The Play Date Cafe Challenge

Over on The Play Date Cafe the challenge this week is to use the colours light green, light blue and off white, very Spring like.


As I am trying to use up my stash I thought I would do something a little different this week and decorate a chipboard square bag, very small but fun to decorate.

I painted the bag with Gesso and allowed to dry, then added a little light blue acrylic paint and then dabbed highlights of the juniper acrylic paint dabber over the top.

There is a little stamping using the Stampington plume stamp, using DI ink , tumbled glass (which I seem to be using daily at the minute).  I have also sponged DI ink through some sequin waste.

I wanted to keep the box looking quite fresh, so did not want to add too many items to the bag.  To complete, I have added a button and inspire stickers.


This is a close up shot so that you can see the detail on the bag.  I have also added co-ordinated ribbons and fibres to the handle.

On top of the bag I have added some tattered florals (Tim Holtz) using only the small florals on this occasion.

There are a few other close up shots below along with a co-ordinated tag I decorated.

A co-ordinated tag, again coloured with DI ink tumbled glass with highlights of juniper acrylic paint dabber.

I have stamped the plume and text using DI ink, added Tim Holtz tattered florals and a Laura Ashley brad.

I have finished off with a little stitching to the bottom of the tag.


And yet another close up shot so you can see the detail.  If you would like to see more entries for the Play Date Cafe challenges use the link above and enjoy.  Happy Crafting, Tracy x

WOYWW 28th April

Just wanted to start this Wednesday by saying a big THANK YOU for all your kind comments last week.  Quite a few of you asked to see the project on my desk from last week when it was completed so you can see that here.

There is not much on my desk this morning apart from the Play Date Cafe challenge, not done much since then, well apart from purchase a couple of things that is LOL.

So this week I thought I would show you my cupboards that are below eye level, oh and my purchases of course.  I've decided I'm becoming a little obsessed with storage at the moment, perhaps its all the blog hopping I'm doing to view everyone's desks, they are fantastic and some of you are so organised with products being colour co-ordinated etc, now that is very efficient.


This is to the right of my workdesk, as you can see the obsession with storage is very clear.  I will show you my new basked which is on top of the cupboards in more detail shortly. 

The basket that has items piled ontop of it is all the items I have been using for challenges and have not yet cleared away, job for tonight me thinks, or maybe I'll just start on the next thing and begin a new pile.

After viewing other desks last week I'm beginning to wonder whether I should sort all my draws out and label them so I know what's in there rather than rummaging through everytime I need something.  Mind you I do enjoy rummaging and finding something I thought I never had.....



Housed in this cupboard is my paints which I moved from a cupboard above my head, I thought it was about time I sorted and disposed of any I have never used and in some cases had dried up.

Now my paints, tintZ inks, Gesso, UTEE, embossing trays, and non stick sheets are all in easy access, rather than spending half an hour every time trying to find the right colour medium to use when I want to start a project, well thats the idea.

As I write I am still thinking I should apply this mentality to the rest of my cupboards, problem is there are not enough hours in the day to sort all my stash.

This is the cupboard next to the paints where I store most of my inkpads, ones that I do not use frequently (I seem to use my Distress Inks most of the time at the moment). 

I also store, pens, water colour pencils and buttons in this cupboard.   These are the only two cupboards at the moment where I can actually say I know what is in there.  Oh and to the left you can see my sponges piled high, these are make-up sponges that I purchased from a chemist a while ago and they are well used. 







Now to my purchases, I found this basket in Dunelm Mill and though it was ideal to house my alcohol inks, silicone glue, mini canvases and other small bits and bobs that I need to hand.  I love it and it was so cheap which makes it even better.  Think this basket would also be ideal for buttons etc.  Shame I don't have more space in my craft room, I would buy another one of these if I had LOL.





My last purchase this week was these letters ART, I absolutely love them and thought would look great in my crafting space.  Hope you all have a great Wednesday, until next time..... Tracy x x

To see many more fantastic desks on a Wednesday, pop over to the Stamping Ground here, its great fun.

Play Date Cafe Challenge

Over on the Play Date Cafe the challenge this week is one of my favourite colour combinations. 

On this occasion I have used a very small canvas approx. 4" x 4", which I love working with and make a great alternative to a card.

I have spritzed the canvas with water and then applied Distress Inks, Rusty Hinge and Tumbled glass directly to the canvas, rubbing a little charcoal pencil along the edges to grunge it up a little.

Using Tim Holtz Alterations cut out Heart Wings from Grungepaper, using the aperture (stencil) of the heart sponge the Rusty Hinge through the aperture.  With the stencil still in place stamp text onto the heart shadow.

Colour the Grungepaper heart, wings and crown with DI inks.  Add text to the hearts and wing and stitch around the heart.  Adhere to the canvas and to complete add the text ART.

Happy crafting, Tracy x

Sunday Stamper Challenge Week 100

Over on Hels' blog it is another Sunday Stamper challenge but this is a special one as it is week 100, what an achievement.  If you would like to see more of the Sunday Challenges pop over to Hels' blog here. 

With this being a special for the Sunday Stamper challenge I thought I would make something a little more detailed, hence it has taken me a lot longer to complete. 

Products I have used include: Maya Road Coaster Chipboard Book (Hearts); Maya Road Chipboard Birds of a Feather; Distress Inks Victorian Velvet and Tumbled Glass; Claudine Hellmuth Traditional Tan paint; StazOn Ink Timber Brown; PaperArtsy Stamps HP1004EZ and HP1005EZ the Hot Pics Series; Tim Holtz Alterations Dies (Heart Wings); Tim Holtz Idea-ology Charms; Ultra Thick Embossing Crystals "Arctic Lake" and Stewart Gill paints Amourosa and Silver.

I began by painting all the hearts with tan paint and allowing to dry. Once dry, I applied Victorian Velvet and Tumbled Glass ink to the hearts.  I then used Tim Holtz Heart Wings die and grungepaper, I have used the actual die and the aperture that is left as a stencil.  With the stencil I have added a heart to each one of the heart chipboard shapes using Stewart Gill paints.

Each page has also had a file tab added with the sentiments, LOVE, JOY, LAUGH AND HAPPY.

I have then simply either stamped or added embellishments to each page.

Once each page was completed I attached them all together with the chain provided, along with Tim Holtz charms (a bird and heart).

Now completed I think I will give this to a friend for their birthday.

Hope you like, happy crafting, Tracy xx

WOYWW 21st April

Well its that time again, another Wednesday is here, I blame Julia for the weeks going so quickly, and I blame Julia for my obsession with Wednesday's.  If you want to join in the fun pop over to Julia's blog here.  Well what's on my desk this week? I have two challenges I have been working on, one for Play Date Cafe and one I'm still working on which is the hearts, which is for the Sunday Stamper Challenge, but its still not finished. 

Been one of those weeks where I don't seem to be able to get anything finished when planned, luckily we have two weeks to finish this challenge.  (I blame my new pup, Mitzi who is taking up most of my time at the minute LOL).

I have also taken a close up shot for you of my work in progress on my desk this week, I am just hoping it still isn't sitting there next Wednesday.

To the right of my desk is a pile of purchases, which I am not supposed to be purchasing, as I promised myself I would use everything I have in my stash already.  Another great plan gone to pot as they say. 

I have piled all my stash ontop of my BigShot, another new purchase, for the sole purpose of being able to purchase the new Tim Holtz Alterations, which I love especially when used with grungepaper.  I also like the fact I have endless possibilities with the materials I can cut out using the BigShot.  I keep making up excuses for my purchases that way it makes me feel a little better for spending so much money LOL.

In my final shot I have moved a little to the left to show you my stash on a carousel I purchased a while ago. 

The plan with the carousel was that anything I purchased would be clipped on there to ensure I used all my new purchases.  This has worked to some degree, however, my purchases outway my work output.  I still have a mass of new products that I have still not used to-date, however, my shop closes at the end of April so I will have stacks of time to pursue my hobbies, crafting and gardening and eventually using all my stash at least once.

If you would like to join in the fun why not pop over to the Stamping Ground and say hi to Julia and the other obsessive Wednesdayers just like me LOL.

Happy Wednesday, enjoy your crafting, Tracy xx

Another Colour Splash Week

The Play Date Cafe challenge this time is another colour splash week.  I like the idea of just using a splash of colour on a project, it gives you a chance to work outside the box, and work a little differently to how I normally would approach making a project. 

I also find the challenges a great idea as it encourages me to rummage through my stash and use not just new but old products alongside each other.

This week I have kept my project simple but I am quite please with the final result.  If you would like to see more great artwork for this weeks challenge pop over to the Play Date Cafe here.

This week I chose to do some soot stamping, not had a go at this for a long while, its simple but very effective.  I have

used the tree from Character Constructions which I absolutely love, I find this image great for halloween projects too (nothing like thinking ahead LOL).   To complete, I have added Tim's Tattered Florals and the definition 'Imagine'.  The colour splash weeks are great, you can achieve great results with simple ideas.  Enjoy your crafting, Tracy xx

Stampotique, Girly Girl Challenge

The Stampotique challenge this time is to make something Girly Girl, something with a feminine touch.  I don't know why but the first colour I thought of was pink.  So here is my entry for the challenge.  I have matt and layered pink and brown card (an old K&Co set) onto a plain white card, stamped the image onto glossy card using StazOn timber brown ink.  I have then used the Tim Holtz swirl mask and sponged over the mask with Distress Ink (Victorian Velvet) all over the image and to complete I have added the sentiment "What? Never seen a diva before?" along with "DIVA" and a flower in complimentary colours.  If you would like to see more of the wonderful entries pop over to the Stampotique blog highlighted above.  Tracy x

WOYWW 14th April

Yet another Wednesday is here, what does my mum say, "as you get older the time goes quicker".  I used to think what rubbish when I was young but she is so right, the weeks just fly by especially now I have more time to myself.  I digress, here is my desk this Wednesday morning.  I have my sample for the Play Date challenge still there (view here) and my goodies I have purchased to the right including Tim's Alterations which I can't wait to play with.  To the left I have also still left my box I made for the Sunday Challenge.  Not had time to clear my desk this week, oh well I'll get there eventually.

This is where I am writing to you now.  Very tidy I hear you say, well this is my husband's area too, we share or so he thinks we do.  But as you can see he does not do much work, LOL only joking!  We like to keep this area organised so that we can work at the computer whenever we want without removing my stash before we can get started.  Not very interesting so I thought I would show you another picture of my stash as promised last week.  

Look at all that lovely stash LOL.  Most of my cuboards are full of rubber stamps, rubber stamps and paints. Now I have more time, I'm gathering more stash too, but it has to be done.  If you would like to see more desks take a look over on Julia's blog here.

Sunday Stamper Challenge 11th April 2010

Over on Hels blog the Sunday Stamper challenge is SILVER.  I began with a plain wooden heart box, painted with Stewart Gill Silver paint.  In some areas I applied the paint quite thickly and then heated with my heat tool to give some bubbles for texture.  I applied black StazOn ink to some areas of the box.

I have used the PaperArtsy stamp on silver and white card, simply stamped with black ink.  I have also stamped the same image on translucent shrink plastic.  I have added 'TIME' to complete the top of the box.  For the inside I have added a wooden heart which is simply painted and stamped as with the box.
To complete, I have added two small wooden hearts to the side of the box.  This will be great to house a gift of jewellery for one of my friends.  If you would like to see anymore of my fun with stamps simply visit my blog here.

Play Date Cafe Challenge

The Play Date Cafe challenge this week is to use the colours Plum, Lavender and Cream.

I did have a mental block today and could not decide what to do for these colours but after a coule of hours of thinking this is what I came up with.

I purchased these canvas panels from Hobbycraft a while ago and since then they have just been stored in my shelves, until today that is.  I painted the canvas with cream paint and then added lavender and Stewart Gill amourosa.  I tore a piece of scrap paper and masked off strips and added paint to give a stripe of highlighted colours.

I then stamped the butterfly (Butterfly Post by Julia Andrus, available from the Stamp Attic) onto Black Market Paper Society paper, cut out and adhered to the canvas.  I then stamped the flower from the Butterfly Post set using the paints and again with StazOn timber brown ink.  I added a piece of torn paper from the Black Market set along with the definition 'FLY' and the stencil 'F'.  These letters have been painted with cream, lavender and amourosa paint.  I have then punched out a small heart from scrap paper and sponged cream paint through the heart stencil.  To complete I have added a flower from a Darkroom Door set  (Full Bloom) and added buttons.  

 

 If you look closely I have stitched around the paper flower with lavender thread.  Hope you like.  If you would like to see any of the other entries pop over to the Play Date Cafe here.

WOYWW 7th April

Well it's that time again, another Wednesday is here.  As promised, I am going to show you more of my wall to wall cupboards and the stash they contain today.  When I first had this room it was so empty, and there was so much space for stash, well not anymore, after a few months my room was full and still is, just the way I like it LOL.

I have a lot of these small Ikea cupboards, they are great for storing all my bits and bobs like brads, wooden letters, etc etc.

What I like most about my craft space is that once the cupboard doors are all shut you would never know what was lurking behind.

Look how wonderfully neat everything looks I hear you say, but just glance below and you will see what hides behind those doors.

Look at that stash, I do love my stash, and now that I have more time on my hands to do more crafting I love it even more, SAD I know but can't be helped LOL.  Think I will save the last picture til next week where you will see more of my stash in the other cupboards to the right.  Hope you enjoy browsing. Happy Wednesday, Crafters.  Tracy x.   If you want to see more take a look at my blog here.

Sunday Stamper Challenge - LACE

Over on Hels blog this week the Sunday Stamper Challenge is LACE.  I am going out to my in-law's this afternoon for Easter lunch but I thought I would do a quick make for this challenge.

I have used the Stampers Anonymous pattern stamp for this challenge which is simply stamped onto beige paper using StazOn timber brown ink. I have painted a couple of areas with DI inks Victorian Velved (a favorite of mine) and tumbled glass.  I have added some lace ribbon, buttons, ruler and small piece of antique pattern which I purchased from an antique shop.   I have punched three small squares from turquoise card and added stamping from the original stamp.  The card is simply matted and layered onto co-ordinated card to complete.


I also made a co-ordinated tag.  The stamped 'lace' definition is a Stampington stamp along with the stamped lace.  I have simply sponged the tag with DI ink and added the lace ribbon and embellishments.  I was pleased to find the 'lace' definition in my stash which I have not used for absolutely ages.  Hope you like.

Have a fantastic Easter everyone, Tracy xx

Play Date Cafe Challenge

Over on the Art of Moodling blog (Sarah Anderson) the Play Date Cafe Challenge is blue, which is a challenge for me as I normally mix blue with totally different colours I rarely just use differing shades of blue.

As I have a few birthdays in the pipeline I thought I would use this opportunity to make a couple of items for this challenge and then give them to friends for their birthday's (just hope they like the colour blue!).

 The dark blue colour does not scan as dark as the actual colour is but he ho.  With this card I have stamped with a versamark inkpad and brayered with a Kaleidacolor inkpad and on one of the flowers the ink is not quite dried so the colour is more intensified which I quite like.  I have then added the letter 'B' for bloom which I have painted with an acrylic paint dabber (snow cap) and then sponged with ink.  I have then stamped the Iris with the Kaleidacolor dark blue and a further Iris in DI ink (tumbled glass).  To complete I have added the bloom embellishment and three buttons.

With this card I used one of the flowers from the previous Play Date Challenge and sponged with Kaleidacolor and DI ink.   I have layered the image onto dark blue card and added text and hearts to complete.

Once again I have stamped the Iris with DI and Kaleidacolor ink, added text and layered the image onto dark blue card.  To complete, I have added a Maya Road butterfly and gingham ribbon.


And finally I have decorated a large Maya Road bird.  I have painted with acrylic dabber (snow cap) and then sponged with DI ink.  I have placed the Tim Holtz swirl mask onto the pale blue and sponged with dark blue ink.  I have torn some text from a magazine and added to the tail, added a smaller Maya Road bird and some stamping to the body.  I have added a crown (Tim Holtz mask) and embellishments to complete.  Hope you like.  Tracy  x