Tammy Tutterow

More Vintage Courting Cards

I have added this image to the Vintage Courting Cards album.  Click on the image above or HERE to veiw and download the high resolution version.

Free Vintage Image: Vintage Courting Card

I have added a new album for Vintage Courting Cards.  I was lucky enough to get a whole stack of these recently and I know you are going to love them!

You can find the high resolution version to download by clicking on the photo above or HERE.

Free Vintage Image: The Nest

Isn't she gorgeous?  I absolutely love this image and hope you do to!

This image has been added to the Flea Market Families- Girlies album.  You can download it HERE or by clicking on the image above.

Too cool not to share-

This post is now located on my new website.  You can find it here: http://tammytutterow.com/2010/10/too-cool-not-to-share/.

Thanks!

Tammy

Art Journal: Brighter Days

Life has been so busy lately.  I feel lately like I am running in a million directions and going no where and getting nothing done.  I have stacks of things I want to work on, things I should have finished, and a neglected house and yard.  I think it is probably a story that a lot of us share.  Yesterday was a finally a little different, I started marking things off of my to-do list instead of just adding to it and best of all, found a little creative time at the end of the day.  I grabbed a blank page from my art journal and sat and stared at it until I knew what I needed to say.

I was looking at a clear page from my journal and the Rays Texture Fade and suddenly had this phrase in mind, "Never lose faith in the existence of brighter days".  I had been feeling a bit like I was losing hope that I was making progress on some of the goals I set for myself for the year, that I wasn't gaining ground on where I hoped to be.  I have been in a bit of a doubting mood, thinking that some of the changes I made in my life this year weren't the cure all that I thought and hoped they would be.  I guess it is human nature, but I feel like I have been focusing on the gloom a bit more than the sunshine.  So when I sat down to create, I felt like the rays were reminding me of something I needed to be reminded of, to focus myself differently and to remember that brighter days lay ahead.

For the top portion of my page, I cut a piece of light pattern paper (BasicGrey's Basics White from the mini paper pad) to fit my clear page.  I inked it with a combination of Black Soot and Stormy Sky Distress Inks.  I added birds stamped in Black Soot along the top using a stamp from the Tim Holtz clear Lost and Found stamp set.  I used my single stamp letters to add my phrase.  I made a goof on existence so I stamped it again on another piece of paper and placed it on top of my goof.  I actually am glad that happened began I like the added emphasis it has.  I inked the edges of it with Wild Honey and added a few staples with my Tiny Attacher.

Here is the part I really love.  I embossed the clear sheet with the Rays texture fade.  I used two colors of alcohol ink (Sunset Orange and Sunshine Yellow) and one to one side of the acrylic and the other to the other side.  I held the page upright with the rays running up and down and dripped the color on the page directly from the bottle into the depressed part of the design.  The ink filled in the depressed areas and the excess kind of pooled at the bottom edge of the page (the center of the sun).

I did this on both sides, filling the depressed areas of one side with the yellow and the depressed areas of the other side with orange.  It allowed me to have a definition between the two colors.  Because both colors are applied to the center of the sun on each side of the page, you see a blending of the two.  I finished up by adding a lined page to the back of the entire piece.  The light color of the page really helps the intensity of the yellow and orange shine.  

The inking on the sun was a total "what if I did this?" moment that gave a really great result.  That is the beauty of alcohol inks on acrylic, you can experiment and say "what if" and then wipe it away if you don't like it!  In this case, I loved it and will no doubt use this technique again with other Texture Fades. 

Free Vintage Image: Winter Birdies

This image has been added to the Vintage Birdies album.  You can view the image by clicking HERE.

A happy day for BasicGrey fans!

Hooray!  The BasicGrey gallery is finally back!  If you remember it before, you remember what an awesome resource it was for scrapping ideas and all things BasicGrey inspiration.  The new and improved version is launching today and it is even better than ever!  I have been uploading some projects there and love how super easy it is!

Be sure to not only check it out, but to also upload some of your favorite BasicGrey creations.  To get you even more inspired to share your projects, they will be doing an Upload Drive Giveaway for the next two weeks from October 14th to 28th! Every day they will pick one project they love and offer the designer a free BasicGrey Collection Pack, or $20 gift certificate for BasicGrey.com.

You can find the gallery at http://www.basicgrey.com/gallery.

Distressed Decor Canvas featuring Graphic 45

I have a new class I am offering in stores.  I am teaching it for the first time November 12th at Scrapbook Generation in Springfield, MO.  The project features an 11x14 box canvas that is embellished with a fun mix of products.

 

Pattern papers are from the Steampunk Débutante collection by Graphic 45.  Embellishments include Tim Holtz Idea-ology, Grunge Paper die cuts, vintage buttons, and a vintage photo album page.

  

The class will also cover making these fun crinoline roses cut from the Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die.  I really love how this project turned out and hope that everyone signed up for it next month will love it too!

Glimmer Mist Color Blending

I shared this post on the Tattered Angels Educators' Blog today and wanted to share it here as well.  If you are interested in great ideas and techniques for using Tattered Angels products, I highly recommend checking out the Educators' blog.

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One of my favorite techniques to use with Glimmer Mists is a color blending technique that creates an amazing finished look that is really incredible on the Custom Cut-Outs tags.

Simply spray the colors you wish to blend in strips across your tag.  I like to work light to dark so that I get a gradient effect.  In the image above I used Mustard Seed (top layer), Sea Glass (middle layer), and Turquoise (bottom layer).

Find something to use as a squeegee across the surface of your tag.  You can use anything (a ruler, a stamp block) as long as it is wider than your misted image and has a flat straight edge.  I often use a scrap of chipboard.  I like that it has a soft edge when wet and doesn't scrape the surface of my misted item.  Place the straight edge of the "tool" at the top of your misted item and drag it across the surface in the direction you want to blend. 

I finished of my tag by adding Vintage Photo Distress Ink around the edges and embellished it with fabric die cut flowers and metal embellishments.  I adhered the color blended tag to a larger tag from the Tattered Tags set which was misted with Mustard Seed and Vanilla Breeze and inked with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and then accented with touches of Golden Goddess Glimmer Glam.

This tag is from my Vintage Glimmer Tag book class that I am currently offering.  I have classes featuring it coming up in several locations.