Grungy Monday 25!

Wow, you guys, I just finished my journey through your entries for last week, and my mind is blown! What a great job everyone did on the Perfect Distress technique! Thanks to everyone who participated and made such gorgeous, inspiring art. I wish I could send you ALL a prize, but since I can't, I let the Random Number Generator choose the winner of the Tim Holtz pin set. Huge congrats to entrant #27, the fabulously talented Kim Young!

It's a new week and, appropriately enough, Grungy Monday just happens to fall on Halloween! Whether or not you go for the "candy corn and costume" approach,  some version of this holiday is celebrated across many cultures as an opportunity to pay homage to our loved ones and heroes who've departed this life. In keeping with this gentler approach, our challenge this week is one that I hope will make your heart happy:


Use your favorite Tim Holtz products to create a loving tribute to a friend, relative or inspiring person who's passed away. 

The little card is chock full of Tim Holtz products-- Distress Inks, Alterations embossing folder and dies, Grungeboard, Idea-ology components... please click here for the lowdown. 

I made this piece in honor of my beloved maternal grandparents, Albert and Kate Couch, and my best childhood friend, Dynamite the Chihuahua. I celebrate them all whenever I ponder the loved ones I wish I could have had more time with, and I'll always be grateful that they were (and will forever be) in my life and my heart. I think I was in 4th Grade when I took this photo!

To participate in this challenge, please create your own homage using at least one Tim Holtz product (ink, stamps, papers, diecuts, embellishments-- your choice!). Upload the finished piece to your own blog or online, public photo album, then add it to this post using the InLinkz link below. Please remember to include a link to Tim's website (www.timholtz.com) and tell us which of his products you used for your artwork.

Remember to share your wonderful creation at the All Things Tim group, too! Lovely List Mom, Gloria, has a special photo album just for your Grungy Monday masterpieces!

And with that, I'll wish you a happy Halloween filled with all kinds of sweetness! Thanks so much for being part of Grungy Monday!
___________________

E-Team Special Mission: For the Love of Starbucks!

You know those hypothetical questions about what you'd take if you knew you were going to be stranded on a desert island? The latest eclectic Paperie E-Team Blog Hop theme is basically my own answer to that question: Tim Holtz's Seasonal Distress Inks and something inspired by Starbucks! 

(I'd also take my iPhone and a bunch of Motown mp3s, but since I was listening to Marvin Gaye while I made this piece and I took the photo with my iPhone, I figure I've got all the bases covered.) ;-)

I made what is currently a little wall hanging, although I think I'll end up attaching a magnet to the back so I can stick it on my espresso machine:

My E-Teammates did an amazing job with their art (they always do, actually!), and I think you'll have a blast hopping around to check out their work! As always, the lovely and generous Daisy from eclectic Paperie has great some prizes up for grabs, and to be eligible to win, all you need to do is leave a comment at each artist's blog. You have from today through this Sunday, October 30 to make the rounds. Daisy will randomly choose three winners from among all the comments, and each will receive $20 eclectic Paperie Gift Voucher! The winners will be announced on October 31 a the eclectic Paperie blog.

The E-Team is:

Daisy Sparks, our Fearless Leader

Broni Holcombe

Latrice Murphy 

Linda Ledbetter (That's me!)

Micki Harper

Starla Nelson

(Linda Duke and Sherry Cheever are sitting this one out, but be sure to stop by their blogs and see the beautiful projects they've been working on!)

But, wait! There's more. This is an eclectic Challenge, after all, and we want to see what YOU create using one of more of the Seasonal Distress Ink colors and a shot of Starbucks inspiration! The prize is awesome: A $10 Starbucks gift card and a box full of eclectic Paperie goodies! You'll have a couple of weeks to get this done-- the winner will be posted when our next E-Team hop goes up on November 15.

Thank you so much for stopping by, and I hope you have a spectacular, art-full weekend!
_________

A quick and easy wall hanging: Tint a Maya Road Super Mega Bottle Cap with Ranger Adirondack Espresso Alcohol Ink. Glue in an inkjet-printed Starbucks siren. Print the text on plain white paper and smudge it with Ripe Persimmon and Seedless Preserves Distress Ink, then color the edges with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink. Glue the text onto the siren. Add coffee beans and craft store botanicals, attached with Claudine Hellmuth Studio Matte Multi-Medium.

Grungy Monday 24 (Plus a Way Cool Prize)!

Hello, there, blog friends! It's time for another celebration of all things distressed, shamble-ized and awesomely Holtzian! This week, we're heading over the the Ranger Ink site, where Tim has a fantastic video tutorial just waiting for you...

Tim Holtz Presents: Perfect Distress

This is a classic Tim technique, and rightly so. It's simple, quick, and produces such cool results. With the myriad of ink and Perfect Pearls combos to be played with, the results are always fun and fresh!

Being a Halloween nut, I took one last opportunity this year to celebrate, but you can go with any theme you wish.

To play along at home, create your own work of art using the Perfect Distress technique, upload it to your own blog or online, public photo album, then add it to this post using the InLinkz link below. Please remember to include a link to this week's inspiration video in your post or photo description.

Groups.yahoo.com/group/allthingstim

Don't forget to share your creation at the All Things Tim group, too! Lovely List Mom, Gloria, has a special photo album just for your Grungy Monday masterpieces!

So, have a great week...

Oh, wait! I almost forgot the prize!

As you might know, Tim and Mario sometimes offer limited-edition buttons at special events. During the cruise this year, Mario had a few sets of these very cool, very rare buttons with some of Tim's "signature" sentiments. I got one for me (of course!) and bought a second one to give away, which Tim was gracious enough to autograph. One of this week's participants is going to be sent this set of buttons! I'll announce the winner, who will be chosen by random number generator, in next week's GM post.

Okay, now go have yourselves a great week! Can't wait to see what you create.

Hugs,
Linda
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Grungy Monday 23: Tim in 10!

Happy Monday, blog friends! To everyone who played along with GM22 last week, all I can say is "WOW!" Your Holtz-ian Halloween creations were absolutely sensational! One of you is going to snag a $25 shopping spree at Simon Says Stamp, who will be posting the winner on their blog this Wednesday! Be sure to check out the post and see if it's you!!! Here's the link to the Simon Says Stamp Blog. Thanks to the lovely folks at SSS for their generosity!

Ready for the lastest Grungy Monday challenge? This week, I'm introducing something new, and I hope you'll have as much fun with as I did! It's "Tim in 10," and just like it sounds, it's a speed challenge!

Here are the rules: Make a greeting card-- any theme you like-- using at least one Tim Holtz product, and make that card in 10 minutes or less! So, think your design through, gather your supplies, set your timer, and GO!

The point of this is to remind us all that with the right products and a little bit of planning, you can bust out a pretty cool piece of work in just a few minutes. If you need to produce a stack of cards for the holidays, for instance, or to send to Operation Write Home, it's nice to have some go-to techniques and products to streamline the process.

My 10-minute card is obviously super simple! I've posted the instructions on the Grungy Monday Products Page, and it took me just under 10 minutes to make (it would have been less if I could tie a decent bow on the first try!).

To play along at home, create your own "Tim in 10" piece, upload it to your own blog or online, public photo album, then add it to this post using the InLinkz link below. Please be sure to tell us which of Tim's products you used, and don't forget to include a link to Tim's website (www.timholtz.com) in your post or photo description.

Remember to share your creation at the All Things Tim group, too! Lovely List Mom, Gloria, has a special photo album just for your Grungy Monday masterpieces!

Thanks so much for being part of Grungy Monday! I can't wait to see your "Tim in 10" art-- I know it's going to be spectacular!

Hugs,
Linda
_________________

E-Team Special Mission: Be Thankful!

Happy Friday, and welcome to the latest eclectic Paperie E-Team Blog Hop! This time, our theme is "Be Thankful," and our mission is to make anything BUT a card! 

I decided to create a Gratitude Journal, using a Maya Road binder and Claudine Hellmuth Studio Paints. I even (gulp!) did a little drawing, which scares the bejeebers out of me but ended up being kind of fun, even if my Grateful Girl does look like a slightly misshapen refugee from The Archies! 

As with every E-Team Blog Hop, the always generous Daisy from eclectic Paperie has great some prizes up for grabs, and to be eligible to win, all you need to do is leave a comment at each artist's blog. You have from today through this Sunday, October 16 to make the rounds. Daisy will randomly choose three winners from among all the comments, and each will receive $20 eclectic Paperie Gift Voucher! Woot!

Remember to visit the eclectic Paperie blog and leave a comment there, too. Daisy will give away a very awesome box full of eP goodies like paper, embellishments, stamps… and more!

All winners will be announced on the eclectic Paperie blog on Monday, October 17.

The eclectic Paperie E-Team is:

Daisy Sparks, our Fearless Leader

Broni Holcombe

Linda Duke 

Linda Ledbetter (That's me!)

Sherry Cheever

Starla Nelson

(Our co-conspirators, Latrice Murphy and Micki Harper, are sitting this one out, but please stop by their blogs to see all the other wonderful things they've been up to!)

Recipe for a Gratitude Journal:

Ingredients:

• Maya Road 5 x 5" Chipboard Binder
• Ranger Nonstick Craft Mat
• Claudine Hellmuth Studio White Gesso
• Soft Pencil and eraser
• Claudine Hellmuth Studio Paints: Modern Red, Sable Brown, Traditional Tan, Painterly Pink, Smidge of Blue, Dash of Red, Purple Palette, Landscape Green, Altered Orange, Sky Blue, Charcoal Black
• Bubble Wrap and Baby Wipes (to apply paint)
• Tim Holtz Idea-ology Alpha Parts: Ransom
• Ranger Adirondack Paint Dabbers: Red Pepper, Copper
• Tim Holtz Idea-ology Adornments, Regal (crown)
• Pitt Artist Pen (Black)
• Ranger Inkssentials Opaque White Pen
• Paper Flowers

Recipe:
1. Begin by applying a quick coat of Claudine Hellmuth Studio White Gesso to the chipboard binder. The gesso will assure that the paint color stays true, and help it adhere better to the chipboard.

2. Using a soft graphite pencil, sketch a happy, grateful little face right onto the gesso. Don't worry-- you can erase and start over as many times as you need to (I did, like forty million times...). Don't stress over this! Just make a smiley cartoon if you're a lousy drawer like me!

3. Mix your skin tone. I used more or less equal parts of Studio Traditional Tan and Painterly Pink for my girl. If you're looking for a deeper tone, start with this base combo, then stir in Sable Brown until you get the color you want. Studio Paints blend together beautifully, in fact, you can download a mixing chart from Claudine's website.

4. Fill in the face and neck area using a small paintbrush. Another cool feature of the Studio paints is their translucent property. You'll be able to see your pencil sketch through the paint, so you can easily ink it in later.

5. Paint her hair and blouse. I used Sable Brown for the hair, and Modern Red for the clothing. A fine detail brush makes this an easy task. Again, if you're not a painter, don't sweat it. Just have fun, relax, and loosed the death grip on the paintbrush. ;-)

6. Choose or mix a background color and apply it with a large, flat paintbrush. I wanted a royal purple, so I goofed around with a combination of Smidge of Blue, Dash of Red and Purple Palette until I had the tone I was looking for. Paint carefully around your Grateful Girl, but don't worry if you overlap the colors a bit. We're going to outline her later, anyway!

7. Here's where it gets random and fun. Smear some paint onto your nonstick craft sheet and use miscellaneous household objects to stamp the color onto your journal. I used bubble wrap and wadded up baby wipes to apply Landscape Green, Altered Orange and Sky Blue colors. You could also use actual stamps for this step! Finally, dry brush Charcoal Black paint around the edges of the journal. This easy border makes such a huge difference in how the finished piece looks!

8. Gently twist the letters off the Alpha Parts set, then use scissors to trim the connector away if necessary. Paint the letters with Red Pepper Adirondack Dabber, allow them the dry, then paint over this with a Copper Adirondack Dabber.

9. Use a black, fine-point Faber Castell Pitt Artist Pen to ink the face, following the faint pencil lines beneath the paint. These pens will work right on top of paint without smearing it. Use an opaque white pen to add details to the clothing, and a tiny paintbrush to give her some lipstick. Lastly, glue a little paper flower into her hair.

10. Now, add your finishing touches. Your letters should be dry, so glue them on, then add any additional bling you wish! I used more paper flowers and a little Idea-ology crown.


Thanks so much for hopping on by, and I hope you have a fabulous weekend!

Hugs,
Linda

Grungy Monday 22!

Sponsored by:

Welcome, blog friends! It's been way too long since we grunged our Monday, and I'm so happy to be back with a brand new challenge for you! My week-long cruise with Tim, Mario, a bunch of my net friends-- and my lovely mom!-- left me inspired and inky, and I can't wait to dive back in. I hope you're ready, too! How 'bout we get seasonal with...

A Holtz-ian Halloween!

Please click here for instructions and links to the products I used. 

The rules for this challenge are super simple: Create something Halloween-related using a one or more of your favorite Tim Holtz products! How fun is that? Let your creative self have a field day!

I used the new, limited-edition Seasonal Distress Inks for this card, and absolutely fell in love with the colors! Ripe Persimmon, Seedless Preserves and Gathered Twigs = WOWZA! If you missed out on the first production of these beautiful inks, fear not-- Ranger is making one more batch of them this year, and you can order a set from Simon Says Stamp right now, while their supply lasts!

There's also a chance I might give a set away. You just never know. ;-)

Speaking of Simon Says Stamp, they've graciously offered to sponsor this week's challenge, and will award a $25 shopping spree to one of the GM22 participants! To be eligible to win, create your own Holtz-ian Halloween piece and post it on your blog or online photo album, and please be sure to tell us which of Tim's products you used. Don't forget to include a link to Tim's website (www.timholtz.com) in your post or photo description. The winner of the shopping spree will be chosen by the lovely ladies at SSS and posted on their blog soon after this challenge ends.

During the cruise, I had the delightful experience of finally meeting the lovely Gloria, list mom at the All Things Tim discussion group and organizer extraordinaire! Gloria has a photo album especially for Grungy Monday at the group homepage, and you're invited to share your artwork with this awesome group of artists!

There you go, my fabulous, Grungy friends! I can't wait to see your Tim Holtz-themed Halloween art, and hope you have a wonderful week!

Hugs,
Linda


P.S. Congratulations to Sandy Nolan, who won the Tim Holtz prize package from our last challenge. Sandy did a beautiful job on the "Transparent Illusions" theme:

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The Tim Holtz Scrapmap Caribbean Cruise!

Ta Da! The Cruise Video!

(Well, sort of "Ta da," anyway. More like "Ta Da Lite" with a disclaimer... I still have a lot to learn about video slideshow production!!!) 

A week after it ended, it's still hard to even know where to begin telling you about the Tim Holtz/Scrapmap Caribbean Cruise. It was a spectacular week of crafting, friendship, beautiful scenery, and-- literally-- boatloads of inspiration.  It was awesome getting to spend time with a bunch of my favorite people, including my mom, and to soak up the beauty of the sea and the islands. And really, four crafting projects in five classes with Tim Holtz over the course of the week... could it get much better? I don't think so!

Over the past few days, I gathered my photos, found a couple of cruise-y songs, and made a slideshow to share with my blog friends. I hope you enjoy it!

For those who've asked, Tim did say that he's taking some time off cruising, but that he has some exciting new things in the works! Nope, he wouldn't tell me what they are (I wish!), but knowing him, they're going to be sensational! Keep an eye on his blog... there's always something fabulous going on there.

By the way, my friend and fellow Caribbean Cruiser, the brilliant Eileen Bellomo, has been posting the most wonderful day-by-day recaps of the cruise. Be sure to check them out at her blog, Art Saves Lives!


See you all tomorrow for the return of Grungy Monday! 


P.S. Just when I thought it couldn't get any better, I won a spot on next year's Ultimate Multi-Media cruise out of New Orleans, courtesy of the wonderful people at Scrapmap! I'm so grateful and absolutely thrilled. So...who's coming along?? Let's make a plan to meet up!

An Open Letter to Tim Holtz

Hey blog friends, I just returned from a week on a beautiful cruise ship with Tim Holtz and about 180 enthusiastic and wonderful crafters. It was an awesome experience and I'll be posting photos and stories over the next few days. Right now, though, I want to talk about the most important things I learned on my trip, and the best way to do it is in a letter to Tim. I'd like to share it with you all as well. 

Dear Tim,

For the record, I've wanted to be an artist since I was a little kid with a shiny box of 64 Crayolas and a dream. Absolutely, it would be an epic understatement to say that I was born with no natural aptitude for drawing (or painting, or coloring, for that matter), but I sure did love doing it, in that fearless, in-the-moment way kids embrace their creative impulses. It was pure joy. Then came that disenchanting, defining moment when an art teacher with too much influence and not nearly enough insight told me I was no good at it. I honestly don't remember if she said it in words or implied it through actions, but it was powerful enough to change my relationship with art-making, draining it of its magic and sending an already neurotic nine-year-old to a whole new level of self-consciousness. After that, I was embarrassed to show my sketches to anyone, and eventually stopped trying to draw at all. 

But deep down, I never stopped wishing I were an artist. 

I tried again in college with equally ridiculous results (what is with art teachers in small town academia, anyway?). In fact, I was so frustrated with my Painting 101 course that for my final project, I covered a sheet of canvas with the most godawful shade of barf green I could concoct, then glued a few carelessly ripped up pieces of fluorescent pink, lime and orange paper to it, as a "screw you" to my professor. He gave me an "A" and told me I finally "got it."

At that point, I decided that artists are insane. 

I'm not telling you this because I want sympathy or encouragement or anything like that. I'm telling you this because I want you to know where my starting point was. I didn't enter papercrafting as an artist. I came in more like a monkey with a paintbrush. 

It was just a little over two years ago that I wandered into a craft store and saw a display of cool, intriguingly non-cutesy embellishments alongside some packages of something called "Grungeboard," and while I didn't buy anything that day, the visual stuck in my head. I remembered the name on the packages, though, and that evening did a little internet investigation into this "Tim Holtz" guy.  What I saw blew me away! The art was awesome, not like anything I'd seen before. It was dramatic and beguiling and powerful, but somehow felt accessible and-- most intriguingly-- it seemed doable, even for a non-artist like me. 

I went back to the store the next day... and again the day after that. I immersed myself in your blog posts, your videos, and as soon as it was released, your Compendium of Curiosities. Little by little, my long-neglected, frighted little creative spirit began to emerge. I learned to ink things and distress things and play with color and composition. Many, many packages of Ranger and Idea-ology and Stampers Anonymous and Tonic products later, through 12 Tags projects and Grungy Mondays and the experience of a lifetime that was Ranger U, I am still inspired by you every day. 

What I've learned from you goes far beyond techniques, though. I've learned that what really matters is the process itself, the indescribably gratifying feeling of being completely caught up in the act of making something, when time becomes elastic and the art seems to be creating me-- there's nothing in the world like it.  Whatever the finished piece ends up looking like, it truly is all about the journey. 

Though the word "artist" sticks in my throat if I try to apply it to myself, I have a great deal of hope that someday I might actually feel comfortable enough to own that adjective, at least a day or two a month. Then again, maybe art isn't in the eye of the beholder, anyway, but instead in the heart of the creator. If making something with my hands transforms me and frees me and impels me to dream a little bigger, well, maybe that's the whole point. I'd probably never have figured that out if I hadn't stumbled upon your products a couple of years back. 

Tim, you've been, and continue to be, the most wonderful teacher I could wish for. I've always appreciated your vision and talent and willingness to share your knowledge, but what I saw on the cruise last week was how much heart you put into what you do (along with those long hours and that hard, hard work). Though you never let it show,  I'm sure you have days when you're burned out and sick of being "on" all the time. It's got to be exhausting when a couple hundred or so people all want your attention. But, you keep right on smiling while you graciously autograph every apron and pose for every photo. That's classy, my friend. Classy and incredibly generous. 

So, from a monkey with a paintbrush to her Jedi-ninja-rockstar art mentor: Thank you! For all you do and who you are. You inspire my creative spirit to play, and give it the tools and information it needs to give form to its vision. I don't think you'll ever fully know how precious that gift is to me. 

Your friend,

Linda