Monday 28 April 2014

A Mini Tag Card



My little tag cards are made with 10x10cm card scored, folded and cut as appropriate to create a little insert inside for a message or gift.
 The card is stamped on both sides with a hardwood stamp and the butterflies stamped with script, embossed with woodgrain and inked. The 2 little messages are stamped and edged in the same colour as the butterflies.



I would like to enter into:

Saturday 26 April 2014

Spring Flowers Hanging



At A Vintage Journey the current challenge is Spring Flowers, inspired by Tim Holtz. I have used some ATC wooden pieces acquired at the NEC and decided to make a little hanging piece.
My Tim influences on this project include the backgrounds, the flowers (most!) and the used of salvage stickers and other idea-ology bits.


Backgrounds 1 and 3 were created using the marbling effect with Distress Paints. I just kept going until I was happy with the outcome using blues and greens. I then added yellow Distress Ink.
In No 3 I added some reeds on tissue paper and also some additional flowers stamped with Picket Fence Distress Paint - I love this effect - so soft and subtle!)



Background 2 was using Distress Crackle paint, with DI's and some treasure gold added once dry and all cracked!

The flowers on No 2 were made using frosted film on acetate, coloured with alcohol inks and then heated and manipulated to create dimension.






My blue flowers on No 3 were Tims Tattered florals, coloured and distressed with DI's. The little green one is my attempt to make his pine cone flower but without the pine cone die! I just cut a piece of card and went for it .... (could do better...!)

On No 3 I cheated and took some Prima flowers and coloured with Distress Stains.


Lots of bits added and printed the lovely Indian Proverb on my PC. Mounted on some Jute ribbon and tied a painted piece of driftwood to the top.

I would also like to enter:
Brown Sugar - Anything Goes
Eclectic Paperie - ePlay - Wood

Country View Challenges - New Beginnings
My little hanging includes that lovely Indian Proverb - planting a new seed today, produces a new flower tomorrow - (not literally obviously!) - Each Day a New Beginning....

and of course - the fantastic new Compendium of Curiousities Challenge started today - based on Volume III. The technique in focus is marbling with DP's - which I have included on 2 of the panels.
Great prizes to be won included 50 dollars from Inspiration Emporium!

Hope you like it!

Nikki xxx

Monday 21 April 2014

Flowers and Butterfly Tag



Another of my brick tags! This time just distress inks on the tag through the stencil with edges distressed too. I added some trellis and die cut leaves, stamped 3 butterflies, then decided to punch some other butterflies to go over the top. These were on some text cardstock inked with walnut stain and aged mahogony. My flowers are a mixed bunch - one made ages ago and covered in UTEE, the others from Tim Holtz dies and inked and distressed with different colours.

Nikki xx

I would like to enter into:
Make My Monday - Distress It and
Anything but a card - Spring Forward
Get Inky - Paper Wings Productions

Friday 18 April 2014

Pink - me!?




Hi everyone, hope you are having a good Easter weekend.

Over at Clarity it's a monochrome challenge and somehow I have gone all pink!
At the Artistic Stamper the challenge is Texture and Embossing.
It's Anything goes at Addicted to Stamps, Crafty Hands and Everybody Art.

I painted my tag with some acrylics and chalk paint. I used the Clarity Brick stencil to create my background wall using grunge paste. I added various red tones of Distress inks and also gilding wax to highlight the texture. Also added a bit more brick just with the inks and also stamped some of the little Clarity birds to finish the background.

I stamped and clear embossed the Clarity Edelweiss and bird from the journalling set and coloured with waterbrush and DI's. Then cut them out. I stamped the Clarity Today phrase and cut out the 'vision of hope' and 'a dream of happiness' rather than use the whole sentiment as I wanted the butterfly as my main feature.

The base layer of the butterfly was stamped and coloured directly onto the tag. I then used alcohol inks and glitter to colour some acetate (there is a name for this process but cant remember it!). I stamped the Clarity butterly, embossed and cut it out, shaped it a little before adding to the tag.

I died some prima flowers and material scraps to to finish my project.

Nikki xx


Wednesday 16 April 2014

Gelli Plate Card


I thought I would use some of the gelli plate prints I have been playing with. This was created with template shapes (circles and frames) and blues and lilac/purple acrylics.
My butterflies were stamped and embossed with purple embossing powder. The large ones on white card and one coloured in with blue ink with a waterbrush. The smaller one was stamped on blue card and then Picket fence DS added.
Mounted on blue card and a sentiment (edged with DI's) and little dots (cant remember what they are called sorry!) to finish.

I would like to enter:
That's Crafty - You spin me round
Paper Artsy - the bold shapes are Ellen Vargo like
Simon Says Stamp - Winged things

Back to work now....
Nikki

Tuesday 15 April 2014

Change or Truth - Craft Barn Q&L



Happy Tuesday!

Here is a little card I had half made using some Clarity stamps. I noticed the Craft Barn Q&L challenge so thought I would finish it.

The foreground background (if you know what I mean) is ink stencilling - with the butterfly masked off. I then masked the opposite and stamped text into the butterfly shape. Flowers and the quote were added before my dimensional butterfly offset slightly with some additional shading.

I have mounted this on a gelli plate print.

Nikki x




Monday 14 April 2014

More playing with beads...


Just a quick post....
Another beady play! Trying out different techniques and textures etc.
Try it on Tuesday  - Lets see some Beads!


Beads and Butterflies



It is sunny and it's the first photograph I have taken outside for my blog - the light is so much better...

I started my tag with my brick stencil - I love this! Lots of different reds and browns to create my garden wall. A little stamping with Picket fence DP - not sure this shows up well and then some bolder stamping for the grasses and sentiment using various inks.

The little butterflies were stamped and edged, one having glossy accents added before the beads.

I distressed the tag edges and and mounted in some corrugated cardboard I had cut to size and distressed with ink and weathered embossing powder.  Beads are not my normal style - but thats one of the challenges I would like to enter:

Try it on a Tuesday - Beads
Frilly and Funkie - Flights of Fancy - my little butterflies hoping fit the bill.
Simon Says Stamp Monday - Winged Things
Fashionable Stamper - Favourite Technique - my technique is the garden wall background using my stencil, which I love creating - I have 3 more tags on the go!

A couple more photos:


Hope you enjoy it
Nikki x

Thursday 10 April 2014

Message in a Bottle





Saw 2 challenges I thought I would combine!
It's With a Song in your Heart at Our Creative Corner and Bottles at Craft Stamper (Take it Make It Challenge).
For the first time I am entering Altered Eclectics.
There is a lot of altered art at Paperartsy so this seems appropriate.

Its the Police - Message in a Bottle - oooh that takes me back!


The message in the bottle left empty for a personal sentiment

My bottle rests on some driftwood - messages in bottles are normally in the sea

Update ..... forgot to say - the bottle is an old soap bottle, painted with Paperartsy chalk paints, stamped with a brick stamp (cant remember make) and then the Clarity stamp edelweiss flower - these were then coloured with wink of stella pens. My butterflies were just punched and coloured with Di's. I added a little frantage emb powder around the top. My sentiment is done on word and printed onto photocopier paper and then distessed.

Thats all for now
Nikki
xx

Wednesday 9 April 2014

oooh Paris!


Over at a Vintage Journey the current theme is A Little Bit French. Had fun making this and adapting what I had to fit the theme. Not sure how 'Tim' it is but made little flags as embellishments and a French flag style background...

Over at Simon Says stamp its Journey , at VSC its Anything Goes and at the Kraft Journal its Paris or France.

Thursday 3 April 2014

Wish


A  little wall hanging - about 7'' square. Lots of stencilling and stamping in the background to create the walled garden. All done on the back of a cereal box!

Here's a few more photos:


Sugar Creek Hollow's latest challenge is Make your own background  - I will enter for the first time.
Over at Creative Moments its Anything Goes . Option with Wings!