Play Date Cafe Challenge

There is a great colour splash over at The Play Date Cafe this week using BLACK, WHITE with a splash of BURGUNDY.

I love the inspiration photo this week, takes me back to SPRING when all the aquilegias are out in full bloom.  However, with time passing by so quickly I resorted to making a couple more Christmas cards for this weeks challenge.

My first card is a small 4" x 4" square card decorated with black and white papers from Black Market Paper Society which I have hand stitched with BURGUNDY thread.  The image from Memory Box has been stamped with DI Aged Mahogany, along with the sentiment from Outlines.  To complete, I have added three co-ordinated buttons.

For my second card I have used an image from Crafty Individuals and added highlights of BURGUNDY to the tree.  The sentiment is from the same sheet.

My third and final card uses an image from Inkadinkado, which is stamped in black.  I have punched a large and small heart from white card and added part of the image to the hearts using DI Aged Mahogany and black ink.  To complete, I have added three small hearts to the bottom of my card.  There are some great inspirational pieces over at The Play Date Cafe and well worth a visit.  Enjoy your weekend, Tracy x x

Something Spookay

Both the Stampotique challenge and Simon Says Stamp & Show challenge ask us to create something spooky, Stampotique with the theme SPOOKY, CREEPY, CRAWLY and Simon Says Stamp & Show SOMETHING SPOOKAY.  I thought I would have a better go today as I have only entered a tag for SSSS so tried to create something in a little more detail.

I have created a spooky house, using an old bird house I had lying around.  The house is painted with black acrylic paint and sprayed with Altered Originals Spray, burnt orange.  The roof has been decorated with the skull from Stampotique and branches from the garden have been added to add to the spooky feel.

I have also added a few autumnal leaves from the garden.

I did want to add a real spiders web from the garden, however, I could not find one anywhere, typical just when you want one.   Think I will add this to my Halloween table this weekend.  Enjoy your day, Tracy x x

Spooky Tags

It's half term this week so most of my time has been spent with my children Ryan and Laura so not much time for crafting.  However, I do like to participate in some challenges where I can so I have created two tags for the following challenges:-
Simon Says Stamp & Show - Something Spookay
Sunday Stamper with Hels - GREEN
Compendium of Curiosities with Linda - Extreme Masking, page 61 of the book.
Tag Tuesday - Orange & Black

My first tag is coloured with DI peeled paint and wild honey and stamped with images from Tim Holtz and Stampotique.  I have also added Tattered Leaves to one corner.

My second tag has been cut from Tim Holtz Lost and Found Paper Stash and coloured with DI dried marigold.  For the Extreme Masking I have used the crow and heart from Tim's seasonal masks, added a Tattered Floral from black felt along with heart embellishments, sentiment and raffia. Off to watch some children's programs with my daughter now, OH JOY!  Tracy x x

WOYWW 27th October

I'm afraid there is not much on my desk this Wednesday, it's half term and most of my time has been spent with my children, so not much time for crafting.  If you would like to join in the fun of WOYWW, pop over to Julia's place HERE to pick up all the details and spy some great craft spaces.

 The only items on my desk this week are a couple of tags for challenges and a Christmas card which is half finished.  I am really trying to get my Christmas cards finished so that I can have December free for me to relax and do nothing LOL.

This Aster is my plant of the week, gorgeous daisy flowers even after a sharp frost the other night.   The plants in my garden always cheer me up especially as the dark nights are drawing in.   Have a great Wednesday, Tracy x x

PDCC 1st Anniversary

Morning all, just a quick post from me this morning.  I thought I would join in the fun again over at The Play Date Cafe as I enjoyed playing with my acrylic paints the other day I thought I would continue.  A reminder of our colour challenge this week.

Lovely bright, cheery colours to celebrate the One Year Anniversary. This time around I decided to move away from cards and decorate two 4" x 4" canvases, these are very small but great fun to play with.

I have decorated both canvases using acrylic paints, the first has had a Dill image added from Memory Box along with a Tattered Leaf, butterfly, button and text.

The second I have used a Crafter's Workshop template along with leaves, text and bird from Memory Box.  Enjoy your day, Tracy Evans x

Bright & Cheery

Is our challenge this week over at The Play Date Cafe.  Our inspiration this week is the photograph below, lovely bright cheery colours to celebrate The Play Date Cafe's 1st Anniversary.  Congratulations to Julie and all the team.

I began my piece for this challenge with a piece of watercolour paper and acrylic paints.  I added a blob of each colour to the paper and blended them with a baby wipe to create my background piece.

I used this piece for my background to this card and stamped all my images onto the remainder and added them to the card.  I have used the Paperbag Studios Doodles & Daters sheet and added Glossy Accents to the heart.  My flower is created using the Artisitic Stamper Flower Power Sheet.  Home Is Where The Heart Is was simply created on my computer, printed and sponged with DI Victorian Velvet.  I would also like to enter this card into the WEDNESDAY STAMPER challenge which is to use hearts in your artwork. I was left with quite a large piece of coloured watercolour paper so thought I would also create another simple card rather than let it go to waste.

I may have another play with these colours as I really enjoyed getting messy with my acrylics.  The Play Date Cafe has some fantastic prizes on offer this week to celebrate their 1st Anniversary and pieces of art being added daily to stimulate your creative juices, why not join in the fun.

I have also created a card for the Compendium of Curiosities challenge which is also cheery.  This week Linda has challenged us to create a piece using the Dabber Resist technique, page 37 in the book for the instructions re the technique.

I have used a text stamp for the Dabber Resist technique and DI fired brick for the stamping and the background piece.

The poinsettia stamp and papers are from Memory Box, all available from THE STAMP ATTIC.  Have a great weekend.  Tracy x x

Trick OR Treat

I would like to enter my next pieces for the following challenges:-
Stampotique Designers Challenge - Treat Containers
Simon Says Stamp and Show - Anything But A Card
Sunday Stamper - Dem Bones
The Stampman Challenge - Autumn.

I really struggled with these treat containers, I don't know why but initially nothing worked or just looked rubbish but after a great deal of messing around these are what I came up with....

a trick or treat bag which I have made from black and orange felt.  The central panel is stamped with pumpkin's and tree from Stampotique and ALL HALLOWS EVE from Impression Obsession, all stamped with StazOn black.  I have added some web fabric and stitched around the edges adding a Tattered Floral in black felt.  I also found some orange pumpkin embellishments which I have added to the base of the handles.

The pumpkin's and tree have been coloured with Distress Inks and I have frayed the edges of the fabric.  As I had all my Halloween products out I thought I would make a second container.

This container is made from a very thick cardboard and it was just a matter of painting and decorating.  I painted with two coats of Gesso and two coats of ochre acrylic paint along with highlights of Stewart Gill bright copper paint.  All images are stamped with StazOn black and coloured with Distress Inks and areas highlighted with Glossy Accents.

On the reverse I have simply added TRICK, TREAT using Tim's alphabet masks.  All the stamps I have used in these projects are from THE STAMP ATTIC.  Until the next time, Tracy xx

WOYWW & Autumn Colour

Morning all, well what's on my workdesk this morning, nothing I can hear you all saying as I never have anything on there cause I'm too tidy LOL.  Nooooo, your wrong I have..................

a Pumpkin which I have grown myself, in fact I have 8 of them and I'm so pleased with them.  Alongside the pumpkin is a trick or treat bag I made out of felt and on the far right is a second trick or treat bag, both of which are for challenges and will be posted after WOYWW.  If you are still one of the very few who are not aware of What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday then click HERE and you will be transported to Julia's place where you will find all the details and many more desks to nose around.

I thought I would also take this opportunity to show you some late colour in my garden,  I have been gardening for the last couple of days and appreciating any colour we have at the moment and it's quite surprising how much there is, so without further ado, below are some picture just for you to appreciate.

 A pure white Anemone.

A Rudbeckia.

And a Foxglove.  Nature is a wonderful thing.   Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone.  Tracy x x

Arched Cages

Arches from the Collections Elements range are the order of the day for my next DT piece and I have tried to use them in a different way rather than as an arched window, I have instead used them as bird houses.

I have painted my arch with Aqua Paint Dabber added Terra to some areas, allowed to dry and then added Silver Paint Dabber to the top and wrapped string around the arch.

The arch has then been added to a page from the Maya Road Birdcage Chipboard Book which has been coverd with pages from Tim's Vintage Shabby Paper Stash and all the edges have been sanded.  I have used Tim's Ransom Alphabet Masks to add BIRD to the bottom of the cage using DI inks Tumbled Glass and Broken China.   I stamped the butterfly (Julia Andrus stamps - Butterfly Post) onto a page from the paper stash using StazOn Timber Brown ink and added to the top of the arch along with a Maya Road bird which has been coloured with DI ink and stamped using a text (Old French Writing) stamp from Hero Arts.  A Tattered Floral has been added (cut from the paper stash) along with a memo pin which has take flight added to the top.  To complete, I have added SECRET GARDEN (both take flight and SECRET GARDEN are from HOT PICKS Birds sheet).

I have also created a co-ordinated card using all the same products, inks and stamps.

 Until the next time, have a great week, Tracy x x

Blue Christmas

The picture above is our inspiration over at The Play Date Cafe, the colours being beige, pale blue and pale mint-ish green, I love the leaf in this picture.

I have created a couple of Christmas cards for the challenge, this one is using a bauble stamp from Penny Black stamped with DI antique linen and tumbled glass.   I have hand stitched around the edge with pale blue thread and added three fragments and some tissue tape to the edge.

I have used the same stamp for my second card but this time used DI tumbled glass and shabby shutters although due to the poor light it looks more beige than pale green ish.  I have created the background with DI inks and spritzing with water.  I have added beige thread, fragment and Officially Winter sentiment.

My final piece uses a glass bauble and an Inkadinkado collage stamp, I have added cloudy blue alcohol ink to the edges of the glass piece.  A fragment has been added to the bauble which has then been mounted onto a  piece of corrugated card and hand stitched around the edges.  I have also drawn around the bauble onto shrink plastic adding the same image to each piece.  The collage has been stamped onto white card with tumbled glass ink and I have cut out some of the text individually and added to the card. 

I am also adding these pieces to The Compendium of Curiosities challenge where the challenge this week is FRAGMENT CHARMS.  For the technique you need to turn to page 64 of the book.  Pop over to Linda's place and check out all the details.  Tracy xx

Christmas Fragments

Time for another Compendium of Curiosities challenge with Linda and this week our challenge is to use Fragment Charms, page 64 of the book for full details of the technique.

I purchased a couple of glass baubles some time ago and thought one of these would be a great starting point for my card.  They are not particularly heavy so are ideal for an embellishment and co-ordinated quite nicely with the Fragment Charms.

I have stamped the Christmas image with StazOn timber brown and DI fired brick and layered the image onto brown and red card stock.  The card is approx. 5" x 7" (sorry I still work in inches LOL).  I have added a Fragment Charm to my glass bauble, one to highlight PEACE and added one in the bottom corner and that makes another Christmas card off my list.  Have a great day, Tracy x x

WOYWW 13th October

Morning all, another week, another WOYWW, if you have never joined in with the phenomenon that is What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday then hop on over HERE and you will be transported to Julia's place where you will find all the details and some great desks to nose around.

Not much on my desk as usual, I have a new mat that I purchased from Port Sunlight on Saturday along with plenty of other items which are not on display here, but I did spend plenty of pennies and had a great day and met some lovely people from Blogland.   I have Christmas bits 'n' bobs on my desk in preparation to make more Christmas cards but I don't seem to be able to get motivated for Christmas this week, maybe next week LOL.  The angel that you see on my desk is now decorated as this picture was taken on Tuesday.  I have decorated the angel from The Artistic Stamper for a very special blog hop which I posted on my blog yesterday and if you would like to join in, all the details are HERE from my previous post .  The blog hop is The Warrior Women Blog Hop in conjuntion with October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  Below is the angel now fully decorated.  Hope you can all join in.

 

Have a great Wednesday, Tracy x x

Warrior Women Blog Hop

Sherry Goodloe has been fighting the biggest fight of her life battling breast cancer and as October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, the Pink Ribbon Warrior Team are holding a blog hop.  The team are celebrating the healing journey of their dear friend Sherry who is recovering from recent surgery and has thankfully just been told that she does not need to have chemo or radiation, which is absolutely FANTASTIC news.  Sherry is the official Warrior Woman Muse for the hop.

Why not pop along and visit the team below and join in the blog hop.

The Pink Ribbon Warrior Women Blog Team are:-

Ellen Vargo
Jennie: The Artistic Stamper
Judy Wood
Linda Ledbetter
Nancy Crissinger 
Sharon Sutton
Tracy Jacobs
Hels Sheridan

The team are also offering some blog candy if you create a piece of art to honour each and every person who has, is or ever will fight the battle against cancer.  You leave your contribution at the Warrior Women Blog Hop Flickr Gallery.  Let's all join in with this fantastic hop.

I decided to create a little something as my Mother-in-Law won the battle against breast cancer, quite a few years ago, and this hop made me think just how courageous she and many others are in the fight against cancer.  

Whilst I was at Port Sunlight at the weekend, Jennie from The Artistic Stamper gave me this angel and asked "if there was anything I could do with it" and when I saw this blog hop I thought what better way to use an angel.  Must admit I did have to think a while to create something appropriate.  My thoughts are with all those fighting the battle.  Tracy x x

Tea & Humour

Over at Oh Alice this week we are challenged to use tea bag folding in our artwork, well that's where I struggled, I have never done any tea bag folding before mainly because it's not really my cup of tea, oh sorry could not resist it LOL.   However, I put my thinking cap on and added a little of my sense of humour and came up with a card which I am hoping the team at Oh Alice will let me get away with!!

I went downstairs into the kitchen and proceeded to empty a couple of my tea bags of tea so that I could actually use the empty bags, I know, I know, the things I will do to enter a challenge LOL.   Anyway I have scrunched and folded slightly my empty tea bags (well that does count as tea bag folding don't you think), coloured with ink and added a clock to the centre of the bags.

The image is from an Oxford Impressions sheet which I have coloured with DI and I have added a piece of metal embossed with clocks that I have sanded and coloured with alcohol inks.  Just hope this passes now for the challenge LOL.  I had great fun making it if nothing else.

I am also entering this piece for The Simon Says Stamp and Show some METAL in your artwork.

Enjoy your day,  Tracy x x

Alternative Christmas

Time for another Sunday Stamper challenge with Hels and this week we are challenged to use IMAGINE in our artwork. 

I have a set of Nestabilities in my stash that has never been used so this was my starting point today, however, I wanted to try and use them in a different way rather than just layering one on top of the other and leaving it at that. 

I began by cutting the Nestabilities from Tim's Retro Grunge paper stack that I purchased yesterday at Port Sunlight, I really love this pack as it has such a grungy feel to all the papers, however, once I had cut out the Nestabilities I was then stumped as to what to do next so then took a couple of hours break in the garden.  Whilst I was gardening it hit me, I will make an alternative bird house and make an alternative Christmas card for a change.

The birds and the swirl are another new purchase from yesterday, a set of 7 Gypsies stamps VICTORIA.  The images are stamped with StazOn Timber Brown and DI Fired Brick.  I collected a few twigs from the garden and added them to the side and the top of the house, along with IMAGINE from Tim's Idea-ology range.   The heart is cut from mountboard, crackle paint applied and DI Fired Brick rubbed over the top and to complete I have added a Christmas definition and a few punched holly pieces.  Enjoy your day, Tracy x

Tag Tuesday And A New Altered Alice Blog

Thought I would let you all know that there is a new blog in town, The Altered Alice Blog created by Lynne Phelps from Savvy-Sisters Studio, this is a non-calendrical compendium of Alice in Wonderland artwork by various artists, which I think is a fantastic idea and I will definitely be making more Alice in Wonderland pieces.  Lynne is also on the Oh Alice Design Team, is a Graphics/Web Designer and is also a Copic Certified Designer, why not pop over to see both these fantastic blogs and take a look at Lynne's work, her attention to detail is fantastic.

Lynne kindly showcased a piece of my Alice in Wonderland on her new blog, for which I am very grateful and extremely chuffed, the piece in question is below.....

I entered this piece for one of the Oh Alice challenge pieces some time ago so it was nice to see it showcased once again for which I thank Lynne and hope the new blog goes from strength to strength, a fantastic idea Lynne.

It is also time for another TAG TUESDAY challenge and this week we are asked by Louise to use Pumpkin's on our tag.

I have used DI inks for the background and the new stamps by Stampotique, ALL HALLOWS EVE is from Impression Obsession (all available from THE STAMP ATTIC).  Raffia, button brads and faux stitching complete my tag for this week.  I'm off to the Port Sunlight show tomorrow which I am really looking forward to as I have not been a show for ages and I intend to enjoy myself and buy plenty of stash LOL.  Have a good weekend, Tracy xx

O Christmas Tree

It's officially Christmas over at The Play Date Cafe, well not really but that's my excuse for making yet another Christmas card. The colours this week have a real seasonal feel to them......

I started my piece with two 8" x 8" square pieces of card, folded in half, half the opposite way and then folded on the diagonal to create......

Can you see what it is from this angle?  I decided to mix old with new stamps to create a Christmas collage piece.

This is the front cover of my folded book, the stamp on the front is from Inkadinkado and the Merry Christmas is from Tim's 100th Collection.

This is the back cover tied together with some Christmas fibres.

The back cover has been stamped using the reindeer from a Darkroom Door set and the text is an old PSX stamp.

When opened out you can see how the square piece of card has been folded.  Images have been stamped with DI Fired Brick and Adirondack Meadow.  I have also added machine stitching to some of the stamping.  I have to say this was not easy to photograph and I don't think I quite realised how much stamping would be needed to fill the book when I started LOL.

The two square pieces have been stuck together and this is the opposite side.

Hopefully this gives a better view of the whole thing, must admit I'm quite pleased with the outcome, although it seems to have taken me an age to put together.

I would also like to enter this piece for the Simon Says Stamp and Show your NUMBERS challenge this week.  I have used the number 25 on the front cover and there are numbers on the Officially Winter definition, very subtle again I know but they are numbers afterall LOL.  There are some great prizes on offer at both these challenge sites, why not join me and pop on over there to see what's on offer.  Have a great day,  Tracy xx