Today I Fly

I have to say that playing with Gesso is really fun, seeing what works and what doesn't, and how different colour mediums work too, so today I've been having a play with Distress Paints.

I started with the other tag that got smooshed together yesterday and decided I'd add Distress Paints to it.  Looked great until I blotted it with paper towel and then it faded somewhat.  So I heat dried it and added another layer of the same colours - better.  Again I heat dried it and added yet another layer - much better!

Next I added some 'metallic rub-ons' (in silver) that I've had in my stash for years and never really used, but this helped to highlight the veins left behind by the gesso.

I stamped "Karin" on ivory cardstock before colouring her with watercolour pencils - so easy to blend colours using pencils.  While looking for what else to add, I came across these wings from Graphic 45 "Steampunk Spells" and thought I'd let Karin fly.  Again the wings were coloured with watercolour pencils before clear embossing both images, cutting them out and mounting them on dimensionals.

The words came from Dylusions "say it how it is" and I added "today I fly".  To finish off, the tag was edged with black ink, a length of black lace added to the bottom edge and another piece threaded through the top.

I'll be back again tomorrow to show the third tag I was playing with.  As I said yesterday, this technique is shaping up to be added to my favourites list!!!


As an addition to yesterday's post, there was indeed another bush fire, but this time only a couple of suburbs away and very close to some friends, whose house is built on the edge of the bush.  Scary indeed!!!  And the predicted rain didn't come - it's now forecast for this afternoon but it doesn't look like it at the moment.  We really need some rain as everything is so dry, hopefully in the next couple of days - fingers crossed!

Happy crafting!

Remembering Mela

What a hot, smokey day it has been today.  There are obviously bush fires burning somewhere so I really hope the forecast rain makes an appearance tonight.  It's not even officially summer yet and we're experiencing the worst fires in years - already so many people have lost their homes in the Blue Mountains and further north on the coast.   All very sad, not a good start to summer at all.

Over at Stampotique this week, the theme is Using Gesso, so I hopped over to Sarinda's blog for a quick tutorial on how to use it - it is as easy as it looks - FUN, FUN, FUN !!!

So, how did I do it?  Firstly, start with a blank tag, swirl gesso all over it, then pop another tag on top, smoosh it together and peel the two tags apart, which leave veins.

Playing with Dylusion inks came next, using Lemon Zest, Squeezed Orange & Cherry Pie.  Using Archival 'Watering Can' I lightly stamped words and splodges from SU "French Foliage".

I stamped Mela onto a piece of ivory cardstock and coloured her using watercolour pencils, blending the green and blue together.  Her shoes are coloured using blue and the heart is purple, as are her arms and legs.  I then clear embossed her before cutting her out and popping her onto dimensionals.

The letter stickers are from Kaisercraft and for some reason the song "those were the days my friend, we thought they'd never end ......." popped into my head, so there you have it!  To finish off, I've gone around the edges with Distress Ink 'black soot' and tied a spotty piece of washi tape to the top instead of ribbon.

Come back again soon and see what I did with the next gessoed tag.  This is definitely a fun technique to play with, it could even turn into one of my favourites!!!


I've entered this tag in Stampotique Designers Challenge - Using Gesso
and Tagalong Challenge - A Time to Remember

Thanks for looking and always enjoy reading your comments so long as they are nice ones!!!

Happy crafting!

A & J are Engaged!

Gosh, it's November already!  October simply flew past with so many things happening, no wonder I'm feeling just a wee bit weary, although at this end of the year, you tend to feel that way, don't you?

Last weekend I had my stall (with my BFF) at the local school's Spring Fair.  The weather was perfect, not too hot with a little breeze wafting around and a reasonable number of people attending.  Oddly enough most of my new handmade items for sale didn't but quite a number of my pre-loved stamps and ink pads did - sell that is.  I guess markets/fairs are a bit like that, sometimes the're successful while othertimes the're not.  My BFF didn't have much success either with her colourful children's backpacks, coin purses and quilted purses; and her daughter was selling friendship bracelets, all handmade - I felt quite disappointed for them both.  The upside was that I got to spend a whole day with my BFF!!!   Some of the other stalls around us didn't have terribly much business either as three of them had packed and gone by 1.30pm, and the Fair didn't finish until 3pm!

This weekend is the Paper Crafts Festival at Penrith which I'll be heading out to tomorrow.  Alice in Paperland has quite a large stall and I'll be demonstrating probably through to lunchtime.  I'm planning on decorating envelopes with Distress Inks and stencils etc.   I've made some samples to start off and hope my mojo doesn't dessert me 'cause it wasn't being terribly helpful yesterday!

A few weeks ago, one of my friends asked if I would make a card for a good friend who had just become engaged.   She wanted something fancy with initials of the couple, using pink, purple or red but definitely NOT green and on A4 folded in half (ie a big card).  So with a bit of thought, umming & ahhhing, this is what I came up with :

I find it quite difficult to do fancy/fussy cards, so I started with the letters.  I have a box of large chipboard letters that I've had for quite a number of years now (and rarely used), inked them up with SU's white craft inkpad, dried with the heatgun and added purple bling in different sizes.  What to do next?

I cut a tag from purple cardstock, folded a paper doily around it, and cut the butterfly using SU's embosslits die.  A few purple bling for the body ties in nicely with the letters.  I was trying to work out how to attach the heart which has a small hole to tie it on with, and then realised that the stem on one of the roses would go through perfectly.  Then I attached the ribbon and the flowers.

At this point with the main elements done, but not stuck down, there was still something missing - the background just wasn't working as it was too plain.  So out came my Cuttlebug and my collection of embossing folders and voila, all fixed and looking much better, which meant everything could now be put together to create the finished card.

Only the insides to finish off, and out came two of my favourite SU stamps, they just add a perfect touch of elegance to any card!  Finding an envelope large enough, ah now that's another story!!!

I couldn't post this until I knew the happy engaged couple had received their card, so I hope they like it !!!


Happy crafting!

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!