Top Hat Pin Cushion

Simon Says Stamp and Show A HAT this week, a definite challenge for me, I really had to think about this one as I wanted to make something that I would use. After much consideration I decided to make a TOP HAT PINCUSHION as I always have needles lying around on my desk ready for my next session of hand stitching, which I often add to my artwork.

I used Grungepaper to make the initial shape and coverd with Tim Holtz Crowded Attic Paper Stash. This was extremely fiddly I must say and far too much thinking about on my part LOL.

I added a second hat to continue the theme along with buttons to follow through with the sewing theme.

I used Tim's Pattern and Stitches embossing folder to add detail to the spool from the Sewing Room Die and highlighted the raised areas with pearl paint dabber.  As I have used an embossing folder in a couple of places I am also entering this for The Sunday Stamper challenge which this week is to use TEXTURE FADES/EMBOSSING.

This is the second spool which has also been embossed.  Red ribbon has been added to give a pop of colour.

The text at the bottom is from the Collections Elements range and buttons and snaps have been added to the bottom of my top hat.

The top of my hat is made from felt which has a little stuffing added to give me my PINCUSHION for my needles.

I cannot believe how fiddly such a small item could be but I am quite pleased with the results especially as I really had to think outside the box LOL.  Enjoy your evening, Tracy x x

Weasel's Triptych Party

The Stampotique challenge this time around is to create a triptych. On my triptych Weasel is having a party and inviting all his friends.

Weasel is proudly holding his sign up directing the party goers in the right direction LOL.  He has even made a special PARTY sign from a plant label, he really is getting into the party spirit.

I have added metal brads as my door nobs to the triptych.  My piece has been coloured with Distress Inks spiced marmalade and worn lipstick.

Some of Weasel's friends have already arrived for the party, we have Linda's New Bag, Smile and Head all waiting for the other guests. Weasel has also made a list of PARTY RULES for the party guests.

One of the PARTY RULES is to wear party hats and as you can see Smile is very proud of his hand made creation LOL.

They are all wearing their party hats with pride.

Linda is proud of her outfit and bag too but really wants a few more girlies at the party.

Weasel really has made such an effort with all the signage for his party, lets hope they all have a FaBULoUS time.  Enjoy the rest of your week, Tracy x x

WOYWW Along With Spring Blooms

I took this picture of my desk at 12.30pm, could not sleep so thought I would schedule my post for the phenomenon that is What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday.  Pop over to Julia's place for all the details and some great workspaces, simply click on Julia's name and you will be automatically transported to a whole new world LOL.

 

I placed a few things on my desk late last night in preparation for completing my project on Wednesday for Simon Says Stamp and Show, fingers crossed I find some time.  My desk really has not changed much apart from that as I tidy everything away when I have finished a project.

I have been spending most of my time over the last few days in the garden making the most of the fine weather and this little beauty is one of the little gems in bloom at this time of year.  It is a Hepatica and is always one of the first things to bloom in my garden, I love it.  Enjoy your Wednesday, Tracy x x

A Mixed Bag......

A couple of things to share with you today, firstly another creation for The Play Date Cafe.  I had a few leftovers so thought I would use them rather than discard.

I had a small piece of white fabric lying around and I have seen quite a few fabric hearts in blogland so I thought I would give it a go using the colours for The Play Date Cafe. This is one side of my heart, using Claudine Hellmuth flower stamp.  I have added lace around the outside along with coordinated buttons and a heart lock at the bottom.

This is the other side of my heart, using the same flower stamp but in purple this time around. I have used Claudine Hellmuth paints for the stamping in sky blue and purple palette. Beads have been added to the centre of the flower, a heart charm added to the top and a metal key to the bottom.

I also had a piece of Grungepaper lying around on my desk and set myself a challenge to use it.  Whilst blog hopping I noticed that KIM uses a great deal of Grungepaper to make objects from stars to bags, very creative so I thought I would give it a go and do my own take.

This is our inspiration photo from The Play Date Cafe this week.

I also need to send a big THANK YOU to Lynn Stevens of Trash To Treasure Art for this Stylish Blogger Award, much appreciated Lynn, thank you.

Here's how it works.  Give credit to the one who sent it, so once again THANKS Lynn. Tell eight things about yourself, I will try my best but there is not much to tell LOL.  The hard part is passing the award onto 8 new bloggers, very difficult as there are many talented bloggers out there.

Here goes, 8 things about myself:-
- I love Spring and Autumn, my favourite seasons.  I never like it when it is too hot in the Summer, think that's why I love these seasons so much.  I love the fresh new growth in my garden in Spring and the autumnal colours in Autumn and the climate is perfect for me at those particular times of the year.
- I live on chocolate most days and often skip lunch and eat chocolate instead.
- I have no and I mean no sense of direction, just ask my friends LOL.
- Like Lynn, my husband takes care of most of the cooking in our home.
- I love watching gardening programs and hunting out unusual plants and visit The RHS Tatton Show every year.
- Gardening is my passion.
- I came third in a public speaking competition at school, many years ago LOL, don't know whether I could manage that now.
- I do not like flying at all and have only ever been on an aeroplane once.

Phew now to the hard part, nominate 8 bloggers for the award:-

Kim at Paperbabe - her work is so varied and her pieces for Simon Says Stamp and Show are always inspirational.
R.Maria Sabina alias Lollyrot-Scrapbooking - her work is so individual and her attention to detail is absolutely fantastic.
Neil of Neelz Expressionz - always very creative and enthusiastic and I love his altered pieces.
Candy of Creativity is Contagious - a fabulous mixed media artist who always creates such wonderful unique pieces and I love her attention to detail.
Sarah of La-De-Dah - Such beautiful work, beautiful detail and always beautifully created.
Kate of The Kathryn Wheel - Fabulous fabulous artsy style, I love the way she combines paints, inks and stamps.
Ginger AKA Carol of WeLcOmE 2 mY wOrLd - Love the altered pieces and Carol's art is always so individual.
Efemeraink - Stunning mixed media art.

I found it extremely difficult picking just 8 but the blogs above are all inspirational.

Thanks for stopping by, enjoy your week.  Tracy x x

Fun With Florals For The PDCC

A couple of floral cards for The Play Date Cafe Challenge.

I used an image from Autumn Leaves stamped onto glossy card and embossed in white. Machine stitching has been added to the outside edge and hand stitching added to the petals.

A close up of the hand stitching.

The large floral is created from the Tattered Florals die.  Distress Inks tumbled glass and dusty concord have been used throughout.

I have used the same image for my second card this time stamping with Distress Inks and spritzing with a little water to give a watercolour effect.  The bird is from 7 Gypsies.

The picture above is our inspiration for this week from The Play Date Cafe.  Enjoy your weekend, Tracy x x

Sew Simple

A combination of challenges for Monday with Simon Says Stamp and Show a WORD, The Sunday Stamper is DIECUTS, and a weekly colour challenge from The Play Date Cafe, inspiration picture below.

I had to hunt high and low in my craft goodies to find card stock in these colours, actually 2 hours in fact just hunting for card or paper LOL. 

I used Tim's Sewing Room die and Caged Bird die to create a simple sewing themed card.

Wings have been added to the bodice from the Heart Wings die which have been embossed and the raised areas coloured with Adirondack butterscotch ink.

The papers are from My Mind's Eye, "So Sophie" range, luckily a perfect match for this weeks colour challenge at The Play Date Cafe.

The flower is from Prima and the text at the top is from Oxford Impressions Dress Forms & Corsetry sheet of stamps, a favourite of mine at the moment.

Hand stitching has been added around the edges and buttons and jewels added to complete those finishing touches.  Thanks for stopping by, Tracy x x

Childhood Memories

Simon Says Stamp and Show some STARS this week and The Sunday Stamper challenge is BROWN. It is my Nephew's 21st birthday this year so I thought I would make him a special accordion card, something a little different for me as it is more of a scrapbooking theme.

Throughout the accordion I have used Tim's Retro Grunge Paper Stack for the stars in the background. My accordion has a letter on each page which creates DANIEL. I cannot believe how long this took me to make especially with adding hand stitching to a few of the pages.

I used Tim's Film Stip die to encase some of my images along with buttons and vintage ribbons.

I added a crown to this page from the Heart Wings die and stamped a sentiment from Catslife Press that I have had for quite a few years but use it over and over again.

The Heart Wings die has been used for this page along with a row of small brads, which I have to say took me an absolute age to separate at the back LOL, but well worth the effort, I love the metal aspect against such cute adorable images. Rusty metal stars have been added throughout the book along with sentiments from K & Co.

This is the front cover.  I have used the Rosette die and the small pieces of card on the bottom left are the waste from the Film Strip die.  I used my Dymo machine to add LIVE, LAUGH, LOVE and DREAM to each piece.

This is the back of the accordion.

The back cover. The letters are from Tim's Idea-Ology Alpha Parts, I am loving these.

 

Thanks for stopping by and have a fabulous weekend, Tracy x x 

Spring Birds

I decided that as I am very much in a Spring mood I would create a couple of Spring cards that I could give to family over the Easter period.

My first card is using 3 Birds from Lost Coast Designs, coloured with DI spiced marmalade.  The background piece was also created with DI spiced marmalade and worn lipstick and spritzed with water.  Machine stitching was added the the outside edges and the finished piece was matt and layered onto blue and orange Bazzil card.  Two small hearts have been added to two of the birds and a small bird charm and crown from Stampotique to the bird in the centre.  'Happy Spring' was one of the stamps I won from a Memory Box competition sometime last year.  Think this will make an ideal Easter card for my 14 year old son Ryan.

My second card is using all the same supplies and stamped images from Crafty Individuals.

My third and final piece is using another image from Crafty Individuals to create a collage composition.

I would like to wish you all A HAPPY SPRING and also take this oppotunity to thank all my followers new and old for your kind comments.  Thanks for stopping by, Tracy x x

I am also entering these pieces for The Artistic Stamper Creative Team challenge which this month is SPRING HAS SPRUNG and the Stampotique challenge which this time around is ANIMAL, INSECT or BIRD.

Blooms In Spring

Morning all.  I have been creative with the Claudine Hellmuth Clear Bloom set again for my next DT piece for The Stamp Attic, this time creating a couple of simple cards for Spring.

Using the foam stamp, I inked the bloom image with Distress Inks spiced marmalade and worn lipstick and stamped onto white card.  The outline of the bloom image was then stamped over the top with Coffee Archival Ink, the idea being that you do not line the image up perfectly, giving you a whimsical feel to your card.  Machine stitching was added around the outside of the card and a double row of stitching for the flower stems.  I added Tim Holtz Snaps to the bottom of the stems and a Hitch Fastener to the top right hand corner enabling me to hang my sentiment, again stamped with Distress Ink spiced marmalade. WISH is from Wendy Vecchi's Just Word Art set SCS033.  My images were then matt and layered onto Bazzil card and onto a plain white card.  All the edges were sponged with Distress Inks.

My second card is using the smaller bloom image which again was stamped first with the foam stamp onto white card stock and then the outline was stamped as before with coffee Archival Ink. Machine stitching was added to the outside edge and to the stems of my flowers.  Co-ordinated buttons were added to the stems.  Simple cards to create but these blooms are so effective without too many embellishments.  Enjoy your week and thanks for stopping by, Tracy Evans x x

Springtime Metal Book

I've had a couple of hours to craft this morning so thought I would join in the challenge over at The Play Date Cafe.  I often use two of these colours together but never with blue but I must admit I am loving these colours together.

I decided to create a little something with a metal element as Simon Says Stamp and Show some METAL this week so I have combined a few challenges. My little book is created using a metal door hinge that you would purchase from a general DIY store, that's my first piece of metal.  My covers are created from gold metal which I have embossed and coloured with alcohol ink and sanded the top to remove the colour from the raised areas.  A small amount of blue acrylic paint was rubbed over the entire piece to remove some of the shine.  I have also added some Design Detail to the front cover to join in with the challenge over at Studio L3 with Linda for the Compendium of Curiosities challenge (Page 67 of the book for the technique).  This is our last week, or maybe not, as Linda says, can't wait to see what you have planned Linda.  Thanks for a great challenge, I have enjoyed playing along each week.

I have also used metal corners on each cover of my book which measures 2.5" in height and each page is 2" in width.

My accordion is from blue Bazzil card and my pages have been coloured with DI's worn lipstick and spiced marmalade, perfect match for the Play Date Cafe colour challenge.

The images on these pages are from Crafty Individuals and once again I have added some Design Detail as detailed in Tim's book.

The poppy image on the left is a Memory Box stamp (available from The Stamp Attic) and the image on the right is another Crafty Individuals image and once again Design Details have been added. The birds along the bottom are a punch from Martha Stewart.

My final pages include a poppy image from Crafty Individuals and a Tulip image from Outlines.  The small bird is a Maya Road Chipboard piece.

I would also like to add this piece to The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog challenge which this month is SPRING HAS SPRUNG and The Stampman challenge which this time around is a floral theme.

Enjoy your weekend and thanks for popping by, Tracy x x