Notes...

I need to apologise. I made these note cards on Sunday but my life has been horrendously busy since then and I just haven't had time to blog them. I won't bore you with my diary of the week but suffice to say I am looking forward to having a sit 

down sometime next week! Anyway, back to my note cards... I used the fabulous Vintage Typewriter set from Creative Expressions with Jet Black Archival Ink and Old Paper Distress Ink for the background. When making 

note cards I learned the hard way that you need to keep the images flat otherwise it's impossible to write on! I was so excited to open a parcel from Creative Expressions which completed my Distress Stain collection! I also have some the twine so expect to see lots of this in the future! Apologies for my tardiness once again and I'll be back with more soon! Gabrielle x

I dream of flowers!

Today's make was borne in a dream. I think I am clearly going mad because for two night's I have been dreaming about making a flower like this and so, in a bid to dream about something more exciting - like Brad Pitt - I thought I'd better make it! I wonder if it's all the cold and flu medicine I've been taking?! 

Anyway Hels set her Sunday Stamper challenge of a resist technique and so I made my own version of Tim's kraft resist paper! I used clear embossing ink and the background stamp from Wendy's Dreams of Art set and then used clear embossing powder over the top. This created nice brown lines! Then I inked it with Picket Fence Distress Stain and when it was dry a top coat of Stormy Sky Distress Stain. The flowers (from Funky Flower Art) were stamped on 

 Grungepaper, the big one twice. I used Chipped Sapphire, Broken China and Tumbled Glass Distress Stains to colour them. The stalk and leaves (from Alphabetically Art) were inked with Peeled Paint Distress Stain. The silver book plate is from Stampin' Up and I used a little leftover brown card, Vintage Photo Distress Ink and part of a stamp from the Tools for Art set. I inked a Maya Road black bingo ticket with Tumbled Glass Distress Stain - I like the stripy 

nature of the wood grain! Then I added the jump rings and ribbon - it was originally on a top - you know those bits of ribbon that stop the top from falling off the hanger but are really annoying when you wear it! I really don't throw anything away! 
Thank you for stopping by! 
Gabrielle x

Splutterfly!

I am poorly bad. I have a horrible head cold that is making me feel really sorry for myself and I am coughing, sneezing, spluttering all over the place! I slobbed in front of the TV yesterday but I couldn't do that again today with out going bonkers so I very slowly made this little plaque. Crafty Boots' second challenge is things with wings and I had decided to make something with a ring of butterflies. This is really en vogue at the moment the lovely Sarah made a beautiful tag recently and my sister saw an amazing piece of art in The Royal Academy that she fell in love with. So this is my version. 

The backing is a large circle Art Part covered with the script tape from Tim's Hobgoblin Tissue Tape. I then covered that with Picket Fence Distress Stain and when it was dry I inked it with Peeled Paint Distress Stain. 

Then I stamped 10 Butterflies with Wendy's stamp and Jet Black Archival Ink onto Grungepaper. Once I had cut them out I used various colours of Distress Stain, using the darker shade (with a paintbrush) to paint the edges of each butterfly and add a little accent 

colour. Then in the middle I stamped a ticket from Wendy's Ticket to Art set onto white card, inked it with Antique Linen Distress Stain and edged it with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. As I got to this point I saw that this week's challenge on Everything Wendy Vecchi is to use a small 

stamp repeatedly as a background stamp (MAC #27) and so I used the little flower stamp from the same set and used Old Paper Distress Ink. I hope this counts! Then I added the sentiment stamped on Grungepaper and inked with Distress Stains. I must go and 

blow my nose! Thank you for stopping by! Gabrielle x
Before I go, my heart won Crafty Boots' first challenge which really humbled me - thank you very much Stephanie-Emma and co!

You're just my type!

I was so excited that for this month's DT Creative Expressions offered a choice of two Sam Poole designed stamps. I chose Vintage Typewriter which arrived today and is fabulous! This is an incredibly versatile set which I think I will get lots of use out it - you could say it's 'just my type'! Trying out the new set I have made a simple 

card to start with - just a kraft card, some white card for the background and a Vintage Photo Distress Ink pad. My kraft card is 15cm square so I cut a white square 10cm square and stamped the typewriter keys three times, edging the card with ink afterwards. The typewriter was stamped on more white card and cut out I added the sentiment and 

mounted at an angle on 3D tape. Please do check out my fellow DT members and see which stamp set they chose! Gabrielle x

Kim 

Sue 

Hazel 

Tracy 

Siobhan

Small Stars

I thought I'd try and be smart and join in a couple of challenges early on this week! Cheesy Chester Cheeto eating Hels has set the challenge of 'Stars' this week and Simon Says Stamp and Show want us to make ATCs - so how hard can that be?! Well I failed a bit last week with an annoying mental block so I figured that if I got in early then the block wouldn't happen! 

I used an ATC Art Part (so I would get the size right!) and then stared at it in horror 'cos they really are tiny! I tried two versions that really shouldn't be spoken of again and then settled on covering the ATC with 

a scrap of Stampin' Up paper and then stamped on one of Wendy's Tools for Art stamps (it has stars on - tick!) in Vintage Photo Distress Ink. 

I took one of the ink bottle Art Parts and covered it in PaperArtsy Old Gold, a layer of Crackle Glaze and a final layer of Little Black Dress. If you haven't used these paints before I would urge you to try them - they are really lush. 

The bottle label, ticket, and advert are all stamped with Jet Black Archival Ink onto Grungepaper and coloured with Antique Linen, Pumice Stone, Broken China and Stormy Sky Distress Stains. The stamps are a mix of Wendy and Tim's stamps. 

I added a pen nib into the hand hopefully at an angle as if it was being used. The stars are Art Parts covered in a couple of layers of Broken China Distress Stain and stamped with a dotty stamp in Faded Jeans Distress Ink. In constructing this I did have to go outside the ATC area (I did say it was tiny!) but it makes a nice little hanging... Thank you for reading. Gabrielle x

Birthday Tulip

Following the tag I made on Saturday (but blogged yesterday!) I made a little hanging for my daughter's friend's birthday. I won't detail how I made the tulip (you can read how to make that here) but this time I used Picket Fence, Milled Lavender, Dusty Concord and Shabby Shutters Distress Stains. The background is white card, inked with Antique Linen Distress Stain and glued to an MDF rectangle. Then I stamped a text stamp (from Stampin' Up) in Vintage Photo Distress Ink and added a little ink to the edges. The letters are Grungeboard Mixed Minis covered with Dusty Concord Stain (I used a paintbrush to get into all the nooks!) and then clear embossed as I'm too impatient to let Glossy Accents dry!. A chain, jump rings finished it off and a birthday message from Freya on the back finished it off! 
Am hoping that my latest stamps from Creative Expressions will be in the post when I get home - it's a really exciting set this month! I have lots of ideas already! Just hope they translate when I make them! Have a great week. Gabrielle x

Decoupage!

My aunt very kindly sent me some cards she'd been given hoping they might be a source of inspiration. They all featured decoupage which is not really my thing, mainly because I just don't have the patience! I admire anyone who is willing to make something rather than buy it and so I truly admire the workmanship that these cards display but I just don't have the time or staying power to make them myself!!! Anyway, the children were occupied elsewhere, it 

was a rainy Saturday afternoon, and I thought I would send my aunt a thank you that featured my version of decoupage. I stamped in Jet Black Archival Ink two of Wendy's tulips (one complete and the other just the head - from the Art from the Heart set) on Grungepaper and cut the outside petals from the head. The left over bit was inked in Barn Door Distress Stain, the outside petals in Mustard Seed Distress Stain and  the head of the complete flower 

was inked in Spice Marmalade Distress stain. The stalk and leaves were covered in Peeled Paint Distress Stain.To assemble, glue the red petals behind the orange and the yellow on top - easy and minimal cutting! The tag was cut from white card and covered in 

Tumbled Glass Distress Stain, stamped an image top and bottom with Tumbled Glass Distress Ink and edged it with Stormy Sky Distress Ink. I used a ticket stamp from the Ticket to Art set, stamped it with Coffee Archival Ink and then covered it in Antique Linen Distress Stain. I distressed the edges and then edged the ticket in Vintage Photo Distress Ink (not a huge surprise!) and added an eyelet and some twine. I am utterly in love with Wendy's butterflies 

so I made the smaller one by stamping it with Jet Black Archival Ink in Grungepaper and using Milled Lavender and Dusty Concord Distress Stains. A little turquoise sari material finished it off. So my aunt was right - her cards were a source of inspiration and there's a few birthdays coming up so I'm off to make a few more while I can still remember how I made it! Gabrielle x

A non-girlie flower!

Apologies for launching into a story about the loos at work but I bumped into a colleague this week who was bemoaning the awful lighting in there as it showed how old she was becoming. She's a lovely lady who doesn't look anywhere near as old as she is and so I was inspired to make her a tag using a Creative Expressions stamp from the Wrinkles Don't Hurt set. Now this lady lives with lots of boys (husband and children!) and by her own admission has 

lost a lot of her girliness and so I wanted to give her a 'masculine' flower to show that flowers are not always to be avoided! Both tags are on white card cut using a large and small die with my trusty Vagabond! I put Worn Lipstick, Victorian Velvet and Tattered Rose Distress Inks on my craft mat and swiped them through the ink. The colour was gorgeous but a little too gaudy for the recipient so I toned it down by applying a thin layer of Picket Fence Distress Stain over the 

top. The smaller tag was stamped with the sentiment in Jet Black Archival Ink. I used a Wendy Vecchi leaf art part and drew round it onto a piece of coloured paper and then used Frayed Burlap Distress Stain over the top. The flower was three pieces of Grungepaper cut to shape. The first large flower was covered in Victorian Velvet Distress Stain with Picket Fence Distress Stain on the top (makes a lovely lavender colour!), the second large one two coats of Victorian 

Velvet Distress Stain, the third smaller flower was inked with Worn Lipstick and Picket Fence Distress Stains. The centre is part of a watch mechanism (because the sentiment mentions 'time') and a small brad. I didn't have a matching ribbon so I inked a white ribbon with Victorian Velvet Distress Stain and waited patiently (with a heat gun in my hand!) for it to dry! I added a little sneaky girlie bling to the ribbon and that was that! 
My colleague is chuffed with the tag and next time I make her a tag I'll graduate to a properly girlie flower - I think she can handle it! Thank you for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend. Gabrielle x

Where are you Mr Mojo?!

Every so often everyone loses their mojo, inspiration, ideas, imagination... you get the idea. When mine goes and hides (probably at the bottom of the ironing pile - I hardly ever look there!) I have a bit of a tidy up. I find stuff I've been too lazy busy to put away or things I had forgotten all about. This time I found some letters for a project I thought I'd do before I was all too easily distracted by something else. My original grand plan was that I thought I might make my own blog header. So I covered a piece of mount board with some of Tim's Kraft Resist paper and edged it with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. I did the same on the reverse and used Pumice Stone Distress Stain to cover it but I didn't like it so I have left that one the back! 

I made two sets of leaves from Grungepaper using Wendy's Art Part as a template, covered them with Shabby Shutters Distress Stain and stamped a dotty stamp with Peeled Paint Distress Ink. 

I cut two Grungepaper flowers from my Tattered Florals die using my trusty Vagabond. I inked one twice with Broken China Distress Stain, and one once with Tumbled Glass Distress Stain. Both were edged with Faded Jeans Distress Ink and the lighter was stamped with dots in Faded Jeans. The centre of the flower is the spring from a watch and a brad. 

The letters were Grungeblocks, I glued the letters to an appropriately sized block, painted them with Pitch Black Paint Dabber. When they were dry I sanded the top (and a little of the sides) and then inked them with Vintage Photo Distress Stain. A chain, couple of jump ring and eyelets and I was finished! I think it might need a butterfly or two - I'm going to leave that for the next time my mojo does a disappearing act! So - what do you do when inspiration deserts you? Gabrielle x 

ps the sign is hanging from the birdcage I told you about here - please feel free to click if you want to see 'she who eats art'! 

Tag #25!

Ok. I admit it. I can be pretty dumb sometimes. Over at the Everything Wendy Vecchi Lori posts regular challenges and I just haven't been able to spot them. Lori very kindly replied to an email I sent patiently explaining where to find everything (I have bookmarked that email - I'll forget again by next week!). So this week's Making Art challenge #25 was to make a tag using two different Wendy stamp sets. I don't have loads of sets (*ahem* though 

the postman might be dropping off a few more soon...) but I knew I had to use Celestial Art and Mail Art. The leaves were cut from Grungepaper and then stained twice with Shabby Shutters Distress Stain for a nice deep colour. Then, with Peeled Paint Distress Ink, I stamped them with the background stamp from Celestial Art. 

The flower was cut using Tim's Tattered Florals die and my trusty Vagabond. I used the middle sized flower and cut three Grungepaper flowers and stained each one with Aged Mahogany, Barn Door and Worn Lipstick Distress Stains. 

The tag was cut with another of Tim's dies (and my trusty Vagabond!) and stained with lots of blue Distress Stains by putting them on my craft sheet and swiping the tag through them (I used Stormy Sky, Broken China, Faded Jeans, Tumbled Glass and Chipped 

Sapphire). Then I stamped the background stamp (at an angle) with Faded Jeans Distress Ink. In the top right corner I stamped a couple of the quotation stamps in Faded Jeans. I used one of the hand stamps and stamped it on Grungepaper with Jet Black Archival Ink and then 

used Pumice Stone Distress Stain. The ticket is the reverse of an Adage Ticket stamped again with Archival Ink and then inked with Antique Linen Distress Stain and my favourite - Vintage Photo Distress Ink! then the tag was finished with some red sari material. Am so pleased I managed to find the challenge and need to thank Lori for her incredible patience with me! Have a fabulous rest of the weekend! Gabrielle x

Flower Cards - part two!

If you are here to take part in the Art from The Heart blog hop please scroll down to the post or click here!

For the second of this week's posts for the Creative Expressions DT I have continued to keep it quick and simple - I seem to have oodles of time to make my more elaborate pieces but birthday cards are often made very early in the morning before work or late at night when I'm too tired to know what I'm doing! I decided to use just three ingredients - the DT stamp set 'Wrinkles Don't 

Hurt'; Cosmic Shimmer Mists and a Blossom Nestabilities. The card and tag are made the same way with about 12 layers of turquoise tissue paper (that was wrapped round a present - I really waste nothing!) I used a middle sized die and the second smallest. I secured the middle with a brad and then crumpled the flower around the brad - as a clue it looks a little like a carnation! I then sprayed the flowers with a light spray of silver mist - you can always add more so start off 

with a light touch.  I stamped out the sentiment twice with Jet Black Archival Ink and cut out each line edging them with Tumbled Glass Distress Ink. The tag and card were edged with Tumbled Glass too. I added some decoration in black pen though if I wasn't trying to keep this speedy I would have broken out my sewing machine - but as this takes me a bout half an hour to thread (and it really is the simplest on the market!) I thought this might be pushing the notion of 'quick'! Thank you as always for reading - your support is very much appreciated. Gabrielle x

Flower Card... part one!

If you are here to take part in the Art from The Heart blog hop please scroll down to the post or click here!

For the first of this week's posts for the Creative Expressions DT I decided to keep it quick and simple - I seem to have oodles of time to make my more creative pieces but birthday cards are often made just in time to catch the last post of the day! I decided to use just three ingredients - the DT stamp set 'Wrinkles Don't Hurt'; Cosmic Shimmer Mists and a Blossom Nestabilities. 

I sprayed a spare bit of crumpled paper I found on my desk with Plum Twist, Silver and Lava Red Mists. I use an old shoe box as a 'mist' box so there's less chance of it contaminating my work desk - the colours on the bottom are now fabulous and one day I'll start a new box and reuse the old one as it's so incredible! 

The flowers are 6 pieces of white card cut with a middle sized die, crinkled and scrunched up. Then I sprayed the flowers with the same colours but they 'disappeared' against the background paper so I turned them over and sprayed them silver, edged them with Barn Door Distress Ink and them swiped them back through the leftover mist in the box. I stamped out the sentiment with Jet Black Archival Ink and cut out each line. 

I added a ribbon and then added the flowers. You could make a few more flowers and arrange them as a flower with the sentiment in the middle... hmmm... might try that! Part two tomorrow! Gabrielle x