Craft Barn Q & L Challenge - Strong

Ooops - I'm sneaking in a bit late with this one!

Time for another challenge at The Craft Barn and this time I have chosen the word STRONG for my quote book.

I am trying to find quotes which are meaningful to me in some way or another, and this one spoke volumes...

"Even strong women need an arm to lean on now and again" J D Robb

I've gone right out of my comfort zone with this layout. As you probably know, I don't rate myself as any kind of an artist, so to put a face I've drawn on my project is a bit of a biggie for me.  I've been studying YouTube tutorials hard and I was inspired to paint this Whimsy Girl, and she seemed to fit the quote, so here she is...

 
Backgrounds are brought to you by Dylusions ink sprays in Bubblegum Pink, After Midnight and Vibrant Turquoise.

And Whimsy Girl II is brought to you by Caran D'ache Neocolor IIs and a few details added with Midnight Blue Cosmic Shimmer Mist.

I hope you like her.

Sssh - Pray Silence for The Craft Barn's Q&L Challenge

Hello and welcome fellow crafters!

Time for another entry into The Craft Barn's Quotes and Lyrics challenge. (Click on the link to get all the details). This time the prompt words are silence and dazzle.

You may be aware that I'm putting together an AJ style quote book with blank spaces on my pages so that I can collect more quotes as I go along. For this challenge I have chosen the word SILENCE and a beautiful and thought provoking quote by Ruth Fishel,

"I will take time to be alone today. 
I will take time to be quiet. 
In this silence I will listen... 
and I will hear my answers"

It is VERY unusual for me to use my own handwriting on ANY layout, but for some reason today I don't seem to hate it quite as much as usual, so it is making a VERY rare appearance!

This layout has been a bit of a love/hate project. I hated the background when I first painted it. It is two colours of blue acrylic over a VERY loud and busy floral tissue paper. The paints seemed to be really grungy and produce a miserable January-esque sky colour - topical, but NOT what I wanted!

A quick spritz with some London Blue Dylusions lifted things immediately and I could see that the layout had potential. Additional background layers came from an Indigo Blu circle dot background stamp, randomly stamped in black Archival and some texture paste layered through a dotty mask. I had hoped that the texture paste dots would remain white for some contrast, but as it dried it soaked up the colour from the underneath layers - oh well... A few splats of White Linen Dylusions completed the first "go" at the background.

The die cut clouds were inked with Faded Jeans DI and adhered to the page using  Scotch quick drying glue. I didn't use matte medium as the Dylusions are water reactive and would have "run". When the clouds were dry I went round the edges of them with a Faber Castell Big Brush marker and smudged the line to blend. This really anchored the clouds on the page. The title is made from Papermania Mini Alpha stickers (keeping up with my stash busting resolution!).

Next I die cut the birds - I was originally going to keep them white, but ended up colouring them black, and stuck them to the page - this time with a smear of matte medium on the back but not on the front.  They are birds but I think this layout has a bit of a look of a Battle of Britain skyscape about it - the tiniest birds could easily be confused with Spitfires!

Finally I went in with my Paper Artsy ink splatter stamp and randomly stamped with black Archival, making sure to get some splashes on the clouds to ground them on the layout. I used a Craft Stamper freebie grungy border stamp to partially frame the page.

Close up showing: grungy border stamp, ink splats, 

FC Big Brush blending and Faded Jeans DI inking

All in all I'm pretty pleased with this layout, especially as I really wasn't keen on it at first! Please do let me know you came - I'd love to see what you are up to.

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

G is for... Guirlande

As I'm sure you can tell from the title, it is time for another entry for The Craft Barn's Dictionary Challenge. This time it is letter G with no twist.

As you know I am using a French-English dictionary and so I have chosen the word Guirlande which means garland or wreath.

Quite a simple page this time with not too much dimension. It is getting quite difficult to work on the pages in the book now as the pages are no longer lying flat. All the elements for this design were made off-page using die cuts (Memory Box Grapevine Wreath for the wreath and Tim Holtz's Tattered Flower Garland for the flowers). See how considered this page was? - "Wreath" and "garland" dies - all totally deliberate! ;0)

The cardstock is all core'dinations and the red flowers were embossed with a text embossing folder.

The gems are from Kaisercraft but have been toned down a little with some Butterscotch Alcohol Ink.

Thanks for looking, hope to catch up with you soon.

Sunday Stampers #246 - Texture-tastic Tag

Hello again and welcome.

This weeks Sunday Stampers Challenge (you can find out more by clicking on the button in the side bar) is themed on the song title "You Raise Me Up" and is therefore texture. As my post title suggests I have gone all out on embellishing my tag with different textures - so without further ado, here is my Timeless textured Tag...

And some detail shots...

Just in case you are interested the following shots show some of the steps and individual elements involved in creating this piece.

The tag started off as a greyboard die cut, which I painted with gesso and then stamped with a text stamp in Jet Black Archival. I then swiped over a layer of Weathered Wood Distress Stain and heat set. Next came the first layer of texture, modelling paste applied through a mask. When this was almost dry I stamped in to the paste with a grungy number stamp to give added texture and then allowed to dry fully.

Using an ink blender I applied light layers of Wild Honey DI to the right hand side of the tag and Rusty Hinge to the left, blending a little in various places. Next I sparingly stamped my tiny Harlequin stamp (yet again!) in Rusty Hinge on random "bricks".

I then left this to dry and moved on to the embellishments.

The flourish is die cut from greyboard coated with self adhesive aluminium tape.

I used a Ten Seconds Studio embossing wheel to add texture to the metal tape and then applied Alcohol Inks to colour.

This picture shows the textured and inked flourish layered on to a piece of burlap and placed over-hanging the edge of the tag.

A piece of Tim Holtz Filmstrip Ribbon (adhered with hi-tack tape but allowed to keep its natural curve at the right hand end) adds another layer of texture.

Other textured embellishments include a handmade lace flower (tutorial here), a feather, tiny postcard (stamped onto white cardstock, inked with Antique Linen DI to "age" and edges distressed with a distressing tool), a salvaged Christmas lights bulb (stripped of its plastic socket and inked with Butterscotch Alcohol Ink), a  K and Co Words To Go - well - word, inked and distressed as before and pushed in to a memo pin and finally a faceted gem.

I also used some gold microbeads here and there on the brickwork to add yet another layer of texture and interest.

Supplies used are as follows...

Cutting Dies

Sizzix BigZ / Tim Holtz Alterations - Tags and Bookplates and Elegant Flourishes

Stamps

Text - PaperArtsy Hot Picks
Grungy numbers - PaperArtsy Ink and the Dog Minis 23
Postcard - Papermania Urban Stamps - Bookprint, Around the World 2

Inks

Ranger Archival - Jet Black
Distress Inks - Wild Honey, Rusty Hinge
Distress Stain - Weathered Wood
Adirondak Alcohol Inks - Butterscotch, Espresso, Rust

Other

Mask - That Special Touch Mask - Bricks
Seam Binding - Angel Crafts
Burlap - Hobbycrafts
Filmstrip Ribbon - Tim Holtz Idea-ology Findings
"Timeless" - K and Co. - Black and White Words to Go
Faceted gem - Making Memories - Paper Reverie - Metalique
Red gem brad - WHSmith
Wooden bird - Kars
Microbeads - Accent beads
Memo pin - Tim Holtz Idea-ology Findings
Cotton Crochet Lace and Feather - from stash

That's all for now, off to make dinner... Thanks for stopping by.

Get me - not crawling in under the wire! Sunday Stampers #244 and ABAC #12

Hello and Happy Valentine's Day to you and a very big thank you to all my WOYWW visitors who inspired me to carry on with a project which - if I'm honest - was a bit like pulling teeth!

Any way... 

I can't believe this is my THIRD post of the week - (OK I'm only managing this because I'm ironing on a need to wear basis!) I wanted to get my submissions in for Sunday Stampers (Endless Love) and Anything But A Card (Share the love) without having to rush (too much).

So here is my offering...

And here are some detail shots

(Handmade lace flower)

I have never done a project that has been such a roller coaster ride as this one! 

I loved my initial background stamping, but OH DEAR when I added colour to the canvas AAARGH!!! I hated it, not even my favourite crumpled tissue paper trick worked - it looked more like something from Chainsaw Massacre than Endless Love! So on Wednesday (gosh was that only yesterday?!) a coat of gesso and a rapid retreat were called for. 

After a spirit lifting voyage round the WOYWW world and some kind and uplifting reciprocal visits, I hit my craft room in a flurry of lace and flowers this morning and - in my eyes anyway - a phoenix has risen from the ashes! (or maybe that should be splashes? - groan)

Here or the (now not so gory) details

Canvas

8x8 ins Daler Rowney canvas board

Die

Sizzix BigZ / Tim Holtz Alterations - Caged Bird

Stamps

Background text - Paper Artsy Hot Picks HP1006; Tiny Harlequin - unknown

Winged heart and rose vine - Kanban Stamp 09

Inks

Images - Ranger Archival - Jet Black (second impression used for rose vine)

Background - Distress Stains - Spun Sugar, Fired Brick, Weathered Wood

Bird cage - DI - Vintage Photo

Scroll - DI - Antique Linen

Markers (for colouring heart) - Promarkers - Ruby, Cardinal  Red

Wings - highlighted with Sakura Gelly Roll Clear Star

Paint

Bird cage - Hobbycraft acrylic - antique gold

Other

Embossing powder - (bird cage) Stampin Stuff - Vertigre

Cream cotton lace

Vintage brass button

Mulberry paper roses

Red foam roses

Heart shaped deco pin 

Well that's all for now, I'm off to post my links, hope you like the end result, see you soon.

Here be Foxes ... Sunday Stampers #243

Hello Friends!

And a very warm welcome to my new followers and those lovely ladies checking in from WOYWW, thank you for all your kind comments and for taking the time to visit.

Here, as promised, is my finished tunnel book on the animal theme set by Hels for this week's Sunday Stampers Challenge - and this was a challenge as I really don't have many animal stamps in my stash! (Apologies for the awful photos there's something weird about the light here today)

And some close ups - can you spot the squirrel hiding in the trees?

Here he is...

A shot showing the construction

Sort of showing the spritzing on the background

I came across the idea for this tunnel book in Cloth Paper Scissors' Bucket List issue and thought it would work well with the Gorjuss foxes stamps (I had originally intended to do a small canvas - but liked the idea of the Gorjuss girl peeping at the foxes from behind the trees; the 3D nature of this project was ideal for giving the depth I needed to make the peeping idea work).

This was a fiddly but fun project (which owes much to the amazing engineering properties of the paperclip here - click on the photo to enlarge and you'll see what I mean!) and would make a lovely and different card for some one you love VERY much (it squashes down to about an inch thick - but perhaps one for hand delivery!)

Top tips for this one

• use a bone folder to make your accordion folds
• to make the folds even start in the middle and then fold each half in two, then each quarter and so on
• crease each fold both ways - this stops the cardstock curving in on itself
• work out your page designs on scrap paper first then flip over and transfer your design to the back of the cardstock

And now for the details...

Stamps

Girl and foxes - Gorjuss "The Foxes"
Woodgrain - Kaisercraft woodgrain
Sign - Stamps Away C1081
Squirrel - Habico Vintage Corners

Inks

Background - Distress Inks (DI); Scattered Straw, Peeled Paint, Bundled Sage, Forest Moss spritzed with water to give additional texture (I wanted the look of dappled green light coming through the forest)

Woodgrain - DI Gathered Twigs
Inking on trees - DI Tea Dye
Girl and foxes - Memento Rich Cocoa
Sign - DI Antique Linen to tone down the bright white cardstock and Papermania pigment ink
Text and brad - Adirondack Alcohol ink Pitch Black

Markers

Copic Ciao and Sketch, Promarkers

Other

Kraft cardstock, super smooth white cardstock, Dovecrafts Back to Basics Vintage Christmas 6x6 paper stack
Spruce tree die - Marianne Designs Creatables LR0136


I'd love to know what you think...

Have a lovely weekend