Spring Flowers at A Vintage Journey

What better with these lighter evenings and the weather warning up than to think of all the lovely Spring flowers that are now in bloom and it’s thanks to the lovely Jennie for this challenge at A Vintage Journey.

I’m still using the Wallflower stash and have used it for the gorgeous patterned background together with some Tim Holtz ephemera which I think are from the Thrift Shop set.

I also used the lovely papers to cut the sentiment label from a spellbinders die and used the hashtag stamps.

The gorgeous trellis frameworks die was cut from some textured bazill paper and the clock is from another of Tim’s paper packs..

I used the tattered florals garland die with some smooth cartridge paper and distress paints to make and colour the flowers and leaves.

The numbers are also cut from Tim’s papers, I just cut and keep bits like this in a small box so I can add them to projects when they fit in. can you also see the tiny eggs?

I hope you will join us at A Vintage Journey – you don’t have to use Tim’s products to join in, just use a vintage/shabby/mixed-media/journaling style and tell us what it is of Tim’s that has inspired you, for me this time round my Tim inspiration is his products, but it could be one of his projects, tags or techniques another time.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by today. Have a great weekend.

hugs Brenda xx

April Tim Tag

Yay I’ve got my Tim tag for this month done in plenty of time.

I followed Tim’s process pretty much to a T except I used rusty hinge distress paint with walnut stain distress ink for the background …..

…. and I added three flowers with antique linen distress glitter..

I just adore the trellis framework die and I coloured mine in broken china adding different inserts like Tim showed us including a hessian one. (Top tip here - lightly spread some wet glue over the hessian you want to die cut to make it stiff so that it doesn't fall to pieces when you die-cut it. My favourite general wet glue is Evo-Stik wood adhesive from B&Q, it dries clear and is very strong).

The mottled effect of the spritzed distress ink over the distress paint is fabulous.

With rusty hinge and broken china distress inks for the ribbon and a philosophy tag with antique linen paint to colour in the words, it's finished - oh apart from some coloured twine and string through the tag hole..

I have to say I really loved making this tag and going back to the pinecone die to make the roses.

Have you made yours yet?

Linking this to Tim's blog for the April 12 tags of 2014.

hugs Brenda xx

The Chemist’s Concoctions leads to exciting new discovery

Hello everyone - I am writing this post to schedule for tomorrow and it's gorgeous sunshine outside, so wonderful to have the windows and doors open.

I thought I would use a couple of the gelli prints using distress inks for this collaged piece, just to show you a couple I made at the workshop I taught a few weeks ago which lead to my Destination Inspiration tutorial (here).

I’ve used The Chemist stamp set, Laboratorie paper stash, a quote and other stamped elements all by Tim Holtz.

Gelli print made with distress inks and scrunched paper to create texture.

Another gelli print made in the same way but with spritz and flick water and ink over it.

The paper from the laboratorie stack was altered by giving it a coat of watery gesso then some splatters and drips of vintage photo distress ink.

I collected together some  stamped and die-cut elements including a ruler I made using the faux leather technique.

The chemist equipment laid out on the table was painted using distress inks and a water brush.

The apothecary bottle was given two coats of embossing powder, the first in silver and the second in clear, the labels came from the little labels set of stamps.

The mini inkwell and feather ….

… and a pertinent quote.

This has been put in my collage journal.


Well it's Friday today, I am going to pick up my friend Astrid from the airport later and we are off to Ally Pally both Saturday and Sunday, catching up with some wonderful crafty friends and no doubt spending a few pounds as well. If you are going to AP see you there if not have a wonderful weekend whatever you have planned.

hugs Brenda xx

Thinking of You – Wallflower card for CVC

This is my second card using one of the four 6 x 6 pieces cut from a 12 x 12 page from Tim’s wonderful Wallflower paper stash.

I just had to follow the theme of the gorgeous yellow and pink roses in the background. More photos and details are available on the Country View Updates blog

Products include -

Wallflower paper stash

Spring Greenery and bow tied strip dies

movers and shapers arch die

Stamps – simple sayings and tiny things

Distress Inks – peeled paint, forest moss, walnut stain

Distress paint – frayed burlap, walnut stain (on the bird)

Treasure Copper

metal bird from my supplies

Hope your week is going well.

hugs Brenda xx

Nature’s Beauty – Crafty Individuals

Forest Butterflies

There is a new challenge started over at Crafty Individuals and this month we want you to get thinking about all the beauty there is in nature, so this can take you in so many directions.

I seem to be well into the fresh green colours for Spring and this is no exception. The background was made by stamping the  beautiful butterfly trio (CI-347) with picket fence distress paint and then blended with mowed lawn, tumbled glass and squeezed lemonade DIs. It was then spritz and flicked, dried and then dipped in peacock feathers, pine needles and mustard seed DIs and dried. There is some lovely graduation and mixing of colours to create this very forest look.

To create the leafy edges I used the small leaf garland border die by Tim Holtz putting it through the Big Shot about 5 times at different angles then carefully blended forest moss over the raised areas, now it was beginning to create the effects I was looking for.

Using my water brush I coloured in the white butterflies with some of the distress inks to give them a little more depth.

I stamped another set of butterflies using black archival ink on white card and coloured them also with the water brush and DIs.

Finally I finished with some petaloo flowers that I edged with walnut stain and some punched leaves.

I love these little creatures fluttering through the undergrowth.

Hopefully we will see all you nature inspired projects over at Crafty Individuals, you only have to use one CI product to be eligible to enter.

Have a great day

hugs Brenda xx

New Beginnings 2 for Country View Crafts

Hello everyone and welcome to my second DT post for today, if you've missed and would like to see a little shadowbox frame for the new Vintage Journey A Little Bit French challenge please pop over HERE.


I thought I would design and make a little book for you today for my second piece for New Beginnings at  Country View Crafts challenge and I took inspiration from my friend Astrid, who late last year made a positivity journal in which she is adding fabulous quotes and each page is in her amazing mixed media style.

1. To start cut  a piece of card 22 x 10.6 cms and score as in the photo below.

2. To give it some strength but also to give it a shabby style I covered it with Decoart acrylic gesso. I particularly like this make because it gives the card some pliability. Dry it – I used a heat gun.

3.Cut a second piece of card 20 x 10 1/2 cms and again cover with gesso, this is going to become a small masterboard from which you will make front and back panels for the book cover.You can see I am not worried about this being a smooth surface as I want textured effects.

4. When the gesso is dry add in textures with masks and texture paste. Leave to dry out.

5. In the meantime stamp your chosen images onto white tissue paper and any you want to layer up to create dimension, stamp them again on white card. I used a mixture of watering can, cornflower blue, coffee and black archival inks with Tim Holtz Nature walk stamps. The little eggs were over stamped with the mottled egg stamp using picket fence distress paint.

6. By now the front cover was dry so I set about introducing some colour and distressing around the edges and down the two side spines. I chose picket fence, antique linen and frayed burlap distress paints. I dabbed them all round randomly and then took a stiff paintbrush and used the stippling motion to blend them together. The wet paint makes the card crinkle but don’t worry it will all add to the shabby effects.

7. Next I introduced colour to the masterboard dripping and drying stormy sky, tea dye and frayed burlap distress inks watered down. When happy with what I had achieved I cut the panels to size and distressed and inked the edges with walnut stain.

8. Time now to ‘tear’ the tissue paper images using a paintbrush , water and something to pull the wet paper apart.. In fact having now got the designs of the panels in my head I only did two of them, the nest and the feather. I also cut out all the other images I needed from the card and made myself some chatty words to fit the theme of the challenge.

9. The nest and bird were painted with distress inks and layered over the tissue paper which was adhered to the textured surface with matte medium and the quote added.

10. I followed the same process with the other panel and I covered the bluebird with glossy accents and left overnight to dry.

11. Next I needed to make the note book to go inside. I cut a piece of paper from the Wallflower paper stash (if you have seen some of my recent projects you will know I am in love with these papers). Cutting  and scoring it the same as the cover then trimming a couple of mms off each side so it would fit in. Ink all the edges and stamp/mask randomly over it. This will be the inside cover.

12. Cut the pages – I made mine 19 x 10 cms, scored each one in half and really creased the edges well with a bone folder. The number of pages is a personal thing and dependent on the thickness of the paper/card that you use.

13. With bulldog clips clip the pages and the longer cover together – making sure all the creases line up and it is perfectly flat - and mark an odd number of sewing holes down the scored line – mine are at 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 cms from one edge. With an awl pierce the holes right through. (Usually I would add some book scrim to the back to stop the thread pulling through the card but I couldn’t find it when I needed it, but even a piece of thin strong fabric would do).

14. From the back start sewing the pages together moving up and back down the crease again tying off the thread at the back.

15. The edges of the pages will now need trimming, I used a ruler and a knife.

16. Time to glue the cover onto the base, you can use strong tape or wet glue – I used matte medium.

17. Adhere some ribbon to the front and back cover.

18. Then adhere both the front and back covers and I also cut a panel from the Wallflower stack for the little side-panel.

19. A birds-eye view so you can see the pages in place.

20. I decorated the first page to get me started and used one of the gelli prints I had made recently for A Vintage Journey Destination Inspiration post.

21. The finished booklet.

Phew a long post but lots of detail and process steps. I hope you find it useful.

Do pop over to the CVC blog to see the amazing projects in the initial challenge post and to get some inspiration to come and join us this month and don't forget that Susan has her fabulous on-lineshop with the most amazing prices and free P&P in the UK. You might well be the winner of a £20 voucher to that shop.

Hope you've got some lovely things planned for the weekend. I am off to teach two full day workshops to a craft club near Abergavenny in Wales. I have been looking forward to this for a long time, so I shall be on my way later this morning. I'll let you know how I got on next week and if I can get a signal on my phone I might well be on Face Book over the weekend. (But me and FB have a difficult time together on the phone lol).

Take care.

hugs Brenda