Friday Focus at Frilly and Funkie

Hi everyone and happy Halloween! Today I'm hosting a Friday Focus over at the Frilly and Funkie challenge blog and I'd love to share it with you.

I'll be back again tomorrow with my regular IndigoBlu post, but for now take care of yourselves, Jenny xxx

Technique Thursday at IndigoBlu

Hi everyone and welcome. Today you'll find me over at the IndigoBlu blog with a Technique Thursday post involving Christmas wrapping ideas and those wonderful stamps released this year by IndigoBlu.

Here's a quick sneak peek to whet your appetite - I hope you'll join me over there to see the rest.

Take care of yourselves, Jenny xxx

A Grateful Welcome at Frilly and Funkie

Hi everyone and welcome. It's Rebecca's turn to host the challenge over at Frilly and Funkie. Here's what she has to say; "I love this time of year and really enjoy dressing my home for Thanksgiving. For those of you who don't celebrate this American holiday, just think about gratitude and how you can express it. Create an invitation, table decor, decoration for a door or home decor item with gratitude or the Thanksgiving theme in mind!" The winner will earn a Guest DT spot at the Frilly and Funkie challenge blog, and everyone who enters will have the chance to win a randomly drawn $25 spending spree at The Funkie Junkie Boutique.

Rather than go for a wreath I went down the wall hanging route for this theme taking an idea from one of Linda's 12 Tags of Christmas as inspiration. This home decor piece has actually been created with two special recipients in mind as a thank you.

The base started as a wooden heart plaque plucked from a sale bin at a local DIY store. It needed texture and colour (plain weathered white was never going to cut it) and I loved what Linda had done HERE. So having added scraps of muslin to the centre of the heart I covered the whole thing with Scattered Straw Distress Paint. However...

... once dry it looked too yellow. Having applied a thin coat of white gesso I added the stencilling with embossing paste and then attacked it all with a mix of Antique Linen and Tattered Rose Distress Stain Sprays. It looks quite pink in these photos but irl is more akin to Tea Dye. It was finished with a thin layer of wax sealant and a shear ribbon tie.

Moving on to the flowers, these were all cut from watercolour paper using the Jumbo Tattered Florals die and the Movers and Shapers Mini Tattered Florals dies. Then it was back to those Distress Stain Sprays and the original Distress Stains to colour, dip and mottle each individual bloom, and of course edges just aren't the same without a brush of Vintage Photo Distress Ink. If you are ever stuck for ideas for the centres of your flowers Linda has so many in store at The Funkie Junkie Boutique.

So that's it from me for today. Now I highly recommend you take a look at the projects my fellow Design Team members, including our 'newbie Nicole Wright', have created for a real blast of inspiration HERE. Then it's over to you with your take on creating 'A Grateful Welcome', so you can be in with a chance to win one of those great prizes.

I'm off to continue on my quest to conquer a never-ending pile of cards and hope you enjoy the rest of your week.
Whatever you're up to, take care of yourselves, Jenny xxx

Victorian Christmas Glamour at IndigoBlu

Hi everyone and welcome. Another Saturday, another post for IndigoBlu, another Christmas card!!! A slightly less than traditional colour scheme for a seasonal card this time, but then not everyone loves gold, green and red. Hope you get the chance to pop over there and see the whole thing.

And, as is also becoming a routine, I'm off out on my travels again, this time returning to the wonderful Astbury Meadow Garden Centre, Congleton (with my demo's beginning as this post goes live). If you're around it would be great to see you.

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

Scrap Magic

Hi everyone and welcome. It probably looks like nothing's been going on here but that couldn't be further from the truth! So many samples, so little time... but enough of all that. I tend to hang on to scraps from prior projects and mop ups (even if they look like the bin would be the best place for them) as you never know when they'll come in useful. In a break from what had to be done I took inspiration from the wonderful Ashli Oliver and decided to throw a few together to reduce the pile...

Key to all of this was the largest panel - I've got a cardboard box spray station and having used a few Distress Stain Sprays on them recently the residue is building up nicely. And of course being Distress it's easily reinvigorated with an extra spritz of Stain. Then it's mop up time, giving a plain piece of card an Autumnal makeover. A couple of extra drips and a quick spray left me with something begging to be used up.

When creating this month's Tim tag card I had to make two of the Embossing Paste stencilled tags. The first one had a raven on it but when the whole design changed he didn't make the cut - but the tag did! Chopped up, with Picket Fence Distress Paint and various Stain Sprays over some bits and others left 'naked' it wasn't wasted.

When adding the Picket Fence Paint through the stencil I couldn't even bare to waste the remaining paint, so the stencil was flipped and I brayered over it onto white card. A few drips of Antique Linen Distress Stain Spray (can you tell I'm addicted?!) aged the pale 'damask look' card perfectly. Even the Crackle Paste/Stained Frameworks die cut was on that spares pile! I know! It must have been serendipity (or lots of indecision/rejects :)

Having piled it all up I needed a focal point - cue Pinecone. Not necessarily the obvious choice; the idea of using leaves had run through my head but I've noticed tonnes of these 'mini trees' lying amongst the Autumn leaves on those long dog walks. Just adding a vellum embossed one lacked impact so I stamped the whole image in Jet Black Archival Ink.

And so I'm entering this play piece into;

the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Anything Goes

and also linking it to

the Craft-Room Challenge - Make Your Own Background

Time to get back to it for me. Hope you have a happy Wednesday and take care of yourselves, Jenny xxx

All Brand New!!! at IndigoBlu

Hi everyone and welcome! Saturdays mean another IndigoBlu post from me and I'm so proud to be showing off a couple of the brand new stamp designs literally hot off the press HERE!!! One in particular has become an all time favourite.

And they've let me loose again! As this goes live I'll be at Back 2 Craft in Brownhills, Walsall and then next Saturday 25th October I'm thrilled to be paying a return visit to Astbury Meadow Garden Centre, Congleton. It would be great to see you there.

Whatever you're up to have a great weekend and take care of yourselves, Jenny xxx

Halloween To Die For at A Vintage Journey

Hi everyone and welcome. Today sees the launch of the latest challenge at A Vintage Journey and our host for this one is the wonderful Anne. Here's the challenge she's set for this fortnight; "Halloween is one of my favourite times of year, I love when the children come to the door, in their costumes, to 'trick or treat'. You do not have to make anything scary (but it would be fun if you did!) but you must use at least one die on your creation and it must be strongly influenced by Tim Holtz. It can be a tag, card, canvas or mixed media piece."

Well that got my creative cogs whirring at an alarming pace as I toyed with the idea of which dies to employ - an ATB, a mini book, oh the possibilities were endless! Then Tim Holtz released the latest 12 Tags of 2014 tutorial/challenge and (with the well timed arrival in the post of some new Distress Spray Stains) I decided to keep it simple and make a die cut laden Halloween card following Tim's techniques and ideas. 

Tags are great for using and layering on cards as well as in their own right, and cutting different sizes and shapes is now so easy with the release of the Sizzix Tim Holtz Framelits 8 piece 'Tag Collection' set. I used Tim's Gothic Layering Stencil with texture paste having masked off the stamped/embossed Mini Blueprints poison bottle. In her latest awesome Halloween matchbox collage tutorial Paula Cheney suggested sticking with a limited colour palette when you are combining lots of elements and I took that on board here, spritzing the tag with a simple mix of Dusty Concord, Antique Linen and Tarnished Brass Distress Spray Stains.

Tim painted a pumpkin for his tag. I went a little larger and stamped/painted the chemistry set from The Chemist stamps set on the slightly smaller tag, using Glossy Accents to add some extra detail. Spraying the tag initially with the Antique Linen Spray Stain gave it a great mottled look and by masking the bottles I was able to add some 'equation' stamping too.

And so to the finishing touches; as well as Alpha Tiles to spell out the word poison and some matching Tissue Tape, I die cut a mini tag to apply the 'beware' Chit Chat sticker, used the matching die for the Simple Saying, and covered the die cut skull and crossbones with Distress Glitter.

So there you have it, plenty of die cuts, lots of Tim techniques and a touch of Paula styling.

I will be entering this into Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2014 October Tag challenge.

I hope you will join in with the 'Halloween To Die For' challenge over at A Vintage Journey and urge you to go over there to see what my fellow Creative Guides have created. So many of the Guides have joined in with this challenge that you'll be spoiled for choice! And there's good reason to join in the fun yourselves - the challenge runs for two weeks and then a winner will be chosen by the team. The winner will receive a £10 shopping voucher from our host Country View Crafts. The team will also be choosing three blog badge winners, our 'Pinworthies'.

I'm back again tomorrow with the regular Saturday IndigoBlu post and if you are in Brownhills,Walsall I'll be demoing at Back to Craft and would love to see you there. For now take care of yourselves, Jenny x

Find all the products featured in this project from our challenge sponsor, Country View Crafts.

Autumn Colours at Frilly and Funkie

Hi everyone and welcome. It's the beginning of the second week over at the Frilly and Funkie challenge blog and our host Sue has set the theme 'Autumn Colours'. Here's what she has to say about it; "I love Autumn, the beautiful colours of the trees and here in the UK the cooler temperatures are now upon us. So let's celebrate this time of year by creating a project using the gorgeous colours of this season." With the new Studio 490 Wendy Vecchi embossing powders and Tim Holtz Distress Spray Stains arriving in the mail I was in the mood to experiment for this one...

Have you seen Wendy Vecchi's faux graniteware tutorial? Awesome! Had to try it especially having stumbled on a couple of mini metal baking tins for £1 each. I managed to apply the Cornflower Blue powder to the tin without burning any fingers (always a plus) and added a little twist remembered from a Fabergé tutorial I did ages ago...

...by applying a little Cornflower Blue Archival Reinker mixed with surgical spirit (rubbing alcohol) to the embossed surface and reheating it I got a more aged look and retained the sheen. Finally the whole lot was stamped with a splatter stamp - in the absence of Snow Cap Ink I used some 'Pantry White' English Cottage Artist's Acrylic Paint.

Transforming a tin into a 'clock' was the fun part. A die cut clock face covered in a mix of Gold embossing powder, and Tarnished Brass and Black Soot Distress Paint was cut to size for the base of the tin. The paper flowers and leaves were all handmade using a mixture of die cut and hand cut petals all spritzed with Distress Spray Stains. I love how they give a mottled 'past their best' look that is difficult to replicate with inks or paints. I also used some kraft core Coredinations cardstock for other die cut leaves to add a mix of texture and there's even a kraft glassine pinecone tucked into the bottom of the arrangement.

Then there were the long hoarded metal filigree elements. A butterfly covered in Tree Branch embossing powder was painted in the centre with Orange Blossom Archival Reinker for contrast. The metal flower was snipped between the petals to enable me to bend them inwards for added shaping before they too were embossed. A couple of filigree metal leaves blended in well with the rest of the flowers, and to help support the clock I added a couple of box corners and dyed seam binding.

Hopefully this has got you inspired to create your own Autumnal project. For even more inspiration the rest of the Funkie team at the Frilly and Funkie challenge blog have pulled out all the stops and produced some amazing pieces too so please make sure you head on over there. And remember, there are great prizes up for grabs with the chance to win a $25 shopping spree at The Funkie Junkie Boutique and the offer of a Guest Designer slot on the challenge blog for the winner.

I'll be back on Friday for the launch of a new challenge over at A Vintage Journey. Until then take care of yourselves, Jenny xxx

Jolly Holly at IndigoBlu

Hi everyone. How are you this weekend? Hopefully this finds you well and ready to enjoy the weekend. It feels like I need to offer my apologies on a regular basis these days for being MIA, but with lots of demos to do and so many new and exciting things to create samples with time is definitely at a premium. Mind you, if felt like Christmas on Thursday when some parcels arrived...

Today it's my regular Saturday slot over at IndigoBlu sharing a card with a definite touch of retro. I really hope you can join me over there to see what I've been up to with inks, paints and gilding flakes.

Also I want to say a big thank you to Emma and the team at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge who honoured me with a Designer Spotlight for my effects powders card. It's always so special to be recognised in this way, especially from such a talented group of creatives.

Time to go and get messy again here (sprays, embossing powders, new stamps, what's a girl to do!!!) Have a great weekend whatever you're up to and take care of yourselves, Jenny xxx

Getting Glossy at IndigoBlu

Hi everyone and thank you so much for joining me. My regular Saturday post for IndigoBlu is going live right about now whilst I'm busy entertaining the crowds at Percy Thrower's Garden Centre, Shrewsbury.

Hope you can join me over there (or even in Shrewsbury if you're in the area!) for a little Christmas inspiration.

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

A Haunting Halloween at Frilly and Funkie

Hi everyone and welcome. First off, talk about a boost to the old ego; I can't begin to describe how privileged I felt to be added to Paula Cheney's 'Inspiration Found' blog post alongside some incredibly talented creatives, including my team mate and good friend Trace Metcalfe. To get recognition like this from someone so highly respected and loved in the industry is such an honour. Thank you SO MUCH Paula!

Now back to the main purpose of this post; today it's the turn of the Funkie Team from the Frilly and Funkie challenge blog to share their take on this fortnight's theme 'A Haunting Halloween'. With the days already growing shorter and a hint of evening chill in the air let's begin our Halloween preparations. Simply create any type of vintage project, card, or lay out with a Halloween theme and get ready for some chills and thrills! The winner will earn a Guest DT spot at the Frilly and Funkie challenge blog, and everyone who enters will have the chance to win a $25 spending spree at The Funkie Junkie Boutique. Now I'm not a Halloween person normally so this theme had me scratching my head for quite a while. Then, a light bulb moment courtesy of a song recorded by The Lambrettas in my formative years - 'Poison Ivy'...

So where to start with this; a little Artist Trading Block was a great place to house and smother this most treacherous of plants. The outside was covered in Tarnished Brass Distress Paint and the inside with the Dusty Concord flavour.

 Then I mixed Wendy Vecchi's Crackled Texture Paste with Hydrangea Archival Reinker to create that beautiful mauve hue, covering the outside panels so that when it dried hints of that wonderful brass colour could shine through. 

To finish the block I stamped the border from Wendy's 'The Beauty of Art' stamp set in Jet Black Archival. It fit the sides perfectly! Now for the poison ivy itself; the vine which winds itself around the outside of the block was cut from Core'dinations Kraft Core using Eileen Hull's Vine decorative strip die. Having sanded it back a little to reveal the core I added Peeled Paint Distress Glitter to give the ivy a touch of sparkle.

Using the same card and Tim Holtz' Spring Greenery decorative strip die to cut more un-glittered ivy for the inside I added small Dusty Concord painted flowers, folded ribbon strips and purple burlap string frayed at the ends. To top the block I made a paper flower painted with the Dusty Concord and Tarnished Brass Distress Paint and centred with a Prima Bling flower centre embellishment - I had to colour mine with the Brass paint but Linda now has a gold version in stock at The Funkie Junkie Boutique.

Of course there needed to be a place to store the poison extracted from this deadly plant so a little bottle was ideal. It was great fun to slosh (technical term!) around Dusty Concord paint and Hydrangea Archival Reinker, and I stamped a label from the Tim Holtz Mini Blueprints #5 set to warn those who may be foolishly tempted to sample the deliciously evil contents.

So, have I got you feeling ready to tackle your own spooky project? Either way, I highly recommend a trip over to the Frilly and Funkie challenge blog to take a look at the fabulous pieces created by the rest of the Design Team as they are bound to do the trick (or treat - sorry!!)

And I've just seen there's a challenge theme which is ideal for this project! Country View Challenges theme for October is 'Sparkle and Shine'!

That's it from me today. Whatever you're up to take care of yourselves, Jenny xxx