Day 7 and 9 of Creative Chemistry.

Ha, I thought I was doing pretty good with the Creative Chemistry class this week. I was all ready to show you my day 8 and 9 tags so I can go do day 10 and then as I was about to post it I saw that the last post was for day 6. Well that didn't make sense. So after checking the site and sorting through my tags I realized I had completely missed day 8. I don't know how, I don't know where I was or what I was doing but it happened. So I'm going to show you day 7 and 9 today and then I guess I'll catch up on day 8 and hopefully find time for day 10. Who knew taking an on-line class would be so demanding that I could lose a whole day.
Any way here are my tags. This was suppose to be a short and sweet post so I can get on with day 10, now to be days 8 and 10 but I got a little carried away taking pics, so be patient with me and enjoy.

 This is Distress power resist. I only had 2 colours of Distress power so I tried both but wasn't really happy with either one. I think a lighter colour like Tim used would be more effective.

 Here is Rusted Enamel technique. I think this was interesting and I will definitely be doing some more experimenting with the colour variations possible.

The Nostalgic Batik was a lot of fun. I've done variations of this before but hadn't used the coloured inks under the clear embossing power before so I can see a lot of different applications for this now. Oh and I got to use a new stamp I got this week. Well new to me anyway. A friend was cleaning out her stash and I purchased some wonderful new to me stamps. I know I'm suppose to be purging to move to the new studio space but what's a girl to do!!

 Here is some Perfect Distress mist. Always fun to spray and spray and spray to see what mystical background come out. I definitely need some more mini misters, oh the colour combinations between ink and mica powder are endless...

 The Perfect Distress wasn't too perfect in my world and unfortunately the photo looks even worse than the tag did. It's an interesting technique though. I'll have to work on it a bit more obviously.

The Perfect Splatter Distress was fun again too. Another new twist on a fun technique. Hard to see here but I love the way the Perfect Pearls just show up here and there rather than all over the tag.

So that was supposedly my short post for the day. I'm off to watch some more super cool techniques. I'll share them as soon as I can. LOL.

Keep Creating.

Wendy

More improvisation, day 6

Yes another day of not having the products for the Creative Chemistry class. As I watched the videos this morning I thought, oh well I have other stuff I should be working on any way. And then my brain clicked, yes I think I even heard it, as it so often does, only not as fast as I'd like it to and there was the answer. I may not have the Distress markers but I have a good selection of Tombow watercolour markers so why not use them and see if they'll do some of the same things. Tim did tell us to use what we have so that seems to be working for me so far. I don't use my water colour markers a lot so this is a good opportunity to get some more use out of them.

 I thought it would be interesting to try the different techniques with the same image to compare with after. The top one is the water colour with markers technique. It really doesn't take much to get a lot of colour with these markers. The two bottom butterflies are the stamp with markers technique. The one one the left is the first printing and the one of the right is the second printing but with water misted onto the stamp first. I think the stamping with markers is my favourite thing to do with markers, it's just so easy.

Here are the same techniques with a different image. You can see that the image makes all the difference. Some images just don't look that great as a really washed out water colour.

Well such was my experimenting for today. I'm pretty sure I have the supplies for tomorrow so I think it will be more fun for me.

Happy Creating!

Wendy

Improvised day 5 Creative Chemistry

Well I told you earlier that day 5 was a problem because I don't have any of the products Tim used for that day but I got into the spirit of Creative Chemistry and improvised, big time. Yes it's hard to believe that I don't own any Distress stains or sprays. He certainly makes it look tempting though.
So here are my tags I created today. I decided not to put images on my tags for today so I'll used them just as demo tags for these new techniques.

 This is the Marbled stains technique except I call it the Marbled inks and paint technique since I used Distress ink pads and misters and a little white acrylic paint watered down. I think it worked pretty good although I think I'd really like to get my hands on some Picket fence stain. As you can see the white paint didn't mix in as well as the stain would have. I'm happy with it though and will do my own version of this technique again.

 This is my version of Kraft resist. I didn't have any Kraft resist paper so I made my own with varnish. The one on the left is done with a stencil and the varnish was lightly sponged on. The one on the right the varnish was put on with a liner brush, lots of fun. And again since I didn't have any stains I used my Distress ink pads and re-inker misters. I know they're not the same as Tim's but I'm pretty happy with them. Oh and they're not actually on Kraft paper. I tried it on Kraft paper first but I think the paper was too porous and once I inked them the varnish resist hardly showed up at all and everything got very dark and ugly. So I tried them on regular manila tags and it worked wonderfully.

This is actually a do over from day 4. I didn't like how my layered mist technique turned out, since it came out so dark so I redid it and sprayed the tag with water before starting and the results were much better.

So that is how my day 5 turned out. Lots of fun and experimenting. It's really got me thinking about mixing things up more and trying things out just to see what happen. Well that what Tim keeps saying so I guess the class is a success for me. Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.

Happy Creating

Wendy

Day 4 Creative Chemistry

Well I'm slowly getting caught up with my on line Creative Chemistry class. I'm starting to have a few challenges with not have the same product that Tim is using but today I was able to do the tags with what I had. I wasn't thrilled with my result for day 4 but that was partially because of lack of supplies and partially just because they weren't my favourite techniques.

I cheated for the custom stamp pad technique. I made this one a while back so I just re-inked it to get it going again. It worked even though he suggested to use a stamp with lots of solid areas which of course I didn't know when doing this but I like it all the same. For the water colour technique I had limited colours in the re-inkers so I wasn't too happy with the end result. They are definitely on my shopping list. Again for the layered misting technique I had limited colours and limited misters to make the sprays so the colour combo wasn't very satisfying but I'll definitely do this again when I get more re-inkers.

I'm having even more trouble with day 5. At first I thought I wouldn't be able to do any of them since I didn't have one product he used but then my brain kept turning until it reminded me that it is called Creative Chemistry so that's just what I did. I'm working on making some craft resist paper and I found some substitutes for the marbled technique. So I'm off to finish them up so I hope to share them with you soon.

Happy Creating

Wendy

Creative Chemistry 101

I started the Tim Holtz Creative Chemistry 101 online workshop on Monday and it's been great but I've been a little busy with other things so I'm kind of slow at showing you what I've done so far. To catch up a bit I'm going to show you the first few days of tags. It's all about techniques which is what I like best. We're learning a lot about the chemistry of many different products so it will be easier to explore further on our own. This is just my kind of chemistry class! Day one was all about terminology and properties of certain products, very informative but no play time so no pictures.

 This is day 2's tags. Fun and easy backgrounds.

Here is day 3's tags. Again fun and easy backgrounds with a few new twists to them.

I'm hoping tomorrow I'll have time to get day 4 and 5 done to share with you. Can't wait to do more inking.

Happy tag making!

Wendy

ATC meeting

Yesterday was my monthly ATC meeting and I just managed to remember to take pictures of everyone's cards. This months theme was "in like a lion out like a lamb". We were a small group this month but still had a great time. Here are the ATCs.

 Lucie

 Virginia

Wendy

This is just how our March has played out so far here in Eastern Ontario. We started off with a nasty snow storm and now we're getting record highs in the mid 20's. I don't know if it can last till the end of the month but my fingers are crossed for it.

I started the Tim Holtz Creative Chemistry 101 on line class this week and  it's been lots of fun so far. It's all about techniques and the process. I'll share some of the tags with you soon. I'm also thinking I'll have to purge some of my older tags to make room for these new ones. So maybe I'll give away a few tags soon too. Anyone interested in winning a tag?

Happy creating!

Wendy

Creative inspiration

I've read a lot of books and blog posts about how to be creative and what inspires people and keeps them going but in the end I need to figure out what works for me. Lately when I've gone into the studio to work on some of my mixed media projects I just couldn't seem to get back at them. I have a few projects started so I feel that when the mood strikes me I should just be able to show up and the creative juices will start working but it hasn't been working out that way. I show up stare at a few projects for a while and then walk away because nothing seems to move me creatively. Well this past weekend my sister was by to fix up an old window she needed for a stain glass workshop she's taking tomorrow so I found myself in the studio for longer than I have in a long time. Since I had to be in the studio anyway I just started to putter away at things. I threw a little paint here and there in some art journals. Slapped some texture paste on some chip board and just tried out new colour combos and antiquing on the texture past without thinking about being creative. It made me realize that to be creative I really just need to show up regularly and to give it time without forcing it. If something doesn't work I just need to grab the next handy thing to throw paint at. Sometimes I forget that being creative doesn't always mean getting a project done.

This piece was one of those things that just came out of no where. I was using the cradle board canvas to try out some texture paste and glazing colours for a students project. It stayed on my desk so I added things here and there and within a few days it was done. I wish all projects were this easy.

What do you do to get your creativity moving?

Wendy

More antiquing sights.

So to continue from yesterdays post, we went to another antique shop just outside of Smith Falls called Butcher's Antiques. This shop is in old barns so lots of fun rummaging around to see what you can find. We didn't purchase anything but did have fun with the sights.

First there is the outside ground to peruse. This was only part of what was outside, it continued around one of the barns.

Here is some shutters that were hanging around outside. I'm thinking these might work in my new studio space. It's on the Tin mans auction finds list...get a good deal on some shutters with amazing patina, preferably green or white.

 Sometimes it seems so sad the things that get left outside at these places but oh the texture and patinas it creates. I think this was some kind of really long side panel.

 A beautiful old door, you just can't do this kind of texture in the studio.

Another wonderful shutter.

 I've notice that these places seem to think that barn attics are good chair resting places. This was just a small portion of the chairs here. So many wonderful old chairs waiting for that perfect home.

This lamp got the ugly award for the day. I think it looks more like some kind of torture equipment than a lamp. I guess, to each his own! 

 I think this came in as close second for that award though. The Tin Man found this but wasn't willing to try it out. I wonder why?

And beside that lovely chair was this regal sofa and chairs set. Now that's Royal Blue!

So now you know what we like to do when the weather gets nice in the spring. What did you do on these beautiful days we've been having?

Happy Antiquing!

Wendy

Beautiful antiquing day.

It was such a beautiful sunny day today that the Tin man talked me into doing a little antiquing after Tai Chi today instead of cleaning the basement. Imagine the arm twisting he had to do for that!
Lucky you I had my little camera in my purse today so I can share some of the sights.

Our first stop found us at Carousel Antiques in Franktown. They are in a lovely old 1832 stone building. Sorry I didn't get my camera out early enough to get a picture of it...next time.

This is what I purchased here. The pewter mold is just a reproduction but I like it and I hope to use it when I do this on my staircase wall. And well how can I resist watches. I haven't made any watch part jewelry lately so this will help me get back at it.

I'm back...had to go help sister Nancy prepare for a stain glass workshop she's taking next week. I've run out of steam for today though so I'll continue sharing my antiquing story tomorrow.

Good night!

Wendy

Dangle charms

I decided that since I had a pile of beads and such out for making dangles last week, I might as well just continue to make more so I have some when I need them. I started off at my desk but decided I'd try to make some while watching some telly with the Tinman.

 This is my tray of assorted beads and such. Most of them are metal beads, a few are wood and shells, then their are the seed beads for the ends of the dangles. I love keeping my eye open for odd looking beads, not just at the bead store but also at garage sales, thrift shops and the Tinman even brings me some vintage necklaces from auctions that I can take apart to use. As a result I have quite an assortment of things to make unique dangle charms with. Whenever I want to make these charms I always take out an different assortment to work with so I'm always getting different combinations.

Here is the pile I did this week. I have a few ideas for some new designs that I think will have these hanging from them. So I better get back to making some jewelry to hang these from.

Oh I just realized it Wednesday so I'm going to tag along with the WOYWW group. Go check out some desks over at the Stamping Ground to see what everyone else is up to this week.

Wendy

Some ATC inspiration.

I gave myself a little play time today since I've been a good worker this week. I took a little time to do some art journaling(sorry nothing interesting to see). It was one of those spray glimmer mist here and there, wait for things to dry, but didn't get anything done. While I was in the studio I noticed my 7 Gypsy ATC tray on the wall and decided it was time for a change. I used Instant tac the first time and it made marks on some of the paper, so this time around I used repositional tape.

 Here is the tray before the change.

And here it is after. 

I was going for a kind of spring feel since it's been raining all day and the snow is melting fast. I love spring, it can never come too early.

Well back to work.

HAPPY TRADING!

Wendy

New Design.

This winter has not been terrible productive for jewelry making for me. I don't know if it's the winter doldrums  or just not having any deadlines that has caused this but I'm trying to get back at it.

This design has been slow in the creating. The idea of riveting together some etched copper pieces has been floating around my head for many months. When I finally got around to doing it I realized that it needed something more and that's when the dangles came into play.

This bracelet that I made last year came to mind, so I made more dangles similar to these. I thought I would just have it on a copper chain but this didn't really do it justice so I made some bead and funky wire connectors and that did the trick.

I'm pleased with how it turned out. What do you think?

Wendy