Saturday 31 March 2012

Just a quick pop in.

Good morning folks;
Just thought I'd pop in and say hi. I've been doing an online workshop with Andy Skinner recently and though I haven't had much time to do as much as I wanted to I have done this piece, some of you will have seen it on my desk previously but here it is in all it's glory: my "aged Brass" polymer clay sprite.

I also took part in a domino book swap on Facebook recently and last week I received this fabulous item in the post from Paula Whittaker. Isn't it fabulous?!


Then lastly I thought I'd share this card with you. I was really pleased with the way it turned out.
I used cosmic shimmer sprays on black card for the background, the same sprays on embossed black card for the front. The images are from Tim's Steampunk set on mica and mounted on white card.
Right. I'd better get back to work......
Have fun and be creative.

Thursday 29 March 2012

Keep Calm.........

Good Morning peeps
Well yesterday started out as a
Kind of day. Then I checked my emails and it turned into a
day as there in my inbox was an email from Tim; yes; THE Tim Holtz with the subject line Ranger Uni.......
Ok, I said to myself; relax, take a deep breath before you open it and see what he has to say...... Remember just
So I began to read and  after the first few lines had sunk into my little tiny brain I have to say it was a
moment as I'm going to RANGER UNI in May 2012!!!!!!!! Yes, little old me is going to be spending 3 glorious days with Tim, Claudine and Dyan immersing myself in all things Ranger. Still can't believe it but the email is still there this morning and I've confirmed it already and I double checked the calender and it is not April the first yet anywhere in the world!
So I've been doing the happy dance all day and night and still overjoyed this morning!!!!!!!
But now I guess I'd better get on with the stuff I need to do today so I'll see you all later.

Wednesday 28 March 2012

WOYWW #147

I don't believe it! I have not shared anything here for a WHOLE week! I'm sorry peeps, it's been a helluva few weeks but I will try to do better!  Anyway, you are either here to see my desk or just curious to see what I'm up to; welcome one and all. (There are plenty more desks HERE at Julia's place)
Here is my desk
 So, on the right, some new birthday goodies, New Idea-ology tags and cards, embossing folders and the new bag die. Jelly beans- hiding here so I get to eat them rather than my daughter..... one of those kind of gifts! Next to them, some experiments with papers and embossing and in the background there's a card.

 More birthday treats; shimmer sprays and a file which is all the embossing folder samples from the class I did at The Craft Barn on Friday. Great fun experiments with what you can do with your embossing folders!
Then; aren't these gorgeous; from my wife. She said she knows I could make them myself but thought I'd like them anyway as she did. I'm going to use them for storage but not sure exactly what yet.
 Then lastly these wings, and a feather. Got plans for the wings but I'll show you later!
So there's my place this week. In other news, Mom in Law is here from South Africa; been running back and forth to the tip; trying to catch up with deadlines, painting the daughter's bedroom and went to see Grease on Saturday evening which was fab. Now I need to catch up with more deadlines so I'll see you all later!
Oh yes, before I go, it's paint effects week over at The Craft Barn blog and I'm sharing a little travel journal/notebook cover HERE if you are at all interested in taking a look.

Wednesday 21 March 2012

WOYWW # 146

Good morning peeps,
Just a quick show and dash this morning I'm afraid, I've so much to do at the moment my shed is feeling neglected but hey ho, some weeks just fill with other stuff.
So this is my place, untouched since Sunday really. The overview.....
 On my trimmer there is an "aged Brass" sprite using one of Andy Skinners workshop techniques. Next to that is a mini tattered flower.
 My box from Sunday's class.
 And this canvas that I started at the Retreat weekend but time just never seems to allow me opportunity to finish! Still I live in hope. The colours are much more rich and shimmery IRL.
 Oops, almost out the door but wanted to show you these old books I found at Addiscombe Market the other week. They are Parish magazines from 1889 and 1892, full of beautiful engravings, pithy sermons and advertisements.

I thought I'd take all the engravings from one and turn it into a niche book perhaps, but I'm not sure.
I hope you all have a lovely day today, whatever your plans. To join in the desk hop fun do go over to Julia's place for all the details (Stamping Ground)

Tuesday 20 March 2012

Take flight.....

Good morning all
I trust that this finds you well this morning. This week at The Craft Barn we are playing around with the birds. So today if you follow the link HERE you will be transported over to my post where you will find the step by step instructions for my caged journal.
A little journal for recording your own little flights of fancy! Hope to see you there. Have yourselves a blessed and creative day.

Monday 19 March 2012

March Tag finished and Victorian inventor's box

Good morning everyone.
I hope you all had a fabulous and creative weekend.
I finally finished my March tag for Tim's 12 tags of 2012. One of those tags that I really loved but struggled a bit to do if you know what I mean. Anyway, here it is
 As you can see; I changed the colours, mainly because I do not have a grey "grout" so used white embossing powder. The Tag was coloured with stormy sky and lightened with picket fence stain. The wood grain is a Hero Arts stamp, stamped in blue.
 I like the way the butterflies turned out, though boy is it fiddly!
 I stamped the sentiment first in picket fence distress stain and then in black. I like the layered effect it gives and I think it works well with the base tag.
 The flowers are from the new tattered floral strip die and I made the "ribbon" for the tag from tissue tape.

Then yesterday at The Craft Barn I taught my "Victorian inventor's box" class. That was fun; this is what we made.
 Working with embossing folders, gears cogs and chain we had fun creating this box with layered stamping and inks and paint.
 Inside, the base is embossed stamped and inked to add some lovely textural details.

We added some embossed clocks too to add more interest, covered with distress stickles it gives a lovely subtle sparkle!
So, that's what I've been up to lately. Now, the sun's out so I think it's time to tackle a bit of the garden as it definitely needs a tidy so I'll see you later.

Friday 16 March 2012

Playing with Distress Markers

Hi there.
I've been playing around with my 3 distress markers just to see what they are like and this is the result thus far.
Firstly I used them to colour in direct onto the recessed areas of an embossing folder before swiping a different colour distress ink pad over the top and running it through the vagabond. This is the result
 I like the effect; as you can see I did not colour in all the circles but if I had had more colours I probably would have done more. Perhaps there are other pens on the market that do similar but as I don't have any being able to do this pleased me no end! (And I love the distress colours anyway so for me the advantage is that I will be able to co-ordinate my palette)
Then I used another folder and did the same, using two colours of marker to do the tree trunks and the leaves. Just for fun (and to see if it would work I used the nib side of the pen and wrote on the folder (Remember to reverse your writing!) before running it through the folder. Again, it worked

 Here's a closer shot so you can see a bit better
 I can see myself having fun doodling designs and stuff when I get more pens! And yes I know you can easily write and doodle afterwards but what I like about doing it this way is that it's easier to stay in the lines and not slip over the edge ! So; once I'd done these I made this quick card with it.
So, do I like the markers? Yes, definitely and I can't wait to get my grubby little mitts on more!
See you later!

Where in the world is your vagabond

Hi there
Sizzix have a promotion running on their blog about this; details HERE. So I thought I'd join in to get the gauge keys and stickers. My Vagabond is at home in my crafty studio at the bottom of my garden where at the moment it's been busy cutting these lovely tattered flowers from the new strip die (Which is by the way; brilliant!)
Right; now to get back in there, I'm busy finishing my March tag and playing with distress markers so I'll be back later to show you. Until then I hope you have time for some creative fun too!

Wednesday 14 March 2012

WOYWW # 145

Good morning to you all and welcome to the wonderful and wacky world of desks; hosted by Julia of Stamping Ground all the details and links to the other desks are HERE.
So what's happening on my desk this week......
 The overview shot; now I have to point out that I am doing no death-defying acrobatics to achieve this shot as at it's highest point the ceiling is 2.1m and as I'm about 1.8m high it is only a little stretch of the arms to get the shot!
 On the right, some lovely new things to play with, embossing folders screw head brads and the lovely new tattered floral die which I'm desperate to open but just have not had the time!
 Then there's these two little canvasses, the top one being my workshop sample and the bottom one is the one I started as I was showing the layering stages. The image is from Indigo Blue, pomp and pageantry; my new stamps that I couldn't resist this weekend! Now I'm trying to get it finished so you can see some old tape measure next to it which I think will work with it.
 Then there's this selection of mini canvasses, all joined together to form a single unit and exploring various textures. I'm still working on it but it's looking good so far, the face is a mould I borrowed from a friend, isn't it fab! The 22 represents our anniversary date as it was our anniversary on Saturday so I thought that would be a good idea.
Then I found a use for this case which I found a while ago, my H2O paints fit in nicely along with some fine glitters and flock.
So there's my world this week. Hope you all have a good week too.

Tuesday 13 March 2012

Picket fence resist at The Craft Barn

Hi there folks
Over at The Craft Barn this week we are looking at various resist techniques; Michelle was showing us about versamark and brayering yesterday and today I'm sharing a resist technique with picket fence distress stain.
All the details are here along with more pictures but here's one side of the finished journal page.....
to see the other side and the resist pop on over to The Craft Barn Blog HERE.
I'm still unpacking from the weekend but hopefully I'll get it sorted today and I can begin to share some of the fun projects we did!
Until then, enjoy your creative life.

Saturday 10 March 2012

Canvas workshop

Hi there folks,
Hope you are having a great weekend so far. Thought I'd share this canvas with you today which is a workshop I'm doing later today.
 Loads of layers of colour, with distress stains, colourwash and paint, Some stamping doodling and other bits of canvas fun!
 And of course, Mildred and Martha - just a couple of colourful birds....
 Even the flowers are joining the party!
I think it'll be a fun time; loose and free expression on a canvas!
See you all later.

Friday 9 March 2012

Vintage wizardry

Hi there folks.
Over at The Stamp Man the new challenge theme is vintage. I know this is a favourite with many folks so I'm sure you'll enjoy it. When I think of vintage there are a couple of things that spring to mind; firstly the colours, browns and burgundy; then of course there has to be flowers and lace....
So with that as my starting point I made this card.
 I started off with a card blank and randomly stamped around the edges before making a black and burgundy mat. I embossed and painted acetate using a Tim Holtz folder and added that to the card with some floral trim along the bottom.
 I do like the shabby distressed look that this adds (there is a step by step tutorial on my sidebar if you want to try it for yourself)
I stamped the wizard onto the dress form; coloured with distress ink and sprayed some perfect pearls mist to add a bit of sparkle. I used glossy accents on the base and top and attached with 3d foam pads.

So that's my take on vintage; there is plenty more inspiration from the DT on The Stamp Man blog so do pop on by and join in the fun; there's a £10.00 voucher up for the winner of the challenge too.

Textures

Good morning folks.
Can't believe it's Friday already, where has this week gone? Not much that I can share with you at the moment so I thought I'd share these tags with you. I've been participating in Andy Skinner's Timeworn techniques online workshop and though I've not really had a chance to incorporate the techniques into projects yet these are a couple of my practice tags. So first is peeled paint. I did a few but these are the two I like the most. Playing with fire to do these but fun too.

 What I'm really enjoying  is discovering even more ways of adding dimension and texture. This next one is pitted and chipped; like an old gas bottle. Time consuming with 6 layers of paint and hairspray and salt in the mix too but the results are great!
So there's my latest playtimes, I've been doing these inbetween work and other projects so I am making use of the time. I'm looking forward to incorporating these techniques in a project soon! Have some creative fun this Friday everyone.