Secrets of the garden

On day three of the Paper Artsy challenge Suzz took us on a trip to Bluebell Wood and this was my inspiration for Secrets of the Garden.


I haven't got the stamps the Suzz used for the door so I
 made my own with the movers and shapers cabinet die. I used Stone, taupe and mud splat fresco for the stone wall using a crafters workshop stencil. Then I cut two bistro labels by memory box to use for the hinges of my door, punched holes and used press studs for the handles.
I stamped the branches in black archival from HP1008 and the flowers from HP1009, painted them with mermaid,guacamole and limelight. Tried to position them so that the doors could still open using silicone glue to pop them out a bit.
Stamped Secrets of the Garden from ELB01 and stuck it to the bottom...not very straight as you can see!!

 For the inside I painted the background in mermaid, guacamole and limelight with a tiny bit of french roast. I stamped the girl from Wings 3 onto crackly tissue paper painted on the back and tore it out. Stamped the text down  the side and the phrase from ESN03, and used a tiny script stamp randomly all over. I then added tiny bits of snowflake with my finger just to lighten it a bit.
 I smudged black portfolio around the inside of the door and around the image.

I  enjoyed doing this piece it was quite a challenge....thanks for stopping by....

Sunday Stamper with Hels

Over on Hels' blog this week the theme is Shiny...so I thought why not have ago, and Hels is giving away some blog candy!!

I started off with a small tin which I sanded lightly and  painted with little black dress frescos.

I then used Terra and a stencil to put the leaves around the tin and painted it black again.
Next I stamped the text in snowflake and dried it.

I used treasure gold in pewter to lightly go over all the raised leaves and around the tin and buffed it when it dried to make it shiny.

I painted a large flower with black mixed with metallic glaze, stamped a white flower with black script, put a shiny button in the middle with a silver spacer and black gem.
So had a fun afternoon in my workshop away from it all!! Thanks for stopping by..

Messing around with shaving foam

Well Suzz is back over on the paper artsy blog and she has been playing around with shaving foam and frescos you can take a look here....haven't done this for ages so as soon as I has the chance I popped out and got some and had a play.

My I forgot how messy this could be and had shaving foam all over the place. This is my first attempt. I used limelight, vanilla and brown shed frescos, although the vanilla did get lost, you can't see the limelight very well in the piccies but it is there.
All the stamps I used were from ID09. I stamped the back ground stamps in vermillion and crimson archival. then the man in black archival and painted in with limelight.
I used 3 coats of gloss glaze on the image to make it pop a bit more and mounted it  on black card..








For my second attempt I used mermaid,tinned peas and pumpkin soup. The background was stamped in sepia using BG5, and the music stamp from ESN07.

The birdcage was painted with mermaid a bit of sky (I think there was a bit of limelight on the brush as well) I then coated the bird cage with pearl glaze... The bird was painted with pumpkin soup and stamped in coffee archival using the music stamp from ESN07
.
I couldn't resist a little treasure gold and just added a bit of onyxite and green amber added a tassel..then mounted on brown card.

thanks for stopping by....

Been missing

Hi all
Just a quick post to say I am still in the land of the living but have been so busy that I didn't even get to enter the paper artsy challenge this week!! So will have to catch up with last weeks entries tomorrow.

We had our cavity wall insulation and the loft insulated yesterday..so the weekend was taken up emptying the loft....oh my word what a task and a half that was!!! I didn't think there was that much up there, well think again!! It took all day Saturday from early until late evening to get it all down and kind of get it into piles of get rid...car boot..give away and put back. I can't believe how many suitcases were up there...where did they come from?? Then there was all the sentimental stuff which will go right back up there. I even found 2 boxes that hadn't been unpacked from our old place..which will be 17years later in November. I don't ever remember being so dirty!!.
So Sunday morning was a few trips to the dump and relax. Only thing now is sort it so that it can go back up in some kind of order!! I am so glad I took this week as vac from work or I would have been pulling my hair out.

So tomorrow I have promised myself a day in my workshop...just to play and do nothing boring like cleaning and cooking!! And Thursday I am going to the Ideal Home Exhibition..haven't been there for years So for now off to pay the bills.....catch you later

March 18th

18th March was my mum's birthday, so this a hard day for my dad, my sisters and our children. We all miss her so much although it will be 11 years this year.

Last year I did a class with Lin, an altered book. One of the most enjoyable classes I have ever done, although I do have a great time at all of them. Anyway I have been working on a page using a picture..a very old picture I might add of my mum and me standing on the cliffs in Cornwall. I just love this picture. I do have little snippets of memories from those holidays, so I wanted to get it finished in time for her birthday. Still not sure if I will frame the pages with a darker ink..still thinking on that one. I will do the journalling at some time today but that will be just for me...

We were very lucky to have such a brilliant mum, she was beautiful inside and out and taken from us far too soon. I know there are many of you out there who have also lost somebody far too young!!

         
   I read this somewhere, thought it was a lovely sentiment and it say's it all..

                 If tears could build a stairway

                  And memories a lane

                I'd walk right up to heaven 

                 And bring you home again
                               'author unknown'


                So my page is dedicated to my lovely mum with all my love xxx

Using up the plastic with Helen Chilton

Another project inspired by Helen Chilton over on the paper artsy blog. Helen used an old credit card for this project but I didn't have one so I used a piece of plastic packaging. Well two pieces. I painted both with snowflake and let it dry.

The first tag was sponged and blended in london bus..smoked paprika and a bit of zesty zing. I then stamped the background using script from PT4 and background 5 in black archival. Knocked it back with watered down snowflake and stamped mini 84 with crimson archival.

Stamped the heart from HP1217 and painted it using the same colours as the tag.After cutting it out I heated it until it started to curl..stuck it to the tag using foam squares. I then smudged some snowflake around he edge of the heart with my finger,  added some buttons. Last but not least I painted on two coats of gloss glaze.





The second tag I painted a base coat in snowflake then blended limelight and south pacific. Stamped the script from BG2 randomly and mini 72 in black archival.

I then stamped the small script stamp using manganese blue ink. Stamped the small tag and hat from PT4 and painted with the same colours as the tag, cut it out and  heated the tag until it started to curl and left to set again.

I stuck it to the larger tag with foam squares and added some blue fibres, gave it two coats of gloss glaze and edged the larger tag with black archival. This is a very good way to use up all the packaging we end up with, so thank you Helen for the inspiration.

Helen Chilten Altered Tin

Over on the Paper Artsy blog this week Helen Chilton is the guest designer. Day one this week Helen did an altered tin which looked like a lot of fun so I thought I would dig out a tin and have a go.
I found a small tin in my workshop, I have no idea where I got it. It is quite a bit smaller than the one Helen used but was all I could find

I sanded it lightly and painted a layer of snowflake. Next up I used a piece of plastic packaging to scrape some mermaid over the top. then a small amount of sky,guacamole, a splash of limelight some inky pool and a tiny spot of claret [drying each colour in between].

Using the lady from LPC003 [one of my most favorite Lynne Perrella stamps], I stamped on the side of the tin using snowflake and painted in with the white, I then stamped again using black archival. I used the text stamp from the same set, stamped it first in white, dried it and then stamped over it again in black ink. I like how it kind of makes a shadow to the text. I painted in and around the stamped image with a little bit of watered down limelight and some inky pool. . The colours are slightly brighter but couldn't get a good piccie.I really enjoyed this project, it was quick, fun and very messy.
My little tin is now home to my sponge tips for my pan pastels. Thanks for stopping by.......

Inspiration from Michelle Webb

Michelle Webb is the guest designer over on the paper artsy blog this week and she has inspired me to do a page in my altered book. Well a double page...haven't done anything in my book for a while so thought I would have a play seeing as I have the weekend off!!



I wanted it to be a bright cheery page so went for haystack, pumpkin soup and smoked paprika frescos, similar colours to day one I think it was. So I painted out the pages with snowflake as it is [or was] a gardening book and had shrubs all over the page. Next up I  painted in my three colours   layering until I was happy with how it looked.





Next I stamped some of the leaves and flowers from ELB01..Lin Brown's new stamps. The leaves are in honeydew with a touch of hey pesto and the flowers are haystack and smoked paprika...I then did some more layers of paint using the original colours. Took the swirl stamp from HP1005 and stamped around the edges with smoked paprika.

I used brown shed fresco and stenciled some script randomly over both pages, stamped a very small script in black versafine and also some tiny dots l in black . I painted a size 8 tag the same as my pages and stuck it down.

I then stamped the flower from HP1005 on my page going over the tag as well...edged the tag with black portfolios... and edged the pages with black versafine...just need to write some journal-ling on the other page...so thank you Michelle you got me thinking I need to finish that book!!!



This is the page I need to do the journalling on....Thanks for stopping by!!

New Jofy Stamps

Had a really busy weekend at work so was absolutely shattered yesterday..had to take time to recharge the batteries. Had a bit of time before heading out today so had a little play with some of my new stamps from Stevenage.

I started off with a size 8 tag and inked in up with worn lipstick,pickled raspberry, and ripe persimmon distress. I then stamped down the side with the script from Eclectica3, and mini 72 using crimson archival.
Next I  knocked it back with some watered down snowflake fresco.

Stamped flowers from Jofy 10 in black versafine and painted with picked raspberry ink and claret frecos. Used mowed lawn ink for stalks and scribbled highlights with white gel pen.

Used some limelight and zesty zing as a contrast and sanded back a bit. I couldn't find room to stamp Jo's sentiment so just wrote it on the myself.


Next I edged it with crimson archival ..done!

Day 2 with Suzz

 On day 2 Suzz did a lovely backing paper so thought I would have a go.Using smoothy white stamping card I stamped the long script stamp from BG2 in smokey grey versafine ink, this is a nice soft colour. I then stamped the small postmark from vintage ID09...next step mini72 all in the grey versafine.

I then stamped the moth from HP 1109 all over and coloured lightly with water colour pencils.
Like Suzz I then cut off a piece of the card. On this I stamped the sentiment from HP1204 in black versafine...this ink pad gives a lovely crisp image, I edged it lightly also with the black versafine. I then put fom pads on the back to slightly raise it above the flower image,
I used HP1204 again to stamp the flower directly onto the backing card and lightly colored it. I gave all the images a slight shadow using a black water colour pencil...not sure if you can see it in the piccie.
Lastly I mounted it on black card to frame it and wrapped a piece of pink fibres around the bottom....

Paper Artsy with Suzz

On Wednesday Suzz made a lovely frame called Courage and Dreams...as pink is not my usual colour I thought I would like to have a go at what Suzz had done.

I didn't have a frame so used a piece of grey-board.
Firstly I painted the background with moonlight and
a touch of lilac frescos.

I don't have any of the dylusion sprays so mixed some cranberry colour wash with some snowflake and roughly dabbed some around the edges. I stamped the girl from ID02 on smoothy white card, cut her out and stuck her down. Gave her a slight shadow with portfolios. I stamped  the letters from ID04 down the side using archival mangenese blue. I used one of my fav little script stamps from Clocks C1 in french ultramarine in the background.

Sprayed the roses in cranberry colour wash and added a bit of white, added chain and baubles with ribbon to the top. Finally I framed it with aged mahogany distress ink and threw on some cerise pink scrim around the edges and the baubles...done!! I know it is very much the same as Suzz but wanted to see how I got on with those colours...