Making time

Hello and welcome (back) to Words and Pictures.  A bit of insomniac creativity for you today - and I'm really going to try to keep it short and sweet...

I mentioned before that I'm getting ready for my brother's wedding: my main task is to create a wedding venue out of a scout hut - it's quite an undertaking (including various bits of craftiness, which I'll let you see after it's all over), and I have to admit it's giving me some sleepless nights at the moment - will I have everything ready in time, and will it work?!  So at 4am this morning, rather than lie there fretting about it, I got up to take my mind off it all in the best way I know how at the moment... I did some crafting!

I'm getting closer to my first Guest Design spot (it's for Top Tip Tuesday), and that's also been causing me some concern. Let's just say it's a challenge that's not exactly in my comfort zone... so the first thing I did at 4am was work through some potential ideas that had been swarming in my brain.  You'll get to see the results very soon.

Then I came up with this - I guess it's pretty clear where my brain was at!

It's on a tag handcut in chipboard to the dimensions of the large tag on the Tim Holtz die (which I haven't got), so it's good and sturdy.

I'd had the stripes nagging at me since unpacking when, by chance, a bunch of scraps and offcut papers ended up lying next to each other while I was putting things away.  I glanced at them and thought that actually they should be allowed to stay together.

There's a ruler from TH Crowded Attic, some DCWV Tattered Time, some TH tissue tape which I'd backed onto tissue paper, a touch of the Simple Stories Documented collection, and some bits and pieces from the 7 Gypsies Conservatory collection... talk about mix and match!

Once I'd worked out the order and stuck them in place, they all got a coat of Picket Fence Distress Stain for that lovely muted look, and a bit of Walnut Stain distressing at the edges.




The Weathered Clock is die cut on fairly sturdy chipboard too, for strength, but also to get a bit more dimensionality to it.

It's covered with the 7 Gypsies paper, and the edges are done with Walnut Stain.  I had to use a cotton bud to apply the ink, rather than the blending tool, for the narrow gaps between Roman numerals.

The hands of the clock are secured with an Idea-ology long fastener, and they're set to the time I woke up!!

The words are stamped, edged, and mounted on some padded tape to lift them away from the surface of the stripes.



There's some more TH tissue tape, this time from the Nostalgic set (backed on to tissue paper and tinted with Walnut Stain), forming the ribbon at the top of the tag, and I also added some simple, natural twine.

I really enjoy the gentle neutrals playing off each other... I think I needed something calming given the time of day and lack of sleep - lime green and neon orange wouldn't have been comfortable to work with!



Okay, it's back to the wedding prep; no rest for the wicked - though I do hope there'll be a bit more rest tonight.  Much as I love crafting, I'm quite fond of sleeping too...

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I hope that you find time to do all the things you love - and remember, if you're having trouble fitting everything in, you can always make time by getting up at 4am!






I'm entering this in the following:
The Time challenge at Vienna Impressions Inspirations
The Shabby Tea Room who are offering a lovely photo prompt, which you can see here on the right, and an invitation to use Soft Neutrals
I'm just in time, I hope, for the Crazy Amigos challenge Dies and Punches
Sugar Creek Hollow are playing Something Old, Something New (from your craft stash, that is), and given that I made this project to escape for a while from wedding preparations, it seems appropriate to join in!  The 7 Gypsies Conservatory collection was the first set of papers I bought for my stash, early this year when this whole thing began for me.  And the 'ribbon' is made from one of the latest additions, a part-roll of one of the Nostalgic set of Tim Holtz tissue tapes, part of a lot I won on ebay while away, and have just enjoyed unpacking and playing with for the first time.

So little time and so little to do.
Oscar Levant
Yeah... if only, Oscar!!



Just a little something I wanted to share - if you've never come across Calvin Nicholls Paper Sculptures, do go and have a look.  I sat looking at them in awe, jaw hanging.  Here's a little taster... unbelievable papercrafting!