It Started as a Tag!

Oh yes! When I started my entry for the Life challenge over on Sunday Stampers ... I was just going to make a tag!

It was n't even a new tag ... I was going to revisit "the man who must be worshipped" T!m's tag from 2008. This is my all time favourite tag ever ... you know the one with the man and his umbrella and the "Live the life that you have imagined" stamp and the lucky 13 playing card ... you don't??? Oops!

Oh well ... not entirely pleased with my first effort ... I was going to have another try! But I was n't pleased with this one either ... so I got out some fragments and started chopping the tag up ... one thing led to another ... from tag to canvas in one day!

If you have any questions about products etc., please just email me ... if I go into detail here ... well you will just get bored and so will I!!!

Sweet dreams!

Life is Art ...

I love that stamp! Yes ... it is ... another Wendy Vecchi stamp!

When I saw the Lots to Do challenge was all about words this week ... I just had to give it a go!

I have up-cycled yet another Beer Mat and this  time I coloured it with Brushed Corduroy ... in fact everything here is coloured with Brushed Corduroy apart from the Copper Krylon pen and the Vintage Photo distress stickles.

My teensy weensy grunge flowers are made from the smallest flower on the Artistic Stamper Flower Power sheet and the numbers and ticket stamp are both by the Crafting Legend that is Mr T!m Holtz.

I hope the sun is shining where ever you are and you are enjoying your Bank Holiday weekends!

Art From The Heart!

I have been doing a lot of stamping and cutting out today and as much as I love grunge paper ... both the texture and the smell ... stamping it and then cutting out lots of images ... well it can be a bit ... erm ... grey!

Anyways I thought I would have a little break and I decided to have a quick play with a tag.

All of the stamps on this tag come from Wendy Vecchi sheet 3 Art from The Heart! Is n't that flower just adorable?

I also use Lord T!m's mask and a few of his Idea-ology paper clips together with Ranger distress stickles.

The inks used are distress inks in Brushed Corduroy, Fired Brick, Broken china , Vintage photo and Pine needles.

The embossing powder is Chinese red from Heat it up and the ribbon is Maya Road.

Better get back to the cutting out! ... Enjoy your evenings ... whatever you are doing!

More Beer and Grunge!

First things first ... I took this photo ... just like this ... oh yes! ... no editing or cropping ... just the macro button and me! Impressive Huh????

This is my first ever grunge paper rose made with a stamp... an Artistic Stamper stamp to be precise ... as are all the stamps on this piece including the Hounds tooth ... which I love bestest I think ... although I do like the spots a lot and I like the black edging on the petals that you get from the flowers stamps as opposed to a sizzex die!

Yes ... I know I have used the word stamp too many times in one paragraph ... but you start calling it rubber and you get all sorts looking at your blog ... I can tell you!

I think you will find with the rest of the pictures ... that it is very clear I took them ... a five year old child could probably do better *LOl*

The box is made from 7  beer mats all bound together by ribbon using my trusty Bind it all ... again!

The colours are Peeled Paint and Faded Denim distress inks and an incy bit of stickles too ... but you will probably have to squint to see that!

I think that is it ... if you want to know anything else ... please just ask ... and enjoy the rest of your evenings!

Came So Far For Beauty!

They are the words from the great Leonard Cohen and I have had this book in my head for ages!

I say ages ... I actually mean the beginning of August when I saw the Paper Bag Studio challenge for this month!

The challenge was to take two stamps from two separate sheets and merge them into one piece that creates a definite message or feel!

Now that would be easy if I did n't have so many wood mounted PBS stamps ... and it would be easy if I had n't made A5 laminate sheets to store all the unmounted stamps on and ... then ... erm ... mixed them all up!

But I struggled through and I am bloomin' glad I did! I am really pleased with this CD book and I am actually going to keep it ... something I rarely do with my stuff! My entry is called Beauty!

Any regular viewers will know that I have used Wendy Vecchi stamps as well as Paper Bag Studio stamps and the two PBS sheets I have used are Sweet Pea and Knowing plus various others.

Various others is n't a stamp range by the way ... perhaps it should be!

I am afraid even with the  macro button on my camera I struggled to take any decent photos ... and I still have n't read chapter three of the camera manual ... Hey Ho! You kinda get the idea ... Right?

I have used all the words of the Leonard Cohen song and decorated the book with mainly Peeled Paint, Vintage Photo and Faded Jeans distress inks.

The green paint is Olive green by pebbles inc. The embellishments are all Idea-ology and the frames are Maya Road. Oh and I nearly forgot to mention the Grunge Paper and my wonderful Bind it all which were both pretty important components!

I think that is it! Thanks for looking!

The Final Chapter!

Well this is it boys and girls!The final chapter! Number 5!

I have just got to add a few finishing touches and then bind the CDs and it will be finished!

Oh yes and I need to revisit chapter 3! It did cross my mind to leave it as it is ... everyone that has seen it has had a good laugh!

Maybe I will show you later and ...erm ... maybe I won't!

You don't often see blog out takes do you? Perhaps that is something we should all do from time to time ... I have pages of them *LOL*

The pretty little girl on this page is Paper Bag Studios and all the other stamps are Wendy Vecchi.

I have had a few questions about the CD's. Yes I do alter the CD ... I don't just use it as a template ... to be honest I have tried that but cutting a circle is a bit of a nightmare and I love the feel of proper CD pages ... and I am sure it must be good for the environment!

Righty-ho then ... I am off to make art ... or a mess ... one or tother ... Have a good Monday all!

Day Dream Believer!

This is my entry for the Sunday Stamper Challenge this week.

A big Thank you to Linda Cain for the inspiration! Linda had made a grunge board purse on her blog and kindly emailed me instructions.

I have changed mine slightly in so far as I have made an ATC wallet and I used my Bind it all so I could use thread on the edges ... as I am a teensy bit heavy handed :0) All stamps are Studio 490 and the embellishments are made in Grunge Paper.

I also need to thank Dan, because if you look at my birdie below Dan has made a fabulous and very professional job of taking better photos of Rose for me!

I am off to eat a Sunday Roast ... Yummy ... Enjoy the rest of your weekends!

Sore Thumbs and Blood Blisters!

That is exactly what John said when Hels turned up with two birds in hand!

I asked him for two hammers ... he eyed us up and down and said "Oh great ... sore thumbs and blood blisters!"

What faith!!!

We had a fab time altering our birds Wendy Vecchi style! And no blood blisters either ... I did hit my thumb once ... but we're not telling John that! OK?

Ever since we saw Wendy's beautiful birds in the June 09 edition of Craft Stamper we have both been itching to have a go at this ... so a really really big Thank you to Hels for making it happen!

Now for the introduction... this is Rose and she is a bit of a party bird ... she likes to shake her tail feathers ... if you know what I mean!

Today she is wearing grunge paper ... in a mixture of broken china and peeled paint and every pattern and mark on her came from a Wendy Vecchi stamp!

I am not sure if you can see her earrings in these piccies but rest assured she has some on!

Her boyfriend should be putting in an appearance here and what a cool dude he is ... he even has his own set of wheels .... which is partly why Rose likes him so much!

Thanks for a fab day Hels ... and Thank you Wendy for the inspiration ... again!

Chapter 4

I know ... I have still skipped a Chapter!

As I  said, I got a bit carried away with the Ranger white pen on Chapter 3 and it still needs further work!

This is the next CD for the mini album I am making. The sweet pea stamp is Paper Bag Studios and all the background stamps and flowers are Wendy Vecchi ... those gorgeous little flowers and the mini butterfly are from her new release "Make mine mini art" which is one of my favourite sets ever!

What a fab day I have had ... crafting with a buddy and playing with wooden birds and Wendy Vecchi stamps ... Perfect!

Hopefully my finished piece will not be camera shy and she will put in an appearance in the next day or so! I am keeping the white pen well away from her :0)

Have a good Friday everyone!

More Up-Cycling!

I love that term ... Up-Cycling!

It sounds like a fitness regime! I feel thinner already!

This is another beer mat [aka a coaster] ... same shape as last time ... I have quite a large selection of shapes but I am liking this one at the moment so I thought I would stick with it!

The whole piece is coloured using distress inks and the entire lovely selection of stamps are by Wendy Vecchi. I have added sparkle with spiced marmalade distress stickles. Sir T!m has put in an appearance too by way of the Idea-ology tag and of course the lovely grunge paper.

I got lots of comments and emails about the ickle dragonfly beads ... they are Blue Moon but other than that I cannot tell you where or when I bought them ... they just fell into my basket during a stamping show!

My craft room looks like a bomb site after making this piece ... well not just this piece to be honest ... I had a few disasters on this leg of my journey ... Chapter three of my CD book was going great guns until I got carried away with my white pen ... and another two beer mats did n't pass quality control!

Have a fab day whatever you are doing!

Feeling Blue?

I'm not!

And I am now going to tell you why ... This piece started life as a beer mat ... not a soggy used one but a lovely Crisp new one!

Where did I get it? Well that is why I am smiling! Most days the wonderful John goes to the local supermarket and every time he asks me if I want anything! Well on most occasions I reply ... "yes please ... a present!"

He brings me home all manner of things ranging from chocolate bars to CDs to the latest best selling novel ... he bought home Twilight before I had even heard of it!

Anyways, a few months back he says ... "I'm going to the Pub" to which I respond "Get me a present!" Now John hates to disappoint [I don't exploit that quality much ... honest!] There was a new worry line appearing on his forehead ... and he said "What sort of present am I going to find in the pub?" To that I responded "Use your imagination!"

A couple of hours later he returned with a carrier bag full of unused beer mats for me to craft with! You just gotta love him!

Now back to the business of the up-cycled beer mat ... this is my entry for the Sunday Stamper challenge this week ... the theme is Blue. You must pop over to Hels' blog ... her entries are stunning!

I have used mainly Wendy Vecchi stamps but I was feeling a tad guilty about abandoning the Crafting genius Mr T!m ... so I have squeezed one of his on there too and added some Idea-ology embellishments.

Chapter Two!

I know there is not much to see as I start Chapter two of my mini book project! 

I just wanted you to all know that I have also read Chapter two of my camera manual!

Yes I know I have had the camera since the Christmas before last ... but the book looked so dull ... I simply could n't face it!

Well now I have ... I think I may read on! Seriously Mr Kodak is gonna be sooooo proud of me.

Not only have I altered this CD using Wendy Vecchi stamps and that beautiful little girl from Paper Bag Studios ... I have also discovered a Macro button thingy on my camera.

I am hoping you have noticed an instant improvement with the quality of these photos :0)

Go on ... Mark me out of 10 ... you know you want to!

It's Official - The Debate Has Ended!

I am very pleased to announce that the debate about pronunciation of certain crafting icons has now been resolved. I would like to tell you ... that I was right ... but I can't because I was n't ... erm ... right! Hels was right about Vecchi and Dan was right about Maya and Vecchi and I was ... erm ... wrong on both counts!

The wonderful Mrs Vecchi has paid us a visit and resolved our debate once and for all ... so without further ado I can now tell you that it is Vecky and Mya!

There was no prize for being right ... I would have  insisted on one if I had have been :0) but to console myself with being so very wrong I made another grunge paper rose. This time I have made a miniature version and instead of stamping and inking it I painted it with white acrylic paint.

I shall apologise for the poor pictures ... I really should read the instruction book for my camera ... but hopefully you will be able to see that I covered the mini canvas with an old book page, coloured it with vintage photo ink and then embellished with Idea-ology bits. I was going to distress the rose but I decided that I rather liked the look of the old and the new.

Have a good weekend everyone!

A Cover Up!

That is exactly what this piece is ... a cover up!

It is the cover for a new project I am in the process of making and it is a covered CD!

This is also my entry for this week's Sunday Stamper challenge where the theme is Roses!

Right! Down to the nuts and bolts as they say ...  well at least I think they do ... The background stamps ... the gingham, the dots, the squares and even the butterfly are Wendy Vecchi stamps and the text is Paperbag studios ... if you cannot see it in the piccie it says ... "Those who look for beauty find it" ... which I think is quite beautiful :0) and ... you have to look behind the rose for the word Beauty ... clever huh!??? Who said No???

The colours I have used are peeled pain and faded denim distress inks and the frame is Maya Road.

This all leads nicely to my next question ... I need an answer to a debate I have been having with some crafty buddies ...

Is it pronounced May-a Road or My-a Road? and ...

Is it pronounced Veshy or Vecky?

You really need to join this discussion and put this one to rest for us!

Thanks in advance - See ya!

Flower Power!

When the TMTA challenge was announced this morning with the theme flower power ... well there are no prizes for guessing which stamps I reached for!

These pretty little blossoms are on Wendy Vecchi's latest plate - Make mine mini art and they are just perfect for ATCs.

The base of my ATC is grey chipboard and the flowers and butterfly are all grunge paper coloured with distress inks.

I thought the text "Never forget the Power of you" fitted in with the theme nicely!

I am wondering what has happened here ... this is turning into a sensible post ... well that makes a pleasant change :0)

The Colour Purple!

I think I may be addicted to Grunge Board  and Paper!
Do you think it is the smell that is addictive? or just the fact that it is such fun to do stuff with? Either way it is definitely better for me than my other addictions!
I promise this is not all I have made today and I don't know why that Grunge Paper rose has shown up again ... erm ... apart from the fact that I put it there ... sorry I am still really chuffed with it!
Anyways ... back to business. The Theme Thursday challenge is Purple this week so I have made some grunge board bangles and coloured them predominantly purple.
The lovely flowers are Stitchels and they are stamped on Grunge paper and adhered to the bangle with my Crop-a-dile so there are no sharp bits on the inside.
Why ever has she made a bangle? I hear you ask ... well it is a long story but basically the Idea-ology hitch fasteners that I bought the other day remind me of the fasteners we had on the leather bangley things I wore as a teenager ... Is anyone else that old? Actually please don't answer that!
Evening all! :0)

A Rose By Any Other Name ...

Voila!

My first ever Wendy Vecchi grunge rose and boy am I chuffed with meself!

Wendy has the bestest tutorial on her site ... which you MUST go and look at ... because mine looks nothing like it *LOL*

I was tool challenged from the start, to be honest, because I have not got my clammy and rather messy hands on Wendy's 6 petaled flower stamp ... I improvised and used the Sizzex Daisy 2 die ... I was n't gonna let a small thing like that stop me!

I am guessing the petals are a bit longer on the punch than they are on the stamp!

All in all as a first attempt I am quite chuffed ... Have I mentioned that already!

As for the rest of the project to go with the flower ... well I have n't actually got any further ... I just had an over whelming desire to share and erm ... well ... erm show off a bit too!

Get me! Wendy did all the hard work!

It's Monday ...

and we all know what that means!

Yup ... Think Monday Think ATC.

The challenge this week is friendship ... and I have no  idea what happened in the making of this ATC! I picked the lady stamp because they looked like old friends ... that makes sense! Then I masked them and stamped the sentiment ... all about friends ... yup! that makes sense too!

Then I coloured the ATC with Peeled paint distress inks and used some sequin waste to add depth ... then I sort of well ... lost the plot really.

I was humming something or other and before I knew it I had coloured and cut out a load of Tilda sunflowers ... well the colours went lovely and from there I just got carried away!

Somewhere along the line I was trying to represent the light and shade of a friendship ... as for the stitches ... don't even go there!

The Man That Would Be King!

Was it Michael Cain and James Bond in that film? I know his real name is Sean Connery ... but you knew what I meant! Is that the right film?

Anyway, I digress ... again!

The Sunday Stamper challenge this week is King so I have made a quick birthday card.

I was lucky enough to get a few more Wendy Vecchi stamps on Friday ... so I just had to use them :0) and the chappy is Paper Bag studios.

I used Peeled Paint, Vintage Photo and Faded Jeans distress inks to colour.

I am not sure what to do now ... I am having withdrawal symptoms from 'On Thin Ice' which finished last week!

Perhaps I will make another card!

Am I Be'an Boring???

Geddit? Be'an as in Being! Funny Huh?
Well am I? Being boring?Please feel free to say! Are you sick of looking at my altered bean tins yet?
It would be a shame if you were because I lurve making them!
This one is my new favourite! It is totally covered in Grunge Paper which has been stamped with Stitchels and coloured using Fired Brick, Spiced Marmalade and Black Soot distress inks.
The background is a CaroLines stamp.
The Stitchels work really really well on the Grunge Paper which is good news for me because I have cut out hundreds of them *LOL*
Enjoy the rest of your weekends!