Falling Autumn Leaves

As "Sandy" approaches, and I look at multiple 16 hour work days looming ahead, I wanted to get some crafty time in this weekend!

The Simon Says Stamp Challenge this week was Autumn Leaves... with the high winds forecast for this week, I envision skies full of leaves blowing wildly about.

I added a new set of tools to my arsenal last week - a heat gun, versamark ink pad and clear embossing powder - and got them out to play.  SO MUCH FUN!!!!  I was surprised as I looked through my stamp sets, I don't have many, but as a lover of all things autumn, I was stunned that I don't have any stamps with maple or oak leaves.  So my falling leaves are less traditional looking, but let me play with the emboss-resist technique when coloring them in.

To color the leaves I used my Tombow watercolor markers and a water brush.  I swept several colors onto the back of my stamping block, mixed as desired with my water brush and applied in varying patterns onto the embossed leaves.

I really wanted the leaf design to shine, so I kept the sentiment small and simple with a tiny brad to set it off.

Hope that hurricane Sandy doesn't do too much damage, and everyone stays safe!

Thanks for visiting!
~Kathy

Grand Canyon Rejuvenation...

Nothing crafty to post today...  but thought I'd share a quick picture from our vacation in the Grand Canyon - we went completely off the grid for a week!

Back to "reality" and the cold, but feeling very refreshed from the trip on the river!

Hope your weekend is filled with sunshine!
~Kathy

Taping it up at the last second...

The Simon Says Stamp & Show blog's challenge this week is to Tape it up - using any kind of tape you desire.  I have a small assortment of tissue and washi tapes that just joined my stash and I've had a few ideas in mind all week.  I also used the tutorial to make my own tissue tape.  I'm saving that for a travel journal I'm working on for my in-laws though...

In the end I went with plain and simple, because artsy and creative just wasn't working for me this week.  I used a pretty floral Recollections Washi tape from Michael's as a border for the Hero Arts floral silhouette stamp (stamped with broken china distress ink), and combined pieces from two of Tim Holtz's tissue tapes for the butterfly sentiment.

And I'll leave you with a quick shot of the dining room table - proof that I was all over the place working on this card!

Thanks for visiting - hope you're all enjoying the autumn weather as much as I am!
~Kathy

Dance in the Rain

After watching the Tim Holtz video on the Simon Says Stamp blog for their Stamptember celebration I was motivated to fill a blank space on my living room wall...

Have you been following along with all of the guest bloggers over at Simon Says Stamp?  Fabulous tips and designs!

The past couple of weeks I've been taking full advantage of sales and coupons for the A.C. Moore to stock up on dies, stamps and papers (it's a little too convenient, since it's in the same location as my gym!).  I love that they're starting to stock Tim Holtz and MME products!

Anyway - I decided to play with paints, canvas, paper, chipboard and stamps to create a mixed media piece of art to hang on the wall in that empty space.  Here are some additional photos from the room that were used as inspiration for my artwork.

 The hardest part for me (well, aside from waiting for paint and glue to dry) was letting go of my perfectionism! 

And here it is...   My final product (note this is not in it's final location, I need to put a hook in the wall):

I love the quote, and to play in the rain - Tim Holtz seems to have the perfect products and images and it all went together pretty quickly when I had the time to work on it...

Some close-ups of different areas on the piece:

The craft resist letters are sooooo neat!  brush the paint on, and wipe off of the resist....  Love that you can make them whatever color, using whatever product you want!

I played with acrylic paints on the stamps - stamping onto scrap black paper to test the affects before applying to my canvas. The process required painting the stamp with the paint (layering the cream and red colors for the umbrella and the man with the umbrella impressions), spritzing with some water and finally stamping the image. 

Thanks for visiting!
~Kathy

Supplies:
Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz stamps
Acrylic paints:  black, parchment and burnt sienna
BoBunny back to back 12x12 sheet Mama-Razzi Shutter design paper
Tim Holtz Idea-ology Kraft Resist Chipboard letters
The Paper Company Iridescent Silver Transparent 12x12 paper
16x20 canvas
Colorbox 12x12 brushed silver paper
Sizzix Tim Holtz Alterations Vintage Market Alphabet
mini mister (with water)
Mod Podge

The Power of Observation

Earlier this week I saw that the Simon Says Stamp Challenge had the option to use one of the following:
     - Hexagons
     - Neon colors
     - Chevrons

And the first thing I thought was - PERFECT!  I just bought a new set of Spellbinders dies - hexagons.

So today was the day - and when I sat down to play with them I noticed....  they're octagons.  Apparently I need to work on my power of observation!

I absolutely love the designs in this MME paper pad!  And decided to play with a variety of patterns to push my comfort zone.  I think I managed to pull together the flowers, grid, and dots pretty well.

I'm hoping that octagons are close enough to hexagons to count for the challenge.

Thanks for visiting!
~Kathy

Supplies:
Spellbinders Octagon Dies
EK Success Border Punch
MME Stella and Rose Mabel papers (6x6 pad)
Corner rounder
Fiscars Laugh with Me Quotes stamp
Tombow marker to add some low lights to the sentiment.