Wendy Vecchi For The Lovely Rachel ....

It's the lovely Rachel's birthday soon (No. 1 son's girlfriend).  He has bought her a Spa Day for herself and four of her friends.  Now Matt always makes an effort and a few Sundays ago he had come for a visit and saw the plaque I had made a short while ago (see earlier post).  He thought it would be rather a wheeze for me to make him five invitations along similar lines.  So being the good mother that I am, I set to work .....

The base of the invitations is as before - chipboard shape (by tracing around a Tim Holtz Grungeboard book page), and covered with Basic Grey Porcelain papers.  This time the Studio 490 'Rules to Live By' are stamped on more BG Porcelain paper which was mounted on a Nesties Label chipboard shape (run the chip through the Wizard twice).  Then I went to town with the flowers, leaves, swirls and butterflies ......

Everything was stamped on Grungepaper and coloured with Distress Inks (the old ones - I have a few of the new ones but I'm still stroking them - lol) buttons of various sizes were added and finally a touch of a Glitter Pen here and there (love the way the Grungepaper curls if you heat it with a heat gun) ....

Here's another view ....

Here's the back of the plaque - with the actual invitation on another Nesties Label shape cut from chipboard with more Studio 490 stamps ....

Then it occurred to me - how to wrap them up.  So out come the Bind it All and I made a box (well a container really, 'cos it hasn't got a lid) ....

The box is cut from the last of my chipboard (adding to the NEC shopping list as I type - lol) and punched  away with the Bind It All.  Each side is covered with K & Co papers that I have had for ever and then it's all bound together with lengths of natural coloured raffia. The raffia was a bit of a pain 'cos it kept splitting  - but I do like a challenge - lol.

End result - a very sturdy 'container' - which will be handy for keys, loose change,  sweeties and other bits and bobs.  Thinking now that these would make nice pressies .....

More raffia was cut up to form a 'nest' inside for the invitations to stand in.  I was going to put some more Studio 490 flowers around the outside but decided to make 'tiles' of some of the definitions on the paper instead ....

And - voila - here's the completed pressie ....

I hope Rachel likes it - and you do too ....

Never Forget The Power of You ....

Here is what I made with my Studio 490 flowers ....A Tag Book which was in a parcel of pressies that my friend Ed sent me. There are five chipboard tags and five acetate ones, but I've kept the acetate ones for something else. As I said in the last post the only things I used were Grungepaper and Distress Inks; apart from the quotes which are stamped in black StazOn, the Life letters, which are ordinary chipboard and some buttons.
All the stamps are the yummy Studio 490 ones, which have been released in two sets of seven, the last set coming out from CHA earlier this year.

I read recently that someone found the Distress Inks a bit 'dreary'. Well I have to say certainly not. To get the bright colour on some of the flowers, I swiped the pad on the Grungepaper, sprayed it with water, dried it off, swiped again and dried with a heat gun. For some of the leaves I used the textured side of the Grungepaper, which I suppose is the reverse but which gave a really nice effect. I just love the Grungepaper - you can bend and shape it and it stays that way, but even laid flat, it is stunning. It cuts really easily because it bends and best of all - it doesn't tear.
The tags are on a book ring at the moment but I'll be adding fibres and ribbons later ....
Hope you like it ....
And a couple of close ups ....And - as if all this wasn't enough there is to be a third release of another seven sets in July!!!! You can get the stamps from the lovely Wendy at The Stamp Attic - let's hope she's getting the new release ......

12 Tags of Christmas 2008 - The Final Three ...

And here they are .....I love how the grungeboard reindeer turned out. I didn't have any Perfect Pearls so used Twinkling H20s instead. I also didn't have a chipboard clock and mask, so I made my own with a BLine Designs stamp, Tick Tock. I stamped it on plain grungeboard and went to town with Antique Linen and Walnut Stain Distress Inks, Tim's Scratches stamp and a knife. (and I still have all my fingers - lol). I then stamped the clock again onto acetate and did the thing with the game spinners and sprocket gears.
Off to my daughter's now for roast pork and will be back later to start the 2007 Twelve, so see you later ...
Hope you like them ....

No Peace for the Wicked ....

Despite having the cold from hell (and just to share - constantly runny nose, streaming eyes, tight head, sore throat etc. etc.) I had to go to Somerset on Thursday with my daughter and the Gorgeous One (they are hardy souls - lol) to see my mother. Despite having to go (which is another story) a small amount of medicinal alcohol with the family dinner, on Thursday night, marked something of an improvement - lol.

However, driving home along the A303 yesterday, my daughter suddenly turns round and says - "you haven't forgotten those three cards you were going to make for me for Sunday have you?" Wiltshire Police did not come out, they were too busy with another axe murderer - lol. So last night I started them and finished them this morning ....The background of the top one is done using the Jumbo Stippling Brush from my friend, Ed (see previous post) and Distress Inks. The letters are from the George and Basic Shapes Cartridge on the Cricut - just love the shadow feature. The soldier and the train are done with the Joys of the Season Cricut Cartridge and I think they are so cute. I got my Cricut machine last year and I just love it. (My daughter loved the third card - for a Ruby Wedding Anniversary - but I didn't, so I haven't posted it).

When I had finished the cards, I went off to do something else and when I came back upstairs, I just had to take a photo of the mess had made - lol ....and the floor ....
Off to tidy up now ....

An Awfully Big Art Adventure - Give Me A Sign ....

This week's Challenge over at Rosie and Linda's Awfully Big Art Adventure is to make a sign of a challenge or goal or message for the year ahead - a bit like a New Year Resolution - but much shorter .... I don't make NYR's because they are doomed to fail and I, therefore, fail and I can't be doing with that. I like this idea of one word though.
The idea for my word - PATIENCE - started while I was doing something else. It went wrong and I didn't have the patience to start all over again. I have also been just a tad impatient over the last couple of days because of my poor little sick car; and there have been a couple of times at work where, perhaps, a little more patience would have been a good thing.
So here's my Sign, which I will hang in my craft room/office, over the computer ....The background is a mix of Frayed Burlap, Tea Dye and Vintage Photo Distress Inks all swiped, sooshed and sprayed, over the Tim Holtz Timeworks Mask. I just love the stamped image, which is salvaged from the failed piece (see above). It's Waiting For Mr Right from Lost Coast Designs and the four ladies are sitting there waiting so patiently .... The letters of the word are cut using the Abigail alphabet with the Quickutz Revolution and then scuffed up a bit with an emery board. I used bright colours for humour. The clock face is from the Artistic Stamper's Time and Keys Plate. The whole thing is mounted on a piece of card that I was messing around with walnut ink. All the edges have been tattered with a Paper Distresser.

An Awfully Big Art Adventure ... Absolutely Charming ...

Linda and Rosie's Awfully Big Art Adventure for the first week of 2009 is Absolutely Charming and you're invited to make charms. Both Linda and Rosie have created some beautiful pieces and I thoughtI would have a go ....Top left is a 'bracelet' made from Style Stones, which have been inked with Distress Inks, stamped with the Stampendous Marble Texture Cube and embossed a number of times with Amazing Glaze. The Style Stones and the beads were threaded onto some elasticated thread. Top middle is a 'sandwich' of 1" x 3" Memory Glass ofTim Holtz images and bordered with copper tape. Under the 'bracelet' is another Memory Glass 'sandwich' made in the same way. Next to that is a Bottle Cap, which has been Alcohol Inked, with a Crafty Individuals image, and then glazed with Glossy Accents. Bottom left is a wooden letter inked with various bright colours of Stazon, stamped with the Marble Texture Cube, embossed a few times with ordinary clear embossing powder and edged with gold Krylon pen. Middle bottom is a domino, done in the same way as the wooden letter (I didn't realise you decorate the undotted side of the domino - lol). On the right, the letters of the word Love are Grungeboard, inked with Distress Inks, a touch (well more than a touch, actually, lol) of Icicle Stickles and linked together with jump rings through eyeletted holes.

None of them can hang - I can make the holes (I have a braddle) but I don't have the equipment to solder on the hooky and hangy bits. I can just see my son's face when I say I want to learn about soldering and the like - he'll put me in a home - lol !!!

More Soul Journal No. 2 Pages ....

It was such a lovely day today, that I sat out in the garden with a coffee and a couple of chocolate biscuits and did the journalling on my latest Soul Journal pages.

There was no breeze and I ended up with my Acrylic Dabbers, a Flower Stencil, a Mustard Seed Distress Ink Pad and a Swirl Stamp from the Rhonna Farrer Swirls V2 plate - quite the little workshop al fresco ....

The prompts for the last two weeks were Healing Love and I so did not follow the prompt - lol; and Personal Lexicon, where in true me style, got completely carried away ....

I think it was only meant to be a double page spread - me - I did four pages - the whole alphabet (or most of it anyway). I have caught up now but for how long - lol
I am really pleased with the way these pages have turned out.

There's quite a few layers - torn old dictionary pages, gesso, watered down acrylic paint, pictures, journalling, more acrylic paint (from the Dabbers), stencilled flowers, gold swirls - all making loads of layers (credit to Suzi Blu for teaching me that)

Tissue Stars ....

I thought I would enter two Challenges with this piece - Saturday's Workout, where the theme for the week is Tissue or Handkerchief (first time entering this one); and Mixed Media Monday, where this week's theme is Stars ....My 'prototype' Star was decorated using a Faux Leather Background technique which I came across on Sandy's Blog. I used book board for the Star, because I didn't think that paper, or even card, would work for this. I used Tea Dye, Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain and Aged Mahogany Distress Inks and I think it's turned out a bit 'too red', but wouldn't you just love one of those big hobo bags in this colour - lol? When all the stages were completed I rubbed a gold ink pad over all the pieces, to give even more shine. The girl is a Rubber Stamp Tapestry image.

The finished texture is like a stiff fabric and the photo makes the piece look as if it is rigid , but the little stars on the jump rings give movement. Mind you practice is needed attaching the little stars, hence the small one at the top being attached by a brad - lol. I might do another one in greens for the Christmas tree....

Here's a close up of the Faux Leather effect ....I hope you like it ...

Think Monday - Think ATC ... Architecture

I haven't done any Challenges for ages - so I thought I would have a bit of a catch up. Once I started I was on a real roll which didn't seem to stop .....
Over at TMTA this week the theme is Architecture ....

Most of my Architectural stamps are too big for ATCs but I found these ....

This one is an Inkadinkadoo Tin Can Mail stamp, which has been coloured with a water brush and Derwent Aquatone sticks.This one is an Hero Arts Artprint stamp - 'We're Not Lost'. The background is coloured using Distress Inks and Cut 'n Dry Foam (I was trying to copy Dan's excellent video tutorial - Distress Inks 101, posted on 2nd September ... you must take a look)
Hope you like them ....

Arty Girlz Challenge .... Blue

This week's Arty Girlz Challenge is Blue ....

The image is another one from the new Paperbag Studio's plate - Knowing. I am so totally unsure about the flower - lol. It was an ivory Bazzil Bling flower, which I dragged over with Broken China, Faded Jeans and Tattered Rose Distress Ink.
What do you think? .....

Theme Thursday .... Tags

Gosh - there's a Challenge (and if the truth were known more than one) for every day of the week. I found Theme Thursday while I was looking for something completely different but c'est la vie .....it all adds to the excitement ....This large Tag was made for my first ever Challenge entry back in the mists of time in June this year and I thought I would revive it !! For anyone who missed it this is what I wrote - " ... coloured with Shabby Shutters Distress ink and then stamped all over with the Stampendous Marble Texture Cube in gold The check pattern is B-Lines Checker Board stamped in Olive Green Staz-On. The main image is Classmates by B-Lines, stamped on glossy card and then dabbed with Lettuce and Butterscotch Alcohol Inks, with just a touch of Stream; and mounted on black glossy card. A 7-Gypsies Friends tab is at the top of the image and a pink flower and black ric-rac was added to finish it off".
Hope you like it - again .......

Dans ma maison il y a .... un poeme ....

The Dans Ma Maison Challenge this week is a Poem ....The background is a mix of Phantom Fuschia, Ethereal Emerald and a touch of Gossamer Gold Moon Shadow Mists - and yes, once again, I got it every where, but this time though I made up loads of sheets for future use !! And yes, once again, I have hand drawn the house !!

I just love the curved 'ruler' from the Squiggly Ink Bricks and Mortar 3 from Paper Artsy and the whole house is framed with a Fern front stamp from Clarity stamps.
The main image is Chloe from Lost Coast Designs, which is a lovely image, and she has been swooshed in Tattered Rose Distress Ink. The Serenity Poem is from Clarity stamps and was stamped on a punched circle and again swooshed in Tattered Rose. The circle was then over-stamped with the Stampendous Marble Texture Cube in gold and clear embossed.
I hope you like it .....

Think Monday - Think ATC - Games

Another ATC - this time for this week's TMTA challenge ...

The Bingo Card image is from Stamps Happen. The ladies and the dice are from Oxford Impressions and the ticket from Invoke Arts. Each piece is stamped on cream card and coloured with Old Paper and Milled Lavender Distress Inks.
Hope you like it ....

Thank God Its Friday Challenge ....Brothers and Sisters

Getting a little bit braver now and putting this entry into last Friday's TGIF Challenge - Brothers and Sisters. Milled Levender and Dusty Concord Distress Inks, with the image stamped in Royal Purple StazOn on card spritzed with Violaceous Violet, Bluebeard Blue Violet and a touch of Gossamer Gold Moon Glow Moon Shadow Mists. The image is Always Young from Paperbag Studios.
Hope you like it .....

Sunday Stampers - Week 22 - Friends

Well, well, well - I've had my Blog for a week and here I am entering a Challenge! I have spent the day - off and on - looking at all those Challenge Blogs out there. I can see this as becoming quite a serious addiction! So this is my first ever Challenge entry .....

I chose to do a large Tag - which was coloured with Shabby Shutters distress ink and then stamped all over with the Stampendous Marble Texture Cube in gold ink. The check pattern is B-Lines Checker Board stamped in Olive Green Staz-On. The main image is Classmates by B-Lines, stamped on glossy card and then dabbed with Lettuce and Butterscotch Alcohol Inks, with just a touch of Stream; and mounted on black glossy card. A 7-Gypsies Friends tab is at the top of the image and a pink flower and black ric-rac was added to finish it off.
Hope you like it .......

Paris .... on a clipboard

This is a 'work in progress' that has been in progress for quite some while! I went to Paris once, ages ago, for the day - and loved it. Maybe I will go again, when I retire! Paris themes seem to come and go and this is one of my pieces .....

The masonite clipboard was bought from an office stationers and, despite being thick, can be punched with a Crop-a-Dile. The surface was painted with a very light brown acrylic paint and then with Paper Glaze Sheer Gold Glaze. The clip was dabbed with Wild Plum and Lettuce Alcohol inks.
The Paris word idea is from a back issue of Somerset Studio Gallery. It is cut from foamboard and covered with pages from a French book out of the libary, which were inked with Old Paper and Vintage Photo Distress Inks. The stamps used are from Tim Holtz - I See Paris; and the Oxford Impressions plates - Paris Poste and Travel Journal; and are all stamped with a Ranger sepia Archival ink pad.
Other images - the Parish metro map, Moulin Rouge, Mona and the French flag were all from the net.
Even though I say the piece is finished - everytime I look I think - does it need something else, that 'je ne sait quoi'. Post a comment and let me know what you think.......