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'