Wednesday 8 September 2010

Free As A Bird

This is going to be rather a long post I'm afraid.  I have created a Christmas piece for the following challenges:-

The Sunday Stamper Challenge with Hels which is USE EVERYTHING.... that is your favourite.  In my piece this week I have used all my favourite things which are 1) birds, I love birds in art and in nature/garden 2) hearts, I collect hearts and love them in jewellery, around my house, in my art etc 3) rusty objects, I love rusty objects around the garden, in my home, I just love that old vintage, rusty type things 4) Christmas, just because I love Christmas.

The Compendium Of Curiosities Challenge with the lovely Linda and the challenge this week is Grungepaper Flowers. I just love flowers full stop so this challenge works in beautifully with my piece this week too.  Oh and there are some fantastic prizes on offer this week, really yummy and I have timed my post just at the right time to win, well that's what I am telling myself anyway, you have to think positive LOL.

The Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge which this week is a special one with a blog hop and a fantastic prize on offer.  The theme this week is Holiday Fun and my theme is Christmas.

This is the first page of my book which I have put together with a book ring.  I have painted each page with two coats of Gesso and then painted with acrylic paints.  I have also spritzed some pages with gold Crafty Notions spray and sponged each page with a generous coating of DI ink fired brick.  All the edges of the book have been sponged with gold Adirondack acrylic paint dabber.  My first page also has a Grungepaper Flower added (see page 65 of the book) which I have die cut from an old hymn book.   The bird and cage have been cut from copper metal using Tim Holtz Caged Bird Alterations die.  I have stamped text on the actual book with StazOn timber brown ink using an old Hero Arts stamp Long Writing Background.  The birdcage has been sanded lightly to age it a little and the bird has had some text added.  I have also added some holly using a Martha Stewart punch.
This is the reverse of the first page.  I have painted a piece of red card with Gesso and stamped the owl using DI ink fired brick, added some hand stitching, Christmas sentiment and snowflakes.
Second page has been embossed using a Cuttlebug folder (snowflakes).  I have added a green border with several hearts punched from it along with two red hearts and Christmas sentiment.  A bird cage has been added (sanded as before) along with a Maya Road bird.  I have coloured the bird with DI ink fired brick and added Christmas text.  A Tattered Floral has been added to the top (cut from Grungepaper) and DREAM added to the bottom of the cage.
The reverse shows the reverse of the embossing I did at the front.  I have added a border to the right this time punched with holly using the Martha Stewart punch.  I have used the leftovers from cutting out the birdcage and placed the bird inside the cage (but he is not caged really as there are no bars), which I have coloured with DI ink fired brick and added some text.  A heart has been added for his wing and he is also holding a heart from his beak.  I have added a metal heart to the top of the cage which has been coloured with StazOn inks blazing red and olive green.
The third page shows a stitched bird cage with a rusty heart added along with A Season Of Miracles sentiment from Outlines.  I have die cut a snowflake from the top left of the page.  I have added a snowflake to the top of the cage and created a wreath using the Martha Stewart holly punch.
The reverse shows the hand stitched bird cage from the other side, text has been added to the centre along with a die cut bird.  I have added gold dabber to the bird.  A snowflake has been added which is from the cut I made at the top of this page along with a Christmas sentiment.  The top of the cage has the Heart Wings added from Tim Holtz Alterations die which I have cut from shrink plastic.
The fourth page has been created with all the leftovers I had and I have added Free As A Bird using my Dymo.
The reverse shows a piece of red card painted with Gesso and a Christmas Bird added using StazOn blazing red and olive green inks.  A Christmas ribbon has been attached to the bottom and secured with staples.  I have also punched a small snowflake from the top left of this piece and then added to the page.  I have used a heart I had leftover from a previous project (cut using Tim Holtz Heart Wings die), embossed with a Cuttlebug folder and coloured with DI ink fired brick adding highlights of gold dabber. The same treatment was added to the crown.
The fifth and final page has a cage and bird added, cut from metal and coloured with StazOn inks blazing red, olive green and timber brown.  I have hand stitched one side of the cage to the page, added a metal heart along with some holly and ribbon.
The reverse shows a red piece of card coloured with Gesso and a Christmas bird stamped with StazOn blazing red and olive green ink.  I have hand stitched this piece to a remnant of fabric and adhered to the page.  Holly and a Grungepaper Tattered Floral has been added to complete my book.
One completed book bound together using a book ring.  I have added remnants of red and green ribbon to the book ring to complete my Christmas project.  Hope you like and have not fallen asleep after such a long post LOL.  Have a great Wednesday everyone, Tracy x x

26 comments:

Zue said...

Hi tracy
You have an amazing collection of lovely cards and different techniques on display.

I will have to come back and have a longer browse.

They do look wonderful!!

I love painting in white and stamping over. I did that last year for winter scenes.
Have a fantastic day
Sue xxx

Hels Sheridan said...

WOW Tracy, this is drop dead gorgeous! So much work in there hun, love the holly wreath :O)) Thanks for joinin in with the Sunday Stamper x

Anonymous said...

It was a long post but oh so worth sticking with it.......fantastic work Tracy. My favourite bit is the white and stamping over.........really wintery.

cheryl said...

oh wow hun may be a long post but oh gosh it was worth it this is such wonderful creative work hun really enjoyed looking at all your work hugs cheyrl xxxx

Lori said...

Absolutely wonderful, Tracy. Just love all the details and elements, a book to treasure, that's for sure!

Artyjen said...

Thanks for such a long post I say :)
It's fab-u-lous! Just love the way you have used the extra bits that might have been thrown in the bin LOL
xoxo Sioux

Minxy said...

ah so this is what i could see in your woyww post, it looks super, a real beautiful gift for someone

Toni said...

Tracy this is truly a treasure... So much enjoyed looking at the process of the pages. It's amazing how you can use the same dies and get soooooo many beautiful arrangments. Love love love these... :)

email: Steph@SimonSaysStamp.com said...

These are awesome! I like that you used whatever you punched out (that wreath looks fabulous!!). The polka dot button eye is great too!

Thanks so much for entering the Simon Says Stamp Challenge!!

-Sarah

Lynne Forsythe said...

How WONDERFUL is your mini!! Lovin' the copper you used!

Helen said...

What incredible work. No wonder you're pooped tonight! Love this book. Got to think of something to do myself... Won't be this good though.

Carol Q said...

fab Tracey. particularly love the copper metal bird and cage and the way you've added the stitching

Asia King (aka Joanna K) said...

Absolutely mind blowing! Fabulous project ;) I love the copper bird cage and bird, it looks amazing with teh rounded edge. How did you manage to round the edges so perfectly? ;) Stunning! xx

Girlsinthecraft said...

Wow, what a project. You truly put a lot of effort and creativity into this book. Love that flower on the cover especially.

MarleneMAZ said...

These are all gorgeous! I love the bird and birdcage in copper will have to try that.

Linda Coughlin, the funkie junkie said...

Holy moly, Tracy. When I first saw "grungepaper flowers" I kind of zoned out, but then I started looking at your photos and was riveted, scouring every word and photo for details. This is absolutely fabulous. Every page is a treasure. I can only dream of the day when I could make something like this. I am in total awe of your creativity - best of luck in the random drawings!

Hugs,
Linda

Lynne Phelps said...

It may be long but every word and picture was worth it! What a lovely project, I loved seeing not only all the different techniques, but also all the ways each technique differed when you changed it up a bit, like the use of gesso throughout, or seeing both the embossed and debossed sides, or seeing the negative punched paper on one page and the punch outs used on another. What a wonderful creation!

Linda Ledbetter said...

Tracy, what a phenomenal project! Every page, and every detail on those pages, is just gorgeous! The look is cohesive throughout, and yet every page has its own character and unique beauty. Your grunge flowers are perfection, and the metal and fabric elements give the book such amazing diversity.

I can't begin to tell you how much I enjoyed this post! It's a visual feast! Your lovely Christmas book is a keepsake to be treasured always. Thanks for the incredible inspiration, Tracy!

Jackie said...

WOW, this is fantastic, so much gone into the making, fabby. Thank you for sharing with us at SSC this week x

Netty said...

Well am stunned by such wonderful craftwork, they are all gorgeous Tracy. x

Unknown said...

WOW ... this is a stunner Tracy ... totally gorgeous! Thank you for finding time to join in with our blog hop!
and ... Good Luck :0)

Lorraine A said...

Oh WOW !! what a fantastic creation ,,,I am going back again for another look ,,,, stunning !! :-)

thanks for joining us on the Simon Says Stamp Holiday Hop :-)

Good Luck with the draws
luv
Lols x x x

SHAWN said...

Tracy this is such a special book! I loved reading about all your process! It made me want to get right out to my studio and start creating! Thanks for sharing it with us--Shawn

Anonymous said...

Wow! This is such a beautiful & inspirational book Tracy! x

Femmy said...

it's gorgeous!!

Nan said...

What a beautiful book! Your flowers were wonderful too!