Forgotten Friday 50- Lady in Pink

Hi folks, it's been a busy week around here, and Friday has just whizzed around again. I have been very busy with DT work, and haven't made a seperate Forgotten Friday piece. Hoever, one of my older DT pieces actually qualifies for this post, so I'm choosing to show that today.

It's an IndigoBlu card, using stamps from the 'Music Hall' plate. I really like this stamp plate, but hadn't inked it up for ages. I had the chance to choose which stamps to make two of my projects with recently, and used these for one of them. I've gone for a soft palette of Victorian Velvet and Antique Linen, to give a air of faded elegance, a bit like the woman in the main stamp.

I stamped the image onto a Nestability shape, echoing the suggestion of a poster, which is one of the accompanying smaller stamps. I've added some small black rolled roses, and some Crealie leaves to finish. The sentiments are great on this stamp plate, aren't they?

Don't forget to pop over to the Chocolate Baroque Design Team blog today, as I have another card showcasing some great Crafty Individuals stamps. I've gone very patriotic this time! The details of how I made the card are all on the DT blog, but here's a quick look at what I've made:

Why don't you have a rummage through your forgotten and neglected stash, and make something. Leave a comment, and I'll pop along to your blog to take a look. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Travel Journal Card

Hi folks, I've posted a project over on the Chocolate Baroque Design Team blog today using the new Artistic Expressions stamp plate recently released by Glenda at Chocolate Baroque and some Crafty Individuals stamps that are available on the website too.

The details of how I made the project are on the Design Team blog if you are interested. However, some of the key features I used are as follows:
I used Versamark through a stencil, and then added clear embossing powder, to make an interesting background.
I also used the crackle stamp from the 'Echoes of Italy' stamp plate to cover some black card to make a little old book.
I coloured a sliver book plate with alcohol inks, to make it a different colour.
I used a computer generated title for the book.
I masked off portions of a stamp before inking to only use the sections that I wanted.

My Design Team mates have been producing some great samples too, so keep checking back to the Design Team blog to see what they have been up to. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Forgotten Friday 48- Vintage Christmas

Hi folks, well I should have been at my Mum and Dad's house today, but the weather foiled my plans. We had a lot of snow overnight, and unfortunately, it just wasn't really sensible for me to travel.

We are tucked off the road, so this was our drive this morning. Hopefully, it will all disappear again in a few days, but at the moment, we are back to being covered in snow again.

It seems rather apt to be working on a Christmas card in this weather for my Forgotten Friday project! I have chosen an unused Crafty Individuals angel stamp, it's a really cute little image. I decided to go along the lines of vintage this week, as I've discovered a colour combination that I really like lately, which is Antique Linen and Victorian Velvet. Particularly when using Distress stains. Now I hardly ever use these, they really do get forgotten in my stash. I put the two together, as I had been using a brighter combination for something else, and loved these two. I made a piece of background paper using the wrinkle free distress technique, and then stamped another Crafty Individuals stamp, which is an angels definition stamp. I also stamped a music stamp from The Artistic Stamper.

I added some lace, some seam binding, and a crochet flower that I have been hoarding for an age, as it is so lovely. I am improving my crochet skills, along with some of my blog buddies, so I could crochet some of these if I really put my mind to it. The swirl on the Kraft background is another Crafty Individuals stamp.

I have plenty of room to add a sentiment to this card, to personalise it at Christmas, but I'll do that nearer the time. How are you all getting on with your Christmas cards? I know it's only February, but you know how the time flies, I am determined to keep going throughout the year this year.

Anyway, why not have a rummage through your stash, see what items you have forgotten or neglected, and make something with them. Leave a comment on my post, and I'll pop along to your blog to take a look. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Forgotten Friday 28- A little Box

Hi Folks, it's Friday again, two weeks since I last posted for FF, and a little bit late today, I'm sorry to say. I've had a nasty migraine, and although I started my project yesterday, I had to abandon it due to feeling ill. Although I'm woolly today, I do feel better.

I chose to alter a little box for today's project, given to me by my friend Elaine, some time ago. This little box has sat truly neglected, waiting for some TLC, and a new use. There used to be some scrumptious chocolates inside, apparently, and there might be again soon, as I have a few family Birthdays coming up.

I chose to cover the box using some lilac Paper Artsy chalk paint, and some lovely Thordon Hall paper. I love this paper, but am very miserly with it. This is only its second outing. The lovely purple print went with the chalk paint really well. I had some offcuts from some of the other sheets, and made some rolled roses to put on the top of the box.

I then chose to use a lovely stamp from Crafty Individuals that was, you guessed it, as yet unused. I love this stamp, and will use it again now that I have played with it this time. I coloured the entire thing with Polychromos pencils, and used Zest it to blend the colours. I decoupaged four layers in total, not easy with a headache! I chose to replace the stamped ruffle with a piece of cream lace, and one of the buttons with a real pearl button, exactly the right size, for a bit more texture.

I had fun making this box, I just need to persuade Elaine to eat some more chocolates, so that I can have another one!

Why don't you have a look through your neglected crafty items, and see if you can make something with your forgotten stash. Leave a link in my comments, and I'll pop along to your blog to take a look. Thanks for stopping by today, xx

Stamping Contrasts

Hi folks, well it's not such a sunny Sunday here today, but it's a welcome change, as the garden really needs a bit of rain. Yesterday was very humid, but it's a bit more pleasant today.

I have two cards to show you today, both using Tim Holtz's 'Papillon' Stamp set, which I loved as soon as I saw it. I love butterflies anyway, but the background stamp is just fabulous. At my card class last week, I wanted to get the girls to use white embossing in their cards, so we based our cards on this technique. We chose three colours, and blended our backgrounds, after embossing the background stamp. We also coloured the butterflies with the same colours, and decoupaged the butterflies. We used some Kraft card, and chose a stamp from the set as our background stamp, this time using a Versafine ink in a matching colour, (I used Majestic Purple), and then I matted everything onto red Bazzil card.

I haven't added added a sentiment, as this card could then be used for any purpose, a great store cupboard card!

My second card has a lovely shabby, vintage feel, which is exactly what I wanted. I firstly created my background, using a Linda Brown technique  using Paper Artsy paint, which you apply to white card sparingly, and dry with your heat gun. I then used Antique Linen and Spun Sugar Distress Stains, and blended them with a baby wipe over the top. When these were dry, I stamped the big Papillon background stamp down my card, using archival ink.
I then embossed and refined my metal shapes in Pearl metal, and painted them using Vintage Lace Fresco Finish paint. I rubbed over a little bit of black paint dabber, and wiped off the excess to age them slightly. I cut the wings from sticky back canvas, coloured them with Antique Linen Distress Ink, and stamped a Crafty Individuals script stamp over the top. I coloured the Ideology ribbon and flower trims with Spun Sugar and Antique Linen Distress Stains, before spritzing them with water.
I then assembled my card, adding a computer generated sentiment, and a heart charm. I had seen this sentiment on another blogger's card ages ago, I've looked so that I could give credit to her, but can't find the link. So my apologies for that.

This card is going to a very special person, and I hope she has a lovely Birthday!
Thanks for stopping by today, I hope you have a lovely weekend, whatever you are doing, Judith xx

Bah Humbug use a cd or dvd

Hi folks, well I've had a whirlwind two days with Jo, the weather has not been kind to us, but we've had a lovely time, crafting, craft shopping, and consuming way too many calories. I'll miss her now that she has gone home again, but we are meeting up again soon, at the GNPE at Harrogate in March with another Craft Stamping Quartet friend Lesley. In April, the four of us are hoping to get together at Ally Pally, which will be a rare but treasured occasion. I've made my Bah Humbug card by the skin of my teeth this week, as the deadline is lunchtime tomorrow. The challenge was to use a cd or dvd in some way. I chose to stamp on my CD, using Teal Stazon ink, using an Elusive Images snowflake stamp, to match the gorgeous turquoise backing paper that I have used. I have stamped and coloured a Crafty Individuals image called Snow Baby, cutting it out with a Nestie shape, and mounting it onto a lovely teal coloured card. I have used a piece of teal coloured ribbon underneath my image, and hung a snowflake charm from the bow. Don't forget to pop over to the Bah Humbug blog to see what everyone else has been getting up to this week. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

More charms

Hi folks, I made another two charms yesterday, in spite of the cut finger! It is still really sore, but Buzz doesn't care, she just wants her dinner, ah well, I'll recover.

I bought these tiny wooden cotton reels on Sunday from Stamperama, and thought that they would make really cute charms. I painted the tops and bottoms with precious metal paint, added some  TH tissue tape around the middle, and glued a metal rondelle to the top and bottom. I've added a clasp at the top, so that they can clip onto a hanbag if the recipient likes, or they can take that off, and just use the jump ring. At the bottom, I've added some beads, and a little brass sewing machine.

A fellow forum member, who is an Art Teacher, put out a call, asking for us to make journal pages for her students, on the subject of 'Time' recently. I haven't made any completed journal pages before, I've prepared pages, with watercolour backgrounds, stamped on them, and inked them, but this was a bit of a first for me. I had two ideas, and wanted to make them while the ideas were fresh in my mind. They are a bit more scrapbooky in style than most journal pages, because I have treated them more like a canvas. I have kept them as flat as possible though, as they are going in a book.

For the first one, I drew an hourglass, and stamped lots of clocks, which I wanted to fall down the hourglass, like sand, and pile up at the bottom. I covered them all with Glossy Accents. I found a poem called 'Time for Now' on the Internet, which I wrote around the edges. I used Elusive Images ATC stamps, sequin waste, and bottle caps to make my background.

For the second page, I wanted to use the phrase 'Tempus Fugit' time flees, or more commonly translated as time flies. I took an Elusive Images clock, stamped it, and covered it with Glossy Accents again, added TH wings and a crown. I covered the wings with tissue tape. I cut a Birdcage from Grungepaper and painted it with green metallic paint, cutting away some of the bars, as if my clock bird had escaped. I did a bit of my own journalling on this page, keeping the background a bit simpler.

It's been fun making these pages! I'd certainly like to make some more. I hope you are having a good day whatever you are up to today, thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

WOYWW 86

Hi folks, it's Wednesday again, and that means it's time for another look at what's going on around Blogland on everyone's desks, and crafting spaces. If you don't know what I'm talking about, then hop over to Julia's place to find out.

On my desk this week, as per usual, is the project for the Bah Humbug Blog challenge. The week just goes too quickly for me, and I am always trying to finish it on a Wednesday in time for the Thursday deadline. This week, the challenge is Crackers. I am making a card and matching cracker. I'm almost finished, but could do with some rubbish cracker jokes please. I like the design that I came up with for the cracker, and think that I will make my own for Christmas. I made some poinsettias with sticky backed canvas on Grungepaper, using a Nestability die, and sprayed them with Adirondack colour wash ala Tim Holtz, they are very pretty. I've made the cracker from Kraft paper, with a lovely scrolly stamp from Elusive Images, as the background stamp, and I'm going to use big red bows at each end.

I posted my Masterboard makes as promised in my previous post, using the Masterboard that was on my desk last week.

Yesterday, I finally put my two Printer's trays on the wall, which I am very happy about.

I have been waiting for ages to put these up. One is very soft and romantic in its theme, and the other is metallic and is very strong in its colour theme. I bought both from LB Crafts, the top one was made in a class with Linda Brown, and they both started life as dark brown trays.

I have shown you my filing cabinet drawers of wooden stamps in the past; I have five. I have decided that they are not earning their keep, and I am going to put most of them on Ebay to sell. I do have a few that I will keep, but a lot have not seen the light of day for a couple of years. I haven't sold items on Ebay before, so am looking for advice really. Would I be better putting them into group lots, with minimum prices? Should I sort them into categories, for example Penny Black, Hero Arts, or what do you think? Let me know your thoughts, or how you have sold your items in the past. Right, I'm off foer a nosey around other peoples' spaces now, happy Wednesday! Judith xx