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

http://www.vintagejourney.com/2015/01welcome-toni-a-guest-creative-guide.html 

Compendium of Curiosities 3 ~ Challenge 20~ Distress Water Colour ~ Part 2

Hi everybody! It's been a few weeks since I've joined in the fabulous Compendium of Curiosities Volume 3 Challenge, so I thought I'd better get my finger out and get on it! Linda and the Curiosity Crew are on challenge 20 already and like many people, I really don't want it to end!
The Crew have chosen the technique of 'Distress Water Colour part 2'. This can be found on page 40 of Tim's Compendium of Curiosities Volume 3. If you want to know how to water colour like Tim, you'll have to grab a copy of his book, which you can order directly from the master, by following this link. This fortnight's challenge is sponsored by by The Funkie Junkie Boutique, to the tune of a fabulous  $25 gift certificate for one randomly drawn entry. There is also a box of assorted goodies, donated by Tim and Mario, for the Curiosity Crew's favourite.
I've made this little triptych with some stamps I received for free in a goody bag. I love these vintage images. Here are a couple of close ups

Well there you have it ! Challenge #20 completed. I hope I'll be back to join in with #21. happy crafting everyone 1 x

Twelve Tags of 2015 ~ January

Hi everybody! it's a little late in the month but let me wish a happy new year of Tim's Twelve Tags of 2015, to all you devotees of this fabulous challenge. This will be my fourth year of joining in and I don't think I've missed one, (I will be checking later to see if this is true!) Tim has got us of to a great start with this first tag. You can see Tim's tag by clicking on this link. I've followed Tim's tag fairly closely, with a few substitutions for items I haven't got. That's one of things I love about this challenge, you can follow Tim to the letter or you can do your own thing. Which ever path you choose it's guaranteed to be fun. It also has the added bonus of learning a great deal along the way. Many thanks to you,Tim, for hosting this brilliant challenge for yet another year !

Flower Power ~ New Challenge at The Artist Trading Post Exchange

It's time for a new challenge over at the Artist Trading Post Exchange. Julia is our lovely host, and she has chosen  to brighten up these winter days, with a wonderful theme, 'Flower Power'. If you love making flowers, this challenge will be right up your street.  Make a project featuring handmade flowers, include stamping somewhere on your work, no digis please, and share it with us over at the Artist Trading Post Exchange. There is a £10 gift certificate to spend at the fabulous Artist Trading Post, for the team's favourite project.
I've had a lot of fun, firstly emptying and then recycling this little round chocolate box. Christmas is a great time to add to your stash of interesting boxes, this one was just perfect for up-cycling. this is what it looked like before I got to work.

Firstly, I removed the label and then lightly sanded the smooth surface, before painting it with white gesso. I decided to leave the bottom half as it was. The lid fits quite snugly and I wasn't sure if painting the bottom half would affect the way it fitted together. Once the gesso was dry, I painted on a base coat of brown acrylic paint and left it to dry. I then applied Crackle Glaze, left this to dry and then added a top coat, which is a mixture of Vintage Lace and Concrete Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Paints. I love seeing the cracks appear as the top coat dries. This is what it looked like....

In order to give it a more vintage look, I blended in a little Potting Soil Archival Ink. I then started to dress the lid up a bit. I adhered  a black ribbon around the middle and edged it, either side, with  a narrow cotton lace. I then  made a stamped label using one of the stamps from Tim's Travel Labels set.

The roses were a little challenge I set myself. I wondered if it was possible to make them using the Jumbo Tattered Pine Cone die and yes it is. It's not quite as easy as making the smaller ones, as there is so much more card to gather in. I used a light weight manila card for the die cuts, which I firstly sprayed with Antique linen and Tattered Rose Distress Sprays. If you haven't tried making roses with the smaller Tattered Pine Cone Die, Tim has an easy to follow tutorial on his blog which you can view with this link. I used the same method but secured the layers as I went along, using my glue gun. The pink flower  was made with the smaller Tattered Pine Cone Die, so you can see the difference in size between the two dies.

I love making flowers, so I am pleased to add this new one to my repertoire. The leaves were cut from the Jumbo Tattered Florals Die and once again sprayed with Distress Ink, this time with the addition of one of the metallic sprays, Tarnished Brass. I added a little stamped tag to continue the Parisian theme. So there you have it my vintage chocolate box, I imagine that it could have been left on the sumptuous feather pillow, in the bedroom of some swanky hotel in Paris, filled with delicious hand made chocs.... Yes, I think this would feature in the life I have imagined !! Now it's over to you. Hop over to the Artist Trading Post Exchange blog and you'll find full details of how to join in this fortnight's challenge. If you want to purchase some of the items I've used to up-cycle my choc box, just click on the highlighted links and you'll be transported to the fabulous Artist Trading Post Shop. so until next time.... au revoir !

Artist Trading Post Exchange ~ Fresh Beginnings

Happy New Year folks ! Sue is the fabulous host of the first challenge of the year, over at the Artist Trading Post Exchange.  She has chosen the title 'Fresh Beginnings', and is asking us to try something new. This could be a new product, a new technique or maybe something new to alter. You know the score... just let your imagination fly ! Just remember...... to be eligible to win a £10 gift voucher for the well stocked, Artist Trading Post  you must include some stamping on your project and please, no digis.
For my  'Fresh Beginnings', I decided to try something I've been wanting to do for ages and that is to make an art doll. as you can see I ended up making two as it was so much fun. I used a free template I found on The Enchanted Gallery click on this link if you'd like to take a look at the fabulous designs Kimberley has on her website. After printing out the template on thin card, I cut out the pieces I needed and drew around each one onto a piece of kraft card. I then cut these out and glued them onto book pages.

I gave them a light coat of Antique Linen Distress Paint, mixed with a little white gesso.

I applied foil tape to the tails and ran them through my Big Shot, using a Tim Holtz Riveted Metal embossing folder and a cogs and gears folder from my stash. I then blended several colours of Adirondack Alcohol Ink onto each tail. Once dry, I rubbed over the surfaces with wire wool, exposing some of the shiny foil surface. I love the results of this technique. Now for the faces, I must say I'm rather pleased with myself with these......

 The paperback book I've been using, conveniently, has 4 or 5 blank pages at the end. I used one of these to stamp the faces  with  black Archival Ink, using a stamp I've had for ages. It's a pretty face but has closed eyes, which wasn't really what I wanted for these goddesses. As an experiment, I lightly sketched open eyes onto the stamped eyelids and then went over my sketch with a fine black pen. Genius or what ! ha ha, not perfect I know, but quite acceptable. I gave the lips and cheeks a little colour with  Distress Marker ink, applied with a Detail Water Brush. I then cut out the faces and adhered them to the dolls heads.

I then constructed each goddess, using Long Fasteners to attach the arms, and Matte Multi Medium to attach the tails to the bodies. I then  added a few embellishments to each one. Their hair was cut from Tim's Holiday Greens Die and embossed with Wendy Vecchi's embossing powder.

Here is goddess number 1..

..and here is number 2....

Watching these to come together has been quite  joyous. I'm sure I'll be making some more. Now if you fancy trying something different, we'd love to see your work. Hop over to the Artist Trading Post Exchange with this link, and show us your Fresh Beginnings, who knows you could be our winner !

If you'd like to purchase some of the materials I've used, click on the highlighted links and you'll be transported to the Artist Trading Post online shop. The free art doll templates can be found here  http://www.theenchantedgallery.com/paperdolls.html Happy creating ! x

12 Tags of 2014 ~ December~ Final Tag of the Year

Well here it is with only a few hours to spare, my final tag of Tim's Twelve Tags of 2014 Challenge! I was beginning to think I wouldn't make it but there is no way I would allow myself not to submit this last tag. The month of December seems to have been busier than ever. Fortunately I found a few spare moments today and set too. I was able to gather quite a few bits and pieces for this tag from the left overs of my Christmas card making. I didn't want to waste this lovely snowflake. Unfortunately I haven't managed to capture even a speck of it's glitteriness but time's running out and I should be putting my glad rags on ready to join our friends at the local pub to bring in the New Year!
 I'm so happy that Tim is going to continue to inspire us all with the launch of The Twelve Tags of 2015  Wow that's got a nice ring to it. So thank you Tim for a great year of wonderful projects, and thanks also to Mario, who keeps everything ticking along very nicely !  Happy New Year to you both and to all my lovely blog friends, I'm sorry to have neglected eveyone recently, I'm looking forward to some visiting and catching up ! x

'Let's Celebrate ! ' ~ Artist Trading Post ~ New Challenge.

Hi everybody! It's my turn to host the new challenge over on the Artist Trading Post Exchange blog. I've chosen the theme ... 'Let's Celebrate !' I hope everyone will be looking forward to celebrating something during the coming year ! We'd love to see your celebration crafty makes. It could be a card, a layout or piece of altered art. Just let your imagination fly! There's a £10 gift token for the Artist Trading Post for one lucky winner and the good news is that this challenge will run until the 7th of January, so there's plenty of time to get involved. Full details and challenge rules can be found on the Artist Trading Post Exchange blog by following this link. I've chosen to make this festive panel in honour of the impending Christmas celebrations and this is how I did it.........
Firstly, I created a textured surface by applying scrunched up book pages, which I adhered with Matte Gel Medium.

I must say I love this new Sizzix Prancing Deer! I die cut him out of thick card, and used Kraft card to cut the small deer, trees, lamp post and branches. 
Earlier this year, I was lucky enough to attend one of Finnabair's workshops. Since then I have been itching to revisit some of the techniques Anna shared with us. So with this in mind, I attached several cogs and a few found objects to the panel, using Heavy Bodied Gel Medium. Once dry, I adhered the trees, large reindeer and  lamp post . I then coated the whole surface with Black Gesso

Now..... at this point, my panel was going in a whole different direction to the one I finally arrived at. Initially, I painted the surface with a variety of rather lovely Ferro Metallic Paints. You can just see the green paint in this picture. I didn't take any further pictures but suffice it to say, I wasn't really happy with the results. The following day, I went back to it and gave the surface a couple of coats of white gesso. I then dry brushed  the back ground and frame with Distress Paint in Antique Linen and Ice Spruce. I also started to adhere a few more elements. As this process is pretty sticky, I didn't get round to taking many photos but I felt much happier with the way it was developing. Once everything was dry and secure, the fun really began when I got to work with my Treasure Gold colours.

I used a small bristle brush to work the metallic pastes into the surface.  The colours I've used  are, White Fire, Aquamarine, Spanish Topaz, Royal Amethyst and Onyxite. 

I used a heat gun to fix  the Treasure Gold, before buffing carefully with a soft cloth wrapped around my finger. The metal flowers are  from Finnabair's Vintage Mechanicals range. I used some pearls from my stash for the centres. To finish off, I stamped a brick wall stamp with  clear Versa Mark ink, in patches around the frame and heat embossed with silver and gold embossing powder mixed together. I also added a stamped sentiment to the bottom edge. My final finishing touch, was a light dusting of Clear Rock Candy Distress Stickles dry Glitter. Unfortunately I haven't managed to capture the lovely twinkling shimmer. 

So now folks it's over to you. I hope you'll find a little time over the next few weeks to share your  celebration makes with us over on the Artist Trading Post Exchange blog. If you'd like to purchase any of the products I've used, just click on the highlighted links and you'll be transported straight to the Artist Trading Post. I 'll be seeing you again...... soon ! x 

Twelve Tags of 2014 ~ November

Once again ! Who can believe that it's the last day of November ! I've had a busy but enjoyable week, with visitors, a meal out and lunch with good friends, all fitted in between going to work and a few snatched hours crafting. So in the spirit of  what is fast becoming my motto... 'better late than never'... here is my contribution to Tim's Twelve Tags of 2014 November tag. You can see Tim's fabulous Autumn inspired tag here. I've changed it a little as I haven't got the lovely Layered Leaf Set. I decided on the heart shape, as quite frankly, it was the easiest shape for me to cut freehand, and anyway who doesn't love the symbol of a heart, it can say so much. After embossing the tag with this swirly design, I tapped a little embossing ink over the surface, using the back of a piece of Cut and Dry Foam, before using the Sticky Embossing Powder and gold foil, I love this effect and I'm sure I'll be using it more often  as I love a bit of bling ! x

Recycle for Christmas ~ New Challenge ! ~ Artist Trading Post Exchange.

Yvonne is hosting the new challenge over at the Artist Trading Post Exchange and she has chosen the theme of 'Recycle for Christmas'. Her beautiful project can be seen on the blog by following this link. You'll also find the challenge rules and details of how you can join in and maybe win a £10 gift voucher for The Artist Trading Post shop. Now if there is one thing I love it's crafty recycling. I find it's almost as much fun as buying new stash.  For my project I've used three of my favourite recycled items, I wonder if you can spot them ? Let's see how I got started....

Here is favourite item No 1. I always save these little cube boxes from my 'go to' face cream. After opening this one out I gave it a coat of Heavy White Gesso. This is nice and  thick and necessary as  the surface of the box  has a slick finish. Whilst it was drying I turned my attention to what is probably my all time favourite recycling item... No 2.. tomato puree tubes...

As soon as a tube is finished, I cut the top and bottom off, as well as a thin strip down one side. I then open out the tube and rinse off the remaining tomato puree. You just need to be a little careful as the edges might be a little sharp. I found a great way to flatten the tubes by running them through my Big Shot. I placed a closed embossing folder on the base platform, with my metal 'sandwich' lined up on top. The metal is very soft and can be embossed as well as die-cut with the Sizzix Bigz or Movers and Shapers dies.

I used the Tattered Poinsettia Die to cut these layers of petals.

.....Back to my box.... I used Tim Holtz's Harlequin Layering Stencil and a mixture of Barn Door and Festive Berries Distress paint over the surface of the box. I let this first coat dry and then re-positioned the stencil covering the red paint, and stencilled with Tarnished Brass. I first saw this idea last year on the wonderful Paula Cheney's blog.

Once this was all dry, I blended in some Vintage photo Distress Ink, this fills in any white spaces and deepens the colours, giving a lovely rich effect. I then used the Tim Holtz Christmas Layering Stencil with Black Archival Ink,  I then re-folded my box and glued it back together. I blended a little Black Soot Distress on the edges, for a more vintage look, before layering up my metal poinsettia.

Before adhering the flower to the top of the box, I stamped a small die cut label and attached it to the top using my favourite recycled item No 3.... I save those little pieces of ribbon that are attached to the inside of clothes, sad, I know, but I'm sure I'm not the only  person that does this. Worse thing is I'm sure these little pieces of ribbon have  actually influenced me into buying something !

Box number two has been made in a similar way but with a single layer of stenciling using the Holiday Knits Layering Stencil

I also added some snowflake die cuts which have been covered with very fine glitter.

 Ihope my recycled boxes will inspire you to get out some of those bits and bobs you've been hoarding. If you hop over to the Artist Trading Post blog, you'll find some amazing ways of turning your 'trash' into 'treasure' . If you'd like to join in the fun and have the chance to win a £10 gift voucher for The Artist Trading Post shop, you will find all the details and challenge rules by following the link here. Please remember to include some stamping, as projects without stamping,  won't be eligible to win the prize or be featured our top 3 favourites. So with that said remember the crafter's motto... 'don't throw that away, it might be useful !' x