Thursday 31 May 2012

Sunday Stamper - Week 207 - Words

Hels has made a lovely piece this week by transforming a humble piece of wood into something very special.  I think it may be far too late for me to venture into the DIY market - especially as earlier in the week I was sporting very sore, swollen feet & a slightly sore head after this years 'safari supper'.  It certainly was a great evening with lots of fab (I nearly said 'flab' but that was just me!!) food from our neighbours around our lovely 'green' & I don't think I poisoned anyone with my desserts!  Success!  Anyway, I digress. So this weeks theme is 'words' after the sad loss of Robin Gibb.

 
First I inked my craft mat with scattered straw & bundled sage DI's, spritzed with water & dragged my tag through a couple of times, drying after each layer. I then placed a Crafter's Workshop mini chicken wire stencil over the tag & spritzed with a tea dye re-inker mixed with water & heirloom gold Perfect Pearls.  Next I stamped the PaperArtsy flower (its not a flower but can't think of its name) in black archival.  I took another tag & did the same as above but used peeled paint & tumbled glass then spritzed through a Prima corner mask with Cosmic Shimmer teal wash (again!).  Inked the edges with frayed burlap, stamped with the PaperArtsy sentiment & mounted onto spare black card. At the top right hand corner I added a white American Crafts rub-on & then stamped a 7 Gypsies butterfly & spritzed with a combination of different inks & then added a tiny dab of Adirondack espresso pearl.  Lastly I wrapped some twine around the tag, stapled together with my TH tiny attacher & slipped a TH pen nib behind it. I mounted the sentiment onto foam for dimension, slightly off the tag & placed two Crafter's Companion hat pins behind & vintage ribbon to finish - & of course a TH embellishment!


A big 'thank you' to all of you who have made such lovely comments over the last couple of weeks.  It's nice to know that I'm not talking to myself!  Also for taking an interest in our yearly 'Safari Supper'. Such fun!

Sunday 20 May 2012

Sunday Stamper - Week 206 - Will It Go Round In Circles

My most speedy post to date! This weeks challenge from Hels is Circles. I had to complete this quickly as I have to clear my conservatory (my 'craft' room) this week for a 'Safari Supper' on Saturday. I don't know how I am supposed to find a home for all my bits & pieces but expecting my guests to dine on a table covered in paper & glue might be a step too far!

Anyway, I started by cutting two large circles & gluing together as I didn't have a strong card to hand. I then inked up two stamps from Artemio with snow cap paint dabber for a paint resist background. Next I inked the card with stormy sky, bundled sage, antique linen & scattered straw DI & lightly rubbed the surface to remove some of the ink from the stamped images. I cut a circle band, inked to match card & attached with foam pads to add dimension. From my Silhouette I cut two leaf borders from BasicGrey Urban Prairie paper,  one slightly bigger than the other, edged with walnut stain & placed on top of the circle band, entwining some of the leaves. The card flowers & bird were from my blog candy. I spritzed the flowers with Cosmic Shimmer teal wash mist, edged with walnut stain & added black & platinum brads to the centres. I inked the bird with stormy sky in the middle & walnut stain around the edges & then over stamped with a Papermania 'Urban' script stamp in Versafine smokey gray, gave him a brad eye & sat him behind some of the leaves. Lastly I placed the flowers all around the leaves & a few little butterflies (Martha Stewart) punched out of BasicGrey card & spritzed as above.  I have to say that I really enjoyed this project - quite different for me.

Thanks for taking a look and for those of you who have left me comments I am so grateful. It's really nice to read your messages. Sx




Saturday 19 May 2012

Sunday Stamper - Week 205 - Killer Queen

This week Hels Sheridan has chosen the song title 'Killer Queen' with the theme being 'Queens & Crowns'.  I had in my head what I wanted to do but only got the time to start on Friday evening & finish this morning. Talk about 'last minute dot com!!'.


I began by cutting out the chess board from my Silhouette & embossed the black squares with a fob watch stamp from 7 Gypsies & print magic clear embossing powder. Behind the chess board I placed some beautiful paper from the 'Conservatory' pad from 7 Gypsies. Adhered to the card. I embossed a TH queen playing card (from my blog candy!) & inked with barn door. Looked a bit bright so spritzed with water & dried to tone it down a bit. Attached to card with foam strips to add dimension. I cut out two chess pieces from my Silhouette, embossed as above & attached to playing card with Pinflair glue. Next I stamped the 'queen' in black & coloured with TH distress pens & some promarkers then cut out (very fiddly as very small) & attached to playing card. I cut out a heart,  embossed it with a Anna Griffin stamp  & placed behind the queen. The border was cut out from my Silhouette-I certainly get my money's worth from that machine! Lastly I printed out 'off with her head' with my favourite typeface (LD Remington Portable) & glazed with glossy accents to make them look like tiles.


I shall also be entering this one into 'The Altered Alice' week 2 challenge.

Thursday 17 May 2012

Blog Candy - 'My Prima Place' bi-monthly Art-Zine from Prima


Crafty Charlie are offering up a new Art-Zine from Prima as blog candy so it's certainly worth popping over to their wonderful site to take a look. I have been using the lovely gems from Prima on quite a few of my tags recently. They certainly of very yummy-in fact in need some more!

Sunday 13 May 2012

12 Tags of 2012 - May

I enjoyed making this tag although I didn't  have anything that Tim used but I thinks that's ok. We can't have everything (although I have tried!) & I am on a 'minimal spend 2012' campaign.


I began by stamping one of Tim's small 'Vogue' stamps in blue onto tissue paper then added a paris postal stamp from 'Shabby French'. I applied wet glue to the tag so that I could scrunch the tissue paper up, distressed the edges then inked in frayed burlap & walnut stain.  I cut the dress foam from my Silhouette & used walnut stain to darken.  I didn't have an old cotton reel of course so cut one from the trusty Silhouette & shaped it so that it gave the impression of being 3D. I edged it with walnut stain & added the Creative Expressions bakers twine.  I had some 'ruler' ribbon & just edged in (yes, you've guessed it) walnut stain. The buttons were bare wood so I lightly stamped with a My Mind's Eye flourish, spritzed with sunflower sparkle & geen patina Perfect Pearls,  then lightly edged with walnut stain & sanded. Slithers of paper were cut & twisted for a leaf effect. I stamped a 'create' tag from Creative Expressions, cut out just the word & glued to this pretty, old blank frame. I added Glossy Accents on top to enamel it. When dried I attached it to the TH clip & finally added the ribbon.




Wednesday 9 May 2012

Sunday Stamper - Week 204 - Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue

This week's theme from Hels Sheridan is blue & brown.  I love blue & brown together so that's a good start! Hels has made another stunning tag on this theme so take a look & be inspired.


Firstly I painted my tag with a mixture of PaperArtsy Fresco Finish in south pacific & ice blue, using a 'special touch of mica' dotty mask for some of the painting.  After drying I stamped an Artemio script in Memento's rich cocoa. This bled out a bit but I quite liked the effect so kept it.  I then sprayed tumbled glass distress stain through the dotty mask, edged with walnut stain & dried.  I cut out a scalloped border from Tim's Kraft Resist card & also edged with walnut stain. I am trying to use up old bits & pieces & found a card 'scroll', painted it with Fresco chocolate pudding paint & spritzed with Tattered Angels glimmer mist in Creme de Chocolat.  The moth was stamped in black & sprayed  with Cosmic Shimmer Teal Wash Mist then adorned with some bling! The flower (from my blog candy) was painted in south pacific & ice blue & layered up with a K&Co brad. I can't chuck anything away so a broken old paper clip charm had a new Prima flower added to it.  The words 'Secret Garden' (PaperArtsy) was stamped in brown & coloured in stormy sky & walnut stain ink, flicked with water &  had the corners rounded & attached to clip. Finally I added blue & brown vintage ribbon & a brown Prima wired gem.



Thursday 3 May 2012

Sunday Stamper - Week 203 - Little Red Corvette

What a difficult week this has been.  My mojo hasn't just gone, it's packed it's bags & left the country!  I seem to have just spent the week staring at bits of paper & card, making a little something then chucking that little something!  Not only that, I have totally ruined a project I was working on right at the very end.  Is it just me or does anyone else have these blips?  Answers on a postcard please!!  Anyway, apologies but this is my entry for this week...


 Firstly I coloured a piece of white BasicGrey card with barn door & festive berries DI's then edged the card with a little walnut stain.  I overstamped lightly with a PaperArtsy script stamp & flourish with smokey gray Versafine ink.  Sprayed the piece with a splattering of  worn lipstick (re-inker) & dried.  I cut the frame with my trusty Silhouette (I have to keep on the right side of it or else!) & adhered to the red card. Then I made a dozen different embellishments that were rubbish & opted for the butterfly cut from the Silhouette. The base of it was stamped with the PaperArtsy script then coloured with walnut stain & sprayed with heirloom gold Perfect Pearls. The upper part was stamped with the script.  I added a brass key to the centre of the butterfly. Lastly I stamped a PaperArtsy word (FLY) on a scrap of TH kraft card & attached it behind a TH ornate plate. Phew! I must learn to make these posts shorter.