Time for a giveaway!

Following the launch of the latest Creative Expressions Project Book (priced at £4.99) I managed to get an extra copy and thought that you might like it! If I have anything else lying about the Studio I’ll pop that in too! How’s that? So all you have to do is leave a comment! If you feel like becoming a follower, adding the blog candy picture to your blog or letting other peple know via Facebook/Twitter etc then I'd be grateful!  I’ll pick a random winner on 14th April!

Ooh! And as an added bonus - Creative Expressions have kindly popped a free project on their website – just click here!

No regrets

I have managed to scrape in by the skin of my teeth to this fortnight's challenge at Everything Wendy Vecchi! The challenge was to make three ATCs using green and leaves. I might have taken this instruction a little literally! As the ATCs are to be swapped they were not to be very dimensional... 

I did use the opportunity to play with the new stamps I won from one of Wendy's mega giveaways - the background stamp and sentiment are from her new Heirloom Art set. I am hosting the European end of the swap so I get to see the lovely ATCs before anyone else - well, there have to be some perks don't there?!

I always stamp on the reverse of my ATCs and I thought I'd share that with you! Isn't this a brilliant stamp? Wendy's so clever!

Flowers...

For the Crafty Boots challenge this fortnight Kerry has asked us to use flowers. This week marks her daughter's birthday and the flowers were chosen in memory of Rhianna Lily. I chose to make a simple ATC. The technique is one I have used many times before (and probably with the same paint colour as it is my favourite!). I took a piece of kraft card, painted it, dried it and then rubbed Treasure Gold over the top. Then I sanded the card to reveal the paint beneath. Half of the card I cut into an ATC and the other I die cut a heart shape. 

The flower is an old favourite of mine to use and a little more Treasure Gold highlights the petals. The leaves are one of my most used Wendy Vecchi stamps but are mighty fiddly to cut out! I hope you'll join in with us this time, we'd love to see your flowers!

One of a Kind

For Country View Crafts I have been playing with some of the new Tim Holtz stamps, dies and Distress Paints... Why not pop over to their blog and have a look?!

Birthday boy

Making cards etc for men is universally known to be really difficult. When a young man turns 13 he no longer a child and so the card you make him needs to reflect his new status. I hope that this tag does just that! I used Dylusions for the background and then, when dry, I laid a mask over the top and used Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink to make the diamonds. I then sprayed the tag liberally with water and left for a few minutes for the ink to blend before drying. I then relaid the mask over the tag, moving it to the right a little and sprayed White Linen over the top. 

I drew round the chap mask so I knew where to place him and then drew round him again on paper and cut him out. I inked him with Chipped Sapphire and added him to the tag and drew round him again. To finish the tag I added a name and numbers die cut from kraft paper. Happy birthday Thomas x

Happy Mother's Day!

To those who are Mothers - happy Mother's Day to you! I salute you for the love and 'work' you do on behalf of your darling offspring. It's a tough job at times and one that is always appreciated. For us all it is a day to remember and honour our own mums whether they are still with us or not. I have three mums (one of my own and two inherited by marriage!) and so I made three size 12 tags with Dylusions inks and my fabulous JoFy stamps! I actually made four as 'She Who Eats Art' ate one! Happy Mother's Day one and all x

Green cogs and Su!

This fortnight’s recipe at DragonsdreamTag It On has been set by our incredibly talented DT member Trace and is to include the colour green, die cuts and cogs (plus the obligatory use of at least one stamp and for it to include a tag).

I might have gone a little green crazy and only Fresh Lime and Cut Grass Dylusions Sprays with a little Peeled Paint Distress Ink here and there! Su (my name for the face stamp) has a hat made from die cut cogs and a Blossom Bucket flower as well as a necklace of leaves. How will you interpret our theme this fortnight?!

WOYWW 196

I have been MIA from the phenomenon that is What's On Your Workdesk? Wednesday as I just can't seem to remember when Wednesday is! You would think I'd know but somehow I wake up on a Wednesday completely surprised that Wednesday has arrived once again unmarked by me! So Julia please, please forgive me! I offer you my desk - complete with my fabulous Crop-o-dile, Distress Markers, heat gun and Ms Vecchi stamps peeking from the left! I hope you have a wonderful Wednesday! I'm back later today with a tag for Dragon's Dream Tag It On. Here's a sneak peek:

Spring Bird Song

Prior to the lovely Bella's suggestion that I enter my March page, I had decided to participate in Tim Holtz's Tattered Floral Challenge and had decided to make a Spring inspired bird with some of Wendy Vecchi's fabulous Art Parts. I began by embossing metal with a Sheet Music Texture Fade. I then adhered it to the Art Parts and cut it to shape. I added blue alcohol inks, sanded it and rubbed Vintage Photo Distress Ink over the top. 

The flowers were die cut and then painted (Mermaid, Zesty Zing, Sherbert) on to Grungepaper. When dry I sanded them and added Vintage Photo to the edges. I then added a Hitch Fastener to the centre of each flower. 

The sentiment was stamped on another piece of Grungepaper. Then all I needed to do was assemble it all! This bird has prompted lots and lots more ideas so I will see where they take me! 

Something old...

This fortnight’s challenge at Crafty Boots celebrates the nuptials of Stephanie-Emma (Ms Crafty Boots herself!) to Keiron. The challenge she set was to use one of the following - ‘something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue’ but I didn’t want to do just one so I used them all – Congratulations to Mr and Mrs Brunning I hope you’ll be truly happy x

I used lots of different things on each of the sides that could fit the four requirements but as a summary:

Something old – where do I start? The block of wood is from a reclaimed lot of wood (lovingly cut to size by my pa!) I used ‘old’ paints, inks, card… how old is old?!!!
Something new – this is a new stamp and the sentiment seemed just perfect for a newly married couple. The background was a Wendy Vecchi stencil that I dabbed Barn Door and Peeled Paint Distress Ink through and then sprayed pearl Perfect Pearls Mist for a washed out shimmery flower. The hearts on the top are new – I ‘rescued’ a whole bag of them from a sale bin and just needed a perfect opportunity to use them! They are wooden and inked with Postbox Red Dylusions Ink. The stamp on the Art Part flower side is new (and blue!)  too…
Something borrowed – well this was easy! I ‘borrowed’ the Art Part flower and leaves from a previous DT project (here) and repainted the leaves (does that make them something new?!) I was going to repaint the flower but as it was something blue…!
Something blue – I used blue to colour in Keiron’s ‘K’ and the ampersand – Stephanie-Emma is too much of a fan of pink for me to colour her initials in blue! The Art Parts flower is blue too…!
I hope you'll join me in wishing the happy couple much love in their new life together and perhaps join in with this challenge!

March

For March's calendar page I wanted to invoke spring and so used bright vibrant colours! I added a masked border and then added stamped flowers over the top with hanging leaves from the top! Seems to be a favourite stamp at the moment!

All of the inks and stamps are from the Dylusions range.

The quotation I found on the web when researching the phrase 'Spring has Sprung' - it really amused me so I incorporated it into the page! As always, if you would like to recap January and February's pages they can be found here!

Edit: As the lovely Bella suggested I enter this into Tim's Tattered Floral Challenge I think I'll do just that!

Such an exciting day!

I'm thrilled to be able to share that Country View Crafts have a brand new sparkling challenge blog that starts today! 

The first challenge is 'Pick and Mix' (which means anything goes!) and so I have made a simple hanging using my favourite On the Edge die and some Art Parts. I cut a piece of cardboard and die cut each end with both sides of the die. I cut off one end (at about 3cm) and inked both parts with Wild Honey Distress Stain. The larger piece I stamped one of Wendy Vecchi’s background stamps by ‘kissing’ it i.e. I didn’t use a lot of pressure so that there is a hint of a pattern rather than an overwhelming image. I then added Vintage Photo Distress Ink to all of the edges and adhered the shorter piece behind the larger piece. 

I am notoriously precious about my Art Parts. I hoard them only using them for very special occasions and I thought that this might just be that occasion! So I used the two part jar and matching flower using Wild Honey Distress Stain on the jar and Broken China and Peeled Paint Distress Markers on the flower. In the centre of the jar I added a little scrap of kraft card stamped with a pretty appropriate phrase for this new challenge blog! I added a little flower shaped wooden button, eyelets and two clips to finish it off! 

I hope you will join in with us for the inaugural challenge – the winner will receive a £20 voucher (credit) at the shop and a winner's button of course as well as the chance to win a little candy... There will also be a Top Three chosen each month! We're really looking forward to seeing your fabulous creations!!!