Coronation Book

Here's a little book I've entered into the Fashionable Stamping Challenges 'Play Bingo' A great challenge to take part in as there's so much scope. I chose ... 'show some metal, distress and vintage' As it is the queen's diamond jubilee year, I decided to choose this as my theme and try to create a surface that looks as though it's been around since then.  For the cover,  I've used  Tim Holtz's  'faux enamelling' technique, this really appeals to me as it reminds me of the tins of toffees I used to get as a child. I firstly embossed the Union Flag, using my foil sticky tape attached to card. The embossing folder is from Papermania. I then painted it with acrylic paint and left  it to dry. Once completely dry I sanded the surface to reveal some of the metal. I then stamped some 'rust' spots and heat embossed with frayed burlap distress embossing powder. I rubbed in some DI in black soot and Vintage photo and then gave the whole surface a coat of versa mark before clear embossing. The Lion and Crown were stamped onto painted foil tape and embossed with gold and clear powders. I then attached these using glossy accents.

A close up showing the faux rust .

Here's what the inside of the book looks like. I've stamped each page with a flourish using Antique Linen DI.

WOYWW 146

Just a quickie as I should be getting ready for work, busy day ahead! I guess there'll be a lot of desks on Julia's WOYWW over at Stamping Ground, looking a bit like mine, lots of distress inks tags etc... yes that's it CC101 started this week, can't wait to have a snoop around some desks this week. Thankyou Julia for hosting this fascinating site. Have a good day everyone

Grungey Monday 39

I've made this card for The Grungey Monday Challenge over at Studio L3. This weeks prize has been sponsored by Simon Says Stamp who I'd like to thank for the prompt delivery of my 100 tags. The Challenge was to use Tim's alcohol technique from his 12 tags of Christmas day 3 2009. I spent most of the afternoon playing with this technique and had some difficulty marrying the technique to the stamps I have. As the effects are quite bold, I felt it needed an equally bold image so I've returned to an old favourite  and used this fish stamp. I , like many others I suspect, had quite a fad on using oriental images, it seems they're a bit out of fashion at the moment, but I think I might just start a one woman revival! I've kept it simple as it's such a strong image and I didn't feel it needed any further embellishment. Below are some of my other attempts using different stamps and colour ways.

  

Twelve Tags March

Well I thought I'd better get on with Tim's March tag for The Twelve Tags Challenge, as I won't have much time after CC 101 starts TOMORROW! I'm still not sure how I'm going to keep up, it's a good job that the content is there forever. For this tag I decided to go with birds as I've been using a lot of butterflies in my work lately and I've hardly used the 'Bird Cage' die I bought a while ago. Although the mosaic technique is a bit fiddly I am quite pleased with the results. I've used Kay and Co paper off cuts and I think it looks a bit like vintage china, I'd quite like to have a go at a larger piece. I used a little wood graining stamp I bought some time ago from De Stempelwinkel for the background with acrylic paint. The flowers and birds nest were punched out from my favourite ASBO tape, and coloured with alcohol inks. They're not the same flowers I featured in an earlier post as I thought the colours were a bit bright, so this time I used a mixture of brown and raisin with a touch of gold mixative, to create a kind of copper effect.  

WOYWW 145

Just got time for a quick post to Sarah's WOYWW, over at her Stamping Ground blog. I traded an evening of crafting in the attic, with an evening at the Symphony Hall watching and listening to the great Joan Baez. She still has a beautiful voice and her musicians were also wonderful really chilled and mellow. In fact yesterday turned out to be a most enjoyable day! I started the day by finding out that I had won The FSC Make it for a Child Challenge, my very first challenge win. Many thanks to the design team for choosing my work xxx, and apart from going to work in between, ending the day with the lovely Joan and a delicious meal of Spanish Tapas made the day just perfect!

For those of you with an interest in the ASBO tape, here's a close up of some flowers I've made to add to my Tim' 12 Tags March entry. I followed Anneliese Bates instructions on her L'Atelier Blog. Great fun to make. I must seek out some more flower punches. x

Feeling Puzzled

 I used to love doing jigsaws as a child and there was always one in my Christmas stocking. I'm not sure how keen today's youngsters are, as their attention is taken up in so many other ways, however I decided to enter this one into Fashionable Stamping Challenge, 'Make it for a Child' and just maybe one of my nieces or nephews will enjoy it ! I bought the blank puzzles from the children's craft section in our local Wilkinsons shop. A bargain for £1 for a pack of  two. I coloured the backgrounds with alcohol inks and the stamping was done with Archival ink and clear embossed. The butterflies have been painted with metallic water colours and distress inks also applied with a brush. They are great fun to make. Below are some others I made using similar techniques.

I also made this one with the FSC in mind but after messing around for ages, I haven't been able to upload it to their site, Hey Ho such is the life of a computer novice. Now that's really got me puzzled ! LOL x

WOYWW

Well its that time again and I've not posted anything since last week! Still I couldnt miss joining in Julia's WOYWW over at her Stamping Ground blog ,even though I've not had much time for crafting this week. We had a lovely time with our friends who were over from Spain at the weekend, as well as my doing a children's workshop on Saturday, printing bunting with a group of visually impaired children and their brothers and sisters. It was a fun day but I think I've been recovering ever since. So it's been a quiet week in the attic with just a little time to peruse my signed copy of THE BOOK which arrived yesterday. Lots of good ideas contained within and I'm looking forward to getting stuck in. At the top right, you can see my roll of ASBO tape, Its sticky backed aluminium foil and there's a great idea in Tim's book which I shall be using this for watch this space.

Here's a closeup of the ASBO tape. I got this from my local hardware shop, only £4.99! Because it's sticky backed you can attach it to any surface really easily, it can then be embossed and painted.

WOYWW

Well it's time for another WOYWW over at Julia's Stamping Ground blog and a peek in the attic,I was warned that it would be addictive ! My workdesk is pretty much as I left it on Sunday after completing my Grungey Monday Wearable Art Challenge. This photo was taken from the opposite side of  the table and shows my lovely chest of draws full of crafty bits and bobs.......don't be too envious! I've had it for some years and it's a little rickety, but pretty darn good eh? Now I don't want the green eyed monster to get a grip on you all but have a look at my latest acquisition, it's a totally fabulous old log book I found in my local junk shop. It is unused bar a few missing pages at the front, it has a brass lock and came with a little key. It's crying out for some inky goodness and I'm really looking forward to getting started. Here it is......................

Grungey Monday, Tim Holtz Wearable Art Challenge

Well it's time for another Grungey Monday Challenge over at Studio L3, how quickly the week goes by! For their Tim Holtz Wearable Art Challenge, I decided to give one of my hats a makeover with a Steam Punk style hat band. I love hats and this bowler hat is one of my favourites. I made the hat band by running some strips of grunge paper through my Cuttlebug, using a cog embossing folder. I then coloured this with gold paint dabber, lightly sanded the surface and rubbed in a little Vintage Photo DI. The cogs were die cut from grunge paper, using Tim's Sizzix large cog die.These were coloured with gold and silver paint dabbers and 'vintaged with various distress inks. I then dipped them in UTEE using my Melt Pot. I cut the leaves and flowers similar to Tims Tattered Florals, on my Pazzles machine, they've been coloured with distress inks and stamped with Archival black, I used a clock background stamp and a dots background both from The Artistic Stamper and also my favourite Crafty Individulas flourish stamp. I dipped each layer in UTEE before assembling the flowers. The Artful Splodger have a very good video on this technique. I usually wear this hat at music festivals, roll on the summer, as I think it will be fun to wear and certainly unique !

Fashionable Stamping Challenge

Well Valentine fever is starting to subside and I think this may be the last of my romantic cards for a little while. It is similar to one I posted last week but uses a different colourway. I'm entering this into The Fashionable Stamping Challenge, Monochrome Plus One Other Colour. Once again I've used my favourite Tim Holtz text stamp from the Stampers Anonymous set 'Papillon' for the background with Versa Mark ink in Smokey Grey. I cut the heart out and covered it with some rosette ribbon which I coloured with Worn Lipstick Distress ink. I then mounted this on another heart which I first trimmed with stamped tracing paper strips. I cut the strips with my scalloped edge scissors which gives the look a bit more 'frilliness'.  The frame has been distressed with Antique Linen and Black Soot DI. and stamped with a flourish stamp, from Crafty Individuals. The frame and  'Love' ticket have been embellished with Hot Fix pearls, I get a bit carried away when using these and have probably used too many !

Anns Blog Candy

Attention dear blog friends... theres a greatly gorgeous giveaway over at Anne's Stamp Pad Lots of lovely goodies, yum yum

12 Tags of 2012

Well here is my first completed tag for the Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2012 challenge. Although I completed my 12 tags of Christmas I never uploaded them to his blog, so this time I'm going to try and get each one uploaded. Although I've been using a number of Tim's products for years, I'd been a bit resistant from really getting on board the Tim train, however in doing the Christmas tags, I found I learnt so much more about his products and techniques and have continued to put this knowledge into my current work. I also enjoyed the challenge of using what I'd already got and finding alternatives when I hadn't. So Tim you have another convert bring it on!

WOYWW

Well it's that time again WOYWW and my table is still a mess! I've still got valentines project stuff all over the place. I'm posting a picture of my rather exploded ribbon box. It's had an influx of ribbons bought from Lidl supermarket and also from my local market. There is stall which is a real treasure trove and very exciting for anyone with a ribbon and trimmings fetish! looking at my stash I wonder could this be me?.. The very nice man on the market let me take some photos of his wares, so much to choose from and very good prices. Enjoy!

Who Loves Ya Baby ?

Well considering I've been on half term holiday I haven't devoted much time to crafting. The Holiday has gone way too quick! Anyway here is my offering for this weeks Studio L3 Grungey Monday Challenge Valentines day Tim Holtz Style! I've Just finished it.This week there is a prize for the challenge donated by the lovely people at Simon Says Stamp. I've used several Tim products and have used two of the techniques featured on this months Twelve Tags of 2012 challenge. I'm really looking forward to seeing what good ideas Tim has in store for us. For this card I've used Tim's 'resist' technique with Snow Cap paint dabber and the script from Stampers Anonymous Papillon set. I've used Antique linen Distress Ink with a light dusting of Black Soot around the edges to create a vintage look. The die cut heart has been embellished with trimming similar to Tims, that I bought at my local market I also bought the lace that it's mounted on from the same market. The frame has been stamped with a Crafty Individuals flourish stamp and embellished with stick on pearls. I added the 'Love' ticket with an Ideaology Memo Pin, as a final embellishment, I'm stuck on these at the moment! all in all I'm quite pleased with the results.

WOYWW

Here's my first submission to Julia's WOYWW as featured on her Stamping-Ground blog.I read about her blog in this months Craft Stamper Magazine. This is my work desk after an afternoon of crafting , I have a big old dining table in my 'studio' otherwise known as the attic! It's quite a big room with shelves and and storage draws.I love it up there but it is really much to full of stuff, I keep saying that one day I'll take a feather up stairs and the whole room will drop through to the ground floor!!

Make it a Guy Thing.

I've made this card for the Fashionable Stamping Challenge 14 'Make it a Guy Thing'. I think it could also double up quite nicely for a certain valentine! The stamp I've used is from The Artistic Stamper, before stamping her, I brayered the card with a Kaleidacolor ink pad in Sea Breeze. The lady and the black lace were stamped in Archival ink then covered with Versa Mark and clear embossing powder. The lace border stamp is from Dimension Fourth. I used a clock collage stamp, also from The Artistic Stamper, to create a mat for the figure, this was edged with a Krylon gold leaf pen and mounted onto a dull gold mat before finally mounting onto the lace stamped background, which was, also edged in gold leaf before attaching to a cream card blank. I hope that all makes sense! x

In The Mood

February is a busy month for birthdays amongst my friends and family so I've been getting down to making a few cards. I'm posting two images of cards I've made using the same stamp but with different results first up is one I made for my brother. The jazz band stamp is from a set by Graphic 45 and I just love it, I can almost hear them playing! The sun ray is from Stampscapes inc and the background was brayered with a Kaleidacolor ink pad in calypso.

A couple of days later I was obviously in a different mood as I picked up the same stamp and produced a much more grungey card. This time I coloured and layered the stamp onto black card and mounted it with sticky pads onto a stamped background I then mounted this onto some spotty paper which I've 'vintaged' with distress ink in vintage photo and black soot. I then mounted this onto black card before attaching to a bought Kraft card. I use these Kraft cards a lot in my card making.

I want to be in this band!

Cracking Up !

This is what I've made for Studio L3 Grungey Monday 'We're Cracking Up' Challenge, using Tim Holtz's crackle resist technique. It's a stationary folder, which at this time of year could be used to store all those valentine cards and love letters I'm sure we'll all be receiving!!! I've used two pieces of mount board joined with a piece of fabric, glued onto the inside to create the hinge. I covered the front with a piece of cotton lace,having been inspired by Lynne's gorgeous work on her blog 'Adorn. The frame is made of much thinner card and was stamped with a flourish stamp that I've had for years. After sealing the frame with Ranger's Glue and Seal I applied Rock Candy Crackle paint and rubbed in some Frayed Burlap Distress Ink. I couldn't wait to have a go with this after seeing the DT's efforts on Studio L3. I die cut the heart, padlock, and corners on my Pazzles. I just love that machine!The wings and key were cut using a Cuttlebug embossing die. I gave the padlock and the corners a rust effect by using Tim Holtz Distress embossing powder in Frayed Burlap, with a smear of Vintage Photo Distress Stickles over the surface. The heart was given the crackle treatment featured in Tim Holtz's video and integral to the Grungey Monday Challenge. I've only got one crackle paint in Old Paper, so, once dry, I coloured over it with Fired Brick and Festive Berries Distress ink.

Here is a close up showing all those lovely little crackles, that paint is like magic! The wings of the heart have been given a coat of paint using a Gold Dabber, with gold foil added when dry, followed by Vintage Photo Distress Ink.they've got a lovely vintage gold look which doesn't really come over so well in the photo, You'll just have to take my word for it xx.

Here is a back view of the folder. I've used a Stamper's Anonymous text stamp from their 'Papillon' set on cream coloured card to decorate the backcover.

This is the inside. I made a few 'postcards' and stamped a Crafty Individuals flourish onto some plain paper to add a touch of romance. They've all been given a vintage look with Antique Linen Distress ink.

To finish off, I've added a few embellishments such as the 'Admit One' ticket and 'love' token which I made from a round pendant blank. I bought the blanks as seconds from ecrafty,they're not really good enough to use for jewellry but fine for crafting, especially if you paint them. I really enjoyed making this stationary folder as it's a bit different from my usual work. For me it hints at a bygone age when writing a letter was an important and act of self expression. The joy of writing receiving a lovely letter is very much like the joy we derive from making and giving a hand made card or gift.

More Alcohol Ink Adventures

Just thought I'd post these two cards I made with the samples I had left over after the Grungey Monday Alcohol Ink Challenge number 33. I always have 'left over bits' when I'm experimenting and they usually end up in a box but the current box has reached a full to overflowing situation! So I thought these were nice enough to turn into cards.I enjoyed using this technique from Tim Holtz, but it's a bit tricky when it comes to wiping the ink away as it's easily smudged

For this card I used Tim Holtz, Denim and cloudy Blue alcohol ink on a piece of acetate. The fish stamp is one of my old favourites, I bought from my local art shop, unfortunately it doesn't have a manufacturer's name on it. I stamped the frame with a grass leaf stamp from Stampscapes inc.with Versa Mark ink, then embossed with clear embossing powder. Finally,I worked in some Faded Denim and black Soot distress ink. I love the way the clear embossing acts as a resist, giving a kind of 'batik' effect.

I used the same technique for this card but backed it with my favourite sticky backed foil, otherwise Known as ASBO tape. I used Pesto and Stream alcohol ink to create the background. The tree stamp is from a Kan ban set called Spring Silhouettes. I stamped this over the frame before clear embossing. I then rubbed in Weathered Shutters, Evergreen Bough and Black Soot distress ink.

Grungey Monday Alcohol Ink Challenge

I've had a great week updating my blog. Thanks to everyone for the very encouraging comments. Here is my entry for this weeks Grungey Monday Challenge. It's a little gift box made from an acetate sheet which I cut using my pazzles machine. It's coloured with red pepper and wild plum alcohol ink. I've used Tims technique from his August 2008 challenge.I've stamped it with various butterflies and flourishes from an Artemio set of stamps. I made the flower using the Tattered Florals die.It's also cut from acetate and backed with sticky backed foil tape this made it a little more flexible and I was able to curl the petals.

I added the butterfly after over stamping an off cut of the acetate, with an Artemio stamp and cutting it out by hand. I quite enjoyed experimenting with this technique, though I did wipe it all off and start again after my first try!