Playing Catch Up !

I have been meaning to find time to share a little peek at the design team project I posted over on the eclectric Paperie blog on Friday. There's a new design team  project posted each day, except for Sundays. We also hold a monthly ePlay Challenge and have featured guest artists popping up regularly. It's well worth hopping over there if you need a little crafty inspiration. Kim also runs a very well stocked eclectic Paperie shop and offers a $25 gift certificate for the ePlay Challenge winner.
 I had a great time putting some eP goodies to the test with this project. I wonder if you can tell what it is and what it's made from ? If you are intrigued, you can see the full post by following this link. While you're there, have a little browse at some of my very talented team mates work or follow this link to the ePlay challenge there are only a couple of days left of the present challenge but there will be a new one starting on 1st of May. Hope to see you there soon x

Twelve Tags of 2014 - April

Time for another Tim tag! April the 4th month and Tim does it again by stunning us with yet another fabulous tag with a gorgeous vintage feel. I'm loving the new Frame Works Trellis Die and really feel like it's one that I'll be coming back to time and time again. I've also invested in the Tattered Pinecone die. I finally realised that I just had to have it after 'umming and 'aarring over the last couple of years ! After using it to make these flowers, I'm really happy that I was able to get it. I've followed Tim's instructions pretty closely, you can see his gorgeous tag with full instructions, by following this link.I've added a butterfly which seems to be quite at home on my tag. I made several of these butterflies after seeing a fabulous project by the very talented Candy Cowell on her blog Creativity is Contagious. You can see her project by following the link here. My butterflies have been sitting in a jar just waiting for their moment, this is the first one to escape! x

Jumbo Tattered Florals, 'Spring is in the Air'

 

Spring is definitely in the air! Our magnolia tree is in full bloom and the birds are singing their hearts out. So in celebration of all things 'spring', I made this flowery wall hanging as my DT piece for the eclectic Paperie  blog. You may have seen my sneak peek here in an earlier post. I started by painting Studio Gesso on to a chip board circle. It measures around 25 cms, or approximately 10 inches across. I then used my favourite Layering Stencils, Trellis and Dot Fade, with embossing paste to add some texture to the surface.

Once the embossing paste was dry I painted the frame firstly with Crushed Olive Distress Paint and then Antique Linen over the top. I swiped a little Walnut Stain Distress ink around the inside and outside edges when it had dried. I painted a separate piece of card for the background and used crackle medium to add interest.

I really like the results of this. It's almost a shame to cover it up but I had the idea of using the new Frame Works  Trellis die to create some 'rusted iron work'. I know I'm going to love using this die in projects. I cut several pieces and used Distress Embossing Powder in Vintage Photo to create the rusted effect.

I stuck the trellis strips together with tiny pieces of tape and then glued them onto the back of the circle frame. I cut a circle, the same size as the frame from the crackled background card and joined the pieces together with dimensional pads. 

 I then set to with making the flowers. I cut several flowers in manila card, using The Jumbo Tattered Florals Die. If you'd like to have a go at making flowers like these, there is a step by step  tutorial, using the regular sized Tattered Florals Die, on my blog, which you can find by following this link. I used the same method  with The Jumbo Tattered Florals Die for making the largest flower on this hanging. Here's a photo showing the different stages..

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 They're quite easy to make, and also quite addictive! The yellow flower was made by shaping the flower petals with a ball tool on a foam mat and then layering together. 
I used a couple of the smaller Tattered Florals die cuts for the centre of this flower.

The foliage was cut from Kraft Core card using the Tim Holtz Alterations - Bigz Garden Greens and the Alterations - Decorative Strip - Spring Greenery. I softened the surface with a little Distress paint before adhering them to the frame. I then arranged the flowers and greenery and used a glue gun to fix  the flowers onto the frame. The  sentiment is from a set of stamps by Indigo Blue, it's been stamped in Potting Soil Archival Ink onto a piece of distressed manila card.

So, that just about finishes off my spring project. I hope it inspires you to put a spring in your step
Here are some of the products I've, used available from the eclectic Paperie shop, on this project. There is also a new ePlay challenge over on the blog and it's all about incorporating some wood into a project. We'd love to see what you come up with! 

Tim Holtz Alterations - Bigz Garden Greens	Tim Holtz Alterations - Decorative Strip - Spring Greenery	Tim Holtz Alterations - Bigz XL Die - Jumbo Tattered Florals	Distress Ink Pad - Tattered Rose	Distress Ink Pad - Scattered Straw
Distress Ink Pad - Crushed Olive	Tim Holtz Distress Paint - Crushed Olive	Tim Holtz Distress Paint - Antique Linen	Wendy Vecchi - Studio 490 - Embossing Paste - White	Claudine Hellmuth Studio Gesso

New 'ePlay Challenge' Use Some Wood

It's time for a new ePlay challenge over at the eclectic Paperie. The lovely Sherry is our host for this month and she is challenging us to use wood in our projects. The chunky wooden block I've used for this project, was snaffled from a pile of off cuts my husband was saving to burn. As soon as I saw it I knew exactly what I was going to do and quickly carried it off to my attic!

See what I mean, well could you resist ? Because the surface was so interesting I decided that minimal treatment was the order of the day. I really didn't want to cover up any of the grain with paint or embossing paste, so I decided  on some simple monochrome stamping using Wendy Vecchi's Archival Ink in Potting Soil.  I used Tim's Stamper's Anonymous Bird Feather set and my newly acquired, Day Dream set. I also used a few other stamps from my collection. After stamping the images with the Archival Ink, I embossed them with clear embossing powder.

and the top.....

 The little bird I've used is by Indigo Blue, I think she sits just nicely on the edge of the nest. I love it when you can combine different sets of stamps and the styles blend together. 

To finish off, I added the little rusted metal feet. My apologies for the difference in the colours of the photos, I've used indoor and outdoor shots. The true colour is somewhere between the two ! The block is around 4.5 inches and not quite a regular cube, I'm not sure if it qualifies for ATB status, it's certainly pretty heavy so I don't think I'll be sending this through the post!

 Now if you'd like to grab a piece of wood, or use any other wooden item or embellishment in a project, we would love to see it. The ePlay challenge runs for the rest of the month and Kim has very generously increased the prize gift certificate  to $25. So how can you resist ! You'll find the challenge guidelines and plenty of inspiration over on the eP blo,g just follow this link . If you'd like to pick up some of the supplies  I've used on my project, click on the thumbnails below and you'll be transported to the lovely eclectic Paperie Shop. So until next time have fun and push your boundaries ! x

Wendy Vecchi - Studio 490 Archival Ink - Potting Soil

Ranger Super Fine Embossing Powder - Clear

Tim Holtz (Stampers Anonymous) - Daydream

Ranger Heat It Craft Tool

Tim Holtz (Stampers Anonymous) - Bird Feather