A little bit of vintage and a little bit of bling

Hi folks, it's time for another challenge over at the Vintage Elusions Challenge Blog This is a weekly challenge blog with a theme of 'Anything Goes' plus another challenge running alongside. This week, it's 'Bling It!'.

As usual, there are some great prizes:

Lindsay is offering the winner 3 digis of their choice

Heather is offering the winner 3 digis of their choice

Guylou is offering a $10 voucher to spend in her shop




For my project, I have chosen to make a keepsake box, which I have painted, adding feet, which were cotton reels. I have added some gold Inka Gold paste along the studs and straps to hint at their metallic nature.

 

Inside, I have made some aged postcards, using Crafty Individuals stamps, which I stamped onto Kraft card and coloured with pencils. I then distressed the edges, and coloured them with Distress Ink.

I also made a 'locket' using brown card folded in half. I drew around a Spellbinders shape and cut it out, then ran it through an embossing folder. I rubbed Inka Gold paste over the raised areas, and added lots of little gems, plus a larger one. For the inside, I used two of our sponsors' images, one from Fresh Brewed, the rose, and one from LEJ Designs, the gentleman. I coloured these with pencils, and set them behind two of the die cut Spellbinders shape and a piece of acetate. I rubbed more Inka Gold over the brown card. I then punched a small hole on one side of the project, and added a large jump ring and some chain with a clasp. I chose slightly oversized chain, so that the project looked in proportion.

So there you have it, a chest with a girl's treasures from her sweetheart or Husband perhaps?

I hope that I've inspired you to have a go at the challenge, as you can make anything you like, as long as you keep it a little bit Vintage. It would be great if you would pop over to the blog and see what the other Design Team members have made.

I am going to enter my project into the following challenges:
Craft Your Days away : Anything Goes
Sugar Creek Hollow : We are family
ABC Challenge : V for Vanish
Pretty Little Ribbon Shop : Add some Bling or Sparkle

Thanks for stopping by, xx

Forgotten Friday 63- Ivy Leaves

Hi Folks, well it's Friday again, and time to rummage through your neglected items to see what is lying unused or forgotten. These past few weeks, I've been making some Christmas samples for the Chocolate Baroque Design Team and I wanted to use this large ivy leaf for a sample. I haven't used it for ages, and realised sadly that it's a retired stamp. I decided to create a Forgotten Friday sample with it, and used a neglected sentiment to go along with it, plus a Spellbinders die that I've never used as well. My main image is one of the new images from the 'Christmas Creatures' stamp plate, so I am cheating a bit. However, CB stamps are all about mixing and matching, so I hope that you'll forgive me.

I've embossed the ivy leaf with gold embossing powder, then coloured it with Distress Inks and a waterbrush. I've given the main image the same treatment, adding a bit of glamour dust for snow. I've die cut some leaves, and edged them with Distress Inks.

Why don't you have a rummage through your stash, and if you make something with a forgotten or unused item, leave me a comment, and I'll pop along to your blog to take a look. Thanks for stopping by, xx

There are new stamps recently released over at Chocolate Baroque on a Christmas theme, and I've used one of the new sets to make a sample that I've also posted on the Design Team Blog today.

My project uses a large gate stamp from the Christmas Creatures stamp plate, which I have stamped onto a 5" x 7" card. I masked the image, using Eclipse masking tape, and created a background using Pan Pastels. I used a second card the same size, and stamped a house from the New England Winter stamp plate onto the opposite side of this card, so that it would face the first image. I also masked this image, as before, and created a background with Pan Pastels. I then watercoloured both images with Distress markers and a waterbrush, adding more colour to the images directly with the pens for shading, and drawing it out with the waterbrush, until I was happy with the finish.

I cut the aperture out of the centre of the gate, added some gems to the large tree and some glitter to represent some snow.

I added some smaller gems to the tree on the second picture and more glitter.

I had quite a limited colour selection of blue Pan Pastels, so I put white Pan Pastel over my card first, so that the blue did not appear too dark. It gives quite a Wintery feel to the sky as well, I think.

I then trimmed a little piece from the inner edges of each card, and stuck the two cards together.

So now you can see the house through the arch of the gateway. I haven't added a sentiment to the card yet, but I will add one later once I have decided who I will send the card to at Christmas time. These new stamps are very versatile, because they mix in with a lot of the older sets that I already have, as you can see from this sample. I have several more projects planned using some of the new stamps and blending them with my older sets, I really like to do this. I'll be back in a few days with another sample for you, thanks for stopping by, xx

Forgotten Friday 62-Paper Artsy Haberdashery stamps

Hi Folks, well, shortly less than a week after my last FF post, here I am again, with a look at what I've been making with my neglected craft stash.

I'm still recovering from my asthma troubles, so some quiet crafting is doing me some good, keeping me in one spot for a change! It's nice to be home for more than a few days at a time, that's for sure. Hopefully, my course of antibiotics will sort me out, and I'll be right as rain in a few days.

This week, I decided to look through my Paper Artsy stamps. I had several plates that I hadn't even cut out, shame on me. The haberdashery plates are absolutely gorgeous, and I decided to use some of those to make a 6" x 6" card. I stamped some of the images onto a sheet of Prima Ledger paper in a soft pinky brown, and then stuck these onto thin card before cutting them out. I did this so that I could curve them a bit for added dimension when I stuck them onto the finished card. I added a bit of Tattered Rose or Old Paper Distress Ink to the images, then edged them with Vintage Photo. I stamped several images onto a piece of green paper from the same paper stack, using Coffee Archival ink, and also stamped a dressmaker's pattern using Old Paper, so that it appears like a ghost stamp on the background. I embossed a phrase using Wow embossing powder, and used the same EP for the scissors image, and the stand part of a TH dressmaker's dummy. I rubbed Vintage Photo Distress Ink over the top of the Dressmaker's dummy afterwards to age the appearance. I like this colour combination, and will use it again. I added some gathered lace to the base of the bodice before attaching it to the card. I continued the lace theme by adding a scrap of cotton lace to the base of my card.

It's been a lovely sunny day here, and I noticed that Buzz had decided to settle down amongst my bling, which was on the floor below the table where I was crafting. The sun was shining on the floor, and she obviously didn't mind lying on the lumps and bumps of my stash, she just wanted to sunbathe!

Why don't you have a rummage through your stash and see what you have neglected to use for a while? If you make something, leave a comment, and I'll pop along to your blog and take a look. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Alphatags O and P

Hi Folks, well, I don't post for ages, and then I post twice in one day! I had intended to try and get this post written fror Friday, as then anyone wanting to link to the post for Forgotten friday would be able to, but time just ran away from me last week. I visited my parents to see my Dad for his 80th Birthday, and had a lovely time. The icing on the cake was being able to organise a new member of the family for him, a six week old Yorkshire Terrier, that they have called Tiny. Dad lost their previous dog on his Birthday last year, which was a very sad memory for him, so the new puppy will help to ease that a little bit.

By my next visit, he will seem much bigger, I'm sure, as he is as small as one of my shoes at the moment!

I came home from my visit, only to turn around and repack my case, then we left for a trip to the Isle of Wight for a few days. We hadn't visited the island since the children were quite young, so were looking forward to spending a few days there. The added bonus was that I got to spend a few hours with a very special friend as well who lives locally.

We stayed in a lovely hotel, The Royal, in Ventnor, on the South end of the island, which has subtropical gardens. We were blown away by the huge agapanthus that they had there, which are grown by the Botanical Gardens in Ventnor.

The scenery across the island was spectacular, we weren't prepared for that I don't think, or the hilly inclines, coming from a very flat area ourselves! A lot of the roads were very narrow, and so My OH had to moderate his speed somewhat! The weather was very kind to us, and we enjoyed strolling around and taking in the sights while we were there. We particularly enjoyed visiting Osborne House, Queen Victoria's residence, after Prince Albert died. It really is an amazing house, with lovely gardens.

We enjoyed a cake laden afternoon with friends and really must start thinking about counting the calories for a while now! The only downside, was an unplanned trip to Hospital, as I haven't been feeling well for a while. I've been to the GP since I've been home, and hopefully will be back to normal soon.

So, onto my Alphatags! I have used lots of neglected stamps for both of my tags, which is why they fit the bill for a Forgotten Friday post so well. My 'O' tag features an ornate owl, which has been embossed over a Pan Pastel background. I've used another ornate image, this time a flower from what was originally a multibuy set, but it is a DL set in its own right. It's quite Art Nouvea in style, and I've used Pan Pastels in the Magenta range to sweep over the image once it was stamped with Versamark. I've added buttons to the owl's eyes, and a little owl charm to finish the tag.

My 'P' tag features Paisley, which I have created using white embossing for a resist, and then used the Summer Distress inks for a lovely burst of colour. I have then stamped a Peacock onto a piece of white shrink plastic, and coloured this with pencil. I painted it with an iridescent medium before fixing it onto the tag. I chose to use the word 'procrastinating', as I do that a lot, when I am choosing my tag subjects, and also to get going on them!

Well, that's me just about caught up now! Hopefully, my Forgotten Friday this week will be on time, have a good week, and thanks for stopping by, xx

Mixed media canvas

Hi folks, sorry it's been a while since I've posted, but life has been so hectic for me this past month or so. I actually went away five times in July, and once at the beginning of August. I'm home again for a few weeks now, so I'm hoping to get caught up on a few things, and recharge my batteries for a while.

As you know, I've been working on a couple of Design Teams lately, Vintage Artisans and Altered Elusions and Card Artitude. These blogs have been amalgamated into one, which can be found here The blog is an anything goes challenge blog, offering weekly prizes with great sponsors.

Teri is offering 4 Digis for the Winner

Sassy's are offering 4 Digis to the Winner

Robyn's Fetish are offering 5 Digis to the Winner




My project for this week is a mixed media canvas using a great image from Delicious Doodles called 'Guarding the Nest', of a dragon looking after her eggs. I also used a great stamped dragon image from Chocolate Baroque, which I coloured in similar colours, and a fabulous sentiment which reads, "Meddle not in the affairs of Dragons for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup".

I placed the images onto an 8" x 8" canvas that I had painted with watered down Golden paints swirled, and sprinkled with salt. Once these had dried, I added some glitter glass in gold and turquoise, and added two pieces of wood to suggest the entrance to a Dragons' Lair. I also added glitter glass to the pieces of wood.

Why not take a look at what the other Design Team members have made, and have a go at making something yourself for the challenge? Thanks for stopping by, xx