Compendium of Curiosities 3, Challenge 10

Hello,

I had a great time playing with the Assemblage Clock for the first time.  Challenge 10 at Studio L3, a blog by Linda Ledbetter, is from Tim Holtz A Compendium of Curiosities, Vol 3.  You can check it out page 33 yourself.  If you haven't seen what these challenges are all about then hop over to Linda's blog and check it out here.

My theme for this challenge is Halloween.  Black cat, bats, spooky tree, spider webs and more.

It was a challenge to photograph the assemblage clock with its glass front so I hope you can see all the layers and details within.

I took the back off to get a little more light in hopes of photographing more of the detail.  I think I like it almost as well with the back off.

A Curiosity Crew's Choice winner will be selected and will receive an assortment of Tim's products courtesy of Tim and Mario.  This challenge is sponsored by The Funkie Junkie Boutique and one lucky CC3C participant will win a $25 shopping spree.

Be sure to stop by Linda's blog to check out what the Curiosity Crew created as well as the other participants.  Such a great place for inspiration.  Don't you think its about "time" you joined in on the challenges?  I hope you give it a go!

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Happy Creating!

Hugs, Sharon

PSB Repurpose

Hello again!  Thanks for joining me on the second post of the day. 

I promised I would reveal what I had done with my PSB. If you have been scrapping for a while chances are you had one (or more) of these Paper, sticker binders. 

We filled these with all the stickers that were available in abundance. Every conceivable shape and size. Right?  Most of my stickers were either used or given away so I have for some time been trying to come up with a way to utilize the PSB to meet my current storage needs. As I was cleaning out my studio last weekend I had an idea an idea on how to use it while solving a dilemma I had been fighting for some time. 

As I have become more involved in art journaling and Mixed Media I have been collecting stencils and emphera and bits to use. Taking stencils to crops turned out to problematic and I longed for a system that would keep them organized. 

Turns out the quad pages for the PSB are the perfect size for 6 x 6 stencils!

I kept as much of the packaging as possible as well as the item number and description so that I can reference it for tutorials or classes.  I used the quad, double, and the single sleeves for the various sized stencils. 

Neat, huh?  Nice way to organize and transport my stencils. Next up the emphera, paper, and other bits for journaling and mixed media. 

As I cleaned out my paper stash I pulled some papers that I still like but won't work for my die cutting and embossing. I think these thinner papers will be great for collage, mixed media and journaling. These went into tab 2 in the single sleeves. 

The last tab will be for emphera and collected bits using the multi pocket sleeves.  These include definitions, images,

I now have a mixed media binder to store my stencils, papers, and other bits !  As I collect more stencils and gather emphera I will have a place to put them.  It is portable and usable.   It sits in my studio behind my mixed media bag ready to get all messy and inky!

So happy was able to repurpose my PSB to meet my current crafting needs. What will you do with your PSB?  Would love to hear your ideas. 

Thanks for stopping by. Your support and interest means the world to me. 

Happy Creating!

Hugs, Sharon

North Carolina Day 4 and Travels Home

Hello,

Final post on my trip to North Carolina. Not many photos of this day as it was a lazy day of brunch, a little shopping and then relaxing. 

We found another antique mall close to my sisters house. Just amazed at the wide variety of treasures. Really something for everyone. Quite a few things caught my eye but the only thing I managed to get a pic of was some rusty celing tiles. Just love the patina. Going to try and recreate this look on my projects. Ultimate grunge, right?

Back at home we relaxed and I prepared for my trip back home. Denise let me go through her stash of buttons and old sewing supplies and I took home some fun treasures. Thanks Sis!

Early morning flight out of Charlotte with first leg back to Washington DC, Dulles Airport.  Mad dash from one side of the airport to the other just making my flight. Whew! Got settled into my seat with ipad in hand to read during long flight when an announcement of a delay was made.   We ended up having to deplane back to the boarding area. After some time they announced that our flight was cancelled due to mechanical issues and we would need to go to customer service to get another flight. Ahhhh, the trials of modern travel. What can you do?  Long line at customer service but had a nice chat with a young man returning from a year long mission.   When it was finally my turn found out that the last flight of my trip had been cancelled!  

Another night in DC.  Hotel and meal voucher on United. As luck would have it the hotel was across the street from a huge, and I mean huge, mall so I was able to stop I to Sephora to pick up some make up and essentials. If I hadn't been so tired I could have done some major damage there, hehehe. 

All went well the next day and made it home safe and sound. Great trip between the Steampunk Soirre  and a long overdue visit with my sister. Good to travel but great to be home. 

If you made it through these posts, thanks for hanging in there. I know I always enjoy others travel stories so hope you liked mine. Promise back to our regular crafting with my next post. 

Thanks so much for stopping by. Happy Creating!

Hugs, Sharon

North Carolina Day 3

Happy September!

The adventure in North Carolina continues.  This one is photo heavy so grab a cuppa and enjoy. 

On the third day we headed up Asheville and the Biltmore Estate.  Driving in I could tell this was going to be an amazing experience. So green and fresh. 

We started with lunch. The estate is a working farm so the food is fresh and delicious. 

The house, er, well, more like a castle really, is just stunning. We were not allowed to take photos in the house so I included a few pages from the brochure. 

The architecture is bigger than life and takes you back to another place in time. 

After our tour we had a coffee break and a little lookie in the various gift shops. Our last part of the day was spent exploring a little bit of the garden. 

Last shot of the from the end of the lawn looking back at the house. Pretty spectacular don't you think?

Fabulous day. Highly recommend visiting the Biltmore Estate.  Would love to go back and see how they decorate for the holidays. 

I promise I will get back to the crafty goodness. Just spent many hours over the weekend cleaning up my studio and purging some items I no longer use.  I'm excited to show you what I've done. In the meantime a little teaser on something I'm kind of excited about. I have repurposed a scrapping storage bag to hold some of my favorite things. Anyone remember these . . . 

I'll reveal what I've done later this week. 

One more post on the completion of my trip and the onto some crafting. After all we are fast approaching the holidays and cards and presents need to be created. 

Thank You so much for stopping by and joining me on my adventure. 

Happy Creating. Hugs, Sharon

Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2014 August

Hello,

so happy to be able to play with some of my favorite things to create the August tag.  

Tim challenges us to create art that reflects our creative muse.  He says:

"our style is as unique as our individual personality, the art we make is an expression of that, and sometimes we simply have to follow that creative muse…

muse /myo͞oz/: to become absorbed in thought or dreamy abstraction"

"so whether you’re obsessed with distress, or clean and simple is your thing, perhaps your happy place is bright colors, heck maybe even glitter is your sparkly obsession, this month i challenge you to create showcasing your own creative muse.   it doesn’t get any better than that…t!m"

Yes, obsessed with distress!  I love a grungy, steampunk vibe.  Just makes me happy!   I started with some of my favorite dapper steampunk fellows and built my layers around them.  I love combining inks and paints with die cuts and other mediums to create a dimensional layered effect.  I added some left over die cuts and  some metal.  A little paint and embossing powder to create a rusted effect.

Mmmmmmm, look at that yummy texture!

Never get tired of coloring seam binding with Distress!

See how the texture paste picks up the color.

Tim is right, doesn't get any better than this - creative play!

Be sure to stop by Tim's blog to see his creative muse and what others were inspired to do.  His post is here.

Thanks so much for stopping by.  So appreciate your support here on the blog, on my Facebook page and on Pinterest.

Have a great weekend.  Happy Creating!

Hugs, Sharon

North Carolina Day 2

After a good nights sleep my sister and I headed out to downtown Mooresville to cruise some antique shops. 

Drooled over this metal beauty. Look at all those drawers. Just perfect for metal embellies, beads, etc. 

These windows stacked in the corner were really cool. 

I did find a few fun items that came home with me including a wood cigar box, a Skelton key, a clamp thingy, and a couple of insurance payment record books from the 1930's. 

All this shopping makes me hungry!  Off to Lancasters to check out the Nascar memorabilia and taste some southern fried.   Mmmmm pulled pork sandwich with some killer BBQ sauce along with some hush puppies, fried okra, and sweet tea. 

Next stop Huntersville to visit the Donna Downey studio!  We made it just before the store closed. Had just enough time to shop and snap a few pics. Donna was not there but it was great to see it in person. 

Let the selfies begin, ha ha.  Isn't that classroom space fabulous?!

What a full, fun day!  Back to the house to chill and rest up for another adventure.  Heading to Asheville  to tour the Biltmore Estate. 

Thanks for stopping by.  Check back again for day three. 

Happy Creating!

Hugs, Sharon