great news!!!

Hi again, some news to share with you...

Joan, one of my friends from the Queens Road Summer Market here in Watford is opening up a shop in Watford (Rebel Pebble, 98 The Parade) on Saturday for local artists & craftspeople to show & sell their work, & I'm renting a couple of shelves for my cards, canvases & more!!!

Thought I'd share a few of the things I've made recently for the shop ...

First some canvases:

Japanese cotton & lace

crackled canvas, wooden butterflies

textures with die cuts & embossing paste, heat-embossed butterflies

And then some hearts (which still need ribbon to hang!)

& lots more ideas, just need time to make!!!

Back soon!     Kay

Tim's tags - April 2014

And I'm just in time for this month's "Tim's tag" - Tim's tag here

And this time, I had most of the 'bits & pieces'!!!

The trellis Framework I bought with the voucher I'd got from Tim & Mario (from Simon Says stamp) in the draw for February's tag!!! (how's that for a good choice of goodie!).  I love this die!  & I love making the paper roses with Tim's tattered pinecone die!!  Here's the roses in detail...

The colours I used were:  antique linen & forest moss paint & peacock feathers ink for the background and peacock feathers & vintage photo for the trellis.  I edged the shapes with vintage photo, mowed lawn & spiced persimmon & I coloured the roses with milled lavender & peacock feathers.

Back soon!     Kay

Tim's tag for March

Hi again!

I was totally amazed & shocked (and speechless!) when Tim released his tag for March!!!  Why???  Every month, all the entries go into a prize draw - imagine my shock when I saw my name in the post as one of the prize winners!!!!!  (& thanks to everyone who commented on my post!)  So at the moment I'm looking forward to the arrival of my prize!!!

So, onward & upward!

This month, Tim used his 'smudge stamping' technique to create two tags.  I did try this before when I took Tim's Creative Chemistry 102 online class although I kept muddling the two tags up!) so I had another go!  (I didn't get them muddled this time!)

 

 

As you can see, the one on the right is paler, more subtle, as it uses second-impression stamping, having already stamped the tag on the left, & using just the ink remaining on the stamp for the second tag, then a little bit of smudging to slightly blur the outlines.   I think with a little more practice, I shall really get to enjoy this technique, and 'two for the price of one'!!!

 

I used vintage photo, seedless preserves, peacock feathers & peeled paint ink pads, with a little spiced marmalade through the stencil for the background.  I used the same colours on the tag ribbons, but added more water to create a paler ribbon for the second tag.  For the little flowers, I used seedless preserves paint, with an addition of a pale grey/blue on the right. 

 

Back soon!     Kay

A vintage journey... challenge 1

A couple of week's ago, I found a new challenge blog, A Vintage Journey; vintage, shabby chic, & Tim Holtz -  definitely me, I thought!  It's run by Brenda Brown, & she's got a great Design Team working on the blog.  Challenges are going to be every 2 weeks, and are sponsored by Countryview Crafts (a great online shop with great prices & quick delivery, and free postage in the UK).

So here's my first entry.  

The theme for this first challenge is 'Anything Tim'!  So a vast selection of inspiration to inspire me!  What would I do?  Being a 'vintage journey', I thought I'd 'travel' back in time, and revisit (loosely!) the first of Tim's tag for Christmas 2011, which was the first tag I ever completed & blogged; although I 'd seen his previous years' tags, I 'd never got around to doing any!

Tim's tag Christmas 2011 Day 1

My 2011 tag (I didn't have the pine cone die at the time)

So I revisited the tag & thought about how I could adapt it from Christmas...

As Tim said in his blog post, he was focusing on the pine cone die.  In the video, he shows how to use the die to create roses, as well as pine cones, so I decided to do these.  & I used the new foliage strip die for the greenery.  I did the background using Tim's techniques (except I didn't rub the embossing powder off the raised areas!). I covered the die cut flourish with distress glitter (not available in 2011!).  Finally, I added a few embellishments, & punched & distressed borders.  I was going to use the word 'Spring', but although I have seen a (very) few roses already with the odd flower (this early!!!) the roses didn't really fit with spring, so I used some chit-chat stickers instead.

New beginnings #2

I joined Christy Tomlinson's online Art Society Video Club back in January ... monthly inspiration for mixed media canvases. Very different, but I'm loving it! Videos come mid-month, so here's my January canvas ...




 

I added a layer of tissue wrap to the canvas, then painted over; added die cut patterned paper leaves which I painted over, and a couple of die cut embossed butterflies I'd done a while back & added the text.  It looked quite disjointed, so I finally sprayed over the whole canvas!

 

For the second one for January, I went 'off track' a bit!  A dark background, & for Christmas I'd got the Steeleye Span album "Wintersmith" (inspired by Terry Pratchett's tales of Tiffany Aching).  One of the songs on the album was called 'I shall wear Midnight'. I'd already done the black/grey background for my canvas.  I also had some tiny patterned leaves left over.  So I decided to create my canvas around these ...

 

 

And here's a couple for February ...

The patchwork is made of rectangles of the top layer of paper napkins (I've gathered quite a collection over the years!); faux 'stitching' added with pen.

 

For this one, I used Tim Holtz fabric for the patchwork.  As the edges of the material were already 'pinked', I cut the rectangles with pinking shears & I added a little stamping using various border stamps, with a little distress ink on the edges (back to my favourite 'muted' colours!!).

 

Back soon!     Kay

New beginnings!

After an unproductive few months last year, I'm finally getting back into crafting!

Our Facebook group has a challenge each month - for February it's "New Beginnings", using new (or not used) products and/or a new technique.

Just over a week ago, I went up to Leicester with a friend from the group to Neil's Studio in Leicester to a workshop run by Hels Sheridan. (Neil is also a member of the group; I first met him last year at his newly opened studio in his back garden - a great creative space - Neil is also now on several craft Creative Teams - well worth checking our his blog here).  Anyway, had a great time & managed to complete a 9" x 12" canvas...

 

 

I loved doing this! 

A couple of days later I found out from my friend that Sizzix UK had cut the prices of lots of Tim Holtz dies... Now Hels provided a piece of the Harlequin border to use in class; loved this one, so versatile, & yes, it was on sale!  And as I checked the website, I saw several more reduced that were on my 'wish list'!  So, an order to Sizzix, and a couple of days later, these arrived!

 

I also sent my first order from Fernli Designs, who produce wooden / MDF laser-cut embellishment & other pieces.  I was ready to produce a Hel's type canvas with Tim Holtz dies & some Fernli cogs!  And I also bought some Dreamweaver Embossing Paste that we used at the class - love this through stencils; it has an almost 'velvety' finish, rather than molding paste, which is more glossy.

Comparison of Dreamweaver embossing paste (diamonds) & molding paste heart

 

 

 

This canvas is much smaller, 6" x 4" & the canvas itself is 'chunkier', less fine-grained.  So I think it has a different feel to it.  (I think I prefer the 'original', has a much more 'open' feel to it - I think my next one will be on a larger canvas - more space to play with!).

 

I used the Harlequin & Washer Borders - both the die cuts themselves & the pieces that were left.  And I used the Old Jalopy Mover & Shaper. All the wooden bits are Fernli Designs, apart from the tiny hearts, which I picked up from ArtCuts at Alexandra Palace Stamping & Scrapbooking Show last year.  And the embossing paste is through Tim's Latticework stencil.

 

detail of the cogs

texture detail; die cuts, embossing paste etc

 

(hope this counts for the challenge!)

 

Back soon!     Kay



Tim's February tag

My 'take' on Tim's 'February 2014' tag

Quite a 'simple' one this month!  I mainly followed Tim's techniques, but used stash that I had.  The 'trim' on the bottom is die cut lace, cut out of silver card, aged a little with Black Soot distress paint.  I first came across the 'chalkboard' technique over at Tim's Creative Chemistry 102 online class last year (the class is still available as an independent one) - I'm still practicing it, but I love this technique!  Once I'd finished, the tag was still looking a little 'bare' - I found a die cut, stamped & 'glossy accented' butterfly I'd done a while back.  Being grey, it toned in, so I added this to the tag.

Detail of the 'chalkboard'

Thought I'd just add this Valentines card, used the same 'chalkboard' technique, this time as a background, using various border stamps.  I think I might be using this idea in some more cards!

Back soon!     Kay