Back to Black

Earlier this week I was blog hopping and found Hels Sheridans Sunday Stamper Challenge site Http://www.pinkleart.blogspot.com/2011/07-sunday-stamper-week-164-back-to-black.html Which was this week in memory of the death of Amy Winehouse and thus themed "Back to Black" after her song and album of the same title. I had often see Hels talking about this weekly challenge in her blog and thought about taking part but this week was my first time and I was inspired by the chosen theme.

So I got my thinking cap on and this is what I came up with.................an altered canvas in predominately black, with highlights of purple!I love working on canvases, but don't always have enough inspiration to create something worthwhile so I am really happy with how this one turned out. Firstly I painted the canvas in Adirodack Pitch Black Dabber and then used a Crafters Workshop mask and Dreamweaver pearlescent embossing paste to create the background. I then rubbed some purple Inka Gold around the edges to give some definition to the canvas.

The panel was a Wendy Vecchi stamp in Archival Black on white card which was then distressed and layered on the black gloss card. I double stamped the TimHoltz sentiment in Archival Black and Purple Inka Gold. The Tim Holtz "Man with Umbrella! was die cut and then stamped in White Imagination Crafts Chalkies ink with another Tim Holtz stamp! (Can you see a theme here? I adore Tim Holtz products!) I then layered it up with Pinflair Gel and adhered it to the topper. I embellished it with and Ideology clock face and spinner and raindrops created with Ranger Enamel Accents. The topper was adhered to the canvas with Pinflair over a piece of seam binding tape that had been colour altered with Inka Gold to match the project and embellised with an Ideology Philosphy Tag. I added Ideology Numerals which had been coloured with Adirondack Alcohol Inks to match the project and I chose "27" as that was Amys' age when she died. as well as Hels Sunday Stamper Challenge I am also entering this piece in the Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge http://www.simonsaysstampandshow.blogspot.com which is "Anything Goes" this week. I really enjoyed making this piece and having a theme helped get my mojo back in form! Hope you like it!

It's All About T!m

As you can probably tell I am on holidays at the moment which is why I am able to take part in these lovely challenges! It is really fun to be given a theme and get the creative juices flowing to come up with an idea for a project.

Todays effort is being entered into two challenges:The Stamp Man fortnightly challenge http://www.thestampmanchallenges.blogspot.com/

which is "All Things T!m" this fortnight andT!m Holtz Grungy Monday http://www.studiol3.blogspot.com/ whose weekly challenge this week is "Get Ready to Rock!".
So I created this little masterpiece by covering a canvas board in an old book page and distressing with distress inks. I then stamped with Dylusions border stamps and distessed the edges with Adirondack dabbers in black and gold. Once the background was finished I embellished with T!m Holtz Alterations die cuts in Grungebord which were coloured with Tim Holtz Distress Crackle paint in different colours and then coated with Rock Candy. After that they were rubbed with black dabber to bring out the cracks. I then arranged them on the background adding the T!m Holtz Ideology pieces, a couple of Creative Expressions stamped tickets, an old recalimed key, some gems and a final spritz of Prefect Pearls spray. And Voila! I call it.............."Time Flies when Creating Art!"

If you love T!m Holtz as much as I do and want to see more of his work why not head over to his blog http://www.timholtz.typepad.com

Art Stamps Edinburgh

Early last month I went to the Art Stamps Show at the Corn Exchange in Edinburgh and had a lovely time wandering around dreaming about all the craft goodies I could buy and an even better time actually buying myself more stash!

While I was there I took part in a make and take, and had a fab time putting together this canvas using the gorgeous products of my all time crafting crush T!m Holtz!

I particularly love the dress form die and just know that I will use that a lot in my crafting. I was very happy with how this turned out and I plan to try this style of crafting more in the future.

Playing with the Melt Pot

A few weeks ago I demo'ed the Suze Weinberg Melt Pot at a local craft store and for the demo I made a number of projects. This was one of them and I liked how it was quite simple with clean lines and yet at the same time it has a vintage chic look.

With this card I poured melted coloured UTEE onto a craft mat and stamped into it and also "enamelled" a paper flower by dipping it into melted clear UTEE.

I then covered a card blank with a piece of patterned scrapbooking paper, added a ribbon and Tim Holtz stamp and adhered the two finished pieces of UTEE to the card.

I like it, hope you do too.

Dangly Things!

This week I thought I would take part in the Happy Daze Design Team monthly challenge http://www.happydazedesignteam.blogspot.com/ which is aptly titled "Dangley Things" which now makes my blog title make a bit more sense! I created this kilt pin quite a while ago but was never quite that happy with it. So when I saw this challenge I dragged it out of the drawer and had another look at it to see if I could improve it. So after a bit of playing around and trying different ideas I came up with this revised pin. It has the same elements as it's initial design but I have added a fairy charm, some ideology chain and pearls and used inka Gold and black acrylic paint to age the moon and Perfect Pearls mist to added a little bit of sparkle. I am much happier with it now and hope you like it too.

How Time Flies!

Oh my goodness! I can't believe how long it is since I last put an entry into my blog! I have been such a remiss blogger and will have to try hard to remedy this flaw! lol! Even this entry is tardy in it's apperance as you can see it is the Fathers Day card I made for my husband this year, which we all know was last month. You'll be happy to hear though, that he did actually get it on Fathers Day I'm just slow at getting on here! lol!

I really enjoyed making this card as it is really just a collection of my playing and experimenting. I used my favourite background technique of alcohol inks in shades of brown and then used black embossing paste through a Crafters Workshop mask. Once it was dry I spritzed it with Prefect Pearls sprays and matted and layered it onto black gloss card and brown glitter card and a copper base card. I then embellished it with Ideology metal work, film strip, tickets and a stamped banner that was cut using a Tim Holtz die.

I am also submitting this entry in the weekly Simple Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge http://www.simonsaysstampandshow.blogspot.com/ , which is embossing this week. Now I know my card doesn't include the expected forms of dry or heat embossing but it is made up of embossing paste through a stencil, so just a twist on the theme. Hope everyone likes it. Wish me luck!

I'm quite happy with how it turned out and I hope my husband liked it too and had a nice fathers day even though I was off walking the Cancer Research Race for Life!

I have enjoyed composing this post and will now endeavor to keep my blog up to date. Thanks to you all who have persisted with me even though I have been so slack of late!