Ruby

The Out of a Hat Creations challenge #39/40 is for 'Birthstone Colours'. Now I am a July baby so immediately wanted to use Ruby.

I inked my Tim Holtz tag die with Tim Holtz barn door and festive berries distress inks before spritzing with water and Dylusions postbox red ink spray and heated with my heat tool. I added black lines around the edge and then ran the tag through my big shot inside the Cuttlebug swizz dots embossing folder. I attached a red ribbon bow to the bottom and top of the tag and 3 red gems stones down the side. I stamped my new Gorjuss rose stamp (won on the 'Dies to Die for' facebook page), and coloured with the distress inks and water brush. I added Ranger glossy accents on top of each rose on her dress and attached her to the tag with double sided foam. I printed an appropriate verse from a birthstone poem, inked and covered with Tim Holtz rock candy crackle paint. I attached a heart pin behind and added the July month from the Tim Holtz tissue tape again with inked edges below.

Thanks for looking!
Tracey x

Naughty or Nice

The December challenge over at Bombshell Stamps is 'Get Ornamental'. I knew straight away that I wanted to use my new Bombshell stamp for this challenge.

I started by printing the Christmas stocking template from the Martha Stewart website onto white card stock. Next I coloured the stocking with the festive berries from the Tim Holtz winter seasonal distress inks and then stamped the Tim Holtz snowflakes in the same colour before putting the stocking through my big shot inside the Tim Holtz snow flurries texture fade embossing folder. I coloured each raised snowflake with a gold Sakura gel pen (although it doesn't really show on thephoto). Next I cut 3 additional pieces to go on top of my stocking for the toe, heel and a strip at the top, I coloured these pieces with the evergreen bough distress ink, I added faux stitching and attached the strip along with the Tim Holtz film strip using the Tim Holtz tiny attacher. For the sentiment I stamped a tag from the daisy and dandelion collection, inked with the iced spruce and covered with Tim Holtz rock candy crackle paint and then attached to the stocking with a gold brad. I stamped the bombshell girl and 3 banners onto white card stock and coloured using the distress inks and my water brush, I covered the outfit, shoes and the flower with Ranger glossy accents and attached to the stocking with double sided tape. I cut out the 3  banners and wrote my 'Naughty or Nice' saying, inked with the iced spruce and again covered with glossy accents. Finally I added a piece of gold sequin ribbon to hang.

Thanks for looking!
Tracey x

Home for Christmas

The Artistic Stamper Creative Team December challenge is 'Home for Christmas'.

I started with a die cut Tim Holtz Tag in white card stock and inked it with the Tim Holtz brushed corduroy and gathered twig distress inks and then stamped Tim Holtz snowflakes in the darker ink. Next I cut out a house using the Jenni Bowlin journaling shape and stamped a Prima brick wall in black ink before colouring with the same brown inks as before.  I added touches of a white Sakura gel pen and covered the house with Ranger rock candy crackle paint and attached it to the tag with double sided tape. I cut a piece of corrugated cardboard for the roof and again inked with the darker brown. I stamped 3 Tim Holtz trees onto kraft card stock in brown, cut out, inked the edges and attached with silicone glue, I covered one with rock candy. I cut a 'December' month from the Tim Holtz tissue tape attached to kraft cardstock, inked the edges and attached to the roof using a Tim Holtz memo pin. I added 3 clear beads to the top right hand side of the tag and a handwritten sentiment written on kraft cardstock and covered with glossy accents on the other side. Finally I cut a 2 and a 5 from the Sizzix lollipop alphabet and covered with Ranger gold stickles and added a gold sequin ribbon.

Thanks for looking!
Tracey x

Merry Christmas!

Well it has been a wonderful crafty year for me and my blog and I have enjoyed your company along the way, thank you for your comments and support.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of my followers a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

The decorations below were made during our Kesgrave craft club last Tuesday and have been created (thanks to Lynda and Jacqui) using stamps and dies from Stampin'Up with a few gems, some netting, Ranger stickles and Tim Holtz distress inks.

 

Thanks for looking!
Tracey

Gift-spiration

I have created 3 Christmas tree ornaments, one for my own tree and 2 to give away as small gifts (although I think the surprise might be blown now)!  I am entering these into the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp and Show 'Gift-spiration'
Tando Creative Challenges Blog 'Seasonal Wishes'

I started with 3 cotton reels of varying sizes and covered each end with Adirondack gold acrylic paint dabber.  I cut a piece of a brown paper bag to fit into the length of the spindle and inked the edges, then once in pace added a strip of the Tim Holtz tissue tape.  Next I added a ring of Ranger gold stickles around the two ends on the brown paper and tied a piece of string around the middle.  I stamped a Stampin'Up 'Happy Holidays'circle sentiment onto kraft card stock, inked, attached to the top of the cotton reel and covered with Ranger glossy accents.  I stamped the Stampin'Up 'Merry Christmas' onto cream card stock and punched out using the Stampin'Up word window punch, edged with the ink and then attached it to the Stampin'Up modern label punch in kraft card stock again edged with Tim Holtz brushed corduroy distress ink.  I attached the sentiment to the cotton reel using brown embroidery thread.  Finally I threaded the cotton reels with a piece of gold thread ribbon and secured in place with knots to make the hanging.

Thanks for looking!
Tracey x

Christmas Snow

I was behind on all of my monthly challenges until the weekend and when I finally had the chance to sit down and craft. Looking through the list of challenges I take part in I noticed that there were 3 that I could combine so today's post is going to be entered into the following:
Happy Daze Design Team 'In The Deep Midwinter'
The Stamp Man 'In The Bleak Mid Winter'
Out of a Hat Creations 'Challenge 38 - Winter'

I wanted a frosty winter snow feel for this project and decided to work with just white, blue and silver.  To achieve this I have used Tim Holtz faded jeans distress ink with white card stock.  I have also used my prize from the Tim Holtz 12 tags of Christmas (snow flurries & Snowman texture fades embossing folders and the mini holidays 2 cling rubber stamps).  I started by running the Tim Holtz die cut tag through my Big Shot inside the Tim Holtz snow flurries embossing folder.  Next I die cut 2 of the Stampin'Up top note and cut the edge off one, I inked the tag and the smaller top note using the distress ink.  I stamped the trees and covered with Ranger glossy accents and then stamped the snowflakes onto the small top note and attached it to the full size one, I tied a silver piece of ribbon around it and attached it to the tag using double sided foam.  I stamped the snowflake, snowman and the christmas snow image and cut out before covering with Tim Holtz rock candy, I added the christmas snow image with tape but used foam for the snowman and the snowflake to add depth.  Finally I added Ranger star dust stickles to the bottom of the tag, 3 gems to the top note, a bead to the middle of the snowflake and silver ribbons through the tag.

Thanks for looking!
Tracey x

Joy inspired by Tim Holtz

I'm sure that I'm not the only person who is really missing the Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas, the 12 Tags of 2012, although still very inspiring and wonderful just doesn't have the same magic for me, I miss getting up every morning in the run up to Christmas and logging on to find out what wonders Tim had created.  Now I use products from Tim and Ranger in all of my projects and find it very difficult to choose a favourite technique so my tag today is inspired by a couple of his wonderful techniques.  I love Christmas and think that brown paper packages tied up with string look just fantastic but by adding a wonderful tag the gift wrapping becomes absolutely beautiful, and the recipient gets to keep a piece of your artwork too.  I am entering the tag into the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp and Show 'inspired by Tim's 12 Tags'
Inspiration Emporium 'Joy'
Ranger Ink 'Holiday gift wrap' but it also said 'or any other way you like to decorate your gifts'.

I started with the Tim Holtz tag die cut in white card stock and used my favourites brushed corduroy and gathered twigs distress inks to colour and then added a little of the barn door in the top right and bottom left corners.  I covered the whole tag with Claudine Hellmuth matte multi-medium and then covered it with the Tim Holtz composer tissue wrap, inked again and covered with the multi-medium again.  I cut a music sheet, the father christmas and the 'joy' letters from the Tim Holtz seasonal paper stash and inked the edges of each piece and covered the father christmas with Tim Holtz rock candy crackle paint.  I cut the Tim Holtz festive greenery decorative strip in white card stock and coloured each piece using my Letraset promarkers before inking the edges in brown distress ink and using touches of black and white pen to highlight.  I attached all of the pieces to my tag and included Tim Holtz film strip and a couple of pieces of string which I attached using the Tim Holtz mini attacher.  I added glossy accents to highlight the 'joy' letters, the top swirl and the berries.  I added Ranger star dust stickles to the edges of the letter tiles and the middle of the holly leaves.  I cut the month of December from the Tim Holtz tissue tape and mounted it onto card stock and inked the edges before attaching it to the tag with double sided foam.  Finally I added 3 gems, ribbons, string and a red and gold bauble to finish.

Thanks for looking!
Tracey x

Bah Humbug!

The December challenge over at Poisoned Peas is 'Twisted Holidays'.  The challenge is sponsored by Rick St. Dennis again this month which means I have gone digi again, this time choosing 2 designs from Rick's Etsy Shop.  I love how this challenge takes me out of my comfort zone and is so different to the normal stuff I do.  Anyway my entry is called' Bah Humbug!' and for those who know me this definitely isn't me as I'm sure I should have been born a Christmas Elf!

I decided to create a hanging this time and cut my background with the tree printed on it 13cm x 13cm and added Tim Holtz brushed corduroy and gathered twigs distress inks round the edge before stamping the Prima brick wall in the gathered twigs.  Next I coloured the tree using Letraset promarkers, (I didn't want to be too perfect for the look of this piece) and covered it with Ranger glossy accents.  I added Ranger star dust stickles along the bottom and mounted it to a piece of brown card stock and then to a piece of corrugated cardboard which has been inked around the edges.  I coloured the printed scrooge image in the same way and then cut out and used glossy accents to highlight the wreath,  I attached it to the background using double-sided foam pads.  I created a sentiment on my computer, inked the edges, covered it with Tim Holtz rock candy, backed it onto the brown card stock and again attached it to the background with foam pads.  Finally I threaded a piece of string to hang the picture and added 3 gems to finish.

Thanks for looking!
Tracey x

A Shrine

This week challenge #37 over at Out of a hat creations sees us creating 'A Shrine', now this is something I haven't done before and to tell you the truth I've struggled a bit and I've had a number of ideas going round in my head since Thursday.  In the end I have decided to choose 'Love' as I am very lucky to have always had the love and support of great family and friends.

I started with a wooden icon which I covered with Claudine Hellmuth gesso. Next I added layers of Tim Holtz distress inks in gathered twigs, brushed corduroy, barn door and mustard seed plus Dylusions post box ink spray and Ranger gold adirondack acrylic paint dabber.  I wanted to give the shrine an old distressed feel so once dry I painted the background with Tim Holtz rock candy distress crackle paint in various thicknesses and then added another coat of brushed corduroy distress ink before applying Claudine Hellmuth multi-medium matte which I to get a bubbled effect in some areas.  As a final step for the background I edged each wodden section with the gold dabber.  For the images I stamped the PaperArtsy loves and kisses plate 1 onto cream card stock and cut each piece out.  I used the two brown distress inks to colour and covered in Ranger glossy accents.  I attached the main image to the shrine using double sided foam tape and attached two metal wings behind it, I also attached a metal sacred heart at the top to the shrine.  Finally I added some gold glass seed beads to the top corners.

Thanks for looking!
Tracey x

TRUE Confession

This month Bombshell Stamps Miss November's challenge theme is 'TRUE confession'.  I just love the style of these stamps with their vintage feel and own a few sets now.  It was easy to choose my theme which is 'Tattoo', I have a couple myself and find the art work, the stories behind peoples choices and the talents of the artists brilliant.

For my project I started by cutting a Tim Holtz tag in white card stock and coloured it using Tim Holtz brushed corduroy and gathered twigs distress ink before spritzing with water droplets to give it an aged feel.  Next I stamped the sacred heart in the middle of the background and surrounded it with the small skull, cherries, heart and star stamps using the brown distress ink plus two rows of barbed wire in black ink and once dry coloured the heart and covered the whole tag with Tim Holtz rock candy crackle distress paint.  I then stamped the two birds, the tattoo banner and the sacred heart (twice) onto white cardstock, coloured each image using Letraset promarkers and cut out the pieces.  I decoupaged the heart and then the vine so that it really stands out from the tag.  I covered the banner and the vine in Ranger glossy accents.  Finally I punched a ticket in kraft card stock, distressed it, added a faux stitched edge with black pen and added the Tim Holtz vintage market alphabet letters to spell love, I attached it to the background and added twine through the tag to finish.

I have created this piece with the hope that the link to add my entry to the blog challenge will appear soon but if it doesn't then I have had great fun creating the tag and sharing it with you.

Thanks for looking!
Tracey x

The Return of the Mousetrap

Today's post is of a project I created over the weekend for the weekly challenge over at Out of a hat creations, the theme is week is 'The return of the mousetrap'.  This is my second mousetrap with the first being a challenge I set for the Bramford girls earlier this year so I tried to do something different and thought I'd give it a Christmas theme now that we are in December.

I started by removing all of the metal attachments and covered each side of the wood trap with gold Adirondack acrylic paint dabber.  All of the paper used is from the Tim Holtz Seasonal paper stash and I cut a piece of the jingle bells music to cover the back and then reattached the metal spring trap.  Next I cut 3 more pieces from the paper stash, a Father Christmas face, another smaller piece of the jingle bells music and a postcard picture saying 'Merry Christmas'.  I edged each piece with gold paint before attaching to the base, the final piece is attached with foam pads and covered with rock candy and has a Tim Holtz mini paperclip in the top corner.  I cut the December month from the Tim Holtz tissue tape, adhered to kraft card stock and circled the 25th before adding on top of a piece of Tim Holtz film strip.  I tied 3 pieces of ribbon to the trap, added 3 circle beads and the numbers 25 cut from a brown paper bag in the Tim Holtz vintage market die which I covered with Ranger gold stickles as they didn't stand out very well left as they were.  Finally I added 3 dots of gold stickles to the corner of the Father Christmas paper square and attached two screw eyes to the top and threaded ribbon to hang my trap and added a philosophy tag (covered with gold dabber) using a jump ring to the bottom.

Thanks for Looking!
Tracey x