Twelve Tags of 2015 ~ February

Happy last day of February everyone! At last I've managed to finish my tag for Tim's Twelve Tags of 2015 challenge. It's been sitting on my table all week and I thought it was about time I set to and finished it  off. I've stuck fairly closely to Tim's design as it gave me the opportunity to use some of my new goodies. I love the little flashcards and I'm  sure they will be getting a lot of use. You can see Tim's wonderful tag here. Remember it's never too late to join this great challenge. if you're a fan of all things Tim Holtz, making a tag each month is a great way of getting to grips with techniques and products old and new. It's always great to see all the different interpretations and imaginative product substitutions. There's an awful lot of creative people out there !!! Thanks for your continued efforts to inspire the world Tim ! looking forward to tuning in tomorrow x

Alphabet Soup ~ Artist Trading Post Exchange ~ New challenge.

It's time for a new challenge over at The Artist trading Post Exchange. Ruth is the hostess with the mostest and she has chosen 'Alphabet Soup' as the challenge theme. If you hope over to the ATP Exchange blog you can see her gorgeous piece, as well as some fabulous makes from the rest of the design team. My contribution is a tag, I've made using Tim Holtz's Typograhy stamp set with an Alcohol Ink background. I love all the mixed media products available at the moment but every now and again it's nice to get down to some good old, straightforward, ink and stamping !
I started off with a manila tag and swiped some Distress Stains onto the surface. I then took a piece of glossy card stock and applied several colours of Alchohol Ink with a blending tool. I used Mushroom, Peach Bellini, Willow, Juniper and Gold Mixative. Once the surface was covered I added a few droplets of Blending Solution which moves the ink around and creates bubble-like patterns. If you haven't tried this before, you really must, it's such fun !

I cut a piece of the Inked card to the size I needed for my tag, and stamped over the surface with the alphabet script from the Typograhy Set. I used Jet Black Archival Ink and heat embossed, with clear embossing powder.  You can see the embossed script in this picture, you may however, have notoiced that its not black but more copper coloured. This was one of those great mistakes that lead you to new discoveries ! I was rubbing a little  Spanish Topaz Treasure Gold around the edges of the tag and accidentally rubbed over some of the letters, I loved how the raised embossing looked and decided to cover the rest of the letters, by just lightly rubbing the surface with Treasure Gold paste using  my finger. Result!

I stamped the hand onto a piece of water colour paper and used Distress Markers and a Water Brush, to lightly colour the surface. I then cut it out and mounted it on a couple of raised foam pads.
I stamped the ink bottle with Jet black Archival Ink, onto a left over piece of the Glossy Card Stock. This gave a nice contrasting texture behind the hand. I adhered several layers of foam pads down the centre of the ink bottle and double sided adhesive along the sides, this helped me to shape the bottle and add dimension.

I adhered some cogs to the side so as to add a little more texture and completed the tag with a stamped label and a border from Tim's Industrious Sticker range.
Now it's your turn ! We would love to see your creations for our Alphabet Soup challenge. There is a £10 product voucher from our fabulous sponsor, The Artist Trading Post, for one lucky winner. We also have a lot of fun choosing our top three entries. All you have to do is create a project based on the theme, remember to include stamping somewhere on your project, then upload your entry to the ATP Exchange blog. Simple ! So why not hop over to the blog, take some inspiration from the design team and get crafting ! If you wish to purchase any of the products I've used, click on the highlighted links and you'll be transported straight to the Artist Trading Post shop.  Happy Creating ! x

Love is in the Air ~ New Challenge at The Artist Trading Post Exchange

Hi everybody! there's a new challenge over at The Artist Trading Post Exchange, chosen by the very talented Yvonne and it's 'Love is in The Air'. Ha ha! a very popular theme at this time of year, so we hope to see plenty of your creations ! The challenge lasts for two weeks and if you hop over to the ATP blog you'll  see Yvonne's gorgeous work as well as plenty of inspiration from the rest of the DT. We are a mixed media challenge and all we ask is that you to include some stamping on your entry. That will also make you eligible to win a fabulous £10 voucher for The Artist Trading Post and with all the new goodies starting to arrive, how can you resist!
I've made this shabby chic wall hanging, with a nod to that wonderful city of romance, Paris. I've only visited Paris once, and that was a very long time ago, I'd love to go there again.....one day!

The base of my hanging is a piece of corrugated card. I firstly painted it with White Gesso, and added some Studio 490 Crackled Texture Paste through a Tim Holtz Gothic Layering Stencil. once this was all dry, love those fine crackles ! I painted it with Vintage Lace Fresco Finish Paint and left it to dry. I then embossed a piece of card, to which I had applied some foil tape. I've got a roll of plumbers' aluminium foil tape which I've been working my way through.

I used one of the Sizzix Book Covers embossing folder to add some texture and painted it with Victorian Velvet Distress Paint, I then die cut the little Movers and Shapers cherub and hearts from manilla card and used a piece of left over foiled card to cut and emboss the Eifel Tower.

As you can see, I painted the cherub and hearts. I added Clear Rock Candy Stickles Distress Glitter to the surface of these which I had coloured with alcohol ink. I used Cloudy Blue for the Cherub and Shell Pink for two of the hearts. Once all the elements were prepared, I started to assemble the pieces.
I lightly sanded the embossed foil and cut out the centre oval shape. I stamped a piece of card with the lovely French script stamp from the Stampers Anonymous Papillon Set . I used Watering Can Archival Ink. for the stamping.

I added a die cut frame which I had firstly painted with Brushed Pewter Distress Paint.  A bit of distressing here and there completed the background. I then adhered the embellishments with dimensional tape.

I applied some silver embossing powder to the edges of the card, and heat embossed.

 As a final touch I added die cut letters to the centre to spell the word 'love'. I think I am turning into a bit of a romantic in my old age ! I hope you'll find time to embrace your romantic side and share a  project with us, we'd love to see your interpretations because there is definitely a lot of 'Love in the Air' out there in blog land ! x

If you'd like to purchase any of the products I've used from The Artist Trading Post, Just click on the highlighted links and you'll be transported straight there .

Guest Creative Guide for A Vintage Journey ~ 'Love is in The Air'

'A flower cannot blossom without sunshine

And a man cannot live without love'

I'm delighted to have been invited to be a Guest Creative Guide by the wonderful team over at A Vintage Journey. I feel truly honoured for my project to be featured on the AVJ blog, alongside the work of so many of my favourite designers.
Astrid is the host of the current challenge and she has chosen to go with a seasonal theme, 'Love is in the Air'. You can see her gorgeous tag book, as well as the rest of the design team's gorgeous projects here,  http://www.vintagejourney.com/2015/01welcome-toni-a-guest-creative-guide.html
Regular visitors to A Vintage Journey, will know that this challenge blog celebrates all things 'Tim Holtz'. In keeping with this ethos, I've altered  a little paper mache box, which is in the shape of a book. I've used some of my most favourite 'Tim' products and techniques in the process.

It measures around 8 x 11 cm, so is quite small. I covered the outside with gold embossed black tissue paper. This is a technique I just love, it creates a really luxurious surface and it's very easy to do! Just stamp your image with Versa Mark ink, cover with gold embossing powder, apply heat and watch the magic work!

I made two pieces of embossed tissue and adhered one to the front and one to the back of the book. I then ripped a strip of black cotton fabric, and adhered this to the spine of the book, overlapping the covers by about 1cm. I used Ranger Matte Glue n' Seal for adhering both the tissue paper and fabric. The fabric has given the spine of the book a really authentic look and has worked much better than I'd anticipated. I used Helmar 450 Quick adhesive to secure some metal numbers to finish off the spine.

I painted the inside of the 'book' with red acrylic paint and adhered a stamped sentiment on one side.

In order to glitz up the inside, I covered  the base with Glossy accents and sprinkled on Clear Rock Candy Distress Glitter, which I had firstly coloured with Red Pepper Alcohol Ink.It's lovely and sparkly!

Prior to decorating my 'book', I spent an enjoyable evening making over a dozen red roses. Red roses are such a traditional expression of romance, that I really wanted to include them in my project.

Here are some of them drying, after being painted with crimson acrylic paint. To make the flowers, I used Tim's Tattered Pine Cone die, and followed his instruction, which he showcased on his Twelve Tags of 2014, April tag. You can see the tag and a video of how to make the flowers, by following this link. Once my flowers were dry, I gave them a light spritz with Perfect Pearls, Heirloom Gold spray. I then adhered a dozen roses inside my book box, in order to create a bed of roses for it's resident.....

...and here she is, 'Love', a little 'Frozen Charlotte' from Tim's Ideaology, Fractured Dolls. This is the larger one of the pair. I gave her a pair of die cut wings, which I painted gold and added a crackle finish to. I used a Remnant Rub On, to add the word 'Love' across her heart. I then adhered her to the base with several layers of dimensional tape, stacked together. She nestles into the box quite snugly. To finish off my book box, I painted the sides with Tarnished Brass Distress Paint. I then added an Ornate Plate and some metal filigree corners to the front cover. I also adhered a few gems here and there. The sentiment was constructed by re-figuring some Remnant Rub Ons to  the words 'lives' and 'here'. More roses, some greenery and of course some dyed seam binding were the final touches. 

I had a really good time creating this piece and I'd like to thank Brenda and the rest of the team for inviting me to be a Guest Creative Guide. I hope you will hop over to A Vintage Journey, where you can read a little bit about me and see the fabulous work by the resident AVJ design team. Many thanks everybody x

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