Tim Holtz Style ATCs

Usually I don´t like working in another artist´s style, but for one swap is was fun to use Tim Holtz´ stuff and techniques - though I wouldn´t say that these are really made in is style ...

The Artist´s Pencil

... or "The Pencil Fence" is my entry for this week´s SPA challenge themed "Pens and Pencils".

Handle with Care

An ATC for a 1/1 trade themed "Dress Forms".

Background and arms by Cemerony, stamps by Lost Coast, Red Lead, and Stampington.

Bird Journal

This 3,5 x 5 " page is for a monthly Bird page swap - what a great idea for a swap! This month´s prompt was just "Bird".

Painted Love

... is the theme of our next ARTchix lottery: The challenge is to make a heart shaped ATC and then to paint and decorate it.

My First Digital Journal Page

One of my new year´s resolutions was to learn how to use my Photoshop CS. Now I´m in the midst of an online class on Digital Journal Magic by Marie Otero, and this page is what I´ve learnt after the first of four weeks - I can´t believe it and can highly recommend her classes!

Steampunk Mona

Did you know that Mona was almost killed by boredom in her castle in Tuscany? Her personal painter Leonardo told her about machines that could fly or change the world as she knew it. So she decided to put her goggles on and prepare for her flight to far away countries.

This card is my entry for another irresistible SPA challenge: Altered Mona!
(The stamps that I´ve used here are from Lost Coast, Creavil, Scrollswork, and Oxford Impressions, and I love the Tim Holtz tissue tape everywhere in the background!)

Birds & Eggs

Three ATCs with a bird, an egg and the word "egg" somewhere? OF COURSE I had to join that swap!

CCC: Distress Misting Masks

I´ve been sick for the whole last week, so I´m late again with my entry for Linda´s Compendium of Curiosities Challenge No. 27. I have used Mustard Seed ink with Perfect Pearls in Green Patina, and Broken China ink with Blue Patina shimmer. The masks I´ve used are by Tattered Angels and Heidi Swapp, the stamp by Character Constructions.

Leave Your Cage Behind

I´ve made these two ATCs for a personal trade with someone whose work I only know from magazines - so I´m very excited and hope she´ll like them!

CCC: Rusted Grunge

Though Tim Holtz´ Rusted Grunge technique is one of my favourites from his book, I´m quite late posting my entry for this week´s CCC challenge - I´ve been ill since the last day of 2010 and am still feeling sick ...

The Inner Shrine

... is an early Valentine card made for Mary Green´s January challenge you can find here.
Is this guy really that naive to believe that his rose has opened her heart?

Steampunk Again!

My first swap for 2011 will be the ARTchix Steampunk ATC swap - and what a good opportunity to show how much better my new (Christmas gift) printer/scanner scans 3-D items!
For us Germans the new year has brought another wonderful gift by our mailing system: Shipping rates to the U. S. have been reduced remarkably as letters to foreign European countries and to the rest of the world aren´t differentiated any more. If you´re German and haven´t noticed the change yet, you can download the new rates here.

Extraordinary Lives

One thing that really lightens up a dark winter day is bird watching. Now that all around them is just white, it´s easy to watch the smallest birds from larger distances - so much fun!

CCC: Scribble Stain Distress

Here´s my card for Linda´s latest Compendium of Curiosities Challenge themed Scribble Stain Distress.

In Standby Position

Only a few days left before Christmas - the sleigh is waiting, the reindeer calling. This is my entry for this week´s SPA challenge themed "Santa".

Snow

Have you tried to take a photo of all that snow around you? Well, I did, and I thought that pictures can´t show what you see - so I played a bit with Photoshop until the mystery of the real environment showed up.

Totally Striped

With all that snowy white outside my window and that b/w calendar I have to make, it was a pleasure to see some colours in the evenings when knitting this set as a Christmas gift for myself.

It´s that time of the year again ...

... to write the calendar for my mother - not much time for other projects right now. Here´s the March page in progress with the ink not dried and the photo not glued down. Nine more months to do!

The Beauty Inside

This bookmark is a small gift for someone who loves to read as well as to travel.

Famous Last Words

This candle is for a lover of German literature, and while the front shows a portrait of Goethe, the back gives his famous last words: More Light!

The candle will be accompanied by a bookmark with some of Goethe´s words: You should take things as they are, but you also should make things the way you want them to take.

Everything That Grows

This is my entry for the Paper Whimsy ATC lottery in December. The theme is "All the World´s a Stage", and as a Shakespeare lover of course I couldn´t resist to incorporate him and verses from one of his sonnets.

CCC: Rock Candy Distress Stickles

This week´s Compendium of Curiosities Challenge is about using the Tim Holtz Rock Candy Distress Stickles. I´ve made another Christmas card using the distress ink colours wild honey, rusty hinge, and broken china. The scan doesn´t show the sparkling Stickles, so I´ve taken a photo of a detail to show it - I think this festive sparkle is perfect for the Three Wise Men scene!

Warning ...

... this is SO addictive! You should buy enough candles before trying this technique!

Stamped Candle

Today I tried a technique that I´ve seen in a Stampington video some time ago - it makes decorating a candle really quick and easy. I´m very pleased with the result, a lovely little gift.

Toys

This Christmas card is my entry for this week´s Sunday Postcard Art challenge themed "Toys". The German book scrap says "that they could hardly wait until the evening came" - the perfect expression of the excitement probably most of us have felt at Christmas when we were children.

I Heard the Bells

Somehow everything turns into a Christmas card now ...

but that´s a good opportunity to combine making Christmas cards and playing with challenge themes. This way Mary Green´s monthly collage images found their way onto this very large (5,9 x 8,3 inches) Christmas card.

From Above

"Heavenly Creatures" is this week´s Wednesday Stamper´s challenge theme, and I thought it would be appropriate to make another Christmas card with my favourite angel stamp from Marks of Distinction. Text from Magnolia, star from Art Impressions.

Time for Christmas Cards

It´s time to make Christmas cards now!
I´ve made some this afternoon, and these are my favourites so far.
The one on the left has an angel from a Raphael painting, a book page scrap and two stamps from Flamingo Art and Magnolia.

Stampington´s Three Kings stamp was overpainted with Glimmer Glam "Hay Ride" and then sprayed with three colours of Glimmer Mist. The Hay Ride Glimmer masks the stamped image.

The last card has the Magnolia text stamp and the Flamingo Art border again, combined with a stone angel (from Kelly Burton) as an inkjet transfer made with Transfer Ink (if you don´t know that product, please have a look at my Youtube videos).

Anything Can Happen

I have just received the new issue of "Just Stamps", the German stamping magazine. You´ll find these two ATCs on Page 16, and as always, you´ll find many interesting articles and projects in it.

A Promise

This is my entry for the Paper Whimsy November ATC challenge themed "Doors". I like the image of this girl because of the doubt shown in her face - I think it must be a big promise that may convince her to open the door ...
Images by Paper Whimsy of course.

Baby, it´s getting cold outside!

In case you´ve missed me and my blog posts during the last ten days - the reason is that even for a good multi-tasker it´s not possible to knit while making mixed-media projects :-)
Did I already mention that I always give some Christmas gifts to myself? Not all of these shown above, of course.

Father and Son

Postage Stamps are this week´s TMTA theme, and I couldn´t resist making another Postage People ATC, using a stamp from Lost Aussie Design here.

CCC: Perfect Distress

Perfect Distress is this week´s Tim Holtz technique for Linda´s Compendium of Curiosities challenge.
I have used wild honey, broken china, and dusty concord for the background and stamped with aged mahogany and chipped sapphire, then used Perfect Pearls in Rust and Blue Patina - what a pity that the scan doesn´t show the shimmer!

Who Needs Legs ...

Here´s my 4 x 6 entry for this week´s Wednesday Stamper´s challenge themed Legs.

Headdresses

Three ATCs I´ve made for a swap that my sister is hosting.

A House for my ATCs

Maybe you remember that I´ve decorated a chipboard house to store my Gothic arches in it? Well, that box came in a set of three, and last weekend I´ve finally decorated the second one to store some of my ATCs in it.

CCC: Extreme Masking

It´s time for another CCC technique again, and the theme for this week is Extreme Masking. As suggested, I left out step 5 here, so it isn´t that extreme :-)

The Witch´s One-Time-One!

If you´re a regular visitor of my blog, you won´t be surprised to see verses from Goethe´s "Faust" as my entry for this week´s SPA challenge themed "Witches". I imagine the man on the right could be Goethe himself, reading from his drama, but maybe it´s just a second witch or a magician ... I can´t tell! But here´s the spell:

"This you must ken! From one make ten, and two let be, make even three, then rich you´ll be. Skip o´er the four! From five to six, the witch´s tricks, make seven and eight, ´tis finished straight; and nine is one, and ten is none, that is the witch´s one-time-one!"

(This translation is very close to the German original: "Du mußt versteh´n, aus Eins mach Zehn. Die Zwei laß geh´n und Drei mach gleich, so bist du reich. Verlier die Vier! Aus Fünf und Sechs, so sagt die Hex, mach Sieben und Acht, so ist´s vollbracht: Und Neun ist Eins, und Zehn ist keins. Das ist das Hexen-Einmaleins!")