Some See a Weed... Some See a WISH for Anything But a Card Challenges No. 38

It's August third and I'm three posts in for the month... woo-hoo! I have lots of new creative adventures going on - today my "Thoughtful Abstractions" article leads off the Unruly PaperArts Steampunk Edition today {please CLICK HERE to jump over}.

The new Challenge... Anything But a Card Challenge #38 - "REPEATING MOTIFS" a.k.a. PATTERNS. Not necessarily Zentangle (or tangling), but that certainly falls under this category. Repeating Motifs, rather than patterns all apply here... you don't have to use Zentangle... so your muse is free to create! CLICK HERE to go see the rest of our fabulous design team's twist on this new challenge.

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Please share any current project you have created and JUST REMEMBER... create anything EXCEPT a card for this challenge. Please mention and LINK BACK to this challenge. ALSO - Please new projects only {no-backlinking}. :)

**A REMINDER** This Challenge will go through midnight August 23rd giving you 3 weeks to play along and ENJOY the creative process! We will share more of our Design Team's creations each Sunday to keep you inspired.

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For this challenge I created another page in my "quote" art journal featuring the quote "some see a weed, some see a wish". The newspaper blossom I came across in an envelopes of flowers received from a swap group I'm in {we swap papers, die cut shapes, buttons, ribbon and handmade flowers}. This was one of the gorgeous paper blossoms which looked like a dandelion to me - making it was a perfect match for my quote... and the perfect dimensional center for a giant bloom.

One of my fellow team-mates from the Amazing Crafting Products Creative Team practices the art of Zentangle and I'm always marking interesting tangles to try. I snapped a screen capture of this trumpet shape that peeked my interest {my apologies I'm trying to find the source to link back with official name}. I mounted the flower on a page with some overspray picked up in efforts of artsy cleanup and setoff repeating the pattern around and around with a Pigma Micron pen. I started out following the steps, but as I got going, I filled in and made adjustments as needed to keep it looking symmetrical {though it's anything but}. I'm a measuring, perfect-balance kind of gal and I found this process suprisingly FREE-ing.

I finished off with a couple of green paper leaves inked black with my dye ink pad {quick and easy} and filled in around them with some tangled embellishing. It's not perfect, in black and white and totally whimsical. I love it!

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Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you find a little time to do some creating. I look forward to seeing what you create {CLICK HERE to LINK UP your projects}.  :) Sb

#Cre8time for making Underwater Reality... T!m Holtz #12Tags2014 for July

Good morning everyone! July was been a whirlwind and despite my best efforts... my muse commands her Cre8time beauty sleep to recharge. I always plan to play along with the monthly T!m Holtz' 12 Tags of 2014, but sometimes life and other creative projects take precedent. The July tag was summer themed and bits a pieces of this project took me most of the month to MAKE and complete... and I am so thrilled with the results!!!

I am presently on the hunt for a large preserved seahorse to mold/cast in Amazing Crafting Product {that it's beginning to reach obsession status}, and since I don't own the sea life Sizzix dies {and my CuttleBug set is way too small in proportion for this project} I decided to DIY my seahorse. This is a vintage seahorse image from The Graphics Fairy that I printed out on the laser printer and mounted to a recycled piece of chipboard at the end of a notepad {1/4 letter page size}. When the glue stick was fully dry I swiped a few different colors of Ranger Distress Stains to add some color.

**A NOTE of Observation** I printed these images out on the lo-end Dell Laser printer at work... not the big-Elsie Xerox Digital Press and to my surprise - the rubbing of the distress stains dissolved and removed some of the toner. I'm OK with the results as it adds to the DISTRESSED look. Just wanted to point out that little discovery. 

I waited for my stained vintage seahorse to fully dry - then I slathered on the Ranger Rock Candy Crackle glaze and set off on my daily adventures {this stuff takes quite a while to dry}. When dry, I fussy cut using my T!m Holtz Tonic scissors and aged with Ranger Distress inks to bring out the details in the crackle finish. I'm totally loving this look and the subtle details of my original vintage image are still visible.

As you can see in the inspiration tag, the starfish and sand dollar are perfect companions to the seahorse... and mine are resin reincarnations of the real thing. I love using shells in my projects - EXCEPT - they are brittle, fragile and sometimes smelly. Molding and casting them with Amazing Crafting Products is the perfect solution for making a replica that is identical to the real thing.

I also created my own texture stamp and embossing platform for my recycled film {imagesetter acetate} layered in the background. To view how I created the starfish, sand dollar and texture plate please CLICK HERE to jump over to my Mold Rubber Monday feature project. It is truly AMAZING!

This was a lot of work for the end result! I'm so thrilled to paint the papers, make the molds/castings and embossing platform, and hand create all the tiny details for this tag - and this is going to get a proper shadow box home that I will hang on the wall in my studio.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit! August is shaping up to be a busy and exciting month right from the get go. This weekend I have lots of wonderful creations to share and I invite you to join me for my Steampunk Edition of "thoughtful abstractions" at Unruly PaperArts on Sunday.

Have a fabulously creative Friday! :) Sb

Gone #Cre8time Fishin' for Anything But a Card Challenges No. 37

Good Morning! I'm traveling this weekend... but I still manage to squeeze in a little creative time here and there. Today for the current Anything But a Card Challenge No. 37, I have a fun Summertime tag to share that I made for a tag swap at Viva Las VegaStamps! Please CLICK HERE to jump over to see the other creations by our fantastic design team at ABAC.

The current Challenge... Anything But a Card Challenge #37 - "ANYTHING GOES"!! With the summer season in full swing full of vacations, days at the beach and summer camp – we thought we'd go with an OPEN THEME!!! Feel free to break out some supplies you haven't used in a while, try something new or create whatever your muse desires... as long as it's anything but a card!

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Please share any current project you have created and JUST REMEMBER... create anything EXCEPT a card for this challenge. Please mention and LINK BACK to this challenge. ALSO - Please new projects only {no-backlinking}. :)

**A REMINDER** This Challenge will go through midnight July 26th giving you one week to play along and ENJOY the creative process! Look forward to another Artist Spotlight + Mini Challenge next Sunday to keep you inspired.

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Now for a little more about my tag...

I'm sharing some creative magic today combining stamping with Amazing Mold Rubber along with my favorite new friends... my Faber-Castell Gelatos®. 

I joined a summer themed tag swap at Viva Las VegaStamps! and I wanted to have a painterly background to showcase my stamped images. Faber-Castell Gelatos® are my current favorite go with me everywhere tool and this was a perfect occasion to do a little Cre8time experimentation with monoprinting on my AMAZING No-Gelatin Rubber Plate. 

**To view mixing and preparation of Amazing Mold Rubber and how I created my AMAZING No-Gelatin Rubber Plate CLICK HERE! To view a second video which is a test run on my faux gelatin plate... and my FIRST TRY at Gellin' – CLICK HERE.

Using an assortment of yellow, green and blue Gelatos®, I colored directly to my AMAZING No-Gelatin Rubber Plate. I added a few spritzes of water and then pressed a natural color cardstock onto the top, rubbed and pulled off the monoprint.

The yellow is pretty strong and still has some color left after the first print. I added a little more blue and green, spritzed again and repeated to create a half dozen prints with similar color... each with it's own painterly personality.

Here's what two of my collection of Gelatos®

monoprints looked like before stamping.

The completed tag comes to life after adding some stamped and inky goodness! I trimmed my papers to tag shape, added some VLVS! stamp images and added touches of color with Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pens applied like watercolors using a water brush. I added some shimmer the airstream using my Gelly Stardust Hologram pen and topped off with some colorful ribbons and fibers. It's total summer fun!!!

Now it's time for project cleanup {boo-hoo}. Despite my best efforts, the Gelatos stained my AMAZING No-Gelatin Rubber Plate and wouldn't wash off very easily {they do have a bit of a waxy composition to them}. No worries! I have a crafty fix-it... pour resin on it and peel it off! I rubbed a sheet of blank cardstock over to make sure it was completely DRY and FREE of water/moisture before proceeding with resin.

My apologies I didn't get a photo of the resin mixing/pouring step {CLICK HERE for mixing/preparation of Amazing Casting Resin}. I prepared a small batch of Amazing Casting Resin and poured directly on top of Gelatos – spreading around with stir stick evenly to edges. For added stability and to help speed up curing of thin layer of Amazing Casting Resin, I gently pressed a crumpled sheet of deli paper into the liquid resin – careful not to press so hard to squeeze the resin out off the edges of the rubber plate. Just enough to get a bond of resin to paper.

When cured after about 20 minutes, I gently peeled the resin back from the rubber plate which completely removes all of the Gelatos®. It's so AMAZING!

Side-by-side the clean rubber plate and my paper-backed resin pull.

My plate is clean now and I also have a wonderful painted resin base for other mixed-media arting on another day.

I hope you find some time to have some creative play today and I look forward to seeing what you create. Happy Sunday! Sb :)