I've just crafted my coat!

I've just crafted my coat! well parts of it anyway... other large chunks of it have been added to the craftly stash of materials as I am increasingly drawn to crafting with fabric. Last week I found a really shabby coat at a car boot sale, but it was made of a beautiful thick woollen fabric and (as an ex Warbrobe Mistress I know about this stuff, having made a few cracking errors myself in the washing department) I think someone might have washed it by hand and then tried to tumble dry it!! Well, they nearly felted it!
All I know for sure is that it cost pennies and dye cuts Sizzix flowers beautifully. I also think it's amazing what some folks consider saleable... on the other hand, I bought it, so what do I know! The larger flower dye is my beloved Tattered Florals Tim Holtz Die and the smaller flower dye is a Green Sizzix original which I think is gorgeous and I love it, love it, love it!  I've cut loads of these from the coat material and shall be glittering in earnest for the next few nights. If you haven't tried this technique, I highly recommend it, it's a huge amount of fun, you will end up with unique flowers that you can colour coordinate perfectly with your projects and it costs next to nowt! Speshully if you make them out of old coats that someone else ruined! 

I fear I may have single handedly caused a world glitter shortage in the last couple of nights! After dye cutting I added Stickles and Distress Stickles to the flowers (pretty!) I've been trying to get stuff together ready to make a few  Halloween projects. Something I haven't really done much of. So far, I had marshalled up some of my old bits from forsaken projects (I'm such a squirrel), some heavy felt bottles laboriously cut from an old  Halloween gift bag (love these). I painted an empty chocolate box brown and used the Perfect Pearl mist on the background, which is now mostly covered up. I was just putting everything away for the evening, when I started playing... I liked how it all looked chucked into the box, so, I messed around a little more and 'Ta Dah'... a project, well sort of! I liked it, so I took a piccie or two and here it is.  Everything is just laid down, not stuck, so I will be able to re use them on bigger projects.  

By the way, that's real wax on the candles, I made  that for a 12 tagss of Christmas tag last year and borrowed it! I shall be entering this into several challenges.Blogger's Challenge (alter it, my choccie box)  Studio L3 (Lord Tim's Perfect Pearls Mist) and Our Creative Corner (Nature and Bling)
Technique Challenge 16 Linda's challenge at Studio L3
Bling, Bling and an item from nature Our Creative Corner
Alter It, Bloggers challenge (altered choccie box)
Tim Holtz's Website, love it!
The postie has just been and I got a lovely surprise, Craft Stamper sent me a copy of the edition that I have been published in, I am still child like in my glee at getting published. I firmly believe that we all need dreams, both large and small and that the clearer we can see these dreams, the more the universe can oblige and help them to happen. Well, this was such a dream of mine and bless Katy Fox for making it happen.

EDIT:  I have just seen a feature on the Sizzix website called 'I Spy Saturday' and am going to add this as I used so many Sizzix products here, When don't I?! Sizzix - I Spy Saturday

Recycled Satsuma Net Fairy

I stamped brightly coloured ink on photo paper and die cut a dress form and stamped a Stampers Anonymous Butterfly (for my wings) I added bling with Stickles and recycled the plastic netting that held a bag of Satsuma's to make her skirt. I dyed some beads with alcohol ink to make her belt. I will wait to add a sentiment until I need to use it.

Rainbow Fairy Party Dress

I am entering this into the Simon Says Stamp and Show Show a Kaleidoscope of Colour Challenge Here

Spring - Vintage Tim Holtz Bunny Tag/Card

Just a cute little vintage tag made out of bits and pieces and to be used as a Easter Card

Stamped and embossed  ATC background -  Alas though,  most of it got covered up by the cute little Tim Holtz bunny! The bunny was highlighted using Glossy Accents and Rock Candy Stickles.

The background tag was left over from the 12 days of Christmas - ghost stamped, embossed and crackled

I messed around with different backgrounds, unfortunately, this one makes my last addition, the tassel fringe look as long as the tag itself - which tisn't!

I am entering this into the Tag Challenge at Simon Says Stamp and show
and the Spring challenge at  Fashionable Stamping Challenges
and the Easter challenge at Bloggers Challenge

Love Is In The Air

A romantic lady dreaming of her Valentine, created on a wet and windy evening in Brighton. Though the forecast is for heavy snow, it is pouring with rain and blowing a bit of a gale outside. So, I snuggled up and created this. Coloured in Promarkers and lots of added black and silver grey glitter to highlight the details. The heart was stamped using part of a forest stamp (!) and then glossy accented and glittered.

The lady came from the huge box of images that my daughter uses to create collages (her favourite art form) She has collected magazine clippings etc for the last 3 years. Even junk mail gets scoured for suitable bits 'n' bobs for collaging! Sorry I cannot be more specific about the lovely Regency lady.

More detail

I am entering this in the Our Creative Corner Challenge.
Love Is In The Air - A Recipe Challenge
and the  Oldie but Goodie Challenge
and the CABC Challenge - Love is in the Air
and the Delicious Doodles Challenge - all loved up!
and the Joanna Sheen, love-is-in-air-challenge

Tim Holtz - 12 tags of Christmas - the leftovers!

I decided to use up all the 'scrips and scraps'  I had left over after the 12 days of Christmas marathon...though anyone following my blog will know I made most everything very happily 'out of scraps' in the first place. I was happy with this tag because I tried out several of Tim's techniques on this one that I had never tried out before. Who knew there was so much you could do with a stamp! Not me for sure. I was so pleased with my drippy candle, it looks good in real life!

My little altered angel atop the tree

The Angel I made a few weeks ago (my very first post) has made it onto the tree! she looks really cute, I grabbed a hasty shot on the camera and realised I had also captured a mixed media canvas that my talented daughter made when she was 13!! it is so cool that I grabbed a photo - she is very talented and I am always so proud of her.

One of my daughter's canvasses -done when aged 13

12 Tags of Christmas, Tag 12 - Thank you Tim and Mario!

I loved Tim's tag so much that later I am going to buy white tissue and have a go at that flower....and possibly make more tags and add them to this post, but for now, this is it!  I sanded Coredinations Whitewash Card, used Memento ink in London Fog to faintly stamp the text and reindeer/sleigh. I die cut a pretty shape to go on the bottom part of the tag. Sanded and swooshed a 'freehand cut' house shape with Walnut Stain Distress Ink and added a liberal dash of the 2nd best EVER product in the craft world, Rock Candy Stickles (the 1st being Vintage Photo Distress ink) to everything. Finished off with snowflake and stamped girl, Tim Tickets and a sentiment sticker from K&Co

Right now I need to finish knitting a scarf and sew the ends in on another one!

THANK YOU TIM, THANK YOU MARIO, THIS HAS BEEN  ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!. I'm sure lots of people echo this sentiment.  For a new blogger, this was, just the perfect opportunity. I have seen some inspiring blogs, started to make crafty friends and gained  a measure of confidence in my work...most of this is new to me



I craft a lot...I invite anyone to join me on my happy meanderings through blog land, company would be great! I do have a follower button and would adore to meet more of you - thank you so much for your comments - they have thrilled me so much and I appreciate each and every one of them.

Twelve Days of Christmas 9 - Oh Little Tree

Wow - I was so blown away by the techniques in today's installment of Tim Holtz's blog that several hours into playing with the new techniques - and making funky little samples,  I realised that I hadn't actually made a tag at all! So this one was made in a happy rush.

 I have just remembered, I have a set of Basic Grey Stamps with a great tree branch and owls...ooh hurry up tomorrow! So many tags, so little time.

My photo doesn't do this justice at all and I have no editing software. Never mind - it is very sweet in 'Real Life' I don't own many background stamps, but used Fired Brick, Vintage Photo (my favourite of my little collection) and Peeled Paint Distress inks, clear Embossing Powder and Ranger Black Embossing Powder to create the upper part of the tag. The stamp is one of my favourites - it is from Hobby Art Ltd. The photo makes the top of the tree look more orange than the original.Lastly, I added a mix of Diamond and Rock Candy Stickles onto the tree -they/re still wet in the picture, I was too impatient to wait for them to dry!

I hope you are enjoying the 12 Days of Christmas - I'm loving it!

I hope you all have a great weekend. Anna x