For The Birds - September CHALLENGE

Hello HELLOOOOOO

Finally .. a month I can say WELCOME TO THE COOLER WEATHER :)

It's time for September's challenge, and it is a FUN one. If I do say so myself, anyways!

BRING ON THE BIRDS!

Everything bird related, crows, raves, pigeons, swallows... bring 'em on. Alfred and his bird freakiness, maybe a little Poe... whatever strikes your fancy BIRD wise. Also be inspired by oranges & yellows for the fall season, black & white as accents, and any cool vintage/fall imagery like clocks, invoices, handwriting, hay. You know :) the good stuff!

Don't forget the rules:

-Create a new project based on our inspiration board (it has to be posted this month, but you can certainly link up to other challenges as well!)

-Use at least one (but certainly more if you want) Viva Las VegaStamps! rubber stamps

(We are now allowing competitors stamps to be on your work, but please make VLVS! the focus of the project, thank you.)

-Post it to your blog with a link back to us

-Upload to our linky using your direct blog post link (You may also upload via facebook, flickr or other gallery)

You could win a Project Spotlight post on our blog + some new rubber of course.

And visit us back here for inspiration!

An InLinkz Link-up

Count down to the New Year... Mail Art Monday!

Hello World!!!
Welcome Back for another fun Mail Art Monday!!! 

Today I went with a Vintage/Victorian style...
I feel like these have a fun New Years vibe, especially with the clock! 

Stamps Used for these envelopes:

Pen Tips 2 3/4 x 2

Deliver To: 3/4 x 2

Naked Painter Boy 3 x 3 1/2

Clockface 3 3/4 x 3 3/4

Waybill/Invoice Background 4 1/4 x 5 1/4

Dictionary Page 4 x 2 1/2

Ink Drips 1 1/4 x 3 1/2

Ink Run 3/4 x 3 1/2

Banksy Mirror Admirer 2 3/4 x 3 1/2

Butterfly Specimens 1 1/2 x 4 1/2

Hearts By Cat Kerr 1 x 1 3/4

Fancy Emblem With Birds 1 1/2 x 5

To create these fun envelopes I stamped my main images and masked them off. I then stamped all of my background images. I used Tim Holtz distress ink in weathered wood for the background. Before removing the masks I also added a few flicks of black dylusions ink for added texture. 

After removing the masks, I used my zig clean color markers to color a bit of visual interest. 

Happy New Years to you all!! 

Winner WINNER ♥♥

Thank you so much to all the wonderful pieces entered in the July Challenge. What a great steampunky turnout!

Today we have the winners to announce..

Voted winner goes to... JULIE S.!!!

Congratulations Julie!!!

She's used our Worn Clockface in such a cool way, and totally won over the Design Team. Way to go!

Our random winner goes to... Tarah!

email me with your shipping addresses and we can get you a grab bag of rubber : deedee430@gmail.com

Also feel free to use the following graphic on your blog. Thanks so much for entering!

Don't forget >>> you can't win if you don't enter. Visit our current challenge now. 

Time Flies.

Hello, Mary here and today, we're stamping into clay :-)

Stamping in clay is one of may all-time favorite things to do!  This time, I set out to create tiny book covers for a miniature book I wanted to create.

To make the book a little lighter, I created a form out of chipboard.  This is perfect if you wanted to create a jewelry piece, because who wants a 10 pound necklace??  I also like to mix a small amount glue into my clay to strengthen it a bit.

Just cover the form with clay and give it a good stamp!  I used the Clockface image for this piece.

When the covers were completely dry, I gave them a quick sanding to even out any rough edges.

Give them a base coat of paint and finish it off with a layer of glue.  This will keep the color safely on when you go to distress the piece in the next step.

Now, add a top coat of paint and let it dry for a bit.  You want it dry to the touch, but not cured!  I let mine set for about a minute or two.

Then, rub off any excess paint for a distressed look.  My little girl wanted this book and begged for a pink one, so pink is is!

Here's a close peek.

I finished it off with a twine closure, a key chain finding...

...and inside pages.  I've used the Clockface image again with some Perfect Pearls and also the Time Flies sentiment.

Now, baby girl has a brand new key chain and a little reminder to stay little as long as possible.  Thanks so much for joining me today!!

xx Mary

GDT : Marilyn Hughes

Hello everyone!  Marilyn back with you today with a journal page I created.  I fell in love with one of the recent plate releases (Plate 1444) and just had to use the stamps.

  

Stamps Used:

Weathered Tree 3 x 4-1/4

Flock of Geese 1-3/4 x 3

Clockface 3-3/4 x 3-3/4

Scrabble Alphabet Small

Other Supplies:

Art Anthology Lemon Tart, Fiji, Kona & Basil Velvet
UmWow Studios Clouds & Star Confetti

Prima Stencil Crackle 12x12

Distress Paint Picket Fence & Brushed Pewter

Distress Ink Broken China

Distress Stickles Dry Glitter Clear Rock Candy

Micron Pen

To start off my journal page, I stamped the Clockface and Flock of Geese with black Archival ink directly onto the white page.  I then masked them off and since I was going for a cloudy, moonlit night-type of background, stenciled over them using a Crackle stencil with Broken China Distress Ink. Next I painted the Clockface with Lemon Tart Velvet (I wanted a glowing effect) and then traced each Roman numeral, the clock hands, and the geese with a Micron pen to make them darker and to help them stand out.  I then painted the clouds with Picket Fence Distress Paint and the starts with Brushed Pewter Distress Paint and adhered them to the page.  It's hard to see in the picture put while the paint on the clouds was still wet, I sprinkled on dry glitter (okay, I'm a glitter fiend & most of my projects have glitter on them).

 

 

At the bottom of the page I stamped the Weathered Tree in dark brown ink and then using a brown marker, added some scribbles to "ground it" to the page (it looked like it was floating in space). I then painted on Kona and Basil Velvets to give the impression of dirt and to add a horizon line. The quote is one I found in a book of quotes that really resonated with the stamps I had chosen. I used the small Scrabble ​Alphabet letters to stamp the saying onto white cardstock which I colored with the a Fiji Velvet and then outlined using my Micron pen followed by a yellow marker. Finally I added a line around the entire page in black and brown marker to give it a frame.


I've had a blast being a Guest Designer for VLVS! and want to thank DeeDee for giving me such an awesome opportunity!

Guest Designer : Sandy!!

This month I have the distinct pleasure of sharing the work of TWO Guest Designers with you :) I may have flopped some words in an email and scheduled two designers for the same month, but it turns out to be a real treat for our readers!!

Welcome our 2nd November 2012 Guest Designer... Sandy Alsfasser! 

Sandy says "Mixed media is my favorite art form. Searching for just the right color paint or stamp pad and item to finish a piece is all part of the adventure.  Each piece fills in a piece of a puzzle where the outcome is unpredictable until the last piece is in place.  I'm always searching for new techniques and new altered art projects and love playing with dyes, inks, and stamps.  Viva Las VegaStamps! quirky stamps always make me smile - please feel free to check out my blog to see what I'm up to." Her blog can be found @ http://altered-artifacts.blogspot.com/

Today she has this magnificent card and envelope for us:

From plate893 she used:
Large Wasp

Time Flies

Hot Air Balloon with Flags

and the Flying Watch

She's also used

Einstein's Tongue and Fly

About her project:

The background on the stamped card front was created on white card stock using three colors of Tim Holtz Distress Inks - Pumice Stone, Weathered Wood and Stormy Sky.  Words, watch, Albert Einstein and hot air balloon were stamped with StazOn's Midnight Blue ink pad; and the flies were stamped using StazOn's Jet Black ink pad.  An extra hot air balloon was stamped, trimmed and colored with a yellow highlighter to mimic a light bulb going off over Al's head.  His hair was colored in with a white opaque pen from Ranger; another clock face was stamped on white card stock, outside colored with a red Sharpie marker and affixed on top of original stamped watch with pop dots.  Various areas were then "painted" with Elmer's White Glue and dusted with Martha Stewart's extra fine crystal glitter (my very favorite go-to glitter) for a more fun look.  This sheet was then attached to a slightly larger piece of navy blue card stock using double sided tape.  Navy background card stock was attached in the same manner to a stock white blank greeting card.

The words "Time flies" were stamped again on the left side inside of the card using Midnight Blue StazOn ink.  Another watch and wings image was also stamped with the Midnight Blue StazOn on an additional piece of the white card stock.  This image was then colored, glittered, cut out and attached to the right inside of the card with a tiny spring coil made from very fine metal beading wire coiled around a pencil and then attached to the card and cut-out with double-sided tape.

 

The red envelope was purchased, stamped on the front, and stamped on the back utilizing the flies and watch once again.  Stamped images were decorated and glittered; and the inside of the envelope was lined with navy card stock to complement the card.  Enjoy!

Give Sandy a big round of applause and leave her some nice comments for taking the time to share her work with us today :)