Three Bees

For this week's Creative Expressions DT piece I wanted to create a nod to those specimen pieces you find when explorers have returned from exciting adventures and the bee stamp in the Garden Chic set was my inspiration! The tag was inked in Shabby Shutters and Peeled Paint Distress Inks, blending where they met. I then stamped the small leaf stamp in Peeled Paint. I then crumpled the tag up so it looked weather beaten and lightly swiped Peeled Paint and the Vintage Photo Distress Inks to highlight the creases. I also spritzed the tag with water to give a faux bleaching effect and help it look aged! The label was made the same way (though I didn't crumple it) and the word was from the sentiment with the stamp set. I glued the label on to the tag and then added two brads which I beat with my Texture Hammer. 

I took three Fragments and inked them with Alcohol Inks (Butterscotch, Sunshine Yellow, Citrus and Gold). Then I stamped the bee in Jet Black Archival Ink and I gently patted the stamped image off - it makes the image transparent - and then I backed each one with foil tape and adhered it to the tag. The image now looks silver - I hope that the camera picks this up! A little ribbon finished it off.  Thank you, as always for stopping by and leaving a message - they are very much appreciated.

When eye fall in love...

The Simon Says Stamp and Challenge theme this week is song titles. The theme at Crafty Boots Challenges is the same (spooky huh?!) and so I have been a good girl made a different project! Also, Linda's Grungy Monday project is a 'cracking' one; Hels wants to see some eyes for the Sunday Stamper this week and my lovely friend Siobhan wants some embellishments for her first Stamp Man challenge so this is my attempt at them all! Phew! I must be feeling better! Following your thoughts about my last song choice I thought I share our "first dance" song at our wedding... Nat King Cole's When I fall in love. Didn't he look young in that clip?!

Anyhoo - the crackle paint is the lovely Picket Fence with Vintage Photo and Black Soot Distress Ink rubbed into it. The heart is a combination of Fired Brick, Vintage Photo and Black Soot inks and some clear embossing powder in layers. The sentiment was printed from my computer though the 'love' is a bit of one of Wendy's stamps!

ps I know my project doesn't have an actual eye on it - I'm hoping Hels forgives me for the 'I' pun!

I'm late...

Thank you for all the good wishes as I recover from my virus! I'm still whispering but with a little more vigour so hopefully I'll be back to screaming harpy in no time! A consequence of being ill was that I have been a dreadful daughter-in-law and missed my father-in-law's birthday. I felt awfully guilty and so managed to pop to the shops and buy him a gift and made a tag to accompany it. Now, bearing in mind I've been unwell and my crafting mojo has well and truly disappeared, I used what was to hand on my desk - so huge apologies if it's all been a bit of on theme this week! All stamps are by the incredible Wendy Vecchi - have you seen her CHA sneaky peeks? I am about to become very poor that's all I can say!

The tag was lightly covered in Vintage Photo Distress Ink and I then stamped the background ticket stamp in the same ink. I quickly, and lightly, clear embossed the ticket to create a bit of resist. I then stamped, in Black Soot Distress Ink, the railings and the 'ordinary day' quote and added clear embossing ink and powder over the whole tag, knocking the excess off, and heated. Into the pits left in the embossing I rubbed Iced Spruce Distress Ink and then wiped the tag clean - don't want my fil to have dirty hands! 

The chap (who looks as late as I feel!) was stamped on to brown card and embossed and then lightly "dusted" with Vintage Photo and Iced Spruce! The ticket is the reverse of 'Soar' (I can not imagine I'll ever use that one!), crumpled and inked with a Dymo'd sentiment. I added a little twine and that was that! I like the chap looking like he's climbing up the railings but I'm not sure if he's trying to save the ticket or hoist it aloft... do you think I'm reading too much into this?!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Birthday Butterflies

This month's Creative Expressions Stamp set is from Eco Green and is called Garden Chic. The stamps are made from recycled rubber and are appropriately green! They stamp beautifully and are very versatile. For my first project I made a birthday card and matching tag. 

The card was made by stamping the butterfly image with Jet Black Archival Ink and painting the wings with Distress Stain (Victorian Velvet, Worn Lipstick and Dusty Concord). The next layer was a piece of card inked on two sides with Dusty Concord Distress Ink and Victorian Velvet on the other two, blending where the colours joined. 

The tag was made the same way but before I stamped the butterfly I put my favourite dotty mask on the stamp and then spritzed the tag with water creating a faux bleaching effect. I edged the tag in both colours and a little Vintage Photo Distress Ink and lightly stamped two 'ghost' butterflies in Vintage Photo to give the tag a little more movement. I completed the tag with a little sari ribbon. I have given these to a young lady for her 8th birthday and she seemed to really like them so that's a pretty good vote of approval in my book! Thank you for popping by and I hope you have been inspired to try this range of stamps!

WOYWW 138

So, I've been poorly. Properly poorly with a virus that won't shift. For my family it's been joyous as it's resulted in the fact that I've been whispering for over two weeks! I tell you of my woes because as the pesky virus arrived my mojo departed. Completely disappeared and that just made me feel worse! Though, to be fair on my mojo I don't think I've been well enough to need it! So the joy I show you now is the mess I've made heralding that I'm on the mend! Lots of bits and pieces lying around waiting to be tidied up! 

I don't have anything to show for what I've been making as they are DT things that are scheduled for revelation at a future point but I do have the full version of yesterday's sneaky peek. I hope you like it in all it's glory! Please pop over to the hostess-with-the-mostess, Julia, and see other creative spaces - thank you, as always, for hosting this Julia!

IACW Sneaky Peek

It's my turn over at It's a Creative World and I have gone back to basics this time. My sneaky peek shows my final result! Thanks for stopping by and I hope you hop on over to see what I made!

Angel wings...

Well it's time for the next Crafty Boots challenge - how quickly the fortnight goes! This time it was my turn to choose the theme and I chose Song Titles - you can make anything you like as long as you can fit a Song Title to it! My favourite Robiie Williams song is Eternity (because it reminds me of being 18!) but that was a little too challenging so I chose Angels instead. The children and I often 'sing' along to this song - I say sing but David thinks 'murder' might be more appropriate! Unfortunately I have been laid pretty low with a really horrible virus and my mojo has been somewhat absent so I hope you like my simple project. 

I typed out the lyrics and coloured them with Tumbled Glass Distress Stain, blotted it whilst it was still wet and brushed over an ad hoc watery wash of PaperArtsy Snowflake Paint and then adhered it to a piece of grey board. The wings are covered in Picket Fence Crackle Glaze with Vintage Photo Distress Ink rubbed over it when dry and then wiped off with a clean cloth. I then roughly clear embossed them and then rubbed Black Soot Distress Ink over the top as before and clear embossed again. 

I attached the wings to the board with two brads that I beat with my Texture Hammer and added two eyelets, ribbon and a dymo sentiment. Thank you for popping by and I'm looking forward to seeing what you make!

Sentimentally By Hand

A new week and I find myself inspired once again by the incredible Wendy Vecchi stamps that Creative Expressions are showcasing this month. Once again I have been drawn to the wonderful material background stamp found on Sentimental Art and used it to theme a sewing hanging. Now, it looks pretty fabulous as a card but as I have my lovely new Studio and want to fill the walls with my art so I popped a piece of sari ribbon on the top but you could easily attach this to a card. I used Victorian Velvet Distress Ink to stamp the background onto white card which was adhered to a large Art Part. 

I then painted two Tools for Art Art Parts with silver paint and, when dry, stamped the scissors and thimble stamps from the Art By Hand stamp set using Jet Black Archival Ink. I added a brad to the scissors and then beat it up with my Texture Hammer (very therapeutic!) I also used the spool from the background stamp and the ticket from the same set. I stamped two spool labels in Vintage Photo Distress Ink (and while I had it out I edged the background!). 

I then sort of stamped Antique Linen Distress Stain on the spool labels - I say sort of because it was a splotchy effect that I wiped off a couple of times until I got the right colour and antiquing effect. Please remember that Distress Ink will react to the water base of the stain so you need to be a little careful with this stage! For the ticket I used Coffee Archival Ink and then crumpled it up adding swipes of Vintage Photo Distress Ink over the top.

For the frame I used a Mini Frame Art Part, covered it in several layers of Victorian Velvet Distress Stain and then stamped a dotty finish to the frame from the All About Art stamp set. The background of the frame is Antique Linen Distress Stain on the same fabric background stamp as I stamped before (Stain makes a more water coloured effect when stamped) and then the sentiment is also from Sentimental Art. A couple of eyelets and ribbon finished it off but you could easily, as I mentioned before, add it to a card! Thanks for popping by this week!

Sentimental Dream

Oh, I have had a lot of fun making my latest Creative Expressions DT project! I wanted to show how very effective the fabulous background stamp from this month's featured stamp set - Sentimental Art by Wendy Vecchi. I used a square Art Part and clear embossed the background stamp. I then used several Distress Inks (Wild Honey, Fired Brick, Dusty Concord and Black Soot) to ink the Art Part. Then I gave it a little wipe with a soft cloth to remove an ink on the embossed image.

I then took an Art Part - Leaves and inked it with Peeled Paint Distress Ink. I then stamped the background image onto the leaves in Peeled Paint but you'll have to take my word for it as it doesn't seem to show up in the photos! I then took some Glassine Paper and stamped two butterflies and a flower in Coffee Archival Ink. *Remember to heat the glassine paper with a heat gun to 'set' the image*. I then scrunched up the butterflies to make then crinkled and give them movement and then I gently added Distress Ink with my Blending Tool. The flower was inked the as before but I curled the petals round a paintbrush. I added a button for a centre.

To finish off my hanging I used the word 'Dream' from Wendy's Just Word set and stamped it in Coffee Archival Ink on glassine paper and put it behind an Ornate Plate. I then added two Charm Clips, long fasteners and a little chain. 

I hope you like my homage to this incredibly fantastic background stamp! Thank you for visiting and for your comments - they really do make my day!

New Year - New Beginnings

The new year brings a new challenge at Crafty Boots which for this fortnight is 'New Beginnings'. This is one of those titles that you think is really difficult but then when you start to gather your bits and pieces it sparks lots of ideas! I chose to honour a friend's resolution to lose weight by making a little hanging for inspiration! 

The paper is Tim Holtz's Tissue Wrap with a Wendy Vecchi background stamp in Sepia Archival Ink. The dress form (Sewing Room die) was cut twice - the first was sanded and then inked with Vintage Photo Ink. The second dress form had the top and bottom removed and was covered with some tissue tape my sister bought me for Christmas (it came in a tin with 5 different rolls of tape - you'll be seeing a lot of these as they are gorgeous!) I liked the tape so much I added around the edge of the hanging and then aged it with a little Vintage Photo Distress Ink. The torso is sprayed with Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearl Mist. There is some tape measure ribbon (and a mini safety pin) around the waist and the large flower from Wendy's Funky Flower set as the wings behind the dress form. 

I painted an ornate plate with gold paint dabber and almost immediately wiped it off so it just highlighted the details. The sentiment "Never forget the power of you" is from Wendy Vecchi (Art by Number stamp set) stamped with Sepia Archival Ink on brown card (that I crumpled) and then added glossy accents when it was in the plate. I added a swirl from Tim's Elegant Flourishes die which I lightly inked with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and sprayed with Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearl Mist. The hanging is finished off with two jump rings, washers and some of the lovely ribbon from Crafty Boots. Oh! I did sneak in a Dymo date at the top! I am really looking forward to seeing what you make for this challenge - and as always, thank you for your comments - they really make my day!

IACW - Sneak Peek

It's my turn over at It's a Creative World - why not pop on over and see what I made and what my fellow DT have made recently! It's a real variety of crafty makes!

WOYWW 135

I have been a good WOYWWer this week - normally I try to tidy up as I go along but then when Wednesday comes around I find all I can show you is, well, nothing really. So I am pleased to present to you a bit of a mess! So the big box holds most of my ribbons (the rest are on the wall - you can see them in the photo below) the tin on top is my 'Man Tin' which holds pliers etc. You can see my new Wendy Vecchi stamps just in front which I am pleased to say are getting a good workout!

So in this photo of the other end of my desk you can see my ribbons on the wall and my Vagabond but I mainly took this because some friends found it hilarious that I had unwittingly posted a photo of my desk before where the letters resting on my window amused them -so this is the wider shot! I really must decorate them and put them up!

Finally as I don't have anything to show you from what I've been making as it has been mainly DT projects I thought I show you the lights I liberated from the decorations box! It looks very cosy in here at night now! (I replaced the lights with the Christmas tree you can see so I complied fully with the 5th night rule!) Thank you, as always, to Julia for hosting WOYWW, do try visit everyone else's creative spaces - it's my first day back at work after the festive period so I'll try and get round as many as possible!

Flowers are miracles...

The weather outside (to parody a festive tune) is frightful and to brighten my day I turned to this month's Creative Expressions DT stamp set which is the fabulous Sentimental Art by Wendy Vecchi. I wanted to make something with a hint of Spring and so used Wild Honey, Victorian Velvet and Stormy Sky Distress Inks on the large background stamp. 

For the flower I used the stamp from the Well Worn Art set with Jet Black Archival Ink. 

The ink bottle is from Destination Art (a real favourite of mine) and I stamped the bottle image twice in Archival ink as before. The first image was covered in Broken China Distress Ink and clear embossed twice to make it super shiny. I cut out the label from the second image and lightly covered it in Broken China, the edges were distressed and then edged in Vintage Photo Distress Ink (whilst I had it open I also edged the tag in Vintage Photo!) 

The sentiment is from the DT set and I still had  a little ink on the background stamp so I stamped a small piece of card, added the sentiment in Archival Ink and edged it as before. The brad holding the sentiment on was given a good hammering with my Idea-ology Hammer (I love using this!). I dyed a white ribbon with Wild Honey Distress Stain, added yellow twine and a couple of beads and my Spring-like tag is complete! I hope you find a little Spring in your day today, no matter how grey it is outside!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Thank you for your friendship and support during 2011 which has meant such a lot. Sometimes, when you are crafting, you do it alone and you are never sure if it is any good, if people will like it, if it makes sense... and lots of other doubts! You have given me encouragement to continue in ways you will never know and I truly thank you for that.

 I look forward to seeing what crafting challenges 2012 will bring us all!