Back from CHA!

Well I am back in one piece, although it was a close call on the flight home, as muggins here left her passport in security and had to run like mad to retrieve it, and catch the plane, but I made it, and amazingly enough I don't appear to have jet lag, although am tired. It was fun meeting old friends, and seeing all the new product. There was so much fab artwork, and Wendy and I did a few make and takes, and made a few purchases! I will have all the new Distress inks from Ranger for you (they are on my site for you to peruse, but no pre-buying until I know they are on the way ), I have lots of the new Vintaj charms , Amate rings and pendants, Tim Holtz Idea-ology, all hopefully shipping in the next few weeks. There is more, and I will post these when they arrive:)
I have to say thank you to Kristen from The Scrappy Tree who took us to Disneyland where we had the best fun! She gave us gorgeous gifts and I found out I had won their New Year Challenge, how wonderful was that, and a brilliant prize which I have to find time to devour! One of the best things about going to CHA is meeting up with old friends, and just catching up.. what more could a girl want, a bit of sun, more crafting goods than you can imagine, old friends, and good company! Thank you to Wendy for letting me come with you...see you next year same time, same place! lol!

I did have my camera with me, but some of the photos are awaful.. here are a few of the best ones......

Claudine

Suze

Wendy and Lin Brown shopping!

My friends from Canada Debs and Ralna

Artwork from Idea-ology Booth

Gorgeous pieces on the Vintaj Booth

Marvellous Designer Artwork from Ranger

 

The most amazing "Steampunk" piece from outside a Disney shop!

See you tomorrow with the winners from the Sneak peek posts ( still time to enter, and my NEW stamps! Don't forget to enter into the One World One Heart post too!

Have a good Day

Final Sneak Peek

By the time you read this I will be home, jet lagged, and worn out, but hopefully with lots of new products on order. Here are the final sneak Peeks, and these are from two different sets. Happy guessing and leave a comment to be in it to win, and this time you do not have to guess correctly.... I am randomly going to pick 5 winners :)
One of these stamps is my favourite ever stamp.. oh I have had lots of those over the years, but this time I think it is! rofl!

Have a great Day I am off to sleep!

Hugs

Sneak Peek No 2

Here is the second sneak peek for you. This time there are 2 pics, just to keep you guessing :) Horrid aren't I ?

Waving to you from L.A.

Hugs

Sneak peek NO 1

On Monday 1st February we are releasing the first of our new sets of stamps for the year. There are lots of ideas in the pipeline, and this set are called Romance! I am sure that you will guess what most of them are... but it is all just for fun! I will randomly give away one of each of the sets to one of you if you comment. There are 5 different sets of stamps, and you can comment each day and when the sets are released I will pick the winners! Here is the first sneak peek :)

Happy Guessing!

Wired up!

While I had my meltpot on last week, I thought I would try a new version of my extended earrings. I used a very small amount of red To Dye for ink in clear utee, and using the same technique, made long clear earrings. Once they were dry I added some gold wire wrapped round them , and then redipped them carefully. I used a clearish bead at the top as the base, and then added a little gold bead to hold the hooks, which I glued in.
I have given these earrings to a friend as a present, just hoping she likes them:)

Have a great day!

Glitterati

When I last went to CHA or in those days HIA with Wendy we went to Dallas, where it rained hard everyday, and we got wet and had a laugh, and spent our time looking at new products, and generally meeting new people. She was kind enough to give me a brilliant travel journal she had made , which I still have, and so this time I thought I would give her something I had made. As she will have received it I can show you. I made this using a Grungepaper rose, and gluing it to a flat ring base. I then covered it in Faded Jeans distress stickles and added a little dark blue stickles to it as well for added sparkle. As I am writing this before I go ( oh the wonders of modern technology!) I am hoping she will like it..lol

Happy Creating!
Hugs

Journal page blues

By the time you read this I will be in Los Angeles, sipping a margarita, and hugging Mickey Mouse! I only wish!! I made this journal page on one of those days that I couldn't find much inspiration, and blue is always my favourite colour to use if I am not being inspired. The lady is from one of the Gibson Girls plates, and the words are Tim Holtz. I just inked up the background with distress inks ( always to hand!) and spritzed them lightly, actually there is a big white splodge on the girls face, but I quite liked that! A swirl stamp and a couple of Prima pearls and the middle of one of their flowers added the finish.

I hope you like:)
Hugs from L. A.

Uteed out!

I am desperately trying to get everything in place for me to leave at some ungodly hour in the morning, although why I am panicking is beyond me, as I am very rarely late, but the prospect of driving up the M25 during the beginning of the rush hour fills me with dread that I will miss the plane! I have scheduled some posts for while I am away and now due to the wonderful technology available, I can even post from my phone!! I am not sure I even want to try, but I will be twittering! lol
Here are the final 2 pieces from the workshop I did on Saturday. The first one is a Memory Frame which has a picture in it. I uised clear utee with a hint of To Dye for Inks in it, and gently poured the utee onto the frame and picture. Allow to cool, and add a charm.

The second piece is a cloissonee piece which is one of my favourite techniques. Dip a piece of card into the meltpot which I filled with bronze, and a touch of black utee. Have ready your stamp, not a clear one, inked with Ranger Snow Cap pigment ink. This will stay wet for a least five minutes. Immmediately stamp into the hot utee , and allow to cool with the stamp still in it. As soon as it is cool, you will be able to release the stamp. Gently heat the piece until the stamp image "floats". Don't over heat. All the stamps used are from the Butterflies plate.

Have fun while I am away, and do check back as we have lots going on on the blog next week *big grin*. I am off to find you lots of new goodies....
and Keep on Creating!

WOYWW

It's that day again!  WOYWW! Where has the week gone to? I seem to be chasing my tail trying to doing tax return, my son's books, check out orders, organize everything so I can leave on Friday at some silly hour! And of course, do artwork for the blog while I am gone.. I mean I couldn't leave you without anything for the week, could I? Actually I will posting sneak peeks of the new stamps that we have coming out on February 1st. There are one or two that I absolutely love!
Anyways here is a pic of a corner of my incredibly messsy desk that has everything piled up in it! mmm I think it is a dumping ground for all those pieces of unfinished art or is it the bits that I have messed up horribly , and put in a pile to possibly use some day!

Thank you to Julia for the challenge, and boy it is a challenge this week! lol
Now let's see your desk!

More melting fun

I am so excited as I am off to Anaheim to CHA with one of my oldest friends in the business, Wendy from The Stamp Attic. Wendy and I go way back when to those days when stamping was just putting a stamp on a card and colouring it in! In fact you even stamped with felt tips instead of ink! I thought ooh a bit of sun and lots of new goodies to look at, but no the forecast is rain, rain and more rain! mmmmm... umbrella or bikini? lol I will be twittering pics from there if all goes well and I can get the phone to work, so if you would like to see pictures, then follow me on Twitter.

I shall schedule a few posts for while I am gone, so you can still get some inspiration , and the webshop will still be open with Mal filling orders! Please be patient with him!
Meanwhile back in the studio, where it is chaos, I have taken a couple more projects from the workshop to show you.
Here in this piece, I dipped a piece of stamped card into the meltpot which was clear utee with a couple of drops of  To Dye for Ink (yellow) and allowed it to dry on the non stick sheet. When it was cool, I gently moved the card back and forth so it cracked. I then just wipe over a distress ink to fill the cracks.

The second piece is an idea I gleaned from Suze, and uses the Idea-ology Frames. Here I filled the frame which is placed on the non stick mat the right way up, and while it is still warm, poke a hole in it in the middle. I dipped one of the Idea-ology Foliage flowrs in th utee, and the leaves are covered in distress stickles. Add the flower to the centre of the utee frame with a long brad, and glue back in with Glossy Accents. Add the elements with jump rings.

Happy Creating!

Melting Fun!

On Saturday I taught a workshop at Pickleberry Crafts, and we had such fun using the meltpot. I think everyone enjoyed themselves, and we played with lots of UTEE , and stamps.  In my normal capacity as a teacher I have a very short memory for names ( comes with age and a very bad memory!) so Girls thank you for the great day. I was completely exhausted when I got home, but smiling! I have booked two new all day classes. I am not sure if they are on the website yet, but the dates are February 13th ( not a friday!..lol). This is a class using my favourite all time product  ALCOHOL INKS and March 27th using DISTRESS INKS ( including the new colours), so if you would like to book ( there are limited class places) please contact Kate at Pickleberry.
Here are a couple of the lements we made on Saturday at the class. The first one is a marbled butterfly which is the best thing to do. Put two or three colours in your meltpot, and DO NOT stir! Pour out when melted onto your non stick craft sheet in a swirling motion, and immediately place your cutter into the utee. Allow to cool, and remove your cookie cutter. Voila!

The second piece is alittle more complicated but so easy to do. Here I made a mould using Mould n Pour, and poured into it a little utee. I then dipped a piece of card into the same pot of utee, and immediately stamped into it with one of Crafty Notions stamps. Allow it to cool and then remove the stamp. You can only use natural rubber in this technique , not clear stamps! No release agent is needed. I stuck the two elements together with Glossy Accents, and added some stickles to it.

I will show you a few more of the techniques later in the week.
Have fun CREATING!

Blues and Two's!

I promised myself that I would take part in the Play Date Cafe challenge , and time just ran away with me every week, but today I managed to make a little piece to join in, and it also fits the challenge over at Gingersnaps too which is embossing!
I used a small piece of mountboard that I found lurking on my desk, and inked it up with all the blue distress inks spritzing lightly to belnd them.  I then added the harlequin texture mat in faded jeans, and inked the edges. The Tim Holtz Bird was inked in one of the distress inks, and then embossed with Hologram powder. I love how the colour changes as you heat it. I added the flowers from the same sheet of stamps, and then added the little flower brads in blue at the end. I did swipe a little bit of Precious Metal Blue Azure to the brads and the bird and the edges to finish it off. The hanger is from a set of curtain rings I found on my travels , which had the precious metal paint swiped over it.

I hope you like and that it fits both challenges.
BTW don't forget to pop over to Hel's Sunday Stamper which is 2 YEARS old today, and enter today's challenge for a chance to win some goodies from The Artistic Stamper!
Hugs

My first ever piece of Art?

I have always made art and crafts in some form or another, be it jewellery or cards or sewing, and this week my daughter spent some time clearing out her room, and had acquired some photos from my Mum in order to make a scrapbook for me. Needless to say , she didn't find the time to make it, but gave me the pile of old photos and very old school reports and a couple of letters that my mum had sent to her.
In amongst it was a card that I had obviously made for my parents. Inside it says Happy Easter love Jennifer! From the other pieces I am guessing it was made when I was about 8 or 9! Don't ask me if I drew it, have no idea and no recollection of doing it, but obviously I was making cards somewhere, be it school or Brownies ( were you a Brownie?) . It is painted and quite carefully too, so I am quite proud of it, and if anyone asks me when I started crafting I can now say quite a long time ago!

Do you have your first card and how old is it? 

Keep creating and making Art...

Butterfly Art

On Saturday I am taking an all day workshop at Pickleberry Crafts, and there are a couple of places left if you would like to join us. It is an all day workshop and will be filled with lots of UTEE, and inks and stamping! If you have never used Utee and the meltpot before , or have and want to learn more, then come and play.
You will get to make one of these gorgeous butterflies, and here I added him to a tag I had distress inked, and added the sentiment from one of Hels' stamp designs. The letters are old wooden scrabble tiles (email me if you would like a set, I have  a couple in stock) , which I rubbed a little bit of peeled paint on, and dried, and then added Crackle Accents to ( thank you Linda for the inspiration..lol).

I rather like this tag, and it isn't often I say that! You can book on line or call the shop.
Hope you are keeping warm and making ART!

Tiger Feet

Over on Hel's Sunday Stamper Challenge, the name of the song is Tiger Feet. This song brings back many memories for me, least of all the fact that my ex husband used to work for Mud, and I knew the band as friends as well as a band. I can't dance at at all , so the phrase two left feet comes to mind, and I have created a little homage to the feet with a Gothic Arch. This was a very quickly put together piece using distress inks, a Tim Holtz background, and a couple of his stamps, which were the only ones I could find with feet on them! I just love the hanging charms from Art Girlz, which I have had for ever and needed an excuse to use.

Thank you Hels for the challenge, which kept me busy for a little while this morning, and was a lot better than doing my VAT and tax return!
Hope that you are keeping warm, and creating ART!

Winter Wonderland

Over on Lots to Do challenge blog, the theme this week is Winter Wonderland, and I had already finished 2 pages of my journal that fit perfectly to this theme. I wanted to do something to remember this weather and started a page which is not perfect ( I am unhappy with the lettereing), but I have shown you anyway. Here I used Aged Mahogany and Vintage photo distress inks, and spitzed them a lot to get the aged look. I then added a sneek peak of a BRAND NEW stamp which will be available in February! I did stamp very lightly some snowflake stamps in white pigment ink but they got very lost! The words are grungeboard with snow cap ink on, and the writing is done in the white opaque pen.

Then I thought I would use a similar background and do a different theme.

This technique came about as I inked the Grungeboard on the above page with white pigment ink, and it went over the page, and gave it an amazing look, so on this page, I wet the page with a very watered down version of Claudine's paints, and then added Aged Mahogany and Vintage photo Distress inks to the wet page. I then smooshed on a Ranger Snow Cap inkpad and spritzed it and the effect is fabulous! It reacts to the wetish distress inks and gives it an ethereal feel. Is this a new technique?

 I  took some letters from various Grungeboard and used the white pigment ink to colour them and added Picket Fence Distress Stickles, and the minutest amount of crystal stickles to the letters and the snowflakes. I added the lettering in the white opaque pen.

Thank you Hilda for the Challenge. Oh I almost forgot I have the goodies to give to someone who posted on my Birthday post! I used Mr Random to pick a winner, and

ARTYJEN

came out of the hat ( sorry computer!) The number chosen was number 7! How amazing was that! the date of my Birthday, and my lucky number ! , oh and I forgot but I share my Birthday with Mr Holtz too! I am so much younger than him!! lol

Congratulations! and please email me your snail mail address and I will post you off your package of goodies.

Hope the snow isn't too bad in your part of the world, we have rather a lot, and I am supposed to go to Salisbury tomorrow to pick up DD, so am sitting here contemplating whether to go or not!

Hugs and keep warm

Baby It's Cold outside!

The title should be Baby, it's "Snowing" outside, but the song by Dean Martin kind of sums up today.Crisp, cold and SNOWY!
Over on The Scrappy Tree there is a challenge and prize waiting to be given, and it intrigued me , so I thought what better way to kick start my artwork and possible journalling for 2010! The title of the challenge is New Year, New Beginnings, and today is a new year for me as it is my birthday, and I am the grand old age of 45! If you believe that you'll believe anything!, mind you my photo makes me look 21! NOT! It is snowing outside while I write this, and that made me think of my past birthdays where it has snowed, and I think I can count 2... but then the hormones ( and old age!)  have made my memory disappear, so it could be more, or even less! lol
Anyway I digress. For the challenge, I took a wonderful book I picked up ( I did pay for it..lol) at one of the shows we did last year,

and I altered the front with Maya Road chipboard, and all the sprays I have . I stamped Mr Holtz's Flourish stamps, in Stone Grey Stazon, and then  added the crowns which I glitzed and stickled and added Prima bling. The letters are Grungeboard from the Nature pack. They have been Terraed ( new word!) and then rubbed over with Precious metal. Ribbons were added on the binder rings.The glitz really doesn't show up on the photos.

Finally I did one page to get me started, and I haven't really journalled a lot, so used Claudine's paints in yellow and orange to colour the paper, and then used a combination of sprays, and let it dry. I stamped the flourishes in red stazon and added the sentiment. To qualify for the challenge, I hand wrote the words New Year, New Beginnings, and it was strange but I felt they finished off the page. The flowers were added and these are from the Flower Power stamp set and cut out on paper.

My journalling may well be stamped based this year, but what more could you expect. Now just to find time to do more!
This post is so long, that I feel you may have wandered off into the snow, but because it is my birthday , and because it the snow is filling our lives at the moment, I have GIFTS!!!
 So for all my blog readers and customers, I have a gift of FREE POSTAGE on the website until Sunday, and if you comment on this post, there is a little goodie bag for one of you containing stamps, and stickles and inks and more.. a little birthday gift from me to you. I shall draw the winner later in the week.
Have a snow filled day!
Hugs