Tag # 13,14,15 Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all my friends and family, I hope it will be a prosperous one for you all.

As some of my friends and even family did not get cards ontime or at all this year I have managed to find some time this week to amend this by creating some Happy New year tags to send instead.

I am entering this set of 3 into the Crafty boots Challenge -  Celebrate as I think it is definitely a time of year to celebrate the achievements of the past year and the new ones to come.

One tag was made using seedless preserve (my new favourite Distress Ink) and spun sugar, the second with barn door and mustard seed and the third tumbled glass and faded jeans. All 3 were sprayed with tea dye reinker and perfect pearls and inked round the edges with a variety of inks.

I was on a role with the New Year thing and made a couple more using some Tim Holt  Craft resist paper sprayed with the same mixture above.

The Happy new Year was embossed with Tim Holtz embossing powders to give a bit of texture.

The tags were tied with some antique lace bought from a recent vintage fair.

Thank you you to my cousin Bev for my lovely new inks and my very own Tim Holtz Tag die - I can cut tags now to my hearts content.

Happy New Year everyone xxxxx

Tag #12 - Inspire

I have been sitting in my craft room and wanted to try something where you embossed paper and inked it before sticking it to some card, it allows you to see the patterned paper below but it is also quite sneaky because if you didnt like the original colour of the paper you can give it your own style. I have seen this done but cant remember where but as most of you will know I try to be thrifty where I can so I like the idea of using papers that may not be used otherwise.

I used some scrap book paper from my stash and used my tag cutter to cut it to the correct size before embossing it with the Tim Holtz Alertations textured fades folder.

I used ripe persimmon, rusty hinge and walnut stain to ink the paper before sticking it to a plain tag and stamping a swirly stem in walnut stain on the left hand side.

I had 3 pre cut butterflies which I stamped with a small swirly stamp in faded jeans and then inked them with rusty hinge and walnut stain before attaching to the stem as though they were about to fly away.

I stamped the word "inspire" on a piece of card before inking and then covering in glossy accents to to give it a shine, once it was dry I used brads to attach it.

The tag was tied with a broken chain and some inked gingham ribbon. Hope someone gets some Inspiration from this. I am going to enter this into the Sunday Stamper challenge 186 Do Anything You Want as I have just read Hels blog and she has lost her mojo so hopefully this will help inspire her to pick up her crafty tools and get crafting and blogging - Happy New Year Hels.

Tag #10 & 11 - Tims Tag # 5 2011

Well after a day at work, a trip to sixth form to look at options for number one son and another conference call it was definitely time to get inky.

So here are two tags I made using The Tim Holtz techniques used in his tag #5 of 12 for 2011, all the correct instructions can be found here. I enjoyed making these more than I thought and they definitley turned out a lot better than I thought they would.

 
For the red one I used cranberry alcohol ink and coloured the mistletoe wreath using citrus green alcohol ink, I dont have any of the reversable words Tim uses so I found some Christmasy stamps to create the background.

For the blue tag I used a couple of different blues and then used snowflake stamps, The cresent was coloured with the blue inks and then crystal stickles blobbed on to give a sparkle.

The words were from my christmas Paperartsy Hotpicks set.

Enjoy....

Tag #9 - Tims tag #3 Christmas 2011

Here is my second tag of Tims for 2011 based on his tag #3 - Instructions can be found here mine was done on cream card using my PaperArtsy hotpicks stamp Noel 25 again, I used faded jeans and vintage photo reinkers (I dont have many reinkers so I had to work with what I had) and then used peeled paint, barn door and walnut stain to ink the tag.

The bell was from the same stamp set but was stamped onto cream card in memento rich cocoa, before using a wet paint brush to paint on distress inks  mustard seed, barn door and walnut stain before covering the bow in crystal stickles.

Tied through the top was butchers twine, ribbon and a metal snowflake.

Wonder who will get this one off for christmas ?

Tag #8 - Tims Tag #2 Christmas 2011

For the special people in our lives Christmas cards will come in the form of tags this year. For those of you in the crafting world you will have heard of Tim Holtz and if you have heard of Tim Holtz you will know all about his 12 tags of christmas challenges that he does each year.

Well here is my take on Tag #2 for 2011, you will find the instructions and what it should really look like here. I used Tim Holtz craft resist paper from his Christmas stack, which was painted with a watered down wash of ice blue fresco paint and the ivy and berries were colored with barn door, peeled painted and pine needles distress ink.

The tag was misted with a mix of antique linen and perfect pearls gold and the edges inked with walnut stain. I didnt have reindeer so I cut out crests from my Tim Holtz die which were inked  with pine needles, peeled paint and walnut stain before being misted with water. Once dry Noel 25 from my Paper Artsy Hotpicks set was embossed in Gold before tying inked twine round the middle.

I had some pre cut strips of card which I painted gold and then added some walnut stain before attaching with brads at the bottom of the tag. Through the top I added more twine and frayed the ends, there you go 3 cards almost ready for christmas.

Our Star

To celebrate our daughter passing her driving test I decided to create a Star shaped tag because she is "Our Star", She has saved and paid for all her lessons and then passed first time. I am entering this into the Sunday Stamper challenge and Simon Says stamp and Show some Stars.

I created a star template on my computer the right size and printed this off before cutting the shape out from some Tim Holtz craft resist paper. I used Wild Honey distress stain on the star then stamped a number of cars from one of my Paper Artsy Hot picks stamp sets in aged mahogany,

I also used walnut stain and aged mahogany distress stain on the star to grungy it up a bit.

Using the Tim Holtz Sizzix die Regal Crest I cut out a banner which was stamped and then coloured using walnut stain and aged mahogany before covering it in glossy accents to give it a shine. I had some other die cut pieces the crown and swirls so I inked these using the same colours before attaching.

I used a bronze eyelet in the top a threaded some ribbon through before glueing a mini brass car underneath.

There you a special star for "Our Special Star"..

Tag #7 -Travel

For this weeks Grungy Monday 27 challenge. Tims 12 tags of Christmas, 2007 day 6 technique. I decided to use my new Creative Expressions Compass Mask and Tea Die Re-inker with lime green perfect pearls in my mister.

Once this was dry I used shabby shutters and tumbled glass distress ink to blend in then stamped two stamps from my Tim Holtz Stamper anonymous travel set in walnut stain before distressing the edges and then inking them with walnut stain as well.

In the bottom left I attached a patterned cardboard plaque which I had also misted and left to dry before stamping the words Travel in black stazon.

In the centre of the compass I attached a green gemed gromet to give a bit of sparkle.

Compendium of Games

Quick blog this week been sooooo busy but here is my entry for this weeks Crafty Boots Challenge - Young at Heart. It is a card for my dad whos Birthday is in December but he probably wont read this so its ok :)

I used a multitude of embossing folders and a new checker board mask to create the backgrounds and used a number of Tim Holtz distress inks to wipe over the embossed cards to highlight the raised areas. I wanted to reflect the different games we used to play with him and my grand parents when we were children.
The two bits on the bottom right are supposed to reflect the snakes and ladders (not too sure about the snake), the ladders where made from a film strip punch and the snake from an embossing folder border.

I had fun making this over this busy week adding to it while on conference calls with work (my phone is now covered in ink ooops!).

Enjoy..... and remember to make time to play some games with your childern as they will remember those special times.

Tag #6 Houses

Hi for the Simon Says stamp and show Some houses challenge I created the tag below ready for whoever moves house next. Not sure who this will be so we will have to wait and see.

I took one tag and then clear embossed with holographic powder the sun set in the top corner before swishing it through black soot (new purchase from LB crafts in Olney), chipped saphire and dusty concorde Tim Holtz distress ink on my craft mat spritzed with water.  Once the tag was dry I inked around the edges a bit more in dusty concorde and black soot and a smidging of tumbled glass around the moon.

I then cut out a strip of houses using the Tim Holtz Alterations townscape die in black card. To jazz it up a bit I took some pale vellum and created a backing to the houses so I could then colour with scattered straw ink to turn the lights on. Behind the houses on the left I stamped a tree in memento tuxedo black and then a swirl (from my Inkadinkado set) in the sky which again I embossed in holographic powder.

To finish of I stamped a ticket in dusty concorde before stamping the words and then adding extra inks to tone it in a bit more, I then attached it using the mini bulldog clip.  I added black gingham ribbon and tape with "on the move" printed on it. I also used a brad and attached a key and lock to reflect the keys to a new home.

Hope you like it, it has kept me awake while I wait to pick my lovely daughter up from a party at midnight  (the things us mums do :0)

Tag # 5 - Halloween

I dont normally make anything for halloween apart from a pumpkin lantern or fancy dress outfit when pestered but I thought I would have a go at the Crafty Boots Challenge - Autumn or Halloween and the Shabby Tea Room  Weekly challenge Happy Halloween - using blacks, purples, oranges and neutral ooh and some raffia (that was the hard bit).

I used Tim Holtz Distress Inks and swiped a strip of dusty concorde and spiced marmalade next to each other on my craft sheet and spritzed with water before wiping a tag through it trying not to mix the colours too much.

Once the tag was dry I used a mask made from the Tim Holtz Die - Scaredy Cat and on the orange side inked around the edges with the spiced marmalade and on the purple side used the dusty concorde.

In the bottom right I stamped a cauldron in Memento tuxedo black and some stars from the same set, followed by the words hubble bubble in dusty concorde.

The tag edges were inked in the two colours and finished of by rubbing black all the way round the edges. Once inked I stuck the two black cats using foam pads to give a bit of dimension.

I tied a bow in black lace and attached it to the top corner before digging around my whole craft room for some raffia, eventually I found some in my daughters craft box but it was bright Pink ! so to tone it ii I inked it with the purple and black ink before tying another bow and glueing to the front of the first one. Through the tag top I tied purple, black and cream ribbon ensuring I had covered all the colours required for the challenges.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN everyone..

Tag # 4 - Autumn Colours

This is my entry for The Sunday Stamper Challenge  -  Forever Autumn and the Grungy Monday challenge 24 -  Perfect Distress (another Time Holtz technique).

On my craft mat I swiped Tim Holtz Distress Inks pine needles, rusty hinge and spiced marmalade and then dried the tag with my heat gun. Once it was dry I used a back ground stamp of leaves in spiced marmalade to give a subtle background.

In the bottom left corner I stamped a flourish of leaves from my Inkadinkado Fall Season set of stamps in rusty hinge before using gold perfect pearls powder to dust them with. I stamped the swirly tree and words in gathered twigs and dusted them in bronze perfect pearls.

To create the embellishments I stamped 5 leaves again from the inkadinakdo set onto Tim Holtz Craft resist paper using rusty hinge and then cut them out by hand, I used the inks a bit more to grungy them up before dipping them in VersaMark before dipping them in clear and bronze UTEE and heating to get the glossy texture round the edge.

I repeated this with my leaf shaped brads that were originally a rather gaudy green, yellow and orange to give a more autumn feel. It was all finished of a tattered piece of browny coloured piece of silk from Cousin Bevs scrap box.  Hope you all like it :0)

Tag # 3 Pinks

For the Simon Says Stamp and Show - One Colour challenge this week I decided to go for Pink. Not my normal colour but I thought I would try it and see how it went.

I used a plain white tag but swooshed it through Tim Holtz Distress Inks  - fired brick, worn lipstick and victorian velvet spritzed with water on my craft mat (Which I have just realised I have left at Cousin Bs house !) While the mat was still wet I also wiped through the four layers of flowers from the Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die.

Once the tag was dry I stamped a map background from my Glitz set of clear stamps in aged mahogany DI  and some airoplanes in worn lipstick. In the top left I stamped the words in the aged mahogany and sprinkled with clear embossing powder before heating it. The stamping of the words was not very good so I added 3 buttons down the side to cover up the mess. To balance the buttons out I put a bigger one in the top left hand corner.

On the tattered florals cut outs I stamped the map using worn lipstick to give a subtle affect before using aged mahogany around the edges of the flowers and the tag.

The flower was attached using a pink triangle brad and a piece of pink silk was threaded through the top to finish it off.
This one didnt take too long to do today as I was very relaxed sitting with my cousin in her craft room enjoying her company and that of her family, thanks Bev xx

10 Minute Wonder

Two challenges in one today - Simon Says Stamp and Show some stripes and The Grungy Monday challenge of Tim in 10.

Ingredients:-

1 x pre cut tag
Kaleidacolor - rainbow ink Pad
Brayer roller
Tim Holtz Alterations - texture fades Embossing folder
Versamark ink pad
Holographic Powder
Tim Holtz walnut stain Distress Ink
PaperArtsy Hotpicks HPXT03 Stamp set
3 x Buttons,
3 x primo flowers
Rainbow colored thread





Recipe:-
1. Gather all ingredients and tools together before commencing (extremely important for 10 minute part of challenge)
2. Start timer
3. Use brayer and ink the tag and a scrap piece of card (to use later)
4. Dry Emboss tag and swipe versamark over the top.
5. Sprinkle with holographic powder and heat.
6. Use distress ink and cut and dry foam pad to colour tag.
7. Stamp scrap paper and tear into shape and ink edges as per tag.
8. Glue flowers and buttons in place
9. Attach label with foam pads
10. Thread rainbow thread through the top.
11. Timer starts to sing.... Hey presto a stripey tag in ten minutes.
WARNING - CLOSE and LOCK craftroom door before starting to ensure no disruptions !!!

You're The Best

As the Sunday Stamper challenge this week was Leaves and the Craft Boots Challenge is Autumn I thought it was an ideal time to use my new Inkadinkado stamp set Automne.


 I swiped mustard seed, crushed olive and shabby shutters Distress ink on my craft mat spritzed with water and swiped a Tim Holtz tag through it to get a lovely yellowy green effect.

Once dry I stamped the spray of leaves using crushed olive and then used walnut stain Distress Ink  around the edge.

I used another Tim technique using vellum which I blended antique linen and  walnut stain on before heating it to dry the ink. Once dry I stamped leaves and swirls on from the same stamp set and then tore the edges before curling the ends round a pencil and inking the edges.



Once I had stuck the vellum to the tag I found a wooden cut out tree which I used the inks to colour and then brushed with perfect pearls to give a bit of a sparkle.

Round the trunk I tied a ribbon and attached a button.

To finish of the tag I stamped the You're The Best sentiment from a Paperartsy stamp set in walnut stain and then used the inks to distress the piece of card after tearing it into shape, The WISH ticket was from my Tim Holtz Adage ticket set which again I inked to grunge it up a bit.

For the background card I used the single leaf from the set and used crushed olive again to create a background before using shabby shutters to ink the edges of the card.

So there you go some special autumnal wishes for a special person.

Button creation

Just spent the last couple of hours playing with my most favourite bits and bobs in my craft room. Yes BUTTONS! oh and a few ribbons (thanks mum).

A new sign to put on my craft room door, managed to find a bargain at Hobby craft a couple of months ago which I painted gold then dug through my numerous buttons boxes to find the right size buttons which I then stiched through with embroidery thread from my rarely touched sewing box before glueing them all on.
My fingers are now covered in glue, I cut the tip of my finger with some very sharp scissors and kept dropping the needle, but never mind I think it was worth it. I love the fact I have used my buttons for something I can see every time I go into my craft room, they're  not just stuck in pots on my shelves and the colours will hopefully give me inspiration  when required :0).

Flamingo Love

Well when the Crafty boots challenge this week was to use a Zoo or animal theme I had a bit of a dilema as I couldnt find any stamps in my collection to use - Oh no I hear you cry surely not. So after a bit of digging and a little inspiration I found a stencil set with a Flamingo in so decided to put it to use.

I took a tag and coloured the background by swiping Tim Holtz Distress Inks  -weathered wood, victorian velvet and antique linen on top of my craft mat followed by a spritz or two of water on top before swishing the tag through it.

Once dry I took the stencil and coloured one flamingo in tumbled glass and then turned it over and did a second in worn lipstick so they were beak to beak to produce the shape of a heart. I repeated this down the bottom of the tag.


I also used the inks around the edge of the tag to blend the edges.


To add some texture to the background (as I wasnt that happy with it at this stage it almost went in the bin) I stamped stars in white acrylic paint.

I created a second layer by cutting out a second tag in acetate (thank you Gabrielle for the inspiration) which I stamped on the reverse using my new Inkadinkado swirly stamps in Stazon. I tied it togther using the ribbon at the top.

It still didnt seem quite finished as I wanted to use it as anniversary card / tag so I had another dig around and found a new set of PaperArtsy Hot Picks words that I bought last week from LB crafts in black onto the main tag.

Well there you are a few special words of love for two special people in my life Happy Anniversary Bev and Marcus and may there be many more to come xxx

Caged Wings - Birthday wishes

The Stamp Man Challenge blog is holding its Annual Awards competition to show your favourite creation of 2011 so I decided to enter my caged wings as it was a pleasure to make and to share with everyone.

For my special Cousins birthday I decided to make a card with a difference.


I took one Small Lime Green Tea Light Birdcage, rubbed it down and roughly painted it with gold and black acrylic paint.

I then Stamped a number of butterflies on card that I had previously coloured using Cosmic Shimmer mists and rock salt. (You spray the card and then sprinkle on rock salt and leave it to dry, the salt soaks up the colour and leaves an amazing mottled look when knocked off).

Once the butterflies had dried I cut out matching Pairs and stuck them together with a piece of thin gold wire layed in the middle onto which I threaded beads. Which as you can see I then wired to the top of the cage.

Using the Tim Holtz Alteration Die - Townscape I cut out 2 rows of houses and used a variety of distress inks to colour each of the houses. I used all my favourites - tumbled glass, spiced maramlade. mustard seed, aged mahogany and Shabby shutters (and probably a few more I did get carried away a bit). The Houses were then stuck round the bottom.

As you can see around the middle I attached lots of special ticket wishes and thoughts from the Tim Holtz idea-ology range Adage Tickets. These too were coloured using the inks and then punched in the corner with an eyelet and threaded with wispy thread as I wove it round the cage.

On the top I tied lots of ribbon and lace which I had rubbed with the cut dry foam from the distress inks to give them a bit of colour.

There is also a bigger tag on the top with a special Birthday wish on.

To fill the middle of the cage I decided to make a flower from a coke can using my spell binder Blossom 3 die to cut three different sized flowers which I then coloured with alcohol ink. Once dry I cut between the petals and curled them slightly and then stacked them together and attached with a brad.

Next came the ship in a bottle trick - I had to carefully insert a three inch wide metal flower into a 1 and a half inch hole and gradually push it inside the cage from below and then arrange it ( no mean feet I can tell you).

Well my dear friend  I hope you like it as much as I enjoyed making it (as you know I have never done anything like this before).    

I have decided to enter this into the Craft Boots Challange - Things with Wings and also the Stamp man Fortnightly Challenge - A perfect Pair

 

Birthday resist

Its a busy month for Birthdays as you may well see over the next couple of weeks.

I took a white Tim Holtz model form and stamped a number of swirls and then embossed them with holographic powder. Then using dusty concorde, worn lipstick and aged mahogany Distress inks inked the model and then wiped away the colour from the swirls this is one of a number of resist techniques you can use. I also used walnut stain to colour the stand and knobbly bit at the top.

For the Tag itself I swished the three pinky  inks across my craft mat and spritzed with water before swiping the tag through it. It produced a beautiful affect of colours. Once the tag was dry I stamped Vintage french script on top and then applied walnut stain around the edges.

To pull it altogether I wrapped a piece of lace around the middle of the form along with A Birthday wish ticket from the Tim Holtz Adage Tickets, I found a letter K (for the Birthday girl) which I then coloured and stamped before sticking it on along with the model and a couple of obligatory buttons.

Happy Birthday Kate.

Hope Hels Sheridan likes this too as her challenge was to use a resist technique. It is also my entry for the fashionable Stamper challenge this week Challenge 5 Vintage. 

Rockin' All Over the World

Here you go my very first ATC - I even had to go on the internet to find out how big it was supposed to be (As Gabrielle says not very big at all) ! It is my creation for the Simon Says Stamp & Show Challenge - ATC and Hels Sheridan - Stars. I also got the inspiration from the Simon Says Stamp Challenge - Sing IT.

So after cutting a piece of spare card to the specified size I used antique stain distress ink on the back ground and then stamped a map from my Glitz Clear Stamps - distress set 3 using walnut stain. I then stamped a number of globes in tumbled glass on top of this and inked all the edges with walnut stain.

To add my own embellishment I stamped my one and only electric guitar on to some card again using walnut stain distress ink before cutting it out and colouring slightly with tumbled glass and the walnut stain.

Using my star punch to cut out 4 stars and coloured them with tumbled glass and walnut stain before stamping the letters ROCK in the walnut stain. Before position everything I stamped and embossed a red sparkly heart in the right hand corner.

So there you go I stuck it all together with the words wrapping around the world. Hopefully this reflects the fact that - I Love Rockin' All Over The World......

Quick Tag # 2 - The Sun

Quick tag # 2 The sun -To colout the tag I used the trusty Tim Holtz technique of swiping shabby shutters, peeled paint and crushed olive distress ink across my craft mat and spritzed with water before swiping a blank tag across it to get a toned affect.(Do you see a pattern emerging here !)

After impatiently waiting for this one to dry as well ! I added more shabby shutters and walnut stain around the edge. Then stamped in Memento Rich Cocoa on the left hand side the words from one of my Paper Artsy Hot picks sets along with a couple of swirls. To add a different effect I spritzed the whole tag with water to disperse the ink a little bit to give that slightly mottled effect.

To finish off I used citrus and rust airondack alcohol ink to colour a coke can and paper flower I had laying on my table as well as a clear acrylic square button coloured in the rust ink. The button was finished off with a brown and green ribbon threaded through and tied in knot and then all stacked together to make a quick flower.

This is especially for you My first Tinkerbell as I am thinking of you lots and it was great to see you xxxx.

Quick Tag # 1 -Someone Special

Quick tag number 1 - For Someone Special, I have just found a new challenge team that I thought Iwould enter this one into - Fashionable Stamping Challenges - Challenge #4 - Tags.

Using the Holtz technique of swiping a strip of scattered straw, mustard seed, and spiced marmalade distress ink across my craft mat and spritzing with water before swiping a blank tag across it to get a toned affect.

After impatiently waiting for it to dry I added a bit more spiced marmalade and walnut stain around the edge and stamped my new Lamp post stamp (see my blue lamp post blog for details) in Memento Rich Cocoa on the left hand side and the words from one of my Paper Artsy Hot picks sets.

To finish off I over stamped the whole tag with a daisy stamp from a sale bargain from Hobby craft in spiced marmalade and scattered straw and found an exciting rectangular button which I threaded with gingham ribbon and stuck a small metal flower on top to tie in with the daisies.

Hope you like it Aunty M.xxxx

Blue lamp Post

Time for a quick blog.  I have just made a card that I am entering into the new Crafty Boots - Anything goes challenge and The Simon Says Stamp Blog - Multifold cards/creations

I took an A4 navy blue piece of card and scored it at 6cms, 12cms and then at 21cms. Initially I wasnt sure which way it was going to end up but as you can see it ended standing up on its end.

I had some strips of white card left over from last years christmas cards which I decided to use. To colour these I used a Tim Holtz technique, I swiped tumbled glass, faded jeans and stormy sky distress ink onto my craft mat and spritzed with water then swiped the card through to get the faded effect, I repeated this several times with different strips of card so I had a number to choose from.

Once the card was dry it was time to stamp. On the front piece I used my new lantern stamp from Inkadinkado - lanterns which I found in a lovely craft shop in Madrid last week when looking for a little place for a night cap before bed ( I was so excited that I could mix a business trip with pleasure my colleague thought I was going to faint with excitement). The lantern and the swirls above where stamped in Navy blue and then clear embossed. I also did the same with a sunset stamp in the top left hand corner hoping it would look like the moon.

I inked the bottle top with Airondak stonewash alcohol ink and cut out a photocopied Tim Holtz circle of a clock which I swiped across the faded jeans ink pad, after sticking this in the centre of the bottle cap I covered it in crackle glaze.

On the second piece of coloured card I stamped in navy blue the Calendar stamp from Glitz clearstamps - distressing set 3 bought from LB Crafts and then put crackle glaze on the month and date of a particular anniversary, for the words I used one of my Hot Picks stamps HPXT03 from Paper Artsy.

I loved doing this but I did get a bit inky but hopefully by the time I go to work my fingers wont be so blue!

Switzerland 2011 - Title Page

Well we have been back 4 weeks so I  thought it was high time I started my Scrap book album dedicated to our Family holiday this year. As my big girl will be off to Peru and then hopefully university next year it is probably our last main family holiday in its current form. To make it a little bit more special instead of going camping in the UK we decided to go to Switzerland to enjoy the scenery, fresh air and good food in a hotel. We were not disappointed it was great from start to finish.

This is the Title page of the scrapbook and is my entry to the Simon Stays stamp and show some Travel challenge this week and the Stamp Man Challenge #30 -Travel, there are many more pages to do I wont blog them all so dont worry !

The main paper is from the DCWV Garden Party Stack, I used Tim Holtz Distress ink crushed olive on the edges. I photocopied a swiss train travel map in black and white and then cut it out and distressed it with walnut stain and tumbled glass, as well as colouring in lakes lightly.

Using my Cricut I cut out the word Switzerland and 20ll from blue color core card stock, I used the stencil at the bottom to ink through using crushed olive, and also gently inked the actual letters and number with walnut stain.

Also using the cricut I cut out a tag and used a Tim Holtz technique were you use the whole ink pad - weather wood to roughly cover the tag and then sprinkled on embossing powder, I then flicked the tag to knock some of the powder off before heating, once dry I used walnut stain and crushed olive to rub in on top before rubbing off with a dry cloth. The insert in the middle was created using the computer.

 I stamped an airoplane from the clear Choice stamp set - 20 journey stamps in faded jeans, after cutting it out I used walnut stain again to tie it in.

The picture in the top right is of the jungfraugh - The Top of Europe where we went on the last day of our holiday and was the view from the hotel - beautiful. To tie the photo in with the page Mr W used photo shop for me and aged it up.

Once everything was in place I carefully drew arrows showing the route. So there you have it the title page to our 2011 holiday. Bye for now Dinner to cook and scrap booking to do..

21 Years My Love

This is especially for my man as today sees us reach our 21st wedding anniversary. We have been through a lot over the 21years but time is flying by and we have a lovely family around us especially our two fantastic offspring who continue to make us proud.

To celebrate the occasion I have created a canvas. I have never done one before so it was a bit of a leap of faith but I am pleased with the result.

I cut the word love in two different sizes and the number 21 using my cricut. This gave me both a mask and a stencil in both sizes. I then used my Cosmic shimmer Mists Golden Mint and Peacock Green to spray various layers waiting for each layer to dry before moving the stencil or mask to another spot.

My cousin has been using cut coke cans in some of her pieces recently so I thought I would have a go (thank you B). So I used my cuttlebug and embossed three hearts which I then carefully cut out and used Sail boat blue and citrus - adirondak alcohol inks on my alcohol ink dabber (all recently purchased at the wonderful LB crafts in Olney )to tie in the colours. These were then stacked and stuck to the canvas.

To finish of I used faded jeans distress ink around the edged and then dusted with blue perfect pearls to give a slight shimmer.

I have also made a card from a Tim Holtz tag die' firstly I tried to stamp white acrylic paint as a background but this didnt seem too successful so I repeated using a multi coloured green ink pad and clear embossing powder to make the tools pop out . The tools stamp is from the Creative expression It's a Guy Thing stamp set - did I mention my friend is now on the design team of said company and has just done something scrummy with ribbon and distress stains?) I then used Shabby shutters and tumbled glass distress ink over the top followed by faded jeans around the edges and again used some perfect pearls to give it a shimmer.

I used two different ribbons and grunged them up with the faded jeans again.

The tag was then mounted on wood effect card which I had distressed with the walnut stain, for the love I used the stencil I had created for the canvas and just dapped the walnut stain through the middle until it was the right colour.

Well there you are another year over and another just starting lets see what it will bring us.

New job and Thank you tags

Just made this tag for a colleague at work who has just been promoted. I used one of the new Tim Holtz  techniques I learnt on Saturday at a Masterclass at LB crafts led by Linda Elbourne so heres my entry for the Simon Says use a Tim Holtz technique. Technique number 14 - distress, mask, spritz and flick! There you go it says it all. Used my trust rusty hinge and mustard seed for the base and then used spiced marmalade for some stamping  using my new Paper Artsy stamps in the back ground as well as good old walnut stain to grunge it up a bit.

Amy also had a fantastic go at a thank you tag and used the directions from Septembers Stamper magazine to spray and flick lemon juice onto the tag and then to heat it up causing it to go brown as well as distressing the tag with stormy sky and faded jeans, she added some stamps and heaven forbid she ripped a page out from the dictionary and stamped on top of it with the Eiffel tower! (Amy is now traumatised as you are not allowed to rip pages out of books !)

Discover The World

A special tag for my friend Gabrielle who has just become a member of the Creative Expressions Design Team, a well deserved Step along the way for her to share her fantastic creations and designs with a wider audience so we can all share in her amazing works of art.

The tag was made using the same technique as my previous post using the Tim Holtz 12 tags of Christmas 2009, day 8 but using a range of different blues for the distressing - faded jeans,stormy sky, weathered wood and tumbled glass. I used stamps from Hot picks (Paper Artsy) HPX T03 and Clear choice Stamps- 20 Journey Stamps. The main map stamp was from the Glitz Clear stamps Distressing set 3 I also used it on the tag using plum ink but it seems to be hiding in the picture.

So congratulations Gabrielle and heres to many more days and exciting challenges of creating designs for everyone to enjoy and discover new techniques along the way.

A Postcard Thank You

We have just got back from a fantastic week away and I wanted to say a special Thank You to a special friend and her family for looking after our two lovely but excitable dogs, so what better way is there than making my own tag to attach to her gift from Switzerland.

For inspiration I am using the Grungy Monday 18 challenge from Studio L3 using the Tim Holtz 12 tags of Christmas, day 8 technique but will also be putting it forward for the Simon says Stamp and Show a Tag challenge.

So as prescribed I found some vellum buried in my stash it was quite thick so I wasn't sure it would do the job but thought nothing ventured nothing gained. I stamped it using the postcard stamp from my Glitz Clear Stamps distressing set 3  which I bought at LB Crafts in Olney using black archival ink and dried it using my heat gun, after this I covered it with  Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Ink antique linen and heated it using my heat gun until it was well and truly heated. The next step was to tear the edges which I did trying not to make it too tidy, the edges were then inked with DI walnut stain.

Next I grabbed a tag that I had cut using my cricut previously and used DI antique linen, crushed olive and a little of the walnut stain to cover it. I then spritzed some water onto my hand and splashed droplets onto the tag and watched as some delicate spots of colour changed the appearance of the ink. Once I had dried the tag I distressed the edges of the tag using the edge of a pair of scissors and found a tool from a child's silver scratch picture set to scratch into the front of the tag to give it some texture.

Using Rich Cocoa Momento ink I distressed the edges and the front slightly so that the roughened edges picked up the dark brown. Then using a flourish stamp that was one of my first buys (have no idea who made it) and some plumy pink ink to add a couple of bits top and bottom.

I  stamped a small thank you in Momento Ink in Rich Cocoa on the corner of the inked vellum and curled the vellum and stuck it on carefully to the tag at an angle.

Not having purchased any grung board (yet...I am sure the opportunity to purchase some will be upon me soon seeing as I will be visiting the the said LB craft shop on Saturday during a very special crafting workshop that I am going to along with my friends) to make an embellishment I decided to use a metal Friendship emebellishment from my box of bits and a few buttons (my favourite embellishment ever) and finished it of with a small bulldog clip on the side for good measures.

Well there you have it my Thank You tag to a very special person and her family.

Get Well Soon

My daughters best friends mum is poorly at the mo so I wanted to create a special card for her as she is really lovely and our daughters are so alike in many ways but different in lots of others. I took my inspiration from Gingersnap creations GC110: challenge Gears Cogs and Watches as time flies by so quickly and life goes on so it all ties together.

I tried to use lots of bits and pieces I had stashed away so I dug out my Spellbinders - Filing folders die (never been used)  and cut a piece of card and used my Tim Holtz Distress Inks shappy shutters and crushed olive to start a base there was a bit of embossing in there somewhere but it didnt do what I had expected (less said the better) ! I stamped on some watch fobs in Walnut Stain using a stamp that I received on the front of my Craft Stamper magazine recently (I do love that magazine). After that I used my Tim Holtz Sprocket and Gears die which were duly distressed and then found my packet of Sprocket Gears from the Tim Holtz Idea-ology range and added a couple of them.

To mount it I used a piece of scrapbook paper with large fobs on that came in a bumper pack from Costco a couple of years ago that Bev and I had split between us and duly used shabby shutters and crushed olive to tone it in, to add a bit of extra I stamped extra fobs on in Gold ink. I found a piece of cream polka dot ribbon which I again inked to tone in and also found a cardboard buckle that I stamped and embossed in gold to thread it through and topped with another sprocket. Well there you go another one in the post hope it is enjoyed as much as I enjoyed making it.

Happy 1st Anniversary

This creation is especially for my Goddaughter (and cousin) and her handsome husband Scott who are celebrating their 1st Anniversary this week. It doesnt seem a year since The Wedding of the year where we were all working together to make a wonderful day even more special with us all using our crafty expertise from arranging flowers and tables, making bouquets, creating stationary of all sorts and even making the cake and much more.

The basis of my design  came from the Studio L3 Grungy Monday Challenge 15  which is celebrating Tim Holtz 12 tags of Christmas 2007 / Day 7.

I cut a tag using George and Basic Shapes in my Cricut, and then swiped Tim Holtz Distress ink - tumbled glass all over the tag and liberally sprinkled with holographic embossing powder. I gave it a couple of fiesty taps on the back as prescribed by Tim and then carefully heated it. I then used Distress Ink - faded jeans to swipe over the top and sponged in.

I took a seperate piece of card and using my Hydrangea Ff314 stamp from the Joanne Sheen Favourite flowers collection applied a variety of Tim Holtz distress inks and sprinkled with embossing powder and heated. I then distressed it with tumbled glass and antique linen and watched the colours come through.

To pull it all together I added some metal corners and stamped then embossed "On your Special Day" in Walnut stain and tied on a piece of lace leftover from the said wedding stationary lovingly made last year.

As you can see it has been made into the front of a card where I cut a piece of paper from the fancy free collection - Vintage Summer from fancypantsdesigns.com and once more distressed the edges but with stormy sky and walnut stain. I then ripped from a dictionary which ( I purposly bought for such an occassion) the words around marriage and married and distressed these very lightly and attached with a pearly blue brad.

Well thats about it as all I can do now is wait for the card to arrive in the post before I publish my blog - Happy Anniversary Claire and Scott. - Couldnt wait for Sunday so have posted now (dont tell them).

Thank you To Aunty Joan

Well here goes my first published challenge: Thanks to Studio L3 Grungy Monday 14 challenge, using Tim Holtz's March 2008 technique.

Using my Cuttlebug I cut a Tag using my Go Kreate Concentric tag die, and used the mannikin and tape measure to stamp with from the Creative Expressions Vintage Sewing set (thank you Bev) using white acrylic paint. Once it was dry I sprayed with misters made up of Rangers Tea Dye distress re-inker with Gold Dust and several sprays of Red Brick re-inker with Lemongrass.

Once this was all dry I stamped on the Thank You using Black StazOn and distressed the edges with Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Black Soot. Well that was the tag almost done what now ? I couldnt decide so a little while later (well 2 days later) I decided to emboss a piece of card using my Cuttlebug and the Spots and Dots folder, followed by a dolop of Tim Holtz Walnut Stain Distress ink around the edges.Once I mounted it all onto the card I realised I needed a little something else so made my own ticket using the Autumn Leaves Ticket always/forever stamped in Rich Cocoa using Memento ink.

So there it is all finished and already on its way to the States as a thank you.

My first blog

Hi this is my first ever blog and am a little nervous about it but wanted to have somewhere to show and share my creations that I make in my precious spare time. time will tell if I progress with this but I look forward to sharing something shortly.