A Bird Crazy Flying Witch Card!!!

Happy Halloween everyone!!! I'm already sugared up, and I haven't even started passing out candy yet. Today, I have made a Halloween card with lots of Ranger Alcohol Ink, new Tim Holtz Sizzix dies, and his Stamper's Anonymous Bird Crazy line, for a sweet kiddo in our neighborhood. I'll give it to him when he comes Trick or Treating! I love passing out candy and treats to all the cuties in our hood!

You know...Crazy Birds make any project fun and happy! They really just might be the most versatile stamp goodies ever, and you just can't go wrong using them. They always make me happy when I see them on other people's projects, and always make me happy creating my own little characters with them.

To make the background, I squirted, yes squirted, lots of Alcohol Ink...lightest to darkest...on Gloss Cardstock. Then I added drops of Blending Solution, and added more Alcohol Ink, letting layers dry, until I liked the look. I stamped the Grunge Alphabet on this in Wendy Vecchi's Violet Archival. This stamp is so perfect for Halloween backgrounds I think. I wish you could see it more with the finished card. Then I gave the background a good shine with a clean clothe. I also die cut a circle out of the Gloss, and added a little Cloudy Blue Alcohol Ink to it to make the moon.

On another piece of Gloss, I made thin stripes of Clear Gesso with a paintbrush, very randomly. With the Gesso was still wet, I squirted on Alcohol Ink, leaving white spaces.

I quickly wiped away the Gesso and wet Alcohol Ink, and this is what I got. The Gesso, made a light resist. I LOVE this!

I added a thin layer of Clear Rock Candy Crackle to the whole piece, and let this dry. I die cut the Birch Trees out of it. I LOVE this die...it will be a favorite!

Still using Gloss Cardstock, I stamped the birds and Halloween  gear in Jet Black. ALWAYS REMEMBER to dry your ink on the Gloss Cardstock with a heat tool or it will smear.

Now I know that Alcohol Ink will lighten and even smear Archival Ink when you stamp first, but I like the softer look. So I painted in the Alcohol Ink with a paintbrush on the images. Yes, the border Jet Black did smear, but it was the look I wanted for this, and I wanted bold color as well. After painting everything in, I die cut the pieces, and then used the soft clothe to really make them shine. I always do that when I work with Alcohol Ink and Gloss Cardstock...it looks nicer. Then I used Distress Markers to color the edges, and even highlighted a few things, making them darker. They worked well on the surface. Then I gave them all a blast with the heat tool.

I inked in the edges of the Birch Trees with Ground Espresso Distress Ink and even rubber a little into some of the cracks! LOVE!!!!

I stamped the sentiment with Violet, and then outlined this and a few things on the witch with Stickles. You gotta have some sparkle on Halloween!

I wanted a different kind of edge for my base card, so I dug through the stash and found an old pair of Deckle scissors. Then I used a Picket Fence Distress Marker to add a little highlight on the deckled edges. I think it came out really cool. Finally, I layered everything on the base with lots of foam tape to give it a really good dimension.

She is flying through the night sky in search of candy to fill her bucket!!!

 

 

 

I hope you have a wonderful and enjoyable Halloween evening, and I hope you don't go into a diabetic coma with all that sugar! ;0)

Supplies:

Tim Holtz Sizzix Movers	Ranger Gloss Cardstock 12x12	Sunshine Yellow Alcohol Ink	Adirondack Alcohol Ink In Sunset Orange	Ranger Alcohol Ink in Botanical
Adirondack Purple Twilight Alcohol Ink	Denim Alcohol Ink	Ranger Alcohol Blending Solution	Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Stamp Set in Grunge Alphabet	Brand New Release! Ranger Wendy Vecchi Archival Ink Pad - Violet
Ranger Studio Paint ARTIST BRUSHES Brush	Dina Wakley Media Mediums - Clear Gesso	Ranger Alcohol Ink In Sandal	Ranger Alcohol Ink in Lemonade	Ranger Alcohol Ink In Latte
Clear Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint	Sizzix Magnetic Platform	Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets Die in Birch Trees	Tim Holtz Mini Ink Blending Tool	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Ground Espresso
Ranger Jet Black Archival Ink	Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Bird Crazy Stamp Set	Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Stamp Set in Crazy Things	Ranger Alcohol Ink In Espresso	Distress Markers Set
Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlets Die in Bird Crazy	Ranger Multi Matte Medium	Ranger Adhesive Foam in Black	Ranger Adhesive Strips	Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Stamp Set in Crazy Talk
Tim Holtz Idea-ology Index Labels	Black Diamond Stickles	Ranger Stickles In Champagne

I hope your hands get creatively dirty soon!

Encaustic Animals!!!

A few weeks ago I put out a post on my Facebook Page that I was going to my daughter's High School to teach Art classes for the week, and I promised photos. Well, the week turned into two days, and three days the following week due to the children's sports and activities schedules. I didn't want to rush them to finish, so I offered to give them more time before I came back to finish them up. I'm so glad I did that because they blew me away. I think I learned more from them than they did from me. It was a fabulous experience, and I will definitely do it again. Everyone did a bang up job, and their behavior was wonderful...that was the part I was worried about, but all for nothing. They are a great group of kids, and so talented.  I am so glad my daughter made me go ;0)...and I am so thankful to her exceptional Art teacher Mrs. McClaine for inviting me!

So as promised, here are a few photos. I couldn't take a picture of each piece (90+ children), but I have some of the pieces that really stood out.

This is a super calm and clean photo! This was one of the first classes, so everything was still neat and tidy, and the students were eerily quiet. After six classes, there were Faber Castell Gelatos everywhere, and even color on the floor. It was the most beautiful mess, and loud mess! I told them they could go for an Andy Warhol type vibe, but each person took from what I taught and went their own way. That is what I like the most! Nothing could have made me happier.

I gave each student eight choices of animals for them to use, and this rack held all the canvas boards. It was such a great way to store them. I might need one.

Only these six didn't quite get finished before I left. They only have the last two steps to go, but so far they were amazing.

Lots of the kids gave their animals names. We called this one Blaze the Cat! This photo doesn't do her justice.

LOVE this horse!

This pig was colored so wonderfully!!!

So cool!

Beautiful!

That purple orangutang was precious!

Cute cute cute!

This is Mrs. McClaine's. I love the colors she used!

This is one I was demoing along the way. It's not my favorite, as I had to go real fast, but it's still cute.

And here is the original I made that inspired the class, and in turn they inspired me much much more! They lit an excietment bug under me like I haven't felt for a long time. I truly LOVE my job!!! It's so rewarding.

Thanks for looking, and for all the comments, and as always, I hope your hands get creatively dirty soon!

Christmas Classes!!!

Hello everyone crafty! This time of year is always so busy for me planning out all the holiday classes. It's my favorite time of year to teach as well. Here are three of my Christmas classes that I will be teaching across Texas. I apologize for the photos. It was raining and dark when I took them, and now all the projects are on display at stores, so I can't get better photos.

1. The Christmastime Church Ornament uses lots of Idea-ology from Tim Holtz, Petaloo foliage, Ranger goodies, and what might just be three of my favorite Tim Sizzix dies of all time...all the new Village dies! I could make houses for ever I tell ya!!!

 

2. Twas the Night Before Christmas Santa Canvas uses the whole gamut of Dina Wakley Media from Ranger, as well as lots of Layering Stencils from Tim, and some gorgeous Faber-Castell product. This 16x20 inch biggie made me smile from ear to ear the whole time I was painting it. I've wanted to do a large Santa for years! (***This is not a free hand canvas...lol...I'm gonna show you how to cheat!)

3. The 12 Tags of St. Nicholas Carousel Tree is a big undertaking and uses more Ranger, Stamper's Anonymous,  Faber-Castell, and Idea-ology product than I've used in a class since the the Hood at Christmas Village! That is saying something if you remember it or took the class. What was I thinking? ;0) The tags have an old world feel with the Faux Mercury Glass technique I've come up with to transform each Santa...12 different gents! Every time I travel, I venture into vintage lace and fabric shops and buy all the ribbon I can, and this project uses soooo much of it! The photos do not do this one justice.

 

My first stop in November is Stamp Asylum in Plano, Texas, and then on to The Crafty Scrapper in Waxahachie, and hopefully Scrapbook N' More in New Braunfels in December...we are still checking schedules. Check each store's website or newsletter for all the details.
I humbly thank each and every one of you who have attended my classes! And to those who can't or haven't yet (I'm go nation wide next year...fyi!) thank you for the blog and social media support on Facebook and Twitter!!! You all are beyond wonderful!

I hope your hands get creatively dirty soon!