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Tuesday 18 December 2012

Dream






I decided to go for an oversized tag for my DT entry at Try it on Tuesday.   The challenge this fortnight is a Lucky Dip so you can choose four items out of the following:  Die Cuts, Ribbons, Pearls, Sentiment, Stamped image.

We are being very generously sponsored by Delicious Doodles who are offering 4 digi stamps of your choice to the winner of December's challenges.  So, if you get a crafty moment during your festive time, why not see if you can get lucky in the Lucky Dip?!!!

 
 

  
This challenge left me a bit spoilt for choice ... too many options for an indecisive like me! As its still the Christmas season, I was really tempted to go with a Christmas project.  But I am about to head to sunnier climes (can't wait - UK weather is not to be recommended lately!) and all my Christmas activities are behind me, so I have focused on 2013 and my up and coming wedding anniversary.  

Cards for men ... don't we all struggle with them?  My hubcap is not a fisherman, golfer or tennis nut so images along those lines are pretty much closed.  I have found that my best plan is to go for hearts and a suitable colour palette.

I started with a manila tag which I gave a couple of coats of gesso to.  I added some vintage music and book pages and gave it another swish over with the gesso.  Once dry, I stamped the border, heart wings and keys before attaching the die cut card hearts which were painted with red acrylic.  
I left if to dry before coating the entire tag with matte Mod Podge and attaching scrunched up white tissue over it all.  

The dreams pane was cut from card and gessoed.  I dry brushed pitch black acrylic and used a skewer dipped in black to add depth.  It was 3D mounted onto an identically sized piece of card which I had covered with vintage book pages.  The panel is finished with pleated tissue tape along one edge.

I gave the hearts a lift with some Dylusions red acrylic and rock candy distress which I applied with a spatuls to give loads of texture.

The key is made from Ten Second Studio metal.

My favourite flourish (Lost Coast Designs) and a little Black Soot distress kept the monochrome style true and I just had to bravely take hold of my pen and write my sentiment.  It's a little hard to read in the photo but it says:

"When two hearts meet
and fly together
the key to your dreams
has been found."

I guess after nearly 20 years, this must be true.  We got engaged after 6 weeks and married a year later.  He's not always my soulmate (Man ARE from Mars!) but our hearts are definitely joined ...

Have a fantastic time whatever you get up to this December ... x










Saturday 15 December 2012

My Girl



This is my first DT piece as a new member of the Anything But a Card team.  I am so excited to have been asked to join the talented group of DT gals and love that there is such a wide range of projects created for each challenge.  Scrapbooking, altered art, canvases, bags, boxes  ... the list goes on and on! Why not take 5 minutes to check out the fantastic projects that have been made and see how inspirational they are!

So, I am continuing my scrapbooking journey of creating a blended style.  I chose to have a play with a box of gorgeous oil pastels I purchased some time back but hadn't really got to grips with.  They are so soft and creamy to work with that I can't believe I have had them languishing on a shelf for so long!

I used them to create my heart and blended them out with a sponge dabber before sealing them with Judikins micro glaze.

I cut the lacy edge with a Martha Stewart punch and mounted my photo onto that before blending it into the page with molding paste and vintage book pages.  Once dry, I spritzed it all over with Shimmerz Sea Foam and Chalkboard Peacock.    I used some liquid acrylic (Golden) to add finishing blends to the pasted area.

White acrylic painted through sequin waste added the textured dots and I stamped the hollyhocks (Donna Downey stamp) with black Archival. 


I stamped and cut out the dragonfly was stamped and colouring his body with Stewart Gill Byzantia paint which has the most gorgeous sheen.  I used a silver ice stickle for the wings.

The final touch was to tint some of the flowers to match the colour scheme and stamp my title.

I hope you are all finding time to complete all your crafty projects at this busy time of year.  I'm enjoying everyone's blogs and seeing all their gorgeous creations.  I'm nearly done now for 2012 as we about to leave for Christmas and New Year in the sunshine!  I hope to still pop by everyone's blogs whilst I sit with a pina colada (lol!) but I may not be able to leave feedback to please bear with me!!

Wishing everyone a very Happy Christmas and New Year and a big thank you to everyone who leaves me such kind and thoughtful feedback.  It means so much and inspires me to keep moving forward in my creative endeavours! xx

 



Thursday 13 December 2012

Wicked Wednesday ATC



I don't usually do ATC's ... actually that's not true ... I have never done an ATC before in my life!!  I had to google to find out what size they need to be!!  Is that bad? 

Anyway, I might not be an ATC veteran but I am a big fan of Stampotique and I follow their blog and marvel at the gorgeous work that their DT create.  My kids buy me the small stamps for mother's day and my birthday which makes them extra special and they always stamp so beautifully they are a joy to work with.

I have been focusing on other avenues recently so haven't had chance to enter many of their challenges but I checked out the blog this week and found one based on Wings so I really wanted to put a mini project together and join in the fun.

So, I turned my tree (Daniel Torrente) on its side to create a branch for my little tired angel (Jill Penney) to rest against under the stars. 

I didn't want to cut and mount my branch so I stamped it in archival and then carefully created by background around it with a combination so water, distress stains, a heat gun and a paintbrush.  The stars are created from two sizes of crystals and the words are  Stampotique.

I coloured my branch with pencils and mounted my angel carefully with silcone gel  before adding some final border lines around the edge.

Hope you like her! x


Friday 7 December 2012

Woodland Scene



For this card, I used lots of alterations dies.  I am, by default, a scene maker and find myself connecting stuff together to create a story so I decided to start by die-cutting lots of images and colouring, inking, adding snow and embossing them and see where it took me.

I covered my card with vintage dictionary paper and I must share this funny story with you ...  I chose a page at random from the dictionary - my only criteria was that I didn't want a page with any images.   I trimmed the white edge and placed in on my craft sheet ready to ink with distress stains when I glanced down to find that the page I had chosen had a definition of fornicate on it!  Definitely not required!!  Fortunately the flip side was far less racy ... but just glad I spotted this before I had to judiciously place some of my trees!!

So, I covered my card with the text and embossed the snowflakes in white glitter before pouncing the card on my craft sheet with Stormy Skies, Tumbled Glass and Picket Fence distress stain.  I added the snowflakes which were cut from glitter card using 3D silicone glue.  25 was inked with Evergreen Bough and a flourish stamped and embossed with Silver Fox Enamalz over the top.

I coloured the fence and deer with vintage photo distress stain and used white Enamels Accents for the spots on the deer.  The snow is flowersoft.

I fixed all the elements down using different heights of 3D glue ... job done!

I'm entering this card into Play Date Cafe PDCC160, Simon Says Snowflakes Challenge,   Sweet Stampin' Dies & Punches Challenge and Stamping for the Weekend Challenge 23 Let it Snow.

Hope you are all having time for your Christmas Crafty Projects. x

Thursday 6 December 2012

Santa Card



OK ... starting to enjoy this Christmas crafting lark and Christmas card making more specifically!!  It's more of a surprise to me than anyone else.   The only snag is that I've left it rather late in the day either to get necessary supplies or to have the time needed to really get going - oops!!  (Note to self:  start earlier next year!!)  Big thankyou at this point to David and Brenda at Craft Obsessions for hunting out my order at short notice and nearly crashing their website in the process!! Thanks guys!! 

So onto this little card.  I covered my card with a lovely script paper which I overstamped with some flourishes by Dusty Attic.  I used some vintage music paper which I stained with Festive Berries and Gathered Twigs distress stain which I then flicked with water to give it texture.  I then embossed a more complicated flourish design over this with Gold Sparkly (Cosmic Shimmer) which is hard to capture with the camera.

The image was down loaded, edges distressed, curled and inked with a little more Gathered Twigs (what a great brown it is!)

The poinsettia is a mini Tim Holtz Alterations die cut from vintage paper and inked with deadazzles for the centre.  The leaves are cut from Glassine paper which was scrunched and inked with alcohol inks.

Anyway, can't stop ... got another card to make!! xx


Tuesday 4 December 2012

Christmas Bird



I've had to succumb to making some Christmas cards so this is the first one Hot off the Press!!  I bought the mini cardinal die some weeks ago as he was SO cute but when I saw his big brother, perched on this twig ... well it was a must have item!

I covered my card in vintage music paper which I inked with vintage photo and peeled paint and I stamped the holly with gathered twigs.  The bird is cut from chocolate co-ordinations paper so I sanded him down to reveal his red core and dry brushed some red acylic paint to brighten him up.  The spruce foliage was painted with acrylic paint and a little glitter added.  I used polar white flower soft for my snow.

The pointsettia was cut from vintage book pages, inked with festive berries and painted with Rock Candy distress.  The centre is beadazzles,  The holly leaves and spruce foliage is cut from Kraft Glassine which I inked with alcohol inks. 

I used tissue tape to create the ruffle and some pearls and gems to finish it off.

I'm going to enter this card into the following challenges:  Fashionable Stamping 'To Die For', Gingerloft 'Leaves' and Totally Gorjuss 'Anything Goes ... with Glitter'.

Starting to feel a bit festive ... hope your Christmas plans are coming along too ... x


Quarr Abbey


This is my first post as be DT member of the Try it on Tuesday blog - which is very exciting!  I have joined a fabulous group of talented ladies so be sure to go and take a look at some of the gorgeous creations they have made for this challenge. 

This fortnight is "Let's get Inky'!  What a great initial challenge for me as I always struggle not to get inky!!  The other bonus is that if you are not a Christmas crafter (and I am not!) this challenge is still right up your street.



We are sponsored this month by Delidious Doodles who are offering 4 digi stamps from their store - so don't miss you chance to be a winner!

I'm really excited to post this layout as I have been working hard on my techniques and style but am only just able to start posting my new creations ... so watch this space!!  One of things I really wanted to achieve was a more seamless end result and so I've been getting through a fair bit of molding paste and acrylic paint lately and taken over the house whilst they all dry out!

This photo is of the ruins of Quarr Abbey on the Isle of Wight which actually now forms part of a farmhouse garden.  There are great views over the ruined walls towards the mainland.

I used molding paste with a stencil to create the bricks and more paste and inks to blend out my photo.  I decided to be quite bold with my colour scheme by adding the pink but I really like the end result.  

I used acrylics and shimmerz inks for my background and added flourishes with a Lost Coast stamp.  The bird and branch is by Maya Road and the flowers and butterflies are Prima.

The sheep stamp is part of an Artemia farmyard set (that I had no use for but fell in love with!) from a little craft shop in Cornwall.

Hope you are all having a great week ... x

 



Wednesday 28 November 2012

Pumpkin Carving


For those of you who regularly visit my blog this page will be a bit 'deja vue' and you are right, this is second time lucky for my pumpkin carving page!  


I've been working on creating blended layouts recently where my photos fall into the background so the page becomes like one big canvas rather than having elements layers onto the page.  It's quite a tricky and time consuming process but I love the end result.  However, in trying to do the same with these photos, I realised it is almost impossible with multiple photos with very different colour schemes.


So to cut a long story short, whilst I thought the end result was not the best I've achieved, I thought it did work ok.  However, the photograph exposed all it's weaknesses and when I asked my family for their honest feedback ... well it wasn't exactly great!!  So, I've dismantled it, binned it and removed the post (my mother always told me to leave my disasters in the kitchen so I'm metaphorically doing the same with that page!)

This layout is more along the traditional lines but it does work better on this occasion - I hopeIt's not so much fun scrapping the same photos twice and I'm ready to move along, so I'm off to see how my next blended creation is going to turn out!

Hope you are all having a creative week ... x



Tuesday 20 November 2012

I am not who I was yesterday ...




I've just bought this absolutely gorgeous stamp by Phyllis Harris and am looking for any excuse to use it.  So, as I had to make a card for a friend's birthday, it seemed like a good excuse.

It's a really simple card - I embossed my little girl before swiping acrylic paint lightly across the card.  I then wiped it back off her with a baby wipe.

The edge of the card is embossed with Cosmic Shimmer Golden Sparkle which is another of my favourite things at the moment.  The sentiment is by Donna Downey and is stamped with StazOn onto a small metal tag.

The card looks really sweet in real life - something which doesn't really translate well in the photo.

So, that's it for cards.  They are not my favourite things to make and so extra coffee and chocolate has been consumed this afternoon to get me going!  Downside is that I'm going to have to work a bit harder at the gym tonight to make amends!!

Hope you are having a creative day wherever you are.  The weather here is doing its best to dash all creativity - it's dark grey, windy and wet!  Welcome to autumn in England!! x




Saturday 17 November 2012

Sing Your Song



It's my Mum's birthday on Monday and so I've made this card for her.  I don't know why, but I find cardmaking really challenging.  I think it's because you can do absolutely anything as there's no photo to consider so I'm spoilt for choice and my indecisive side takes over!  I start off well by gettting stamps and papers and inks out but end up with the most enormous pile so that I'm still no further forward!  

Anyway, I decided to use this new bird stamp by Stampendous which is gorgeous and a great size.  I stamped it with archival onto mulberry paper and tore it out.  I coloured the bird with pencils before using Victorian Velvet, Spun Sugar and Vintage photo distress inks.  As it was still too bright I spritzed it with Tea Stain re-inker diluted in water and then I gave it all a spray with Perfect Pearls Heirloom Gold.

The background was a combination of vintage dictionary paper and old music which I stamped with birdcages, swirls, words and little insects.

I cut the words from the edge of old music and distressed them with vintage photo.  The little plaque was stamped onto a piece of Mariposa paper by DCWV.

I added two layers of lace along the bottom which I spritzed with chalkboard ink to match and I finished the card with some gold ink all around the edge.

I am entering this card into Divas by Design Challenge 61 Anything Goes, Gingerloft GL52 A Touch of Gold and Fashionable Stamping Challenge 34 - Musical

Off to make a cake now ... xx 

 


Friday 16 November 2012

Watch the Birdy


What a hoot this was!!  

We visited Dimbola Lodge on the Isle of Wight whilst we were there on holiday this half term.  The Lodge is the home of Julia Margaret Cameron who was a photographer in the mid 1800's and whose portraiture was very influential at the time.

Aside from all the rooms of her images, there is a dressing up room and once we got started, we couldn't stop and ended up spending over an hour in there perfecting our Edwardian poses for the camera! 

The lighting was shocking so all the photos needed a lot of work in Photoshop but I'm pleased with the end result.

This layout is based on an old draughts board.  I taped areas using masking tape before giving it a light coating of Gesso and then one of copper Steward Gill paint.  Once both layers were dry, I stamped the filmstrip, butterflies and peacock feathers onto the board using Staz-on and arranged the cleudo cards and 'murder cards' pocket onto one corner.  I added a little blue glitter stickle to the eye of each feather.

The grungy panel was added using Matt Medium and a combination of 2 embossing powders - Tattered Rose Distress and Silver Fox Enamelz.  (It's not as shiny in real life - but it picked up my daylight lamp - evening photography has its drawbacks!)

The vintage image behind our photograph is from a book of old black and white photographs.  It is translucent so that the board can still be seen behind it and this was achieved using transfer glaze.  

The flower braid is by Tim Holtz and was spritzed with Shimmerz and the circles were cut using the washer board alterations die.

The stopwatch was created with black UTEE poured onto a La Blanche stamp (which I killed in the process - ooops!) Once dry I applied gold metallic rub-on to highlight the detail.

I cut the bird from balsa wood using a sizzix die which I then spritzed, applied silver gilding paste and a swirl stamp.

I inked and stamped a small tag to go in the murder cards pocket, detailing the date and location of the photograph, fixed down the draughts pieces and film strip and completed my layout with Tim Holtz Alphaparts letters for the title.

I hope you like the end result and our rather sober expressions and ridiculous outfits bring a smile to your face! x


Thursday 15 November 2012

Leave only Footsteps


Who can resist the beach?  This natural arch is at Perranporth beach in Cornwall and makes such a gorgeous frame it was crying out to be photographed and scrapped!

There were so many processes with this page that I wont try to itemise them all but it started with a collage of vintage papers and music which I then inked and stamped.  I created the large glossy grungy panel using matt medium and embossing powers. 

I had intended to create a line of white footprints across the page but due to not having an iron with me at the weekend, this was hard to achieve with a heat gun.  I've managed to create a couple but that's always the downside of being away from your own desk!!

The photos were torn and inked or dipped in sand from my local beach.  The gorgeous wooden embellishment was sprayed with Shimmerz inks and the playing card had paper transferred to it with matt medium and then tinted with alcohol ink.

The alphabet is by Darkroom Door which I cut, inked and mounted using dimensional gel.

Have a crafty day and thanks for stopping by ... x







Wednesday 14 November 2012

Snakes & Ladders




I purchased a 1950's snakes & ladders board and used this as the base for my layout.  The photos of the children having fun on a long slide were perfect for this project.  I covered the board with Tim Holtz music tissue tape which I crumpled up to give a great textured background.  Once this was dry, I painted it with Steward Gill paints which give a lovely subtle sheen.

I inked up two plain tags with distress ink and then hit the Frantage again (I can't resist it!!).  This time I used a combination of silver and Pearlized mica fragments.  The chance card is from an old monopoly set which I stamped and inked and the card behind is actually the 10 of clubs which I lightly painted and rubbed off before inking with black soot
The third tag was inked and stamped and then silver embossed around the edge.

I wrote the sentiment in an italic style onto strips of cream cardstock which I tore and inked.   A couple of strips of tissue tape and a few metal embellishments, including a lovely glass bead which I attached to a vintage brass chain completed the layout.

I hope you like it! 

Have a great day and keep an eye out for those slippery snakes!! x

Corrugated Page


I'm just back from a lovely scrapbooking weekend in Devon. I love the creative atmosphere that is generated when people all come together, as my art is usually such a solitary activity.  I also cherish being able to craft for as long as you want without having to stop and make meals or do the laundry!!  What a luxury!

We were concentrating on using game pieces and so this layout features large jigsaw pieces.  I used these pieces to link into the photos I had taken of two of my boys who often fall into step together when we are out for family walks.

I started by using acrylic paints on my card and then I used shabby ivory embossing enamel on the opposite corners and embedded  Frantage gilded micra fragments whilst it was still hot.

The jigsaw pieces were covered with old dictionary paper and an old map which I then distressed and stamped onto.  The boys' initials were cut from a vintage pictorial alphabet book.  The little metal number was tinted with pesto acohol ink, as was the small sprocket.

I stamped the sentiment using individual alphabet stamps from 4 different packs onto some Kraft Resist paper which I then distressed with Shabby Shutters.  A few more cogs and sprockets and one of Prima's gorgeous lightbulbs completed the layout.

Hope you are having a good week ... thanks for stopping by! x


Tuesday 6 November 2012

Do Not Disturb


I like to work on canvas as well as paper and this was a lot of fun to make.  

I started with a plain background and then played with various masks and stencils to create interest.  I hand drew the tree and painted it with different shades of brown acrylic and included a few knots and knarls for realism!!

All the stamps are by Crafty Individuals - even the bunnies which I stamped and enlarged on my printer as they started out way smaller than the blue tit! The flowers were a free stamp CI sent me with my last order so I stamped them twice each, cut them out then doubled them up for frillier blooms!  The stalks are made from string which I inked with distress.
 
The eggs are coloured with alcohol inks and the little sign was made on my vintage typewriter, edged with Stewart Gill 'Medallion' embossing powder and attached with a little turquoise wire.

Thanks for stopping by and hope you are all having a crafty week ...  x






Monday 22 October 2012

Get Well Soon



I set out to make a card for a good friend of mine that's not too well at the moment but it was one of those days.  You know the ones where nothing goes to plan!   So, this is my FOURTH attempt at the background ... one layer was brayered and every time it just went wrong and had to be binned.  I am talking seriously unrecoverable!!    

Worse still, in between drying times, I was finishing another new piece which involved gluing a large piece of tissue paper which I had printed text onto. Well, I should have know better than to attempt it today as I battled with it all covered in glue and ready to fall apart at any moment!  Yep - it folded in on itself, ripped in half and generally misbehaved!  I had to reprint it THREE times and unjam the printer TWICE!!!  

But finally, I am done.  I can send the card to my friend and sit back and admire the tissue paper with a well earned cuppa.

Hope your day has gone better than mine! xx

Thursday 11 October 2012

Fly



I have just discovered Fran-tage by Stampendous and I LOVE IT!!  The shabby embossing enamels are beautiful and as for the mica fragments ... well don't get me started!!

I wanted to have a play with them straight away so I used some of the corrugated card from the box my order arrived in as my background.  I started by picking the cardboard apart to expose the 'ribs' before using paint dabbers over some of the background.  I wanted to create two big splodgy areas so I tried melting the shabby enamel in a melt pot.  However, I found that I lost all the colours and glitter and ended up with white.  So I poured this onto the card which allowed me to re-adhere more embossing enamel over the top.  I also tried heating it from below but as the card is quite thick, the heat doesn't really get through sufficiently to get the melt going and I was worried I would set fire to my project before I'd even got going!!  When the enamel was still wet I added the mica flakes and beads.

The birdcage is cut from Tim Holtz Kraft resist paper which I then inked and made little dangly pendants for the bottom.

I cut the birds with my cricut and stuck them onto wire and allowed to dry.

The flowers are made with crepe paper which I stamped with text and spritzed with glimmer mists.  Once dry, I cut individual petals and stuck them around the centre on a cocktail stick.  Creating them like this allowed me to make big soft and shabby blooms which I have fixed by pushing the stick through the background, gluing and trimming.

I painted the old watch face with Viva Gold metal paint and used PVA around the edge before dipping it into Cosmic Vintage Mica Flakes.  The words are a Stampotique stamp which I stamped and embossed in black before embossing the ends with Fran-tage and mica flakes.

  The card is double mounted onto Lost and Found papers. I have torn, distressed, curled and inked the first layer and I embossed the back layer with music before inking the edge with black soot and tattered rose.  I also added some gold rub-on with my finger to accentuate the embossing.

I love the soft summery shades the Fran-tage adds - hopefully it will remind me of summer now we are getting grey rainy days :(



I have entered this into the following challenges:

Crafty Mess - 19th Challenge: Anything Goes
Craft Pad - No. 191 Vintage
Stampin' for the Weekend - Challenge 18: Feeling Floral
That Craft Place - Make you own Background
Totally Gorjuss - Punch and Die
  Hope you are having some sunshine wherever you are ... x






Thursday 4 October 2012

Listen to your Dreams


I couldn't resist this new Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Classics stamp.  The stamps create images that are like fine newsprint and stamp beautifully.    I also love my dream stamp, which another one by SA.




I started my card with a sheet of paper from the Bohemian range by Craftwork Cards.  I then stamped flourishes and the gothic windows.  The eye and mouth were stamped onto Lost & Found paper I added a little glitter to the corner of each using Copper Kettle and Golden Sparkle embossing powder.





I stamped my Dream centrepiece on another piece of Lost & Found paper and inked it up with distress.  I re-stamped it onto chipboard and cut out the 'D' which I also embossed in black.


I stuck the papers down and whizzed it under my sewing machine to add some further interest before fixing it to my card and adding the metal embellishments.  



I am entering my card into the following challenges:

Gingerloft Challenge GL49 - Stitching Real or Faux
Simon Stays Stamp - Glimmer & Sparkle



Wednesday 3 October 2012

Magical Card


A little card featuring doodling and a magical castle which I've made just for fun.  I hadn't used this stamp in a while and fancied a bit of a magical moment ... so what better thing to do?!! 

The background was created with Dylusions inks and white Indian calligraphy ink.  The spotty border was stamped using a Differentcolors stamp which I cut down to a narrow size before doodling around the edge.

I coloured the castle with distress markers which I love (one of my best recent purchases!) and I finished the card with a Stampotique flower stamp to which I added silver sparkly centres.

Hope your day has had some magic too ... 
 
x

Tuesday 2 October 2012

Woodland Bird House


I bought this MDF birdhouse last week at The Big Stamp Show held at Alexandra Palace in London.  It is actually a money box with a slot in the roof, but as I have no use for that, I covered the slot when I made my new roof!

The roof is covered with Ten Second Studio metal which I have embossed and sanded.  I wanted to add a decorative roof edging so I used Art Parts by Studio 490 which I painted and stamped.

I altered the entire birdhouse to look like white peeling weathered wood and I stamped leaves and flowers in chalk ink using some gorgeous new stamps by Differentcolors who are based in The Netherlands.  A few Lost Coast butterflies finished the background.  The picket fence is an alterations die which I painted with dabbers in two shades.

The birds and branch are by Maya road.  I painted the branch with acrylic paint and covered the birds in old text before tinting them using distress markers.  I added a small crystal for an eye and part embossed the larger bird with some Golden Sparkle embossing powder by Cosmic Shimmer which I got at the Show.  The little nest is from The Range;  it came in a pack of 6 around Easter time and I tinted the eggs with alcohol ink.  The butterfly is a download from Divas D'Este.

The final addition was the sentiment which is a Unity Stamp by Donna Downey. 

On this side, I cut some tattered florals in grungeboard and coloured them with distress inks before overstamping them with patterns.  The stems are made from a coffee spatula (thanks to Costa Coffee!) which I tinted with Walnut Stain distress.

The bee is  Stampotique stamp by Jo Capper-Sandon.
For the other side I stamped and cut out a tree by Stampotique and sat my crows, also Stampotique, on its branches.

It was really fun making this house, which is for my new studio.  I'm entering it into 'Lots of Layers' challenge on Try it on Tuesday, into 'Birds, Butterflies & Bees' challenge with The Stamp Man and also Challenge 3 on Anything But a Card

Have a happy day ...  x
 



Monday 1 October 2012

Altered Bunting

So the Jubilee celebrations are now over and fast becoming a distant memory, along with the little sunshine we had this year!!

I had this paper bunting from our camping trip and decided to give it a makeover.  It took a bit of time as there are 16 little flags, but it's finally done and I'm really pleased with it.  It will hang in my new craft studio (which is yet to be built but that's another story!)



  Each flag has a message which I hope will inspire me as I work ...