Gilded Gears

If you've been visiting my blog lately (Thank you!) you can't have failed to miss mentions of the wonderful Andy Skinner, who is to Altered Art techniques what Tim Holtz is to Grunge.  Andy offers online courses at a modest cost, which show how to use paints and a few other items to create great effects.

This tag features two of the techniques, the Steampunk Brass and the Burnt Oxidized Copper.  Just for once, I'm not entering it in any challenges;  this ones just for me. If you've done Andy's course then you'll know how I got the effects;  if you haven't - well, I'm not telling.  It wouldn't be fair to Andy. 

The course is coming to an end now, and I'm already contemplating the next one;  the Evil Elixir Mixer sounds like fun...

Compendium of Curiosities II- Challenge 21

Where does the time go?  Thursday already and my entry for Linda's challenge not yet posted!  If you don't know about it,  every week Linda challenges us to make something using one of the techniques from Tin Holtz's most excellent book, A Compendium of Curiosities, Volume 2.
This week the challenge is being sponsored by the generous folk at Simon Says Stamp.
This timewe've been using the Blended Stains technique, and that's how I've created my background.  And then I stamped all over it, so you'll just have to take my word for it that the background is truly awesome.  The tag also features some Andy Skinner Timeworn Techniques - I don't know how I'm going to cope when the course ends...I'll just have to sign up for another one!

WOYWW - 19 September

Didn't think I was going to make it this week due to a serious collapse of broadband service in my area.  (ARRRGH! NO INTERNET!  PANIIIIC!!!)  However, it has returned in time for me to join in the fun that is WOYWW.

It's all a bit if a mess at the moment.  On the left is a bag of Radiant Rain sprays, just delivered (well, there was a half price sale so it would have been rude not to).  The dark brown bit is a practice piece for Andy's course (here's a better pic  -)

The tag on the right is going to be my contribution for the Compendium of Curiosities challenge this week, if I ever get caught up!  The rest of it is just stuff I really ought to put away...when I get a chance...

OK, I'm off to visit some blogs.  Hope you enjoyed your visit - thanks for stopping by!



True Colours

I missed Sunday Stampers last week, and I almost didn't make it this week either.  It's been a wee bit hectic round here, and between stuff happening and wanting to try out the techniques I've been learning in the Timeworn Techniques course,  the week has just flown by. The theme this week is Colour, and so I inked up a tag with nice, bright Distress inks, using the Spritz & Flick technique. 

 

I had my background, but what to do with it?  Don't ask me why, but the colours made me think "Retro".  Now, I usually buy stamps because I like them, but I had a set of motor car stamps that I'd got because my husband liked them.  When we met, he had a 22-year old VW Beetle (the original version) in turquoise, called Ringo.  So that's what I put on the tag. 

 

 



 

I coloured the car with Perfect Pearls - turquoise, of course. Hope you like it.  Thanks for visiting!

Compendium of Curiosities 2 - Challenge 20

This week the technique from Tim Holtz's most excellent Compendium of Curiosities , Volume II, that Linda Ledbetter has challenged us to employ is the Enamelled Stamping technique.  If you want to know how it's done, you'll just have to buy the book!

I've used stamps from The Stamp Man and the Harlequin background is from The Artistic Stamper.   The dragonflies I stamped onto acetate (packaging material - crafty austerity is still in force) and adhered gilding flakes to the background.  Hope you like it!

Got to blog and run now as I'm REALLY late with this entry...see you soon!

WOYWW- 12 September

It's Wednesday, and it's time to go jaunting around the Blogiverse, inspired by Julia Dunnit.  Wednesday usually finds my desk between projects, as I have tidied up after the weekend's craftathon.  Dancing class happens on Wednesday night (it's Jive and Waltz at the moment)  so the desk is between sessions.

This week you can see some paints, sticky stuff, distilled water (for mixing with inks) as well as some assorted sticky stuff.   At the front left there's a couple of bits of work in progress - and I have no idea as to how they're going to turn out.  Ah wel, it'll be a surprise for all of us, then!

Thank you for stopping by - I hope you enjoyed your visit!

Time is a Companion

The recipe for the DragonsDream TIO challenge -
a beating heart, a weathered timepiece and a bit of grunge

So, using some of the techniques I've been learning from Andy Skinner's online workshop, here is my interpretation!

This tag turned out very different to the way it was planned.  The clockface was going to be in the middle of the heart, and there was only going to be one winged heart.  And I was going to use a different clock stamp in the background.  And only one sentiment.  Something just gets into me sometimes...

But I like the way it turned out.  Hope you do, too!

WOYWW - 5th September

Happy Wednesday!  Time to go careering around the Blogiverse, visiting workdesks, as part of Julia's WOYWW. 

This week my desk (annexe) is looking quite clean.  That's because I have just finished my piece of faux leather, one of the techniques in Andy Skinner's Timeworn Techniques course.  All I can say is, you should have seen it on Monday - there was paint EVERYWHERE. It was worth it, though, the finished product is quite realistic - it even feels soft and flexible, like leather.
Here's a better view-

OK, off to do some visiting now - hope you enjoyed your visit.stamping-ground.blogspot.com

Samhain Blessings

 

Create  something with a Hallowe'en-ish theme they said, at the Haunted Design  House Challenge Blog.  No problemo. said I,  my idea of a fun holiday is going and sitting in a haunted house hoping the ghosts will come out to play, so I can do spooky.  Ah, said they, but it has to be - flat!  FLAT? FLAT? That means no lumpy embellies....Oh, the HORROR of it...

 



So here's my interpretation.  The background is done with the Spritz and Flick technique from Tim Holtz's Compendium of Curiosities, Volume 2.  The crow you probably recognise as a Sizzix Alterations die (love that crow).  Samhain is the Celtic New Year festival which corresponds with Hallowe'en and I stamped the letters individually. 

 

What's really scary is that it will be Hallowe'en before we know it, followed by Yuletide before we can blink...where does the time go? 

Not a Card...

The inaugural "Anything But A Card" challenge blog has launched (May God Bless Her, and All Who Sail In Her)

This is Not A Card, so I'm sharing it...

This little papier mache box has been altered using techniques I'm learning at Andy Skinner's Timeworn Techniques online course.   Andy is an amazing teacher and I'm having lots of fun;  this is my first make for the course and I'm so pleased at how it turned out.  Here's another view -

The initials on the lid - TF - stand for Thomas Felix (that's Major Thomas Felix), consort of that plucky gel, Lady Ermintrude Duffryn-Felix, who has been mentioned in this blog previously.

I worry about me, sometimes.

Altered Tin

Not a clever blog title but my brain has gone on holiday after an unusually stressful day in work (I won't bore you with the details - suffice it to say that, at one point,  the Police had to be called to remove a customer who was refusing to leave the premises!). I'm lucky that my hobby keeps me sane(ish)!

Here's the tin that could be spotted lurking on my desk on Wednesday.  The latest challenge for the Stamp Man Challenge Blog is to alter something and as I have a number of these tins that I use to keep by crafting bits in (they came with coffee in originally) I thought I'd give one a makeover.

To begin with, I stripped the paint from the tin.  I use a brilliant gel paint stripper (Home Strip Paint and Varnish Stripper) that's not caustic, smells pleasant and cleans up with water, and does an AMAZING job, but it struggled a bit with the paint on this one.  I was determined, however, and once it was back to the bare metal I sponged on a couple of light coats of gesso, and once that was dry, I painted the tin brown.

While that was drying, I splodged some Distress Inks in various shades of brown onto my craft mat, sprayed them with water and smooshed them (technical term) about a bit, then spread a sheet of white tissue paper over it to pick up the colours.  (This tin needed one A4 piece for the tin itself and another A5 bit for the lid)

When it was all good and dry, I spread PVA glue over the whole thing, covered it with the tissue paper, allowing it to wrinkle , and then put another coat of PVA on top so that it was well and truly stuck on, and left it to dry.  I sponged another thin layer of PVA over it to make sure it was sealed and to give it some texture, and put it to one side while I thought about what I was going to do next!


After a couple of days drying time, I inked up the Harlequin texture mat with gold Brilliance ink and rolled the tin over it and added the embellishments.   (Though tempted, I refrained from adding flowers).  I think it's going to look good on my desk, and it'll keep my odds and ends under control - I hope!