Little things in life!

I thought I would show you a couple of the pieces I made at Ally Pally over the weekend. Often when I am demoing , I make quick and easy pieces, and I do give a lot away, but I did keep these two pieces!! Simple and so so easy to make.. I used 2 different size mini canvases, and coloured them with Distress Stains. Love these, so easy and quick to use, and you can enhance them with other Stain colours, which incidentally do colour over and not muddy!, or you can use your normal distress inks to fill in patches or highlight.  I poured UTEE over the inked canvas and immediately stamps into it. Love it when it drips down the sides! Then I added Perfect Pearls, and a mould from Crafty Notions which I also coloured with Perfect Pearls . The Elegant woman has the minutest piece of Gold leaf in her hair ( a happy Accident!)



I do hope you like, and I am off now for a fun filled day of catching up from my day out yesterday!!
Have a Creative Day

Combination Technique-Colorwash, Archival & Perfect Pearls

Don't you love it when you get to discover something that in theory shouldn't work, but in practice turns out fantastic! This happened on Saturday while playing with stuff in my workshop. I always get to play! lol One of the fun things while taking a class...
I really don't remember how it happened, but most probably was a mistake, and I have tried this several ways, and it comes out beautifully. Now in theory, working with a permanent, waterproof ink like Black Archival, that dries fast, you shouldn't be able to add anything like Perfect Pearls to the surface after it has dried. That's exactly what I thought, but I had sprayed the surface with Ranger's Color Wash first, and there's the rub, or in this case, Perfect Pearls! I have discovered that if you can dust Perfect pearls powder , onto a stamped image even after it has dried!! Now I know you can do this with other wet type inks, don't get me wrong, but I almost always use Black Archival in everything I stamp ( old habits die hard!).



The trick is to have the Color Wash underneath your stamped image, so will it work with other permanent inks? yes it does! This tag is with the new butterfly from Crafty Notions, Color Wash, Black Archival and the saying which comes from one of Tim's new stamp sets.



 If you are careful you can colour up each letter, and it doesn't stick to the Colorwash! Please excuse the photos as the Perfect Pearls is very hard to photograph, as it reflects the light. I have lots of ideas for this technique, and my mind is spinning with them....off to try them.....
Be Creative!

Mother Nature!

Over on Hel's blog the Sunday Stamper theme is Nature. I did like the theme of the butterflies, so have blatantly borrowed Hel's idea of using butterflies on my tag.  I stamped the butterflies with a Perfect medium ink pad, and dusted over the new Perfect Pearls colours, given to me at a workshop last month.. such gorgeous colours, and they will be in the shop soon!
The "butterfly " is a great little false one I fund in my stash draws, and he fitted perfectly! The little swirls are a great stamp from a set called Nature is Art designed by Mrs Sheridan herself, so appropriate for a great challenge set by her!



It is always a pleasure to join in this challenge :))
Have a creative day

Me and my shadow!

are often found wandering around at night ...making cups of tea, and creating silly bits of art in my head while trying not to wake anyone else up in the house! This piece was thought up while sipping one of those cups of tea, and it took a little bit of time, but not hours, and involved melting some clear wax in a meltpot. Use a project pan, as it can burn easily, and one of Mrs Vecchi's Botanical stamps. and of, course the spider!! What art would be complete without the spider? The words are from Mr Holtz's 100 Odds and Ends set, and are so neat, and tidy and just fit anywhere!
I stamped the flower in distress inks, and brushed the wax over them to give a bit of depth, and lightly covered them in Cafe Perfect Pearl's. If these aren't on the website they will be shortly!



Are you gearing yourself up to making Tim's 12 tags of Christmas? Last year I had a blast, and we had a brilliant splinter group courtesy of ArtyJen. If you are going to take part please let me know,so I can come and visit. Love to see what everyone has made :))
Have a very Creative Day
Hugs

Waxing Lyrical

I admit, this past weekend has been hard for me to even think about working (lots of lovely hot sun, and gardening!), let alone creating anything, but I have had on my mind using beeswax, and altering a few things with it. I have to admit I am not very "au fait" with wax, but did learn some techniques at Ranger U, and already had some wax in a meltpot project pan, which has been sitting on my desk for a couple of days! It is best to heat the beeswax in a separate pan, as too much heat will set fire to it! To experiment, and learn more about its effects, I used a tag I had already spritzed with Crafty Notions Mica Sprays with a bird mask, and I just brushed white melted wax over the tag. I then very gently heated it with a heat gun, and stamped the Calligraphic mat directly into the wax. I did mask off the bird, so it didn't get wax stamping in it, and then continued to melt the wax until I got the effect I wanted. I brushed the finished tag with perfect Pearls in gold, green and blue. It is very hard to photograph the shimmery effect, but all in all, I am very pleased with the end result. Strangely enough it makes the whole tag translucent, and hung up on my tag hanging thingy ( the overhead light!! lol) you can see right through it... The first picture is of it without Perfect pearls, so you can see the finish the Pearls has on it.  

Hope you have a sunny and creative day!
Hugs

Let's do Lace!

Today here in the UK it is a Bank Holiday Monday, where all the Sunday drivers go out in search of lunch, clogging up the roads, and people spend time with their families, and muggins here works! I shall be taking my Bank Holiday Monday on a Tuesday sometime soon, and go out in search of lunch and retail therapy! Ikea and Costco, I hear you calling! lol
Over on Hel's blog, the Sunday Stampers theme is Lace, a song I know and as soon as I saw the title I started singing it... how bad is that? Agadoo, doo, doo.. Anyways, I digress and we have such gorgeous lace stamps that I love using, that I altered a small window book, and added a utee moulded head, covered in Perfect Pearls to a Idea-ology Frame, that I added Precious Metal colour to, and attached it to the window of the book with long brads. I sprayed the book in all shades of Mica paint, some of which will be available at Ally Pally and in the shop after that. Where does the lace come into it , you ask? I stamped the Large Lace background on the cover in Cobalt blue Archival Ink, and I love the way this stamp just gives you an impression. The inside has the edging lace just stamped on the inside.

Hoping you are enjoying your day and watch out for Sunday drivers!
Hugs

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

Honey, honey....

Several people have commented that they were curious about a "sequin" style solid piece that I have shown on my blog a couple of times in the last week, and so I thought I would show you exactly what it is! . It is actually a piece of utee moulded from a honeycomb mould that I first saw Suze using in the States. All you do is melt utee in your meltpot, and pour generously into the mould!

I actually made this piece by using a memory frame laid on top of the mould and pouring red utee mixed with perfect Pearls on to the Frame.. This gives it its gold sheen.

The back is just as beautiful as the front too!

I added a red metal bead and a little dangly thing from an old bracelet. I added a pin to the back for use as a brooch.
Happy Creating!

A Stamp a Day...

Keeps the doctor away! My aim this week (not sure if I will keep it up!) is to use a different stamp everyday on a recycled piece. Care to join me?
 Today I have used a label from a piece of clothing bought at Primark, one of the UK's cheaper clothes stores. I love Primark, and often go in there just for the jewellery which is so cheap, you can cut it up and use it for ART! This was the label before I put Terra on it.

While the Terra was still wet, I wet one of Mr Holtz's stamps and stamped right into it. I did that a couple of times and then  allowed it to dry naturally, and then rubbed Precious Metal gold all over it, followed by a blue Perfect Pearl, which I spritzed with water to set.

Think this will adorn a Christmas Present or even a blog candy.

So go on show me your stamp a day, and let's see if we can get a week of stamping with a different stamp on a recycled something? Just post on here if you have made anything , and you never know I may even give candy away...lol

Happy Stamping!

Not so perfect..

On Saturday while on our travels, I popped in to see Julia at Simply Stamps in Rye, and came away with two or three Penny Black stamps (my first I have to add) . I don't often buy or acquire other stamps, as I like working with mine, but I loved these, and I made 2 cards this morning (at an ungodly hour!) using Ranger's Snow cap white and my own pearlescent powders, and the other one was made using Ranger's Perfect Medium and Perfect Pearls. Not sure the scans are very good, but what do you want first thing in the morning! How to do: Ink the stamps with Perfect Medium, then brush the colours where you want them , and brush the excess away with the very soft brush in the kit, and a little spritz of water to make them permanent. On the white card I used a little "twizzler" tool I have to make the speckles by just dipping it in ink, and then brushing powder over it. I think I have several of these lurking, so will try to put them on the website later in the week. So, 2 cards, ready for my friend across the road, who is always popping across to see if she could "make" a card to send , and always at the last hour!

Brand New Stamps!

We have brand spanking new stamps on the website! I love these and you will be able to use them in conjunction with the original Stitchels as the line ones will stamp on top of the solid ones. The possibilities are endless. I also designed some new words for the altered artist in you.

If you would like to know about our special offers or our new products ( we are continually adding them!) then sign up for our newsletter ( sign up box top left hand corner of the blog). We have almost all of the Ranger products, stamps, Kling-On, and loads of accessories. Finally for today another birthday card I made this week ( I was quite productive!) This one was for a dear friend of mine, Wendy. I used the melpot, of course, and some random papers,a Tim Holtz stamp, and a little charm I bought ages ago, which i put into the mould while it was still wet. I then superglued a brooch pin to the back and attached it to the card. A brush of Perfect Pearls, a spritz of water on the leaves and it was done!

Off to play with the new stamps, have a good day, the sun is shining here!