Friends Forever for Inspiration Journal

Hello everyone, thanks for your visit.  Today I am sharing a birthday card for a friend, my DT piece for Inspiration Journal.  using the same layout as I did in a recent post.   It won't come as any surprise that I love all of Tim Holtz  papers but the new Correspondence ones are just beautiful and you don't really need to add too much to make something special.

After cutting my layers I roughed up the edges, I left the edges un-inked as I wanted it to be light.  I used Tim's Wildflower stencil and Ranger white Embossing paste for the design on the left.  I added Tim's Thinlits Handwritten Love dies for the sentiment.

The finishing touch was one of Tim's Butterfly Duo dies with a couple of the Tiny Tattered Florals to created the body of the butterfly.

Many of the items I used are available from Inspiration Emporium and if you do buy from them and use my code Redanne you will get a 10% discount off your whole order.  Postage rates are always excellent at $5 for the USA and $10 for Europe.

I would like to say a huge thank you to those of you who visited my post over at Inspiration Journal this week, I really appreciate the comments there and also on Facebook.  I did a flower tutorial a few years ago which gives a bit more detail and if you are interested you can find it here.

Thanks for your visit, I hope to see you again soon.  Hugs, Anne xx

Products from Inspiration Emporium

Tim Holtz Correspondence Paper Stack

Tim Holtz Butterfly Duo die

Tim Holtz Thinlits Handwritten Love dies

Tim Holtz Tiny Tattered Florals die

Tim Holtz Distress Ink

Wendy Vecchi  Embossing Paste

Tim Tag June 2015

I am here to share my Tim Tag for June 2015, if you want to see Tim's original tag, you will find it HERE.

I had to deviate, quite a bit, from Tim's original design, mainly because I do not have the cup die but I have used most of the other products he used, just in a different way.  I used Tim's Linen Ribbon at the top, coloured with Salty Ocean Distress Ink.  I also created some 'bubbles' at the top of the tag, using re-cycled plastic packaging and the Bubble Embossing Folder.  I just love using the seahorse die and it is coloured with Mermaid Lagoon and Peacock Feathers Distress Ink.  I applied a coat of Clear Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint.

I created the background the same way as Tim but I used Broken China, Tumbled Glass and Salty Ocean Distress inks through the Stripes stencil to create the plaid background. 

I used Tim's Textured Surfaces to create the greenery, the starfish and the burlap mat (love the texture).  I used Jute string to wrap around the burlap and the sentiment is from Tim's Hashtag set of stamps.

This is also my Design Team piece for Inspiration Journal.  If you choose to buy from Inspiration Emporium and you use my code Redanne you will receive a 10% discount off your whole order.  Postage in the USA is $5 and Europe is only £10.

Thanks so much for looking, I hope to see you on Thursday for my next Inspiration Journal DT creation.  Hugs, Anne xx

Products from Inspiration Emporium:

Sizzix/Tim Holtz Sand and Sea Die

Sizzix/Tim Holtz Garden Greens Die

Tim Holtz Stamp Set - Hashtags

Tim Holtz Distress Ink

Tim Holtz Stripes Stencil

Tim Holtz Bubble Embossing Folder

Tim Holtz Textured Surfaces

Tim Holtz Jute String

Tim Holtz Linen Ribbon

Feature Artist at Anything But Cute Challenge Blog

I am so excited and honoured to have been asked by the hugely talented designer Pamellia to be Feature Artist on her new Challenge Blog - Anything But Cute!  Pamellia and her team are all exceptionally talented and create the most wonderful mixed media projects.

The current challenge is hosted by the talented Cec (CW Card Creations) who chose the theme - Make it Masculine.  In Cec's own words - Make a mixed media card or other project for a fellow in your life.  It could be for Fathers Day, a birthday, an anniversary or just because you want him to know how special he is.

I was really inspired by Cec's challenge as, I don't know about you, but I find men really difficult to make for!  I decided to make something for my DH to use in his 'shed'. Here's a sneak peek of the first layer of my project... I used something a little different to give my 'bricks' a wonderfully aged appearance.

If you would like to see a step by step of my project for Anything But Cute I hope you will visit the blog HERE and if you have time, please leave a comment and support this wonderful new challenge blog.  Thanks again Pamellia for asking me to be Feature Artist!

As always, thanks for looking, I hope to see you again soon!  Hugs, Anne xxx

Compendium of Curiosities #30 - Rusty the Robot-tle

You may feel, after reading this, that I have gone a little bit bonkers!  I have had an empty bottle sitting in my craft room for ages and when I saw the challenge at CC3C this time, I just saw a robot....... yes really....

Please meet Rusty the Robot-tle!

Rusty was created using the Faux Cracked Glass technique which can be found on Page 54 of Tim Holtz Compendium of Curiosities III.  If you have not seen what the Curiosity Crew have made for this Challenge then please do pop over to Linda Ledbetter's Blog where you will see some fantastic inspiration.

As this is an even numbered challenge, the sponsor is the wonderful Linda Coughlin from The Funkie Junkie who is offering one randomly selected individual a $25 voucher to spend in her on-line store.  In addition to that Tim Holtz and Mario Rossi are offering a very generous prize of lots of Tim goodies to one person selected as the Curiosity Crew's favourite.

Whilst I cannot share the technique with you I can show you some of the materials I used to create my robot-tle.

A view of the bottle once the technique has been applied.

The head was created using one of Eileen Hull's Artist Trading Blocks which was then covered with corrugated card from Tim Holtz Textured Surfaces and coloured using Gathered Twigs and Rusty Hinge Distress Paint mixed together with a little Black Soot DP and some Caramel Alcohol Ink. The eyes are made from Tim's Idea-ology mini gears and the mouth and ears from some cardboard cogs from my stash.  His 'hair' is made with twisted rusty wire, also from my stash.

The shoulders and legs were created with some left over corrugated card, coloured in the same way as the head.  The 'body' cogs are again Tim Holtz Idea-ology range.  The word band has been coloured using Rusty Hinge Distress Paint.

This is the second of my DT makes for Inspiration Emporium this month and I used products from there to create my project.  If you do shop there and use my code Redanne you will receive a 10% discount off your whole order.

I hope that Rusty gave you a little smile, I think I was channeling my inner child when I had this idea!  Thanks for looking and hope to see again on Friday with a special post....

Hugs, Anne xxx

Products from Inspiration Emporium

Wendy Vecchi Archival Ink

Ranger Alcohol Ink

Tim Holtz Distress Paint

Tim Holtz Idea-ology Textured Surfaces

Tim Holtz Idea-ology Sprocket Gears

Tim Holtz Idea-ology Mini Gears

Tim Holtz Idea-ology Word Band

A Vintage Journey - Destination Inspiration June #2

Hello Everyone

Just a quick sneak peek, I hope you will go over to A Vintage Journey where it is my turn to use a 'recipe' devised by four of the Creative Guides, which is:

Product:  Any Tattered Die

Technique: Layering Stencil : Texture Paste

Colour:  Walnut Stain

Substrate:  Watercolour Paper

As always, thanks for looking,  Hugs, Anne xxx

Art With Heart - Summer Fun with Sizzix

I wish I could say that summer is on it's way but it seems to be eluding us here in the north of England!  Still, I can dream....  long hot summer days and my guilty pleasure - ice cream!

At Eileen Hull's Art With Heart this month, we are celebrating Summer Fun with Sizzix Challenge.  I have just received my 3-D Travel Trailer and so the seed was planted - an Ice Cream Trailer!

For those who want to see how it is constructed I have added a few photos of the process below.

Eileen's dies are Scoreboard XL dies which cut through matboard/mount board and other thick materials.

I used mat board to die cut my trailer.

You can cover the board with papers and then cut them out but as I wanted a two tone trailer I added my red paper afterwards and then used a template to cut the door and window.

To construct the trailer, I gently fold along all the score lines before I start and use wet glue to attach one piece at a time.  The wet glue give you 'wiggle' room so that you can get the 'fit' just right.  I also add the wheel at this point.

Glue the other sides in the same way and you have your trailer.  I don't add the trailer bar until I have decided how I want to decorate the trailer.

I like to add some 'beading' around the edges to finish off and neaten the edges but it is not necessary, it is just me being pedantic! 

I cut a large window in this side of the trailer and added a 'counter top'.  I got a bit carried away and also added a little bicycle from a model railway set (that was a real challenge to paint!), a gingham awning held up with drinking straws and a little Ice Cream sign.

To finish off I made a little bench and table from left over mat board, some matchsticks and more gingham.  The ground is an 8" x 8" canvas painted using acrylic paint.

I hope you enjoyed seeing my little trailer, Eileen has a real vintage trailer (called Scottie) that she travels with across the USA visiting Craft Shops, demonstrating and holding classes.

If you have the time please do visit Eileen's blog - Summer Fun with Sizzix  which you can find HERE to see what my very talented Design Team Mates have created and we would love you to enter the challenge, there is always a wonderful prize on offer.

As always, thanks for looking, I hope to see you again soon.  Hugs, Anne xx

The Men in our lives...

Hi Everyone

June is the month of Father's Day on both sides of the Atlantic.  Male cards are always notoriously hard to do so I have made a quickie card, that could be used for almost any occasion.

I started by using plain white card, nothing special and embossed it using Tim Holtz Compass Texture Fade ( Embossing Folder).  I carefully coloured the sections with Gathered Twigs, Broken China and Vintage Photo Distress Inks.  I used Tim's spritz and flick technique, using water to create the splotches in the background.

The Gentleman is from the Tim Holtz Time Travellers stamp set, I stamped him and coloured him with Brushed Corduroy, Antique Linen, Spun Sugar and Broken China Distress Ink.

The charm and word band are from Tim's Idea-ology range, as is the clip.  I dabbed over the clip with Wendy Vecchi's Sky Blue Archival Ink and then added Sky Blue Embossing Powder and heated it.  I love using Embossing Powder in this way, the clip now looks like it has been enamelled.  The words on the charm (Wander) and the word band (the journey awakens the soul) have been coloured with Broken China Distress Paint (just generously coat with the paint, leave a moment or two and then wipe off the top surface).

To finished the card I mounted it on to some corrugated card (stained with Vintage Photo Distress Ink) from my stash and then mounted this onto plain black cardstock.

All of the items I used are from Inspiration Emporium, if you do decide to shop there, the postal rates are extremely competitive, both in the US and Europe and you can use my code Redanne to receive a 10% discount off your whole order.

Thanks for looking, I hope to see you again soon.  Big hugs, Anne xxx





Products used:
Tim Holtz Time Traveller stamps
Tim Holtz Texture Fades - Airmail and Compass set
Tim Holtz Distress Inks -various colours
Tim Holtz Idea-ology
Wendy Vecchi Embossing Powder - Sky Blue
Wendy Vecchi Sky Blue Archival Ink