Venetian Album

Hi Everyone............thanks for dropping in today. Below I am sharing an album that I have made using a combination of Digital Stamps and Rubber Stamps as well as stitching.

DH and I hope to visit Venice  next year and I plan to keep memories/tickets etc  from the trip within it. I have still to work on the inside but so far I love the front cover.

The Digital Images are from Nicecrane Designs and are called Venetian Paintings CS1. After resizing I matted them on to some brown card, which was distressed around the edges to fit in with this vintage style.

The rubber stamps are from  the Venezia set by  Oxford Impressions.  You can view the mask in the centre of the album and I have stamped on several pieces of fabric using Ranger Archival Ink. 

Some hand dyed cotton was stitched on to the whole of the outside cover. I used an embossed piece of card, aged with vintage photo DI. It was then stitched on to card, along with some gorgeous pieces of lace. 

I also stitched on some lovely lace as ties. The edges of the album were torn and distressed using a combination of scissors and my paper distresser then inked with Walnut stain for more ageing.

I like the idea of the threads hanging loosely around the bottom too.....very shabby ! 

A close up of the beautiful digital images

Another view of the front album cover, which had lots of metal embellishments applied

Nicecrane Designs can be viewed by clicking the link HERE

Oxford Impressions can be viewed by clicking the link HERE and as far as I am aware they can be purchased from That's Crafty and The Craft Barn in the UK

Have a wonderful day whatever you are up to and Thank You so much for visiting. 

Crafty Hugs xx

It's all on the Bag !!!

Happy Sunday everyone.........I was a bit worried I was not going to be able to post today due to problems with blogger, which closed down my PC. 

Anyway, here I am with a cotton Tote bag that I made to store my scarves/socks etc. ( I have not quite decided which, but It's likely I will make more of these as gifts x (  I am a bit of a scarfaholic and literally have hundreds !!!  Ssh its my secret !! )

You will see a few photographs below which show gorgeous layers of fabric, lace , stamping and embellishments.

I used Archival ink to stamp on the fabric, which I frayed around the edges. 

 A photo of the plain tote 

 This 'forgotten' stamp is from Creative Expressions and is called Artsy Floral, by Sam Poole

I would like to enter this make in the following challenges :

Simon Says Monday Challenge- Stamping on Anything but Plain Paper

Country View Crafts - Layers

Sunday Stampers Challenge - Keys

Our Creative Corner - Forgotten Things

Its so nice to know you have dropped in and if you  have time to leave a comment  I can get back to you too. Have a wonderful week whatever you are up to. 

CRafty Hugs as Always xxx

Fairy Cupcakes

Hi Everyone....................hope you are enjoying your Sunday whatever you are up to. THanks for dropping in to view the latest post here at Curious N Crafty Treasures.

Below is a birthday tag for my son's girlfriend. She is very girly and loves  pink and sparkles, which is not something that comes easy to me, but the lovely  'Fairy Sweets' stamp set  from Oxford Impressions fitted the bill perfectly x  There are so many wonderful elements in this set to play with and you will definitely see it again

The tag is a size 10 and was inked using Victorian Velvet DI, edged with Tea Dye DI

You can see all of the main elements below, which were edged with DI or Distress marker to take away the white edge

The papers were from some of the many that I have in my stash. They are from a 6 by 6 pad by K& Co

The edges were distressed and then blended with Tea Dye DI ( Another project without Vintage Photo !!!!) 

The papers were layered and adhered with tape and some hand dyed lace was adhered with Ranger Wonder Tape

I took a piece of twine and to prevent it fraying used some glue. I then adhered it to the candle to look like the wick. I cut a slit in the cupcake and put the bottom of the stamped candle through. 

The candle and bird are from the Fairy Sweets Stamp set too.

I sprayed Ranger Perfect Pearls Mist in mint and pink gumballs to the cupcake wrapper, lace and fairy wings.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday and have a lovely week.

Catch up soon

Crafty Hugs xx

Sentimental Journey

Hi Everyone and thanks for joining me once again ..................... and a warm welcome to followers Old and New.

I wanted to share this special Diamond Card, which I made for a friend with several challenges in mind of course !!

A group of us went to Paris for the day as its only an hours flight away from where I live and boy did we have fun!!  It was a fair trade as our husbands/partners were going for a day's golf !!

We had brunch at the Arc De Triomphe and a meal in the Grande Colbert Restaurant, where a scene from one of Jack Nicholson's movies was taken.............(Cant remember the name of the film right now but it will come back to me !!)  After a few wines we  had the courage to walk in to The Ritz for another glass of the bubbly stuff,,,,,,,,,,,,yep....in our  jeans,walking shoes and with backpacks !!!!! It was a stunning  hotel and so were the prices, but I have to say the experience was worth it. A wonderful memory !!!!!

You will see below a Diamond card, made as per the Hougie board technique. My mum, Rita,  and I have just invested in one of these boards and when I saw mum's  diamond card knew that this design  was perfect for my project. The design gives you the folded base of the card and then you add a frame of your choice.

I used an oval Spellbinder die. The main image was a freebie image from my very talented crafty friend Astrid McLean, of Astrid's Artistic Efforts. Its a beautiful vintage image, which fits this theme perfectly.

You can see the base and my die cuts below. I  also wanted to frame the photo and did this with the smaller die inside.

I stamped the frame with some french script. ( It was great to use a stamp from my old stash) ageing with Vintage Photo DI

I used Tim Holtz Damask stamp on the Diamond  base, stamping it in Blue Archival and then ageing with Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain DI's

I also blended some Vintahe Photo DI on the main image too, just to age it a little.

Below you can see a close up of the main image and make out the torn paper on which I stamped Paris, again from Tim's recent release.

You can also just make out the lace below the torn paper and on the left hand side too. 

The lace bow was made using the bow maker, gifted by my mammy, RITA,  and I adhered a little pearl.

A bit more detail below

The diamond on the left was adorned with a sentiment, torn around the edges and stamped, some lace and a trinket pin and a leftover nib from my 12 tags of 2013

The tag on the right was adorned with some stamped images from my stash and a brad on which you can see the Fleur de Lis.

The sentiment is one of my favourites by Helen Keller and is so true !!!!

I am thrilled with the outcome of this card and I know that my friend will treasure it.

As mentioned I had a few challenges in mind when I made this project and would like to enter it in the following :

Simon Says Stamp and Show - Passport/Travel

Fashionable Stamping Challenge - Sentimental

The Artistic Stamper- Texture

Sunday Stampers- Blue

I am off now for a few days relaxation with my DH but look forward to catching up with you all. If you have time please leave a comment as they are truly appreciated and I will always try and return the compliment.

CRafty Hugs

xxx 

You've Got Beautiful Mail

Hello everyone................another post that I am delighted to share with you all on my crafty journey.

This piece was made with a few challenges in mind as well as some up and coming celebrations !!

I was not sure where I was going with my crafty make other than the colours from  photo inspiration on The Stampsmith Challenge theme and using some stamps that I had not used in some time as per Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge theme.  Over at The Sunday Stampers the theme for this week was You Raise Me Up.

So grab a cuppa and lets go !!!

I started off with a piece of A4 card, which I trimmed and scored to make the envelope. I then trimmed  another piece of card to make the inside pocket.

The edges of the envelope and pocket were die cut using  Tim's Sizzix on the edge die,  Distressed Doily.

I did not adhere it as I wanted to stamp the  envelope on both sides first. 

On the outside I used  Tim's Stampers Anonymous Wallpaper Stamp ( CMS126). On the inside I used Tim's Stamper's Anonymous  large Bookcover stamp ( CMS103), blending Vintage Photo Distress Ink on both sides. The edges were then distressed with Tim's paper distressing tool and inked with Walnut Stain DI.

 I  also used a stamp from Crafty Individuals that was a gift with my order and fitted perfectly in the book cover void.

This was the first time I used the CI stamp and it had certainly been some time since I used The Book Covers one

Once all the inking was done I adhered the pocket!

Some aged lace and Tartan Ribbon was adhered with Ranger Wonder Tape and the lace motif and brad/pearls were adhered with cosmic shimmer glue.

I then took a tag, which I inked with fired brick and festive berries, layering  the colour until satisfied.

I used the large stamp from the Tim's Papillon set and added another layer of ink, before adding picket fence Distress Stains to a text stamp.

The bottom piece looks darker in this photograph but its just the shadow.....honestly !!!!

The beautiful Stampsmith photostamp image of 'Maude' was stamped on to speciality stamping card, using Archival Ink in Sepia. This image is  so beautiful and my photographs do not do it justice. I matted the stamped image on to some brown card, which had the edges distressed and inked with Walnut Stain DI. 

The image is slightly raised off the tag using foam pads.

Die cut Doily's were trimmed slightly and inked with Vintage Photo DI and adhered to the back of the tag.

 To take away the inner white edge on the die cut section I ran a distress marker around, leaving a better finish.

Below is a close up of the layers on the tag

                                     

                           A close up of the Lace motif, aged  slightly on the edges with Vintage Photo DI

I then took  Tim's new Sizzix Movers and Shapers oval dies and one of his die cut words....Wish !! which fitted perfectly. 

Some flowers, twine, ribbon and pearls were then added to complete this crafty project.

Sorry this post is so long but I know that some of you enjoy the 'how to'.

Hope you are all enjoying crafty time and I will be dropping in to find out.

Crafty Hugs

Getting Messy at SSSS

Hi Everyone and a huge welcome to new followers x

I had hoped to craft yesterday but could not find my mojo so i watched Tim Holtz's DVD's, which I have had forever.  An Altered Journey is the first one and then The Journey Continues........

They are amazing DVD's..........full of techniques, tips and inspiration.  I also enjoyed the bloopers too !!

 So here I am today.......playing with some of Tim's latest release dies and full of inspiration. This piece was made with the Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge in mind.  For this challenge you have to create 'Something Messy'.

The piece below is on a canvas board, which I inked with distress inks. I also stamped one of Tim's floral images and clear embossed it, which you can just see on the left. 

I took a piece of cardboard, stripping it here and there, then blended it with distress inks. 

I had some calico fabric and after ageing with DI's I then stamped the dragonfly, from Stampers Anonymous TH Classics, using Tim's new Distress Paint in Vintage Photo.........I know I am obsessed with Vintage Photo !!!!  Tim's paints were purchased from The Funkie Junkie Boutique and as a customer's of Linda's online shop you are able to participate in the Sunday Share.

I took Tim's new 'Stacked Artful Words' die and The Movers and Shapers Mini Clipboard die, rusted with CRafty Notions Acrylic Wax and Rusting Powder, which you spray with vinegar to activate.

You can see the finished rusting process below. I also used glossy accents in a bottle cap to make an embellishment that I placed on top of the bingo card. The  Bingo card and paper inserted in the bottle cap are from Tim's Ideaology Paperstash, Lost and Found.

Some lace, aged with distress inks, was also adhered at the top side of the cardboard and you can just about see it in the picture below.

The photograph above is a close up of the  Vintage Photo Distress Paint stamped on to the fabric.

Below you can see that I used alcohol inks on the metal clipboard on top of the Bingo Card, matted on to some cardboard. I also attached a small heart, which is attached with ideaology rings.

"Thank you so much" for dropping by and continuing to be a follower. I really do appreciate comments that you leave. I then know you  of you visit and can return the compliment.

To celebrate my first Blogiversary I am having a giveaway, which you can find on the sidebar on my home page. The draw will be made on the 3rd of March, which is my actual anniversary.

Take Care and Get Messy

Vintage Recycling

Well its almost dark here in Scotland and I have thoroughly enjoyed my crafty afternoon. Thanks for dropping by........your visits and comments are always appreciated.  

Below is a piece that originally started out to be a box for my stamps. Having two cats I have lots of these boxes that fit my stamps perfectly and I love to recycle items where possible.

First of all I covered the box in some papers that I have had in my stash for a long time. 

Once the papers were adhered I blended the corners/edges with  Tim Holtz Vintage Photo and Stormy Sky Distress Inks.

I recently purchased several Stamps from The Stampsmith and I decided that as this month their challenge was to Recycle I would use the gorgeous Ophelia Stamp. 

I stamped the image in Ranger Archival Ink ( SEPIA) and then placed it inside one of Tim Holtz Embossing folders. 

I then took my Vintage Photo and Stormy Sky Distress inks and blended them all over, paying particular attention to the embossed edges. I took the paper distresser and distressed the edges before inking with Stormy Sky to give more definition. I took some Treasure Gold wax in Renaissance to add some gilding to the embossing. The stamped image and embossing was then matted on to some brown card. 

By the time I adhered the image I decided to add some Ideaology Foundations Feet to the box and use it to store letters as I so loved this vintage appearance. The Foundation Feet were purchased from the Funkie Junkie Boutique, where I shall enter this project in their  Frilly & Funkie  Sunday Share.  

To complete I printed the word 'Letters' on my pc and adhered it to Tim's gorgeous Ideaology Ornate plates as well as one of his word bands, which is attached with twine.

Some vintage lace, purchased from a charity shop was stained with tea and adhered around the top  and just inside of the box with Ranger Wonder Tape. 

I placed some letters inside and I am so thrilled with the outcome, which is just my style..............!!. 

Over at Simon Says Stamp and Show the challenge is What are you known for ? I am known for Vintage and Distressed and I love something that is a little bit different !! At Frilly and Funkie the challenge is 'Spruce it Up'.

At the  Anything But A Card the challenge is Tie it Up, which this project meets as I have used twine on the Ideaology word band.

Hope you are having crafty fun wherever you are. Catch up soon xx