Wednesday 27 March 2013

WOYWW 199 - Welcome to chaos....

Good morning friends
and welcome to the weekly round up of desks/workplaces/floors......hosted as always by Julia, details HERE.
I apologise in advance for the state of my world, it is all go here at the moment, preparing for family arrivals for Easter so my desk looks like a tornado has been through.... Still, there is a bit to see so here you go.

 Told you it was chaos! Proper dumping ground with very little place to actually work.....
 Some experiments with paints and masks, pretty happy with the results though for a first go.What paints I hear you ask.....
 Distress ones of course. Me likey very much, more than I thought I would.
 Then, look, I've an article in this - 4 cards and making flowers; Issue 52 so rush out and buy it and then tell them how fabulous I am LOL! The pic you can see, the small one on the bottom right hand side is one of my cards, so exciting. Moving on we have
 a roll of mesh, bargain at 99p for 6m, black plastic, it looks just like fencing and I know I'm going to have fun with it.
 Some Prince of Persia books (also 99p store) They have great imagery to use in journalling.
Lastly, there are the 3 A3 canvasses from my daughter, sitting on the chair because there is no place on the desk! So, there is my little corner this morning, now to crack on with the bed making and dusting......
Have a fabulous week folks.

Monday 25 March 2013

Just to keep you on your toes........

Good morning peeps
Do not panic, you are at the right blog! But I thought I'd surprise you this morning with a project that is not usually associated with me! This little bird house......

 Yes, I know, I shock myself too sometimes! Still, I like to keep you on your toes.  I have had this in my studio for about two years now, this is what it originally looked like.

So, after adding gesso over everything and letting dry I began to spritz with Dylusions Inks and dried it with a heat gun. The roof was fabulous but the sides turned out a rather garish pink so, to prevent any colour bleed I sealed it with a matte aerosol sealer and then began to add layers of colour with acrylic paint until I achieved a softer more subtle colour.
 I added some self adhesive lace along the fascia line and used opal liquid pearls to add some sparkle.
To finish I added some of the flowers I made a while ago and the wooden bird embellishment too. The flowers go along the base too so it looks pretty from the bottom too as it hangs. Not my usual thing but I like it, as I must have done something right as my daughter has stolen it for her room!

I also thought I'd make you jealous and hungry by sharing my birthday cake from yesterday with you!
 And a couple of cards......
 Only my younger daughter would think of a calculatingly insulting yet loving card like this!
I also heard this morning that I won the Smudgy antics challenge so that's fabulous news!
 I'll leave you salivating over the cake and I hope you all have a lovely day.

Friday 22 March 2013

Set Sail

Good morning friends
I hope you are well. Today I thought I'd share this little boat project with you. Tando Creative do this great little layered boat. Great fun to play with. I started out by layering and gluing the boat together and painting it with Acrylic paints. I added a layer of crackle glaze and added a top layer of light paint and allowed the magic to happen.
 The oars had the same just reversing the colours so the brown was on top. I glued some red inked card behind the heart and filled with glossy accents to make it shine. To add some sparkle I used Perfect Pearl mist in Heirloom gold.
 What's great about this kit is that the "waste" sections are included so I used them to make a little book to attach to the rear.
 I cut card to fit and began to play with inks and stamps to create little scenes. When I glued the houses down I used double sided tape and made pockets for little tags to go inside ready for journalling holiday memories.

 To make the book I used ribbon sandwiched between the chipboard and card before gluing and the last one is then glued to the base.
The stamping is done using the Harbour scene stamps from Hobbyart and I used Distress Markers to colour.
Entering this into the Simon Say Stamp and Show where the theme is - water, I think a boat fits the bill, don't you?
Hope you all have a creative and blessed day!

Thursday 21 March 2013

Play time

Good morning friends.
Yesterday, for those of you who saw my What's on your Workdesk post, I hinted at something that I was working on that was peeking out underneath a book.....
Well here it is
I can hear you now moaning that that's not much more than I saw yesterday! Don't worry, all will be revealed as there's lots more photos! But you can at least see - it's a book; or is it........
Ok, let me give you a bit of history before I show you everything. While I was creating the samples for my new book kits I had ended up with an extra set of the cover elements for the geo kit, but no covers. What I did have however, was a hardback cover that I had taken off a sketch book. So yes you've guessed it, I decided to combine the two and create this book.
Doesn't it look cool? Lots of lovely textures going on. Here's a closer look

The base layer has been made by creating texture with gesso and once it had dried I went over with layers of Paint dabbers, Distress stain in metallics and colour washes of Decoart acrylics. The middle layer has been coloured with Tarnished Brass Distress Stain. I then added some Distress Embossing powder and heating to set. Once that dried I used Walnut Stain and Black Soot Distress ink to add more colour.
The top layer was embossed with a Tim Holtz folder. I find these work well to emboss thicker bases as they give a deeper impression. (One thing to note; when you emboss this you will find that it actually stretches the card so you will need to trim any excess to fit, yes it was a surprise to me too!) I used paint dabbers to add colour and further washes of Decoart before using the Tarnished Brass Distress Stain to add highlights to the surface.
Everything was glued down under a weight to dry. I found a leather closure lurking in my stash and used that to make a closure for the book.
So here is the whole cover....

So, do you want to see inside? Are you sure? Ok, here goes........


When is a book, not a book? When you have some spare configurations printer tray compartments! Pretty neat huh?
I had these spare from when I made my tray (which is my blog header). Being thrifty, I took some of the trays out that I felt I didn't need and now I'm pleased I did as they fitted perfectly! I covered everything with tissue tape and sprayed everything with Dylusions to add colour. It's not 100% finished inside but it's taking shape and there's enough to show you.
Inside each compartment I cut chipboard and then using a selection of embossing powders and my new background stamps to create gorgeous textures

I used Inka Gold to highlight the textures and began to add elements from my stash and words from Tim's Chit Chat stickers. I love the backgrounds so didn't want to totally cover them!
On the inside cover I added a border using my Cross Hatch Border stamp and my Characters, Franswar and Kiki. Once they were down I added some detail with my Winged Design Mask.

So there you have it, my book that's not a book.

My Book kits and masks are available from The Craft Barn HERE
My Stamps are available from The Artistic Stamper HERE

Hope you like it and hope you all have a great day.

Wednesday 20 March 2013

Mini Album week at The Craft Barn

Hi folks,
Back again to let you know I've a post over at The Craft Barn too this morning. This week is mini albums and today I'm sharing a mini album created from 1 12 x 12 scrapbook card. To to whet your appetite here is a picture


For loads more info do pop on over to the blog post HERE


Distress Inks - Stormy Sky, Tea Dye Peeled Paint, Walnut Stain
Stamps - Tim Holtz Haberdashery, Paperartsy HP1213
Mask - Tangled Yarn
Archival Ink - Coffee and Plum


WOYWW 198

Good morning friends.
another week has rolled on by and it is Wednesday yet again. maddeningly, my computer is on a go slow area so my dream of posting early is not happening.
still I am writing this on my kindle while waiting for my computer to wake up so I can add photos!
Hosted by the lovely Julia of Stamping Ground, the details of this weekly international blog hop can be seen HERE.

Here is my desk, as of about 5:15 am this morning, no don't ask what I was doing awake at that time, I don't know, but awake I was!
So, here is the overview......
On the left , a couple of tags, experiments with my stamps and paints, A bird house undergoing a transformation! Way to go yet but I think I know what happens next!
 Centre stage, the latest batch of flowers.....
 New Andy Skinner Mask, pretty cool. On top of the book is a card from my friend Kathy, she used my Fantasy Border stamp onto friendly plastic with great results. I like the way it looks on this book so I may just stick it down there!
 Then, lastly there is, just peeking out from beneath that, a project I've been working on, Hope to share it later this week so keep an eye out!
So there is my world again, lots on the go and lots of mess too, but fun mess! Oh and both winners of last week's stamp draw have claimed their prizes and should have received them so I do hope they are going to enjoy them.
Have yourselves a great day folks.

Monday 18 March 2013

New letter for The Alpha Challenge

Hi there folks
Really quick post from me today, not sure what's happened to the time but I haven't got enough of it today! Still, onwards and upwards; I should have posted this yeaterday but better late than never, Sunday was the new letter for The Craft Barn Alpha Challenge, The letter for this is P and I chose Peace. Here is my page

 Lots of Dylusions inks
 My verse comes from Ephesians
 I made the Cross with masking tape kind of by accident but I like it!
And I used an oversized paper clip to highlight the definition.

For more inspiration and to join in the fun pop on over to the blog post HERE.
(See, told you I'd be quick today!)


Thursday 14 March 2013

My Tattered Floral challenge entry

Good morning friends
As I'm sure that many of you will know, Tim Holtz set a challenge to create a project using his Tattered Floral die. All the details can be found HERE if you haven't seen it yet!

Well, this is one of the most used dies in my collection so I was definitely up for it but wasn't sure what to make until the penny dropped in my mind; I was planning to create something using lace but perhaps I could switch lace for tattered floral? Answer, yes! After cracking ahead and getting some deadlines under my belt I allowed myself the luxury of "me time" so may I introduce Kiki, all dressed up for the ball.......


I started off with a 12 x 12 canvas and sprayed it liberally with Dylusions inks (most of the new colours) I added details using a Prima Flourish mask and water and dried it off with the heat gun. I added some Perfect Pearl sprays too though you can't see the sparkle here.

Then I cut a bunch of flowers, stamped in archival using my bubble stamps and coloured with the same colours of Dylusions. Dried them and shaped them all ready.

I stamped Kiki onto tissue and worked out where I was going to put her and removed some of the colours behind with water before adhering it with Matte Multi Medium.
 Then the fun began; I cut the dress shape from double sided adhesive sheet, stuck it down and began to layer up from the bottom. The larger flowers were cut in half  and the small ones near the top were left whole and I added small gems to the centres for added sparkle.
 To finish I used the same Prima mask with Dreamweaver Pearlescent paste to add raised detail. What I love about this paste and Dylusions is that the moisture of the paste lifts up the colours from beneath as it dries leaving a lovely, raised and shimmery area in the same colours like a chameleon!
 To finish I added some further metal flowers and the Tim Holtz word strip.

The colours in reality are much more vibrant and shimmery than the photo shows but I hope you like it! I'm really pleased with it, love the way the flowers build up and give really great dimension.
Hope you have a lovely day.
Neil

Wednesday 13 March 2013

WOYWW #197

Good morning friends.
Gosh, Wednesday already. Can you believe it? Time for the weekly round up of international desks hosted by Julia of Stamping Ground. One of the most addictive weekly events in blogland! So why not join the party if you're new, just follow the link HERE
Well, here is my desk this week. Not a huge amount going on as I've still got issues with my wrist though it is definitely on the mend for which I am grateful.

 So here is the overview. The stamps are waiting to be sent to their new home from last week's giveaway, the results are at the end of this post.
 So, details..... The tag is finished and ended up in my journal. The colours just seemed to fit really well together.
 The eagle eyed among you may have seen that my drawers have finally received a bit of attention! All the bits of playtime with the gelli plate ended up on there, then you can see the speech bubble pads, they will be used as a label on the drawers, perhaps, or maybe not.
 Then I re discovered these charms while sorting things out so they are waiting to go somewhere I won't forget!
 Thought you may like to see what's inside a couple of the drawers; this has spools of ribbons and bakers twine.
This has my floral trim, zips and lappies (crocheted little cloths/mats) Everything nice and tidy for a change! The other two drawers hold, ribbons, fringing, wools and fibres.

So there is my little tidy world today, though I'm sure it will not stay tidy too long!

Now for the winner of my stamps from last week; thank you for all your kind words about them. Unfortunately I can only pull one name out of the hat and that person is................Drum roll...................

Fiona (anubis1) Congratulations - Please email me your snail mail addy so I can get them off to you!

Then, just because I could, I pulled another name out of the hat to receive a surprise stamp from me and that person is................... Helen of Stamping by H - again please email me your snail mail so I can pop it in the post!

If I have not heard from you in a week I will re draw names so be quick LOL

Have a great day folks.