FDFF Challenge: The Great Outdoors!!

Hello friends! It's Friday again and you know what that means...another fabulous challenge over at Frosted Designs! This time we want you to create any OTP project, layout or card with the theme of "The Great Outdoors". Which should be easy right, it's summer so we all get out and enjoy the sunshine when we can. I happened to have done quite a bit of traveling this summer with our recent cross-country move so I had plenty of good photos to choose from. I actually printed 100 instagrams last week, most of them were from the trip, so I can't wait to scrap them all! It was hard to decide on which ones, I actually plan on making an 'entire 'road trip' album but I chose a few of my favorites for this layout I call "Wilderness Girls". It's kinda funny though we were all in Girl Scouts together back in the day, but it makes me think of that movie from the 90's about the Wilderness Girls...hmm I should find that on Netflix soon and save it for a rainy day. That was one of my favorite movies! Anyway, onto the good stuff, photos of my LO for today!!

 Here are a few close ups. I had fun digging back through my stash since the move. I did alot of purging when we left, had to make room for more important stuff, but at least I know it went to a good cause. I found some old BG out of print papers and combined them with more BG papers from a kit I bought just before the move called 'Clippings'. I thought the greens and whites went really well together. To do my layering, I used some Prima Trim, paper piecings, large flower, PP button, stickles, a bit of washi tape and a few other things to tie it all together. My photos aren't the greatest I took them at night so I had to brighten them a bit ...not too much light when you are up scrapping late at night like I usually am!!

 So that is about it for today, I hope you have a great weekend. I will be working but I get my 'weekend' Tues Wed so looking forward to getting back into a routine with all out of town company gone. It was fun to see them and show them our new place but the preparing beforehand can be so exhausting!!! Although it did motivate me to pretty much 'finish' out little place. All we are missing now is carpet for the bedroom, which will come soon I hope. I can't wait to share pics when the light is good in here in the next few days and everything is done!

Please come join us for this awesome challenge! All you have to do is link up your project on our sidebar at www.frosteddesigns.blogspot.com no later than July 30th to be eligible for the DT picks for Top 3 and our Grand Prize winner gets some awesome stuff from Molossi as well as Spiegel Mom's Scrap Shop- our  wonderful sponsors this time!! Can't wait to see what you come up with! Here's too a crafty weekend and normal routines :) Cheers! Until next time~VV

Tim Holtz:12 Tags of 2013: February

Hi blogland! I'm up late tonite to share the tag I just made for Tim's 12 tags of 2013 challenge. I feel like it's been months since I've updated..but in reality it has only been a month. Finally Mardi Gras craziness and 55 hour work weeks are over...I can get into a more regular routine again and get back to scrapping!! I am so excited about joining the Frosted Designs team as my first international DT! I have the chance to inspire scrappers from around the world and hopefully get some more followers here on this tiny blog of mine! Also I'm still in process of getting items ready to list on my Etsy shop and get that up and running very soon...so lots of stuff here in the works at Vintage Vixen Crafts. If you don't already follow my blog, please do, and I'll follow yours...also I have a facebook page: www.facebook.com/vvcrafts . 

Here is Tim's gorgeous tag which was our inspiration:

I have tried to challenge myself to use only materials I already have to make these tags...however I did splurge this morning on a few little TH goodies since I had a coupon at Michaels for 25% off. They didn't have the new blueprint stamps- any of them, esp the Queen one that I wanted, but I got some new distress ink, vial labels, mini word stickers, cork pieces, and Ranger's large manila tags which are the ones Tim uses. I have been using a smaller size and I really like the bigger ones! You can fit so much stuff on there!! 

I also had plans on taking photos as I worked on it layer by layer...but my creative mojo was in full swing and I finished this baby in like 30 mins!! HA! I guess that's what happens when you don't scrap in almost 2 months! So this is the first pic I took, and I will have to just explain the rest:

So I started with a large manila tag, I covered it in distress ink in 'barn door' then went back in with another red inker I had from Clearsnap. After that I sprayed it with some very watered down smooch spritz in silver foil then heat set it to dry. Next I distressed the edges and went back with distress ink in 'black soot' and more 'barn door', this is how it looked in that step.

 Here is an overview of the tag after I added all the elements. I used some a scrap of script paper, white cardstock that I stamped my 'be mine' stamp on then colored with distress marker in antique linen then sprayed with water and heat set to dry. Also I pop dotted up a mini tag that has a heart locket that I UTEE and added a red bling too. For more layers and texture underneath, I used a script stamp from Hampton Art in embossing ink then distress embossing powder in black soot. The other elements are a sticker from TH paper stash, a vial label and min words, a TH fragment that I made a while back, some postmark washi tape, and red and white twine.

 Here are some more photos that I just shared on instagram!!! Enjoy!!

Well that is all for tonite.. I'm gonna hit the hay now and try to make myself sleep since I probably could scrap all night now! Back to the grind tomorrow for 2 days then it's off to Santa Cruz. CA for our annual manager's meeting, nice to get out of the store for a while, then I'll have a real weekend when I get back, Sunday and Monday- so hopefully more creative stuff to share! Goodnight Y'all - sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite! :D ~ VV

Supplies Used:

Tim Holtz distress ink- barn door, black soot

Tim Holtz distress embossing powder- black soot

Tim Holtz distress markers- antique linen

Tim Holtz tissue tape

sticker from TH crowded attic set

Tim Holtz vial label

Tim Holtz mini words stickers

Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel-UTEE

large manila tag- Ranger

script stamp- 7 Gypsies by Hampton Art

'be mine' stamp by Studio G

red and white twine- Queen & Co

postmark washi tape- Recollections

my stash- scrap of script paper, mini tag, red bling

2 wedding layouts + why I love UTEE

Good morning friends! I hope you have enjoyed your week so far! I know I've been enjoying this cooler weather we've had, it finally feels like Christmas is around the corner in Alabama! But this time next year I'll be in Portland, Oregon and I'll probably be dying for some warmer sunny days! LOL! I wanted to share a few layouts I did earlier this week for my sister's wedding album. I already gave her the album thinking it was complete, then realized that I had a few more pics and about 5 more pages to do!! So I finished them as soon as I could and shipped everything to her in a big box along with her bday gift, her bday was Dec 11th. I  forgot to take pictures of the other 3 layouts I did of some of her honeymoon pics in Virginia Beach, which makes me sad cause they were so cute!!! Oh well, here are the ones I did take pics of, I did a simpler style of scrapping cause I was in such a time crunch, but I still am really happy with how they turned out:

I also wanted to share a quick 'tute' about heat embossing. This has become my favorite technique lately. I have been using UTEE or 'ultra thick embossing enamel' but of course embossing powder comes in several different colors, even scented! What I like about UTEE is that it's thicker, and it's clear, so you can stamp your image in black or a color, then clean your stamp and cover it with TOP boss or another clear embossing ink, then go over it again with that. Next sprinkle on some UTEE and heat it! You can even double heat it for an even cooler look. I recently bought a clear embossing ink daubber, which is super easy to use if you aren't stamping, but wanting to cover a larger surface. By heat embossing some old chipboard shapes or stickers, it creates a cool new shiny embellishment for your page or project! I have even experimented with coloring my stamps with Tim Holtz distress markers as ink along with other colors to get each part of the stamp in different colors, then heat embossed it! Way cool, right?? Next for Christmas I want some colored embossing powder and more stamps!!!! Here are some step by steps on how I heat embossed some old chipboard shapes and gave them new life:

1. Choose your items, could be a thicker sticker, chipboard, or even cardstock shape.

2. Next, cover it with clear embossing ink, making sure to be very generous with the coverage!

3. Working quickly, cover your object with UTEE or other embossing powder.

4. Next, pull out your heat gun and give it some heat! You can lightly heat it for a more varied look or heat it longer and the little beads will melt together and make an overall enameled look.

Cool right? Well I will definatley be doing more experimenting, especially once I get more embossing powder and stuff for Christmas! So stay tuned for more craftiness!! I love this time of year! Happy weekend, Y'all~ VV

Altered Initial Tutorial

Good morning everyone!! I hope your December has gotten off to a good start. I know I always love this time of year. Giving gifts, especially handmade ones for me are the best part of Christmas! A great seg-way into our post for today, I made an altered initial for my sister for her birthday this year. I always feel like I don't really know what she wants because well she pretty much has everything, I could buy her like an Amazon gift card but well that's kind of impersonal, and I am her crafty sis, so it has to be something good!

Here is a pic of the original initials we did at class in May:

So I orginally took a class a few months back at weekend crop in Gulfport, MS for this initial. I bought an extra kit thinking I would do the same style again for Kelli and give it to her as a gift, but after looking over the papers and embellishments, I realized that they probably weren't really her style. The blue, white, silver and peacock feathers are really cute but wouldn't match her house decor. So I scrapped the whole kit- to use on another project, except for the intial! The first thing I did was hot glue a tube to the back of the letter to give it more stability when standing. I also thought that you could add some dried flowers or something for height when using it to decorate! Here are some pics and step by step instructions (forgive me for not taking a pic for each step!!) Pardon these pics too, I had to take them all inside because it has been dreary out!

Next, I chose my papers and traced the letter on it then cut it to fit. I used Martha Stewart crafts glue to adhere it to the letter, then my exacto knife to trim and get a good clean edge. These are some of the products I used: red chevron paper- The Paper Studio, element stickers from Carta Bella 'beautiful moments' line, mod podge in Glossy, Tim Holtz distress ink in vintage photo, StazOn Jet black ink, and chandelier stamp by Heidi Swapp.

After I had my paper down, I chose one of the larger element stickers and placed it on the letter. Then I inked and stamped the Heidi Swapp stamp over top of that. This is how it looked in that step:

 The next thing I did was take my ink blending tool with the TH ink in vintage photo and ink all the edges really good. Making sure to get in all the crevices and over all of the edges.

 Next I did a light coating of mod podge over the whole thing smearing it pretty thin with my fingers, then dried it with my heat tool. After that, I cleaned my chandelier stamp and used my Stampendous clear embossing ink and restamped over the image again, then sprinkle over it generously with UTEE and hit it again with the heat tool. This is what it looks like before you heat it:

 And this is what it looks like after you heat it:

 So for the next few steps I forgot to take pics, but basically I just started layering on some more embellishments. I fussy cut out of some paper a large key, and from Tim Holtz paper I cut out a clock and made it have hands with a brad in the middle. I also layered on a few more stickers from the Carte Bella elements sheet. After I put my papers and other stickers on, I did another thin layer of mod podge and I heat embossed the chandelier again. then I started to add my other elements:

 I used vintage buttons, 2 kinds of washi tape for the sides, a resin rose, a metal key hole from Tim Holtz, some ribbon and a layered flower with a pearl. I also stamped another few small stamps from my Prima set with the jet black StazOn, a small bird and a spoon. This is what it looked like after I was done embellishing:

So I hope you have enjoyed my post today! It was so fun and quick to do this project that I am thinking about doing a few more for my lady friends at work, if I can get going! Christmas is only 14 days away!!! I don't think it would take me too long. We'll see how this one goes over for my sis, and then I guess I'll decide. Until next time friends, keep scrapping and PEACE Y'ALL!! ~VV

messy background+inky fingers+chevron stamp+ utee=pefect friends

Good evenin' all my crafty pals out there in blog land...I am here tonite to share a layout that I finished late last night, it seems I was bit by the scrappy bug and i just couldn't go to bed without finishing it!! LOL so I was up until 1:30am but I'm totally happy with how it turned out. I got these pics from one of my best friends, and bridesmaids in my wedding, Leanne. she gave me a big bag of stuff the week of the wedding and had a whole envelope of pics she'd printed up for me from this past summer's events and random stuff! Also some christmas stamps and other scrappy goodies, which I can always use!! So i thought it only fitting that I do a layout about me and her...these are from a boat ride we took one summer afternoon in a friends' pontoon boat down Rabbit Creek and Dog River, course I wasn't ready for the first pic, but I had to include it on the layout cause it was funny! Here's my instagram:

 And here are some more pics I took today outside right before the sun went down, and some close ups:

 The first thing I did was 'mess up' my background. This is kind of a new technique to  me, although I have experimented with it before I haven't really dabbled in gesso or anything yet, but would LOVE to! I used a large chevron stamp that I just bought from Micheal's and inked it up good with StayzOn ink in jet black. I went over the same spot several times and then laid my vertical paper strip in place. After that I cleaned my stamp, and inked it with Top Boss. Over that I sprinkled some UTEE and before I heated it, I used some Smooch Spritz in tea party and then heat embossed it. I really like how the UTEE separated the metallic color in the Smooch. To add even more interest, I used one of my tiny Prima stamps which was a perfume bottle and randomly stamped it all over. 

 After I completed the background, I added my pictures and then started building my clusters.

 I used flowers, felt, a TH fragment, washi tape, vintage buttons, dew drops, vinyl embellishments by American Crafts, a resin rose, tulle flower, stickers and ribbon to build several clusters around my page. Here is a close up of the large one at the bottom:

 I also used one of my many Purple Pumpkin fabric buttons. I really like how you can see the background texture through the tulle flower. 

 And here are a few artistic pics

 Ok friends, that's all for tonight! I hope you enjoyed seeing how I made my messy background. Now back to scrapping, grabbing some popcorn first!! Until next time, Peace y'all~VV