The Age of Chivalry

I nearly titled this post '...and now for something completely different' as this weeks theme at the Dragons Dream Tag It on Challenge has got me thinking about Monty Python. The theme is 'the age of chivalry' which immediately brought to mind Monty Python and the Holy Grail - one of my husbands favourite films ever (he can quote huge sections of it practically word for word!).

However, after all that I haven't actually done a Monty Python themed tag (although I do have some ideas bubbling away for a future project...watch this space).

Here is my actual offering:

The background paper I think is from a range by Rusty Pickle called Guinevere - so quite fitting for the theme. The stamp used for the shield is from Paperartsy,  the crown and flourishes are from a Tim Holtz set, and the bird is from Graphic 45. There's also a little Making Memories fleur de lys stamp in each diamond in the background.

I used black soot and dusty concord distress inks on the shield. I swiped round the edges of the tag in clear embossing ink and heat embossed in gold. I also heat embossed the corner flourishes and the crowns on the shield in gold and the bird in black. The lettering was die cut from a Tim Holtz alterations die.

Annoyingly,  I've now got the knights of the round table song stuck in my head! Comic genius :0)

Sarah
xx

One for sorrow, two for joy

It's taken me all afternoon and a few odd hours here and there during the week, but I have finally finished my entry for the Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge this week. It's the first time I've entered this challenge, but I really liked the theme and one idea just got stuck in my head. The theme was 'Old Wives Tales' so after some thought I remembered the rhyme about the meaning of seeing different numbers of magpies.

One for sorrow

Two for joy

Three for a girl

For for a boy

Five for silver 

Six for gold

Seven for a secret never to be told

I think maybe what brought this to mind was seeing magpies in our garden a lot the last few weeks, usually one at a time so I really hope the rhyme isn't right :0)

Anyway, I think it fits the theme quite well and was perfect inspiration for a mini ATC sized album thingie.

  


Here's each page individually:



The skeleton image I used on the first page is from a fantastic stamp by Kaycee crafts. They have a great range of clear stamps with some more unusual images. I discovered them through their Ebay shop, but they have their own website too which is slightly cheaper (although the prices are very reasonable anyway).



The small lettering I used on all of these was from a little wooded alphabet stamp set from Hampton Arts I've had for ages. I'd never used them because I thought they'd be too fiddly - sort of true if you want the letters perfectly aligned, but for a more grungy look they are actually great. I'd been intending to  get rid of them in my next clear out, but I'll be hanging onto them now.


I love the background for the silver page This was white card coloured with dusty concord and vintage photo distress inks, embossed with a Tim Holtz texture fade, then silver ink swiped over and clear heat embossed. It looks so much better in real life than in my rubbishy photo.

I'm sure there are more lines to the rhyme, but this will have to do for now.

Sarah
xx

Steampunk ATCs

This has been a great week!  My butterfly card got into the top 10 on a challenge on the Gingersnap creations blog and... I now have 4 followers! So pleased that anyone is interested enough to follow me - thank you so much!

I just finished making a few ATCs using bits from the Graphic 45 steampunk papers. I started off with the idea of birds coming out of a top hat and I knew there was a couple of hats in these papers. Flicking through them inspired me to make the other cards.

I'd like to enter the first card into the Stampman resist techniques theme challenge. The background used a embossing resist technique - I heat embossed a stamped script image with clear embossing powder then blended brushed corduroy distress ink over it. I removed most of the embossing powder by re-melting it and soaking it into a sheet of paper,  then stamped watch and bird images with vintage photo distress ink. The lady is cut out from the graphic 45 papers as was the banner which I painted to allow me to stamp 'imagine' instead of the original text.

The blackbird ATC (below left) used a Paperartsy mini-stamp stamped in clear embossing ink covered with gold perfect pearls. The bird, roses, and clock were cut from the steampunk papers and the bird was embossed in black to make it stand out better.

The final one with the birds coming out of the hat used a Tim Holtz stamps with some lovely background paper from My Minds Eye - but spot the "deliberate" mistake in the background (oops! - I really need to pay more attention to what I'm doing!).

Oh well, back to work tomorrow, but hopefully I'll still be able to find some time for crafting in the evenings.

Sarah xx

Gothic birdies!

Yet another gorgeous sunny day (you'd never believe it was a bank holiday weekend!), so, just for a bit of contrast, I decided to make a dark, moody, gothic tag.

I'd like to enter it into the Dragons Dream Tag It On challenge this week. The theme is birds (love this theme!) and it just so happened that I rediscovered some lovely bird rub-ons in my craft drawers yesterday. I hope this is within the rules as the bird itself isn't a stamped image, just the background details!

I created the background with stormy sky and dusty concord distress inks, stamped the frame and script stamps (from Tim Holtz) in embossing ink and heat embossed with clear powder, then wiped over with black soot distress ink. I'm really pleased with how this worked out. I then added the bird rub-on (which I think was from the periphery range by Basic Grey), a bit of lace and some dangly beads.

On another bird related note, I just have to post this gorgeous picture my husband created this morning! He started off with a simple photo of a crow in a tree and added colour and texture layers. I think it's fantastic and he likes it so much he's ordered a print of it to hang on our wall. It's not his usual style, but it's exactly the sort of picture I love.

Hope everyone's having a lovely easter!

xx