Seahorse ATC Stack for That's Crafty

Hello Friends

I hope that you are looking forward to the New Year, it is hard to believe that it is tomorrow!

I am delighted and very honoured to have been asked by Laura Holland of That's Crafty to be Guest Designer for the next three months, so each week, on a Monday, I will be sharing a new project created with some wonderful products from That's Crafty!

I can share a little sneak peek of my first project here:

 If you have time, I would love it if you could visit That's Crafty to see my whole project, there is a lot more to see.

Thanks so much for taking the time, it only remains for me to say I hope you have a wonderful New Year's Eve and all the very best to you for 2019! 

Hugs, Anne xx

VW Campervan

Hello Friends

I hope you had a lovely Christmas and are now looking forward to the New Year!

I am sharing my weekly project as Guest Designer for AALL & Create, using Bipasha BK's beautiful VW Camper van stamp #141.  Having a holiday in a Camper van has been on my 'bucket list' for years and so I created a travel journal, just in case I ever get the chance!

The finished journal measures 5.1/2" x 3.1/2" by 7/8" deep.  I sized it so that the Camper van stamp would cover the front and back in one stamping.

The above is a view of the back.  I have a few steps to share with you, should you be interested in making a simple journal.

I cut three pieces of chipboard as shown above. 

I used a stamp platform and black archival ink to stamp my image onto a piece of calico cotton and coloured it with 13 Arts Watercolour paints.

I attached the painted calico cotton to the chipboard, leaving a small gap between the covers and the spine, to allow for easier closing.

The above is a view of the finished outside of the journal before adding the signatures.

The inside of the journal was finished off by adding card to cover the inside back, front and spine.  I added elastic for the closure and I also used elastic to hold the signatures in place.

The stamp set I used is available from AALL & Create Boutique, HERE.

Thanks so much for your visit, I will be back on 31st December with some exciting news!  In the meantime, if you are on holiday, enjoy your break.

Hugs, Anne xx

Time Flies...

Hello Friends

Time really does fly, it is less than a week until Christmas day, how did that happen?

My weekly Guest Designer post for AALL & Create uses a beautiful A4 stamp by Tracy Evans and the stamp is called 'Time Flies'.  

These very dull days make it difficult to get good photos.....

I have condensed the photos, as this is a very busy time of year.  Briefly, I stamped with Archival ink onto tissue paper and glued this to my large chipboard tag with matte medium.  You can of course, stamp directly onto the tag and with some clever masking you can cover the whole tag with the stamp.

I used Distress Paint to colour my tag, including the background and left it to dry. I mixed Texture Paste with Distress Oxide (Gathered Twigs) and then applied this through AALL & Create Stencil #39 by Autour de Mwa randomly over the tag.

A view of the tag before embellishment.  I added clock hands to the clock element.

A view of the top.

Another view of the completed tag.

As always, thanks so much for your visit, I wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas, I will see you again after Christmas.

Hugs, Anne xxx




The stamp and stencil set I used are shown below,  these can be purchased from stockists listed here at AALL & Create.

Calendar Girl

Hello Friends and a huge welcome to my new followers.

Today I am sharing a project made with one of the newest stamps in the AALL & Create range (you can see the whole range HERE).

I was not sure at first how to showcase this beautiful stamp, I wanted to bring out all the elements in the stamp so I went for bold colours and then mounted it simply onto a 5" x 7" canvas base.

This is quite a large stamp and so I stamped it onto tissue paper and then painted it from the back

I didn't think the background was bold enough so I added more of the blue paint (Paper Artsy - Glass Blue Translucent Paint) and then decided that the dark background mat was too dark.

I kept adding paint until I was happy.

I placed the coloured (and dried)  tissue onto a white canvas base, this really showed up the beautiful blue colour.  I added a small amount of stencilling to the bottom left and top right to balance the project.

For the calendar element I used a purchased 2019 calendar and for my 2019, on the cover,  I traced the numbers from AALL & Create Stencil #30, cut them out, painted them and then triple embossed them before adding them to the calendar.

This beautiful stamp #141 is featured on Hochanda TV today (13 December) by Autour de Mwa from AALL & Create.  If you didn't catch the live shows you can always watch them on Rewind at www.Hochanda.com

I am pleased to have a calendar to add to my craft room wall.  If you would like to see the whole range of stamps and stencils by AALL & Create, they are HERE and you will find worldwide stockists.

As always, thanks so much for your visit, I really do appreciate it.

Hugs, Anne xx

Star Light, Star Bright - A Vintage Journey

Hello Friends

The first Friday of the month means a new challenge at A Vintage Journey  The lovely Julia is our host this month.  Here is what Julia has to say:

'This month we are asking you to create with STARS.  Fill up the dark winter sky with them or use one big one as your central focus.  Stencil them, stamp them, emboss them or die cut them.  Make a card, make a star box, make a canvas, create a journal page - remembering to create in the vintage, shabby, mixed media, art journalling, industrial or steampunk styles.'

I usually make a 'light up' home decor piece at Christmas time and the Star theme fitted my plan perfectly.

I used a Tim Holtz Vignette Box, his Merry Moose (I love him!!), one of Tim's  Woodland trees and a few other Tim products to create my winter scene...

I started by creating a fake 'wall' at the back of the vignette so that my lights could fit behind.  The wall was created with a really old Tim Holtz paper pad - one page had resist stars on and I simply added some Distress Ink to the starry background.  I punched some holes, through some of the stars for the lights to show through.  I used the same paper for the insides of the vignette.

The top, sides and floor of the vignette were coated with Ranger Distress Grip Paste.  I die cut Merry Moose, some trees and small deer, coloured them and added them to the vignette along with one of Tim's Woodland Trees, coloured green.

I added a lot of Tim's Greenery to the top of the vignette and added a Ideaology sentiment.to the front.  The back of the vignette was covered with some snowflake design paper from my stash.  I used the same paper to create a battery pack holder.

It was difficult to get the night time view but here it is lit up, it does look better in real life.

 I hope you will join in our Star Light, Star Bright challenge this month, it would be lovely to see you there!

Do please check out my teamies projects too, over at A Vintage Journey  there are some real beauties over there.

As always, thanks for your visit.  Hugs, Anne xx

Guest Designer Project #8 for AALL & Create

Hello Friends

I have not been able to commit as much time to crafting as usual but I have managed to make my first Christmas card using a rather unusual stamp set from AALL & Create...

This is a relatively short post for me, I don't have many step-outs to share..

.

I used a 5" x 5" card base, painted a topper and used Stencil #6 to add some interest.  I also cut a circle frame to fit the topper.   I really wanted to create a shaker card but it wasn't happening for me...

I created some 'holly' using a leaf from Louise Nelson's stamp set #133 and I used Olga Heldwein's lovely duck stamp from set #135.  I coloured all of the pieces with watercolour paints.  I used a hand drawn hat for the duck.  

Note:  Since making this card Olga has added some hand drawn hats to the Facebook AALL & Create Fanatics group that you are free to use in your projects.

Once the card was assembled I added some little snowballs and added some snow to the sky.  I also added a computer generated sentiment.

I did finally manage to create a shaker card today using the same elements as above, but used another stencil - #39, my favourite by Autour de Mwa.  These cards will, I think, be ideal for the children in the family.

You can find all of the stamps and stencils I used HERE where you will also find a list of world-wide stockists.

Also, if you visit the AALL & Create website and/or Facebook page, you will also see a fabulous new release of stamps and stencils from this talented group of designers - they are pretty amazing and just in time to buy some for Christmas gifts.....

Thanks for your visit, I will be back tomorrow with another Christmas project.

Hugs, Anne  xx

Checkmate

Hi Friends

My project as Guest Designer for AALL & Create is a fabric covered journal.  This week I have used Stamp Set #122 Chess pieces by Bipasha BK.

 As soon as I saw this gorgeous checkerboard fabric, I knew I wanted to use Bipasha's Chess Pieces stamp set to make the chess pieces.

I started by using Eileen Hull's Wrapped Journal die, the fabric and the stamp set.

 I stamped out onto white card.

After fussy cutting the chess pieces, I coloured the pieces with watercolour paints and then added Glossy Accents to give a lovely shine.

After covering the outside of the journal with the fabric, I painted the inside in plain black.  A pocket was added to the inside back and the red elastic was threaded through.  Seam binding, dyed red with Distress Stain was added these to the front and back covers, as my closure.

Extra chess pieces were coloured and added to the three signatures.

To finish off some silver coloured chess piece charms were added.

So, there we have it, Project #7 for AALL & Create completed!  If you wish to purchase products from AALL & Create, you can do so HERE.

Hope to see you again soon.  Hugs, Anne  xx

AALL & Create Project #6 - Artist Trading Coins

Hello Friends

This is the second of two posts today, sometimes things just happen that way!

Artist Trading Coins (ATCoins) are all the rage at the moment and when I saw the latest release of stamps by Tracy Evans for AALL & Create, I just knew they would be perfect for making ATCoins.

I created the coins first and then decided they needed a holder (as you do - lol).

Starting with AALL & Create stamp set #113,  #119 and #140 (all by Tracy Evans) and Paper Artsy paints I created the coins.  Once I was happy with the result I gave each coin a triple layer of clear embossing powder.  I love the effect the EP gives and it really brings the colours to life.

I used all of the above colours in both the coins and the holder.

To create the holder I used a kit from Calico Crafts.  I brayered all of the pieces, front and back, with the same Paper Artsy paint colours I used on the coins and then stamped with AALL & Create stamp #119 and Stencil #22 (by Autour de Mwa), before constructing the holder.

A close up view of the ATcoins.

A close up view of the finished holder.

Wherever you are in the world you can purchase the AALL & Create Stamps and Stencil I used from the stockists listed HERE.

I would like to join in with Country View Challenge, where the challenge is to create Artist Trading Coins.

That's all for this week, I have another post going live today, I am taking part in a Blog Hop.

Hugs, Anne xx

Winter Wishes Blog Hop

Hello Friends

Warm thoughts are unfolding, as we begin to enter a festive time of year.

 Eileen Hull (Eileen Hull Designs) and Kim Evans (Emerald Creek) and The Teams have created a fun Blog Hop Challenge to kick off the American Thanksgiving and Winter festivities - Winter Wishes.  I was thrilled to be asked to join in the Blog Hop.

To play, all you need to do is follow along and comment on every blog in the Hop.

If you play along and link up your own creation using Eileen and Emerald Creek products, you will get 2 bonus entries for the draw.  The Challenge closes on Sunday November 25th, with the Winner announced on Cyber Monday.

The PRIZE includes an Eileen Hull Journal Die and a $50 gift certificate to the Emerald Creek shop, how fabulous is that!!

I used Eileen Hull's Passport die (Sizzix 660331) and beautiful stamps from Emerald Creek (Snowy Trees and Country Lodge).........to create a 'Shaker' Journal

After die cutting the journal, I painted all of the elements with Dina Wakely Heavy Body paint in Ruby.  I stamped  the winter scene, embossed it with Emerald Creek Onyx Frost Allure Embossing Powder and painted it with watercolour inks.

To create the 'Shaker' element I die cut three further journal fronts and cut an oval into each one. Tip: To ensure the ovals match up, simply use one of the oval cut fronts, line it up and mark with a pencil before cutting.

The wintry image was added to the base of the front, two further journal fronts (with the oval cut) were glued on top, two teaspoons of glitter was added and a layer of acetate was placed on top to seal in the glitter and image.  Finally, the last journal front was added to seal all the elements.

The Christmas trees were stamped and embossed with Emerald Creek Onyx Frost EP, coloured with watercolour inks and applied to a snowy background cut from white card which had been glittered to represent snow.

A dyed seam binding closure was added, together with a fun reindeer charm.

I hope you will 'hop' around to visit the other designers to see what they have created with products from Eileen Hull and Emerald Creek and of course, we would love you to join in too.

The blog hop order:

Eileen Hull
Kim Evans
Gwen Lafleur
Pam Bray
Ann Barnes
Lisa Hoel
Jennalee Anderson
Diana Hetherington
Anne Redfern - you are here!
Elizabeth Robinson
Susana Magenheimer
Julia Aston

I hope you enjoy the hop and good luck!

Hugs, Anne  xxx