Twelve Tags Of 2016 Re-Mix Challenge ~ April

Hi everybody !Whoop whoop! It's time for another great Tim Tag. For this months re-mix challenge, Tim has gone back in time to March 2012 and November 2015 and combined two great techniques, 'faux mosaic' and 'paint resist'. You can see Tim's fabulous work by following this link . Tim has updated the techniques by using his Distress Mosaic Kit and Distress Wood Grain Card Stock. I've used a few improvisations on my tag, but have stuck pretty close to Tim's. I was going for a 'broken china' look on my bird, using off cuts from the gorgeous Correspondence Paper Stash. I've scrolled back through my blog posts to see how I interpreted Tim's original tags and here they are........

This is my March 2012 tag and here is November 2015 with the paint resist technique in the background.......

Not long to wait for the next of Tim's re-mixes. I'm really enjoying these little trips going 'back to the future !' x

Trash to Treasure ~ Stamps and Stencils ~ New Challenge.

Hi everybody! It's the first Thursday of the month and of course, that means it's time for a new challenge over at  Stamps and Stencils. This month Autumn is our talented hostess and she has put together a fantastic challenge which she has called Trash to Treasure. This is what she has to say about it........

Don't we all love a good upcycled project?  This month at Stamps & Stencils we'd love to see how you take something that you'd normally discard and give it new life in your art.  Whether it's glamorizing boxes, turning Styrofoam into a stamp, diecutting your packaging, or another idea you have.  Bring on your best mixed media repurposing!  We can't wait to see what you come up!  Don't forget to use stamps or stencils in your project.

If you have arrived here from the Stamps and Stencils blog, you may already know what I have used to make my project, if not, then have a look at the steps I used to make this picture frame which was inspired from a little Victorian tin photograph I picked up from our local junk shop. Here it is....

Quite adorable don't you think? The shop had a few of these little pictures and some consisted of two portraits side by side, unfortunately these were beyond my budget so I decided to make my own. These are some of the materials I used.....

Yes that's right, tea bags and  a couple of tomato paste tubes ! this is how I got started.....

I dried out, then emptied some used teabags. We tend to drink Green Tea in our house, so the used teabags are quite pale in colour. I cut a small slit in one side so that I could empty out the tea and preserve the shape of the tea bag and then used an iron to flatten them. Since discovering the joy to be found on the inside of a tomato paste tube, I save them all! To prepare them, I cut off the top and bottom, cut up one side and wash in soapy water. I then flatten out the tubes with something like a wooden spoon or in this case, the flat handle of a paintbrush.

I stamped a couple of the teabags with these images, using stamps from a set by Katzelkraft. They're quirky and I just love them ! I then ran the tomato paste tubes through my Big Shot, using an oldie but goody, embossing folder by Cuttlebug.

I used an oval Sizzix die to cut out a frame, and coated the surface with Deco art Antiquing Fluid.

I then adhered each of the stamped teabags to off cuts of mount board with gel medium. I also cut a couple of extra pieces of mount board for the outside covers. I lined up the oval frame to the stamped image and wrapped the extra metal around the board. No need for any glue at this stage. I repeated with the second image and then turned my attention to the covers......

For these, I used a piece of brown packaging paper, the sort that comes screwed up, in those lovely boxes of crafty purchases. I've accumulated quite a lot of these ! I stenciled the surface with gold acrylic paint, using one of Wendy Vecchi's stencils. Once the paint was dry, I sprayed it with Vintage Photo Distress Spray. I also sprayed a length of seam binding, to use for the hinge and closure.

I used matte gel medium to adhere the stenciled paper to the outside covers and then adhered them to the backs of the frames, using Helmar 360 Quick Dry Glue. I also sandwiched the seam binding between the layers.

As a finishing touch, I added a metal frame with a sentiment created with Tim Holtz rub ons, on top of a piece of teabag. I then used a piece of transparent packaging over the sentiment, and secured it to the front with Glossy Accents. 

And that's how I turned my Trash into Treasure ! Believe me, there is something very satisfying about reworking simple items that would otherwise be thrown away. If you fancy having a go at turning your trash into treasure, then we'd love to see what you get up to. Hop over to the Stamps and Stencils Blog, where you'll find some fantastic inspiration from the rest of the design team, as well as the challenge guidelines. Come on .... you know you want to ......x

Twelve Tags of 2016 Remix ~ March

Hi everybody! The end of the month is fast approaching, so I thought it was about time I posted my tag, for Tim's Twelve Tags of 2016 Technique Remix challenge.This month, Tim has mixed it up with 'textures' and 'dimensional die cuts', as featured on  his November and August tags in 2015. Making this tag, gave me the opportunity to try out the new Distress Crayons. I couldn't wait to get my hands on these, I think I'm going to need a bit of practice as they are very different from the other Distress products but I'm looking forward to making further experiments! Below, are pictures of the tags I made last year, using the techniques Tim has 'remixed' . I can see that the combination of last years and this years tags, are going to build into a fantastically comprehensive resource. 

 August 2015

 November 2015

I'm looking forward to seeing what Tim will have in store for April, not too long to wait! x

Anyone for a Cup of Tea ? ~ New Post for Stamps and Stencils

Good morning! It's my turn to inspire you over on the Stamps and Stencils blog. If you'd like to see how I got from this......

 to this..........

then grab a cup of tea and hop over to the Stamps and Stencils blog, with this link, and I'll show you.
See you there x

Play Time !

Hi everybody! I've got altered wooden, book box for you today, inspired by the work of Andy Skinner. I've recently signed up for Andy and Tracey (Weinzapfel) 'Dare to Create' art retreat in July and I'm excited already ! I've been interested in Andy's work for sometime but I've managed to miss his last few UK workshops, so I'm thrilled to be going, and meeting not only Andy but Tracey too, Whoop, whoop! I thought I'd get in a little practice, by joining in with  Andy's Bold and Bright challenge. full details can be found over on his blog. I started off with a blank wooden Memory Box Book, I bought from The Works. 

Initially I painted it with Deco Art Media Fluid in Quinacridone Magenta. It's a gorgeous colour but I could see immediately that it was missing something.... Texture !  I used strips recycled tissue paper and adhered it to the surface with Deco Art Media Matte Medium, manipulating it to create texture as I went along.

I then painted the surface with Primary Yellow Fluid Acrylic. Once this was dry, I gave it a coat of Weathered Wood Medium and then a top coat of the Quinacridone Magenta, and waited for the magic to begin......

Here is the back and a panel I created for the inside to hold the cogs.

I mixed up a bit of Quinacridone Gold and Paynes Grey Media fluid with a dash of Antiquing Fluid, and brush.ed this over the surface to give it a bit of depth. Once this was dry I sealed it with Ultra-Matte Varnish.

Here is my selection of cogs, These are a selection of kraft card die cuts and metal cogs. I applied a thin coat of Deco art Crackle Paste to the surface of each one and then painted them with a selection of Media Fluid Acrylics. I finished  them off by brushing over some of the tinted Antiquing fluid I used on the box. I painted the metal cogs with Media Fluid Acrylics and whilst they were still wet , I applied clear embossing powder and heated until the powder and paint started to bubble.

I used heavy duty dimensional tape to attach the cogs to my prepared background, i also used the same tape to attach the panel inside the book.

I added some metal corners, and a label. The 'handle' is a butterfly nut, adhered to a couple of metal cogs. After puzzling about what to do with the sides of the box, I decided to use some strips of sheet music. I adhered it to the sides, and gave it a coat of the tinted Antiquing Fluid. As a finishing touch, to the sides, I painted on some  Deco Art Crackle Glaze, and rubbed  some black Antiquing cream into the fine cracks. 

and finally here's the inside.....

The back of the cog panel and a piece of card cut to fit the other side, were painted with Quinacridone Magenta, then stenciled with Andy's Serendipity stencil, and stamped over with his Industrial stamp set. I think that's everything.Well, I really enjoyed  altering this memory box, and giving it a kind of colourful, Steampunk restyle. I also enjoyed my two trips to Hobby Craft to arm myself with some lovely Deco Art products ! I'm going to enter this into Andy's Bold and Bright challenge where there are some awesome prizes and blog badges to be won. As my box book has a bit of  Steampunk style, I'm also going to post it over on Sandee and Amelie 's Steampunk Challenge blog for their 'Anything Goes Challenge, where there are also fab prizes by Deco Art and Boozy Bear ! Until next time... have fun ! x

Spring is in the Air ~ Stamps and Stencils ~ New Challenge

Well the months are starting to race away and I can barely believe it's March already! Still, at least it's now officially 'Spring'. The beginning of the month also heralds a new challenge over at Stamps and Stencils. Our fabulous host this month is Rachel and  her challenge title is 'Spring is in the Air'. This is what Rachel has to say.....

'I want you to think about what the coming of Spring means to you? Is it a colour burst, or maybe flowers? Whatever it is I would like you to show us in a mixed media piece, including stamping or stenciling or both !'

For me, Spring is the time of year when everything starts to come alive... including me! I'm definitely not a Winter person. So my project is reflection on the vibrancy of Spring. I started off by making four backgrounds.....

I sprayed four pieces of card with various shades of Dylusions Sprays. I then used a variety of background stamps and stencils in deeper shades of Distress Inks. Once everything was dry, I die cut the four pieces using a Sizzix Accordion die. It was nice to give this an airing as I haven't used it for a while.

I then used a selection of stamps from Indigo Blu and Artemio, to stamp the images onto each panel, using Black Archival ink. The die cuts were a little messy on the back where they had been splashed and spattered with ink, so I decided to cut four more in black card and adhere them together. This also made each piece a little more substantial. I then joined each of the pieces together to make the accordion card.

Whilst I love getting down and dirty with pastes and other tactile media, it's really nice to get back to some basic stamping and inking with a project like as this. So now it's over to you ! If you'd like to join in with our Spring is in the Air challenge, then hop over to the Stamps and Stencils blog where you'll find the challenge details as well as some fantastic inspiration by the rest of the design team. You have a whole month to get involved and we would love to see your projects!  So,until next time, happy crafting ! x

Twelve Tags of 2016 ~ Technique Remix ~ February

Hi everybody ! well we are nearing the end of the month and I thought it was about time I posted my February tag for Tim's Twelve Tags of 2016 challenge. I'm loving Tim's Technique Remix ! This month he has chosen to mix it up with Monoprinting and Embossed Texture Paste. You can see his gorgeous tag by following this link. I've stuck fairly closely to Tim's original idea and just used a few substitutes here and there. I've also used a rather long quote from a W B Yeats poem, a particular favourite of mine. It fits the story I have in my head, for the woman in the Photo Booth picture. I feel that she just has that look of vulnerability  in her eyes.

 Once again a great fun tag to make and a chance to brush up on some technique skills, Keep 'em coming Tim ! x

Splatter, Spritz, Smoosh ! ~ New Challenge for Stamps and Stencils

Hi everybody! It's time for our new February challenge over at Stamps and Stencils. Sue is our very talented host this month and she has chosen 'Splatter,Spritz, Smoosh'. I'm sure you'll agree, that this is a great challenge theme. After all, what piece of self respecting, mixed media work doesn't contain a bit of splatter,a touch of spritz and a swipe of smoosh ! I think there's a lot of fun to be had with this theme. I certainly enjoyed making this vintage style Valentine, accordion card. .

 I started off with a piece of card measuring 16 x 4 and scored it at 4 inch intervals. I then dabbed Distress inks on my craft mat, 'spritzed' them with water and 'smooshed' the card through the colours. This great technique from Tim Holtz, is the foundation of so many of my paper craft projects. I blended a little Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink around the edges to add to the vintage look.I rather cheated with my 'splatters' and used a set of Indigo Blu stamps, called Ink Splats. They're very cute and just the right size for this project.I used a few bottle tops to create some additional circles, and stamped the text using Tim's Ledger Script Stamps.....such a useful set of stamps. I made a little tag and a small envelope with the same technique, minus the text stamping.

The rather wistful image of woman, was something I downloaded from the internet. I made the heart with a piece of embossed, aluminium foiled, card. I 'splattered' some Distress Paint on the surface, left it to dry and then lightly sanded the surface.

The butterfly was made in the same way. Once all the elements were adhered to the card I tucked  a little stamp ticket into the envelope and a tag into the heart. A couple of finishing touches, such as the mother of pearl button on the heart and the game spinner on the butterfly and my valentine card is almost good to go. The back of the card is also rather splattered but not in a pretty way, so I shall cover it with some nice printed paper. Hmmmm! now who to send it to? I suppose after nearly 36 years of marriage, it better be my DH !
If you fancy having a bit of a Splatter, Spritz and Smoosh, hop over to the Stamps and Stencils blog where you'll see some fantastic work from the rest of the design team, as well as all the challenge details. Just remember to use some stamping or stenciling or both ! We'd love to see what you create !

Twelve Tags of 2016 Remix Challenge ~ January

Hi everybody ! I finally found some time to devote to making my first tag of the year, for Tim's Twelve Tags of 2016 Remix Challenge. This year, Tim has added to the challenge by combining two techniques from the previous year, in a what he describes as a 'technique remix'. This is a great idea as it will give us all a chance to revisit some fantastic techniques. You can see Tim's fabulous January tag and read about the the new challenge by following this link. For me this month has been a little bitter sweet, as Tim has combined one of my favourite techniques, Industrious Metal, with my least favourite, Chalkboard. So what can I say it's been a bit of a challenge. It took me several attempts  to conquer the chalkboard ! Do you think it's because I'm a teacher? maybe I've got an aversion to chalk !

 The ones that got away !

Having Fun with Gesso Over at Stamps and Stencils

Hi everybody! It's my turn to inspire you over on the Stamps and Stencils blog. I've chosen to have a play with gesso and I have to tell you, I'm pretty pleased by what I've discovered about this lovely stuff ! It's got so many possibilities. I can see that the big pot I've just been using to prime my canvasses, is going to get an awful lot more use now. If you'd like to know how you can get more out of your gesso, hop over to the Stamps and Stencils blog. You might just want to grab a cuppa first as there are lots of pictures! hope to see you there.x

Oh So Blue ~ Stamps and Stencils ~ New Challenge ~ January

Happy New Year everybody! I'm just wondering where the last year went. Still it's onwards and upwards and what better way to start the new year with, than a new challenge from Stamps and Stencils. Cec is our talented host this month and she has chosen the title 'Oh So Blue'. You can see her gorgeous journal page here. There's nothing like a bit of crafting to chase those January blues away!   My project consists of this mixed media canvas,using several different blue media. Unfortunately my camera was out of action during the making of this piece ( no panic just a very flat battery!) so, I'll zoom in and just outline the different processes I've used.

The canvas substrate was firstly painted with dark blue acrylic paint, once dry I added a coat of crackle paint medium and then added a top coat of Paperartsy Fresco Finish Paint, in Mermaid. Once all the lovely cracks had appeared, I decided to give it a deeper blue colour by brushing on a thinned coat of Luminarte Silks Acrylic Glaze. This also had the advantage of adding a nice pearly sheen.

The next layer is a piece of manila card which has been coloured with Ultramarine  Brushos. I embossed the card using one of my favourite Tim Holtz embossing folders, I then used Treasure gold to highlight the textured surface, and added a bit of vintaging around the edges with Distress Ink

 The heart was hand cut from corrugated card, and heat embossed, using the Wonderful Wendy Vecchi's  faux granite ware technique. Follow this link to learn from the master. After heat embossing it, I stamped over the surface using Black Archival Ink and a stamp from  Andy Skinner's 'Industrial' set. I really like this stamp as you can achieve an aged cracked effect in an instant.

I tucked a little piece of muslin behind the heart before securing it to the background. The butterfly, is a die cut from Tim's Butterfly Duo. This is a Bigz Die with a corresponding embossing folder. I initially heat embossed the butterfly, with copper embossing powder but felt I was moving too far away from Cec's 'blue' theme. I also wanted to give it a bit more oomph! I got out my Indigo Blu Flitter Glue and Winter Dawn Mega Flakes, and pulled out a few flakes that had some beautiful shades of blue and copper, I love the effect this has created. I used a rust finished pointer for the body and adhered the little gem for some added blueness!

 My final embellishment is the word 'Remember'. I used one of Tim's Framed Alpha Parts and gave it a rust finish. I chose this word as I have some happy memories of 2015. One in particular was the Wendy Vecchi workshop my bestest crafting buddy and I, attended in the summer. we had a a great weekend in London topped off with a super event where I was able to meet some of my UK crafting heroes. Our Sue being one of them ! So come on folks shake off those blues with a bit of total immersion. Hop over to the Stamps and Stencils blog where you'll find some fantastic inspiration by the team as well as all the challenge guidelines. I'm looking forward to seeing your creations ! x

Twelve Tags of 2015 ~ December ~ The Final Tag !

With hardly any time to spare, I have just completed my final tag of the year for Tim's Twelve Tags of 2015. You can see his fabulous December tag by following this link. It's been a great year for the Twelve Tags Challenge, with, as usual, some ingenious creative ideas from Tim. I'm pleased with myself  that I've managed to complete yet another year of tags. This one has a few improvisations. I haven't any of the lovely punches that Tim has used on his tag. It's sometimes hard for us in the UK, to keep up with new products as they are often in limited supply and you have to be pretty quick off the mark to grab them. Still I'm glad I was able to use the Box Wood Twine, I'd bought a while ago. I used the Poinsettia Layering Stencil in the background as this has been a firm favourite for my Christmas cards this year. I've given them some gold centres by dotting with a gold leaf pen. I made a lot of these little Christmas trees last year after they were sold out just about everywhere. I used sisal string, wire and a hand drill.This is one of three that were left over. I trimmed it so that it would lie flat and glued it on with my glue gun. This is what I did with the other two.....

I was thrilled when I saw Tim's trophy cup project, as it was perfect for these two little cups I bought earlier this year from our local junk shop. I knew they'd come in handy!

Well that's it for this year. Thank you Tim for all the inspiration you have given us this year. May you have a wonderful 2016 !!!! x

Grungy Christmas ~ New Challenge at Stamps and Stencils

Hello everybody ! It's time for our final challenge of the year over at Stamps and Stencils. If you've been over there, you may have seen that there are going to be some changes as we go into the New Year. Sadly we are saying good bye to three of our lovely team, the very talented ladies, Julia, Yvonne and Sharon are moving on. I'm sure that like me, you have enjoyed seeing their fabulous projects over the last year.  Luckily for the rest of our team we have manged to lure in not just three but four wonderfully talented ladies to step into those big shoes ! You may already know that Cec has joined us, and our other new teamies are, Autumn, Branka and Rachel. It's going to be a lot of fun getting to know them.
So now on to this month's challenge. Julia is our host and she has chosen a 'Grungy Christmas' as the theme. You can see by my altered gift box, that I definitely got stuck into the 'grungy' part of the title! I chose to alter an empty box, which originally had some posh soaps in. This was a Christmas present I received last year and try as I may, I just can't bring myself to throw a good box away! here is the 'before' picture......

I used a technique I learned at one of Finnabair's workshops, I love her distinctive style and this project pays homage to her. I gave the box a coat of black gesso before stencilling over the surface with thick gel matte medium.

Once this was dry, I applied more black gesso and then started to assemble all the bits and pieces I used to decorate the surface. I played around with a few arrangements and once satisfied, I adhered each piece, using a hot glue gun.

As you can see, there are a variety of different materials, metal, resin and plastic, chipboard and wood. Once everything was secured, I then painted everything with even more black gesso! once this was dry, I spritzed on a bit of gold spray.

I then painted selected areas with iron paint. This came as part of a two pack rusting kit. The kit contains a bottle of iron paint and a bottle of oxidising solution. The one I have is by Triangle Crafts and it's called Instant Rust Set. the great thing about it, is that it creates real rust and you never quite know how it's going to turn out ! 

Here's how it looked before I got started with some metallic pastes .....

I used Treasure Gold and Inca Gold to highlight certain areas, and buffed the surface to add a bit of sheen here and there. I added a few bits of bling  here and there using pearls, and gems. After all it wouldn't be Christmas without a bit of bling !

So there you have it my Grungy Christmas gift box ready to have some goodies put inside, Question is can I bear to part with it ? If you fancy some Grungy Christmas fun, hop over to the Stamps and Stencils blog and you'll find all the details of how to join in the challenge. You'll find some fantastic work by the rest of the current team and also have an opportunity to meet  Autumn, Branka and Rachel.