Tim Tag January 2016

Hi Everyone

Apologies for not being around much, I am not firing on all cylinders at present.  Apologies too
 if I have not been to visit you, hopefully I will get there soon.  Since I was

here last though, Blogger/Google has deleted nearly 20 Followers, I do wish they would

not mess with things!

Anyway, just a quickie today, having no internet connection today meant  I could do my Tim tag, this is my 4th year, how time flies when you are having a good time!

I won't describe all the details as Tim does that here.  Tim is doing things slightly differently this year and re-visiting previous techniques, in what he calls Technique Remix.

This month Tim is re-visiting the Industrious Technique and also the Chalkboard Technique.  I have to admit to loving the Industrious one but I do find the Chalkboard one a little challenging. 

A close-up of the fan, warts and all.

Thanks everyone, hope to see you again next week .

Hugs, Anne xx

Artist Trading Block Favourites

Hello Friends

I apologise for my long absence and lack of visits, hopefully by early next month

I will be be in a better position to rectify that, I hope you will bear with me....

This month at Art With Heart we are not having a challenge (and things are being changed up for future months).  Eileen Hull has released some fabulous new products at CHA (like the cantilever sewing box I featured here and here) and Eileen has also re-released some all time favourite dies.  One of these is the large Artist Trading Block (ATB) die (Szzix 658983) which is my personal favourite.  The Design Team are showcasing these re-released dies during this month. 

First up is my Artist Trading Block Storage Cabinet, details of which can be found here.  I used some fabulous G45 papers to cover the cabinet.  This shows how versatile the ATB die is, you can create 3D projects with it.

Next is my Valentine Heart Box, details can be found here.  This was the first ATB I ever made and DH still has it out on show to this day.

My next choice is my Circus themed ATB using Tim Holtz's Big Top Circus stamp set (details here).

Another favourite is an Andy Skinner inspired ATB, made using DecoArt products and Andy's Faux Letterpress Technique (details here)

My final choice is a project made for our lovely DT member Anna-Karin, we held a virtual baby shower for her, following the birth of her beautiful baby Leo (details here)

I hope you can see how wonderfully versatile the Artist Trading Block (ATB) die is.  I have made houses with it - and even a steam train, it is such a fun die to use.

Edited:  I have had some very exciting news.  Thanks to Eileen Hull and Jo Packham of 'Where Women Create'  I have had four pieces published in Sizzix's newest book release 'Make it a Party'.  I am so thrilled and honoured, it is a beautiful book and wonderfully illustrated and it is my first time ever being published!!

Thanks for looking, take care and I hope to see you soon!

Hugs, Anne xx

Ring Out the Old, Bring in the New at Anything But Cute

Hello Everyone

I hope you have had a great start to the New Year!  I am thrilled to be the Host this month at Anything But Cute, and since it is the beginning of a new year I have chosen 'Ring Out the Old, Bring in the New' as my challenge theme.  To celebrate the New Year, we would like you to create a mixed media card or project using something 'new', perhaps you got some fabulous new craft item for Christmas or you have something new that you have not used yet - please do remember to tell us what the new item is!

For my birthday and Christmas this year I received some beautiful Sandra Evertson Archival Casts, by Prima and I really wanted to use the beautiful Archangel from the Archangels set. 

 It just seemed right to create a shrine for the Archangel.  I did some research on Pinterest to get some ideas and found a great board here.  Near where I live there is a real life shrine (photo at the end of this post) which has fascinated me for years. 

I started by cutting two Tim Holtz Cameo frames from black mount board (mat board) and I used Tim's Sized rectangle die to cut an aperture in one of the frames.  I measured the opening and created a 'box' to go between the two frames.  The spool was later trimmed to fit in the gap to create a sturdy stand.

The next view shows the assembled box, this was painted with black gesso all over and once dry I applied a coat of Americana Weathered Wood Crackle Medium.  This is part of Andy Skinner's Mega Crackle technique.  You can see a video of Andy using the technique here.

To create the base crackle I added a little DecoArt Media Fluid in Raw Umber to some DecoArt Media Crackle Paint.  You can use up to 20% of coloured paint in the crackle paint to colour the Crackle Medium but I just wanted a hint of colour so I just used two little drops of the paint.

Once the paint is applied, this is how the result looks.  It starts to crackle immediately and dries fairly quickly, but you really do need to let it completely dry before moving on. 

To tint the shrine I used a thin wash, a mix of DecoArt Quinacridone Gold and water.  Before the first layer dried I mixed some Prussian Blue Media Fluid with water and lightly brushed this over the entire piece.  In real life it looks a little mottled, which I like.  This is a view of the back.  I always seal all of the crackled area with a sealant, in this case I used Ranger Glue and Seal.

To give the Archangel an aged look I first painted it with a thin coat of white gesso, followed by a very thin layer of Weathered Wood Crackle Medium and then finally a coat of DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylic in Titanium White.  The cracks are quite subtle.

Here is a close up showing the mega crackle on the shrine and the lighter crackle on the face of the Archangel.  The hair was lightly tinted with DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylic in Quinacridone Gold.  The crown was painted with DecoArt Media Fluid in Metallic Gold

I also used my new Tim Holtz flower punch to create some flowers to decorate the shrine.  The flowers were punched and then coloured lightly with Candied Apple Distress Spray Stain.  I scrunched the wet flowers and used three sets of petals for each flower, adding white stamens from my stash.

I attached the finished flowers along with some Tim Holtz Holiday Greenery.

As I mentioned earlier, we have a real life shrine near where we live, it fascinates me because no matter what day of the week, or hour of the day you visit, it is always filled with flowers.  It is on a steep hill on a very narrow road and stopping to have a look is not easy.  It think it is beautiful and there is a great view of the Derbyshire hills behind.

Thanks so much for joining me here today, I hope you feel inspired to join in our challenge at Anything But Cute and I hope to see you again soon.

Hugs, Anne xx

A Vintage Journey - Vintage Travel and Luggage

Hello Friends and Happy New Year to all of you!

What better way to start the New Year at A Vintage Journey than to have a 'Vintage Travel and Luggage' theme for our next challenge?  Brenda is our lovely and talented hostess this month.  For this challenge we would like you to let your imagination carry you back to the bygone eras, setting off on an exciting journey for the New Year.  Keeping it in Tim's style, we would love to see what item of luggage or mode of transport you would use on your journey - think hand luggage, travel trunks, hat boxes, hot air balloons, ships and trains.

I would love to have lived in a bygone era and perhaps travelled on the original Orient Express but since the Tim Holtz stamp I used features a North American steam engine, I will have to go with a wonderful trip I did a few years back, up the western seaboard of Canada, on one of these beautiful trains.

To create the background I used Tim's travel embossing folder, being careful to match up the pattern for the second pass through.  I used Tim's Sized Oval die to cut the aperture.  I lightly coloured the embossed surface with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink.  I wanted the oval to be raised so that the train would look like it was coming through a tunnel.  However, it looked a little too dark so I simply used Blueprint Sketch Distress Ink and the spritz and flick technique to create a sky background instead.  The embossed layer was added to the top using foam pads to create a raised aperture.

The train was stamped and coloured using Distress Markers and I fussy cut it and added it through the aperture hole.  I attached a game spinner to one of the wheels for added interest.

The word band was first coated in Rusty Hinge Distress Paint to make the words more visible, I wiped away the excess before adding it to the card.

The tickets are from the same stamp set, I stamped and cut them out and aged them with Antique Linen Distress Ink.  I punched out a date to make the ticket look more authentic.

I mounted the piece onto black card and then onto a Kraft card blank.

I do hope you will be able to enter Brenda's challenge over at A Vintage Journey.  As always there is a great prize of £20 from our amazing Sponsor, Country View Crafts, for one randomly chosen entrant and the Design Team will choose three other Pinworthies.

As always, thanks for stopping by, all comments are greatly appreciated.  I do hope I don't lose any of you with the changes Blogger/Google is making over the next couple of weeks.

Take care.  Hugs,  Anne xxx

Tim Tag December 2015

Hello Everyone

Just a quickie from me this time, to share my Tim Tag for December.  You can see Tim's original HERE.

I have to say a huge thank you to Tim and Mario for choosing me as a winner for November!  I have been doing these tags for a good few years now and I am always so excited when I win, it's  like winning the lottery....

My December tag pretty much follows Tim except I used the 'Holiday Knit' stencil for my background.

I do not have the punches that Tim used so I improvised and used the thinlit dies to create my wreath.  I did have the cute little jingle bells though - I love them!

I had to improvise with the sewing too, my little sewing machine would not go through the sticky backing on the burlap, so I did a bit of hand stitching.

To finish off I used the largest of the stars which I stained with alcohol ink.

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

My Christmas starts today with family coming to visit, so I apologise if I have not or do not get to visit you over the next few days.  If I do not get the chance again, I hope you and your families have a wonderful Christmas and I wish you all the very best for 2016.

Hugs, Anne xx

Secret Santa at A Vintage Journey

Hello Everyone

We decided to have a Secret Santa again this year at A Vintage Journey, it was such fun last year and who doesn't like to get a lovely surprise at Christmas?!

I was so lucky to receive my gift from my lovely friend and talented teamie, Julia of Create With Me.  Julia made me a mini book which is gorgeous and a beautifully decorated box (one of Eileen Hull's Artist Trading Block dies) to keep it in!  I absolutely love it.

The little book is adorable and is packed with Tim Holtz goodness!  How clever and thoughtful of Julia to combine two of my favourite Designers, Tim Holtz and Eileen Hull too!

I cannot believe how much Julia packed into this beautiful little book, I will treasure it always and it will take pride of place amongst my Christmas decorations!  Thank you so much Julia!

The recipient for my gift is my wonderful teamie Nikki of Addicted to Art.  I wanted to make something for Nikki that was a little different to my usual papercraft projects.  As I have a lovely stash of Tim Holtz fabric and I saw a pattern in a magazine, I knew I wanted to make one of these make up purses for Nikki as her Secret Santa gift.  I really enjoyed doing some sewing again and thanks to Nikki, I will be doing a lot more! I am pleased to say that Nikki loved her gift, I hope you will too!

This is my favourite of all of Tim's Eclectic Element fabrics, it is wonderful quality and so easy to use, either for hand or machine sewing.  I used a bit of each to make this purse.

The clasp at the top is sewn on by hand with a linen thread in a coordinating colour and using a back stitch.  This was the trickiest part but I was not keen to glue the fabric in place.

I lined the inside with some soft cream fabric that had a thin batting already fused to it, which saved me from trying to sew through three layers of fabric.  I also lined around the inside with some gorgeous lace to hide the hand stitching around the top.  There is a way to do it without the stitches showing but I have not mastered that technique yet.

To finish off I added a couple of Idea-ology typed tokens, hanging from one of Tim's Idea-ology swivel clasps.

Christmas really is THE most wonderful time of year, a time for sharing with family and friends, I have really enjoyed doing Secret Santa again with my teamies at A Vintage Journey and I hope you have enjoyed seeing our gifts.

It would be lovely to see you join in our current 'Vintage Christmas' challenge, details of which you can find HERE.

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

Hugs, Anne xx

Art With Heart - Favourite Things

Hello Friends

Our theme for this month's challenge at Art With Heart is 'Favourite Things'.  The Inspiration Team are sharing their favourite things all this month and we would love to have you play along!  It really is an anything goes challenge - just share your favourite things, whether it be a die, paint, colour or project - how easy is that!  Please do join us....

The biggest problem I had was trying to decide what my favourite thing is.... in the end I settled for Eileen Hull's fabulous new Cantilever Sewing Box.  I just love doing 3D projects and this sewing box goes together like a dream, it is such a useful box too - ideal as a real sewing container or as a gift box, or a jewelry box, like the one I made here.

I recently attended an Andy Skinner class (with some of my lovely blog friends) and I wanted to do  this box using one of the techniques we learned in class, to give the box a vintage feel.

I won't go into a lot of detail about the construction because I showed that in my previous sewing box post, but I will show you how I covered this one.

Once I had painted the whole piece I decided I would rather cover it in paper, than leave it as it was.  However the coat of DecoArt Americana Decor paints gave me a good strong base.

I used several sheets of thin card, first coating each with DecoArt Media Gesso and letting them dry.

Next was a thin coat of Cobalt Teal Hue DecoArt Media Fluid paint.

Once dry I covered it with DecoArt Weathered Wood Crackle Medium and let this dry before applying a thin coat of DecoArt Titanium White Media Fluid.

Once dry (it dries very quickly) I applied a coat of thinned down DecoArt Quinacridone Gold to give it an aged look.

I cut the sheets into strips and applied them to the base sewing box and to the struts before attaching these to the box.

I lined each of the boxes with some co-ordinating paper (Maja Design) and used a couple of Tim Holtz hitch fasteners on each of the box lids.

The flower is a Tim Holtz die - Tattered Poinsettia.  I spritzed the petals with Antique Linen Distress Spray Stain.  I added some Tim Holtz greenery and covered the central bauble with the fabulous Tim Holtz Vintage Platinum Distress Glitter Dust.

I did not want the box to just be for Christmas so I attached some sticky back velcro to the box and to the flower so that it can easily be removed.

Here is another look at the finished box.  I have got my fingers crossed that the recipient likes it!  I hope you will join in our challenge at Art With Heart, HERE.

Thanks, as always, for looking and I really appreciate any comment you leave, I hope to catch up with you shortly.  Hugs, Anne xx