FSC - Halloween

Two weeks have passed by again and it's time for another challenge at Fashionable Stamping Challenge blog and today we are showing our Halloween creations.

Mine is an altered box in which my grandchildren said they would like some spooky sweets, so I will have to keep a look at for eye balls or something similar.
(Update Sunday evening - I have found chocolate eyeballs and pumpkins - see the bottom of the post).

This was one of those balsa wood boxes which I painted white. Having stamped Halloween images onto orange tissue paper I glued them both in and outside with watered down PVA. When it was dry I covered it with the PVA mixed with brown paint to get a more aged look to it. Again when dry I sanded down some of the edges and added walnut stain distress ink.

I hope we will see some of your Halloween projects at FSC this next fortnight. I shall look forward to seeing what you make.

hugs {brenda} xox

Challenges to have fun with -
Frilly and Funkie - Anything but a card with a twist - something hidden
(I now have the chocolates for my hiding in my box - see below)
Sunday Stamper - Honey colours / Honeycomb
Anything but a Card - Fall/Halloween
That Craft Place - Halloween
Sweet Stampin' - Halloween
Alphabet Challenge - S for Spooky, skeletons, spiders
Bloggers Challenge - Alter It
Crafts 4 Eternity - Pumpkin Spice
Craftymess - Halloween
Stampin' for the weekend - Something Spooky
Simon Says Stamp - Eerie Inspiration

Photo taken at night - what a difference to the colour of the box!!!!!!

Funkie Junkie 12 Tags of Christmas #5

So where have the last five weeks gone? Linda is on tag #5 and this is my fifth one too, with inspiration taken from the music background and emboss resist that Linda has used. From there on, mine is completely different, but without that spur looking at how Linda made hers I wouldn't have created this. Thanks for the creative nudge every week Linda, I am so enjoying this.

I have used a number of favourite things on here which makes this eligible for Simon Says Stamp and Show your favourites. For instance the DI colours I have used are weathered wood, vintage photo and walnut stain, I just love this colour combination. Also on my hit list are stamps by Tim (we just keep collecting them don't we?), Christmas papers from MME and downloaded vintage music paper. The other thing that is an absolute favourite and that I love making at the moment are my extended tags.

Hels at Sunday Stamper is asking for metal and I think the pin and bells will count here. 
I seem to be using these little bells on most of my tags this year, mind you I do have an abundance of them. 

Sugar Creek Hollow are looking for Sparkle and this can be seen on the sparkly embossing powder I used as well as on some of the paper snowflakes with sparkle pen used in their centres. I also used a Sakura sparkle pen round the edges of the tags.

Other embellishments are from my supplies plus a TH fragment.

Santa was stamped, coloured over with more ink and with a water brush then covered in embossing ink and clear EP to make him shine and pop more.

Linda's 12 Tags of Christmas is an inspiration challenge and there will be a winner drawn at the end of the 12 weeks for those who have entered each one. There is plenty of time to take part as each tag challenge will remain open until the 17th December, so no excuses if you miss any. The sponsor is The Funkie Junkie Boutique, which is Linda's fantastic on-line store where she stocks lots of fabulous products to produce vintage, shabby chic projects.

Did I say that I had been chosen as top pick for a swcond week running at Sugar Creek Hollow, I feel so chuffed and want to thank the girls for all their support.

Today is Friday Eve as I read on someone's blog recently, so have a great end to the week and a lovely weekend.

hugs {brenda} xox

Other challenges to have fun with -
It's all about the vintage - Embossing
Craftymess - Anything Goes
Splodgeaway - Sparkle and Gems- I bought a Slodgeaway mat from Barbara Gray at Ally Pally and love the effects I get with blending inks.

WOYWW #176

Sorry Folks I didn't make it over last week, family things to deal with and visiting my grandaughter in hospital, after a real scare last week she is now beginning to make some progress, so we are praying this continues, bless her.

For me my desk is scattered with bits and pieces, I am well and truly into Christmas and tags as you can probably see. The photos were taken last night under spotlights, hence the shadows and strange lighting.

Why do I always seem to work in such a small space and have so many bits and pieces around me? Answers on a postcard please lol.

This is my next tag under construction, so far weathered wood and vintage photo and some embossing resist. A selection of embellishments collected together to use too. Hopefully this should be posted tonight or tomorrow morning.

OK so what is your desk like today? Pop on over to The Stamping Ground and Julia's lovely blog and be transported all around the world taking a peek at creative spaces in so many countries. I will be around later today to link this and start my travels. Like many of you I visit all those ending with the same number as me and more, particularly people I already know and those who leave me a comment. Thanks for taking the time if you do.

Have a great day and enjoy your crafty ventures.

hugs {brenda} xox

PanPastels - Wedded Bliss

This week at PanPastel UK the theme is Wedded Bliss and I chose to do an anniversary card.

Quite simply made by using a white card that already had embossed flowers at the bottom, I gently rubbed some PanPastels over starting with magenta and white and added some brown to the edges to get that vintage look. I used one of my favourite Tim Holtz flourish stamps with embossing ink and gently dabbed magenta shade over.

The sentiment was computer generated.

There is a prize for the winner each week sponsored by Your Creativity Store, so pop over to the challenge blog to see the wonderful inspiration from the very talented DT.

Happy Sunday.

hugs {brenda} xox

Funkie Junkie 12 tags of Christmas #4

I am still following Linda's 12 tags of Christmas and keeping up, YAY.

This week Linda has given us a rustic, country styled tag and I am taking inspiration from 
1) having a stamped background 
2) I used the enamelled stamping technique which can be found on P.44 of Tim's Book 2 and 
3) I used the tattered pinecone die which I have only just purchased.

I also want to play at Simon Says Stamp and Show where the challenge is RUST.

This piece also doubles for Crafty Individuals DT piece as I have used stamp plate CI - 169 and cut out the angel figures.

Apart from the above supplies I added a holly berry frame and some holly berry DP to make another of my extended tags, a little gold bell completes the Christmas touches.

I didn't have the vintage photo distress embossing powder so I mixed tattered rose, aged mahogany and brushed corduroy together and followed Tims recipe on P.45 of Book 1.

Linda's 12 Tags of Christmas is an inspiration challenge and there will be a winner drawn at the end of the 12 weeks for those who have entered each one. There is plenty of time to take part as each tag challenge will remain open until the 17th December, so no excuses if you miss any. The sponsor is The Funkie Junkie Boutique, which is Linda's fantastic on-line store where she stocks lots of fabulous products to produce vintage, shabby chic projects.

I had some lovely good news this week, my 'Fall into Fall' tag was chosen as a winner at Sugar Creek Hollow. How wonderful is that? Thanks girls for your votes of confidence in my work, I so appreciate it.

I hope your weekend is a good one. I am still helping to look after the youngest grandaughters as the eldest had a complication under anaesthetic this week which has set her back weeks. At the moment we don't know when she will be able to come home. She has alot of progress to make before that can happen.

Take care.

hugs {brenda} xox

I am back online

My blog was disabled last night because I put some incorrect details into a Google form - silly me was trying not to give my real birth date. I had to send some info back to Blogger (still Big Brother stuff as far as I am concerned) to get it back. To be honest I thought it had gone forever but here it is back about 12 hours later so I am grateful for that.

Thanks to all of you who sent a message back to me. As many people say, this blogging community is so supportive, sometimes I wonder where we would be without each other.

Wishing you a wonderful day.

hugs {brenda} xox

Funkie Junkie Tag 3

Hi All.

Today I would like to show you my tag #3 for Linda's 12 Tags of Christmas. I am doing quite well keeping up even though it’s not in the right week, but that doesn't matter. If you go take a look at Linda’s example you will see I have taken my inspiration from the colours, using brushed pewter distress stain and the marbled stain technique (see P46 of Tim's Book 2), using metal and stamping on acrylic packaging. The rest is mine lol.

Recipe

1. Background - marbled stains technique with brushed pewter, picket fence and weathered wood DSs.

2. Metal - alcohol inked with denim blue.

3. Deer - die-cut from reindeer flight in card covered with metal tape. Alcohol inked with denim, sailboat and silver finished with a light cover of white acrylic paint. Finished by edging it with a blue sharpie to make it stand out more.

4. Sentiment - stamped from mini holidays onto acetate packaging, cut out and dabbed with brushed pewter DS underneath.

5. Snowflakes – punched & dabbed with weathered wood DS, ice stickles added over the top.

6. White die-cut dabbed with weathered wood and picket fence DS.

Finished by making it into one of my extended tags using DP from MME.

Linda's 12 Tags of Christmas is an inspiration challenge and there will be a winner drawn at the end of the 12 weeks for those who have entered each one. There is plenty of time to take part as each tag challenge will remain open until the 17th December, so no excuses if you miss any. The sponsor is The Funkie Junkie Boutique, which is Linda's fantastic on-line store where she stocks lots of fabulous products to produce vintage, shabby chic projects.

I hope the world is a happy place for you.

hugs {brenda} xox

Challenges to have fun with -
Sunday Stamper - Snowflakes
Alphabet Challenge - Recycle/Repurpose
Stampotique - Weather (Snowing)
Pile It on - Vintage or Shabby Chic
That Craft Place - Make your own background

PanPastels - Alter It

This is my second post for today. Please scroll down to see a pumpkin card, made for FSC.


Today PanPastel UK has a new challenge and theme - Alter It / Recycle. There are a few photos for you to look at, but I want to show you the before and the after. So here is the original tin - a Christmas teabag tin in bright red and white polka dot.

Now look at it .

I started by spraying the tin dark brown with one of those cans you get from the DIY shop. I painted it with the PaperArtsy crackle and when dry with PaperArtsy Snowflake Fresco Finish. I didn't worry too much about the middle as I knew I was making a paper sleeve for it. Lurve the crackles that appeared. When it was dry I rubbed Burnt Sienna Tint Panpastel with some other browns round the edges. It stayed beautifully. But to make sure it was going to last I sprayed with DecoArt acrylic sealer.

Next I used a snowflake mask, champagne dazzle Versamark (that's the one I said changed the colours slightly and makes them look a bit more vintagy) and some brown and cream pans to create this sleeve  I sprayed it with gold spray and sparkle to get a gorgeous glittery effect.

I also used the mask etc to make a piece to go on the lid.

To finish the tin I added some music paper and used the new Tim H snowflake rosette mini die and added a snowflake on each side, these were also made of music paper. 

With a piece of ribbon glued around the lid I now have a new toffee tin for my sideboard at Christmas. 

If you are altering or recycling something this week, please share it with us at PanPastel UK and pop over to see the fabulous creations from the DT. 

Each week one lucky person drawn from the entrants receives a starter set of pans from our fabulous sponsor = Your Creativity Store.

Have a lovely day and don't forget give someone a hug.

cyber hugs from me {brenda} xox

Challenges to have fun with -

Alphabet Challenge - Recycle / Repurpose

Out of a hat creations - Christmas in October

Simon Says Stamp - Glimmer and sparkle

Craft Room - Alter It

Sunday Stamper - Snowflakes

Anything but a card - Shiny, sparkly, blingy

Just to let you know I made Fab 4 at The Play Date Cafe with my 'Fall into Fall' tag. How wonderful is that? xxx

Pumpkins - FSC - Shades of Autumn

Well I have two posts for you today. This is the first for Fashionable Stamping Challenges, the other later this morning is an altered item for PanPastel UK.

I haven't played with my FSC sisters for quite a while, but feel that I can commit time to this amazingly creative team again now that the evenings are drawing in (so I can't get out in the garden) and I am not looking after any grandchildren either, the youngest is now in school full time.

I loved playing with this pumpkin stamp from Paper Artsy (one of the new sets I picked up at Ally Pally).

The pumpkins have been embossed with mustard seed, dried marigold and aged mahogany distress embossing powders and then I played with the new Graph'it markers and a white zig pen to fill the spaces and blend the colours into the embossing powder.

I used the bookcover 2 embossing folder, copper paint dabber and various shades of DIs. When I blended the DIs across to the image although I started light in the middle and got darker to the outside, I lost the definition of the pumpkins. To restore it I used my TH water brush and took out some of the colour which created that lovely mottled look and then ........... used my prisma colours over the embossing powder to give me more light and dark and therefore depth.

 I think this looks like a painting now.

What do you think?

(My daughter thought they looked more like apples so I have tried to put more shape into them).

This is one of those cards that came together so easily and didn't take as much pondering over as some of the other projects I do.

I hope we will see you for this challenge - don't forget this is a stamping challenge and digis for the main focus are not accepted, so lets see your inky designs. Pop over to Fashionable Stamping Challenges to see the rules and the challenge post.

Thanks for stopping by and sharing this with me. If you leave me a comment, I thank you sincerely for taking the time and for giving me some feedback.

Have a great Sunday.

hugs {brenda} xox

Challenges to have fun with -

Sugar Creek Hollow - Give thanks for autumn

Try It On Tuesday - Lots of Layers

PS - Don't forget my PanPastel piece will be next up a little later today.

Christmas is a comin', Christmas is a comin'

I know, I know, it's still early but I have got it in my head now, so here we are.

I had a play with my PanPastels again this week and made some Christmas tags. 

(At the top of this photo you can see a sneak peek of my PanPastel challenge DT piece coming up on Sunday).

Really easy - using kraft card, die cut the bauble shapes using Tim's Carved Ornaments.

Stamp using embossing ink and Crafty Individuals plate CI-241 snowflake stamp.

Dab white PanPastel over the top and gently blend a creamy tint and then a dark brown around the edges.

Spray with a glittery sealer.

I made a message label in PSE for the back and added some threads.

I think I might use brown paper for wrapping all my presents this year and these will be a great addition to them.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

hugs {brenda} xox

Challenges to have fun with -

Out of a hat Creations - Christmas in October

Sweet Stampin' - Vintage