Hey y’all!  I just now realized that is was Wednesday, so . I thought I would have this post up earlier today, but we’ve been having some computer issues. I spent the morning working on the network and organizing the mess of wires upstairs. Thank goodness it is finally done and Mr. Stodgy will leave me alone about the Ethernet cord running along the kitchen floor, down the basement stairs, into my studio.   You’d think he could see that the cord was there and would walk step over it . . .

I remember when I was a child (well now, under 10 okay?) and we would have more snow than we get now.  I lived in the south end of Louisville at the foot of a hill.  All the streets started at the top of the hill and ran down to our street.  These hills were great for go-carts, bikes, skates and most importantly sleds.  You know I never remember school being cancelled for snow.  I just knew we had snow and we played outside all day making snow people and sledding.  I was always hoping to share those memories with my own children, but it seemed that the more the years went bye, the fewer snowfalls we’ve had.  I had a Flexible Flyer and couldn’t wait to purchase one for my girls (it’s hanging in the shed waiting for my grandchildren to come along one day).

When I saw the stamp I’ve used today, The Back Door by Just for Fun Rubber Stamps, I KNEW I had to have it.  This looks more like our own back door when my girls were little than when I was a little girls (we had a covered porch then).  I even painted the house that god awful red stain color that we have on our house now.   The backside even has the same type of siding!

I colored the image with Ranger Distress Re-Inkers, die cut and embossed with Spellbinders™  Oval Nesties and then distressed the edges.  While I was putting this card together, the image seemed too bright for the paper and I wanted it to look more aged.  I grabbed my Hot Wax Stylus and some natural beeswax and applied a light layer over the image.  Now here’s the neat part . . .  even though I didn’t need to fuse the wax because I had used the stylus, I decided to take the heat gun to it anyway.  The watercolor paper soaked up the wax and now the image is duller but there is no shiny coat.  I LOVE it!  I make an additional background layer, I took a mini manila tag and worked with the Wrinkle Free Distress Technique.

• Stamps:  H2298 The Back Door and D2615 All Good Cheer from Just For Fun Rubber Stamps
• Paper:  Arches Watercolor; Mini Manila Tags; Memory Box Spiceberry; Cranberry Crisp and True Thyme
• Ink:  Ranger Distress Embossing, Shabby Shutters, Pine Needles, Peeled Paint, Fired Brick, Aged Mahogany, Weathered Wood, Broken China, Old Paper, Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain, Faded Jeans, More Mustard, Spiced Marmalade; and Ranger Archival Black and Coffee
• Accessories:  Spellbinders™ S5-015 Deckled Mega Rectangles – Large, S4-140 Petite Ovals – Small, S4-138 Petite Ovals – Large, and S4-141 Petite Scalloped Ovals – Small; Ranger Non-Stick Craft Mat, Mini Mister, Gold Adirondack Paint Dabber, White Inkssentials Gel Pen and Rock Candy Distress Stickles; Tim Holtz Tonic Distress Tool; 7 Gypsies Paper Fasteners; Tsukineko Sponge Daubers; May Arts Ribbon; Foam Mounting Tape; Sewing Machine; Vintage Button; Papertrey Rustic Cream Button Twine; Gold Spica Pen

Well that’s all folks!  I hope you’ve had a fabulous day and thanks for stopping by!

Good Monday morning!  I hope you all had a fabulous weekend and got outside and enjoyed the weather.  It was great here in Southern Indiana, 70’s and cool at night.  Perfect weather to get out and enjoy walks with the little shitzes!  When I wasn’t outside, I was buried deep in the recesses of the basement working away in my studio.  More playtime!  I could hardly stand it.  I’ve had some ideas running through my head for months now.  I was only waiting for a little time when I didn’t have pressing commitments and time limitations.

Remember this beeswax frame I did for my mother as a Mother’s Day gift?  Ever since I worked on that piece, I’ve been wanting to do another one; and since I’m still on a learning curve, this weekend was perfect! 

One day at CHA all us girls were sitting at a table resting, and someone from the Graphic 45 Booth walked up to our table.  Because a couple of us had on their buttons, we each received a free packet of Graphic 45 paper.  I couldn’t have been more delighted since I had been longing for the Botanicabella Collection.  I knew deep down that I had a special project for this paper  . . . more beeswax art!

This is what I came up with on Saturday . . . a canvas that was covered with Garden Suite and beeswax.

There’s lots of dimension going on here.  I kept adding layers of cardboard to building up bases as I went, finally ending at the top with another diamond panel.  I lost count of how many layers of beeswax I ended up adding.  I sat the canvas up in my sitting room when I was done so that I could keep looking at it and decide if it was done or not.  At first I thought about adding a bow at the top that would hang down the back and let me hang it on the wall.  I also thought about adding some more panels below the canvas, but it was just too thick to punch with my crop-o-dile. 

This morning I went out to my spare cabinet in the garage and found the perfect idea for finishing the canvas . . . an 8×10 black frame!  I went back into the studio, picked a piece of coordinating Graphic 45 paper and when to work. 

Here is the finished project, ready hang in my sitting room!

Here’s a close-up so that you can see all the different tiers and panels.

And don’t forget to look at that butterfly.  It was part of the paper that I trimmed out, covered with beeswax and then found some old gold beads to add as the body.  I recently purchased some gold wire that was perfect for the antennae. 

I know I need more practice with this technique and will keep working on projects as time allows!  This is such an addicting form of art.

So, that’s all I have for today!  I hope you have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

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.