A bit of bling

A new month means a new object to make over at Something Completely Different and for August the team is asking us to make torsos at ATC size. I used Ruth Ann Zaroff's mannequin template from Mirkwood Designs {here} but changed the size and proportions to make it more ATC-friendly. She's a curvier model this way :o) The theme for our torsos this week is "bling".

I confess I'm not very good at bling - either in my personal style or in papercrafting. So although I really did try with this week's challenge the bling is still on the subtle side! I used a row of tiny nail art gems to define the waist curve along the right hand side. The other idea of having a necklace looked dreadful and ended up with me cutting the deep neckline and sitcking onto another blank torso to get rid of the gluey bit where the necklace attempt had been!

The swirls were embossed in clear for an emboss resist with Black Soot Distress ink swiped over.

Stamps:
Beautiful (Rummage Bin line at Cornish Heritage Farms)

Paper:
Smooth white

Ink:
Versamark by Tsukineko
Tim Holtz distress ink by Ranger (Black Soot)

Other:
Detail embossing powder (clear)
Nail art gems
Copic marker (to colour the neck)

Thanks for the challenge girls and thanks for stopping by!

Half time oranges...

Actually, they're more like end of game oranges since this is my last chellenge as Guest Designer with Something Completely Different. Thanks for asking me girls - it's been a fun month! This is the last week of making tags and our challenge today is a colour one: orange, blue and brown.

This is one of the very first stamps I bought - it came in a mixed lot of used stamps on eBay. It has a checkerboard border round it but I just trimmed out the central portion with the picture as it was then the perfect width for my tag.

The houndstooth pattern is stamped with a light coloured pigment ink onto a tag which was cut from chocolate coloured cardstock - I like the soft effect this gives. I added some Sakura Glaze pen on the cut piece of orange to give the segments a wet sheen and other than that I think it's self-explanatory!

Stamps:
Oranges by Hampson Arts
Fine Houndstooth Scrapblock (Cornish Heritage Farms if you're in the UK, Bubbly funk has this in stock {here})

Paper:
Simply heavy chocolate
Smooth white

Ink:
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Espresso)
Versacraft by Tsukineko (Sand)

Other:
Copic markers
Sakura glaze pen (orange)
Sewing machine and thread
Extra large eyelet by We R Memory Keepers (antique copper)
Jute twine

Thanks for stopping by!

Going round in circles

It's Friday so it must be Something Completely Different challenge day! We have five Fridays this month so we're not quite done with tags yet, one more to go after this week.

Today's theme is... circles! I went a bit mad with a couple of punches for a layered, textured kind tag by sticking my punched shapes onto a base of white card coloured with Peeled Paint Distress ink and sanding to shabby it up a bit. I love this cute little alien and thought it would be fun to have him peeping through a porthole.

A few buttons keep things round and add some extra texture. I wrapped a bit of craft wire round a paintbrush handle to finish it all off with some springy alien antennae (broadcasting friendly messages, of course).

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Little Guy (Kim Hughes line)

Paper:
DCWV

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Peeled Paint)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Fiskars squeeze punches (medium and large circles)
Nestabilities by Spellbinder (Circles Large - to cut the top of the tag)
Copic markers
Inkssentials white gel pen by Ranger
Craft wire
Linen thread
Buttons

Thanks for stopping by!

Fantasy!

It's Friday so that means it's time for a new challenge over at Something Completely Different. Our tags this week have the theme of "Fantasy".

I really struggled with this one! Things didn't quite pan out the way I imagined them but I got somewhere in the end. I started playing with the idea of a genie escaping from a bottle and somewhere along the line I got the dense, tangled foliage of stories like the Sleeping Beauty mixed in there as well and my genie turned into a lute playing lovely - lol!

My Dymo labels looked a wee bit stark white with the other elements so I swiped over with a green Copic marker to blend them in a bit. The swirls were die cut from acetate and then coated in Glossy Accents and glitter so they have a translucence about them in real life. I also used Copics to colour over clear glitter.

The vivid green bottle is from one of the Dezinaworld collage sheets I won in a SCD challenge a while back - thanks June!

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
East West Historic Poster (B&O Railroad line)
Big Inspiration (Mona Lisa Moments line)
Leaves #3 backgrounder

Paper:
Black
Glossy Photo
Acetate
Smooth white

Ink:
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx black)
Versacraft by Tsukineko (Spring Green)

Other:
Elegant Flourishes die (Tim Holtz Alterations/Sizzix)
Enchanting Emerald collage sheet by Dezina World
Detail embossing powder (black)
Dymo label maker
Copic markers
Deko Ice glitter by Efco (Crystal)
Prismacolour pencils
Extra large eyelet by We R Memory Keepers (antique copper)
Leather thong

Thanks for stopping by!

Are you sitting comfortably?

It's time for a new challenge over at Something Completely Different. Our tags this week have the theme "Are you sitting comfortably?". As an avid reader from before I started school, there was really only one response possible from me! The next bit of the phrase has to be "Then I'll begin" and the story follows!

I found Oscar Wilde's story The Selfish Giant online and printed out a section of it to use as the base of the tag. I had the idea that the little reader should be "lost" in the words so he's stamped straight onto the text and not coloured in any way. I stamped again on plain card, coloured the book and cut it out to add over the top of the image. The sparkly circle of tiny gems is the magical, enclosed world created by losing yourself in a good story!

A bit of sanding and inking give it a shabbier feel and because it's flat I think this will make a good bookmark!

Stamps:
Story of Me (Crafty Secrets Clear Art Stamps)
Story Book (retired - Cornish Heritage Farms)
Time to Stamp (Cornish Heritage Farms)

Paper:
Smooth white

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Vintage Photo)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Gold detail embossing powder
Copic markers
Acrylic nail art gems
Sanding block
Silk ribbon

Thanks for stopping by, do come and join us at SCD if you fancy playing with a tag this week!

The sweetest moments

I'm delighted to be joining Something Completely Different this month as guest designer for July - thanks for the invitation SCD! We're making tags this month and the first theme is.... hearts!

I discovered that I don't have much by way of heart stamps but when I remembered this little honeycomb heart, the rest just sort of fell into place. I couldn't resist using Wild Honey ink with it ;)

The bee was stamped on vellum and cut out and then stamped again on plain white card and just the body cut out and stuck on top of the vellum so his wings are semi transparent. I used the Wild Honey ink to colour him. I stamped the head part onto the cut out heart so that his legs and antennae show there rather than trying to cut round them!

I stamped the sentiment straight onto the tag and then stamped again on white cardstock and cut around the "dymo label" words and stuck them over the top. A little bit of doodling and a silk ribbon through the top finishes it off.

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Sweet Bee set (Rummage Bin line)

Paper:
Manilla shipping tag
Scrap of smooth white
Scrap of vellum

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade)
Stazon by Tsukineko (Jet Black)
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)

Other:
Silk ribbon
Copic multiliner
Foam pads

Thanks for stopping by!

Sweet as honey

The object of the month over at Something Completely Different is the "skinni" (3" x 5") and this week's theme is "flora and fauna". My word, you wouldn't believe how I struggled with this! I very nearly gave up when the third version hit the bin but I finally made something I was half way happy with. I confess I found the proportions of the skinni really hard to work with. Not sure I'll be trying this again but you live and learn, eh?!

The flora is absolutely literal - I picked some lavender sprigs from the front garden. I'm hoping they dry successfuly on there so it will still look pretty once the fresh bloom stage has passed! My fauna are the bees that are going to turn that lavender into delicious honey for that label to get stuck to at a later date! I do love that French language honey label stamp!

Bees are in trouble with numbers in rather alarming decline so I thought it would be good to celebrate these useful little beasties and all they do for us.

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Sweet Bee (Rummage Bin line)

Paper:
Vintage sheet music
Smooth white
Black

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Vintage Photo)

Other:
Copic markers
Squeeze punch by Fiskars (large circle)
Lavender from the garden
Gingham ribbon
Elegant flourishes die (Tim Holtz Alterations/Sizzix)
Stick pin

Thanks for buzzing by!

Haute Couture

I was determined to play along at least once over at Something Completely Different during their birthday month. The theme this week is Paris and we're revisiting the very first "thing to make" so we're doing twinchies.

When I think of Paris, I think of all sorts of things, one of them being fashion! I pulled out the "Haute Couture" set and went for a sort of vintage, sepia kind of look and a collage stamped approach with some masking and some stamping off to vary the colour intensity.

Caroline over at Bubbly Funk has just started stocking the "All Things Considered" line of stamps that includes this set and lots of others by Cornish Heritage Farms too - I couldn't be more thrilled to see two of my favourite places hooked up! Most of the stock is not available elsewhere in the UK. You can see the range {here} if you're interested.

I quite like things like inchies, twinchies and ATCs to be pretty flat and light so I kept this one to stamps, paper and colouring only. I thought the style of the Paris sentiment made it look a bit like one of the ladies had written on a picture to turn it into a keepsake of where it was taken.

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Haute Couture (All Things Considered Line)

Paper:
Smooth white
Simply Heavy Chocolate

Ink:
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Espresso)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Vintage Photo)
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)

Other:
Copic markers

Thanks for stopping by!

Dance to the music of time

I haven't played along at Tuesday Taggers before but I saw through Gez's blog that this week's challenge was to get messy - too hard to resist!

As the challenge is being sponsored by the Craft Barn, I thought I'd take the opportunity to play with some Viva Decor products as they stock a fab range of them and they're perfect for messy projects! This week's SCD challenge gave me the theme of time for my ATC.

I decided to add to the obvious watch/clock theme with some sheet music indicating something about the timing or speed of the music, too. My clock face is done on shrink plastic and the little cog and wheel are old clock parts. I thought the circuit board could be part of a timing device, as well!

The texture at the bottom (which I've mostly covered up!) was done by stamping the harlequin backgrounder onto chipboard and heat embossing with UTEE - I gave it three coats. Then I laid aluminium tape over it, sprayed with Glimmer Mist and once it was dry I rubbed over with a buffing block to expose the silver tape. The top bit that has the more organic texture is Tera with a heat gun applied to make it bubble - fun stuff!

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Textured Harlequin backgrounder
Circuit Board backgrounder
Time to Stamp (Rummage Bin line)

Paper:
Chipboard
Vintage sheet music

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Vintage Photo)

Other:
Tera paint by Viva Deco (Kenya)
Precious Metal paint by viva Decor (Copper)
Black acrylic paint
Aluminium tape
UTEE by Ranger
Shrink plastic
Glimmer Mist by Tattered Angels (Red Maple and Vintage Brass)

Tuesday Taggers invited us to show our messy hands or workspaces too - I only managed a picture of one hand since I couldn't get them far enough away from the camera to use the timer and have the picture in focus! Note the tasteful crusting of Tera right down on the heel of my hand - no idea how that got there!

Thanks for stopping by, hope your weekend is going well!

The key to an ATC

I'm squeaking in for this week's challenge on Something Completely Different. The object of the month is ATCs and this week's theme is keys.

I seem to be slightly obsessed with the Adirondack colours Pool and Stream just at the moment. I had new toys to play with too - Viva Croco paint - which was turquoise so the inks came out again.

The butterfly body was made by wrapping thin wire around a fairly chunky needle to make a coil. I left one end free before starting the coil and then threaded the other end back up through the hollow so I could make antennae. I used a tiny blob of Glossy Accents to finish them with a slight bulb on the end.

The crackle paint is lovely stuff. Not for the crafter in a hurry though, you can expect to wait at least a couple of hours before you get those fabulous deep cracks all done and dusted.

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Key Elements (All Things Considered line)
Key Expressions (Mona Lisa Moments line)

Paper:
Chipboard ATC
Scrap of Simply Smooth

Ink:
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger - Pool and Stream
Versafineby Tsukineko - Onyx Black

Other:
Croco paint by Viva Decor - Turquoise
Black acrylic paint
Jump rings
Beads
Key charm
Fishing swivel
Leafing pen by Krylon - silver
Thin wire (recycled from the "cage" on a bottle of Rioja!)
Glossy Accents by Ranger
Crop-a-Dile

Thanks for stopping by today!

Winged beauty

It's a while since I played along at either Something Completely Different or the Crafty Secrets challenge in the SCS member company forum so it was nice to have the chance to combine the two and play a little catch up.

The item at SCD this month is ATCs. The Crafty Secrets challenge this week is "anything but a card" so an ATC fits nicely! The SCD theme for the week is "wings" so I pulled out the Altered Art set and used the wings to make a vintage butterfly with assorted gems for the body. Accents from the French Mail stamp set and a little lace finished it off.

Penny saver: look out in charity shops (goodwill stores if you're in the US, op shops if you're joining me from down under!) for old sheet music. I got a book for 75p that will last about as long as me, I reckon! You even get to choose a section where the spacing and shape of the notes fits your project!

Stamps:
Altered Art and French Mail (Clear Art Stamps by Crafty Secrets)
Weathered Wood backgrounder (Cornish Heritage Farms - retired)

Paper:
Vintage sheet music
Simply smooth vanilla (CHF)

Ink:
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Vintage Photo)

Other:
Copic markers (Eggshell, Brick Beige, Chamois)
Gems
Krylon Leafing pen (Copper)
Corner Chomper
Vintage lace

Thanks for stopping by, hope you have a great weekend!

Self portrait - age 8

This is me! As soon as I saw this stamp I knew it would end up as a self portrait of some sort ;o)

Aged about eight or so, I had this kind of hair cut and often wore an "Alice band" and I was such an avid reader as a child that even when mum said I had to go outside because the weather was beautiful I was not above taking a book with me and sitting on the back doorstep to read it!

Two challenges combine here - Something Completely Different is on the last week of postcards (6" x 4") and the theme this week is "books". Sunday Stamper has asked us all to "imagine" this week, using the word on our creations. Imagination was exactly the reason I loved to read so much - all those other lives and other worlds to live in!

I've curled the corner of the page to show how eager this little reader is to turn to the next one.

Just for good measure here, I threw in a kind of book I'm not so keen on - the background is stamped with Vintage Ledger Scrapblock - I don't really enjoy working with numbers and have to make a big effort to keep things organised so the idea of using a ledger is not really "me"!

Again, in keeping with my take on the postcard theme, layers are minimal and there are no embellishments on this one.

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
School Primer (All Things Considered line - releasing Tuesday 4th August (girl, page, cursive alphabet, "My dear children" are all from the set))
Vintage Ledger Scrapblock
Big Inspiration (Mona Lisa Moments line)

Paper:
Simply Smooth

Ink:
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Espresso)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Vintage Photo)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Copic markers

Thanks for stopping by!

Postcard to the stars

I'm just squeaking in on this week's Something Completely Different challenge. July's object is the postcard (6" x 4") and Gez has chosen this week's theme of "vintage". This is not at all what I planned to do when I sat down but sometimes things just happen, don't they?

I love this quote from Galileo - "I've loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night" and find it especially poignant as Galileo lost his sight in later life. I am lucky enough to live in an area of the UK with relatively little light pollution so we really do have a great view of the stars, even the Milky Way sometimes and we also love the stars fondly.

I hope the star map and the fantastically complex telescope qualify as vintage! In keeping with the postcard theme (at least my thinking of it) I kept the layers and embellishments to a minimum - there's just the torn scrap of vellum for the sentiment and the cut out star other than the base layer. The Scrapblock was perfect here - being a 6" x 6" stamp meant that I could do the whole width of the postcard and have the map go all the way to the edges :o)

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Reach 4 the Stars (Rummage Bin line)
Astronomy Scrapblock
Postcard and cancellation mark from Journal Box (Rummage Bin line)

Ink:
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)
Stazon by Tsukineko (Jet Black)
Tim Holtz Distress by Ranger (Vintage Photo)

Paper:
Cryogen white
Vellum

Other:
Lyra Skintone pencils
Stapler
Copic marker (to tone down the staples)

Thanks for stopping by, if you're wishing upon a star, I hope your wish is granted!

Spot the well known phrase or saying!

Just a bit of fun, this one! I combined this week's Something Completely Different (object: tag; theme: crowns) and Lots to Do (use Grungeboard) challenges.

My little froggie stamp does actually have a crown and I could have just left the final one as a complete stamping but I fancied something with a bit more dimension so the Grungeboard one seemed perfect! It's coloured with a Krylon pen and has nail art gems (green of course!) at the tips.

The frogs were stamped on green paper, given a little shading with a couple of Copics, the whites of their eyes filled in with an Inkssentials pen and then they were cut out (chopping their crowns off in the process!).

The princely frog also has a little glitteriness courtesy of some Spica pen (green on his eyelids, clear squiggles over his body). He's been given a royal lift so he's above his lowly counterparts, courtesy of some foam pads.

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Little Guy (Kim Hughes Collection)
Everyday Petites (Mona Lisa Moments line)

Paper:
Smooth white
Scrapblock Layers (CHF)

Ink:
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Espresso)
Tim Holtz Distress by Ranger (Shabby Shutters)

Other:
Copic markers
Inkssentials white pen by Ranger
Copic Spica glitter pens (green and clear)
Grungeboard crown
Nail art gems
Krylon leafing pen (Pale Gold)
Grosgrain ribbon
Embroidery floss
Foam pads

Did you fill out the saying from the visual clues? (You have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince)

Thanks for stopping by!

If you're planning to play the CHF Summer Stamping Star challenges, don't forget the first one launches tomorrow. There's a full week to play though so pick your best shot during the week and upload to the special gallery before next Sunday evening to be in with a chance of the weekly $50 prize! Full details here. Anyone who plays all five challenges will get a 25% discount code to use at the CHF store so it's worth a go, even for challenges you don't feel are your "strong suits" :o)

Love in the key of SCD

It's Gez's turn to set the challenge over on Something Completely Different this week so I really couldn't let the week pass without having a go. This month's object is the tag and Gez's theme for the week is "hearts".

I picked up an old book of music in a charity shop (goodwill store for my American friends!) a few weeks ago and thought this would be the perfect project to use a little of it as it gave me the opportunity to pun off the word "key" and although Kathy is the queen of puns I think I may be second in line to the throne ;o) The keys are stamped over the hole in the tag so it looks a bit like they're swinging from the chain and I found the space between the staves was perfect for the sentiment!

My heart is hand cut from some packaging - it had the corrugated texture showing rather than being laminated with another plain sheet which made me save it. I grunged it a little by rubbing some gesso in with my finger. The wire was saved from the 'cage' on a bottle of Rioja, the lace is vintage and the chain is from a broken necklace so all in all I did pretty well on the three Rs here, huh?

Stamps (all Cornish Heritage Farms):
Key Elements (All Things Considered line)
Key Expressions (Mona Lisa Moments line)

Paper:
Vintage sheet music
Recycled packaging

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Tim Holtz Distress by Ranger (Vintage Photo)

Other:
Vintage lace
Recycled wire
Chain
Nail art gem
Gesso

Thanks for the challenge girls and thanks for stopping by to take a look, hope you liked it! Don't forget to check out CHF's Summer Stamping Star contest if you have CHF stamps to play with!

Something Completely Different

There's a new kid on the challenge blog block - Something Completely Different (is it just me who has a Monty Python moment with that phrase?!). There'll be a different type of project as the focus each month and a new theme each week - so for example, May's project focus is twinchies and this week's theme is Wings.

I've never made a twinchie in my life but thought it might be fun to give it a go and support the blog in its first week. So, here's my very first 2x2" piece!

I've played with something else that's new, too - some Cosmic Shimmer Heat Fusible film. I cheated a little bit as I wasn't very happy with how black the outline came out so I went over it carefully with a Copic marker to make it a really dense black but the iridescent film is really pretty for butterfly wings (although a nightmare to photograph!).

I folded the wings along the sides of the body and also used a bead of Glossy Accents at the very edge of the twinchie, curved the lower wings and stuck them down to give the butterfly more dimension.

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Vintage Butterflies (Saturday Evening Post line)
Nature Silhouettes (Kim Hughes Collection)

Paper: smooth white

Ink:
Stazon by Tsukineko (Jet Black)
Tim Holtz Distress by Ranger (Shabby Shutters and Peeled Paint)
Memento by Tsukineko (Bamboo Leaves)

Other:
Cosmic Shimmer fusible film (Blue Lake)
Krylon leafing pen (pale gold)
Glossy Accents (as adhesive)
Copic marker

Thanks for dropping by and thanks for the challenge, girls!