Painty pleasures for Country View Crafts DT

Well here I am with painty pleasures piece #2 for Country View Crafts challenge DT. There is still plenty of time to get playing with paints...So for this piece , it will come as no surprise that I went for Distress paints and that I went for browns...but I played a little more...so here is my make : ( not happy with this one but here it is warts and all!)

I wanted to see if the lovely spritzy effect could be created with the yummy denser nature of the distress paints so set about making myself some distress paint spritzers...and sure enough they worked! How cool is that...

I started with a mountboard piece...I know how very predictable..and set too glueing die cut pieces and adding embossed pieces and texture paste through stencils to create layers and texture...all covered with a layer of watered down gesso.

I then set too painting, spritzing and layering more painty and wateriness.

The sentiment was stamped on a piece of cardstock given a painty spritz...

The flowers were painted with painty spritzers too...

To complete the piece some rusty wire twists, some butterflies and some walnut stain ink and treasure gold around the edges.
If you want to join in all the painty fun then hop across here...there will be plenty more inspiration for the rest of the month too....

keep those fingers inky!

trace x

How do I love thee sneak peak for Countryviewcraft

Well it is my turn over on the Country View Crafts blog today and I have a little book full of hearts all with different techniques....so if you want to see what is inside and how I created this book please hop across here ....

Well I hope you like my make have a great week ...

keep those fingers inky!

trace  x

Saturday Step X Step for Frilly and Funkie DT - you are braver than you believe

Well it is time for my turn at the Saturday Step X Step... so here is a sneak peak...for all the details of how I made this please hop across to Frilly and Funkie....something a little different for me today! so here is your sneaky peak....

I know I am a tease but if you want to see what I made you will have to hop here ! keep those fingers inky! trace  x

find your voice

Well this piece was made a couple of weeks ago with some more hot glue gun playing inspired by Vivian Keh. I know these piece is only small but I am so pleased with it...funny that ..this was just a test piece and yet somehow it makes me smile!?

So here is my make :

I have had such fun playing with my hot glue gun and almost need some more refills! But I love the texture and naturalness almost of the way this happens..So I started by glueing various die cut pieces to my small piece of mountboard and then gesso and then on with the hot glue..when dry I made my own sprays using distress re-inkers and just played until happy...it kind of just evolved itself.

To complete I added some ink to the edges and a few little flowers and mini cogs and sentiment from Donna Downey...and some rusty wire to hang it up and voila!

short and sweet from me today!

keep those fingers inky!

Trace  x

Valentines with a twist for Frilly an Funkie DT

Well it is half way through the next challenge over at Frilly and Funkie and the theme is valentines with a twist ... so here is the lovely Cec to explain the details :
We want to see vintage or shabby chic projects in the traditional red, pink and white but the twist is that there can be no hearts.

Reminder - to enter you must create a new project, link it below and make sure you add a link in your post back to this challenge. You can combine our challenge with up to 10 challenges (including this one) to qualify. If you are chosen as our winner you could be invited to be the next Guest Designer here at Frilly and Funkie. There is also the chance to win a $25 shopping spree at The Funkie Junkie Boutique for one lucky entrant chosen at random. so here is my make using one of Linda's fab #10 tags :

Now as most of you know these are not me colours so this was a bit of a challenge and with the added twist of no hearts it was certainly a put my thinking cap on moment. But embrace it I did and here's how... I started by making the background for my tag by smooshing some sugar and picket fence distress paint together. then when dry I stamped the fab Tim flourish down the left hand side in picket fence, dried and then blended some distress ink across and flicked with water .

so now for the decoration..... I used one of Tim's blueprints and stamped in watering can archival and then scuffed the edges and added some ink in aged mahogany..and a bit of barn door for good measure!

As no hearts were allowed I went for lots of idea-ology and a love quote from a Tim set (love struck).

I also made some flowers from tattered floral die too...so here are some close ups of the details...

The seasonal chit chat stickers are perfect for adding whatever you want to say...I chose soul mate but there are so many words to choose from..

So make sure you pop across here as there is still a week to play along...and also pop across and see all the other fab DT makes .

Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Spun Sugar	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Stain - Picket Fence White	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Picket Fence	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Aged Mahogany	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Barn Door
Ranger Wendy Vecchi Archival Ink - Watering Can	Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Rubber Stamps - Valentine Blueprint	Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Rubber Stamps - Fabulous Flourishes	50 Jumbo Manila Shipping Tags 8x4" #12	25 Jumbo Manila Shipping Tags 8x4" #12
Rayon Seam Binding	Sizzix Alterations Tim Holtz Tattered Florals Die	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Chit Chat Stickers - Seasonal	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Plaquettes	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Tiny Attacher
Tim Holtz Idea-ology Baubles	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Type Charms	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Trinket Pins	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Findings Philosophy Tags

Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind,
And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.
~William Shakespeare, Mid-Summer Night's Dream, 1595 keep those fingers inky! trace x

Pure indulgence

Well you know we are all so busy and my life right now is so busy I wonder how I find time to eat let alone anything else but....having been thoroughly spoilt for my birthday( thanks hubbie and children!)...it would be rude not to indulge in a little playtime ...just for me....So after much deciding...over which set of yummy new stamps shall I play with first...(yes I was lucky some new Tim ones and some new Brett Weldele ones ...and lots of other goodies....very spoilt!) I decided upon this fab gentleman from the ships captain set...and the rest was pure playtime....

So here are the results a large tag ...just for the pure pleasure!

I started by playing with some distress stains....namely faded jeans ...hasn't been off the shelf in an age and thought it might be feeling unloved! and evergreen bough...So I smooshed and spritzed until happy and also did an extra piece which I set aside  for the tentacles to be stamped on.
 I then edged in walnut stain distress ink...gosh I love this colour!

I stamped the tentacles onto the background and added a bit of colour with my trusty distress markers and then when dry a smidge of walnut stain.

Now for this rather captivating chappy! I think he has gone to the top of my favourites...there is something about him...stern yet captivating! maybe its just me . I coloured him with my much loved waterbrush and distress markers...tearing the bottom edge and inking .

finally lots of yummy idea-ology, in my book a girl can never have enough cogs!and some dyed seam binding...and voila happy me and happy playtime pleasures !

keep those fingers inky!

trace x 

The Secret Garden for countryviewcrafts challenge blog DT

Well it is time for a new challenge over at Countryviewcrafts Challenge blog and the theme this time is Painty Pleasures, so we want to see lots of painty fun! Now when it comes to paints they are not my go to product, but when the Distress paints came out I knew i had to have a play and wow i was not disappointed! they are the most wonderful addition to the distress range and work alone or so well with all the other yummy distress products. 
I think the thing I love more than all is how you can play around when they are wet, then when dried its like they are frozen and all inkiness and water can be applied but the paints stay as they dried....just too fab!
so enough..here is my make :

I wanted to create a kind of rusty neglected, secret garden feel for the piece...not sure if I did or not? But I sure had some fun! I started with a piece of mountboard and glued on some die cuts.

I then added some Wendy Vecchi embossing paste through a stencil and left too dry. Now for some painty fun.
I added some distress paint in rusty hinge and black soot...and lots of smooshnig and water later...here's what I had :

Loved this so it took some nerve to cover it up! that and fingers crossed.... I then added paint in peeled paint, broken china....more water and voila....

I really like how the colours from beneath come through creating...well in my mind a rusty patina ish effect!? 
I added some trails of hot glue gun inspired by pieces from Vivian Keh ( believe me I have been playing with this a lot and had lots of fun so expect to see lots more hot glue soon!) and lots of mini tattered flowers and some garden greenery ..oh and some rusty wire.

Some chit chat stickers finish the piece.well I hope you like it and we all look forward to seeing your painty pieces over at CountryviewCrafts this month. Make sure you hop across to see the fab Dt inspiration too....