Something wicked ........

Phew, it's been a very busy week (actually, it's been a very busy month) and with 6 days away and a Spring Fair tomorrow, this end of the week has been a flurry of finishing things off for the stall.  However, I think I'm pretty well organised now and hope to have an enjoyable day tomorrow.

So with things now finished, I  decided to have a play and enter a couple of challenges that are running this week.  Over at Stampotique, the theme is Fabric or Lace and at Tagalong, the theme is Steampunk Hallowe'en, so put the two of them together and this is what I've come up with.

I took a tag, and started with Distress Ink 'mustard seed' covering the tag, then added 'fired brick' over the top giving it a slightly mottled look, before again going over it with 'mustard seed'.  I was trying to give it an orange look (in real life it is a bit more orange), and then finished off around the edges with 'black soot'. 

Next the web and spider (Graphic 45 'Happy Hauntings') were stamped in Archival 'watering can' followed by the owls and the steampunk flying clock (Graphic 45 'steampunk spells').  The words were stamped in Archival 'jet black', cut out and lightly edged with 'fired brick' before being glued into place.

The lovely "Gooseneck" was stamped onto ivory cardstock, fussy cut with a piece of lace as an underskirt, and popped onto dimensionals.  She was coloured with Distress Markers 'wild honey' and 'peeled paint'.  To finish off, another length of lace was added in place of ribbon.

And there you have it - my entry for this week's challenges.

Hope you like it and you are welcome to leave any comments so long as they are nice ones!

Happy crafting!
 

Handles, Hinges, Buckles, Fasteners, Pulls

In between making 'cheap & cheerful' items for the Spring Fair, was the need to just play, so that's what I did with this tag which is also this week's challenge at Stampotique - Handles, Hinges, Buckles, Fasteners, Pulls.

My first idea was to use a zipper and I was hoping there may have been an old one in Mum's button tin, but alas it was not to be (sigh), BUT there were a number of old belt buckles which would have come off dresses many years ago.  This one caught my eye as it was a lovely bright sort of 'peacock feathers' colour and as I rummaged through my ribbons I thought the contrast would certainly stand out with this spotty one.

The background colour is a combination of Distress Inks 'peacock feathers', 'fired brick' and 'mustard seed' blended together with a touch more peacock feathers around the edges. 

Next I stamped "Gibi", coloured her with Distress Markers and did some fussy cutting before popping her up on dimensionals.  I attached the ribbon, added the words and finished with a washi tape ribbon.

I'm entering Gibi in this week's challenge at Stampotique.

Thanks for visiting and comments are always appreciated (nice ones especially).

Happy crafting!
 

Hocus Pocus

I recently discovered a new challenge (well, new to me anyway) who's theme for the month of October is along halloweeny lines, and this week it's 'Hocus Pocus'.  It appears you can use any company's goodies, so long as it is a 'tag'.  Since I quite enjoy making tags I thought I'd join in with this week's challenge.

I started with the background using Distress Inks, mustard seed, fired brick and seedless preserves, blended together.  I then stamped the teddy magician (Lucy's Stamps) directly onto the tag and again onto cardstock before colouring him with Distress Markers.  To get a lighter shading on his robe, I scribbled dusty concord onto a cellophane bag (you make do with what is available at the time) and picked the colour up with a water brush.  He was then fussy cut (not the shimmer around his crystal ball though) and glued directly over the first image.  The spider and web were stamped from Graphic 45 'Happy Hauntings', and the words are a set of alphabet stamps which come in handy for all sorts of projects.

To finish off the tag, silver kindyglitz was added to highlight the crystal ball and his robes, and some yarn completed the tag.

I've had this teddy stamp in my stash for quite a few years now and always thought him rather cute.  I'm not even sure if Lucy's Stamps still exist anymore, but thought he was perfect for the Hocus Pocus theme.

I'm entering him in this week's challenge at www.tagalongchallenge.blogspot.co.uk

Happy crafting!
 

Winged Teddy

We've been enjoying a lovely long weekend here in Sydney, with beautiful weather as an added bonus, so what better time to play with all things paper.

It started on Saturday morning with my "Quick & Easy Christmas Cards" class at Alice in Paperland, with a repeat of the class in the afternoon.  We were using Kaisercraft's "St. Nicholas"  6x6 pad of papers and die-cuts with just a bit of stamping added from the "Christmas Sentiments" clear stamps.

On Sunday I wanted to finish making some more 'cheap & cheerful' goodies for the Spring Fair I've booked a stand at in a couple of weekends time but before I started, I'd first hem some pants belonging to my brother.  Out came my mini sewing machine and what should have been a half hour (at the most) job, turned into a 2 hour job as the stitches kept looping on the back and I just couldn't work out why - grrrrrr !!!  Not the best sewing I've ever done, but hopefully they'll be ok as they are casual outdoor type pants.

Today I've been playing with a couple of ATC's, as that is the theme at Stampotique this week.

The background is Distress Inks in red and yellow with a touch of black, stamped with ink splodges from "French Foliage" (SU).  "Teddy" from Stampotique was coloured with Distress Markers before being fussy cut.  His wings are a freebie stamp from "Craft Stamper" magazine a few months back, and "Haunting" is from Graphic 45 - a bit of a mixed bag!  The top corner was distressed and torn just for added interest.

On landing, "Teddy" discovered the big black spider in it's web.  The spider, web and quote all come from Graphic 45.  The background has been done the same way as before. (apologies for the blurriness)

I hope where-ever you are in the world, you've had an enjoyable weekend and thanks for visiting.  All comments are appreciated (nice ones only) and if you comment as 'anonymous' please leave your name so I know who you are!

I'm entering "Teddy" in this weeks Stampotique ATC challenge.

Oh, and to update you, my back is feeling much better now, fingers & toes crossed it will stay that way!
 
Happy crafting!