The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog Challenge #16 It's Heating Up!...Uncle Sam Marches On!

      July 4th is my favorite holiday of the year,
and we ended up being out of state (again) during the time I would also love to do some Americana crafting. So instead, the current Challenge actually helped me back up a bit and have a re-play, so to speak! I dug right in as soon as the idea hit on me as I was making the first panel (Click Here). And my Muse just took off; almost without me!
      Again, the theme for this Challenge calls for the use of reds, yellows, or oranges that are 'warm' and give the impression of the heat of summer. There's no shortage of heat here, and I absolutely LOVE it! Summer is my Happy Place, definitely. As I posted before, this set of panels is done EARLY (do the early dance!)
and you still have time to join in at
The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog, which means you still have a good chance of being a Top Pick, or winning the Drawing for a $25 Shopping Certificate from The Funkie Junkie Boutique. Best hurry- deadline is July 30th!
   

                                     So let's see what I have this time...

Using the good old R,W,B in Distress Regular Inks Fired Brick and Faded Blue Jeans,

and Distress Oxide Ink in Antique Linen, with some Tarnished Brass Distress Spray;

I inked up a good background by making my pattern onto the TH Glass Mat.

I did a few earlier practice sheets as well, but here's my take- I needed 2 backgrounds

for this project just like I did in the first panel last time.

Then I used Distress Regular Inks in Black Soot and Tea Dye,

with Oxide Inks in Antique Linen and Vintage Photo to fill out all around any blank spots.

I added Distress Powder in Vintage Photo onto the second sheet to start some serious rusting.

Since I was planning to use the TH Thinlits United States Die,

I knew the area that would need rusting. The Thinlits tend to tear as they are

very delicate, so I chose to try and do the faux rust before cutting, and it helped.

Also, before cutting, I added some odd stripes in the Antique Linen Oxide-

just to clarify the lines a bit better.

Then cut...

                                           

                                                                ...and the resulting cut.

TH Alterations Die Festive Gent was my Uncle Sam- altered a bit here and there

with Tonic Scissors. Thinlits Die Stenciled Numbers made the 1776 and I used

the razored TH Distressor to rag out the edges of the year.

Cutting up a small 4x6 US Flag is not considered 'bad' by me...

as long as I am honorable with disposing of the rest of it properly.

Besides...She was still gonna FLY proudly!!!

Distressing the US Flag...

 think the War of 1812 and Francis Scott Key looking up at Her.

She's burned, cannonballed, torn, ragged, and worn.

But proudly; She still WAVES!!

A bamboo skewer made a smaller "flag pole" by cutting to size with Tonic Scissors,

edging the top in (a very OLD Gold Ranger Dabber) and staining the rest with

TH Distress Stain in Walnut.

And here's the final product...

Uncle Sam marches on!

I was careful to add Alaska and Hawaii, though most people leave those out 

when it comes to an outline of the USA.

(But man, those tiny islands were TOUGH to make!)

I also chose to make Uncle Sam keep his 'edges' instead of smoothing him out.

I put a white mat board in between two black cardstocks, then

fussy-colored the edges slightly with TH Distress Crayon in Black Soot.

The white shows just a bit for some extra dimension.

For me, there is no better color scheme than Old Glory's!

She's definitely on fire and still marching for the freedom She stood for when

She only had 13 stars on her. And we need to support those who fight to protect Her.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by!

Until next time:

Be Safe &

HAPPY BLOGGING!

The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog Challenge #16 It's Heating Up!...There's Only One Professor

    This Challenge must have really lit a fire under me! The theme is a perfect description of this Summer's heat here in Indiana, and while we've hit the pool in the evenings to cool off, it's basically like taking a bath in 92* water. It means adding more chems into the water in order to make it safe from bacteria. It's supposedly going to finally break the heatwave sometime this week. Even so- I'd MUCH rather deal with the extreme heat instead of the mess and cold of winter! I do worry for those more susceptible to the heat; the very young, the aged, and especially pets. This heat outdid the heat of Florida, by far. Even my flowers are panting for water.                 The Challenge is calling for colors on the warm side; reds, yellows, & oranges. As a Retired Firefighter's Wife, I am reminded of some fires in which the flames burned bright blue- almost to a silvery white- these are the hottest spots of a fire that has burned to an extreme heat. The Cole Hardwood Fire of Logansport, Indiana, was one of the hottest, longest burning fires my ChiefHubby was called to (you can google that). His descriptions of that fire were in my mind as I made this background. So my idea was to add in some metallic (gold/silver/gunmetal, or rose gold) TH Alcohol Ink into the mix of colors and see what happened. I had some awesome inspiration from both the Lead Designers (we have a new Designer recently added) on The Funkie Junkie Challenge Blog, and from a personal card that was included with my prizes from Tim Holtz Addicts of Facebook. I keep that card in the middle of some of my favorite Tags on my Studio wall...

                                          

I blended several colors of Regular (Spiced Marmalade, Rusty Hinge, & Mustard Seed)

and Oxide (Old Paper) Distress Ink,

as well as some Alcohol Inks (Rose Gold and Gunmetal), and Blending Solution.

After getting both a panel and tag background,

I used the same colors mixed for adding some texture with Distress Powder in Antique Linen.

After using the tag to make the TH Alterations Die cut of World Map,

I added some more Distress Inks in Regular Black Soot and Vintage Photo Oxide

for some grungy-ness, and used a finger-mix of TH Paints in Mowed Lawn and Salty Ocean

for that greenish tinge of rust on orange metals.

Next up; making my own masks for stamping.

I wanted to cut the masks slightly smaller than the stamp- to make the image look

like it was blending in with the planned ghosting.

Making masks ended up being a HUGE job- a mask for each stamp chosen.

My TH Stamping Platform REALLY came in handy for this panel project!

It became "stamp and cover... stamp and cover" for each layer.

Lastly; for the stamping part...

I decided to use my newly acquired -and much wanted!- Distress Perm Inkset-

with my TH Stamper's Anonymous Reflections Set; Numbers, to "ghost stamp" all over the background (all masks are on at this point now).

Yeah, the numbers are backward on the panel, but it just looks right to me.

Complain to my Muse...she was THERE!

I liked the ghosting colors so much, I decided that The Professor was going to

be a mix of all those same colors. I simply kept turning the stamp all around until it was covered

completely. I LOVED the effect!!

And here's another newly acquired item- wax seal set by 7 Gypsies

(and a very generous Crafter who was willing to part with this on a DeStash Sale).

It was actually a first for me, but it was something I always wanted to do!!

And this was the resulting panel...

There have been MANY Inventors, Time Travelers, Scientists,

and others from all times, eras, and places....

But there's only ONE PROFESSOR!

(And that's why I just had to have him!)

A few closeups...

I even labled the numbers 20 for Calcium and 80 for Mercury.

Both bottles have Glossy Accents in the bottoms with a drop of (20) Gunmetal Alcohol Ink

and (80) with Silver Alcohol Ink on top to make it look a bit 'foamy'.

I LOVED the play on "eyes and ears" you see here: the horn blowing into The Professor's ear,

and his goggles with TH Nailheads (Screwheads?).

IdeaOlogy is never very far from my mind!!

Distress Crayon in Black Soot around the Quote Chip.

The awesome card from THA Team (Tim Holtz Addicts of Facebook)

that inspired this panel...I was loooooong waiting to finally use The Professor!!

             Since I am actually finished EARLY, you have time to join in on this Challenge!
                             There are Badges and Prizes to be had for the Top Picks courtesy of
                                                              The Funkie Junkie Boutique ,
                   & you can also enter your project into other Challenges as well (up to 10 others).

                       THANKS SO MUCH for the comments and encouragement from everyone!
                       Sharing is what it's all about, and reading your shared thoughts is awesome!!
                              Be sure to check out the next post as well, since it's my first time
                              entering more than 1 project (a second panel) and I am excited !

                                               BE SAFE &
                                    HAPPY BLOGGING!!

The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog (Formerly Frilly &Funkie) Challenge #14; Home Sweet Home.... Getting Ready For GrandBaby #3!

     July is already here and I had to miss 2 of the Challenges from The Funkie Junkie Challenge Blog (formerly The Frilly & Funkie Challenge Blog) ; during which time, they changed quite a bit of things on the site!! I am excited to be able to finally catch up and take a peek to see what is new- esp Tim Holtz's new 2019 Chapter 3!!
    Meanwhile... I've been just crazy busy and we've already made several travels from which I have had to catch up things at home upon returning. Gone is the rain and chill and the heat wave is finally ON!! So while that cuts down on the grass upkeep, it gets the pool used more by this Mermaid.
    The theme for the Challenge (Home Sweet Home) couldn't get any better for this time of our family's life: another Grandbaby is on the way! There's nothing that can make a house into a HOME more than the people in it: the FAMILY.  And ours seems to be growing now by leaps and bounds! This new addition is yet another "first" because this one will be the first child of the younger Red Wing couple set of kids!! I am overjoyed because this has taken quite a lot out of them- both in finances and especially in patience. Three years of fertility treatments and Baby Larimore is finally well on the way as a Pecan toasting comfortably in Younger Daughter's oven.
     While it's unlikely that I will make it into this Challenge, I wanted to go ahead with posting this. Especially with the changes of the site. I fully intend to keep up as much as possible, but as I said in an earlier posting; I may end up missing some of the Challenges during the summer months.
So here  is what I had going on that actually had to get mailed out by this posting! It's seriously been 
"RUN, FOREST, RUUUUN!!" around here.

                       I used quite a bit of photos for this entire process- pretty self explanatory…
                      If you have any Qs about it; post 'em at the bottom, and I'll get back to you!    

Program used is PrintMaster Version 18.1- Amazon has it pretty cheap.

The photos are laminated and can be kept as keepsakes.

30 Invitations go out with 4 specially mixed colors for the Mommy each of 3 Hostesses

as Baby/GrandBaby Book keepsakes. 

I like making backside tags!

Yep; this Memaw did the photo shoot.

Labels to match. (Sorry for the greenouts.)

The Younger Nuclear Engineer Son... shopping for baby items to put on Registry.

Yes...ALL of our family can be this FUN!!

That's why I chose nut varieties to call the Grands: Peanut, Princess Pistachio,

and this one is PECAN!!!

And THIS JUST HAPPENED TONIGHT!!!!

IT"S A BOY!!!!!!!

This is one EXCITED MEMAW & PAPAW!!!!

Thanks for stopping by!!

The next Challenge will be up in just a while, and I HOPE to be in on it!!

Meanwhile...

BE SAFE,

and

HAPPY BLOGGING!