Wednesday 31 August 2011

I'm back and it's still Wednesday........ so WOYWW?

Hi there everyone.
Sorry for the lack of activity on here for a while. We've been away for a few days up in Liverpool to settle my eldest daughter in for college. (Did not think I would be so darn emotional about it! They don't tell you it's going to be a big thing to go through!)
So all in all it's been a month a various stresses and changes but I'm back. Keen to craft and blog too.......
So I guess that WOYWW is a good place to begin, especially as I have some overdue thank you's to share with you all. Here is my desk (taken this afternoon)

First I want to say thank you to AJ for her FAB altered matchbox which I received in my matchbox swap a while ago, Beautifully done and stuffed full of beautifully crafted goodness.....
Hand woven coffee mat, wool, and hand dyed threads are just some of the loveliness received.
Then I also received this beauty from Sarah from The Art of Moodling in the same swap. So different but stunning too, I love the material and felting and again, Sarah filled it full of snippets of beauty....
Then there are some boot fair finds from a little while ago
And also some new bits and bobs, Tando butterflies, a new ink (Coffee) and some of my own mixed colour & perfect pearl washes.
And just on the side, one of my latest little journals.
Lastly, when I arrived home last night I found this little bag of charms on my floor from Roni's latest charm swap along with a bottle of black and of white enamel accents that I won from her too. So thank you Roni and to all the makers of them, they are lovely.
It is good to be home again though we enjoyed the weekend and managed to get to the Mathew Street festival on Monday afternoon to catch some of the live music in between last minute shopping, list making and just spending some time together........
Hopefully I'll get back into my studio tomorrow so until then, be blessed in your art.

Friday 26 August 2011

A very quick post!

Morning all,
Just a very quick hello from me today as this week has turned into a very busy week and crafting and blogging is taking a back seat! GCSE results day yesterday and my daughter did well so we are very proud of her (Think she is too!) Then today is enrolment day for 6th form..... last minute sorting for eldest daughter's college stuff.....  And a trip up to London to go to find bugs and fashion for summer projects.......
I can't remember what my craft room looks like but here is something I made a while ago and not got round to sharing yet!
I made this journal using craft Individuals stamps and distress inks. The main image has been glossed up with Ultra thick embossing powder.
Sorry for such a quick post but it's all go here so do have a great weekend everyone and I'll catch up next week!

Tuesday 23 August 2011

Hanging around with Try it on Tuesday

Morning folks
Wow, there were loads of entries on Try it on Tuesday last week so I do apologise if I did not get round to see you all last week!
This month has an extra week in it so true to form, it is a wild card week and we are looking for a hanging this week.
I did this.
 And no, the hair is not really green! Not sure what the light was doing. I used a Tando creative chipboard shape that I embossed, stamped and rubbed with Inka gold to highlight the texture. The image is a Katzelkraft one that was coloured and then filled with a glaze.
I added a couple of feathers and gems to finish and used some old jewellery as the hanger.
Do pop on over to the Try it on Tuesday blog and join in the fun......Be blessed in your art today.

Monday 22 August 2011

Canvas at Katzelkraft

Morning all.
Hope this finds you well. Today I have this little canvas over on the Katzelkraft Blog.
All the details are HERE so I do hope you'll pop over and leave a comment to let them know you've been to visit! These wonderful stamps are available direct from France or in the UK exclusively from The Craft Barn

Friday 19 August 2011

Cosmic Shimmer at The Craft Barn

Good morning everybody.
It's been Cosmic Shimmer week over at The Craft Barn Blog and today is my turn to share my project so here is what I've done.
All the details of how I made it and what I used are HERE so I do hope you'll pop over at have a peek.

More photo's on the CB blog!
Be blessed in your art today.

Wednesday 17 August 2011

WOYWW 115

Hi there.
Time to catch up with the doings of the desks all over the world again! Welcome to What's on your Workdesk Wednesday hosted by Julia over at Stamping Ground
This is my one this week.......
And yes, it is not as neat and tidy as last week but I did not want to shock you!
On the left is some of the "enamelled" pieces I'm still getting round to deciding what to do with.

In the middle is the start of an album and a new mask.

And lastly there's the side.
Some of stamps I'm using and some atc's .
So that's me this week.
Let pop over to see yours!

Tuesday 16 August 2011

New challenge over at Try it on Tuesday

Good morning all you lovely people.
Over at Try it on Tuesday it's a free for all week so card or tag , altered or scrapped... the choice is yours.
I finished my pot of Rock Candy clear crackle and kinda sat there thinking it's too nice to toss!
So I decided to make my own pot of walnut and perfect pearls wash.
So from this
To this
I used Tim Holtz stamps, walnut re-inker and gold perfect pearls and water to make my mixture. stamped the label twice and coloured with the mix and stuck down to the jar. I cut a small tag out of the second label and coloured and attached too. The top has a little wood embellishment also coloured with the mixture too. I think it looks pretty cool and it works well too!
See the sparkle? Fab. There's loads more inspiration over at Try it on Tuesday so I'll see you there?
Have a fabulous day and be blessed in your creative journey.

Monday 15 August 2011

Calendar

Hi there everyone
Hope you all had a good weekend. I did.......
On Sunday I taught a class at The Craft Barn. This is what we were doing
Quite a bit of measuring and trimming involved in addition to all the ink and stamping. Then we looked at triple embossing with trapped highlights and adding texture to the gears.......


I love doing these classes and seeing how everyone achieves a different look and feel to the same project by varying the colours, images and placement!
It was great fun! My next class on Sunday the 11th September still has a couple of places left; we are playing with alcohol inks mainly as well as some other inks to decorate a tag book and tin. Details are here.
After the class I picked up the wife and family and we popped over to visit some friends and had a lovely evening together.

I also received a parcel from Bella in the post. She sent these lovely tags as well as a lovely card and some lovely little tickets and flowers! Thank you Bella, they are brilliant and will be added to my wall of inspiration for me to enjoy.

Right, I'd better be on my way, I'm helping my daughter make flowers and stuff today. She's made a sketchbook already for her textile work and the first lot of flowers are drying as we speak.
Be blessed in your art today.

Friday 12 August 2011

Summer at The Stamp Man

Hi there everyone.
There's a new challenge over at The Stamp Man. This week it's anything goes with summer colours...... I guess my project may not be what immediately springs to mind for summer colours but as I looked around my garden I saw loads of greens and browns with splashes of colour so that's what I did!
The front with the umbrella man from my desk the other day! triple embossed to give a fab enamelled look.
A very busy background with lots of texture.... The beach is a UTEE, perfect pearls and glossy accents mix with some small shells for interest.
The Back

Some of the detail.
Hope you all have a great week

Thursday 11 August 2011

Rusty Tin Trunk....

Good morning everyone
Welcome to my newest followers; thank you so much for joining me on my creative journey. I do hope that you'll stay and be inspired and that your own journey will be blessed.

A special someone celebrated a bit of a milestone birthday recently and I know that she has received her gift so I thought I'd share it with you today.

I started out with a paper mache suitcase from The Craft Barn. (This is the smaller of the set) What I wanted to do is try and create the look and feel of a rusty old tin trunk. Something that's been round the block a bit...... so using a metal paint and activator I set to work. To create the leather I used  fired brick distress stain and rock candy distress crackle and walnut stain. I stamped onto the straps before the crackle too for interest. I think it turned out pretty cool! Some stickers to finish. One battered old trunk, rescued from the Titanic perhaps?
But like the old saying, you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, or in this case the contents by the suitcase....
When you open it; the interior is rich gold and the content's rather rich too.

I made the books using Katzelkraft stamps onto mountboard covers. Coloured with stains in wild honey, fired brick and forest moss. Two layers of clear UTEE, on the second  layer I stamped into while still warm using the same background stamp. When cool I highlighted aspects of the embossing with Inka gold before added a final layer of UTEE and heating.
The end result is a beautiful enamelled finish but with a trapped layer of gold. Not too easy to see in the photo but it gives a lovely dimension and richness.

This is the back and I made the book using the Bind it all. The reason for this gift is that during the course of the coming year the recipient wants to do *0* (a certain number) of things. A bit like the "things to do before you..." list but this is going to be all the little things that would be nice to do, little treats like tea at the ritz, a paddle in the sea, going for a fish pedicure, watching a sunrise.........
So in this book the idea can be noted and the details of when it was achieved noted too.

Hope you all have a fab day and are blessed in your journey, till later.....

Wednesday 10 August 2011

WOYWW 114

Hi there again
Yep, it's Wednesday again and as I said previously, time is running faster than me at the moment. But I am hoping to catch up sometime soonish......... Now, after a few weeks of unmitigated chaos in my craft zone you know what to expect from my desk......
Gotcha! Pristine loveliness and order. It took me HOURS to sort out and I said I'm not letting it get into such a state again! (Famous last words I know but we'll see)
So, shall we start here
As you enter on the left there is this lovely pile of driftwood, on top of the drawers which house my fabrics and ribbons etc (Yes, they will get decorated, sometime so please give me a chance!) there are some more beach finds of rusty metal and bits as well of some projects I like. Above you can see some of my dies and my alcohol ink tin.
You've seen the desk so here are the drawers on the right, at last I've managed to make a start on them but they will evolve as we go.
The solitary thing on my desk is this little chap who is going to be transformed into something nice!
In my tray are this little assorted pile of faces made from polymer clay. I just made a whole lot the other week so now I have a supply ready to use!
This is my new desk tidy that I posted about on Saturday. I've still got the altered matchbox sitting in it because I forgot to pop it into my charm cupboard. and on the left is my Ultra Thick Embossing storage jar. I like it very much and I can just keep refilling it.
Lastly, I've popped the last picture in to show you one of the things my wife brought me from holiday. I love these and they are a fab size!
Now I need to find a home for them but I'm well pleased!
Right, that's my desk this week so pop on over to Julia's to join in.......
Be blessed this week in your creative journey.

Sticky back canvas UTEE storage jar

Good morning all.
Over at The Craft Barn blog this weeks wishing well is all about sticky back canvas and possibilities........
Regular visitors to my blog will by now know that I use Ultra thick embossing enamels a fair bit so I decided that instead of staring at the plain jar I might as well tart it up a bit! So I did and this is the result!
I'm pretty pleased with the end result, it looks so much better than the original and I can just keep refilling as I need to! All the details of  how I did it are here.
Hope you all have a lovely day, I'll be back shortly with that weekly fix of WOYWW!

Tuesday 9 August 2011

Try it on Tuesday

Hi there
Over at Try it on Tuesday it's tag week. So we'd like to see your tags with the theme of trees.
This is mine
Rather an unusual colour scheme for me but I had made this tag blank a while ago using alcohol inks and thought it was quite a bit like a sunset. I stamped the trees in sepia for the background and black for the foreground. I stamped the sentiment on the left and then carried on stamping it off the page.
 I stamped a leaf design onto a clear fragment and coloured the back in with copics and attached with glossy accents.
Bit of the closer detail.
Hope you all have a brilliant day and after work I may get round to posting about the Minifest! Time runs faster than me at the moment!
Be blessed.

Monday 8 August 2011

Just a teaser for Katzelkraft........

Good morning everyone,
I trust this finds you all well. It's my turn to share over at the  Katzelkraft Blog. so do pop on over to see my project........ Except AJ Fist full of glitter; unless you have opened your envelope by now!
Here's a sneaky peek for you......
Hope to see you over there! Remember Katzelkraft are available exclusively at The Craft Barn here in the UK and from their own website in France.
I'll be back later with more from Saturday's minifest........

Saturday 6 August 2011

On my way........

Good morning everybody
Hopefully this will appear as by magic here while I am winding my way down country lanes to The Craft Barn for the Crafty Individuals minifest!
One of the things I've made is a Desk Tidy and this is what I thought I'd share with you today. I didn't plan on creating it; it evolved as all good things do.
I started off by creating this little scene.
I started with an empty wooden embellishment container (Can't even remember what was originally in it) Painted it in Fresco paint and using images from Nature's beauty of trees at the back with crackle glaze and ink. I stamped the trees onto frosted shrink plastic cut out and reduced in size to create the dimensional scenes in each space. I was pretty pleased with it but wondered how I could display it? Perhaps a wall hanging of some sort...... Then my eyes fell upon some wooden baskets that I had bought from The Barn a while ago. so I added this little bit to the left hand side.
Perfect, now I have somewhere for brushes and pens I use a lot.......... But it is rather unbalanced isn't it? so I was just about to add something to the right when I spied with my little eye.... another shallow tray. Hmmmmmmm thinks I; and with a judicious bit of knife wielding expertise I came up with this.......
Another basket for more brushes tools etc. I added a little post it note pad to the front (which I must say I thought was a brill idea as I always NEEEEEED paper for quick little notes) and a nice tray at the bottom for some brads etc.
So, in all it's glory here is a desk tidy al a Neil......
I like it very much and it all came about by just playing around.... so off you go and play! Be blessed and perhaps I'll see you at The Craft Barn later?
Oh, and there is one basket left so it may well "grow" a bit more......

Friday 5 August 2011

Crafty Individuals week at The Craft Barn

Hi there
Over at The Craft Barn this week it's been Crafty Individuals week leading up to tomorrow's minifest. Hope to see you there!
Today is my turn and I have this altered frame to share.
I enjoyed dong this and the end result looks a bit like a vintage screen in my mind! The details and some close up pics are here so feel free to pop on over!

Hope your creative journey is a blessed and fun one today!

Thursday 4 August 2011

Simon say show a tag.....

Hi there everyone
I've been locked away in my studio most of the day (grandiose word for the shed at the bottom of the garden is studio!) But I've had a fab time playing around, I made two tags so thought I'd show you those and also since they fit the bill for Simon says I'll pop them over there too!
 I started out with one of the new Crafty Individuals tags and added more inks and perfect pearls to tone down the colours (Bit too pink for me you see)

I stamped an image of a lady in brown onto a large Tando chipboard book plate that I had coloured with ink
and triple embossed with clear UTEE and stamped the same image onto the last layer of embossing. To highlight the image I rubbed Inka gold (lava green) over it.


I stamped the same image onto acetate, coloured in with alcohol ink filled pens and trimmed to fit behind the plate and attached to the tag as shown before filling with 3d glaze and a sprinkle of glitter.

I made the rose from pattered paper to match using a daisy punch and spritzed with walnut stain and added some rock candy distress crackle. Some lace and fringing to finish.

Then I made another because I was enjoying myself!

Again I started with a pre printed CI tag. I popped it into the bug and die cut the cage. With a piece of acetate underneath and using the tag and cage as a guide I glued the "waste" bits of the cage to the acetate.
I stamped over the tag with a Crafty Individuals stamp. I sandwiched the acetate between the main tag and a plain white tag and glued together catching the fringing between.
The cage was attached with a jewelled brad as seen with a bit of dimension.

The small bird is from Tando and has been embossed with cosmic shimmer bronze lustre UTEE twice and with a third layer of clear which really adds depth to the colour!
So, I hope you like them. I also made something else which I'm really pleased with but I thought I'd keep you in suspense and I'll post it on Saturday while I'm at The Craft Barn demoing! Or if you are in the area pop on in and you can see it for real!
Be blessed wherever you are today......