Give Thanks!

Today I went back to the Dr. to have my stitches removed from my surgery last week.  Only part of the stitches were removed but the rest will be removed next week.  After fighting an infection at the incision site over the week-end and having to call for antibiotics, all is well and healing.  The biopsy showed that all cancer cells were removed so to celebrate,  I created a Give Thanks card for tonight!
The flowers from The Old Grist Mill stamp plate from Artistic Outpost are so beautiful and I love to color them in fall colors.  Today I used my copic airbrush system to color them.  I love the more impressionistic feel created this way.
The orange checked ribbon is nice on this background with the gently swirled ribbon outlining the sentiment which was stamped with Just Rite stamps.  I love that I can make the sentiments that I want with them.
Thanks for stopping by.  I have a lot of things to show you over the next few days so stop by often, I love to show you what I love to do!!!

Tonight I am thankful for many things!!!
Cathy

Artistic Outpost new release cards!

Today I have two Artistic Outpost cards from the new release sets that I had the priviledge of working on, The Outpost and Old Grist Mill.

This card was created using the Tim Holtz mini scroll mask sponged with frayed burlap distress ink over a piece of green dp with dusty rose roses.

Scallop oval is Spellbinders as is the plain edge oval. I love how the Old Grist Mill stamp looks like a newspaper clipper like my mom always saved.

The flower was colored with copic markers and punched out with the SU scalloped punch. The butterfly is a MS punch that I had embossed with a cuttlebug folder prior to punching.

I love the sentiments that are included in the Outpost and Old Grist Mills stamp sets.

Next I have my favorite stamp from the Outpost stamp set which is the windmill:

The windmill just reminds me of the farms in rural central Iowa where I was raised. Every farm had a working windmill.

The matt was stamped with the script stamp all over with versamark ink and the pocket watch from the Outpost was stamped with versamark on the blue card base layer.

The windmill stamp was colored with copic markers and the clouds were sponged in using a post it note mask . I tried to get the weather worn color red/brown for the barn, still think it is too bright but.... I liked the outcome with the other colors used.

Hope you have enjoyed these wonderful Artistic Outpost images, I sure love working with them. You can always dress them up or dress them down, they are perfect for every occassion.

See you tomorrow with the Hanna Stamps Friday challenge card and I used one of Mo's Digital pencil images for the Artful Sentiments copic challenge card for Saturday, so be sure to stop by.

Catch you all later,

Cathy

Two more Artistic Outpost new release etched glass projects!

I can't say enough how much I love these new stamp plates from Artistic Outpost. My mind just keeps coming up with more and more projects that they would be perfect for....that's a good thing! Oh, gawd! I sound like MS :O Anyhoo, here are two more etched glass projects created with the Old Grist Mill stamp plate:

The oval mirror was purchased at an antique shop in Kansas a few weeks ago with this project in mind, I thought the oval fit the waterwheel stamp perfectly. This was my very first project etching glass and I had so much fun, I did the one below as well :). It is hard to tell from the picture that it is a mirror because I had to turn off the camera flash to be able to photograph it. (You can see my hand reflection in the paddlewheel). The metal frame was brown and a little rusty so I took the frame off of the mirror and cleaned it up and used Tim Holtz Pearl Mixative and Denim alcohol ink to create the faux marble frame. The prima flowers are sponged with denim blue Tim Holtz distress ink and my etched mirror was a success. I love it when what I want to do turns out good enough to show you!!!

Because I wasn't certain exactly whether I would ever want to do any glass etching again I bought a kit at Michael's because I knew I was going to do an etched glass something :) for this release. This glass square was the practice glass in the kit. Not wanting to waste anything I actually used the glass to create my project.
I followed the glass etching tutorial instructions on SCS for the most part. The Armour etching cream that I used said the leave the cream on no more than one minute and the SCS tutorial said 5 minutes. I did both with the same results. So with time usually of the essence, one minute is fine.
I got the self-adhesive aluminum edging at Michaels, in the Tim Holtz section, and spot welded a metal D ring on the top for a hanger. I had never spot welded before but it was kind of fun. Not something you could do with kids around though as the spot welder tip gets 900 degrees.
I really like the way that these two etched glass projects turned out and will be doing more etched glass in the future.
Have a great day.

Cathy

Outpost Sneak Peek

When I first saw Artistic Outpost Stamps the Serenity stamp set was the one that sucked me in. I loved it then and I love it now. This set called Outpost is my Serenity II. It is larger and just as breathtaking as the original.
I stitched the image with random rows of gold metallic stitching and did a row of straight stitching to join the card base pieces together. I tied a gold stretchy metallic cord around the picture to which I attached a key. The typewriter key letters spelling Outpost were placed on the left side of the image vertically. My fall Outpost Serenity II card is ready to enjoy.

The newest three collections from Artistic Outpost have a very natural vintage style, an ode to simpler times. We were inspired by some of our favorite quotes of Henry David Thoreau. His simple advice to "simplify, simplify" are words we shuld use in our daily life - the hustle and bustle of work, home and community - as well as in our art.
How often do we need to stamps! Just the act of simply putting ink to rubber is calming and rewarding.
We hope you find simple inspiration to created something that makes you happy.And, we know you will love and want all three. So for a limited time, we are offering 20% when you purchase all three stamp collections. Simply use coupon code: September2009 at checkout.
The Outpost: This collection is inspired by our Serenity signature set and continues this theme with a much larger image of our "outpost". You will love the versatility of this collection including the ATC sized farm house and the nostalgic pocket watch.
Old Grist Mill: Artistic Outpost is in the south where covered bridges are not quite as common as they are in other parts of the US and Europe. However, we absolutely long to be driving though the countryside in the fall, stopping at each covered bridge and just listening to the "clippety, clap" of the tires going over each floor board. Again, we are reminded to enjoy simple beauty.
Generation Redux: The vintage images are all grunged up a bit in a unique collage style. They are designed to go with not only The Outpost and Old Grist Mill, but think of using them with Home as well.
We love this generation and find that this style of photo stamp is a perfect versatile style to add that "human" element to your creations.To see more samples using these 3 new plates, visit the Artistic Outpost Gallery.

Tomorrow, September 1, is the Artistic Outpost Blog Hop so be sure to check out all of the DT and Guest DT members blogs for great samples of the 3 new stamps sets and you may even find some blog candy along the way.

See you tomorrow,

Cathy

Are you ready for the Awesome September Release from Artistic Outpost!

Here is a fun piece that I created using the Outpost windmill. I love this new stamp set which is available today at Artistic Outpost.

The box was $1.00 at Michaels in their unfinished wood section. Painted undercoat with acrylic paint. Used Tim Holtz distress white crackle paint and let that dry. I added a clear crackle hoping for a larger cracked pattern. Sponged around the edges with Tim Holtz distress inks and then stamped the windmill using SU basic brown ink pad.

Tuesday September 1, the DT members and Guest DT members at Artistic Outpost are having a blog hop so be sure to stop by.

Be sure to check out the other DT and guest DT members blogs today for additional sneak peaks.

More about the new Releases:

The newest three collections from Artistic Outpost have a very natural vintage style, an ode to simpler times. We were inspired by some of our favorite quotes of Henry David Thoreau. His simple advice to "simplify, simplify" are words we shuld use in our daily life - the hustle and bustle of work, home and community - as well as in our art.

How often do we need to stamps! Just the act of simply putting ink to rubber is calming and rewarding. We hope you find simple inspiration to created something that makes you happy.And, we know you will love and want all three. So for a limited time, we are offering 20% when you purchase all three stamp collections. Simply use coupon code: September2009 at checkout.

The Outpost: This collection is inspired by our Serenity signature set and continues this theme with a much larger image of our "outpost". You will love the versatility of this collection including the ATC sized farm house and the nostalgic pocket watch.

Old Grist Mill: Artistic Outpost is in the south where covered bridges are not quite as common as they are in other parts of the US and Europe. However, we absolutely long to be driving though the countryside in the fall, stopping at each covered bridge and just listening to the "clippety, clap" of the tires going over each floor board. Again, we are reminded to enjoy simple beauty.

Generation Redux: The vintage images are all grunged up a bit in a unique collage style. They are designed to go with not only The Outpost and Old Grist Mill, but think of using them with Home as well. We love this generation and find that this style of photo stamp is a perfect versatile style to add that "human" element to your creations.

To see more samples using these 3 new plates, visit the Artistic Outpost Gallery.

Thanks for stopping by...

Cathy