Compendium 13

This week Linda's Studio L3 challenge is one of my favourite pages from THE book - page 65.  It won't take too much to work out what the challenge is so I won't say any more!

Here is my card - it's an 8x8 inch card, with a piece of Tim's Vintage Shabby stack, the challenge items and some stamping.

I used some music paper and also an old piece of Tim's paper with pen nibs on (it's from a Design Originals pack from 2005 according to the date on the edge of the paper, never before used.....) on the GP, cut these through the tattered florals die, and I also had a grunge flower made up with some of Wendy V's flower stamps.

I kept the stamping to walnut stain to co-ordinate with the papers and blended some broken china DI over the base card. Finally just a touch of distress stickles here and there.

There are some amazing prizes up for grabs this week - so don't bother entering!!

Sunday Stampers - Anything goes!

This week, Hels has said we can use anything at all - our favourites - everything - on her Sunday Stamper challenge.

So, at the start of my new blog year - can you believe it's a year already I've been blogging (well, some of you can cos you saw Friday's post) - I went back to some old favourites - Stampscapes.  Before I started blogging, I used these stamps loads, and haven't for ages.  But I saw that Ellen had used some in her SS entry (boy, she was quick off the mark!) and my brain woke up!!  I don't ONLY do grunge!!

I took a sheet of white cardstock - it's designed for digital images but is beautiful for stamping on - really smooth - I bought it months ago at Craftwork Cards and haven't used it before - but it IS good - just like they said it was.                                 

I brayered the background using Kaleidacolor Blue Breeze and stamped a variety of Stampscapes images with black archival ink to make a moonlit scene.  A white pen adds some moonlight highlights.          

(P.s. if you like my photo blog, I've uploaded some more this afternoon!)        

Let's start the 2nd year!

So, here we go - blog year 2 is off and running.
Thanks to my great blog buddy, Lori I found this cool video by Jennifer McGuire that I missed on Hero Arts, with a great technique using glossy accents as a mask, and knew I had to have a go.

So, last night I started it - it's an overnighter!

I started by cutting a shape out of card with one of the Tim Holtz dies , inking the edges and stamping a leaf (stampendous again,) in walnut stain, heat setting and then filling the leaves with glossy accents.

Put aside to completely dry. (this is the overnight bit!)

Today, when I got home from my lovely morning at Kew (it was nice and sunny, warm but not hot, blue skies, lush green after all the rain - perfect - photos tomorrow!)

Sorry - today, when I got home from Kew, I could finish it off.

Used my blender tools to apply distress ink in suitably autumnal colours - barn door, mustard seed, rusty hinge, wiping any off the glossy masked leaves afterwards.
Stamped a Wendy V sentiment, added some idea-ology bits and pieces and then - rather than adding it to a tag - turned it into a card, so I can use it!!

used a cream card for the base, and a piece of Lost and Found - it is a much creamier yellowy brown, than it looks in this photo! - cut slightly smaller than the card, and Tim's flourish stamp in walnut stain.

One year on

Hi, everyone! 4th September 2009 - just over an hour away from being 12 months ago - and I wrote my first ever blog post! I can't believe it's gone so fast - or looking at my blog history, that I have waffled on for over 300 posts.

So I want to say thank you to all of you - without whose encouragement and support, without whose flattering, funny, informative and wonderful comments it would have been impossible to continue.  I only realised this evening that my blogaversary was tomorrow, or I'd have got together some candy for you. Maybe next year, lol!!  I have made some lovely friends - some of whom I've had the privilege of having met in that time.

Anyhow, whilst I was waiting for some glossy accents to dry on a project I am trying out, (hope to be able to show that tomorrow) - I stamped this little tag to say thanks to each and every one of you who has visited the blog in the last year, and will hopefully continue to do so in the future.

Needless to say, I have used distress inks - forest moss, barn door and rusty hinge - and a Stampendous leaf - it's called Fall Sprite, I think (I've put it away again now) which I've embossed. Just added a couple of strips of tissue tape and a philosophy tag.   It is obviously nearly autumn cos I am going back to autumny colours!! I haven't even had a summer holiday yet....

If you could see what's on the other side though, you may not come back - that version didn't work out so well at all!!!

I am going to Kew Gardens again tomorrow - weather is meant to be good - hopefully it will still be a bit misty when I get there, there is nothing I like more than a misty autumn morning in the sunshine. It's probably too soon to be like that yet though.  (You also know that that means more photos on t'other blog in a couple of days!)
So, at the risk of repeating myself, thanks for coming back time and time again to see what I've been up to. it means a huge amount to me, and I never thought it would happen!

Tag Tuesday - Butterflies

This week's Tag Tuesday challenge is butterflies. Now, those of you who follow my blog regularly may not be surprised to hear  that I have a fair few (ha ha) butterfly stamps.... So which images to use and what to feature on the tag?

I started a tag that featured on my WOYWW post yesterday that a) I wasn't convinced about; and b) I didn't think was finished, so tonight I started another one, hoping that something would hit me. (figuratively speaking of course).

So I've ended up with 2 tags!
The bottom one is the first one - mustard seed and peeled paint DI's, the small Wendy Vecchi butterfly and an acetate butterfly (from Craftwork Cards) that I used alcohol inks on and Tim H's alphabet stamp on the front (well, it was going to be the back till I forgot about reversing letters.....) Not sure what kind of acetate this is, but I had the devil of a job to get the alcohol inks dry (in fact it's still smudging 2 days later....)

When I was looking for different images today, I found a couple of Stampendous butterfly stamps.  The one I have added to the acetate butterfly is part of a stamp called Buttefly Safari and but I only stamped the butterfly and coloured with Twinkling H2O's. I wasn't going to put it on here, but it didn't seem to 'go' with the other tag....
If I hadn't already stuck the acetate down, I'd have done something else to the tag for a better background. I didn't want to use the sequin waste again. Ah, hindsight!!

This tag is today's effort and the tag is coloured with wild honey DI and spritzed with both water and a perfect pearl/DI reinker mix, before swooshing the tag through it several times. Once dry, I stamped the'sketch butterfly' (also Stampendous) several times and coloured with twinkling h2o's again - well, they were out!!

I have then added rusty hinge DI through some sequin waste and an extra butterfly on a scrap of cardstock.  Spent ages trying to find a suitable sentiment to add, but in the end just used this Impression Obsession 'dream'. Some multicoloured ribbon finished it off. Although I really should learn to tie decent bows.
So, you takes your pick, you make your choice.  Still not sure about the first one, but I thought I may as well add it anyhow!

WOYWW sixtysomething -1st September

Hello, fellow snoopers, it's Wednesday again - and September already! We meet here at Julia's each wonderful Wednesday so we can be sent off round the world checking up what each other have been up to.

This week here on the floor, a couple of stamps fell into my online shopping basket at The Artistic Stamper and shock, I've had them since Saturday and not mounted them up yet. And those cute little suitcases to alter...

Also, is a sort of Tag Tuesday tag that I'm not sure about yet.

(theme, butterflies) Am not very good with acetate.... so the finished entry may be something completely different (as Monty Python would tell us)

Some many weeks ago, I mentioned being a bit of a book-a-holic - and Carmen said, show us, I love books too.

Ok. brace yourselves. This is one of the overflows that won't fit into any of the already overful bookcases in my very crowded flat - and the reason I can't craft on what is still laughingly called the 'dining room' table!!! You should see the piles in the bedroom. I can't stop buying books!! I know I should go to the library, but I like the feel of new clean books too much. Ready? Don't say I didn't warn you.

Much as I have a list of my stamps in a binder (that I take to stamp shows, so I don't duplicate), I have a spreadsheet for my books.   And yes, they are bottles of wine at the back by the wall, left by my ex many years ago, and don't ask me why I never drank them.  Suspect they will be like vinegar now and one day I will open then (plug on nose) chuck the contents and send the empties to the recycling. It's one of those things on the very long 'to do' list to sort out the flat, which greatly needs taking in hand (or I do, at least!)

Oh, and in case you missed it here, (with full deets),  this is the finished wedding card. They fly off to Italy later today.

It is probably going to be impossible for me to get in any snooping today at work, we will be thin on the ground in the office, so I will get to you when I can, later on, peeps. Thanks for checking in, sorry this is such a long, rambling post.

Simon Says - Show us your Layers - with Chipped Enamel

I have had SO much fun this afternoon, playing!  It's a sunny Bank Holiday Monday here in the UK but I am staying inside because I wanted to do my favourite Monday challenges!  Simon Says, week 4 - is to use Layers - think I may have managed that - and Linda's Studio L3 for the Compendium Challenge is from page 44, chipped enamel.

Also, I've been watching 'An American in Paris' on tv with all that gorgeous Gershwin music - so think I've gone a bit romantic!

Anyhow, here is my entry for both these challenges:

(I am writing this whilst the camera battery recharges so I can take the last pics and upload them....not to mention drink the cup of tea before it gets cold like the last one did!)

I took a large chipboard arch tag (I got mine from Paperartsy - it's about 5 by 7 inches at it's largest) painted it with Trad Tan paint, inked it with crushed olive and forest moss DI's  then took a piece of paper (old letters) tore the edges and added that, distressed with some old paper DI,

before using Tim's flourish mask (wild honey) ferro paste in golden orange (bit bright, that....) tissue tape, grungeboard flourish covered in wild honey DI and orange distress stickles, some idea-ology with the chipped enamel technique applied.  The portrait is a Hero stamp, under a Maya Road frame covered with 3 layers (gesso, gold viva paint and rock candy distress paint) stuck to a large Petaloo flower coloured with more DI's (bundled sage, crushed olive, forest moss).   The 'dream is a wish stamp' is by Wendy stamped on a scrap, inked and sprayed and mounted with 3d foam.

I have lost count of the number of layers, but  it's quite a few.... and I thnk I've just about run out of room, so guess that is the time to stop. Thanks SSSS and Studio L3, for two more FAB challenges. It's been a blast. Go check them out, they both have some incredible prizes on offer again.