Twelve Tags of 2012 Final Tags

Well here we are at the end of the Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2012 Challenge and the final two tags. Both were, as usual, great fun to make. It's been a fantastic year long challenge and I am very happy that I've managed to complete each months tag. I've loved learning new techniques, improvising when I haven't had all the supplies and seeing all the fabulously creative work from the participants each month. The anticipation of each tag has added a little excitement to the start of each new month and the joy of seeing my name as a winner has been fantastic. So thank you Tim for all your efforts in hosting this brilliant challenge. Like many others, I'm looking forward to seeing what genius ideas you have in store for 2013.x

Underneath the Mistletoe

It's time for The Fashionable Stamping Challenges #  To Die For. For this challenge, your project has to include a die cut. I've made this Christmassy tag using a branch of mistletoe which I've cut on my Pazzles Inspiration machine. The snow flakes were punched using a Woodware punch.  The tag in reality is much prettier than it appears here, just can't seem to have captured it. The challenge is as usual sponsored by the lovely people at  Cottage Crafts. I've used Tim Holtz's technique which he calls 'enamelled stamping' to create the background. The mistletoe has been inked with various distress inks and then dusted with the wonderful Ranger Dry Glitter, it's just like sugar! i'm also entering into The Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge which is to be inspired by Tim Holtz's 12 Tags from any year. I've chosen his technique from the September tag in 2011.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my sympathies for the people of America, after hearing of the terrible incident in Connecticut where many innocent lives have been lost. I cannot begin to imagine what the families and friends are going through at this very sad time. My thoughts are with you x

Compendium of Curiosities Challenge # 31 Distress Palette

We are getting ever closer to the end of the Studio 3 Compendium of Curiosities Volume 2 challenges.
This week's subject is the third of Tim's ink palettes, this time using Distress inks. I love a bit of painting so it was very enjoyable to make this card. The stamp is one I bought at the NEC from Ali-Craft. It's by Lost Coast designs, (thankyou Netty x) I love it and can see it joining the ranks of my favourites. I cannot reveal the technique used out of courtesy to Tim, however you can find full details on page 51 of the Compendium of Curiosities Volume 2. There's still time to get your order in fore Christmas. Many thanks to Linda for hosting these brilliant challenges.x

Twelve Tags of 2012 November

Well once again at the 11th hour I've finished my tag for the Tim Holtz 12 tags of 2012 Challenge. The technique is to create a kind of 'faux batik' using clear embossing powder.Tim's tag is a beautiful Thanksgiving composition in Autumnal colours. I've decided to go with  the Summer Distress inks and a home made stamp, to make this 'peace' tag with a kind of early 1970's feel when we (those of us old enough to remember) aspired to the spreading of peace and love everywhere. The message is still as strong as ever.x

WOYWW #182

Better late than never, I think that is my motto! I just had to join in with the 182nd WOYWW and post this pic of my very good friend Sandy at my kitchen table. I've not been very well this week as I've had a sore throat. A late afternoon craft session has perked me up a treat. Sandy has been guiding me through the task of making a Christmas book using envelopes stuffed to the hilt with all sorts of tabs and tags. Sandy has supplied all of the papers and has done pretty much all the cutting. When it come to measuring and calculating Sandy is your gal. Thank you my dear friend x. You can see some of Sandy's lovely work over at her blog, Sandy's Piece of Heaven .  More pictures to follow later as the book develops. Many thanks to Gail at the Craft Barn for teaching the original project. If you don't know about WOYWW then hop over to Julia's Stamping Ground blog and get involved. x

Compendium of Curiosities Challenge #29

Ok, Ok, late again! I just couldn't resist playing along with The Compendium of Curiosities Challenge with Linda over at Studio L3. This week's technique is 'texture fades', it can be found on page 64 of Tim's book. This little tag was inspired by a project I saw in this months Craft Stamper magazine by Helen Chilton. She has created some fabulous Christmas tags using die cut arched frames. For the background of this tag I've used a Cuttlebug embossing folder with that beautiful Craft Core card. the frame has been gessoed  and coloured with distress inks then stamped with black Archival ink. Well this is my first Christmas make and quite enjoyable it was too. x

WOYWW #181

Well here's my desk, those who know me will recognise the usually chaos with lots of stuff jostling for my attention. Why am I posting this? because it's Wednesday of course and time to join in with Julia at Stamping Ground's WOYWW, or What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday. I've had a lovely few crafty sessions this weekend, and this is the remaining mess with a few added extras. Instead of putting things away I've added to the pile by getting out some Christmas Stamps ready for some action later this week, I hope. i think I'll have to clear a space first though! I would like to use this post to wish all our American crafty friends a very happy Thanks Giving Day for tomorrow. Even when life seems pretty grim I think we can all find something to be thankful for. Happy WOYWW everyone. x

Jumbo Fish Tag

The theme over at the Simon Says Stamp and Show this week is to stamp without ink, there is also a $50 gift token for one lucky person. Stamping without ink has given me the ideal opportunity to have a go with my newly acquired Indigo Blue, 'Flitter Glue' and gilding Flakes. I cut myself a big tag from cream card and sprayed it with some of the green shades of Dylusion inks. I then used a Japanese wave mask which I cut on my Pazzles Inspiration machine, and over sprayed with blue. I then stamped the fish with Flitter Glue and followed the instructions for adding the gilding flakes. Those flakes have a mind of their own ! the least bit of static and they fly up everywhere. I then stamped out the foliage again in flitter glue, but this time I used silver transfer foil. A little bit of walnut stain around the edges and Voila! Oh and there is also a bit of stamping with Pewter Distress stain with an Indigo Blue bubble stamp. The whole tag is very sparkly a lovely effect which unfortunately the camera has not captured. x

All That Jazz

'Musical' is the theme of The Fashionable Stamping Challenges this fortnight. I'm pleased because it has enabled me to use one of my favourite stamps, this jazz band from Graphic 45. My brother is a jazz and blues musician as was my late father and we grew up with a lot of different types of music playing in our house, so music has always been an important part of my life. I love this band, it looks so joyous. Each time I use this stamp I feel compelled to place it on a vibrant background to reflect the joys of making music. The background stamps are from a Tim Holtz collection. I've also used his technique of enamelled stamping, though I'm not sure it shows up so well in this photo. As usual the challenge is sponsored by the lovely people over at Cottage Crafts.x

Compendium of Curiosities Challenge #28 Reflections Stamping

This weeks technique for Linda's  Compendium of Curiosities Challenge is 'reflections stamping'. Tim demonstrates a couple of different ways of using the reflections stamps on page 65 of his book. The challenge this week is sponsored by Simon Says Stamp to the tune of a $25 gift token. I was quite excited when I saw this weeks challenge, as I was keen to carry out an idea I had a while ago. Last year I was lucky enough to have an article published in the Craft Stamper magazine about stamping onto transfer paper. At the time I had really wanted to use some text but knew I couldn't do this with direct stamping. When I later discovered Tim's reflections stamps I knew they would be ideal for this method. My project for this week is a calico tote bag decorated with brayered and stamped transfer paper.


Here are some pictures showing the three stages of stamping onto the transfer paper. I've really enjoyed making this and am looking forward to using the reflections stamps more often.

I've used Archival ink and VersaMagic chalk inks. If like me you keep all your Craft Stamper magazines you can find my original article in the January 2011 issue. x

WOYWW # 180

Well it's been a few weeks since my last WOYWW post! I don't know why but Wednesday seems to have become my busiest day, so in an effort to overturn this I'm joining the lovely Julia over at her Stamping Ground blog for a quick post on what crafty things have been going on in my attic. My table is the usual higgledy piggledy mess, with a postage size area for actually working on. You may spy a couple of cards which I finished in a crafty session yesterday evening. They feature a stamp from a set I bought in a Madrid art gallery, see, my recent short break wasn't all eating and drinking! I've had a big craft spend recently after going to the NEC last Friday. You can see some of the evidence in the shape of theelusive white Sharpie. I've being dying to get my hands on one of thses for ages and now I've got 2! so hopefully I'll be getting down to some serious crafting soooon. Happy WOYWW everybody, it's good to be back x

Alcohol Inks and Acetate

It's time for another Studio L3 post. It's challenge number 27 and we're on the home straight, too sad! Linda has done a fantastic job of hosting Tim Holtz's Compendium of Curiosities Volume 2 challenges. This week's technique can be found on page 52. It's a great chance to get out those fabulous alcohol inks. I've plumped for something pretty and feminine and made a little note book featuring a lovely Crafty Individuals Stamp, CI-132, which has been stamped on acetate and coloured with alcohol inks. Full details on how to do this can be found in the book. Not got it yet? well Christmas is definitely coming so hop over to Tim's blog and get that copy on order cos you'll love it! x

Still on the Dark Side

Another late post for Studio L3 Compendium of Curiosities Volume 2. It's time for challenge number 26 using Tim's Crumpled Kraft Suede technique. For full details, turn to page 40 of CC2. I'm still in halloween mode and have made a rather 'dark' valentine card as I was keen to use this heart stamp I bought sometime ago from Stampfrancisco. They have some really quirky stamp designs. I don't think this is quite finished  as I feel the flower isn't quite working for me. I may have to come back to it... or not as the case may be I think I am done with Halloween now. Still I really wanted to enter Linda's challenge as I missed the last one. This week's challenge is sponsored by the lovely people over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique with a $25 gift certificate. I am also entering this into The Fashionable Stamping Challenges where the theme is Halloween. They also have kind sponsor in  Marina at Cottage Crafts x.

12 Tags of 2012 October

Well here I am back from a fabulous few days spent in Madrid with a couple of my very dear friends. We all had a great time. Managed to fit in a couple of galleries, a flamenco evening, a music gig with friends that live in Spain and plenty of eating, drinking and soaking up the atmosphere. Amazing what you can do in four days! So now it's back to my blog with my entry to Tim's 12 tags of 2012 October challenge. As usual another great fun to make tag. I've stuck quite closely to Tim's original idea but I've used my Pazzles Inspiration machine to cut the word 'boo',the cobweb and spider as I haven't got the dies. I've also used black glitter on them but I can't wait to get my hands on some of the Distress Stickles Rock Candy Dry Glitter. I like the idea of being able to custom colour it.  I couldn't resist adding the head with a couple of rather startled eyes. Well how would you feel with a spider on your head ! Happy Halloween to all that celebrate and I hope all my American friends are safe from the terrible storms, my thoughts go out to the thousands of people that have been affected x

Perfect Pearl Palette for Studio L3 CC2 #

Well the weeks are racing by and it's time for Linda's Studio L3 Compendium of Curiosities 2 Challenge 25. This week we are trying out Tim's Perfect Pearls ink palette technique which can be found on page 53 of CC2. This week there is a generous prize from Simon Says Stamp of a $25 gift certificate for their store which stocks just about everything a crafter could ever need, yum yum. So my submission this week is a very blingy card which I have made for my niece's birthday. I've used Perfect Pearls Metallics set to colour the cat and the background. This is the only set I've got of these, but I can now see the versatility of them so I may have to invest in some more. I am going on my jolly holidays on Saturday so this will be my last post for a week or so. I'm very excited as I am going to Madrid with a couple of my old friends. We've been promising ourselves an adventure as a rather belated celebration of becoming 'middle aged' So not long now till three go mad in Madrid ! x

Rusted Halloween Tag

Well it's not been a good week for crafty pursuits as I am afraid the day job just got in the way. I was determined to have a little session today as I've been looking at all the brilliant Halloween projects out there and was starting to feel left out. So here's a tag I've made using several 'rust' techniques. The background has been embossed and coloured with Dylusions Sprays. I then gave it the Tim Holtz enamelled  rust treatment using Walnut Stain and Black Soot DI's. The crown has been rusted with a mixture of Distress embossing powder in Vintage Photo and Stampendous Frantage Aged Gold embossing enamel. The trimming was treated in the same way. The key has been rusted with Vintage Photo Distress embossing powder. The skull was downloaded from The Graphics Fairy website. I printed it in black and white and coloured it with various distress inks. So now I am going to enter this into The Simon Says Stamp and Show 'Rustification Challenge' I think it might just about do for The Fashionable StampingChallenges  'Fall Challenge' The stamped pocket watch just about qualifies x

Distress Markers for Studio L3 #23

It's time for Studio L3 Compendium of Curiosities Volume 2 challenge #23. How long can this continue? we ask ourselves. The answer is easy, not long enough! It's a great weekly challenge and Linda has excelled in hosting this trip through Tim Holtz's second volume. This week, it was time to get out the Distress Markers. For ideas on how to use these turn to page 50 and have a go. You don't need a full set, a few of your favourite colours will get you going. I've got 10...so far.....nine different colours, plus Picket Fence white. I may add a few brighter colours at some later date. I've made these 'vintage' alphabet cards, which sort of evolved after i stamped and coloured the bird. I was really wanting to use these Chronicles Alphabet Letter Stamps, which I bought from Inspiration Emporium with my lucky win in the Twelve Tags Challenge. I simply love them. Linda also has a fantastic prize up for grabs this week, so good luck everybody x

WOYWW #174

Here we are again! time for a weekly peek into the attic to see what's been happening on my craft table. All thanks to Julia and her Stamping Ground Blog, hop on over and have a look or better still post a picture on there of your work space so we can all have a nose! I've got a nice clear space ready to start with some autumn challenges, ooooo! all those lovely colours can't wait to get stuck in. I've got the afternoon off tomorrow, so I hope to have some crafty fun. Do you like my new acquisition? what's that you say? well it's that revolving carousel which I've started filling with all the essentials, poised and ready to go. Just to say that the lovely May, from May's Happy Daze, was my lucky blog candy winner. It is currently winging it's way towards her as we speak. Happy WOYWW everybody x

1st of October Blog Candy Draw !!!

As promised the blog candy draw for my 50+ 6 followers has taken place today. I am pleased to announce that the winner is ............May ! I shall be parceling up the goodies to send to the lovely May as soon as possible. You can see May's fantastic work over at her blog, 'May's Happy Daze.' Thankyou very much to all my followers and I look forward to celebrating again when I hit my first 100.x

Twelve Tags of 2012- September

It seems no time at all since Tim started his Twelve Tags of 2012 challenge. To think we are on the ninth month already! Once again this has been an enjoyable tag to make. I really love the riveted patchwork technique. This tag has the usual improvisations, The quill and scroll idea came to me by a rather sad route after I found a pile of feathers in my garden. One of the local cats had caught a wood pigeon and left a trail of feathers behind. I salvaged a couple and coloured this one with black Archival ink. You wouldn't believe how many times I wrote the saying on the scroll before I got it 'right'. My normal writing is quite big and I found it really difficult to try and write small and neat. Some decorative buttons and a little bottle of glittery fairy dust complete the look. x

Riveted Patchwork Love Heart CC #22

It's that time of week again when once again I am one of the last to post my project for the lovely Linda's Studio L3 Compendium of Curiosities Volume 2 challenge. This week's task was to explore Tim's riveted patchwork technique. If you have yet to explore the absolute delights of working with sticky backed foil, I suggest you grab a copy of Tim's book and get stuck in. You can find this technique on page 57. I've made this little piece using a polystyrene heart and a re-purposed wooden frame. I've just got my hands on a fabulous set of Diane Reavley background stamps so just had to use them on the frame and backing card. other ingredients are clear embossing powder, black embossing powder, gorgeous Aged Gold Frantage embossing powder by Stampendous and one of the new metallic Distress Stains in Brushed Pewter. This weeks challenge is sponsored by 'The Funkie Junkie with a gift certificate of $25 up for grabs! Great for acquiring even more fabulous stash! I'm also going to enter this into The Simon Says Stamp Challenge which is 'For the Love of Sparkle' where there is a $50 gift Certificate on offer for one lucky person as well as the honour of making it into their chosen top three, whoopie doo! life is sweet.xx

WOYWW # 173

The weeks are flying past, WOYWW #173 already! which means it's time for a quick reveal of my work space, all thanks to Julia and her Stamping Ground Blog. Each week we are able to to do some nosing around each other's creative spaces. It's great fun to see all the different projects emerging from both tidy and chaotic spaces. Mine is fairly orderly at the moment mainly because I had to clear a space so that I could start my September tag after realising that we are fast approaching the end of the month. So what's your desk like? tidy? chaotic? go on hop over to Julia's blog and upload a picture of what you've been up to. x

Blog Candy !

I have had great fun running this blog, entering challenges and actually winning prizes! but the thing I have enjoyed most, is linking up with fellow crafts people and in some small way getting to know a brilliant bunch of people. I know it's not quite the same as meeting up for a coffee but some how through blogging you get to know and care about the people you meet. I have found the fantastic comments that people regularly leave on my blog (you know who you are!) both uplifting and inspiring. In celebration of reaching 50 + 2 followers, I would like to offer this somewhat weird array of blog candy. I love finding bargains in shops such as Poundland, The Works and Lidl, so I've put together some of my favourite finds. There are some 'alterables' such as blank puzzles and an embossed frame crying out for treatment, as well as some practical stuff such as brilliant foam tape and aluminium foil tape. On the 1st of October, I shall put the names of all my followers into a hat and ask my husband, to draw out one lucky winner. I will ask the winner to email me their address and the candy will be posted off to them. So THANKYOU my dear followers for all your support.x

Book of Stamps FSC #30

'Good Things Come in Small Packages' is the title of The Fashionable Stamping Challenge this week. As always the challenge is generously sponsored by Cottage Crafts. Having put my thinking cap on, I decided to make this little book of stamps and the accompanying postcard. This project takes me right back to my childhood and the beginning of my love for stamping. One of my favourite Christmas presents was a post office kit, complete with miniature stamps, paper and small envelopes. What bliss it was to find one of these in my Christmas sack!

 I've made this the same size as a regular book of stamps, I've glued freezer paper, wax side up, on the inside and run each stamp through my mini xyron, so the stamps are removable and can be used as stickers ( another child hood passion !) I've used a Kaliedacolor rainbow ink pad in Calypso, to brayer the background. All stamping has been done with black Archival Ink. The Fairy, toadstool and dragonfly stamps are by Lavinia Stamps, the small stars and tree are from Clarity Stamps the rest of the stamps used are bits and pieces from my collection. It was great fun to make and quite different from my usual grungey stuff x.

Back view

P.S Look out for blog candy coming sooooon !

Blended Distress Stains for Studio L3 Challenge #21

Time for another rummage in Tim's Compendium of Curiosities Volume 2. Linda from Studio L3, is doing a great job of leading us through this book. We are now on number 21 and I can honestly say I don't want the fun to stop. Simon Says Stamp are sponsoring this weeks challenge, so one lucky person can have the joy of adding to their craft stash to the tune of $25. This week it was time to get out the Distress Stains. I've had a great time playing with these and have now got several mean and moody backgrounds waiting to be used up. This is a card I've made using one. The surface reminded me of a breaking dawn, so I've added this angel from Tim's Joyful Song collection to spread some morning peace and light upon us. x

WOYWW #172

It's THAT time of week again where we are invited to snoop around each others work spaces courtesy of our inestimable host Julia and her Stamping Ground Blog. It's number 172 this week so that's how long Julia has maintained this fascinating site. Well, quite messy on my desk this week after an afternoon spent experimenting with  Distress Stains to create backgrounds. In the foreground, are a few 'Poundland' bargains. There's a roll of good sticky foam tape, a sanding block quite large but does the job comes complete with sandpaper, and a pile of 'tea towels' which are a bit small and thin for drying plates but excellent for mopping up ink and stuff. There's also a little tin of paper tapes bought from 'Paperchase' if you know the sho,p you'll know that these weren't exactly cheap, so it's a good job I saved so much money on my Poundland buys ! Look out for blog candy coming soon, to celebrate my first 50 followers, I can't do it yet as for some reason I'm following myself twice so I've only really got 48 followers. Happy WOYWW everybody see you next week.

Enameled Stamping Studio L3 CC2 Challenge #

Well its time for another dive into Tim Holtz's Compendium of Curiosities Volume 2 and get inky. This is courtesy of Linda and her Studio L3 Blog, as she continues to take us on a creative journey through the book, in order to explore the delights contained within. This week the task is to produce something using Tim's Enameled Stamping  technique, instructions for which can be found on page 44. I've made this tag using Tim's enigmatic Mona Lisa Stamp whose famous smile has had us all puzzled for centuries. I thought she could do with some fun so I've given her a crown. I've used one of the Kaleidacolor rainbow ink pads in Calypso to stamp the image and that's as much as I'm going to reveal. If you want to know more then treat yourself to the book, better still......... get someone else to treat you! x

WOYWW # 171

It's that time again ! All thanks to Julia and her Stamping Ground Blog for continuing to run  What's On Your Work (desk) Wednesday  or WOYWW as it is affectionately known. It's the 170th this week so you can see it's been going for some time. My desk is just as I left it after a couple of  happy crafting sessions at the weekend. So what can you spot? x 

Simon Says 'Stamptember'

There's great fun to be had over at the Simon Says Stamp Blog where they are celebrating 'Stamptember' with a month of activities reminding us of why we like stamping so much. There has been a great blog hop followed an invitation to join in with their 'read all about it' challenge with a huge $100 token for a prize. I've made this canvas journal cover inspired by a previous piece of work I made for the House of Bears Challenge which was based on the writings of Maya Angelou. It made me look at her 5 book autobiography again and I realised what fabulous titles the books have. This journal cover features the fourth book ' Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas'. It's given me a great opportunity to use this stamp from The Stampsmith's African American Heritage plate.This stamped image reminds me of those family Christmas's where children are called upon to show off their talents and entertain the doting adults. I've stamped the image with black Archival ink and added some stamped flourishes. Music and splodges have been stamped with vintage photo DI. The larger vintage  music backgound is a download from The Graphics Fairy. The canvas has been painted with acrylic paints and stamped over with the flourish stamp. The journal is one I started sometime ago at one of Annelise Bates' workshops, its called ABC of Me. It's not very full but my interest has been rekindled now it has a nice new cover

 This is the first time I've used these photo realistic stamps. I think this is a fabulous image !

Inside the journal featuring an 'abundance' of my ancestors.

This is the back of the journal cover. I am probably going to apply a coat of Matte Multi Medium as I think it will enhance the texture.x

FSC #29 Anything Floral /Hand Made Flowers.

I seem to be making a habit of posting for the Fashionable Stamping Challenges with only minutes to spare! the truth is I was making a giant tag which just didn't quite work so I had a quick re-think and ended up with this instead.  I've got a couple of spare flowers left over so I'll probably make another couple of tags. I cut the flower layers and leaves on my Pazzles Inspiration machine and coloured them with Dylusions Sprays. The tag has been stamped with white paint dabber and coloured with crushed olive Distress Ink. I've added my favourite bee stamp and few embellishments to complete the look. If you haven't yet joined in a with a Fashionable Stamping Challenge hop over to their blog and have a go. There is also a  fortnightly prize sponsored by Cottage Crafts so you need to get in it to win it ! x

WOYWW #170 Mustn't Grumble

"Wednesday all ready!" the cry goes up all around the world as bloggers far and wide realize that it's time to share their desks. Why? well it's all down to Julia and her Stamping Ground blog. Julia had the brilliant idea of making it possible for us to visit our blogging friends and take a peek at each others work space. If you haven't joined in yet, get that camera out and start posting a picture of your work space. Simples! I've got plenty of stuff on my table this week as I was making a birthday card for a young man yesterday.So you can see the remains of my activity. I was slightly following the video Tim Holtz has made for the Simon Says Stamptember, you can see this on his blog. Well I'm back to work and somewhat resigned to it. The holiday ended on a good note though, as I was picked as one of the August Tag winners on Tim's blog and now have $25 to spend on even more craft stuff, thank you to everyone for the nice messages, so Mustn't Grumble x

Compendium of Curiosities 2 Kraft Resist.

I was determined to have a go with my new Kraft Resist Paper and Metallic Distress Stains I received earlier this week. So what better way than to join in with Studio L3's Compendium of Curiosities 2, Challenge number 19. Linda is doing a fantastic job setting us a weekly task from Tim Holtz's second book. It may appear to be a small book but it is jam packed with fabulous techniques and very clear instructions. If you want to check out how to make use of all those Tim Holtz products you have stashed away then I would suggest getting this book. Linda's weekly challenges are a great way to get stuck in and expand your knowledge. Sorry, this is not a sales pitch I'm just an enthusiastic convert. I'm also entering this card into another challenge set by The House of Bears where the task is to produce something inspired by the writings of the fantastic author Maya Angelou. The series of books recounting the events of her life are some of the most memorable I have ever read. This card portrays the title of the first book in her series

WOYWW # 169

Good afternoon WOYWW'ers. Hope you're all having a good day, it's wet and windy here, so it sounds like a good day for spending time in the attic. My table this week is fairly orderly, that's because I've been tidying instead of crafting. Firstly, thank you to Julia at her Stamping Ground Blog for enabling us to share our work spaces with each other. Centre stage on mine this week, is some new stash received only moments ago. Tim Holtz again! I try not to buy stuff unless I know I'll use it, but this time I've thrown caution to the wind and bought the new metallic distress stains, they're sitting on top of a block of Kraft Resist paper, this is the original design not one of the new ones. You can also see a bag of wooden knobs and some Cut and Dry foam. I use these to make blending tools for my Distress Ink pads. There's also a little travel album which I bought from  The Works, I'm sending this to our friend in Dorset who we stayed with last week. I know It would be nicer to make one but this one is quite cute and ready to go. By next WOYWW I'll be back at work and feeling like the summer is over, hey ho  it'll soon be Chr.....s! Season's Greetings to one and all x

Fashionable Stamping Challenges #28

Phew! posted with just minutes to spare. I didn't think I'd have time to join in with Fashionable Stamping Challenges # 28 this week. I've not had much time for crafting as I've been on a nice little trip to Dorset to visit a very dear 'old' friend. The theme for FSC this week  celebrates summer with  'Ice Cream Colours'. I've made this card using Dyan Reavley's fabulous Dylusion sprays, it's probably a bit more like ice lolly colours as those sprays are sooooo potent. I stamped the card and then sprayed on the colours. I used Dyan's method of lifting out some of the colour with a water brush in order to highlight the eyes. The frame has been stamped with Tim Holtz summer Distress Inks and mounted on sticky pads to raise it above the image x

Gratuitous close up, I just love this face It's one of my favourite stamps.

Compendium of Curiosities 2 Challenge 17

I can hardly believe it this is the third post in two days, this is obviously what holidays are meant to be like, role on retirement! This is my offering for the lovely Linda's Compendium of Curiosities Volume 2 challenge, held over at Studio L3 . There is also a fab prize sponsored by Simon Says Stamp .The task this week is to get creative with Core'Dinations. I'm a bit late in discovering this wonderful card, the colours are just gorgeous. For this wall hanging I've used a patchwork of pieces I had left over from my August Tag. I love this card so much I don't want to waste a scrap. It's inspired by Tim Holtz 'Patchwork Pandemonium'. I'd so love to go to one of his workshops but would probably get trampled in the crush if he comes to the UK. Full details of how to use the Core'dinations card can be found on page 61 of  A Compendium of Curiosities Volume 2. As this is my favourite technique,.... this week,.... I'm going to hop over to Simon Says Stamp and Show and join in their  Favourite Technique Challenge x