Tim tag November 2014

Yikes!  I nearly missed posting this one in time!  I was very late making my tag this month...  You can see Tim's original tag HERE.  Tim used the fabulous large leaf but I wanted to do something a little different and decided to use the snowman instead, I am not sure at all about it now but here it is warts and all:

I am not going to repeat the 'how to' details here as I followed Tim's methods pretty much exactly.

I think you can see the shine of the metal foil a bit better on this picture.  I used the shattered embossing folder for my background.

As always, I did a second tag for my lovely friend Ali of Ali-Craft, I mounted it on one of Ali's large grey board tags which I painted in Broken China Distress Paint.

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending a card making class with my wonderful friend Jenny (Buttons) at Indigo Blu Headquarters.  It was a lovely group of ladies and we had lots of fun doing lots of paint splattering and using Indigo Blu's famous Mega Flakes.  Jenny is an excellent tutor, if you ever get the chance to see Jenny demo-ing or teaching, you will not be disappointed!  This is my favourite of the cards we made:

I wish you could see the wonderful sheen on the Mega flakes on the tag and bauble but it is a very dull day here and I can't get a good picture.... sigh.

The countdown to Christmas begins tomorrow and I need to get some Christmas cards made, I think it is going to be clean and simple for me this year!!  I bet most of you are a lot further on than me - I got Tim's new sleigh and reindeer die this week, on special offer from Country View Crafts at the moment and I cannot wait to use them.... but that will have to wait until I get some cards done.....sigh.

Thanks for looking and I hope to see you again soon.  Hugs, Anne xx

Compendium of Curiosities #16 - Layering Stencil:Embossing

This is my entry piece for Compendium of Curiosities #16 where the challenge is to use the Layering Stencil:Embossing Technique which can be found on Page 50 of Tim's Compendium of Curiosities III book and also my DT piece for Inspiration Journal where the challenge is Happy Holidays.

There is a wonderful prize on offer at CC3C for the person chosen as the Curiosity Crew's favourite, the prize being a package of goodies generously donated by Tim Holtz and Mario Rossi.  If you do not have Tim's wonderful CC III book you can purchase it direct from Tim here.

This month the challenge at CC3C is being sponsored by Linda Coughlin of the Funkie Junkie who is offering one lucky winner a $25 voucher to spend in her on line store HERE.

The challenge at Inspiration Journal is being sponsored by Inspiration Emporium who have a $50 to spend at Inspiration Emporium's on line store HERE.

Since it is getting ever nearer to Christmas I have made another Christmas card using my all time favourite Santa stamp fromTim Holtz - Santa's Wish.

I cannot share the Layered Stencil;Embossing Technique with you as that would be unfair to Tim but I can say that I used both the Gothic and Star Stencils to do the technique onto Ranger Speciality Stamping Paper.

For the Santa image, this was stamped in Ranger Black Archival ink and then lightly coloured with Distress Stains in Fired Brick, Antique Linen, Pine Needles and Mowed Lawn.  The edges were distressed and then it was mounted onto Kraft cardstock.

The ice skates were cut from white card, using the Movers and Shapers mini skate die.  I used a small needle to create lace holes and then coloured them with Tea die and then Gathered Twigs Distress inks.  The skate runners were coloured with Treasure Gold - Silver.  The laces were tied up with red string onto an Idea-ology ring fastener.

The holly leaves were cut from Tim's new Holiday Greens die and the word is from the new Holiday Words:Script die.

I mounted the finished piece onto some corrugated card from my stash.

Thanks so much for looking and hopefully leaving a comment - I hope to see you again soon!  Big hugs, Anne xx

Tim Holtz - Distress Ink Pads - Tea Dye	Tim Holtz - Distress Ink Pads - Gathered Twigs	Sizzix - Movers & Shapers - Magnetic Dies - Mini Toy Soldier & Ice Skate	Tim Holtz Collection - Santa's Wish
Tim Holtz Collection Stencils - Complete Stencil Bundle	Ranger Super Fine Detail Embossing Powder - Clear	Tim Holtz Distress Stains - Antique Linen	Tim Holtz Distress Stains - Fired Brick
Tim Holtz - Distress Stains - Pine Needles	Tim Holtz - Distress Stains - Mowed Lawn	Tim Holtz - Idea-ology - Ring Fasteners	Ranger - Specialty Stamping Paper - 8 1/2" x 11"
Inkssentials Surfaces Kraft Cardstock - 12" x 12"

InLinkz.com

Team ATB and 100 Proof Press Blog Hop!

I am excited as this is the first time I have been involved in a Blog Hop.

Team ATB from the Artists on the Block and the Design Team from 100 Proof Press have teamed up for the whole of the month of November for a Blog Hop to showcase Artist Trading Blocks and also the wonderful 100 Proof Press stamps.

If you have not shopped at 100 Proof Press before please do have a look, they have an amazing selection of stamps in both mounted and unmounted.  It was difficult making my choice but I decided to go for a 'time flies theme' and made this with my stamps:

I mixed the beautiful clock/watch stamps with my Artist Trading Block die and Tim Holtz Movers and Shapers clock die and showcased them with letterpress blocks.

A view from the other side.  I used Distress Spray Stains to colour my backgrounds.

I found some little clock parts in my stash so I added these to the top of the small block.

The stamps I used from 100 Proof Press are:

Pocket Watch (small)  Ref. 4631-u

World Clocks              Ref. 5959-u

Pocket Watch              Ref. 1999-u

Hourglass                    Ref. 4475-u

At Art With Heart, Eileen Hull is running another fantastic challenge - Favourite Recipe - where you can use a favourite technique, style or product.  You could win one of Eileen Hull's new Vintage Kitchen dies, signed by the lovely lady herself.  You can see Eileen's new range which will be available in the next couple of weeks, HERE.

Eileen is also sponsoring a challenge over at Craft Hoarders Anonymous where Gloria's Challenge #20 is 'Box it up' where you just need to create or alter a box of some kind.

Thanks for looking!  Hope to see you again soon.  Hugs, Anne xx

Inspiration Journal - Happy Holidays

This month at Inspiration Journal the challenge is Happy Holidays!  The challenge is to create Holiday cards, gifts or wrapping ideas!

One of my favourite parts of the Christmas celebrations is actually wrapping the presents, I have been making boxes for years now but a couple of years ago I saw the box below demonstrated on TV and have been making them this way ever since.

Here's the finished (and decorated) box....

I am going to show you instructions for the box, it is picture heavy and looks a bit complicated, but once you have made one it is very easy, I promise!

The only rule is that you need two sheets of card or paper and they must be square, the bigger the card, the bigger the box.  Card makes a stronger box and I used one sheet of Tim Holtz's Resist Motif paper (star pattern) for the top and plain white card for the bottom 12" x 12" cardstock results in a box of 4.1/2" square and 2.1/2" deep.

Take your two sheets of paper/card.  Decide which piece will be the bottom and cut approx 1/4" from the top and one side.  This is an important step - do not cut your 1/4" from the top and bottom, as you will not have a square left to work with..... ask me how I know that.....

Take a ruler and place this diagonally across the wrong side of your card, corner to corner (do this on both pieces) and draw lines as shown, to find the centre.

Take one corner and fold this up to the marked centre.  Use a bone folder to make a good crease.

Fold the same corner again into the centre and score well.

Now do exactly the same on the opposite side, unfold the sides and do the same on the two remaining sides, so that all four corners are folded and creased in the same way.

Open our the piece and cut between the marked arrows on two opposite sides only.

You will end up with something like the above.

Fold the sides like shown and score well.

Bring the two scored sides in as shown above.

Fold the end in on both sides and score well.  You can glue the flaps inside but it is not really necessary if you have scored well.

Do the same again on the second piece and you will then have a nice strong box with a lid.

Decorate as you wish!  I used Tim's Poinsettia and Holiday Greens dies and a Tidings Token to finish off.  The Poinsettia has been coloured with Tim's fabulous new Distress Spray Stains.

You may remember this box from a recent post I did, it is made with 8" x 8" card and the resulting box is 2.3/4" square and about 1.1/2" deep.

I used the same Poinsettia die, so you can see the scale of the box.

I hope you will join us at Inspiration Journal, there is a $50 voucher to spend at Inspiration Emporium for one lucky winner, we would love to see your Happy Holiday card, gift or wrapping idea.

As always, thanks for looking and I hope to see you again soon, I will be back on Thursday with another creation.  If you do want to make a purchase from Inspiration Emporium (only) and you use my code Redanne, you will get 10% off your total order!    Hugs, Anne xx


Products Used 
Tim Holtz Poinsettia Die
Tim Holtz Distress Spray Stains
Tim Holtz Holiday Greens die
Tim Holtz Idea-ology Tidings Token

Tim Holtz Resist Paper - Motif

Compendium of Curiosities #15 - Cabinet Card Pockets

I really cannot believe that it is #15 at the wonderful Linda Ledbetter's Compendium of Curiosities where Linda and her talented Curiosity Crew are taking us through techniques from Tim Holtz's Compendium III book.  This time we must use Tim's Cabinet Card Pockets.  You can find Tim's work on Page 38 of Compendium of Curiosities III.  If you still have not got a copy you can buy one direct from Tim here.

It has been a bit of a struggle keeping up with the challenges but I have learned so much and have really enjoyed being taken out of my comfort zone -quite regularly!  The Curiosity Crew have given us the most amazing inspiration in each of the challenges and this one is no exception, I hope you will visit and see the wonderful makes from the Crew.

This was a golden opportunity for me to start on my Christmas cards, a bit late I know!  

These are the items I started with, I did not use the skates in the end.

You can see in the above photo that I trimmed and coloured my Cabinet Card and then applied a coat of  Clear Rock Candy Distress Paint.

To make up the card, I started with some plain Kraft card and used Tim's Gothic Stencil and Ranger Texture Paste coloured with Fired Brick Distress Paint to cover part of the base.  This was matted up onto some Tim Holtz Distress card and again onto Kraft Card.  The papers were all heavily distressed.  I added some burlap and some holly leaves from the Holiday Greens die (love this one).

I found this gorgeous Santa image in Tim's Christmas Ephemera pack and I left a little pocket in the back so that I can slip in a gift card for someone special.

I have heard that this beautiful Poinsettia die has been retired, it is one of my all time favourites so I though I better get it used this year for my Christmas cards!  I coloured it with the new Distress Spray Stains and then spritzed a little pearl shimmer over the top.

This is also my DT project for Inspiration Journal and it just so happens that the lovely Joy from Inspiration Emporium is sponsoring CC3C this time and there is a fantastic $50 prize on offer for one lucky winner of CC3C to spend in Inspiration Emporium's on-line store.

Inspiration Journal are also running a challenge at the moment called Happy Holidays where you can create cards, gifts or wrapping ideas - just perfect for getting ready for the holiday season!  We hope you will join in the fun - and there is a $50 voucher to spend in Inspiration Emporium's on line store for a randomly chosen winner.  If you do buy anything from Inspiration Emporium then please use my code Redanne for a 10% discount on your whole purchase.

As always, thanks for looking, I will be back again on Monday with something that will help you with wrapping those small gifts for Christmas, hope you will join me then.

Big hugs, Anne xxx

Products Used from Inspiration Emporium:

Ranger Texture Paste

Distress Paint

Distress Stains

Tim Holtz Poinsettia die

Tim Holtz Holiday Greens die

Ephemera Pack - Christmas

Tim Holtz Gothic Stencil

A Vintage Journey - All Sewn Up

It is time for another challenge over at A Vintage Journey and our host this time is the wonderful Brenda who has chosen 'All Sewn Up' as our challenge.

As always, our generous sponsor, Country View Crafts is offering a £10 voucher to spend in their on-line store, for one lucky winner chosen by the Creative Guides.

I decided to take the challenge literally and I have actually sewn something up!  I used one of my favourite dies, the Tim Holtz Dress form die and created a pincushion.

I cut the dress form 3 times from fairly thick chipboard - these steel rule dies cut through thick chipboard like butter...

After gluing the dress forms together I painted the areas that would be exposed, with Gathered Twigs Distress Paint.   To make a pattern for the pincushion topper I just laid the die cut on top of the fabric and cut around in a dress form shape.  The fabric is from the Tim Holtz Eclectic Elements range of fabrics.

Once stitched up, I turned the cover right side out, put the dress form inside and then stuffed some toy stuffing into both sides to give it a body shape.  The top and bottom gaps were stitched closed.

I took some of Tim's linen ribbon and made a 'belt' for the waist line because I wanted to attach some embroidery scissors to the back of the dress form.

I attached the dress form to a base that I cut from the Sized Circles Bigz die set.  Because the dress form is cut from 3 layers of thick chipboard, it stands up quite well.

To finish off I stamped some of the sewing elements from Tim's Attic Treasures stamp set and added these to the bottom along with the the thread spool die cut, which I covered with Tim's Linen ribbon.

So (sew) why not join us for this wonderful challenge at A Vintage Journey and let us see your 'All Sewn Up' makes.  Please remember we are a Tim Holtz inspired challenge and we need to see evidence of this in your creation.

I don't get the chance to enter many challenges these days so I am pleased to enter this into Hels Sheridan's Sewing & Stitching challenge.  Hels, there is stamping, on the bits around the bottom!

Thanks for looking, see you again soon I hope!  Hugs, Anne xx

Art With Heart - Vintage Kitchen

I mentioned some time ago that the very talented Eileen Hull has a new release of dies out in December.  I was honoured to be given some die cuts to work with a few months ago and I showed some sneak peeks HERE.

Now that we are getting closer to the release date the team has been asked to use our 'Favourite Recipe' to show how these dies can be used.  I used a few of Eileen's wonderful dies but as I love to work in 3D and I also like to take something and 'change it up', I took Eileen's fabulous cookie box and made it up in a different way.....

First I made it up as a cookie box.

I painted the top and bottom parts before assembling and decorated the side with some dot paper from my stash and decorated the top with circles and hearts.

Then I changed it up and made it up in a slightly different way - as a little sewing box with a pin cushion lid.

Eileen's dies are so easy to build up.  Mine were cut from Matboard (similar to Mountboard).  Before assembling I painted the top and bottom in black Chalkboard paint.

To make the pincushion topper:

1. Cut two pieces of  fabric (I used Tim Holtz Eclectic Elements fabric).  The box lid is approximately 4 inches (10cm) in diameter, so I cut the fabric in a 5 inch circle.  
2. Stitch the circles together, by machine or by hand, leaving a small gap (for the stuffing)
3. Use soft toy stuffing to fill the circle and stitch the gap closed
4. Take a large needle and strong thread, push the needle through the centre of the round.
5. Wrap the thread over the edge of the circle and push the needle through the centre again
6. Do this 8 times in total.  You should end up with a 'flower' shaped cushion.
7. Add a button or other embellishment to the middle of the cushion to hide the centre, this can be glued or stitched in place depending upon your preference.
8. Use a strong glue to attach the cushion to the top of the box

As I said in a post HERE when I first showed a pincushion  the idea for it came from an article in the January 2013 edition of Craft Stamper magazine.

Here is a view of the box open.

I used Tim Holtz Eclectic Elements fabric to cover the sides of the box, both inside and out and I used his Idea-ology Label Letters to add the words.

I am so looking forward to getting some of the new range of dies to work with!  You can see the full range of the new dies HERE.  There really is something there to suit all tastes!  The dies are so versatile, the quality is exceptional and as you can see, it is easy to 'change them up' by using your favourite recipe of techniques and style.

Eileen will be featuring the dies and samples at the next CHA (Craft and Hobby Association). Here is the lovely and very talented lady herself showcasing her latest release.

Why not join in Eileen's new Challenge over at Art With Heart.  The Challenge is called 'Favourite Recipes' and can be your favourite technique or style - I hope you will check it out, there is always a great prize on offer!

As always, thanks for looking.  See you again soon!  Hugs, Anne xx

Compendium of Curiosities #14

Here I am bringing up the rear again!  As well as having several projects on the go at the moment, we are away, visiting London - to see the wonderful poppies at the Tower of London (there are a couple of pictures of some of them at the end of this post for those who are interested).

At Linda Ledbetter's Compendium of Curiosities Challenge #14 we are to use Tim's Coloured Crackle Technique which can be found on Page 53 of Tim's Compendium of Curiosities III book. We must work from our own personal copy of the book and in fairness to Tim we must not share the details of the technique.  If you do not have the book yet, you can get a signed copy from Tim here.

Of course there is a wonderful prize on offer, for one lucky individual, chosen by the Curiosity Crew, of a wonderful package of goodies generously donated by Tim Holtz and Mario Rossi.

In addition, CC3C is sponsored this time by the lovely Linda Coughlin of The Funkie Junkie, who is offering a $25 spending spree in her on-line shop.

Since Christmas is so close I decided to make a Christmas decoration using Tim's new large Snowflake die and also his new Layered Snowflake die combined.  I also had an old frame from a canvas that I made a mess of, I stripped the canvas off but could not bear to throw the frame away....

The frame had already been gessoed and had a thin layer of embossing paste added to give it some texture.  I used Tim's Coloured Crackle Technique on the whole frame (it does not have a back but I photographed it against some dark card).

I am in LOVE with these new Snowflake dies!!  I layered up the large Layered Snowflake with the smaller Stacked Snowflakes, stacking them up onto both sides of the large Snowflake, so it is very dimensional.  I hung it from the top of the frame using some invisible thread.  As you waft past the frame the snowflake moves around in a full circle.

Each of the snowflakes was covered with Clear Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint before building up into a stunning decoration.  These could also be used as a beautiful tree topper or as a tree decoration - they would glisten beautifully in the tree lights....

A closer view of the coloured crackle on the frame, it looks so beautiful in real life. I added a bow to the top to disguise the little hook that holds the snowflake up.

To finish off I added a word band to the bottom with some crinkle ribbon which I coloured with Tumbled Glass Distress Stain.

This project is also my Design Team piece for Inspiration Journal and our Challenge topic for this month is Happy Holidays.  I hope you will check out the challenge HERE, there is a fantastic prize on offer of a $50 voucher to spend at Inspiration Emporium's on-line store.

In addition, if you do shop at Inspiration Emporium for any crafty goodies and use my code Redanne you will receive a 10% discount off your whole order!

OK, just a quick indulgence now, here are two pictures of the poppies at the Tower of London.  There are over 880,000 poppies representing each and every one of those who lost their lives in World War One.  It is a very moving sight....

Sadly, it was a very dull day, they are spectacular in real life.  Each one of the poppies has been sold to raise money for the services charities.  I am so looking forward to receiving mine.

As always, thanks for looking and for your comments, they mean such a lot!  Hugs, Anne xx



Products Used:

Layered Snowflake 
Stacked Snowflake
Clear Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint
Broken China Distress Paint
Word Bands
Crinkle Ribbon