Fresh Beginnings at Artist Trading Post Exchange

Best Wishes to everyone for 2015 and huge apologies for my lack of blogging/commenting but I have been so busy with work, Christmas and making the invitations/decor pieces for my son's forthcoming wedding. 

Over at the Artist Trading Post Exchange blog its time for the first challenge of 2015 and the uber talented Sue Carrington is the host of this great theme "Fresh Beginnings"

Here is Sue's challenge description:

"Now that the festive season is over and thoughts turn to what lies ahead in the New Year, take a look through your craft supplies and share with us a new product/technique/ or even a new item to alter ! Remember we are a Mixed Media challenge and and stamping must be included, but no digi images."

 

Here is my make, which was to alter many of the canvas boards that I purchased and to make more use of my Ranger Melt Pot

I have highlighted items used that can be purchased from the fabulous Artist Trading Post online store as well as their shop in Wirksworth, Derby, UK 

As many of you know I love vintage and so I decided to take a La Blanche stamp, inking it up with Ranger Jet Black Archival Ink. I knew the image would not be so clear but as I was adhering the same stamped image on tissue paper it gave me a base to work around. I also wanted the TH Doily stencilled area to be as close to the stamped image as possible so placed some masking tape over the top and bottom of the base stamp prior to applying my Ranger texture paste. Once dry I carefully removed the masking tape and was happy with the result. ( I should have wiped excess ink off the corners of my stamp but I was aware that I was going to paint over it so it was not a problem on this occasion)

Whilst the paste was drying I placed some Clear UTEE Powder in my Ranger melt Pot and then added some Gold UTEE powder. I also melted some UTEE Flex in the mix too as it does give a bit of flexibility to the end product. ( think this has been discontinued)

I carefully poured the molten mixture on to my Non Stick Craft Sheet ( special offer on the craft sheet at the moment) and also stamped part of the same La Blanche stamp in to the UTEE mixture. 

( I did this twice as you will see later.) I was not too happy with the other pieces so returned them to the pot ( no waste here !!) While the stamped mixture was warm enough to handle I trimmed around the watch part with my TH Tonic scissors.

Below you can see the image on tissue paper, which I stamped with Ranger Archival Ink in Potting Soil ( one of Wendy Vecchi's range of inks) The tissue paper was applied on to Ranger Glue n Seal and then sealed over with same. The TH Distress Paint used to cover the canvas was Shabby Shutters and a second coat was applied on the over inked areas.

Here you can see the 3D elements I created using the UTEE mixture. I also added a piece of chain from my stash. Part of the LB stamp was inked and stamped on to card then cut out and edged with Distress Ink in Walnut Stain. Distress Markers were used on the eyes and lips (Broken China and Barn Door)

Prior to adhering pearls/lace/metal embellishments etc I applied Treasure Gold Renaissance Gilding Wax to the stencilled area, using my finger. TH Bubble Stencil was placed on the rhs and then inked with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

Once complete and lace was adhered with Power Tape at the back of the board I took Walnut Stain Distress Ink, applying it around the edges of the canvas to give more definition. 

For more inspiration click HERE, which will take you to the ATP Exchange Challenge blog, where you will find the fabulous makes created by my DT sisters. 

The winner of this challenge will receive a gift voucher to be spent at the Artist Trading Post online store. We also have blog badges for the Top 3. 

Hope you can join in with us...its always inspiring to visit your blogs and view your amazing entries.

Best wishes and crafty hugs xx

Roses and Romance at Craft Room Challenge

Hi everyone...hope you are having the best week  x  Debi is the host of the new challenge over at Craft Room Challenge this fortnight and she has chosen Roses and Romance. It's such a fun theme and I hope you get the chance to play along. 

Our sponsor for this fortnight is the wonderful Crafty Individuals. Their prizes are amazing so get those entries in!!

 Below is my DT submission, which is a canvas ( 7 by 5 )

As the canvas had been treated with Gesso I gave it a wash of Vintage photo Distress Paint and added some vintage papers, which were torn around the edge and aged with Vintage Photo Distress Inks.

The roses were handmade using Tim Holtz  Mini Tattered Florals Movers and Shapers Sizzix die as I wanted a slightly smaller Rose. You can also use the  Tattered Florals Bigz die.

The florals were die cut using Tim Holtz Co'Ordinations paper and you can see the various textures below. I chose to distress the textured side :-)

Here they are all sanded down.............isn't this an amazing effect !!

Then I took my Vintage Photo Distress Inks and aged them

You can see a close up of the finished roses below. :-)

Texture paste was then applied over Tim Holtz stencils...dot fade and harlequin..once dry I applied Treasure Gold wax in Blue Sapphire and Florentine.
I love Tim's Found Relatives and decided to use this beautiful photograph of the young girl, patiently waiting on the return of her fiance. The frame was die cut using SB die, painted with Salty Ocean Distress Paint and then sanded down. I wanted a gilt framed look so ran the frame through my Big Shot using an embossing folder.  The sanded areas were distressed in ......yes you guessed........Vintage Photo Distress Ink and yet more gilding wax.. The edges of the canvas were aged using Walnut Stain Distress Ink and some gilding wax was applied to the roses.
For added romance I took some American Seam Binding, smooshed through Victorian Velvet Distress Ink, which was applied to my heat mat and then spritzed with water and heat dried. The hat pins and cameo finished off the look I so wanted to achieve. :-)
Oops...almost forgot that I had added some vintage lace, which was stained with tea.

It's great to have you drop by and I do hope that you manage to join in with us at CRC. For further inspiration you can check out the wonderful makes by my DT sisters by clicking HERE

Have fun and I will catch up with you all soon xx

With Love at Christmas x

Hi Everyone..........................and a warm welcome to you all :-)

This fortnight at Craft Room Challenge the lovely Mervi is the challenge hostess and the theme is "Vintage Christmas......presents or cards" 

Our sponsor is Rogue Redhead Designs, who make wonderful Vintage and Eclectic Stamps.

Below is my DT project, which definitely has a Vintage Shabby Chic Theme. 

The background card is A4 and the stamped images are from Oxford Impressions 'Christmas Wish' Stamp Plate, which I won in a Giveaway from the very talented  Lynne Moncrieff of Adorn. You can find Lynne's blog HERE and it is certainly worth visiting x. 

The  OI plate is full of wonderful Vintage Christmas Images, which stamp beautifully.  

The drift wood was found during a beautiful summer walk on the South West Coast of Scotland and is attached with twine. 

After blending the card with Vintage photo Distress Ink  I  used the masking technique, blended  and water coloured  the main focal images with Distress Inks and Distress Markers. I also added some Ranger Stickles in Rock Candy to create a crisp frosted effect around the feet of Santa and the children.  The Spritz and Flick technique looks like snow is falling.

 Above is a closer view of the top left corner, with a torn tag stamped with the sentiment.

Below is the lower left corner with the Tim Holtz Tattered Poinsettia die. Here I used felt, which was stamped with Archival ink and  then aged with Vintage Photo DI. More Rock Candy Stickles were adhered to catch the light.

The  double bow was made using some hand dyed cheesecloth and once again Rock Candy Stickles provided that lovely sparkle, which just sets this piece off..... sparkling in the lamplight. 

 I do hope you can join in with us over at Craft Room Challenge this fortnight. You can also view and be inspired by the fabulous makes of my very talented DT Roomies by clicking HERE

I would also like to enter this hanging in the following challenges:

Over at Simon Says Monday Challenge the Challenge Theme is Countdown to The Holidays. My Christmas Hanging with the number 25 included is certainly doing that :-)

At Fashionable Stamping Challenge  the Theme is 'Shabby Chic Christmas'.

Thank You for visiting and taking the time to comment..........I really do appreciate your  visits/comments and always try to get back to you.

Crafty Hugs  as always xxx

Birthday tag

Hi Everyone...................apologies for taking so long to get back to you all x I am now back at work having taken a couple of month's special leave to care for my husband, whom many of you know had a bad accident in the middle of May. He has made a remarkable recovery and I am so proud of him. 

Below is a tag that I made for my dear blog friend Anne, whom you know as Redanne. 

Like many of you I really enjoy making tags and used the Lynne Perella stamp set as the focal point.

Various Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous stamps were used to create the background of the tag, coupled with the  TH damask stamp  and some  Kraft card.

The flower was layered and a pearl adhered in the centre along with some lace trimming. 

Various Distress inks were blended to create an aged look.

I also added some muslin behind the stamped image above and some Treasured Gold on the metal embellishment.

The cotton at the top of the tag was stamped with a TH Happy Birthday sentiment and a metal key attached.

I know that Anne loved her tag and like all of us will treasure it.

I am now off to catch up with as many of my lovely followers/fellow crafters as I can and will be back soon with another post.

Take care and crafty hugs

xxxxx

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

Sew Distressed !!!!

Hi Everyone................thanks for continuing to follow me. I am so looking forward to the weekend and some crafty time...........all nice and cosy in my little craft room.

Over at Simon Says Stamp and Show the challenge is What are you known for ?  I would say that I am known for my 'distress and collage' pieces. I love to create various backgrounds with Distress Inks 

( particularly Vintage Photo ) and then piece together various stamps and embellishments from my stash. My style can also be a bit quirky at times :-)

Below is such a piece............made for a colleague who had a special birthday and had recently purchased a sewing machine. 

The card is an 8 by 8.........but not an easel one !!!!. The background was inked with Vintage Photo and Stormy Sky Distress Inks, then stamped with various stamps from Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Haberdashery Set  (CMS 105) in Archival Ink.

The corrugated card was also inked with DI's and adhered with Ranger Wonder Tape.

The sewing machine above is one of Wendy Vecchi's Blossom Bucket Embellishments.

The inch tape is from my stash and one that I cut up it was also adhered with Wonder Tape. 

I halved the bobbin or spool so it would lie flat on the card, inked it with some DI's to age it. Some of Tim's stamped images were then matted on to card.

Having stamped the tailor's dummy I cut it in half and adhered some vintage lace and some pearls, as well as a dragonfly from my stash. Some Buttons were added to the corner.

I am also entering this piece in the following challenges:

Over at 4 Crafty Chicks the challenge is Buttons.

At Vintage Stamping Challenge/Flonzcraft the challenge is Vintage

Addicted to Stamps Challenge is use Material/Texture

Hope you are all keeping warm and getting very inky

Hugs

Inspirational Stamps

Hi Everyone..................today I am sharing an  8 by 8 easel card that was made for a 50th Birthday.

Like many of you I have   a huge amount of rubber stamps......some of which are over 15 years old !!!!
( Maybe older ) ( Yes mum I am now a hoarder of crafts !!!!  Just like you  x) 

Card making has improved so much over the years with inks/paints/dies /folders taking it to a whole new level. ( Off dreaming again off the new TH releases for 2013)

However back to my card......... the recipient of this card was going on a cruise and she is also a florist so I thought I would incorporate some of my old stamps with more recent products/purchases. 

I guess my inspiration was from the main stamped image................my Muse. This is an Inkadinkado stamp......in fact all of the rubber stamps used on this vintage make are  produced by Inkadinkado.
( love the name)

After making the easel card I swiped  all the edges with of course.....Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

I ran  the Tim Holtz Postcard folder through my machine and then distressed the edges with  the Tim Holtz paper distresser. Once inked with Stormy Sky Distress Ink I matted the embossed piece on to a brown background, which I had also distressed/torn around the edge. 

The  main stamped images were coloured in some areas with Distress markers and then inked with various Distress Inks. Again the edges were all torn with the  TH paper distresser as were the matted backgrounds.

  

The flowers were made from Tim Holtz Tattered Florals dies. ( I am now getting the hang of  making them ) Once cut they were stamped inked and then spritzed with Ranger Perfect Pearls Mist in Heirloom Gold.

The ribbon was in my stash as were the TH Ideaology embellishments.

Tim Holtz flourish die cutss were used to decorate the inside of the card as was a Marianne die. Journey and Memories are from Stamper's Anonymous Tim Holtz collection. 

I really enjoyed making this easel card and I hope you like it too. During the creating of this piece I had several challenges in mind and I am  submitting this make in the following :

Simon Says Stamp and Show - Embrace the old

Frilly and Funkie - Follow Your Muse

Vintage Stamping Challenges - Vintage

Fashionable Stamping Challenges - Surprise Us -Anything Goes

As always thank you for stopping by and I hope to catch up with you soon.

Happy New Year with Best Wishes for 2013

A very  'Happy New Year' to you all.  I hope you enjoyed the festive period.................its hard to believe this is  already the 3rd January.

As usual we had a lovely time, however, my poor mum, whom you all know as Rita of RMG Creations, came down with flu on Christmas Eve, whilst staying with my sister in West Lothian. Today was the first I had seen her as she has been so poorly and did not wish anyone else to catch this horrible virus. We had a nice afternoon and I am so glad that her health is improving. I received the most fabulous makes from my  wonderful crafty mum and other  fabulous blog friends, which I shall share with you tomorrow. 

Meanwhile this is a little memo pad, which I made as a gift for a friend at New Year. I used Sizix TH Matchbook Set die and some SB dies. The flowers were made using  the TH tattered florals  die on card, which I stamped with script and then blended with DI's. Once the flowers were dry I sprayed them with Perfect pearls Mist in  Heirloom Gold

As you know I love Butterfly's and after inking with DI's I added some pearls from my stash. 

Thank You so much for continuing to follow me and for the lovely comments and encouragement you have given me since I started blogging in March 2012. You are all so inspiring.

Crafty Hugs and Best Wishes to you all in 2013 xxx

Santa joins WOYWW 184 x

 Welcome fellow WOYWWers and followers old and new.

I apologise that you can't see my desk today.............................I am trying to be very calm !!!!! as today has not started too well !!!!!  To crown it all when I went to take a photograph of my desk.............yes..................the battery was flat !!!!!!!    mmmm ( biting on a tissue to stop my scream !!!!)


I so wanted to take part today as I have been away from home on Wednesdays for the last few weeks so hope you don't mind that I have posted a picture of one of my Christmas makes instead.

Heading off to work shortly and I shall certainly be popping over to the Lovely Julia's blog,  Stamping Ground, where crafty friends can visit/snoop on one another's work desks/view crafty makes. Its such fun and a great way of meeting new blog friends. If you have not already joined then do please take a look HERE.

Keeping my fingers crossed that the rest of my day goes well......................!!!!

Thank You for dropping in and I look forward to visiting  you all when I get back home from work.

Happy WOYWW xx