The Stamp Man - Vintage

Welcome to another Friday Stamp Man challenge where this week we want you to show us anything vintage.

I am into Spring colours at the moment and decided to use my new Artemio stamps, purchased from

 the Stamp Man on-line store, and create a vintage postcard.

Supplies

Tim Holtz Distress Inks - Tumbled Glass, Spun Sugar, Shabby Shutters, Vintage Photo

Tim Holtz Distress Markers - Victorian Velvet, Peeled Paint, Broken China, Brushed Corduroy, Antique Linen

Stamps - Artemio Butterfly Collage, Tim Holtz - Mini Classics, Shabby French and City Central

Ranger Black Archival stamp pad

As always there is a chance of winning a £10 voucher to spend with The Stamp Man, so let's see what you are creating in a vintage style this week.

Apologies that I am a bit MIA again at the moment, school really is taking up so much of my time and I have another workshop today at The Art of Craft, so blogging has taken a back-seat this week I am afraid.

Anyway I hope you have a great Friday. Take care.

hugs {brenda} xox

Gingersnap Creations Visiting Artist 1

Hi Everyone

So this is my second bit of news - yes I have been asked to be a Visiting Artist for a second time at Gingersnap Creations. How amazing is that? This is the last month of challenges as both Ali and Shar are off to do different things and as you know Shar is starting Unruly PaperArts and I am going to be one of the Columnists, so there's a great link for me.

So the theme at Gingersnaps this week is 'Granny's Photo Album' and I have taken this title literally. I have made a tag book and included photos of my Mum and her family circa 1930 - 1940. 

My Mum probably about aged 16.

The tag backgrounds were done with the wrinkle free distress technique then stamped with the flowers and I used the same DIs to just lightly paint them in which has given them more form. In-between I cut tags using baking parchment and used a flourish stamp with Stazon and a small one with Flitter glue and gilding flakes.

Mum was fifth out of seven children. Here she is at the front with brothers, sisters and cousins.

My Mum's Mum - My Granny.

I loved making this - book making is what I have been doing the longest, and it was great to include old family photos.

Have fun with your vintage project and photo album theme.

hugs {brenda} xox

Steampunk Débutante tag

Hi All

I have some of those fabulous Graphic 45 papers which I tend to 'stroke' rather than play with, but have decided they must make more of a showing and of course one of my new year resolutions is to use more of my supplies, so I am hitting that one still.

The tag was covered with some gold, flower embossed paper and I used both the Steampunk Débutante and Le Romantique Graphic 45 paper pads for the elements. 

To add to that, this includes a stamp by Andy Skinner, a couple of Memory Box dies and a flower made with a Spellbinders die. 

Oh and the little black flower on the top hat is an earing. 

The earing and the butterflies were heat embossed.

I know it doesn't look much but it's taken me a whole weekend to put this together - why do I always spend so much time, cutting, changing, re-arranging and re-designing things????

So I hope it brings a little inspiration to some-one.

 thought  would also share a couple of pics from my workshop on Saturday. These great ladies made a mini album with me ready to take home and add their photos.

Joan, Debs, Carol and Pat.

I need to take some photos of my album to show you too.

Have a great week.

hugs {brenda} xox

PanPastels - use a stamped image

With the theme at PanPastels UK this week, I wanted to use a new stamp set called 'School Days' from Oxford Impressions and the embossed ink layering technique worked perfectly for this. I lost count of how many stamped and masked layers of the Panpastel colours there are, but I love the finished product.  In fact I made four of these tags and each one is different.

No embellishments, just fabulous PanPastels used with embossing ink and stamping.

Show us your stamped images and be in with a chance of a fabulous set of PPs from our sponsor 

Your Creativity Store.

Enjoy and thanks for taking the time to visit me.

luv and hugs {brenda} xoxox                      

The Stamp Man ATC Swap - Hopes and Dreams - and dreams do come true

My hope and dream is to go to Paris. I can't believe I have never been. I studied Toulouse Lautrec at college and even then wanted to go visit the Moulin Rouge and see Les Folies Bergere. I just loved the poster of his muse Jane Avril who was one of the star dancers at the Moulin Rouge in the 1890's.

This is my ATC for the Stamp Man swap and my interpretation of my hope and dream to visit Paris one day.

Supplies

Distress Inks - Seedless Preserve, Dusty Concord, Worn Lipstick, Black Soot, Chipped Sapphire

Stamps - Tim Holtz Mini Classics, Paper Relics Birthday Fortune

Tim Holtz paper stash - Vintage Shabby, Lost and Found

I have decided that I am going to try and make an ATC when I make a card or project, you know what it's like you always have bits and pieces left over, why not use them to make smaller pieces of art? Perhaps you could do the same and enter our swap this month. Pop over to the main blog and see what you need to do, it's so easy.

I wish that your hopes and dreams come true for the month of March.

Let go of the past and go for the future.

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.

Live the life you've imagined.

- Henry David Thoreau

hugs {brenda} xox

Workshop this Saturday at The Art of Craft - We will be making a mini album - photos to follow later.

Update 12.50
This was posted at 12.00 mid-day. How spooky is this???????
My husband rang me at 12.20 and told me I have to keep Friday 17th March clear in my diary. I had arranged to work that day and told him it would be difficult.
My birthday is on the 19th and guess what???????
He has arranged to take me to Paris for the weekend as my birthday present.
He didn't know anything about the ATC - honest.
I am now so excited.
xoxox

My News

OK so now I can 'let that cat out of the bag' (I bet he feels better!!) and tell you that I have been asked to be a regular columnist for the brand spankin' new, rule breaking blogozine called 'UNRULY PAPERARTS' and I am so happy to be a member of the team for this new and exciting venture led by Shar (Gingersnap Creations fame).

If you haven't yet seen the blog you can find it at Unruly PaperArts (click the link) to find out what it is all about, but not only is it new, it is fresh and different and exciting. So do pop over and take a look.

I am going to be amongst some uber talented artists who create the most amazing works of art and together collectively will be sharing an incredible range of styles and genres. Can you tell I am excited? My column will be called 'Eclectic Elements' because that to me is where I am at. I love a range of styles, I love to experiment constantly with new techniques and I adore making cards, altering things, creating canvases and generally getting inky.

I hope you will please come and join us when we get started, you will be able to submit articles or projects as a guest contributor, you can participate in one of the unruly art dares and you can read articles, find tutorials and generally immerse yourself in all things arty. The first 'Front Cover' will be coming out on April 1st.

Take care and most of all have fun with your art.

hugs {brenda} xox

PanPastels - Use a ribbon

It's Sunday, my second post for today and another PanPastel UK challenge, so I hope you will join us with a project that has ribbon on it and be in a with a chance of winning a fabulous set of PanPastels from our generous sponsor - Your Creativity Store.

Both patterned square pieces were first covered lightly with PPs. The top piece then stamped with a Darkroom Door background stamp in cranberry and on the other piece the flourish was stamped in eggplant.

I love the Wendy Vecchi dress form and have used it simply on it's own as the main image, but added lots of ribbon, tied in a bow and made ribbon roses for embellishments.

Have a wonderful Sunday. Are you doing anything exciting today?

luv and hugs {brenda} xoxox

Fashionable Stamping Challenges - For a child

Hello, it's Sunday and another fab challenge at FSC. The theme for you for the next fortnight is to create something for a child. My two little grandaughters will both be having birthdays in the summer so I decided to make a card for one of them.

The stamp is Molly Blooms and one of several that I won at Sir Stampalot last year. 

Now I don't do cute so this had to be made to look 'vintagey', I think I succeeded. Papers are from the mariposa stack, desert blooms, DCWV naturals and costco - what a mix eh?

The shabby ribbon I died myself to the colours I wanted, the rosette is a TH die but I cut it narrower to make it smaller than the original and the bunting I made by hand.

The DT have created some magnificent samples for you as usual and you could be the winner of a voucher from Cottage Crafts (details on the main blog), but of course you have to be 'in it to win it' as they say, so I hope to see you over there.

I had a fabulous day demoing at The Art of Craft yesterday, lots of TH techniques using distress inks and some really lovely ladies who wanted to know more about how to use them.

 I have some amazing news to share, but can't let the cat out of the bag just yet.

Enjoy your Sunday and thanks for taking the time to visit me.

hugs {brenda} xox

The Stamp Man - Colours of Spring/Easter

Hi Everyone

This is a scheduled post as I am at the Five craft show at Farnborough today and tomorrow I will be demoing all day at The Art of Craft shop, just down the road from the Five show, so if you are in the area do pop in and see me, it would be lovely to see blogging friends. Jane (store owner) will be at the show, so if you are not sure where the shop is pop over to her stand and she will give you directions, but I can assure you it is less than a mile away.

This tag is my take on Tim's Tag 10 of the 12 Tags of Christmas 2011. Have you seen he's not going to do them anymore BUT HE IS doing 12 tags of 2012. So cool. I've got to get into these now.
Did you see him on QVC? I spent a bit of money on Tuesday - but never mind.
In fact some of the things have already arrived.

Supplies -

Stamps - Spiralling floral bkg by B Line, Natures Moments by Tim Holtz

Tim Holtz Seasonal paper stash

Distress inks - Bundled sage, Victorian Velvet, Aged Mahogany

Dies - Tattered Banners, Tattered Florals, Mini Florals, Typeset

Distress Stains - Victorian Velvet, Wild Honey

I hope you can join us at The Stamp Man for our new challenge and be in with a chance of winning a £10 voucher to spend at Jill's store. Please go take a look at the amazing inspiration from the design team, their wonderful art will surely get you kick started.

Hope you have a fabulous weekend.

hugs {brenda} xox

PanPastels - Animals

Hi Everyone

Today I want to show you how to create a vintage feel to your image and background. This is my DT piece for the PanPastel UK challenge this week and as you can see the theme is animals. So let's see what you can do, you don't have to use PanPastels to be eligible to enter.

The card used for the back of the stamped giraffe image is Bazzil Basics in a weathered wood colour, covered with magenta, orange and turquoise shade PanPastels. I just love the texture it has created. Stamps are from TH Papillon and Katzelkraft Cirque 01. The main images stamped in timber brown Stazon first then masked off to stamp the background with iced spruce DI. Sealed with Daler Rowney fixative and then embossed all over with clear embossing powder.

The backing paper was made from a piece of patterned DP which was then given the embossing ink through a mask and PanPastels turquoise added and fixed, then over-stamped with a dotty stamp using fresco finish vintage lace paint. 

The blue squared effect is the PPs on top of the DP.

The other pieces for the backing have been distress edged and inked. The rosette has been topped with a vintage elephant image downloaded from the Graphics Fairy in a bottletop.

PanPastels can really give you so much more depth to your papers and can also enable you to produce fabulous vintage effects. If you haven't tried them yet watch out for a give-away I will be doing soon, you never know you might be the proud owner of some. Or if you can't wait why not pop over to Your Creativity Store to see the colours and get a fantastic price on them.

Next week we create a completely different look and use mirri-board in two different ways to create a shabby feel to a card. There is one technique I prefer over the other though.

luv and hugs {brenda} xoxox