What's in Your Mailbox?

I've got a set of the new Adirondack Color Wash Inks. Very cool stuff. They spray really, really well. The colors are intense, and wonderful. This is a paper mache mailbox I sprayed with Red Pepper. It covers completely and moves around with a large brush. Done in a flash! Added some Tissue Tape Symphony for contrast on the edges. Again...such a fast step to do.

Then I sprayed it with Kiwi Perfect Pearls Mists. What a cool contrast. The picture doesn't do it justice.

The Snow Trees are Tim's die, covered with Picket Fence Crackle Paint and Diamond Stickles after the Grungepaper trees were inked with Pine Needles and Forest Moss Distress Inks.

The Iron Gate die at the bottom is painted with Silver and Gold Paint Metallic Dabbers. I also used a couple of Tim's Seasonal Salvage Stickers.

So, get some of the wonderful sprays. They amazed me. They will you, too.

Now, who wants to win a prize.....like I promised a while back, before the wonderful RX got me? (Got a new one today, cross your fingers!)

Anybody want a Tim Configuration?????????????????? (See Nov. 10th post for mine)

Leave me a comment, and we'll pick a winner and one could be yours!

Be well, I'm on the way!

Life is Good Again.....(sigh)

Linda

UPDATE...the mailbox is from Hobby Lobby!

Hope Everyone Had a Wonderful Thanksgiving

Hope everyone had a great holiday and are back on the road or home already anxious to start the new week....Ha!

Well, I for one, am ready to put Thanksgiving behind me. I had an allergic reaction to an antibiotic on Thanksgiving day. BAD day...no turkey here. I just wanted Bill to shoot me. BUT, my DIL came and drug me back from the brink...she's a nurse and made me drink and eat. I was dehydrated and REALLY miserable.

Enough said of that......we had our dinner Friday. It was great. I actually cooked and ate a bit more than I ever thought I would. (Food is something I swore I would never have again on Thursday...seriously.)

Emma and I made Gingerbreadmen Banners, but of course, hers had to fly home before the camera could capture it. So this is all I could come up with that looked even remotely Thanksgiving-ish.

I'm really thankful Bill did not shoot me. I love my family more than they will ever know. And all my BLOGGER and ART FRIENDS make me happy. So Life (again) is Good.

Be Well....and Be Good to each Other!

One Desk Organizer kit left for in-US shipping.....that's it! Done and Thanks to all of you. We will have a giveaway as soon as my body gets back to normal....give me a couple of days.

Linda

Turning a Page.....

.....Writing a new Chapter.

Yep, that's what we're gonna do. The Tim Holtz Design Team has come to an end. Tim has been the great leader he is, for a few months. But we all have our limits, even him.

(Keeping track of 10 women, what was he thinking???)

It was a chance of a lifetime. I, for one, was honored, thrilled, and apprehensive of my talents when he emailed and asked me to be on the TEAM. I could not believe my eyes when I got the email....all I could say was "are you kidding me, are YOU kidding me, are you KIDDING me....TIM HOLTZ DESIGN TEAM???????"

But, I shouldered the awesome honor and plowed ahead. I pushed my limits and made more with his products than I ever would have done on my own. I know I reached a point in my life I never in a million years would have ever expected to reach. So, to Tim and the awesomely wonderful Mario, I am deeply, deeply, grateful for the chance to have gone where no one had gone before! Ha!

I know most of the Design Team is going to carry on just like we have been. It's been too much fun to stop now. And he'll support us in what we do, so jump on board, and come along for the ride.

I will try to entertain and share with you anything you want to see. Ask questions, make requests, and tell me about your work. I hope to teach with all his awesome products and carry on as always. His techniques, shortcuts, and stories will be shared, whenever I can, with all of you.

Finally, thanks to everyone, from the bottom of my heart for following me here. The Wreath post got an unbelievable 147 comments. I nearly DIED. We were on vacation and I thought someone had hijacked my blog when I pulled it up on my notebook at the hotel. Seriously. You guys are SOMETHING SPECIAL! (a favorite line in our family from Little Shop of Horrors)

And, like Tammy, I'm going to keep the Badge up....it ain't going anywhere!!!

Your Friend in ART,

Linda

P.S. I got some configurations from FedEx today. I think we'll have a prize give-away after Thanksgiving...what do you think???

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AND I have a few kits left from the Desk Organizers Class using G45 LeRomantique papers. You get all 10 sheets of the 8x8 papers with lots of left overs. Email me privately if you're interested. An after Thanksgiving Special! Sorry US and Canada only right now.

Chunky ATC the Tim Holtz Way

A Chunky ATC is cut from a piece of 2x4. They're only 3 1/2" wide (not 4) so you just cut each 2 1/2" wide....for those who had not seen them before! FUN!

Here's the 3rd assignment for November for Tim. A really fun Chunky ATC. I used lots of things on both the front and back....as I usually say, too much fun!
The little Memo Pin and Foliage piece instructions are in an earlier post.

The back has a plastic watch piece over the clock face that causes the glare. I used the clock from Lost and Found papers, the rest are from his Retro Grunge collection. The Curio Knob tops it all off. The little Crown Charm has Alcohol Ink added for color. It's hard to see here, but the papers are all sprayed with Sunflower Sparkle, Perfect Violet, and Kiwi Perfect Pearls Mists.

The legs are wooden candle holders(upside down glued to black wooden discs), painted brown, and Black Soot Distress Stickles added for a cool vintage touch. The calendar sheets are from the Tissue Tape set Traveler.

I used the Rosette die with various Perfect Pearls and Stickles to add more color. The wings have Pumice Stone Distress Ink and Diamond Stickles on them. The Timepiece and Spinner top the center of the piece. I used Bottle Green Alcohol Ink to give a bit more color to the clock, then sanded it down for the numbers to show.

I added a couple of Word Keys on the sides that were layered up on old flat beads. The ATC stamp on the back is Tim's Blackbird Component. The front is various stamps from Rockstar.

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That's it for today. Have a great week...and be good to each other!

~

Linda

AMAZING Weekend for the Band and a Class

You remember I told you I had to paint some baffles with 3 sayings for the band. Remember, Reflect and Respond. This is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what parents will do for their "kids in the band." They are an unwavering breed of people who know the value of having something to strive for on the road to greatness. They prove this every year. They feed them, cloth them, and follow the path to help each kid realize the dream of what can be accomplished by reaching for the stars.

And this year they did just that. The Morton HS Marching Band went to Indy and proved they were up there with the best of them. They placed 3rd in the Bands of America Grand Nationals competition for 2A bands. 90 bands participated and we could not be prouder of them.

This is just one of the fantastic shots by Chris Rajkumar. It's a great one.

Here's one of Jeff, my kid, the director, giving what I'm sure was a pep talk to go out and do the best they can....make everyone proud. Thanks to everyone who pushed these young people to their limits and congratulations to an outstanding group of young professionals. It shows they've got the right answer to leading in the right direction.

AND on a lighter note. Yes, I know the print is upside down. This thing was extremely hard to photograph without glare and some sense of color. So I give you this. It's of course, Tim's Foliage flower with Alcohol Ink on the petals. Then I slid the flower into the Memo Pin...not easy, but doable. The punched clock face was put into the Memo pin and Glossy Accents were added to everything.

It will work it's way into the little project I've been working of for a few days. I've come down with a cold, but seem to be much better today.

~

So don't forget to come to the last class of the Graphic 45 ladies and Desk Organizer this weekend at Scrapadoodle in Peoria, Illinois. It has lots of fun techniques and pieces that will make a rewarding afternoon of crafting. You are guaranteed to have a great time making this. And they make wonderful Christmas gifts that are easy to duplicate once you have the instructions.

So call and register for class.........hope to see you there.

Linda

My Take on a Tim Holtz Configuration 5.5

After several retakes, as they say in the movies, and adjustments, I finally glued this baby together. Then I scraped the legs off, redid the color, the paper on the bottom (as I had ruined it), and put them back on.....whew...oh, the anality of it all. (my new word, and no, it did not pass the spellcheck test).


First I painted the whole thing black...didn't like it, so I took Titan Buff Golden paint and dry brushed it over the front edges. Shabby Chic effect maybe. I was going to cover where the cubbies come together with metal, but it drew too much away from the things inside. So I left them alone.

This compartment didn't pass the "taking of the pictures" test since the Foliage piece that's glued to a Memo pin didn't show up well. SO, out came the Paint Dabber and a brown pen to age it a bit. Worked for me. I aged the Accoutrement with some Hazelnut Alcohol Ink. The spool was raw wood, aged with Distress Ink and stamped on. Then I glued the Ruler Ribbon to it.

The raw wooden star has Crackle Paint, paper and Distress Ink on it. I used raw wooden blocks aged with Distress Inks. The X and O, for hugs and kisses, curiously had L and C on the backs....funny. The Curio Knob is glued onto a stack of inked wooden circles for height. All the papers on the outside are from Tim's Lost and Found stash.

See the piece of the fence holding up the picture of the children? Leftovers. There's a Tim Locket Key and Numeral. The Children in this box and the word Treasure are from Collections. All the rest of the children are from Tim's Distressables and Doo Dads that I have had for years!!!!! I LOVE them!

That's what's so cool about these little Configurations, you can drag out all this stuff you've collected and put them in the compartments instead of drawers where no one sees them!

Charm clips, Baubles, and a Keyhole are used here. The soldered Once Upon a Time charm is from Cecile Nichols. Thanks, Cecile! I thought it was perfect for this project. Tissue tape is layered over the front edges and Rock Candy Distress Crackle is painted all over the tape and outside papers.

The raw wooden legs were Picket Fence Crackled. I used Pumice Stone and Walnut Stain Distress Ink to age them. The numeral has several colors of Alcohol Inks on it. I used Eggplant AI on the clear Accoutrement for color. It's hard to see here....sorry.

I've only touched the surface of the all the things that are in this piece. The Stamp in the back of the 1st cubby is a Tim stamp I recently got. Some of the papers inside are from Collections and some are 7Gypsies Tissue paper from ages ago . There are antique pieces thrown in here and there, tulle, typewriter keys, and a bottle with a vintage label I bought somewhere.

So don't pass these little babies up when you see them, they will be gone in a flash. Hope you enjoy making one as much as I did!

Linda

Happy Birthday Wishes and Configuration Peek #2

Well I finally got out the glue and put the finishing touches to the Configuration I have been toying with for quite awhile. Will upload it here soon. Just need some good sunlight and pictures. Come back tomorrow maybe, if my camera can work some magic!

This is the square cubby that has a couple of pieces of vintage ephemera and one of Tim's Distressables I hoarded years ago. Always loved them.

Erin turned Double Digits yesterday and Bill's Birthday is today....so we ate cake and ice cream and sang last night. The lettering is not mine....who made that peace symbol....Emma?????

This is a shot of the 4x8 foot signs I lettered for the bands show "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas."

They compete in Indy this weekend at the Bands of America competition. Break a leg, kids! Have a great show...I know you will!!!!

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Chili dogs and Dairy Queen for lunch...the boy is easy to please. Tonight I think we'll have Ribs somewhere....sounds like a plan to me.

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Have a good one!

Sneak Peek and Other Assignments!

Hello everybody in the Blogosphere! (sp?)

I'm taking a break from hand painting 3 signs for the band. They are 4'x8'....that's feet, not inches...what was I thinking???? All I have to do is write 1 word on each in Script. Sounds easy, huh? My legs are killing me and my back hurts. It's a lot of bending over. I'll survive.

Anyway, here's what I've been PLAYING with in the studio for the past several days. I'm extremely slow and definitely an over-thinker. But I decided to show you one of my favorite niches just for fun, and hope to get your blood pumping so you can go out and buy a Configuration from Tim. Then make it your own.

Have a great weekend.........and Create ART!

Thanks from the bottom of my Heart!

You guys made me sooooooooooooo happy.

I can't even begin to tell you how stunned, surprised, and thrilled I was when I opened my blog Monday night and saw how many comments were there!!!! All this of course, due to the fact that Tim had put my project up on his blog with my link! So to Tim, Mario, and all the people who took the time to look at the blog, I am humbled by your response, and definitely Living the Life I NEVER Imagined!!!!

We decided to take a small vacation down to Branson. I'm like Flat Stanley, only I'm Chunky Linda. I take my hoodie all over, and have Bill photo me so you can read my jacket. Believe me, this is the better side of me. Anyhow, I took my Tim Hoodie to Missouri and shopped, saw some shows, laughed until the tears rolled down our faces at the comedians, ate shrimp down on the River Walk and just relaxed. Bill loves country music, I like the comedians.

Got some new boots, love boots, a new purse and presents for Miss Erin's Birthday. And a few other things that called my name.

We stopped at Red Lead and saw Chris. HAD to have some of their too cute Christmas trees and wreaths. This is just a few of my treasures.

This is one of the gorgeous reindeer decorations on the River Walk. (yes, the girls were out putting up the Christmas stuff as we walked along in shirtsleeves in November!)

The fountain has music, dancing waters, and bursts of fire, like at a Rave! (and no, I've never been to one, just saw pictures on TV) I didn't get a shot of the fire, it's really stunning, it was going off as we ate dinner....sorry.

Some of the plants in the gardens around the fountains. They're Ornamental Kale.

Relaxing out in the sun in front of the hotel. It overlooks a gorgeous valley that lets you see for miles.

This is the waterfall and garden at the hotel. The roses were still blooming. The leaves were much prettier than this looks. Ours are all mostly down at home. I couldn't believe how green the grass was there.

So, I'm working on my next project for Tim. It's coming along nicely, I think. I cannot thank you enough for your fabulous emails, comments on my blog and Tim's. I've read every one of them, and it makes me warm inside just to know there are people out there that "get" what we do. You know what I mean!!!!!

Stay tuned and come back. Hope to entertain you again in the near future! In the meantime............

Create ART!

Linda

P.S. We set a new date and time for the Scrapadoodle class in Peoria with the Desk Organizers. It's Nov. 21st from 12:30-4. Come and join us. Click on the link for info.