Compendium of Curiosities #34 - the Grand Finale

Hello friends and lovely new followers.

I am so very sad that this is the Grand Finale at the lovely Linda Ledbetter's CC3C challenge - No. 34.  It has been an amazing journey for me, I managed to enter 32 of the 34 challenges and enjoyed being taken out of my comfort zone many a time!  Huge thanks to Linda and her wonderful and oh so talented Curiosity Crew for the encouragement, the lovely comments, the win and the Hon. mentions along the way.  Thanks also to the wonderful sponsors Inspiration Emporium, The Funkie Junkie and to Tim and Mario for providing some fabulous prizes.

The sponsor for this challenge is Linda Coughlin from The Funkie Junkie who is offering a $25 voucher to spend in her wonderful on-line store.

The challenge this time is to use Tim's Layering Stencil - Monoprint Technique which you can find on Page 48 of Tim's Compendium of Curiosities III.

I started off my adventure with CC3C nearly 70 weeks ago by using Tim's beautiful seahorse die set (I know, I use it a lot!) to make a gift for a lovely friend.

I created a card and a frame to hold the card if she wishes to.

The finished card (unframed)

I started off creating lots of backgrounds with the technique (which I cannot share with you).  It is a great technique to play around with.  I opted for the square card at the front.  I used Mermaid Lagoon and Cracked Pistachio Distress Ink and Tim's Woodgrain stencil as I wanted to create an underwater  'reed' like effect.

I die cut and painted my elements, created a faux sand base (Tim show how here) and crackled some of the elements with Clear Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint.  I chose not to use the red coloured seahorses in the end.

This image shows up the crackle on the seahorses very nicely.  I added seed beads for eyes to the seahorses and also added some seed beads to create some 'bubbles'.

The sand dollar is coloured with Antique Linen Distress Paint with a little Gathered Twigs DI around the edges.  The starfish is coloured with Abandoned Coral DP.  All of the greenery has been cut from various Tim Holtz dies and coloured with several of the green Distress Inks.

This is a view of the card in the frame, which has been decorated quite simply with gauze, some moss and a few seashells from my collection.

Apologies for the darkness of the photos, the weather has turned nasty here, it is raining heavily and very dark and gloomy.... I think we may have had our three days of summer this year....

This is my DT piece for Inspiration Journal and you will find many of the items I used in Inspiration Emporium's on-line store.  If you use my code Redanne you will receive a 10% discount off your whole order.  

I know this is the Grand Finale of CC3C but some of the Curiosity Crew have hinted that we will be seeing more of them, so fingers crossed - and thank you again to all of them!

Thanks for looking, I hope to see you again soon.

Hugs, Anne xxx

Products from Inspiration Emporium

Sizzix Sand & Sea die by Tim Holtz

Sizzix Garden Greens die by Tim Holtz
Tim Holtz Woodgrain Stencil

Clear Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint

Ranger/Tim Holtz Distress Inks

Ranger/Tim Holtz Distress Paints

Tim Tag July 2015

Hi Everyone

Just a quick (well reasonably quick) post from me today to share my Tim tag for July.  To see Tim's wonderful tag and how he did his, look HERE.

I made several starts on mine, I don't have the stamps Tim used, so tried lots of other designs before I settled on a seaside theme (no surprised there then!).  I used the same techniques that Tim did, just different colours and stamps.  

I also added a couple of 'altered surfaces' to my tag which falls in nicely with the lovely Linda Ledbetter's Compendium of Curiosities III challenge #33, which is to use Tim's Altered Surface technique found on Page 45 of Tim's CC3C book.  If you still need a copy you can buy one direct from Tim here.

For the base colours I used Cracked Pistachio and Mermaid Lagoon.

The elements were coloured with Distress Markers.  The hanging star is one of my altered surfaces.

The number 1 is my second altered surface.  

CC3C #33 is sponsored by Inspiration Emporium and this is my DT piece for Inspiration Journal.  Inspiration Emporium are offering a very generous $50 voucher for one randomly selected individual to spend in their on-line shop.  Their shipping rates are excellent - $5 in the USA and $10 to Europe.

Tim and Mario are also offering a fabulous prize of Tim Holtz goodies to one individual selected as the favourite by the talented Curiosity Crew.

Thanks for looking, hope to see you again soon - in fact I hope you will come back

on Tuesday as I have some very exciting news!

Hugs, Anne xx

Products used from Inspiration Emporium

Tim Holtz Mini Blueprints #6

Archival Ink - Jet Black

Tim Holtz Distress Markers

Tim Holtz Distress Ink

Idea-ology - various

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

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

Compendium of Curiosities #27

I am bringing up the rear again with my creation for the lovely Linda Ledbetter's Compendium of Curiosities #27  where the challenge is to use Embossing Diffusers.  The Curiosity Crew have made some wonderful and inspiring projects.  You can find the technique on Page 61 of Tim Holtz's Compendium of Curiosities III.  If you still need a copy, you can buy a signed copy direct from Tim, HERE.

As always, there are fabulous prizes on offer for the winners.  Linda's Curiosity Crew will choose their favourite to win a bundle of goodies from Tim Holtz and his Logistic Director, Mario Rossi.  One randomly chosen person will win a $50 voucher to spend at Inspiration Emporium's online shop.  Great prizes!

Now that Spring is here and Summer is just around the corner I decided to use my Tim Holtz Sand and Sea die (the seahorse is a favourite) and, of course, the Embossing Diffuser, Set 1.  I cannot share the technique with you but this is what I created:

I used Tim's Wave Embossing Folder for my background, which was coloured with Mermaid Lagoon Distress Ink to bring out the 'wave' effect.  The bubbles were created using Wendy Vecchi's Clear Embossing Paste - it is nice to use the clear, as the colour below will show through.  I added some more paste to the bottom and covered it with Tim's faux sand technique which you can find here.  I had some left over from then (yes I don't throw much away!). I backed the piece with some corrugated card which had been painted with Picket Fence and Mermaid Lagoon Distress Paint.

The seahorse was coloured with Mermaid Lagoon and Cracked Pistachio Distress Ink and a layer of Clear Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint was applied over the top.

The sand dollar was coloured with Antique Linen Distress Ink, edged with Gathered Twigs.  The starfish is coloured with Abandoned Coral Distress Ink.  They were all coated with Clear Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint.

To finish off I added some twisted rusty wire for the hanging and one of Tim's new Idea-ology tiny bottles with some faux sand in it.

I hope you will check out the new May challenge at Inspiration Journal which is 'Get Pasted' - no not literally, but you need to use Embossing Paste somewhere on your project. There is a $50 prize for one randomly selected individual to spend at Inspiration Emporium.  If you do shop there and use my code Redanne, you will receive a 10% discount on your whole order.

As always, thanks for looking and I hope to see you again soon!

Hugs, Anne xx

Products Used:

Tim Holtz Sand and Sea Die

Tim Holtz Embossing Diffuser, Set 1

Tim Holtz Texture Fades - Waves and Bubbles

Distress Paint

Distress Ink

Clear Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint

Make Art Challenge

Hello and a big welcome to friends and followers old and new, I always appreciate your support.

Having just received my DT package from Inspiration Emporium I decided to create another Wendy Vecchi inspired project to enter in her Make Art Challenge - Use Re-Inkers, you can find the challenge details HERE.

I have been trying, unsuccessfully, to do a background using Wendy's Alcohol and Re-Inker Technique for a while now and to create this one I used a lot of Rubbing Alcohol but I was determined to get a result!  You can see how Wendy does the technique HERE.  I omitted the metallic mixative on my background.

I kept the card quite CAS because I wanted the background to show up nicely.

After creating the background using Re-Inkers in Potting Soil and Cornflower Blue, I stamped out the beautiful Tulip three times from the Art From the Heart (LCS003) set of stamps and  coloured them with Archival Inks in Red Geranium and Fern Green and a Tim Holtz Blending Tool.  I decided against using the blue flower (coloured with Sky Blue Archival) and the ribbon (coloured with Forget-Me-Not Archival mixed with Rubbing Alcohol- it is great for colouring ribbon).  I fussy cut the flowers and layered them up to give dimension.

The wonderful sentiment is from the Blooming Art (SCS119) set of stamps, it suits my mood at the moment!  The stripes at the bottom were used to 'ground' the flower and were created with Wendy's Dots and Stripes Border stencil using Potting Soil Archival Ink.  To finish off I added one of Wendy's Blossom Bucket bees.

There is still time to enter Inspiration Journal's Anything Goes Challenge this month, there is a $50 gift voucher for one randomly selected individual to spent at Inspiration Emporium, our generous Sponsor.  If you use my code Redanne you will receive a 10% discount from your whole order.

I am entering my card into Wendy's Make Art Challenge - Use Re-Inkers.

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

Products used from Inspiration Emporium
Archival Ink
Archival Re-inkers
Wendy Vecchi Dots and Stripes Border Stencil
Wendy Vecchi Blooming Art stamps
Wendy Vecchi Art from the Heart stamps

Compendium of Curiosities #25

Cutting it a bit fine (again!) but I have only missed one so far, so I just had to make time!  For full details on the latest challenge check out the lovely Linda Ledbetter to see what Linda and the Curiosity Crew have given us for inspiration.  Challenge #25 is about using Frameworks and Tim Holtz demonstrates this on Page 64 of his Compendium of Curiosities III book. If you need a copy you can purchase one directly from Tim here.

As this is an odd numbered challenge it is sponsored by Inspiration Emporium who are generously donating a $50 prize, for one randomly selected individual, to spend in their on-line shop.  One very lucky individual, chosen by the Curiosity Crew will win a fabulous prize from Tim and Mario!

For my Compendium of Curiosities #25 entry I made a card.

As well as the Frameworks die, I also used some new goodies that Tim recently released.

I used the fabulous Butterfly Duo Die and Embossing Folder, Tim's new Pocket Cards and I used the burlap from the new Textured Surfaces Pack.

I did not take step by step photos of all the stages but you can see from the above that I stencilled some Kraft card with the Doily stencil and crackle embossing paste that I lightly coloured with 

Vintage Photo re-inker.  The Framework was cut from thick black card.

  I also used one of the Pocket Cards on top of the embossed surface.

The butterflies were cut from white card which I embossed with the Duo embossing folder.  I inked the top of the butterflies with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and then painted the de-bossed areas with Peacock Feathers Distress Paint.  The Trinket Pins were coated with Peacock Feathers DP.

To finish off I added some corners from my stash which were painted with Peacock Feathers and Gathered Twigs Distress Paint, and one of Tim's Simple Sayings.

This is also my Design Team piece for Inspiration Journal and just as a reminder, if you buy anything from Inspiration Emporium and used my code Redanne, you will get 10% discount off your entire order.  Postage rates are extremely reasonable at $5 for the USA and $10 for international orders!

  Thanks for looking and I hope to see you again soon.  

Hugs, Anne xxx

Inspiration Emporium Products Used:

Tim Holtz Frameworks Die

Butterfly Duo Die and Embossing Folder

Tim Holtz Idea-ology Textured Surfaces

Tim Holtz Idea-ology Pocket Cards

Tim Holtz Idea-ology Trinket Pins

Tim Holtz Simple Sayings

Compendium of Curiosities #24

The challenge at CC3C #24 is to use Tim's Remnant Rub Resist Technique which can be found on Page 51 of A Compendium of Curiosities III.  You can find all the details of the challenge on Linda Ledbetter's blog HERE and you will also see lots of wonderful inspiration from the hugely talented Curiosity Crew.  If you have not got a copy of Tim's Compendium, you can get a signed copy direct from Tim here.

One lucky individual, chosen by the Curiosity Crew, will win a huge package of goodies donated by Tim Holtz and Mario Rossi,

The sponsor for Challenge 24 is the lovely Linda Coughlin from The Funkie Junkie who is generously providing one lucky randomly selected individual, with a $25 voucher to spend in her on-line shop - she always has lots of Tim products in stock.

I got the Bird Crazy set of stamps when they first came out and have really only used them for a couple of birthday cards (they were certainly well received).  They seem to have been one of the most popular sets of Tim's stamps and I have hesitated to make anything to blog with, because it is hard to do anything original, but they are so cute and bring a smile to everyone's face so I decided to make an 'alternative' wedding card......... well it is Spring and that time when birds pair up after all.... I hope you like it!

I used Tim's Remnant Rub Resist Technique, which I cannot describe to you (you need to use your own copy of the book) but I can tell you that I used Salty Ocean, Mowed Lawn, Cracked Pistachio, Wild Honey, Scattered Straw and Gathered Twigs Distress Stains and Inks to colour the background and also the wedding couple.  I used the flourish remnant rub to create a nest for the couple to stand on.

I made the 'Bride's' veil from some netting and enameled Spring flowers that I had in my stash - she looks a little shy, or perhaps a little nervous about filling that nest with eggs before Easter arrives - but she certainly makes me smile!  The expressions on these birds make them appropriate for lots of different occasions.

There is still some time to enter the 'Spring Blooms' challenge at Inspiration Journal, the challenge closes on 31st March.  We have had some wonderful entries so far and if you have not entered already, it would be lovely to see you there.  As always, there is a fabulous prize of $50 for one randomly selected person to spend in Inspiration Emporium's on-line shop.  As always, if you do shop at Inspiration Emporium and use my code Redanne, you will get a 10% discount off your whole order.

Thanks for looking, hope to see you again soon!  Hugs, Anne xxx

Products Used:

Tim Holtz Bird Crazy stamps

Tim Holtz Distress Stains

Tim Holtz Distress Inks

Tim Holtz Remnant Rubs

Compendium of Curiosities #21

I would like to welcome my latest followers, thank you so much for taking this crafty journey with me, I appreciate all of you - new and old!

My second DT piece for Inspiration Journal this month uses the gorgeous butterfly from Tim's new Perspective (CMS213) stamp set.  I am so pleased that Tim has brought out a wonderful range of new stamps that can be coloured and this set also includes some of the nicest sentiments that Tim has done, in my opinion!

Compendium of Curiosities #21 uses Tim's Rock Candy Distress Glitter technique which can be found on Page 55 of Tim's Compendium of Curiosities III book.  In order to enter the challenge you must work from your own copy of Tim's Book and out of respect for Tim you must not discuss the technique.  Tim's book can be ordered direct from him here.

I have gone for a fairly clean and simple look and made a card for my entry to the CC3C Challenge.

The background and damask stamping were done using the Rock Candy Distress Glitter technique and the colour I used is Salty Ocean.

The butterfly was stamped and coloured with Salty Ocean and Tumbled Glass Distress Stains and the body is an Idea-ology pin.  The sentiment is from the same stamp set as the butterfly.

A close-up to show you some of the gorgeous, but subtle sparkle.

The sponsor for challenge #21 at CC3C is Inspiration Emporium who are offering a $50 spending spree to one lucky randomly selected winner,  The main winner will be chosen by the Curiosity Crew and this person will receive a fabulous box of goodies, kindly donated by Tim and his Operations Director Mario.

If you enter the 'Love is in the air' challenge this month at Inspiration Journal there is also a $50 spending spree available for one randomly selected person to spend at Inspiration Emporium.  We would love to see your love inspired creation!  If you do shop at Inspiration Emporium and use my code Redanne you will receive a 10% discount on your whole order.  Shipping rates are excellent at $5 for USA purchasers and $10 for International purchasers.

As always, thanks so much for looking, I will be back on Friday, hopefully.  Hugs, Anne xx

Products Used:

Tim Holtz Perspective Stamp Set

Tim Holtz Distress Damask Stamp Set

Salty Ocean Distress Stain

Clear Rock Candy Distress Glitter

Idea-ology Trinket Pins

Sizzix Big Shot Machine

Faux Granite for Inspiration Journal

My first DT project for Inspiration Journal this month uses Wendy Vecchi's fabulous technique - Faux Granite.  The challenge this month at Inspiration Journal is 'Love Is In The Air' and you will find all the details HERE.

I had such a lot of fun turning a plain and simple little jar into something that really does look like granite!  Wendy demonstrates this wonderful technique HERE on the Ranger blog, so I won't go into any great detail as Wendy explains it so much better!

I used Wendy Vecchi Sky Blue Archival Ink and also Sky Blue Embossing Powder to create the base on my little glass jar. The stamping was done with Wendy's Splatter stamp from the Ticket to Art set (LCS001) and white Archival Ink.  The little heart has had the same treatment but with Red Geranium Archival Ink and Embossing Powder.

I  attached the little heart (from Tim Holtz Idea-ology range) with some twine from my stash.

The flower is made from Tim Holtz's Tattered Floral die and card from Tim's Core'dinations Distress Collection, in Fired Brick.  The stem and leaves were created from florist wire and tape.

The sponsor at Inspiration Journal, as always, is Inspiration Emporium who offer a very generous prize of $50 to spend in their on-line shop, to one randomly selected individual.  Postage rates are excellent - $5 in the USA and $10 to Europe.  Also, if you do purchase from Inspiration Emporium and use my code Redanne you will get 10% off your whole order.

I would like to enter my piece into Wendy's  Make Art Challenge, the theme this month is 'Hearts'.  

Thanks so much for looking, even bigger thanks if you leave a comment, it means such a lot.  I hope to see you again very soon.  Hugs, Anne xx

Inspiration Emporium Products Used
Wendy Vecchi Sky Blue Archival Ink
Wendy Vecchi Sky Blue Embossing Powder
Wendy Vecchi Carnation Red Archival Ink
Tim Holtz Core'dinations Distress Card - Fired Brick
Wendy Vecchi Ticket to Art stamp set (splatter)
Tim Holtz Idea-ology Heart Charms
Tim Holtz Tattered Floral Die

A Fresh Start!

Happy New Year to all of you!

Before I start, I had some wonderful news on New Year's Day, which I hope you will not mind me sharing.  I was the very lucky winner of Linda Ledbetter's Compendium of Curiosities #17 for my little Christmas tree vignette.  I was completely overjoyed to win and I am still on a bit of a high - it was a fantastic start to the New Year, to be chosen by the team as a winner!

This is my first post of 2015 and it is my DT piece for Inspiration Journal where the latest challenge is  - A Fresh Start.   I am making a fresh start this year, with a new address book a new note book for blog notes and whilst I was at it, I decided to make a couple of perpetual calendars (the other one will be shown later this month).  The beauty of a perpetual calendar is that they don't need to be changed year on year.

In my Inspiration Journal Design Team pack this month I got the wonderful G45 French Country paper pack and could not wait to use them.

I don't have a pattern as such for the calendar base, I just construct it as I go along but the  three boxes with the numbers and month are from Eileen Hull's fabulous Artist Trading Block die, the one with three blocks on the die (#658984) and I used the smallest die to create these blocks.  They are the perfect size for projects like this.

I love the way the papers all co-ordinate.  I cut another flower and leaf from the papers and decoupaged these on the front of the base.  The base was painted all over with Vintage Photo Distress Paint before I covered it with the gorgeous papers.

The words French Country fitted beautifully on the back of the base.

Finally, a view from the other side.  The calendar base itself is 5.1/2" x 2.1/2" and only took half a sheet of each of the patterned papers.

Inspiration Journal's new challenge - A Fresh Start has just begun HERE and we hope you will join in if you have the time.  There is a fabulous prize of a $50 Inspiration Emporium gift voucher for one lucky entrant.  If you do make a purchase from Inspiration Emporium and you use my code Redanne you will get 10% off your order.

As always, thank you for looking, I hope you like what you see, I have a few posts this month so I hope to see you here again soon.

Hugs, Anne xx



Products Used:

Graphic 45 - French Country - 12" x 12"
Eileen Hull Artist Trading Block ScoreBoard Blocks/Cubes, 3D
Vintage Photo Distress Paint

Inspiration Journal - In Disguise - Project #3

Hello Everyone

Here I am back today with Project #3 for Inspiration Journal's 'In Disguise' Challenge which you can find HERE.  There is a fabulous $50 voucher for one lucky winner to spend at Inspiration Emporium.  I decided to keep away from Halloween for my third project and to make something practical.

I took a simple bamboo place mat, some beautiful Tim Holtz Eclectic Elements fabric, some elastic, glue and seam binding or ribbon...

And created this:

And opened out it looks like this:

A paint brush holder!  This could easily be used for knitting needles, pens, scissors or anything else that might fit in the holders.  You simply make the holders any size you wish.

This is so simple to make, you just need glue.  I suppose you could sew it if you have a sewing machine that takes quite thick fabric (the bamboo makes it quite thick) but my little craft sewing machine would not take it, so if you do want to make one, test it out on your sewing machine first!

The first thing to do is to thread the elastic through the bamboo at regular intervals.  You can put something in to test how big the loop on the top side should be.  You just need to make sure you use the same slats top and bottom on the bamboo mat, as you can see in the photo below.

Once you have threaded the elastic, just secure them at each end with some hand stitching.  This will be covered up later.

I did not take a photo of the next step because I was 'in the zone' but all you need to do is lay the mat on top of your fabric and cut around the fabric leaving approx 1" - 1.1/2" border of fabric all round.

Turn the bamboo mat over and apply glue (I used Ranger Glue N Seal) to the whole of the wrong side of the mat.  Lay the fabric onto the glued mat (pattern side up) and press firmly all over and then set it aside to dry.  This is important!  I did not heed my own advice and have a few ripples in mine...

Once dry, turn over and then fold the edges over to the inside.  I did this by gluing the fabric again with Ranger Glue N Seal, folding it over half way to hide the raw edge, gluing again and then folding it over to the inside as you can see in the photo above.  This gives a lovely neat and tidy edge and gives strength to the piece.  Do this on all four sides, cutting some bulk from the corners if you wish.

To finish off I sewed a piece of ribbon (or you could use some seam binding folded over and machine stitched) to one end (as you can see in image 2 above) so that the the piece can be rolled up and tied closed.

To finish off, because the corners are quite thick and I did not want them to come apart, I added some of Tim's Idea-ology corners, they keep the corners nice and snug.

So there you have it, a bamboo place mat disguised as a brush holder.  Thanks for looking and I hope you feel inspired to join in the challenge at Inspiration Journal where one lucky winner will receive a $50 voucher to spend at Inspiration Emporium.  You have got to be in it to win it!

If you make a purchase from Inspiration Emporium, don't forget to use my code Redanne to receive a 10% discount off your whole order.  Postage and Packing is very reasonable - $5 in the USA and $10 to Europe.

Hugs, Anne xx

P.S.  I have typed up some very basic instructions, if anyone wants them, just email me (address on my sidebar) and I will send them to you....

Items Used from Inspiration Emporium

Tim Holtz Eclectic Elements (Documentation)
Ranger Glue N Seal
Idea-ology Mini Corners

In Disguise at Inspiration Journal

This month at Inspiration Journal the challenge is 'In Disguise' - we would like you to use something in a way that is different from it's original intention.  This is a time to think outside the box....

The prize for one lucky winner is 50 Emporium Dollars to spend at Inspiration Emporium's on line store!  We would love to have you join us!  You don't have to make Halloween things, just use something in a way that is different...

I admit, it took me a little while to get the old grey cells thinking along the right lines but I have come up with two different projects to show you.

For my first project I took two plain dominoes from my stash and turned them into a little mini book:

Well, I just had to go with a Halloween theme, it is my favourite time of year after all!  The dominoes were coloured with Ranger alcohol inks in Sunset Orange and Rust.

The sides are made from Ranger Foil Tape sheets, embossed with a Texture Fade (Dot Matrix) and coloured with the same Alcohol Inks.

The inside was created using Ranger Speciality Paper coloured with Shabby Shutters and Spiced Marmalade Distress Inks and decorated with the fabulous Tim Holtz Halloween Shadows Decorative Strip Die.  A few Remnant Rubs were used to finish off.

More Remnant Rubs and an elastic cord with beads from my stash finish off the piece.

My second project uses a technique that I first saw Wendy Vecchi demonstrate way back when and Tim Holtz also uses and loves the technique, it is great fun.  It is one of my all time favourites.  I took a glass tumbler and turned it into a night light holder (I would not recommend using a real candle if you try this - but a battery operated one works just fine).

I covered the glass with Ranger Multi Medium in Matte and let this dry.  Then I coated it generously with Tim's fabulous Clear Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint and once dry I coated the whole of the outside with Sunset Orange Alcohol Ink with a Distress Tool and felt.  I dribbled more here and there and I love how it seeps into all those wonderful cracks.

To finish off I used Tim's On the Edge Graveyard die, the die cut was covered in black embossing powder and a few pinches of gold embossing powder.  The witch is another Tim Holtz die - she is simply balanced on the side and can be removed easily.

I have two more projects 'In Disguise' to share with you this month but in the meantime I hope I have inspired you to think of making something a little different and join in our challenge over at Inspiration Journal, where there is a fabulous prize of $50 to spend at Inspiration Emporium,
waiting for one lucky person!!  If you want more inspiration, check out Inspiration Journal throughout the month where you will see some fantastic projects from my DT Sisters.

Don't forget too, if you do buy anything from Inspiration Emporium please use my code Redanne for a 10% discount on your whole purchase.  Shipping costs are very reasonable at $5 for USA and $10 for the Europe.

As always, thanks for looking, I look forward to seeing you again soon.  Hugs, Anne xx



Products Used from Inspiration Emporium, with links

Ranger Speciality Stamping Paper
Ranger Foil Tape Sheets
Ranger Alcohol Inks
Tim Holtz Halloween Strip Die - Halloween Shadows
Tim Holtz Bigz Dies - Witch
Tim Holtz On the Edge Dies - Graveyard
Distress Inks
Ranger Multi Medium Matte
Ranger Clear Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint