Sunshine and Showers

Here's my art for The Craft Barn's Calendar Challenge where April's words are  BLUE and UMBRELLA(S).   My calendar is going to be an A5 flip one so I'm creating on 14cm square card which will be mounted on black A5 card at the end of the year.

I have two stamps with umbrellas/parasols on so thought I'd use them both - the Crafty Individuals' Bathing Beauty from the By the Sea set (CI - 278) and Tim Holtz's Brolly Man.  I thought this was appropriate as April can be a bit indecisive in the weather department - sometimes sunny but with those pesky showers.  For the background I've used a mix of blue Distress Inks - Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Chipped Sapphire and Faded Jeans and splattered some water on the rainy side!!  The bathing beauty is coloured with bright markers and I've added some white paint for the waves crashing on her feet. 

So which side do you prefer??   

Hope you like and thanks for visiting - you're always welcome!

Craft Barn Challenge - January

The new year long Calendar Challenge has just started at The Craft Barn and guess what for January   the theme is to use AQUA and SNOWFLAKES.   As ever the hardest part at the beginning of a challenge is to decide what format to use - I've decided to decorate 14cm squares which can be added to an A5 size flip calendar.
 

 

So to begin I've stamped the Snowflakes from Tim Holtz's Reindeeer Flight set and embossed with Sparkle EP.  I ripped some paper to create a hill and then sprayed French Mint Ink in a Bottle over the snowflakes. For the bottom half, I stippled some Tumbled Glass Distress Ink in places and then stamped the Pine Trees from the same Tim Holtz set with Pine Needles Distress.   The calendar is just printed off the computer.

As well as the Calendar Challenge The Craft Barn are doing weekly challenges too so why not pop over and have a look - there are prizes to be won.

Speaking of prizes, I'm having a GIVEAWAY to celebrate 5 years of blogging.  All the details are HERE so any comments on any of my posts till February 16th will go in the pot for a chance to win.  I'm still tidying my Oak House Studio stamp box so there may well be more stamps added to the prize!!

Many thanks for visiting my blog.

Vintage Journey - IKB

As I have a little time at the moment I thought I'd make a card for  the Vintage Journey Challenge where the theme is to use a Portrait.  I couldn't think of a personal one to use so went with this famous portrait of Isambard Kingdom Brunel. 

He's a hero in our house as my husband is a Railway Engineer and both my daughters were given Brunel awards at school for doing well in Maths and Physics.  One year an actor came into school to do the assembly and sang a song about IKB hence the title!!

The challenge is based on Tim Holtz style so I've done a swooshy mix of Pine Needles, Iced Spruce, Broken China and Salty Ocean for the background and mopped up the excess with the seam binding.   The stamps are from Tim's Steampunk set plus the Checker Plate from Kaisercraft to carry on the metallic theme.  The frame and gears were painted with black acrylic and Silver Dabber and to finish I've just added the Discoveries Word Band.

Not very good daylight this morning to take a photo but I hope you like what you see.  Thanks for popping by and for leaving a comment - they are always very much appreciated.

The Inventors

At last a wet morning when I can't go out or garden so I've actually got my inks out and created something!!  This is my 19th postcard for the Craft Barn's Quotes and Lyrics Challenge where the words are PATIENCE and/or BETTER.

This quote by Herman Melville appealed to me - I don't look what others have made or the words they've used till after I've finished mine.  So my choice is original (well in my head anyway)!   I had a rummage through my stamps and decided to use Tim Holtz's Steampunk set with the 3 men as Inventors.   The background is sprayed with Oak House Studio's Citrus Orange Ink in a Bottle and the stamping is Fired Brick and Pumpkin Pie Pigment Inks with the Inventors in Onyx Black Versafine.

Well that's one piece done - now I have week 17 and 18 to catch up with and about 5 weeks of journal pages to do.  Not sure what colour my fingers will be by the end of the day!!   Thanks for popping by and for any comments you leave - they're very much appreciated.

The Craft Barn's Quotes and Lyrics

Well I've finally had some time to get crafting and have done this fortnight's challenge as well as two postcards that I had missed.  For full details of the challenge go to The Craft Barn's blog.

I'll start with the current week 14 where the words to use are IMAGINATION and/or LOGIC.  I decided to make it easy for myself and use my Tim Holtz stamp with Imagination in it.  The background was an inky blue piece of scrap card -  I over stamped and  clear embossed with the Splat stamp  and then blended on Faded Jeans Distress.   I carried on the Milky Way type feel of this with some stars, rays and more splats - all stamps from Tim Holtz's Bitty Grunge set. 

In week 13 the words were PATH and/or HORIZON and I've chosen this Irish Blessing.  I've used Oak House Studio products for this one - Bobby's Grey Ink in a Bottle sprayed through a brick wall mask to create a path and stamps from the Sketchy Flowers set.  I've used the solid flower stamp inked in various colours for the background then created a bunch of flowers with the outline stamps and the leaves.  I've cut some green card for the grass and added some Bazzill Edges for the frame.

The other week I missed was week 11 where we had a choice between MOUNTAIN and/or MISTAKE.   I really struggled to find an interesting quote that I could depict so in the end I went with this quote from John Muir.   I've blended with Distress inks to create a very rough mountain scene (Broken China, Faded Jeans, Weathered Wood, Bundled Sage & Mowed Lawn) and then stamped Tim Holtz's Fir Trees with Pine Needles Distress for my forest. 

An eclectic mix I think you will agree but I'm so pleased I'm now up-to-date.   Thanks so much for coming to visit and for any comments you leave - they are always very much appreciated!

March to Music

Sorry for the lack of blogging but I've been invigilating in the exams at the local school and inspiration deserted me.  However I have managed to do my 10th postcard for The Craft Barn's Quotes and Lyrics Challenge - this time the words are PASSION and/or MUSIC.

To be honest nothing I read popped an image into my head until I saw this one by Thomas Carlyle which made me think of Scottish marching bands etc.  Unfortunately I don't have a Scottish piper or drummer stamp so used the Toy Soldiers Blueprint stamp from Tim Holtz. The background is a swooshy mix of Tumbled Glass and Salty Ocean Distress overstamped with Tim Holtz's Music stamp and the World Map from Darkroom Door.  

I got all my postcards out to see what colour scheme to use and here they all are together.......an eclectic mix!!   Think I need to use reds and oranges next time!!

Many thanks for looking and any comments you leave - they are very much appreciated!

Paris in the Spring!

I've made a tag for A Vintage Journey challenge where this fortnight the theme is a Little Bit French.

My Scrapbook Magazine came the other day along with some free Bo Bunny papers - usually they get forgotten but this time I noticed some with French writing so that's the base of my tag.  I've used Aged Mahogany to colour the edges, to stamp Tim Holtz's Eiffel Tower and added Wild Honey to die some seam binding.   I've coloured some gloss card with Spiced Marmalade, stamped the words using my PSX Alphabet in Vermillion and stamped Mona Lisa with Potting Soil.

Hope it makes you smile!!

A Vintage Dream

The next theme at A Vintage Journey challenge is to use WORDS - I've used quite a few but the main one is DREAM.

The background is a swooshy mix of Distress Inks - Vintage Photo, Rusty Hinge, Shabby Shutters,  a hint of Walnut Stain plus a light spray of gold Perfect Pearls. It's overstamped in Potting Soil Archival with 4 different word stamps from Tim Holtz all including dream or imagine.   The flower (Rusty Hinge, Spiced Marmalade and Mustard Seed)  is cut using the Tattered Florals die and the Shabby Shutter leaves are cut using the Tattered Leaves die.

The daylight this morning is awful again - damp and dreary - so not good for taking photos but I hope this card brightens your day a little.  Thanks for coming to visit!!

Art Quote

Here's my 5th postcard for The Craft Barn's Quotes and Lyrics challenge where this week the words are ROAD and/or ART.    Quite a lot of choices this week - Road lyrics and Art quotes - but I thought I'd use my Tim Holtz stamp with the famous Scott Adam's quote.

The background is sprayed with Ink in a Bottle - Spode Blue, Jubilee Blue and Pearl Silver which makes it difficult to photo but looks very shiny in real life!   I've stamped the quote with Onyx Black Versafine so it sits on the mica and just filled in the word Art with red sharpie.  I've blended Faded Jeans Distress ink through 2 stencils - Tim Holtz's Splatter to represent mistakes and Lin Brown's Paperartsy PS002 for art to keep!!

Hope you like and thanks for looking. 

Time Travel

Thought I'd have a play this morning and make a card for the new Vintage Journey Challenge.  It's a vintage, shabby Tim Holtz style challenge where the theme is Anything Tim - why don't you check out the link above and have a go....there are prizes too!!

Its a patchwork of card with lots of layers and I've used Aged Mahogany and Chipped Sapphire Distress Inks and Stains, plus Gold Dabber paint for backgrounds and stamping.  The stamps are all Tim Holtz from various sets and I've added gold through the Dot Fade stencil for added interest.  I've die cut the clock face and hands, painted gold and fastened with a brad.

I'm also going to enter this in the Country View Crafts challenge where the theme is PAPER.  Well all this is card (thick paper!) apart from the brad so hope it qualifies!

Well that's crafting done for the day - the sun is shining and the garden calls!!

Love on the Farm

Here's my postcard for The Craft Barn Quotes and Lyrics Challenge where the words are Marriage and/or Age.   Well I've been searching for quotes and lyrics but nothing inspired me till I found these lyrics on marriage from 'Love on a Farmboy's Wages' by XTC (early 1980s). 

I'm not sure I've quite captured the scene but it's supposed to be an idyllic country setting with a colourful sunrise and a cornfield - done with Distress Inks.  I've stamped and embossed Tim Holtz's Sunrays using Sunflower Brilliance and lots of vegetation from Chocolate Baroque and Crafty Individuals stamped with Thyme and Pearlescent Ivy Brilliance. 

If I have time, I may have another go at this to see if I can improve the perspectives.  Meantime, I'm off to see what everyone else has created.  Thanks for looking and for your comments - they are very much appreciated!!

Autumnal Cards

Just been out and bought Craft Stamper magazine and found both my cards on the Ready, Set, Stamp pages. I made them in April, forgot to take photos before I posted them and forgot all about them too. So here they are:

They are both made with papers from a Bo Bunny 6x6 paper pad and various stamps - the blueprint stamps above are Tim Holtz and the Sycamore leaves below are from Oak House Studio.

Apologies for the blurriness but I took photos of the glossy magazine pages!! Full details are in the magazine so go take a look - an even better deal this month as it comes with a free Scrap 365 magazine too.

Yellow Yacht

Here's ATC number 14 for The Craft Barn Alpha Dictionary Challenge where the letter is Y and the twist is we have to use YELLOW. The Yellow is fine - I've been trying to choose a colour, technique and subject for each letter. The problem is the subject - there are just so few Y words so I've chosen YACHT but also taken note of ytterbium and yttrium - white/silver/grey elements!

For the background I've used Tim Holtz's Sunray stamp, inked with Sunflower Yellow Brilliance and clear embossed. I've blended over this with Salty Ocean Distress Ink - lighter at the top for the sky and darker at the bottom for the ocean. The 'Yacht' is a Crafty Individuals stamp (CI-295) - not a simple yacht, but it does have sails and it was the only boat image I had!! I've embossed this in silver and then watercoloured over the hull and between the sails. My tag is finished with blue ric rac (think waves), the dictionary definition and the alcohol inked vinyl Thicker.

I probably made this harder for myself by choosing a subject beginning with Y - I could have done yellow flowers etc - but hope you like and thank you for looking. I'm off to see what everyone else has been doing!!

White Willow

Here's my next ATC for The Craft Barn's Alpha Dictionary Challenge - the letter is W and we have to use CIRCLES.

Well this one made me think as not many of the words I found in my dictionary seemed to go together and I'm still not sure the circles fit!!  Anyway I've chosen WILLOW.  For the background I've clear embossed the Circles stamp from Tim Holtz and then watercoloured my ATC with Walnut Stain Distress (keep the woody theme).  I only have the re-inker so added extra to make some of the circles really dark.  I've stamped the pussywillow from Chocolate Baroque's Spring Foliage set in  Cocoa Bean Brilliance and finished with the dictionary definition and White vinyl Thicker.

Now the sticks are in fact White Willow.  We visited the Willow Farm in the Somerset Levels last year and I picked up some samples of the willow (for scrapbooking purposes!). Apparently you get natural, green and white Willow using various processes and that gives the patterning on willow baskets etc.  I've just woven a little thread to tie it together.

So another educational week and I'm now off to see what everyone else has created.  If you are reading this, then thanks for looking!!

Tim's Tag - March 2013

Here's my take on Tim Holtz's tag for March 2013.  I knew this was going to be a struggle as soon as I saw Tim's post - other than some Distress Inks, I have nothing that Tim used on his own tag  so it's improvisation all the way.

The vintage Easter background I found on the net so I printed it off and blended the edges with Vintage Photo.  I don't have the rabbit die so I decided to go for an Easter Egg - handcut an oval out of a frame shape, filled this with christmas tinsel and coloured it with purple alcohol ink for Cadburys!  I did have some seam binding so I managed that OK - coloured with Mowed Lawn and Worn Lipstick and I finished the top half with an old Sizzix banner die and Friends Forever stamp from Oak House Studio.

Next problem was the grass and flowers - no metal flowers, so I punched some daisies out of metal and painted them with Paperartsy's Fresco Finish Chalk Paint (in Orchid and Guacamole).   The leaves were also punched and alcohol inked.  I don't have any stick pins, so I used cocktail sticks and ear pins to fasten them together.  The grass .... well no Tapered Fringe die or Kraftcore but I did find some Whitewash Card - chose a sheet with kraft on the reverse, coloured the front with Mowed Lawn and handcut the blades of grass. 

These sort of colours are really not my style but I have to admit I did enjoy the challenge!!  Thank you so much for coming to look at my blog and please leave a comment - they are very much appreciated!!

H for Halloween

Here's my next ATC for The Craft Barn's Alpha/Dictionary Challenge week 4 where the letter is H.

Plenty of options this week but the first word that jumped out at me was Haematite which set the red colour scheme, then Haemaglobin (red & blood), Halloween and Headstone.  So my ATC is an amalgamation of all those words.

The background is Festive Berries and Barn Door Distress Inks dried and then sprayed with Fired Brick re-inker to create some drippy blood.  I also stamped the tails from the butterfly (Tim Holtz's Fairytale Frenzy set) in Vermillion Archival to add to the effect.  The main stamps are from Tim Holtz's Mini Blueprints set - the Headstone with the Handwriting on it, the bat and the bones.  I've added the torn dictionary definition for Halloween and the alcohol inked white vinyl Thicker.

I'm not sure why it ended up so bloody and spooky - maybe I should have chosen to do something pretty with Houses or Hedges but still.  I thought this challenge would be fun to do but didn't realise it would be quite so educational!!

Anyway, hope you like and thanks for looking.  Off to have a look what everyone else has done!!

Tim's Tag - February 2013

Here's my take on Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of 2013 - February.

Now this was definitely a challenge as I don't have those blueprint stamps or the embossing folder or the tissue tape etc etc.  However the whole point I think is to take the general concept and improvise.... so that's what I've done.

The background is Festive Berries and Barn Door Distress spritzed with water .......so far, so good!  My Queen is a Paperartsy stamp by Lynne Perella  (LPS008) watercoloured, layered and with a gold crown. I've sanded back Black Magic Core'dinations embossed in a script folder and the charm is an oval fragment stuck over red paper and chitchat stickers.  It's finished with the hand, some raffia and some homemade tissue tape  (tissue, double sided tape and stamping).

I had great fun searching out all the bits and pieces - hope you like my take on Tim's tag and thanks for looking.

Robin in the Snow

At last I've got my act together and made a tag for Hels Sunday Stamper challenge week 241 where the theme is BIRDS.

Would you believe I made the background on Sunday using Salty Ocean and Evergreen Bough Distress Inks spritzed with Faded Jeans re-inker but then spent all week searching for my little birdie! I knew I had this Artemio wooden bird on a branch but where was he hiding ... why he was in my ribbon box I don't know!! Anyway he's coloured as a Robin with a mix of Sharpie pen and Distress Inks.

I overstamped the background with Tim Holtz's splodgey stamp from his Mixed Media set - I used Snowcap Dabber and then sprinkled on some Rock Candy Dry Glitter. I also created a bit of a snow drift at the bottom. It's just finished with some seam binding and words.

I thought the snow was supposed to go but the car was covered again this morning. Not too much but enough to make me stay in and finish this tag. Hope you like and thanks for looking!!

November

Here's my November tag for The Craft Barn Calendar Challenge week 11 where the theme is to use CIRCLES.

Back to my daughter's love of History and I had in mind the Houses of Parliament and Fireworks for November so I've used Big Ben from the Paperartsy HP1208 London set.  To fit the theme I've added the circle stamp from Tim Holtz's Bitty Grunge set, masked off Ben Ben and then bashed various Distress Stains to create the fireworks - Wild Honey, Fired Brick, Broken China and Brushed Pewter. I've edged the tag with Silver Dabber and finished it with Remember, the calendar and some seam binding.

The Brushed Pewter metallic stain look quite effective (although it doesn't show up in this photo) so if I have time this week, I may redo this on black/navy card, emboss Big Ben in gold and then use the metallic stains to create the fireworks.

I can't believe we are nearly at the end of this challenge, but I'm hoping for a nice easy one next week. I have to pack my crafting stuff away for Christmas  - I use half my dining table and I think we might be needing it!!

Thanks for looking and I really appreciate your comments!

Toy Soldiers

Here's a One Layer Card for the Less is More Challenge week 97 where the title is IN A ROW.

It took me a while to decide what to do but in the end decided on a row of Toy Soldiers.  I used Tim Holtz's Mini Blueprints stamped with Jet Black Archival, cut out a mask from scrap paper and then tried to create my row......several times!!  These were the best three, so I've coloured them with Tombow markers and added some Gold Stickles.  I've added a sentiment and created a hill using another mask and the edge of a Beech Tree stamp, both in Archival Emerald Green.

I've decided the soldiers look like 3 of the 10,000 belonging to the Grand Old Duke of York, marching over the hill!!   Hope you like and thanks for your kind comments!!