Butterflies - glass domed frame

Good evening friends.

This is a 7cm glass domed frame that I got from a charity shop. I have made it to go with the butterfly frame I made a few weeks ago using the same TH butterfly paper and stamps and with the addition of one of my real, vintage Charlotte dolls. (Sorry about the quality of the picture, but it was difficult to photograph and not get the glare of the glass). The butterflies have been painted with vintage colour mica paints.

Thanks for stopping by.

luv and hugs {brenda} xoxox

Challenges to have fun with -

Make My Monday - butterflies and dragonflies

Flutterby Wednesday - Open

Give-away winners

Welcome friends -

I have been overwhelmed at the wonderful comments I have received and the number of new followers who have joined me over the past couple of weeks. Obviously the lure of some candy has bought some people over, but I can tell some people are truly here because they want to to be - with or without a give-away. So thank you everyone who has participated.

First prize .......

....... of a set of Tim Holtz Steampunk stamps goes to .......

Connie at Wax Beach Artist

Second prize .......

.......... Tim Holtz distress inks and promarkers goes to .....

Ali at Crafty Dragons

Third prize .....

..... two Tim Holtz texture fades and two Tim Holtz stamps goes to .....

Avril at Mrs B's Crafting Addiction

Fourth additional prize as promised if I reached 300+ followers .......

..... three Tim Holtz stamps, goes to .......

Miranda at Mir'acle Art Inspirations

Thanks again everyone and if the 4 winners could email me their address 

I will get these in the post as soon as possible.

Keep a look out for the middle of March when my birthday comes around 

and I will have another pressie for someone to win.

Enjoy the rest of your week.

luv and hugs {brenda} xoxox

The Stamp Man ATC Swap - Historical Romance

Well where did January go then? It just slipped past so quickly I hardly noticed it. They say time flies when you are having fun, but I am not sure this is really the case.

Anyway - it seems ages since I have made an ATC and I loved making this one - shabby vintage yet again.

The background was made with Starburst Stain and Moonglow sprays and gesso layers, then stencilled over with DI. 

(memo to self use heavier weight card next time to prevent any buckling!!)

The image is Graphic 45 Le Romantique set and I have added cheesecloth, lace and other small embellishments to finish it off.

Supplies

Moon Glow - Golden Pumpkin Blush, Phantom Fuchsia.

Claudine Hellmuth Gesso

TH distress inks - Tea Dye, Vintage Photo

Graphic 45 - Le Romantique set

Martha Stewart butterfly punch

Why not pop over to the Stamp Man ATC blog and join in. 

You could be the proud owner of a set of ATCs in return.

Have fun.

luv and hugs {brenda} xoxox

Second Blogaversary Give-away

Hi All

This is a sticky post and will remain at the top of my list until the
29th January.

I can't believe that two years ago on that date I decided to have a go at blogging to post some of my creations; what an incredible journey it has been. I never envisaged that I would continue this as a hobby and that my love of all things arty would grow and develop as it has,
and oh how I have, and still am, loving it.

So to celebrate I am having a give-away and the winners will be decided by Mr Random Org on the 29th January.
I will have three winners and prizes.
They are -

A brand new set of T!m's stamps for my current followers only up to number 284.

This is a thank you for being part of this incredible journey and giving me support and love.

The new distress inks brought out by Ranger for Christmas - but the colours are just gorgeous and 4 Promarkers.

This is for any follower old and new.

A new set of texture fades - Bingo and Collage, plus two of T!m's stamps that somehow are extra to requirements - again they are brand new.

This is also for any follower.

I am very near 300 followers and if I reach that amount before the 29th January I will add another prize.

All I ask is that you leave me a comment and tell me you have put the picture below on your sidebar. Thanks.

I feel so blessed that you are part of this amazing journey with me. 

When you leave a comment make sure I have a link to you so I can pop over to see you too.

Thank you and have fun with creating and making beautiful art.

luv and hugs {brenda} xoxox

GIVE-AWAY NOW CLOSED

PanPastels - Glitter and Glitz

Hi Everyone, Sundays are full of fun when I post two DT pieces for you. This is my second post for today - please scroll down for my other one.

I just loved combining the PanPastel colours with glitter for the new challenge at

 Panpastel UK Challenge Blog.

I used T!m's patchwork embossing folder with white card and then laid PPs in the sections to give this pastel quilted effect. Rub a dry cloth over the whole card to get rid of any excess. To get the glitter on use cut and dry foam, dipped into Art Institute glitter glue, and rub across the raised areas, sprinkling glamour dust on before it dries. Lay a piece of clean paper over the top and brayer across it to get the glue to adhere more strongly.

To complete the card, add some shabby ribbon tied into a bow and a sentiment. I painted a chipboard frame with white acrylic paint and again sprinkled glamour dust over it. When it was dry I sprayed with a gloss sealer.

Please come over to the challenge blog to see all the other wonderful inspiration that the design team have made for you and if you take part this week you will be entering for a chance to win some PPs and tools for you to try out or add to your collection. If you go over to Your Creativity Store you will find all of the colours and tools that are available to buy and at really good prices. As you can see PanPastels are so versatile and can be used with all your other art and craft supplies.

Next week I will be using PPs to edge a card which makes several pieces of DP come together and look as though they all belong together.

Thanks for stopping by today and thank you if you leave me a comment, I so appreciate it.

Have another great Sunday.

luv and hugs {brenda} xoxox

Challenges to have fun with -
Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes
Bloggers Challenge - Texturize it
Crafts and Me - Pink and Sparkly (it didn't say alot or a little pink??)
Deep Ocean Challenge - Sparkle

FSC - It's a guy thing

Another challenge at Fashionable Stamping Challenges and this week it's gotta be something for the guys.

It's a special year for Ken and I this year, we both reach a milestone age bracket and if I tell you I retire next month then you'll easily guess what that is. His birthday is in July and we share our wedding anniversary on that day too. So I made this for him as a special little gift - it's ok he never looks on here to see what I am doing, I usually show him everything before I blog it but this time I will have to find a little place to hide it for a while.

I really enjoyed making this collage hanging piece and it all started with an experiment. I wanted to see how I could get a bleached image and what card would work well enough with this technique. I actually achieved several good stamped images and you will recognise it as T!m's old jalopy. Once it had cured, I cut out the rectangle and masked the image to stamp the crackle background, ink around the edges and then sprayed glimmer mist over it. 

I gessoed and painted the cardboard and stamped over that when it was dry then collected some bits and pieces together to make up the collage. 

The flower is T!m's tattered floral die and I used an old AA road atlas book and again inked and glimmer misted the parts before putting it together.

So for my Prince Charming, with warm kisses and many more years together where we can cherish the moments. (I know you are all saying ahhhhhh - but it will be 38 years married this year!!!!)

Do come on over and take a look at what my fabulous teamies have made to inspire you and have a go yourself as you could win a great stamp from our sponsor, Marina at Cottage Crafts.

Have a wonderful day whatever you have planned and thanks for stopping by to see my work.

luv and hugs {brenda} xoxox

Challenges to have fun with -
Simon Says Stamp and Show - Song Title - Cherish by Madonna
Gingersnap Creations - Spicy Supply Challenge - Ribbon
Anything Goes - To the one I love
Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes
Simply Create too - Love is in the air
The butterfly effect - making layers
Bloggers Challenge - Texturize it
The Artistic Stamper - Vintage

The Stamp Man - Embellish it

Good morning, it's Friday and it's ........................ - oh gosh do you know what came into my head????

Those of a certain age will perhaps have had the same phrase in mind!! ........... anyway it's Friday and iiiiiiiit'ssssss .......... Crackerjack 

- no sorry I mean it's another fabulous challenge at The Stamp Man.

I had planned to make a different piece for this, but when it came to it, the mojo and magic wouldn't work, so this is what I came up with instead. Not how I would normally think of embellishing something, but I enjoyed making it all the same. As you can see my main embellishing technique is to use TH fragments and papers - on the top and on the sides of this box.

I think it will be perfect to hold my small white button collection.

Supplies

Tim Holtz paper stash - crowded attic

Tim Holtz stamps - haberdashery, shabby french, urban tapestry

Distress inks - old paper, bundled sage, fired brick, vintage photo.

Tim Holtz - fragments

Glossy Accents

White household paint

lace, buttons, pin, snaps from stash

Jill, Mrs StampMan, is generously giving the winner of the challenge a £10.00 voucher for her on-line store, and as usual the other design team members have some amazing projects to inspire you. 

Come on over and take a look.

Have a great Friday and a fabulous weekend.

luv and hugs {brenda} xoxox

Altered coaster

Hi Everyone

At last I have found a bit of time to make some bits just because I wanted to. A week or so ago, my daughter-in-law bought some coasters - look only 5p each at Wilkinsons. 

So I had to have a go at altering one - a nice small piece of art. I had great fun by glueing a piece of basic grey DP on it first and a wrinkled piece of dress pattern tissue paper (that started my thoughts veering towards some fabulous cotton reel labels that I had scanned and printed off). 

Then layering over that my ever favourite PPs with masks - no inks or sprays - just pure velvety colour from my little pots of pastel.

I decided I didn't need anything else and for some reason chose 3 of the cotton reel labels and started to play around with them. For some reason the challenge at Simon Says Stamp and Show came into mind - a song title. 

Ha - 3 reels, one - two - three or should I write 1 - 2 - 3 a song by Len Barry back in the hmmm, 

dare I say it ----------- 1960's - there I did. 

And lo and behold this design was born.

1 bird, 2 string flowers and 3 flying cotton reel butterflies. 

Journal style with added 3 buttons and drawing in the stems, leaves and message.

What do you think?

For me? - Great, I loved playing and doing something different.

Well I hope you are having a good week and are able to have a play with some craft materials.

Take care.

luv and hugs {brenda} xoxox

Challenges to have fun with -

Simon Says Stamp and Show - A song title

Make My Monday - Flowers and leaves

BasisGrey - Favourite things

So Artful Challenges - Colours and image given

PanPastels - Use two of something

Good morning.

This is my second DT challenge piece for PanPastel UK Challenge Blog, where we are asking you to use two of something on your project. Just tell us in your post what those two things are and you could be in for a chance of winning a PanPastel trial pack if you are chosen as the winner this week, courtesy of Your Creativity Store.

This week I have used PPs on designer paper, which gives another way of creating depth to your backgrounds. I used three different masks (bird cage, birds and dots) and permanent green and magenta colours.

I have used two butterflies and two ribbons to fit in with the challenge. The bird cage was die-cut in DP which was painted with gesso and then stamped over. The bird has flown, but the butterflies love flitting in and out.

Most of the pieces have been edged with white acrylic paint and lots of flowers added to give it a very shabby chic look.

I hope you will come back again next week as I have another great way for you to use PPs with an embossing folder and will show you how to make it sparkle.

I just love experimenting with these amazing colours and if you pop over to the challenge blog you will be able to see lots of inspiration from my great team mates.

Have a wonderful Sunday. Thanks for taking the time to come and see me.

luv and hugs {brenda} xoxox

Shabby Chic card - Art of Craft Workshop

Hi Everyone

I though I would show you my sample card and tag for a workshop I am doing on the 15th of February at The Art of Craft. The girls who made the mini album with me before Christmas wanted more vintage shabby things to make. Hope they like them.

This is a 6 x 6 ins card and I have used 12 x 12 papers from the shop, one of which has these gorgeous vintage images which are beautiful and ethereal. We are going to use gesso, acrylic paint and DIs to make this shabby collage style effect.

If you are not too far away and want to come, please ring the shop for a booking and who knows I might see some of you there.

Thanks for stopping by today.

luv and hugs {brenda} xoxox