Summer of Creative Chemistry - Week Two - part one - Remember the Now x

Well I am signed up and raring to go for Creative Chemistry 103 - and there is also a Summer School and I have to say I am loving it!! As many of you know , if you stop by here often, I love Tim Holtz and all his yummy products and use them nearly all the time .... but I am loving re-discovering some of these products ..... or reminding myself of how much fun they are .

So are the results of my playtime...and a finished tag... using some of the techniques from Creative Chemistry 101 - and little Lucy has been having fun playing too...

So here are some of the backgrounds created using stains and sprays made from re-inkers..

and here are a few more ...

backgrounds that are ready to be added too ...

and so much fun!

So here is the finished tag , using stains and stamping with stains...

I played with different colours , stamped and embellished as per the lessons

here are some of the elements from the tag..

I added some seam binding to the top of the tag..

I added rusty wire and staples...

And now here are the details of little Lucy's tags ...

and here she is following the lead from Tim Holtz and adding brown ink around the edges...

I think she did an amazing job!!

I am having so much fun allowing myself the time and space to play and create

 for the pure pleasure ...

keep those fingers inky!

trace x

Summer of Creative Chemistry - week one - part two - inky playtime

So I decided to have some more playtime with some of the backgrounds I had created in  my Creative Chemistry playtime ...for the first final tag I made please hop here ... and all the details of how you can join in the fun can be found here ...

So here are the results of my playtime today :

The first tag is another using brushless watercolour tag and the same windmill image ...but this time using wrinkle free distress ...

so I used one of the backgrounds and the windmill from yesterday...

to create a tag 

Tag 1 for today : 

So here is the finished tag and yesterdays using same colour palette can be found here ..

I added a bit of stamped and clear embossed detail first 

Here is a close up of the detail of the top part of the tag ...I added a sticker and some stapled detail..

for the bottom part of the tag I added some twisted rusty wire..

Tag 2 for today :

I layered two tags , one larger and one smaller ...edged with ground espresso..

and added some stamped detail..

I added more idea-ology and some dyed seam binding..

coupled with a brushless watercolour stamped image ...

at the bottom part of the tag , I added some twisty wire and a light bulb...

Tag 3 :

using some brighter summery colours ..

I used wrinkle free distress for the large tag .. and used four colours of distress as per the challenge

I added some dyed seam binding..

and tried to keep the tag simple..........

here is a close up of the top of the tag 

here is the base of the tag...

Tag 4 :

The lovely Amanda ..mentioned maybe I could try using the bright colours that Lucy had used ...

so this one is for you Amanda ...

not sure I am as successful as little Lucy was here  .. at the end of this post

here is a close up of the tag ..

and here is a close up of the bottom of the tag ...

so thanks if you have made it to the end of the post...

I am loving playing !!

keep those fingers inky!!

trace x

Summer of Creative Chemistry ! - week one - Travel the world

Well I am signed up and raring to go ..ready for the start of Creative Chemistry 103 ! - If you are new to this ...Tim Holtz as always continues to teach, guide and inspire ...and through his online courses ..all details here ... you can continue to learn , play, explore and so much more    .... to add to the fun and to remind us to review and continue to play Tim Holtz is offering a whole summer of Creative distress fun ...through summer of Creative Chemistry ...

So for week one .. the challenge is to visit / re-visit ( if like me you have already taken 101 and 102 ) ..wrinkle free distress, blended distress, flick and spritz and brushless watercolour... and then to create a card or tag using at least four distress colours .............. so here is mine ....

Also my little Lucy (age 6 ) watched the videos and had a go too  and I will show her results at the end...I think she did really well.

I went all browns ..but managed to add some blues too - using hickory smoke, chipped sapphire, ground espresso, rusty hinge and walnut stain...

The background was created using blended distress and then flick and spritz ... and the focal image using brushless watercolour..

I added some stamped and stencilled detail to background...

here a few close ups... of rusty wire, plenty of idea-ology and some dyed seam binding .x

this truly was total playtime...and I have a few more backgrounds needing some love and playtime too...

it was great to just re-visit and play ...boy I do love distress!! 

thanks Tim Holtz for all the amazing inspiration....

here are a few of my backgrounds which are awaiting more playtime ...

And now onto my Little Lucy , who is 6 - she followed the videos too, spritzed , inked and had fun...I love how bold she is with colour...so unlike me and my browns! 

And here is her finished tag ...

bless her ! x

so that's all for now, hope to finish some more of those tags later this week...

time allowing ..in between my son's lessons   of course ..more IT so wish me luck!

keep those fingers inky!

trace x

masculine monochrome

Well having been inspired to enter my first challenge over at A Vintage Journey , in a very long time...I decided to have another go ... and those of you who stop by here once in a while will know that I do love a neutral and monochrome palette ...
so when I saw that the challenge over at Simon Says on Monday was monochrome ...I decided to play along.

So here is my masculine make in monochrome...in yet another little shrine... I bought mine from Country View Crafts here ... so here goes:

And here is a photo that shows a little better the dimension ... I am having so much fun making these and my previous one ( a sewing inspired one ) , for those who are interested can be found here .

I started by painting the piece with DecoArt media paints , sanding , then adding a layer of

 crackle glaze and leaving to do its magic ... then added some antiquing cream and rubbed off ..leaving the wonderful crackle highlighted ...gotta love some crackle !

 

In order to make my gent , cut from one of Tim's gorgeous found relatives cards to stand proud of the background I added a couple of mini spools , painted to his back...

To decorate the inside , I used a piece of paper from the dapper paper stack, again from Tim Holtz..some rub ons and some yummy idea-ology...

it is amazing how much detail you can fit inside..

I added some seam binding , tied around the edge that had been dyed using hickory smoke...I do love this colour .

Here is this wonderful vintage gent...standing inside

and finally a last few images of the inside ...

So thank for stopping by... I am entering this into Simon Says Monday ...where the challenge is monochrome..

keep those fingers inky!

trace x

My take on Tim's tag for May 2016

Well better late than never, I'm late, I'm late for a very important date...well very nearly .... I have had this tag made for a few days and not found the time to blog it ...so as always this tag is inspired by the crafty master that is Tim Holtz and all the details for his gorgeous tag can be found here....

I have really gone off piste for this one , but as always it has been inspired by Tim's tag for this month and all the details for his tag can be found here .... and here is mine :

I have gone very much away from the colour scheme and gone for a more masculine feel ...my favourite brown tones and plenty of embellishments...along with some trusty rusty wire ...

I know I have gone far away from the original but I loved playing and had fun making my tag ....

and phew by the skin of my teeth I am adding this to Tim's tags for 2016 .x

I am adding my Tim inspired tag here ... thanks again to Tim and Mario for continued inspiration ..x

keep those fingers inky xx

trace x

Home sweet home bunting for Country View Crafts

Well I have managed to pop another post up over at Country View Crafts and for all the details you can hop here  .

This piece is fairly simple to make and hopefully fun and effective too...so here are a couple of sneak peaks ...... and for all the details hop here ..x

thanks for stopping by and hopefully I will be back soon x

keep those fingers inky!

trace x

A stitch in time ....

Well I am struggling with crafty mojo at the moment ... and have been pinging around playing with this and that and not really finding my groove .... but I saw the challenge over at A Vintage Journey ... and decided to have a play ... so here is my sewing inspired make :

I created this little make using some great new shrine kits and had fun filling it full of sewing inspired pieces, some of the new Tim Holtz gears were rusted up ...and well just plenty of playtime really, so I wont bore you with all the step by step details...

I added Decoart weathered wood crackle, on piece , then clear embossing and plenty of distress goodness!

I added some idea-ology, weathered up a bit with a painty wash.. some sanding...

Inside I nestled some spools covered in hand dyed seam binding, vintage lace and some more idea-ology...rusty wire ...and some little vintage buttons

Here is a little side shot , to show the wonderful dimension , these little things have ...

A more sunny shot ....just because I loved the shadow the rusty cogs gave ...

here is the close up detail of the hand dyed seam binding I tied around the inside before securing...I love the contrast of the blue tones against rust....

And finally one last sideways shot....

So thanks to the team over at a Vintage Journey for inspiring my playtime ....I will be adding this the challenge, cant remember the last time I linked up and played in a challenge...and I loved this playtime ...so thanks x 

Well that's all for today ...I am off to teach a few more lesson for James...IT today amongst others , so not my strong point!! give me some inks anyday ...

that and running Oliver to and from school, looking after Lucy ..who is under the weather to say the least ....

and well that about sums up my day ...

oh and trying to find a snippet of time to do my Tim's tag...which yes I am behind on again....oops !

hope you have a great day !

keep those fingers inky x

trace x