Birthday book for a friend!

Recently my friend had her 40th birthday and i wanted to make something as a keepsake.

I decided on a tag book.

I started off with 6 blank chipboard tags

I covered both the backs and the fronts with plain coloured and patterned paper.. adding some detail to the plain paper using the simple swirls stamps in corresponding versa ink colours

{you should be able to click the pic for a closer look}

I used my BIA to punch the holes and bound it with pretty ribbons instead of the o'wires.

I had some wooden letters of which i managed to spell 'forty'.. i coloured these with dabbers, a touch of distress ink and some rock candy crackle

The other wording i created using the fab mini scrabble alphabet stamped onto kraft cardstock and cut out

I just had to add a couple of the brand new mabel stamps... coloured with copics.. i really feel these made the book complete. {they're so darn cute}

Oh and i stamped out several of the flower power blooms onto more plain coloured paper and added pattern using a selection of background stamps and white versacolour ink, i cut them out and pinched each petal to give some dimension. I dotted them here, there and well everywhere lol.. I also added a few to the back so it wasn't plain and boring.

Then all that was needed was a quick gift bag made using my score-pal and one sheet of 12x12 paper/card that i learned to make on a make and take at ally pally last year.. or was it year b4.. anyho..

Sorry i've waffled.. it was kinda a big project.. hence a kinda long post!..very time consuming but worth it to know my friend got a lovely keepsake and she loved it.. which is good!

Thanks for stopping by
♥ HUGZ ♥

Beach Box Project

I've been trying to get a bit more inky lately as my cute side seems to have taken over just a bit lol.. anyway, i had a little wooden letter cube that had a W inset that i would never of used, so i decided it would be a good little project to alter.

I dug out the W carefully with a small chisel, and painted all over with blue metallic paint.

As i haven't played with metal in a long time either i got a bit of my TSS metal, and while rummaging i found one of the mini embossing plates you get free with magazines, the one i found had a summer/seaside theme... and seeing as its nearly the end of our summer i thought it a perfect topic for my project! Keep the summer alive lol!

I cut a square of metal big enough to fit into the the little inlay on the cube, i then cut that into 4, and embossed each piece with a different summertime shape... as i didn't want them to look all the same, i coloured each piece using Kuretake alcohol inks, these are very striking and vibrant colours and i love um... if you like ranger inks you'll love these too, there a must!

It came to mind that at the seaside you always have a game or 2 of bingo going on in the arcades and i wanted to incorporate that so i used one of Jennies fab bingo card stamps from the artistic stamper to edge 3 sides of the cube. I stamped with jet black Stazon.

I thought that the cube looked a bit bare and wanted to jazz it up a touch, so to finish i added some fun and funky grungepaper flowers, made using the flower power plate from artistic stamper and some distress inks. I held the flowers together with some fab screw top snaps just to give a quirky look.

Thanks for stopping by, there will be another project next week!

♥ HUGZ ♥

ASAP - Artistic Stamper Artwork Piece

Here are the last 3 pieces of the my AS artwork

Again made using a selection of yummy things that Jennie has for sale in the shop,

{or if your coming along at the BSSBS show....}

super background stamps, little chipboard wings and tags, super alcohol inks, bamboo tiles, more fab stitchel stamps.. the list goes on and on...

Not long now.... only 5 days till Ally Pally... dont forget to come say hi

{A full pic of the whole piece will be posted thursday}

Artwork puzzle..

Here are the next 3 pieces of the Artistic Stamper artwork piece i did

Using a selection of Jennie's Stamps, more metal and a poly shape amoungst other things..

Dont forget Ally Pally is fast approaching... drop by and say hi wont you :O)

The Stamp Connection, stand 49

Me to U January

{And before you ask what happened to December, Well...it hasn't been sent to its new home yet as it took alot longer than planned.. you'll have to be patient and wait to see that piece}

But you still have this months piece to view.

I'm hoping it reached its destination before this goes out as I've not heard from the receiver in a while {sending hugs for you A}

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I decided to alter a Matchbox after seeing a picture in a book i had recently bought.

So anyway here it is

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...

I made this piece a while ago actually when i was messing about with my melt pot

I covered the outside with foil tape, inked it, then bashed it about with my texture hammer, inked it a bit more.

I added an ickle flip fold book to the top held on with ribbon. This also had a topper of the foil tape treated in the same way but with the added embossing of the word Friend.

I used the UTEE to fill the base and keep all the trinkets in place.

It has little wooden bead feet which i think finish it off nicely.

I hope the recipient liked it, i had fun making it so that's half the battle won.

.

Thanks for looking in

& stop by again soon.

xx Hugz xx

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Magazine Inspiration

Token of my Affection Book

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Having finally received my copy of this months craft stamper i came across a fab little token/coupon book that i just had to have a go at

I'm not usually one for copying from mags, but i made an exception as it was just too darling to pass by.

Obviously i didn't make a direct copy, but the instructions were clear and easy to follow and i actually had a blast making it...

The only thing i haven't done yet is the favor coupons to go in each pocket.

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Thanks for checking my blog out, come back soon

xx Hugz xx

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October "Me 2 You"

Yep, another month and another project for one of my fellow Angels, this time Shaz.

Some time ago i made a motherboard (inspired by a card *of which you can see one similar here* i received by Angie).... what the hell is a motherboard i hear you ask... well basically you just take a sheet of plain paper or card and collage it, with papers, stamps whatever.... when complete it is called a motherboard (don't ask me why, i don't know!!) then you can use this to cut up and make great backgrounds and stuff on cards.... all sounds like alot of work your thinking.. and yes your right, it took way longer than i thought, and i still haven't done anything with it lol... but i digress, anyway at the same time of doing this MB i had some spare bits of paper and an old wooden picture frame, so decided to use up the bits by colleaguing the front of the frame. When done although i liked it, it just looked plain and un-interesting... and had been sat on my desk for several months looking so until recently when a sudden light bulb went off in my head! It's strange but great how sometimes an idea will just capture you and something you had no clue about one day, suddenly becomes clear the next.

Anyway i think I've waffled enough.. here it is completed...

I stamped friend onto the glass using black stazon and a large alphabet stamp set, then turned the glass over, stamped a couple of swirls in green stazon, followed by a an all over inking with my alcohol inks, let this dry, replaced the glass back in the frame and placed a piece of card over the whole back to seal in and protect from any damage. I then used glossy accents to highlight the wording from the front.

To finish i just added a few prima flowers, coloured a couple of clips using my sharpies and clipped one to each corner, added a couple of mini screw hooks and threaded a ribbon to hang.

Now it looks interesting and i do hope that Shaz likes it.

xx Hugz xx

At Last... Stuff to see....Altered Stuff... not a cute image in site!! lol

Hello and welcome, it's been a while i know but i have been laid up in bed for over a week (with a small outing to AP in between.... well it had to be done) with flu but i am slowly feeling better and am now able to show some of my recent makes.

The first couple of pieces were commissions for Jennie @ The Artistic Stamper to display on the boards at some of her upcoming shows (details on her site)

This first piece is made from an old hardback book, pages stuck together, sections cut out and then decorated... All the stamps i used are Artistic Stamper.

This is a wall hanging piece.

(left)I used a thick gold embossing powder and stamped into it while it was still hot (right) I stamped the Santa image onto shrink plastic then once shrunk added some stickles for added dimension.

(left) again i used shrink plastic on one of the other Santa stamps and the candle was stamped onto acetate, coloured from behind and suspended so it floats in the space (pic doesn't do it justice) (right) Is just a stamped image that i layered up to add dimension and a shrink plastic star.
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The next piece i did was an altered CD clock.

Although i failed to find an old CD, but close enough was the clear CD protector piece you find in computer CD packs, which actually worked out far better.

Again all stamps used are Artistic Stamper.. including the large art doll.

I stamped on the back and front of the clear CD to get the mirror image of the figure, stamped the remainder of the images on the back, coloured some in with sharpies, let dry & then used alcohol inks to splodge a background. I edged the CD with a gold pen. I then stamped and cut out the doll pieces, stamped over each part with the number stamp, inked round the edge with a black pen, I used brads to assemble so as you can see from the pics below, the arms and legs are able to move, I then made a small hole in the middle of the tummy for the clock movement to go through. Placed the now dry CD on top of the doll and fed through the clock piece, added the hands, which i also coloured with a gold pen as the hands were a bright green! And hay presto.. one Altered CD Clock.

Well thats just a couple of pieces for now.. more to follow very soon

xx Hugz xx

Birthday Book

Just a quickie post to show you an ickle book i made, i used a few embellishments i had, and a real mish mash of papers but i think it actually turned out ok... Enjoy x

AS Challenge

Over on the Artistic Stamper blog there is a challenge to basically make anything, as long as you use either a Magnolia or Stitchels stamp on it.

Well seeing as were still in July and the other challenge was Xmas in July i decided to combine the 2 and have made a hanging decoration.

I used 3 chipboard pieces from AS (as it's the mutts nuts and a bargain price to boot)

I stamped a tree (stamp also from AS) on each piece or board using peeled paint distress ink and then UTEE'ed them to create a barrier for the next stage, and also made sure a few loose bits of the UTEE were sprinkled about and melted, to give a snow like appearance.

Next i lay all 3 pieces in my spray booth... (between me and you that translates to open large pizza box! lol) I sprayed a small amount of denim colour wash, followed by lots of tattered angels moonlight glimmer mist (TOP TIP..rather than paying out for big bottles, make your own mists using distress re-inkers, perfect pearls and a little water in a mini spray bottle, works just as well and you can custom any colour you need) I then blotted off the access paint/mist with a bit of kitchen towel and left to dry.

While that was happening i then stamped the only 3 Xmas Tilda's i have onto white shrink plastic and coloured in, cut out each one and heated. Then i just popped them onto the now dried mountboard pieces, 1 for each piece using a sticky dot or 2. I threaded ribbon through holes i made using my crop-a-dile to hold each panel together and stuck another bit of ribbon to the top so the whole thing could be hung.

I know it's not much but as my MOJO is on it's hols with several of my friends MOJO's i didn't think it too bad lol

Thanks for stopping by

xx Hugz xx

Sunday Stampers #22

Sunday Stampers

Week 22 - With A Little Help From My Friends

... Here is my entry ...

This was a really easy piece to do (i chose a tag as the theme for next month Hel's Angels tag swap is friendship)

It consists of just basic stamping and masking, and then colouring in. I used a black archival ink, and once fully dry i used a selection of Copic pens to add tons of colour.

I love that such a simple technique can come out looking so much more.

xxx Hugz xxx

Altered Birthday Book

It was a friend's birthday reciently so i decided as it was she who inspired me to discover my altered side, i would alter her something as a gift.

I had seen an artical in the Craft Stamper mag about making old books into boxes and loved the idea so though i would give it a try.

I started with an old hardback i brought from a charity shop, followed the instructions from the May 08 CS mag (well roughly anyway) , and just added my own twist on the whole thing. (if you want instructions i have a link for a site which shows a great tutorial for something very simular, just leave your e'mail in the comments section and i will happerly forward it on.)

Little details i love (if i do say so myself lol) are the owl, which is a magnolia stamp, coloured and then covered with some crackle glaze and displayed behind an old optical lense. I used grungeboard for the hinges and name, which i painted with a silver dabber, hinges inked over with a black archival ink to age them slightly, and the letters slightly covered here and there with crackle paint and inked with dusty concord distress ink.

I added a book plate type embelishment to the spine with my friends initals in it.

And as i know my friend loves owls i kept the theme going from the front and popped a big owl inside. He was made up of several pieces of paper all mounted on top of each other but with a piece or too missed each layer to show all the different patterns. Time consuming but worth the effort.

To finish i put the same paper i had used on the front with a bar code stamped in black archival ink, and dangeled a little owl charm from a ribbon i stuck inside the spine.

I do hope Hel's liked her present, and my very first attempt at altering old books, i was quite proud of it (and almost kept it lol)

xxx Hugz xxx

Tags in Distress

This months Hel's Angels Tag Swap had the theme Shabby/altered/distressed.

But.. with strict instructions from Hels that they had to be as shabby and distressed as we could possibably make them, well not one to pass such a challange i set to work...

I started with two 6" x 3" tags, and well just started to attack them, i took sissors and craft knife, paper distresser and scratchy tool and really just roughed those poor tags up lol.
I tore bits off, made holes, you name it i probably did it, i was even gonna burn them untill i realised that the smoke alarm was on and i cant reach it to turn it off quick enough, and OH was no-where to be found, so thought better of that idea, but with the use of some of my trusty distress inks i think i managed to give a burnt effect in places.

Then i just finished them off with more distress inks in Vintage photo, Walnut stain and Black soot.
Once inked and roughed up i used a selection of Tim Holtz, After midnight, Invoke art and Tanda stamps.

The left tag, i just stamped wording and stitches with black archival ink and the reverse side was using coffee archival ink for the hunk and again black for the words.

(The one on the left actually started off as the cardboard wrap from around a TIM folder.)

The right tag i stamped and clear embossed the wording, and the skull was stamped using a gold dabber. I then stamped another skull in black on the reverse and clear embossed the word Treasure over the top.

And here are the results...

FRONT

BACK

They actually look alot shabbier in person so i was rather pleased with how they turned out, just hope Hels approves, and who ever recieves them likes them.

xxx Hugz xxx

Crating at last

I have finally managed to get in a bit of crafting done now my hand is somewhat better (still not completely but we wont worry about that lol) anyway i though i would share a couple of cards i managed to complete.

The ideas for these I pinched from a very cool lady who owns a certain shop you may visit and also has a great blog.

All 3 cards were really simple, first i stamped the images onto card with a brown archival ink (i used brown as the base cards were cream and i though it would be a better contrast) i then cut the images into smaller pieces and inked the edges with the same brown ink to kinda frame them.

Next i coloured them with some of my new Copic markers (these are fab BTW) I picked a simular colour ink (i used my distress inks) to match the most promanant in each pic and stamped a swirl in that respective colour onto the card base.

I then mounted the pic with foam tape to add a bit of depth, to finish i just added a little Thank You embellishment i got free with one of my craft mags.

And hay presto 3 quick and quite cool cards.

xxx Hugz xxx

Fathers day sorted

I've been a good girl this year and have got myself organised.

I have done both my Dad's and Tony's (my OH's) Dad....

I figured as i was probably gonna send some cash

for my dad to have a little drinkie on me,
that i would make a card fitting for such a gift...
ah voila the wallet card was born...

It opens and closes just like a proper wallet with a fully working popper you would use on clothes, just popped on with the use of my trusty Crop-a-dile.
It also has a proper wallet holder so when open you really can put the money in it like a real wallet. And i hand stitched it together for a more realistic feel

I am so happy with the way this turned out, just hope my Dad does aswell.

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The card i made for Tony's Dad, as you can see, is rather a clocky theme, he has a clock in every room of there house almost, and we have just got another one for him lol, so i thought it only fitting a clock card to match the gift, plus it gave me a chance to have another play with the great time/clock stamps i got at my Stamp Connection/artistic stamper workshop @ Ally Pally last month.

The background was stamped and masked and then stamped again and so on till i pretty much had the page covered and was happy with the result. I then stamped and coloured the grandfather clock, and once dry i added crackle glaze and some gold to highlight almost like a guilding effect, just so it looked aged.
I made the card a little different in the folding to really focus on the clock one side and the wording the other, which was printed out on acetate, edged with Krylon copper and attached with brads.

Lets just hope the dads like my offerings

xxx Hugz xxx

So much to blog... so little time lol

As some of my friends know i am going in for a minor Op tomorrow on my wrist, so i thought i would try and blog a few of my recent bits while i have full use of my hand, I'm pretty sure it won't stop me once it's done, but i am gonna try and rest it for the first week at least.. well maybe the first few days lol.

Anyway i digress lol..

Here are a few cards i have made for up coming birthdays.

All of the above a just stamped and coloured in images, matted and layered, with the exception of this one which i stamped onto a blank jigsaw b4 matting.

I am quite liking this bunch even thought they weren't exactly brain busters, but sometimes needs must and there is always a place in my heart for a quick card or 3 lol

xxx Hugz xxx