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.

Smile - it's The Craft Barn's Q & L Challenge

Hello again and welcome.

It's January - so it is time for a new challenge over at The Craft Barn.  This year it is the Quotes and Lyrics Challenge. Each fortnight the DT give a two word prompt and you have to find a quote or song lyric using either or both words and design a project using your chosen quote or lyric. If you want the full explanation go here. The current challenge words are "smile" and "up".

I've decided to make a quote book using a Daler Rowney hard-backed sketch book. My plan is to produce an Art Journal style book with my chosen quote on the left hand page and space to include additional quotes on the same theme on the right hand page.

For my first page I've chosen the word SMILE and this sweet little quote:

“There's enchantment in a smile, did you know?
Shall I prove in a wink that it is so?
Watch my mouth grin wide and see,
How quick your lips smile back at me!”

Richelle E. Goodrich, Smile Anyway

I just liked the reminder of how irresistible something as simple as a smile can be.

The background is made using a technique I've borrowed from Vicky Papaioannou (see her YouTube video here - LOVE HER!). I've used some VERY old Papermania 12x12 stack papers cut in to rectangles and randomly stuck all over the page to create the textured background, and then two colours of acrylic paint (NOW I wish I had TH Distress Paints!) over the top, blended with a baby wipe.

I used an orange Posca paint pen to emphasise the joins between the paper rectangles and a little bit of Vintage Photo DI here and there too. I've inked Wild Honey (or Rusty Hinge - sorry can't remember which) DI over a Kaisercraft Doily template and stamped flowers and a Cactus Annie text stamp in Espresso Archival ink to add some extra interest in the background.

Showing the texture of the paper rectangle background

The letters are American Crafts Rootbeer Float Thickers (had these for years too - I'm making a BIG effort to USE MY STASH this year!).

I made the library card pocket from the same Papermania paper as the background and gave it the same inky treatment. (I downloaded the template from Ruth Ann Zaroff at Mirkwood Designs - she has loads of great printable templates)

My plan is to collect additional quotes on tags and store them in the library pocket - the quote I have already is a Paper Artsy stamp (HPXT04).

Well that's it from me, leave me a message so I know you came and I'll come to see how you're playing along soon...

Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2013 - September

Once upon a time (30 or so years ago) I was a Girl Guide. I'm not ashamed to admit it, it's a big part of what has made me the independent and practical person I am today. 

When I was a Girl Guide we had a District Commissioner called Mrs Armstrong a lovely (very posh) lady for whom we all had affection and a great deal of respect. Mrs Armstrong was the lady who, apart from her role as Commissioner, tested us for our Camping Badge and the Commonwealth Badge for those few of us who became Queen's Guides. As such she was a stickler for things to be done - just so. Mrs Armstrong was  a "tough cookie" but she was also an inspirational leader whose words have stayed with me to this day. In a difficult situation she would always exhort, "Stick-ability girls! You must have stick-ability!" What she meant, of course, was that however difficult or frustrating a task is, you must keep at it until you've completed it, that you never give up.

Why am I telling you this? Because my September Tag has been an exercise in stick-ability. My completed tag is my fourth attempt at what should have been a pretty straight forward layered stencil technique (you can see Tim's Tag here). I really don't know why I had such a nightmare with this tag, but the problem came not with the layered stencils but with THE most basic step - Distress Staining my tag!

In the end I did admit defeat (I was running out of tags) and switched from DS to Dylusions spray inks and was MUCH happier with the results - I'm wondering if the root of the problem lay in the fact that I don't have a full arsenal of Distress Stains and the colours I do have just weren't working for me - who knows?

Anyway, I hope this explains the sentiment I've used on my tag, and you might notice the brass tag attached to the ribbon - a lucky find from my stash of random stuff!

I really like the effect of the honeycomb stencil on the seam binding.

I used a That Special Touch mica mask (swirls) inked with Gathered Twigs DI in place of Tim's Rays, I really like the effect of the subtle darker shade over the vibrant Dylusions. (Cherry Pie, Lemon Zest and Squeezed Orange)

Love that Cherry Pie ink, it looks great with the black stamping.

I'm pleased with the final result, so sticking at it definitely paid off!

Thank you for looking, please leave me a comment so I know you came and I'll try and visit you too.

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.

Creating Sets Me Free - Sunday Stamper's Challenge #224

A very quick post to submit my project for this weeks Sunday Stamper challenge - Behind the Mask - which  of course means using masks and stencils.

Well I've got to say that this isn't the project I designed in my head but circumstances were against me and I couldn't get hold of the mask I wanted to use - so I've had to "make do and mend" with what I've got! So here it is. My Behind the Mask tag...

As a newbie to the world of mixed media art - and having a great deal more imagination than skill, I often feel constrained by my lack of training and overwhelmed by self doubt. BUT there is nothing I enjoy more than losing myself in a project (to the extent that I have no fewer than six alarm times set on my phone to make sure I don't miss any of my school pick ups!)

I wanted to illustrate this feeling of release from reality that creating brings and have used my favourite caged bird image (mask) to represent the ties of everyday life and  the stamped images of the bird sitting on the branch and the flock of birds soaring to represent the lightness of spirit I get when I'm playing in my craft room.

The key and ball-and-chain pinned to the fibres echo the themes of constraint and release.

The deets:

I began by cutting out the tag using my Cuttlebug - the die is a Sizzix Bigz die so cutting with a Cuttlebug takes a bit of fiddling with the cutting plates but is OK with this particular die as the tag part of the die fits the Cuttlebug plates - if you want to cut the reinforcers you need to reposition the plates at that end of the die and the pass them through the machine again.

Next I inked up the tag, a light covering of Tumbled Glass DI applied with a distressing tool over the whole surface of the tag, followed by Broken China DI blended from the top right hand corner fading back diagonally towards the middle of the tag.

I then applied Faded Jeans DI through the bird cage mask repeatedly pouncing the distressing tool to build up depth of colour and definition.

When the ink had dried I stamped the birds in Chipped Sapphire DI

At this stage I felt that the whole piece was very two dimensional and a bit dull, so I went over the bird cage in Jelly Roll Clear Star to give a little sparkle and interest. Sadly the photos don't do the Clear Star justice. The tag is sitting on an easel on my work bench and is twinkling at me beautifully in the lamp light. If you haven't come across Clear Star yet take my advice and give it a go - I'm not a big fan of glitter on my projects but this pen gives a very subtle sparkle and is so easy to use - no mess, no glue, no glitter on parts where glitter didn't aught to be!

I stamped the text on white cardstock using Chipped Sapphire, cut out the words individually and lightly inked them with Tumbled Glass to knock back the bright white a little. I then inked the edges (both text and tag) with Chipped Sapphire and then mounted the text on foam pads to add depth.

The fibres (more from my RAK - I said they'd make another appearance!), chain and key are pinned on with a baby blue safety pin.

Die - Tim Holtz Alterations Movers & Shapers - Tag & Bookplates
Mask -The Crafters Workshop Mini Birds of a Feather
Stamps - Birds -Crafty Individuals  CI 234, Alphas - Studio G alphabet stamp set
Ink - Tim Holtz Distress Inks - Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Faded Jeans, Chipped Sapphire
Pen - Sakura Jelly Roll - Clear Star
Fibres, chain, key, safety pin - from stash

I had intended to do an Autumnal mixed media canvas - but never mind I now have another tag to add to my growing tag gallery!

I wont be entering the Challenge this weekend as Mr M and I are leaving the junior Moonshines with Grandma and Grandad and sneaking away for a short break in Northumberland (Please don't let it rain any more!) Mr M - being the wonderful chap that he is, has even agreed to stopping over in Harrogate for an extra night on the way home so that I can visit the Great North Papercraft Extravaganza on Saturday. Tell you what - Mr M really is a TOP BANANA!