Tag withdrawal symptoms...

Do you have them? Do you keeping going to your computer to see what the next tag is? Do you get out your inks, stamps and dies...look at them and think where are the instructions? Tim's tags were so much fun, and with such easy simple instructions, meant we had our creativity given to us for 12 days! Bliss! I copied as faithfully as I could..not because I am a copycat but because I wanted to see if I could! Now I am taking the best bits and creating some of my own tags..keeping in the Christmas spirit! Did you know it is only 11 days to Christmas? I haven't sent any cards, done the minuscule amount of Christmas shopping..not decided what we are having for Christmas dinner yet (it is just the two of us.. that's a day in my pj's, I think!!! lol) and I still have to find a real tree ( we always do real!) that isn't going to make the bank manager have a heart attack!!
So I am going to try to blog a new tag everyday (Jennie style! lol) and here is the first one! here I used the crackle paint effect on the Snowman die. I embossed the tag with the Tall Pines, and coloured with distress inks, added a branch or two from the bare tree, which I covered liberally with Picket Fence Distress Stickles ( I allowed it to dry overnight to get maximum effect) . Added a bit of Dabber paint to his hat , a flowing Tartan scarf, voila Jen's Tag no 1!



Want to join me ? let me know if you are up for it, and I will add a linky to the blog ,-edited: I have added a linky at the top of my blog.. just add your tags :)) for stash giveaway! If I make 11 tags it will be a miracle!! lol  I am going to enter this in my own challenge over on The Creative Team blog too!
Have a creatively tagful day!
 

I am distressed!

because this week over on Compendium of Curiosities,week 10,  there is no page number, just Distress Stickles! lol.. It meant I had to make something up!  Actually these are so underused, that it was pleasure to get them out and play. I actually used them to make a Birthday card for my step-daughter, Mickey , who was 21 last week! Happy Birthday Mickey!! (Hoping she doesn't spot this on facebook before I give it to her! :))))  I used some of the girls's paperie stickers, a few of  the Salvage Stickers, and of, course, how could one not, a calendar paper from Lost and Found! Add a star for a star, and my distress is over!

I used Distress stickle colours Faded Jeans, Scattered Straw, Worn Lipstick ( just love this name!) Shabby Shutters and Spice Marmalade.
Thank you Linda for the challenge, and if you have no idea what on earth I am going on about pop over to Linda's blog , and check it out!
Happy stickly Creating!

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

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

Living in a Box

Well actually as it says on the box this is for my Stickles, and I have made it to enter into Hel's Sunday Stamper. I like living on the edge and this entry is close to the deadline! I have had this box for yonks,  and it has been sitting there waiting to be decorated. I painted it black using Claudine's Studio paints, and the middle is Ten Seconds Studio metal with chipboard letters underneath and then I decorated the surface with wheels, and put stickles all over it! Most of the time this piece has been waiting to dry. I stamped in gold Dabber one of The Artistic Stamper calligraphic backgrounds, and where the stamp didn't quite touch the box, I have left it black. It is very hard stamping a box with no way of holding the back of it so it all stamps, especially a box that has bendy sides!

Thank you Hels for the challenge, at least now I have a box for my stickles!

WOYWW

You must be wondering 2 posts in a day! but it's that day again...WOYWW over on Julia's blog, and I though I would share with you what was on my desk this morning. I am working on a project for finishing later this week, if I get time! Time seems to be of an essence at the moment, and DH is doing up the kitchen too, which means cooking round a pile of tools and wood, just like my desk .. although it does look a little neat for me! Same pile of goodies on the desk with a couple of extras in there, namely rock candy and picket fence stickles, from yesterday's Christmas Tag.

Happy Creating!

Distressed Flower Fever!

The title sounds like a song, or even an illness! In this case it is a tag , absolutely perfect for a present for a friend! I have a thing at the moment for flowers, and to fuel my passion, I designed more flower stamps for use with Grungepaper, or just ordinary patterned paper. I used two of the solid stamps, and one of the outline stamps from the  Flower Fever die sheet and lots of purple distress ink to make this little tag.
The solid stamps were stamped and then distress stickled in the same colours. Don't you love the fact that all the Adirondack colours go together , with the colours just slightly different depending on the medium?
I cut out the flowers in different sizes on Grungepaper , and inked them in Peeled Paint and Dusty Concord, and layered them on top of the ones on the tag adding a Idea-ology Flower  and long brad on each. A purple ribbon, and the tag is ready!

Have a Creative Day!

Trick or Treat

Halloween is here! To celebrate or not depending on how you feel, it doesn't matter in this case, as I have blog candy for the next 2 days right here ! This is a treat and a chance for you to get your mitts on some of Tim's miniature film ribbon, and one of his masks, so that you are ready for next Halloween!

All you have to do is make a comment and add the candy briefly to your blog. I shall pull the winner on Monday evening. To help you even more go shopping on The Artistic Stamper and get an extra 10% off your orders for this weekend. All you have to do is put halloween into the discount voucher box and the order will have 10% off!
I am demonstrating Ranger's Alcohol Inks tomorrow at Sharon's Card Crafts Demo day from 10am to 4pm , so if you are passing stop by and see us.
Here is a little card for Halloween made entirely from Grungeboard Seasonal, distress inks, Rock Candy Crackle Paint, and distress Stickles.

Don't forget to leave a comment . You have to be in it to win it!
Happy Trick and Treating!

Do you dab?

Over the weekend at Stamp Addicts I demoed Dabbers and Distress inks, and distress stickles and Grungeboard. To show some of the techniques, I made a set of chipboard tags, and I thought I would show you and explain some of the techniques over the next couple of days.
I used the word CREATE to do 5 tags..
C is for pearl! I know I cannot spell! 
Here I mixed Pearl Dabber and Pool Dabber on a craft mat and using Cut N Dry Foam, mixed them together and swooshed over the tag. Allow to dry naturally, although you can heat dry it. The effect, which gives a  fabulous pearly effect, does not show up on the scan sadly :( I used the same colours on the Grungeboard Letter and rubbed off the excess adding a little tiny bit of denim too. The stamp was inked in cobalt archival, and well I just had to add a grungepaper flower!! what else do you expect!

R-means masking .. bet you didn't know that! See I told you I couldn't spell! Here I have stamped the tag in The Artistic Stamper dots background using cobalt archival ink, and then laid on top one of Tim's Idea-ology mini masks. Using the same technique of putting some dabber colours on a craft mat, this time Pool and Aqua, I dabbed them over the mask moving the mask when it was dry. Make sure you clean the mask off thoroughly when you have finished. The Dabbers are water soluble, so water on a cloth works well.  The grungeboard letter was distressed inked in Faded Jeans and I rubbed Weathered Wood stickles over it.

A little tip make sure you shake the dabbers well before use, and if they are slightly dry them add water from a spritzer to them. These are techniques and not perfect pieces of art, and tomorrow I will show you letters A and E , that's Art and Embossing...lol

Have a Dabber of a Day ( sorry couldn't help it!)

Ring a ring of Roses...

I thought this an apt title, as this art is a grungepaper rose ring! The idea came to me while I was making roses , and I used the smaller flower from The Artistic Stamper Flower Power set, and grungepaper, of course, and distress inks, 'cos they love the grungepaper, and to make it glitz, Stickles from Ranger! Make the rose as in my previous instructions here

I used Faded Jeans and Mustard Seed distress ink for the colour, and then stamped over with the Dots background. Glue all the pieces together and cut off all the bases of each flower element first before gluing, so they sit flat on the ringbase. Once it was glued together I stickled it all over , first with Crystal stickles, I then glued it solidly onto the ring base and then I thought it needed lifting a little so used Dark Blue to accent the edges. The dotty background is on both sides and shows very subtly through all the glitz. The pictures really don't do it justice.. need a professional photographer! I then finished it off with a smear of the dark blue round the glue at the base to cover up the glue that was showing.
I do hope you like....
Happy Creating!

What do you give a man for his birthday?

Today is my DH's, Mal, birthday and he is old enough to know better and young enough to have a bit of fun! I never know what to give him, so I decided to make him a little treat! It may be a little risque, but the mould has always been one of my favourites, and had been used quite often in the past for various projects and presents.

I used some utee that I had had a while,( hardened in a bag) and remelted it. Don't ask what colours are in it, but the base colour appeared to be a verdigris type of colour , and I thought that it went really well with the mould. I set wire in the back while it was hardening, and mounted it onto a piece of mountboard ( cut-offs from my local framing shop, cheap as chips!)

I then poured utee over the edges of the wire which was protruding to hold it onto the board. Then to make it look old and more"grungy", I stamped immediately into it with one of Mr Holtz's stamps from Slight Alterations set. To get a bit more colour on the torso, I added peeled paint distress ink, but it didn't dry.. so added some distress stickles too in peeled paint and vintage photo with my finger, and it transferred the ink over the body , and then I also rubbed it over the edges of the board. A little bit went into the screw brads too. The idea-ology chain finished it off.
Aptly named Embrace Imperfection ( also one of Tim's stamps), I was rather pleased with the finished hanging.
I think my DH liked it also, ( well let's put it this way, he wouldn't tell me otherwise, would he?)
Happy Birthday Mal -love you lots

Red & White

Over on Arty Girlz blog challenge the theme this week is Red and White, so I made a card in what else! red and white!

I embossed the glossy card in my Big Shot, and used the Harlequin Texture mat for the top half in Distress ink. Then I covered the Mixed Minis Grungeboard alphabet in distress inks, and some of them I white crackled. I have found that the crackle paint gets lumpy and hard to use the nearer the bottom of the bottle it goes, so am going to try spritzing into the bottle to see if that makes a difference. Will let you know. The little heart has Worn lipstick distress stickles on it, and the wings are crackled.

Girls, thank you for the challenge, I am beginning to like blog challenges as they stretch my creativity!

Full of Beanz!

I am a little late tonight with this blog post, but have been out all day craft shopping, and came home lots of new ribbons , paper and more bits! I did spend last night creating a pencil/pen holder using Ten Seconds Studio metal, and grungeboard letters, and of course the infamous Beanz tin! This is for the challenge over on the Objet D'art too.

As it is late and the keys on the keyboard seem to have a mind of their own, I will update the post tomorrow with details of how I made it, but for the meanwhile here are some pics....

I had great fun making this, even though I now have plasters on most of my fingers! I will give you instructions on how to make it tomorrow.

Happy Creating

Birthday Blog Winner & ATC

I had a wonderful birthday yesterday, and the comments on what I should do were inspiring. I actually went out for lunch and dinner ( the waistline needs a nudge now), and received loads of hand made cards, flowers and even balloons!. Best of all my DD surprised me by coming home from University, and both her and her brother took us all out for dinner at one of my favourite Thai restaurants. It was a birthday to remember.

I liked all the comments, but I have to say LOTTIES inspired me most! I imagined it to be in New York, my most favourite city! So Congratulations, the candy is all yours. Please email me your address.

I spent some of this afternoon creating an ATC , which has a new technique on it. Have to say not sure if it is new, I still have to google it....

I crackled the card with picket fence distress paint, and then wiped over it with faded jeans distress ink. I did spray a little water on to it to create a more subtle effect. I then used one of the birds from the Nature grungeboard, and distressed him too, using a little peeked paint as well. I stamped the background with one of the music stamps, and then stamped the bird words on top.

I used a tiny bit of Faded Jeans Distress Stickles for the birds eye. I did try squeezing the stickles onto the wing, but it was messy and looked awful, so I squeezed a bit of the stickles out onto a non stick sheet, and picked it up with a soft flat brush, and edged the bird's wing, and the ATC with the stickles. You get a glittery effect which is subtle.
Everything I used is available from The Artistic Stamper Shop, and there is a 10% Offer at the moment.
See you tomorrow

Time ATC

I don't often take part in challenges, but this one appealed, and it gave me a chance to use the new distress stickles, and my favourite stamps! The challenge is over on Lots to Do blog.
I made an ATC, and used Basic Grey Recess paper as the background. I distress inked the paper, and stamped the watch faces in vintage photo very lightly. I used large glass watch faces and glued one on with my favourite Glossy Accents, and the other I put on with Vintage photo Distress stickles. I then put a watch face with a hand on in one corner and a couple of cogs in the other. I liked the idea that the ATC was three dimensional. The distress stickles are interesting as they come out of the bottle much faster than the normal stickles, and have bigger flakes in them. Will have to experiment with them. Everything I have used is available from our shop.

In answer to the comments, age and time is a wonderful thing! Picture is now loaded!! Doh!Tomorrow I will be giving away blog candy to celebrate a very special day!
Happy Stamping!