Time is Flying

I've have had a close encounter with the NHS over the weekend as a patient, and spent Easter being pumped full of antibiotics as somehow I had managed to get pneumonia, so no Easter eggs for me! I must usually be a pretty healthy person as I've reached my fifth decade and never been ill enough to have to go to hospital before. Anyway now I'm home and feeling heaps better, so thought I would have a little time with my ink and stuff.
This wall hanging is my entry for Grungy Monday No.5 at Studio L3. The challenge this week is A New Dimension, and the full details of what to do can be found over at Tim's Blog as the May 2008 Challenge. It also fits in with the Sunday Stamper theme this week which is wings, and as there is a solitary button, I think I'll make a three for one and also enter it in Simon Says Stamp and Show Some Buttons.


This was a neat technique, and not one I'd discovered before on Tim's Blog. I've used the new Papillon stamp, a Wendy Vecchi Art Parts watch, and some Crowded Attic paper, Coffee Archival Ink, and Broken China Distress Stain, plus some bits of Ideology. The wings are made from the new Kraft Glassine paper, with some gold leaf flakes. ( They remind me of a moth I've seen somewhere, probably in a book, as in real life I am rather a wimp about the way they flutter round, and don't really like them much, certainly not enough to get a close up look at their wings).

Something Different.

Last week I started the most amazing on-line mixed media art workshop (She Art, run by the extremely talented Christy Tomlinson). I am having so much fun!!! I love to try new stuff, and this is so different from anything I've ever tried before.
Christy makes the most amazing art, and I was really drawn to the fabulous mixed media techniques she uses on her canvases, but I have to say I really had fun making my first girl as well, and here she is.


I've used old sewing patterns, acrylics, modelling paste, colour sprays and stamps on my background. It was a truly messy experience, but I certainly enjoyed myself, and can't wait to get started on the project for week two.

There's More Than Fish in the Sea

Grungy Mondays are coming round really fast, but what a great challenge the lovely Linda at Studio L3 has lined up for us again this week, Exploring Tim Holtz Adirondack Color Wash.
Now I have to admit that I have a very limited collection of these, ie. TWO!!, but I think I must get a few more because the colour is just so intense, it was actually a bit scary at first. My tag has been sploshed in a puddle of Sailboat Blue Color Wash and then sprayed with water and allowed to drip. I have cheated a bit as there is also some Antique Linen Distress Stain in there too. The tag is edged with a Gold Acrylic Paint Dabber.

The stamp I've used is the Tim Holtz Haberdashery one, using the pattern stamp for the background with Broken China DI, plus my favorite flourishes in Vintage Photo.
The dress form is stamped with Coffee Archival Ink, and the trims are coloured with Broken China DI's.I will be honest and own up to the tissue tape covering a wonky bit of stamping, but I quite like it anyway.The tag is finished off with some Ideology.

Here's a tag I made yesterday also using the color washes (both of them this time)and a different approach in that it is much more vibrant, as well as using a ridiculous amount of German Scrap, which seems to be something I can't resist buying and then rarely use. I know I posted a tag featuring flying kitties a few months ago, so going off on another little fantasy trip I thought why not Mercats. (No not meercats like Alexander, but ones that swim in the sea).
I made her fishy tail by sticking overlapping layers of scrap to double sided tape and then cutting out. The kitty is an Artchix image, and as you can see I have tried to preserve her modesty.
There's a lot of blue going on this week so as well as Grungy Monday, I'm also entering these tags in the Sunday Stamper Challenge for this week which happily is Blue.

Fly Away

I can't believe a whole week has gone by since I last got inky fingers, but due to being called out five times in three nights plus working normal hours during the day, I have been in my own little twilight zone for the past week. I missed the first Grungy Monday (Sob!!! Sob!!!) but what wonderful art work can be seen over at the lovely Linda's Studio L3. This fab challenge is inspired by the work and products of the King of all things Grunge, the wonderful Tim Holtz . This weeks challenge involves a field trip to Ranger Ink to view one of Tims demo's, which shows a great way to use Distress Inks with Multi Medium.

Anyway, enough waffle, here is a tag that I am entering in this Grungy Monday No 2, Simon Says Stamp and Show Anything Except a Card, The Artistic Stamper monthly challenge, which is Layers, and this weeks Sunday Stamper, the theme of which is Gold.

The young lady peeping through the keyhole is off to Ms Francine's Prep School for the Arts, but in her dreams will be appearing at Covent Garden before too long(watch out Renee Fleming!).
My songstress has aspirations to sing like the bird at the top of the tag.
I've used Distress Inks in Faded Jeans and Vintage Photo for my background, tissue tape to cover my bird, an Ideology keyhole and a flower from a box of unidentifiable stash. The flourish is cut from Grunge paper, and inked with Vintage Photo, and lightly brushed with Inka Gold.

The Three Boffins

A bit like the Three Musketeers, but more brainy!! This shadow box uses loads of Tim Holtz goodies. I've been pondering over the Steampunk stamp (bought it and then just didn't quite know what to do with it) for a couple of weeks. I'm entering this in Simon Says Stamp and Show a Hat, the new challenge for this week.
The frame is Shabby Vintage paper, inked with Black Soot DI and then using the blueprint stamp embossed in black. I then sanded away bits of the paper to create a more distressed look and glued to the frame.
The boffins are stamped onto grunge paper, and I then stamped the hats again, and covered these with Glossy Accents to give a more dimensional, shiny effect. The background is manilla cardstock, inked with Wild Honey, Barn Door and Aged Mahogany DI's, which I've then stamped with Vintage Photo DI and then added Copper Perfect Pearls to try and maintain the industrial look. The box is finished off with various bits and pieces of Ideology.

Spring is in the air

After several days of complete lack of inspiration and anything that I felt remotely happy to put on my blog I have spent the past hour!!! revamping my blog slightly, with a new header and background.
After fiddling around with bloggy things I thought I'd try out some of Wendy Vecchi's Clearly for Art. I REALLY like this stuff, especially the way you can stick paper to it and then heat and shape. Mind you the fumes are absolutely horrible. So here is a little wall hanging made with Art Parts, the above mentioned bendy stuff, some Seasonal Paper Stash, and a die cut flourish, made using my trusty Big Shot. I keep looking at pictures of that lovely Vagabond. I have to keep telling myself I really don't need one (but I think I really do).



I'm entering this in the Sunday Stamper Challenge which this week is Dies, and this weeks Simon Says Stamp and Show a Word. The floral theme is because it feels like Spring is really here today, it's been a beautiful sunny, and warm day, and the daffodils looks so cheerful in my garden. I've used one of my favorite colour combinations of eggshell blue and brown, and the stamps used on the frame and the flowers are all Studio 490.
Now I'm going to have a little wander around blogland looking at all the lovely stuff out there.

Star Quality

Simon Says Stamp and Show Stars this week, and I thought about starry skies, but then I just knew I had to make something featuring two of the greatest music makers ever. I absolutely adore Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong singing Dream a Little Dream. And it provides a double dose of stars, not only in those fabulous musicians, but also in the lovely lyrics.

The tag background is the lyrics of the song, lightly inked with DI's (hope I haven't broken any copyright laws here, but the lyrics seemed to be freely available on the internet). The stamp at the bottom is from Graphic 45, the words are computer generated, and the pictures are from a CD insert that I've sacrificed . I've used some tissue tape and a little bit of Ideology to finish my tag.

This song always brings back such happy memories for me, as before David became ill we spent many happy times sailing in Greece, and would often moor up for the night in a quiet little bay with only the fish for company. No TV, no radio (except The Archers on the World Service!).
After a bottle of wine with dinner, and if no other boats were within earshot, we would enjoy singing along with Ella and Louis, and actually could do quite a passable version of our own.

Now I'm going to do a first for me and try to link in a YouTube video of this lovely song.

Hope you like it, it's from a great series of shorts the BBC did a few years ago.