fancy a blog hop?

well look out here on Wednesday at 10:00 am as Creative Expressions will be launching their very first blog hop, there will prizes and a spot prize on a blog on Friday.

                All the details can be found here so make sure you join in the fun!

see you Wednesday for some blog hopping fun

have a fun and inky day!

trace x

my tims tag for march 2012

well it has been one of those weeks and I am sorry to say I have not been around blog land much, my huge apologies but it has been a fairly exhausting week emotionally. I have been keeping up with my dt commitments and will try to catch up as much as possible , please do not feel you have to comment just bear with me a little longer! please!? Also thanks to everyone for your kind messages they do mean a lot..
.....................now onto my Tim's tag for march 2013..............

So this tag was another wonder from the crafty master that is Tim , so here is my take on that :

I did adapt some and went for a blues and brown colour combo! no surprise there then..
A couple more pics and then I will leave you in peace to enjoy your Easter weekend.

Have a wonderful Easter and thanks for your patience...

hugs trace x

easter gifts but not in a basket for Frilly and Funkie DT

well the challenge over at Frilly and Funkie this fortnight is to create an Easter or spring gift holder with a difference..and no baskets. Make sure you pop across here and see some of the wonderful Dt makes and hopefully you will be inspired to join in yourself. one lucky person will be picked as winner and another winner chosen at random will receive a $25 gift voucher to spend in the funkiejunkieboutique and believe me this is full of yummy goodies!

So onwards here is my make:

 I started with a papier mache cone which I painted with gesso to give a base coat . I then got painty happy with the fab new distress paints...did I say I Love them!? and covered the cone with layers of scattered straw and antique linen.. then realising that was too much for me I spritzed with the fab white linen Dylusions spray, water, more painty drippage  (frayed burlap and antique linen ) and voila...

 
I then used the ledger stamp from ephemera backgrounds from Artistic outpost and stamped in antique linen distress paint. Now for the decorations...

 

I stamped the eggs I coffee archival ( from Artistic Outpost birds of a feather set) onto tissue paper and left to dry. When dry I added distress paint to the back of the eggs in antique linen and frayed burlap paints using a water brush and left to dry. I then cut them out and applied to the cone using matte multi medium..some of them I added the inked side and some the reverse.

 

I also added the spring is here sentiment from the same set.

To complete I added a handle of rusty wire and some crochet ribbon and rusty wire around the top. I then cut some old book pages into strips and nestled some chocolate eggs on top.

All the supplies are listed below..hope you will have time to play along and make sure you pop across here for all the fab DT makes.

Also the funkie junkieboutique now has a page on facebook and can be found here.. thanks to the lovely Jenny.

I am entering this for the artistic outpost challenge.. any artistic outpost stamps here:
http://artisticoutpost.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/artistic-outpost-march-referral-program.html

Artistic Outpost Ephemera Backgrounds Unmounted Rubber Stamps	Artistic Outpost Birds of a Feather Unmounted Rubber Stamps	Dyan Reaveley′s Dylusions Ink Spray - White Linen	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Frayed Burlap	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Picket Fence	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Antique Linen
Claudine Hellmuth Multi Medium Matte	Ranger Archival Ink - Coffee	Ranger Inkssentials Non-Stick Craft Sheet

have a fun and inky day

p.s scroll down for my dragons dream DT make

trace x

in the deep blue waters of the ocean..for dragons dream DT

well it is going to be a two post day today as my Dt commitments have now clashed so this will be one of two posts.......this is my post for dragons dream DT and will be back later with my post for frilly and Funkie DT. So the dragon has been dreaming again and the lovely Sue has dreamed up our recipe this week..so remember you have to create a tag and use at least on real stamp.
So the recipe is blue, sea an stencils....
so here is mine:

The thing I love about these recipes is they challenge me to do things I would never dream of doing and I find I usually surprise myself with the end results!

So blue well I love that, sea...umm more tricky and stencils well that was fine too..now to combine all three.  I started by creating some texture using studio 490 embossing paste in white through a fab craters workshop stencil..mini confetti. When dry I also applied some rock  candy through the same stencil...an idea from the brilliant Hels .When this was dry I painted some distress satin in broken china through the crackles.

I then used stains smooshed into my craft sheet and dragged tag through this spritzed stains, drying and the reapplying until I was happy with the colour and splotchy texture created.

I then scared myself and inked up my new Lynne Perrella Stamp from a win over at Paperartsy..and stamped onto tissue ( never done this properly before.) I added colour using stains on reverse so as not to loose detail. Then glued to tag using multi matte medium and also applied a layer over the top.

Finally the sea, created by stapling some dyed seam binding..

a bit different for me..

so make you you pop across and maybe even dream with the dragon..

have a fun and inky day!

see ya later with my post for Frilly and Funkie DT

 

trace x

if you had wings where would you fly..Creative Expressions Dt make

well the posts are going to be thick and fast this week sorry.. but here I am again with another make using the fab dress form designed by Sam Poole. This is a great and versatile stamp from the new single stamp range ..my first make with this stamp can be found here and now here is my second:

I created a heart hanging piece this time in my favourite brown shades. So I started using the wendy vecchi heart stencil as a template for the heart shape and enlarged it to create two stacking heart shapes. For the outer heart shape I covered it in book pages and then coated with a mix of watered down gesso and sand eco paint to create a great soft off white colour .

I then inked this heart with vintage photo distress ink and edged in walnut stain..using a watered down version of the paint allows some of the text to show through the paint and inky layers.

The second smaller heart was covered with studio 490 embossing paste in white through the great mechanical mask. I coated this with the same painty mixture and then when dry applied distress ink and spritzed with water to create some lighter details..

I then used a small amount of bronze eco paint to highlight some of the texture of the embossing paste.

The dressform itself was stamped twice in coffee archival and the first created the base layer and then I cut out the wings and added to create dimension. all had some soft colour added using distress stains and a waterbrush.

 
I added a mini gear and some rusty wire..had too didn't I? I also used this rusty wire to hang the hanging..if that makes sense. Finally the sentiment .. if I had wings from art sayings.

Well hope you liked my make , will be back tomorrow with two more dt posts and another one on Thursday!

have a fun and inky day

trace x

live everyday for coutryview challenge blogs dt

well here I am again with a reminder that there is still a few days to join in the anything goes challenge over at countryviewcrafts challenge blog here. So here is my second make for the month, I have kept with the same colour palette as the first piece which can be found here, but gone for a tag with a pocket at the back and a coordinating atc:

and the back

I started with the same supplies as for the first make ..as I was having so much fun.. I started by putting antique linen distress paint through a Dylusions stencil, drying and then adding distress paint layers in vintage photo and antique linen, then wetting and drying. the cool thing is when dry these paints do not re -wet allowing for lots of inky layers and spritzing of water without disturbing the painty base layer or stencilled areas...

When I had finished the layers of paint I splatted distress stain in antique linen and edged in vintage photo and walnut stain distress ink.

I added some fab tissue tape for detail and also added some onto the heart shape, which was coloured in same way as tag and atc. To complete the front I added a sentiment form the simple sayings Tim Holtz set full of all sorts of fab phrases., some rusty wings using an Andy Skinner technique and some rusty wire..cannot help it, I love this stuff!

 I also coloured some seam binding in vintage photo and another piece in walnut stain using distress stains. I added a trinket pin and philosophy tag too.

For the back I created a pocket for the atc but this could hold a gift card. I made the atc using the fab atc die and also cut a second from corrugated card to back the atc , this gives texture and dimension.

The little heart was cut using the hearts movers and shapers die and I stamped some mini alpha script from going somewhere set, onto it, some tissue tape and a twist of rusty wire and voila!

Hope you have liked my make and remember there is still a few days to join in the fun., here

have a fun and inky day

hugs trace x

simon says ...inspired by water

well it a while since I have played due to my hand and other stuff..but I have been lucky enough to have a bit of playtime and inspired by the fun I had creating on corrugate dcard from an old box..i had another go for simonsaysstampand shows water theme .
so here is my make :

I started with a piece of corrugated box, cut and pulled some of the top layer off to reveal some of the corrugated texture. I then covered with a layer of slightly watered down gesso and then when dry applied studio 490 white embossing paste through the great mini confetti stencil.

If you look closely you can see little hearts in between the splats. Then onto the watery stuff. I spritzed the background with dylusions sprays in vibrant turquoise, calypso teal and white linen and lots of water and dripping later I was happy.

I then lay the stencil on in reverse and spritzed water through and then after a few seconds dabbed off to reveal white.

Hope you can see that? Then I edged with treasure gold in pewter. The heart was cut from corrugated card and painted with gesso, then I added some embossing paste. final this too was sprayed, watered and rubbed with treasure gold and a little twirl of wire.

Finally I added the sentiement from unity stamps..and some wire to hang it. I used lots of water in the making of this and somehow it has a kind of watery look to the finished piece..not that I planned that when I started!

one last picture..

thanks for stopping by today , your comments mean a lot and I appreciate everyone of them.

I am entering this for the following competitions:
simon says stamp and show ..water @ http://simonsaysstampandshow.blogspot.co.uk/
corrugate card @ http://eclecticpaperie.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/march-eteam-picks-challenge-corrugated.html

have a fun and inky one

trace  x

Friday focus for Frilly and Funkie

well it is my turn for the Friday focus over at frilly and funkie
...and how lucky am I to have a focus on the wonderful fab idea-ology range....

so hopefully if you hop here you will find some ideas to inspire you to get playing with the fab
idea-ology range. You will be able to see the rest of this new piece and lots more pieces using lots of yummy ness!!

All this range will have an additional 15% off the already fab prices over at the Funkie Junkie Boutique.

have a fun and inky one!

trace  x

if i had wings..

well they say crafters are the kindest people and they truly are , thanks for all your kind comments I will keep you posted..so today is time for a new creative expressions dt make and this time we were lucky enough to be spoilt with some of the fab new singles stamp range, stamps to die for and a mask. So for this make I have used the fab steampunk dress form, which comes as a single mounted stamp and also a new mechanical mask.

I know this will come as a shock but I made a card, I know quite shocked myself! ( see here later as I have also made something else using this fab stamp) so here is my make :

I started by creating my background using pumice stone, weathered wood, stormy skies and black soot distress ink through the fab mechanical mask, moving it slightly and then adding each colour. I then lightly blended over the whole piece with pumice stone distress ink to slightly soften the edges.

To complete the background I inked up this great chicken wire stamp in black soot and added in random patches.

The main image, this great steampunk dress form was stamped in black archival and cut out. I also stamped just the wings in black archival and cut out, adding half a wing to each corner with an idea-ology spinner.

To complete the card I added some more idea-olgy in the form of cogs and fab film strip .

The sentiment was stamped from the art sayings set, full of wonderful and versatile sayings.

Well make sure you check out the other Dt blogs for more single stamps inspiration..there are lots of great ones to choose from and the whole range can be found here.

products used:

distress inks: pumice stone, weathered wood, stormy skies, black soot
black archival ink
idea-ology: cogs, film strip and spinners
singles stamps : steampunk dressform
chicken wire background stamp
art sayings set
mechanical mask

have a fun and inky day!

hugs trace x

feeling blue

well life has been and still is a little bumpy but my hand has appreciated the rest and is still improving albeit slower than I would like!! my missing mojo was last seen lurking under the desk, sulking in the corner..and finally James hospital appointment is next week so fingers crossed some good will come...

thanks to everyone who has been so utterly kind and sweet it means a lot!!

so there is a whistle stop tour and here I am ..with my blue make for the first indigo blu challenge all details here.... talk about last minute .com!

I decided to have a go at a hanging inspired by the super talented Alison aka buttefly in parts..as I ,ove her use of corrugated cardstock and decided to recyle a piece of a box from my latest goodies from the lovely Linda from funkiejunkieboutique, so hope Linda likes what I have done with her box... I need some playtime with the fab new goodies now!

so here is my make :

the theme is to use blue and only indigo blu stamps and I used grand tour 2 set. I started by cutting a piece from my box and removing patches of the cardstock from the surface. I then covered in gesso and left to dry..honest I really did !

then I coloured the background using Paperartsy mermaid paint mixed with gesso. When dry I layered broken china and faded jeans ink. In patches I added deco art two step crackle and then inked faded jeans into the crackles. I applied some wendy vecchi embossing paste in silver through a stencil to create texture and then added sapphire and pewter treasure gold..

The beautiful butterflies were inked in black archival, as were the words and wonderful sentiment.

 I then painted the butterflies with distress markers and a waterbrush and spritzed with perfect pearls.

 

Finally some wire, rude not to eh?, and some little bottles for the butterflies bodies.

Hopefully you haven't forgotten me and like my make .. chuffed that I made this from a box that would have been thrown . had so much fun and am sure there will be more of these to come!


I am entering this for the following:
blue @ http://community.indigoblu.com/?p=3086

 

thanks again to everyone..

have a fun and inky one

hugs trace  x