Nautical themed tag - Textures

Hi Everyone

I’ve had the dentist today and after having had about 3 years with an allergy that affects my mouth and gums, at last things are improving. My gums are now healthy again, but I still have the allergy effects – but hey ho that’s nothing to worry about.


Well I am so pleased to sat that my Milliners Catalogue won at Delicious Doodles last week and I got to choose 5 of their digi images. Now most people know I am moving right away from digis but Teri has some great ones in her store and I have used one on my tag today.  

I am so into texture at the moment and Neil demoed a great scrumpled paper technique on Sunday at The Craft Barn, I thought I would use it straight away.
My inspiration came from the digi itself, but also these challenges and of course the amazing Tim Holtz.

Delicious Doodles – Texture
Simon Says Stamp and Show – A tag
Grungy Monday 10 – Distress Inks – Colours used are barn door, stormy sky, victorian velvet and walnut stain.
The Kraft Outlet – It’s a guy thing  


The scrumpled paper technique includes distress stains, distress inks, Inca Gold in pink.

The image I coloured with Promarkers and I downloaded the fish from the Graphics Fairy, cutting some of them out to use as embellishments and a piece of it I covered with gesso and stamped the ‘coming home’ over it.
The ship’s compass is from the TH salvage stickers and I added more texture with some little stones and micro beads which look a bit like sand.


To complete it all I added the TH spinner, threaded up the fish to look as they had been caught with a fishing line and a little piece of net in the top.

I am really pleased with this and I am going to ‘collect’ tags with a variety of different textured backgrounds and see if people would like a class learning how to do them.

Thanks for stopping by.

luv and hugs {brenda} xoxox

Other challenges to have fun with -
Creative Inspirations – Father’s day or Dad
One Stop Craft Challenges – Texture
Samuel Taylors – Male
Stampin’ Vacation – What a Guy - Fishing

Ribbon Booklet Freebie and Tutorial

Hi Everyone

Do you like making Mini Albums? Well today I have a free mini album cover for you and a tutorial on how to put it together. It is a booklet designed by myself and Chris Warner about 5 years ago and was destined to go on one of her CDs, I don’t think it quite made it as she no longer designs or makes CDs due to illness.

If you saw my Millinery Catalogue (click to bring it up), I made it using this template but this one already has patterned covers for you. It can be printed onto A4 paper and away you go.

Supplies needed
1. Front and back cover plus one of the spines. (There are two available to you depending on whether you want a plain or patterned one).
2. Ruler, scissors, knife, scoring tool, sellotape and glue.
3. Ribbon to tie the book up with.

 Ribbon Booklet Front Cover

Ribbon Booklet Back Cover

Ribbon Booklet Patterned Spine

Ribbon Booklet Plain Spine

To make the booklet up -
1. Print off both covers and spine.
2. Score folds for both covers.

3. Cut into fold to create a gap for the ribbon to go through and secure with sellotape. 

4. Fold flaps and glue down – you have created pockets for your pages to go in.

5. Take spine and fold where score lines are shown. Fold and glue side flaps to create an even edge on the covers.

6. Glue covers to the spine and line up centrally. Cut slight angles into the flaps at the top and glue them over the spine.


7. You have now created your ribbon booklet. I distressed the edge of mine with some Walnut Stain distress ink.


The pages are going to be in the next tutorial I post, very soon.

I hope you enjoy making your album and please link yours back to me so I can see any you make.

Please respect the copyright and again link back to this tutorial if you post about it on your blog.

Have fun and I can’t wait to see what you make with this.

luv and hugs {brenda} xoxox

Selection of Tags for The Stamperie Creative/Design Team Call

Since LIIU has closed I have been looking for a Design Team who focus on stamping for their challenges and I have found a DT call for The Stamperie where Jo is looking for 2 individuals to join her as part of a creative team for a new challenge blog.

From June 2011 The Stamperie on-line shop will be selling a line of stamps from The Unity Stamp Company (one of the hottest stamp companies in the United States)  called {Ippity}. I have taken a look at the range and have seen them about but never used them – but oh boy I would love to have a go with them as they are exactly the style that can cover a range of genres and I see great potential in creating all sorts of exciting things with them.

To apply for this post Jo has set a challenge and it is called Tag... You're It!   The only requirements are that the project includes Rubber Stamping of some sort, that a tag is included somewhere and the challenge is open to your own interpretation!

My collection of rubber stamps is growing all the time with more and more ranges being added to it. Primarily I started with Tim Holtz, but now my collection includes Wendy Vecchi, PaperArtsy, Crafty Individuals, Paper Relics, Creative Expressions and a whole lot more. I also have a number of clear stamps with Claudine Hellmuth being my most favourite.

 For this DT call I have made 2 tags using my most favourite of Tim’s new collections – Haberdashery and Papillon.

I have used this opportunity to combine the application with the challenges at Studio L3 where Linda this week is challenging us to use Tim’s technique from his Christmas 2007 12 Tags of Christmas, day 10 and at Simon Says Stamp and Show which is to use your favourite stamp. Here Tim shows us how to create a shabby chic effect using paint and embossing powder. It makes a fabulous background, which can be seen on my tag. To make the sewing card I used the Sewing Room die, I also used the tag and bookplates die.

I think the  photo shows how the tag has been made. It’s the background which took the most time and work.

Colours used – DIs victorian velvet, brushed corduroy. Paints black acrylic, vintage lace and honey dew (PaperArtsy Fresco Finish).

My second tag uses Papillon stamps and is a completely different style. The background was distress inks, spritzed and the tag dragged through the colours and heat dried until I got the coverage I wanted, then stamped over with the Papillon text stamp.

I used some Mariposa paper and a Fiskars border punch to create the pouch for the little tag which was stamped over with a music text stamp.

   

I stamped the Papillion butterflies on acetate, cut them out and layered them over a Martha Stewart punched butterfly (the small one I just cut the punch down to fit it). The flower shape and ribbons finished it off.

Colours used – DIs dried marigold, crushed olive, peeled paint, tumbled glass, black soot, mustard seed.

Here you can see the second little tag, covered with DIs and stamped with a different text stamp.

Jo – If you would like to see other designs and ways I have used stamps look here, here, here and here.

Wish me luck everyone – I hope Jo gives me a chance and hopefully I have showed I can inspire others by demonstrating a wide range of styles and techniques.

Before I go I would like to extend a warm welcome to Leandre, lovely to see you.

Have a wonderful weekend, the weather is supposed to stay fine, so time to get out and about if possible. We are going to go down the coast this evening, it’s about an hours drive but with the later evenings we will be able to go for a walk and have something to eat. Tomorrow it’s a BBQ yay.

luv and hugs {brenda} xoxox

Father’s Day or one for the men at The Stamp Man

The new challenge at The Stamp Man is to create a card for Father’s Day which is coming up very soon in the UK.

My piece has been made with a downloaded map from Vintage Catnip, alcohol inks and a stamped image and some TH ephemera, plus a lighthouse button.

The map has been distressed with gesso and AI and stamped over with the clock face. The main image was made by dabbing AIs on glossy paper, sprinkling with blending solution. The clock is a fragment wit AI on it stuck onto the image from the TH paper stash.

Supplies include -
AIs – sail boat blue, denim, stream, meadow, pearl
DIs – walnut stain, weathered wood
Gesso
Stamps – Aspects of Design 2 Nautical, TH The Journey
Paper stash by TH – Lost and Found
TH die – ticket strip
TH journaling ticket
Small alphabet stamps

Challenges to have fun with -
Lexi’s Creations – Father’s day / Male themed cards
Stamping Scrapping Challenge – males
Here Come the Boys – Father’s day / Male
Craft Your Days Away – Father’s day / Special Man
Easy Craft Projects – For Dad
Simon Says Stamp - Father's Day
Sweet Stamps - Masculine

I hope you have had a good week and have some lovely things planned for the weekend.

Take care.

luv and hugs {brenda}

On-line course with Claudine Hellmuth

Good evening everyone
.
Firstly a huge thank you to all of you who have so kindly left a comment on my Gingersnaps Visiting Artist 1 post. I am truly overwhelmed by your generosity and praise. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Secondly I forgot to say in that post that I am also a Ginger Gem this week for my art journal piece on cowboys and cowgirls. It just gets better doesn’t it?

Thirdly I have signed up to take an on-line course with Claudine Hellmuth on ‘Composition for Collage’.

Today was the start and I have watched the video and presentations, downloaded the handouts and images and now completed my home work. Good girl aren’t I?

I have to say this looks as though it’s going to be a great class with 4 separate assignments over a 4 week period and on-line support from Claudine herself. Today we looked at ‘composition structures’ and ‘asymmetrical balance’. Our homework was to make our own collage using Claudine’s or our own images.
This is my take on it.



The backing paper is DCWV; I provided the moth/butterfly, the word and the circular piece, the rest of the pieces are from Claudine’s collection. I hope I have created balance through an asymmetrical  composition and that it isn’t too cluttered. Let me know if there is movement, with your eye being drawn into the piece and that you can move around the collage taking in all the elements. I will welcome all ideas particularly where you feel it could be made better.

Thank you for visiting and taking a look.

luv and hugs {brenda} xoxox

Edit - This was the comment Claudine gave me -  "great job!! super duper asymmetrical. the butterfly weights the left side well and balances out the image of the woman. if you wanted to play with it more you could add maybe 3 tiny round buttons or something round all in a row in a line above the image of the woman. that would fill that space a little and also repeat the circle you have to the left of the woman. Just a thought!!" 

Gingersnap Creations Visiting Artist 1

At the Mall

Hello lovely blogging friends. Did you see the new blinkie in the side bar? I have had to keep this secret for nearly 2 months and it has been oh so hard, but now I can shout from the rooftops. Yes I have been asked to be a visiting artist at Gingersnap Creations for the month of June. Me?!?! Can you tell that I am excited and elated about this?

The theme for the month is 'Shopping' and to start off the month of June the challenge for this week is 'At the Mall'. I have had the deets for this for nearly 6 weeks and I pondered long and hard as to what I could make. I decided I wanted to use one of my new stamps from Crafty Individuals, this one has a millinery theme and so my project began to hatch. Can you see what it is? My link to the theme is the hat shop in the mall - a long time ago. I have created a Milliner's Catalogue circa 1920. I haven't actually found one to look at so this is purely my own idea.

My fabulous ladies and some of the images used in the backgrounds are from Dezinaworld and if you love this type of image - do go over and take a look at what the lovely June produces, and there are freebies as well. I am entering this into June's monthly members gallery challenge. My digi images are from Digital 2 for Tuesday and gave me that something a little bit different and I have used them on the inside front and back pages. The catalogue pages were found on Google.

Images coloured using Promarkers

The style of page is similar throughout this catalogue to keep continuity. The backgrounds are all digital collages created by myself from the fabulous freebies that are out on the net. I have overstamped with DI and with household paints, some pages have been masked and inked, others have had images in the collages coloured.

I am not going to write a full description of every page, I hope the photos speak for themselves, just some clues as to the techniques and materials used.

The green shimmery paint on the left is a Crown household paint.

 I started by making the book itself and is one I designed many years ago and call a ribbon book. The pages have been sewn and slipped into the front cover. The cream pages have been left completely clean because I feel the mounted images have enough embellishments.

Now I have all of these designs in one place, I know if I want to make a 'quickish' card I will be able to follow one of these as a guide.

Supplies -

Papers - DCWV - 'Naturals' and bits from my box of pieces

Stamps - Crafty Individuals (front cover), Hobby Art (hat stand), La Blanche, TH Haberdashery, Hero Arts
DIs - weathered wood, spun sugar, tumbled glass, walnut stain
Distress Stain - spun sugar
Promarkers
Dezinaworld images of dressed heads.
Backgrounds - my own digital collages
Embellishments, feathers, lace, trims, beads, vintage image downloads, ribbons
Marianne die-cut of head with hat on
MS border punch
Stickles - diamond
Glimmer Mist - tea rose
Household paint

Well those of you who follow my posts know I have been working on some big projects and this is one of them.
Thankyou for looking today. Have a good week.

luv and hugs {brenda} xoxox

Challenges to have fun with -
Card Cupids - Ribbons and/or fibres
Dream valley Challenges - Stamp something
Paper Sundaes - Vintage / Shabby Chic
Daring Card Makers - Passion for fashion - with a prize from Imagine That
Delicious Doodles - Lovely Lace
Fairytale Challenges - Anything but a card
Paper Crafting Journey - Anything Goes/Favourite Anything - My favourites are vintage images and bookmaking
Paper Romance - Distressing

The Stamp Man ATC June Swap - Trees

The month of June is upon us and time for another ATC swap at The Stamp Man. This is my DT contribution to this month's challenge.

I used AIs to create the background. In the mix of gold, red and yellow colours I created a desert scene.  Can you make it out? I accentuated the mountain ranges with some gold and copper rub 'n buff then stamped the trees over the top using DI and Rubber Stampede (for the darkest tree). I think there is a red river running through the canyon between the trees. The tree stamp is from the TH collection Mini Holidays 2.

I found the quote that fitted, printed it out on A4 paper only to feel disappointed that it would look odd attaching it somewhere on the card. Taking a risk I used spray mount to stick the ATC to the A4 paper in exactly the place it had printed out before and ran it through the printer again. Phew it worked and placed the quote neatly at the top.

It says -
For in the true nature of things, if we rightly consider, every green tree
is far more glorious than if it were made of gold and silver.
Martin Luther

Inspiration was take from Gingersnap Creations - Stamp a scene and I am entering this for that challenge.

Before you go, I would love you to go over to Dezinaworld where the fabulous June has a new designer, Kim, whose work is just amazing and also June has a freebie just for today only. It is a collage sheet of vintage ladies which is well worth having. June is re-starting her Spot Prize challenge tomorrow and there is also a $10 shop prize for her monthly gallery challenge. Lots to take a look at - have fun.

Hope you had a fabulous May and here's to a warm and pleasant June.

luv and hugs {brenda}xoxox

GiveAway Winners

Hi Everyone

Sorry I am a little late in publishing my Giveaway winners but I have been having technology problems – it started with my Iphone crashing and having to re-set it to factory settings and losing everything. Luckily I had backed it up, but it was quite a few months ago so I have still lost some phone numbers and email addresses etc. Then my usb ports were causing power surges when I plugged anything into them and I couldn’t sync my iPod until I used a port on the back of the computer. Even now I have lost my printer network connection, it really frustrates me when my days get high-jacked with trying to sort out something I know little about. So that will now be a job for tomorrow.
 Onto the winners then. Firstly a huge thank you to everyone who took the time to enter and join in the fun. I had lots of lovely comments and some of you became new followers, which was fabulous because this wasn’t a condition for entry. There were 36 entries altogether of which 21 were followers, so they got an additional chance in both of the draws. 15 of you matched or improved on my 6Bs.

The winner of the first Giveaway prize – which includes


Two Books and a Box for altering
Blue, Brown and Black papers
Black (and white) Buttons and Bows
Bling - to include adhesive stones and glamour dust
chipboard Buttons
Butterfly 3D stickers
Beads

          Is number 42 and that is …………………Rebekah at Berrylicious.

The winner of the second Giveaway prize – which includes 

Butterfly stamps (papermania)          
Bare chipboard album
A Box canvas
A Book for altering
Black and white tags
Chipboard Buttons

    

 and that is ……………………..    number 15
    

Claire at Claire’s Crafty Creations.

Congratulations to you both and if you email me your address I will get these in the post to you as soon as possible. brenda_brown25@hotmail.com

Can I say a big welcome to -
cv.nikolaeva, buswellclare, shercauble455, Dragonlady, AK Hoynes, (sorry I do not have a links to your blogs from my followers list and cannot get over to see you). Rusty, Silvia, Debra, Noukie, Josie, Dawn, Sarah, Trisha, Zahreen, Chriisy, Emma, Gina, Debbie, Susie, Sue, Esther, Gayle, Lucy and Tammy Louise.

I am getting used to using Windows Live Writer and find it has so many more options for formatting text and changing the sizes of photos, so I shall continue to explore what else it has to offer.

Have a good week and look after yourselves.

luv and hugs {brenda} xoxox