Tim Tag March 2013

Hello Blog Friends

I am running a little late with my Tim tag this month.  This is mainly because I do like to do the tags as true to Tim's tag as possible, as I like to make a note on the back, so that I can remember the techniques that he has shown us.  This month was difficult as I had virtually none of the elements required....... what's a girl to do?

Well a lovely blog friend came to the rescue and offered to send me a few of the items I was missing - aren't blogger/crafters just the most kind and generous of people?  I won't name her just in case she prefers me not to, but I thank her once again for her kindness.

You can see Tim's original tag HERE.  So, with a little help from a lovely blog  friend,  I was able to make this (click on the picture for a closer look):

I covered a No. 8 Ranger tag with some pretty blue paper from my stash (as I do not have the paper Tim used) and distressed the edges.  I did the bunny backing with Tim's tinsel (which I did have in the blue colour) and attached it to my gifted die cut bunny and mat.  The edges were distressed with Brushed Corduroy Distress ink.  I coloured some vintage seam binding from my stash with Spun Sugar Distress Stain, dried this with my heat tool and tied it around the matted bunny.  The grass edging was also a gifted item and I cut this and attached it, bending some of the grasses over to give some dimension.  The flowers are from Tim's Idea-ology range and are coloured with Distress Paints (I am so in love with these paints), glued onto pins and then added to the tag.  You can see below how well these paints work straight onto metal.  I cannot wait to get my hands on the new metallic set of paints.........

The banner across the top was from my stash (a long since purchase from a well know auction site) and the sentiment was computer generated and attached to the banner.  The banner was then coloured with Antique Linen DI and the edges were coloured with Brushed Corduroy DI.  The ribbon at the top of the tag was coloured with Broken China DS.

I know that I should not have favourites but this is my favourite of all the Tim tags I have made so far, I love the colours and the lovely Spring colours (which is not matched by our winter weather!)

I am also entering this tag into Anything But a Card Challenge where the theme is Spring or Alice in Wonderland.

Thank you for looking and thank you for all the lovely comments many of you have left on my blog recently,  I am always so thrilled to read them and to know that you have taken the time to visit. 

If you celebrate Easter, I hope that you have a happy one and for those who do not, hope you have a lovely weekend.  Big hugs, Anne xx

WOYWW - Week 199

Hello Blog Friends

Is it really that time of the week again?  The time when we have a snoop at other friend's blogs?  It is - courtesy of our lovely hostess Julia at Stamping Ground.  If you want to join in then please hop over to Julia's blog where she will explain all.

Quick post from me, nothing much to show except a very messy desk, half finished projects, some new purchases from the NEC Craft show at the weekend (I won some tickets so it would have been rude not to go...... I went with my lovely friend Mo, a fellow WOYWWer and we had a fantastic time).

From left to right, some Wendy Vecchi masks that Mo bought for me, some Inktense Pencils (these are my new love...), some more of the Tim Holtz Distress Paints and Stains that I don't have,  a fabulous Indigo Blu heart shaped poppy stamp, some ribbon, new Alice In Wonderland and Graphic 45 papers.  At the back is a blank pencil holder from MDF man and that's about it.

At the NEC show I finally got to meet one of my blog heroes, Kath, another Woywwer, who was running workshops for Fiskars.  I did get my photo taken with Kath but I promised her that I would not show it on my blog........

Some of you asked to see the completed canvases from my little class with Lynn of Doodly Birds and friends and here they are:

So that's me for this week.  I look forward to visiting lots of desks, have a happy WOYWW everyone.  Hugs, Anne x

Rules to live by......

Hello Blog Friends

When I saw the challenge over at Simon Says Stamp and Show, which is to use an inspirational quote I knew immediately what I wanted to use and do - that's unusual for me as I do not normally have any plan, I just start something and see where it ends up....

At Simon Says challenge there is a  $50 prize voucher to spend at Simon Says Stamp (for a randomly selected individual) and three others will be chosen by the DT for a Top 3 badge.

I have a few stamp sets by Wendy Vecchi, I love the words that she uses and I always feel so inspired by them.  The set of words on the front of this piece are ones that I have up in my craft room all the time. I do my best to live by the rules but can't promise that I always succeed..........

You can click on the images for a closer view.

It has been a while since I did a chunky ATC.  For this one I painted the block and the bead feet in black acrylic paint.  Whilst this was drying I prepared a sheet by using Tim Holtz Salty Ocean, Broken China and Brushed Pewter Distress stains which I smooshed onto my craft sheet with a little Picket Fence blended in.  I dragged the papers through, drying with my heat gun and then dragging the papers through again until I was happy with the coverage.  I then used Tim's spritz and flick technique to add a bit of interest.  I cut the pieces to size, coloured the edges with Black Soot Distress Ink, ready for stamping.

On the front I stamped this wonderful 'Rules to live by' using my Wendy Vecchi stamp and Black Archival ink.  I highlighted the numbers with a white gel pen.

On the other three sides I used stamped images from Tim Holtz's mini blueprints 3 set (which I have now swapped with my friend), directly onto the mat layer and again onto white card which I then cut out and applied to the original.  The inspirational words on all the other three sides are from a number of stamps from  my stash.

I sprayed the whole of the block with Glimmer Mist in Pearl to give it a nice sparkly sheen.

To finish off I added one of Tim's tap (faucet) pieces to the top.  I coated it in metallic silver alcohol ink in an attempt to make it shiny so that I could enter Hels Sheridan's Sunday Stampers challenge which this week, is something shiny.  Unfortunately the shine does not show too well in the photo.  Hels is also offering candy this week, I hope you will go over and have a look at her inspirational work, if you have not already done so.

For those of you who have asked about the renovation works - we now have a stone built extension to the rear of the house, which now has windows and doors but cannot be finished until the window lintels are fitted  but it is too cold for the mortar to set.  The new bathroom cannot be started until the extension is finished so we are a little behind schedule but hopefully all will be completed as soon as possible after this Easter weekend.  Fingers crossed......

Hope you all have a good week and wherever you are that you have better weather than we have!  Hugs, Anne x

One of Life's Treasures

Hello Blog Friends

I hope you are having a lovely weekend.  We are still experiencing bitter winds and snow so I have been playing in my craft room.  Among other things, I have made a card for a member of the family who is very much into protecting the environment, as am I and we both have a special interest in what is happening to our oceans, seas and waterways so I think this card really suits that interest.

The stamp is from the Chocolate Baroque Underwater plate.

The images are stamped in Ranger Archival ink in Black and then coloured with Distress Stains applied with a water brush direct from my craft mat.  The seahorse has been stamped twice, with the second coloured image decoupaged over the top.  The grasses and shells on the sea floor were coloured in Distress Stains.

The background was created by swooshing Distress Stains on my craft mat, using Salty Ocean, Peeled Paint and Picket Fence.  The seahorse image was masked off with a piece of Judikins masking roll (which I cut out  in the shape of the seahorse).  The top half of the paper was then dragged through the mix of stains and then dried with my heat tool.  To colour in the bottom half, where the stamped sea floor is, I took a make up sponge, picked up the same colours from my craft sheet and dabbed all over to give the impression of movement and bubbles in the water.

To make the sea floor look a bit more interesting I used Wendy Vecchi embossing paste through a stencil, on a separate piece of white card, tapped on some Perfect Pearls in blue, green and gold and then heated them up with my heat tool to form the bubbles (I love this technique).  I cut it into two and added these to the bottom in two separate layers to give some dimension.

I finished off by stamping the plain white base card (8" x 8") in the corners, using Memento London Fog to mirror the image.  I added some computer generated words which is meant to have a double meaning.

Over at Simon Says Stamp and Show, the challenge is to use water in some way and I think I have used enough water, together with a water scene, to qualify!   One lucky winner will win a $50 voucher to spend at Simon Says and three other are chosen as the Top 3 by the Design Team.

Thanks for looking and I hope you will leave me a message if you do visit.  Hugs, Anne xx

WOYWW - Week 198

Hello Fellow Woywwers and Blog Friends

Yes, it really is that time of week again when we glimpse at the craft desks of our fellow Woywwers around the globe courtesy of our esteemed Hostess, Julia.  If you want to take part, Julia will give you all the details you need.

I am doing a very quick post today as I am doing a small craft class today with fellow Woywwer, Lynn (of Doodly bird fame) and a couple of other crafty friends.  On my desk today is just the tag holder I posted earlier this week and also my class materials for today, as you can see:

We are going to get very painty and messy making an 8" x 8" (20 cm x 20 cm) canvas - it should be lots of fun!  I will be back later today and will hopefully catch up with many of you then.

Happy WOYWW!  Hugs, Anne x

A Tag Holder

Hello Everyone

A big welcome to my latest followers, thank you so much for coming along on my crafty journey!

When I was at Harrogate Craft Event this week (with my lovely friend Mo) I saw many things that inspired me and several things I wanted to make.  Sadly I did not take enough photos and the reason for blogging this piece is that I wanted to make it before I forgot what it looked like!  I wanted to make something to keep my tags in, rather than the box I keep them in at present.

Please click on the photos for a better view.

This is the front.  I did not have a template but just 'winged it'.  I took a size 10 tag, which I used as a rough template and cut two more just slightly larger (about half an inch wider but the same length as the size 10 tag).  I folded half an inch at the bottom of each tag and glued these together in a book-like shape.  I covered the whole of both sides in a mix of distress stains/inks in Vintage Photo and Aged Mahogany and then spritzed a flicked to give a spotty effect.  I added some wide lace to the back and front and stamped the cover with Tim Holtz Papillon background stamp.  I stamped out my Tim Holtz Time Traveller gentleman and suitcase set for the front cover and the large moth from Tim's Melange Tissue Wrap for the back cover.

The moth was coloured in Tim Holtz Peeled Paint Distress Paint, backed with heavy card, cut out and then coated with Distress Crackle.  This was added to the piece with rusted wire for antennae.  The green and the crackle does not really show up well in the photo, this is one thing that looks better in real life I guess.

I made six inserts for the inside, slightly larger than a size 8 tag.  I put glue down the middle of each, stuck them together and then glued them fully to the tag covers at each end.

This is the finished tag holder with some of my tags inside.  As you can see, I have used a lot of brown in making this piece so I am entering it into Hels Sheridan's Sunday Stampers, Brown Eyed Girl, where the challenge is to make something with brown in it somewhere.

Thanks for looking!  Big hugs, Anne xx

A Girly Theme

Hello Everyone

I am bringing up the rear with my entry to Pan Pastel UK Challenge which is 'A Girly Theme'.  One lucky winner of the challenge will win a trial set of Pan Pastels.

I thought long and hard about what I could do and remembered a tag/card I saw over 12 months ago which featured a corset lace up at the side.  I have since tried to find it so that I can credit the blog owner for the design, but sadly I cannot track it down.  I apologise if it is your design!

The background was created with Pan Pastel in Magenta Tint and the tag was then embossed with a harlequin embossing folder.  I used my Crop-a-dile to punch 12 holes, into which I put pink eyelets and then threaded through some vintage seam binding coloured with Tim Holtz Picked Raspberry Distress Stain.  I added some gorgeous Guipure lace along the left side and coloured the very edge, again with Picked Raspberry to tone in.

The dress form is a Tim Holtz Bigz die and I coloured the base with Walnut Stain Distress Ink.  The top was covered in some lovely flowery paper from my stash.  The skirt is made from pink lace and has an underskirt made from muslin which I have also coloured with the Pan Pastel.  I added some vintage seam binding and a flower to the waist and created a pearl necklace with some pearl gems.  The button at the bottom is covered in the same paper as the dress top and the whole tag was edged with Picked Raspberry Distress Ink.

The sentiment was created with Tim Holtz chit chatter words and say 'beautiful memories'.  So why beautiful memories?  I grew up in Canada and in our senior year at High School we had a prom and I had a date with a boy, my first.  This dress reminds me of the pink meringue dress my Mother made for me to go to the prom.  I shudder at the thought now but I loved it then - a truly great memory.

My dear blog friend Mo and I are off to Harrogate tomorrow for the Great Northern Papercraft Extravangaza to see what goodies we can buy and then we will visit Dyan Reaveley's studio/store for even more goodies - can't wait!

Shabby Chic

Hello Everyone

A big welcome to my latest followers, I am thrilled to have you along on my crafty journey!

Simon Says Stamp and Show have a new challenge called Chic to be Shabby and I really wanted to get involved this week.  You can find all the details of the challenge HERE and one lucky winner will be chosen by random selection to receive a $50 gift voucher to spend at Simon Says and three other winners will be chosen as the top 3.

To make the card, I layered some patterned Bo Bunny paper (with some lovely script and faux stitching) on top of some Kraft, on top of some cream card, on top of a Kraft card base.  All the mats were heavily distressed around the edges with a distressing tool and Vintage Photo Distress Ink was applied around the edges.  I added some mesh ribbon, crochet flowers and roses from my stash and some of Tim's chit chat stickers to say - fly away home.

The butterfly is cut from Tim Holtz Melange tissue wrap, I coloured the back of the butterfly with Tim's Distress Paint in Broken China and then glued it to some stiff white card.  I painted the back of the white card with the same paint.  I then coated the front of the butterfly with Ranger Distress Crackle paint to try to give the appearance of real butterfly wings.  I really love this butterfly!  If you click on the photo below you should be able to see the effect better.

I hope you like my dalliance into shabby chic.  Thank you for looking, I will be posting again tomorrow for another challenge, hope you will have a look at that too.  Hugs,  Anne xx

WOYWW - Week 197

Hello Blog Friends and WOYWWers

First up I would like to thank my latest followers, thank you so much for joining me on my crafty journey.  If you are looking in and wondering what on earth WOYWW is or why I am showing you my messy desk then please go over and visit our Hostess, Julia, HERE who will explain why crafters from around the world are sharing their desks.

Sorry that I have missed the last couple of weeks but we have the Builders in, building an extension and a new downstairs bathroom.  We are in a mess, to say the least and have had to go out to get away from the noise and dust - it will all be worth it in the end though and we are really looking forward to that day (in about 4 weeks time).

Anyway, here is my desk today, click on the photo for a clearer view:

Lots of things, my box of ready made flowers, some lace, a fish picture, lots of bits and pieces. In the back are my new Tim Distress Paints, my latest love! On the shelf is a canvas and a couple of poppy tags I made for some friends.

When I last joined in WOYWW I was expecting Granddaughter 2 (she is 5) and we were drawing and colouring in fish.  The frame in the middle, with the fish is a duplicate of the one I made for her.  Here is a close up.

I am happy with the way this turned out.  The frame is coloured with Distress Paints with crackle glaze over the top, the fish is coloured with Distress Stains, the background has been coloured with Distress Paints.  The water at the bottom is made using a stencil, embossing paste, perfect pearls and heated until bubbling - love that technique!

That's it from me this week, I look forward to visiting as many of you as possible over the next day or so.  Happy WOYWW everyone.  Hugs, Anne x

The Heart Surpasses It and Thank You!

Hello Everyone

I would like to start with a couple of thank yous.  Firstly, thank you to my lovely new followers, it is wonderful and very flattering to have you along on my crafting journey.

I would also to thank all of you who commented on my last post (my poppy card).  I was totally overwhelmed and very touched by the response I received.  You are all very kind and generous and gave me a great boost!  Thank you again.

I have not been doing too much crafting, the Builders are in full swing now and we just have to get out for a while each day to escape the noise and dust, but it will be worth it in the end.......

This is a canvas I did a couple of weeks ago, it is in the same style as my journal pages from a few weeks ago and for once I am very pleased with the way it has turned out.  The colours are much brighter in real life but if you click on it you will get a better view.

The canvas is 10" x 8".  I covered it with gesso first and then added some torn book pages here and there.  I painted over this with two colours of Distress Paints, Broken China and Salty Ocean.  Once dry I dabbed white acrylic paint over the canvas.  I then used a couple of stencils (chicken wire and harlequin) and some sequin waste and dabbed through with Salty Ocean Distress Paint.

Then came the fun bit, I got my Crafters Workshop stencil out and used Wendy Vecchi embossing paste through the stencil to create the circles (did I say how much I love this stencil?).  I then took some cheesecloth and coated it with white acrylic paint and put under my triple embossed Wendy Vecchi heart.

The sentiment is a Tim Holtz stamp that my lovely blog friend Sandy gifted to me.  I did a very small thing for her and she sent me this amazing stamp!  How lucky am I?  I stamped it out on plain white card, cut the words out and then edged each in black Distress Ink.

Edited:  I only linked this up late last night and today I noticed that Hels Sheridan's Sunday Stampers Week 248 Challenge is 'You Make Me Feel Brand New' where the requirement is to use some new stash (TH paints and WV Embossing Paste) or use something you have had for a while and not used (my lovely TH stamp from Sandy) so I am entering this piece into that challenge.

Thank you for visiting, I hope you will leave me a comment, I love to read them all.  Hugs, Anne xx

Sunday Stampers Week 247 - Something Pretty

Hello Everyone

A big thank you to my latest followers, I am so happy to have you along on my crafty journey.  Thank you too, to all of you who take the time to comment on my blog, I know you are all very busy people, I really appreciate it and I love visiting your blogs too (providing I can find a link).

This week at Sunday Stampers, the wonderful and very talented Hels Sheridan has set us a challenge, based on the song 'Oh You Pretty Thing' and the challenge is to create  'Something Pretty'.  For the details of the challenge please go HERE.

I recently went to a Craft Fair in Manchester with my lovely friend Mo, we had a wonderful day and met lots of other crafty friends.  Mo very kindly bought me an Indigo Blu stamp that I have been wanting for a while and I have used that to create my entry.  I absolutely love this gorgeous stamp!  Click on the picture for a better view.

I stamped the base card first in London Fog Memento Ink just to give a hint of the stamp and use up some of the white space.  The main picture is stamped in Ranger Black Archival Ink and I did all the colouring with  Tim Holtz Distress Markers and Distress Inks, by putting the inks onto my mat and using a water brush to do the colouring.  I used Fired Brick, Festive Berries, Wild Honey, Broken China, Salty Ocean, Peeled Paint and Bundled Sage colours.

I did each of the flowers twice, cut out one set of the flowers out and decoupaged them up to give them some dimension.  I matted the picture onto some red card stock and mounted this on the card, raised up with foam squares.   I coloured some vintage ribbon with Festive Berries Distress Ink.  I smooshed this onto my mat, added water and dragged the ribbon through the ink and then dried it with my heat tool.  This made the ribbon lovely and crinkly.

There is no sentiment as yet, as I am not sure yet how I will use the card but I have left room at the top right for one.

Thanks so much for looking!  Take care everyone.  Big Hugs,  Anne xx

Edited to say:  I have been without internet for over 24 hours due to the builders cutting through our connection wire!  I would like to enter this into Country View Crafts new blog challenge which is Pick and Mix (Anything Goes.