tims 12 tags of christmas tag #9

only three more to go ! I used a Chocolate Baroque peacock background stamp for this one and the same colours of distress ink as Tim used - evergreen bough and festive berries. I felt this technique gave the impression of antique wallpaper , quite aged and distressed. I will be trying it again definately. I embossed my baubles, also from Chocolate Baroque on green and red card with gold embossing powder. I cut then out and used gold thread to hang them. Quite a quick and simple tag, this one. x Lavinia

tims 12 tags of christmas tag #8

well here we are with tag 8 - only four more to go. Tag 8 had a definate steampunk theme which was tricky when you have no steampunk stamps Lol. Still I did have the gaget gears die which helped a great deal. I used reproduction cigarette cards as well as a oxford impressions stamp of my moustachioed gentleman. I gave him a party hat to make him more festive but he still looked like he didn`t approve hence the phrase bah humbug. This one was fun to do I have to say dispite being much more `busy` than something I would normally do. Thanks for looking x Lavinia

tims 12 tags of christmas tag #7

Well I am still playing catch up but have managed tag no 7. Do you ever have one of those days where you just seem to end up faffing about with bits, have to wait for that bit to dry, not sure about that bit ?. This was one of those days, one card and one tag attempted but only the tag finished. Now I`ve put it together, it looks nothing like Tims Lol but I suppose really that is the whole idea. I used Paper Artsy stamps with distress inks in tea dye and antique linen. I also used a bronze shimmer spray on my background. Tims tag had glassine leaves with net and all sorts of bits. I`ve just used two glassine leaves coloured with alcohol inks and a tarten ribbon, oh and a crochet trim. Really need to get a wriggle on now to finish the other five plus I have yet to send out any Christmas cards. Oh well x Lavinia

tims 12 tags of christmas tag#6

I can`t believe I`m posting this as this tag was such a disaster !! Now this is not sour grapes because mine went wrong but sorry Tim, I wasn`t very keen on this idea to start with. The technique of using glossy card under the self adhesive foil to emboss with worked brilliantly - I would definately do this again. It was adding the colouring that it all went pete tong. I don`t have acrylic paints and note to self, before attempting Tims tags again, please invest in some Lol. I used a liquid pearl paint at first. To start with, it went all streaky, then having left it to dry, I sanded over the snowflakes to find it all peeled off. However, I couldn`t remove every trace of it. At this point I really should have started again but decided to try adding alcohol inks in shades of blue to try to rescue it. It did look a bit better, I then went over the whole thing with a versamark pad and then a turquoise sparkle embossing powder which is slightly holographic. I quite liked the effect so finished it off with some ribbon trim and epoxy stickers. So there you have it tag 6 which I won`t be attempting again. Hope others are having more luck with that one x Lavinia

white christmas challenge

Am taking a bit of a break from tags for the mo. Over here on Glendas blog who runs Chocolate Baroque you can find a challenge with the theme of white Christmas. Now white is just not my colour but icy wintery blues and turquoises are so thats the colour scheme I went with. I used Chocolate Baroque stamps, the tree, and two different sized snowflake stamps from the stained glass stamp set. My background has stormy sky, weathered wood and iced spruce distress inks oversprayed with a pale blue glimmer mist. I then used weathered wood to stamp the snowflakes. My tree was stamped and embossed with a white snowflake tinsel embossing powder. My backing paper is also from Chocolate Baroque. A few sequins, ribbon trim and snowflakes punched from silver card finished things off. Hope I`ve inspired a few of you to join in with this challenge. The more people that enter, the more the prize fund will be. Have fun x Lavinia

tims 12 tags of christmas tag #5

Hmmm really not sure about my take on this one. It took two attempts to get this ghosting technique with the alcohol inks on acetate to work. I`ve used a Chocolate Baroque stamp on the acetate and alcohol inks in cranberry, butterscotch and red pepper. This tag just didn`t really come together for me but I have so much that I should be getting on with I don`t think I am going to redo it unless I finish all 12. Not at all sure how to tackle tag 6 so off to have a big think Lol x Lavinia

tims 12 tags of christmas tag#4

well, still catching up but here we are with tag 4. Tims tag had a border of acetate along the side using one of the on the edge dies. I`ve left this bit out as I just don`t have a die suitable plus I loved my background so much I didn`t want to cover it all up. I used distress inks in weathered wood, iced spruce and evergreen bough from the winter set for my tag. I still haven`t yet purchased any distress stains so couldn`t use those. I then spayed a glimmer mist onto my fingers and flicked it onto the background - I was really pleased with the effect, splodges of glimmery loveliness. I then stamped arround in the edge with a Tim Holtz snowflake stamp in weathered wood. If I was really pleased with the background I have to say the reindeer has been less of a sucess. I don`t have any paint dabbers either or acrylic paint for that matter. I die cut my reindeer from grungepaper then painted over it with white watercolour paint but neat from the tube. I then covered that with the thick coat of rock candy. I left it overnight to dry, however, when I came back to it this morning some flakes have lifted off a bit. Don`t know if thats because I had used a layer of watercolour first ? Never mind, a few strategically placed sequins did the trick ! Now I just need to work out how to tackle the next day so see you soon x Lavinia

tims 12 tags of christmas tag #3

Here we are with tag day 3 which was the quickest to complete once I had decided how I was going to do this one. Tims tag used a custom made ink pad made with cut and dry felt and a matching embossing folder for his word stamp. Well I don`t have that stamp or that embossing folder and realised it said cut and dry FELT not foam doh !. I nearly gave up at this point as I don`t have kraft cardstock either. However, I found some very thin corragated card in a box so that made my card base. I used three different colours of brilliance ink to stamp the word celebrate along the bottom, and used a Hero Arts stamp with merry christmas in all different languages along the top. I then ran the whole tag through a Cuttlebug swiss dots embossing folder. A button, hero arts paper holly leaves, red ribbon and crochet lace trim finished things off. I am quite pleased with how it all turned out in the end, very rustic which I don`t normally do. Is there anyone else reading this who is also playing along ? let me know so I can pop over and visit. x Lavinia

tims 12 tags of christmas tag #2

oooh two posts in two days lol. Am still lagging behind though. Tag two caused me to improvise heavily. First problem was I had kraft resist card although not the christmas version but no method of getting it white. I would have used gesso if I had any, did think about using white watercolour paint which in hindsight think would have worked better. I ended up using Ranger white opal liquid pearls brushed over the whole tag. It does still show the resist through but I would not really recomend it, I ended up sanding some of it back and course had trouble sticking things to it !. I used velvet paper to die cut my deer and Ranger foil for my border at the bottom of the tag run through a cuttlebug embossing border then coloured with alcohol inks. The tag still looked really bare so I used epoxy stickers to spell Noel and added a Hero Arts ponissettia embellishment to the top left hand corner.The bell with red ribbon was recyled from one of those well known chocolate teddies !, knew it would come in useful. Now I just need to catch up with tags three to five so watch this space. x Lavinia

Tim Holtz 12 tags of Christmas tag #1

Hello everyone. My goodness I have been such a bad blogger/crafter again Lol. In my defence my husband is still off of work, sigh, so my odd mornings of peace are over for the time being. Anyway, enough of that, back to the crafting. As I have not even crafted anything for such a long time, I thought I would attempt to keep up with Tim Holtzs 12 tags of Christmas myself to get back into the swing of things. ( yes , I know he is already on day four and I`ve only just managed to make tag one !!!). I really enjoy looking at the tags every year as I`m sure thousands of others do too. There is always some new techniques and tips along the way. This is the first year that I have tried the tags myself though. With things being as they are at the moment I will not be running out to buy any new supplies so it will really be a case of improvising with what I already have. I do not possess the pinecone die but do have tattered leaves and florals so used them. I wanted to try the technique Tim had on his blog not so long ago of using alcohol inks with mixative on glassine paper. I used pearl mixative though as I wanted the effect of frost on my flower and leaves. I used lettace alcohol ink on the leaves with the pearl and stream on the flower again with the pearl. Stickles in icicle finished off my flower. I stamped the words onto a metal tag instead of die cutting a word. I really enjoyed creating this and hopefully tomorrow I can do a lot of catching up to finish tag two, three and four. If anyone wants to pop over to Tims blog and look for themselves you need to look here x Lavinia

jff challenge more than four sides

Finally I`m back ! although life is certainly not back to normal. My husband had a motorbike accident about a week ago. Thankfully he is not too badly injured - one broken rib, broken collarbone which has been plated and screwed and a broken shoulderblade. However, he will now be off of work for at least the next six weeks and there was me thinking once the girls went back to school I would be able to fit in a bit more crafting Lol. I cannot remember the last time I joined with with the challenge over at Jff which you can find here. However, I have managed to make it this week and the challenge is more than four sides. I`ve had this home sweet home stamp set from Chocolate Baroque for a little while now. Ditto the little wooden frame blank I have used which has been sat there waiting to be decorated for ages. I painted the frame with Paper Artsy fresco paint and used the crackle glaze on the top part for contrast. The main image was stamped and coloured with coloursoft pencils. I really like these as they are really soft and creamy. I`ve promised middle daughter she can have it for her room but I now need to make another one for the youngest. Its nice to make something different from cards though for a change. Hopefully I will be able to join with a few more challenges in future fingers crossed. x Lavinia

forgotten Friday

Firstly massive appologies for the total lack of activity on my blog recently. The weeks leading up to the end of term are always a whirlwind of activity especially as this was the last year of my eldest daughters primary school. She starts secondary school this September which is really scary as it only seems five minutes since she started reception class ! Plus I have been having the usual technical difficulties with cameras and scanners which I won`t bore you with.
Whilst my three were busy making salt dough yesterday I actually managed to sneak off and make a card. I would like to link it to Judiths blog over here Every Friday she makes a card or project using forgotten stash. You know those stamps that you just had to buy at the time or that must have thing that then gets sadly neglected when the next must have is bought ! My stamps are Paper Artsy hot picks (the text on the butterfly) and Wendi Vechi (the lady). I bought both these sets ages ago and have not used either of them before. I don`t know about forgotten stash though, its been so long since I last did any proper crafting I was worried I would have forgotten how to stamp Lol.
I used sunshine yellow alcohol inks on a glossy card for my background , then sponged mustard seed distress ink through the negative left from dyecutting a butterfly. I then overstamped the text with Ranger black archival ink. The lady was stamped onto glossy card with sunshine yellow alcohol ink as well then cut out and stuck to the front. I`m quite pleased with the results, yellow is not a colour scheme I would normally use but I like the contrast of that yellow with the black.
Thanks for looking x Vinny

jff zentangle

well the challenge over at Just for Fun this week is doodling or zentangle. This is something I have never tried before so it was with some trepidation that I have had a go. I stuck to black and white, first stamping my Koi Carp image then using a template to draw circles round it. That was the easy bit, the hard bit was the doodling to fill them in ! I`m not really enthralled with my end result either, I think I could have done with a fine liner pen instead of the black gel pen which was all I could find. However time is running short to join in as per normal for me so first effort it is then.

wall hanging

I went on Saturday to Art from the Heart in Harrogate and did two taster workshops. I had a really lovely time and came home with some fab new ideas. One class was with Kate Crane and the other with Dyan. I bought a few new stamps of course and this is using one of them. Its by the Octopode Factory. Its one of those stamps that I just had to buy as soon as I saw it because it just really tickled me and I have a few ideas for her off the top of my head already. Now, I have to say I am getting really bored lately with just doing cards and really wanted to start using more quirky stamps which I think this is. So, I decided to make a wall hanging for a change. I`m not sure just how clearly the photo came out but it says `If I can`t see it, I can`t buy it !` so in the spirit of my saying the only new purchase for this project was the stamp. I used cardboard from a Catfood box for the actual hanging, you know those sturdy boxes that they sell pouches of catfood in. It actually has a nice texture to it as well. I painted it with Paper Artsy fresco paint, then a layer of the crackle glaze, and a lighter layer of fresco paint over the top. I used distress inks in scattered straw, broken china and worn lipstick for the colouring on my backgrounds. The stamp was also coloured in with distress inks. I`m quite pleased with how it came out for a change and think I shall be trying many more different things in future. I would like to enter this for two challenges , one the Jff challenge which you can find here, the theme this week is eyes so I hope this qualifies. The second is the gingersnap challenge which you can find here, their theme is `at the Mall`. Thanks for looking x Lavinia

distressed tea cards

The challenge over here this week is tea cards. Mine are distressed tea cards because of both the stamps I used (Tim Holtz) and the state I got in trying to create them ! Oh boy they may only be small but trying to create them with the white border round them caused me no end of problems. The first mask I made was too flimsy and broke, then I tried mounting onto white card but cut the whole bottom off accidently like you do and so it went on. Anyway by the skin of my teeth I`ve finally managed to create three using distress inks and the forementioned Tim Holtz stamps. I`ve used bitty grunge for the background overstamped in the same shades of distress inks and another micro set from QVC overstamped in black archival ink. I do like the way the white border makes them pop against the bright colours but I shall be investing in some very thin masking tape that I know Chocolate Baroque sell in the near future ! I appologise for the blurred photos, I really need to use a better camera than this one. Thanks for looking Lavinia

cowboys and cowgirls

I decided to try a completely different challenge this week. I have been meaning to join in with the challenges over at Gingersnaps
for ages but as usual kept missing the boat !. The challenge I have done a card for is Cowboys and Cowgirls with a wild west theme. Unfortunately I don`t posess any stamps with that theme in my collection. Not to be detered I went along the theme of Saloon girls as I figured this stamp could be taken as a sassy saloon girl. I ran a piece of chocolate covered card through my Cuttlebug using the textile embossing folder to make it look like tooled leather. I did try running my versamark inkpad over it and embossing with clear embossing powder as in the article in Craft Stamper but just couldn`t get the powder just on the raised bits. Whether its because of the particular embossing folder I chose I don`t know. I used my distress inks to make a coloured background before stamping the lady over the top, the stamp is an inkadinkadoo one that I`ve had for ages and confession time, never used. I had also never tried bleaching before but gave it a go today and was pleased with the results. I think I`ve probably been a bit heavy handed with it, she possibly looks like she has vertiligo poor love but I couldn`t find a finer brush. I really enjoyed trying something completely different and hope I can join in with a few more different things. I`ll try to show a close up before I sign off

Thanks for looking x Lavinia

an award !

I`ve been given an award ! Its from one of the ladies in the Chocolate Baroque guild - Jean. She awarded it to me the other week but as usual life kind of gets in the way of crafting and blogging doesn`t it ?. So, I am supposed to give you 7 random facts about myself and pass the award on to 7 blogs. Right, 7 totally usless and random things about myself
1. I hail from Essex originally though I live in Peterborough now.
2. I cannot stand anything with cooked bananas in it though I like raw bananas.
3. I have three daughters, the eldest of which will be going up to senior school this Sept eeek, where did that time go ?
4. I am afraid of heights, seriously I cannot even stand on a chair.
5. I love my distress inks, truely, madly, deeply.
6. I have a very grumpy cat who came from the Cats protection league but is he grateful we gave him a permanant home, no he isn`t !!
7. Before I had children I used to think I was pretty organised but now I seem to be a state of semi chaos hence everything seems to be done at the last minute.

The 7 blogs I am passing this award onto are
1. http://messymeblogspot.com/
2. http://thepanachepixieblogspot.com/
3. http://margaretsartybits.wordpress.com/
4. http://craftshedgirl.blogspot.com/
5. http://vroncards.blogspot.com/
6, http://poppycottage.blogspot.com/
7. http://molly-diddle.blogspot.com/

Phew, think thats it. Now I need to try and fit in some crafting before work this afternoon. I had all good intentions this week but I`m lapsing. x Lavinia

bah humbug challenge

The challenge over at Bah Humbug this week was either to use something recyled or shades of green. I chose to go with shades of green. I used alcohol inks in bottle, oregano, lettace and sunshine yellow. I used the alcohol monoprint technique whereby you dribble the inks onto a craft sheet and swoosh your glossy cardstock through it. I must admit that I have tried this technique before but not being all that happy with the results. This time however, it didn`t come out too bad.The bird stamp I think is a Penny Black one. The large flourish in the corner is from Chocolate Baroques` Butterfly Dreams themeplate embossed with a moss green powder. I should really know better than to attempt such an ivory card though - I am just far too messy ! does anyone else find bits in their embossing powder when they tip it out like the backing off of those tiny foam pads or is that just me ? So there you go, shades of green but in no way a traditional Christmas card but I quite like that. I know I am too late now to submit this to the Bah Humbug blog but I tried to post this this morning but Blogger was having a hissy fit. Never mind, I still need to make my pile of Christmas cards grow. Thanks for looking x Lavinia

inchies and blogland inspiration

I cannot believe I haven`t posted anything onto my blog for this long !! Easter and all the bank holidays have got in the way of crafting for me big time. However, the children have now finally gone back to school and so today was the first time in ages I managed to actually sit down and attempt something.
Over at the Just for fun site this week the challenge is inchies. Can you spot mine ? its the tiny bee which I stamped onto a piece of stampboard. I will show you a close up

I used distress inks to colour the piece of stampboard and then stamped the bee in black versafine on top. I added rock candy distress stickles to his wings. I also want to link this post to Judiths blog
. Every week on a Friday she has a forgotten Friday post where the aim is to use stamps and stash you have forgotten about. I`ve had the stampboard inch squares for ages and have not used them till now, the same with the two stamps of the hydgrenga and bee. I`ve copied Judiths idea for the scrabble tiles except mine are paper . I really need to invest in some alphabet stamp sets as I always seem to struggle with finding ways to put on phrases that I want to. If you pop over to Judiths blog you will see where her inspiration came from and then mine in turn. Hope the next post will not take as long next time ! Thanks for visiting x Lavinia

Bah Humbug candy canes challenge

The challenge over at Humbug hall this week is candy canes. You can find their blog here I could only find one stamp in my collection suitable. The candy cane my penguin is holding is nearly as big as he is ! I used glossy accents on my candy cane and copic markers for the colouring. I used liquid pearls for my dots of snow with fine glitter over the top. My background paper has a fine candycane stripe which I felt fitted the card. Need to try and keep up now so that I have a nice stack of cards ready for Christmas. Also need to improve my photography skills as photo is not very clear. x Lavinia

just for fun circle challenge

Have not done any challenges for the last few weeks but the challenge over just for fun this week is circles. My card is using another stamp from the Butterfly Dreams stamp plate from Chocolate Baroque. Its massive !, so big I had to go out and buy a 6" by 6" acyrlic block to use it. I stamped onto white card then used copics to colour in. I added glossy accents to the butterfly and the very front berries then sprinked glitter while it was still wet. I added three purple gromets to the middles of the stylised flowers, filled the middle in with glossy accents and glitter also. So there you go, hope it has enough circles to qualify. Thanks for looking x Vinny

Craft stamper e-zine

Just a quick post to let you all know in case you don`t already that you can download a free e-zine from Craft Stamper magazine. If I`ve managed to do things right for a change you should be able to click on the big button on the right hand side of my blog. You can also do the same and leave a comment on the editors blog for the chance of winning some blog candy, so do give it a go. x Vinny

Ps

Ps, I see I can`t even manage to work out how the new link thing works now either !, the company is now called Chocolate Baroque. If you look at the badge at the top of my blog there should be a link to it there. x Vinny

oldest to newest

Long time no blog and blogger have obviously changed how they do things so I can get one picture to load but not two ! If anyone out there has my mojo please can I have it back ? its gone awol at the moment and doesn`t seem to want to come back. The above picture or scan as I couldn`t be doing with fighting with the digital camera today is of a card made with my new stamps which came this morning from the company which were formally known as Graphicus. I used two colours of brilliance ink, pearlescent poppies appropriately enough and crimson copper. Kept things simple as thats about all I can manage at the moment.

The next card is using the very first set of stamps I ever bought when the company was called Graphicus after watching Glenda demonstrating them on Create and Craft. Goodness knows how many years ago that was now but I have to say I still love these images as much as ever. I`ve just tried to update it by doing a one layer card as inspired by the ones done by Joanne Wardle in Craft Stamper magazine. I sponged distress inks through a circle template onto the card then overstamped the Koi carp image and the wind at the top. I used Sukara sparkly pens to colour in the Koi carp. So there you go two cards if blogger has now allowed me to put the pictures up. Thanks for looking x Vinny

bah humbug challenge

I think I might just be able to sneak in in time again this week as the deadline is today. The challenge over at bah humbug this week is metallic. My photos are not fantastic but I had terrible trouble trying to upload them onto the computer so they will have to do. I used one of my favourite christmas stamps which is a tin can mail one from Inkadinkadoo. I used distress inks in barn door, rusty hinge, wild honey and mustard seed for my background, flicked water onto it then overstamped with a crafty indivuals crackle stamp in barn door. I then added gold foil to the halo and the heart on her dress. Because I knew I wanted to add gold foil, I knew this would cover up the saying heavenly peace so I had stamped onto a piece of acetate with black stazon and overlaid this over my background so that I wouldn`t loose all the detail. I used a piece of background paper which comes from the former Elusive Images company. I`m hoping it will still be available when the new company is up and running because its one of my favourites and that was the last piece. I used Tim Holtzs` die for Sizzex to die cut the hinges from a slightly patterned gold card and added gold brads. So there you go, my take on metallic. Wish I had more time to do variations because I enjoyed this one. Thanks for looking x Vinny

Jff challenge

The challenge over at just for fun this week is for a different format ie twinchies, inchies etc. I decided to do a scrapling, something I have not tried before. I am having one of those days though where everything is going wrong in the way of crafting. Do you ever have one of those days ? you know the ones, you have some free time but whatever you try its just not happening. I stuck to black and white except for the shading round the lady which was done in pumice stone DI. The black and white border at the top is to hide the fact that I had originally stamped the border stamp directly onto the scrapling but being one of those days, it didn`t stamp out clearly Lol. So there you go a scrapling even if it is the second attempt - the first ended up in the bin. Thanks for looking x Vinny

Bah humbug challenge

Hooray, finally managed to get pictures from camera onto computer. Now I just need to learn to take better photos Lol. Its my daughters camera and oh, the rubbish she has taken pictures of, you wouldn`t believe it. Pictures of the television screen, washing , it goes on. So, now I suppose I have shall have to go through later and take all the rubbish off of the computer. Anyway , I digress, back to the Bah Humbug challenge this week which is appertures. I used a stamp which I`ve had for ages but never used. I think its one of the free ones that came with a Creativity magazine ages ago. I stamped the dog, or is it a bear ? in versafine sepia then just coloured him in with pencils. I did start off stamping him in black because I wanted to use Copics but the black was just too harsh. The sentiment came with the same stamp. So there you go, a very simple card today because I am completely knackered for some reason. Sorry about all the rooftops in the background, my lounge is upstairs ! Thanks for looking anyway, x Vinny

less is more challenge

Oh dear, I promise this looks much better in real life but hardly shows up at all on the scan does it ? It is a white square card there somewhere. I took my idea from a video on the Hero Arts blog by a lady called Shari Carroll on layered background techniques. If I was clever enough I would post a link that would take you straight to it but I`m not so I can`t Lol, yet, one day I will master it. Anyway my effort has a more splodgy effect than the video showed which is probably because I used pearlescent card and she used watercolour paper but I quite like the mottled look. All the stamps are by Hero Arts, I used old french writing, woven fabric and children dancing. I stamped the old french writing first then embossed it with opaque white embossing powder. I then followed the steps in the video - I patted spun sugar distress ink onto an acyrilic block, misted it with water then `stamped` that over my card. When that was dry I used a soft green Hero Arts shadow ink to go round the edges with the woven fabric background stamp. I then used a soft lilac Hero Arts shadow ink to stamp the children playing. As I say my effort is inspired by but came out completely differently to the video. I am going to do it again on watercolour paper next time and will try to post the results. I am going to enter this card into the less is more challenge though and I have been a good girl this week because I struck exactly to the theme not gone off on a tangent like last week ! Thanks for looking x Vinny

PS head like sieve , you can find less is more challenge here.

jff challenge

Second post of the day as I am still playing catch up. Will just about squeeze under the wire I think this week with my entry for the just for fun challenge blog. This week the theme is mixed media which threw me into a complete tizz Lol. I have no idea why, after all I probably use mixed media a lot of the time anyway.  I decided to make a tag, the size of which is very large. I used tumbled glass and stormy sky Distress inks oversprayed with glimmer mist for the background. I ran a piece of the Ranger sticky backed foil through my cuttlebug with Tim Holtz brick texture fade folder. I then inked this up with alcohol inks. The stamps are a mixture of Elusive Images, Tim Holtz and Artistic Stamper. Cannot say I am completely happy with how this has come out but if enough people like it I will enter the swap this month. Meant to enter the swap last month of course but story of my life never got round to it. Thanks for looking x Vinny

bah humbug challenge - embossed

Where on earth does time go to ? I really feel all behind this week, so much to do and so little time Lol. Anyway back to the challenge over at Bah Humbug this week which is embossing. Was not sure if they mean heat embossing or dry embossing, suppose either really but I`ve chosen to use Sir Tims embossing folder of the snowman. For anyone that does not follow Tims blog, is there anyone left who doesn`t ?, each Christmas he posts a twelve tags of Christmas on his blog. There is always new techniques and tips on there, so well worth a look at. I was really taken this year with his technique of stamping onto the embossing folder before running it through. So, I chose to use my tall trees stamp behind the snowman. I used distress inks for all my colouring. I also gave my snowman a black flocked hat , a scarf and a ponisettia for his hat. The snowflake facet in the top right hand corner is also from one of Tims techniques. It is alcohol inked on the back, then stamped with archival ink, then carefully blot the archival ink off to leave the white snowflakes behind. You have to admit the man is pure genius really. Hope you enjoy and thanks for looking x Vinny

3 squares

This is my entry for a new challenge blog called simply less is more. Its been running for a few weeks but I`ve only just discovered it so this is my first entry. The theme is 3 squares. Of course my mind being what it is, that made me think of when I was at school and you used to call people a `square`. It meant they were a bit staid and boring really. So, I decided to do a masculine take on the theme rather than pretty pretty. I discovered that although I have lots of stamps of ladies, I have hardly any of men Lol. I found this stamp in a set that came from Oxford Impressions. He looks quite staid, I thought. Its one of those photo realistic stamps and I had forgotten how hard it is to get a good impression from them. I wanted to use sepia ink and was using versafine but it just wouldn`t play ball. I ended up going with a black and white theme and used Ranger archival ink in black to get the best impressions I could. A strip of background paper behind the three images on a white card and that was it - done. Hope you like my take on the theme, thanks for looking x Vinny

Things that fly

The challenge over at Bah Humbug this week was things that fly. I didn`t manage to do last weeks although without wishing to offend anyone I just don`t get recycling CD`s. Nothing wrong with it, just not me. I`m the same with altered books, I just don`t get it. No doubt someone will come up with a beautiful example now and show me wrong. Anyway back to the challenge. I used my stamp of these cute birds having a lovely time on the Christmas tree. I coloured them in with copics but used , yes you`ve guessed it, distress ink in bundled sage to stamp part of a swirl image round the edge. I can`t cope with all that white space round an image somehow. I used two patterened papers to back onto the card and stamped the sentiment in Adriondack cranberry ink as it matched the colours of the paper. My ponisettia is a felt one from Hero Arts. Thanks for looking x Vinny

jff challenge #4 Angel Wings

Well half term is over and am now trying to catch up with everything. This has not scaned in well at all. The challenge over at just for fun was Angel Wings, the last wing theme of the four weeks. I could have made life easy for myself of course and just used a angel stamp but of course they are all Christmas based and I didn`t want to make a Christmas card. I made myself a rough cloud template out of a piece of thick card and with stipple brushes pounced on distress inks in broken china and stormy sky to get my cloudy sky background. That turned out to be the easy bit . Next I stamped my childs head from Paperbag studio onto card and coloured in with copics. Now for the wings. I tried stamping wings onto card and cutting them out but they just did not look right. Then I found my box of paper had handmade paper scraps in it. You can`t see from the picture but the paper I used has a white flock swirl pattern on it. I drew my outlines of wings on the reverse of the paper and cut them out. I just added the word `dream` to keep things simple. I cannot wait to see what the theme will be for next month or should I say this month now. Its March already !. I`ve really enjoyed making things just for the fun of it. Thanks for looking x Vinny

Well its half term at the moment and with three girls that means all crafting has ground to a halt Lol. I did manage to sneak off and make a birthday card for my friend this morning but was not really happy with the finished result. The first attempt got ripped up and put in the bin so the second attempt had to suffice. Sometimes when I sit down to make something it just does not go to plan at all.
I`ve really popped on here quickly to thank everyone for their kind comments on my card for the JFF challenge. Its much appreciated and I really enjoyed making something a bit different to normal (normal for me that is). I`ve also enjoyed looking at everyone elses challenges - its good to see so many different styles and varriations on the same theme. Hope to be back next week x Vinny

The challenge over at the jff challenge this week is bugs wings. I had this slightly bonkers idea in my head and just ran with it. I`ve never actually used my stamp of the lady with the hoover yet though I`ve had her for years, think she came with a set from QVC if I remember rightly. I think she looks quite posh so Margo suits her don`t you think ?. I always have trouble when it comes to finding a way of putting sayings on cards. I`ve now decided I would like one of those things that does the black labels with the white writing on it but I cannot remember what they are called for a start. If anyone can remind me I would be grateful. So I had to hand write in white gel pen on black card to get the effect I wanted for now. I used the wrinkle free distress ink technique for the background and Sir Tims bitty grunge stamps over the top. Her wings are from a butterfly stamp. I think it was wishful thinking that gave me the idea, I would love a housework fairy to come and do mine. I hate housework with a passion Lol. Thanks for looking x Vinny

bah humbug challenge #6 doilies

Ok, well the challenge this week over at bah humbug was doilies. Doilies ? I thought. Well, I didn`t have any at home and the local supermarket didn`t have any either so what to do. I`ve had to cheat or improvise , however you want to look at it. I did have a lace and glitter kit which consists of double sided sticky backed paper, glitter and some pieces of lace. I used the largest size of my nestabilities to cut the circle from the sticky backed paper, adhered it to the card, laid the piece of lace on top then added the dark blue glitter. After peeling off the lace I then added the white glitter to complete the doily effect. The bird is die cut using a sizzex die set. I cannot believe this card has no stamping whatsoever, thats just not normally me. However, I`m quite pleased with the overall effect and it took far less time than it would take me when stamping. Thanks for looking x Vinny

journal page

Killing two birds with one stone today as the saying goes. This is the first journal page that I`ve ever attempted on the theme of time. It also fits in with the week two challenge here  which is time flies. The journal pages are for a project for one of the ladies over in the Graphicus Guild. She had kindly sent me some paper and some `messed up` pages. I used one of the messed up pages for my first attempt as it seemed less daunting than to work on a completely blank page, so the paper was already coloured a sunny yellow colour. I found this quote from J M Barrie which I felt fitted in with the colour scheme and borrowed my daughters quill pen and dippy ink to write it out. I used a Hero Arts stamp to stamp the grasses along the bottom of the page and embossed with tea dye distress embossing powder to give a textured finish. I used the craft stamper freebie of the clock to stamp in antique linen at the top of the page but it doesn`t really show up in the picture. I used the same stamp for the clock held between the wings which I stamped onto metal and embossed. I`m quite pleased with it for a first attempt. Thanks for looking x Vinny

No challenges today, just me trying out new stamps doing something a bit different.  I had seen a picture in a magazine of a card, not handmade but printed, of flowers making up the heart shape. When I received these new stamps I wanted to do the same kind of thing only with butterflies and insects. I had a small heart shaped box of chocolates which my daughters kindly polished off for me Lol and I used one of the cardboard sides to draw a heart shape. That gave the basic template then I could stamp my insects to fit the shape starting off with the largest moth and working downwards in size. I watercoloured the moth and butterfly and went over their wings with glossy accents plus the beetle. I used rock candy distress stickles to add a glittery effect to all of the bees wings. Distress ink in tea dye and antique linen added shading. The sentiment was a rub on. Bit different I know but Husband likes nature as do I so hopefully he will like it rather than a sick bucket inducing card that you can buy Lol. Thanks for looking x Vinny

Bah humbug challenge #5

Well this weeks challenge over at bah humbug was buttons and bows. I used backing paper and stamps from Elusive Images which hopefully you should be able to get again soon. I decided NOT to use distress inks at all for a change Lol and got the glimmer mists out instead. OMG what a mess I got into !!, I had forgotten how they tend to go everywhere . If the weather is nice, I tend to stand at the back door with it open and card in one hand and spray them so any mess goes outside. Plus I had to run one nozzle under the tap because it had blocked and wouldn`t spray but I got there in the end. You can`t see from the scan but being the very messy crafter that I am, there was obviously loose gold particles of glitter on my table that embedded themselves into the card but added to the overall effect I thought. Adding the bow was the easy bit, but where to add some buttons in ? I found this big lilac button in my box and viola - one big button moon . I seem to remember watching a childrens program called button moon with Mr Spoon, anyone remember it ? Well at least so far I have three Christmas cards to send out so rellies won`t think I`ve emigrated or fallen off of the planet this year. Thanks for looking x Vinny

This is my tag for a new challenge blog which has just started up. You can find it at http://jffchallenge.blogspot.com/  The theme for the month is `wings` and the theme this week is `hearfelt wings`, I had ordered this set of stamps by invoke arts a few days before the challenge started so decided to use those although the harliquin pattern is by hero arts and the womans face is from a stampington set. As usual I did my normal thing of ordering unmounted stamps and forgetting to order some easy mount at the same time so I haven`t cut them up yet until I do. I just inked up the ones I wanted to use on the whole sheet and laid my card on top of it. I did want to thread ribbons through the top of the tag but there isn`t really enough room to make a hole Lol. Never mind. Thanks for looking x Vinny

sir stampalot challange - all creatures great and small

This is my entry (hopefully if I can get the links and things to work) for the monthly challange blog over at Sir Stampalot. The theme this month was all creatures great and small. I used Sir Tim`s texture fade embossing folder to get the tree bark effect and nestabilities to cut the scalloped circles for the aperture.

Mums birthday card

Made a card for my Mums birthday today using two of my favourite stamps, they are B line designs from LB crafts. Its actually an easel style card, the first ever one I`ve managed to make without it all going horribly wrong Yay but when I though I`d try taking a photo, what happens ? no batteries and I cannot find the USB cable thingee Lol. I stamped the lady in versamark then coloured her in with glimmer chalks as I feel she needs very soft colouring. Of course the odd distress ink colouring had to creep in !. Confession time, the glitter you can just see above the brown velvet ribbon was to cover up the fact that I used double sided tape to stick the ribbon down only to realise it was wider than the ribbon duh !. The metal flower embellishment on the ribbon I found on my bedroom floor this morning , I think it has come off my daughters shoe Lol. Its OK the shoes are knackered and going in the bin anyway but I need to find the other metal bit to reuse first . Thanks for looking x Vinny

Quick post before I have to go to work. I`m doing the pay it forward thingee - I managed to be one of the lucky five people to comment on Kates blog. The idea is that the first five people to comment on your blog receive something handmade before the end of 2011. Those five people then post this same offer on their blog and so it carries on. Hope that explanation makes sense, I am not very good at explaining things Lol. Everybody ready then ? on your marks, get set GO x Vinny

I`m not sure if I`m really enamoured with this card although I had fun doing it plus it hasn`t scanned in well at all. Really need to start taking photos I think. The challange over at Bah Humbug hall this week was `oldie but goldie`.The idea being to use stash that you`d forgotten about or haven`t used for ages if at all . In the bottom of the card I used gold foil over one of those glue transfer stickers. This was a kit that I have had for ages but never actually got round to using like you do Lol. I used a arch shaped stamp of a stained glass window to get the shape for the main image. I used distress inks sponged on for the background but I used twinkling H2O`s to colour in the three wise men, also hardly ever used, thats the H2O`s (I`ve never yet used this stamp before). The sentiment is from a hero arts stamp with the phrase in one line under an image but I just used the words and cut them up to use separately.  I think with hindsight I could make a much improved version as I`m not sure about the black but I wanted the foil image to really stand out otherwise to be honest this was a kit that was going to be boot saled !!. Thanks for looking x Vinny

Its my Mother in Laws birthday soon so though I had better get on and make her a card. This is especially as she never received the Christmas card we sent, think it fell into the Royal Mail black hole somewhere. I used a mixture of EI essence of nature stamp plate and the crackle stamp is a crafty indivuals one. I stamped the butterfly tree on the main image then coloured the butterflies in with copic markers. I then went over the top of the butterflies with glossy accents and although I don`t think you can see from the scan, I added glamour dust glitter into the glossy accents while it was still wet so the butterflies have a beautiful indiresscent glitter to them. I used three colours of distress ink - spun sugar and victorian velvet blended round the butterfly tree and then victorian velvet and pumice stone to stamp the folliage along the bottom.  Well had better shuffle off now to get on and make more February birthday cards as there are quite a few. Thanks for looking
x Vinny

holly and fairies

I have been following the Bah Humbug challange blog but as usual I am three weeks behind everyone else !. The first challange was holly and fairies but I only got round to making a card today although I still wanted to do so because I really liked the theme. I used the lovely distress inks in scattered straw, crushed olive, bundled sage and forest moss for my background. I flicked a mixture of gold perfect pearls mixed with water over the top to give a lovely speckled effect a bit like snowfall. I then stamped my holly wreath in forest moss and coloured the berries in barn door. Glossy accents give them a shiny effect. My faries are also coloured with distress inks with watercolour pencils adding extra shading over the top. I hope this Friday to take part in the challange properly and actually enter Lol. Thanks for looking x Vinny