Saying thanks sneak peak for Country View Crafts

Before I start sorry for the lack of posts and visits..life has its own way of deciding what we have time to do it seems and whilst I was thinking I was getting back into blogging and crafting and actually getting ahead..life it seems had other ideas!
so sorry xx
Well it is my turn over at Country View Crafts using my much loved blueprints, plenty of distress and Tim Holtz goodies to make some simple but effective backgrounds to make some thank you cards for my children's teachers.
So here is my sneak peak :

If you would like to see all the details and how I made this please hop here  .

Did I mention ...I love blueprints stamps?

Well here is a card I made using the new Robot Tim Holtz blueprints , which I made to send to my Dad for his birthday from the children...I love blueprint stamps and these are no exception...quirky and fun and great for all occasions ..

I started by inking the background of the card in pumice stone and edging in black sot and walnut stain, spritzing a bit of water to create a more dappled effect . I added a piece of torn paper from pocket cards and used the other piece in a different part of the card. I love creating all these layers.. and see not a found relative in sight!

I added colour to the little robot guy using distress markers scribbled on my craft sheet to create a palette and picking up colour using my waterbrush. I edged in distress ink using blending tool.

I added lots of idea-ology and some tissue tape to add details ... I scuffed up a flashcard and inked to highlight the sanded and scuffed bits .

I added some numbers...can you guess the age ? and crossed the mini attacher staples to create little kisses .

So hope you like my blueprint make, keep your eyes peeled I am sure these little guys will be making an appearance again..sometime soon x

It's an absolute age since I entered a challenge ..so thought I would enter this with some of my old teamies over at Frilly and Funkie , for their monochromatic challenge x

keep those fingers inky!

trace x

maybe baby - sneak peak ...for Country View Crafts

Well it has been a while but it is my turn back over at Country View Crafts with my baby inspired make . so if you would like to see the details of how I made this please hop across here .x

keep those fingers inky!

trace x

Hip to be Square - for Frilly and Funkie

Well it is time for another challenge over at Frilly and Funkie and the theme this fortnight ( still a week to go ) is Hip to be Square. Here in Jenny's words are the details :   Create something based on a cube. You can use your own templates, dies or the Artist Trading Boxes dies. Decorate, embellish, alter in any way you choose. 
Make sure you hop across to see my team mates gorgeous makes as there is lots of inspiration!
You can choose whatever theme you want and just have fun, now these ATB's are designed by Eileen Hull and are so much fun to make and create..and highly addictive. So here is my piece for this challenge :

Now for this piece I used the largest die and then went on to create 3 smaller ones that would fit inside..rather like Russian dolls!
Here are the 3 smaller ones that fit inside :

And here they are all snuggled inside:

I wanted to create a softer fell for these than my previous makes with these boxes which can be found here and here. They were full of all sorts if you want to see. These are so versatile and I have to say so much fun to create as there are four sides to decorate as well as getting carried away inside.
So now for some of the details :
For each of the die cuts I added some blue ink to the inside surface and some frayed burlap for the front surface. I die cut mine from 500 gsm card to give it some thickness.

I like to add colour to the inside and decorate them before gluing together. For the outside I then used this great latticework stencil and applied some stormy sky distress ink through in places using a mini blending tool. Then spritzed some water into palm of my hand and then flicked onto card surface and dried.

For the seahorse I applied some distress paint to surface, then added rock candy crackle and completed pretty much as Tim Holtz did in his tag for July found here. I did choose softer colours.

I fixed the pieces together to create the finished boxes and then had fun embellishing!

For the large box I added a small piece of trellis die , some baby shells, some stamped blueprint seashells and sand dollar and some foliage..which was painted and splattered and inked. I also added a chit chat sticker.

 here are a couple of the side...complete with cheesecloth sea  and some more simple embellishments.

For the lid/top I added another seahorse, some dyed seam binding and a word band. For the base I added some little spools painted with tumbled glass distress paint.

For the stack of boxes, I embellished in a similar way..

Well hope you find time to be square too...and join in the fun. Make sure you pop across here for all the details of how to join in and for details of the generous prize you could win from Linda's boutique ..The Funkie Junkie Boutique, which is stacked full of lots of yummy goodies!

All supplies are listed below...

Eileen Hull Sizzix ScoreBoards XL Die - Blocks/Cubes, 3-D	*Tim Holtz Sizzix Alterations Frameworks Die - Trellis	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Frayed Burlap	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Stormy Sky	Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Layering Stencils - Latticework
Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Tumbled Glass	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Tumbled Glass	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Stain - Tumbled Glass	Sewing Themed Embellishments	$23.95 Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Rubber Stamps - Mini Blueprints 6
$17.95 Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Rubber Stamps - Nautical Blueprints	Sizzix Alternations Tim Holtz Movers and Shapers Mini Sand and Sea Dies	Sizzix Alternations Tim Holtz Movers and Shapers Base Tray, L	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Embossing Powder - Antique Linen	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Grunge Paper
Ranger Archival Ink - Jet Black	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Word Bands	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Chitchat Stickers	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Picket Fence	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Marker Spritzer
Rayon Seam Binding	Ranger Distress Crackle Paint - Clear Rock Candy 4 oz size

Thanks to everyone who takes the time to stop by and for all those who leave a comment, it is hugely appreciated .

keep those fingers inky!

trace x 

a manly # thank you for A Vintage Journey Tag Friday

Well over at A Vintage Journey it is time for another Tag Friday...so here is my tag a bit of a cheat really as this was a thank you for the headteacher... to tie around his bottle of wine.... well I did create it and stuff so guess its not that cheaty! 

So here is my manly #thank you tag :

 I started with a large tag and applied some Wendy Vecchi crackle paste through one of Tim Holtz layering stencils and left to dry.

When dry I applied some distress ink across the crackled pieces ...rubbing the ink into the crackles.

I then added some more ink across the whole tag, spritzed some water in my palm and flicked over surface and dried. I just love distress inks they are just so wonderful to work with!

Now I replaced the stencil in various places and applied some broken china distress ink in various places over the tag. A mini blending tool is perfect for this job!

Here is the background finished off with all those inky layers. I then added some framework die cuts ..adding only some of the inside pieces.

To complete the tag I added some dyed seam binding and more rub ons ...How predictable am I ?

For the main image one of my much loved blueprint images ...which I coloured and stamped and cut out pointy finger  again and layered up.

I do love this blueprint..

For the bottom I added one of the fab hashtag stamps that are so useful for every occasion....

So hope you like my tag and make sure you hop across here for a few more tags to inspire you x

keep those fingers inky!

trace x