Springtime for TioTs

Springtime is the new challenge theme at Try it on Tuesdays
Please pop over for all the details and see what we all made, this time we are welcoming Marjik as our Guest Designer.

This is a small canvas that I can honestly say just evolved. I had no idea how it would end up.
After using acrylics and gesso on the base. I did my usual trick of random stamping the base using Archival inks. All the stamps used  are from Paper Artsy.
For the sprouting tree thingy !!  I stuck, scrunched up pieces of paper towel down the side and corner of the canvas. This was coloured using iridescent water colour paints.
I hope that quirky bird isn't thinking to nest in my tree.
All the rest of the shading was water colours and distress ink--Antique linen
The hand is to represent   the tree trunk. I added the words Sprout, grow and bloom here , because Springtime is the season of new growth.
The clock on the pleated  die cut shape, is a reference to how time passes  and things will blossom and grow as the seasons change.

Thank you for stopping by to take a look, I always appreciate the comments you leave me.

Love you, for SCH

The new challenge theme  at Sugar Creek Hollow is a Tic Tac Toe

Remember our style is Vintage /Shabby Chic and pick out your line, vertical, diagonal or horizontal.
Please pop over for all the details and see what we all made including our Guest Designer for this challenge Heidi  at Filharmonica

This card is made using the bottom horizontal line-
-Flowers/Pearls.Die cut.
The base papers were from my stash. The die cut was from a friend who keeps me supplied, always sends me some when she buys a new one.
The layered up  flower is hand made  but came already die cut in a pack.  Now be shocked the lace die cut strip is actually one of my own and is a Tim Holtz Alterations die strip.
The row of pearls were stuck to a satin ribbon.
All the shading was Vintage Photo distress ink.

Thank you for stopping by to take a look, I always appreciate the comments you leave.

Aprils Callendar

A quick post to show you my Calender page for April. Made using Graphics 54 papers.

Stamped and embossed flowers on the base layer and as always with me, 

 a touch of the vintage photo distress ink for extra shading.

This is a scheduled post, as we are hopefully going to be in Yorkshire for a few days.

 If the internet is willing to give us some reception, I hope to catch up with you soon.

Thank you for stopping by, I realy appreciate your comments.

Journal 52-Recycled Art

We are up to week 16 at Journal 52 and this weeks prompt is Recycled Art.
For me this involved a rummage around my scraps and bits and pieces. Like most crafters everything will have a use some day, I cannot throw stuff away. The original base was a page torn from an art  book. Now don't be shocked,  this was a bargain in  a charity shop, you can just about make out the building in the background..
Next came a few sprays with coloured ink and some  left over unused  trimmings.
 The lady [I called her the wise woman] was cut out and is from a magazine picture of  a Van Gough painting, I knew I would make use of it one day. I tend to cut out this sort of stuff , thinking it too good to put in the bin, when they are to  be used is another matter.
Thank you for taking the time to take a look, the comments you leave are always appreciated.

Spring Flowers

I have finally these past few days managed to cut and use some papers from my new Tim Holtz Wallpaper stack. I have noticed a few like minded folk in blogland, who like me prefer to keep them a while to gaze at are also using theirs. These papers alone are inspirational and do not need a lot thought on how to use them.
But they definitely for me  needed a bit of distressing round the edges,  and a touch of Vintage Photo distress ink. I have to admit that is is my most used of Tim's tips and influences, I use it in practically all my craft work..
I used one of Tim's new trellis die cuts, this is going to be so useful in future.
For the flowers I used the Tatty flower garland Alterations die cut strip. After assembling my flowers I scrunched them  up a little  and sprayed them with water, another one of Tims super techniques.
Peeling back the flowers when they had dried out, I touched round the outer edges of the petal with a little Fired brick  distress ink.
I made this card with the new Challenge over at A Vintage Journey  in mind,  it is  'Spring Flowers'.
This challenge encourages us to use the ideas and be inspired by Tim Holtz. I think I may  have managed that.

Thank you for stopping by to take a look, the comments you leave are always appreciated.

Mobile Phone

'Flying things', is the new  theme at Fashionable Stamping Challenges. 

Please pop over for all the details and see what we all made. 

 We especially need to see that stamping is the focal point in the project and you  must follow the theme. There is a generous prize offered by our Sponsor Flonzcraft

So as you can see from the card I made , my take on the theme went a little sideways. I was assured by my DT sisters that this was okay.

I love this stamp from Chocolate Baroque and it always brings a smile to the face of the recipients  when I use it on my cards.

The papers I used for layering are from a Tim Holtz stack

A piece of scrap corrugated card, then the  image. All the colouring and shading were distress inks, Frayed Burlap, Vintage Photo and  a touch of Salty Ocean.

The die cut pieces are an Alterations die.

Thank you for stopping by to take a look, your comments are always appreciated.

Happy Easter Everyone

 When I saw  Tag Along's new challenge this week is 'All things Easter', I decided to go all bright and cheerful  for this tag. In fact its possible sun glasses are needed as its not my usual colour tones.

 All the bits and pieces came from my stash and the images are from Graphics 45 papers.

I would like to wish all my friends and followers old and new a very Happy Easter

and  thank you for all the times you stop by to see what I have been making.

Party Animals-Journal 52

Week 15 and our prompt at  Journal 52  was Party Animals. 

A real fun scenario crossed my mind when I read this.  I reached for these Crafty Individuals stamps and after fussy cutting them out, grouped them together. Mind you I think the goose perched on the potting shed may have had a drop too much of the funny water..... as he looks as if he is about to slide off..
An inked, painted and masked background for this page, the shed was already pre -printed on the card.

Thank you for stopping by and taking time to leave me a comment.

How does your Garden Grow?

More than one Fold is the new theme at Try it on Tuesdays
As you can see these flower heads, have definitely more than one fold.
Please pop over to see what we all made, we would love you to join us.
We are also  welcoming Sylvia  of BarniesBaustelle as our Guest designer this challenge.
There is also  a Design Team call at TioT's  you will find all the details here.

My take on this theme was to reach out for my Tim Holtz, paper rosettes die. 

 Using  scrap strips of patterned  paper, the hardest part was to glue the edges to the center  circle after they had been folded up.
I jest, these are the easiest of things to make, even if you don't have a die, its just plain paper  folding. Bring the edges together to make a circle then  stick.  A small  paper circle front and back will keep it all in place.
The flowers on the background and sentiment  are Paper Artsy Joffy stamps.
All the other bits and pieces are from my stash..

Thank you for stopping by, the comments you leave are always appreciated.

Paper roses.

'A Floral Profusion', is the new theme at Crafty Cardmakers and More.

 Fiona who is hosting this challenge would like to see hand made flowers on the projects you enter. Please pop over for all the details and read about the prize from our generous sponsor.
This card is two simple layers of pretty papers and some die cut flowers from Craftwork cards.
A touch of the much favored Vintage photo distress ink round the edges. The sentiment is stamped but I cannot make out who its by.
Thank you for calling to see me, your comments are always appreciated.

Daisies

Been getting a bit inky this morning with some Dylusions spray inks, so decided to make a Tag with a couple of challenges in mind using this off cut of   card. Sorry not able to say the exact colours as  I was using most of the colours I own [6].  It looks mainly to be Vibrant  Turquoise and Lime green on this piece.
 I used Black Staz-on for the Daisy  stamping [Inkylicious stamp]. Then  used pencils to colour the daisy on the panel, adding  a touch of distress ink around the edges.
 This weeks challenge at  Tag Along is Flowers.
The folk over at Artful Times want us to 'Spray Away'  for their new theme. Girls I can assure you I did spray away, I will be washing the ink off my hands for the rest of the day.

Thank you for stopping by, I do so appreciate your comments.

Easter Greetings

'Easter', is the new theme over at Sugar Creek Hollow, as always  our style is Vintage/Shabby Chic. Please pop over to see what we made and get all the details.

We are welcoming Nicola of Paper Profusion as our Guest Designer this time

Once again I reached for my Graphics 45 papers and feel quite proud of myself that I am actually beginning to use them without going into a rapid decline.
I used the Sweet sentiments pack for this card, adding a few trimmings of my own.
The extra shadings on this card were Antique Linen distress inks.

Thank you for stopping by, the comments you leave me are always appreciated.

Rain or Shine-Journal 52

Week 14 at   Journal 52   and this weeks prompt was   'Rain or Shine'.

As we are still having dull days the Rain won  over the sun for this page.

One of the things I wrote was that at least I didn't have to make excuses to get crafting when it rained.

A painted background, some stamping, a Mabel Lucy Attwell image, those two are having fun I think.  A spray from my home made  dirty water splash mister. Whats this you ask, its the water I wash my paint brushes in, the dirtier the better, it seems to work and costs nothing.

Thank you for stopping by to take a look, I realy appreciate the comments you leave.

A little bit French

A Little Bit French is the theme for the third challenge over at A Vintage Journey.  A super blog where  the challenges are influenced by the work  and products of Tim Holtz
I decided to get all grungy and inky and make a journal page this time..
Vintage photo, Walnut stain and  Tea dye were the distress ink pads I used for all the shading.
All the stamps used are  from  Tim Holtz's  sets.

I layered the page up with some old  French book print, and  a variety of images .
 Heat embossed the Moulin Rouge to make it stand out.
 The girl image is one I created a short while ago using  my MCS program.
 Next up was the doily Layering Stencil and some Grunge Paste. When this dried out I did brush it with gold mica powder.
The Eiffel Tower is a Spellbinders die.
 Now as this is Paris and perhaps this young woman was looking for a bit of romance, I just had to trim the page with a bit of left over ribbon and some butterflies. Makes it look a bit more feminine.

I will also be entering these challenge
 The Artistic Stamper Creative Team -- for April ,which is Embossing and Texture.
The Kraft Journal Paris or France- Thank you Karen for telling me about this challenge.

Thank you for stopping by to take a look, I always appreciate the comments you leave.

Shimmer and shine.

First of all today, I would like to say hello to my new followers and thank tyou  for following me on my Crafty Journey.

Heavy Metal is the challenge theme over at Artful Times.
A while ago at a Craft Retreat, I remember we made book covers using embossed mirri card.  For this card I used silver mirri card.
 After embossing you use drops of  Alcohol  Inks , straight from the bottle and blend them together. Let it all dry, then give it a rub over.

The lock die cut, was  coloured the same way adding dabs of  Antique Brass Distress stain.
The heart shape was triple embossed and stamped into while still hot. I rubbed over the top of this with an old un-named metal wax. A few papers to layer up, a few charms and a Tim Holtz stamped ticket were the finishing touches. Also a few promises  to self to remember in future that mirri card, no matter what you do to it, does not like being photographed.
Thank you for stopping by to take a look, I do so appreciate the comments you leave.

Walk beside me for FSC

 Our 70th challenge theme at Fashionable Stamping Challenges is your,  'Favorite Technique'.
Please pop over for all the details and see what we all made. Remember our challenge must have a stamped image as the main focus.
Gosh!  how do you choose, this is hard one for me as I do like all  sorts of techniques.
So I might be mentioning more than one. Hope my design team sisters will forgive me for this.
I decided to go back to my very first love, which is rubber stamping. If it wasn't for these craft items I would not be trying  the techniques  I do today.  These images are from Crafty Individuals.  Embossing the stamped image with clear powder, which makes it easier to colour. Yes, I do use distress markers, pencils and spectrum noire pens etc  But for this image it was my water colours that I reached for, another favorite of mine.

As you can see the card  is layered up with papers and trimmings.
The Vintage Photo distress ink also had its usual outing for extra shading.

I do hope you will share your favorites with us, please remember we are a stamping challenge.

Thank you for stopping by, I do so appreciate the comments you leave.

How does your garden grow-Journal 52-week 13

'How does your Garden Grow', was our prompt for week 13 at Journal 52.

Now at the moment we are supposed to have Spring in the U.K. and while some parts have been lucky, here in the north east it is mainly dank and grey. The daffodils have raised their heads in my garden and the leaves are in bud on the trees. The grass has had its first cut of the year, but that is about all I can tell you about my garden at the moment.

 So my page reflects my imagination, and I did use some Joffy stamps for the flowers. One of the suggestions this week was to start off with a black base [I used black gesso]. I used mainly  acrylic paints for the base. The rest just evolved to how it looks now.

Thank you for stopping by I do so appreciate the comments you leave.

Lets see some beads

'Lets see some Beads', is the new challenge at Try it on Tuesdays.
We hope that you will all search out any of these large or small embellies and come join the fun. There is also a design Team call, we wonder if you would like to join us.
It could even be a necklace, I remember my mum saying don't touch my beads.

So this hanging has a base that I had made previously and didn't finish. It was corrugated card  peeled back painted a few times and looked generally messy. So I painted it  with acrylics, Toad in the Hole and Irish Cream, great names for paint.

The flower was covered in seed beads and a bit of gold Frantage embossing powder.
The stamps I used were by  Lynne Perella and Chapel Road Art.
All the other additions came from by stash.


Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge is -Anything Goes this week, so I will be off to join the fun over there as well.

Thank you for stopping by, I always appreciate your comments.