Wednesday 28 September 2011

New Blog Candy at The Stamp Man!

It's BLOG CANDY TIME again over at The Stamp Man. They are giving away one of their infamous "Old Bags" which were so popular they sold out at the GNPE show. They managed to save this very one especially for this giveaway so hurry over to The Stamp Man and find out how to enter for your chance to win this fabulous "Old Bag"

Tuesday 27 September 2011

Try it on Tuesday Alter it week

This week is another Altered Art week over at Try it on Tuesday and is being sponsored by our good friends at "The Craft Barn". This week the theme is "Childhood Books" So we want you to use your favorite childhood book or story as inspiration for your altered project.

One of my favorite books was Peter Pan. I just loved where they flew over London and especially Tinkerbell so i decided to make a frame out of a book for this picture of Belle dressed as a fairy for halloween one year.
Now I love books so it is hard for me to use real books to cut up for projects but unfortunately one of my old book boxes got wet while in storage so most of them in the box were ruined so I decided to use one for this project. I cut a large hole in the center of the hard cover and then tore layers from the center. the books was then painted with gesso and then acrylic paint. I added stamped maps to the cover as well as some stenciling. The image of Big Ben is a sticker and the houses are stamped and cut out then layered. The butterflies are stamped on pages from the book sprayed with Dylusions inks and then stamped with Tim Holtz papillion stamps and cut out. I also added a bit of doodling and outlines to them. The flowers are from Prima and the buttons, Ribbons and lace are from my stash.

I also added some gold leafing to the Fore-edge of the book.

Now hop on over to the Try it on Tuesday blog to see some more lovely inspiration from or DT as well as a beautiful piece from our Guest Designer Ellie. Be sure to leave a link to The Craft Barn in your post in order to be eligible for the prize draw.


So on another note we got a little visitor today. This is Sophie and she is a foster with us. She is a few month old Australian Shepherd. She is a little sweetie with such a good temperament.

Here she is all worn out from a good play with sunflower. Sunflower was a bit jealous at first until she realized that the little one was not taking her place. Now she is like a mother.


This is not a good picture but she had just woken up. She loves to sleep at my feet in fact she is sleeping on my feet as i write this post.
We had wanted to foster a larger older dog but little Sophie needed a foster home so we decided to take her in. She has 2 other sisters who are also being fostered. One looks just like her and the other is black. They were all rescued from a kill shelter in the south. If you would like more information of Sophie , Her sisters or possibly another dog in need of a forever home please go to Homeless paws website.

Thank for stopping in and hope you have a wonderful day.
Angela

Friday 23 September 2011

New challenge at The Stamp Man

Wow it is hard to believe a fortnight has gone by already since the last challenge at The Stamp Man. There were so many lovely monochromatic projects to look at I am sure it will be hard to choose a winner. Janet has chosen this Fortnights challenge and the theme is "Pears" or "pairs" so there are many ways that could be taken and explored upon. I chose to use "Pears". I started by stamping the edges with The corner stamp from Tim Holtz Urban Tapestry stamp set then Embossing with Obsidian Copper Moon Glow EP. The Branch is made using the tree from Tim Holtz Winter Sketchbook stamp set. I stamped it separately and then colored it in with promarkers and cut out a portion and glued in place on the card. The Pears are cut from napkins in my US Artquest Napkin Collage kit. They are then decoupaged into place. the dimensional leaf was placed on card then cut and adhered to create dimension. For my full materials list and links please see below.
Now Over at The Stamp Man we are also welcoming our newest member to the team...Siobhan at Recovering Stampaholic. Siobhan has been delighting us with her wonderful works of art for some time now in our challenges and we are very pleased to have her as part of our wonderful team. For Siobhan's project and the rest of the teams wonderful works please visit the Stamp Man Challenge Blog where you can also upload your project link and check out the rules. Remember one lucky winner will receive a great GC for The Stamp Man shop. We can't wait to see your takes on the challenge.

Now stepping a little sideways.. Did you happen to notice the lovely flower arrangement behind my card in the photo? If not here it is in full. this was made by my daughter in her first gardening class at her new school. When she signed up for gardening she though dirt, digging, planting and such but it turns out that they are doing flower arranging and didn't she do a lovely job! I am thrilled to have such a beautiful piece to look at each day and for now special occasion to boot. Love it.



As promised here is my materials list for my card:
Tim Holtz Winter Sketchbook stamp set(tree)

Now I shall leave you to go visit The Stamp Man Challenge and see all the other Lovely works of art from our fab team and please be sure to give Siobhan a warm welcome.
Have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by. Angela

Tuesday 20 September 2011

It is an Anything goes week over at Try it on Tuesday and The Theme for the challenge this week is "What a wonderful world" "Louis Armstrong" and if you pop on over there you can hear the song of our inspiration for this weeks challenge.

Now for my project I decided to make a Scrapbook page. I had this lovely picture of Belle and her friends taken on one of our last days together before we left to come back to America. The girls had such a good time as did we so it is a wonderful memory. For my page I used a combination of Basic Grey, Echo Park and MME papers. The letters are from Echo Park and the trinkets are from Bobunny. The lace and ribbon are from my stash.

Now pop on over to the TIOT challenge blog and see what other inspiration the rest of the team has come up with and when you show us your entry be sure to tell us you have created the project you did for this weeks challenge. We look forward to seeing them all.
Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!
Angela

Saturday 17 September 2011

Less is More WK33 Anything goes

The challenge this week over at Less is more is "Anything goes". This week they are trying to get at least 1000 submissions so go ahead over to the Less is more challenge blog and enter. Its fun and easy!
For my card I used Tim Holtz Winter Sketchbook and Urban Tapestry stamps tp create the tree and the little Angel is from Stampotique as well as the sentiment.
Hope you enjoyed stopping by.
Have a wonderful day and thanks for dropping in.
Angela

A little doodle book.

Here is a little bok i made as a pressie. It is made from some chipboard square coasters from Technique Tuesday. I used Dylusions paints for the background and painting of the birds and flowers roughly. The bird stamp is from Stampotique.
Here is the first set of pages. It is a little journaling book. This stamp was Stampendous.
And some more pages using Stampendous stamp and some Stamping up images.
Here the little birdies are colored in using Promarkers.
And the back page of the book ....
I sent this out this past week as a little pressie for someone. Hope they like it when they receive it. Now off to work and then maybe i will get a little crafting time later.

Have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping in. Angela

SDC 38 - Black White and a hint of colour

Finally some time to do a bit of crafting even if it is not in a nice neat organised room. With all the running, working and yest still unpacking lately it has been very hard to find some crafting time but I did manage to spare a bit of time today and complete this card for the Stampotique Designers Challenge #38. This challenge was to use Black, White and a bit of color. I recently got my order of stamps from Stampotique so I could not wait to use them. This was one I had purchased. Isn't it fab. I have to say also that they are one of the nicest companies I have bought from. Very attentive and on top of any issues.
So for my card I used my Stampotique beach girls stamp by Janet Klein inked in black archival and stamped onto white card. I then inked the edges, added Rock candy Distress Crackle paint and inked over with black soot trying to make it look like an old photo. The background is Mustard Seed Distress ink through a Crafters companion template then brushed with bits of white paint here and there. I used the yellow dot because the stamp remins me of the song itsy bitsy...... The cow is from my stash and the shells are also from my stash. I am entering this into the SDC38 challenge.
the weather has finally turned cooler here so hopefully it will be a bit easier to get more stuff on the house done and in turn have a little more crafting time. We shall see. One can dream right?
Thanks for stopping in and have a wonderful day. Angela

Tuesday 13 September 2011

Try it on Tuesday Tag week

Its a tag week again over at Try it on Tuesday and this week the theme is to use a stamp you have had a long time but maybe never have used. There has got to be something in your stamp stash that is begging to be played with so drag it out, dust it off and get stamping. For my tag I chose to use some old Close to my heart clear stamps I have had forever. The set is called Blue Jeans. As you can see below they are nice and clean and even starting to yellow on the edges a bit.

I also used Close to My Heart Sunflower Garden clear stamps inked on white card and cut out to fill the pockets. Hope you like it.

Now wait till you see all the other great inspiration out DT has conjured up for you. We even have 2 guest designers this week so be sure to check it all out on the Try it on Tuesday challenge blog. then leave a link to your creation. I bet it will be wonderful.

The unpacking update........
On another not the unpacking is getting a bit better. We really tore into it this weekend. This is my craft room now. It still needs more work but at least it is usable. And not a minute too soon as Belle had to get to work on her school project this weekend.

Our desks still face each other but there seems to be less room. I think I liked the old longer room better. Here is Entrance of course yo can see that there are still boxes in the hall to work on. The closet is filled with material and sewing bits from my Mums old house. When she passed away I inherited it all but never went through the totes till now. When i unpacked them I found tons of materials and sewing notions. The table next to the closet will become the sewing table one we find room for everything else. My old green hutch is now being used to house my altered project materials. they seem to have multiplied. The stickles also sit on top.
And some of my stamps have found a new home on some shelves on the other side of the room. See those little boxes there on the right side of the middle shelf. They are great. I got them from Michelle and Janet at Lovin Ink. Each one hold a set or coordinating unmounted stamps. They are really great for storing them.
Hope you enjoyed the mini tour. It is not what it used to be but it will get there once I finish organising and setting it up I am just happy to be able to use it now.

Don't forget to check out the Try it on Tuesday challenge this week. Thanks for stopping in and have a wonderful day. Angela

Friday 9 September 2011

New Stamp Man Challenge and stuck in a sea of boxes...

If you are hear looking for the Art from the heart post to collect your letter click here.

The new challenge theme over at The Stamp Man is "monochrome" Not just Black and White but white and one other colour you love to use. I chose to use Brown with white. I used Aspects of Design Butterfly Botanical stamp to stamp the main image using Tim Holtz Distress ink in Walnut. I stamped of the images and coloured in the second using Tim Holtz Distress inks - Walnut stain, Vintage Photo, Brushed Corduroy and Frayed Burlap. Which I then cut out and layered on the first. Then I roughed the edge a little and inked it with Walnut Distress ink. The backgound is done using Aspects of Design Antique backgrounds Mesh stamp inked up with Vintage Photo Distress ink. I added the Sheer gold trimmed ribbon. Finally the butterfly is finished off with Distress Stickles - Brushed Corduroy although it is very hard to see with the lighting.

Now you will definitely want to go head on over to the Stamp Man blog and check out the wonderful inspirations my team mates have come up with. then link yours up so we can stop by and check it out. one lucky winner will get a GC to The Stamp Man.


On another note, For anyone who has been following my moving adventure we finally received our container and all our boxes last week just as we were heading off on a mini holiday to visit family. So of course all the unpacking work was waiting for us this week when we returned. There were so many boxes it was hard to even move around the house. Especially since we still had some old furniture there that had been in storage as well as some of my older craft supplies also from storage. Well I began to open and unpack the boxes this week and I feel as if they are multiplying before my eyes. Can they do that?? This is a picture of my new craft room as I began unpacking them.

Sorry I could not get more but you can not even move in there enough to take a good picture. Of course i still have to complete some projects in all the mess so as you can see I have a small work station that looks like a cyclone hit it. It is driving me crazy to say the least.
Below is a picture of the room at the start of Day 2. Many of the boxes have been unpacked but where oh where to put everything. What a mess but at least you can move a bit.


By the end of day 2 it is not as bad although there is still a ways to go. I will try to get some more pics tomorrow of the progress. Slow and steady......Where is my magic genie that can just snap his fingers and put it all back into place. Does anyone have one i can borrow????Please....Just for a day.... LOL

So with that little update I will now leave you to return to my sea of boxes and unpacking. If I do not resurface in a few days please send in a rescue crew to retrieve me. .... ..... Just kidding it's really not that bad.
Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful evening. Angela

Tuesday 6 September 2011

Its card week at Try it on Tuesday....

If you are looking for The Art from the Heart Celebration blog hop click here.


It's card week again at Try it on Tuesday and we are once again sponsored by the wonderful One Stop Card Crafts. This weeks them at Try it on Tuesday is Monochrome which means your card must have shades of one colour no more. We also have the wonderfully talented Sue joining us as a Guest Designer. So be sure to stop by and drop her a little hello.
Now for my card I used Green as my color. The branches and leaves are done using Tim Holtz winter and Urban Tapestry stamp sets. the Girl and Sentiment are from Stampotique. I used Shades of black for the coloring of the girl and trees with my promarkers. I also used Several shades of Green Distress inks for the leaves. The sentiment is stamped on the bow using Stazon black. Hope it helps to inspire you for this weeks challenge.
Now its your turn to hop on over to the Try it on Tuesday Blog and check out the wonderful cards created by the rest of the DT as well as our guest designer Sue. We are looking forward to seeing all the wonderful cards you will come up with.

************************Post Update*******************************
I guess I was a bit tired last night when I created my project and posted and just realized after reading it that I did a boo boo. I for some reason thought Monochomatic could include Black, White and One colour but it is the Various shades of one colour that makes it Monochrome not all 3 together. My oops. See what all the unpacking of boxes is doing to me. My mind has been scrambled lately, My bad. I will repost another card later today. So Sorry. Angela
*******************************************************************

We had a really nice visit with family this week. Here is a picture of Belle feeding the humming birds. They are so amazing as they are constantly buzzing all around you while you sit out on the porch. They are so beautiful. We also got to see my little nephew again. He is getting so big and my brother is so good with him. Little Al just laughs all the time with his dad. So precious.



Here you can see the hummer in the bottom left corner flying up to take a nip from the feeder.

And with that I will leave you to go check out the rest of the inspiration on the TIOT blog While I go unpack some more boxes. I cannot wait to be all unpacked. My craft room is a shambles of boxes and it is driving me insane......
Thanks for stopping in and have a beautiful day. Angela

Saturday 3 September 2011

Time for some celebrating!

Welcome to a very exciting blog hop in Celebration of 10 years of Art from the Heart!


Lots of exciting things happening at Art from the Heart next weekend where the big birthday bash is happening. Want to know more then do click here .

So in Celebration of the upcoming event we are having 5 birthday blog hops.
You should have reached my blog from Gabrielle's and are on the Ranger hop

So here is my project - A Bouquet of flowers in an altered watering can. I figured it had to be something festive enough for a celebration.


And here is a closeup of the flowers...Each is multiple layers of stamped/sprayed gloss paper and sprayed tissue scrunched and heated then finished with a Stickle center. The base is layered with White paint, Crackle, and various stains to create a aged effect.
I used
For the base:
For the Flowers:
Tissue Paper
Brads
The Bow is also colored using Fired Brick Distress ink.



Now before you move on - you will need to collect a letter from me which is
T
This is part of an anagram of a Ranger product
Once you get back to Dys blog please email your answer to Ben by 6pm Sunday September 11.

So after leaving me a comment you need to move on to

Have fun hopping and good luck!
Angela


Friday 2 September 2011

A new project

This is a project I did but it wound up being an oops one as I used the wrong materials. So I figured I would share anyway. It is a birthday cake made entirely of UTEE and tissue paper with a touch of Stickles.
Here is a closeup. The base is done by pouring melted UTEE mixed with Flex on top of Tissue paper stamped with Wendy Vecchi's stamps and TH Distress inks. The pieces are then trimmed while still warm and rounded into place. The trim is added using Stickles and white liquid pearls. The tissue paper flowers are made using TH Alterations Tattered florals die(smallest flower) and the white flowers are melted Seafoam white EP dropped onto a non-stick mat. The stars are also Seafoam white EP drizzled onto the mat to dry. the top white flower in the center is made from wire dipped into Clear UTEE, Seafoam White EP and Flex mixture heated in melting pot. I really had alot of fun making it. Hope you enjoy.
Now I am off to visit with my Dad. We have not seen him in months so it will be a nice trip. We also get to see baby AC tomorrow I am sure he is getting so big. I cannot wait.
Thanks for stopping in and have a wonderful day. Angela

Thursday 1 September 2011

New ATC theme over at The Stamp Man

The new ATC theme is up over at The Stamp Man ATC blog and it is "In the Garden". How can you go wrong with this theme. There are so many things to inspire all around this time of the year. I chose to stick with flowers and Butterflies and fav of mine. Hope it has inspired you to join us this month. You can view the full swap details and some more inspiration from some of my teamies over at The Stamp Man ATC blog. Hope to see you there.

Update on the move- All our belongings arrived safely from England with only minor issues. At least there was no water damages. A big relief. Now we have to begin the task of unpacking and setting up house. In the mean time we are in a sea of boxes. One day at a time.

Thanks for stopping in and Have a wonderful day. Angela