Time Travel

There is a new challenge blog called Steampunk Junkies, they hold fortnightly challenges with the current theme being 'Time Travel/Anything Goes' for the second challenge.  I have decided to have ago and decided to combine it with the September Bramford Crop challenge which was set by Janet and consisted of a round green metal tag on a ball chain which reminds me of something you'd put on your suitcase so fits perfectly to the challenge.

It is also worth noting that they are having a DT call at the moment so stop by and check them out.  I am very tempted myself but haven't done anything like this before and not sure whether to take the plunge and apply (I need to decide before linking this post though!).  This is only my second steampunk project and there are some great applicants already!

I decided to leave the tag as it is and cut a circle from Tim Holtz kraft resist paper stash to fit just inside the raised ridge of the tag, I coloured the card stock with Tim Holtz Distress ink and stamped PaperArtsy cogs/gears using the same ink and covered a couple of the cogs with glossy accents.  I removed the ball chain and created a large cog out of the kraft card stock and adhered it to brown card stock just bigger than the first layer, I then went round the insider of the cog arms with a brown pen and attached it to the back of the tag using glossy accents.  When reattaching the ball chain I added a Tim Holtz fastener so that the chain sat the same way as the tag.  During September I created a chunky ATC called 'Steampunkery' for the monthly challenge over at the Happy Daze Design Team Blog and used all of my Tim Holtz sprocket gears and other metal findings such as my wings so I had to be inventive and create my own wing from a piece of kraft card stock.  Once drawn and inked I covered the piece with rock candy.  Next I stamped an appropriate Tim Holtz sentiment again on to craft card stock, inked the edges, covered with a piece of clear packaging tape and mounted on to brown card stock.  I stamped a Tim Holtz clock and covered the image with a metal clock charm and a Tim Holtz game spinner.  Finally I attached the sentiment and wing with glossy accent and the clock with silicone glue to provide some depth to the tag.

Thanks for looking!
Tracey x

Halloween

I'm suffering from a little crafty withdrawal after my fab time last week so I have decided to have a go at a different challenge blog, this time with Out of a hat creations.  I have a friend who is a 'hatter' but being a weekly challenge I've never found time to participate before although I see Janet's creations posted on my blog list.  The theme for Challenge 26 is Halloween.

Needing a quick turnaround to meet tonight's deadline, I started with a white tag cut from the Tim Holtz die and coloured it using Dylusions spray inks.  Lacking in Halloween stamps I decided to draw a spider web and a small hanging spider in the top corner and covered the web with Ranger stickles and the spider body with glossy accents.  Next I stamped Tim Holtz bird and branch stamps down the side and highlighted the branches with a white gel pen.  I used black and white pens to draw lines round the edge and then distressed the edges and used the black Adirondack acrylic paint dabber to give the tag a grungy look both on the background and round the edges.  Next I spritzed Tattered Angels marshmallow glimmer mist to give a white shimmer and a mist on top of the spider web.  I stamped a Stampotique image in embossing ink and heated with black embossing powder, the image was cut out and attached to the tag with double sided foam.  The sentiment is cut from the Tim Holtz vintage market die, and I outlined the letters with the white gel pen and covered in rock candy.  Finally I wrote the date down the side of the tag, added a Happy Halloween banner made from black card stock using the Tim Holtz tiny attacher and 2 pieces of threaded ribbon.

Thanks for looking!
Tracey x

abc 123 School Time Fun

So now for my fifth and final blog post of the week. I go back to work tomorrow so normal business resumes which means that I hope to be able to do at least one weekly project and blog post (fingers crossed). During my week off I have mainly been making tags and had challenged myself to one a day. This time I have decided to participate in the challenge over at Inspiration Emporium, I have been following these guys on Twitter, they have a great inspiration team so please pay them a visit if you haven't before. This said, I had never really checked out the challenges until this last week and the current theme is: 'abc 123 School Time Fun'. I can't see the entry rules on the website so I hope what I have created fits the criteria.

Again I started with a white card stock tag cut from the Tim Holtz die and covered with paper from Basic Grey so that it looked like a page from an exercise book, I then applied Claudine Hellmuth gesso through two Dylusions stencils at the top and bottom of the tag. Once dry I spritzed the whole tag with Dylusions ink sprays and then used the stencil to try the ghosting effect across the middle. Once dry I stamped the Tim Holtz pen nib stamp, highlighted in white gel pen and covered with Ranger glossy accents. I stamped the Tim Holtz ruler onto kraft cardstock using embossing ink and black embossing powder, I then used Tim Holtz distress ink for effect and wrote a 'This ruler belongs to:' in white gel pen (I used to do this at school), I attached it to the tag using doubled-sided tape to add some depth. I stamped the Tim Holtz star stamp onto white card stock three times using embossing ink and then applied gold and silver embossing powders, cut out each star and attached to the tag using the Tim Holtz tiny attacher. Next I stamped the PaperArtsy splat stamp at the top corner of my tag again in embossing ink and covered with black embossing powder. I cut the 'September' month from Tim Holtz tissue tape, adhered to white cardstock and attached to the top of the tag with a paperclip. Next I made a blackboard from black and kraft card stock and wrote a comment in white gel pen so that it looked like chalk, I attached it to the tag with doubled-sided foam and added a brad and twine at the top so that it looked as though it was a hanging blackboard. For the sentiment I looked up school on Google and it came up with the five words which I wrote on to kraft cardstock and covered with glossy accents. Finally I threaded twine through the hole to finish the tag off.

Thanks for looking!
Tracey x

Dylusions Love

Another day another challenge...and I am loving it!  I really could get used to this life of craftiness and I'll be very disappointed when I return to the 9-5 on Monday! 

Now, I have learnt a lesson this time...always check the Inlinkz countdown!  I created the tag yesterday and drafted my blog post ready for it to upload today (I'm a day behind with my blogging as I'm trying to post one new creation a day during my week off).  Anyway I had decided to have a go at The Stamp Man Challenges.  Normally I only participate in a couple of monthly challenges but as I'm off work I thought I'd have enough time to play along with some that have a shorter turnaround. The challenge theme was 'Summer Sizzler - use hot colours' but when I checked the challenge this morning it had ended and must have closed last night!!

Ok so back to my tag, anyone who reads my blog will know that I have an addiction to all things Ranger Ink and over the past few months I've been building a collection of Dylusions products from Art from the Heart.  I have used my ink sprays on every project and also some of the stencils but until yesterday had not used the stamps.  Well now I am hooked, I currently have 3 stamps sets and decided they would go perfectly with the challenge I did yesterday.

I started with one of the Tim Holtz tag dies in white card stock and spritzed it with Dylusions ink sprays.  Next I placed one of the Dylusions stencils over the tag and spritzed with water to create the ghosting technique.  Once dry I placed the stencil back down over the ghosting and this time using a sparkle gold gel pen used the outline to create a sparkle background which almost looks like a spider web.  Next I stamped 2 sets of leaves at the top of the tag and 2 sets of mushrooms at the bottom plus one more on white card stock.  I went round the leaves with a white gel pen and glossy accents.  I coloured the mushrooms using Tim Holtz distress inks and decoupaged one set on top of the mushrooms stamped directly on the tag for a little depth.  I also stamped the bee and the caterpillar on to white card stock and again coloured with distress inks, once cut out I glued these flat to the tag and covered the bee wings with Ranger stickles.  The sentiment reflects the challenge title and finally I added green ribbon to the tag.

Although the weather has cooled down for my week off, the tag reminds me of summer with its hot colours and outdoor theme, I hope you think so too!

Thanks for looking!
Tracey x

Tree and or Leaves

Another day of my week off work and another chance to get my crafting mojo on, this time with a project for the September Tando Creative Challenge.  This month the challenge is Tree and or Leaves.

For this challenge I have used a Tim Holtz Tag die cut in white card stock.  I then spritzed the tag using Dylusions spray inks and created Dyan's ghosting technique using one of the Dylusions stencils and water.  Once the background was dry (which I helped along with my heat tool), I outlined the circles with a sparkle gold gel pen and spritzed Tattered Angels marshmallow glimmer mist. Next I stamped the Kanban tree using embossing ink and covered it with black embossing powder before heating to set the image.  I stamped Dylusions leaves twice at the top of the tag in black ink and outlined the leaves with a white gel pen.  I then stamped one more set of Dylusions leaves on to kraft card stock, cut the leaves out and then placed on top of one of the stamped images using foam pads.  I covered the decoupage leaves with rock candy and once dry highlighted with the white gel pen.  At the bottom of the tag I used a Dylusions stencil to draw the outline of the small leaves, doodled with black and white pens and then outlined with the sparkle gold pen.  I found a sentiment on the internet 'Autumn is a second spring when every flower is a leaf' which I wrote in black pen on kraft card stock, I cut out each word and attached to the tag and covered in glossy accents.  Finally I distressed the edges of the tag, added stickles to the centre of each shape on the tree and threaded a dark brown ribbon through the tag.

Thanks for looking!

Tracey x

Splatters and Speckles

I am really enjoying a fantastic week off work so far and I'm actually getting to spend plenty time in my craft room meaning that I have managed to complete The Artistic Stamper Creative Team September blog challenge of 'Splatters and Speckles'.  As soon as the challenge was posted I knew that I had the perfect splat stamp by PaperArtsy and decided that the background needed to be my main focus for this challenge and with this in mind I decided to create a tag again this month.

I started by cutting a Tim Holtz Tag with white card stock from the Sizzix die, then spritzed it with Dylusion ink sprays, I then added water in spray and droplets.  Once dry I added Tattered Angels marshmallow glimmer mist then some Adirondack gold acrylic paint dabber splatted from a paint brush.  I also added a few splats of Time Holtz picket fence distress stain.  There was a lot of drying involved in the process and once dry again I added the PaperArtsy stamp using embossing ink and black embossing powder which I heated to set.  Next I added white and black pen border round the tag.  I then stamped the Tim Holtz sentiment on to kraft card stock and attached it to the tag using double-sided foam.  I attached two lengths of string using the Tim Holtz tiny attacher.  I made a flower using the Tim Holtz tattered florals die and glassine paper, crumpling it and adding distress ink and glimmer mist and attached it to the tag using a brad, this is a technique which I picked up from a recent edition of Craft Stamper magazine.  I have used the technique before and will again.  Once the tag was complete I watered down some white acrylic paint and speckled the whole tag again using a paintbrush.  Finally I attached a piece of ribbon and string through the hole.

I wish my photo could pick up the glimmer and sparkle, I am really pleased with the background and thinks that it fits the bill for this challenge perfectly.

Thanks for looking!
Tracey x

Steampunkery

The September Blog challenge over at Happy Daze Design Team is 'Steampunkery'.  Now I love this look but haven't knowingly tried to replicate it before so I really enjoyed the challenge.  I already have lots of base items purchased from the Happy Daze shop ready to alter so on this occasion decided to have a go at a chunky ATC, also something new to me.

I think I was in my craft room nearly all day creating this little piece and I had so much fun getting inky.  As with most of my projects I know what my base will be but the actual project tends to evolve as I'm creating it.  As I suggested, it was quite a long process so instead of doing my usual step by step blog post I will list the products.  

It's funny but I thought I had loads Tim Holtz products (which I do) but nearly everything I wanted to use for this challenge is still on my wish list!  Anyway I still had plenty of items to use, both purchased and salvaged.  Ready for the list, here goes:  Chunky ATC, cotton reel, Tim Holtz kraft resist paper stash, kraft card stock, corrugated card, Dylusions ink sprays, Tim Holtz distress inks, Tim Holtz and PaperArtsy stamps, Tim Holtz ideology - memo pins, tissue tape, game spinners, sprocket gears.  Adirondack gold acrylic paint dabber, Claudine Hellmuth studio multi-medium matte, silicone glue, glossy accents, rock candy, Making Memories mini alpha stickers.  Shrink plastic, metal, string, bulb, charms, screw, trouser fastener, pin.

I never feel as though my photos are brilliant but here is a picture of each side of the block.  I think they'll give you a feel for the process taken to create my little piece of Steampunkery!

Thanks for looking!
Tracey x

Designs by Ryn

A little while back whilst going through my blog list I came across a lovely tag created by Linda Cain using a water droplet stamp by Ryn.  Well I fell in love with it, immediately investigated and after a couple of Email exchanges with Ryn promptly ordered myself one of the stamps.  I'd been itching to get in my craft room since the stamp arrived and finally got a chance at the weekend. 

I started by cutting a Tim Holtz tag from the Sizzix die and coloured my background using 3 of the Dylusions ink sprays (these are on every project at the moment and I absolutely love them!).  Once dry, I inked the edges of the tag with Tim Holtz gathered twigs distress ink and finally stamped the water droplets.  I then spritzed the tag with water and Tattered Angels marshmallow glimmer mist.  Next I added circles of gold Adirondack acrylic paint dabber using the lid.  I ran the Tim Holtz picket fence distress stain down the left hand side of the tag and then filled in the little empty space at the top of each droplet with a white gel pen and then covered each droplet with Ranger glossy accents. Finally I went round the inside of the tag edge with white and black pens.   I wrote the sentiment on another piece of background and cut each word out separately and covered with Tim Holtz distress crackle paint clear rock candy.  I mounted each word onto white card stock so that it stood out from the background and attached to the tag with glossy accents.

Next I cut a piece of Kraft card stock and attached it to the bottom of the tag with the Tim Holtz tiny attacher.  I stamped and cut out the Stampotique Kamona image on white card stock and coloured it using Tim Holtz distress inks and my water brush.  Once dry I covered whole image with rock candy.  Finally I added ribbon and twine which I stapled through the tag hole using the tiny attacher.

And now for a close up of the water droplets, and aren't they fantastic..they look so realistic!

Thanks for looking!
Tracey x

If Friends Were Flowers...

One of my friends celebrated her 40th birthday recently and after much consideration I thought I'd make her a something personal and decided on a canvas.  Instead of telling you exactly how I created it, I'll just tell you what I used.  A lot of love and time went into the piece and I'm not sure the photo does it justice.

I used the following products:
Canvas 6 1/4 x 4 3/4, Dylusions spray inks, Autumn Leaves floral stamps, white tissue paper, Claudine Hellmuth studio multi-medium gloss, black archival ink pad, Tim Holtz tattered floral die, Martha Stewart butterfly punch, Tattered Angels marshmallow glimmer mist, Adirondack acrylic paint dabber snow cap and gold, Prima flowers, Tim Holtz distress stain picket pence, Ranger glossy accents, Tim Holtz distress crackle paint clear rock candy, Liquid Pears white opal, Tim Holtz tissue tape, corrugated cardboard, white card stock, Millennium black pen, Sakura gelly roll white pen, Ranger stickles star dust, gems, beads, twine, brad.

Thanks for looking!
Tracey x