Alpha/Dictionary Challenge 2016 : M

The penultimate letter for the Craft Barn Alpha Dictionary challenge is the letter M. Only one more letter and the project will be complete. I have loved doing this challenge. For "M" I have chosen Medieval and used two Medieval panel stamps on my page.

Here is my entry:

This was another opportunity to use a set of stamps that I have had for years from a company called Past Times Stamps. The designs are by Joanna Sheen.
I used inktense pencils and water coloured the images as usual.

I had to take the photo indoors this time as I missed the daylight, been busy with jobs today preparing for my Christmas get-way.
OK, thats me done for a now. I am off to Cornwall tomorrow to visit my Mum for Christmas.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas. Stay safe and be happy x

My Christmas Poinsettia Wreath

Here is a quick picture of my Christmas wreath project.

I made this from a kit by Designs by Georgina.
The poinsettia elements are die cut greyboard and I have painted them with Deco Art mixed media acrylic paint and Fresco finish chalk paint. The snowflake stamp is from a JOFY Christmas set and I used burlap tape to cover the ring.

Merry Christmas.

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge 2016 : Y

Just for a change from the seasonal wintery and sparkly things, yellow is my word of choice for the Craft Barn Alpha/Dictionary challenge. To illustrate it I have chosen sunflowers, another summery set of images to brighten up our frosty cold days.

Here is my page:

Stamps used : Hobby Art CS064D Sunflowers

Have a great week everybody and thank you for visiting. x

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge 2016 : I

I is for Imago.
Definition : Final and perfect stage of insect e.g. butterfly.

This is my entry for the Craft Barn Alpha/Dictionary Challenge letter I.

Stamps used:
Kaisercraft : Butterflies
Hobby Art : Ann's Collection - Just for You

Just a quick post this time as I am running late and wanted to catch the deadline. The next letter in the series has already been posted on the Craft Barn blog and I really want to complete this project. My goodness, where does all the time go!

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge 2016 : U

I chose Umbrella for the Craft Barn Alpha/Dictionary challenge this time for no reason other than I just love that Tim Holtz Umbrella Man image and wanted to use him. Here is my entry:

Stamps used:

Tim Holtz : Lif's Possibilities

Hunkydory : Brighten Your Day

Happy Days x

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge 2016 : V

Oh where did that fortnight go! Fortunately the clocks went back today so I got that extra hour to finish off my Craft Barn Alpha/Dictionary Challenge page for the letter V. Here it is;

I chose vacation for my "V"word and used my Travel Labels Tim Holtz stamp set adding a vintage suitcase image to complete the theme. All coloured with inktense pencils and watercoloured.

Enjoy the extra hour.

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge 2016 : E

The letter E for the Craft Barn Alpha/Dictionary challenge should have been easy as there are so many words to choose from but having too much choice can send you spinning around in circles not knowing what to choose. Anyway, I opted for "Experiment" so I could use my IndigoBlu Weird Science stamps from the chemistry set. I have done a similar project before but this time, I used test tubes.

An experiment : Procedure tried on the chance of success or to test hypothesis.

So, imagine the test tubes full of different coloured inks and the flowers drinking that ink, would the petals change colour? Mine do, but that is art, anything can happen.

Thanks for dropping by. 

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge 2016 : X

Well, this was a challenge as the letter X in my pocket Oxford dictionary only has 6 definitions and not only that, I also have the letter Y on the same page and we have not had that letter yet. So, I chose X as in Roman numerals and kept the design simple.

My entry for this fortnight's Craft Barn Alpha Dictionary Challenge :

I started by using a clock stencil from Indigo Blu and a fine black pen to get the layout positioned across the pages. I drew the outline numerals for 2016 and filled them in with a red inktense pencil and added water. The page needed something else so I stamped the flower to fill up the space and water coloured it with the same red inktense pencil.

Job done. I have resisted peeking to see what everyone else chose to do for this letter so I'm off to have a look now.

Thanks for dropping by and I really appreciate the comments you make on my work, thank you so much.

In the Kitchen

I saw the Craft Barn two weekly challenge theme whilst I was away visiting my Mum and had lots of ideas I wanted to try but having no supplies I had to wait until I returned. The theme is "All Around the House" so I decided on a kitchen themed card.

The background is stamped using a square cut off a kitchen sponge, a technique that gives you a lovely textured effect when used with paint. The background reminded me of kitchen tiles although the colours are deliberately random.

Paints used : 

Paperartsy Fresco Finish chalk paints - Granny Smith, Professor Plum and Captain Peacock.

Stamps by Marianne Designs

I would like to enter this in the Craft Barn challenge for this fortnight. I've not entered this challenge for a while, mainly due to lack of time but this challenge was just so inspiring and I really enjoyed it.

I'm off to take a look at what other people have done now and will be back soon.

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge 2016 : O

It was Sunday morning and I spotted the next letter for the Craft Barn Alpha/Dictionary challenge was the letter O. I really only had Sunday to complete my page as I will be away next weekend and I didn't want to miss the deadline for any of these challenges. Thumbing through the pages of the dictionary I came across ornithology, a perfect word to showcase some of my Tim Holtz stamps.

Stamps used :
Nature Walk CMS181 from Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Collection.
Coloured with inktense watercolour pencils and a bit of tumbled glass distress ink for the egg.

This is a simple and quick one but I do like those TH stamps so a great opportunity to use them.

A big thank you to all of you who comment on my pages, I really do appreciate it and it encourages me to carry on. I really am enjoying this project.

Playtime with Paperartsy

It rained yesterday but rain does not stop play does it. A great excuse to catch up on jobs around the house and take some time out to play in my craft room.

My new set of Lin Brown stamps arrived in the week. As soon as I saw this release I knew I could not resist so purchased ELB30.

They are on the Paperartsy blog here:

http://blog.paperartsy.co.uk/2016/08/new-pa-products-by-lin-brown.html

Inspired by Lin's example, I pretty much copied the style and design to get me into the mood. I wanted the panel to end up on a card so adapted it a bit and left some elements out as my panel was smaller than the grass stamp. It is big and begging to end up on a canvas.

This set is just delicious, apart from the grasses all the other little elements are so useful. I love that leaf in particular. 

I hate to waste paint so having used a bit of cut up kitchen sponge to apply the paint through my stencil, I pounced it all over a piece of white cardstock I had lying about on my desk and rubbed the excess paint through my stencil and got a pretty interesting background. The panel was small, approx. 6 x 4 inches so the same skeleton leaf and poem text fit but I needed a focal image.

I found the very first Lin Brown set I ever bought, the one with the lovely lino cut style flowers on it, and added that flower. I'm pleased with the result, here it is:

Materials used:

Paperartsy Stamp sets ELB30, ELB03

Ranger archival Ink : Jet Black, Cornflower Blue

Fresco Finish Chalk Paints : Lilac, Pansy, Sky Blue, Sage, Hey Pesto

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge 2016 : H

H is for Holly. That is the word I have chose for the Craft Barn Alpha/Dictionary challenge this time.

H was one of the easier letters, so many possibilities.
The stamp is from Woodware and it has been coloured with inktense watercolour pencils as usual but with some Wink of Stella on top. The sparkle is subtle so does not photograph well.

Hope those of you in the UK are enjoying the August Bank Holiday if you have the day off. I am off out now for a wander in the sunshine.

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge 2016 : Z

The alpha dictionary challenge this time is Z with a pearl. Just a little pearly twist this time, hmmm, well I didn't want to just stick a pearl somewhere on the page because the dictionary pages are so flimsy so I had no choice, I had to draw one.

I chose Zircon for my Z word and thanks to a bit of brainstorming with my pal over lunch in the office, I have opted for jewellery theme. Zircon is a gemstone (not to be confused with cubic zirconia which is a man-made crystal), often used to simulate diamond but comes in many colours, the most popular for jewellery being blue.

I used only one stamp on this page, the gemstone from a Lynne Perrella set. I drew the beads for the necklace and the shell with the pearl inside. Actually it looks a bit fat, more like a flower, it is a bit puffy. Ha! It was good fun to do and I probably should have drawn it in pencil first but you live and learn! From a distance the page looks a bit like a face, actually, the more I look at the page the more I am thinking this is not my best effort so will try to do better next time.

Have fun everyone,

Catch you later. x

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge 2016 : C

I am still managing to keep up with the alpha/dictionary challenge at the Craft Barn even though each two weeks seem to fly by.
For the letter "C" I chose Circus. The circus reminds me of childhood summers and one in particular when my Gran took me to one which was closed. I never got to see a show, I'm not even sure I particularly would have wanted to. Here is my offering:

The stamps I used were from an Andy Skinner set and the images water coloured with inktense pencils as usual.

I hope to write more next time but for now, have fun in the sun.

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge 2016 : N

Here is my offering for the Craft Barn Alpha/Dictionary challenge. The letter this time is N so I chose Nautical, another one of my favourite themes - oh, I know, I have loads of favourites.

Stamps used : Kanban
Watercoloured with Inktense pencils.

There are other nautical theme words beginning with N, like navigate and navy but I chose nautical because it is more generic and for practical reasons, it appears in a good position on the dictionary page.

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by;
Sea Fever : John Masefield

Butterflies

The Craft Barn Fortnightly Challenge theme is Butterflies (plural), an opportunity to play with my butterfly stamps is always a pleasing pastime.
Here is a Thank You card from me.

The stamps are by Altenew from a set called Painted Butterflies.
I used Memento dye ink dew drops in Lulu Lavender, Lilac Posies, Canteloupe and Peanut Brittle and the sketchy outlines are stamped in black archival.

Thank You for dropping by x

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge 2016 : W

I am feeling quite pleased with myself for managing to keep up with my Alpha/Dictionary project, "W" got finished this morning just in time. I've also now realised that it would have been better to stick to one style for the whole project but having never done this before, it's a learning curve. I reckon stamped images and watercolour pencils work for me on these flimsy pages so that is what I have used for this one.

My entry for the Craft Barn Alpha/Dictionary Challenge : W

I chose Wizard because I have a lovely set of Artistic Outpost stamps with Wizard of Oz images and hadn't used them, not until now.

I have some catching up to do so see what everyone else has picked for "W" and what amazing art is on the Craft Barn blog so signing off and wishing you all a great weekend.

Weird Science

I got some time to play with my new IndigoBlu Chemistry Lab stamps today. I love the science stamps and stencils in the Weird Science series designed by Kay Halliwell-Sutton. A couple of weeks back I saw one of Kay's demos on Hochanda using this set so had a go. I don't have the IndigoBlu paints so I have used Deco Art Mixed Media paint and made a small canvas.

This was great fun and I am pretty pleased with the result. The design is not original, it is inspired by Kay's demo.

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge 2016 : K

I had loads of ideas for the letter K but opted for Kimono. I have to admit that this was mainly because the position of the word on my dictionary page was in the right place and the definition not too long and wordy.

This is my entry for the Craft Barn Alpha/Dictionary challenge : K -

All images are from an old set of wooden stamps called Japanese by All Night Media and coloured with distress markers. The geisha was stamped on tissue paper and stuck to the page with matt Mod Podge (magic stuff, love it).

Enjoy what's left of your Sundays and thank you so much to all of you who comment on my dictionary pages, I really do appreciate it. x

Stars

The theme for the Craft Barn two weekly challenge is stars. All I could think of was stencilled stars as a background, that was what I wanted to do and I really have no idea what came into my head but I ended up with this card.

I stamped the focal image (JOFY JM30) and masked it out then add the stars with a Tim Holtz star stencil using Abandoned Coral TH Distress ink trying to fade the stars out in the middle around the pile of gifts. The edges are highlighted with Black Soot distress ink and to finish off the background I doodled around some of the stars. The gifts are coloured with distress pens.

I am not very happy with it, I think it is missing something but am not sure what. Maybe it should have a sentiment? Maybe it would have been better as a star background with a quote or sentiment as the focal image. I'll post it anyway, I have run out of steam with this one.

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge 2016 : T

When browsing my dictionary for a good "T" word, I came across the perfect word, or words - Tweedledum and Tweedledee. Delightful, I get to do an Alice themed page! I couldn't believe they are actually in the pocket Oxford dictionary.

Definition : Pair of things or persons neither easy to distinguish nor worth distinguishing from each other.

So, there we go, learned another new thing today. Here is my page for the Craft Barn Alpha/Dictionary Challenge:

I stamped Alice and the twins in black archival ink and masked them out before stamping the trees in Potting Soil archival. I think that works, I wanted the trees to fade into the background and not detract from the characters. The tree stamp is from Kanban, the Alice stamps were from a very old set of mine that I no longer have the details for. The images were coloured with watercolour pencils. I used water on the characters but left the pencil shading on the trees so they looked more sketchy.

What a coincidence, Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland film is on TV tonight, I might watch that again. I've seen it a few times but just love Helena Bonham Carter as the red queen and Johnny Depp is a perfect Mad Hatter.

“Contrariwise,' continued Tweedledee, 'if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic.”

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge 2016 : A

A is for Aeroplane.
That is the word I chose for the Craft Barn Alpha/Dictionary challenge this time. I have a lot of aircraft related images so a great opportunity to to use up some of my Tim Holtz bits as a collage style page. Here it is :

All paper ephemera from Tim Holtz Idea-ology. The aeroplane is stamped onto white paper that was stained with distress stains, pumice stone and old paper, then cut out and added to the page. I added a small compass stamp to the passenger ticket to tie in the red and highlighted the definition. Job done, I hope you like it.

A Little Sunshine

I have been playing with PaperArtsy Infusions, just a little play because the weather is good and I need to be outside. These lovely little pots have great names and I chose Golden Sands and Violet Storms for this project because they match the changeable weather in May.
The Two Weekly Challenge at the Craft Barn is "Sun" so this is my entry.

Stamps used : PaperArtsy Lynne Perrella LP033
I stamped and embossed the images in black, painted water onto the sun and sprinkled it with infusions then spritzed it with water. I find that works best on ordinary stamping card. Then added the violet storms around the rest of the panel to make it dark and stormy. The images are coloured with distress pens. I added some Tim Holtz Chit Chat words and scruffed up the edges of the card with a sanding tool and mounted it on some purple card.

I hope you have all been enjoying your weekends and I wish you lots of sunshine next week.

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge 2016 : J

My Craft Barn Alpha/Dictionary Challenge 2016 page is done. This time we have been given the letter "J" but have to include a dragonfly. I chose Jigsaw for my dictionary word.

Stamps used:
Hobby Art Butterfly Kisses - Art's Collage
Hobby Art Anna's Collection - Just for you (the tiny dragonfly from the set)
Clarity Stamps - Jigsaw

I stamped the collage image with Memento dye inks in Potters Clay, Peanut Brittle and Paris Dusk twice. Then stamped the jigsaw puzzle image on top and from one of the panels cut three jigsaw pieces. I added the tiny dragonfly to the main image and coloured him with a silver Wink of Stella pen. The definition is outlined with a gel pen.

This was difficult as I really wanted to choose Juggler for my "J" word and do a circus themed page but I couldn't get my brain around that dragonfly. I don't actually have a decent dragonfly stamp, only the tiny sketchy one I used on this page and a similar bigger version. This is odd considering the vast collection of stamps I have greedily accumulated over the years!

Red and White with a Bit of Black

Today is the last day of my vacation, I have been away in Cornwall for the week and returned last night so apologies for not visiting blogs for the past week or so. I have catching up to do to find out what you have all been doing.

I didn't think I'd make the time to enter the Craft Barn Two Weekly Challenge this time but not the case, I managed to do a quick ATC this afternoon. The theme is "Red and White with a bit of Black".
Here it is:

Tim Holtz Ideology Remnant Rubs in the background with a couple of pieces of red and white ephemera then finished off with some faux stitching in red.

See you later. xx

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge 2016 : S

I chose SHORE as my word for the letter S for the Alpha/Dictionary Challenge at the Craft Barn. The twist with this letter is to include a shell. I like seaside images so I was thinking about what you find on the shoreline and of course, a great excuse to include beach huts. I love beach huts so they just had to be on my page.

Cockle shell stamp from Marianne Designs : Beach PA4007

Vintage photo image from Marianne Designs sheet of vintage beach photos.

Beach huts and focal image of girl with parasol : Craft Individuals.

All the stamped images are coloured with Inktense water colour pencils. The definition and the edges of the shell panels are highlighted with the blue pencil and softened with water.

I'm glad I now have a seaside page in my book, it makes me happy.

April Showers

Sunday morning chilling out on the sofa, I was watching a PaperArtsy YouTube video by Sara Naumann entitled Journal Cover Collage. The technique used stamping on tissue which has been a recent discovery for me with the alpha/dictionary project so I thought I would give this a try for the Craft Barn Two Weekly Challenge. The theme for the challenge is April Showers.

Here's a link to the YouTube video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpP83rgoDTM

My entry for the challenge is a small journal book cover.

I used an Instagram photo image for the background, the stamps used on the tissue are from Inkylicious and the background dotty paper from Kaisercraft. I really like that ghostly effect the tissue over the picture makes. Do watch the Sara Naumann video to see how to do it.
PaperArtsy Frseco finish paint used was snowflake.
I added a few ribbons and threads from my stash plus a couple of tiny shrink plastic tags. Can you see them? They are tiny.

Now I have my empty journal book, what shall I put in it? Maybe some experiments.

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge 2016 : D

D = Difficult, I deliberated and dug deep until I finally decided on DOOR.

A bit of brainstorming over lunch with a friend at work led us down a very dark route of devils, disasters and demons but she suggested door and I have purchased a couple of the new PaperArtsy Hot Picks sets which, as luck would have it, feature lovely images of doors. That new Hot Picks release for 2016 was pretty awesome, I really did want them all!

There is a twist on the Craft Barn Alpha/Dictionary challenge for the letter D, the colour pink has to be included. So, my main door image is pink of course.

I am learning a lot from all you bloggers out there so this time I tried stamping on tissue paper, I like this, the words on the page still show through. For the main image, I originally stamped on tracing paper but the ink did not dry despite trying to heat set it, leave it over night and blot it on copy paper. I binned that idea and decided to stamp on printer paper, colour it with watercolour pencils, cut it out and stick it to the page. This pleased me.

Stamps used :
PaperArtsy Hot Picks HP1601 and HP 1605.

OK, time to upload this one and go see what others have done for this challenge.
Enjoy the rest of Sunday. x

Playing with Bleeding Art Tissue

Over the Easter weekend I was having a bit of a play as the weather was not so kind to us. My plan was to do a small canvas with bleeding art tissue but I also had a scrap of card to practice on which turned into a finished piece, always nice when that happens.

Circles were die cut from bleeding art tissue and applied direct to canvas with water and left to dry for five minutes before peeling them off and discarding the tissue. Then add a few more circles to layer up the colours and repeat.

I then used a stencil, Finnabair bubbles, that stencil I have used a lot recently, adding some milled lavender distress ink. To finish the background layers I added some rubber stamped circles using white paint (PaperArtsy Hot Picks 1102).

The focal image is a PaperArtsy JOFY stencil (PS007). I used Imagination Crafts glitter paste to give it a bit of sparkle.

Same technique used on this panel with the bleeding art tissue, stencilled circles and rubber stamping. This time I used black ink through some stencils for the images and added a sentiment.

Stencils :

Andy Skinner : Baroque

Imagination Crafts : Wildflower

"I want to be improbable and beautiful, afraid of nothing, as if I had wings."

- Mary Oliver : Starlings in Winter

Craft Barn Two Weekly Challenge : Rabbit

This is my entry for the two weekly challenge at the Craft Barn where the theme is Rabbit and we have to use an oval on the work. Easter is done although I do have a bit of my Easter egg left so I decided that an Alice in Wonderland ATC would fit the challenge.

The background is a scrap of tissue stamped with hearts and wonderland. The rabbit image is actually a hare so I have cheated a little. It is from a very old set that I bought many years ago, I don't recall the name of the company but it is a lovely set of vintage illustrations on red rubber. 

I colour tinted the image with distress markers and die cut the oval. 

A quick make this week, its been a tad busy.

"If you don't think, then you shouldn't talk."

- March Hare (Alice in Wonderland)

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge 2016 : G

When I saw the letter was G for the Craft Barn Alpha/Dictionary challenge I just had to choose Geophysics because this is what I do for a living. I doubt anyone else will choose that word!
The dictionary definition of Geophysics is the physics of the earth and my plan was to create a collage of images that represent the exploration end of that huge topic because that is what I know.

Unfortunately, my printer has broken so I have resorted to a few sketches on tracing paper and some images from a magazine. I think I've managed to get a selection of things represented on the page and I must say, the seismic section through the earth adds a nice bit of colour in the background. It is offshore India in case you are wondering.

I had fun with that even though the pages didn't turn out exactly as I had originally planned.

Happy Easter Day everyone x

Circle Layering

Here is my entry for the Craft Barn fortnightly challenge. The theme this fortnight is circles and they must be in the background. A good opportunity to play with stencil layering again.

Stencils used:
Finnabair Elementals "Bubbles"
Crafters Workshop " Mini Cornflowers"
Distress Inks :
Peacock Feathers, Squeezed Lemonade and Picked Raspberry.
Stamp :
Paperartsy  Squiggly Ink SM15

I applied gesso through the bubble stencil first as a resist. Then added the distress inks and let it dry. The next layer was the stamped circles in archival ink and finally I added the cornflower stencil using black versamark ink. Highlights have been added to some of the circles with a white pen.

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge 2016 : R

The next letter in the Craft Barn Alpha/Dictionary challenge is "R". I chose Raven. The definition in my pocket Oxford dictionary is "Large black bird of crow kind; (attrib, of hair) black". This reminded me of the Edgar Allan Poe poem so my pages are all about the poem.

Stamps used are from my IndigoBlu Hocus Pocus set.
Colour added using Tim Holtz Distress crayons : Fossilised amber and Rusty Hinge.

Just for a change it was dry enough to take a photo outside, roll on Spring.

CAS Peony

I used to do a lot of CAS cards but haven't done one in a while. Here is my offering for the Craft Barn fortnightly challenge where the theme is Clean and Simple with a flower and a sentiment. I did literally that, a flower with a Happy Birthday sentiment.

Stamps used : Peony Bouquet by Altenew
Dye based inks - dew drops
Mounted on an A6 card.

Back tomorrow hopefully with my entry for the dictionary challenge which is drying as I type.

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge 2016 : L

The next letter in the Craft Barn Alpha/Dictionary challenge is L. Lots of ideas but sometimes, the dictionary definition just doesn't fall in the right place on the page does it! So, I chose 'LEAF' for my word. Mainly because I love using leaves anyway and because I had an idea that I could make the pages look a bit like leaves that had been pressed in the pages of a book. What do you think? Did it work?

I started with a coat of white gesso on the pages leaving the definition visible. Then using my PaperArtsy stencil by Lin Brown (PS002) I applied Toad Hall Fresco Finish paint through parts of the stencil with a sponge. When dry, the leaves are outlined with a Ground Espresso distress marker.
The stamped images under the definition are from a Paperartsy Hot Picks set : 1102EZ, distress markers scribbled onto the stamp and applied to the page.
I wanted a border on the page so stamped some tiny leaves in ground espresso distress (messy, the leaf stamp was an acrylic stamp and doesn't work so well on the gesso as rubber stamps - learned that lesson!).
Then I added some die cut TH tattered leaves that I had left over from other projects.
At this point I was tempted to add more leaves but I decided to leave it alone.

That's it, my entry for the challenge done.

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge 2016 : F

The word I chose for this fortnight's Craft Barn Dictionary challenge using the letter F, is Fashion.
This is a messy one but thanks to all who suggested sticking the pages of the book together, much easier.

Stamps used : Tim Holtz Runway

I started by attempting to brayer distress ink on the pages for the background and stamped some random bubble wrap in purple archival ink but I did not like the look of it so knocked it back with some chalk Fresco Finish acrylic paint. Images of the runway models are stamped in black versafine ink and coloured with distress markers.

I added the heart and border with a black pen.

This is my entry for the challenge,  a bit rushed as I had so little time this weekend but I'm glad it is finished.

New PaperArtsy Stamps

For those who watched the launch videos of the new PaperArtsy stamps and stencils last week, weren't they great. I have the lovely set EKC02 by Kay Carley so today I decided to play with it.
If you missed the blog post for the new stamps by Kay, here it is:
http://blog.paperartsy.co.uk/2016/02/new-pa-products-feb-2016-kay-carley.html

I think I have been influenced a little by the colours used for the samples but they are not the same as I don't have the new Fresco paints (of course I want them, especially that lovely mint green).

I used Fresco paints for the backgrounds, applied with a brayer and added some random stamping from PaperArtsy sets. The big circles for the Allium were applied through a stencil.

Paint used :

Vintage Lace, Eggplant, Pansy, Rose and Snowflake.

Background images stamped using Ranger archival ink- Blue Violet and snowflake paint.

Allium, butterflies and flowers stamped in black archival ink.

Stitching around the edge added with black pen.

I added some white pen to the portrait format card but decided to leave the other panel alone, I quite like the sketchy look of it without any colour added.

I love this set of stamps, I think I may be using elements of it a lot.

If you want to see close ups of Kay's beautiful work go check out her blog :

http://kaycarley.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/allium-step-out.html

Tea Break Craft Classes

I had planned a lazy Sunday today. I watched a couple of Eileen Godwin's youtube videos this morning which prompted me to head to my craft room for a bit of a play. The ironing will have to wait, who cares when there are interesting things to do.
Whilst the technique was fresh in my mind, I made two panels and mounted them on cards. I made two as I was pretty sure I would mess at least one of them up but I am quite pleased with both results.

The video is here if you want a watch, short enough to watch during a tea break:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ktNf5vqqLY

Stencils used : Paperartsy - JOFY PS009 and Tim Holtz - Shatter
Stamp : bubbles from JOFY 09
Distress Inks : Picked Rasberry, Peacock Feathers and Wild Honey with Black Soot to finish
White pen, gold gel pen and sequins to embellish (note: those larger sequins are silver, they look black in the photo).

This was good fun to do and great practice for layering.
Thanks to Eileen for the inspiration today.

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge 2016 : Q

Which word should I pick for the letter Q? The obvious answer is "Question" as the Q words are darting through my head and I am wondering which one to choose.
This is my page for the Craft Barn Alpha/Dictionary Challenge :

What I am finding most challenging at the moment is working with the very thin dictionary pages. For this attempt, I gave the pages a thin wash of gesso avoiding the definition on the page. I like the look of the words fading away in the background but it still does not strengthen the pages.
Taking a photo of this outside today also proved a challenge as it is still windy, the tail end of last night's storm, but I got it, ha! - just need to be patient.

Materials used:
White Gesso
Stencil : Any Skinner "Have Your Say" by Tando Creative
Distress inks : Blueprint Sketch, Dusty Concord, Weathered Wood
Stamp : Dreamer by Inkylicious
Tim Holtz Chit Chat stickers
Doodling with a black fineliner pen

So I will leave you with a question;
What do we talk about when there is nothing to talk about?

Hat Crazy

This is my entry for the Craft Barn Weekly challenge. The theme this week is "Hats".

Stamps used :

Tim Holtz Flower Garden CMS215

Tim Holtz Bird Crazy CMS212

All images are coloured with distress markers. The flowers and stalks are stamped onto white stamping card, cut out and mounted on the background. The bird is stamped on watercolour card. All mounted on a 7 x 5 Kraft card.

I was planning on doing a series of ATCs for this "hat" challenge but I had seen a similar idea from one of the TH design team and wanted to give it a try. Don't those flowers make great hats!

Happy Saturday everyone.

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge 2016

Wishing a belated Happy New Year to all my followers, I have some catching up to do in blogland.

My first post this year is my entry for the Craft Barn Alpha/Dictionary challenge. I have always admired altered book page projects but never tried myself, this year I get to play with this idea.

This fortnight Jane has chosen the letter B so opening my book and thumbing through the pages, which took some time as I just love reading dictionaries anyway, I chose Britain.

I used Ranger archival ink in blue violet and red pepper dye ink for the stamped images, adding a little watercolouring around the edges and to highlight the dictionary definition.
Stamps used :
Indigo Blu : Pomp and Pagentry
Papermania : Portobello Road
Clarity Stamps : Britain map

I had fun with this, looking forward to the next letter.