How I Distress

My all time FAVORITE designer....Tim Holtz is having a challenge on his blog. He wants to know how everyone uses his Distress inks. Well, I use his FABU Distress ink so many ways! It was hard to choose just one thing. I finally narrowed it down. I covered a chipboard album with my son's high school colors. I used the foam blending tool to add Mustard Seed Distress Ink and Faded Jeans Distress ink to the edges. I repeated that technique on the photo mats throughout the album. I directly applied the Mustard Seed to the "2010" grungeboard numbers. It wasnt quite bright enough so I covered that using Snow Cap Adirondack Dabber paint. Once that dried, I applied another coat of Mustard Seed ink. I then coated the numbers with Glossy Accents. Oh a tip.....if you touch something that has a thick coat of GA and is waiting to dry....(oops!) simply wet your finger and smooth it over the GA. You know, like you do when you touch your nail polish before its dry. It smoothed out the smudge and was good as new!! woohooo Problem fixed. Ok, back to my album.... I applied Faded Jeans directly to the grungeboard star and frame. I printed "YHS" on my label maker and added that under the frame. I cut the backs off the brads so the little YHS grungeboard frame would lay down smooth. I thought it still needed a little something extra. hhmmm a rose! perfect! I made the rose using Close to My Heart cardstock. I used Faded Jeans to stamp CTMH Adorable Backgrounds all over the petals. I directly applied the ink to the edges of the petals too. I painted Lumiere Pearl Blue paint over the back and edges of each petal. The rose is attached with Glossy Accents. (of course lol) If you havent tried Glossy Accents, you have GOT to go out and get a bottle! That stuff is AMAZING!!! Well friends, its the beginning of a glorious 4 day weekend here. The sun is shining, hubby is home from work, the kiddos have a 1/2 day at school. I am off to finish more paper roses to mail to my Maw Maw and then its family time! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend. Go get creative!!

Journal this, journal that

I am finally creating all these fabulous projects from Club Scrap that have been collecting dust. This Quick Jot Journal was a prize during the last PSL session I participated in. (Way to rock PSL Embellishers!!!) The papers used are from Club Scrap's Private Eye kit. My flash made the blue a tad brighter but you get the idea. FABU colors! I inked around all the edges with Tim Holtz Faded Jeans Distress ink. The inside pages are hand stitched together with waxy linen thread. I just love that these projects come with all the supplies needed. (Well almost. I did have to use my bookbinding glue. lol Note to self: order more bookbinging glue.) The inside stitched pages slip into the back cover. They can easily be pulled back out if needed. I had planned to do something fancy on the cover but changed my mind. I like it just the way it is. I hope you are having a fantastic day and get to do something creative!!!

Altered Tins

Ok, I said I would post about the tins I altered. Remember, the ones I bought from Kodomo at the 34th annual Japan Hobby Show last month? Well, here goes. This is my FAV tin!!!! I stamped it with a Kodomo stamp. I colored in the image using Copic YG63, G99, G28, E47, E59, R27, B14, B16. I added Crystal and Picket Fence Stickles to accent the waves. I painted the snow on Fuji-san and the cliff on the left with Lumiere Pearl White paint. For the crane, I stamped it onto white cardstock. I used Copic r27 for the red on his head and Y00 for his beak. I then layed him onto 3 pieces of cardstock and cut him out. I curled up his feathers and beak a bit. I finished him off with a nice coat of Glossy Accents. Thanks to my gals over at Paper Artists Online for sharing this technique!! I used Tim Holtz stamps to decorate the edge of the tin.



The first tin I attempted is this one. I used a Kodomo stamp for the fans & butterflies. I then painted the blue using Lumiere Pearl Blue paint. I stamped the image of the fan onto white cardstock. I colored all images with Copics G07, G28, BV08, RV09, R85, Y17, BG05, B16, V15, BG13, RV06, RV23, YR07, YR68. Check out the difference of the Copic colors on the tin versus on the white cardstock! The butterflies are YR07 and YR68. After coloring in the fan and the butterflies, I cut them out and glued them each to 3 layers of cardstock. While the glue was still wet, I folded them to get the shape I wanted. I then covered the entire image with Glossy Accents. The same technique as the crane but more movement. They are attached to the tin using Glossy Accents.

For my second tin, I started by painted the entire tin with Lumiere Halo Violet Gold paint. I love how the brush strokes are visible. I think it makes it look more like a fabric than a painted tin surface. I them stamped the Kodomo image using Staz On. I colored the image in using Copic R29, R27, R23, Y21, YR15, BV08, R85, G09, YR23, BG05, R59, E33, E55 and E47. I hope you enjoyed these tins. Have a creative, crafty day!!!

2010 Japanese Craft Show

Ok, I'm finally back. lol Lets hope I can post regularly now. I went to the 34th Japan Hobby Show, at Tokyo Big Site, back in early May. Michelle R and I took the train. It was nice to be able to explore the show this year and take our time. Last year, I was there for work and it was nuts! We did 1 make n take. We painted watercolor images. We were told to come back in about an hour. When we did, they gave us our original plus a stationary set that they had printed a copy of our art onto! It was amazing. If we had known that was what our 100 yen was going for, we would have made more!! I was beyond thrilled to see Tim Holtz dies displayed at one booth. The "X" through some of them in the photo are the ones that were sold out. I was not thrilled to see the 2200 to 4500 yen prices! OUCH! Thats about $25 to $55 depending on the exchange rate. I decided to wait and order mine online. I would have LOVED to come home with a few but not at that price! I did snag a few clear Alice in Wonderland themed stamps and Staz On Metallic ink pads though. I picked up a few tins at the Kodomo booth. I have altered 3 of them so far. I will post those later. There were so many fun and interesting things to look at. From a piece of bread about 6 feet long to stuffed animals, wait no it was food with faces. lol They even covered a quad in Swarovski crystals! When I saw it, I thought my friend Troy would have a fit if he was there! lol
This week looks like it will be a very rainy week here in Japan. Its not even rainy season yet!!! I plan to get tons of crating done!!! I hope you all have a crafty and creative day!

hhmmmmm

I've been having issues getting new posts to show up. Hopefully I can figure this out and updat y'all soon! I have so many new artworks & photos to share!!

Project 365...Day 30

So I read online that the largest and brightest moon of 2010 was to be on January 30th. Sure enough, it was GORGEOUS!!!!! I tried to get a few good photos. Even with the tripod, it was difficult. THIS is why I need a huge fancy smancy lense! lol

Project 365...Day 29

Many days I catch myself gazing out he back glass doors and enjoying nature. This is the view. I know, not that fancy for some of y'all. There is just something that I love about this tree. Once I have pictures of it through the seasons, I will post them all together. I love to watch the seasons change.

Project 365...Day 28

There are shrines and gardens displayed all over the base. This is one of many. This one is by the Officer's Club. I plan to spend a day in the Spring photographing all of them.

Project 365...Day 27

For my Paper Artist Online sisters, this one is no surprise. :) Yesterday one of our neighbors moved out. They put several pieces of furniture by the dumpster. We snagged a desk for dd. For now I plan to use the desk as my crafty area. Her room is such a mess there is no room for anything else in there! There were also 2 cubes and this goodie.I'm already starting to alter it. I hope to finish today and show y'all the end results! I am SSOOOOO excited! My own crafty area AND storage! wooohhooooo dumpster diving rocks! lol

Blog candy WINNER!!!!

Sorry I am late posting this. Life got busy. I'm sure y'all can tell by the fact I played catch up today with myproject 365. lol Anyway....the winner of my blog candy is.......
"4nancie said...
Very nice of you go give away so much fiber. I have you linked on my ArtBox. Glad to see your doing so well!!
nancie"
Congrats Nancie!!!! Email me at nativetexan 814 at g mail dot com (spaces removed of course lol) and I will drop these goodies in the mail to you!!

Project 365...Day 26

The Japanese have many many interesting advertisements. This one is for the gas company. I'm guessing it says something about their gas heating your bath water for a nice relaxing time in the tub. In the US, this would be perverted. Here in Japan, this ad is perfectly acceptable.

Project 365....Day 25

My friend Michelle brought me to a new to me curry restaurant. Its called KCs Dining. The curry was OH SO YUMMY!!! This is the mango yogurt drink they serve. Delicious!!!! The only thing I didn't like about the restaurant was the smoking allowed inside. YUCK!

Project 365....Day 24

A store here in Japan called Seiyu is partially owned by Walmart. They do NOT have Walmart prices though. It is cool to see familiar brands such as Mainstays. They have a parking garage across the street. Parking is 600 yen (about $6.50) unless you buy something and have them validate your parking. This is the view from the walkover bridge connecting the 2nd floor of the parking to the store.

Project 365...Day 23

Yes, those ARE Mickey heads there on the gate. This adorable house on the way to Daiei (a shopping sotre/complex close to the base) has Mickey Mouse everywhere! Notice he is above the mailbox too. I will have to walk by later and take pics of their other Mickey decorations. This is one of my favorite houses here. lol Disney is very very popular here in Japan.

Project 365...Day 22

One of the many many things I've found interesting here in Japan is their vast array of pastries. There are several shops that offer yummy baked goods. Japanese sweets aren't as rich as American sweets. That means less calories & fat. Right? lol When you enter these shops, you grab a tray and tongs, wander around & choose the goodies you want. Once your tray is full, you bring it to the register and they ring up your purchase. The thing I don't like though is that they wrap every single pastry in a plastic bag. I cringe and think, "Oh no! This is greatly enlarging my environmental footprint! Not good!" They really should put them in one big box. Some of the goodies are oh so yummy. Others, not so much. This one was kiwi & cream. It looks much better than it tasted. I took one bite then decided it wasn't worth the calories & fat. lol
I'm working on my Mardi Gras masks and invites. Just wait until you see them. I am loving the mask so far!!!! Don't forget about my blog candy. Time is almost up! Happy crafting!!!