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!

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

Springtime Tag

It is very lovely weather down in Southern England... so here is a Springtime Tag... I think it has a slightly surreal vintage feel to it. I chose to use lots of coppery, gingery colours and to try things in different ways, especially my cotton reel flowers. The tag is made from the back of my Graphic 45 pad (Olde Curiosity Shoppe Collection) The Green paper is also Graphic 45. The other backing paper I made by spritzing Distress Reinker and Perfect Pearls in a Mini Mister and stamping and embossing my gorgeous Rogue Redhead Design Script Stamp in copper

I stamped and embossed a large Basic Grey clump of flowers and added some trimmed down  stamped and embossed Tim Holtz cotton reels to create my big flowers . The butterflies were cut from a Graphic 45 pad. I added a little Spiced Marmalade Distress Stickles. The Tim Holtz dress form was stamped and embossed in copper. 

And now my little bits of good news, I was so proud to be selected as the winner of the Bingo Challenge at Our Creative Corner - this has given me a much needed boost after battling this awful bout of bronchitis for so long and I am delighted to have proudly added my blinkie to my side bar.

Also, I was featured on the lovely Rogue Redhead Designs blog on March 14th  - in their Rogues on the Run design feature. Alas, I am tardy in saying Thank You so much to Sharon - Thank you. With a little help from my friends (you know who you are) I have also managed to put that blinkie proudly on my side bar too. So, in my head (my ribs still ache) I am most certainly doing the Happy Dance, even if I am not yet able to Futterwacken with the best of them! The Mad Hatters dance from Alice in Wonderland in case you are wondering LOL

I am entering this in the Copper, Ginger or Rust Challenge @ GingersnapCreations and would really like to wish them luck in their new  ventures

I am also entering this into Simon Says Stamp and Show a Tag

This week also heralds the start of a new challenge blog and I would like to wish Frilly and Funkie the very best of luck. the DT projects are glorious and I am looking forward to joining in regularly, I think I lean towards being a 'funkie' but hope to get my frills out too!!Frilly and Funkie Challenge Blog - favourite vintage style

Lastly, I am entering this into the Spring Challenge at: Fashionable Stamping Challenges A site I love to visit and with an extremely inspiring selection of DT projects

Tim Holtz 12 Months of 2012 - February

Get supplies... something to eat and drink! this is a biggie!

Exciting news on the Tim Holtz website this week. Tim has decided to introduce new monthly challenges to replace the 12 Tags of Christmas. I loved the 12 Tags... it got my blog going and was such an exciting time. I am (on reflection) delighted to have the opportunity to make things at a more leisurely pace, but also, to be able to take part in something that enables us to learn more of Tims generously shared new techniques and lets like minded crafters discover each others work and find inspiration in each other.  Thanks as ever Tim xx

To celebrate this new and exciting development, I also decided to try and document my latest project in  a little more detail. This was partly inspired by Tim and partly by  the detailed tutorials that are often produced by my lovely blogging friends Sue and Anita 

Firstly, I took a textured Grungeboard Tag and gave it a covering of Adirondak 'Snow Cap' Acrylic Paint Dabber. I sanded the edges and added a partial coating of Fired Brick Distress Stain and then stamped text using a stunning Rogue Redhead Designs Stamp (Relish Reading) twice. First in Snowcap Paint Dabber and then in London Fog Memento Ink to create a layered effect. Although I am relatively new to using them, I can honestly say that RRD stamps are of amazing quality and quite simply a joy to use. I toned the effect of the white down a little using Spun Sugar Distress Ink. Then, I inked the sanded down edges of the tag with Aged Mahogany Distress Stain.

 

I covered a  Tim Holtz Die Cut Heart with Fired Brick Distress Ink, dried this with a heat gun and then gave it a very liberal coating of Fired Brick Distress Stickles. Once this was dry, I sanded the edges and applied Aged Mahogany Distress Stain to the edges and a little more was applied to the heart itself.

My Grunge Board Cherub was created using my own nail varnish crackle technique. Firstly, I coated it in Snowcap Paint Dabber. Once this was dry, I applied a coating of clear nail polish and again left to dry. Then,  I gave it a liberal coating of Crackle Glaze Nail Polish and had lunch while I waited for it to dry! I covered the Cherub's Bow and Arrow in Platinum Stickles. This turned out quite bright, so I rubbed Aged Mahogany Distress Stain carefully across the Bow and Arrow to age them a little.

 

I absolutely love using this technique... It really does make watching paint dry fun!  I cut out Tim Holtz letters from the Seasonal Stack, distressed and inked the edges with Fired Brick and Aged Mahogany Paint Dabbers and coated with Fired Brick Distress Stickles. I die cut a border from Coredinations Whitewash Card and sanded it down lightly using a Basic Grey file. This was  stuck  down around the outside and lower edges only (so I could tuck the letters in slightly). I added a band of tissue tape to the upper part of the tag and stuck down the different elements.

The yummy jewelled embellishment thingy has been cut from an old pair of jeans bought for a song from a carboot sale at the weekend. It was the fastening at the top of the zipper! I sanded it down and aged it a little and added a large Flatback Pearl to the middle. I am so proud of that little find! Ribbon finished off the tag - done!

At the same carboot sale, I also found something very very special! I am afraid I do not know its original significance (yet!) but immediately, it had a profound meaning for me and really made me happy. One of the very best things about blogging for me has been making friends with 2 people that I am in touch with really regularly - Anita and Sue (there is a link to both of their sites near the beginning of this post) They are both really special. So... finding an old Pin Badge with the flags of both of our countries linked together was brilliant and I knew straight away what I could use it for.

Oh Yes... Quite obvious really!  Using heart shaped pebbles collected (painstakingly) over the years by my daughter and I... I made  a heart shaped 'card free card' for my pals. Ladies, this is for you xx

I am entering this tag  into the February 12 Tags of  2012, here is the link for you:
 12 Tags of 2012 
I am also entering it into the folowing challenges:
 Grungy Monday Challenge   
 Simon says Stamp and Show
Inspiration Emporium - anything goes
Texture - The Stampman
Simon Says Tag It!