Winter Wonderland

I made this card in my head and I wish you could have seen it 'cos it was lovely, subtle, understated elegance however stick a tube of glitter glue in my hand and....
wayhey we're back at junior school and my tongue's sticking out and there's glitter on the cat and....:o)
Anyhoo this is my entry to The Royal Academy of Arts - no, better than that, it's Sir Stampalot's Winters Tale, Crafty Hazelnut's Trees, Simon Says Stamp and Show Masking, and last but definitely not least, Lots to Do which is brayering.
I stamped my new Art Kure stamps on glossy white, and coloured with distress inks. Then I lightly??? stickled and and 'fluffy stuffed' the roofs, and cut out.
I brayed the background with a Big and Juicy in pale blue, then added Glimmer Screens (had these 3 years - they finally made it out of the box) as masks and sprayed with glimmer mists. Note to self 2 colours is gooood 3 is baaaaaad. How can silver turn blue and green into mud??
So, started again, used the screens as masks, sprayed, then turned them over and used as stamps.
It may not be elegant but it was fun to make, and I get to spend the rest of the evening tidying up - does it get any better??
Thanks very much for looking x

It's All Change - Well Simon Said To Alter It!!

 I have always loved looking at altered art on other peoples blogs, but it's something I've never had a go at myself, so when I saw in advance that The Stampman were going to have a Altered challenge I thought it was the perfect time to have a go!
So my weapon of choice was this,

it's a cutlery tray from a discount store. Why I couldn't have started with a wooden spoon I don't know :o)

I sanded and painted with black acrylic paint, then sprayed inside and out with purples and orange glimmer mists. It's the first time I've persevered with the glimmer mists and I'm now a convert!
Now came the small task of filling it - again why not a wooden spoon!!.
So I made some atc's, microscope slides, and then my new Alteration dies landed with a thud on my mat, so these were used immediately :o) on Coredinations card, and sanded.
The inks are a mixture of distress and dye, and a wee bit of embossing has gone on as well.
It's by far the most adventurous thing I've ever made. I'm officially the slowest crafter in the world, and this has taken me days  weeks, but I've really enjoyed watching it come together. Though as my DH says 'What are you going to do with it??'  Men!!
The stamps are by Artistic Outpost and Cherry Pie.
The images are by Itkupilli and Moonlight Journey
I'm entering this for Stampman's Altered challenge
Lot's to Do - Alter it
Sunday Stampers - Paint it Black
Simon Says Stamp and Show Sanded/Distress.
Theme Thursday - Dark Gothic/Halloween
Thanks very much for looking - I'm going to tidy up the conservatory now 'cos it looks like we've been burgled (again!!)

A Little Bit of Summer

A really quick post today 'cos it's late and it's a school day tomorrow, but I can't bear to watch Top Gear any longer. I think the Hamster is lovely, but I want to rip Clarkson's arm off and beat him with the bloody stump lol.

I don't normally like to combine challenges, but time has got the better of me this weekend, and I wanted to enter both so.... here's my entry for The Sunday Stampers and Artistic Stamper which is Something Old Something New, and Lots To Do, which is The Scenic Route.I'm hoping this counts as a Summer scene.

The something old was the childrens Pairs cards that I've altered. Now my two are 19 and 17, but I'm sure we still have most of their old toys. I suppose it's our fault 'cos we still have Neil's original Scalextric in the loft (it's so old the cars have gone from classic to vintage) and I've still got my old bear, which used to be bigger than me, but now alas I have far outgrown him.

I've used lots of gesso to cover the cards, and distress inks in shaded of yellow and green. The stamps are by Simple Expressions, and I always struggle to stamp these, but they look so nice if you can get them right. The something new is my lovely Clearz that came in my Blog Candy from The Stampman. I've tinted it with alcohol inks and stuck down with glossy accents. My bee's antena is my first attempt at wire work lol.

Hope the kids don't notice that there cards have gone missing :o) The paper on the front is from Tim's Lost and Found stack, which I've just got from The Fruit Pixie. This paper is gorgeous, but it's made me want the other stacks too now.

Clarkson's just about to drive his car at a lorry so I think I'll watch this bit :o)

Thanks very much for looking x

It's All Hearts and Flowers

The theme this week over at Lots To Do is In Stitches. Now I am not a stitcher - I remember as a kid my mum passing me needles to thread 'cos she couldn't see the eye in the needle. This will never happen to me I thought smugly....Well Mother Nature can be such a witch!!
So after my daughter had threaded several needles for me lol I cut out my ATC base in brown felt, and stitched on various felt die cuts.
This was quite relaxing actually, I usually do my crafting tucked away in the conservatory, but this time I joined the rest of the world in the living room and watched Midsommer Murders as I stitched. Honestly who would ever want to live in Midsommer, you wouldn't last two minutes :o)
Thanks very much for looking and have a great weekend x

Our House In The Middle of Our Street

 

Here is my entry to this weeks Lots To Do challenge which is people/and or places. I deciced to use one of Crafty Individuals little wooden houses. It's been gesso'd, painted, sanded, stamped and finished off with distress stickles. None of this really shows in the photos but never mind. I really liked the shabby chic technique I tried earlier on this week, so I've used this on my roof. Lots of TH distress inks and stickles to match. I didn't really see the point of these stickles (as I bought about 12 bottles :o) ) I couldn't see that glitter would go with the grungy TH style. But I do like 'em, they are not tooo blingy, and you're allowed to put them on with your fingers!. I've been really adventurous and made myself a metal picket fence. My vintage family have been aged and UTEE'd. I'm still on a masive learning curve with my melt pot, like it cools instantly, so there's no point in making a pool in the centre of your image and expecting it to swoosh around. uh uh sets solid in the middle, but a blast with the heat gun melts it down again :o)

Thanks very much for looking, and enjoy the World Cup Final x

Lots To Do Challenge - Architecture

Better late than never, here is my entry to this weeks Lots to Do challenge which is architecture.
Lots of paint and ink for the background, the main images are stamps from the Artistic Stamper. I've dug out my Perfect Pearls from the bottom of a tote bag. These were my favourite thing a couple of years ago, but once they got put away they never came out again. They give quite a nice patina affect around the shirine/temple/thingy, and that's what my god and godess are stamed in.
My handsome gargoyle is from Stamp Camp, and the Bricks and Mortar is from Paper Artsy.
I am ashamed to say that history passed me by at school, so I don't know if I have mixed my Greeks and my Romans lol.
Thanks for looking, it's back to work tomorrow - where do Sundays go ?......

Messing About With Beeswax

Here is my entry for this weeks Lots To Do Challenge which is Beeswax. I've been uming and ahing about buying a meltin pot for ages. I love all things gadgetry, but I have been know to leave them in the box when I've bought them, and just dust 'em occasionally. The little pot definitely won't fall into this catagory 'cos it's fab. It does what it says on the tin, it melted the wax, and kept it at an even temperature, and I didn't have to mess about with heat guns and mince pie tins. (boy those mince pies were good though)
I brayered a tag in blues and greens, and covered with tissue using the melted wax.
I've used some Tim Holtz stamps, and some of his film ribbon (love this stuff)
I've also used the wax to attach some Beadazzles, postage stamps, and the wood chips. I've put rub on flowers onto these and coated again with wax.
I'ts good to be dipping my toe into crafting again, and I really enjoyed this challenge.

Whirlpool of Passion!!

Ooo er Missus - not the sort of think I would read you understand (contact me later and I'll tell you how it ends) but this is what my bathing beauty is interested in. She's my entry to this weeks Sunday Postcard (bathing beauties) and Lots to Do (charms) challenges.
My background has been gesso'd so it's nice and textured, and stamped with the Prima newspaper stamp. This has been coloured with various distress inks and white acrylic. The beauties image is from the Crafty Image Emporium CD, which I've water coloured. Her parasol is from the same CD.
The hatpin started off as romantic red, but I wanted it to be blue so I coloured it with a peel off pen. Altogether now red and blue make PURPLE.
The rub ons are from Creative Imaginations - these are my favouritist rub-ons ever, and I thought she looked like a bit of a heartbreaker so I've given her the key to some poor fools heart!
My mum found a couple of peacock feathers and gave 'em to me bless her. She says they are unlucky and she may be right 'cos that's all she found of the peacock.
The romantic fiction is curtesy of Messrs Mills & Boon, it says in my Claudia book (you may have heard me mention it) that this is a great place to look for quotes. Boy was she right - there was some real doosies lol.
Enjoy what's left of the weekend - or do what I'm going to do and iron till the early hours !
Thanks very much for looking x

I've Cracked It Too

Here is my entry to this weeks Lot's To Do challenge which is 'cracking'.
I've used the acrylic paint and PVA technique and it's worked out very nicely on my sticky canvas. I tried it last week on mountboard and it ended up in the bin.
I've used Ranger acrylic in pesto as the base coat, a layer of Bostic PVA, then a layer of white acrylic on top.
We've got a lovely sunny day today so this dried while I was cleaning the kitchen. (DH did a lovely full English but this means that the kitchen then needs re-decorating lol)
I've stamped TH's tree's and reindeer in distress inks over the top, and swiped Pine Needles around the sides.
Does this mean it is time to start on the Christmas Cards :o)
Thanks very much for looking x

Another Card - Simples

This little guy is my entry for this weeks Lots To Do ,Sketch and Stash and Dare u 2 Digi Stamp challenges. The Lots to Do challenge is numbers, and as it's my Brother in Law's 40th birthday soon I thought I better get on with his card. I'd like to say that it's a little something I knocked up in my coffee break, but in fact it took me AGES to make. Why is it some people make fantastic cards in minutes and it takes me forever to make one that I have a picture of the layout for??
The new element of the card is the digi download from Sandra Dry Designs. My brother in law is a big Southampton?? supporter, so I've done 'Simples' in the team colours. My bit of bling for their challenge is the glitter down the lapels of his smoking jacket.
As soon as I saw the meerkats I had to buy the whole lot - they are so cute and great for a man's card. Anything that makes these easier is OK by me!
Thanks very much for looking xx

Lots To Do Challenge - Art

This is my entry for this weeks Lots To Do Challenge, which this week is Art.
I've tried to keep my ATC as simple as possible. It's been stamped and coloured with distress inks. I've stamped parts onto sticky backed canvas, and stuck over the top.
The butterfly has a coating of glossy accents, and job done.
Thanks very much for looking. xx

Funky Boxes

I ran out of time today so I had to combine a couple of challenges. At Lots to Do the challenge is to make a box, and at Funky Fairy's it's fruits or fruity colours. The papers are from a Funky Fairys download, A Chocolate Christmas, and I've made an ATC and an ATC box. The box embellishment's are plasma pieces from Craftwork Cards, and the background stamps on the ATC are by Sassafrass Lass, and the main image is an Elusive Images one.
Thanks very much for looking.

Not Quite What I Had In Mind....

You know what it's like when you know exactly what you want to make but then your 'creation' seems to grow legs and run off in it's own direction, well that's what happened with this.
As soon as I saw that the challenge over at Lots To Do
was eyes I knew that I had to use the beautiful girl image. I also knew I had the eye stamp somewhere, but as my filing system consists of a big yellow tub, it wasn't easy to find.
There's been lots of embossing and brayering but as I have used a matt tag rather than glossy this is what it turned out like. Not what I had in mind but I quite like it all the same.
Happy Sunday everyone and thanks for looking. xx

http://lotstodocallenges.blogspot.com/2009/02/week-8-eyes-have-it.html

Lots To Do and The Sunday Stampers

Over on Lots To Do this week the challenge is 'Wings'.
This little Tim Holtz fella was still in his packet with not a sniff of ink, so out he came. The ATC background is a piece of Thomsons Local stuck onto some mountboard, and painted with lots of diluted acrylic paint.
The same for the stamped image, then he was cut out and stuck down. A little bit of German Scrap, then some water soluble pastels around the edges. Lots of clear glaze to seal it all down and job done!
The little guy also fits in nicely with the challenge on Sunday Stampers which is boys.
A lovely messy challeng, and thanks for looking xx

http://lotstodocallenges.blogspot.com/2009/02/week-7-wings.html

http://pinkleart.blogspot.com/2009/02/sunday-stamper-week-47-oh-boy.html

Lots To Do - Marvelous Metal

First of all my apologies for my naff photograph, but I was fighting the light, I have no photographic skills, and it's just started to snow again! The challenge on Lot's to Do this week is metal, so I thought I would do an ATC.Now the only metal I have is 3 sheets that I bought 3 years ago when I was very new to crafting and had to have EVERYTHING (ok that hasn't changed) and 3 years later is still sat in the bag that I brought it home in (mm I'm starting to see a pattern emerging here) lol. Anyway... the copper sheet came out of the bag today!! I Cuttlebugged a frame, and it looked all shiny and new, so I wacked it with a hammer a few times, then painted with copper acrylic dabber and sprinkled with verdigris embossing powder. A quick blast with the heat gun and the paint bubbled nicely, and it all looked a bit older and wiser.
The chain is from Tim Holtz , and the background paper is K&Co.
I really enjoyed this challenge, and the metal said it enjoyed coming out of the drawer.
Thanks for looking xx
http://lotstodocallenges.blogspot.com/2009/02/week-6-marvelous-metal.html

Lots To Do Challenges Week 3 Keys

I've hunted down one of my old favourite Tanda stamps for this ATC. I've stamped and embossed, then coloured him in with pigment inkpads and re-embossed. The background is brilliance pearlescent ink and the whole thing has been UTE'd.
The colours are a little more subtle in real life but the flash seems to make them pop!
Thanks for looking xx
http://lotstodocallenges.blogspot.com/2009/01/week-3-keys.html

Lots To Do Challenges - Decoupage

The theme on Lots to Do this week is decoupage. Now the very word sends shivers down my spine as my cutting out leaves a lot to be desired, and silicone glue does my head in. However this stamp by Stampotique is great for decoupage as it's full of straight lines, and the layers you can use are pretty obvious.
The background paper and rub on's are by Creative Imaginations, and I love 'em to bits. I've stamped the stamp on several different coloured cards and cut out her clothes, socks and hair.
I'm quite pleased with her - wish I was as thin!!
Thanks for making me decoupage, and thanks for looking.xx
http://lotstodocallenges.blogspot.com/2008/05/week-8-decoupage.html

Sunday Stampers & Lots to Do Challenges

I've cheated today and done a combined challenge. The Sunday Stampers challenge is Boys, and on Lots to Do it's to make a 3x3 ATC collage. This is something I havn't even heard of until today, so that's my excuse!!
I've stamped and embossed various 'boy' images, then inked over the background with so cats eyes chalk ink pads, then overstamped with whatever took my fancy.
The fun part was cutting it up then seeing what it looked like. I enjoyed making this - don't know what to do with it now though??
Hope it's ok, and thanks for looking. xx
http://lotstodocallenges.blogspot.com/2008/05/week-7-9-atc-collage.html
http://pinkleart.blogspot.com/2008/05/sunday-stampers-week-15-two-little-boys.html

Lots To Do Challenges -Alter a CD

The theme this week is 'Alter a CD' and I was so far out of my comfort zone it wasn't within waving distance!!. This was my 1st attempt at altering anything, so I havn't been very adventurous.
The background has been inked in blues and greens, then overstamped with Rhoner Farrer Clear Stamps and Tim Holtz's birds.
I shut my eyes when I punched the hole with the crop-a-dile, and was amazed when the CD didn't splinter into a zillion pieces.
I was quite enjoying myself by the time I had finished, so thanks very much for the challenge. xx
http://lotstodocallenges.blogspot.com/2008/04/week-6-alter-cd.html

Lots To Do Challenges - Tag It

Key to Your Heart
This weeks challenge is to incorporate a tag into your project. I've used Paper Artsy, and Catslife Press stamps - stamped and coloured in distress inks. The Grungeboard heart and key has been painted in gold acrylic dabber, and held in place with red brads.
The tag has been mounted onto a acetate jacket, and a Creative Imaginations rub on has been used to finish off. I love these rub - ons, they are so versatile.
I think this is destined to be my sisters anniversary card soon.
Thanks for looking.
http://lotstodocallenges.blogspot.com/