Planes, Trains and Automobiles

A very quick post today to share an equally quick tag for this weeks Tag It On challenge. I think I might just get in before the deadline with hours to spare. 

The theme was planes, trains and automobiles. Unfortunately I didn't have a stamp with any of those on but I did manage to find a little image of a car. The map image in the background and the postmark are PaperArtsy Stamps, and the stars and 'journey' are Tim Holtz stamps.

Hope you like it

Sarah xx

Moonlight and sunset

It's been ages since I entered any challenges so today I've done two tags for two of my favourite ones. Firstly, the Dragons Dream Tag It On theme this week is the whole of the moon. This is what I came up with:

The background started off with baltic blue fresco finish paint, crackle glaze and a top coat of black with white for the moon. The tree (from a Kanban set) was stamped with embossing ink and heat embossed with Moon Glow midnight sapphire obsidian powder. This is such a gorgeous deep shimmery blue and very fitting for the moon theme. I used some blue patina perfect pearls to add shimmer and stamped the tim holtz birds in black archival ink.


Hels Sheridans Sunday Stampers theme is blue and orange so I decided to create a similar tag with more of a sunset theme. 

The tree is the same dark blue embossing powder as the moon tag, and the background detail is done with the same blue perfect pearls as before, brushed over the pattern stamped in clear embossing ink. The background is wild honey and fired brick distress stains and ink. I know the blue doesn't show up too well in the photo so this one shows it a wee bit better.

I really enjoyed doing these and I'm starting to remember why I like challenges - they're fantastic for giving a bit of focus to my work. And I love seeing everyone else's fab work :0)


While writing this post I came across a great quote from Allen Ginsberg which I will leave you with.


"Follow your inner moonlight; don't hide the madness"


I like that sentiment


Sarah
xx

Tim, Tags and Flying Time!

This week has gone past in a flash, so time flies seems a fitting theme for the first tag I want to share.

This was my first attempt at this weeks chosen technique for the Grungy Monday challenge  - Tim Holtz's rusty /faux enamel effect - see the details on his website here.

I used walnut stain distress stain over the tag and stamped a PaperArtsy image in vintage photo distress ink. I then covered the tag with clear embossing ink to do a slight variation on the rusty enamel technique. I used vintage photo over the top of the embossing. The butterflies were stamped from the TH Papillon set in stormy sky distress ink and clear embossed again with vintage photo over the top (same colours were used for the little Time Flies tag and the scrollwork at the bottom).  The butterflies and the sentiment were stitched onto the tag. I love the little metal leaf which actually came from a pair of earrings from Tesco.

I like the finished result, but I didn't think it really came out as a rusty enamel look... So now for number 2, again using a feast of Tim Holtz distress inks, alteration dies, texture fade embossing folder,  stamps and the rusty enamel technique.

This time I used crushed olive and forest moss distress inks to colour the tag, then clear embossed and went over the top with vintage photo. Then I stamped the birds in black archival. I stamped the Tim Holtz sentiment on white card, edged with crushed olive ink and matted onto black card. The little flourishy bits were cut from the on the edge scrollwork die I also used for the first tag. The flowers were cut with the tattered florals die, embossed with a flourish texture fade folder and coloured with the same distress inks as the tag, with a little additional black soot around the edges. I then attached the whole thing to a piece of white card, also edged with crushed olive, and finally onto black card. I love the colour combination of the crushed olive and black - it really zings in real life (is that even a word?)

I decided to enter the first tag into the Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge ('show some stitching') and Sundays Stampers ('flying').

The second tag will be entered into Dragons Dream Tag It On ('Project Tim Holtz') and Grungy monday ' Tims faux rusty enamel technique')

Going out for dinner tonight so I better go and scrub the ink off my fingers.

Hope you're all having a good weekend :0)

Sarah 

xx

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

Cornwall, cider and a tag!

Got back yesterday from a lovely weeks holiday in Cornwall. The scenery along the coast is fantastic, wild and windswept with plenty of rocky peaks to clamber up and admire the view from. I must have looked an absolute state most of the time with my hair whipped up by the wind!

We stayed in a cabin at Deerpark Forest Holidays which was off in the middle of nowhere (Cornwall seems to be a maze of pretty single track roads with grass up the middle). It was a lovely spot and our cabin had massive windows and a deck that looked out into the forest.  We even had our own private hot tub on the deck - lovely to relax in with a glass of wine and watch lots of little birds flitting about in the trees.

View from our cabin

Our cabin

As well as soaking up the scenery (if not the sun so much), we had some delicious gooseberry ice cream, seriously tasty beer battered fish and chips from Rick Steins Fish and Chips in Padstow, and plenty of cider (we found some that was made on a farm near where we stayed that came in what looked like a windscreen washer fluid bottle but tasted great!).

Anyway, It's nice to be back home, catch up with everyones blogs and do a bit of crafting.

I originally set out today to make something inspired by the colours of some beautiful flowers and plants we saw at the Eden Project, but I got distracted and made the tag below instead! Its my entry for Dragons Dream Tag It On challenge, which has the theme of 'Faces' this week.

I used Graphic 45 steampunk papers and stamps (loving them at the moment!) and Tim Holtz distress inks, tattered florals die, and book plates. The visage word stamp was one of the freebie stamps with Craft Stamper magazine a few months ago.

Edited: I'm also entering this tag into the steampunk challenge at Just for Fun.

Think thats enough from me for now. Thanks for looking :0)

Sarah xx

Winged things

Having a busy week, but managed to find the time for a little bit of crafting.

There's a fab theme of 'winged things' at Dragons Dream Tag it On challenge this week - I was going to go down the butterflies route  (just got the Tim Holtz Papillon stamp set and I love it - taking so much effort to resist using it on everything!), then I remembered some cool images from the Graphic 45 Steampunk Debutante papers and decided to do something a little different.

I stamped a variety of Tim Holtz stamps (clock, papillon words) in broken china and vintage photo distress inks onto a tag cut from a sheet from the steampunk papers. The main winged figure and the stamp images along the bottom were cut from another sheet from this paper set. The definitions were from a paper from the Tim Holtz Lost and Found stash.
Finally, I felt it needed just a little something more so in the end I couldn't resist stamping papillon butterflies over the top!

It also fits the theme at the Just For Fun challenge this week - 'anything Tim' - First time entering this challenge but since everything I do involves something from Tim Holtz It just had to be done :0)  

Sarah
xx

Time piece

The Dragons Dream Tag It On challenge theme this week is 'Time Piece' and, having plenty of clock related bits and bobs at the moment I jumped at the opportunity.

Umm, not entirely sure it went very well....

I started off with a tag cut from some lovely diamond patterned paper which I embossed with the Tim Holtz pocket watches embossing folder.  I lightly inked the raised areas with brushed corduroy and black soot distress inks. At this point I really liked the look of the tag but wasn't really sure where to go with it.

After I while I thought along the 'time flies' route and stamped some Tim Holtz birds onto acetate with black stazon.  This really started to give me a feel for the way I wanted the tag to go - a dark 'gotham cityesque' feel (the tags are darker than they look in the photos)- but it needed a focus point... Umbrella man seemed perfect and the phrase 'no time to stand and stare' came to mind.

So... finished tag no.1:

But I didn't like it - the phrase was too messy and took up too much space, it just looked too busy. So I tried again - this time doing all the stamping onto acetate which was overlaid onto the clock pattern tag. Unfortunately, I couldn't get as clear and crisp an image onto the acetate as I had before (any tips will be gratefully received), so as a quick fix I coloured the faint images with permanent marker (??). I wrote the phrase freehand onto the acetate.

Finished tag no 2:

I do sort of like this one better, but it's still not right (and I'm sure permanent marker was not the best tool for the job!).  Think I'm going to give up on this one - nice idea, poor execution!

Hopefully, today will go better :0)

All the write postage

Just a quick post to share a tag I just finished for the Dragons Dream Tag it On challenge - all the write postage.

I also want to enter it in the latest Stamp man challenge - this is a recipe challenge where you have to include three of these ingredients:

Blue	Embossing powder	Stitches (real or faux)
Torn/ripped	Ribbon	Red
Die cut	Homemade background (no patterned paper)	Sparkle and bling

As you can tell I chose the top line.  Not sure how easy it is to see in my photo, but the large stamp image and some of the post mark images are clear embossed for texture. This tag was good fun to do as I've not really used stitching in my work before.

Hope you're all having a relaxing / crafty sunday :0)

Sarah
xx

One for the boys

I really love my new Big Shot, especially using the Tim Holtz steampunk dies and embossing folders, so I don't really need much of an excuse to use them at the moment. The theme for  the Dragons Dream Tag it On challenge this week was 'texturise it'... so obviously the embossing folders had to come out!

I started off cutting a tag from thick dark brown card, embossing it with a cog pattern, and giving it a rusty metal look with gold perfect pearls and copper mist. I then cut some cogs using the steampunk on the edge die and the gadget gears die and layered them on the tag. I stamped a few images and sentiments onto aluminium foil with black stazon ink (stamps from Making Memories), cut them out and covered the 'discover' one with Diamond glaze for a glassy effect.

I was feeling a bit creative with my photography this morning and propped the tag up against a flower to photograph - felt it needed a feminine touch :0):

I wasn't sure about using the on the edge dies without the special on the edge cutting pads that seem to be recommended, but so far I've not found any problems using them with the standard pads.

I'd also like to enter this into the Try It On Tuesday challenge this week which has the theme of 'one for the boys'. I know my hubby loves all this steampunk stuff so it seems a fitting entry.

Sarah
xx

Dragons Dream - Perfect Purples

Purple is my most favourite colour and has been since I was very little. Occasionally I get tempted away by teal, but I always end up back at purple (almost all my clothing is purple, turquoise or black!). So, when I saw that Dragons Dream Tag It On  challenge theme this week was purple of course I couldn't resist!

I thought I'd have a go at the perfect distress technique from the Tim Holtz Compendium of Curiosities. The idea is to stamp an image in distress ink, cover it with perfect pearls, then mist with water to set the perfect pearls and wick the distress ink out a bit from underneath. This is what I came up with:

I don't think I made a very good job of it - the ink colour under the gold perfect pearls blended too much into the background. I still like the overall effect though, even if, like most things I do, its not quite how it was intended.

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