Good morning!  I hope y’all have had a good week so far and have stayed out of trouble.  I also hope that you’re ready for another Rubbernecker WACKY WEDNESDAY Challenge.  This week Shelly is the hostess and has challenged the Red-Hot Mommas and you to make a project using your favorite technique.  Check it out on the Rubbernecker Blog and come play along with us!

Now I have to admit that I didn’t do my favorite technique!  I have so many (stitching, water coloring, distressing, blah, blah, blah) and I use them all frequently.  What I’ve done is try a new technique for me – Melt Art! I LOVE this technique and totally got lost last night in my project.  I got so lost, I missed the first 30 minutes of American Idol.

I’m a huge fan of Suze Weinberg and never miss one of her blog posts.  I’ve been wanting to try the beeswax for so long and a few weeks ago I finally ordered her Hot Wax Stylus Tool.  Hopefully I’ll be able to get into her class at CHA!  I requested it when we registered . . . .

Please keep in mind, that this is my first attempt at Melt Art . . . AND . . . this is my Mother’s Day present for my mom.  I made it to match the colors of her home:  gold, tans and black.  I posted some pictures way back when I first started blogging which you can find here.

I started this project with an unfinished frame from the Dollar Spot at Target and a 4”x4” piece of illustration board.  I started dropping various colors of alcohol ink on the illustration board and then gave it a blast of canned air.  Once the illustration board was dry, I started layering melted beeswax.  I truly can’t remember how many layers because I kept messing up and adding more.  I do know that I fused each layer with my heat gun.  When I finally had the beeswax to a workable form and not gaps is when I went to work with the texture.  I dusted the Rubbernecker Flourish Background with Bronze Perfect Pears and then stamped into the warm wax.  I LOVE how the image pushed the wax up and around and the image left the perfect pearls outline!  The center medallion is part of an old necklace that my mother used to wear.  Oh yeah . . . I used one of the very same earrings on another piece not long ago.  The hanger for the frame is actually some of the beads from the necklace.  The butterfly and flowers were die cut from Grunge Paper and then painted with Ranger Black and Gold Acrylic Paint Dabbers.  The leaves were stamped on Grunge Board, inked and then cut out.  To hold the flower together, I used some copper wire, wrapping it through a “truly” vintage button and then wiring each layer of the flower together.  I left the ends long so that I could add some curls here and there.  The beads on the butterfly are beads from the necklace.

• Stamps:  Flourish Background from Rubbernecker Stamps; Wendy Vecchi Studio 490 Ticket to Art from Stampers Anonymous
• Ink:  Ranger Archival Jet Black, Old Paper Distress, and Latte, Rust, Ginger, Gold, Black, Caramel and Hazelnut Alcohol Inks
• Paper:  Illustration Board
• Accessories:  Spellbinders Butterflies 2 and Daisy Heads Shapeabilities; Ranger Melting Pot, Glossy Accents; Bronze Perfect Pearls, Acrylic Paint Dabbers; idea-ology Grunge Paper and Grunge Board; Wire; Vintage Button; Old Necklace; Venture Foam Tape; Canned Air; Heat Gun; Brush

Thanks for stopping by and here’s hoping y’all have a great day!  Don’t forget to check out the Wacky Wednesday challenge and play along with us.

How is everyone today?  I’m glad my weekend has been quiet and relaxing.  Yesterday I was able to get out in the yard and finish my path through the flower bed.  The whole time I was working, the creative juices were flowing.  I’ve really let this flower bed go over the last few years and had forgotten how good I felt when working outside.

When I received the new Spellbinders Dahlia Nestabilities, the first thing I thought of was trying to make flowers with the Grunge Paper.  I had seen so many posts by Wendy Vecchi (Studio 490) with flowers made with Grunge Paper, and I couldn’t wait to try.  I finally got some Grunge Paper last week and last night went to work.  I chose not to make a card, but a wall hanging instead.  This will eventually hang in my studio!

Here’s a side view so you can see all the layers:

The base is a rectangle coaster that I sponged with Antique Linen.  Using the Tim Holtz Flourish Mask, I sponged over it with Vintage Photo and Walnut stain, sponging the edges with Vintage Photo.  Using various stamps from Studio 490, I over stamped the image to add interest.  The flower was made with Grunge Paper that was die cut with the Spellbinders Dahlia Nestabilities.  The front and back of each layer was inked with the same color and the top was stamped with script and music images.  To add some glitz to the flower, each layer was sprayed with coordinating pear shimmer mist.  Using a bone folder, the section of the flower was folded and scored so the flower would not lay flat.  The middle of the flower is a vintage clip-on earring that I found in the buttons that my Aunt gave me. I tore the clasp off and glued earring on with Ranger Glossy Accents.

• Stamps: Studio 490 Ticket of Art, Dreams of Art and Flower Art from Stampers Anonymous; Stamp Oasis Graphics Collection - French Letter SKU:11 SO GM and Music Background SKU:543 SO from Rubbernecker Stamp Company
• Paper: Neenah Classic Crest Solar White and SU Very Vanilla
• Ink: Ranger Archival Coffee, and Broken China, Dusty Concord, Peeled Paint, Walnut Stain, Antique Linen, and Vintage Photo Distress
• Accessories: Spellbinders Dahlia and Large Petite Oval Nestabilities; Tim Holt idea-ology Plain Grunge Board and Grunge Paper, Flourish Mask, Swivel Clasps, Long Fastener, Jump Rings, and Tonic Scissors (for distressing); Ranger Glossy Accents, Pearl Perfect Pearls, Mini Misters; Tsukineko Sponge Dauber; Venture Foam Tape; Rectangle Coaster; Twine; Vintage Clip-On Earring

I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend and thanks for stopping by!  I’ve got a race to run . . .  Bristol!

Happy Friday!  It’s rainy here today with a nip in the air – a perfect day to spend indoors stamping.  I haven’t done a Splitcoaststampers Challenge in what seems like weeks.  Actually it probably has been weeks with my traveling and all.  I’ve checked in on them every day this week, but the mojo has failed me.

All week long, the challenges have been in honor and celebration of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  They have gone PINK!  Since this is a cause near and dear to me, I couldn’t let another day go by without participating.

I think this is the first time that I have combined more than two challenges into one card.  Today, I’ve combined four: the Color Challenge to use Pink Pirouette, Kiwi Kiss and Chocolate Chip; the Sketch Challenge; the Ways to Use it Challenge to use just one word; and today’s Limited Supply Challenge to use leaves.

A few months ago I went to Cincinnati Stampaway with some friends, and bought a few of the new Studio 490 sets.  I met the designer, Wendy Vecchi, at Winter CHA and was in total awe of her designs.  I was so excited at Summer CHA to see that she had released sets incorporating her unique style with chipboard and grunge board.  Today I finally broke them in and put a little ink on them!

Let’s start with the Grunge Board leaves and flowers first.  I stamped the images on the Grunge Board, cut them out, and then inked the leaves with Kiwi Kiss and the flowers with Worn Lipstick.  An idea-ology Hitch Fastener holds the petals of the flower together.  The background papers started as white.  To give them color, I swiped both Pink Pirouette and Worn Lipstick on my Ranger Craft Sheet, misted the ink with water and laid my paper in the ink to pick up the color.  Using a craft iron, I ironed over the paper to dry it.  This process was continued to keep adding layers of color to the white paper.  The sentiment, dream, was part of a phrase that I masked, inking only the one word to stamp on the third panel.

• Stamps: Studio 490 Dreams of Art, Flower Art and Ticket to Art from Stampers Anonymous
• Paper: Neenah Classic Crest Solar White; SU Chocolate Chip
• Ink: Ranger Archival Coffee, Worn Lipstick and Vintage Photo Distress; SU Pink Pirouette and Kiwi Kiss
• Accessories: Tim Holt idea-ology Plain Grunge Board and Hitch Fastener; Ranger Mini Mister, Gold Perfect Pearls and Inkssential Ink Blending Tool; Tonic Tim Holtz Distressing Tool; Clover Craft Iron; Tsukineko Sponge Dauber; Venture Foam Tape; Ribbon

Have a little fun today and stamp trying something new!