The Artful Maven: February 2016

Monday, February 22, 2016

Best Of Cluck Dylusions Card

Hello everyone! Today, I am over at the Ranger Ink Blog with a tutorial to make this cute little card using lots of Dylusions goodies! I hope you can hope on over.

Thanks for looking, and I hope you have a day filled with 'cluck'!!!

I hope your hands get creatively dirty soon!

Saturday, February 13, 2016

12 Tags Of 2016 Remix - February

Don't you just love Tim's February tag for the 12 Tags of 2016? I sure do, and judging by all the gorgeous entries, you do too!!! It has my favorite color scheme...reds, browns, black, and ivory, and I LOVE to make Valentines! So I had to do the same thing, and only changed up the ephemera. I love that he remixed the Monoprint and Embossed Texture Paste...two of my favorite techniques...doing the tag. I enjoyed both of those the last time we did them, and my St. Patrick's Day embossed texture paste tag from last year was one of my favorites because of the technique...something I had never done before, and it WOWed me! I loved the monoprint technique too, and used it for July 4th back in 2014. I now use both of these a lot, and would never have thought about doing them on my own...that is the beauty of Tim's whole tag series, learning the new!!! Thanks Tim!

FYI...the tag is not attached to the brown paper. I only used it for photos so it wouldn't drown behind that gorgeous Valentine motif paper.

I had to make lots of Valentines too, so I cheated and used Tim's background to make a masterboard to make several other cards, instead of coming up with my own design...thanks Tim!!!

I had these old ephemera playing cards, and had just enough for everything so I used them. I also altered some Sizzix Movers and Shapers die cuts with inking and stamping from my favorite Love Struck Valentine set from Tim and Stampers Anonymous, and then covered everything with a thin layer of Crackle Accents to give shine, and a crazing vintage feel...I NEED some of Tim's new Collage Medium Crazing stuff!!!!

I broke out the new Mirrored Hearts, and gave them a coloring with Red Pepper Alcohol Ink from Ranger. LOVE them!

I was able to make six cards from the masterboard. I LOVE how they came out.

This one is for my honey, who is also a Valentine birthday boy!

Happy Love Day to all of you!!! I appreciate every single one of you, and a big hug to those of you who always comment and support me! My cup really does runneth over!!! I hope you all receive some yummy chocolates too!!!

Supplies:

Ranger Inkssentials #10 Jumbo Manila Tags	Ranger Inkssentials Manila Cardstock	Ranger Inkssentials Mister	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Stain - Brushed Corduroy	Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Brushed Corduroy
Tim Holtz Collection Layering Stencil in Flourish	Tim Holtz Layering Stencil 2015 VALENTINE	Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Mini Layering Stencils - Set 6 THMST006 (March Pre-Order)	Ranger Dina Wakley Palette Knife	Wendy Vecchi Embossing Paste in White
Ranger Gold Embossing Powder	Tim Holtz Mini Ink Blending Tool	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Candied Apple	Idea-ology Stencils in Hearts	Tim Holtz Sizzix Alterations Movers and Shaperss - Mini Love Struck
Ranger Wendy Vecchi Archival Ink in Tree Branch	Love Struck Stamp Set	Ranger Jet Black Archival Ink	Crackle Accents	Surfaces Black #8 Tag
Ranger Multi Matte Medium	Idea-ology Adornments Arrows	Idea-ology Vial Labels	Idea-ology Remnant Rub Tool	Idea-ology Remnant Rubs in Special Delivery
Tim Holtz Idea-ology Big Chat Stickers	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Small Talk Occasions	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Mirrored Hearts TH93269 (February Pre-Order)	Red Pepper Alcohol Ink

I hope your hands get creatively dirty soon!

Tuesday, February 09, 2016

Organizing With Idea-ology!

You've heard me say it before...I'M A CRAFT HOARDER!!! But, I am an ORGANIZED craft hoarder!!! And, I LOVE it when there are new craft storage goodies on the market, and Tim Holtz has some great new ones through his Idea-ology line...The Industrial Storage Cart and the Supply Spinner!

The Supply Spinner comes ready to go and ready to be filled up! The Storage Cart needs putting together, but it's super easy. It took me all of 11 minutes to screw everything in with the Allen Wrench it comes with. It also comes with a Fixed Wrench to secure the wheels, which also have locking twists on two of the wheels, which is great for traveling.

Speaking of traveling...I plan to take my storage cart on the road with me to hold all my demo loot. Not only do my seven drawers need to be secure while I'm on the go (Just like the locking wheels.), I am also a freakishly strong woman, and have the tendency to really pull on thing...like drawers. So I came up with a way to secure my drawers from coming out of the cart when I slam on the brakes, and when I use my muscles to open the drawers! Here's a new use for Tim's Elastic Bands!!!

I affixed a band to the end (About three inches away from the back.) of each drawer around the bars they slide into. The drawers still open smooth as butter, but now cannot come off the bars and onto the floor!!! The pack of Elastic Bands has 15 in them, and you only need 14. Will all of you need them? NO! But if you travel a lot and are really strong and man handle things, then this is a good solution for you! Plus, it doesn't look bad at all.

Of course I had to label the seven drawers! I used Tag Labels and Long Fasteners and added them to each drawer. It looks fabulous! The possibilities are endless for making the cart all yours!

The Supply Spinner fits great on top, and anything would really, as the top is about 16x16 Inches. The whole cart stands about 34 inches tall with the wheels on, and it's super strong and sturdy, and not wobbly at all. I LOVE it, and can't wait to fill it up with supplies!

In case you are wondering, the drawers are big enough to hold 12x12 paper stacks, and are three inches deep, so you can get a lot of loot in all seven of them!

Now I'm off to reorganize my crafty cave, as you saw from the photos that it needs it...don't judge!!! Have a happy day!!!

Supplies: