Creative Chemistry - Days 3, 4, 5 and 7!

Coo what a day I've had - re-watching the lessons - stopping and starting them - and generally getting inky!

Day 3

Techniques - Alcohol Ink Agate, Archival Resist and Reflections Stamping (without reflections stamps!)

Day 4

Techniques - Watercolouring with Re-inkers and Layered Misting (Custom Stamp Pad is missing due to lack of supplies!)

Day 5

Stained Kraft Resist, Stamping with Stains (love this one!) and Marbled Stains

 and a spare Kraft resist piece

Day 6 - missing due to lack of distress markers or any suitable alternatives!

Day 7

Techniques - Nostalgic Batik (without the ironing layer) Rusted Enamel and Distress Powder Resist.

I am quite tired now - I started about 11 am and just finished... the other 3 days can come tomorrow.
Sorry about some of the photos, I ran out of daylight...

Here's what happens to your water brush that isn't Tim's one from Ranger - it sucks up the colour...

Oops, what a mess in the background of the shot.... oh well a creative crafty space, you've all seen worse! (and look, I found the hole re-inforcers - they weren't where they are now, when I couldn't find them yesterday, honest, I'm not that poor-sighted!)
Now for my steak and chips...if I can unfurl my knees!

Creative Chemistry - Day 2 lesson

Tim Holtz has as most of you know, been running a great online class and I dithered about signing up (was trying to save money, though it's not expensive and wasn't sure if I'd have time but blah blah blah here I am and it is FAB) Hope that link works - it keeps remembering me as a student and takes me straight in!!

So, even though everyone else is on the final day, I am just starting  - here are my Day 2 tags.
Blended Distress (Spritz and Flick)      Brushless Watercolour and    Wrinkle-Free Distress

I have done each of these techniques before but love them all, although I have to say my wrinkle-free is one of the worst I have ever done (but am too tired to do it again tonight!)  Alison, I told you I'd use this stamp for the brushless watercolour!!

Hope to get a few more days lessons done over the weekend!!

Simon Says - Show a Tag

Evening! A bit of a late one for me - but I was suddenly struck by inspiration for this week's Simon Says Stamp and Show - A Tag.  Well, as you all probably know, I use a lot of tags, so I had to take part this week!!

Anyhow, I have belatedly signed up to follow Tim Holtz's Creative Chemistry online course and was rummaging around in one of my drawers of ink pads seeing what was there - and the rest as they say, is history.

I started with Paperartsy Fresco paints - base coat on the tag of Inky Pool, covered with crackle glaze and after that dried, a layer of Honeydew for the crackles - I still think it's magic watching this paint crackle so easily.

I stamped 'Elegant Stems' (Stampington) using a Ranger Antiquities inkpad (in Topiary - which almost exactly matches the Inky Pool paint) I had forgotten I'd got some of these inks - certainly haven't used them for several years - but now I've rediscovered them.....
I added depth with the limited edition distress ink in evergreen bough round the edges of the tag, then sponged the same colour through some sequin waste and used vintage photo round the edges of the tag.  Added just the top part of the stamp, inked in black archival, at the bottom of the tag and the text is from a Wendy Vecchi set.  Added a row of flower trim, coloured with the evergreen bough inkpad, and a piece of ribbon (same again) at the top.

Sorry it's not a very good picture. I couldn't get in close enough without the flash bleaching out every detail, I'll try and take a better one in daylight at the weekend.
Once again, there is a fab $50 random prize up for grabs. Thanks, Simon Says!

WOYWW 147 - 28 March

Morning all, hope this find you enjoying a warm (if not hot!) Spring day again - we are blessed currently in the UK with our weather. Long may it continue, though we do need rain, really... I've updated to the new blogger interface (accidentally!) so I hope this schedule works!

Anyhow, you're here to see my workdesk courtesy of Julia at the Stamping Ground - which today is not very exciting, apart from a RAK (Random act of Kindness) gift I won from SimonSaysStamp (for a tweeted comment) last Thursday and which arrived on Tuesday - from the States, which I think is brilliant. Here it is -

some gelatos (I have seen Donna Downey use these so will enjoy them I am sure!) a Big Brush pen and a brush - thanks again, Simon Says.

This next photo is for Elizabeth (whose Altered Book course so many of us are following) - my "proper" camera - she has often commented on my love of photography and her lack of decent camera - this is what I take all my"Kew" photos with (click the fountain on the top of my side bar for my other blog!)

The standard lens is 25-80mm focal length and the big zoom is 75-300mm

When I win (ha ha) the lottery I will upgrade to a digital SLR camera  but for now it's a film one!

Anyhow, we are meant to keep our WOYWW posts short and sweet and once again I've failed, so I'll shut up now! Have a good week all.

A little Bird Told Me...

that today's theme for Hels' Sunday Stampers challnege is "birds".  I had this little bird shape I bought a while ago (could I find it, was the only issue... yes, phew!)

I used distress inks (evergreen bough) and stain (broken china) over the base shape, leaving a beak shaped space  on which I used mustard seed stain, and stamped the flowers (fromTim's Nature's Discovery set) in chipped sapphire.

Covered the whole bird with distress embossing ink and clear embossing powder - several layers for some shine

And yes, I DID do both sides!  Added some bling to the centres of some of the flowers and black enamel accents for eyes. 

Probably shouldn't confess this, but I had to re-do the photos cos the first ones showed up the dust round the bowl of pot pourri (which used to smell of chocolate but doesn't any more, sadly!) (bad housewife skills!)

Break out the new stamps...

Well, I started this journal page several days ago but it got kind of stuck - until my new stamps that you saw on Wednesday, arrived.

I used Fresco paints - moonlight on the background, and claret and pansy for the stencilling  - and I've hidden the bingo stencilling with some gesso, to blend it into the background.

There is also some distress ink (seedless preserves again!) for the "unbumped" harlequins - I don't think it shows up very well  - which doesn't seem to dry over the paint so I used some perfect pearls mist to seal it - hence the shine in the flash!

The hot air balloon goes so well with this text from the other new set I bought.   I painted the balloon with porftoleo pastels.

I love the idea of a hot air balloon flight - maybe one day!!

WOYWW 146?

Welcome to the first WOYWW of Spring - the year is flying by and whilst I know there's still snow about in the States here we are blessed with spring sunshine and early blooms in our gardens and parks.

This is the state of my floor yesterday evening - happy post ripped open - and I know I wasn't going to buy anything else before the Stamp show at Alexandra Palace (Ally Pally) in April, I couldn't resist these... can you blame me?

a couple of Tim Holtz's new release stamps - my excuse is they were a very good price and I couldn't wait till Ally Pally!
The white capped pen is a textile pen - my good blog buddy Gabrielle and I have this idea to decorate a tshirt each to wear with our blog names for "instant recognition" (ha ha) at Ally Pally - so I've got a pen, now to find a tshirt and try to scrawl "stampingbyh" on it legibly and maybe even neatly... we shall see! I have of course my WOYWW badge too....

 This is the week also for our next DragonsDream Tag it On challenge - the book chosen by my teamie Silvia is "The Thornbirds" by Colleen McCullough and the theme is Australia or the outback.
I was stumped on this for some time but found a torn out page of an old office diary with maps on, so used the Australia page (I knew they'd come in handy sometime...never throw stuff away, see, it works!)
The flower is made with a piece of paper fromone of Tim's paper stacks, and the tattered floral die - careflully positioned to get the Australia map too.

In my mind I associate hot sun and sailing with Australia, (I know it's not all like that) so these are the stamps I used to meet the challenge requirement (Stampscapes) and the anchor** is from my stash, coloured with rust alcohol ink. **what am I saying. it's a wheel.. meant to go back and change this yesterday - Julia is the only one kind enough to notice!!

Please come and play with us - we'd love to see you!

Simon Says - make a background

Monday sees a new Simon Says challenge - and this week Simon Says Show your Handmade Background.

I took to my journal and a page I actually started at the weekend but hadn't got very far with!

I have a bit of a thing for the CraftersWorkshop templates at the moment - this is the Mini Numbers Collage.  Colour is Seedless Preserves distress ink which I've hardly used since I got it - but it's so gorgeous!

I've used Stampotique stamps Daniels Hearts, Marcie and Glimmering Hope. The text is from the new Tim Holtz set Words for Thoughts.

 I've coloured some of the hearts with a sparkly gel pen .

A random winner will win a $50 Simon Says voucher.

Altered Book - the story so far

It's time to show the story so far of my first altered book - I'm following a fab online class run by WOYWW's Elizabeth (and Bleubeard) which has encouraged me to take up my book, cutting blade and glue.... here we go! (the link takes you to the current lesson but you can navigate back from there)

I love books and it was really hard the first time I "allowed" myself to tear a page out of a book - and so this is the first time I have ever tried altering one...

 This was measuring for the niche... decided to use a Stanley knife as I couldn't find any spare blades for my craft knife...

This is the niche drying after I'd glued it's edges - the shot you saw in WOYWW yesterday.  Lots of you commented on the spring clamps - I didn't want to spend a fortune and as the bulldog clips I used for the outer edges of the book were no good for the niche, I found a pack of 4 in my local Poundland store's "DIY" section.  I was quite impressed with them, considering they were so cheap... should have got more than one pack though, but the glue (matte medium) worked well and stuck fast!

 Then last night I stated painting the covers - not re-reading Elizabeth's lesson guide till today I painted over it even though it's kind of cloth covered - the book is one of my late Dad's old (very old) crime thrillers - but the paint worked ok and I am sure I can decorate it somehow later... when we get to that lesson! 


Tonight I read that Elizabeth recommends using a foam brush for this... oh well!

And the inside front cover... I was going for a "time" theme but all my clock or time related papers were the wrong size, so I went for this from Tim Holtz's Shabby Chic paperstack, so maybe I'll change my theme - or not have a set theme (which will help, as I haven't collected much in the way of "stuff" to put in the book yet....)

And the back - another piece of paper behind the niche, and the niche glued down...
(the scissors are just to hold the pages down whilst I take the photo..)

Off to link this with Elizabeth now, and then it's the final part of the Masterchef final so I'm putting my feet up!

WOYWW 145 - 14th March

Hi all and thanks for your visits last week.  Hope this finds you well and crafty. It's Tuesday night as I write, as always and I am watching Liverpool play Everton (local rivals for the non-footie fans among you) so my attention is wavering from this...

Here's what's happening chez H this week...

my altered book drying earlier this week...not had time to do any more to it, so not linked it with Elizabeth yet!

 a little bit of stash - well, the Stamp Attic was 14 and there was free P&P for the day so I had to... and I was running out of tags, and cut'n'dry....so the only indulgence was the "chitchat" stickers... that's my excuse!

and some plaid backgrounds for the Grungy Monday this week (see yesterday's post for the finished piece!) now I have spares too...

So in case you wonder why I am showing this weird collection of photos, check out Jula's Stamping Ground for a million and one other strange places people create... see you soon!
(depending on whether my body clock wakes me soon after Julia posts in the middle of the night, or if I don't wake till 5, I'll be near the top or halfway down the list!!)

Grungy Monday 39 - the Plaid Effect

This week, Grungy Monday from Linda's Studio L3 is back to 2009 - and a great alcohol ink plaid effect.  In fact I remember this one so well, I was really surprised it was from 2009!! Time really does fly...  Check out Tim's originals here .  I wasn't in a Christmas mood, so I have used stamps by Wendy Vecchi and made a card - I haven't stamped a greeting inside yet so I can use it for whatever situation arises!!

sorry about the flash bouncing off the shiny card!!

I was sure I had some spare plaid backgrounds from when I made the original 2009 tag, but could i find them?  I used stream, lemonade and raspberry AI's.  Simon Says is sponsoring this week and there is a voucher up for grabs. Good luck!

Ok, sorry but I can't stop, Liverpool are playing our local rivals Everton and the TV is demanding my attention. Byeee!

Simon Says - Anything Goes!

This week is a free rein at Simon Says - Anything Goes is the theme - and I've been messing about in my journal again, still in green!  I wasn't really sure where this was going...

I started by using shabby shutters distress ink direct to the page, then blended it with a wet brush.  The leaf is by Dyan Reaveley and is coloured with portfolio pastels in the violet shades. Went back to my fave Dina Wakley girl stamped in coffee archival ink, on a page torn from an old book, coloured with shabby shutters and mustard seed round the edges.
Used some white gelly pen on the leaves or a bit of an accent.   The sentiments are from a Clarity set.
Simon Says are giving a random entry a $50 gift voucher, so make sure you have a go!

Thanks for looking.

Grungy Monday 38 & Inspiration Emporium

Linda's Grungy Monday reaches #38 and it's been a while since I managed to join in - but this week she sent us way back to Tim's Tag 2 for 2007 - a paint resist technique (one that I have often struggled with truth be told) and I thought I'd have another crack at it.

Whilst following some links from Twitter, I came across this fab site - Inspiration Emporium -  no idea how it's escaped me so long.... but their current monthly challenge is a "green" colour challenge, so I thought I'd have a go, and combine the two.  Hope that's ok. There is a $50 random prize at Inspiration .

I had trouble with the flash and the artificial light, photographing it.

I've followed Tim's technique featured on his original blog post (linked above) and added some shimmer with the Perfect Pearls Green Patina spray that I used on the flower trim - mopping up the overspray on my craft sheet, onto the tag.
The tree stamp is by Paperbag Studio, the rest are Wendy Vecchi's.

thanks for looking.

12 Tags of 2012 - March

So, finally I get to play at Tim's Tag for March - love his version with some well placed mosaics!

My first background stamp I chose - I don't have anything wood-grainy like Tim used - was a disaster (too much pattern and I used a colour too similar to the mosaic scraps) so whilst tonight's dinner was cooking I found an alternative.

So, the background I used is a Hero Arts one called 'sparkle background' and it is quite old - though judging from the state of the red rubber, hardly used!! I've certainly not used it horizontally.

The butterflies are ok for a first attempt at mosaic - I nearly forgot to add the glossy accents - but I did find a tub of embossing powder in the right colour - cement - mine is by PSX so that is very old too!! I bought loads and loads of different colour embossing powders when I first started stamping - now I use clear, sometimes black and maybe an irredescent one - and that's it... but I like this one!

I am running low on Tim's foliage idea-ology so  I just used this little flower charm by Mei Flower that I bought at Stevenage a few weeks ago.

I have to say, I really like having longer to get these 12 Tags done - much as I loved the 12 Tags of Christmas - it was very restrictive time-wise (I hated not doing them on the right day!) so thanks for the fresh look to this year long challenge, Tim!!   Do go and check out the other entries - there are some beauties and it's only the 8th March - you have all month.

Now back to my latest obsession - messing about in my journal (though I have some other challenges I want to do this week too...) roll on the weekend!

What's on Your Workdesk? Wednesday 144

Well, here we all are again!  Another Wednesday, another collection of desks to snoop at... courtesy of Julia at the Stamping Ground.  

So, this is my "desk" tonight - I've been cutting some alphabets with the Wordplay die by Tm Holtz (I finally got a set of the extra large cutting plates which were out of stock everywhere for days!)
I've got 3 full sets cut out ready for when I need them...)

and I've been trying to stick my altered book pages together for the course that WOYWW Elizabeth is running - do check it out if you've ever wanted to do an altered book - her instructions are easy to follow and very detailed, just what I need as a beginner - this is my first one though I've been meaning to do one for years!  I don't have enough clamps or pegs (no outside space to dry my washing so I don't need pegs!) so I'm having a few problems at present!

Spent the weekend painting of a different sort.... no, the overalls aren't mine - I borrowed them from my brother (he wasn't on painting duties!) We were at my mum's house as we have lots to do to get it ready to rent (which we still aim to do rather than sell) - she was a heavy smoker and the rooms are very discoloured... and then we lost the electrics - some sort of problem with the RCD box after my brother turned the power off to put in another socket in her bedroom - so we had lights but no other power all weekend! (Don't ask me, I haven't got a clue!! )
We did have a lovely meal at the Indian restaurant opposite her house though (once we got served!)

I've also been messing about in my journal again  - umbrella man makes another appearance!

Finally, it's "Alice" week at Dragons-Dream Tag It On the choice of AJ.  I don't have any Alice themed stamps - coudln't even find a rabbit! so I've just used some Graphic 45 Alice paper to make my tag, and wrote out some quotes - the stamp is the crown by Tim Holtz.  Stop by and check out the other DT efforts, which will all be much better than mine! (should publish around lunchtime)