DIY Storage

One of my favourite recent discovery for quick home decor pieces is the Imagination Crafts rice papers. If you missed it my first project is here.

Today I made another bathroom storage item with them in a Mixed Media makeover of a humble tube:

Supplies:
Rice Paper - Imagination Crafts
Stencil Weft Fabric and Numbers by Carabelle Studio
Stencil Mini Layering Stencil Set #10 Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous
Fresco Paints - Paper Artsy

You'll find details on how I made it on the Craft Barn blog.

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the Allsorts, Creative Artist MM, Stamplorations Mixed Media and SSS Wednesday challenges.

The wedding picture

What more appropriate for today [1] than a wedding picture! I saw this old photograph in a Finnabair ephemera pack and decided to showcase it in a Mixed Media tag.

The background was made by scraping paint with my favourite painting tool, a credit card... it's so easy and the clean up is a doddle!
I added watered down white paint to create drippage on top and applied Distress inks when all was dry.
Taking inspiration from the Paper Artsy challenge, I used the Retro Circles stencil (Stamplorations) as a mask and stamped the Script stamp Mini 30, giving varied sizes of scripted circles.

At the top I added a die-cut heart (if I remember correctly this is a Cottage Cutz die) just because the hole fitted exactly the tag hole.
Behind the fussy cut couple I placed a doily (Prima die-cut) and a piece of blue cheesecloth.

Needless to say my die-cut machine is my favourite tool and I wouldn't be without it!

I added a set of tags stamped from CI-428 It's a man's world (Crafty Individuals) to re-inforce the Retro and "tag" theme.

Happy Valentine's to all couples!
[1] Today's post is going out on Valentine's day

I am linking to the TAGplorations, Stamplorations Mixed Media, SSS Monday Challenge, That's Crafty, and Stamplorations Theme & Sketch challenges.

Starlight Express

Today I'm showing on the Craft Barn blog my first project with the truly shiny Starlight paints.

They have to be seen (in real life) to be believed and I really enjoyed working with them.

Do come over to the Craft Barn for a step by step makeover of my tissue box.

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the Craft Stamper TIMI and Creative Artist MM challenges.

Quickie Valentine

Welcome back to the second inspiration post for the Under 30mns challenge at Country View Challenges.

Let me first say I had trouble with that one... so much so I had to abandon my first project as I couldn't find a way to finish it in the alloted time. In theory it looked quick, but in practice... However I still wanted to come up with a card involving die-cuts, and, since Valentine's Day is round the corner this is what I made:



Dies:
Memory Box : Tessatina border
Sizzix/Tim Holtz: Celebration words Handwritten
Die'sire: Valentine

Stamps:
Sewn heart: From Creativity Magazine Jan/Feb 2014
Canvas texture: Impression Obsession Create-A-Card

Other:
Versacraft in Cherry Pink
Distress ink in Spun sugar
Frosted Crystal EP by Ranger.

I stamped the Sewn heart first with the Versacraft ink and overstamped the canvas texture with Distress ink, embossing with the Crystal powder which has a matt finish.

For time saving purposes, I did all the die-cutting in one go adding a piece of Wax paper to my sandwich to help the cardstock glide out of the dies.

Also for speed reasons I spent as little time as possible applying glue on the die-cuts which means that some bits can be lifted but, since I don't expect the recipient to pull on the sentiment, it should be fine!

Apologies for the lacklustre photo, which is actually a scan, but the sun just wouldn't play nice and I was running out of time! In real life the pink is brighter more fuschia than on the scanned image.

I am really curious as to what you will be making under 30mns for our Country View challenge, and if you find it easy or tough!

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the Memory Box, Stamplorations CAS and The Artistic Stamper  challenges.

Splash of Orange

I can't believe it's a been a year since the last winter CHA and the Paper Artsy main release. I have barely had time to enjoy the sets I bought last year so I thought before I get new sets I'd better ink the old ones first!

Since I had the set already out for my Country View Challenge post, I used the Paper Artsy Hot pick 1601 set again, time someone gave it some love and as I haven't seen anyone else use it... (Maybe only Amsterdam dwellers use it?)
Last year I made this card and today I am updating it for the latest Paper Artsy Challenge theme, taking inspiration from Jennie Atkinson's post here, in particular the use of Infusions and stencilling.

 

I have decorated both the front and back of the card as you can see. I stencilled heavy gel medium with the Retro Circles Artplorations, which preserved the stamping of the script stamp from ESN10 . Also from ESN10 are the circles stamped on the right hand side. The "bubble wrap" is from set EEV06.
With all the stamping and stencilling dry I sprayed water on the card and concentrated the orange (Brusho) on the buildings, applying Cerise Infusion around them. The Cerise Infusion is very powerful and I was taken by surprise a bit which is why the result is considerably darker than Jennie's!




And finally...  AllSorts are celebrating this week, so you might ask what the celebration is... well, I'll just say this is for an Anniversary of sorts.

I thought it would be fun to add the secret message by popping up the Valentine word I have die-cut from the stamped building.
It is hardly visible as shown in this picture:
but under different angles the message is revealed.

The "be" and "my" words have been made with bits of Tim Holtz Adventure Words. The Valentine is Die-sire die-cut.

Definitely more colourful than Jennie's subtle make, plus Orange is sooo not my colour, but since it is Amsterdam (orange is the National colour of sorts over there), it felt totally right to use this colour.

 

 

Thanks for coming by,
Also entering the That's Crafty, SSS Wednesday and Vintage Journey challenges.

Shortcuts Home

Sue, my Country View Challenges teamie, has chosen "Under 30mns" as the theme for February and it is just as well as we are usually busy, this time of year...

So here is a quick card to make:

My time savings tactics rely on:

- using just one technique, here stamping, but with different inks to add more interest
- using as few stamps as possible and from the same sets or sets stored in the same folder/box
- use left overs: here I used the waste of some dies to create the frame around my buildings.

The stamp sets I used are from Paper Artsy ESN10, which is my go to texture stamp set, and Hot Pick 1601.
I added colour to the building with Cut & Dry foam and Distress inks in Squeezed Lemonade and Wilted Violet.

Over to you... can you make something quick for our challenge? If you do you will be in with a chance to win a £20 voucher to spend on crafty things!

Thanks for coming by,