Tim's January 2014 tag and a case of C.R.A.F.T.!

There was I all organised - a nice little pile of "ingredients" for making Tim's first tag of 2014! I think I only managed one last year and I'm not even sure that it made it to my blog! So, everything was ready to bring away to our caravan with me and then what happened was a case of C.R.A.F.T.,that's not what you think....when I was working our school caretaker had been to his GP, while there he had mentioned to the doc that he kept forgetting things - the doc had told him that he had a case of C.R.A.F.T - Can't Remember A Flippin' Thing! Well I've got it now! I just left everything on my desk!

I was all ready to give up on the idea but after sitting knitting a scarf for my granddaughter it occurred to me that two of the colours in the wool were exactly the same colour as two Distress inks I have here - a little sort through my boxes and I came up with this prettier version than I'd like but I did stick as far as I could to Tim's instructions which you can find here.
So here's my tag

As you can see the two colours were Peacock Feathers and Picked Raspberry and they were ink pads rather than Distress stain but considering my brain fail it doesn't look too bad!

Thanks for looking, Chris

....and back into colour!

My latest journal page began the same way that many of my pages begin - a mop up page! When my new stamps arrived at the end of last week I could hardly wait to get this set mounted and inked!
Its the Artistic Outpost set 'Bluebird' and I've wanted it for some time! 
In the set is a small text stamp in old typewriter print, I masked off the area that I wanted the image by tearing some paper to the approximate size, allowing the text to fill in the edges. I then used the stamp right way up and upside down and stamped randomly - this may seem like odd behaviour but as a child I was allowed to play with a typewriter and was always fascinated with the patterns I could make by reinserting the paper upside down and winding it through before I added more letters.

I then laid the 'hole' over the text and stamped the image using my new Potting Soil Archival ink(seen so many folk using this and loved it-it's my new favourite). Oh dear! the green patterned background did not suit the little girl! I stamped her again onto plain paper and coloured her by mixing some distress pens onto my mat and painting with a water brush before cutting her out and pasting her over the green figure! 

I then used distress markers to colour one of the birds on another of the stamps so that the bird could fly towards the little girl. All I needed then was the little quote and some music from the bird stamp. Not to be caught out again I painted a little area with Nougat PA Fresco Finish paint. 

This is the best photo I could get in fading light but tomorrow is a busy day so I wanted to post this tonight.

I would like to enter this in the following Challenge 

Artistic Outpost - Anything goes

Thanks for looking, Chris 

No colour?

I have been playing in my journal again and unusually for me didn't feel in a mood for colour.

A little bit of stencilling, and smudging of inks, some stamping - some conventional rubber stamps and some bottle tops etc., some tape, some painted lace, a chocolate wrapper, collaged stamped images. 

Halfway through doing this page I saw the Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge where they wanted you to use the letter 'A' so out came my lovely knight stamp - only thing is I think I threw just a little too much silver embossing powder onto his armour!

I enjoyed not using colour for a while but I think I'll give it a rest for now!

I would like to enter this in 
the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge where my heavily Armoured knight stands for the 'A'

Country View Challenges where they are actually encouraging Monochromatic entries

Up!

It's thanks to She at Rubber Addict that I was reminded of this challenge at the Craft Barn! I love the idea of having a little book of quotes and this challenge wants 'Quotes and Lyrics' using the word "up" or "smile" for this first part of the challenge!

Living near the airport - not so close that we get a lot of noise -  we do see planes taking off up into the clouds.

I often find myself humming a certain song when I see them.
So what is the song you ask - sad to say, I know all the lyrics - written by Sammy Cahn - it's "Come Fly With Me" first sung by Frank Sinatra in 1957. My Dad had the Come Fly With Me LP(that's what they called albums in those days) that had songs about travelling around the World!

 I love flying, especially that moment when you break through the cloud up into sunshine so I used Stampendous Frantage - Shabby White because of the gold flecks in it, just above the quote in the little silver lined cloud.
The Inkylicious stamp at the bottom is one I hadn't used until now even though I bought it at a show last year. The background on the tag was made using Sky and Snowflake fresco paints from Paper Artsy then stencilled over with a TH stencil. Once I'd stuck on the plane(using foam squares although you can't tell from the photo!) from Tim's Remnants set it looked a bit bare so I added another line from the song using Ideaology label letters along with more computer generated words.

I don't know how long I'll keep up with this challenge but for now I'm really looking forward to the next two words! 

Thanks for looking, Chris

WOYWW 242

I don't seem to be doing very well in linking to Julia's Wednesday fly around the world for free 'Whats On Your Workdesk Wednesday' so far in 2014! 
Oh! I started keen - I could show the photos I took but never got around to showing you but today I've made it and this was my desk yesterday before we went to babysit(huh! they're not babies any more - x-boxes and computer games are the favourites these days - whatever happened to Thomas the Tank Engine and dolls?)

Not a lot going on, some book pages drying so that I can tear them up for journal pages and best of all - new stamps - I can't resist a  bargain.

I have been playing quite a lot in my art journals in between waiting for stuff to set or dry! 

Here's one

 Done on a background made mainly of mop up inks then doodled on - the quote is an Artistic Stamper one.

So, we are off to the cinema - to see American Hustle we think, last week we went to see 12 Years a Slave, some harrowing scenes but a fantastic film!

Hope to get around to visit when we get back, Chris

A little tag book

As I mentioned in my previous post I was thrilled to find that Julie Ann of Magpie Heaven had a GD spot on the Paper Artsy blog. The gorgeous box and it's contents were just amazing ...but all that work...and I don't get on well with larger projects(short attention span!!!)However over the three days I came to realise that what I really love are little books and Julie Ann's little book was something that set me off on my little tag book!
As you may have seen one tag was stolen for something else so I had to set to and make another! I used a combination of linen and muslin to stamp the images 

As you can see it was still here at this point

I then covered the backs with some of the lovely mambi papers...

..and stamped them using a combination of stamps from LPC011, LPC012, LPC013

I also added more text using Minis 23,23, and 76

As you can see the new tag is now here and the backs have been joined together using this part of an image on the LPC013 set

I think it made a pretty good hinge!

As you can see I have actually used some of my stash of embellies - you know the ones I say I'll use - one day! 
Maybe this is my start as I mean to go on moment....we'll see!

So Thank you Julie Ann for the inspiration!

I am going to link this to the Paper Artsy blog

and also enter the following challenge

as I've got around to using some of my hoard - Our Creative Corner - No more Shopping Sins

 Thanks for looking, Chris

One thing led to another....

For some time now I have been inspired by Julie Ann at Magpie Heaven so I was thrilled to see Julie Ann's project on Paper Artsy's blog this week! However, it was a bit beyond me...or so I thought! I am not so good on larger projects but by the third post when she showed her little tag book I just had to have a go at a tag book at least!
So I started to prepare some tags!

 Then what does she do? She goes and becomes a member of the design team over at the Dragons Dream! So....one tag is removed!
It's no secret..I too love the Paper Artsy Lynne Perella collection.
The challenge is to use text - tick! ...I did add a little more though. I stamped the image from LPCO13 onto some linen and stuck it on - use a real stamp - tick! Added some lace and pearls then came the difficult part - use the letter L! By now we had decided to take a break up here at our caravan - fortunately ages ago I had brought some rather garish letters up here (a lot of my craft stuff up here is with the intention of playing with my granddaughter so stuff I wouldn't normally use is stashed under her bed) A crawl around on the floor and I came up with the letter L - tick - although it wasn't really suitable for the tag. 
A few weeks ago I found this paper pad at TKMaxx - photographed it intending to show it off but never got round to it.

 The papers are gorgeous, some foiled, some embossed and I had brought some pages up here knowing they would come in for my own projects. I carefully drew round the letter L and stuck it onto the garish one - hmmm, ok but I felt the need to link the L to some words - so, out with some pages I'd torn out of the King Arthur book that I rescued from hubby (it was on it's way to the charity shop) I have a folder of pages from books that are kept at home.
So, after all that rambling here is the tag

 So what happened to the tag book? You'll see tomorrow if you'd like to come back.

Meanwhile I would like to link this to 
Dragons Dream Tag It On Challenge
Simon says Monday Challenge - Anything goes
CountryView Challenges - Monochromatic

Thanks for looking, Chris

It's a mystery!

I don't really know how this page came about - I had a mop up page of very bright colours, can't even remember when I used these colours but was probably mopped and blotted at the time so would be paler.

Over the weeks(months?)little bits kept getting added, including the stamping which was probably done before our trip to Italy in October as I used the set Paper Artsy Lynne Perrella LPCO12 in my Italy Journal. Over the Christmas holidays I just started messing around and came up with this! The words came from my King Arthur book.

Thanks for looking, Chris

All things bright.....

When I saw Clare Lloyds lovely bright spool using Paper Artsy's Squiggle Ink stamps it just stuck a chord! 
I had this....

left over from wrapping Christmas presents, saved it for 'something' as you do...

I have had my Squiggle Ink stamps for ages - the were some of the first stamps I bought and I have used the Swirls and Curls 4 on all sorts of things, I don't think I've used the other set - Flora and Fauna 6 for a couple of years, though now it's out I have a birthday card in mind!

Here is what I came up with

From the side

From above -sorry no down below if you play that game! 

I used some silkies that I have had for ages - worried that that might have dried up but no - covered the base around the edges.

The images were stamped on to quite a heavyweight cartridge paper that had been smooshed in distress inks - Mowed Lawn and Mustard Seed with a touch of solidified mica powder that I had to mash about a bit to release any powder at at all!

The top was a clock from Ink and the Dog Clocks 4 with addition of part of a swirly bit from swirls and curls

I used a twiddly bit from a photo cube set to hold the sentiment then decided to add the little birds mounted onto acetate strips. 

So, Thanks Clare for the inspiration and for helping me seek out those stamps again!

I'm linking this to the Paper Artsy blog 

Tando Creative where they are running a challenge - Bold and Bright

 Ali-Craft where they are saying "Anything Goes"

Thanks for looking, Chris

Erm....do I do pink?

Not often, but while making the blue card in the previous post I got it into my head to make something pink!! Of course the stamp set I was using helped - the lovely Artistic Outpost Flower Market which reminds me of the Paris and Amsterdam flower markets.
I had to keep wiping my stamps as I was using them although I'm sure lilac shades would have been nice too!
So what did I make - a tag, don't make enough of these either although I do have a whole box full of tags in various sizes!

I combined two stamps for the main image - the little girl "lost" her butterfly net and ended up with butterfly wings herself. 
The edge of the tag was stamped using one of the small flower stamps overlapping as I went. The words Marche au Fleurs was stamped randomly and then this

was used to add further background pattern (not an original idea - I saw Ali Reeve of Stamps away use string on a piece of wood at Happy Stampers last year)

I mounted the cut out image over a selection of pink papers including a dried raspberry tea bag.

Then ribbon was wrapped through part of a Primark bracelet. I also had some paper flowers out and a plastic rose from another Primark bracelet(with a touch of pink pro-marker on the edges of the petals)

Final touches were some punched hydrangea flower and just a little glitter on the little girls wings! 

I think my granddaughter will get a nice surprise next time she goes in the bedroom at the caravan!

I would also like to enter this in the Artistic Outpost Referal Program challenge - Anything goes Artistic Outpost.

Thanks for looking, Chris

Blue is the colour!

I do love blue! My ex-husbands new wife loves blue too so I made her birthday card just using blue inks! It's her birthday tomorrow but the party is today so I'm taking this along!

I used the Artistic Outpost set - Flower Market. The small flowers around the edge of the card just repeated using different sections. I used DIs Stormy Sky, Chipped Sapphire and Faded Jeans. The flower was made by layering up a combination of flowers after smooshing them in inks. Everything was then given a coat of Twinkling H2os - pearl blue although the sparkle doesn't show up!

I hope she likes it! 

I would like to enter in the following challenges 

Country View Challenges - Gabrielle has chosen the theme "Monochromatic"

Artful Times Challenge Blog actually has the theme "Blue" and I must admit to being influenced by the team!

Thanks for looking, Chris

I hope I'm not too late to enter this in Simon Says Monday Challenge - where the theme is also 'Blue'

Reflect!

The beginning of a new year means I should be looking forward and I am - really, lots to look forward to including a return trip to Italy in Spring and a wedding (Yay! Number one son is getting married!)in Autumn. The other day though I was reflecting on last year, looking through photos and journals and this journal page just sort of evolved!

In one of my journals there are quite a lot of mop up pages so I decided to use one of them. I had already doodled around the edges and then added some scraps. The image from Paper Artsy LPC009 was stamped onto another piece of mop up paper. I used a distress marker to scribble over the image to give it a blurred edge and the gaps around it were filled in with a little scrap of a stamp I picked up in a bargain bin in a craft shop some time ago. I decided to write my letters rather than use stamps but...on reflection..ha! ha!..perhaps I should have!

Hope you are all enjoying finding time to play now that all the festivities are over!

Thanks for looking, Chris

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I just wanted to thank everyone for your lovely encouraging comments this year - there were times when I thought of giving up my blog then along you came and got me back on track! 

Hopefully we will all have a wonderful 2014 so here's wishing you all the best for the coming year!

Hoping to link to WOYWW - see here on Julia's blog for the whys and wherefores. As we are away with grandchildren my crafting is non existent at the minute but I hope you like what we've been looking at from the window

From me and the birds - Happy New Year!
Chris
Trying to post from my phone - fingers crossed