Pretty in Pink - Another Useful Tag Holder

Hello Blog Friends

Thank you for being so understanding about my lack of blogging/commenting over the last 10 days or so, your comments on my last post really cheered me up.  My absence was a combination of coming down with a dreadful bug (and my lovely DH is still recovering from Shingles) and also having Builders in the house all day, every day.  I think my Mojo just gave up the ghost too!

Anyway enough of the moaning, I thought I would show you the second tag holder I made, which is similar to the one HERE but decorated quite differently.  I hope you will like this one too.

The tag book is made from some quite faintly patterned scrapbook paper that I had in my stash.  I wanted to keep this fairly plain so the flower and the ribbon ties took centre stage. The cover is made from two No. 10 Ranger Manila tags and the pockets are designed to take the equivalent of No 8 Ranger tags, with a bit of room to spare.  This is how the pockets look from the side.

And another view showing the pockets.








This view has a few No. 8 tags in the pockets. You can just see the tops and there is plenty of room for embellishments on the tags, which is important to me as I do love to embellish!








The outside of the tag book has been covered in paper and I distressed the edges with Picked Raspberry Distress Ink.  The vintage seam binding closure is also coloured with Picked Raspberry, this time with Distress Stain.

The flower was an experiment when Tim Holtz did his Tattered Floral Challenge.  I took some crinoline fabric (purchased from the Funkie Junkie), coloured it with Picked Raspberry Distress Stain, then coloured some linen fabric in the same way, die cut two sets from the Tattered Floral die, put them together with a pearl brad and scrunched them into shape.  I love the way the flower turned out!

To finish off I added some cotton lace to the bottom and side of the book, added a little silver coloured flower charm and then stamped on the front with my favourite Tim Holtz sentiment.  The tag book will lie flat, stand on it's side and also on it's end for storage.

These really are so easy to make and a great way to store tags, instead of sticking them in a drawer or box as I used to do.  Once you make one it is easy to make another one, bigger or smaller to suit larger tags or even ATCs.

I have not gone into any detail about sizes or the how-to here, because it is a bit long, but I have put together an instruction leaflet on how to make one.   If you are interested you will find my email address under the  'About Me' Profile on my left sidebar.  If you email me I will send you a copy of the instructions. Alternatively, if you wish you can leave me your email address in the comment box and I will send a set off to you.

I would like to enter this into the Eclectic Paperie April eTeam Picks Challenge which is Flowers.

Thank you for looking and as ever, thank you if you leave me a comment!  Big hugs, Anne xx 

April in Paris

Hello Blog Friends

Before I start my post I just wanted to say a huge thank you to those of you who left me some wonderful comments on my last post (and previous ones).  It really warms my heart that you take the time to leave comments.  I am going to be missing for a week or so and will not be able to comment as regularly on your blogs as I normally do during that time, there are things going on that need attending to so I hope you will understand.

For any of you who have been to Paris, you will know how beautiful it is at this time of year.  It is over 30 years since my last trip but I remember it well, to this day.  Over at Frilly and Funkie the challenge theme is April in Paris and as I have a wonderful stamp which I thought would be perfect for the challenge.

I recently purchased the Tim Holtz picture wheel die but I have only used it once and could not think of any other way to use it other than for scrapbooking, but the very talented Brenda used one on a tag recently and I was so inspired I just had to give it a go too.  Here is what Brenda inspired me to make:

The base tag is a Tim Holtz Size 8 tag which I have backed with some of Linda Coughlin's (Funkie Junkie Boutique) beautiful white corrugated card.  The corrugated card is edged with Peacock Feathers Distress Ink.  The base tag was coloured in Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean and Peeled Paint DIs.

The 'I love Paris in the Springtime' stamp by Stampendous was stamped in black archival ink, once onto the tag and once onto white card.  The flowers are coloured with Picked Raspberry, Pine Needles and Wild Honey DIs.  The image stamped onto white card was coloured in the same way and then cut out and decoupaged over the original. The tag was edged with Peacock Feathers DI.

The picture wheel was cut out on my Vagabond, coloured with Antique Linen and Tumbled Glass DIs and edged with Frayed Burlap DI.  I used Tim's spritz and flick technique to age the wheel more and then I added mini scenes of Paris to each of the wheel holes.  The picture wheel was mounted between the tag and the corrugated card and I added three lovely roses. To finish off I added some vintage seam binding coloured with Peacock Feathers Distress Stain and tied this to the top and added a beautiful pearl.

I am also linking this up to Linda Coughlin's Sunday Share challenge.  The corrugated card came from Linda's shop The Funkie Junkie Boutique where Linda sells major brands at fabulous prices.  A randomly selected winner will win a discount of 25% off their whole order.

Thank you for looking, hope to see you again soon.  Big hugs, Anne xx

Nature / Butterflies / New Stamps

Hello Blog Friends

For all my WOYWW friends, I will not be able to link up tomorrow as we are out all day choosing fixtures and fittings etc for the new build.  I am excited, but sad too, as I will miss seeing what you are up to.....

I have been playing with my new Paper Artsy stamps by Jo Firth-Young (a gift from my friend Mo) and some Paper Artsy Fresco paints, of which I have a very limited number.  My first creation is a triptych.  I have not had much luck with my Tim Holtz cabinet dies in the past, this is my first outing with the new stamps and my first effort at painting small items, so please be kind to me!  If you click on the images you will get a closer view.........

I started out by cutting out three of the large cabinet dies for the backs and then three more, also using the Movers and Shapers Cabinet mini die to create the outer frames.

The frames were painted with Fresco Finish paint in Mermaid and smooshed over with Broken China and Peacock Feathers Distress ink and then embossed to create the pattern.  I then went over the pattern with Patina Gilding wax and again with Inka Gold Gilding wax.

The backing panels are coloured with China Blue, Lemonade and Peacock Feathers Distress Stains and spritzed and flicked with water.

The images are stamped using Ranger black Archival ink.

Before painting the flowers I went over them with a water brush and bleached out the colour, ready for painting. The flower images were painted in Fresco Finish Beach Hut (Translucent) and the edges and dots are coloured in FF London Bus (Translucent) paint.  The wonderful thing about the translucent paints is that any stamped image underneath is retained. The butterfly wings are painted in the same two colours of FF paint and the bodies are coloured with an Inktense pencil.

The words are from the same set of stamps and these have been stamped in black Archival ink, cut out and edged with Peacock Feathers DI.

You can see the detail in the gorgeous stamps a little better in this picture.  Needless to say, I want all of the stamps in this range now!

Just for fun and because I had some paints left over on my craft sheet, I also painted this door hanger (the blank was a Christmas present from my friend Rita).  This time I painted the whole of the background with Gesso, then painted over with Mermaid and Limelight  Fresco Finish paints using a scraper rather than a brush (as Leandra of Paper Artsy showed in a recent video).


 I then stamped and painted with the same colours as the triptych and then highlighted the edges with Creative Expressions Patina Gilding wax.  The words are from the JOFY stamp set and I added a piece of vintage seam binding coloured in Peeled Paint and Squeezed Lemonade Distress Stains.






I am linking my triptych up to the following sites:

http://pinkleart.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/sunday-stamper-week-251-mother-natures.html  to Hels Sheridan's Sunday Stampers where the challenge is Nature

http://simonsaysstampandshow.blogspot.co.uk  where this week's challenge is Anything Goes

http://countryviewchallenges.blogspot.co.uk where the challenge for week #2 is Butterflies

and last but not least, I am linking both pieces to http://blog.paperartsy.co.uk/2013/03/welcome-back-michelle-webb_31.html  because I have been inspired by the lovely Michelle Webb's inky painty creations to make both of the pieces above.

If you have a moment please have a look at Butterfly's (Alison) gorgeous creations using a set of stamps from the JOFY range.  Alison has used muted colours to create her jaw-droppingly gorgeous makes.  I think I have a lot to learn but I am certainly loving trying out new techniques!

Thank you very much for looking, all your comments are much appreciated and I hope to catch up with you too.  Hugs,  Anne xx

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