First Design Team Project for A Vintage Journey

I am very excited to have been invited to join the Design Team at A Vintage Journey for a short time, covering a couple of the permanent DT's holidays etc. What an honour - such a talented team and such a great blog - focussing on the techniques, style and products of Tim Holtz.

The new challenge is Fond Memories - please do hop over to the blog to see the fantastic work of the rest of the Design Team - and don't forget it's all about the influence of Tim Holtz. You can find more guidance on the challenge rules here.

For my project I decided to focus on childhood and school day memories (oh those days of freedom and no work!) - and alter a little burlap panel using tissue wrap and distress paints. There is an example of this in Tim's latest Compendium of Curiosities if you are interested.

I used matt medium to secure some tissue wrap (with memories text on it) to the panel. Once dry I used my finger to blend in several DP's.
I added some remnant rubs (having already planned where my other bits were going).












I also distress tinted an old photo of me as a child. Tim uses distress inks and markers for this - I just used distress inks, as I didn't want to add too much colour. I mounted my little photo on a piece of distressed kraft card and added some little brads and jute twine.

I cut out and inked the edges of some school day bits from my Crowded Attic paper stash - the perfect attendance record, student note book, times table and some rulers.

Finally I added some chit chat stickers and a game spinner, which I had altered with a combination of Fired Brick DP and frantage embossing enamel. Finally I needed a little more Fired Brick DP round the edges of my burlap panel to give it a little more definition and framing.

Thanks for looking and don't forget to check out the other projects over at A Vintage Journey. 

Nikki xx

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:

Try it on Tuesday (More than one fold - there are 3!) and

Fashionable Stamping Challenge - Flying Things

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

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

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

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

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