Tim's Tag for May

Tim's Tag for May, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

**Cue foreboding music**

"Ohhhhh, Tim!!" (Our crafty creator cries!)

"How could you??? HOW COULD YOU??" (Our crafty creator weeps!)

"You...you...you used...I can't say it!! I just can't say the word aloud!! (Wails our crafty creator!)

"YOU USED MY MORTAL ENEMY! THE BANE OF MY CRAFTY EXISTENCE!! HOW COULD YOU??????" (Howls our crafty creator!!!)

"You used.......(gulp, sob, gasp!)



...RUB-ONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"


(Our crafty creator has succumbed to her emotional overload and lies quietly weeping, curled up into a ball, on the floor...of her craft room....)

**Cue melancholy cello music.....**

Yes, that's right, kids! The King of Crafty Goodness, Tim Holtz himself, used rub-ons...AKA Remnant Rubs.

Now, I'm sure Tim's Remnant Rubs are amazing and all that, but...ahem. I hate rub-ons. We just don't get along.

In fact, the only rub-ons I own were purchased for a specific project and only because they were like 99 cents.

And I bought several packs because I knew I would screw them up.

And I did.

Lots.

So all I've got in the Drawer of Rub-on Crafts is some 2008 dated thingys with numbers and months.

So I used them, dang it.

On. This. Tag.

And then...insert EVIL LAUGH HERE...I tortured them. With glee.

I scratched them with a nail file, I doused them with Distress Stain, I stamped over them with PERMANENT ink, and I buffed their little heads with Distress Inks.

TAKE THAT YOU EVIL RUB-ONS!!

Ahem.

And when I got that out of my system, I made the cool charm.

Tim used an enameled tag.

I have none so I made one. I used one of Tim's acrylic tag charms and painted the back with white Distress Paint. Then I dropped Terra Cotta Alcohol Ink on the front, THEN I stamped part of a ticket stamp and parts of a compass stamp using more permanent ink on the charm. It kinda looks like amber. :-)

Finally, I colored some ribbon and attached everything. The word band on the bottom says, "Encourage your hopes, not your fears."

So true, so true.

I no longer fear you, you evil little rub-ons.



Peace, love, and rub-ons,


~Cynthia

Banners Two Ways

Banners Two Ways, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

Do ya ever watch those TV cooking competition shows liked "Chopped" where they have to use a food item to make a dish...and then attempt to describe it in glowing terms? Like, "Today I have for you Liver Mush with Canned Dirt and Old Socks Two Ways."

OK, maybe not.

Maybe I just watch way too many cooking competition shows.

But today I have for you Banners Two Ways.

*snicker*

The bottom photo is a regular shot I took on my cell phone through the car's sunroof of banners in a grocery store parking lot.

(Whoa! No dangling participles there, boy!!)

The top shot I ran through an Instagram filter. It makes the photo square--giving all the pictures a Polaroid look. The filter I used made the edges darker and the colors more intense.

I love Instagram filters almost as much as I love cooking competition shows.

;-)

Anyway, I'm pretty sure I borrowed this layout from something Shimelle did. I used a bunch of paper layers, some washi tape and some embellishments from various sources.

That button thingy in the middle is one I just made up. I didn't have anything big enough nor the right shape for that area...so I just made one from a chipboard piece and some glossy paper. I dropped alcohol ink on the paper and shot it with some canned air. Then I punched a circle and adhered it to the chipboard piece.

It's kinda weird, but it's totally growing on me. :-)


Alright, crafters, that's all I got for ya today. Happy Monday wherever you are. Oh, and Shimelle has hinted that there might be some fun stuff on her blog this weekend for National Scrapbook Day. Oooo, stay tuned, eh??


~Cynthia

All Locked Up

All Locked Up, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

I actually took this photo several years ago, and I also scrapped all the photos I took on that trip. But my Mom sent me a link about making your photos look old. As in distressing the actual photo, not altering how you *take* the photo. So I reprinted this picture and distressed it.

I folded it, sanded it, inked it, poked holes in it.

It was kind of cathartic actually, in an odd way.

But it didn't look like the pictures on the blog.

Now it just looks like I dragged it along an asphalt highway for a few miles.

*sigh*

So I just scrapped it.

=)

I used up some new stuff and some old stuff and had a bit of fun with Distress Inks. Most of the papers are American Crafts. The embellishments are from several sources including Teresa Collins.

And there you have it. ;-)


Have a wonderful Monday!!


~Cynthia

With the Boats

With the Boats, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

By far, this is one of the simplest pages I've ever made.

By far, this is one of the most graphically awesome pages I've ever made.

The background paper is by Authentique. It's part of a gorgeous denim blue-and-white collection that I love. For this page, I wanted a bit more color though--to make that 7 in the boat house photo pop. But no matter what I tried, it either interfered with the page design or didn't match that mustard yellow 7.

Enter the chalks.

Yes, I simply took some Blending Chalk and dusted that big flower. In real life, it more closely matches that mustard 7. :-)

To get a triangle of mustard yellow goodness, I grabbed a wood veneer butterfly and dusted it with the same yellow chalks.

I adhered the photo, used more Authentique letters for a small title, and stamped the date on the very bottom.

Done and done.

Yay!!



Supplies:
Paper: Authentique ("Genuine")
Ink: Tim Holtz (Black Soot for date)
ETC: Inkadinkado (Blending Chalks); Authentique (sticker letters) Prima (wood veneer butterfly)



Is it Friday already?? Where has this week gone??? ;-) I hope you all have a wonderfully crafty weekend!


~Cynthia

Lawson's Fork

Lawson's Fork, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

I've been on a scrapbook roll! :-)

Most of these photos have been hanging around my desk for several...ahem...years. *gasp* And I'm just now getting around to scrapping them and placing them in an album.

This one was taken at a river near my house--actually it's called a creek. For most of its journey to the ocean it really is small enough to qualify as a creek, but at this point it falls over a man-made dam which provided hydro-electric power for a textile mill years ago. And it's river sized here.

The bridge is old and falling apart, but very very cool. I caught this photo on a sunny day when the creek wasn't flowing quickly--and I was able to get a great reflection of the trees.

I used up a lot of bits and pieces of various papers on this one too! =D



Thanks for dropping by!


~Cynthia

I Made This!!

I Made This!!, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

OK, here's the other side of my two-page spread on the wooden box I made to hold ink pens.

In the bottom photo you can see that I made the box to hold two of those gridded pen holders. I made the depth of the box slightly shorter than the pens so the holders would stick out and not slide back into the box, while also allowing the pens to rest against the back of the box.

And then I scrapped the process to death! Heh heh!! =D

The background paper is from the same collection as the left side page is--My Mind's Eye. All the rest of the stuff is from Simple Stories.

Lovin' that ruler washi tape too! So perfect!! ;-)


Happy Monday!


~Cynthia

Pen Box

Pen Box, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

Cry along with me as I tell you my sad story....

Well, it's only partially sad.

My not-so-local yet staunchly independent scrapbook store is closing.

Today actually.

I got some cool stuff from them this past week, including those nifty plastic grid pen holders. You know, the kind you use to store Copic pens.

But the large plastic containers the pen holders sit in are just too expensive, so I decided to make my own.

Out of wood.

Using heavy machinery.

Without loss of life or limb.

And I did.

So I had to scrap book it! =D

I took many pictures along the way. I printed them in a small size so I could get them all on one page. The facing page, which I'll post on Monday, shows the finished product.

This page is all about the cutting, gluing, sanding, staining, and drying parts.

For all the massive amounts of stuff on this page, I rather like it. It's kind of busy, but I got to use new washi tape and that always makes me happy! ;-)

The paper is an old (horded) piece of My Mind's Eye. Precious (horded) Authentique stickers and some new (to me) Simple Stories embellishments are scattered about.


I hope you're having a wonderful weekend!! I'm off to my final, absolute last, visit to my beloved not-so-local scrap store.

*sigh*


Shop local, my friends!


~Cynthia