WOYWW

It seems to me that Wednesdays come round each week, and I cannot really grasp this fact that every week has a Wednesday in it!!!! Pop over to Julia's blog and check out everyone else's what's on your desk Wednesday! After last weeks showing of my drawers, I have reverted back to my desk, as the drawers are in the same state as last week! This week has been busy but not much artwork done, and I haven't even managed to blog any of the workshop pictures either, but on my desk today is a set of tags cut with the new Sizzix on the edge dies, which are now in stock, and I seem to got the pile it high, push back method on the desk again! The tags are waiting for a moment for me to ink and stamp them , and may or may not be on the blog this week!

Hoping to find time to get round to all the desks today, thank you for looking.
Have a creative day!

Winner of the little bird house

Just a quickie post to announce the winner of the blog candy this week! I am hurrying to get out of the house to go to my class... I so hate being late :) but here is the lucky blogger

ANGIE

Congratulations and please email me with your snail mail address.
This week's comments will be in for a treat, as I am giving away a set of Tim's charms:)

Have a creatively good Saturday

Imagine this!

Yesterday, the new Idea-ology arrived from Mr Holtz.Well, not him personally, but that would have been as Linda would say, a miracle! I mean imagine the man who can climb mountains just with memo pin and a pair of non stick scissors! turning up on your doorstep!:) It arrived in several boxes with a very nice man from UPS, and could I wait to get my grubby mitts on it ... you guessed... no! Out came the papers and the tags, and one of the accroutements, and one of the charms....and the glue and the new distress inks. I couldn't get anymore on my desk, so I created something quick and shabby for you! This is using the Shabby Vintage Paper, oh they are fab, but then I am a blue and pink girl, and I used a Maya Road saying, to which I added distress inks. The stamp is one of Tim's ( his ever faithful flourish), and the colours used are Rusty Hinge and Wild Honey, which I used on the stamp, and around the edges of the tag. I just added one of the buttons and the mini crown ( these would be lovely in sets of 6 or more.. do you hear me Tim?) lol
Anyway, here it is for you, and you can buy everything in the shop now!

Have a great day, I am off to prep for my Distress ink workshop tomorrow at Pickleberry Crafts. Cannot wait, will be fun!
Hugs

WOYWW

Well last week I was late and today I am even later!!! Julia seems to have blogged this week's on Tuesday!!! Now for those of you who follow this wonderful enigma, I have a surprise for you. Here, ( I shall say no more, except perhaps this is how my mind works! rofl) is the state of my drawers! No not those sort of drawers, but the ones that my wonderful DH put in for me, and which I filled up in no time, and which there is now an absolute NEED to sort out, as I keep stuffing more into them, and now they open and it all falls out! I make no apologies for the mess! Even the stamp drawers are so full that I am laying stamps on top of stamps, and then having to empty the drawer to find them when I need them! grrr...

Blogger is playing games with me too this morning, so this is taking an age to write too!
I am sure that your desk looks infinitely better than my messy drawers!
Hugs

Just messing around

Often when I am stuck for ideas or just in need of time ( really must organize myself more!) I get out my journal and my spray paints and an old bit of newspaper and play! I am always afraid to do too much , like add writing or pics, ( I do like simple things), so here is the result of a couple of pages, that I made yesterday. I used the flower chipboard and just laid them on the pages while I sprayed with lots of different colours....I think messy comes to mind, and the carpet looks good too! Must remember to put down more newspaper! lol

Have a good day :) I have a special visitor today, and looking forward to spending time with her :)

Mini Tag

I haven't felt all that well today.. got up feeling dizzy, but as the day has worn on, I have felt much better, so this is late blogging for me, and while I was routing around in my stash, I came across this litle tag which I am sure I haven't shown before. This is one of the smallest chipboard tags we do, and was just perfect for distress inking ( do not ask me which colour? haen't a clue!) and I just inked over it with one of my favourite "naughty" girls. I added a bent up foliage idea-ology piece, and stickled it for a bit of glitz!

A small Sunday offering :)

A little birdie told me it's Springtime!

For those of you observant enough to notice the mini gold birdhouse on my desk this week, here is the finished piece. I love these mini birdhouses, and I rubbed onto it, some of the Inka Gold Cream. This is a waxy type cream that if you can put on with a sponge, and when it is dry , polish it up with a dry cloth to a shine. The pot will last for ages :).

I then used the new Large lace stamp and stamped in Black Archival ink on the roof, and stamped"branches" round the sides from one of Tim's mini stamps.

The clock face is an old one with one hand still attached, and these often come in my vintage watch bags. The spring is also from the same bags. My favourite bit is the little idea-ology charm from Tim, and these will be available shortly from the shop. I pinched this one from a make and take I did at CHA. I added a tiny bit of gold dabber to him and wiped off when it it was almost dry. Apologies for the photos, have you ever tried to photograph something that swings in the breeze? lol . For size this whole piece is about the length of my finger.. truly tiny :)

I am hoping this qualifies for the Lots to Do challenge which starts today called Springtime!  spring...birdhouse...watch face..time? get it? sorry brain is running away with me here! This was actually just a lucky break as I saw the challlenge and thought this would fit perfectly.
I haven't forgotten the winner of the Alice stamp either, and this week's giveaway is one of these mini birdhouses, all you have to do is comment on any post.
So step up... ANN   Congratulations, and please email me your addie.
Off now to put my feet up...mmmm don't think so, but one can live in hope!
Hugs

Simple Stamping Technique

This is my first play with the new Alice in Wonderland stamp by Mabel Lucie Attwell, and I wanted to stamp on top of this piece, Help, but couldn't find a stamp that said help, or even any letters that I could spell out the word! So I used one of Mr Holtz's sayings which I thought apt. This is an old fashioned piece of stamping using the mask technique, and distress inks. I used only the new colours, Rusty Hinge, Crushed Olive, Pumice Stone, Wild Honey.

If you have never masked before, then here's how. Stamp your stamp onto a post-it note, or scrap piece of paper, and cut carefully out. Use a knife to get into those hard to reach places. Stamp your mage on your main piece of card or background, and lay the mask on top of the stamped image. I carefully added a VERY SMALL touch of glue to mine to stop it slipping, while I did the background. I then added distress inks all around it , and across it, making sure I inked right up to the mask.

 Before removing the mask, stamp anything else you want. I used the new Lace background for the table cloth , and stamped it in one of the distress inks. Remove the mask, and you should have one stamp , on a coloured background. Any missing areas, I touched up with a waterbrush and the appropriate colour ink. I coloured in the image by swooshing the distress inks on my non stick mat, and used a wet paintbrush to apply colour to the image. I love distress inks for this purpose, but any ink that is water based will be fine. Finally I added the sentiment in Rusty Hinge.

Don't forget if you comment on this post, you are in with a chance to win this particular stamp! I will draw the winner tomorrow :)
I hope you like, and have a simple Creative Day
Hugs

WOYWW

I am late, or am I? Too much to do today to get my workdesk on here this morning. Today is Wednesday as as our leader suggests we should show our workdesk! So here is mine, with piles of projects waiting to be worked on... new stuff ( Tim Holtz idea-ology box feet) a mini birdhouse, papier mache suitcase for a workshop ( details soon..) and more..

Shall be blog hopping later or tomorrow to see yours!
Hugs

Bits and Pieces

Ove on Hels blog the Sunday Stamper theme is bits and pieces, a song by Dave Clark Five, which takes me back to my youth ( ok not quite as I am far too young to remember it..lol).
I have had in mind a piece I have wanted to make for ages, and it was inspired by an advert in a craft magazine. Remember the beads in last week's woyww post? Well I took a Maya Road heart chipboard, literally sloshed masses of glossy accents all over it, and threw the beads on top of it!

I am sure you are thinking she is mad! but actually I did tip the bottle on top of it, and this was the result.

 It looked a bit lacking in sparkle, so I sprayed a little bit of Glimmer mist on top ( where would I be without them now? lol)

The mini canvas was given a Ferro paint treatment , and then I added a little bit of Inka Gold cream wax in Rose, and more mica sprays!

I hope it qualifies for bits and pieces... think this song will be in my head all day! bits and pieces.. bits and pieces... damn! rofl..
Thank you Hels for the challenge.

Mothering Sunday

Today is a day of celebration for all mothers everywhere, well at least here in the UK, and  as a mother, I should be lying on the sofa, reading my craft magazines, having copious cups of tea brought to me, while eating a large box of chocolates! I can only say that it is totally unlikely that this will happen, but I can dream! However I did see my mother this week, and I made her this pretty card, which I know she loves, and for every mother out there, this is for you! I distress inked it , added some new Prima bling, and a butterfly from K & Co, and Prima flowers on the inside! A swirl stamp from Mr Holtz finished it off.

Have a restful Sunday, and put your feet up!
Hugs

Embossing Lace

One of the new stamps out this week, is a large A6 size lace stamp which I thought I would show you with the Queen's gold embossing powder. In fact, all of the lace stamps heat emboss beautifully. I heat embossed it with the gold on a piece of chipboard, and then smooshed over it Spun sugar distress ink, and wiped off all the excess with a kitchen towel. Then I used grungeboard butterlies and dragonfly again using the Barn Door direct to the grungeboard, adding a  bit of Rusty Hinge to it for depth. The grungepaper rose I made using the same lace stamp ( oh joy , think this is my new favourite stamp!) and gold embossing it, and then using the same technique of wiping over it with Barn Door distress ink.

 The grungepaper likes embossing, but curling the paper needs to be done carefully to avoid cracking. The butterfly was overstamped in Archival black using part of the lacy border stamp. An ideaology pin was added to the centre and filled with Glossy Accents. The Dragonfly has a bead chip just in the centre. The letters and leaves are from the Grungeboard Nature set.

Don't forget to comment as you could be in for a prize of one of the new Alice stamps!
Have a creatively good day!

Mad Hatter Blog Candy winner!

I had completely forgotten to draw the winner of the utee embellishment for this week, and from all the comments (156) I have drawn a winner by random integer, so please step up onto the podium.. drum roll please....

Jan

Congratulations! Please email me your snail mail address, so I can get you a Mad Hatter in the post.

from today until next week (it is all a lottery! lol) if you leave a comment you will be in the draw to win one of the new Mabel Lucie Attwell Alice stamps!
These are now on sale in the shop, and if you look here you can see all the new products slowly being added to the shop :)
Have a good day!

It's that day again!

.....Wednesday and time for a peek at my desk! Over on Julia's blog she the originator of this worldwide phenomenon, has posted already.. so I am a little late.. I even had a tidy up yesterday , and lol and behold found some stuff, and believe it or not, actually cannot find some stuff.. how annoying is that? I have the watch spring off a piece of artwork, but no artwork :(.. I am sure it will turn up sooner or later.. or did I give it away? Pass..... The push back method that I use to store "stuff" has gone and in its place are beady jewels bought yesterday at the Creative bead shop in Central London...love that shop.. heaven!
The mat there are on is a kind of felt, and err I have loads of them.. but can I find them.. not a hope in hell, so I bought a new one! lol
The little pot is sweepings , and just loved it, so it fell into my basket!
Can you spot the wooden stamp, my friend Wendy bought for me when we were in the States.

Hope you like my tidiness :)

Sketch Postcard

I seem to have lost time, my mojo, and many other things this week, and how to kick start my mojo has been bothering me, so I decided to spray one of the new postcards with some mica sprays. I used the oranges and reds from Crafty Notions, with a little bit of Gold Glimmer MIst,, and let them dry. I loved the way they dried in puddles.

Then I grabbed several stamps from my drawer, and used the sequin open stamp with Barn Door distress ink, and stamped on top. One of Tim's stamp sets aptly named Purely Random, the words and  two figures from the same set were stamped on top. I really wanted this to be almost a journal page/postcard, so added the Ranger white pen in various places. I then used the paper distresser to distress off the edges. It is really hard to know when to stop...but I have to say I was rather pleased with the finished piece. I think I shall use this piece for inclusion in the Lots to do challenge this week, as it it is sort of distressed!

 I know I shouldn't be taking a day off, but the chance to go and see the Van Gogh exhibition at the Royal Academy was too good an offer to refuse! A visit to the London Bead shop also beckons!! lol
Have a great day!

Curiouser and curiouser!

I have had very little time to create anything even a journal page, as by 9pm, I am on the sofa falling asleep! We have had masses of deliveries this week, and if you are on my email list, you will have seen all the new goodies on the website!
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland were beautifully drawn by Mabel Lucie Attwell for Lewis Carroll in 1910, and I have had access to some of the drawings, and there will be more, but I have pre-released some of them for you here. They will ship at the end of the week.
There are some amazing quotations and anomalies associated with Lewis Carroll, and in particular Alice, and needless to say in our mad world here at The Artistic Stamper, we often find humour ...so I wasn't surprised to find one of our robins entering the mad world of Lewis Carroll and Alice yesterday afternoon!  Just to say no more than my DH has a very warped sense of humour! lol

Have a great Sunday and pop over to Hels blog for the chance to win some candy at the Sunday Stamper.

Mad as a Hatter!

No not me! ......oh ok if you insist! , but no, this is in anticipation of the film coming out tomorrow - Alice In Wonderland by Tim Burton with Johnny Depp (yum!), and other wonderful actors, and in 3D too! While I was in the States, we happened upon a shop selling lots of Alice memorabilia, and I have to thank Lin from LB Crafts for this, but she spotted a wonderful keyring that was perfect for moulding!! Needless to say we all bought one, and I immediately made it into a mould n pour mould, and oh my the results are here for you to see! My very own 3D Mad Hatter!
To make just melt several colours of utee in the meltpot, and do not stir. Then carefully pour into the mould. Allow to cool , then lift out of the mould. It will come out very easily.  The first one is just a mixture of colours of utee colours I used while doing demos at Stevenage.

The second one is totally black utee with Perfect Pearls ( gold, blue, pink) brushed over it.

Would you like one? This is the giveaway for this week... so comment all you like in this week on any post, and have your very own Mad Hatter! P.S watch this space for more Alice...*wink*
Hugs

WOYWW

Incredibly it is Wednesday again...just where has Monday and Tuesday gone? Who pinched the days?  lol. I have a trip up to London today , that is up because we live south of it, but for others it could be down.. strange this English language of ours?!!! As Julia often posts around 10 o'clock , I am not sure if I will be able to add my blog post to hers before I leave, but this picture was taken this morning, and shows the state of my mind! I just put all the bits from my toolbox from the weekend on my desk yesterday and left them there!

There are some of the new products which arrived this week and last, (craft spinner, new Ten Seconds Studio metal colours, 1" memory frames and glass, new distress ink colours) and if you look closely ,there is a papier mache giraffe I bought while at Stamperama, and behind that a papier mache bird which will be available from the shop in April! He is gorgeous and just waiting for inspiration! I realised there is absolutely no room to craft, so errr, think I might have to get my tidy hat on, and clear up!
Have a great Wednesday!