Skinny ICAD for Coco

Dear Coco won my give-away of the ICAD envelope a little while ago and for some reason her emails didn't get through to me, even after I had emailed her, I found out later that I had blocked them duh!!!!! Thank goodness Coco contacted Nicola of Paper Profusion who acted as a ‘go-between’ and helped us get the link going so that I could at last get Coco’s little win in the post to her. Thanks for that Nicola, you did a great job.

I made this little skinny or ICAD to go inside the envelope and I know Coco has received it now so I can share it here.

It fitted beautifully inside the envelope that you can see here.

Hope your week has started well . 

hugs {brenda} x0x

Letters for Country View Crafts

 Country View Crafts has a new challenge starting today with the theme of ‘Letters’, chosen by yours truly. I have taken the slant of using the meaning of stationery as well as using letters themselves in my project.

I am using this wooden letter holder for my project and as you can see it’s been stuffed with tags and has been sitting next to my workspace ready for me to grab a new one or a mop-up when I need one. Now it looks like …….

….. this.




Process

• Paint wooden rack with gesso or white acrylic paint to give a key and to prime the wood.

• roughly paint with Decoart quinacridone violet and black acrylic paint to give a coloured crackled effect.

• Use modelling paste through a mask

• scrape Decoart weathered wood crackle medium over using a palette knife

• when dry paint over using distress paints and watch the crackle appear

• make the word letters from foil card, running it through an embossing folder and layering it with distress paints.

• Add alcohol inks and blending solution over the top to create colour interest and edge with black DP. Die-cut the letters.

• Use the same method on the pediment.

• Gather other die-cuts together, paint, crackle and add wax gilt

• stamp with lack archival, use gold TG on the textured letters and add the die-cut embellishments

• I added a small letter B on the pediment.

Now I can use this letter holder for what it was intended for.

 

Supplies

Ranger foil card

Alcohol inks – copper. gold. cranberry, snowcap, espresso

Distress Paints – walnut stain, black soot, antique linen, weathered wood

Distress Ink Re-Inkers – vintage photo, walnut stain, antique linen

Dies – Movers and Shapers -  mini feather and inkwell, mini typewriter, Bigz – writing desk,  pediments

Stamps – TH – mini classics, purely random, shabby french and one that Tim gave us when he did the retail day in Coventry.

TH embossing folder – note book

TH mask – cargo

Treasure gold, TG wildfire, TG pewter

Decoart weathered wood crackle medium and Quinacridone Violet paint.

It would be lovely if you could join in with us this month, if so pop over to the challenge blog to read the rules and see the amazing inspiration from the rest of the lovely team. If you would like any of the supplies I have used you will find most of them on the Country View Crafts shop site.

I am taking the opportunity to enter this into the Simon Monday Challenge which is anything Goes.

I hope you had a great Halloween, it’s the run-up to Christmas and now the fun really begins.

Enjoy your weekend, I am doing a workshop this morning and looking forward to seeing my great group of ladies. Today we are making a Christmas tag card..

hugs {brenda} x0x

Halloween inspired journal pages

I used stamp plate CI-286, Abbeys and Arches and CI-077, Three Gentlemen to make these Finnabair styled pages for the October themed challenge at Crafty Individuals this month. I loved playing with the crazy stamping technique again, particularly around the gents, but because I used black card for the background I stamped with picket fence distress paint. Love it.

A double spread, created together, but each page can stand as an individual too.

I used the images separately to create the composition on the left page……

…. adding rusted calico fabric and other elements.

Even some of the thread from the weave of the fabric got stuck on as well.

Splats with the distress paint, a spray of Dylusions white linen ink and some copper mica spray over the background.

Stamped ephemera and TH chit chat stickers.

I used a chalk pencil to outline the images and to doodle and scribble in places too.

The iron gate on the edge die created that spooky look at the bottom of the pages, with more rusted elements.

These pages were great fun to make and if you have a Halloween project on your blog, leave me a message and I will be able to pop over to take a look.

Thanks for joining me today

hugs {brenda} x0x

Golden Days of Autumn for Crafty Individuals

My piece today celebrates those golden autumnal hues of autumn when the browns and golds are bordering on the frosts and snows of Winter and is made for the Crafty Individuals October challenge.

The background was prepared on kraft card edged with gesso and a coating of gesso stained with distress stains over it.

The stamp is CI 287 and depicts the trees when the leaves have fallen and they form a golden covering on the ground.

Metal embellishments fit in with the theme of crunchy, crispy and fading foliage that we love to kick around on those gorgeous breath making walks on frosty days when the air is still and light mists hover in the air.

October gave a party;
The leaves by hundreds came -
The Chestnuts, Oaks, and Maples,
And leaves of every name.
The Sunshine spread a carpet,
And everything was grand,
Miss Weather led the dancing,
Professor Wind the band.
~George Cooper, "October's Party"

I hope your Sunday is going well. Have a great day and thanks for stopping by.

hugs {brenda} x0x

Tim’s Tags of 2013 – October

Got my October tag done and loved making this Halloween one using distress glitter, for the details how to apply it pop over to Tim’s blog to see his great tags and the instructions for distress glittering and distress paint marbling, which is what I used for the background on my tag.

I also used the tarnished silver technique learnt on the Creative Chemistry 102 course, just love the effects on bottles. makes them look like old mercury.

I used The Chemist stamp set for the text in the background ……

…. and Simple Sayings for the sentiment ……

……and  the woodgrain embossing folder for texture on the shelf,

Distress glitter was used on the inkwell,

quill, bottle top,

skull and pediment, which are all from TH dies except the skull which is from tando creative.

Entering this to Tim’s collection for October.

We are off to Birmingham today for a long weekend, I hope you enjoy whatever you have planned. Take care and have fun.

Thanks for stopping by to see my Tim tag.

hugs {brenda} x0x

Funkie Junkie 12 Tags of Christmas #5

My next Christmas card for Linda’s fabulous challenge at The Funkie Junkie came about by taking these things as inspiration from her tag – a script stamp and Santa image (TH Listen to Santa), a frame (TH Ornate Frame) and a crinoline tattered poinsettia with snowflake.

The background is distress paint resist.

The frame was cut in silver but then covered with vintage photo distress embossing powder.

I used Barn Door DI to colour the crinoline poinsettia petals..

A remnant rubs sentiment, bow and charm finish the look.

Linda has the full details of this challenge on her tag 1 post but in essence make a tag or card etc. and take something as inspiration from Linda’s tag for your own make, link this up to her post and enter all 12 challenges by December 22nd to be eligible for the draw. Linda is very generous with her prizes so you could win a $50 or $25 voucher to her on-line store ‘The Funkie Junkie Boutique’ and even get 10% discount over January 2014.

I hope you have been having a good week. I have been out in the garden getting the autumn tidy up underway, but there is still alot of colour from the summer bedding as you can see.

But the autumnal colours are beginning to show.

And this was the last pear off the tree.

And what an incredible sky the other night.

Have a great end to the week and a fabulous weekend. We are going to see friends in Birmingham who became grandparents a few months ago and we are going to the Christening on Sunday. I have made a card and hope to show you that next week.

Take care and thanks for stopping by.

hugs {brenda} x0x