Twelve Tags of 2013- December. The Final Tag of the Year !

Well I've made it to the end of Tim's wonderful Twelve Tags of 2013 Challenge with only a day to spare ! As always Tim has shown us some fabulous ideas and brilliant techniques. Over the year, I've had several favourites and I shall certainly be adding this last one to the list! I've never used Tim's Frosted Film or Wendy Vecchi's Clearly for Art, prior to making this tag, and I can see I've been missing out. They work brilliantly together and I'm already thinking of other possibilities. That, I think, is the essence of the Twelve Tags Challenge, it's a chance to get to grips with the products and to either treat it as a tutorial, following Tim's instructions to the letter, or to use the basic idea and improvise with the supplies you have and take it in whichever direction you wish. I've used the Tattered Florals Die and made a 3d flower in place of the Tattered Poinsetta, which has been very elusive this season; I've yet to get my hands on one ! Still the Tattered Florals remains one of my all time favourites and I'm so looking forward to getting the big one ! So may I wish all my lovely blog friends, as well as the lovely Tim and Mario, A Very Happy New Year !

'Stained Glass'

Hi everybody! hope that you've all enjoyed a good Christmas and are looking forward to a new year full of crafting promise! Life has been good here, with time spent with family and friends. I just thought I'd do a quick share of an 'unfinished' project featured over on the eclectic Paperie blog on on Boxing Day. I say 'unfinished' as I have yet to decide whether it will become a wall hanging or a journal cover. I think journal cover may win out as I have a lovely block of handmade 'khadi' paper which needs a good home. This piece was inspired by a stained glass window we have in our bedroom. If you'd like to see how I made it, pop over to the eP blog by following the link here. I hope you've managed to fit in some crafty time this holiday. If you're looking to add some new products to your crafty stash, Kim has continued to add new items to her wonderful eclectic Paperie shop over the holidays, well worth having a browse. X

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The Twelve Days of Christmas ~ Day 9 ~ eclectic Paperie 'Tim Holtz Paper Stash and Alterations

Hi everyone! it's Day 9, and my turn to create something for  The eclectic Paperie  '12 Days of Christmas celebrations'. There is certainly something to celebrate today, as Kim has 25% discount on all Tim Holtz Paper Stash, Alterations and Texture Fades ! For this Christmas wall hanging I've used Tim's 12x12 Merriment Papers and the cutest Alterations dies, Packages and Bows and Christmas Bells. The foundation for this hanging is a chipboard circle I picked up at the NEC Craft Show earlier this year. I covered it with paper from the Merriment Stash, so many gorgeous ones to choose from but the distressed dots won out. I'm dotty about dots ! The picture is also in the Merriment pack, it's a Santa circa, maybe, late 1950's or 60's, looks like he might have just arrived in town, oh the good old days ! I've posted some pictures of the process involved in making this hanging over on the eP blog, which will be appearing later. We have the fabulous Miyake guesting at the moment, so why not pop over and see what she's been up to. If you want to take advantage of the 25% discount Kim is offering on  Tim's paper, Aterations and Texture Fades, use the discount code 12DAYS9 when you visit the eclectic Paperie shop and purchase any of these products today. So for now, Happy Christmas Crafting ! x

Extreme Recycling

Hi everybody, I'm here to share a Christmas project which was featured on The eclectic Paperie blog yesterday. I've used a recycled face cream box and a tomato purée tube to make this little gift box. You can see further details of how I put this together, over on the eP blog by following the link here. Excitement comes to the eclectic Paperie blog tomorrow, as we start the countdown to Christmas, with a different Christmas project posted each day for the next twelve days ! The design team are an amazingly creative bunch and I'm really looking forward to seeing what everyone comes up with. So if you need a bit of Christmas inspiration, as well as some fantastic special offers from Kim's wonderful eclectic Paperie shop, be sure you hop over to the eP blog and I can guarantee  you'll find plenty of both! For Day1, Bonnie has made a truly stunning wall hanging. So why not sign up for the eclectic Paperie newsletter and you'll be first to hear about the fabulous discounts and surprises Kim will be offering each day. 

Twelve Tags of 2013 - November

'I'm late, I'm late for a very important date!' Yes, here I am posting my November tag for the Tim Holtz, Twelve Tags of 2013 Challenge, with only hours to spare. I must confess I had been putting this one off as it's not a technique I find particularly easy. Tim likes to challenge us and for me this was a challenge. I've decided that I don't really like chalk, the feel of it, the dust and as a teacher.... well.... you get the picture!  I am sure anyone who crafts will have experienced that feeling when you're making something and you're not sure if it's working but you hang in there and it almost magically,  starts to all fall into place. Well I had one of those moments with this and have ended up being quite pleased with the results. I've used the  Holiday Joy, Alterations Framelits set, which  I received from Kim's eclectic Paperie shop earlier this week. Very cool! Stamps and corresponding dies, no more fussy cutting! I for one will be looking forward to seeing whether Tim adds more of these to his range. So, with only one more tag to go,  I'm sure I'm joined by many of you in wondering where the last year has gone! x

Art Doll Challenge for eclectic Paperie 'Nobody Puts Baby In a Corner'

Well at last I've managed to snatch a little crafting time so that I can add my contribution to the latest 'Get Altered Challenge' over at The eclectic Paperie blog. Bonnie is our hostess for this month and she has chosen the theme of ' Art Dolls'. Her creation is amazing, so whether you join in or not, do hop over to the eP blog and take a look, it will certainly make you smile ! My little art doll shrine started life as an empty sardine tin. I've had a couple knocking around my craft room (clean ones!!) for sometime. I started off by creating a background with Distress Paints on a piece of manila card.

I love the way these paints marble together  when sprayed with water. I haven't mastered the spraying technique yet but it's fun practicing. I used the Tim Holtz Rays Layering Stencil with Tarnished Brass Distress Paint, and added a few little stars to finish the background.

 I gave the sardine tin a coat of gesso in order to prepare the surface for painting. I then painted it with Tarnished Brass Distress Paint and heat embossed it with Antique Gold, Frantage Embossing Powder. I sprinkled a bit of gold glitter onto the surface before the embossing powder set and heated it a little more so that it embeds into the embossing enamel.
The little doll I've used, is actually a UTEE cast, made in a silicone mould of one of my Ideaology Fractured Dolls. It was good to get my Melt Pot out, as I haven't used it nearly enough! I used a piece of nylon curtain tape and gathered ribbon to make her skirt. The wings are from Wendy Vecchi's  Art Parts, covered with Clear Rock Candy Dry Glitter.

I mounted the doll onto a little block of wood which I treated in the same way as the tin. The outside of the tin is covered around the sides, with Tissue Tape, and I've used an Ideaology Ring Fastener on top as a hanger. These are so cute.

 I've left the back untreated to remind myself that it's a sardine tin! I couldn't resist adding the quote as it just popped into my head whilst I was working on her. I just love that scene in the movie! No points for guessing what it is. let me know, if you are one of the few that doesn't know and I'll let you into the secret!  So.... if you fancy joining in with our Art Doll challenge, you still have a few days left. Hop over to the eclectic Paperie blog, and follow the link  to the Get Altered Challenge on the left hand side, where you'll be able to see Bonnie's wonderful Art Doll, as well as some brilliant pieces by other design team members. Your creation can be flat or 3d, anything goes! So why not step out of your creative comfort zone and join in the fun! You might even win a $15 dollar voucher to spend in Kim's wonderful, ever expanding, eclectic Paperie shop. I'll be back next week to show you a project I've been working on. In the meantime have fun! x

Here are some of the supplies I've used available from the eclectic Paperie shop.

Tim Holtz Distress Paint - Crushed Olive	Tim Holtz - Tarnished Brass Distress Paint	Tim Holtz Distress Paint - Salty Ocean	Tim Holtz Distress Paint - Chipped Shappire	Tim Holtz Layering Stencil - Rays
Tim Holtz - Distress Stickles Dry Glitter - Clear Rock Candy

A Time and a Purpose for Everything

I just thought I'd share my journal pages which are featuring on the eclectic Paperie blog today. I wanted to get to grips with the physical act of writing  on to the pages, so I chose to write out the lyrics of the song 'Turn! Turn! Turn!'. This was written by Pete Seeger and recorded by The Byrds, back in the day! Autumn, I feel is a time for reflection and I think the words to the song perfectly express this.
 I've used a 'faux batik' method for the flowers and lots of Distress Stains for the colouring. You can check out further details over on the eP blog by following the link here. I'm really starting to fall in love with my Dylusions Journal, It's no longer pristine, a few painty finger marks and splashes on the cover, it's starting to look the business !
 As I'm sharing this current spread, which is only my second in this journal,  I'll also show you the first page, which I completed for the eP blog a couple of weeks ago. I posted a little tease on my blog showing a paper napkin I used, but never got round to showing the completed page on my blog so here it is........

I've used lots of Distress Paint, Distress Inks and  stencils, to produce this tribute to Michelangelo .You can see the full post with more details, over at the eclectic Paperie blog, by following the link here. So as you can see, I'm getting the Journaling bug! Have a good weekend, back to work on Monday ! x

Twelve Tags of 2013 October ....What I learnt in School !

Talk about last minute! I finally got down to making my October tag for Tim's Twelve Tags of 2013 Challenge. You can see his fabulous tag by following the link here. I was a bit short of supplies for this one, so there are the usual improvisations. One thing I didn't have is that glorious looking Distress Glitter. It's now top of my shopping list. I'm really pleased with how the frame worked out, I used a technique Tim shared with us on CC102,  he calls it 'tarnished silver'. I changed it slightly by using gold embossing powder, and added a bit of gold glitter to the second heat embossing stage. This was great as it embeds the glitter into the surface. Can't wait to try it with distress glitter. Here's a close up....

I also got to use some of the layered stencil techniques as well. The spider is from a Halloween pack from the pound shop. Tim, you must visit one of these shops when your next in the UK, they're especially good at this time of year! I cover the spider with glossy accents and black glitter.

The fly's wings have also had a glittering with Clear Rock Candy Distress Glitter. Before completing this tag I started a couple of others, (as you do!) . I had a go at colouring the Clear Rock Candy Glitter with Egg Plant Alcohol Ink.

 Although I loved the effect, It just didn't seem to go with my spider and fly, so I changed it up and chose a more muted colour palette for my finished tag. The photos I'm afraid don't really do this one justice but it could just be my favourite tag I've made this year. Right, I'm off to carve a pumpkin, and bake a cake. I've got my lovely nephews and nieces and their children coming round for some Halloween fun. Enjoy everybody ! x

Watercolouring for The eTeam Picks Challenge

There's a great new 'e Team Picks' challenge on over at the eclectic Paperie blog. Giovanna is our host and she's chosen 'Water Colouring' as the theme. You can see her gorgeous card by following the link here  This fabulous challenge has given me the perfect opportunity to work on a few more of the alphabet cards I started a while ago. I had only got as far as 'a b c' so I've now added d, e and f. At this rate I should be finished in about 3 years time! The cards measure around 4.5 x 5 inches and are made of fairly heavy weight watercolour paper. Each of the images has been stamped with black Archival Ink and then painted using a Tim Holtz Water Brush with Distress Markers and Distress Ink pads. After painting  the image and the background, I administered a heavy dose of distress ink blending, with Old Paper, Antique Linen and Vintage Photo distress ink. I also used my favourite 'splash' stamp from Tim's Bitty Grunge stamp set, before adding the stamped letter. The alphabet stamps are from a Tim Holtz set of 'Foam Stampz' called Chronicles.   Here are some close ups of the cards I made today....

It's been really great to get reacquainted with my Distress Markers, I'd forgotten just how lovely they are to use. I scribbled my colours onto my craft mat, using the brush end of the pen and then spritzed with water before picking up the colour with my water brush. This prevents the colour from being too intense. If you'd like to try your hand at water colouring, why not hop over  to the eclectic Paperie blog, hit the 'e Team Picks Challenge' button and follow the challenge guidelines. While you're there have a look at some of the fabulously inspirational work from Giovanna and the rest of the team. We'd love to see what you come up with ! Many of the supplies I've used for these cards can be purchased at the brilliant eclectic Paperie shop. Kim is constantly adding to her product range and will do her best to get hold of additional supplies on request. Did I mention that there is also a prize of $15 worth of goods for one lucky winner? So what are you waiting for get those supplies out and start your water colour entry ! x

Tim Holtz Distress MarkersSet of 37 with ContainerGifts with purchase	Ranger - Watercolor Paper 8.5"x11"	Tim Holtz Water Brush - Detailer Brush	Inksessentials - Mini Mister 3-Pack	Inkssentials Foam Blending Tool
Distress Ink Pad - Old Paper	Distress Ink Pad - Antique Linen	Distress Ink Pad - Vintage Photo

Trick or Treat ?

I've had a bit  fun this afternoon making this bag. It started off as a trick or treat bag for halloween but evolved into an  iPad carry bag. I love my iPad and as it's one of the most expensive things I own, I'm a little paranoid about dropping it ! It's a long way up to my attic work room and I've usually got my arms full of stuff, so I thought it would be a good idea to have a bag that I can slip my iPad in, with handles that I can hook over my arm and voila! this is it. I started with one of my many Gelli prints. I used  the Tim Holtz skull to stamp the paper and masked it over before Gelli printing.

Here's the original print, I stamped a script stamp over the background with black archival ink, while the mask was still in place. After removing it, I used a bit of Antique Linen Distress ink on the skull. This gave it a much more bone like colour!  I then scanned the Gelli print,  and reversed the image before printing it onto a piece of tee shirt transfer paper. Gelli print, scanner and transfer paper,truly a marriage made in heaven! I can't wait to explore this further.

I then ironed this onto a piece of canvas fabric and constructed a simple bag which is just the right size for my iPad.

 

I Really like the way this turned out. The patterns on the Gelli print were achieved by firstly 'pulling' a plain yellow print, re-inking with deep red paint and then laying on some strips of very 'hairy' textural yarn, before pulling a second print on the yellow surface. I think it gives a rather flame like appearance, just right for the disembodied skull! I'm entering this into  The Simon Says Monday Challenge where the theme is 'Spooky'.x

What Would Michelangelo Say ?

I'm just about recovering from the marathon crafting session that was CC102. Fantastic fun and a great way to learn about what to do with all those lovely products. If you'd like to know how I incorporated  this paper napkin into a project, hop over to the eclectic Paperie blog and you'll see how I dabbled with a little Distress mixed media and put into practice some of the techniques I learnt in class x.

Creative Chemistry 102

Well it's been the last day of class today and I'm just posting my tags for day 2! Tim has once again excelled in providing some fantastic techniques in this years Creative Chemistry 102.It's been really great to get out all those distress products, stencils, and tools and have some really good instruction on how to get the best out of them.so here are the rest of my tags for day 2 which was all about stencils. 

and ...........

I think I mentioned that the class content has a lifetime access, so it's not too late to join in the fun and believe me it's a lot of fun ! x

WOYWW # 227

Good morning WOYWW'ers. Here is my ever decreasing work space. The position of the tag indicates the area I've just been working in. I'm taking part in the Creative Chemistry 102 and am already a day behind. If you'd like to see more messy desks and tables like this one, hop over to Julia's stamping ground blog and feast your eyes on crafter's tables from around the world. I've got to stop now and go to work but I shall hope to catch up with you all later. Have fun ! X

Creative Chemistry 102 Day One

Just a quick post to show you some of the fab textures Tim's had us creating for the tags, on day one of Creative Chemistry 102. Mr Holtz is certainly putting us through our paces with six great tags from day 1 and today there are eight to complete. Just as well there is a life time access to this course, as I'm already playing catch up! Why oh why do I have to go to work ? Strange but I think I know the answer to that question! x

WOYWW # 226

The weeks are flying by October already! Ahh well it'll soon be C......... no! I'll just stop there. Instead It's time for another WOYWW post. I've been a bit hopeless at joining in lately, my return to work coupled with a change in the days I work, have thrown me a bit and I'm finding it hard to get back into a routine. So excuses over.. Here is just a little part of my untidy work table.....

You can see the usual jumble of Distress Ink pads and left over bits and bobs, on the stand are some tags from the Tim Holtz 2013 Challenge, but I'd really like to draw your attention to the little packets of garden tags I picked up from a Home Bargains store. What a fab shop. The copper tags come in a pack of 10 for the princely sum of 39p The wooden plant markers were a bit more expensive just over £1 (can't remember exactly) Anyone who's into mixed media crafts will be delighted by having a mooch in this shop. Sorry Julia I know you don't like advertising but thought I'd like to share my finds. Now if you're asking 'who's this Julia?' Well she is the fabulous host of the stupendous Whats On Your Workdesk Wednesday. If you want to find out more about this great table sharing blog hop, then hop over to Julia's Stamping Ground Blog and find out how you can share your work space with the rest of the world. Until next time, happy crafting ! x,

Twelve Tags of 2013 - September

Finished at last ! this is my tag for Tim's Twelve Tags of 2013 Challenge. It's using some the new layering stencils which are great fun. I'm slowly collecting the set and hope to add one or two more since it's the end of the month! As usual, there are a few improvisations, but on the whole I've followed Tim's instructions which you can find here. There's still one more day left so if you haven't got started yet I suggest you get a wriggle on! I'm looking forward to seeing what Tim has in store for his October tag and maybe I'll get started on it a bit sooner than this month's.x