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Wednesday 20 April 2011

Tag Tuesday - Happy Easter

It's Tag Tuesday again and this weeks challenge is "Happy Easter" not a difficult theme at all, but the more I pondered on my design ideas I realised that I haven't got anything bunny, egg, daffodil related, in fact I had nothing from my vast rubber stamp collection that I could relate to Easter at all. Time to ponder a little harder.  As I trundled round the house Tuesday evening I found myself singing "on my Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it"......... (over and over as I only know the first 2 lines of the song) and my idea was born.


Easter Parade
 I started by printing the sheet music from the internet and stuck it to card before running it through my vagabond with Tim's tag alterations die (a must have purchase). It was then distressed with scattered straw, spiced marmalade and vintage photo, applied a decorative mask and applied more spiced marmalade. I then set about making my Easter bonnets. I had a red 1/12th scaled hat which I cut in half and painted with a straw coloured Fresco paint, then decorated accordingly from flowers from my stash. My willing models were cut from Artchixs printed sheets. I then returned to the internet and downloaded the lyrics, I at least now know more than the first 2 lines........, cut them out and added them to my tag. The feather was freshly pulled from a very unwilling chicken, who will probably now refuse to lay in protest. Well if nothing else it might reduce my current egg mountain, who would have thought that 12 chickens could lay so many eggs!!!!!! current egg situation is free eggs to all who know me, I digress..........
finally 3 Tim Holtz fragments and ribbon from my stash.
Does anyone still have Easter Bonnet contests? reminds me of my childhood.

You can see in the 2nd photo the dimension that the hats give this tag.

Also just like to wish everyone a happy Easter,

Sunday 17 April 2011

Blog Challenge 'Tastic

I am really getting inspired by all the craft blogs out in Blog land, and more so with the challenges that are set for us crafters, should we choose to accept! I would love to join in them all but time is constantly against me. So I am taking a very bold (or stupid) move and entering my one piece of work into 3 blog challenges. Those challenges are:- Sunday Stamper run by Hels Sheriden, Challenge is Love - products and techniques, Simon says Stamps where the challenge is distressing and finally The Artistic Stamper  where the challenge is layers.

So here goes............................  

                                                


For those Tim holtz fans out there you will see the majority of the card has been made up with his items. I love his alterations die Caged bird, here I have painted it in antigue linen and distressed over it with walnut stain distress ink. I just love the crackle this gives to the cage. The background has torn strips of old book pages stuck to it and has then been stamped with his new Papillon rubber stamps, an instant favourite, and then wrapped with garden twine before attaching the top piece to the card. Other items of Tims include fragments with artchixs pictures adhered with glossy accents. Tissue tape, how did I survive before without this?, metal tag painted with black, and the sentiment.
Non tim items are Martha Stewart butterfly punch, some vintage lace and paper flower from my stash.The tag is a Doohickey die from Magnolia. All papers have been distressed with distress inks, some added through sequin waste, the edges distressed with tonic distress tool and then inked with walnut stain. The photo doesnt show the colours off at there best however much I try to adjust the exposure of the picture but I hope that you get the idea, like most peoples work, we are not photographers and the photo's never quite do justice to our work.

Thursday 14 April 2011

WOYWW - Life's to short for a tidy desk!

Welcome to my first posting on Whats on your Workdesk? Wednesday. As my first posting on Julias blog Stamping Ground, I thought I would not only show my messy desk, but my messy room!!! My room is still displaying the aftershock of making a birthday card for my dads birthday. Well if I was honest its the aftershock of a few more projects than that!!! This weekends mission before I start anything else is to tidy up, whether or not that happens remains to be seen.




Happy Birthday Dad

It was my dads birthday this week, the 12th to be exact, and as usual, with all birthdays, a card has to be crafted. I always struggle with mens cards but as my dad is a keen photographer it seemed a good theme to turn into a card. The stamps used are "vintage Photo" from Creative Expressions. The background film strip has been stamped using versamagic white. Pictures have been stamped in black versafine as I love the details these inks give to the stamp and then distrissed with versafine grey. The part formed rosette is die cut from Tim holtz rosette die, then stamped, slightly distressed and mounted as you can see. The card is finished off with Tim Holtz film strip ribbon. The edges of the card have been covered with Tim Holtz film strip   
alterations sizzix die cut down to just a thin strip.

My dad loved his card! 

Tuesday 12 April 2011

Tag Tuesday - The chair

The Chair!! I struggled last week to get my hands on a postcard, nobody seems to keep them anymore, including me, so last tuesday came and went...... to be thrown again this tuesday, The chair? I was not going to be defeated this week but what did I have. Then I remembered that I had, some time ago now, picked up a rubber stamp of a Charles Rennie Mackintosh chair for a few pence from a bargain bin, and as yet hadn't had a reason to use it. "The Chair" - I have now.... so I dug it out and have based my tag around the theme of design.

The Chair

I have stamped the chair several times, and used elements of them within leather slide mounts (sizzix die) with a full image of it aswell. The background unfortunately doesnt show well on this photo, but it is painted with fresco paints, and distressed with vintage photo distress stains and edged with vintage photo distress ink. The self adhesive letters are from Tim Holtz new 2011 range. Thanks for visiting my blog, and I welcome your comments.

Thursday 7 April 2011

A Little bit of Cute

Day off today, a bit of me time even though there are loads of things I should be doing, especially ironing that thankfully is hidden behind a cupboard door so I can pretend that it isnt there, and as the hoover is also in there I am pretending I havent got one. Awoken early this morning at 6.30am by my poorly puppy Bruce who has been unwell for well over a week now, the details I wont go into but it always ends up with a bucket of hot soapy water, enough said, but another trip to the vets this morning and an injection (again) means that he is feeling very sorry for himself curled up asleep now on the rug. What this all gives me is time at home, and as I stated earlier a little bit of me time.  What else is there to do then than get into my craft room. I was in there well before 8.00am and my first task should really have been to tidy up, but that would be wasting valuable time so I just cleared things to one side and carried on with the job in hand, a birthday card for my Dad which I have to get into the post today, no pressure then. I cant post a picture of it until his birthday as he is likely to see it on my blog. What I can post is a friendship card that I made for a very special friend of mine who recently wasnt feeling to well and I just wanted to let her know that I was thinking about her.
 Hence the title of this blog, I dont do cute but I have to say that Magnolia Stamps "Tilda" has pursueded me otherwise, and I now have quite a collection of both stamps and dies.

All the card had to be distressed and distress inked , cos that's what I do. I have coloured the Tilda with distress inks (still perfecting that technique) I have also used doohickey dies, nestabilities,  papers from my stash, a bit of bling, buttons and flowers.

Hope that you like it as much as my friend did.



Having stopped for a little lunch, once I have finished my dads card I intend to finish of a couple of other projects that I have on the go at the moment, and if I do I will hopefully post them later on.So until then remember "Lifes to short for housework".

Monday 4 April 2011

Tag Tuesday Vintage Sewing

As I am a new blogger, I only started a couple of days ago, this is my first post on a blog challenge. Please treat me gently, but I would appreciate your comments as I have started this blog, as you all have, to share my work and join this wonderful community that I have only so far viewed and been inspired by.

Tim Holtz inspired tag.

 I love his new 2011 stamps and in particular Haberdashery, and those little hanger clips are adorable. I have used the "kiss" technique using Tims new reflections stamps, other stamps are from creative expressions (cotton spools and text) I have added old buttons from my growing collection, and the tag has been trimmed with old dress pattern paper.

I welcome your comments.

thanks

Mothers Day

Yesterday was Mothers day as I am sure you are all aware, and mothers everywhere were getting spoilt rotten, and mine was no exception. My mum is always there for me and my sister and my 2 adorable nieces, and will do whatever she can for us. Yesterday was my chance to say thankyou. So I plied her with champagne, and made a lovely dinner and generally set out to make her day as lovely as I could. With mothers day comes the wonderful opportunity to make a card to mark the event so I locked myself away in my craft room, surrounded myself with a creators mess and created 2 very different cards.

Mothers Day
 Card created is 8 x 8. Flowers made from Wendy Vecchi "clearly for art" die cut from tattered florals alterations die, hand painted with paint dabbers using a dry stiff brush to give the veined effect. Backing paper fromTim Holtz new kraft resist paperstash and distressed with vintage photo. I have then cut out butterflies from the paper and coloured them with distress inks, covered in glossy accents. Butterfly bodies made from my rusty ink nibs (I love ebay) and rusty wire (another ebay find and thankyou to those on ebay that sell their junk!) Tim holts ribbon film with rub on lettering.



I just love the dimension
And then card No. 2
another 8 x 8 card. Main image is called Agnes from the girlfriends range that I purchased from http://www.sirstampalot.co.uk/. the feathers in the hat and on the card were kindly given from my chickens, well not exactly given, I found myself rumaging around my hen house for suitable embellishments!!! The lengths we crafters go to for art!!


I would appreciate any comments that you have, as this is a new blog I would love to know if anyone has looked at it. Thanks

Friday 1 April 2011

Hi and welcome to my first ever blog, I dont know if it is an omen to start your first blog on april fools day but here goes. I have also started blogging on a day when an empty skip is sitting on my drive crying out to be filled with the contents of my garage and various cupboards around my house, it's officially spring and I got an urge!! maybe my urge is not as great as I thought it was!

To start this blog I include some recent projects that I have completed to give a flavour of my thing, as you will see my "thing is varied". My approach to crafting is a little like my taste in music, quite varied depending on what mood I am in, and of course who I am making it for.



This was a friendship book that I recently made as a birthday present for a very close friend of mine.


As you will see Tim holtz inspired

There are several more pages but hope this gives a flavour of my finished article. My pleasure came not only from making it but seeing the pleasure that it gave my friend when she opened it, isnt that why we do it??

Birthday card made for my step father lots of clocks,lots of buttons

Another birthday card
A cheap spiral bound note book taken to bits, altered and rebound.

Anyway as time is passing by and I am still sitting in my dressing gown, and having managed to start this blog I must leave it for now as I have a skip to fill you know.