Free As A Bird

Its taken me a while to create anything this week, I have just not been feeling very creative but I actually found some time late this afternoon to join in a couple of challenges.

This piece is for the following challenges:-

Simon Says Stamp and Show - Anything Goes.
Crafty Individuals Challenge - Free As A Bird.
Grungy Monday -To be inspired by Tim's technique from 12 Tags Of Christmas, 2007, Day 8.

This piece began with a Wendy Vecchi Art Part which I decorated using Tim's technique from his 12 tags of Christmas (the link is above). I have used images from Crafty Individuals CI-287 and CI-218 and a couple of freebies Crafty Individuals sent me with my order.

I painted the small wooden bird house with Fresco paints and added Fly Free as a Bird to one side of the house to follow the theme this time around from Crafty Individuals.

Bird embellishments have been added along with plenty of Tim's Idea-Ology pieces.  I applied Fresco paint to the Philosophy Tag and wiped away any excess with a baby wipe, leaving colour in the indentations of the lettering.  I have also added fragments to a couple of the bird images to add more dimension.

My flower has been created from the Tattered Florals die with a Maya Road piece added to the centre.  The flower has been cut from Tim's Vintage Shabby paper stash.

Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment, much appreciated.  Enjoy your week, Tracy x x

Fabric Florals

My next piece is for The Play Date Cafe Challenge and I decided on fabric flowers for this weeks colour challenge.

The background is stamped with Tim's text stamp from the Papillon set and embossed in white.

I have created fabric flowers in this weeks colour palette from The Play Date Cafe and added leaves from Claudine Hellmuth.  My butterfly is Tim's mini butterflies set from the Alterations range and I have added the same text to the butterflies body and embossed in white.  I have added a gorgeous butterfly embellishment to add more dimension.

The flowers have been matt onto co-ordinated Bazzil card stock and the edges have been sponged with Distress Ink.  All these products are available from The Stamp Attic.

Gorgeous colour choice this week from Ruby, perfect for this time of year as my poppies are just about to flower.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend, Tracy x x

Minky Sketch

The Stampotique challenge this time is to follow a sketch which I must admit I found quite a challenge as I do not normally follow sketches, in fact this is the first time for me.  My problem is that I always want to add embellishments and other bits and bobs and slowly move away from the sketch I'm supposed to be following LOL.

Thought it was about time I inked up Minky for the first time and I decided to go for a black and white colour pallette with a pop of red.

I applied a thin coat of Gesso onto black card stock, allowed to dry and stamped Minky with archival ink.  Machine stitching has been added in red along with red heart buttons.

FaBULoUs has been stamped with Adirondack snow cap white and embossed with clear embossing powder.  I have then stamped part of the text onto white card and aligned it over the top of the original to give some dimension.  The sentiment at the bottom has been generated on the computer.  The edges of the card have been sponged with DI black soot.

This is our sketch challenge from Stampotique and although my card is quite simple I am pleased with the outcome.  Enjoy the weekend.  Tracy x x

Artful Embroidery Hoop

This week Simon Says Stamp and Show some hands so I decided to decorate an embroidery hoop this time around along with images from Oxford Impressions.

I stamped my images on a piece of calico with archival ink and added red machine stitching around the edge for that pop of colour.

I have added a dimensional lace flower along with trimmings from Tim Holtz.  Lace has also been added to the outside of the hoop to allow me to stitch items to the outside of the hoop.

My hand is from Tim's Steampunk set of stamps which I have stamped onto Grungepaper, coloured with vintage photo Distress Stain.

To complete, I added buttons and sewing embellishments.

I also created a matching ATC which I am also entering for The Stampman challenge which this time around is RESIST Techniques. My image has been stamped with a VersaMark stamp pad, heat set and Distress Stain vintage photo applied over the top.  Kitchen towel is then used to remove any colour from the stamped image.

Red machine stitching has been added to the outside edge of the ATC along with buttons and trimmings.  I have used the same hand image as before.  Thanks for stopping by, Tracy x x  

Tiny Pieces Of Art.........

.......Is often how I refer to ATC's and that's just what I have created for The Play Date Cafe Challenge and this week I did struggle a little with the colour choices LOL.

Our inspiration picture below highlights just how well these colours do blend together but I still found it difficult, I think it was the lime.

My first ATC is created using a foam stamp from Prima by Donna Downey which I have stamped with red acrylic paint.

I have covered the ATC with grey paper from Tim's Vintage Shabby paper stash and machine stitched into place with red thread.  Lime buttons accent the centres of the flower and I have made a dimensional flower from red ribbon.  To complete, I have added trinket beads from Maya Road to the bottom of the ATC.

My second ATC has stamped images from Memory Box; the umbelliferous flowers have been stamped with stone gray StazOn ink and once again the ATC has been covered with the same grey paper as before and machine stitched into place.

The owls have been stamped with grey ink and paper pieced together along with lime gems for the eyes. I have added two hearts, one from red card and one has had clear UTEE added which darkens the colour somewhat. To complete, I have added two pewter owls from the bottom of the ATC.  These may be small pieces but I still seem to have taken an age to make them, I must be a slow worker LOL.  Enjoy your week, I'm off to do some more digging in the garden, Tracy x x

The Altered Alice CHAPTER 4 Challenge - Week 1: TIME

Alice sighed wearily. `I think you might do something better with the time,' she said, `than waste it in asking riddles that have no answers.'
`If you knew Time as well as I do,' said the Hatter, `you wouldn't talk about wasting IT. It's HIM.'
`I don't know what you mean,' said Alice.
`Of course you don't!' the Hatter said, tossing his head contemptuously. `I dare say you never even spoke to Time!'
`Perhaps not,' Alice cautiously replied: `but I know I have to beat time when I learn music.'
`Ah! that accounts for it,' said the Hatter. `He won't stand beating.'
-- Chapter 7, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Time marches on and it's time for a new challege, and the challenge is to make something that represents TIME! Take your time, you have until May 27 at 8 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (GMT-4:00) to show us YOUR timely creation!  There are so many ways to represent time - you could use a clock or a watch, hourglass, calendar. . .  take some TIME to think about it and then be sure you submit on TIME because TIME flies!  Ok, I think I have it out of my system. . . or is that my clockworks?

Our sponsor this month is Fresh Brewed Designs, and they have some fabulous Alice in Wonderland digi images that some of the design team will be using. The randomly chosen winner of this month's challenge will receive five digi stamps of their choice from the Fresh Brewed Designs store!
While it is not required that you use Alice in Wonderland images, we do encourage it. Entries that feature some aspect of Wonderland will be entered twice for the prize drawing!
Three guest designers will be joining us for May:  Jess Marin of My Scrap Diary will be sharing her project in our Week 3 post, and Retta Fox of Foxy's Weblog and Tracy (CuddlyBunny) of Not a Moment to Spare will be sharing their creations during our Week 4 inspiration post. I know you will enjoy seeing the work of these talented designers, some of whom you will recognize as past entrants to our challenges!

I decided to create a hat from Grungepaper for my piece this month.  I have covered the Grungepaper with a sheet from Tim's Lost and Found paper stash. My rabbit from Artistic Outpost Wonderland Collage sheet is stamped onto Bazzil card using archival ink.  I have bleached out a couple of areas on the rabbit just to lift the image a little. I have added a game spinner from Tim's Idea-Ology range to one of the large clocks along with a clock charm to follow on with the TIME theme.

Unfortunately it was very difficult to photograph this flower which is made from lace and has gorgeous detail and adds great dimension. Again I have added a clock to the centre of the flower and "I'M LATE" to a memo pin.

I have punched circles from the Artstic Outpost Collage sheet, adding numbers to the bottom of the hat, again to represent the numbers on a clock face.

The top of the hat has had a game spinner added from Tim's Idea-Ology along with a clock and "I'm late, I'm late, I'm late from Crafty Secrets Wonderland stamps.

I always look forward to seeing your artwork, simply link your creation over on The Altered Alice blog to be in with a chance to win a great prize. Enjoy the long weekend, Tracy x x

Dimensional ATC

The challenge for Grungy Monday with Linda this week is A NEW DIMENSION, and again its taken me until Friday to finally get around to completing something for the challenge. Pop over to Tim's blog HERE to see the great dimensional technique we are following this week.

I decided on an ATC this time around, I cannot believe I have never actually made an ATC.  I have used Tim's ATC and Corners die decorated with Collections Elements papers.

I chose a heart shape for my dimensional piece as I love hearts and I have added a crown to the centre. The butterflies are from Tim's Papillon set as is the stamped background.

I'm loving creating these lace flowers so again added one to my creation.  The butterfly has a pen nib added to its body, another piece from Tim's Idea-Ology.

To complete I have added buttons to the bottom of my ATC.  I am also entering this as my second piece for the Simon Says Stamp and Show some BUTTONS challenge.  Enjoy the extended holiday weekend, Tracy x x