Artist Trading Block Storage Cabinet (2)

Apologies to those who have already looked, for some reason Blogger made my original post disappear - hope you can see this one!!

I think like most crafters I have a stash of beautiful papers that never see the light of day so I thought it was time to get some of them out.  I love Fall / Autumn (and Halloween!) and it reminded me that I have some beautiful Graphic 45 papers called the Olde Curiosity Shoppe.

I combined these beautiful papers with some of Eileen Hull's fabulous Artist Trading Blocks to make this cabinet:

I had the best fun I have had for a long time making this!  It is not complicated at all.  I started by cutting two of the largest Artist Trading Blocks (ATBs) from heavy card, measured the two blocks side by side and then 'built' a shell for them to rest in.  I cut a rough shape for the cabinet top as you can see below.

I cut the lids off the ATBs and painted all of the pieces inside and out with Black Soot Distress Paint. I love the ease with which this paint goes on!

I wanted the cabinet to have an Fall/Autumnal feel so I matted some orange Coredinations card on all of the exposed areas.  For the drawers I used some of the harlequin pattern from the paper pad and added some handles that I had in my stash.

For the sides I cut up some of the papers, matted these again onto the orange card.  I love that flying pig, there is a whole sheet of them in the paper pack!

And the same on the other side, I just had to include another of those flying pigs!  If you follow Linda Ledbetter on Facebook or Twitter you will know that she has a micro pig called Violet, who she features regularly and she is just THE most adorable little creature ....

For the top, I added some plain black card on top of the orange and then cut out the shop sign, various bottles and the book cover from the paper pad.  I shaped the bottles to make them look more realistic.  The book is made up from an old novel that I got at the Charity Shop, the eye glass is a genuine Optometrist one that I have had in my stash for a while.  

Finally, to finish off, I fussy cut the butterflies, glued them to a pin and covered them with the glass dome.  The other dome contains a skull charm and I gave the dome the 'Wendy Vecchi' treatment. Wendy demonstrated this technique HERE and I love using it.  It is a fabulous technique and so easy to do, Wendy demonstrates it beautifully and it is definitely worth trying.

This piece will be featured over at The Artists On The Block, where, every week a member of the Design Team show what can be done with these amazing dies.  Did I say how much I love using these dies!!  They are so versatile!  Eileen Hull is running a challenge at Art With Heart with an Autumn / Fall theme. It does not need to be an ATB  and there is still a week to enter!

This is also my Design Team piece for Inspiration Journal. Each Monday the Design Team provide you with fabulous inspiration based on the monthly challenge theme. There is a fabulous $50 voucher available from Joy at Inspiration Emporium for one lucky winner.  The challenge theme this month is Fall is in the air.  We would love to see you join in!

The items that I used to make my cabinet can be purchased from Inspiration Emporium (links below) and if you use my code Redanne you will qualify for a 10% discount.  Postage is reasonable at $5 for USA and $10 for international orders.

As always, thanks so much for looking and I hope to see you again soon!  Hugs, Anne xx



Product List:

Sizzix ScoreBoards XL Die - Box, Square	Graphic 45 - Olde Curiosity Shoppe - 8x8	Tim Holtz - Idea-ology - Corked Domes
Tim Holtz - Idea-ology - Remnant Rubs - Apothecary	Tim Holtz Distress Paints - Black Soot

CC3C #10 - Assemblage Clock

I think this is the most fun I have had in ages!  It is time for Challenge #10 over at Linda Ledbetter's CC3C Challenge, where the challenge is to use an Assemblage Clock by Tim Holtz.  The technique can be found on page 33 of Tim's Compendium of Curiosities III.

This fortnight is sponsored by the wonderful Linda Coughlin of The Funkie Junkie Boutique who is offering a $25 voucher to spend in her on-line shop.  Another lucky person will be chosen by the Curiosity Crew and that person will win a bumper bundle of Tim products, kindly given by Tim and Mario.

Those who know me well know how much I love Halloween so I just had to do my clock in a Halloween theme.  It is quite different to the original one I did HERE.

I was having so much fun I did not take step by step photos whilst I was making it but I can show you what it looked like before I assembled it.  We are not meant to show details of Tim's techniques as this would be unfair to Tim, so I am not giving a detailed description.  

It was a devil to photograph but there is a better picture showing the crackle, further down.

I used two colours of Distress Paint for the clock base, Ripe Persimmon and then a coat Black Soot Distress Paint with a crackle glaze between (that I have had for so long they don't make it anymore!).

I wanted mine to be a fully functioning clock and needed to create a mat to hide the mechanism.  I did this using Ripe Persimmon Distress Paint and Clear Rock Candy Dry Distress Glitter.  The skull and bones are from the Tim Holtz Skull Blueprint stamp and die set.  The skull was layered up and the mechanism for the clock was added through the hole in his nose and hidden in the back.

I added an Idea-ology skull and crossbone to the top of the clock and a die cut 'Boo' was added inside the clock.

This picture gives you a much better view of the crackle.  A piece of Tim's cobweb strip die was added to the side along with a stamped and fussy cut and glittered spider.  The ribbon is coloured with Ripe Persimmon Distress Paint.

And finally, a different view to show you some more of the crackle and the hanging skull at the side.

This is also my Design Team piece for Inspiration Journal. You can see the latest challenge HERE, there is a fantastic $50 gift voucher to spend at Inspiration Emporium for one lucky winner.  The theme of the challenge is 'Fall is in the Air'.  The Design Team show inspiration posts every week and we would love to have you join in!

Thanks for looking, if you decide you would like to purchase some of the items I have used I have added links at the end of this post and if you use the code Redanne, you will receive a 10% discount from your order.  Postage rates within the USA are $5 and to Europe it is just $10.

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



Product List:
Tim Holtz Assemblage Clock
Distress Paint - Ripe Persimmon
Distress Paint - Black Soot
Tim Holtz Alterations Skull Blueprint stamp/die
Tim Holtz Decorative Strip Die - Cobweb
Idea-ology Skull & Crossbones
Clear Rock Candy Dry Distress Glitter











  

Craft Hoarders Anonymous - Guest Designer

Over at Craft Hoarders Anonymous their challenge theme is 'All the Pretty Flowers'.  I was lucky enough to win a challenge there a few months ago and they asked me to be a Guest Designer during this month.

I wanted to make a book style card similar to the one I created HERE.  I started off by making the cover using some of my wonderful Maja Design papers.  I managed to create the whole card using one sheet of 12" x 12" paper.  The finished card is 4.1/2" x 6.1/2" and the compartment inside measures 2.1/2" x 4" and is large enough to hold a small gift or a gift card.  I don't have the instructions anymore on how to make up the book part, I just 'wing it' and it usually comes out OK - lol.

This is a view of the inside of the card, showing the little compartment, which is about 3/4" deep.  I made a small card that is large enough to hold a gift card, to fit inside the compartment.

For the front of the card I added some greenery from a Tim Holtz die and I made a large flower using the Tattered Florals die and some Tim Holtz Core-dinations card.

To finish off the card I added some ribbon, dyed with some Spun Sugar Distress Stain to make a closure and added  sentiment 'with love' from Tim Holtz's Simple Sayings stamp set.

Thank you Gloria at Craft Hoarders Anonymous for this opportunity to be a Guest Designer and thanks to you too, for looking, I hope to see you again soon.  Hugs, Anne xx

Inspiration Emporium - Exciting News!

I am so thrilled and excited to be able to tell you, I have been invited to join the Inspiration Journal Team at Inspiration Emporium!!  They already have a talented and very inspiring group of designers with a wonderful and eclectic mix of styles to suit all tastes and interests.  My lovely friend Kath Stewart is also going to be part of the team.   I am so pleased to be joining them!  I hope you can find a moment to go over and see the team and welcome the newbies.

A new challenge has started at Inspiration Journal called 'Fall is in the Air' and there is a very generous $50 prize for one lucky winner to spend at the Inspiration Emporium's online shop.

This is going to be another exciting journey for me, hence the sentiment on my card below.

I recently went to see my dear friend Jenny (Buttons) demoing for one of the companies that she designs for and she demoed a background made with chalky paints.  I do not have those chalky paints but I thought I would try it with Tim Holtz Distress Paints and it worked!

I took some cut and dry foam and using the white side, dabbed into Tim Holtz Distress Paints, doing one colour at a time. I used three colours and I gently dabbed the card until the card was covered.  It takes a gentle touch and a little time but it is really worth it!  I covered two pieces of card using the same method and colours.

The colours I used are Spiced Marmalade, Ripe Persimmon and Fired Brick, the combination gives a wonderful warm Autumnal tone and fits nicely into the latest challenge of Fall is in the air.

I embossed the first piece of card using the Springtime Background Texture Fade,  it took two passes but if you are careful, the join does not show too much.  I did go over the embossing with Gathered Twigs DI using a blending tool. This really highlights the text nicely.

For the second piece of card I used the background stamp from Tim Holtz's Papillon set of stamps, using Vintage Photo Distress Ink, covering the whole of the card.  I mounted this onto an 8" x 8" black card base.

For the topper I die cut 'enjoy the journey' from black and also cream card and offset the two before adding to the card.  I did the same with the Eiffel Tower die cut.  I coloured some vintage ribbon with the same three colours of DP, I die cut the fleur-de-lis from shrink plastic and added this to the ribbon with a jump ring, to finish off the card.

The items I used to make my card can be purchased from Inspiration Emporium.  As part of the  Inspiration Team I am very pleased to tell you that if you use my code Redanne you will receive a 10% discount on products you buy.  Postage rates in the USA are $5 and the International Rate is just $10!  I really hope you will take advantage of the discount!

Thanks for looking, I hope to see you again on Monday when I will be back with a Guest Design Spot.  Hugs, from a very happy Anne xx



These are the supplies I used with links directly to Inspiration Emporium:
Sizzix Bigz Die - Fleur di Lis & Eiffel Tower
Sizzix - Sizzlits Decorative Strip Die - Stacked Artful words
Sizzix Springtime Background & Borders Set
Stampers Anonymous Papillon Stamp Set
Tim Holtz Distress Paint - Ripe Persimmon
Tim Holtz Distress Paint - Spiced Marmalade
Tim Holtz Distress Paint - Fired Brick
Inkssentials Cut and Dry Foam
Inkssentials Shrink Plastic

A Vintage Journey - With A Flourish

This time, over at A Vintage Journey, our challenge has been chosen by the talented Jennie.  Jennie would like us to use a flourish (or flourishes) in our Tim Holtz inspired make.

In Jennie's own words - 'have you ever noticed that much of Tim's packaging includes that fabulous flourish!  It has always been one of my favourite Tim images, so for this challenge let's see what you can do with your flourishes!  You might not have the 'actual' Tim flourish but I am sure we all have a flourish die or stamp in our stash which can get the shabby/vintage treatment'.

Our wonderful sponsor is Country View Crafts who are offering a £10 voucher to spend in their store.  They have a huge selection of Tim Holtz (and many other) goodies for sale, their service is first class and there is free P&P on all UK purchases.

I used a small canvas 5" x 6" which I covered in burlap / hessian and added one of Tim's die cut easels to the back, to make the canvas free standing.

I embossed a piece of cream card using the largest embossing folder from the Springtime Background & Borders Set of folders.  To bring out the design I ran a little Tea Dye Distress Ink across the flourishes using a blending tool.  I love how it brought out the design and I decided not to cover it with too much.  I distressed the edges and applied Gathered Twigs DI to the edges and then mounted it onto black card, again distressing the edges.

I added one of Tim's new Vellum Ephemera pieces (from the Thrift Shop pack), a delicate butterfly to the top and a die cut Weathered Clock.

I added some rub-ons to cream card, cut these out and attached them, to finish the piece off.

So, we hope you will get out those flourishes and join in our challenge over at A Vintage Journey.  I hope you will go over and see the wonderful creations by Jennie and the other Creative Guides.

I am entering my canvas into Darnell's wonderful NBUS challenge which you can see HERE. My NBUS items are the flourish embossing folder and my lovely new and first time used burlap.

As always, thanks for looking, I hope to be back again tomorrow with some very exciting news!!

Hugs, Anne xx

Tim Tag August 2014 - follow your muse

Firstly, thank you to my latest followers, it is wonderful to have you along on my crafty journey!  This is a scheduled post so I hope it works!

This month Tim asks us to follow our muse..... I did follow Tim's design but I just went with the colours and stamps that I love rather than doing too much pondering, just following my muse......... You can see Tim's original tag HERE.  As usual, I made two tags, one for me and one for my lovely friend Ali of Ali-Craft.

I won't go into a lot of detail as I mainly followed Tim's instructions, just using different colours and stamps.  I used the seahorse blueprint stamp and also Picked Raspberry and Peacock Feathers Distress Stain for the base.  I used Texture Paste with the Cargo and Bubbles stencils.  I improvised and used a stamp from the Simple Sayings to create the little word tag border and added rub-ons.  The stitching was done with my little craft sewing machine.  I added an Idea-ology arrow to the top of the tag.

Instead of rust coloured embossing powder I chose to use Peacock Feathers Distress Glitter as it suited my image better.  The word band has been painted with Peacock Feathers Distress Paint, left for a moment and then wiped off.

I coloured some vintage ribbon with Distress Stain and made a triple bow for the top.

Below is the tag I created for Ali.  I had in mind the centenary of World War I when I created this tag, I think you can see the references in the tag.

Thanks for looking, I am still away but looking forward to seeing my bestie Jenny (Buttons) demonstrating at Indigo Blu headquarters on Sunday!  Take care and enjoy your crafting!  Hugs, Anne xx

Compendium of Curiosities #9 - Stamps & Framelits

I cannot believe that we are at Challenge #9 already!  The lovely Linda Ledbetter and the Curiosity Crew have challenged us this time to use Stamps & Framelits, as found on Page 63 of Tim's Compendium of Curiosities III.

There are prizes on offer, one from Tim himself and Mario who have a fabulous bundle of goodies for the person who is the Curiosity Crew's favourite.  In addition to that, as this is an odd numbered week, the sponsor is the Inspiration Emporium who are offering a very generous $50 voucher, to one randomly selected individual, to spend in their on-line shop.  You must work from your own personal copy of CCIII and you must not share the technique as that would be unfair to Tim.

This was, as ever, a bit of a challenge for me, only because I did not have any of the Stamps & Framelit sets, because I was not sure I would get a lot of use from them - well, let me tell you, I was so wrong!  As soon as I saw the Skull Blueprint, I just had to have it and I know now that I will get lots of use from it.  I love all things Halloween!  I created a holder for pencils and crafty bits.

I gathered all my items together first:

For my base I created a box with an Artist Trading Block die and cut the lid off to create a container.  I painted it black inside and out using Black Soot Distress Paint.

I used the Shatter stencil, mixing Texture Paste with some Black Soot Distress Paint and used it on white card, it makes a great cobweb.

Then I cut some picket fence pieces from the Halloween Shadows strip die and glued this all around the top of the holder.  I curled some black wire, secured this inside the holder and attached a stamped spider on the end, his body is covered with Spiced Marmalade Distress Glitter.  You can just see the spider, when I photographed him he kept bouncing so it is not as clear as it could be - sorry!

For the third side I mixed some Texture Paste with Ripe Persimmon Distress Paint and used the Halloween stencil (a gift from a friend) to add the words 'Spooky' and 'Ghoulish' and then attached a die cut bat which was covered with Black Soot Distress Glitter.  You can see here how I 'broke' some of the fence to make it look a little less uniform.

I took some feet (a gift from a friend), coated them with Black Soot Distress Paint and glued them in place.

And here is the fourth and final side of the holder without the crafty tools.  The eyes on the skulls are from my stash, I love how spooky they make the skull look....

Thanks as ever, for looking, I will be back later in the week with my Tim tag, which has been finished for ages but the post is scheduled as I am on holiday this week - cat sitting. I will try and keep up with all of your posts but if I miss any, it is because I am out and about enjoying the holiday!   Hugs, Anne xx