Snowflake Lace Background at IndigoBlu

Hi everyone. It's my turn to host a Technique Day over at IndigoBlu today using paint, inks, Mega Flakes and some brand new Christmas stamps. I'd love you to join me to see more, and to help tempt you here's a few sneak peeks... 

Have a great Thursday everyone and if you haven't got your Tim tag done yet - QUICK! - can't believe tomorrow's the start of August!!!
Take care of yourselves, Jenny xxx

Compendium of Curiosities III Challenge 7 - Painted Industrial Luminary

Hi everyone and welcome. It's time to squeeze in under the wire for the latest round of Linda Ledbetter's Compendium of Curiosities III Challenges. Challenge 7 is all about the Painted Industrial technique from page 46 of Tim Holtz' Compendium and is sponsored this time by Inspiration Emporium. Tim and Mario have also been very generous with goodies too.

I've gone all out this time with a luminary created using the Painted Industrial technique. You'll see it's embossed/painted inside as well as out because I knew the sides would remain open to the elements. There are extra touches of Tea Dye Distress Paint to give a hint of rusting on the surface.

The begonias atop the luminary were all handmade using the Jumbo Tattered Florals Bigz XL die and one of the Mini Tattered Florals Movers and Shapers Die. They and the ribbon bows were coloured with Tattered Rose and Shabby Shutters Distress Stains, finished off with Tea Dye Distress Ink.

As I'd attached the flowers to wire I was able to use this through the luminary 'roof' to attach a 'bell'. More metal here too, this time inked using Butterscotch and Rust Alcohol Inks and cut from one of the Tarnished Trophies Bigz die. Finished with an inked bead, I felt it should remain un-embossed to provide more of a contrast with the luminary itself.

The metal base needed a bit of glamour without detracting from the other elements so Shabby Shutters Distress Glitter was perfect. And the bows and garlands around the base were die cut and coloured to match.

Phew! I'm glad to have made it in time this time round and hope you like my little creation. Now where on earth to put it...! There are some incredible creations over at this round of the challenge so I hope you'll take some time to look at the work of the Design Team and other entrants.

Take care of yourselves, Jenny xxx

PRE-ORDER Sizzix Alterations Tim Holtz Jumbo Tattered Florals Bigz XL	Sizzix Alterations Die - Mini Tattered Florals Movers and Shapers Die by Tim Holtz	Ranger Inkssentials Foil Tape Sheets 6x12"	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Black Soot	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Tea Dye	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Tea Dye	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Stain - Shabby Shutters	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Shabby Shutters	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Stain - Tattered Rose	Rayon Seam Binding
*Tim Holtz Sizzix Alterations Tarnished Trophies Bigz Die	Ranger Adirondack Alcohol Ink - Rust	Sizzix Alterations Decorative Strip Tim Holtz Holly, Beaded & Snowflake Garland	Tim Holtz Sizzix Texture Fades - Damask and Regal Flourishes Set

Brayering Away at IndigoBlu

Hi everyone and welcome to the start of a new week. It's my turn to host another post over at IndigoBlu so I hope you can join me over there to take a look at a little of what I got up to on the recent Demonstrator workshop with a brand new stamp set.

Have a great week everyone and take care of yourselves, Jenny xxx

Just Stain It at A Vintage Journey

Hi everyone and whoopie!!! We've made it through to the end of another week and I hope it's been a good one for you. It's my turn to take over hosting duties for a new challenge over at A Vintage Journey and the theme I've chosen is... 'Just Stain It'.

Distress Stains are the best way of getting your favourite Distress Ink colours in liquid form without losing their intensity. That makes them ideal for staining flat surfaces/edges and crackled surfaces, painting, dripping, splatting and so much more. Show us what you can do with your Distress Stains by creating a Tim Holtz inspired piece to be in with a chance of winning at A Vintage Journey.

Those of you who know my friend and fellow team mate Anne will be well aware how talented and imaginative she is, so a present for my 'birthday twin' had to be out of the top drawer. This Eileen Hull Mini Album has been cleverly designed to make it a great size and easy to put together. The dilemma (as always) was how to decorate it so, along with many other Tim Holtz products, I delved back through time to the class some of us in the UK were lucky enough to take with Tim last year and figured Distress Stains were definitely the way to go.

The album cover itself was covered in Eclectic Elements fabric, linen ribbon and altered metallic corners. You'll see on the front cover a 'Paula Cheney' jumbo flower, coloured with a mix of Fired Brick, Antique Linen and Brushed Corduroy Distress Stains. Having dipped, creased and inked the bloom I used the same mix for colouring some seam binding, and (with the addition of Tarnished Brass DS) some jumbo leaves. Finally a Ruler Ribbon belt was added to secure the album.

Now for those pages which, as you can see, are secured using elastic bands. It means they can very easily be slipped in and out of the album to add further embellishments and move around. And of course you can add extra pages, tags, ephemera just by using extra elastic bands (don't worry, I included a supply of matching ones in Anne's parcel!)

I'm sure I can't be the only one that looks and a set of pages and thinks "where do I start?" but as mentioned previously, I took inspiration from Tim's 'Journeys of the Past' class, though this time with a twist. I stamped each of the pages using Distress Paints and various images before reaching for the same Distress Stains previously used on the flower. The pages were then dragged, dipped and dried with a few added stain splats for good measure. A little extra inking around the edges and through some stencils with the coordinating Distress Inks and suddenly it all felt much better - no blank spaces to be seen! I also used the Tarnished Brass Distress Stain through Tim's Splatters stencil for some added bling.

The idea was to add enough decoration to each page to make them look interesting whilst leaving room for Anne to add her own pictures and ephemera. Die cuts are always great and it was great to use some of Tim's mini stamps in combination with Black Archival Ink. You'll also spot some Remnant Rub-ons and Tissue Tape, particularly useful for protecting the spines of each set of pages.

For those who might be wondering the album is just over 5" square so it's a great size. And hopefully you can see from this that Distress Stains are a fantastic way of getting lots of intense colour on a large space at record speed. What's not to love about that?!

Please make sure you hop over to see what my talented teamies have been up to with their Distress Stains to help get your mojos humming, then link up your own projects at A Vintage Journey to be in with a chance of winning.
Have a great weekend and take care of yourselves, Jenny xxx

From Country View Crafts;

Tim Holtz Distress Products

Sizzix Products
Eileen Hull Mini Album

A Card From Anne (Redanne)

Hi everyone. As many of you may know I share a birthday with my bestest crafting buddy Anne (Redanne) and beg your indulgence to share the most beautiful card she made for me - this is so special it deserved a post of it's own.

I'm afraid I can't tell you how this was made, I just know the design is perfect - a whole heap of texture with the paste stencilling and inks yet you look at that butterfly and then see the sentiment because of the clever placement of those arrows. And it doesn't feel overcomplicated because Anne's kept the colour palette limited so that it all blends seamlessly (can you tell who's been doing a composition class?!!!) Here are some close ups...

Isn't this a wonderful card? Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share this. Anne is so clever and I feel honoured to be her friend. At the end of the day isn't that what it's all about?

Whatever you're up to take care of yourselves, Jenny xxx

Cool Water at Frilly and Funkie

Hi everyone and thanks for stopping by. It's not often there's a need for cool water here in the UK but we've recently been blessed with half decent weather and now that school's out I bet there are paddling pools gracing lots of gardens and trips to the seaside planned across the country. Living in Arizona where it hasn't rained in months Rebecca felt the time was right for a cool down in her part of the World too. As host of the 'Cool Water... ' challenge over at Frilly and Funkie she would like you to use an image of water in your creation. It can be anything from a droplet to the ocean. Keep yourself cool, just thinking of water as you create!...

I figured this was an ideal opportunity to create my version of Tim's July 2014 Tag too, being as it's inspired by the ocean. Clearly it's not an actual tag but you know how I like to de-construct things and rearrange the design!

The base layer is from the Wildflower Paper Stash collection and then I followed Tim's instructions for painting and inking a jumbo tag. Ripping up the bottom half of the tag and inking the edges may seem drastic but it helped to break up the solid blocks of colour a little. The acetate layer (yep, I'm afraid I'm a cheapskate and opted to use the embossing folder packaging rather than shrink wrap) didn't show up the bubbles enough so I added a little Picket Fence Distress Paint into the grooves to make it stand out even more.

You'll know how to create the sea creatures from Tim's fabulous tutorial HERE and I'm loving the way the paint and embossing powder react. The seahorses are in a different colour to Tim's but I wanted them to stand out, and I added extra glue to ensure the sand remained fixed in place once applied across the design (love the glittery shine).

The card was finished with a sprinkling of kraft 'sea' greenery, jump rings and fasteners (metal bubbles) and Chit Chat stickers.

That's my take on 'Cool Water...' what's yours? Head on over to Frilly and Funkie to see what my awesome team mates have created for extra inspiration, then it's over to you! With prizes up for grabs you don't want to miss out.

I'll be back tomorrow to share an incredibly special birthday card made my Anne and on Friday it's the launch of the next A Vintage Journey challenge (hosted by me!) so there's lots of reasons to be back. In the meantime I hope you're enjoying the sun wherever you are.

Take care of yourselves, Jenny xxx

Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Tumbled Glass	PRE-ORDER Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Festive Berries	NEW Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Ripe Persimmon	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Rusty Hinge	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Picket Fence	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Antique Linen	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Stain - Weathered Wood	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Weathered Wood	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Tumbled Glass	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Salty Ocean
Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Brushed Corduroy	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Embossing Powder - Black Soot	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Embossing Powder - Antique Linen	Tim Holtz Distress Glitter Antique Linen	Ranger Distress Crackle Paint - Clear Rock Candy	Ranger Inkssentials Glossy Accents	Ranger Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel (UTEE)	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Stain - Brushed Corduroy	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Paper Stash Wildflower	25 Jumbo Manila Shipping Tags 8x4" #12
*Tim Holtz Sizzix Alterations Texture Fades - Waves & Bubbles	Sizzix Alternations Tim Holtz Movers and Shapers Mini Sand and Sea Dies	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Grunge Paper	$6.39 Core′dinations Kraft Core By Tim Holtz - 2.5x12" Strips	Sizzix Alterations Decorative Strip Tim Holtz Spring Greenery	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Jump Rings	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Long Fasteners	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Mini Fasteners	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Markers - Full Set - $129	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Chitchat Stickers