Shabby Chic/Distressed at The Stamp Man

Hi Everyone

I am hosting the new challenge at The Stamp Man and for the next fortnight and we would like to see your shabby chic or distressed creations.

I had great fun making this card. Since my fabulous win at Terry's blog I have been totally inspired by Linda Coughlin's blog and her gorgeous shabby chic creations and my design has been influenced by her lovely work.

I have layered music paper washed with watered down white acrylic paint, an embossed piece run through the TH Postcard embossing folder then covered with distress stain, heat dried and white acrylic sponged over the top to catch the raise areas.

The doily die was stippled with picket fence crackle paint and when it was dry I blended some DIs on it very lightly.

The addition of 2 different types of lace a punched border and a fabric flower made from TH tattered flowers and a Sizzix flower dies (Funkie Junkie style).

The focal image is the 'I love Paris' stamp by Stampendous sent to me by Jill, with the flowers coloured in using distress stain and TH marker. The tiny tag was also from Jill and has been inked, spritzed with water, stamped with a TH mini, some lace added to the bottom and also white pearls.

Supplies -

Stampendous 'I love Paris' stamp

Music paper

Tim Holtz Postcard embossing folder

Tim Holtz alterations die - Distressed Doily

Distress stains - Victorian Velvet

Distress Inks - Victorian Velvet, Vintage Photo

Distress Marker - Victorian Velvet

Tim Holtz Crackle Paint
White acrylic paint

Mini tag

Martha Stewart border punch

Star Dust Stickles

Shabby ribbon coloured with Victorian velvet DS

I hope we will see you at The Stamp Man for this challenge and if you join in you do of course stand a chance of winning a £10 voucher for Mrs Stampman's on-line shop.
Have fun.

hugs {brenda} xox

Challenges to have fun with
Simon Says Stamp and Show - Anything Goes
Sugar Creek Hollow - Die Cuts or punches
Card and Scrap - Flowers
Crafts and Me - Vintage
Papercraft Star - Something French

Saturday evening up-date -    firstly the lovely Diane at 1CardCreator has suggested I link this to Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound. My pleasure to do so and I will be off to explore the other blogs that participate.

Secondly - I have no idea what has happened tonight but Blogger has changed the whole look of the back-rooms here so that I am finding it a nightmare to find my way round and to even find this post to edit!!!!! Do we really have to go with the changes without being asked if we want to? That really annoys me.

Have a great evening xoxox

New Dylusions

I just had to have a play with my new Dylusions inks last night and this is the result.

I also used TH and Stampotique stamps and stamped the mushrooms onto a scrap piece which I had swiped the left over inks through, painted over with the inks and then used clear embossing powder to make it pop more. The doodling was done with both a black and white pen and the quote is from my sheet I have prepared myself to use for tags like this.

Have a great Monday and a fab week. I am just waiting for my grandaughters to arrive for the day as both their Mum and dad are starting new jobs today.

hugs {brenda} xox

Challenges to have fun with -

Stampotique Designers - Oodles of Doodles

Frilly and Funky - Take your word for it

My Mojo Monthly - Tagology

WOW - Nature or Vintage inspired

PanPastels - One for the boys

I have a postcard for you today as my DT piece for the PanPastel UK challenge - One for the Boys. I wanted to stay away from the cars and transport theme so I opted for photography instead. It certainly isn't girly so I am sure will fit this theme ok.

The background was made with PPs and masks to give that layered, texture look, I stamped straight onto the card as well as stamped images and cut out. I also coloured the reverse side by covering it lightly in the colours I had used on the front to give it an aged, vintage look. This is a Penny Black stamp.

Don't forget we have an amazing sponsor who provides a sample pack of two PanPastels for you to try out with, do go over to Your Creativity Store to see their amazing prices on these fabulous pans of colour.

I hope we will see you over at the challenge blog too to show us what you have been making with a masculine feel to it. Remember you don't have to use PPs in your piece, but of course we love it when you do.

hugs {brenda} xox

Sunday morning catch-up
I had a brilliant day yesterday at Ally Pally catching up with friends and meeting new ones and still some I missed.
Lovely people I caught up with were -
Von - Messy me
Shirley (FSC) - Shirl's Cards
Joanna - Under a Creative Spell
 Ruby (Ruby 2 Shoes)
 Gillian of Gillian's Mixed Media Musings 
 Nikky - Minxy - The Altered Inker
Heidi - The crafty goat girl
and very quick hellos to
Lin - Yours Artfully
Hels - Ink on my Fingers
and Jane and Penny from The Art of Craft

Although I spent alot of time chatting I still managed to spend loads of money!!!

Hen tag

I have used another of those pieces I had played with the other night (see post below) and created this fun tag. It's strange how pieces evolve. 

I had no idea how I was going to use the inky tag until I looked through some vintage images and was taken with this hen - why? I don't know, but it took me off in a direction that was fun to explore. 

Music paper and gold stamped clock for the cock singing in the mornings; wire mesh depicting the hen coop and a saying by Margaret Thatcher I think is great. I really quite like this.

I would like to say hello to new visitors and thanks for sharing my creative journey with me.

Also I just had to show you the parcel opened that I received from the Funky Junkie Boutique, courtesy of my good friend Terry. I still haven't unpacked all the little bags but I have had a peek - well I couldn't resist could I?

I so want to get playing shabby chic now.

Hope your week has gone well. Enjoy the rest of the day.

hugs {brenda} xox

Doodling Journal style

I just wanted to have some inky fun last night and experimented with distress stains on two different types of card and on canvas with and without gesso.

Results -

Special stamping card

Canvas without gesso

Canvas with gesso

Manilla card

I need a birthday card for my teenage granddaughter so decided to enter the Stampotique challenge - Oodles of Doodles - as it's such a long while since I have done so and made this, using the top piece of card.

Over the inky and paint layers I added an inky frame, stamped onto tissue paper and glued on, stamped the heart border, punched some extra hearts and lots of doodling round the edges, round the frame, on the punched hearts and made the birthday tag. Hey-ho complete.

Sooo good to be getting back into the swing of things.

For those who know me, hubbie is home from hospital, having had a scan and an endoscopy. Some bits wrong like hiatus hernia, gastritis and sludgy gall bladder and he will have that out in May. So we are hoping he doesn't get the awful pain back again before he has to go in and have the gall bladder out. Here's hoping!!

Have a good evening .

hugs {brenda} xox

Other challenges to have fun with -
Smudgy Antics - Anything Goes

Frilly and Funkie and my thanks to Terry

Last week I had an email from terry at 'Terry's work in progress' telling me to check out her blog as I had won a prize in her two year blogaversary draw. Well I was so excited to find that it was a $25 certificate to the Funkie Junkie Boutique. Now this little treasure trove is masterminded by Linda Coughlin of The Funkie Junkie blog and also the new Frilly and Funkie challenge blog. I had no problems spending my money at Linda's Zibbet store, oh no indeed not, in fact I spent more than the certificate and am just waiting for my lovely goodies to arrive. I have to say if you love anything lacy, shabby and vintage then do go over and take a look at what is for sale. There are also staple products like distress inks as well and the prices are amazing. Not only that I had a problem with getting through to PayPal and emailed Linda to let her know. What did she do? She sorted it all very quickly and sent me a new invoice and in the meantime whilst waiting for me to pick up the email and pay she had shipped my order out already. Now that is service, thanks Linda.

And of course A BIG THANK YOU TO TERRY as well. You are a great blogger and artist Terry. I am so pleased I have got to know you through this amazing world of blogging and I am so excited and looking forward to meeting you in person when I come to LA in the Summer.

So onto some art.

The challenges at Frilly and Funkie are fortnightly and this time round the theme is 'I'll take your word for it' and the challenge is to have the words/sentiment/saying/quote as the focal point of the project.

I have made a tag, which I think is a mix of frilly and funkiness and I hope fits the bill. I have used DP, inked and painted and spritzed with perfect Pearls mist, there is a fab vintage birdcage image, one of my downloaded butterflies and some embellishments including lace and trim with a focal quote that I found on the internet and printed out on digital backing paper. The shabby ribbon and tulle were both dyed or inked to get the colours I wanted.

I hope you had a great Easter weekend. Mine wasn't so good as my hubbie has been admitted to hospital. Just waiting to hear what the diagnosis is.

Take care.

hugs {brenda} xox

PanPastels - Sweet Treats

I had great fun making this card. As I don't have any stamps that seemed to fit the bill for this theme, I put together a couple of digi images and printed out.

I used PPs to give me the basic colours on the images, sealed it and then went over in places with Promarkers to give some highlights and finished off with black and white pens and a brown Promarker to edge and give a bit of a vintage feel to it. The background is a paper from gcd studios Cloisonné collection. Again I added PPS through sequin waste and sealed to give extra depth.

 Like the saying LOL? I gave this card to my staff when I left school. They eat so many cakes and biscuits I thought it was quite apt for them.

I hope you can join us at PanPastel UK challenge blog and don't forget you don't have to use PPs to join in. Our fabulous sponsor The Creativity Store is again offering a PanPastel trial pack as the prize. Go take a look at their amazing prices and deals. It's where I buy mine from.

Enjoy your day.

hugs {brenda} xox

Challenges to have fun with
Cute card Thursday - I want candy
Papercrafting Journey - Photo Inspiration

Fashionable Stamping Challenges - A nautical theme

I am quite pleased with this little card. I used a stamp which is inked up for the first time, I won it at Our daily Bread challenges last year sometime. It is called Keep My Lamp Burning.

I missed the last challenge at FSC due to pressure of work so I am really pleased to join the girls again this week. Please go take a look at the wonderful inspiration they have provided again, their work is truly stunning.

The inky background is made using a product called Goosebumps with distress stains. I wanted to achieve a frothy sea effect background. I stamped onto the background with Stazon, but it didn't take as well as I expected so I stamped another image on white card, cut the lighthouse and compass out, painted it, heat embossed it and stuck it on. 

Using provocraft dies I cut and inked the shells. I don't know what I will use the card for so I will add a sentiment later.

Thanks for stopping by today, have a wonderful weekend.

hugs {brenda} xox

Challenges to have fun with
Crazy 4 Challenges - Blue, white + 1 (mine is brown)
Bloggers Challenge - to die for
For Your Inspiration - photo challenge
Creative Craft World - Blue theme
Desert Island Crafters - 3 from a list (no glitter, die cuts, brown)
Cheerful Stamp Pad - Anything Goes

The Stamp Man - Vellum

My first week off and I have so enjoyed getting inky and experimenting again.

This is my DT piece for the Stamp Man this week which is to use vellum. Jill kindly sent us some bits and pieces including this stamped image on blue vellum, so it became my focal image for this card. 

The pink flower is also vellum which I made from 3 circles. I think I might do a tutorial for it at some point, although I guess most people will know how to make it..

The butterfly is made from 2 Martha Stewart punches punched in white card and distress stains then a glitter embossing powder added.

Please come and join us and show us how you use vellum on your projects. As always Jill will be givng the winner a £10 on-line voucher for her shop.

Supplies -

Tim Holtz - Vintage Shabby Paper Stash

Distress inks - Victorian Velvet, vintage photo, walnut stain

Distress Stains - Broken China, Chipped Sapphire, Walnut Stain

Vellum

Embellishments - mosaic tiles, tiny tag, vintage brad, vellum flower, lace, doiley

Martha Stewart butterfly punches

Have a wonderful Easter and happy crafting.

hugs {brenda} xox

ATC - The joys of Spring

An ATC today, made just because I wanted to and also because I am still trying to use up scraps. 

The background was made when I did my demo day at The Art of Craft and I just finished it off with small vintage images from my box and then generated the sentiment on the PC.

Enjoy.

hugs {brenda} xox