Three tags for Stitches

I was asked by Jane at The Art of Craft if I would do some samples for the 'Crafts Too' stand at Stitches last weekend. I was very happy to do so, but I ended up with some Marianne dies - and those of you who know me can imagine what I thought. But not to be defeated I set about making these three tags with the new bird die. Cute aren't they? LOL.

I wanted to include texture, colour and metal to make them a bit more 'me'. So these were the result.

Distress inks, masking, tape, stamp and key and the good old mini stapler. Yep, I could live with that, in fact I really quite liked it.

More distress inks, Tim Holtz riveted metal technique, alcohol inks, cogs and gears and a steampunk hat. Yep, pleased with the makeover of this one too.

More distress inks (of course), more tape, a ribbed bird and some flowers and a gold crown. Quite shabby chic I thought!!

So although I would never have chosen this die for myself I had great fun working with it and it really did challenge me to think outside of my comfort zone which has to be good once in a while don't you think?

I have used numerous bits of metal on the tags so I am entering these into the Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge this week which is 'Metal-ology'.

Also Sugar Creek Hollow also has a Metal Mania challenge.

(I was very lucky to be the winner of the last challenge with my bird canvas.)

Bloggers Challenge is to use die-cuts.

Alphabet challenge is Anything with wings.

Stampotique want to see a bit of Text on your project.

What have you done lately that is different from what you would normally choose to do? 

Answers on a postcard ...................

Thanks for visiting, I hope you will say a quick hello so that I know you stopped by.

hugs {brenda} x0x

By the way - I know so many people are like me when it comes to blogging, I want to get round and see my friends and all your inspiration as often as I can, but long comments take alot of time to make. I will still be popping by as regularly as possible but in future I hope you don't mind if I leave a very short hello or comment as sometimes I can spend four hours or more on my visits. I hope you too will do the same with me. Thanks.

Steampunk in red - The Stamp Man

It's Friday and the weekend starts here everyone. Hope all is well with you today.

When Jill told us that Vixx had chosen the colour red for the Stamp Man challenge this fortnight, my attention immediately turned to Valentine's,  but I have been hankering to go back to T!m's tags of Christmas to try the techniques as I didn't get to make them (maybe 2??) - and Grungy Monday this week is about his fabulous tags, so I knew this would fit perfectly - sorry I have been awol Linda, but here I am and hope to take part more often again.

So off I go to T!m's blog, find the tags and start at number one. But of course Christmas is over, I don't want to replicate them so I get the little grey cells working (do you like the touch of Poirot here?), and gather a new embossing folder - steampunk, gadget gears die and tattered leaves die. An embryo of an idea starts to emerge.

Tag 1 used embossing resist - a fabulous technique. 

I've got coredinations but no kraft core for the tag, so having used red card, the steampunk embossing folder and after the silver satin pearl ep has cooled I sand the top and then rub walnut stain over it. I die cut the word 'treasure' and tattered leaves from different red coredinations and the gears from silver embossed card. 

 I sanded the word treasure then added a glittery ep and I alcohol inked the gears. The leaves didn't look right at all, so out came the ideaology sprockets and gears, some beads and a heart, so more a 

Valentine feel after all eh?

So what are you making with the colour red at the moment? Come join us at The Stamp Man challenge to show us and you could be in with that chance of a £10.00 voucher for Jill's on-line store. What are you waiting for? - Let's go and I will see you there.

Supplies used -

Tim Holtz dies - tag, gadget gears

Sissiz die - treasure
Embossing folder - steampunk

Idealogy - sprokets and gears, heart, pin

Beads and ribbons from stash

Coredinations red card

Alcohol inks - raisin and cranberry

Have a wonderful weekend.

luv and hugs {brenda} xoxox

Challenges to have fun with -
Try it on Tuesday - Resistance
Simon Says Stamp and Show - Red letter day - I am focused on the colour red
Stampalot - Monochrome
Grungy Monday - Tim's Christmas tags

Alcohol Inks with The Stamp man

Ooooh I have been trying to catch up with myself this week and I got right behind, mainly because at last I am in negotiations for some work next term. Having not been in paid work since the end of March, I am really quite excited. I'll tell you more once it has been organised.

This is a scheduled post as I should be at LB Crafts today with my sister where Lin has a workshop on making a frame and small canvasses. Also my Stamp Man teamie, Sue should be there as well - so we will get to meet - looking forward to seeing you Sue.

So on to business. At the Stamp Man it is my turn to host and my challenge is to use alcohol inks. I have also provided an optional sketch for those who would like it, but it's not compulsory. Sadly the Stamp Man store is closing but Jill is staying on-line and continuing with her internet sales - yay, thank goodness for that. There are sales items that are very good value - so go take a look.

I have decided to use a steampunk theme this week, mainly because I wanted to enter the Just for Fun challenge but knew I wouldn't have time, but their steampunk work inspired me. So you can imagine I was pleasantly surprised to see yesterday they have an 'Anything Goes' challenge this week, so I can still enter this.

I have also used the sketch, which has been kept very simple on purpose so that it can be embellished in any way you like.

Adirondack alcohol inks are the inspiration of the great Tim Holtz - check out his blog and this video to see how to use them and for more inspiration.

I have used -
Papers - TH crowded attic
TH embossing folder - collage
TH dies - gadget gears, ticket strip
TH stamps - steampunk
Alcohol Inks (AIs) - sunshine yellow, ginger, raisin, copper
DIs - vintage photo, walnut stain, tea dye
Walnut Hollow metal roll - aluminium, copper
ranger embossing ink and clear embossing powder
Ideaology embellishments and bakers twine
Coloured drawing pencils

Quick recipe
Stamp edges of paper and clear emboss - ink over.
Run metal sheet through embossing folder and use alcohol inks and TH dabber to cover.
Blend DI and then AIs and blending solution over paper strip.
Die cut gears from metal, texturise and again alcohol ink over them.
Stamp small tag, blend with DI, sprinkle with water, heat dry and colour with drawing pencils.
Edge piece of gold card with AIs.
Create wording in Word, distress with DIs and AIs, glue on.
Colour the bakers twinr with walnut stain DI.
Distress edges, mount pieces and add metal embellishments.
Assemble all pieces together.

 You can see the alcohol inks on the gold card here which edges the whole piece.

I also made this to enter the following challenges -
Simon says Stamp and Show - A word - mine is Inventors
Grungy Monday - Alcohol Inks.
Ink on my Fingers - Words

If I haven't got to see you recently hopefully I will get to catch up with you sometime over the weekend, but I am also off to the Stamp Show at Newbury tomorrow. Maybe I will see you there?

Take care and hopefully you have got some lovely things planned for the weekend.

luv and hugs {brenda} xoxox

Father’s Day or one for the men at The Stamp Man

The new challenge at The Stamp Man is to create a card for Father’s Day which is coming up very soon in the UK.

My piece has been made with a downloaded map from Vintage Catnip, alcohol inks and a stamped image and some TH ephemera, plus a lighthouse button.

The map has been distressed with gesso and AI and stamped over with the clock face. The main image was made by dabbing AIs on glossy paper, sprinkling with blending solution. The clock is a fragment wit AI on it stuck onto the image from the TH paper stash.

Supplies include -
AIs – sail boat blue, denim, stream, meadow, pearl
DIs – walnut stain, weathered wood
Gesso
Stamps – Aspects of Design 2 Nautical, TH The Journey
Paper stash by TH – Lost and Found
TH die – ticket strip
TH journaling ticket
Small alphabet stamps

Challenges to have fun with -
Lexi’s Creations – Father’s day / Male themed cards
Stamping Scrapping Challenge – males
Here Come the Boys – Father’s day / Male
Craft Your Days Away – Father’s day / Special Man
Easy Craft Projects – For Dad
Simon Says Stamp - Father's Day
Sweet Stamps - Masculine

I hope you have had a good week and have some lovely things planned for the weekend.

Take care.

luv and hugs {brenda}

The Stamp Man ATC June Swap - Trees

The month of June is upon us and time for another ATC swap at The Stamp Man. This is my DT contribution to this month's challenge.

I used AIs to create the background. In the mix of gold, red and yellow colours I created a desert scene.  Can you make it out? I accentuated the mountain ranges with some gold and copper rub 'n buff then stamped the trees over the top using DI and Rubber Stampede (for the darkest tree). I think there is a red river running through the canyon between the trees. The tree stamp is from the TH collection Mini Holidays 2.

I found the quote that fitted, printed it out on A4 paper only to feel disappointed that it would look odd attaching it somewhere on the card. Taking a risk I used spray mount to stick the ATC to the A4 paper in exactly the place it had printed out before and ran it through the printer again. Phew it worked and placed the quote neatly at the top.

It says -
For in the true nature of things, if we rightly consider, every green tree
is far more glorious than if it were made of gold and silver.
Martin Luther

Inspiration was take from Gingersnap Creations - Stamp a scene and I am entering this for that challenge.

Before you go, I would love you to go over to Dezinaworld where the fabulous June has a new designer, Kim, whose work is just amazing and also June has a freebie just for today only. It is a collage sheet of vintage ladies which is well worth having. June is re-starting her Spot Prize challenge tomorrow and there is also a $10 shop prize for her monthly gallery challenge. Lots to take a look at - have fun.

Hope you had a fabulous May and here's to a warm and pleasant June.

luv and hugs {brenda}xoxox

Free as a bird

Welcome to a glorious Sunday afternoon. There are some clouds in the sky and it has been really bright but somewhat windy. I hope it good wherever you are.

I am working on a large project at the moment and apart from DT work I haven't entered any challenges for fun this week so today I have had a play with alcohol inks and produced a card to enter into the Crafty Individuals challenge for this month. I loved this stamp as soon as I saw it. (But it doesn't have a name). As I slowly increase my stamps repertoire, CI is a range that I am adding to my collection (alongside my TH stamps of course). This stamp is one I bought recently and this is the first time I have inked it up. I also wanted to link this with the Play Date Cafe colour challenge, which this week is a red, mustard and white combo. I have interpreted the mustard to include gold.

The birds are a clip art download, cut out and edges inked with black soot. The sentiment I produced in word, and the background was stamped with the large text stamp from TH Papillon set.

My blogging friend Joyce from Canada should be in the UK now and Joyce if you are reading this check your emails in a day or two as it would be lovely if we could meet up next Sunday.

I hope you are enjoying the day and finding time to do something you want to do today.

Take care.

luv and hugs {brenda} xoxox

My first Twinchie and Guest Designer

Good afternoon

It is so good to be back and into my art and blogging again, but I must say Ken and I have had the most wonderful holiday in Egypt. What a stunning country, steeped in so much history and a mix of different cultures that make it fascinating to see. We have cruised part of the Nile and seen so many sights, the Valley of the Kings with Tutankhamun's grave, many temples at Luxor, Edfu, Kom Ombo and Aswan, plus a flight to Abel Simbel and another flight to Cairo where we visited the Pyramids, the Sphinx, the Citadel and Muhaamed Ali's Mosque, Cairo Museum and a bazaar.

 Every day was packed with tours and we had great guides who explained the history of the country and the places we saw. Yes we had to haggle prices when we were out, yes we were plagued with people trying to sell us their wares, but it is part of the way of life there. All in all I would recommend this as a place to visit and particularly the Mena House Oberoi Hotel in Cairo which is probably the best hotel in Egypt and has pyramid view rooms. (See the view from ours above). Just an amazing experience. We loved it.

However back to the real world. I am very excited to be Guest Designer very soon for 'One Stitch At A Time' and I am in the middle of a project which should be included for the 16th May, so keep your eyes peeled for that one. I won with my 'Trip to Paris' piece and am so pleased to be included - just to say that it's different again to what I have been doing.

Well last night, having done some prep for my project I wanted to do 'something completely different' to get my hand back in, and found that the challenge at 'Something Completely Different' is to make a Twinchie with the theme of butterflies. Very soon it will be their first birthday so it's worth taking a look to see what is going on. Happy Birthday girls.

I've never made a Twinchie before but of course butterflies always grab my attention. Thinking about what base I would use for it, I remembered I had some Stampbord which I haven't used for ages and luckily there was a 2 inch piece in the bag. 

I have used alcohol inks and blender for the background and stamped a Martha Stewart butterfly using Adirondak Stream and coloured in the wings with Promarkers. I stamped some gold swirls round the edges and then heat embossed it twice to give it a sheen and protect the image. I then used the TH distressed powders to do the edges. It seems to be a trademark for me to use printed butterflies so I added one to the corner to add some dimension. Not a brilliant piece of art but it was good to experiment again.

Thanks for looking. I shall now go and see what some of my friends have been doing while I have been away.

Take care and enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Love and hugs.    Brenda xxxx

'B' Tag

Good evening one and all
I am really into the letter B at the moment and I wanted to create a tag, so what do I find??? Tag You're It! has 'On a bough', Tuesday Taggers requires - yes you've guessed it - a tag, and Something Completely Different's challenge is the letter 'B'. So I have bird, bough, butterflies and yes there's even a stamped bee (but it hasn't come out on the photograph).

This little creation saw me experimenting with alcohol inks again to create the background and I added some gold perfect pearls to the mix. I used mustard seed DI to go round the edges and then used a brown stazon to stamp some branches and leaves. I have added the bough which has alcohol inks added to it and a TH stamped bird using fired brick and edged in spiced marmalade. Two small butterflies were stamped using teal stazon and I added the small flower shaped button and a butterfly printed from my collection and glazed with glossy accents. I found a letter 'B' gold bead and attached it using gold thread and finished off with some fibres from my stash.

Did you see the free papers on my post yesterday?

AND is anyone going to ALLY Pally on Sunday. I hope to be going with Bev to see what is around.

Take care and enjoy the rest of your evening and weekend.

LOL Bxxx

Challenge List
Stamp, Scrap and Doodle Week 34  - Wings
Tag You're It! - On a bough
One stitch at a time - Anything goes 
Tuesday Taggers - Give us a Tag  Sponsored by Georgina
Stampavie and More Challenge 89 - Use some green
Totally Papercrafts Challenge 11 - Distressing
Something Completely Different - The letter B

Picture Inspiration

Happy Good Friday.
It's the Easter weekend, but it is wet and miserable here, what about you? I am hoping to get out in the garden at some point, we will have to see.

Today I am posting two creations to fit the Paper Sundaes challenge of a picture inspiration. It caught my attention straight away. I wanted to use the image in a piece of art rather than interpret the colours or shapes, however to do this I knew I needed to experiment with materials I have never used properly and when I did try with them I wasn't very successful. So out came the alcohol inks (AI). I had bought some new stamps last week - British Wild Flowers from Creative Expressions and it includes a dandelion stamp. So I set about dabbing away with the AIs on glossy cardstock, but after 5 or 6 attempts I was not happy with the results. There was just one I felt I could stamp over.  Here it is. The central stamp is the new one, I also used some others including some grasses.

My next experiment started by using a brayer and a big and juicy stamp pad with a sunset range of colours. I then used the AIs over the top to create more depth. This time I stamped the grasses and some small flower heads using a snow cap pigment ink and dusted cosmic shimmers over them. I stamped the main design using archival ink.       You can see there is a difference in the 2 examples. I edged both with cosmic shimmer aqua twinkles, used similar colours in the DI ink pads and distressed white card which I then used the distressing tool on and edged further with star dust stickles. The butterflies I printed off from a collection I am accumulating and covered them with rock candy distress stickles.

Well, the girls are down in Seaton and apparently the sun has come out and they are going for a walk on the beach. What a lovely thing to be doing. I have some things to post made by my sister Chrissie and by my granddaughter Becca that I will put up over the weekend.

Thankyou for stopping by and for all the lovely comments that have been left on my other posts. Enjoy your weekend. LOL Bxxxx

This is the photo from Paper Sundaes that started me off.