/* */ Beulah Bee: distress oxide
Showing posts with label distress oxide. Show all posts
Showing posts with label distress oxide. Show all posts

March 15, 2020

Life is Good

(in spite of the chaos...)


I'm finally able to share something for the weekly Simon Monday challenge--A Bit O' Green. I've had a lot of false starts the last few weeks but you can't say I haven't tried☺.

This tag is nothing more than a background made with the Distress ink/oxide splat, drip, smoosh technique (Cracked Pistachio, Peeled Paint, Forest Moss, Frayed Burlap), lots of stamping with archival inks and a Remnant Rub.

I used a Gelly Roll pen for the light/white details and colored pencils to tint the stamping.


You can see in the close-up shot that I used a very fine line black pen to sharpen some of the lines and add a little more contrast.

I can either spend hours fussing with something that just won't come together or start something on a whim that makes itself in minutes--and I have little control over when this happens or why!

My, how art can mimic life (and today's current events). ☺

As always, I hope this post finds you well and happy and I appreciate your visit.

Until next time, take care.

February 10, 2020

She Loved Them All


Just four days away from Valentine's Day (and my wedding anniversary) and I still need to make cards for my hubby and my good friend (and fellow card maker) Thelma.

I guess I was warming up by making this tag and so I thought I'd share it with you today.

As always, I hope this post finds you well and happy and I appreciate your visit.

Until next time, take care. 

February 06, 2020

A Glimpse of Heaven

glimpse /ɡlim(p)s/  -  (noun)  a momentary or partial view

I'm drawn to vintage portraits with unusual or intense expressions. This image is a good example of what I mean and it's what prompted me to use it.

After some fussy-cutting and sanding, it was pasted to a tag covered with an old German bible page partially tinted with gesso, inks and colored pencils.

The flowers were cut from scrapbook papers and the text is a Clippings Sticker (Tim Holtz). I use these stickers a lot, their curation is very good and always seem to prompt a creative angle/story I might not have considered.


I stamped the symbol in the sky with grey archival ink and enhanced the values with a black fine-line pen.

I'm linking to the "Flower Frenzy" challenge on Simon's Monday blog.

As always, I hope this post finds you well and happy and I appreciate your visit.

Until next time, take care. 

January 30, 2020

Love Everything


Hello friends, today I'm sharing a greeting card crafted for Valentine's Day. It was made using an image altered in Photoshop before printing, trimming and pasting to my card.

If you're curious what I mean, here's the before/after using a filter called "poster edges."



I cut a paper heart and tinted it with Distress Oxides (Candied Apple and Worn Lipstick), the background was stamped with script and gesso applied to knock it back, washi tape was used to visually anchor the image and a border was cut from striped paper.

I'll mention a very useful (non-digital) technique for altering the color and texture of any image which is scratching the surface with the point of a knife to create lighter areas which can be tinted with color. Here's a close-up to illustrate:


The sentiment stamp seemed perfect for this image and it's one of Simon's from a set called Delicate Flowers. I'm linking this post to their Monday challenge blog because this week's theme is "All Loved Up."

I hope this post finds you well and happy and I appreciate your visit.

Until next time, take care. 

November 24, 2019

12 Tags for Christmas 2019 - Twinkle


Making Christmas tag number two was a bit like decorating a cake! And since I used vintage buttons, I'm linking this one to Simon's Recycle challenge this week.


I began with a tag shape cut from some Tim Holtz Halloween paper (Abandoned) then I inked snowflake stencils with Versamark and embossed the shapes with clear powder.


The next step was to use a resist technique where you paint (or in this case, gesso'd) over the embossing and let it dry only slightly before wiping the paint off the embossed areas. Don't expect perfection with this technique--it's really meant for a distressed look.


My great Aunt Esther snipped many a button from her frocks over the years and I inherited quite a collection. I keep the little white buttons in one box and have another, bigger box with colored buttons in larger sizes. I gathered up an assortment and pasted them on.


I lightly tinted the background with Faded Jeans Distress Oxide and frosted the cake tag with glitter glues and dimensional paint (Scribbles and Stickles).


I always feel my tags need some kind of border. Since I used buttons, I reinforced the sewing theme by machine-stitching a mini zig-zag with green thread.

Stayed tuned for more tags--I appear to be on a roll--ha! Hope it lasts :-)

If you want to see my tags from Christmas pasts, here's a link.

September 24, 2019

Summer Mind



While yesterday was the first day of fall, my mind and my heart will stay in summer for many months to come.

Living in the desert means hibernating during the heat of June through September but when the temperature breaks in the fall, activity-wise it's more like the summer everyone else was having. Festivals begin, strolls through the neighborhood are possible again and sitting out on the porch--a long-lost luxury.

So yes, I'm in a "summer state of mind" and that was my inspiration for this tag.

I'll describe the layers:

  • Calligraphic scrapbook paper (Authentique Classique: Pretty) cut in the shape of a tag was tinted with Distress Oxides.
  • Botanical collage paper was pasted over the top and the flower petals and leaves were filled-in with gesso.
  • The bug is from the Stampers Anonymous Entomology set and was stamped with black archival ink. The wings were also filled-in with gesso using a tiny brush.
  • The gessoed areas were painted with inks. Besides helping with adhesion, the gesso makes the colors more vibrant.
  • The text was cut from an old book.
  • I think most tags need a border to frame it and machine stitching around the edges was used for that purpose here.
I'm linking up to Simon's Monday challenge--the theme this week is stitching and also to The Funkie Junkie Boutique whose challenge is to make a tag.

Look for me on TFJB later this week where I'll have a guest spot and a fun project to share. Thanks for stopping by!

May 22, 2019

Miss Trudy


I'd sure like to know the story behind this lovely little girl but for now, I'm calling her Miss Trudy. She's a Tim Holtz Paper Doll and I stained her clothing with the ink from gel pens (scratching the darker areas a bit to lighten and texturize).

The background was stenciled (Tim Holtz Dot Fade) and I stamp embossed the border using a vintage rubber stamp (1996) by Hero Arts called Violet Border. I am featuring this stamp as part of the company's 45th anniversary Show & Tell celebration for a chance to win their monthly kits.


I am so glad I dusted it off and set about putting it to work as I'd forgotten just how useful this stamp can be!

My tag was colored with Distress Oxides, some gel pen ink and a bit of colored pencil. The bench was made out of washi tape.

I had a lot of fun with it so it's no coincidence that I chose this particular Remnant Rub for the text!


I'm linking up to the Hero Arts Show & Tell Celebration and also to Simon's Monday challenge because this week's theme is Use Stencils.

May 20, 2019

A Fortunate Find


I fussed with a tag over the weekend by altering a photo of a vintage road sign. I knew it needed something else and this morning's announcement of the stencil theme at Simon's Monday challenge gave me the ah-hah moment I needed.

I used the Tim Holtz dot fade stencil in the background but instead of dabbing ink through the holes, I swiped my ink pad over the entire surface of the stencil and then pressed it on to the tag.

March 07, 2019

Tell Your Story


. . . even if no one is listening.

Made for Simon's Monday Challenge - Whatever the Weather

Stamp credit: Stampers Anonymous "Chemistry Notes"

July 28, 2018

Christmas in July


Simon's Monday challenge was prompted by a special blog hop and a chance to win some crafting goodies, but Christmas in July--really?


While it was hard to "get in the spirit" when we've had record-breaking high temps this week, I accepted the challenge and here's my entry.


My card may be a little unconventional so I thought you'd appreciate a peek at the main ingredients before I applied a wash of gesso and then Distress Oxide (Peeled Paint) to create the background.


It would be difficult to pull this off without using a strong backing so I pasted the collage onto some thin packaging material which would be cut to size near the end.


Some Liquid Pearls (Ranger) were dotted around the oval, the backing was trimmed and then I pasted brown mulberry paper (because it's thin) on the back to frame it. Before mounting on folded cardstock, I stitched around the border.

The poinsettas were cut out of Graphic 45 Winter Wonderland, the bird is from Wallflower and the calendar page is from Tidings (Tim Holtz Paper Stash).

I used a glue stick for everything except the poinsetta (attached using spray adhesive) and the final mounting (double-sided cellophane tape).

July 04, 2018

June 07, 2018

Bright & Beautiful


This week I learned that "all things bright and beautiful" is the first line of a poem/hymn written in 1848 by Mrs. Cecil Alexander whose published work was called Hymns for Little Children.

I've also spent the week converting wood stamps to cling mount and testing them (a project not for the faint of heart).

So to take a break and to link up with Simon's Monday challenge, I used various stamped "test" remnants along with an old book page, a vintage photo and some washi tape to create a collaged journal page.


I also had to try a technique I discovered this week where you stamp with Distress Oxide ink and then smear it just a bit with a blending tool. The page border was created this way and I have Stacy Hutchinson (via Tim Holtz) to thank for sharing this tip.


Stamp credits: Inkadinkado, Tim Holtz, Penny Black

March 14, 2018

Limited Edition


Inspired by a mood board for Simon's Monday challenge this week, I have created a tag that is a very literal translation. But I just couldn't help myself as something about a cracked egg as a vase for flowers resting inside a tea cup really spoke to me.

I didn't have a tea cup stamp so I printed an image of one and the flowers were cut from the Wallflower paper stash. The background stamp is by Heidi Swapp, the tinting is Walnut Stain Distress Oxide and regular Distress Bundled Sage (on watercolor paper) and the text is a Remnant Rub.

March 11, 2018

Cool in the Shade

My favorite teachers? The passing of time, experience, practice, experimentation, mistakes. Case in point this tag (made for Simon's Monday theme "Whatever the Weather"):


  1. Learning how to use Photoshop's recompose tool to crop this photo without losing the photograph's border frame.
  2. Experimenting with Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink technique on glossy paper with mixed results (too much water, not enough ink?).
  3. Applying crackle medium to paper, the product I use has to be applied really thick--it was too thin this time to show up.
  4. The benefit of delaminating some Idea-ology paper stash to reduce bulk when collaging (text piece is full thickness, report card area was made thinner). Each time I try this, I get better at it. The trick is to gently rub off the back with a little water after peeling away as much as you can.
  5. The flowers (Idea-ology ephemera) were also delaminated because they are easier to refine with cutting when the paper's not so thick.
  6. Proved again that for me, the best way to tint a photo is still using a dab of ink from a gel pen with a little water (the turquoise in the wallpaper behind the teacher, for example).
  7. Appreciating that without adding a little whimsy to the piece an observer might think it too serious and wonder about my mental state. (Perhaps you should anyway.)
The weather connection is in the Idea-ology text from the Memorandum paper stash. I do believe this teacher is cool in her shades. Also note the Red Precipitate Ointment which is a nice touch--don't you think?


By the way, my favorite human teacher was Mrs. Jennings who had the patience to work with me in the 5th grade when I refused to learn multiplication tables and provided comfort from bullies.

December 05, 2017

12 Tags for Christmas 2017 - Wonderful Time


We had a toboggan when I was a kid. Not the safest kind of sled but ours could handle about six passengers at a time which made it easy to steer as long as everyone leaned the right way in unison.

This little miss was certainly safe when this vintage photo (Graphic 45 Frosted) was taken. It was nicely staged with a painted background and fashionable clothing (I wonder if it may have been done for an advertisement or greeting card).


She is the focal point for tag five of my 12 for Christmas and was placed on top of a background of embossed snowflakes tinted with Distress Oxide (Faded Jeans) and framed with tissue paper and a cut-out stamp border.

Embellishments include scraps from a Tim Holtz Mixed Media die and lots of Stickles. The ribbon is a scrap of Tim Holtz Eclectic Elements fabric

December 03, 2017

12 Tags for Christmas 2017 - Season's Greetings


Tag three of my 12 for this year's Christmas was an experiment using a hand-made stencil patterned after the original rubber stamp. I like to use Yupo for my stencil material because it is strong, waterproof and cuts like butter.


After pasting on a background of old book paper, I used thin white acrylic paint and the stencil to make a random pattern then stamped over the stenciled areas once the paint was dry.

I didn't worry too much about accuracy and you'll see places where the two (stencil and stamp) don't meet. But that's okay because the variations added interest in color and line.

My tints mainly came from Distress Oxides (lipstick and pistachio). I also used a light wash of white acrylic and a few watercolors, where needed, to adjust some values.

Platinum Stickles and Tim's Tissue Tape created a border that was darkened next to the inside edges with a bit of charcoal pencil.


Stamp credits: Penny Black Christmas Star, Echo Park Christmas Sentiments

December 01, 2017

12 Tags for Christmas 2017 - Joy to the World


♪♫ ♪ "On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me ..." ♪♫♫♪

Ten years ago today, Tim Holtz began the tradition of blogging about techniques for creating 12 Tags for Christmas and I've continued to make them every year since then to decorate my presents.

This year, I decided to post them in 12 consecutive days beginning December 1st just like he used to do and my first tag features a simple, understated design with an early American or Georgian vibe.

The background is pearly paper with clear-embossed snowflakes (Kaisercraft Frosted) that was tinted with Faded Jeans Distress Oxide.

I coated the book paper die-cuts (Carta Bella Joy Wreath) with Glossy Accents and created additional contrast by using a blue gel pen and a water brush (which soaked in underneath).

I gave the entire surface a wash of dilute white acrylic paint and took advantage of the resist properties of the Glossy Accents by wiping the paint away from the die-cuts where there was overage.


I used a Remnant Rub to complete the phrase and made a frame border with 1/8" silver metallic ribbon (Offray) tinted with off-white acrylic paint.

To age the appearance a bit more, I rubbed on Frayed Burlap Distress Ink here and there and added some Liquid Pearls along the bottom for a touch of Christmas bling.

October 26, 2017

Monochrome


A manila tag, a Halloween stamp set from last year (Tim Holtz), a vintage photo (reduced), Distress Oxide Walnut Stain and Versafine Onyx Black inks were used to create a monochromatic scheme as prompted by Simon's Monday Challenge Blog this week.

I found this to be quite challenging to make. First, I'm still getting used to the oxide ink used for the background's first layer. Then it took several stamping attempts to manage an arrangement of the single house stamp into the fortress you see before you. The Versafine ink is the best for bringing out the details of this really terrific stamp.

A poison label stamp (also from the set) was used for the base of the tag and I varied the degree of shading with a light wash of transparent black and even some diagonal scratching to create more depth and delineation between the two foreground planes.


The ladies came from a terrific vintage photo (source: Vintage Everyday) that I reduced in size before printing. Granted, the scale isn't accurate but I didn't want to lose too many details by making them super small.

I have to say working with a monochrome theme wasn't easy and creating a balance of light and darks in the same color meant thinking outside the box. But, I always appreciate the Monday Challenge prompts as I end up trying things I wouldn't have otherwise--so thank you, Simon!

October 22, 2017

Shoshin


A journal page to share today made with a technique that I'll definitely try again--a combination of Distress Oxide inks using a Gelli Plate, stencils with white paint and creating negative space with colored pencils.

I embellished my background with an image transfer of a shodo (Japanese calligraphy) for the word shoshin which means "beginner's mind" along with my own handwriting to further explain the concept.

The oxides provide a worthwhile alternative to acrylics when working with the Gelli because of the slow dry time.

Using white paint with stencils while the ink was still wet provided variegations and more subtle shades than just pure white.

I carved out some negative shapes here and there and darkened a few areas with colored pencils for further variety.

September 10, 2017

Beyond Measure


Mother Nature is reminding us, once again, how important family and friends are and that we must watch out for one another especially during the hard times.


The tag was made with Sideshow stamp, Chatter design tape, Distress Oxide inks, and Correspondence paper stash.

I'm linking to the Monday challenge blog at Simon Says Stamp where they are celebrating Stamptember and this week's theme is Stamp It.