Gingersnap Creations: Choose Your Challenge!

This is a special week over at the Gingersnap Creations Blog: It's the Blue Moon! Okay, maybe it's not technically a blue moon in the astronomical sense, but in the Gingersnapper's sense, it most definitely is. This is the rare 5th Wednesday of the month, so we host a Blue Moon Challenge where we do something unexpected... out of the ordinary... Blue Moon-y!

This is a particularly fun challenge, too-- it's Gingersnapper's Choice! In other words, you get to go back and do ANY Gingersnap Creations technique you wish! That's a whole lotta choice going on, and a chance to stretch your creative muscles in the direction of your choice. What's not to love about that?!

I took the Wayback Machine and landed in July of 2009, when the Citrus Colors Challenge originally posted (I'm a sucker for a color challenge!). Here, we have your lime, your lemon and your orange. It's like a Shasta soda pop convention... or something. Actually, after days and days and days of gray skies and below-normal temperatures, I'm SO beyond ready for anything remotely summery, I latched onto these hot weather colors like a drowning woman would latch onto a hunky lifeguard.

Check out the Gingersnaps Blue Moon Challenge right here, where our Founding Diva, Shar, created a convenient list of links to your many options for creative brilliance! You have all the way through April 26th to play!

Can't wait to see what you choose!

The Specs:
Unity Itty Bitty "Make Life Sweet" stamp set
Copic Sketch Markers in various shades of Y, YR and G
White, yellow, orange and green cardstock
Orange Sakura Glaze Pen for the little dots
Twinery Lemon Drop Baker's Twine
Little black eyelets

The Big Premier! It's Grungy Monday Number One!

Featuring Special Guest Star Designers:

Terry Horrall!

Tracy Jacobs!

Welcome, friends, to the very first Grungy Monday Challenge! Each week, we'll be exploring the techniques, products and all-around genius of papercraft artist extraordinaire, Tim Holtz, and sharing our creations here at Studio L3. I hope you're as excited as I am to get this party started!

I could wax on and on about how amazing Tim is, how he's my A-#1 creative role model, how I think he's the Obiwan Kenobi of mixed media art... but you guys already know that. So, how 'bout we just dive right in and get rolling on Grungy Monday #01?

12 Tags of Christmas, 2008, Tag 10!

Click that link above to see Tim's stunning tag and get the instructions on how to proceed. Remember, this challenge is about being inspired by Tim's techniques, so take that tutorial and make it your own!

Once you've completed your piece, please upload it here using the InLinkz feature at the end of this post. You'll need to have your own blog or an online, public photo album in order to participate Flickr, Photobucket and Picasa are all good choices for photo sharing. 

Please be sure include a link to Tim's website (www.timholtz.com) in your blog post or photo comments. I'd appreciate it if you'd link back to Studio L3, too. 

Your Grungy Monday #01 Design Team:

I'm delighted to introduce you to our first Grungy Monday Guest Star Designers, who also happen to be two of my favorite people in the blogiverse: 

Terry Horrall

of Terry's Work In Progress

Tracy Jacobs

of Not a Moment to Spare

Did these ladies ROCK this technique, or what?? Breathtaking! Be sure to drop by their blogs and show them some love. 

Oh, and here's my own GM#01 offering:

Meet Lola, Queen of the Pachyderms!

Please click here for a list of the products I used. 

Gloria, the amazing List Mom at the All Things Tim discussion group, is inviting all the Grungy Monday participants to share their art with the awesome folks there. Just drop by the group's home page and upload your photo to the Grungy Monday photo album. If you're not yet an All Things Tim member, this is the perfect time to join! You'll never find a kinder, more supportive bunch of artists. 

Okay, my friends in distressing, go forth and rock the grunge! You're welcome to upload your GM01 art anytime between now and Sunday, April 3 at 8 pm MDT, when this challenge officially closes. I can't wait to see what you create!

HUGE thanks to Terry and Tracy for sharing their brilliance!

By the way, if you've contacted me about being a Grungy Monday Guest Designer yourself, you'll be hearing from me soon with a schedule. I've been happily overwhelmed by the all the wonderful offers to volunteer, and it's my intention to make sure everyone gets their turn. Thanks for your patience while I struggle to learn better spreadsheet skills! 
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Drunken Stampers Salute: The Guys

By now, we all know that papercrafting, while largely the realm of those with two X chromosomes, has its share of superstar XYers, too. We love them. Of course, the majority of guys don't know the difference between pigment ink and dye ink, and for the most part, we love them, too. In fact, over at the Drunken Stampers Crafting Pub, we're celebrating the testosterone crowd with our challenge this week. That's right: This one's for the guys!

My own long-suffering partner, Scott, has adapted with Zen-like peace to my papercrafting obsession. When a box as big as a refrigerator shows up from UPS, he calmly asks if Tim Holtz just released some new products. When our shared office space/studio looks like ground zero of a craft bomb detonation, he patiently tiptoes over the rubble to check his email. He's awesome, and the cats like him, too. 

But, I digress. 

My "Guy-Themed" card combines products from three of my personal crafting heroes: The aforementioned Tim Holtz (the watch hands, photo, background paper and ATC diecut and corners), THE Wendy Vecchi (the awesome pocket watch Art Parts) and Suze Weinberg (the UTEE that gives the pocket watch its faux-metallic finish). Oh, and the clock face is a transparency from my box of mystery stuff from somewhere. We all have one of those, right?

Our All About Him Challenge at Drunken Stampers is open through next Friday, April 1, and the girls and I would love to see how YOU celebrate the men in your life!

Menu:

• ATC and Corners cut with Tim Holtz Alterations Movers and Shapers Die
• Background Paper from Tim Holtz Idea-ology Crowded Attic Paper Stash
• Photo is from Tim Holtz Idea-ology Lost and Found Paper Stash
• Watch hands are Tim Holtz Idea-ology Game Spinners
• Pocket Watch is from Wendy Vecchi's new Art Parts 
• Pocket Watch is coated with UTEE in Bronze and Black

Gingersnap Creations 3rd Annual Copper, Ginger and Rust Challenge!

I'm incredibly honored to be part of the design team at Gingersnap Creations, especially given that my teammates happen to be some of my own personal crafting heroes! This is a big week for us, too-- It's our 3rd Annual Copper, Ginger and Rust Color Challenge, a celebration of the very essence of "gingerness!" Won't you join us?

Have you ever checked out the instructional videos at Ranger Ink? What a goldmine of great info! Suze Weinberg (that's right: THE Suze, Goddess of Melt Art Goodness) has a fabulous video there in which she demonstrates a technique using Melt Art Beewax for a quick, dreamy collage. It dawned on me recently that I don't use beeswax nearly often enough, and the Ginger Challenge felt like a perfect opportunity to remedy that.

There's something so wonderful about working with natural beeswax. It's fun and forgiving and smells like honey, and though you might find yourself craving scones while you use it, I can almost guarantee you'll have a blast! It's kind of... Zen, actually. And, I bet we could all use a little Zen right now.

I followed the instructions in Suze's video pretty closely, except that I added metallic leafing, just pressing it into the warm wax. I used the rub-ons once the wax had cooled, and distressed them a bit with a craft scraper.

Whether you go the beeswax route, or something completely different, the only requirement for our Gingersnap Creations Copper, Ginger and Rust Challenge is that you prominently feature at least one of the aforementioned colors in your artwork. Let your creativity run wild, y'all! You have all the way through April 24th to wow us with your mad crafting genius!

Ingredients:

• A plain 5 x 7 canvas, primed with Claudine Hellmuth Studio Gesso
• Adirondack Metallic Paint Dabber in Copper
• Ranger Melt Art White Beeswax
• Ranger Melting Pot
• Kaiser Craft Rub-Ons (The letters are from the Type Alpha set. Sadly, I don't see the lace and flourish designs on the site anymore.)
• Gildenglitz Variegated Metallic Leafing
• Text from an old book
• Photo from a magazine ad

Drunken Stampers vs. Twisted Fairy Tales

Good morning, blog friends! The question du jour is: What could be more fun than taking a beloved childhood fairy tale and messing with it?

Don't answer that.

Actually, it's a question the Drunken Stampers have spent a great deal of time pondering these past few days, and you can see the results at our challenge post this week. I may be wrong, but it seems to me there might be a teeny tiny bit of woman-power-related bitterness built up in relation to fairy tales. I can't imagine why... ;-)

We'd love to see you take a fairy tale and turn it on its ear! What happens to "happily ever after" once the romance is over and the credit card bills for all those ball gowns start rolling in? Does the Handsome Prince drink cheap beer and watch WWF Wrestling? Did that bluebird really just leave a mess on your shoulder?! You see where I'm going here. This is a fun-- and cathartic-- challenge!

If nothing else, do it for the maids who thought they needed a prince to save them.

The Drunken Stampers Twisted Fairy Tales challenge is open through Friday, March 25th. Bring it ON, crafty friends!

Hugs,
Linda

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My piece is a hybrid of paper and digital elements. The godmother stamp is an unnamed golden oldie from my collection. I stamped her onto plain white paper and scanned the image into Photoshop, where I added color. The background is Bo Bunny paper, also scanned and dropped behind the godmother. From there, I just added the text. 

E-Team Special Mission: A Crafty Secrets MEGA HOP!

The eclectic Paperie E-Team has joined forces with the brilliant designers from Crafty Secrets for a MEGA BLOG HOP this weekend! The 15-- that's right FIFTEEN-- designers participating will collectively demonstrate just how awesome the Crafty Secrets product line is (I'm talking "Love at first sight" awesomeness here!), and hopefully inspire you to create your own shabby-chic-vintage goodness along with us!

Technique info and a product list are at the end of this post. 

Make sure to visit each Crafty Secrets & E-Team blog participant, see what they created, and leave them some love. The more comments you leave, the more chances have of winning one of the SIX prizes being given away by eclectic Paperie and Crafty Secrets!
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You have from  Friday, March 18th through Sunday, March 20th to visit each blog participant. The six winners will be chosen randomly from comments left at the designers' blogs, and they'll get some fabulous Crafty Secrets goodies!  The winners' names will be posted on both the eclectic Paperie blog and on the Crafty Secrets blog on Monday, March 21st.


The E-Team is:
Daisy Sparks, of eclectic Paperie
Broni Holcombe
Latrice Murphy
Linda Duke (representing both the E-Team and Crafty Secrets!)
Linda Ledbetter (Hi!)
Micki Harper
Sherry Cheever
Starla Nelson

The Crafty Secrets Team is:
Flo Teixeira
Julie Campbell
Mary Hamer
Melissa Phillips
Michele Kovack
Pam Hooten
Vicki Chrisman- The Crafty Secrets Team Leader

I got a little sneak preview of some of my E-Teammates art for this hop, and I'm still saying "WOW!" intermittently as I sit here typing. Those ladies know how to make some incredible art! I can't wait to have my socks knocked off by those Crafty Secrets artists, too!

Have a blast on this virtual gallery walk, and an all-around wonderful weekend!

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I made four "super-sized" ATCs for this project (they're 3 x 4", instead of the standard 2.5 x 3.5"). I stamped the wonderful Crafty Secrets Wizard of Oz characters onto plain white cardstock and colored them with Copic Sketch Markers. To get a shabby/aged/disheveled look, I gently wadded up the cardstock, flattened it back out, and lightly covered the colored images with Old Paper Distress Ink using an Ink Blending Tool. I then tore around the images and smudged the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. 

I mounted the images onto various designer papers from my stash, then onto textured straw-toned cardstock. Since I didn't manage to work in a Yellow Brick Road anywhere, I laced some Twinery string in Lemondrop through rivets in the corners of each card. 

Introducing: GRUNGY MONDAY: Celebrating the Techniques of Tim Holtz!

Welcome, everyone, to a brand new challenge series based on the techniques, products, and all-around awesomeness of Tim Holtz!

That's right: It's Grungy Monday!

It didn't take long into the Compendium of Curiosities Challenge series for me to realize that I was not going to want it all to end once we'd completed the 35 techniques in the book. I've made so many wonderful friends, after all, and I want to keep creating Tim-inspired art with you all as long as you're willing, and also welcome anyone else who'd like to join in. And so, with Tim's permission, Grungy Monday will launch on March 28!

Details? You want details? Sure!

Techniques Galore!
Tim is the undisputed master of inspiration, and he's created enough wonderful techniques and products to keep us happily challenged for a long time to come! This series will be a complete mash up of Holtzian goodness. For instance, one week we might create something inspired by an old 12 Tags of Christmas project, the next week maybe a product-themed challenge, the week after that, maybe one of his video tutorials from the Ranger site... you get the idea!

This will be quite different from the Compendium of Curiosities Challenges, in that the technique instructions will generally be readily available, and you won't have to own a particular book to play along. In fact, only rule will apply: All participants must give credit to Tim Holtz in their post or photo link. Okay, actually, there's one more rule: You Must Have FUN!

Guest Designers!
Rather than have a dedicated Design Team, I'd like to offer an opportunity for everyone who's interested to have their turn as a guest designer. Here's how I envision it, and we'll see how it evolves over time:

Each week, two "Special Guest Star" artists will create examples for the technique along with me! I'll include a link to their blogs so they can get the props they deserve, and the participants will get to see some wonderful variety in the way the week's challenge can be approached.

If you'd like to be a Special Guest Star for an upcoming Grungy Monday challenge, contact me and I'll put you on the list, first come/first served. Email Me Here! (Please don't leave Guest Designer requests in the Comments!). Once I get you on the schedule, I'll send you detailed instructions on your challenge so you can get started on your artwork.

RAK 'Em Up!
After the outpouring of generosity from so many online vendors for the CCC, it doesn't feel right to ask for even more, so I'm not going to seek out sponsors for these challenges. Instead, every once in a while --out of the blue-- someone is going to get RAKed (that's a "random act of kindness," or, in other words, "an unexpected gift!"). I'm not going to make a big deal about it, but just be aware, you never know when you might get a little goodie in the mail. Of course, if you're a vendor and you want to sponsor a challenge, you're more than welcome! Just send me an email and we'll work out the details.

Pay It Forward!
I'm a big believer in the healing power of art, and something I've wanted to do for a while now is designate an occasional challenge as a Daymaker Opportunity. This won't be required, of course, but I love the idea of using our creations to unexpectedly brighten someone's day. I'll get into specifics when the challenges begin.

Okay, Tim fans, are you ready to get messy and distressy? Please gather your inks and supplies and meet me here at 6 am MDT on Monday, March 28! And, if you'd like to be a Special Guest Star designer, remember to email me via that link above!

Hugs and Thanks!
Linda

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A Compendium of Curiosities Challenge: The Finale, and CCC 35 Winner!

"I'm so glad we had this time together..."

-- Carol Burnett

Well, CCCers, it's hard for me to believe, but we've reached the end of our challenge series. Thirty-five amazing techniques have been explored, and I've been astonished every single week by the limitless talent and imagination of all you wonderful artists who've shared your work. Whether you've participated in every challenge, or just a few here and there, please know how much it's meant to me that you joined in. You've inspired me and a bunch of other people, too, and hopefully learned some awesome new things along the way, courtesy of Tim Holtz and his ingenious book:

It's been one of the greatest honors of my life to be your hostess for this journey. Thank you, each and every one!

I have one final prize to give away, and it comes courtesy Tim and Mario themselves! Without further ado, the winner of the Holtzian Collection of Wonderment, including the autographed stamp set, goes to...

Maggie of the Capricorn Crafts Blog!

Isn't this GORGEOUS??! Click to visit Maggie's Blog!

Congratulations, Maggie!

YAY!!!

I can't say enough good things about Gloria, the List Mom at the All Things Tim group at Yahoo. Gloria has sent a prize to a CCC participant every single week since we began, shipping them at her own expense while hosting the coolest discussion group on the planet. Gloria, you're a goddess and a rock star, and I appreciate your generosity and your friendship enormously.

Gloria will choose a winner for Challenge 35 and I'll post their name directly at the All Things Tim group, so don't forget to check for it! If by some chance you're not yet a member, please join this wonderful bunch of people! 

Please join me in offering a HUGE thank you to the online vendors who've so generously sponsored these challenges throughout the months. They've been absolutely wonderful, and exemplify the fact that the best businesses are run by the nicest people. Visit these folks when you're in need of crafting supplies. They're the best!

Finally, there aren't enough accolades in the entire universe to properly thank Tim Holtz and Mario Rossi, who've been incredibly generous in their support of this challenge series. You guys truly are the best, and there's a whole bunch of people reading this who will back me up on that! Thanks, too, to Stampers Anonymous, Ranger Ink, Idea-ology, Tonic Studios and Sizzix Alterations for supplying us with Tim's awesome signature products. 

It's been said that "All good things come to an end," but we also know that every ending is a new beginning. Are you ready for the next Journey?? All will be revealed Monday, March 14, 6 am MDT. I very much hope you'll be here!

With love and gratitude,

Linda

Drunken Stampers Present: Faux Wood!

I'm guessing it's no surprise to anyone that I'm smitten with the Woodgrain Texture Fade embossing folder from Tim Holtz's Alterations line. So, when I learned that fake wood was going to be our challenge at Drunken Stampers this week, I figured it would be a gimme.

Then I sat down at my crafting table with a freshly embossed, die-cut and Distress-Inked piece of faux wood... and I stared at it for about half an hour. The following is an excerpt from the transcript of my thoughts during that time:

"I don't know what to create. I sure do like Vintage Photo Distress Ink. I want pizza. I can't, I'm dieting. I don't care, I want pizza. My feet hurt; why did I wear those stupid high-heeled boots to work today? I forgot to scoop the litter box. Holy crap, I don't know what to create. Hot cocoa would be nice right now. I wonder which Frasier rerun is on tonight? Geez, this studio looks like a bomb went off. I don't know what to create!!! I think it's going to rain tomorrow. Oh, no, we have to set the clocks ahead Saturday night. I still want pizza. I broke a nail; why tonight?! I DON'T FREAKING KNOW WHAT TO CREATE!!!"

Ladies and gentleman, step right up and observe Linda as she stumbles her way around and around on the Hellish Hamster Wheel of Missing Mojo.

If you're reading this, you're most likely a craft artist yourself and you've probably experienced that same feeling of complete and utter creative blankness at some point in your life. It's the manifestation of those the immortal lyrics by Howard Jones: "You can look at the menu but you just can't eat, you can feel the cushions but you can't have a seat..." (and no one is to blame). There's art inside you crying to get out, but it would take a backhoe and high-tech siphoning system to access and release it. It's frustrating and exhausting, and if you're like me, it activates every little insecurity and self-doubt (and pizza craving).

I've never worked out a sure-fire method of busting a creative block, but last night, listening to the awful news out of Japan, I realized my missing-mojo problem was pretty insignificant in the grand scheme of things. So, I can't make a decent card right now. Big deal. I'm incredibly lucky to be alive, to have a home, to be part of a massive community of craft artists who inspire me, and to have access to pizza 24/7. I'm so, SO grateful for all that... and about a billion more things. In short, Life Rocks!

It really does.

Our Faux Wood challenge is open through next Friday night at the Drunken Stampers Online Crafting Lounge. Please join in!

Hugs to all,
Linda

Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler... Baby!

Happy Mardi Gras! Yes, I know, by now it's actually Ash Wednesday in most parts of the world, but I gave up deprivation for Lent this year. Plus, our Mardi Gras-themed challenge over at Gingersnap Creations is open all the way until Easter, so keeping "les bons temps" rolling just seems like the right thing to do.

Truth is, I have a thing for New Orleans. I've never been, and it's the place I most want to visit in the entire country.  Over the years, this fascination has evolved into a deep appreciation for the culture and history of the city, and an immense respect for the people who are working so hard to restore it after the tragedy of Katrina. But, I'll let you guys in on a secret, because you're my friends and I know you won't ridicule me for it:

My initial attraction to New Orleans had a great deal to do with the movie, "The Big Easy." If you've seen the film and heard Dennis Quaid say to Ellen Barkin, in his awful-but-endearing, fake-cajun accent, "Just relax, darlin'. This is da Big Easy. Folks have a certain way a' doin' things down here," then you know exactly what I'm talking about.

I mean, come on!

*sigh*

Oh, yeah. The card. It's a Loralie Designs image called "Rainbow Beauty," colored with Copic Sketch and  AtYou Spica Glitter Pens. The background paper is from Graphic 45's new "Curtain Call" collection. The lace scrap looks brown, but in real life it's colored with shiny gold Krylon ink. The sentiment was computer generated. And, for the record, I so wish I had a dress just like this one, especially if it came with a color-coordinated mask and I could wear it while dancing at Tipitina's.

I'm off to watch a DVD now, cher. Hope y'all had a great Mardi Gras!

Hugs,
Linda

Compendium of Curiosities Challenge 35!

Design Details

With a Special Prize from Tim, Mario and Me!

Well, CCCers, this is it! Challenge 35. I'm thrilled that we've covered every single challenge in Tim Holtz's magnificent book, A Compendium of Curiosities...

... and at the same time, I'm sad that it's over!

(Or is it??)

Throughout this series, I've made it a point to not do the techniques in the order they appear in the book, but I always knew I wanted to end with the final lesson Tim presented in the Compendium: Design Details. What a fun way to wrap things up! I had a blast making my example piece, and I bet you're going to enjoy this one immensely, too. Go ahead and open your Compendium of Curiosities to page 67, and let's get started!

I have one final batch of those wonderful goodies Tim and Mario sent, and the winner of Challenge 35 will receive them! Can you think of a more wonderful keepsake than an autographed Umbrella Man stamp set? ( I had to twist my own arm to let go of this, but you guys are worth it!). There's also a stash of those beautiful Vintage Shabby Papers, a set of Idea-ology Word Keys and a Sanding Grip. Oh, and I've added a copy of one of my other favorite books in the whole world, Tim's Distressables 2! 

To be eligible to win our Grand Finale prize, please create your own art using the Design Details technique and link it to this blog via the InLinkz button at the bottom of this post. You're in the running as long as you honor these two simple rules:

1. Follow the technique as it's written in the Compendium of Curiosities (adding your own special flair, of course!); and

2. Out of respect to Tim, please don't post the technique instructions on your blog!

As she has each week, the lovely and talented Gloria, List Mom at the All Things Tim group, will also send a sweet prize to one of our participants! Simply add your image to the Compendium of Curiosities folder at the All Things Tim home page, and be sure to tag your photo "CCC #35." Gloria will choose her winner from that folder. If you're not yet a member at All Things Tim, well, what are you waiting for?! They're the greatest people, and will welcome you with open arms!

So, I've dropped a few hints over these past few weeks that there just might be something new happening once we wrap up this final week of the CCC. I'll give you all the details when I announce the winners of Challenge 35 next Monday morning, but suffice it to say, it ain't over, baby! You might find a hint or two hidden in my example piece above, if you look really closely...

Have an amazingly wonderful week, everyone!

Hugs,

Linda

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Congratulations, CCC 34 Winners!

Ladies and gentleman, I want to announce something wildly unexpected, something I don't think any of us have ever seen before in the history of the Random Number Generator. Check this out:

That's right. We've busted a myth this week! Number One can in fact, win!

And, that means, HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to the wonderful

  

Sabine

from the Stempeltanz Blog!

Gorgeous work, Sabine! You've won a $25 shopping spree at I Brake for Stamps, and you're going to have SO MUCH FUN shopping at that wonderful store!

Thanks so much to Della for sponsoring Challenge 34! I Brake for Stamps ROCKS! 

Over at the fabulous and friendly All Things Tim group, lovely List Mom Gloria has chosen her winner for CCC 34, too. Congratulations to:

Deborah M

of the Life Outside the Fishbowl blog! 

Gorgeous tag, Deborah! 

Thanks to everyone who shared their amazing art, and to Della and Gloria for their generosity! And, of course, to the amazing Tim Holtz, without whom none of this would have happened. 

I can hardly believe I'm about to post the final Compendium of Curiosities Challenge! What a wonderful experience this has been for me, getting to know so many incredible artists and making some fabulous new friends. Let's do it one more time, shall we? Challenge 35 will post in just a few moments!

Drunken Stampers Color Challenge, with a PRIZE from DRS Designs!

It's an extra special week over at the Drunken Stampers Challenge Blog, as we've teamed up with the folks at DRS Designs for a color-themed Digi Challenge using their wonderful images! Woot! (or is that Hooooot?)

We're using a fabulous combination of colors, too: Purple, Teal and Coral. Just think of all you can do with this palette: Go tropical. Go Mardi Gras. Go Fashionista. Or, go Snowy Owl in a Rainstorm Protected By One Freakishly Large Floating Flower, like I did for this canvas.

I used the Snowy Owl and Rainstorm images from DRS Designs, and let me tell you, it was hard to choose, because they have so many cool stamps. They're generous, too-- DRS will be giving away a $10 gift certificate to their shop to one random player this week! Just post your Purple/Teal/Coral entry in either the Linky Tools or the Comments section at the Drunken Stampers blog by March 11th at 11:59 pm (Pacific Time). You can use any imagery you wish (DRS or not), but your card must be new and not entered in any other challenges to be eligible.

What are you waiting for?? Grab your favorite beverage, hop on over the Drunken Stampers and win, win, WIN!

Hugs,
Linda

E-Team Special Mission: Wrinkle-Free Distress!

The eclectic Paperie E-Team is at it again, fighting crime and making art (okay, we don't really fight crime...), and today we're back for another installment of our Distress Techniques Blog Hop series. And, guess what? We're doing everyone's favorite: Wrinkle-Free Distress! Easy, fun, and a guaranteed path to papercrafting awesomeness!

I love this technique and use it all the time, and have added a couple of twists for this tutorial. 

As you may know, Tim Holtz, that Jedi Master of All Things Distress, produced a DVD a few years ago called An Altered Journey (if you don't have it, do get it. You'll thank me. No, actually, you'll thank Tim!). This DVD includes instructions on how to make Faux Batik silk scarves using stamps, embossing powder and Colorwash Spray. I adapted this technique into a mash-up with the classic Wrinkle-Free Distress instructions, and came up something I like to call Wrinkle-Free Faux Batik a la Holtz. 

Here's what you'll need: A nonstick craft sheet, plain white card stock, Distress Embossing Ink, Clear Embossing Powder, a heat tool, a sheet of plain newsprint, an iron, Distress Inks, Perfect Pearls Mist and bold foam stamps. If you wish, you can also add more detailed stamping to finish the piece. (I used Claudine Hellmuth Studio Creative Layers stamps from the "Nature" set.)

Begin by applying Distress Embossing Ink to the white cardstock with your foam stamps.

Coat the ink with clear embossing powder. Shake off the excess and melt the embossing powder with your heat tool.

Here's what you'll have so far. A whole lot of white. We need some color here!

Let's get messy and distressy! Smear your favorite colors of Distress Ink right onto your nonstick craft sheet.

(I know what you're thinking: "For the love of Gandolf, Linda, get yourself a new nonstick craft mat. That thing looks positively mangy!" And, you're right. But, it still works fine! Honest!)

Spritz Perfect Pearls Mist right on top of the ink smears until the ink forms little droplets.

Press your embossed cardstock face down into the colorful, sparkly wetness. Pick it up and press it back down in a different area until the cardstock is covered with ink.

Fold your newsprint in half and place the damp, inked cardstock inside.

Use a hot iron to melt the embossing powder off the cardstock and into the absorbent newsprint. You can tell when it's done:

Ooh, it's like a reverse shadow... or something!

You can quit there and have a perfectly lovely faux batiked card. Or, you can festoon the heck out of it with colorful inks and more stamp images. I love the Claudine Hellmuth Studio Creative Layers Stamps for this technique because the line includes detailed clear stamps that coordinate with the chunky foam stamps, so you can achieve some really fun, offset-print effects:

I added some funky flowers from the same stamp set...

My E-Teammates absolutely rocked the Wrinkle-Free Distress; please be sure to hop around check out their wondrous creations. You'll be amazed at the variety you'll see. Oh, and yes indeed: THERE WILL BE PRIZES! Daisy has two super-secret, super-SPECIAL treats to sent to two lucky hoppers! For a chance to win, just visit and leave a comment at each designer's blog. You have the entire weekend, so enjoy the journey (where have I heard that before?). Daisy will choose her winners on Monday and announce their names on her blog. 

The E-Team is: 

Daisy, our fearless leader

Broni

Latrice

Linda D

Linda L3-- That's me!

Micki

Sherry

Starla

I hope you try the Wrinkle-Free Faux Batik a la Holtz technique, and if you do, please send me a photo! In the meantime, have a most wonderful, art-y, relaxing weekend, and thanks for hopping with the E-Team!

Hugs,
Linda