Rising to the challenge

Today i was set as challenge by Sam to use my pumice gel medium that i had bought whilst we were down in London together, she had seen someone using it over on the Paperartsy #3up challenge here so it had obviously reminded her that mine was still sealed!!

So in Sam's honour i made a tag!

I used the pumice gel through the stencil then dried it with a heat gun, the paste is strange as it seemed to puff up a bit, maybe i will leave it to dry naturally next time.

I am loving the look created by the use of just one colour at the moment so i chose to use shades of brown for this tag, i used a combination of distress paints and paperartsy frescos to get the colours on the tag,

I used the same stencil with some frayed burlap distress ink through it and then 'bumped it' with antique linen distress paint although it didn't seem to work out properly!

I stamped the sentiment onto some craft card along with the heart, which i then heat embossed.

Finally i tinted some ribbon with distress ink pads to match the tag and then couldn't resist attaching them with a pink staple, just for Sam!

Pure plagiarism!!

Hi

Today i found mysely with a whole day to craft and actually in the mood to do so, let me tell you that this is a rare occurance!

Firstly i needed to make a card for an old work colleague of mine who has been going through a tough time, i dont make cards very often now so this was a challenge. i used one of my unity stamps as i felt the sentiment was particularly pertinent.

Next up i wanted to have a go with some of the Paperartsy crackly tissue that's now as rare has hens teeth but the lovely Sam had sent me some to have a go with. Now here is where the plagiarism comes in, what i did with it is almost a direct copy of what Sam did on her blog, to see Sam's original project check here. I have checked with her that its okay for me to blog this piece and unlike some people Sam's motto is 'share and share alike' and was flattered that i liked her piece enough to copy, sorry gain inspiration from!!

I used a Paperartsy hanger for the background and covered it with pink paint, i then applied paperartsy crackle over followed by a layer of vintage lace fresco (think i need more practise on the crackle paint front), I then stamped one of my favourite Lynne Perrella stamps onto the infamous crackly tissue, the image didn't stamp properly but i didn't want to waste it so used it anyway. I coloured the image on the back and then covered the whole back with white acrylic paint to make the image stand out more i then cut the image out as close to the edge as i could.

I layered the image onto some pink tissue i have, wet the edges to tear it then applied some inky pool fresco around the torn edges, i then stuck this to the hanger.

I painted the shrine top and stamped with a script stamp onto it and rubbed some guilding wax into the edges, i then stuck this onto the image.

I used a die cut 'inspire' and painted it then embossed it with frantage shabby embossing powder and stuck this onto the hanger. Finally i used more of the guilding wax to go round some of the edges of the hanger itself.

And finally.......

A journal page, not done one in a while but i was inspired by Helen's make today using only one colour as the background, here is Helen's page using the fabulous cherry pie, while she claims its red it looks mighty pink to me!

Anyway i thought i would choose a different colour for me and i tend not to use blue very much so i opted for the dylusions calypso teal.

i used the same ghosting technique that Helen used then chose this unusual stamp all the way from the USA featuring the pens with the wings on, i seem to have a bit of a thing about wings lately! i then used some ink and the dog stamps with keys and locks on to fill in some of the gaps.

I stamped the wings in white then stamped them again, slightly off centre and embossed with frantage teal aged embossing powder.

To finish it off i used one of my new liquitex inks to make drips down the page.

Thanks to my wonderful crafty pals for their inspiration.

I need a either a glass of wine or a lay down now!!

Ally Pally goodies

Hi All,

Today i finally found some time to play with all my goodies i bought at the weekend (if i am perfectly honest i only unpacked them today too!).

I used my fresco paints and followed a technique that i had written down step by step at the weekend to create the layers on the heart, i then stamped the script and used a new to me foiling technique i learnt on the paperartsy stand.. I used the same paint technique on the wings (i absolutely love these) but left out the stamping, i then used my new Lyn Perella stamps for the image and coloured it with a mix of fresco and dylusions spray inks, i sprayed a piece of lace to match and attached it along with some metal embellishments, when i put the image on the heart it seemed to disappear so i backed it with black tissue paper to make it stand out.

hope you like it

Finnabair inspiration

Ooh twice in a day, get me!!

I have been watching a lot of Ustream and youtube videos lately to try to broaden my crafting horizons. I have fallen in love with the work of Anna Dabrowska and wanted to have a go to see if i could make anything remotely like it.

I took a series of photos to remember the process really and thought i would share with you.

firstly i covered this mdf blank in the sunrise/sunset papers by Anna from Prima, i then used some modelling paste through a stencil to give some texture, after drying this i added random bits of lace, ribbon and string onto the piece.

After this had all dried i applied a thin coat of gesso over the top of everything i had stuck down, it feels pretty scary at this point!

When the gesso had dried i then used dylusion spray inks in complimentary colours to spray over the gessoed pieces

I then. looked through my stash to find bits and pieces to add to the project, this is a great way to use up flowers that maybe dont match anything or broken bits and pieces, i stuck all these down with hot glue to ensure they would stay put!

I then lightly gessoed over the newly added embellishments, let this dry and sprayed again using more of the dylusions inks.

And here is the final product. I have to say i was quite pleased with the way this turned out, it is in fact a lot stronger in colour in real life, i have a large bay window in my craft room so its made the colour look a lot paler than it really is.

 

Thanks for looking.

Hellooooo

I wont comment on how long it is since i blogged, fair to say its been a while again.

As some of you may know things have been a little tough for me recently so when my mate Sam suggested a trip to London to visit the craft show at Alexandra Palace, i thought why not. As the time got closer i got more and more nervous about the trip and all the people i would meet and sharing a room with Sam lol!!

Anyway here are the photos i took, not as many as most i know!

Gabrielle, Sam and Helen

Lily putting us all on Ustream!

Nicky

Sam, Alison, Hazel and Helen
After the show we met up with the lovely Leandra, Millie and Mark from Paperartsy in the bar afterwards.

And last but not least, my goodies.

I had a great day, thank you to everyone who said hello.

On the Sunday Sam and i headed to Cass Art in Islington, surprisingly Sam managed to get us there without any problems, it was such a lovely day that we had brunch ouside in the sunshine

Needless to say more purchases were made

All in all a great weekend.