Birds part 2

Hi again,

I'm a bloggin' machine. 2 posts in one day. Sweet.

I wanted to share the other bird houses I made using the new die I got this week

Happy Canada Day! Maple Leaves in Red and White.

For the girlie girl birds. New paper from Kaiserkraft. Yummmm

For the travelling birds, maps and globes and gears, oh my. This one is for you Tim Holtz.

View 2  distress inks, stains, Tim Holtz movers and shapers, bigz dies, Stampers Anonymous stamps

For the Birds (stripes)

Hi again

A big shout out to Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge blog. Thank you for giving me something to challenge my creativity every week. This week's challenge is stripes.

http://simonsaysstampandshow.blogspot.ca/2013/06/challenge-stripes.html

 Of couse I love stripes. Stripes can make you look thinner, make a room look bigger, or add a designer touch of class. The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of stripes, (ok wait for it... ) Cabana stripes. By now you might have noticed that I have a little obsession with tropical inspired pieces.  Whatever, hey, it's been raining for a month straight here, so any excuse to pretend I am on a beach somewhere is a welcome escape.

I got the fabulous birdhouse die from Sizzix last week and have been making little houses for a few days. I made 4 in total. Each one looks different. You can totally change the look of something just by using different paper or color schemes.

So here is my take on the stripe challenge featuring my tropical cabana bird house.

I would be a happy bird if I had a cabana house like this one (haha)

Closer look at the striped base. Hot pink and lime green are my fave color combos.

Closer look at the roof of the house...

Thanks for stopping by, I will post some more bird houses tomorrow hopefully. See you soon.

Graduation inspired by Tiffany's

Hi again,

 

I wanted to post this graduation card I made for my niece. She finished her 4 year Bachelor degree and was accepted to Law School at the U of A. Congratulations Em!  

Aqua, or Tiffany Blue as I like to call it, seems to be the hot color this summer, so I made a card using the blue and white theme. I have a lot of rolled roses dies, but I keep going back to the  Tattered Pinecone from Tim Holtz (sizzix). It gives me the best results.

I found this great note keeper at one of the office supply stores, and personalized it for my niece. I used the tag and bookplate die from Tim Holtz and the Antiqua alphabet sizzlit set from Brenda Walton for Sizzix.

Embossing folder from Couture Creations "Bon Jour"

Cap and Diploma stamp from The Stamp Barn.

Thanks for stopping by to a look-see. Now that school is out for the summer, hopefully we'll get some nice weather to enjoy. No more rain PLEASE! 

Tiki Bar Kraft Challenge

Hi all,

Simon Says Stamp and Show is having a Kraft challenge this week. Initially, I thought "oh I don't use kraft paper" but then a caffienated lightbulb clicked on in my head. You can check out the link to the challenge here: http://simonsaysstampandshow.blogspot.ca/2013/06/challenge-kraft.html

The thought of constructing a little tiki bar had been brewing in my mind for the past couple of weeks. I pulled out the corrugated kraft paper and some Tim Holtz kraft paper stash and went to work. I tend to hoard tropical ephemera, so I had lots of little bits and pieces for decorating. It was so much fun creating my little get away bar. I hope it brings a smile to your face. 

Work in progress, check out the cluttered chaos, otherwise known as my desk. My work space is a visual confirmation of my cluttered mind. LOL.

I used the tapered fringe die from Tim Holtz and cut several pieces out of kraft paper. Once attached, I sprayed the roof with heirloom gold and pearl sprays from Ranger.

Here it is all finished and decorated.

View from the side, I tiled the counter with acrylic squares.

Other side, I used a ultracool new wood vaneer paper for the signs.

Love the sign, fussy cut birds Graphic 45 and  I used the Cameo die from Tim Holtz but just made it way smaller.

I had tropical drink stickers in my stash, of course every tiki bar needs cocktails.

Thanks so much for joining me on my mini holiday.

Laurie the Rogue Stamper.