Late Night Luminary

Hi out there. So it's a quarter past 11 in the evening and I've finally got my Tim Holtz November 2013 tag entry finished! Phew, it may be last minute, but it was worth it.

It's not a tag (obviously) it's a luminary, and having literally only just got the die I knew it was screaming chalkboard at me. And as I really got into this effect the candies got the same treatment. As you can see from the Stickles berries it's literally still drying, but following a month chock full of deadlines I was determined to make this one.

Take care out there and see you tomorrow I hope.

Jenny xxx

Friday Focus at Frilly and Funkie

Hi everyone. Long time no see - apologies for that. I'm still here on planet Earth but have been working hard on samples, projects, and orders post Craft Fair (most of which you won't be able to see for a while I'm afraid).

Thank you so much to everyone who sent lovely messages of support pre-Fair. I'm pleased to report was a success for so many reasons, least of which was the fact that I sold a good number of cards and little boxes. Countless people told me they liked my cards (and let's face it, they don't have to say that) one man has commissioned me to create a special card for his grandson and one man stopped by for a long chat, finishing the conversation by telling me I was the only person he'd spoken to that day!  And to top it all my wonderful friend Anne travelled over the Peaks to come and see me there - the first time she has taken a trip out since being in hospital!!! That alone blew me away. I tell you, financially you may never make enough to cover the time and energy you put into your work if you do these things, but you will get so much in other ways.

Right, down to business. It's my turn to host Friday Focus over at Frilly and Funkie, and I've been playing with Distress Glitters.
I'd be thrilled if you'd hop over and take a look as there's some exciting Boutique news too. See you there...

Jenny xxx

Christmas Preparations at Frilly and Funkie

Hi everyone and thank you so much for joining me. If you are reading this before Saturday 23rd I will be knee deep in preparations for a two Christmas craft fair at Barton Marina, Staffordshire. Hopefully it will remain fine and be really busy as there are loads of stalls attending. If you're in the area it would be great to see you there. Back to today where it's the second week the current challenge at Frilly and Funkie - Christmas preparations! - and our host, Sue, wants to see projects which can grace either your table or tree during the festive season. So...

...it's a tree table decoration!! (12" tall to give you a sense of it's scale). I've definitely taken the 'shabby chic' route with this and there's not an ounce of black in sight.

When I first saw the theme for this challenge it had me a little stumped for ideas. The MDF man came to my rescue, providing the perfect sturdy base which got an initial coat of white acrylic paint.

I went to town with the Maja Design 'It's Christmas Time' collection papers, tearing strips and applying them randomly to the base after it was assembled.

Next came die cut garland/bow strips, coloured with Distress Markers and highlighted with Clear Rock Candy Distress Glitter. Then Venise Lace (a must if you are creating anything shabby chic).

Never one to make things easy for myself, it was at this point I reached for the embossing paste. It's a mark of how forgiving this stuff is that it layered over the lace beautifully, and then provided the perfect base for the star at the top. Wendy Vecchi's tip of adding Rock Candy Glitter to the wet paste worked perfectly too. It looks like frosted icing!

Brass filigree metal stars then worked really well over the top (and are relatively easy to bend into shape too considering the bends were at right angles).

In order to successfully complete the central floral arrangements I had to 'channel' my favourite paper florist, Jennie Atkinson. Lots of tattered florals, ink and Antique Linen Distress Glitter needed to be employed to fashion 32 flowers, 16 mini rosettes and various bit of foliage.

Having done all this, the tree only really came together when the stamping was added; not much I grant you, but it was amazing what a difference it made. And so, I will be entering this into the following challenges;

Fashionable Stamping Challenges - Shabby Chic Christmas

PanPastel UK Challenge - Embellishments

Vintage Stamping Challenges - Traditional Christmas Time

The Artistic Stamper Creative Team - Christmas

I hope you feel inspired to make your own festive decorations. Please pop over to the Frilly and Funkie Challenge blog to see the beautiful projects created by the rest of the team, and if you would like to join in we'd be thrilled to see your entries.

For now take care of yourselves, Jenny xxx

Maja Design 6x6" Scrapbook Paper Pad - It′s Christmas Time	Ranger Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dabber - Snow Cap White	Sizzix Alterations Decorative Strip Tim Holtz Holly, Beaded & Snowflake Garland	Sizzix Alterations Decorative Strip Tim Holtz Tattered Flowers Die	Sizzix Alterations Decorative Strip Tim Holtz Festive Greenery Die	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Victorian Velvet	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Peeled Paint
Tim Holtz Distress Glitter Antique Linen	Tim Holtz Distress Glitter Clear Rock Candy	Snowflake Filigree Metals	Studio 490 Wendy Vecchi Embossing Paste - White	Dyan Reaveley′s Dylusions Stencil - Leaf Flourish (5x8)	Venise Lace Trim - 1/2 inch wide	Venise Lace Trim - 11/16"
Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Aged Mahogany

Saturday Step by Step at Frilly and Funkie

Hi everyone. As promised I've done a step by step stencilled project over at Frilly and Funkie.

I'd love to see you over there. Jenny xxx

Getting Inky

Hi everyone and apologies for the prolonged absence (been hard at work on samples and stuff). First I'd like to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for the kind messages so many of you have sent following the news that I've made it onto The Craft Stamper DT 2014. To say I'm nervous is an understatement - have you seen who designs for them?! It's an awesome line up and I'll be working hard to live up to them.

Thought I'd show you the card made for my youngest's birthday. With no specific passions currently I went with his favourite colour instead, which actually makes it perfect for entry into Hels Sheridan's Sunday Stamper challenge - Red this week!

This started by a bit of staring at some stamps and a bit of blank glossy card waiting for inspiration to hit. Finally it did, and on went some alcohol inks, promptly followed by a banner stencil and some blending solution. Next I added coordinating Distress Paints to some dotty paper before cutting it into another couple of banners. The last banners were created by using translucent embossing paste through another stencil before covering them with gilding wax. A spot of fineliner pen work helped to make each layer really stand out.

To add to the party birthday theme I stamped some of the mini blueprints onto vellum, re-stamped them on Coredinations card and added a little dimension with some Distress Stains. Finally the sentiment was stamped into gold UTEE.

As there are a number of different inky variations going on here I'm also going to enter it into the current

Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge - Got Ink?

And finally, my youngest also gets in on the act himself having created a mini masterpiece for his art homework. He'd already created a magnificent distressed background with an old teabag, some brown paper and paint. To complete the spread he grabbed a few stamps, a couple of stencils and my inks and set to work. What a chip of the old block! Even his art teacher held up his work for the rest of the class to see and he was a very happy bunny. Bless him, I'm so proud!

Right, I'm off, but not for long. Tomorrow morning I've got a Step by Step for you over at Frilly and Funkie and it would be great to see you there. For now have a good weekend and take care of yourselves, Jenny xxx

Thanksgiving at Frilly and Funkie

Hi everyone. Thanks for joining me here. Today sees the start of the second week of a 'Thanksgiving' themed challenge over at Frilly and Funkie. Rebecca, our host, wants us to create a card or project that reflects the abundance of the harvest season and the gratitude we express during the beautiful holiday of Thanksgiving.

I had a ball creating this, starting with a piece of woodgrain card from the Maja Design Vintage Summer collection (so that it looked like it was hanging up on something) and gave it some tooth with a light wash of gesso.

The branching leaves from my current favourite Wendy Vecchi 'From the Garden' stencil were the basis of the wreath, with sprigs in both white and translucent embossing paste layered in the basic shape. Using both is great because they have a totally different reaction to inks/paints.

Once dry I splattered them with various brown inks (rather than misting them) and misted these inks with water to get them to react and let them run into the paste. I find I have more control using this method rather than just spraying the card/paste.

The white paste absorbed the ink whilst the translucent paste resisted it, so to add colour to these leaves I rubbed them with some Distress Paint. It is never perfect but I'm learning to 'embrace imperfection' and actually liked the distressed feel.

At this point I layered over my seasonal die cuts to look at the finished effect and it looked too washed out. Out came a couple of Distress Inks from the opposite end of the colour wheel to provide some much needed contrast. And of course some spritzing/flicking of water was deployed to continue the weathered feel.

Now for those die cuts; you've seen the acorns before HERE, and they were joined by a combination of alcohol inked kraft glassine maple leaves, painted heads of corn, and twigs cut from Coredinations textured card. Finally the wreath was trimmed with a seam binding and twine double bow (which took almost as long as the wreath to put together!

At this point the base was a simple square, but again it needed more (sometimes all that planning goes out the window when it doesn't look right). So out came some more dies, firstly to cut the base layer into a shape (I drew round it and cut it out manually). Secondly I used some Coredinations Black Magic card to cut the intricate layers underneath and the ribbon banner for the sentiment. These were sanded to reveal the colour and had gilding wax applied to bring it all together.

Hopefully this has inspired you to create your own seasonal projects for the Thanksgiving season. I know we don't really celebrate this much in Europe but, like mine, it could be something used to let someone know how thankful you are for their friendship. Please do hop over to the Frilly and Funkie challenge post to see what my fellow team mates have been up to.

Take care of yourselves, Jenny xxx

Maja Design 6x6" Scrapbook Paper Pad - Vintage Summer Basics	Studio 490 Wendy Vecchi Stencil - From the Garden	Studio 490 Wendy Vecchi Embossing Paste - White	Studio 490 Wendy Vecchi Embossing Paste - Translucent	NEW Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Gathered Twigs	PRE-ORDER Tim Holtz Ranger Metallic Distress Paint - Antique Bronze	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Antique Linen
Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Stain - Antique Linen	Ranger Tim Holtz Seasonal Distress Ink Pad - Seedless Preserves	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Dusty Concord	Sizzix Alterations Decorative Strip Tim Holtz Autumn Gatherings Die	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Kraft Glassine Paper Stash	Ranger Adirondack Alcohol Ink - Red Pepper	Ranger Archival Ink - Sepia
Ranger Archival Ink - Jet Black	Tim Holtz Distress Glitter Clear Rock Candy	Ranger Inkssentials Glossy Accents	NEW Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Scattered Straw	Ranger Tim Holtz Seasonal Distress Ink Pad - Gathered Twigs	Rayon Seam Binding	Burlap String - 12 Colors
Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Rusty Hinge	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Spiced Marmalade	Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Rubber Stamps - Simple Sayings