Iron Maiden

Hello folks, and welcome to my blog.  This is my contribution to the Dragon's Dream TIO challenge Dress to Impress- the recipe being a dress or dressform, an embossed impression and some bling.

Sewing Room is one of my favourite Tim Holtz Alterations dies and I've used the dressform again and again.   And I'd just taken delivery of the new Embossabilities folder from Spellbinders and was itching to play with it, so I decided on a "steampunk" look for my dressform (surprise!) Once I'd embossed and coloured my tag with Distress Inks (Rusty Hinge, Tea Dye and Stormy Sky)  I cut the dressform in kraft card and another body piece from card I'd covered with aluminium insulation tape distressed as per Tim Holtz's tutorial and then added the AB crystals.

The last job was to stamp the words "Iron Maiden" using a set of alphabet stamps onto card coloured with Vintage Photo DI, and there we are! 

I hope you enjoyed your visit - you're welcome back at any time!

Compendium Of Curiosities II- Challenge 28

Hi folks, and thanks for visiting.  It's Reflections Stamping this week!  The challenge set by Linda Ledbetter (and sponsored by Simon Says Stamp) is to create something using the technique as described in Tim Holtz's Compendium of Curiosities Volume II, and here's what I've come up with.

This tag is the result of another series of happy accidents.  The silhouette stamp is one I made with my Imagepac that went a bit wrong, due to a timing issue (i.e. the timer works better if you remember to press the "start" button when you want it to begin timing) and as a result was too dense.  However, we never throw anything away, so I kept it to use on this technique.  Then, when I thought I'd got the hang of the technique and was ready to stamp onto my tag, blow me down if there wasn't a missed bit right where the left eye should be!

After taking some deep breaths, I decided to make a feature of the gap by gluing a Kanban Dew Drop over it- and that looked like a monocle...and I had an "Aha!" moment.

I am a big fan of Dorothy L Sayers's fictional detective, Lord Peter Wimsey, who wore a monocle, so I added a jump ring and a bit of chain, blended in some Distress Tea Dye ink around the edges, stamped around the edge with a Creative Expressions newsprint stamp (second generation ink, Vintage Photo), and stamped "mystery" in the place where the reflections stamp wasn't in quite the right place (I told you this was a series of happy accidents!).  I die-cut the "Lord Peter" from black card using a Quickutz alphabet I've had around for years, and stuck it down using peel-off tape to get the alignment right.  And there we are, as if it were planned.  You won't tell, will you?



Compendium Of Curiosites II - Challenge 26

Two-for-one again.  The challenge set by Linda Ledbetter this week (sponsored by the Funkie Junkie) was to create something using the Crumpled Kraft Suede technique in Tim Holtz's Compendium of Curiosities Volume II, and Hels Sheridan's Sunday Stampers challenge was to make something Autumn related, so that worked out well!


The leaves (cut with Sizzix mini Tattered Leaves dies) and the tag were both treated to the Kraft Suede technique;  the leaves also got a bit of bling by way of some Perfect  brushed on.  The words were stamped with some of the 99p-a-set alphabet stamps I picked up - all so simple, but I hope you like it!

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!

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!

Compendium of Curiosities 2 - Challenge 19

This week we are playing with the Kraft Resist techniques from Tim Holtz's Most Excellent book,  A Compendium of Curiosities, Volume 2.   Normally, the rules of the challenge (set by Linda Ledbetter) forbid us to explain the technique but in this particular case Sir Tim himself has put a video on YouTube! so we can all see how it's done!

 

So here's what I've done with the technique -

 

 

I've been getting my money's worth out of the Sewing Room Alterations die lately;  this time it's come out a bit Moulin Rouge!  The stamps are by Sam Poole (Creative Expressions).  The sentiment says "Why fit in when you were born to stand out" - I'd like a quesion mark at the end of the sentence but you can't always have everything in this life!

Compendium of Curiosities 2, Challenge 18

This week Linda Ledbetter has challenged us to use the Whitewash Stamping technique from Tim Holtz's Compendium of Curiosities Volume II, sponsored by The Funkie Junkie Boutique.

This is actually my second attempt at the technique; version 1 met with a slight accident (I thought I'd put the top back on the tube of glue nice and securely - turns out I was mistaken!)  I used a different stamp and colour palette for the first attempt and snippets of it will probably turn up in future projects.  The stamp I used was a foam stamp designed for home decor.

Sometimes I have a clear idea of how I want a project to look, and sometimes I have no clue of where it will end up.  This was one of the times when I had nothing much in mind.  The background suggested an underwater scene, so I rummaged through my box of bits and found these polymer clay embellishments left over from a previous project.  A bit of gold netting and some Kanban dew drops and there we are!

Compendium of Curiosities, Challenge 17

This week Linda Ledbetter  (sponsored by Simon Says Stamp) has challenged us to get creative with Core'dinations card, as demonstrated in Sir Tim of Holtz's most excellent Compendium of Curiosities Volume II.

 I'm currently learning to tango, so it's not hard to guess where the inspiration for this project comes from!

I chose Mustard Seed Core'dinations card and Ripe Persimmon distress ink for this project.  The  silhouette and the "Tango" was cut on the Cameo.  I got a bit clever when embossing the background and double-embossed it so there's a narrow border around the edge of the Mustard Seed oval.  A black border and a turquoise background to help it "pop" visually ...and the job's a good 'un!

Now what will Linda be challengin us to do next week, I wonder? 

Compendium of Curiosities, Challenge 16

This week Linda Ledbetter has challenged us to make use of the Perfect Pearls Mist technique from Tim Holtz's Compendium of Curiosities Vol 2 (which you really should read if you haven't already!)



This tag came out better than I was expecting almost by accident.  To begin with, I embossed a black tag using a folder that I just liked - there was no plan to it.  Then I used Tim's technique to colour it.  I'd just taken delivery of some Kanban dew drops and wanted to play with them, so I stuck them on - with no idea in my head other than to use my new stuff.  It wasn't until after I'd stamped the dragonflies onto Fantasy Film and stuck them on that I thought, "Hang on, it looks like dragonflies flying over water!"

Of course, if anyone asks, that's what I was aiming for.  You won't tell, will you?

Compendium of Curiosites II - Challenge 15

This week Linda Ledbetter has challenged us to make something using the enamelled metal technique as described in Sir Tim of Holtz's excellent Compendium of Curiosities Volume II (and if you haven't got a copy I recommend purchasing one ASAP if you're a fan of the Grungemeister). 

This turned out to be one of those pieces that went its own way.  I made the playing card using the enamelled metal technique and the rest of the collage was put together from bits in the "this'll come in handy sometime" bag - and for once, they did!

Compendium of Curiosities II - Challenge 14

This week Linda Ledbetter (sponsored by The Funkie Junkie)has challenged us to create something using the Gilded Kraft Glassine technique from Sir Tim of Holtz's Compendium of Curiosities Volume II. 

First challenge - find the Kraft Glassine.  I gilded one piece some time ago that was easy to put my hands on, but where was the rest of the pad?  Nowhere to be found...

In the search for the Kraft Glassine, I discovered some paper I'd coloured with Starburst Stains while on a "get some paper out and throw colour at it" mood, so undaunted, I used that as a subsitute.  The foliage is gilded Kraft Glassine, and I'd intended to colour some in shades of pink.  As that clearly wasn't going to happen, I used the paper I'd re-discovered  to make the roses (from a Spellbinders die) and another sheet for my background.  The frame is faux leather (brown card with gel medium brayered over it) with some peel-off borders.  I know not everyone is a fan of the humble peel-off, but they have their place!

The "Memories" stamp is from Joanna Sheen and the dancer was cut with a Marianne die.

Oh, and when it was all finished I found the Kraft Glassine - isn't that always the way?

Compendium of Curiosities II - Challenge 13

This week Linda Ledbetter (sponsored by Simon Says Stamp) has challenged us to produce something using the "Spritz and Flick" techinique from Sir Tim of Holtz's Compendium of Curiosities Volume 2.  Now, a few bloggings ago I used "Men Are From Mars" as my tag theme, and ever since then I've felt like I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop!  So, at last -

Women are from Venus!

I have a confessionlet to make.  The tag on this one was going to be the "Starry Night" tag for Sunday Stampers last week, only it went a bit wrong.  I'd stamped the stars onto the plain white card in Versamark and put the first layer of colour on, then stamped the swirls and added more colour - and they all just disappeared.  Far from Resistance being Futile, the resist wasn't happening, so rather than throwing good ink after bad the tag went into the "do something with it later" pile and I started work on V2.

As you know, Crafters Never Throw Anything Away.  And Crafting Austerity measures are still in play chez moi, so it occurred to me that I could use the tag as the basis for this week's Studio L3 challenge.  In astrology, Venus's colour is green and her metal is copper.  (Her day is Friday, so very appropriate for a Friday challenge!) I wanted to incorporate the correspondences into my tag, so out came the green distress inks (Peeled Paint and Mowed Lawn, with a touch of Peacock) over the top of the blue that was already on the tag they went, in readiness for the technique.  And, blow me down, the stars and swirls I'd never thought to see again reappeared as if by magic!  I stamped some of Sam Poole's Dress Forms in Cactus Green Staz-On (second generation stamping to get the faded, barely-there look) into the background while I was at it.

The glyph I designed and cut on the Cameo then crackled wirh copper Croco paint, and stamped "Women" and "Venus" on shrink plastic (having to stop now and then to satisfy Craft Supervisor Mysti's demands for head rubs).  A bit of "emerald" (AB hotfix crystals coloured with Promarkers) bling ) and there we are. 

Thanks for visiting!