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

Twelve Tags of 2012 August

Well it's half way through August and here I am posting my August Tag for Tim's Twelve Tags of 2012 challenge. I'm usually more of a last minute person but I was really looking forward to having a go at this one as there are so many elements that I love. I particularly like the silhouette of the two dogs. I had to resort to the ancient method of using scissors after finding this picture in one of my Dover books, scanned and printed first of course! the frame, flowers and  leaves  have been cut on my Pazzles Inspiration machine which I've been playing with this week. I must confess to having bought the embossing folder that Tim uses, just couldn't resist I'm afraid. I've added a few dewdrops to the leaves with  glossy accents. I'm afraid my photography skills don't capture the lovely perfect pearls shimmer but trust me it's there x

WOYWW #167

Good morning WOYWW'ers, I'm not particularly early with this post but just qualify for the morning as it's not quite midday yet. Midweek already and time for another 'What's On Your Work space Wednesday hosted by the ever lovely Julia over at her Stamping Ground Blog. This is my table just as I left it yesterday afternoon. I've been having a lot of fun playing with my Pazzles Inspiration die cutting machine. There are a few die cuts on the table, some frames and 3d flowers,left over from my August Tag for the Tim Holtz 12 tags of 2012, (finished results later), there's also a die cut view of the Earth which is the beginning of a birthday card for my nephew and a Steampunk wing waiting for a bit of treatment. All in all I've had a few nice crafty sessions in the attic this week. I shall look forward to popping over to a few desks to see what everyone else has been up to x

A Good Book FSC #27

Another case of better late than never. It's time for Fashionable Stamping Challenges # 27 'Anything Goes' and I'm just about in time to post this tag I've just finished. It's been 'part made' for some time but needed a little more attention. The stamp I've used is from La Blanche, I love this little chap sitting on a toadstool with his books. The background foliage is from an Artemio set and I've used a variety of Distress Inks for colour. Some distressing and a few embellishments in a 'Holtz' ian style completes the look x

CC2 Studio L3 Perfect Pearls Mist

The challenge over at lovely Linda's Studio L3 this week is to produce something using the Perfect Pearls Mist technique from Tim Holtz's Compendium of Curiosities Volume two. Full details of this technique can be found on page 54. My entry is a little photo book I had free with a magazine. It's been lying around for ages just waiting to be altered. This was also a great opportunity to get my Pazzles Inspiration die cutting machine out. The design is from a file by Pazzles, The large cog has been heat embossed with black DI, the smaller one has been embossed with distress embossing powder. The large flower has been sprayed with one of Dyan Reavley's Dylusions sprays. I've mounted all of the elements onto a  background which has been embossed with a Papermania folder in a brick wall design. A few embellishments complete the project. x

WOYWW # 166

A busy morning so far, dropped my car off for it's MOT and then went to have my eyes tested. Hooray! new glasses downside... price! Still there's nothing quite like the clarity of a new pair of glasses so I shall look forward to receiving them. In the meantime it's WOYWW #166 and time to have a little look at what everyone has been up to. If you haven't joined in a What's On Your Work desk/table/space Wednesday as hosted by the lovely Julia at her Stamping Ground blog, then I strongly suggest you do. It's a great opportunity to visit fellow crafters from all around the world and if you do, I guarantee you will enjoy looking at everyone's desks whether they're neat and tidy or piled high with the stuff we all love. My desk this week features a couple of cards I've been making using some Graphic 45 stamps. There's one to send to my lovely auntie and one to stash for a future girly birthday.  In a few minutes, I'm going to clear a space and have a little play not sure where this will lead but I know I will have some fun. Happy WOYWW x

The finished cards!

Jolly Holidays !

I've just finished this little suitcase using the Tim Holtz Enameled Metals technique from his book Compendium of Curiosities Volume 2. This is another one of my favourite techniques which I have used on some previous projects. Full details of how to do it can be found on page 56. The lovely Linda over at Studio L3 continues to take us through Tim's book setting a new challenge each week. It's great fun and not too late to join in.

Here's what the suitcase looks like inside. I've lined it with some stamped paper which I coloured with  Distress Stains before stamping with a large postage background stamp I bought some time ago from 'Above the Mark'. It so happens that  The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog  also have a challenge with a 'holiday' theme, so i think this may just fit the bill x

WOYWW #165

Good morning WOYWW'ers . What better way to start the day than by joining everyone over at Julia's Stamping Ground for the 165th WOYWW. My table has seen a bit of crafting action this week by way of a couple of challenges as well as a retirement card for my bee keeping friend in Wales. i was also trying out a bit of  distress ink 'painting' with a new La Blanche stamp I've acquired. The 'mess' is starting to build up on my table and you know what? that's just the way I like it ! Happy WOYWW everybody x

The Bee Keeper's Retirement Card