Metal and Paint on a Sunday ......

Well - wasn't the tennis disappointing?  Not being able to bear it any longer, I toddled off upstairs  at the end of the second set to play. 

I started off with this .....

This being a thin chipboard tag shape - measuring just under 12" x 8".  Then borrowing this idea from Leandra Franich, I embossed some black metal over a mould and cut it up in bits for the edges ......

Then Ferro (Golden Green - just love it and got to get me some more colours) and Terra (Indian and Terracotta - loving that as well) ......

 

Then it was on to the paint, which is where I got a bit carried away.  I used Stewart Gill Colourise in Chlorophyll, Plum and Rose (from the Suzi Blu days) and Viva Precious Metal Paints in Blackberry (absolutely gorgeous) and Golden Green; and then highlights of Kaisercolour Eggshell.

After this orgy of dabbing and swooshing I really wasn't sure about the whole thing but it was either carry on enjoying the relaxing feeling or abandon it and wonder about it after I had tidied up - lol.

So I carried on and made (courtesy of Leandra - again) a fantasy bird out of metal (stamps from the Paper Artsy Ding and Dong collection) ....

 

Added some words (stamp by The Artistic Stamper) - in metal ....

And some raffia ....

 

Said tag is now hanging on my craft room wall where the 2009 Jack Vettriano calendar used to be.  I'm glad I didn't abandon it.  Hope you like it ....

 

And Yet More Studio 490 .....

So the question is - have I become obsessed. I think the correct answer has to be - yes .... Here is something I have made. It started as THIS ......THIS being a 2' 6" long by 3" wide by 1" deep canvas. There were three in the pack, which I bought ages ago, not really sure what I was going to do with it (them) and now I know - lol.

I used THESE ......And made THIS ...A Paper Artsy house and Studio 490 flowers and leaves; and moving up .....
Another Paper Artsy house and a Paper Artsy partridge and more Studio 490 flowers and leaves; and moving up ......
And at the top, another Paper Artsy house and patridge and Studio 490 flowers and leaves and a heart.
THIS is the whole canvas (I really must take photography lessons - lol) .....
I like this and I might even hang it up on the wall. Hope you like it too.
The next canvas is already prepared for something not Studio 490 ....

Houses and Clever, Inspiring People ....

Last weekend, on Saturday, I got it right and went to The Craft Barn Extravaganza on the correct day - lol - and had a great time. There were more clever people there than you can shake a stick at and it was just great to watch them all weave their magic. I don't want to single any one person out but Jenny from Hobby Art was as inspiring as ever, the lady from Kazelcraft Stamps had some great stuff, there was a very clever lady from the Craft Barn doing some beautiful stuff with metal (sorry can't remember her name) and I also managed to get quite near the front to see Leandra Franich (very popular lady).

Depite all that, I have to say that I spent by far the most time watching Sue Roddis. What a clever, clever lady and so friendly and sharing. I watched her for so long that when I left I popped into The Craft Barn and bought a pad of Basic Grey Porcelain papers and went home to make houses ...

(I did go in the shop before I went over the road to the Hall but I'm not saying if I spent, because my pal Sue (the one who hasn't got a blog but should have) will say "I told you so" - lol ....)
So here are two houses - inspired by Sue Roddis ....

Both have Paper Artsy doors. The one on the left has more Studio 490 flowers and leaves. The one on the right is a real mish mash of stamps, including the B-Line Designs Checkerboard. and the Stampers Anonymous Ledger Border.
On Sue R's originals, the tree trunk is a wooden dolly peg, I didn't have one of those, so mine is chipboard. The foliage is a fern stamp, stamped and cut out five times and arranged in a tree-like fashion. One great tip is to stamp on patterned paper, which is why I bought the Porcelain pad). This gives a hint of a background to the image rather than just an expanse of white card (you can just about see this if you click on the photo). Copious amounts of Distress Inks to smudge, edge and highlight were used, as well as loads of buttons ....
Had a great time making these and soon there will be a whole street .......
One final thing I met a blogging pal there - the lovely Alison. It was a bit of a shame but we didn't have much time together because I had to get off home. I hope we can meet up again ....

Not Just Any Old Tags .....

Ever since I heard about Tim Holtz' 12 Tags of Christmas 2008, I was hooked. Then I found that there were 12 Tags of Christmas for 2007 - fatal. So with part Christmas presents from No. 1 son, part Christmas presents to myself and part what the heck spending, I now have all of the Christmas stamps, plus one or two (OK - maybe three of four) packets of goodies from the Idea-Ology range, all from Wendy at The Stamp Attic .....

The stamps are so lovely I just keep stroking them - as you do (a bit like we are with Anna Griffin papers). In fact, I love them so much that they and the Paper Artsy Egg and Nog plates have been given a Really Useful Box all of their own and not put in the bottom of the wardrobe in the spare room, along with the other Christmas craft stuff.
I decided that it didn't matter that it wasn't Christmas anymore - I would make them anyway - all 24 of them. There are some 'improvisations' but here are the first four ....(Thanks to my pal Ed for the bells on the first one ....)

More to follow soon ....

Thank God It's Friday Challenge .... Winter Time

The first TGIF Challenge of the year is Winter Time .....The skaters are a Personal Impressions stamp, the flower is from an Egg and Nog plate by Paper Artsy, and the Winter tag is one of the Seasonal Memories from Hero Arts, done on shrink plastic. Hope you like it ......

Christmas Is Coming .....

My daughter had announced that some time during my holiday she would like to spend a day with me making Christmas cards. After having a rummage through my Christmas stash, she decided that I needed new, more and different, bundled me into the car and headed for The Glitter Pot, where we had a lovely time ....

There was then a lull over the next few days and then on Friday she turned up at 8.30am with The Gorgeous One, aka Finley, bouncy chair, play mat, and half the contents of his wardrobe and her fridge. A day, I thought, staying for the weekend more like - lol. I casually mentioned that I thought we needed 8" x 8" Xmas papers (or bigger) and off we went again back to The Glitter Pot .... lol.
We were back by 11am and that was it - she was off like a rocket .... I didn't get to make any cards because I was detailed to feed, keep The Gorgeous One amused, run up and downstairs for foam squares, chalks, gel pens and anything else she thought she would need and keep her fed and watered ....

Here's some of the cards she made .... and yes she did go home but left the mess ....Saturday came along, complete with No. 1 son .... Christmas cards were put on hold ,as the day was spent commiserating with him about his love life, watching re-runs of Top Gear and Jaws 2 and generally running around constantly preparing food (that boy is an eating machine - lol).
Sunday dawned all grey miserable and raining .... so I sent a text to both my darling children saying that unless there was a real disaster, I was not available .... So here's some of the Christmas cards that I made .......
The first ones are some lovely Penny Black stamps that we bought .....
Christmas Trees also took my fancy. I just love the Ribbon Tree stamp set by Woodware and, of course, Paper Artsy .....
I had also bought a Penny Black clear stamp set - 12 Days of Christmas - and this is what I made with that ....The end result - we all got something out of the weekend - lol ....

My Time To Craft - Blue ....

This week's Challenge over at My Time To Craft is Blue ..... no other colours allowed 'cept white - just Blue.

I'm invoved in an ATC swap with a small group of ladies and the current theme is the alphabet. Mine is a Paper Artsy alphabet . 'E' is for Evidence and is entirely blue - it's not even stamped in black!!! So Ideal for this week's Challenge I thought.
Excuse the dodgy photo - was experimenting with the camera in the garden this morning.

An Awfully Big Art Adventure ... Shrines ....

Rosie and Linda began their very exciting Awfully Big Adventure this week, with a brand new challenge - Shrines.

Being a huge fan of Linda's work and now Rosie's too, I just had to give this a go. The ladies very kindly said that they would email instructions for a basic shrine shape to those who asked. Did I email - of course not because, as usual, I thought I knew best - lol. The end result - another very, very late night, one very ruffled lady (I feel calmer now - lol), an extremely messy and untidy craft space - again and two pieces that I'm sure are not Shrines !!!

This is the first piece. I used a German Scrap shrine from Paper Artsy and the angel is a free download from a lady called Gaby. You must visit her blog because there are loads and loads and loads of free images, as well as some really lovely collage pieces. So - first I emptied one of those large boxes of cook's matches but didn't like that, it was too deep. Then I had a go at making a shallower box (I need to work on my box making skills). I thought I liked what I had made, went and made a coffee, came back and decided I hated it, so sent it flying across the room. After a bit of pacing, I unstuck my angel in his shrine from wonky box, said I was sorry and put him on a tag, surrounded by gold Rhonna Farrer swirls.And this is the second piece - which is even less of a Shrine. My inspiration came from Linda Brown at LB Crafts, who I saw at the South Stamp Show in Worthing a couple of weeks ago. The 'Shrine' is a Vintage Photo Frame by Melissa Frances. The frame was covered in metal and decorated with Ten Seconds Studio tools. The Mother and Child image is from the Oxford Impressions plate, Soul of the Rose.Lesson Learnt - if someone wants to share instructions - take them up on their offer ...
Anyway - writing this post has made me feel even more calmer - so off to tidy up and start all over again - lol .....

Thank God It's Friday .... Numbers

The TGIF Challenge this week is Numbers ... so while the Tags were out, I made another one ...

The Tag was sponged with Versamagic Eggplant and Malted Mauve. The images are the Hampton Arts Bingo Card, I've Got Your Number from The Queens Dresser Drawers and Tick Tock from B Line Designs. The two lines of numbers are from Paper Artsy.
Hope you like it ....

Thank God It's Friday Challenge - Quotations

The TGIF Challenge this week is Quotations ...

There are so many funny and inspiring (and otherwise) quotations out there that it's quite difficult to pick a favourite. Last night my new grandson came to stay for the first ever overnight baby sitting and I have to say, I don't remember it ever being that difficult !! At 3am while I was looking for the triple 6's, it came to me - Trust Your Crazy Ideas ....
After Damien, aka Finley William, went home with his doting mother (she had a lovely night's sleep, thank you very much) and I had caught up with last week's East Enders, I sat down and produced this for the Challenge ...... and got completely carried away ....
After all - you have to trust in your ideas, crazy or not, don't you ....
The stamps are Tim Holtz (Crazy Ideas) and Paper Artsy Dolls plates 1 and 2.

I'm not sure if the piece fits in with the Challenge and I don't know what I'm going to do with it, but I had great fun making it ....

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 .....

Thank God It's Friday Challenge .... Keys

This is my entry to this week's TGIF challenge ....

The background is sprayed with Butterscotch, Lettuce and Wild Plum Adirondack Colour Washes (as was everything else around, including me - lol!) and then dabbed with scrunched up tissue.

The Key image is The Key to Love by B Line Designs and is stamped and then embossed on metal using Ten Seconds Studio tools. The metal was then coloured with Lettuce and Wild Plum Adirondack Pens and blended with my free blending applicator! The inspiration for this element of the project came from Linda Brown at LB Crafts, who is stunning to watch demonstrate - I could watch for hours .....
The House image is from Paper Artsy's Squiggly Ink Bricks and Mortar 1. Door Key is from The Artistic Stamper Time and Keys plate.
Hope you like it ....

Dans ma maison il y a ..... du rose

Since coming to Blogland and seeing the Dans Ma Maison Challenge site, I have always wanted to have a go. So here is my Pink House ....
The house template is courtesy of Stampington and the stamps are from Paper Artsy - Love and Kisses 1 and Swirls and Curls 1.
I hope you like it ....

In My Pocket ... There are some Coins

Here's my pocket in response to Hels Challenge this week. The stamps are The Queen's Dresser Drawers (I've Got Your Number) and Paper Artsy. The images are from the web and Crafty Individuals and the text panels are computer generated. The coins are not real at all - I bought a chain of them years ago and have finally found a use for them !!

Hope you like it .....

And this is the inside ....