Sunday 30 January 2011

A Splash Of Colour

My next DT piece for The Stamp Attic is to use the images above, Bloom Clear from Claudine Hellmuth.  This time around I have created a three fold card using one of the flowers.  I simply cut a piece of 12 x 12 Bazzil card stock in half and scored at 4" and 8" to form my accordion.
My flower, stems and leaves have all been stamped onto the 7 Gypsies Paddington Paper using black Archival Ink. I have used the image on the bottom of the stamp, which could be used for grass as my stems, simply cut up into random pieces.
I have highlighted the centre of the flowers with purple Bazzil card and a small button.  Faux stitching has been added to lift the flowers from the black background.
The flowers and leaves have been raised to give a 3D like appearance.
To complete I have added a Studio 490 Scollop Art Part, which has been stamped with Hero Arts Old French Writing and sponged with DI dusty concord.  I have threaded black ribbon through the holes to add some texture.

I am also entering this piece for The Play Date Cafe challenge which this week is a colour splash; black, white and a splash of lilac/purple.  Our inspiration for this week is the picture below.
I would also like to take this opportunity to let you all know that The Altered Alice monthly challenge has started today with week 1 challenge being CHANGES IN FORM and DRESS FORMS.  The challenge is to create something that features a dress form or something that changes form.  The first set of DT art is fabulous and well worth a visit and the rest of the DT work will appear at weekly intervals throughout the month of February, with mine scheduled for 6th February.  Thanks for stopping by, Tracy x x

Saturday 29 January 2011

Enjoy The Journey

Simon Says Stamp and Show - A Childhood Memory.
Compendium of Curiosities - Weathered Wood Grunge, page 50 of the book.
The Sunday Stamper - Sentiments

I'm combining challenges yet again as my dad is still in hospital and I am spending most of my time visiting, so here is my contribution for the three challenges above.  A childhood memory for me was day trips out with either the family or school and I thought this image represented that perfectly and so does the sentiment, Enjoy The Journey.  I used DI pumice stone and tea dye for the background along with one of Tim's masks.  The weathered wood grunge technique has been applied on my three circles.
I have highlighted enjoy the journey on the car and duplicated the sentiment on my three circles.  Added Idea-ology and distressed edges completes my entry for this week and only just in time too LOL.  Thanks for stopping by.  Tracy x x

Friday 28 January 2011

An Alternative Valentine Card

It's time for my last Guest Artist piece for The Artistic Stamper Creative Team. I thought that with Valentine's being around the corner I would create a card that was just a little different for the occasion.
I thought I would use one of the bird images on my Valentine's card rather than just use hearts and I am quite pleased with how its turned out.
If you would like all the details to create this card and the products used, pop over to The Creative Team Blog using the link above for all the information and more detailed pictures.  Thanks for stopping by.  Tracy x x

Tuesday 25 January 2011

A Zesty Owl

I had one hour this morning to be creative so I had to challenge myself to make a simple card as I do not work very quickly at all so this was a challenge in itself.  I decided to have another go at The Play Date Cafe challenge.
I really like the Zesty orange and green combined with the grey.
This is my second entry this week so I thought I would create a Zesty owl from felt and as I have added plenty of buttons I am also entereing this for The Sunday Stamper challenge which this week is to use BUTTONS in your artwork.
The swirl is an old Fancy Pants stamp which has been stamped with DI pumice stone, a new favourite of mine and the WISH sentiment is one of Wendy Vecchi's.
Thanks for stopping by, your comments are much appreciated. Tracy x x

Sunday 23 January 2011

Stepping Into Spring Early

Time for another challenge over at The Play Date Cafe with a couple of Zesty colours, Orange and Green along with Grey.
I only had time to make a simple card, but time allowing I would like to play along again with these colours.
I stamped my background stamp (Flower Bursts from Hero Arts) with Versamark ink onto glossy card and embossed with clear powder.  I sponged DI pumice stone over the image to give me my grey element.  The circles were cut using Spellbinders circles and one circle was cut from glossy card and a part of the background stamp added to the circle and clear embossed as before.  A small zesty orange circle was added to the top left with the sentiment happy spring added, which I won in a Memory Box competition.  Orange ribbon was added along with green gems to the top right.  My finished piece was layered onto orange and grey card stock.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend, Tracy x x

Friday 21 January 2011

Published And A New DT

I'm blowing my own trumpet, I could not resist, I'm thrilled to have been published in this months Stampers' Sampler.  I am the Guest Artist, how good does that sound LOL.  I was thrilled to be asked and absolutely chuffed to bits to be in print, however, I have not received my copy yet, so I have that to look forward to.
Look my name is on the front cover, how exciting, I still get a buzz when I see my work published LOL.  If you would like a copy of the magazine they are available now from The Stamp Attic.As I have not seen a copy yet I would love to know what you think if you have seen the project in all its glory.

I also have some more exciting news.......  I have been asked by Lynne Phelps of Savvy Sisters Studio to be a member of the new DESIGN TEAM for The Altered Alice Blog, of course I said yes, I am absolutely thrilled and can not wait to start on the journey.  If you would like to pop over to see all the latest, click on the link on my sidebar.  Thanks Lynne for inviting me along, I am really looking forward to joining the team.  Tracy x x
Our challenges will take place monthly to give you all plenty of time to join in the fun.  I look forward to seeing all your inspiring projects very soon.

Thursday 20 January 2011

Dotted Flowers

I'm not getting much time to craft at the moment so it's a combination of challenges this time around, I did not want to miss out on some of my favourite challenges so I made sure this card fitted all, hope you will forgive me LOL.

Time for another Compendium of Curiosities Challenge with Linda and this week we are working with COLOURFUL LAYERED FRAGMENTS, although I did not want mine too colourful as it would clash a little with my image so I only used two colours on my fragments.  For this technique we turn to page 57 of the book.  Simon  Says Stamp and Show some POLKA DOTS this week and I have used a paper from Tim's Vintage Shabby paper stash which so happens to have white polka dots, don't know where I would be without this paper stash at the moment, I'm using it for everything.Oh and my flower also incorporates dots too. The Stampman challenge is DISTRESS and my card also incorporates distress ink and distressing. Finally The Sunday Stamper challenge, the theme being TEXTURES OR FEELINGS.  I decided to work with texture, however, I did not want to use Terra again as I have worked with that the last few times so I decided to add buttons which I feel give texture to my card, hope I can get away with that one Hels LOL.
I stamped my image (Pop Stems from Hero Arts) with StazOn timber brown ink, applied Distress Ink broken china to the edges of the panel and layered this piece onto brown card and then onto the card blank.  Buttons are hand sewn into place for texture and dimension.  The edges of my Vintage Shabby paper have been distressed with Tim's little distresser and to complete I have added a bow and colourful layered fragments.  Enjoy your day, Tracy x x

Sunday 16 January 2011

Take Flight

I thought I would enter another quick card for The Play Date Cafe colour challenge, I enjoyed working with the colours so much I decided to have another go.  My dad is in hospital so I needed something to take my mind off things.
This is another set of stamps that I have not pulled out of the packet LOL so I thought it was about time I pulled them out of their plastic.
A simple card to create but I am quite pleased with the results.
A reminder of the colour palette for this weeks challenge.  Thanks for stopping by, until the next time, take care.  Tracy x x

Saturday 15 January 2011

SEW SIMPLE

I'm combining challenges again this morning as I want to spend the weekend in the garden, everywhere needs a good sort out and cleaning and If I'm a good girl and get everything sorted I can craft again later, that's my motivation LOL.
I am also trying to make sure I use all my stamps at least once, so this is a stamp set that has had its first use this morning for The Play Date Cafe Challenge, The Sunday Stamper which is to use DIAMONDS in your artwork and The Stampman Challenge which is DISTRESS. I was thrilled to be chosen as runner up for the last challenge so thank you ladies.
This is our colour inspiration for this week over at The Play Date Cafe, I love the shabby chic feel to this picture and I love working with these colours.
The dress form is from a Claudine Hellmuth set, which I stamped with DI Broken China onto Tim's Vintage Shabby Paper Stash which is where my DIAMONDS come in. I hand stitched around the bodice to give some dimension.  The bodice has been stamped onto Tim's Ornamental Die and again I have hand stitched around the shape.   Style is Eternal sentiment has been stamped onto white card with DI Tea Dye and the edges have been sponged with the same colour.  Embellishments and a vintage sign complete my card.  All the edges of the card have also been distressed with Tim's Distresser.
I also made a tag to coordinate with my card which I am entering for the Tag Tuesday challenge which is to use FABRIC on your tag.  Thanks for stopping by, Tracy x x

Friday 14 January 2011

Time Flies

Time for my second piece as Guest Artist for The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog.  I had great fun creating this piece and decided to create something that was in keeping for January/Winter.
If you would like the full details to create this piece then please pop over to the creative team using the link above.
I really enjoyed creating this piece and time flies when your having fun......  Until the next time, Tracy x x

Thursday 13 January 2011

Masked Mushrooms

I was able to combine challenges again this week for Simon Says Stamp and Show some MASKING, the Compendium of Curiosities Challenge is DISTRESS MISTING MASKS, page 60 of the book and finally the Stampotique Designers Challenge is to use any type of masking technique in your creation.
I decided to use the Giant SHROOM from Stampotique (available from The Stamp Attic) for my card, I love this mushroom and it works great for with masking. I made my own mask using the Mushroom and I used one of Tim Holt's papers to give me a more subtle background rather than white.  I also added stitching around one of my mushrooms to give some dimension and added white gel pen around the edges of the others so that they popped off the page a little with the background being quite dark and grungy.
I added buttons in shades of green to give a pop of colour, some Idea-ology, a flower, string and a bird to complete my creation.  MUSHROOM was computer generated.   Enjoy your day, and thanks for popping by, Tracy x x

Sunday 9 January 2011

Heartfelt Greetings

The colour challenge this week over at The Play Date Cafe is grass green, gold and silver.
I love gold and green together but I don't think I have ever used gold and silver together but there is always a first time and here it is.  I punched two hearts from watercolour paper and painted them with Stewart Gill paints Secret Garden and Bright Gold.  Once dry I added leafing flakes in gold and silver.
The picture above is our inspiration photo for this week and I love it, I love the shimmer from the water and the wonderful rich colours of the green and gold.
The paper I have used this time around is from BoBunny, Flutter Butter Willow and I have used both sides.  To complete my creation I have added some gold hearts and a gold bow to give the card some dimension along with a love sentiment from Outlines.  Until the next time, Tracy x x

Thursday 6 January 2011

Curiously Rusted

We are back to our weekly challenge over at Studio L3 with the Compendium of Curiosities challenge and this week it is RUSTED GRUNGE.  The technique can be found on page 45 of the book.
I have added the RUSTED GRUNGE technique to my key and heart. I decided I would break my rusted heart in a couple of places to add to that old, rusty, aged feel.
The hearts are from the Heart Wings die and they have been coloured with DI Fired Brick with Crackle Accents added over the top.  A Philosopy Tag, ribbon, button and sentiment generated on the computer complete my entry for this week.  I would also like to thank Linda for kindly drawing my name out of the hat this week for the extra prize, I thoroughly enjoyed spending my voucher so a big THANK YOU.  Tracy x x

Wednesday 5 January 2011

New Year WOYWW

Happy New Year to all you WOYWW'ers, hope you all had a good Christmas, I'm ready to get back to normal, well normal for me anyway and that means back to some kind of schedule which includes participating in WOYWW.  For those of you who are not familiar with this phenomenon, then pop on over to Julia's place HERE to find all the details and lots more great desks.
I have cleared away as usual after working on a few challenges over the past few days but there is still a couple of things still out on display including my lovely new IPAD which I had for Christmas and I love it, so light to carry around and so easy to use, right up my street.
My card from The Play Date Cafe challenge is still on my desk along with a very small brandy bottle, also from Christmas, which I thought I may decorate but I am still thinking on that one at the moment. There is also a large heart shape to the far left which I would like to do something with but again I am still at the thinking stage. That's about it for this week folks but thanks for popping by, I appreciate all your comments.  I may not visit many desks today as my dad has been taken into hospital and I am visiting for part of the day today but I will try to visit a few desks when I can.  Until the next time,  Tracy xx

Monday 3 January 2011

Thinking Of Warmer Days......

........and Poppies in the Spring, seems so far away today but I'm sure as always time will pass by quickly and I can look forward to the new shoots in my garden and the wonderful Poppies I look forward to every year with renewed excitement.
Hence I decided to use my NEWLY purchased Poppy Collage from Memory Box (available from The Stamp Attic).  Thought I would also play along with a few challenges too at the same time, using the colours from The Play Date Cafe challenge once again, using the inspiration photo below.
Along with the challenge over at Simon Says Stamp and Show which this week we are challenged to SHOW OUR NEWEST STAMP and the Poppy Collage just happens to be mine.  My card also fits the challenge for The Sunday Stamper too with Hels where the challenge this week is to use CHARMS/MEN and I have chosen to use a charm on my card this week.
The paper in the background is from Tim's Vintage Shabby Paper Stash and I have embossed a piece of taupe card with a swirl embossing folder and added the strip across the centre of the card, along with a piece of vintage ribbon and an IMAGINE Philosphy tag charm.
The Poppy Collage has been stamped twice onto white card using DI Fired Brick and I have cut a second flower from the second stamping and added to the main image to give a 3D like appearance.  Three hot pink buttons and IMAGINE sentiment from Outlines complete my card.  Tracy x x

Sunday 2 January 2011

Bird Triptych

Happy New Year to you all, hope you had a fabulous Christmas break.  This is my first slot as Guest Artist over at The Artistic Stamper Creative Team blog and I would like to thank Hels and Jennie for the opportunity to display my art on their blog.
I decided to decorate a TRIPTYCH for my first piece and I had great fun altering it with some wonderful bird images.
If you would like to see more detailed pics and instructions then pop over HERE for all the information and product details  Thanks for popping by here and The Artistic Stamper Creative Team blog, your comments are much appreciated.  Enjoy your week, Tracy x x