Flaming June!

Good evening all. Wondering about that title? Well it could be me cursing this month, which continues to wreak havoc weatherwise on all of the UK, but it actually refers to two of the things I managed to achieve to round off June 2012; after getting wet at 6am on a dog walk I took the kids down the road to see the Olympic Torch pass through our town (over in a jiffy but still worth watching/supporting) and then I finished my entry to the Tim Holtz June tag (talk about last minute!!) And here it is...

I won't bore you with too many details as the Duke of Distress tells us what to do, and many of you have actually had a go already yourselves anyway. Suffice to say there was some improv. taking place and I learned a few things along the way (which is the point of it, I guess?)

Man-made fibres (like net curtaining) are better stained with alcohol inks as DI's don't seem to take (my flower was made using the second smallest of the SB Rose Creations die and Butterscotch/Shell Pink alcohol inks. The image is one of my MIL - I will now squirrel this tag away and give it to her in some form when I need somethig special quickly.

Stazon and Promarkers 'stick' to aluminium foil, but Archival ink doesn't seem to even when heat set. This can be used to advantage if you want to stamp out something, cut around it, and then remove the ink.

If you use a heat gun on a low setting on nylon ribbon it will crinkle slightly - quite useful if you are out of seam binding and want something distressed looking.

 Right waffle over from me - if you would like any more info on this leave me a comment and I'll be sure to get back to you. I've got toppings to make for some lemon merinque muffins and then a thousand and one blogs to catch up with. Many thanks for your lovely comments. Hugs, Buttons x

Patriotic Pocket

Yippee it's Friday!!!! From the reactions to my posts recently and posts by some of my fav bloggers it would appear that time is a seriously shrinking commodity for most of us. So it don't arf 'elp when something that has taken you gallons of it meets the criteria for lots of the best challenge blogs' themes.

My card is going to be entered into the following ones;

• Sunday Stamper Challenge Week 211 - You gotta pick a pocket or two
• Frilly and Funky Challenge - Let's see some texture
• The Stamp Man Challenge - Bling it on
• Simon Says Stamp Challenge - Sporty or patriotic
• Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge - Depth of distress

Now there's a line-up!!!

What did I do that took so much time? Well for a start I made the pocket - faux denim recipe; navy card, Picket Fence stain and a weave stamp from Sam Poole's Vintage Sewing set. Make sure to heat set the ink as it will smudge otherwise. I paper-pricked the edges, ran a Picket Fence DM along each line, then sewed the stitches by hand. The top edge got distressed with scissors, the gold detail was hand sewn on and then the bead detail was glued in place having been threaded together. Finally I sewed a button in place with the gold thread.

Now I'll let you into a secret. I created a completely different background by smooching white card in a mix of Walnut Stain and Faded Jeans DI with water and stamping manuscript on it, but when I mounted the lace/ribbon/pocket on top there was something wrong. Drastic measures time! I cut off the background and created another using the same faux denim technique, but with manuscript stamped in Faded Jeans DI on top (v. subtle) and Walnut Stain DI used to distress the edges. If you look closely you can see the old background showing through the red lace.

As well as applying different lace to the background I also stamped swirls with white acrylic paint. The embellies running in a pattern across the page included a couple of brads (one of which was stamped on) a button charm (took the idea from my last TH tag) various buttons, including one created from Coredinations card, a stamped nail head and a material flower.

The whole lot got mounted on white card stained with Walnut Stain DI to match the edge of the background. Finally the pocket contents - a tag embossed with my Stamposaurus Union Jack mask, inked with Memento Paris Dusk and Lady Bug and Walnut Stain DI, stamped with a Sam Poole Art Phrase in Walnut Stain and gold -  and a HOTP glassine envelope stamped with matching swirls and a sentiment, and edged in Walnut Stain and gold. This is ideal for putting money into in a more thoughtful way.

Overall I think it finally works, although I went to bed thinking of ways to make it better!! Hope you like it too. Thanks for all your lovely comments and thank you to my wonderful followers who regularly give me such positive feedback. You are a blessing. Time to dash, mum's taxi to operate/leaving do to attend/last minute tag to create/dog to walk!!! Anyone got a spare tardis?! Hugs, Buttons x

A'tissue Heart

Evening all. Couldn't resist that title - I have one of the final ATC's for hubby's birthday project to show you and it involves TH's tissue wrap technique (see Compendium of Curiosities II) and a heart. Just a couple more to share with you, and overall I am pleased with the way it has come out. The big day is tomorrow so I will know in the morning what his nibs thinks!!

To be honest I wasn't entirely happy with the outcome the last time I used this technique as the elements underneath the 'tissue' (ok, greaseproof paper) layer got a bit lost when everything else got piled on top, but we learn from our mistakes and I went for a larger element this time. The heart was embossed on a Glitter Girls board and cut out - I love the way it is slightly wonky.

The tissue layer got inked with Walnut Stain and Sea Foam Marvy Heritage ink, although I left the heart so it remained lighter. Then I dropped a little water on to create a mottled effect. The stamped image (an old wooden Inca Stamp) reminds me of a tattoo so I coloured it with a Promarker and covered it in Crackle Glaze. The text was clear embossed too so it would stand out against the background.

I had a bit of a go at Zentangle on the SB flourish, which also got a touch of Walnut Stain through the die. More ink and clear embossing on the butterfly (again, a more 'manly' take on this) and the sentiment - another Sam Poole Art Phrase - was mounted on My Minds Eye Stella Rose scraps.

So here ends another instalment from my world, which continues to spin at 90 miles per hour! However, I'm off tomorrow (yippeeeeee!!!!) so that pocket project can get more attention (alongside the small matter of making a birthday cake). Thank you for your lovely comments again, they really keep me going and I will  always endeavour to return the compliment, although I have to say that is a pleasure to do. Hugs, Buttons x

Biting Back

Curious about the title? Well it has a lot to do with my card for today, but also at getting my own back on Old Father Time who seems to be pinching hours from my life at an alarming rate! One minute it's 7.45am and I'm at my desk getting something finished off at breakneck speed, next it's 3.30pm, time to turn into a taxi and I wonder where my lunchtime went (coz I didn't see it today!!)

So, I'm falling back on a card I created some time ago for a challenge over at Make My Monday - the theme is Green, Red and White/Cream (thank you so much for another top 3 place this week). Instead of going for strawberries (can't top the entries/design team works of art) my fruit of choice is an apple.

Only one photo of this I'm afraid as it was made before I realised you needed to take shots at different angles and has long since gone to its intended recipient. The background papers are a combination of Basic Grey Jovial and My Minds Eye Stella Rose. Whilst the leaves were easily done on an embossing board, I had to draw an apple template to get it the right size for the Creative Expressions sentiment. The main image is called 'Bite' and comes from Mo Manning's Digital Pencil Too. I know, lots more practice needed with the Promarkers, although in my defence I hadn't had them long when this was created. Still, the person who ordered it was pleased so that was the main thing.

Right, back to it for me - Hels' pocket project and OH's birthday ATC's won't do themselves. Hope health and time are good to you (or at least give you a break) and you get the chance to indulge in a spot of crafting therapy this week. Hugs, Buttons x

Mucky Masks

Another quickish post tonight and a huge debt of gratitude to two wonderful artists for their inspiration. I was blown away (as has often been the case) by a set of projects created by the super-talented Julie Short which featured fantastic backgrounds. Whilst keen to have a go I didn't have a cogs/gears mask. However, help was at hand in the shape of Mandy Harrell who used Sprightly Sprockets dies as masks.

And then the Frilly and Funkie challenge appeared with an Inspiration Photo Challenge. Well I had already planned to enter and then today I discovered that I had won a gift certificate at the Funkie Junkie Boutique!! Woo hoo!! How lucky or what! So now I'm working on posting this entry...

I went for pigment inks in yellow, green, blue and bronze to echo the photo. First the yellow and blue were applied DTP in stripes and were smudged together slightly. Then I used the different SB Sprightly Sprockets dies as masks and applied the green and bronze around them in layers. This gets REALLY messy. Finally the background was completed by drawing around the dies with a black and a white roller ball pen.

The ATC for my OH's birthday project had the same background and a border was created using a pricking tool, a black roller ball pen and some clear embossing powder.

The sentiment (another Sam Poole Art Phrase) was stamped onto vellum  and cut out using a SB Postage die. The same size die was used to cut a piece of green card; I cut out the centre section and glued it to the back of the vellum so the background would show through more.

The cars at the bottom (Dimension Fourth stamps) were stamped onto card which was coloured with the same bronze pigment ink and were mounted raised from the background for more depth.

That's all for tonight folks. . Hope you take the chance to visit the sites mentioned at the start. Thank you for your lovely comments. Hugs, Buttons x

Midsummer Madness

Good evening one and all. A really quick post tonight as I wanted to make sure I got this entry into the Make My Monday challenge for this week and the clock is seriously ticking. Time has evapourated and life has gone beserk! I was lucky enough to be put in the top three last week and didn't want to miss this week.

Anyway (focus woman!) my entry for this Midsummer Night's Dream challenge was always going to be just that - a challenge. I'm not a girly girl and don't have a fairy stamp/image to my name so ideas have been bouncing around all week and in the end I went out today and bought a new stamp. It is the Creative Expressions Herbal Collage one which contains a fairy/angel (well someone with wings anyway). I made one version, bodged it and put it aside, began another and had a bit of a wobble half way through - you know those days? So I finally settled on applying a fixed colour scheme and used a sort of 'William Morris' take on it (drum roll please)...

I stamped the main image onto white card and coloured the lot with a mixture of DM in Wild Honey, Faded Jeans, Pine Needles, Walnut Stain and Spun Sugar - some was diluted with water, some were mixed and some were used undiluted. You might notice the image was crumpled slightly like a discarded leaflet.

I dabbed DM Picket Fence over the wings on top of the Walnut Stain low lights to give it a chalky look.

I amended the stamped image slightly by using an 'Enjoy' CE stamp from a birthday/icecream set. The blue flower under the main image is a CE Christmas Rose in Faded Jeans and Wild Honey.

The flowers are one layer SB Rose Creations with circular middles and stamping/buttons to garnish! Further SB flourishes, cogs and buttons were added together with a small stamped file tag.

 

The sentiment is another of Sam Poole's Art Phrases and the backing paper is Basic Grey from my stash.

So, maybe not your typical summer colours - although with the current GB weather forecast they seem utterly appropriate!!

Enough rambling, beds to make so offspring can sleep and a dog to walk. No rest for the wicked...

Thank you for all your kind comments and may I send huge hugs to those of you who are feeling under the weather, stressed, or are facing challenges at the moment (Hels, Anne, Linda Ledbetter, to name but a few).

Hugs, Buttons x

Health & Safety?!!

Welcome one and all, some really good crafty friends and new followers alike. It's good to have you along.

This week has been a complete blur and I feel like a taxi service! There are at least another two trips to complete before the night is out so this will be short and sweet.

I have a number of deadlines looming (including crafty ones - ha! that'll teach me to be ever so slightly smug at the beginning of the year). However, PMA required so here goes with the first one - have created another of OH's birthday project and it fits the Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge 'A Little Bit of Brown'

This is like my warm up for TH's tag but also works for this project. The image is OH's great-grandfather sitting on his uncle's horse - NOTE: huge horse, no reins/stirrups/harnesses of any kind, no riding hat or protective clothing!!! The HSE would have a field day these days, but it looks like he is just enjoying it!

The background paper is Basic Grey which has futher flourishes stamped on it, a stamped acetate filmstrip has been coloured with Butterscotch alcohol ink, and the photo has been aged with a touch of brown ink. The photo has been coloured with Wild Honey and Pine Needles, and the sentiment is from Sam Poole's Art Sayings (another must have in my humble opinion).

Apologies at this point - this photo is slightly fuzzy but hopefully you get the gist: there is a piece of faux material textured wallpaper (inked as ever); a strip from K&Co Life's Journey tape measures paper; a lock and key, stamped on antique gold card with 'Morris Dance' Metal Flakes and black archival ink and Crackle Accents on the key; buttons stamped from Sam Poole's Vintage Sewing set and coloured with Versa style inks; and the word Journey has been stamped and embossed in black which has been blurred  slightly deliberately. And there you have it. The collection continues to grow - more to come - but in the meantime I want to end by showing you an ATC I received from my crafting buddy Anne.

I can't tell you how she created it but I can say I was blown away to receive it. It is going to have pride of place on my new crafting memo board (when I get round to creating it) as a reminder of the friends made through blogging and crafting. I am one lucky girl. Hugs, Buttons x

Frilly Flower

Wow! Warmer weather, an England win and I'm managing (just) to meet my various deadlines!! Woo hoo!!

So, another challenge entry - this time it's for Linda Ledbetter's Studio L3 Compendium of Curiosities 2; Tissue Wrap Flowers, which this week is sponsored by The Funkie Junkie's Boutique.

This began with a revisit of Sue Carrington's stamping technique (uber talented crafter) posted on the Frilly and Funkie blog (on a smaller scale/tag) . I used Archival black ink and white acrylic paint as my resist medium (a Creative Expressions stamp from their Christmas flower set). This was covered with a mix of Wild Honey DI and gold ink; I dabbed off the excess with a damp cloth to reveal the lighter image.

At this point I deliberated about whether to add some script stamping, but decided against it as the tag was small and I wanted the flower to be the focus.

I made the flower following TH's instructions in the CC2 - no tissue wrap available, so greaseproof paper came out of the kitchen cupboard!! Needs must you know?! I coloured a couple of the layers with Wild Honey and used black ink and the same stamp on the other layers. Having scrunched it I added tiny gold beads with Golden CS pearlescent PVA. Finally some wool scraps added a touch of interest.

The tag was finished with some cotton lace (from my stash) a HOTP sentiment on textured gold card and some faux pearls using the Golden CS pearlescent PVA again. Now I will say the flower took some fiddling with, especially as I made mine slightly smaller to fit the tag dimensions, but it was worth it.

I'm going to head off now - policy documents to rewrite and other exciting life stuff to do. Promise I will make my rounds of everyone's blogs tonight to catch up on your wonderful crafty worlds. I really appreciate the comments I get and it is important to return that compliment wherever possible so you'll be hearing from me later no doubt!! Have a lovely day whether it be summer or winter for you. Hugs, Buttons x

Wild About My Honey

Good evening all. Another day, another post (though not as many piccies as yesterday!) The next instalment in my OH's inspirational birthday ATC collection - which continues to grow apace as his big day gets ever closer. I plan to enter this into the following challenges;

Fashionable Stamping Challenges  - Nature - sponsored by Marina from Cottage Crafts

J & C Creations Challenge - Animal Antics - sponsored by J & C Creations themselves

This one was inspired by the purchase of my Wild Honey and Pine Needles distress markers. The background started life as a piece of white card which got covered in Wild Honey and a touch of Walnut Stain blended with a bit of water - well ok then, a lot of water! Infact so much that the background went quite pale. So I ran my marker diagonally across the background again and a stripey texture appeared! The edges got distressed with the Walnut Stain - of course!

The images and sentiment all came from a Creative Expressions set. A vintage sage ink was used to add leaves to the top edge and the sentiment used Walnut Stain covered in clear embossing ink.

At the bottom the trees and wild grasses were stamped in a combination of the vintage sage and Pine Needles, including a spot of second generation stamping to add the illusion of depth.

 The lion worked really well, although I don't think my photographic skills do it justice at all. Stamped in black onto mustard coloured Bazzill cardstock, with the eyes, nose and whiskers emphasised with black marker, and the edges once again distressed with Walnut Stain,  I covered the whole lot in one layer of clear embossing powder. It produced a mottled effect which added real texture to this magnificant beast.

So there you have it. Wow! Has she shut up already? Well, yes. Some work awaits and I may get a little crafting in as the sun has decided to pay a long overdue visit at the back end of this evening. Thanks for stopping by and thank you for your lovely comments. They add sunshine even on the darkest day.

Hugs, Buttons x

The Travelling Man

Good evening everyone and welcome followers old and new. It's been a busy day here at the madhouse, but I've squeezed in some crafting time and managed to create 3 pieces for entry into 3 challenges (oooh, feeling slightly smug right now - that usually means I've forgotten to do something important!)

One card, one card topper and one more ATC for the OH's birthday project (well, I was on a roll and fell in love with the colours! what can I say?!)

Many thanks to the following challenges who have co-ordinated their themes beautifully (though undoubtedly unintentionally);

• The Sunday Stamper Challenge - This Boy (is there anyone out there on the crafty planet that doesn't enter this one? I think not!)
• The Stamp Man Challenge  Blog - Time/Travel (some outstanding entries every time and so worth checking out)
• Scrapology - Vintage Card (a new challenge to me, but as it's sponsored by Hels Sheridan that's good enough for me)



Loads of techniques to these, so I'll start with the background: white card with Laurel Leaf, Split Pea and Mountain Lake Versa Color smooched around and rubbed together; text and postmarks embossed on top using Snowflake tinsel powder with green and gold mica powder; quick run through with a postcard embossing folder and the resultant impressions highlighted lightly with copper ink. The background paper is from the K&Co Life's Journey set.

You know how sometimes it just works? That's why I did two smaller versions of the background too.

The tag got covered in a mix of walnut vintage ink and Umber Versa Color - love the way that stuff makes everything chalky and soft. You can then restamp over it with the original ink (in this case with my old favourite manuscript background stamp) and it gives a subtle texture. The black embossed sentiment is a Sam Poole Arty Phrase - these are a must.

I'm quite proud of the fact I matched the stamping on the tag with that on the main card - it took some doing, I can tell you! To finish - a couple of strands of blue baker's twine (thanks Anne!) coloured with Pine Needles, Wild Honey and water.

The 'faux suede' was fun: take the non-shiny side of some thick brown paper, scrunch it up and then reflatten, rub over first with that Umber Versa Color and then with copper ink to highlight the raised areas and hey presto! a perfect vintage surface for stamping on with black Archival ink (feels good and tears well too). Had to use my Stampendous steampunk balloon from The Stamp Man for the card.

The card topper and ATC used a mix of Kanban, Dimension Fourth and freebie stamps on the 'faux suede'.

The filmstrip (Dimension Fourth) was stamped with black Archival several times on acetate, coloured with black Promarker and further stamped with various travel/time elements.

Finally, for both the card topper and the ATC another Sam Poole Arty Phrase stamped onto K&Co Life's Journey paper, distressed with walnut vintage in and mounted on antique gold card. Really enjoyed doing these and (believe it or not!) I resisted the temptation to throw more embellies at all of them. So it's now time to sign off as my bed calls. Thanks for visiting. Hope to see you again soon, hugs Buttons x

Male Adventures

Hi all. Hope this finds you well. A quick post (promise) to share a male travel/adventure card for entry into this week's Make My Monday challenge (Fathers Day) and the Artful Times Challenge (Men).

This started with the blue background: playing with the resist technique using Picket Fence on the swirls; lashings of Memento Paris Dusk stamped and sponged; more stamping with black Archival for the cogs; embossing using a Creative Expressions time folder; a sprinkle of CS Arctic Blue UTEE on the raised elements; and finally a slight distressing with Dark Walnut vintage ink.

The steampunk balloon and airship were stamped onto Kanban paper and further backed on black card, roughened at the edges.

The cogs and mini stamp were cut using SB and copper pearlescent card, and the mini postcards cut from antique gold card stamped with a Dimension Fourth image.

The bunting is metal tape on white card, coloured with White and Copper mixatives and Butterscotch alcohol ink, and 'riveted' with an embossing tool. Finally the sentiment is a Sam Poole Arty Phrase (LOVE 'EM!!) which I highlighted with a silver Uni-ball pen to make it stand out. The whole lot is mounted on a piece of K&Co Life's Journey paper from my stash. Hope you like. Thanks for all the wonderful comments.

Have a great weekend, hugs Buttons x

In The Pink

I'm back!! There are times when I wish I was a 'cyborg' from Star Trek that could screw on a replacement head when mine is playing up. Enough winging. Still, time for the first post, my entry into Hels Sheridan's Sunday Stampers 209 - Pretty in Pink. One of my fav films this - I remember Molly Ringwald knocking up her own creation for the prom because it was about the same time I busy was sewing my own clothes (Top Shop wasn't always up to much at that time!!) Coincidentally the colours seem to me to fit with the mood board on the latest Simon Says Stamp Challenge - Joy's Summer Inspiration.

This all started with the background. I have been looking at Sue C.'s Saturday Step X Step on the Frilly and Funkie Challenge blog, trying to work out what I could do without any matte medium. I've had a play with my Picket Fence marker (more of that soon) but then it struck me - white acrylic paint!!

I used the cogs stamp from my new Stampendous set on white uncoated card a couple of times (steampunk lace border methinks?) Over the tope went lashings of Spun Sugar and Desert Sand ink DTP. A quick squirt of water over the paint and a dab with kitchen towel and hey presto! Over the top of this went CS Enchanted Gold and Pearlescent mica powder (another spot of water/dabbing - doesn't show up so well on camera) and finally some smaller Kanban cogs with Flitter Glue and Morris Dance flakes.

The whole lot got embossed with an Indentz folder.Then to make it more lacy I trimmed both ends and added punched white paper underneath. The pattern and tape measure are both Andy Skinner stamps on 'lemon juiced' paper with Spun Sugar colouring and a healthy dose of gold embossing powder.

The final image - my 'prom dress' is a Kanban stamp, coloured with Promarkers, highlighted in small areas with gold, clear, and black embossing powders. The skirt had some Snowflake Tinsel embossing powder added too - a tiny bit of bling and texture.

Finally some gold chain and flower/bead embellies from my stash (and charity shop necklace purchase) were attached to complete the look. Do you know, after all that I looked up Molly's prom dress on line and it wasn't anywhere near as glam as I remember. Oh, the memory can play tricks on you! Right, time to disappear and sort out the next few posts. Thanks for dropping by and leaving such lovely comments. I will always try to return the compliment as we all need a little crafty love in our lives. Hugs, Buttons x