Simon Says Stamp and Show Me....Distressing (and WOYWW 97!)

Look, look!  I'm actually creating on my desk! Huzzah! Be warned that this is kinda long so if you are in a hurry, just look at the pretty pictures and then hop over to the fabulous Julia to be whizzed off to other desks.  If you've got some time, get a cuppa and a biscuit (I'm practicing for next week 'cause did I tell you I'm off to London?  And a whirlwind tour of Stratford, Yorkshire, and Edinburgh?)and get ready for some deets.

What I'm creating are journals for me, my Mom, and my Sister for the aforementioned tour (on SATURDAY!!!)  WOO HOO!  I'm so excited! And I just can't hide it...hands up...who's singing along?  I knew you were, my fellow children of the 80's.  So Simon Said to show distress, and distress I did.  Verily and indeedily!  (oh, I'm a lucky crafter indeed because I won at Simon for my last week's entry!!  
Can you say excited?  You bet I could! In a much higher pitch than my normal voice and several squeals to boot... thank you to the lovely people at Simon Says!)  I started with photos taken from the London Eye in 2006.  Stamped with some lurvely Tim stamps and Distress Inks, then distress inked around the edges.  The letters are a random alphabet set that I've had for yeeeaars and I don't know who made 'em.  Brushed over the front and back covers with Ranger's Glue n' Seal (quick tip-don't use Glue n' Seal over SU! Classic inks because they bleed... a lot!)and it doesn't show in the photo but the Glue n' Seal gave it a wonderful vintage look and feel.

The elastic is covered in Distress Stain ...it's awesome!!  one coat soaks through cool, cool, cool!... and attached on the back with the tiny attacher. Grungeboard hinge pieces (just the tops) slathered in Distress Stains and Inks to cover the staples.  Because I am not that bright, I had put the elastic and toppers on before putting on the Glue n' Seal so it darkened  places on the grungeboard, but it looks distressed so it's all good. Slapped on some gears and spinners (because really, why not?) and used the SU! paper distresser on the edges.  Inside the front and back cover I stamped the same Tim stamps and a random London postmark stamp on pieces of card stock so I could cover up all the brad ends from the gears and spinners on front, and then got a little crazy with a front piece.

Stamped a Tattererd Traveler (I think) compass stamp with Distress embossing ink and covered with clear powder.  Then smooshed various colors of SU! Craft ink onto my craft sheet, spritzed with water and dragged the tag through.  I wiped the tag with a paper towel and dipped again, repeated until I got the look I wanted.  Rubbed distress ink on another tag with a sponge, stamped the words with Distress Embossing and covered in black powder.  Torn edges inked with Vintage Photo, more gears and there you have it.  Whew.  If you actually read all my blatherings, thanks and you should get a medal of some sorts for patience.    Off to make matching pens for the journals and oh yeah, PACK!!  -hope I don't forget the camera...HA!  I shall have a sadly neglected desk next week, you should stop by so it will feel loved...

Simon Says Stamp and Show...Anything BUT a Card

And this is right bang alongside that!  I don't know where the box came from originally, I swapped a sadly neglected stamp set for it and i think I got the better part of that swap (insert smug smirk here).  The lid is...wait for it...metal!  I didn't even have to do anything to it to make it look like that...awesome!  For the bottom, I slathered on Tim's tissue tape and then alcohol inked with Denim, Terra Cotta, and Meadow.  and yeah, I forgot which direction I had stuck down the tape, so it kept pulling up and my fingers were a lovely shade of ick after all the re-sticking down.  I had just dabbed it on, you know , like you do, and didn't like how bright the colors were, it didn't work with the box top, so I went to just swiping the applicator over the box and then went back and randomly dabbed over in patches.  Trust me, it's awesome in person.  Really.  I then had the good sense (!) to glue the feet and knob on with Glossy Accents and leave it to dry overnight!  I know, it was really hard and I'm still amazed at my patience.  Today I did a little dance and let out a little squeal something along the lines of "my feet are stuck! my feet are stuck!" fortunately I was the only one in the house at the time, so not as embarrassing and "it's time to send her to the looney bin" as it could have been.
 

The lid has a 7 Gypsies gear (the gold one with the bling, it even came pre-blinged!); an Ideaology clock, gears, and spinner hands; a random clock that I think is a Spare Parts piece; random curls of wire; a memo pin; and two stamped pieces.  The clock is a Tim stamp and it's stamped on SU! Vanilla card stock with Distress Embossing ink and Vintage Photo Distress Embossing powder finished off with some Pumice stone, Antique Linen and Vintage Photo Distress Inks, then mounted on chipboard.
 

 
The piece in the memo pin is a Recollections stamp stamped on the same card stock in Stayz-On black ink.  The wings and crown were already a part of the stamped image and can you believe I found grungeboard ones that fit perfectly?!?  I was amazed and in awe of my stash (see hubby?  this is why I need all this stuff! so I'll have it when I need it!).  Covered them with Pearl and Gold paint dabber and stuck on with glue dots.  And remember that the lid is metal, so here is my dilemma: how do I get this memo pin to stay on?!?  After much experimenting (and, okay, a little tiny bit of inappropriate language) I use a HUGE pop dot that my friend found for me somewhere online.  Seriously, this thing is ginormous- a quarter of an inch thick!  So, I covered the outside with ribbon and colored the top with a brown Bic permanent marker!  The pin sticks in there like a dream.  Stuck another 7 Gypsies and Ideaology gear on the front and covered the inside with some pre-printed paper (on the sides, I think it's 7 Gypsies but I found it in a really random place-with glimmer misting stuff, not with the paper, don't know how it got there- so I'm not sure) and some that I covered with Antique Linen, Pumice Stone, and Vintage Photo Distress Inks and stamped with the Same Recollections stamp set from earlier.  Also used the SU! color spritzer 'cause there wasn't enough going on already.  And if you've made it all this way without giving up in despair, I salute you! 

WOYWW...no, really it's not an old picture...

 

...my desk is truly covered in unmounted stamps again.  I'm still in the process of getting them all painted with Tack-It Over and Over glue.  Still have Christmas, leaves, and the one with random... um, "stuff" in it.  I think I have too many stamps. (no, say it ain't so!) At least hubby thinks so.  And yes I am a total nerd and they are all organized by type, all the flowers together, all the food together, all the leaves, all backgrounds, etc.

...well except for that "stuff" one.  But that one is labeled with what all is in there.  I mean really, in which category do you put a lawnmower stamp?  Or light posts?  Or masks? Or a work glove? (yes, one single work glove...grab bags, gotta love the randomness!) Or... okay, you get the idea.  But it is easier to find what I'm looking for!  ...ooh that reminds me of a song, except in the song they didn't find what they're looking for.  Should've put it in categories...and who else is singing now?  And just so you know, yes, my individual word stamps are in alphabetical order.  Can we say OCD?  I think we can.

So in the spirit of 'Why is she showing us this again?!?"  you also get a peek of my new Cricut/Big Shot table (with trash can conveniently located right there, no more walking around the end of the shelves to throw out the itty bitty leftovers!).  A two-for-one kind of deal just for you!  If you're wondering the awesome table (that folds up so it can be only the width of the section with shelves) is from Jo-Ann's.  Where there is also a whole new section of NEW stamps...  All righty then, off to peruse the desks to see actual workspaces in use for the fun crafty bits, not the boring organizing bits.  Hop over the pond to the Lovely Julia, Queen of Desks and join in on the snoopy fun!  ooh, did I mention that I'll be across the pond myself in a week and 4 days?  No?  Well I will be!  Going with my sister's AP English class for a tour of London and Scotland.  Woo and Hoo.  So UK peeps, where in London do I go to stock up on crafty goodness?