January Calendar Girls

Hello crafting friends and thank you for visiting.

I recently did an " In the spotlight" interview over at Our Creative Corner (OCC) (it's here if you want to read it), one of the questions was, "If you have lost your Mojo, how do you go about getting it back?"  Well, to be honest my Mojo went AWOL at Christmas and I've been in a bit of a crafting doldrums ever since. So, true to my interview response I've been looking around for sources of inspiration - and sometimes you get inspiration when you least expect it! - I recently picked up a copy of Creative Stamping magazine (mainly because I was drawn to the knife, fork and spoon freebie stamps - sad - but true!) A quick flick through the mag left me a bit disappointed - but then I'm not really a card maker - until I came across an article from the DT at Ali-Craft showcasing the Prima doll stamps - and then... Ding! - a light bulb moment and my personal 2014 challenge was born.

I am setting myself a "calendar girls" challenge - no silly, not the naked WI with strategic cakes style Calendar Girls, but a monthly themed tag featuring the Prima doll stamps  (or stamp singular - in my case!) I have also made the resolution to make a mega effort to use up some of my stash, so the current challenge over at OCC is perfect to get my newly returned Mojo back in working order!

The challenge is "No more shopping sins" (click on the link for details) and is an opportunity to use up some of the stash that's gathering dust in forgotten boxes and to confess your stash shopping sins and make a clean start in 2014.

So here is my January Calendar Girls tag...

I chose cold colours and a snowy theme to reflect the chilly weather we can have here in the UK in January.

It was fun pulling together various different stamps to make my cluster of embellishments - and of course I have unearthed some I'd forgotten I'd got!

So - to confess my stash shopping sins - I am a terrible sucker for a "bargain" - if it is vastly reduced in a sale bin and I think I may have a use for it at some point it will - almost inevitably - end up in my shopping basket!

Case in point with this tag - the self adhesive fabric ribbon and co-ordinating brad were in a sale of Dovecraft Christmas lines three or four years ago and have not been out of the packet until today.

Talking of ribbon - I just LOVE printed grosgrain ribbon - can't resist a pretty ribbon - OMG I'm SUCH a girl!

The Papermania ticket stamps were reduced to £2 in my local craft shop, the clock stamp was a freebie on a Creativity Magazine - can't resist a "freebie"!

The snowflake rub-ons (part of a set of glitter snowmen) were in a BOGOF (Buy One Get One Free) offer at The Works, again three or four years ago.

I must also confess that the Cuttlebug Swiss dots embossing folder had its maiden voyage in the making of this tag - and I've had that for donkey's!

Then there's the patterned paper - you know how that calls to you from the racks in the craft shop... so I'm pleased to be able to say that I have CUT INTO FOUR - that's FOUR, people, - different pieces of patterned paper from FOUR different stacks in the making of this project! (I needed a lie down with a cold compress afterwards mind you!)

Those of you who know your way around Julie Nutting's doll stamps for Prima will know that this is NOT one of Julie's designs. I had great fun (which really took me back to my childhood!) designing and making suitably warm attire for my January Girl.

I started by stamping the doll stamp (Doll No.2) on to white Neenah cardstock, loosely cut out my image and coloured in the face and neck with Copic markers.

I then stamped the image again on to copier paper and drew my "warm clothes" design over the top of the original image. 

I cut the pattern pieces out and used them as a template for making the finished clothes from patterned paper.

The new clothes were then glued over the top of the original stamped image and details such as creases and buttons were added with a fine black Pitt artists pen. A coat of matte medium made the surface of the finished doll non-porous and allowed me to add shading with Pitt Big Brush india ink markers.

                                                                                                                                                                

The final touch was to add a generous coat of Dimensional Magic (Glossy Accents equivalent) to the spotty wellies to give them a lovely "bang on trend" shine. Oh yes and those are supposed to be fluffy earmuffs - in case you were wondering :0)

So there you have it - my sins confessed and my project completed - and a head full of inspiration for February's tag too...

Wow - that was a long post - thanks for sticking with me - let me know you came and I'll try and catch up with you soon.

Hugs

Our Creative Corner - In the Spotlight

Hello, welcome and Season's Greetings!

Thank you for taking the time to stop by - especially this close to THE BIG DAY! I hope you are all ready and set for the fun and games and that you've maybe even managed to squeeze some creative chilling time in to your hectic schedule.

If you regularly visit me you may be aware that back in October I entered the "It's Halloween - Let's Tag It On" (using surface texture) challenge over at Our Creative Corner. I entered my Creepy Castle Tag, and was thrilled to be chosen as the "Top Talent".  Challenge winners are invited to submit a second project, of their choice, and be interviewed and featured in a special post over at Our Creative Corner - so here I am, "in the spotlight" with a little festive make to share with you.  (you might want to pop over to OCC when you've finished here - I've put the link at the bottom of the page too.)

The banner is made from two sets of My Mind's Eye Lost and Found album covers (I thought I was buying complete mini albums when I bought them, but they turned out to be just the covers - (always read the small print!) I'm REALLY glad I picked them up for half price now!)

I decided to use both the front and back sides of the covers to give a bit of variation. Since taking my Art Journal classes I've discovered that I really love building up backgrounds, so I had fun adding layers of interest over the slightly pink text pages. I wanted to add some texture, but not overwhelm the piece, as I knew I wanted to add embellishments and still be able to clearly read the lettering.

I knew that my colour palette was going to feature the traditional Christmas colours of red and green and that I wanted a slightly faded vintage feel to the piece, to tie in with the shabby feel of the album covers with their pinkish tint, faded brown type and "inked" edges.

I used Memento Rich Cocoa to randomly stamp a Hobbycraft Merry Christmas sentiment and some Artemio flourishes and  Peeled Paint and Victorian Velvet DIs to stamp some Hot Off The Press borders and flourishes around the outside of the banners, leaving the middle section clear for the lettering. (The font I used is Santa's Sleigh available free here) which I cut out from plain old red cardstock using my Craft Robo. All the elements have been inked with Gathered Twigs DI to add to the vintage feel and to tie all the pieces together.

The N and the E flags are created using the "front" cover of the album and already had the glittered flourishes which I wanted to incorporate into my design - I don't normally "do" glitter but you can't beat a bit of a sparkle at Christmas!

In a nod to the original challenge, which required the use of surface texture on the Halloween tag, I used texture paste and a ledger stencil to add some random raised areas.

As you can see each flag is embellished differently, but uses the same colour palette. Where the N and E flags have the glitter flourish, the O and L flags have die cut TH Elegant Flourishes to give some continuity. The flourishes are cut from greyboard which has been covered with aluminium tape which I have then coloured with Copic marker to give a glorious red shine.

In brief - (as I'm sure there is probably a mince pie with your name on it waiting) the deets for the embellishments are as follows

N - Stampin' Up "Ornament Keepsakes" stamped in Peeled Paint DI and heat embossed with clear embossing powder - the embossing is not consistent on the DI but I love the shabby feel.

O - TH Elegant Flourishes die, TH Tattered Florals cut from red Core'dinations and Dovecraft's Back to Basics Christmas - Vintage 6x6 paper (my FAVOURITE general purpose Christmas paper EVER!). The ivy (and robin) are Marianne Creatables LR0206 and the ivy is cut from both Dovecraft Back to Basics Christmas and Papermania Woodland Folk.

E - The Christmas tree is Marianne Creatables LR0136 and Back to Basics Christmas with a few red gems - I borrowed the holly die from my crafty neighbour and forgot to write down the make - sorry!

L - TH Paper Rosette die (I cut the strip down the middle to make the smaller rosette), a couple of Papermania snowflake card toppers, a tag from stash and some Prima ivy leaves completes the project.

All that remains is for me to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy and creative New Year.

My interview for Our Creative Corner can be found here.