PaperArtsy Infusions Blog Candy from The Craft Barn

The Craft Barn has Blog Candy and it is a full set of the 12 new PaperArtsy Infusions. What a treat it would be to win those.

Here is the link :

http://thecraftbarnblog.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/blog-candy.html

Talking of infusions,  I was having a little play with them yesterday. Here is an ATC that I made using Infusions with PaperArtsy metallic glaze. I am pleased with that effect, in fact, I was so pleased with it yesterday I made more things. I will post them on my blog later.

PaperArtsy Infusions : Black Knight from the last release.

PaperArtsy Metallic Glaze

Botanical image from PaperArtsy stamp set ESC01 by Scrapcosy

Stencil : PS049 from PaperArtsy, Ground Espresso distress ink

Good Luck with the blog candy draw everyone.

Alpha/Dictionary Challenge 2016 : P

My first post of 2017 is the final page for the Craft Barn Alpha/Dictionary project and the letter is P. I chose poppy and just used lots of poppy stamps all over the page, I guess it sort of works. I was thinking of choosing page as my word, highlighting the word and leaving the page blank but that would be a bit of a cheat wouldn't it!

Recipe:
Rubbernecker Red Poppy Stamp coloured with TH distress markers (candied apple, abandoned coral, ground espresso and black soot) and stamped directly onto the page.
A selection of poppy stamps from Hobby Art CS044D Poppy Scene-it set stamped with black archival ink and coloured with inktense pencils.

I have really enjoyed this project and am proud of myself for completing it. My thanks to all of you who have left comments, it means a lot. Thanks also to Jane and Mickie at the Craft Barn for running the challenge for us and I wish you all a very Happy 2017. x

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

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.

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

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.

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

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 : 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!

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.