farewell with my final piece for Creative Expressions

Well this is my final piece for Creative Expressions , as sadly for personal reasons I have made the decision to leave Creative Expressions Design team. I want to take the opportunity to thank all the people who I have had the pleasure of creating with and wish them well in their future creative endeavours.
Sometimes life has other plans for us and at the moment I need to devote more time to my family and in particular to my eldest son. (As many of you may or may not know my son was diagnosed with CFS and this condition has worsened and requires more of my time  )
So here without further ado is my final make for Creative Expressions:

I created a card here creating , hopefully a shop window feel to the make :

I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who stops by and leaves a comment or takes the time to follow my inky journey! 
As soon as life settles I promise I will catch up on all the missed visits!
I can no other answer make, but, thanks, and thanks.  ~William Shakespeare

tres chic hanging piece for Creative Expressions DT and a huge thanks

Well before I start my post I want to say a huge thank you for all the very lovely comments and also a huge welcome to my new followers. I appreciate each and every one of your comments and each and every new follower who has taken the time to stop by my blog.
It was a rather busy week last week sorting my son out but here I am hoping to do a better job of commenting and blog hopping this week! 
So this month we have had the antique dressforms to play with and this week I have a hanging piece, again the computer has decided in its wisdom that you don't need the step by step photos and wont let me have them so here we are :

So as I don't have all the step x step pictures I will just give you a quick whizz through and spare you the lenghty post ....she says ...you can live in hope that my posts will be short and sweet! I tarted with an offcut of mountboard ..am hooked on playing with this stuff..which I covered with a piece of ivory card as I love how it takes inks and stains .

I applied some texture paste mixed with paint through a yummy Tim stencil, left to dry and then played with stains to create a background. A bit of flick and spritz to add some detail and interest .
Now I collected some papers ( Tim ones ) together and gave a coat of picket fence stain to tie all the colours and soften the design slightly .
I also used a heartfelt creations die to cut some flowers from the same papers and added a long fastener to the centre.

I added some of the great Creative Expressions cream crochet lace to tie in with the colours and vintage feel. 
now for the stamp....which I used as the focal image, I stamped this in jet black archival onto a piece of cardstock coloured with Distress Ink.

I also added a chit chat sticker and also some lettering ( die cut from word play die ) to complete my vintage style hanging. This shows how one really good stamp can be the basis for a larger piece and this set has some great dressforms to choose from. To hang this piece up I added some holes at the top and some rusty wire.
Well I will see you here next Monday for my final piece using these stamps ... and there will be some more crafty makes before then...
may your hearts be full and happy  xx

All sewed up for Creative Expressions DT

Well here I am with my 2nd post of the day and my DT post for Creative Expressions. This week I am using the lovely antique dress forms set. These come as a unmounted sheet with lots of stamps on, that can be mounted onto easimount , cut out and off you go! So here is my make for today ( sorry there are not many step x step pictures as my computer has decided I am not allowed them!  ) :

I started by covering part of the box in clear texture paste mixed with gesso...and the sprited the ruler background stamp with water and stamped into paste to create some texture on the box. This was then allowed to dry.

When dry I painted the whole box with antique linen distress paint because I love he colour...on my 3rd bottle! (oops!) but any neutral colour paint would be fine. I also stamped the ruler background onto some torn pieces of tissue and applied to the lid, using glue and seal. Not sure if you can see I then also stamped some of the mini stamps from set and set to work with my gilding waxes...in enchanted gold and autumn bronze.  The sides of the box were also stamped and had wax added to them.

Now for the focal image 

The main image , this gorgeous dressform from the sheet was stamped in coffee archival and colour added using distress marker and waterbrush. I also stamped the sentiment from the set and inked edges in vintage photo Distress Ink.

Just because I didn't want to leave the box empty...I filled it with..muslin, crochet lace, a heart made in my melt pot, mini spools and a tiny bottle of seed beads... Make sure you pop across to the Creative Expressions news blog where all my team mates makes using this set can be seen....

Do a double take for Creative Expressions DT

Well this month over at Creative expressions we have been playing with antique dressforms plate and also some of their singles range from which the bags below come. These singles range come pre cut and pre mounted ...so are ready to go!  I decided to play around with texture paste and gilding wax to make two cards that are the same but different!
So here is card no 1 : using singles stamp ..bijou bag 

and here is card no 2 : using  rose blossom purse

so card no 1 . I started by creating a background using clear texture paste mixed with antique linen distress paint and spreading it on , then spritzing newsprint flourish stamp with water and stamping into paste to create some texture.

When dry the rest of the background was coloured using frayed burlap distress ink. For the bag itself I stamped the image using frayed burlap distress ink and then clear embossing. I water coloured the bag using water brush and distress markers in antique linen and frayed burlap.

For detail I added some polished silk glitter in sahara. I also stamped the sentiment from the set and added some cheesecloth and a paper rose dabbed with distress paint .

For card no 2 : I created another background , still using paste but through some old sequin waste , and when dry coloured with frayed burlap Distress Ink. I also highlighted the raised areas with enchanted gold gilding wax.

The paler areas are where I flicked some water and blotted off some of the ink...it is so much fun to play creating backgrounds..
For the bag ( rose blossom ) I stamped in frayed burlap and clear embossed and then painted the main body of the bag using the gilding wax. I did this by scooping a little into a palette and adding a couple of drops of blending solution... you may choose to have some ventilation...and then mixing into a paint. I have kept a dedicated brush too.

The edges of the bag were coloured using distress markers and I added some dots of gold pearl pva for the clasp.

Another sentiment, some cheesecloth and a flower and a little flourish stamp and there you have it , 2 stamps, 2 cards... the same but different!? 
thanks for stopping by it means a lot ...see you next week when I have been playing with the antique dressforms plate x 
Make sure you pop across to the Creative Expressions news blog where all the DT show case their projects on a daily basis .x
It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.  ~e.e. cummings

Oriental Blooms for Creative Expressions

Well this month over at Creative Expressions we have been given some mounted individual stamps, all from the great new Henna collection. These great stamps all come pre cut and cling mounted ..so you are ready to go.

As always I wanted to try and think outside the box and show how else other than stamping the whole stamp these can be used ..so have made these great flowers from the inside of the Henna Mandala stamp.

So here is the stamp

so hopefully you can see what I have done ...and here is the piece I have created:

I started by adding ivory cardstock to a piece of mountboard. This card is great as it with stands lots of water and inky stuff. I then mixed some copper texture paste with some black soot distress paint , but any paint would do.

I love the rich almost bronze tones this gave . I applied this through a stencil and then added texture by tapping pallatte knife up and down and also dragged some of paste around edges and across the board. 

While the paste was still wet I misted the stamp with water and stamped into the texture paste , re wetting for each stamped impression. I then set about drying it gently and set aside to finish off (remember too much hot heat will cause paste to bubble).

When dry I misted the whole thing with water and the added some stains, drying and spritzing until happy . I used black soot and rusty hinge .

When dry I added some metallic gilding wax in cast bronze, midnight and also golden light. This helps to add interest and highlight further some of the raised areas.

For the flowers I created a piece of card , dipped in rusty hinge and black soot stains and misted and then dried.

when Dry I stamped the Henna Mandala stamp and then cut out to create the flowers. For the centres I added some cosmic shimmer glue and sprinkled in rusty hinge Distress Glitter.

To make this into a useful piece , I added a calendar ...and some rusty wire for stems ...and resisted the urge to add some cogs!

keep those fingers inky!

Trace  x

you can keep up with Creative Expressions DT here 

and also find us on facebook here .

some news and my last post for Creative Expressions DT...sadly

Well life is a journey that has many twists and turns and through which many doors open and close and along which we meet many friends.It has ups and downs along the way. So today will sadly be my last post for Creative Expressions, I have loved being part of this team and had hoped to continue for another year but have made the decision to resign and allow someone else the chance. I want to thank everyone for having me ...I will miss it.

Also while still on the news stuff, I am also taking a break from my fab team mates over at Dragons Dream TIO, but hope to be back at the end of October..

As many of you may or may not know my son has not been too well and is now starting his last year of primary school,however no road is ever smooth and having listened to many of my friends and lovely blogging friends I have decided to give myself some time to catch my breath and give me and my family the time they need. So if my comments are a little less frequent of I seem to disappear...have no fear I will be back. I just want to give my 3 children the time, love and support they need . I will continue my other design teams, so look forward to seeing you soon .xx

so here is my make for Creative Expressions:

So I used the stampers anonymous classics set #4 again, this is a really fab and versatile set. I applied some gold pearl texture paste to the card base with a palette knife and then spritzed the stamp and stamped into it and left to dry .

 

When dry I inked over the top with brushed courduroy DI.

 

This formed the background of the card , I also applied some of the texture paste to a paper bag, not the right sort really but it went okay!

To complete the card I added a torn inked panel and a heart stamped with the same stamp.

A little bit of rusty wire completes the card. I inked the bag using the same distress ink and lots of spritzing. When dry I over stamped with the same stamp set and added some dyed seam binding to the top .

I heated the texture paste which creates a bubbly texture I love but you can leave it to dry to get a smooth texture. It has a fab shimmer too!

Well that's all folks, thanks for stopping by....

have a fun and inky day!

Trace  x

art is art , however small... for Creative Expressions DT

Before I start my post I want to say thanks to everyone who takes time to leave comments, I am behind and will be catching up! But with the boys first day back at school and Lucy at her first nursery session...I have been a bit preoccupied...I don't like it!:(, love them being at home)...so sorry if I am behind ...I know again! Also welcome to all my new followers , thanks so much, I really appreciate you taking the time to follow my inky journey xx

Well this month we have some fab new goodies to play with and remember there is still time to enter for Creative Expressions DT Call ...here . so for this weeks make I have used Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Classics set #4 , gold pearl texture paste and some gilding wax.

So here is my mini make :

So for this make I made this mini canvas, I coloured the front side edges in brushed corduroy. I tore a piece of cardstock for the from of the canvas, as I love how these inks work on card, For the larger piece I stamped in brushed corduroy and dried with heat tool then inked, the piece on top was stamped in coffee archival and inked.

I cut out some hearts and layered to make a chunky piece and stamped the lady from the row of faces in coffee archival and then masked her off and added the wording stamp behind. I then added some dyed seam binding for another dimension and texture.

For the edges of the canvas I roughly applied texture paste in gold pearl and heated to make it bubble...gives great texture..when cool I applied some light golden coloured gilding wax to it. I also lightly rubbed this round the front edges .

I added some die cut flowers and rusty wire to the front to complete this mini make over .

thanks for stopping by and taking the time to leave a comment, when I have dropped Lucy off :( I will be blog hopping! )x

have a fun and inky day!

trace  x