Sunday 6 November 2011

Umbrella Man does Xmas ! (for Sunday Stampers)

I didn't think he had it in him but it goes to show you can make almost anything christmassy!
I was in denial about christmas actually being that close untill I read Hels' blog post today, so I thought I'd better start coming to terms with it!
Umbrella Man is not the first thing  that comes to mind when thinking of a christmas theme but I thought he deserved a go.



I sprayed the tag with a home made mix of pale blue spray then tore a few pieces of white card to layer on the bottom to make it look like snow drifts....don't think it's very clear on the photo, then stamped the trees from Tim Holtz' mini holidays set then lightly over the sky with the snowflakes from the same set.Umbrella man has been painted black then dry brushed with white. When I'd stuck the snow drifts and him down I added some Diamond Stickles to the trees and his back.
The drifts and the umberella have been covered with Golden Glass Bead Gel and the words have been punched into foil tape on heavy cardstock.

 TTFN..... going to think about Christmas!!

Saturday 29 October 2011

Colours of Autumn

Talk about leaving things to the last minute! I didn't want to miss out on the Sunday Stampers challenge for this week as some of the autumn shades are my fav. & having missing mojo last week I didn't get to do "Leaves" for the previous week.So here goes..


    

I used Tim Holtz distressed inks in Spiced Marmalade, Wild Honey & Aged Mahogany for the top half & Peeled Paint, Forrest Moss & Frayed Burlap or the bottom.I can't quite remember where I got the laef stamp from but I used a combo. of the above coloures with a blender pen to colour them.
Again, the tree is a mystery, (could be a Stampit stamp) but I've embossed it with black powder. The embellishments are Tim's.


























Friday 28 October 2011

Too Long!

Hi Everyone.... that's if anyone is still following!
I think my mojo is back.... it's been on long service leave! I was begining to think I'd been totally abandoned.
I'm going to start with showing you the next instalment of  my painting course.


We are working with a limited range of colours but I love the mix of the blues & rusty shades....this won't suprise anyone who knows me! It was time to add some dimension & texture using a heavy gel medium which takes 24 hrs to dry.... very frustrating as all you want to do is keep going!


 When I'd finished this one I thought I'd try a venture of my own( getting quite daring!!)
I know we're heading into our summer but I wanted to do something a bit wintery....sorry you guys in good old Blighty as it's coming into Winter there!!





I'm quite pleased withis one!
Anyway I'm off to do Sunday Stampers now before it closes.

Thursday 29 September 2011

Resist for Sunday Stampers

Just a quick entry today to post my entry for this weeks Sunday Stampers...Resist being the theme.
The butterfly with background is from a Stamp-It collection and the flourish that I've used on the top is from a Stampin Up set ( I think!). I embossed both stamps with a white powder on a buff tag then used the following Tim Holtz Distressed Inks to create the embossed resist tag:- Broken China, Crushed Olive & Spiced Marmalade.

Sunday 25 September 2011

Online Painting Course

It was my birthday last week and I decided to use the money that my sister kindly sent me to do an online painting course from The Land Of Lost Luggage network.A friend had done it and recomended it (thanks Svetlana)so I thought "why not"....I'll just add ANOTHER arty thing to do!
So I began this weekend, after collecting all the required equipment (I had a few so it wasn't too expensive lol!) and I managed to create the first painting which was about layering and blending.I hope it's OK I've yet to "hand it in". Ive also just read that there will be an exam after the next one!!...what have I let myself in for!!
See what you think so far


It was great to begin with my fav. colours.I didn't realise how hard & time consuming it was to blend the colours together without leaving any harsh lines between the different shades!....I'll just have to practice.






ATC

ATC for Simon Says.
This ATC is one that I made in a class at Scaptivate with the fab Kelsey.It's created with a glass microscope slide.I did have to make a couple of variations as I kept cracking them.Pink's not my favourite colour but I suppose it's OK in this instance!!

Wednesday 14 September 2011

Steampunk for Simon Says

Yay....one of my favourites! Thanks for this weeks challenge. I love steampunk so it was easy to do and this is a great mans card.


My umbrella man had just arrived in the post so I had to use him! I cut him from the Graphic 45 Steampunk Debutant pages that have the cogs on and then also used some of the other papers from that range.
The eyechart,clock & numbers are 7gypsies stamps and rub-ons.I had some old watch parts that I used along with some Tim Holtz cogs.



Friday 9 September 2011

Rust,Rusty,Rusted...

I'm on fire this week...Three posts!
I can certainly say that I have fallen in luv with old rusty things, and having recently been introduced to a couple of our re-cycling plants (commonly known as the"tip"! ) I tried my hand at a "Rusty " canvas and quite liked the result.....



I used texture past on the sides of the canvas then painted it with a few different shades of Golden paints untill I got the desired effect ...should have written them down though!! then added several "bits" from my new collections. The box in the top left hand corner is a mini canvas which has been attached to the side but raised off the base of the canvas then I used a bit of old bicycle chain in the opposite corner.



Thursday 8 September 2011

" Love "

I've missed Sunday Stampers for a couple of weeks so I decided to get my act together for this week!!
I had to make a wedding card for a friend so this went perfectly for this weeks entry.




I hate working in white sometimes as I always seem to smudge something from my fingers onto the card! It's funny how it never seems to happen with other coloures isn't it?
Nearly everything is Tim Holtz stuff ( what would we do without him!)
The heart I inked with Barn Door distressed ink & when it dried I covered it with Golden Glass Bead Gel. The plaque is one of the Collections range on which I mounted a dictionary definition and two buttons off an old top....It's OK I wasn't wearing it at the time!! LOL

Wednesday 7 September 2011

Finishing Things

I know I've been a bad blogger of late but I decided that I'd better complete the book that I began at the "Gatherings" retreat that I went to in July, plus my girls arrived back from their trip to Europe so I've been up to my eyes in washing! The house is messy again and they are back to leaving their possesions all over the place but I'ts good to have them back (I think!!).
Anyway the book is done...see what you think. 

                                                                      Front Cover

 First Page


Second Page( has three little doors)


first door


second door open & closed






                                                                              Third door

                                                                        Page Three



Page Four(inside back cover)




                   The binding was done with an old leather belt and some old string that I found





That was quite a big project, but I enjoyed it.I think I've found something else that is going to cost time and money!!!!

Wednesday 17 August 2011

White

The Sunday Stampers title this week I decided I'd take literally and find as many white shades and textures as possible... and believe me there are lots! It was quite a challenge to make something all white without it being boring and I made several versions before I was happy with this.



I ran a piece of gloss card through the Tim Holtz cogs and gears embossing folder then lightly, in a few places, added some Pumice Stone Distressed  ink. I also used the Pumice Stone to stamp on a couple of the letters and corner pieces of card and Bazzil. The photo doesn't show up some of the different things I did to the letters but I used Glossy Accents, Smooch Ink and paint on them.
The Tim Holtz embellishments I painted with white Gesso and then added white seed beads and glass bead gel to two of the cogs.




Thanks to Sunday Stampers for the challenge. Can't wait till next Sunday!

Saturday 13 August 2011

A Tim Holtz Technique

Simon Says A Tim Holtz Technique this week so , like everybody else, I suppose it was a case of which one.
I don't do many alcohol inky things ( probably because I don't have many inks! ) so I thought I'd do this to make a change for me.



I know Tim uses a can of compressed air but I had to make do with a trusty straw. I have three blues...Denim,Cloudy Blue & Sail Boat Blue (Blue's my favourite colour can you tell!! ) then I added Butterscotch.



I used the words from the Stampers Anonymous " Good Thoughts " and the splatter butterfly from "Urban Chic". After stamping the butterfly directly onto the background with Stazon, I then stamped & cut out a couple more to sit on top.

Wednesday 10 August 2011

Wish ( You were here )

This is a perfect word for Sunday Stampers this week. With both girls in Europe I took inspiration from a post card ( not that we've had one from them! ). It seems these days not many people send them.We've just had e-mails but I suppose they are still communicating...what more can I expect!!



The black & white photo of the Eiffel Tower was one I got from the internet ages ago but have always liked. I dry brushed over it with white Gesso then put it in a coreboard frame.
the right hand side I covered with some embossed paper then inked over the whole lot with Stormy Sky, Walnut ink & Vintage Photo.
I used several different stamps including some Tim Holtz, of course, Stamp-It & a word stamp that I've had for ages ( can't remember where that came from! )

A few embellishments later( mainly T.H again... just can't help myself!! ) and hey presto! I'll just pretend it's from the kids!!

Thursday 4 August 2011

Simon Says......A Tag

I love doing tags so this weeks challenge is great.I don't always know what to do with them when I've finished,but I quite often use them as the front of a card.




For this one I used stamps from the Tim Holtz Steampunk collection. I've only recently got these and I love them! I sprayed over some wire mesh to get the squares at the top then cut some up to attach the light bulb to. I distressed the tag with Vintage Photo ( Couldn't live without this! ) and Stormy Sky.

Monday 1 August 2011

Sunset... for Sunday Stampers

I have been really good this week and done the challenge for SS earlier than I usually do.( this is probably due to the fact that the house is like a tomb with only two of us rattling around in it!!).
Sunset coloures are great with rich oranges and yellows.I really enjoyed this weeks theme!






On the tag I used a red coloured spray mist that I had made up then Spiced Marmalade and Fired Brick embossing ink.On the background I used torn bookpaper and white cardstock distressed with Fired Brick,Wild Honey,Spiced Marmalade and Stormy Sky.the birds are from Tim Holtz Mini Ornates collection.The "dead tree" is from Dusty Attic which I inked with Walnut Stain. the words are again Tim Holtz from the Good Thoughts Stamp collection.
Better go and make the dinner now or hubby will think I've done nothing this afternoon!!

 

Friday 29 July 2011

Anything Goes

With a title like this from Simon Says how can anyone go wrong! The only question is what to do.After much deliberation I decided to enter this canvas which I made using Graphic 45 papers from their Communique range. I know it's not a new range but I do love it.





I know these are not the best pics. but I hope you get the idea! 

" Black " for Sunday Stampers

Hi everyone.I always seem to get to the end of the week before I post anything.I do have an excuse this week though.After packing my girls off to Europe on Monday I decided that it was time to invade their rooms while they were away!!( I had to fight my way in ) But anyway here's my Black contribution




I have used Tim Holtz stamps and tissue tape on a black and silver background made by the credit card technique taught to me by the very talented Kelsey O'Mullane at Scraptivate.