The last frame of the year.....

The year is slowly coming to an end and how else could I end it other than with a frame. I started a distress crackle frame obsession not long after dicovering blogs, Hels' in particular, and I have since tried many techniques and made many more frames, most of which are hanging in my living room.

So I gathered 3 challenge themes and came up with this little rustic and old, music inspired frame. I textured the whole thing in terra paste and stamped a music stamp into it. Then I painted it in bronze paint and used a blue patina activator over the top. This stuff is from Modern Masters and I love it. Their rust paint is also fab!!!

I rolled up a few sheet music bits and distressed them and I just had to add a few Tim Holtz tickets as I just got the die and stamps for Christmas. And the quote is from the song Listening to you from The Who's Tommy rock opera, my all time favourite. So combining all these fab things created this lovely frame, it's gonna go on my wall with all the others.

I am enterting this into Hels' Sunday Stampers, of course, she's been a major inspiration and help this year. Also I am entering this into the Simon says Stamp Challenge and the Stamp and Show Challenge.

Merry Christmas .... and a little challenge entry....

First of all a Merry Christmas to everyone, I know I'm a little late but I'm sure you've all been very busy too. So, what fab crafty presents did everyone get? I got 3 lots of Tim Holtz stamps and alterations dies and other funky things. And, best of all I got an imagebox, so now I can make my own clear stamps. I've not tried it yet but it'll come out the box tomorrow!!!
Actually my bestest present I got early last week, a new job, it's just the best news I've had in a while. Can't wait. Although it'll mean very little time for crafting for the next 3 months, but I'm sure it'll be worth it!
Anyway, so I have a little challenge entry to share with you, over at Sir Stampalot this month's theme is travel the world and I made a London themed card.

Compendium of Curiosities Challenge #25

It's Compendium time again. YEAH!!!!

So this week we are splashing ink around again, one of my favourites. I never do it enough but then when I do I love it. It just makes such pretty backgrounds.

I will definitely be making a few more things with this technique, the colour combinations are endless and so much fun!

I guess this is it for this years Compendium of Curiosities Challenge, I'm not even sure how many there are left in the new year, but I am certainly gonna be part of it!!!

Christmas Star - "Celestial" for The Altered Element

Welcome to what is going to be my last project for The Altered Element Design Team.

I used the smaller of the 2 wooden stars, these come flatpacked and you can just slide them together. I glued the pieces into place with glossy accents.

Then I painted the whole star with a gold acrylic paint as a base and when that was dry I simply melted a layer of gold UTEE onto each section. I used PVA glue to adhere the UTEE, works very well for large sections like this. The UTEE came out smooth in some parts and more textured in others but that just adds to the character.

I had this thin gold wire lying around for ages and thought this be the prefect opportunity to use it. So I wrapped it round the star randomly. It's not glued (only the ends), it just holds itself in place around the shape of the star.

The charms are all from Vintaj brass. I used the gold wire again and some golden jumprings to attach these to the bottom. I just drilled some small holes in the star to attach them.

And there you got it, a shiny, shimmery, twinkly christmas star ready to hang.

Another great idea for using these wooden stars would be to make a star topper for your christmas tree.

Lord Tim of Holtz Mirror

If you have been following my blog from pretty much the start you may have seen a similar mirror before, one of my first mirror creations in fact. So I wanted to make another one using distress inks and the blending tool, one of my favourite Tim techniques.

It's a collage of stamped images, embossed pieces, ideaology etc. Some pieces are raised for more depth. The keyhole actually got a key in it, although it's difficult to tell from this angle. The piece combines many different favourite stamps of mine and many techniques too.

I am entering this into the Stamp and Show Challenge.

My Wendy Vecchi Stamps album.....

Over at Wee Memories this week we are "casing our favourite".... so I thought it'll either be something Tim Holtz or Wendy Vecchi as they are both favourites of mine.
So I went for a storage album for my Wendy Vecchi stamps. I know you can get the clear acrylic albums for her stamps but I find them a bit pricey for what they are so I just made my own album.
Simply cut some chunky cardboard to size and cover with plain cream card, then distress the edges with ink and I used grungeboard letters. I inked them all in different colours and stamped random background stamps over them in true Wendy style.








Add some 2" rings to make it into an album. I could do with bigger rings really as I have more stamps than fit in this album, but I may just have to make another one.

Snowflake facets card.....

This snowflakey facets card started off as a CPS sketch. I interpreted the sketch very loosely again this week. I'm always worried if I don't stick to the sketch I may be disqualified but at the end of the day a sketch is there to inspire people to make art and everyone approaches it differently so as long as I'm having fun making something it doesn't matter what other people think.

I really wanted to try the alcohol ink and archival ink technique as Tim did on a recent tag, it just looked so pretty. And it works really well. So I am entering this into the Stamp and Show Challenge where we are showcasing a Tim technique.

And I am also entering this into the Stamptacular Sunday Challenge where the theme is Winter Wishes. Looks like we are getting my winter wish - SNOW!!!! Supposedly plenty more to come for christmas!!! YAY!!!

Tim goodies giveaway!

There is one great Tim Holtz stash giveaway happening on Lin's blog so make sure you check it out here.

I'm in Craft Stamper...... yeah.....

I simply had to share this, it is after all the first time I had any of my stuff in print and my name in the magazine.

It's the chipboard shape swap from a while ago (original post here), it was the first time I ever entered the swap in the magazine and I'm delighted they printed a pic of it.

I also had a reader submission accepted from them but didn't wanna say anything in case I jinx it, but it's gonna be goin in the mag soon so look out for it!!!

This months swap is a mini wallhanging, so I came up with this.

I used the idea from Tim's recent tags and made another canvas flower. And I covered my own button with a stamped heart, my sis got me that stamp, I really like it.

Tim's 12 tags of Christmas......

More of Tim's tags, yippie.

Now when it comes to these two..... when i first saw day 9 I was in love. But I don't have the rosette die (yet!!!) or the letters either, so I had to substitute a lot and it just made it look a bit crap may I say. Loving the swishy ink background with the music stamp though, that turned out pretty well.

Day 10 was another substitute day for me as I didnt have the snowman or the snowflake embossing folder. So I used 3 reindeer and I named the reindeer SNOWY and put that in letters underneath. The background is inky with a subtle starry background. I embossed some thick acetate with a dots embossing folder and i really like this tag. The embossed acetate just makes it, thanks Tim for the idea. Pure genius!!!

And of course I am entering these into the Artistic Stamper Challenge.

I think I've got a tag addiction....

I have been following Tim's 12 tags of christmas very closely and love the stuff he makes..... and although Ive never been a fan of tags, I can see the point in making them at this time of year. I have already attached a load to my christmas presents. This year I'm wrapping everything in brown paper and string and adding pretty tags. And now I think Ive got myself a tag addiction.

I made another one for the Compendium Challenge this week, where we are playing with rock candy distress stickles.
Yet again Ive never had much use for stickles, but at this time of year they are so handy, for glittery and snowy details or just a bit of christmassy sparkle.

I covered the reindeer and letters in distress stickles if you cant tell from the picture. Another tag to go on someone's present.

Tim's 12 tags of Christmas......

Here are Tim's tags from day 7 and 8.

If you look at day 7 and think something is wrong here, then you are right. I glued the flower together totally wrong. Clever me. It looks pretty though. Just not the way it was intended. Never mind, I had fun making it.

With day 8 I had to substitute the santa sleigh and made my own mask from acetate instead, using a snowflake punch. I prefer it to the sleigh to be honest.

I also just ran out of embossing tape, so I had to handwrite the little message.

Once again I am entering these two into the Artistic Stamper Challenge.

Til the next tag, tada!!

Stardust Necklace - Celestial Theme for The Altered Element

Hello again,

this month the theme at The Altered Element is Celestial and I have been busy getting creative with some glitter. I have made a stardust necklace for you to see....

I started off with a 1.5x1.5" Memory Capsule, filled it with glitter and star beads and then using glossy accents I glued memory glass to it, it takes a while to dry and I ended up with a few bubbles inside but they just add to the effect. For the background I simply used an off cut of blue-silvery paper.

The other side is really easy too. I used some card and inked it with blue distress ink and some black round the edges, then stamped some starry background stamp onto it, but if you wanna give it a go, this could be any background stamp really, or you can use the same paper as on the other side. I then glued on the embossed tape and covered the whole thing in stickles.

When everything is dry put it inside the frame.

To make the frame into a necklace I used some ballchain and silver ribbon and added a Vintaj charm.

This doesn't have to be a necklace though, the frame could be attached to a swivel clasp and made into a keyring too.

I hope I've inspired you to create something starry yourself. Unfortunately the shop has sold out of most of my supplies but I'm sure you could come up with substitutes and make it your very own. Make the most of the closing down discount whilst you can.

Tim's 12 tags of Christmas......

Another day and another Tim tag.... I am a few days behind with showing my creations but never mind.....

This is day 6 of Tim's tags and I had to substitute a few things like stamps and stuff but I'm pretty please with this one.

As before I am entering my tag into the Artistic Stamper Challenge.

One card for many challenges.....

Another christmas card and some more challenges to be entered. First of all I used the Card Patterns Sketch for this, then I would like to enter this into the Artistic Stamper Challenge where the theme is Christmas (what else!). Also would I like to enter this into this weeks Simon Says Stamp and Show - Holiday Greetings draw and last but not least, over at Simon Says Stamp challenge we are making christmas cards with no green and red.

I used some swirly grungeboard as a base, painted it gold, sanded it and inked over with brown distress inks. It's all pretty much distress inks, Tim Holtz and glossy accents with some ribbon and a bell added.

Tim's 12 tags of Christmas......

I'd just quickly like to share another one of Tim's tags with you today... this is Day 5 and I love the way it turned out. I didn't have the metal numbers so I used grungeboard with a load of white glitter instead.

Yet again I am entering this into the Artistic Stamper Challenge.

CPS Challenge entry....

Life has been a bit busy recently with a little trip home and lots of christmas organizing going on, but I finally got back into the crafting, catching up on Tim's Tags and some challenges.

I used the CPS sketch to make this card. For the first time I didnt stick to thesketch too much but used it more as an inspiration. I always seem to try and make something using the exact sketch.... so with this one I tried to challenge myself a bit.

Tim's 12 tags of Christmas......

I've been very busy trying to catch up on Tim's tags and I can finally share one with you I made the other day. It's day 3 and I would say one of the easier ones.
Some days he's just got so many steps and techniques it takes a while to put it all together, but you learn lots along the way! Try out a few of his techniques and discover new ways of using his products. He's a genius!!!

I had to substitute a few things on this tag, but as it's all about inspiration there is no wrong or right.

I am entering this into the Artistic Stamper Challenge as so many other tag followers too. Hehe. It's great to see everyone's take on the tags. Can't wait for tomorrows one, yeah!!!!

BLOG CANDY DRAW

Hey folks....

As promised I would draw my candy early for someone to receive it before christmas......

....sooooooo, the lucky winner is.....

Number 14 - Kathleen F

Yeah, congrats Kat. Get in touch with me about your postal address and I'll get that on its way to you!!!

Vintage Christmas Canvas.....

Inspiration for this frame came from a recent issue of one of the stampington publications. I just wanted to create a little frame with a vintage christmas feel and something with a bit of depth. So I used the back of a canvas and covered it with terra paste all over, when dry I painted it cream and then rubbed over some inka gold with my finger to bring out the texture.

The inside was lined with stripey paper and for a touch of colour I used a blue fabric for curtains and made little ties with ribbon. I played around with the frame a lot and re-arranged it a lot to see what looks good and what doesnt.

The bells were originally pink and I simply painted them with modern masters rust paint. If you havent tried yet, get some, its lots of fun making things rusty and old.

The presents are covered in music paper and dictionary paper and distressed with ink. Around the edge of the frame I used some old gold lace, very heavy stuff. I remember my parents used to use the same stuff for nutcrackers they used to make, so for me its associated with christmas already, I just had to add some. If you have a closer look at the frame there are many things to discover and I had fun putting it together.

I am entering this into the Gingersnap Creations Color Challenge - Vintage Hues.

Surprise candy added and early draw.....

Hey everyone, apologies for not posting in days, life just got in the way.

I was in Germany to stock up on German chocolate and see my family and also check out 2 stamp shops I had not been to before. All in all a lovely weekend.

Also went to a flea market type shop and got a few amazing bargains, cant wait to use them in my crafting. So I decided to share the love and throw a few more things into my candy. I won't say what they are, it'll be a surprise. I will also be drawing my candy early, next week, since it's christmas it be nice for someone to receive a little parcel before christmas i think.

So, for all of you who already signed up for my candy watch this space, everyone else, click on the candy pic in my sidebar and join the fun!

I will be sharing more crafty things with you soon, definitely wanna try out some of the 12 tags of christmas from tim's blog, gotta wait til monday though when it's craft day!!!

Catch you later!

Beeswax Music Frame

Just a little something I'd like to share today. I am actually in Germany at the moment, taking over my dad's computer, much to his joy (ahem). So I'm sharing with you a frame I made last week. A friend asked me for a music inspired frame for her sister so this is one of the 2 I came up with and definitely my favourite of the 2. I used beeswax on this and a music background stamped onto tissue. The treble clef is from the Maya Road set and simply painted brown and covered in glossy accents. Very simply but effective and makes a lovely christmas present I think.

Recycled Mini Canvases - For The Altered Element

Here is another little Recycle project I made for The Altered Element.

A while back I couldnt get enough of mini canvases and decorated a whole lot of them, but not all turn out the way you want, but I kept them nevertheless. And these came in handy for this project.

I used the back of one canvas and from another one I used just the wooden frame, glued on top. That makes a nice little deep frame, ideal to hold little bottles, ornaments or other small objects.

I textured the whole thing with Viva Decor Terra Paste and then painted it over in cream when it was dry. I then rubbed some greenish gold paste, also by Viva Decor, over the top, just using my fingers.

The bottle has been filled with sand from a recent holidays and the twigs and died brown leaves also came from my holiday.

As for the flowers I used Maya Road metal flowers and treated them with Crafty Notions Rusting Powder.

So if you ever have any little (or bigger) canvases lying around, put them to good use and make a deep frame. The texture paste hides the canvas and imperfections of the frames perfectly.

Happy crafting!

More CCC and Stamp and Show

Double distress is the theme over at Studio L3 this week and how perfectly does that fit in with the Simon says Stamp and Show "distress inks" theme?!?! Very much so!

I used my music embossing folder for the first time on some grungepaper here. I like the idea of embossing folders but never seem to get it right, but this time, using grungepaper as a base I think it worked really well. I'm pleased.

Have you noticed this is not a christmas card? I'm shocked. I think I've finally had enough of christmas card making and I'm gonna slowly get back to other cards now.....

The double distress technique is a bit messy I find, well you get really inky fingers, but that's part of the fun!

With this background I had gone quite dark so I tried to lighten the trees and make them stand out a bit with some stickles around the edges. I'm slowly finding more uses for stickles, should invest in some more really. Maybe santa will bring me some!!!

Simon says Stamp and Show - Whatever makes you happy

All week I've been meaning to add my entry for the Simon says Stamp and Show Challenge, but somehow I didn't manage to take photos of my piece.
So the theme is Whatever makes you happy..... and it makes me very happy when a project finally comes together.
I thought a few weeks ago it be nice to make some windchimes so I went on ebay looking for chimes I can take apart and looked through the charity shops and then had a look through my stash what would go nicely and somehow you keep buying more stuff and bits and this would look good on it etc ..... I'm sure we've all been there.
And then you work out a design and do a testpiece and then finally it will all come together and the finished piece is hanging in your room and it was worth the effort.







For this one I used 3 chipboard cutouts of the Tim Holtz tattered florals die and coloured it with distress inks. I hid the knots of the string in the middle layer of the flower to make it neater. I then added random beads and charms at the top. And the bottom hangy thing is a Maya Road flower frame, also coloured with distress inks and more dangly bits added.

It looks very simple but it took a while to work out how to attach and hide the strings and what length things need to be.
It's my first attempt, I'm sure the next ones will be easier. I'm currently working on a Tim Holtz inspired one and another using an alterations die. So watch this space.

Tim Holtz inspired Christmas Baubles

I've been wanting to join in with 2 challenges - The Stampman Challenge where the theme is Tim Holtz Christmas and the Sir Stampalot Challenge where the theme is Christmas Traditions. So when I saw these clear plastic baubles I knew they'd be perfect to make up something christmassy.

On the blue ones I used stream alcohol ink in the inside and then stamped some snowflake from one of the Tim Holtz sets on the outside. I filled one with polystryrene balls and the other with chunky flitter. These are my first attempts so I reckon if I spend some more time playing around with the clear balls the results could be quite stunning and make nice decorations on my tree this year. Or even as a christmas gift for someone.

The next two I coloured with alcohol inks again, latte or ginger I cant quite remember. One baubles spells JINGLE BELLS on the outside and is filled with rusty bells. The other one says MERRY & BRIGHT and I filled that one with golden stars.

I have a load more baubles to decorate so pop back to see how the others turned out.

In the meantime have a crafty weekend!!

Compendium of Curiosities Challenge #22

It's time for another Compendium Challenge over at Studio L3. We are playing with alcohol inks again this week and they are still not my favourite but I gave it a go anyway. Like last time I still haven't bought any glossy card (I have been meaning to but still never do) so I used some silver card again, since it's christmas soon I thought the silver would go well.

I have to say I really enjoyed this technique. Very colourful and it looks gorgeous. I punched out some snowflakes and use dthem on some christmas cards. Not your traditional christmas colours but I think they are a little different.

The ABC Challenge - Holidays

Holidays is the current theme at the ABC Challenge and what else could I be making other than a christmas holidays card.
I use dthe new Tim Holtz die I've been dying to use for ages, add some sparkle and a simple starry background and you have a pretty little card.
I'm really liking this one.

Card Patterns Sketch 90

Another week and another Card Patters Sketch.... I just had to use the little felt trees my sister sent me the other day. So here goes, another xmas card.....

Christmas Tealight Holders - For The Altered Element

Today I'd like to share with you a really quick little project.

I had these plain wooden tealight holders sitting here for ages and they didn't look much, so I thought I give them a makeover for christmas.

I painted them in a neutral colour, traditional tan in this case.

I then stamped the images I wanted to use on 1 ply of tissue using staz on.

I then covered the wood block in a thin layer of beeswax and melted the tissue images into it with a heatgun. It's very quick and easy and beeswax is a fab product to work with.

This technique would also work on any other wooden onjects, maybe you have some old picture frames lying around that could do with a makeover? Or a wooden box? Just give it a go, it's great fun.

Christmas decorations Part 1....... Candles

Still ajorly in christmas mood and eagerly counting down the days. I took a break from all my christmas cards and had a play with these candles for a change. I've had these sittig here for a while and noone is using them so I thought I may as well make them christmassy and then still noones going to use them, haha. At least they look pretty. I directly stamped onto the middle one, the others just have bands of paper and lace around them with stamped and cut out images and not to forget the 2 bells.

These two I stamped my images onto tissue first and then melted it into the candle with the heatgun.
If you have some candles hanging around that you don't use this be the perfect way to make them christmassy, they'd even make quick and festive presents.

My favourite Tim Stamp and a new Compendium Technique

Another week brings another Compendium Challenge and Simon says Stamp and Show too. I do enjoy both challenges very much but there isnt always time to join in..... luckily this week there was time and I combined the two.

I used the pinecone stamp from the new Tim Holtz sets, I love that stamp at the moment. It's very chistmassy but not overly kitsch, just pretty and lovely to work with.
And I had a go at the Perfect Distress Technique from the compendium. I did try it before but it didnt work that well, this time it turned out much better. Shame you cant tell the golden shimmer from the photo very well, but let me assure you its very pretty!!!

Something hidden - Artistic Stamper Challenge

Something hidden is the theme on the Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog, so I decided to make this box card..... it has to be a christmas card, it's all I'm allowed to do at the moment.
Although making all them cards and buying presents now made me count down days to christmas and running round like a mad woman telling everyone at work how many days til christmas. Ah well..... christmas spirit.

So I've been wanting to make a card that laces up for ages, always loved laced up things for some reason.
It's white linen card simply folded, holes punched out and laced up........... but there is a secret...... open the card and there is......

......a little silver snowflake charm. The message reads.... A Snowflake is a winter's butterfly.

There goes, my first lace up card and it's being entered into the Artistic Stamper Challenge.

Memories frame .... Mixed Media Monday Challenge

I didn't want to wait for the arrival of the Configurations boxes by Tim Holtz so a little while ago I started on this frame and made my own little compartments inside a shadow box frame.

I loved Tim's idea (and I'll be trying out the configurations boxes now that I got my inky hand on them finally!!) and just had to give it a go. So I split the frame into little boxes using foam board. I made some compartments for certain objects I wanted to use and others were just random sizes. A favourite of mine is the old miniature bottle I bought a while back, it's all sticky and the contents have evaporated and the label looks all old and dirty.

It's a great way of creating a memory box, this could be to any theme you like or just filled with random objects. It's fun, give it a go.

I also recently discovered the Mixed Media Monday Challenge, check it out, Im off to link my box to their blog now and browse all the other fab boxes entered this month!