Drunken Stampers vs. the Black Friday Hangover

Is there anything in the world quite as satisfying as getting up at 2:45 AM the day after Thanksgiving to stand in a long line, enduring sub-freezing temperatures with thousands of over-caffeinated, potentially violent bargain hunters? This is a question we Drunken Stampers asked ourselves as the holiday season descended upon us, and after long, heartfelt reflection, the answer came to us, and that answer was:

Where's my cocktail?

So, that's the theme I stuck with for my Shopping Hangover piece for this week's challenge. I had a hunch that many of my blog friends might be feeling as over-stretched as I am right now, and really, I can't think of a better way to take the edge off the post-Black Friday stupor than a spicy, hot, chocolate beverage with a little kick of rum. So, in the interest of Good Cheer, I created a little recipe last night and used that for my challenge piece. Fear not, I did indeed taste test this toddy before posting the recipe. These are the lengths to which I'll happily go for my dear readers. (*hiccup*)

Truth be told, I didn't do any shopping on Black Friday at all (I'm more of a Cyber Monday kind of girl, at least when I have the funds for such things...). However, this morning, I went out to meet a friend for coffee, and the roads in Boise were so icy I very nearly slid right through an intersection and into the car in front of me. (I was only going about 2 mph, but still...). May I just say, anti-lock brakes rock! 

Now that I'm safely ensconced at home with absolutely NO plans to leave the house for the rest of the day, I think I'll celebrate my near miss by enjoying a little Hot Coco-Cocoa Elixir myself. Join me, won't you? And once you're all warm and relaxed, create your own homage to Black Friday Survival and post it at the Drunken Stampers site! Our challenge is open through next Friday, and Peg, Spike, Tracy and I are all looking forward to hearing about your own shopping hangover cure!

Hugs and Happy Holidays!

Linda

Vintage Hues: A Gingersnaps Color Challenge

Happy Black Friday, everyone! I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving (or at least a fantastic day, if you don't celebrate that particular holiday). We had a nice, low-key feast with my parents, who drove up here late yesterday morning and stayed in Boise about four hours total before getting back onto the icy Interstate to make their way home.

In spite of my remarkably un-busy day, I still neglected to post my piece for this week's Gingersnap Creations Challenge (I blame the sugar overload), so here I am, late to the party! It's a fun one, too: Vintage Hues (as my blog friends know, I'm a sucker for a color-themed challenge!).

This card was so fun and easy to make, I almost feel guilty posting it because I didn't suffer nearly enough for my art! Actually, it's a testament to how easy Tim Holtz makes it to put together a festive piece in about the same amount of time it would take to whip up a hot buttered rum.

The papers here are from Tim's new and truly fabulous Seasonal Paper Stash, and the "Believe" letters are from the Seasonal Salvage Sticker Set. There's a strip of Tidings Tissue Tape and a couple of Idea-ology metal Corners. That's it. A great, "Oops, I forgot a card and need it five minutes ago!" kind of thing.

Vintage Hues is a theme that would work for just about any occasion, but it feels like a particularly great fit for the holiday season. Why don't you join us over at the Gingersnap Creations blog and join the fun?!

Hugs,
Linda

Compendium of Curiosities, Challenge 23!

Double Distress

Sponsored by Simon Says Stamp!

Now that's a Grungy Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving week, everyone, and welcome to the "official" beginning of the holiday season! When I think about the many things I'm grateful for, one of the most important is this challenge and the opportunity it's given me to meet so many incredible artists who've now become incredible friends as well! Thank you all for sharing your talent, your humor and your words with me. I'm humbled every single day by the beauty you create and the heart and soul you put into your art, and I'll never be able to thank you enough for allowing me to share this experience with you.

You guys are awesome!

This week's challenge will really allow you to "Get your grunge on!" It's fun, it's easy, it's quick, and it's a great way to bang out a stack of holiday cards in a short period of time. Check out page 40 of Tim Holtz's A Compendium of Curiosities for instructions on how to Double Distress!

By popular vote, we've moving into two-week-long sessions for the next three Challenges, meaning you'll have extra time to play and experiment (or just drink egg nog, which is also very important). And since it's the season of giving, I decided to throw in a little extra incentive to keep playing along during these extended Challenges.

So, everyone who posts at least one entry for all three Challenges during the holidays will be entered into a drawing to win a $50 dollar gift certificate to the CCC sponsor of their choice! It's my way of saying thanks for fitting these challenges in during a time of year when most of us barely have time to breathe. The winner of the $50 will be announced on January 3.

Of course, each individual challenge will still have its own prize from one of our illustrious, Santa-like sponsors!

Here's the schedule, to make it easier:

• Challenge 23: Today (November 22) through December 5
• Challenge 24: December 6 through December 19
• Challenge 25: December 20 through January 2

We'll be back on a weekly schedule beginning with Challenge 26 on January 3.

As for this week, the ever-awesome ladies at Simon Says Stamp are throwing down one of their spectacular $25 gift certificates to the winner of Challenge 23! Happy holidays, for sure!

(Don't forget the check out the awesome Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge, too. You're welcome to combine the challenges as long as your piece fits the criteria for both!)

To be eligible to win this this very timely Simon Says Stamp shopping spree, simply create your own art using the Double Distress technique and link it to this blog via the InLinkz button at the bottom of this post. You're in the running as long as you honor these two simple rules:

1. Follow the technique as it's written in A Compendium of Curiosities (adding your own special flair, of course!); and

2. Out of respect to Tim, please don't post the technique instructions on your blog!

As always, the gorgeous Gloria, List Mom at the All Things Tim group at Yahoo, will also send a cool gift from her special stash to one of this week's participants! Just upload your image to the Compendium of Curiosities folder at the ATT home page, and be sure to tag your photo "CCC #23."

Challenge 23 is open until 8 PM Mountain Time on Sunday, December 5, and the winners will be announced super early the following morning, right before the next Challenge is posted.

Have a great time, guys! I'm really looking forward to seeing your creations!

Hugs,
Linda
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Congratulations, CCC 22 Winners!

Another week has flown by, and it's time to announce the winners for the Compendium of Curiosities Challenge 22! I hope you guys enjoyed the week as much as I did. It was a BLAST getting to admire all your wonderful Alcohol Ink Splatter projects, and you all did an amazing job!

Before we dive into Challenge 23, let's give away a couple of prizes!

The winner of the Tim Holtz Mini Holidays stamp set, courtesy of Daisy at eclectic Paperie goes to...

Lisa, of the Things I Make blog!!!

We've just disproved the theory that the Random Number Generator never picks the first or last entry!

HUGE congratulations, Lisa! Your tag is gorgeous, and I know you're going to have a great time with those new stamps (and whatever else Daisy may decide to add to the package, too)! 

(Click on the photo for a closer look at that fabulous snowman and his lovely blue rose!)

Over at the All Things Tim group at Yahoo, the lovely Gloria is deciding on her winner for this week, which I'll announce at the group's message board later. If you're not a member there, please consider joining! It's free, it's fun, and the people there are amazingly wonderful!

Okay, we're just about ready to move into our first challenge of the holiday season! Check back at 6 AM (mst) for the low down! Hugs and thanks to all the participants, and to Daisy and Gloria for being so generous!

Drunken Stampers Lose Their Stamps!

We know. We feel bad about it, too. How in the world could a team that calls itself "Drunken Stampers" possibly lose all their stamps?! I blame the egg nog, personally. Or, it could've been the hot buttered rum. Either way, it's a good excuse to host a new challenge called, "No Stamps for You!"

This little stamp-free card was made by pouncing a blue Brilliance Dewdrop pad directly onto white card stock, adding some snowflake-patterened paper and a cute Artchix collage sheet image, and finishing with Dymo tape and a few little stick-on gems. Pretty darn easy and fast, actually!

The thing about not allowing yourself to use any stamps is, you end up trying things you haven't done before. Cheers to that!

Our No Stamps for You challenge is open until 11:59 pm next Friday, November 26 at the Drunken Stampers Challenge Blog. Come on over and join the party!

Gingersnap Creations: Get Stitchy With It!

So, last week I fake stitched for the Drunken Stampers, and this week I'm fake stitching for the Gingersnap Creations blog! It's Fake-stitch-a-palooza around here!

Maybe someone is trying to tell me that it's time I learned to use a sewing machine. . .

But that's a task for another year. Right now, I find the .5 mm Copic Multiliner to be a fabulous tool for making small, dashed, vaguely stitch-like lines that aren't nearly as uneven as actual thread would be in my needle-phobic hands. 

The stamp I used for this one is called "Creative Girl," and it's from Suzi Blu for Unity. Isn't it a sweet design? I stamped it three times-- once in black, once in Adirondack Pesto (for the background), and once in Adirondack Ginger (for her hair), then cut out the parts I wanted to use and layered them together. (I borrowed this idea from the brilliant Linda Duke, by the way, who did a far better job with it than I did). 

The little girl and the sentiment block were colored with Copic Sketch Markers,  with a little Sakura Glaze Pen action for accents. I lucked into some contrasting blue ribbon that actually came with fake stitching, so I felt almost obligated to use that as an embellishment. The base is deep teal mulberry paper. 

Whether you're a seasoned seamstress or use someone who uses duct tape to hem your jeans (no, I've never done that... okay, maybe once), you're cordially invited to join us at at Gingersnap Creations and show us your stitched-- or fake stitched-- work of art! This challenge is open through December 12, and we're all a'shiver with anticipation to see what you create!

Hugs,

Linda

Compendium of Curiosities Challenge 22!

(If you're blog hopping with Darcie's Stamps and the E-Team, please click here for my post. :-)

Alcohol Ink Splatter

Sponsored by eclectic Paperie!

Hello, friends, and welcome to Challenge 22 from Tim Holtz's spectacular book, A Compendium of Curiosities! Holy cow, guys, your Perfect Distress art last week was incredible, and I'm so excited to see what you'll create with this week's unusual and FUN technique!

You'll find the Alcohol Ink Splatter instructions on page 52 of the the Compendium.

You may have heard Tim say "Don't overthink the ink," and that's really important to remember when you're doing this technique! It's a blast (literally), the the best approach is to relax and allow the ink to do what's it's going to do. For some of us (okay, for me), that's more difficult than it sounds!

By the way, if you don't have access to the particular tool that's used in this project, experiment with a straw!

Are there prizes this week? Oh, heck, yes! The lovely and boundlessly generous Daisy from eclectic Paperie is offering Tim's spectacular Mini Holidays stamp set to this week's challenge winner! This is one of my favorite sets in the entire world, and is pretty much guaranteed to brighten up the holidays of anyone who plays with it.

(Psst...Daisy also told me that she just might add an extra surprise for the winner. But, you didn't hear that from me.)  ;-)

To be eligible to win this magnificent stamp set (and any extra goodies Daisy might decide to throw in!), simply create your own art using the Alcohol Ink Splatter technique and link it to this blog via the InLinkz button at the bottom of this post. You're in the running as long as you honor these two simple rules:

1. Follow the technique as it's written in the Compendium of Curiosities (adding your own special flair, of course!); and

2. Out of respect to Tim, please don't post the technique instructions on your blog!

Of course, the spectacular Gloria, List Mom at the All Things Tim group at Yahoo, will also send a fabulous present from her special stash to one of this week's participants! Just upload your image to the Compendium of Curiosities folder at the ATT home page, and be sure to tag your photo "CCC #22." If you're not yet a member at All Things Tim, what are you waiting for?! They're the greatest people, and will welcome you with open arms!

Ready to play? Challenge 22 is open until 8 PM Mountain Time on Sunday, November 21. As always, the winners will be announced super early the following morning, right before the next Challenge is posted.

I hope you all have a spectacular, creative week, and I'm so looking forward to seeing what you create! By the way, thanks to everyone who responded to the poll about the CCC holiday schedule. We'll be doing our challenges every OTHER week in December.

Hugs,
Linda
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Congratulations, CCC 21 Winners!

Welcome to a brand new week, everyone! I hope you had a relaxing, creative and fun weekend, and are feeling recharged and inspired. Your Perfect Distress art for CCC #21 was amazing! Thanks so everyone who shared their talent and created such gorgeous art. It just takes my breath away to see all this brilliant creativity going on!

Before I introduce Challenge 22, let's give a high-five to the winners for last week. The magic Random Number Generator has randomized, and the winner of the fabulous $25 shopping spree at Simon Says Stamp is...

Drumroll, please...

Judy Cantrell of the Stamped Impressions blog!

Congratulations, Judy!

Please click the image to visit Judy's blog and get a closer look at her fabulous, Perfectly Distressed card!

But wait... there's more! The ever lovely and generous Gloria at the All Things Tim group has chosen her winner for this week as well.

Congratulations to Yvonne at the Ink on My Fingers blog!!!

Get a closer look at Yvonne's gorgeous tag by clicking the photo. 

If you weren't a winner this time around, fear not! We're just moments away from Challenge #22, complete with prizes...so don't go too far away. :-)

Thanks so much to Steph and Heidi and the awesome crew at Simon Says Stamp, and to Gloria from All Things Tim for their awesomeness!

E-Team Special Mission: Darcie's Stamps!

The eclectic Paperie E-Team is ready to de-classify its latest Special Ops assignment, and boy, oh boy, is it ever a fun one! The brilliant Darcie Heater has just released a brand new line of stamps, and they're wonderful... and eclectic Paper has them in stock right now... and we got to play with them! 

Click this banner to check out  Darcie's gorgeous stamp sets.

I used four stamps from Darcie's Cardinal Ornament set for my project, and created a little something for my Christmas tree. 

I stamped the frame onto white cardstock with black ink, and then embossed it with clear powder. I used a gold metallic rubbing cream over the top. The embossing acted as a resist, and I just wiped off the extra gold cream with a paper towel to allow the pattern to show through.

The sheet music was stamped onto parchment-colored vellum, and attached to the back of the frame with dimensional foam tape.

The poinsettias and that sweet little cardinal image were colored with Copic markers. I made several copies of the poinsettias and cut extra petals and leaves to build raised layers, which were also attached with foam tape. It's hard to see all the layering in the straight-on photo, but this one shows it a little better:

I love these stamps. I'm talking real love, too, not the kind you see on reality television. This love will last a lifetime. I have a hunch my E-Teammates feel the same way, having seen the gorgeous art they made using Darcie's stamps. Please hop around and delight your eyes with their amazing creations:

Broni Holcombe

Latrice Murphy

Linda Duke

Linda Ledbetter (That's me!)

Micki Harper

Sherry Cheever

Starla Nelson

Daisy Sparks and the eclectic Paperie Blog

Be sure to finish your hop at the eclectic Paperie blog. Rumor has it, there's a prize up for grabs! Please be sure to visit Darcie's blog, too, and prepare to be wowed!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a blast hopping with the E-Team!

Hugs,

Linda

Drunken Stampers Are In Stitches!

Bust out the needle and threat, everyone— we're hosting a Sewing Challenge at the Drunken Stampers Crafting Lounge! That's right, we have sharp objects, and we're not afraid to use them. 

At least, some of us aren't. 

I have to get this off my chest now: I can't sew. At all. Which is really unfortunate, seeing as how I'm barely five feet tall, and if I want to wear clothing that doesn't involve Bratz logos, there's almost always some kind of hemming that needs to be done. But, alas, the seamstress gene that was passed down from my grandmother to my mom didn't stand a chance when I came along. It mutated into a chocolate craving gene. 

Which is a long, involved way of explaining why I used fake stitching on my card. 

These stamps are all from the "Domestic" set in Claudine Hellmuth's new Creative Layers line, which I love, love, LOVE! The inks are Adirondack Brights, and the images were stamped onto Claudine's Sticky Back Canvas. The pink center panel is that silky, thick, fabric-y paper that I don't know the name for, and the hot pink Designer Paper behind that is from Glitz Design. 

All the stitching is counterfeit, produced with a black Copic Multiliner pen. 

Whether or not the sewing gene was passed along to you, come on over to the Drunken Stampers lounge and get in on this insanely fun challenge! It' open through Friday, November 19, and we're just waiting to admire your talent! Be sure to check out my Design Team-mates samples for this week, too— Peggy, Spike and Tracy sew WAY better than I do!

Hugs,

Linda

Beeswax, Airplanes, and 3 Awesome People!

After a couple of weeks of what felt like insanity on a stick (now with MORE insanity!), life seems to be calming down, and I'm... well, not remotely caught up, actually. But getting there, and feeling very lucky and grateful along the way. 

A couple of evenings ago, I had the awesome experience of attending a crafting night with some incredibly talented women, and it was exactly the kind of reboot my internal hard drive needed  (ooh, nerdy analogy!). We learned some really cool techniques for making framed Paper Tole pieces using bathtub caulk (!) and multiple copies of some sweet clipart our hostesses provided. It's hard to get a photo that shows how dimensional this is, but you can kind of get the gist of it here:

Back at home, I added some melted besswax and pressed mini bubblewrap into it, in hopes of giving the frame a honeycomb look. I think as long as I keep it away from sunny windows, heating vents and hot flashes, it'll work as a funky (okay, really funky) wall hanging. 

Without a doubt, the best part of my art-y evening was seeing my friend, Lynn Stevens, who is looking so amazing and fit you'd never know she was in the hospital just a few weeks ago! Lynn, you are one powerful soul (and one heck of an artist, too)!

Speaking of artistic people, I'm tickled to report that my friend, Shar Briss, has just launched her own line of extremely fabulous rubber stamps, Rogue Redhead Designs! I know, what a great name, right?  

Click the image to see the stamps!

Shar put together a wickedly talented design team, too, and it's a blast to see the variety of gorgeous creations they came up with for the first stamp plate. Cruise on over to the Rogue Redhead Blog and feast your eyes on the beauty!

From paper arts to someone whose life is his art, I want to introduce you guys to my friend, Matt Pipkin, founder of the nonprofit organization Commit 65. Now in his mid-20s, Matt was a victim of sexual abuse beginning at the age of five, and his intention with Commit65 is to raise awareness of this appalling crime by hosting an ongoing series of large-scale events across the country. The first of these events will be an attempt to break the long-standing record for endurance flight-- in other words, he's going to fly a plane for 65 days without ever touching down!

Matt rocks the stick figures!

I have the deepest admiration for Matt. It takes a lot of guts and a great deal of heart to open up about something so profoundly personal and hurtful, and to use his own horrific experience as the impetus to help other victims move past the shame they feel and into a world where they're free to pursue their grandest dreams and live a happy life. To quote from the Commit 65 website:

"Matt has decided to take what was once his secret and now shout it out at the top of his lungs. His goal: To strip this issue of the power it has over victims, and create an environment where people feel safe to open up and overcome their experiences." 

That, my friends, is the stuff heroes are made of. Please check out the Commit 65 site and give Matt a shout out!

You know, I'm feeling truly fortunate to have so many incredible people in my life, from the three I've mentioned here to all of you who so kindly take the time to visit my blog and share your art and words with me. I hope you're all having a completely fabulous and inspiring week! 

Compendium of Curiosities Challenge 21!

Perfect Distress!

Sponsored by Simon Says Stamp!

Good morning, friends, and welcome to the 21st installment of the Tim Holtz Compendium of Curiosities Challenge! You guys did an incredible job on the Industrial Grunge last week, and it was so much fun to see your creative genius in action (as always!).

This week, we'll be playing with a ridiculously fun technique that you'll enjoy incorporating into your holidays cards: Perfect Distress! This is one of my favorites, and I love the shimmery, misty look it gives. Be forewarned, it's a little addictive, and you may find yourself Perfectly Distressing everything in your path!  You'll find the instructions on page 38 of the Compendium of Curiosities.

Before you dive in, please take a second to check out the poll on the top left sidebar on vote on whether you'd like to continue doing a challenge each week during December, or would prefer to move to an every other week schedule for that very busy month. I'm fine with whichever you guys want, and I thought the most fair way to go about it would be to let the participants decide.

Our fabulous sponsor this week is the much-loved crew at Simon Says Stamp, who are generously offering a $25 shopping spree in their awesome online shop! Rumor has it, all those new Tim Holtz holiday goodies are in stock there. Just sayin'... ;-)

Be sure to check out their wicked-cool weekly challenge blog, Simon Says Stamp and Show, too! There are all kinds of spectacular things going on there, and you're welcome to fashion your piece so it fits the criteria of both challenges!

To be eligible to win the shopping spree, simply create your own art using the Perfect Distress technique and link it to this blog via the InLinkz button at the bottom of this post. You're in the running as long as you honor these two simple rules:

1. Follow the technique as it's written in the Compendium of Curiosities (adding your own special flair, of course!); and

2. Out of respect to Tim, please don't post the technique instructions on your blog!

As always, sweet Gloria, List Mom at the All Things Tim group at Yahoo, will send a lovely surprise to one of this week's participants! Just upload your image to the Compendium of Curiosities folder at the ATT home page, and be sure to tag your photo "CCC #21." If you're not yet a member at All Things Tim, wait no more! You'll loving being part of this brilliant group of Tim fans!

Challenge 21is open until 8 PM Mountain Time on Sunday, November 15. As always, the winners will be announced super early the following morning, right before the next Challenge is posted.

And on that note... go forth and Perfectly Distress! I hope you all have a wonderful, creative week, and I'm so looking forward to seeing what you create!

Hugs,
Linda

Congratulations, CCC 20 Winners!

Happy Monday, everyone! I hope you all enjoyed that extra hour yesterday as much as I did, and that you're ready to dive into a brand new week, refreshed and renewed! 

Before I roll out Compendium of Curiosities Challenge 21, how 'bout we hand out some prizes for last week's entries?

First off, we have that sweet, double-whammy Package of Goodness, which includes a shiny copy of the Compendium to give to a friend, courtesy of Daisy at eclectic Paperie....

...and a fun stash of some of Tim's coolest products-- including an autographed stamp set!-- courtesy of our heroes, Tim and Mario!

(Gray Kitty not included.)

And the winner is...

Barbara Washington!

Here's Barbara's gorgeous, vintage holiday card. Click the image for a closer look at her inspiring blog, Magic Delights!

And there's more!

Gloria, the lovely and very generous List Mom at the All Things Tim discussion group at Yahoo, has chosen her winner for this week as well. 

A big high-five to:

Judy Cantrell

Judy's darling filmstrip-inspired card can be viewed in all its glory at her blog, Stamped Impressions! Click the image to check it out!

Giant congratulations to Barbara and Judy, and thanks for sharing your wonderful creations with us!

Huge thanks to Daisy, Gloria, Tim and Mario for being so generous and awesome! 

Don't touch that dial! Challenge 21 will post in just a few short minutes...

Drunken Stampers Get Punchy!

So, it was just a matter of time before someone got punched out at the Drunken Stampers Challenge Blog (and crafting lounge to the stars), and this is the week! No, no, we're not kickboxing or anything that might break a nail. We're using those oft-forgotten (at least by me) little crafting tools called "punches."

I'll confess: I own a grand total of three punches, none larger than 1/2-inch. I guess I'm just not a punch kinda girl (although of course if Tim Holtz ever comes out with a line of them, I'll buy the whole shebang!). So, the little stars and both sizes of the swirly-gigs on my card were punched from metallic silver cardstock, using my entire punch inventory.

The sort-of Tolkien looking dude is from Rubber Poet, and he's colored with Spica Glitter Pens that I  smudged with chalks for richer color. A few layers of DP, and voila!

Whether you have just one punch or a studio full, we're jazzed to see what you can do with them! Our Punch Challenge is open through next Friday, November 12. Come raise a glass with the Drunken Stampers, and get punched out!

Hugs,
Linda

Gingersnaps Go All Fashionista!

We're having a blast on the catwalk over at the Gingersnap Creations blog right now, with our new Haute Couture challenge. Whether or not you're too sexy for your shirt...too sexy for your shirt...so sexy it hurts, this challenge is WAY too fun to miss!

The image on my card came from a very old clothing catalogue given to me by my awesome artist friend, Christine, from the Change of Heart blog (thanks, Christine!). I scanned it and messed with it in Photoshop a little, trading out the dress prices for some bitchy banter. After that, it was a super-simple assembly, with some DCWV paper, Tim Holtz Ruler Ribbon, a tiny grungeboard crown and some self-adhesive pearls and buttons.

Oh, those catty model types...

Why don'cha hop over to the Gingersnap Creations blog and check out the beauty my design teammates have come up with, then join in with your own crafty take on the Haute Couture theme? This challenge runs through November 28, so you have plenty of time to dress for the occasion!

Hugs,
Linda

Compendium of Curiosities Challenge 20!

Industrial Grunge

Sponsored by eclectic Paperie!

Good morning, my friends in Curiosity, and welcome to Challenge #20. Ready or not, we've officially entered the holiday season, or so I've been told, and that's got me pondering the concept of giving. Plus, I received an incredible surprise in the mail yesterday: the brand new Tim Holtz Winter Wonder die! It came from eclectic Paperie, but Daisy is sworn to secrecy regarding the sender, so all I know is that it came from A Friend who's participating in the CCC. Whoever you are, thank you! Thank you SO much! My heart grew three sizes, it's so filled with gratitude, and I was so excited I just had to use that die for my project this week!

As we enter November and life is amping up for the frenzy that's looming on the horizon, we're doing  something extra fun for our prize week, so please keep reading for the details. For now, though, why don't you open your Compendium of Curiosities to page 54, where you'll find Tim's instructions for his cool Industrial Grunge technique!

I found this to be one of the more challenging projects so far, and I discovered a couple of tips in the process of creating my piece (in other words, please learn from my mistakes!). First, if you don't have the tool suggested for Step 2, don't worry about it. You certainly have things in your craft room that will work just fine. Also, when doing Step 2 and/or 3, really put some muscle into it. It took me a couple of tries to figure that out! In this end, I LOVE the effect this technique produces, and I can see using it for all kinds of projects in the future. It's really fun to do, too!

So, about that prize... !

Daisy from eclectic Paperie, who's sponsoring Challenge 20, is going to be sending this week's winner a copy of the Compendium of Curiosities to give to someone as a gift! How sweet is that? And, I'll send them a pretty amazing prize package selected from that Fantabulous Box of Wonderment Mario shipped over, including-- yes!-- a stamp set autographed by Mr. Holtz himself! Woot!

It's like an early Christmas, and a chance for you to share the Tim love with someone who's special to you!

A Gift for a Friend from eclectic Paperie!

A gift for the winner, courtesy of Tim and Mario! This week's winner will receive: The Checkerboard and Cracked Texture Fades Set; Tim's Timepieces; a package of Journaling Tickets; the Scrollwork On the Edge Die; and an autographed French Marketplace Stamp Set. Gray Kitty not included. 

To be eligible to win, create your own art using the Industrial Grunge technique and link it to this blog via the InLinkz button at the bottom of this post. In order to be eligible to win, you must honor these two simple rules:

1. Follow the technique as it's written in the Compendium of Curiosities (adding your own special flair, of course!); and

2. Out of respect to Tim, please don't post the technique instructions on your blog!

As always, our much-loved Gloria, List Mom at the All Things Tim group at Yahoo, will send a cool present to one of this week's participants! Just upload your image to the Compendium of Curiosities folder at the ATT home page, and be sure to tag your photo "CCC #20." If you're not yet a member at All Things Tim, please join! They're really wonderful and supportive people, and have tons of creative ideas to share!

Challenge 20 is open until 8 PM Mountain Time on Sunday, November 7. As always, the winners will be announced super early the following morning, right before the next Challenge is posted.

Have an awesome week, everyone and have SO much fun with this Challenge!

Hugs,
Linda
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