Showing Some Stampotique Love

I have been blessed with wonderful people in my life.

As I have gotten older, I have become more selective on

who I keep in my life, and more diligent on whom I kick

to the curb. Do you enlighten or enrich my life in any way?

Do I feel good about myself when I'm with you? Do I respect

the way you live your life, and how you treat the people in it?

If I answer "No", to any of those questions, out ya go!

No regrets, only lessons.

One of the most incredible people I know is a spunky chick, we'll

call, "Kenzie". I have always admired this lady for how she treats the 

people in her life. She is always thinking of others, and making

you feel like she loves you the best of all her friends. And she's good

at it, too. I always thought I was her special lady, 

until I met all of the others... 

Anyhoo, this chick has had some ailments and medical issues in the past,

at least we thought they were in the past. She never let how poorly she was feeling 

keep her from anything she wanted, or felt she had to do. 

But, back in June of last year, shit got real.

My Super Friend, Wonder Mom, Schmexy Lady, had had an aneurysm.  

Let's be clear though, she had the aneurysm, but waited an entire week to 

go to the hospital for emergency, life saving surgery! And she was only

37 years old at the time. Again, she was a wonder. A medical wonder once

she regained consciousness from her coma. Seriously, she had medical

staff peeking in on her just to see the wonder girl. 

I always knew she was bad ass. Just sayin'.

So, it's been over a year, and her recovery is not over yet, 

but this lady has grabbed  the bull by the horns and showed it how

to really live. She climbed a big volcano in Hawaii all by herself to

celebrate her "Aneur-versary". Yeah, did I mention she's pretty

bad ass? I admire her tenacity, her drive, and her heart.

I love this lady's guts. A lot.

In case you were wondering about the egg pictures, Kenzie always brings

me fresh eggs from her chickens, and they always have faces on them.

She rocks. 

So I made her something to hang on her wall to remember me

among all of her other conquests...

I really wanted to play along in the Stampotique Designer challenge,

to use "attachers" on your project. I knew I wanted to make a mash up

of a Kira critter with Torrente bat wings, so that was the easy part. 

I began with a 4" x 4" gray canvas panel from Mike's. It was 70% off,

so I grabbed a couple. I stenciled some black modeling paste onto

it with the TH Gothic stencil. I used Wisteria and Black Ice Silks

for the background color. I'm still learning how to use these gorgeous

paints. I also used my gel medium for the first time by using it to glue the

black May Arts webbed ribbon down on the bottom. Next time, I'll be sure 

to paint over it so it doesn't show as much. Still learning...     

I made sure his wings were movable. I usually don't make

cool, interactive projects like shaker cards or moving parts,

but this was super simple, and fun. 

I used teeny tiny Tim Holtz brad fasteners to hold the wings onto 

the Artichoke Monster's body. 

I chopped off his arms and shortened his feet, too. Sorry. But hey,

I did grant him the gift of flight in exchange for his appendages.

I grunged up a TH "'Salvaged" word band, and attached it to eyelets with

more TH doo-hickeys and jump rings. And, I finally managed to part with my 

very first button that my friend, Lynne sent me months/years ago. 

Thanks, Lynne! 

I also used my TH word dies for the first time, too! I cut it out a few times

with black card stock, which I glued together, and then a purple one on top.

I used some UTEE to give it a nice, glossy finish. 

I thought "Authentic" was a good word to describe my dear friend.

And now, Kenzie is really into brain themed schtuff. Go figure. 

I have had this brain charm for months and finally 

figured out just where it belongs.

Oh, and for some fun texture I used my Goosebumps spray, but I didn't

clean out the nozzle the last time I used it (which you MUST do), so
I improvised and spread it out with fingers. It gives a good bat wing texture.   

Thanks for sticking with me through this long winded post.

I had to gush about my friend who inspired this piece.

I hope she loves it.

I'd like to enter this in the following challenges:

Stampotique Designer's Challenge - SDC203 - Use Attachers  

Fantasy Stampers - Lots of Layers 

Suzy Bee's Bloomin' Challenge- ATG with a twist - use wings or feathers

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - Anything Goes