have courage .. for countryviewcrafts monotone challenge dt piece

Well here is my second piece for the month for the challenge over at countryviewcrafts challenge blog and this month the theme is monotone.... so much a favourite of mine. So without further ado here is my make for today :

So for this piece I chose to work in softer tones and tried really hard to make a fairly gentle piece...not sure if I achieved that or not? but I started with an mdf base, covered in ivory cardstock and then got playing with some yummy antique linen distress paint...

I then added a bit of script and these gorgeous flourish stamps, stamped with distress paint... then  onto all the decorations :

So here are some of the pieces that went to make the finished piece, the flowers...cut from ivory cardstock , edged with vintage photo an then made using a tutorial by the lovely Jennie...which can be found here....... now I know they are not up to her amazing standard but I do think I may be slowly getting better!

her tutorial just gives the fab Tattered floral die by Tim Holtz another fab look. 

The sentiment is one of the last year release from Tim that I love, stamped in coffee archival and clear embossed. the foliage was all cut from spellbinders foliage 2, but let me tell you about a fab thing...have you tried the new magnetic plate for die cutting...if not wow its so cool, no more bits of sticky tape to keep those fiddly dies in place ..this is fab..
Now for the leaves...i love playing with my melt pot and there is a great technique using the melt pot with UTEE and shrink plastic that I never tire of...its just so cool!  So here is how I made these leaves :

I die cut some clear shrink plastic using the tattered leaves die..set aside and added clear UTEE to my melt pot and left to do its melty magic...then  when all melty I added the die cut shrink plastic leaf and wow it curls and shrinks...then removed with tweezers but the really cool thing is it gets coated in a gorgeous UTEE coating giving a really wonderful glossy sheen .
To complete the piece I added some pearls to the flower centres, some embossed flourishes to the base using sticky embossing powder and rock candy distress glitter and there you have it my monochrome make...

( sorry no pearls in this one above , they were a last minute touch!)

make sure you pop across and see all the other fab DT and GDT makes and maybe join in the fun...you never know you could win a voucher or be chosen to GD next month ...we would love to see you playing along!
keep those hearts full and happy x

Run, Run as fast as you can...you can't catch me I'm the Gingerbread man ..for Frilly and Funkie DT

Well it is time for the Funkie team to show their samples for this food inspired challenge, over at Frilly and Funkie. So I went off on a gingerbread inspired make ...hope you like it . you can now enter 10 challenges including ours and may be in with the chance of being crowned winner or being selected for a $25 spend at the lovely Linda's Funkie Junkie Boutique .

So here is my make : 

I got carried away making a gingerbread cottage for my Gingerbread man , from the artful dwellings die and one the edge die for the roof slats, shrink plastic sweets,candy canes and sweets wrapped in wire (all from blueprints sets. ) add the detail for my gingerbread  house. 

So here are some of the details ...

I made the house from the artful dwellings die and tailor made a roof which had lots of layers of gingerbread..

I added snowy detail using glossy accents and glitter, then for the piping on the gingerbread panel I coloured some rock candy glitter (yes Anne still have lots left from last year!!) with snowcap alcohol ink...and added glossy accents to adhere it. I also used this to frost the tree and also the wreath on the front of the cottage .

I  mean there had to be some rusty wire!?  For the snowy ground I added old dried baby wipes cut in strips and spread with glue and seal and then dusted with the same glitter mix .

 I made little rusty trees with lace covered spools for pots....

then I went to town making shrink plastic sweets....

 Candy canes, sweets covered in glossy accents and wrapped in wire...and of course my gingerbread man

 and finally the back of the cottage ....

 

well hope you like my make , if anyone is interested I could put together a step by step for the cottage but didn't want to bore you!

Hope you will find time to hop here and see my fab team mates makes and also to pop in a food entry yourself.

Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Rubber Stamps - Mini Blueprints 5	Artful Dwellings Sizzix Alterations Movers & Shapers Base Die by Tim Holtz	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Vintage Photo	Tim Holtz Distress Stickles Dry Glitter Clear Rock Candy	Ranger Adirondack Alcohol Ink - Snow Cap Mixative
Ranger Inkssentials Glossy Accents	Ranger Inkssentials Shrink Plastic	Ranger Wendy Vecchi Archival Ink - Potting Soil	Mini Wooden Spools - 3 Sizes	Venise Lace Trim - 1/2 inch wide
Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Markers - Full Set	Tim Holtz Water Brush, Detailer Brush Nib	Tim Holtz Idea-ology - Woodlands

have a fun and inky day!

Trace  x

festive shrinking..for creative expressions DT

well it is time for another creative expressions DT make

..and this time using two different sets of stamps

..Heartfelt ornamental Medallion set and let it snow

which i will be using for my DT makes this month..

so i decided to make a hanging..

which could easily be transferred to a card, tag or many other ideas..

so here she is:

 

 

i started by embossing a piece of ranger foil with a snowy design

and then colouring with alcohol inks..snow cap and pool

repeating until the colours smoosh together..

technical term smoosh!

 

when dry cover a large rectangle art part with the

embossed piece..
these are fab and very sturdy
so great for all sorts
and the coordinating frame with the plain piece

 

 

to make the trees decorations i chose one of the baubles

from the heartfelt ornamental Medallions set

(these are pre cut and cushion mounted..

and also have coordinating dies to match..)

 

i coloured some shrink plastic in same alcohol inks as above

and stamped the snowflake medallion in black archival

several times and left the ink to dry

 

when dry i rough cut into a bauble shape

and now the fun bit shrinking....

i then heated the baubles with a heat tool..

you will need to hold these pieces with a pointy tool

or they will blow away..slippery little things!

when heated they shrink up..so cool...

 

 

the tree ( from let it snow) was stamped in broken china

and cut out

i added some twisty wire for tinsel and added the shrunken baubles..

 

to complete

i punched holes in the frame part of the arts part

using a cropodile

and twirled some silver wire through..

and added an ideaology word band

and finally glue everything together..

 

 hope you are still with me?!!!

 

have a fun and inky day!

see you next week for another make with these stamps!

 



Pocket watches full of memories for technique 9, compendium of curiosities 2 challenges

Well it is that time of the week for the next Tim technique from compendium of curiosities vol 2, and all the details for this pocket watch can be found from the man himself..on page 35.
I have played with a pocket watch before but wanted to try something a little personal inspired by the fab Lindas here.
so here is mine :

So I decided to include a favourite snowy photo of my 3 beautiful children and some shrink plastic snowflakes, inside and out.( these were tricky and as many as can be seen here ended up in destination..bin!)I love this photo and it never fails to make me smile, we had such fun!
I am amazed at how hard I found this but am sure I will treasure this personalised watch for many many many years to come! I think the pocket watches are fab!

This challenge is sponsored by the fab simonsaysstamp and a random person will win $25!!

I am entering this for the following challenges:
technique 9, pocket watches @ http://studiol3.blogspot.co.uk/

also the lovely Brenda @  http://bumblebeesandbutterflieswithbrenda.blogspot.co.uk/  has started Tuesday Treasures here and i am entering this as it contains pictures of 3 of my biggest and most precious treasures, James, Oliver and Lucy.x and this memory is one of my tteasures too.

have a fab,fun and inky day!

Dance in the rain and your heart will be happy! wet but happy!!

hey there,
well it is raining here and not sure my heart is happy about it, fed up with the wet stuff and the grey, So Hels wants red at Sunday Stampers this week so here is mine:

I started by making the background using wrinkle free distress . When dry I added these heart flourishes from a very old set of stamps.Then I die cut the umbrella man, inked up Tim script in clear and embossed, using this as a resist for black soot ink which I then applied.
The floral ribbon trim, sorry cannot stop using the stuff!!!! was coloured using distress inks and so was the ribbon.

I had such fun using shrink plastic, utee and my melt pot that I made these hearts and then when dry coloured using alcohol inks.To finish I added some ideaology, well a girl just has too, doesn't she?!This is not totally my style but I am pleased with how it turned out and after all it is the playing and inkiness that counts!

I am entering this for the following competitions:
red for Hels @ http://pinkleart.blogspot.co.uk/
monochromatic @ http://divasbydesignchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/
anything goes @ http://lejdesignschallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/
anything goes @ http://papertakeweekly.blogspot.co.uk/

have a fab, fun and inky day!
hugs trace x