3 Posts in one Day - Curious and Curiouser!

Well, I have been caught by the doodling bug. Here is another page from my new journal.

I drew and I doodled and I added to my 2 photo's (from postcards that came with the Alice in Wonderland DVD) and then, I doodled and dotted some more! I'm really enjoying drawing things like leaves freehand. It was only after I took the pictures of my second journal page that I noticed something very curious indeed... I'd forgotten to do any stamping at all! 

My Daughter's ipod Drawing - New Shoes! - 2nd post of the day!

Yesterday, my 14 year old was bought a new pair of shoes by her dad. She wanted me to see them... so she 'doodled' one on his ipad and emailed it to me!

 This was only her second ipad drawing... and knowing her, took about a minute.

I love em! she is so 'free' when she draws.

I think she should start a blog and blog her art... don't you?

Ooh New Shoes!

Just Playing! Ranger U Inspiration

I cut out  an image of a beautiful girl from a old magazine, added doodles and stamped images (the butterfly neckline) and put it on a beautiful piece of Graphic 45 paper.

I love how blogging constantly gives me the inspiration to extend my boundaries.

Inspired by seeing Dyan Reaveley's photo's from Ranger U on Suze Weinburg's gorgeous blog.

Ranger U, Travelling Ruby Rainbow?

Just a quick post, lots to do today and this weekend. This is the Birthday card I made for  my friend Anita in America. She  is getting inky at Ranger U as I type and I am very proud of her.

I used gorgeous Dyan Reaveley Stamps and my own foam flower stamp made from a Tim Holtz Die Cut (Yep! my beloved new Grunge flower die... again... If you can't buy often, buy well and get the use out of your stuff!) I doodled and kiss stamped my 'ever so useful' Rogue Redhead Designs Almanac background stamp  and stamped flowers to create my background. Tho' the piccie doesn't show it so well, this is glittery and shiny as I Sakura'd and Stickled it to within an inch of its life!

This week has been an odd one, so it cheered me up immensely to click on Rogue Redhead Designs during my daily travels through blogland and see... erm... one of my cards. Thanks for featuring my work again Shar, it made me really happy. Rogue Redhead Designs Your stamps are brill!

I am entering this into the 'Design your own Backing Paper' challenge over at :Lisa Somerville's Bloggers Challenge This is one of my favourite challenges! They are always fun to do - Thanks Lisa xx

Fly my Pretties Fly!

My very first altered tin!

Do you like the title of this post? I do! I couldn't think what to call it, so I asked my daughter, who was watching me take photo's through the French doors and quick as a flash (and in her best Wicked Witch of the West voice) she suggested the title I used! Her sense of humour makes me giggle. Luckily, my butterflies resisted the urge to 'leg it' (or should that be 'wing it?') and I managed to get my piccies!

This started off as a tin of Marks and Spencers Peppermints which was painted in ordinary (well rather posh Farrow and Ball) emulsion paint and then sanded down and lined with Graphic 45 papers. The background was made with triple embossed stamping (thanks to learning this during the 12 Tags of Christmas) using a floral stamp from Stampington.

The butterflies were created as a batch and I was so happy with them. Ages ago I was trying out bright inks on photo paper (just pressing the ink pad randomly all over the page) and I created a masterboard of sorts, I was just playing and hadn't thought of a use for it until today, when it got recycled into butterflies. I stamped my butterflies all over this page, using a Stampers Anonymous Butterfly, cut then out and gave them pen nib middles.

Fly my Pretties Fly!

 The pink and white flowers were stamped in Fuchsia Pink StazOn and then cut out using my precious new Grunge Flower Tim Holtz Die, which has made an appearance on virtually everything I have crafted since getting the die last week! The buttons were recycled from my stash - I collect buttons and always reuse where possible.

I liked the photo against my bluebells in the garden, the butterflies look quite real, even though the stamp gives a 'newspaper' effect.

I was very happy with the end result, even though I was losing the light in the garden, I was pleased with the photographs - I am improving :)

I am entering this into the following challenges
Simon Says Stamp and Show Show a Word
Frilly  and Funkie - Recycling Challenge
Our Creative Corner - Butterflies
Sunday Stamper - Summer in the City
Do Less With More - Recycling with Sonia Challenge
Fashionable Stamping Challenges - Embossing

My 14 year olds first go at Drawing on an ipad!

Els's self portrait on her dad's new ipad, this was her first go at using it and was completed within a few minutes of her getting her hands on it when he came to collect her the other day. Her father was an art student back in the day (the creative gene runs deep in her blood on both sides of the family) and I was pleased to see that he had started to draw again as well.

I love this portrait... there is something great about 'first goes' at doing something new. It doesn't matter how something turns out, it is the excitement of a new challenge, a new media to play with. I love how part of it is realistic and part experimental as she played with texture and colour... well done daughter, you are far braver than me!

Eleanor has fallen in love with quotes to do with fashion and style (as can be seen by the quote she scribbled so elegantly on her tee shirt in the drawing)... she wants to incorporate them into a textiles project at school... If anyone knows any... please could you add them into the comments?

Els' Self Portrait - in paper pieces

The real thing! Pretty as a picture!

In honour of Earth Day 2012 Recycle Repurpose Re Use

I am one of life's natural recyclers, it makes me happy!

I  have always loved recycling and there tends to be some form of repurposing in each of my projects.  In honour of Earth Day 2012, this is a photo of a few of the bottles and glasses that I have painted. The small one holds nightlights. The bottles were painted to hold dinner candles. The gold, silver and bronze are actually outliners and the black is glass paint. I am proud of the paper flowers - more makes with the Tim Holtz original Grunge Flower Die that I bought so recently.

I once taught a week long craft course called 'Funk it Don't Junk It' using mainly things out of the recycling, coupled with a lot of PVA and Acrylic Paint.  NEVER be put off by what you do not own when crafting... think about what you do have and be happy. It is so easy to want the latest thing, but it is also a lovely feeling to make use of what you have... Look after our planet... it's where we all keep our stuff!

Tim Holtz Technique Tag Travelling Travis

Isn't Tim Holtz's new website great? I love it!

Over at Studio L3, the  'A Compendium of Curiosities 2 Challenge' has  begun, celebrating   techniques from Tim Holtz's new book. I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with! I used the foam technique on the original grunge flower die. Well, Travelling Travis only travelled part way onto this tag  because I liked my inky background so much, I didn't want to cover it up too much.

I used only 2 colours, Sakura gold and glittery silver pens.This is a really fun technique and I think I will use it again and again.. Out of respect to Tim, we have been asked not to detail our making on this one.

My exciting news is that I have won $30 for my entry into the Stampotique Designers Challenge - So I'm doing the Happy Dance AGAIN because I love their quirky stamps and so does my gorgeous 14 year old arty daughter Els. Who knew stamping would turn out to be so exciting? This is the second thing I've been fortunate enough to win something this  week - one of my Tim Holtz tags was chosen to win the Fashionable Stamping Challenge.

Blogging has certainly opened up a new world for me as well as improving my stamping abilities in so many ways.

Over at Bloggers challenge, the theme this week is Black/White (or Vanilla) and a splash of colour.  My splash of colour is gold:   Bloggers Challenge

Here is the link to the challenge at : Studio L3
Here is the link to Tim Holtz
Here is the link to Simon Says Stamp

Oh I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside!

At last! After much admiring of all the journal entries I see on so many sites... this afternoon, I've finally had my first go and dipped my toes into journalling waters

 For the last couple of weeks I've been blotting ink from my projects onto the pages of a book (after seeing the Queen of journalling, Dyan Reaveley do this) and also trying out distress stains and watercolours on different pages. Today was the right day to try and make my first page. Isn't it exciting how blogging extends your boundaries and makes you aware of new possibilities?

Where I live, there is a scenic railway close by that goes along the seafront - A Victorian Masterpiece and a true testimony to the spirit of Steampunk. I love the sea, so, I have made a little wibbly filmstrip railway on my first journal page to contain my first journalling words.

The girl is a Gorjuss stamp, but I changed the hair. There is lots of gold detail on the original, but, it doesn't show up so well in the photo.

Most of the swirls that I used to create my plants and pebbles with are beautiful stamps from  Close To My Heart and were a real joy to use and blended in with my doodling very happily.

Raindrops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens...

Okay...so I fibbed about the Kittens! but I was humming... 'These are a Few of my Favourite Things' a minute ago... which I was reminded of... by adding a few raindrops of Glossy Accents to the first ever grunge flower that I made myself. I finally (several years after most people) got the Tim Holtz die and I lurve it already! If you can't buy often, buy wisely when you do... and I did... and I'm so pleased with it!!

After Umbrella Man's Grand Day Out (my last blog entry) I got some lovely encouraging comments and decided to wander further into the Land of 3D, well, texture and depth anyway.

This morning, Hels Sheridan posted a gorgeous  creation which had lots of embellishments on a little shelf, I liked this idea so much, I've incorporated a shelf into this piece.

First of all, I cut a selection of flowers from muslin embossed using 'Milled Lavender Distress Ink.

After making my flower, using Glossy Accents as the glue, I added blobs onto one side of the flower to look like those lovely droplets of dew that appear in flowers first thing in the morning (love those)

Then, I used bubble wrap to stamp and emboss my background, swooshed Picket Fence Distress Stain onto it and  scored to make my little shelf

I stamped a Tim Holtz sentiment using a brown Memento Ink and Coredinations card, cut out some Graphic 45 butterflies and gathered together some tiny shells (and a big un which kept falling off). The sprigs of dried flowers on the left hand side of the card... my daughter picked up off the pavement the other day. The ribbon/lace was dyed with coffee and stuck down all around the edge with double sided tape. I had problems getting a final photo for this one, it was pouring with rain... and I had the board at an odd angle trying to catch natural light... the real card is straight... honest!

I am entering this into the 'I'll Take Your Word for it challenge over at the lovely: Funky and Frillie site
 the April Showers, Spring Flowers challenge at: Simon Says Stamp The ribbons and lace challenge over at the :Artistic Stamper and Lisa Somerville's To die for challenge...see the blog hop for how to add  your entry

Tim Holtz's Umbrella Mans Grand Day Out! AND good News

Today, I ended up making something that's sort of 3D, I've never done anything quite like this before, so I'm really pleased with it - wobbly bits and all!  I love my creations to tell a wee tale and this one is 'Umbrella Mans Grand Day Out!' His brolly is very appropriate for a day out on this blustery and wet Bank Holiday.

Over at Sunday Stampers, it is Hels Sheridan's 200th  Challenge (Numbers) and though I have only been entering for a short while, I have been a great admirer of Hels' work in Craft Stamper for a long time, so I turned my Tim Holtz clock stamp into a Ferris Wheel with the 'struts' reading 200 as a tribute to her  Congratulations Hels xx

I  used my Rogue Redhead Designs, Almanac stamp to create the  background for the scene as it is also full of numbers.  I made 3 mini steps from the front part of the card and edged them with black Memento Ink so that Umbrella man could stand under his brolly and admire the view across the bay. We have a giant Ferris Wheel on the Seafront about a mile from where I live and we also have a Marina close by, so are often treated to views of little fleets of boats bobbing by - I've even seen a few old sailing ships.

I made 2  sets of  Tim Holtz 'pen nibs' and cut them out to represent railings (I have  lasting images in my head  of seeing so many tourist sites in London through railings when I was little, especially Buckingham Palace) The nautical picture came from a very old French book that I tear up when I need text  to add to my projects... I got it at a car boot sale, it was torn and coverless, so I don't mind repurposing it!

This is my entry for the challenge at the Sunday Stampers: Numbers
It is also my entry for the favourite tool challenge at Simon Says Stamp (my embossing gun and scissors - sorry, I couldn't decide!) simon-says-use-your-favourite-tool
I am entering this into the lovely Nautical challenge over at: Fashionabl Stamping challenges
and the vintage challenge at the :The Cheerful Stamp Pad and the vintage challenge over at: Make My Monday and The April Showers Challenge at: Happy Daze


Update...Here's my good news, I won! 

 Last night I got such a thrill. I hopped (in Easter mode) over to Fashionable Stamping Challenges and found out that I  had been selected to win the last Challenge (Spring is in the Air) with this entry:.. My Spring Tag I was doing the happy Dance in my flat, I can tell you! This is a site that I love so - take a look at the samples from their DT for the current nautical challenge (there is a direct link above this paragraph) and you will be see why!  They are all gorgeous and there are a lot of them to enjoy seeing. They are kindly sponsored each week by Cottage Crafts Thank you for making me so happy!

Marks and Spencer's Sponge Roll Box..Repurposed

Yesterday, we had one of these lovely sponge rolls from Marks and Spencer. I loved the design on the packaging and it seemed too good to end up in the recycling.

So, I turned it into a bookmark.  Repurposing stuff makes me happy. Petunia was coloured with glittery red, black and pink Sakura pens, but it's dull and rainy down here so my camera didn't pick up the glitter... 

Bonnets not Bunnies and Bloggy Buddies!

   Happy Easter to you all... 


   Whatever it may mean to you, a celebration of Faith, extra days off, chocolate D.I.Y, bunnies and eggs... or a combination of all of them! 

   Hugs and blessings from my house to yours xx 
 I am not in the habit of posting quotes, but I do like a little poetry now and then! I found this one... it is actually part of a carol and was authored by the same gentleman that wrote my favourite Christmas carol (O little town of Bethlehem) 

 Tomb, thou shalt not hold Him longer;

Death is strong, but Life is stronger;  

Stronger than the dark, the light;

Stronger than the wrong, the right...

Phillips Brooks 1835 - 1893

No step by steps today, I got so absorbed making this I forgot to take any piccies at all... well apart from the one you are looking at! I used my gorgeous Rogue Redhead Designs, Milliner Misses stamps to create both the main image and sentiment... I couldn't decide which embossing folder to use on the background of the card, so I used 2 different ones!. The images were coloured with Promarkers and glittery Sakura pens.


I am entering this into the 'In your Easter Bonnet' challenge over at: Our Creative Corner (feathers, ribbons and pearls) and 'Anything Goes' over at: Just Keep On Creating

If anyone is alone today... I have extra hugs!

Tim Holtz Pen Nib Picket Fence Tag

Spring has Sprung

   When I started to get out the bits and pieces to create this tag, I was hunting to see if I had a suitable bird stamp. I did not! For someone who loves stamping as much as I do, I am woefully lacking in the stamp department, however... I have ingenuity by the bucketfull!
   Instead I cut out 2 images from a scrapbook pad (they were a plain royal blue and black) and Glossy Accented them. Part way through the drying process, I scored the wings with a needle to create a textured surface. Once everything was dry, I coloured with Promarker's.

   During my hunt,  I decided that my Tim Holtz Pen Nib stamps reminded me  a little of a fence and this igave me an idea for my tag.
   I knew I wanted to add lots of Spring things... I ended up with flowers, birds, butterflies and some cheeky little Indigoblu bunnies  (again, a freebie from Craft Stamper magazine) that snuck in there at the end.
    I also used lots of different stamping techniques which I really enjoyed - it is lovely to be able to create my own backing papers... most of this, I have learnt from blogging - thank you all!
   After lightly rubbing a plain tag with Vintage Photo and Broken China Distress ink, I used my favourite background stamp, the Almanac from Rogue Redhead Designs and Versamagic Sugarcane Ink to create a text background. I couldn't decide which embossing inks to use from the selection I had chosen, so I used all of them in different parts of the tag (Holographic, Clear, Dark Brown and a Faded Jeans Distress ink) I water splattered the tag and rubbed Frayed Burlap Distress Ink around the edges to close the tag.

I stamped a large Basic Grey floral stamp with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and embossed with holographic powder

Bird Detail showing 'scored' Glossy Accents 

My pen nib fence

Trying to show the glimmer! As ever, I had such fun making this!

Ihis to be my entry for Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of 2012 April Tag: 12-tags-of-2012-april.html
and Lisa Somerville's Blogger Challenge here: For the Birds and the Spring Challenge at: Fashionable Stamping Challenges and the 'free' theme at: Crazy Amigo's and the Spring Challenge at: Creavil Challenges
I'm not used to adding blog hop links - my comments space has moved half a mile down this page! sorry xx

Spring - A touch of Whimsy! - Gibson Girl goes to OZ

   Another beautiful day down on the South Coast of England... Spring! Even the word fills my heart with joy!
   Somewhat influenced by the Graphic45 site, where I read childhood memories relating to the Wizard of Oz, I watched the film whilst crafting - you may notice a slight influence on this project! I also have very happy memories of doing a long  tour of the Wizard of Oz around England in the late 90's when I worked as a Wardrobe Mistress in the Theatre.

   While crafting, for no apparent reason, I  found myself imagining how a 1950's TV presenter would have given the instructions for part of the project, perhaps during 'Womans Hour' If you can manage the clipped 'received pronunciation' that was 'de rigueur' on British Television during this period when reading the next paragraph... it works well!

   'Hello viewers, I do hope you have had a good day. This afternoon, we will be making a super little Spring themed project. Firstly, you will need two Flying pigs from Graphic45. Fussy cut them and add Glossy Accents to their wings... Apply with a light hand... not too much now! ... less is more'

Ah, Halcyon days indeed! And yes, I do know the Wizard of Oz had flying monkey's not pigs... I started this off in black and white (sort of) and then moved into brighter and brighter colours - Just Like The Fillum! 

The Players:

Dorothy - The Beautiful Gibson Girl

The Flying Monkey's - Graphic45 Flying Pigs

The Wizard of Oz - a T!m Holtz Gentleman

Special Mentions... The Yellow Brick Road uses Tim Holtz's mosaic technique... Thanks awfully Timothy! The part of the Balloon Basket was also played by a Tim Holtz dress form stamp

The Challenge this week over at Our Creative Corner is...'How Green is Your Spring?' Spring makes me think of new beginnings and journey's and this project is also pretty green even though my camera made the background look blue!, so I am entering!Our Creative Corner - How Green is your Spring? and also the lovely Transport challenge (Balloons and Dancing!) at:  Sunday Stampers

Anyone who has this Graphic45 paper will know it's green - very green - not according to my camera though!

Making details with Alcohol Ink

Gibson Girl - I love her expression

Making the Yellow Brick Road - Steampunk Style

You look like a balloon basket ! Come with me!