Merry Christmas Buntin

This fortnight at Crafty Boots the Challenge is yes you've guessed Christmas ! I am sure you have all been and are still busy making cards and some of you even gifts for the festive season so heres something I made to send to my lovely daughter at University for her and her friends to hang in the flat while they cook themselves their very own Christmas dinner before they leave to go back to their families.

The photo doesnt really show it very well but below are a couple of the banners so you can get the idea.

The Buntin was cut from red and green card and both colours were stamped in black archival ink and embossed with holographic embossing powder. After the they were dry I spritzed them, the green with dylusions cut grass ink and the red with cosmic shimmer mist Lava Red (ooh that was a bit messy but I survived).

The Merry Christmas letters were cut from Tim Holtz idea-ology Christmas Kraft resist paper using my Cricut before being inked with my new Ranger brushed pewter distress stain. I also used cut & dry foam to roughly apply the pewter stain over all the tag to give a bit of a shiny effect before glueing the letters on and putting a red brad through the whole in each of the letters.



I folded over the top of each piece and attached the twine using double sided tape and lots of cellotape as I didnt really leave enough card to fold over.

Merry Christmas all and try and have some fun dont get stressed about not sending / making those cards if you dont get time xxxxx. 

Lifes Not Perfect

This fortnight at crafty boots its anything goes so I thought I would show the tag I made at our recent design team day, as with all things crafty things dont always come out as you expect and my tag ended up being upside down because I stamped my words upside down ! but as it happens they were just the right words for just such an oops.

The tag was made by swiping a white tag through 3 different colours before I stamped various numbers in picket fence as a background. The words I love - Life doesnt have to be perfect it just has to be lived, these were stamped and clear embossed to give a little lift. The model form was inked in 2 of the  colours and the grid was clear embossed.

I hope you have time to enjoy and join in with our challenge this week :)

Remember

This weeks Crafty boots challenge is set by my lovely friend and cousin Bev and true to her thoughts and heart she has chosen for us to all to remember someone or something.

My tag is simple but to the point, not much else to say really except I have decided to post it a day early for the challenge (hope you dont mind) as I thought It was apt to post on the 11th xxxx

Party Invite

This fortnight at Crafty Boots its my privilege to pick the challenge and it would be great if you lovely crafters could create a tag or an invite to a party or event of some sort.

I decided on a party invite and I know some of my fellow design team have done some great tags and invites to halloween parties.

I cut a tag and small pocket for the front using Kraft paper and stamped swirls in white acrylic paint on both pieces.

Once dry I inked them in mowed lawn, peacock feathers and sqeezed lemonade Distress Inks and then edged them in the white paint.

On the pocket the word party was stamped in the white paint before being attached by silver brads.

The ribbon was inked using cut and dry foam before being tide to the top and to a Tim Holtz ticket with all the party details on.

This was quite quick to make so great for a mini production line.

Hope you have fun this week I am sure there will be lots of ghosts and ghouls around to keep you on your toes.

Welcome Home

This fortnight at Crafty Boots our challenge is Home :-

This hanging is especially for my cousin and her husband who have just moved into their very own home after saving up and working hard to make their dream come true. Congratulations to you bothand lots of love from me.xxxx

I used craft resist paper stained with wild honey Distress stain on which I stamped white paint houses from my dark Room Door set - Home Sweet Home (Which I got from the Crafty Boots stash savers club) and the words home sweet home in walnut stain.

The Two main houses were stamped on craft resist paper in the walnut stain and embossed with clear embossing powder..

The words were stamped on white card before being inked in tumbled glass and a little of the walnut stain.

The lock and key die cuts were inked in the wild honey and walnut stain.

I hope you can join in our challenge this week. xxx

Bevs Birthday Bird Box

It was my bestest friend/cousins birthday at the beginning of the week and instead of a card I try and do something different for her as I know she likes all things crafty.
So here is my altered bird box just for her.

This started life as a cream wooden bird box with a black roof. To alter it a covered it in pieces of silver thermal wrap before making patterns along the foil edges. I then dapped on fresco paints beach hut and mermaid using cut and dry foam.

Using a brick mask I dapped the beach hut onto the rrof as well. Once it was all dry I stamped leaf flourishes from inkadinkado on using archival black ink on all sides.

Using Tim Holtz die regal crest I cut out a the shield and banner which were inked with tumpled glass and and peacock feathers and then stamped with 2 different stamps  from the PaperArtsy Hot picks set HPXT04 - Just Sayin and Have some ME Time (which Bev definitely needs).

It was all finished off with some lace and Tim Holtz ideaology .

I really enjoyed making this and I am sure Bev will enjoy it too.

I am entering this into the Craft Room and Fashionable Stamping Challenge Alter IT challenges.

3 Blue Clocks

At Crafy Boots the challenge is to use 3 of something, so I decided to use 3 different blues form the Ranger Distress ink range and then also included 3 blue die cut clocks on the front.

I took a white tag and inked it all over using tumbled glass distress stain. Once dry I used Salty ocean ink to ink through my new cogs creative expressions Mask on all four corners.

Using the same ink I then stamped multiple fob watches on the back ground before stamping the tempus fugit in chipped sapphire.

The edges of the tag were highlighted in the chipped sapphire and the 3 clocks were inked in a combination of the 3 colours. The Happy birthday was also stamped using the 3 different colours onto white card before being trimmed and mounted.

Hope you all have a great week or two and that you have found your woolly jumpers as autumn has definitely arrived here in the UK.

Hickory Dickory Dock

This fortnight At Crafty Boots we are celebrating Children stories and Nursery Rhymes so heres my take on it. Hickory Dickory Dock.

I took a white tag and stamped a background in walnut stain from the Paper Artsy Hot Picks HP1007, the tag was then inked using squeezed lemonade and vintage photo.

The clock face is the Tim Holtz weathered clock cut from Kraft paper and inked with vintage photo.

The words and mice were printed onto photo paper before being inked in the lemon and vintage photo. The silver clock charm tied with string was dabbed with rust alcohol ink to blend it in and to finish I used a scrap of satin yellow ribbon which I lightly stained with brushed corduroy.

I hope you can come up with some great fairy tale or nursery rhyme creations for crafty boots this week.

I am also going to put this as my entry to Hels Sunday Stamper challenge 220 Tie a Yellow Ribbon this week as I like to try and enter her challenge whenever I can and this tag ticks the relevatn boxes.  

One And Only

This fortnight at Crafty Boots the challenge is ONE. Now I dont know about you but this has taken me a while to think of something todo we do  not have the pleasure of any 1 year birthdays or anniversaries in the family which are the only things I could think of to start with then I suddenly thought what else do I have one of and seeing I was feeling a bit sentimental as my husband have just reached our 22nd Anniversary  I thought why no do a tag for My One and Only:

Using sequin waste I dabbed watered down fired brink distress ink through the holes before bumping it slightly and doing the same with scattered straw.

I then blended more of the distress inks over the tag including some black soot around the edge.

The Heart was cut from the sizzix die hearts and wings before being inked with fired brick and then roughly embossed with distress embossing powder walnut stain. the flourish was inked in the fired brick and black soot.

The words My One and Only were peeled from Tim Holtz ideaology stickers.

The safety pin and heart padlock and chain were pinned through the top.

Good luck with challenge and I an sure you will be able to come up with somehting fantastic.

Tag #50 - Pink Ladies

Heres a quick tag I did last night using just Victorian Velvet distress ink and stain, spun sugar and a touch of seedless preserve. I dont normally do Pink but I quite liked the idea of using colours that dont get used very often.

The stamps were from the dark room door set 1920s Chic bought from Crafty Boots Stash Savers club.

To create the tag background I swiped it using the distress stain before giving a quick spritz with water. This was then stamped in the victorian velvet using one of the adverts from the stamp set. The edges of the tag were then inked in the same colour.

The ladies were stamped onto white card in the Victorian velvet before being lightly painted using a paint brush, water and spun sugar before being cut out and glued on.

The Chic Design label was stamped in seedless preserve on Kraft card. It was all finished with some white ribbon dyed pink , some lace and a sewing machine charm.

I am entering this into the Craft Room challenge Pins and or / Charms.

Tag #49 - Green 16

The Sunday Stamper challenge week 220 is Green and just by pure luck I have just made my sons 16th birthday card he had a great week a milestone birthday and great GCSE results so we are all happy here and believe it or not the tag was green so result!

I started with a cream tag and used a jigsaw mask and inked through it using mowed lawn and then forest moss.

I stamped script writing in archival black to complete the background before inking the edges with walnut stain and the forest moss finishing with picket fence distress stain.

The Tim Holtz movers and shaper fans were cut from kraft paper before being embossed using distress embossing powde walnut stain and scattered straw and were attached using brads which were then duly bashed with a hammer.

The Happy Birthday and 16 were cut from mirror board using my cricut before being dabbed with alcohol inks pitch black and rust.

The L for lifetime and Luke was also a Tim Holtz ideaology piece and was tied on using ribbon stained with distress stain.

Peacock Feathers

The Crafty Boots challenge this fortnight is Tweet Tweet - include a bird of any sort. So I thought I would use my new peacock feathers distress ink and my peacock stamp to see what I could come up with.

The background of the tag was created by swiping peacock feathers, salty ocean and broken china distress ink on my craft mat before spritzing with water and then pulling the tag through the beautiful colours.

The peacock was stamped using archival black ink, and the feathers were cut from mirror card from the sizziz flourish and leaf die which I then lightly inked using citrus and aqua alcohol ink.

I distressed the edge of the tag and lighlty inked with black soot  before stamping the words in black and I added some flourishes in salty ocean.

The feather flourishes were attached with a silver brad which I also lightly inked with alcohol ink.

Enjoy the cahllenge and lets see what bird related projects you can come up with.

Tag #48 - Metal Patterns

Carrying on from my Rusty peg last week I decided to create a tag using metal tape again but I also wanted to incoproate different patterns and colours inspired by Hels Sunday Stamper challenge this week - patterns.

I layered the metal tape as before but I then used various metal tools to create a variety of patterns on the different segments before using alcohol inks to colour the various sections. I used citrus, sail boat blue, butterscoth and rust. Once dry I stamped the scientific symbols from Tims SteamPunk stamps in black stazone on the background.

The gears were cut from card covered in the sticky metal tape and then inked in rust and pitch black alcohol inks.

I hope the photo shows up the patterns I think its one those that looks better in real life as it were. Bye for now enjoy the sunshine as im told its on its way :o).

Postcard from Abroad

This fortnights challenge at Crafty Boots has been set by the lovelly Gabrielle and she has set us the task of creating a post card so heres my vintage version all wrapped up with a pile of keep sake letters that I have imagined digging out of a battered old suitcase when sorting through an attic.

I cut plain white card to the right size and rounded the corners before staining with broken china and tumbled glass and some walnut distress stain. I roughed all the edges and inked again in the walnut stain.

I used 2 stamps  one from Indigo blu Grand Tour 2 and the other from Glitz Clear Stamps Distressing set 3.

 Once this was all dry I roughly swept a clear embossing pad across the top and covered in clear embossing powder before tapping off the excess and heating. Once the embossing was dry I inked it again with the walnut stain to get in the crevasses to give it that worn out look.

The pile of letters were created from just rough paper torn and roughly inked before being tied with some scrap ribbon that I inked with brushed corduroy distress stain.

 I think people have forgotton how lovely it is to receive a post card from family and friends when they are away as facebook, twitter and all those lovely bits of technology seem to keep most of us connected even when we are away, so this week when I go away for a few days camping my challenge to myself is to try and write and send a couple I am sure there will be time to write them while its raining :o) They will probably arrive at their destination after i ahve returned but thats half the fun seeing how long they take to get delivered.

I cant wait to see your designs so hope you can squeeze some time into crafty between, holidays work and looking after family. xxx

ART PEG

At Gabrielles craft class this week details of which you can find here at the Crafty Thoughts website we were introduced to a couple of techniques to give that rustic metal  look using Thermo wrap silver plumbers tape to create the base metal layers (fantastic stuff straight from a well known DIY store and yes I went shopping for some straight after the class).

I chose to decorate a giant peg which I covered in pieces of the tape before marking it with a pencil to create the look of rivetts (you can see these more clearly in the second picture which is the back of the peg), before dabbing with brown and black paint.

The cogs were die cut and then embossed with Ranger distress embossing powder again giving that rustic look.

The  word art was heat embossed with distress powder and then embossed again in gold to lift them a bit.

I added extra cogs and the lovely peg is now hanging in my craft room ready for my wish list to be pegged into for hints to the the family.

 Thanks Gabrielle for a lovely class and time to chill with friends.

I have also entered this into Hels Sunday Stamper challenge - 216 Gold hope you dont mind Gabrielle xx

Its A Girl Thing

This fortnight at Crafty Boots we are celebrating babies so here is my keepsake for a special little girl.I used a Wendi Vecchi Art part circle frame bought from Crafty Boots which was inked in Victorian velvet distress stain before I stamped white paint spots randomly around the edge.

The background paper with lots of lovely girly words was from my very original stash of scrap booking papers that have laid hidden for quite some time, I inked it with some spun sugar and gathered twig DI.

The flowers were from my tattered florals die that I inked and then roughly heat embossed before inking again.

The littel fairy was a stamp stolen from my daughters stash which I painted using a variety of distress inks and water.

The swirl and butterflies were from newly purchased dies which were inked and stamped to give some texture. It was all finished with a little bit of lace to add to those girly dreams.

Hope you enjoy the challeng with us.

Explorers Book Tag

This fortnights Craft Boots challenge is a bingo theme where you have to choose 3 items from a block of nine to incorporate into your creation.

My Bingo selection was to use - Spots, stars and stripes.

I used a technique the lovely Gabrielle taught us at one of her recent classes called bumping using paperartsy fresco paints.

The tag was made of Kraft card which I lightly sponged in white paint before using sequine waste to bump the spots using Inky pool, beach hut and nougat.

The stars were stamped in the nougat paint once the backgroud was dry.

The stripes were made using the beach hut paint and the edge of an old credit card.

The cogs were from the Gadget gear die which were dabbed with inky pool and nougat before being embossed with black powder with help of my darkroom door stamps Discover, I used the same stamp set and embossing on the Explore statement down the side and Find your way on the banner.

This is especially for my daughter to take away with her as a bookmark on her expedition to Peru and as this is published she should be 2 days into her exciting once in a lifetime challenge.

Enjoy your challenge it will be great to see how everyone puts there set combination together. Bye for now. xxx

Tag #47 - Rats !

At the Dragons Dream m Tag It in this fortnight the challenge is Don't Fear - using a Scary Image a splash of purple and textures.

The back ground was created using milled lavender and dusty concorde applied directly to the tag before roughly embossing with clear powder, followed by more ink including black soot.

The findings are made from a coke can cut using the Tim holtz die findings then inked with alcoholink.

The Sizzix rat is cut from grungepaper and embossed with walnut stain distress embossing powder.

The creepy house was from Darkroom door embossed with black powder then inked with black soot and wild honey.

As my family will verify I absolutely hate rats and mice which is why I chose this as my scary bit.

Thanks for the challenge TIO team.

Flying High

This fortnights Crafty Boots challenge is Sport. Well I took a different view on this and thought about one of the sports that I would like to try at some time - Balloon Flying, it just sounds so romantic and exciting but I know for a fact that my other half would definitely not participate so I think the romance bit will probably not occur so it would be something just for me.

The background was a mixture of picket fence, shabby shutters and broken china distress stain spalshed onto my craft mat before swiping the tag through it several times.

The tag was then stamped using peeled paint and the map from indigo blu grandtour II and the edges inked in tumbled glass and walnut stain.

The balloon and compass were from Indigo blu grand tour III, ballon was painted in fired brick distress ink.

The Have some me time words were from Paper Artsy Hot picks HPXT04.

Hope lots of you will join us in this sporty challenge as with Wimbledon, Euro 2012 and the Olympics I am sure there are plenty of things to inspire you.

Bye for now

70th Birthday

Something a little different this time. My friend at work asked me to create a card for her mother in law / childrens nana (isnt it lovely being asked to make something special for somebody else but also a little duanting at the same time). We had a look through my piccies to see what sort of colours to use and came up with this.

The background is shabby shutters, bundled sage and broken china distress stain dabbed on to my craft mat and before lowering the card into the splodges I spritzed it with water to give it a bit more traction. I then used shabby shutters and tumbled glass distress ink to blend in the edges and any gaps.

The weathered clock from Tim Holtz was inked using the broken china stain and the shabby shutters.

The butterfly is from Indigo blu grand tour 2 and the words from Dark Room Door Prague Vol 2. The chipboard numbers were embossed in silver and holographic powder to give it a bit of sparkle.

I just hope Nana liked it :0) 

I have entered this in the Stamp man challenge  - Time

Fabric Flowers

This fortnights challenge at Crafty Boots was to Use Some Fabric, so heres my tag with some home made fabric flowers for you to see. Hope you can join in with the challenge this week as we have lots of new design team memebers and its really exciting to see all the different techniques and styles we all use.

The tag background was made using shabby shutters, bundled sage and broken china distress stain dabbed onto my craft mat with the tag then dipped in it to get a mottled affect. Once dry the tag was inked with more broken china and stamped with paisley swirls from one of my first ever stamp sets that I got from banana frog about 5 years ago.

I cut two strips of different widths of lining material using pinking sheers before stamping them with the paisley design using walnut stain. Once dry I quickly hand sewed a small running stitch down one side before drawing it up into the circle and tieing of the ends. Hey presto 2 hand made flowers.

The words from paperartsy Hot picks HPXT04 were stamped onto cream card in walnut stain before being inked with broken china and walnut stain to blend it all in and then attached with small gold brads.

Hope you enjoy the challenge  we look forward to seeing all of your designs.

Tag #46 A New Home

For the the Dragons Dream Tag It On Challenge #117 To Dye For and the Simon says stamp and show some texture I decided to break out my new Dark Room Door stamps Home Sweet Home.

I took a plain white tag and inked it using frayed burlap distress ink before dry embossing it with the Tim Holtz alterations Texture fades bricked.

I then spritzed the tag with a mixture of tea die, gold perfect pearls and water to give it a sheen (including my fingers) once it was dry I inked it a bit more with walnut stain and rusty hinge.

The houses were stamped onto craft resist paper in walnut stain and then inked with mustard seed and rusty hinge.

The Keys and hinge are dyes from the Tim Holtz  Hardware findings Dye The hinge was inked in walnut stain and the keys in mustard seed, rusty hinge and frayed burlap.

It was all finished of with some packaging string and a brass brad.

Hope you like it .  bye for now xxx

Tag #45 - Words

I managed to get a tag done over the last couple of days which I'm quite pleased with and I am entering this into Hels Sheridan Sunday Stamper Week 207 Words challenge, Simon Says one for the boys and the Fashionable stamping challenge - Steampunk.

The background was a mixture of distress stains wild honey, bundled sage and dried marigold and a grid stamped randomly in white paint and edged in vintage photo.

The cogs from were covered in brushed corduroy and wild honey distress stain before being stamped with the scientifc symbole from the Stampers Anonymous  Steampunk set.

I cut the Tim Holtz umbrella man twice inking the background one in black soot and the front one in walnut stain and vintage photo.

The words which I love are from the Indigoblu Grand tour II set.

It was all finished of with some inked ribbon, an old chain and a piece of steampunk machinery.

Hope you are all having a good week xxx

BowTastic

This fortnights Crafty Boots challenge set by Stephanie-Emma is Bowtastic as you will see the design team have been busy introducing bows in all shapes and sizes and heres my contribution.

To make this tag I swiped milled lavender and dusty concord distress ink on my craft mat before spritzing with water and then swiping my tag through it. To enhance the colours I inked more dusty concord and seedless preserve on to the tag using cut n dry foam. Down each side I embossed swirls from the organic flourish embossing set from cuttlebug and enhanced them with the seedless preserve.

I decided it was time to use my Indigoblu sewing mends the soul stamps and stamped the corset advert in milled lavender in the background at various angles and then a central one in dusty concord.

I stamped 4 corsets in the dusty concord on white card and inked them up with the 3 different inks and paired them up. Before sticking the pairs together I punched holes in the front one threaded cream ribbon through before tying in a bow at the top. Once tied I stuck the corresponding corset on the back.

The words are from the last verse of some words from the IndigoBlu Music hall stamps and they were wedged into a Tim Holtz Memo pin.

Hope you all have fun making your bows, goodluck xxxx.

Circle Of Flowers

I decided it was time I cracked open my Arts Parts sample pack and had a go at creating something and as Hels Sunday Stamper Challenge 206 is circles this week I decided to use that as my starting point.

The Art Part circle frame was inked in Wild Honey distress stain before stamped with the grid in walnut stain ink.

The flowers and leaves were all chipboard inked in a variety of stains and inks and stamped using paper artsy Ice blue fresco paint or walnut stain.

The backround was Kraft resist paper inked in walnut stain and the words were from Paper Artsy Hotpicks HP1206EZ stamped onto a background of wild honey and walnut stain.

It was all finished off with a few buttons and the bulldog clip and some ribbon and lace. I am also entering this into the Craft room Challenge Add some fabric as nothing is complete without that little bit of ribbon or lace xxx

Tag # 44- Symphony of Flowers

Over at Dragons Dream Tag It On Blog this forthnight s challenge is a Symphony of flowers with an ingredient list to include :- A pinch of greenery - tick, some buttons - tick  and a butterfly or two - tick.

I have been slacking this week from my crafting and blogging duties sorry
 :o( but I have eventually managed to put this together this evening :o).

I inked the tag using tumbled glass, broken china stormy sky and crushed olive distress ink before spritzing with water.

The flower stem was inked using forest moss and seedless preserve (its still a yummy colour). Random notes were stamped in broken china and tumbeled glass on the blue and forest moss on the green at the bottom to ensure there was harmony in the garden.

The butterfly was stamped and clear embossed using the seedless preserve and then inked in broken china and spun sugar.

I stuck the buttons on after threading inked twine through the holes and knotting.

I used 2 sets of stamps for this - Indigoblu Music hall for the verse and PaperArtsy Hotpicks HP1204EZ for the rest.

Bye for now and enjoy the rest of the weekend xx

Good Luck Peeps

This fortnights Crafty Boots Challenge was set by yours truly, its the first time I have ever set a challenge so heres hoping to seeing some great creations.

The reason for choosing a Good Luck theme is because I have two wonderful teenagers about to sit a multiple of exams one is doing A levels and  the other GCSEs so as you can imagine we have a very studious household. The frame is for my son and hopefully he will like this and it will give him a boost while he continues to revise extremely hard.

 I took a plain white cheap Ikea frame, sanded it down and then painted patches of paperartsy fresco paints inky pool and mermaid, then added some crackle paint - weathered wood and milled lavender before stamping white grids on and then inking with black soot and vintage photo once all the paint was dry.

The insert was thick grey card which I covered in Distress stain faded jeans. Once dry I stamped a world map from Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Air travel in vintage photo and the scientific symbols from the Steampunk set in vintage photo and white paint.

 The large ticket was from the Tim Holtz idea-ology range which I inked and then stuck the words to which I printed and cut out (just to ensure my young man doesn't forget which exams he needs to do ). I tried to incorporate something to reflect each of the exams can you spot them ?

Have fun crafting and - Good Luck

Tag #43 4 in 1

I have tried to combine a number of challenges all in one this time to see what I could fit in.
So we have:-
1. Blue and Brown for Hels Sunday Stamper challange 204
2. My favourite stamp (the scientific symbols from Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Steam Punk set) for Simon Says stamp and Show
3.Heat embossing for the Craft Room challenge - Emboss It.
4. A birthday tag for my very chatty but gorgeous nephews 16th birthday next week

Lots of my crafty friends have been using a marbling technique from Mr Tim Holtz new compendium of curiosity book however I dont have the book (its on my birthday list) so have tried to guess at the technique - I dabbed a combination of different distress stains onto my craft mat broken china, weathered wood, faded jeans and brushed corduroy instead of swiping my tag through it i just placed it on top and seemed to get the effect I was after. To fill in a few gaps I inked in using tumbled glass and walnut stain distress ink.

I used the same technique on umbrella man but only used faded jeans and broken china before heat embossing distress powder walnut stain down one side.

The scientific symbols were stamped in walnut stain (I use this stamp lots and lots) The words from paperartsy hotpicks HPXT04 were stamped on kraft paper stained with broken china and the corduroy stains.

All the pieces were edged in white paint to make them pop out a bit.  Happy Birthday to my growing nephew and have a great week to all (its only a 4 day week hurray).

Tag # 42 Red Butterfly

The Sunday Stamper challenge 203 last Sunday was Red so here is my Red Butterfly Tag, it has taken me all week todo as I couldnt seem to settle to crafting, What ! I hear you say I know it seems strange but there you go. Hopefully this Bank Holiday weekend will refresh me and let me start creating again.

I took a white tag and inked it liberally with festive berries, barn door and lots of fired brick Distress Ink.

Down each edge I dry embossed some flourishes using my cuttle bug and then inked over them with vintage photo. You cant see the background very well but I used the waste from my buttefly die cut as a stencil and inked a number of butterflies using more fired brick. I also lightly stamped a number of dragon flies from my IndigoBlu Grand tour II set in vintage photo.

On the die cut butteflies I embossed swirls in clear holographic powder before inking in the barn door, The swirl at the top was inked in barn door as well before adding some crytal stickles to add a bit of sparkle.

The words were also from the same stamp set stamped onto kraft paper with a couple of buttons added.

Lets hope I feel the urge to craft a bit more this weekend hopefully we might even see the sun some time soon too xxxx

Yellow !

The Crafty Boots Challenge this fortnight set by Faye is Yellow. Now I am not so sure about the colour yellow but a challenge is a challenge so here we go  - hope you can join  in too.

The background is made from swiping mustard seed and scattered straw distress ink onto my craft mat which I then spritzed with water before swiping a couple lines of wild honey distress stain next to it, I did the stain after as it is already in a liquid form so it didnt need the extra water. Once this was ready I swiped the tag through the colours a couple fo times to get the right effect.

When the tag was dry (with a bit of help from my heat gun) I inked around the edge in the mustard seed followed by walnut stain.

In the top left I stamped the scientific symbols from Tim Holtz stampers anonymous steampunk stamp set (this stamp gets used everywhere) in wild honey (I applied the stain direct to the stamp).

The flowers were cut using the Tim Holtz tattered floral die, the flowers were stamped using a grid stamp in Walnut stain before being slightly inked with mustard seed. the centres of the circles were hand cut and embossed with clear powder before being firmly inked with the mustard seed. I stamped some stalks in crushed olive before cutting them out and sticking them to the tag at the bottom before shaping the flowwers and sticking them on followed by the centres.

To finish I added some ricrac and matching button and some dragon fly brads as well as inking some white ribbon with the mustard seed and tying through the top with extra ricrac. Enjoy yourselves and lets get inky !

Tag #41 Musical Hall

I decided to have a play with my new IndigoBlu Music hall stamps and this was what I came up with.

I inked a tag using Scattered Straw, Seedless preserve and worn lipstick distress ink and vintage photo. I used the swirls from the stamp set and stamped them all over the background using the worn lipstick before stamping the beautiful lady using seedless preserve.

The musical hall poster at the bottom was stamped in vintage photo onto kraft paper beofe I gently inked it  a bit more with the vintage photo after cutting it out.

I attached some lace along the bottom and dabbed some crystal stickles in the ladies hat and flowers.

Just a quick blog as dinner is cooking :o)..

Tag #40 summer colours

The Sunday Stamper challenge #202 is Summer Colours so I decided to try and put together some of the colours I like to see in the garden during the summer and came up with this tag.

The colours I used throughout the tag were  - Scattered straw, tumbled glass, fired brick, gathered twig distress inks with some white paint thrown in.  I inked various patched of the three main colours on the tag before laying a piece of sequin remnant over the top and inking the same colours again through the holes.

The stamps I used were from the Paperartsy hotpicks set HP1024EZ.

The Flower sprig was stamped in white paint along with the edge of the tag and additional lines on the tag itself.

The butterflies were stamped in the brown ink and clear embossed and cut out before being inked with the bright colours,

The prima floweres were inked and then attached with brads before mounting the stamped verse and butterflies.

The ribbon was stained using fired brick to tie it all together.

Hope you like my bright colours of summer have a good week all. xx



My 1st Altered Book !!

Well I thought it was time to try it - that is ripping up an old book and seeing what happens.

As many of you crafters know it is very scary doing this as we have all been brought up to love and cherish books and when you start ripping out pages you feel very very naughty. My daughter Amy (18 and a dedicated book lover) was nearly in tears when she saw what I was doing.

I made two different layers as seen in the main two photos. I tried looking on different blogs for ideas but in the end I just decided to go for it. I created the main apperture a chapter into the book and gradually cut and  tore through the book making diaganol cuts with my craft knife and ripping around the edges.

Before sticking the edges down I inked the background page in shabby shutters distress stain and stamped some swirls and then gradually inked the edges in frayed burlap and tumbled glass stains as well as the green.  I then glued the edges of the main part of the book and left it to dry overnight. 

I created a garden using my tattered florals and leaves dies which were inked and spritzed before dipping the layers of the flowers in clear Utee to create my glossy enamel flowers.

With the first chapter I created a slightly smaller window to give a small taster of the garden beyond inking and sticking it as before.

I stamped and inked a verse for the left hand page and inked and heat embossed the key and padlock.

I have left some blank pages at the front as I may add to it as time goes by and I may even tackle the book cover but I think that will be a differnet adventure.
The photo below shows the first cut out before I started sticking everyhting down and cutting out the other chapter.

I hope you like it, it was definitely an adventure and one I may repeat when the occassion requires it, it definitely needs a lot more planning and thought than a tag !

I am entering this into the Simon says Stamp and Show - Anything goes challenge
The Stamp man challenge  - Shabby Chic or Distressed this book and my daughter are definitely "Distressed".
The Craft Room Challenge - Ink It

Tag #39 - Time waits for no Man

Hels Sunday Stamper Challenge 201 is MEN this week so I decided it was an ideal time to break open my new Umbrella Man Tim Holtz Die.

After my mamoth shopping spree at Ally Pally on Saturday I had been tidying my craft room and found some tags that I had previoulsy swished and misted in yellows and gold so decided to use one of these as a starter. I added a postcard background stamp in walnut stain and then inked the edges in walnut stain and black soot Distress Ink.

The clock was inked in Dried marigold stain and gathered twig before being roughly heat embossed with walnut stain distress embossing powder and gold powder The hands were also embossed like this.

Umbrella man was inked in gathered twig and black soot and then heat embossed with black soot.

The words were typed and printed on the computer and then inked up.

Thanks for the challenge Hels and it was great to see you.
x

Quintessentially English

For this fortnights Crafty Boots challenge No Girls Allowed we had to ensure that we didnt use any images of girls, so heres my go, hope you have fun making your creation and joining in the challenge with us.


For this tag I have used my new Indigo blu stamps Pomp and Pageantry that my lovely children ordered for me for Mothers day.

The tag was made from craft resist paper and washed in Ice blue fresco paint. The Union Jacks were stamped on the background  by applying broken glass and fired brick distress stain to the stamp carefully to try and ensure the colours were on the correct bit of the stamp.

The gentleman and big ben were stamped in black soot distress ink and the Great Britain circle in fired brick. the words and clock were inked further with faded jeans and a touch of fired brick around the edge.

Three brads were attached either end but I gave them a good bashing with the hammer as well to give them that worn look.

I found some stripey red white and blue ribbon that blended with the colours and cut it straight through the middle before tying it through the top so I have lots of fraying threads now !. My extra bit of something was some red memory wire I found in one of my boxes of bits, I curled one end round a pencil to make a spring before feeding the other end through the tag twisting it together and creating a second spring and then fed the crown Idealogy piece on to the spring.

Hey presto No girls but a tag that I can use for either a lady or a gentleman depending on the occcassion.  Happy Crafting xxxx.

Tag # 38 Love Music

For a trilogy of challenges I created a Love Music tag.
The Challenges this is for are:-
Stamp Man - Vellum
The Craft Room - Music
Simon Says Stamp And Show - A Tim Technique

I used a manilla tag cut using Tim Holtz Big Tag Die, I used a tim technique by swiping - scattered straw, frayed burlap and walnut stain on my craft mat before spritzing with water and then passing the tag through it a number of times (drying between each swipe).

I roughed up the edges of the tag and inked it with walnut stain and and the straw distress ink. The grid was roughly stamped with frayed burlap before stamping the guitar before painting it with the inks to bring out the colours.

I stamped vellum with music notes and heated it to set the ink before tearing and inking it again (this was also a Tim technique :0). The vellum was mounted behind an inked frame before attaching with brads roughly bashed and some was fixed into a memo pin.

The wings were cut from craft resist paper and inked with the scattered straw and walnut stain. Enjoy and hope youve all had a good Easter.

Tag #37 Numbers

Over at the Sunday Stamper this week it is Hels 200th challenge Wow how fantastic 200 challenges thanks Hels for keeping us inspired and also her offer of blog Candy this week. The challenge this week is numbers.

I used a white tag and swiped Walnut stain over the Tim Holtz textured fades Bingo embossing folder so that when I ran it through my cuttelbug the raised numbers and parts were inked.

I also inked the tag with a combination of shabby shutters, peeled paint, walnut stain and gathered twig distress inks.

The cogs were cut from the gadget gears die and then painted in Distress crakle paint frayed burlap and antique linen, when dry they were inked with gatherd twigs and black soot.

The keys were inked and then triple embossed with enchanted gold. The lions were stamped from my Indigo Blu Pomp and Pageantry stamp set, one was stamped in clear embossing ink before being covered with Distress powder weathered wood and the other in Walnut stain ink and clear embossing powder before lightly inking both with walnut stain.

The gold brads once attached were bashed with my hammer and gold ribbon threaded through the top. Enjoy and congratulation Hels on all your wonderfull work and inspiration.

Tag # 36 Flying High

The Sunday Stamper challenge - Week 199 is Transport so I had a dig round and decided to use my Hot air balloon stamp.

For the background I had a go at the tutorial Hels put on her blog on Saturday, The colours I used were broken china and wild honey distress stains with a touch of black soot around the edge. Once the tag was dry I stamped an air ticket from the Stampers Anonymous Air travel stamp set.

The hot air balloons were from a copy of Craft stamper and they were stamped on craft resist paper before being painted with distress inks.

The hinge die cut from a tim holtz die was inked and then roughly covered in bronze UTEE.

I added banner at the bottom and a memo pin with an idea-ology ticket before tieing string and ribbon through the top.

Ship Ahoy

Hi all this is my first ever design team entry for the Crafty Boots Challenge which this time is Nautical so I hope you enjoy it and get some inspiration for our challenge this fortnight.

I used Ice blue, Nougat and Mermaid PaperArtsy fresco paints and and a piece of cut n dry foam to dab multiple layers of the 3 colours on a tag.once dry I used the same colours and roughly stamped the background in a grid stamp at all sorts of angels.

Once dry I stamped the tag using gathered twig distress ink in compasses and mini worlds. I then swiped clear embossing ink over the whole tag and covered in clear embossing powder which was then roughly bashed off before heating.

I didnt have any specific nautical stamps so I decided to search the net and found a picture of ship and an anchor which were printed on photo paper.

I inked the ship in gathered twig and tumbled glass distress ink. I cut out the anchor and then used it as a stencil to cut out a grunge paper anchor. I inked the anchor in the gathered twigs and then stamped some swirls on it before covering in embossing ink and UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Powder) When the clear UTEE was still hot I sprinkled on some bronze as well to give that rusty look.
The leaves and banner were from the Tim Holtz Regal Crest die. The leaves were inked in crushed olive and the banner in the good old gathered twigs before being covered in the clear and bronze UTEE.

Once all stuck down the tag was finished with a couple of metal embellishements and a chunky piece of soft rope that I found in one of my boxes of stash which I roughly inked with the yes youve guessed it the gathered twigs.

Enjoy making your cards and creations.

Tag # 35 - Blackbird

Hels Sunday Stamper challenge number 198 is Blackbird this week and the Simon Says Stamp and show challenge is show a Tag so here is my Blackbird tag.

I took a white tag and stamped script writting in walnut stain as the background before inking with gathered twig, I stamped a scroll in black soot using a stamp from my Inkadinkado set.

The bird was stamped from my paperartsy hot picks set HP1007 in black soot on white card, I then inked it again with the black soot and a little gathered twig.

The Let your sprits fly words was from the Creative Expressions Wings stamp set, this again was made using walnut stain and gathered twig distress ink.

The faux enamel flowers were made by using the two smallest tattered floral flowers that were cut from textured buff coloured card before being stamped with the script writing and a little gathered twig again, before being shaped and dipped in UTEE and finished of with little yellow buttons.

To finish it all a Tim ideaology ticket was inked in the gathered twig and an extra button put on for good measure.

Tag # 34 Tools

For the Stamp Man Challenge this fortnight the challenge is to follow a recipe / 3 in a row selection. I elected to use - Polka Dots, Numbers and Ribbon to make this special tag for a special birthday boy who enjoys working with his dad. I am also entering this into the Simon Says Stamp and show your handmade background.which is about to finish tonight better late than never huh!

I took a white tag and stamped polka dots in chipped sapphire distress ink and then inked the whole tag in faded jeans and a touch of walnut stain.

Numbers were stamped in white paint all over the tag and I also edged the tag in the paint before edging it with chipped sapphire as well.

On white card I used the creative expression stamps - Its A guy thing in walnut stain before painting them with fired brick and weathered wood.  I cut slits in the tool box to slip the tools into so it looks like they are coming out of the box. The tools were also covered in paperartsy Fresco satin finish paint .

I cut the letters and large number out using my Cricut and again painted them in the fired brick before covering them in glossy accents.

The happy birthday mount was embossed using a cuttelbug embossing folder before inking with faded jeans and swiping the top with the chipped spapphire.

A metal pair of plyers and saw were threaded with ink string before being attached with a couple of brads and ribbon, strin and a piece of chain were threaded through the top.

Happy Birthday Adam xx.

Design Team Celebrations

Hi - Exciting news all I have been invited to join the Crafty Boots Design team  it was really very unexpected and so exciting to know that other people like what I do.

To celebrate I thought I would post this tag which reflects the Good Times I am a feeling, the fact spring is in the air and some of the work I like to do.

There are lots of distress stains, stamps and a couple of embellishments thrown in for good measure with an inked ribbon and some twine as well.

So just a quick post today as I am really excited and want to get on with another tag.

Bye for now.