The Long Table

Sounds spooky.....it is ! Another revelation, this is my long work table in the craftroom AFTER tidying.  Yes I did say AFTER !  I started at this end and cleared loads of stuff away then ran out of space to put things so started putting them down on the table but in a different place.  I must have a hoarding instinct so ended up looking the same but different.

Really will have to have another go this week and actually put stuff away.  Anyway Julia has inspired my revelations once again this week on the WOYWW challenge No.60.

Hope you enjoy looking. Will be having a blog-hop to see yours too. See you soon with more views.

Sid xx

B is for Bird Tags

Recently there have been some fab swaps over on UK Stampers Forum and this or these (there are actually six all the same) were made to meet the challenge of using the Tim Holtz Sizzix alterations birdcage die in either a 6 x 6 inch piece or a tag.  I chose to do tags and this is how I made them.

The colour choices for the theme came about as I looked through my papers.  I had some fab pearlescent lavender card and I diecut 6 birdcages with the Big Shot.  I then chose some plaid K&Co printed card in lavender, green and blue and diecut the 6 birds.  Each bird was overstamped with a text stamp from PaperArtsy in onyx black Versafine ink and edged with wisteria chalk ink.  An eye was applied with blue glitter glue and allowed to dry.  I then started the tags with a piece of K&Co background card in mottled turquoise as the base and cut this to shape.

Next I used one of the birdcages and cut a mask to fit.  The mask was placed and the tag background was stamped with moss green Chalk ink with a distressed text background stamp (Limited Edition) to cover.

The bird and cage was applied to the masked area with glossy accents next and some blue glitter glue applied in the holes at the bottom of the cage.  Once dry some tumbled glass Distress ink was worked around the edges of the tags.

I then painted some metal letter B's with metallic sapphire acrylic paint to be used as an embellishment. Once the paint was dry I sanded away the paint from the raised letter.  I used aquamarine Stazon and a stamp from PaperArtsy to stamp the word FLY top left.  The border stamp (Green Pepper Press)  was inked with dark blue Whispers dye ink and stamped top and bottom as seen.  The background was further embellished with a leaf motif (Elusive Images) with starlight silver Brilliance ink in several places.

The metal B's were applied with Glossy Accents at the top of the cages and a purple brad added at the cage hanger. A hole was cut with the crop-a-dile and a brass eyelet applied which was then tied through with lavender narrow grosgrain ribbon in a bow.

These will be in the post tomorrow.

Sid xx

BirdSong CJ Entry

Here is a CJ entry I have completed for a Circle Journal group over on UK Stamper Forum.  The pages on this particular journal are small  and I had to use a supplied stamp in the design.  The little birdie stamp is just that !

I associated birds with song and found a music stamp which was just the right size to make a plate, linking the song with the bird.

I started with the blank white card and worked directly onto it.  I first stamped with tan Colorbox pigment ink with a swirl stamp and heat embossed with detail clear embossing powder.  Once cool I sprayed with some Moonshadow Glitz Spritz mica sprays in desert moon horny toad and royal crimson fire, drying between sprays and building up a decent mica layer.  The finish is subtle but very iridescent (unfortunately it's very difficult tp photograph because of this). 

I then took a thistlehead stamp (PaperArtsy) and inked this with Adirondack cranberry dye ink, followed by oregano ink and whilst still wet again heat embossed with detail clear EP.

Next I stamped the bird (supplied) and the music (Crafty Individuals) onto straw coloured card with Versafine onyx black ink and trimmed both images out.  I then edged both with burnt sienna chalk ink and coloured the eye blue and the beak yellow.  The images were then applied as shown with Glossy Accents with the bird holding the music in its beak.  I then edged the page with burnt sienna chalk ink and applied rub-on letters as shown.

Hope Efemera like it !!

Sid xx

3 Girls Tag

This is my weekly entry into the UK Stampers Forum weekly rolling recipe challenge.  This weeks ingredients are:

1. Numbers

2. Stamped image of a child

3. Bunting (flags, pennant)

I started with a white piece of card cut to size.  This was first stamped with a ration book stamp (Stampattack).  This was inked with archival black ink and stamped twice.  I then used Distress inks applied with cut'n'dry foam in rusty hinge and wild honey and blended to suit.  I then took a flower outline stamp (Elusive Images) and stamped this randomly with barn door Distress ink.  Whilst some of the ink was wet I heat embossed with detail gold embossing powder, giving a gold highlight to parts of the flowers.  A swirl stamp was inked with Versamark and this was heat embossed with white EP.

The other components were then made.  I took three tile stamps of girls (Crafty Individuals) and inked these with vintage sepia Versafine and stamped onto white card which was then trimmed out.  This plate was sprayed with green ink and some copper mica powder in a home-made spray and dried with a heat gun. 

The outside edges were inked with more barn door Distress ink.  The pennants were made from a hat stamp (PaperArtsy) , because I had no stamps of flags,  which was stamped several times onto white card coloured with Marvey le Plume pens in green and red and sprayed with the same green and copper mica ink.  These were trimmed out and applied onto the background with glue stick.  They were joined together with a fine brown marker across the tag.

Three red brads were added bottom left and the girl plate mounted on foam pads as shown.  Finishing touches were added with a copper eyelet (applied with the crop-a-dile) and a piece of red grosgrain ribbon tied in a bow through the hole.

Sid xx

More 'Stuff' !!

Well it's Wednesday again and time to show some of my guilty pleasures in the form of stash and my craftroom for the WOYWW blog No.59 run by the fab Julia.

Well just look at this horrendous pile of stuff !!  This was as I took the pic this morning but have only just had time to do the post, and I know I am late too.  Just piled up my latest purchases before I try to find a home for them.  You may have thought I was very tidy and organised from last weeks post but hey - bet you've changed your mind now !  Thank God I can close the door on this lot when I am not in there.

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Anyways, this shot shows a few of my plastic containers holding loads of Stewart Gill paints and other things, beads, dimensional paints, iridescent medium tubes from Daler-Rowney and my beloved Lumieres !  Think there are some of Sherrils Sorbets there in the little white coloured topped bottles on the right. Ohh and there are some fancy cutting blades in the plastic containers (middle top).

Happy crafting and will have a mooch round yours this evening.

Sid xx

'6' ATC

This vintage ATC was made using a piece of brown cardboard from a box.  It was cut to size and stamped in jet black Stazon using a Paperartsy stamp.  The colours were added with cut'n'dry foam and Distress inks in rusty hinge and mustard seed, using a swirl mask at the bottom.

Some swirls were added with an acrylic stamp and galaxy gold Brilliance ink down the right hand side and the borders were added using ruler paper and epoxy stickers.

Finally a brass No 6 was roughly stamped with a dot stamp in jet black Stazon and this was stuck in place with Glossy Accents.  The card was edged with gold Krylon pen.

Sid xx

My work area....again !

Just one picture today of a bit of my craftroom because I didn't have much time to take pics.  This little storage tower has sort of grown by adding various storage units and it looks a bit like a skyscraper on some cities skyline. It's my entry into WOYWW 58 set up by Julia HERE

I store embossing powders, Distress inkpads and foam all my Viva crackles and ferros, some brads & eyelets, decoballs, shimmer paints, some rubber, MS punches and other very mixed stuff !

Off to look at all your little crafty havens soon !

Sid xx

On a Bluebirds Back

This page is from a CJ I am taking part in.  Actually the background started life as a serendipity piece, that is a piece of plain white copier paper that I have used on my craft mat during my craft sessions.  It has picked up allsorts of images and colours etc.from my other crafty sessions in a totally random way.  I always save these background sheets because they sometimes can provide inspiration and look great too on other projects.

I have helped complete this page using Distress inks in similar colours to the background to fill in any gaps and edges once the background had been stuck onto the backing card of the page. Some Ranger gold acrylic dabber was added also.

The bird was a supplied stamp with the CJ that had to be used and it was selectively coloured with Marvey brush markers in light blue, blue, bottle green & yellow, stamped onto white card, spread with a waterbrush and heat embossed with clear UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel) which gave it a great shine and enhanced the colours.  I trimmed out the image and cut off the feet.  The feet on the stamp were then inked with Stazon black ink and stamped directly onto the page.  The cut-out was then positioned and stuck in place with Glossy Accents.

The word stamp (Paperartsy) was inked in azure Stazon and stamped onto white card which was coloured with the same Marvey brush marker colours as on the bird and spread with a water brush.  The coloured words were then put through the Big Shot using a slide mount die from Sizzix.  The two components were then inked with Versamark and again heat embossed with clear UTEE.  The centre stuck in place and the outside frame raised on foam pads and applied directly over the centre.

An 'on the edge' TH Sizzix die (Artistic Stamper)  was used to cut a border in white card and this was inked with chocolate brown Impress die ink and gone over with frayed burlap Distress ink applied with cut'n'dry foam.  This was applied on the right edge as shown.  Finally another Paperartsy bird and grasses stamp was inked in black Stazon and stamped twice at the bottom of the page.  Dark green chalk ink was used to edge the page.

Suprising how useful those serendipity backgrounds can be !  Why not try it?

Sid xx

The Big Wait ATC

This is my entry for the latest Wednesday Stamper challenge whose theme is 'Gone Fishing'.

I am definately not a fisherman............ but my Dad was and all I can really remember about the times when he took me fishing with him as a child was the waiting for a bite !  The endless waiting !

So when I saw the theme I couldn't resist doing this ATC.  I took some white card cut to size and used some Hero Arts graphic shapes stamps to colour in the water using Memento inks in danube blue, new sprout, bamboo leaves & cottage ivy.  The ink is transparent so you can build up  a depth with overstamping (remembering to clean your stamp between colours of course).

The sky was done next with a square shape and summer sky Memento overlapping bits to give depth.  Once happy I stamped an oval stamp with Versamark and heat embossed this with dark pink embossing powder, trimming out and cutting in half to represent the float.  This was stuck in place and a point was drawn in using a permanent black pen.  Some ripples were drawn in with the white pigment pen. The line was drawn in with a straight edge and gold sparkle Gelly Roll pen.

The letters and words were cut from a magazine and stuck in place and the ATC was edged with emerald green chalk ink.

Sid xx

Child Of Our Time Tag

This tag is No.25 in the UK Stampers Rolling Recipe Weekly Challenge.  The recipe this week is:

1. Something shiny

2. Numbers

3. Stamped image of a child

I started with a piece of white card cut to size.  This was liberally covered in crushed olive Distress ink applied with cut'n'dry foam.  I then used the flourish mask from TH and rubbed over with chipped sapphire Distress ink until the desired image was obtained. I left some areas still showing the original colour.

Next I used a numbers plate from Paperartsy and stamped with moonlight white Brilliance ink top and bottom as shown.  I then took another numbers corner stamp from Paperartsy and stamped this in coffee bean Brilliance ink in the bottom right corner.

Next I used a TH Sizzix 'on the edge' die and diecut some printed ruler paper with the Big Shot and applied this piece centrally across the tag.

The child plate was made by inking another Paperartsy stamp with chipped sapphire Distress ink and heat embossing this with Clear UTEE.  Once cool the image was torn out and coloured with crushed olive and chipped sapphire Distress inks. This was mounted on foam pads and stuck in place as shown.

Finally I added some shiny epoxy numbers top and bottom, applied some lime grosgrain ribbon through an eyelet done with the crop'a'dile and applied a pewter metal corner to the bottom of the tag.

Simples !

Sid xx

Greens & Oranges

This piece was done as an experiment using two base colours along with collage, stamping and embossing.  I didn't plan what I did, just used elements that fitted the colourway and completed the whole thing in one session.

I started with a piece of printed paper from Graphicus and then used Brilliance inks in pearlescent icy and moonlight white applied to a piece of bubblewrap and used as a stamp.  I then made up a strong spray with shabby shutters distress reinker in a mini mister and sprayed this so it ran down the page before drying with a heat gun. I stamped the arch (top left) using a Paperartsy stamp in onyx black versafine ink over some of the bubblewrap stamping.

Next I pinched a glossy orange flower image from a Crafty Individuals postcard and trimmed it out edging the cut areas with orange chalk ink.  This was put through the Big Shot using a Cuttlebug circles embossing folder to provide some texture.  The flower was then loosely stuck in place with some of the petals lifted.

Next I stamped another Paperartsy arch in rhubarb stalk Memento ink and coloured this with shabby shutters Distress ink applied with cut'n'dry foam and then sprayed with the same colour.  This was dried with a heat gun, trimmed out and stuck in place over the flower as shown.

The white bottom border was made by stamping onto heat resistant acetate with a border stamp and Versamark ink and heat embossing with white embossing powder.  This was trimmed and applied with Glossy Accents at the base.

The centre of the flower was then decorated with orange glass glitter held in place with Glossy Accents and some gold Dew Drops (3d Jean) also applied with Glossy Accents.  The words were printed, trimmed out and coloured with tangerine Impress dye ink and edged with maroon chalk ink before sticking in place.

The whole plate was then edged in maroon chalk ink and matted onto a piece of Basic Grey backing paper which had been stamped with onyx black Versafine ink with a square lattice stamp from My Minds Eye.  The mat was also edged with maroon chalk ink to finish.

I wondered whether it was a bit too fussy when I finished it but when I came back to it next day it looked ok.  I think you get visual overload when working on a project from start to finish in one go !

Sid xx

Paris Tag

This tag is number 24 in the Rolling Recipe Tag Challenge over on the new and upgraded UK Stampers Forum.  This weeks ingredients were:

1. Something shiny

2. Numbers

3. Paris

The tag was cut from white cardstock and a numbers background stamp (PaperArtsy) was inked with onyz black Versafine ink and stamped at the top of the tag.  I then took a swirls stamp (Trimcraft - My Minds Eye) and inked this with Memento ink in summer sky and danube blue and stamped randomly at the base.  The tag was then sponged with cut'n'dry foam and shabby shutters Distress ink.

Next an Eiffel tower stamp from Paperartsy was inked with hydrangea blue Impress dye ink and the image stamped onto more white cardstock which was then cut out.  The image was coloured in the background with Versamagic pretty petunia chalk ink.  This plate was then stuck in place onto the tag as shown.

I had some sticky backed striped metalised border paper and I used this with the Big Shot and a Tim Holtz alterations fanciful flight die to cut out the body and two wings of the butterfly.  The backing was removed and the bits stuck in place.  The spaces in the wings were infilled with diamond Stickles glitter glue.

Final touches were added by applying three lilac heart brads, some flat backed lilac hearts at the bottom and the word 'Paris' which had been coloured with shabby shutters Distress Ink.

Sid xx