Bee Artful Canvas

Here I go again waiting until the last minute, but guess what happened to me last night when I decided to go to bed early at 8:45 pm? While flipping through an old copy of Craft Stamper Magazine, I had a visitor named Mr. Mojo, who stayed with me until about 1:00 am (wink wink) while I doodled away in my Art Journal Planner...about 27 projects I think, mostly for Christmas! So much for sleep, but one idea was this canvas that I had given up on long ago. I had the preliminary background done on this and 4 others just like it about...um...18 months ago, but when it came time to do something on them I just stared blankly. So I put them away, and took them out several times, all with the same outcome, a total blank. Until last night! I knew I wanted to participate in Hels Sheridan's Sunday Stamper challenge of "A Taste of Honey", and the Unruly Paper Arts Reader Art Quest 2 challenge of "Dimension to a Canvas", but as I had no idea where to start on either, I shewed those thoughts away. Thanks Mojo dude!!! Please come back again soon!

Everything here was already on from a long time ago, except the Tim's Idea-ology Grunge letters and Claudine Hellmuth Gesso, that I used to gain extra texture.

Now comes a whole slew of Ranger goodness. I ran Tea Dye Distress Stain over the whole canvas, and then dried it with the heat tool. I also used a Marvy Permanent Red Marker to darken certain spots of the flowers.

My favorite color of Color Wash, Butterscotch, came next. I wiped portions of it away on both of the lady faces. I gave this a good drying as well.

I stamped Tim's Honeycomb image randomly in Jet Black Archival.

I thought it needed some lighter areas, so out came Claudine's Tradional Tan Acrylic Paint. I mixed it with water to dilute it a little. More drying.

I needed some contrast color, so Landscape Green came next. I highlighted the letters with Jet Black Archival, Perfect Pearls Mist, and some more Barn Door Distress Stain. I also inked the edges with Jet Black. I stamped the bees, and colored them in with Glaze Pens, and added a Crackle Accents to the wings. I wanted a little sparkle on some parts, so I used my fingers and Sunflower Sparkle Perfect Pearls Mist to do that.

I wasn't sure if this was going to work, but experiment leads to technique. I adhered two sided tape (bologna) to a piece of metal strip, and die cut it with the Rosette die, which cut like butter!  I also die cut a piece of papertowel to adhere the metal to. I didn't want to use paper because the metal is already plenty stiff.

I embossed the circle with the Honeycomb Texture Fade.

I used Alcohol Inks to color the Rosette pieces and an Idea-ology Philosophy tag. After I dried everything, I started folding my Rosette. This was a little difficult with the metal being stiff, so I used a craft stick to help bend the folds. I didn't do a perfect job but it worked just fine. I didn't have the patience for glue, so the Tiny Attacher help me out. It flattened out beautifully. I attached an Idea-ology Hinge, Jump Rings, and the Philosophy Tag to the center circle. I used Glossy Accents to attach it to the Rosette. Finito! I'm in love!!!

Supplies:

From My Stash: face stamp, tissue pattern, lady ephemera, sheet music, Marvy Red Marker, snaps, bee stamps


I hope your hands get creatively dirty soon!

There's Two Sides To This Story!

Hello everyone! Sorry it has been a little bit since I've been on here. I've finally beaten back the horrible sinus problems, and hope they don't show themselves again for a long time! However, they have gone off with my mojo as well! So if you've seen it, please send it around to me again! Until then, I will have to make due with the little bit I've managed to scrape off the sides of my trash can, when mojo was so plentiful a little bit fell to the floor,  and was then cleaned up instead of stored away. Don't you hate it when that happens? I certainly do!

Alas though, here it is, another new fortnight...already!  "Hey hey, we're the Funkies! People say we funky around!" ....Sorry...I couldn't help myself. I've missed talking to you all! Okay, back to business now! Sue Carrington, of Stamping Sue Style, is hosting the challenge this time at Frilly & Funkie, and she wants to see Anything But A Card, And There's A Twist...Something Must Be Hidden! So, it's time to let your imagination run wild! You could be thinking of a 3D project, an altered item, or keeping it simple with a tag, but don't forget that twist. You must include somewhere to hide something. This could be a flap, an envelope, a pocket, or even a gift box with something inside. Have fun with this one! You still have a week left to play along, and if you need a little inspiration or even a lot, please visit the other Design Team's blogs. 

Linda Coughlin - The Funkie Junkie

Marjie Kemper - She Who Stamps and Scraps 

Teresa Kline - Paperie Blooms

Terry Horrall -  Terry's Work In Progress 

Sue Carrington - Stamping Sue Style 

Rebecca Deeprose - Paper Primrose

Well like I said before, the mojo is definitely lacking at La Casa de Houston, so when I saw the challenge at Simon Says Stamp & Show for "Inspired by Wendy Vecchi", a little low voltage light went on inside my head, and while it's not 100 watts, it's at least something! So my F&F piece is totally made of Blossom Buckets and Art Parts, and you already know how much I love my Parts...or is that Wendy's Parts???

Front Cute Side: Bursting with luscious green  healthy plants, a black bird, and glorious flowers!

I really wanted this to turn out much different, and try as I might I couldn't figure out how to maneuver a Flip- Flopper Over for my hidden part. I am really going to have to dive deep in my engineer/architect files that are hidden somewhere in the confines of my brain, lost at the moment. So instead of revealing my hidden secret with a Flip Flop, you get the Turn Around instead! WOW...right? :-(

Scary Back Side: A wicked old zombie witch, with poisonous snakes for hair, a mean crow who wants to peck your eyes out, and not a feather on one of her wings!

A ton of Art Parts were altered, reconfigured (These will be her hat.)...

...stained, inked, and stamped. Tim's skull was stamped with Ranger's Jet Black Archival onto Specialty Stamping Paper and adhered to the Art Part Head.

I am also submitting this duo sided piece to the challenge at the Everything Wendy Vecchi Yahoo Group for "Creepy, Freaky, or Just Plain Weird", the Stamp Man Challenge of "Butterflies, Birds, & Bees", and the Blogger's Challenge for "Alter It". 
Supplies:



I hope your hands get creatively dirty soon!