Compendium of Curiosities Challenge 7 - Painted Industrial - 'Steam Punk Dragonflies'

I was very happy that the Linda and her Curiosity Crew over at Studio L3, had dipped into Compendium of Curiosities 3, and pulled out Tim's Painted industrial Technique. It's a real favourite of mine. The Compendium of Curiosities Challenge this fortnight, is sponsored by the lovely Inspiration Emporium who have donated a whopping $50 gift certificate for one, randomly chosen,  lucky winner. There is also a package of goodies donated by Tim and Mario, for the Crew's favourite entry. Now in fairness to Tim, I can't share the Painted Industrial technique, you'll have to grab yourself a copy of his CC3 book if you fancy having a go. I can, however, show you a couple of close ups of my dragonflies sitting on their lily pad.....

I used  the Jumbo Tattered Florals die to create the lily and Tim's  Layered Dragonfly Die for my dragonflies..... I know...I know....I used it on my altered Burlap Panel for the last challenge, but I just can't stop making dragonflies and they've got to go somewhere ! 

So that's it for now. I wonder what the Crew will tease out of  CC3 for the next challenge....Can't wait ! x

Twelve Tags of 2014- July

This month's tag fits in perfectly with the calendar of my life. As a teacher, I have just started the long summer break. The weather is perfect and the prospect of several weeks of not going to work stretching ahead of me has put me in true holiday mood. What better way to start the holidays than to get stuck into creating this month's tag, for Tim's Twelve Tags of 2014 Challenge. you can see his lovely tag by following the link here. I love the sea theme of this month's tag and was very pleased that my Sand and Sea die arrived in time. The tag has a great dimensional quality with all the different elements stacked on top the background. I love the effect of the Distress Embossing powder on the sand dollar and the way Tim showed us how to use it to create the sand effect and adding a touch of Distress Glitter, is just ..... well.... genius !! That's it for now, until next time, 'happy summer crafting' x

Take Flight - CC3 Challenge 6 'Altered Burlap Panel'.

Another late night post! I've had a splendid day out visiting 'Art in Action', an annual arts festival held in Oxford. It's been a great but exhausting day and consequently I am only just getting round to posting my Burlap Panel for this fortnight's Compendium of Curiosities Challenge number 6. It's the turn of the 'Funkie Junkie Boutique' to sponsor the challenge with a fab $25 gift receipt. Tim and Mario also have generously donated  a selection of goodies for one lucky winner.
The Curiosity Crew have chosen the Altered Burlap Panel Technique, from page 37 of CC3.  As usual we have been asked not to post details of the technique. This is the first time I've altered a burlap panel and I don't think it will be the last. Love the gorgeous rustic texture of these little beauties.
 My panel has taken on an oriental look with the stenciled wave pattern and dragonfly across a full moon. I've used my brand new Layered Dragonfly Die and Embossing Folder. Oh how much do I love this die ! I've made this one with acetate wings and a  craft metal body. No time to explain this fully at the moment but trust me you'll be seeing this again !

i'm off to do some blog hopping ! x

Sneaky Peek - 'Finish It Off' for eclectic Paperie

Just thought I'd tease you with a little peek at  my design team post, which I'm sharing on the eclectic Paperie blog today. If you're curious, hop over to the eP blog by following this link and you can see the full details. Oh! and while you're over at the eclectic Paperie blog, take a minute or two, to check out the latest 'Altered Bottles' ePlay Challenge. There are some amazing creations to feast your eyes on and maybe you'll be tempted into grabbing a bottle and joining in. If so we'd love to see it and of course you could win a $25 gift certificate for Kim's lovely eP shop! x

New ePlay Challenge - Alter a Bottle

Hi everybody, thanks for tuning in today. It's time for another ePlay Challenge over at the eclectic Paperie. Julia is our hostess with the mostest and she has chosen 'altered bottles' as the challenge theme for this month. You can see her amazing creation here. If you'd like to push your boundaries and try your hand at altering a bottle, hop over to the eclectic Paperie blog, click on the 'ePlay' button and you'll see all the details of how you can get involved. The challenge runs until the last Thursday in July and there is a $25 gift certificate for Kim's increasingly well stocked eP shop, for one lucky winner. 

I'm pretty pleased with the way my bottle turned out, as it was quite a simple process. (For anyone who tuned in earlier, you may notice that the picture has changed, this one is more true to the real colours.) The bottle used to contain a well known brand of soy sauce....here's how it started out....

I was just trying out the cork for size. Unfortunately this cork ended up in the bin. I tried to alter it using Fimo Clay. When I put it in the oven, the cork expanded and split the fimo in several places ! It was a bit disappointing as I'd spent quite a long while smoothing it down.

I created the surface pattern by stamping on to black tissue paper with Versa Mark ink and heat embossing with gold embossing powder. 

It looks a rather lovely shade of blue in this photo, but it's actually black. I used Tim Holtz's Stampers Anonymous 'Distressed Damask' stamps. This is a lovely set,  very classy. I then adhered the tissue to the surface of the bottle using Studio Gloss Multi Medium. The pieces of tissue were easily persuaded to mould to the surface of the bottle.

I used some smaller torn pieces to fill in the gaps at the top. Having ruined my first cork stopper, I needed to find another one. The only one I could find was a champagne cork, ha, ha ! that's how we roll 'round here ! (I wish !). I used a craft knife to trim it and painted it with Tarnished Brass Distress Paint. Once dry, I used one of the smaller stamps with black Archival Ink to decorate it.

I then assembled a few embellishments. The picture in the pendant, is from a digital download. I adhered it to the pendant and gave it a coat of UTEE. 

I painted  a Prima Filigree piece with Antique bronze Distress Ink and attached it to the bottle, gently bending it to follow the shape. I then adhered it with Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive. This glue is great at grabbing onto things and as it says on the bottle, dries quickly. I wrapped a piece of thin gold cord around the bottle neck and added a few beads as a finishing touch.
 Now it's over to you ! Grab a bottle, any shape or size, get your creative thinking cap on and come and join us for this fun challenge. We'd love to see what you create. For more inspiration, hop over to the eP blog and you'll see what my teamies have been up to. Just wait till you see Julia's fabulous creation ! I hope you don't mind me being a little self indulgent but I'm including a picture of an altered bottle I did last year. I think they look rather good together but I definitely need to do another one x

Tim Holtz - Tarnished Brass Distress Paint	Tim Holtz (Stampers Anonymous) - Distress Demask	Claudine Hellmuth Studio Multi-Medium Gloss	Ranger Super Fine Embossing Powder - Gold	HELMAR-450 Quick Dry Adhesive
VersaMark Stamp Pad	Archival Ink - Jet Black Ink Pad