Bonus Butterflies

Hello and welcome all!  

It's absolutely brilliant how excited everyone is about A Vintage Journey (me too), and we've a little bonus over there for you all today.  

Every other Friday will usually be our winner's post, but since we haven't even completed the first challenge (Anything Tim, as if you needed reminding), there obviously isn't a winner to announce yet.

So Brenda thought it would be nice to offer you some "bonus tags", Tim-influenced of course - so you'll find offerings from some of my team-mates over at A Vintage Journey today, and here's mine.  

Before we start, though, I just wanted to put in a quick plug for my PaperHeartsy canvas over at PaperArtsy last night.  Busy schedules meant the sneak peek put in only a very brief appearance here at Words and Pictures - so if you blinked you might have missed it!

I love getting messy with mixed media, lots of texture and techniques, and I sometimes forget the pure joy that comes from just some simple inking and stamping - especially when that inking is Distress.

So for this tag, I simply got inky and stampy... 









It was a chance to play with some of my new goodies - stamps from the new Classics #17 release, and one of the new Tim Holtz stencils, the Latticework.

I inked up the tag with Scattered Straw, Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint and Peacock Feathers, layering them up until I was happy.











Then some spritzing and flicking to create that lovely water drop texture...

More inking, this time using the Latticework stencil as well as the Dot Fade.












I stamped the large butterfly stamp in Olive Archival, and then again on some leftover packaging acetate using Staz-On Olive, in an echo of one of my favourite Tim tags from last year.




 







I cut around that second one, and used a heat-tool to give some shape to the wings.  An Idea-ology pen nib, with a touch of Antique Linen Distress Paint, got pressed into use as the body.












I used one of my favourite TH flourishes along the bottom, and added the sentiment embossed in Vanilla White.  











And I flicked some Antique Linen Distress Paint around the place too...















And then, since I had them sitting there anyway, I decided to cut out the two tiny butterflies from the acetate stamping too, and after a little heat-gun moulding action I glued them down around the quote.













Crinkle Ribbon and Paper String finish the whole thing off at the top...












... and the Paper Distresser has been in action around the edges.

Pretty simple, but oh so much fun to make, and I really like the dappled sunlit look of the end result.

Do hop over to A Vintage Journey to see the tags my team-mates have been creating - you won't be disappointed! - and a fortnight from now we'll be back to reveal the very first A Vintage Journey winner...  You've got to be in it to win it, so come and play Anything Tim!  

And don't forget we're looking for one more DT member to make up a Travelling Twelve... all details are in the challenge post.

Well, I must endure the presence of a few caterpillars if I wish to become acquainted with the butterflies.
From The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry





I'd like to enter this in D is for Distress over at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.
And they're looking for A Splash of Colour at the Inspiration Journal sponsored by the Inspiration Emporium.
Over at the Stampotique Designers Challenge they're playing with Green so I'm off to play there too.

Merry November!

Hello everyone!  November?  Yup, it's November - how did that happen?!  And not just that, but it's a Christmas challenge this month over at The Artistic Stamper, so we've got a Christmassy start to November here at Words and Pictures.

Hop over and see what some of my brilliant team-mates have been up to... and here's my little bit of inspiration for you:

For all that I prefer not to do Christmas too early, I did have a wonderful time playing with the Victorian Christmas stamps from Artistic Stamper - such lovely vintage images... and I also got my first chance to get inky with the new Artistic Stamper masks - very cool!

And my Christmas neutrals have finally given in to a touch of traditional colour too.

I started with smooshing the tags into some ink - Antique Linen, Picket Fence and Pumice Stone Distress Stains...








 ... with a hint of sparkle from some Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls spritzed onto the mat too.









Next, some inking - plenty of Vintage Photo... probably still my favourite brown - though I do like adding a touch of extra richness with Gathered Twigs these days.



Here come the layers (click on the photos for a closer look):

Some Antique Linen blended through the yummy Splats and Swirls mask.

Some Pumice Stone through the fabulous Chevrons.

And Pumice Stone again, used this time to stamp the Seasons Greetings (lovely delicate flourishy font) from Christmas Greetings #1 as background texture.

Then it was on to the stamping - mainly done in Potting Soil - and using images from Victorian Christmas sets #2 and #3.















Once stamped, I used a white pencil to highlight beards and snowfall (according to the relevant requirement!).















I love that both these Father Christmases look as though they enjoy a festive tipple!








I decided to add some vintage crackle, so it was out with the Rock Candy Crackle Paint to highlight a few areas.  It also gives a deeper richness to the colour of the inks underneath it, as well as that fabulous texture and glossiness.

I love the magic of crackle effects - here it's still not quite fully dry in places... you can see where the crackle has yet to creep across the smooth glossy surface.

The finishing touches are really all courtesy of the lovely Nicola at Paper Profusion.  (If you've never seen her beautiful work, it's well worth popping over to take a look.)  She won my candy back in the summer, and said she wanted to send me a little thank you for it.










I was absolutely blown away by the amazing package of goodies which arrived - including these lovely Christmas berries and branches, as well as the delicate fine twine and many, many other delights.

I added the Idea-ology trinket pins to the mix, and then realised that there really needed to be some colour elsewhere on the tags too.

So I got out a few Fresco paint colours and used a very fine paintbrush to add some colour detailing to the berries and leaves on the corner flourishes and on the Merry Christmas greetings.












And since they're all "natural" colours, I almost feel as though I haven't departed from my "neutrals at Christmas" kick at all!












Thanks so much for stopping by today.  Shakespeare and disrupted train journeys have kept me away from my computer and my craft desk more than I'd've liked this week, so I still haven't caught up with Craftyblogland - bah, humbug!  

The time will come...












In the meantime, I do hope you'll find time to hop over and see what my team-mates have been up to, and that you'll be inspired to join in with the Christmas challenge this month over at The Artistic Stamper.  

Look forward to seeing you there!









The mistletoe hung in the castle hall,
The holly branch shone on the old oak wall.
From The Mistletoe Bough by Thomas Haynes Bayly

When we recall Christmas past, we usually find that the simplest things - not the great occasions - give off the greatest glow of happiness.
Bob Hope

The main reason Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live.
George Carlin

Live in the moment...

Hello all!  Well, we've got a lovely interval of sunshine in between the tempestuous winds so I dashed outside to grab some photos of my first make in my new craft space.  

Guess what?  It's a tag.  

Oh... and anyone who was concerned that I ought to bring some ivy with me from the old house, you can relax, as you can see!

I've got a heavy (but probably very enjoyable) work week coming up, so I haven't been able to get my head round any complicated crafty projects (though there are several brewing in the darker recesses of my mind!), but I had to break in the new room, and here's what arrived.

I also promised you some pictures of the glass cabinet - still empty when I showed you the room - doing its proper job of displaying something, so if you scroll down you'll find a few pictures of that too...

This tag started with a background of Distress Paints - Salty Ocean, Picket Fence and a touch of Broken China - sponged on using a natural sponge.  I think it gives a lovely fluffy cloud sky effect.

The sentiment is definitely one to live by, I think.












I added multiple stampings of some of the Tim Holtz meadow flowers, from the small size sets, stamping in Sepia and Coffee Archival inks.












I added some tiny heads of blossom around the place using the Inkssentials white gel pen.














Around the bottom of the tag I used Potting Soil to stamp the little texture stamp to give a real sense of the earthy undergrowth.













I used the same texture stamp, stamping in Broken China, around the edges of the sky for a bit more depth.














The birds were stamped in Black Archival, and then the white pen went into action again to add some feathery detailing - the only thing I'm in two minds about here - I loved them in plain black too.












I added a tiny shadow of Vintage Photo for definition, and then some distressing with the paper distresser around the edges.












A natural topping of raffia and very fine twine, and we're done.








So, on to the display case...

I actually feel a bit uncomfortable having my stuff out on display for some reason (though I can see it's a pity to have it huddled on shelves and in boxes as it has been)... 

... but the rest of my family all love how it looks in the glass cabinet, so I've yielded... 

... and probably reluctantly accept their verdict! 






















Besides, it was interesting to see what made the cut as far as I was concerned (there's still a fair amount in boxes!)...
















... and it's also really nice to have a visible record of previous work to remind me of ideas and techniques I'd already forgotten about!














Sorry about the reflections in the glass.















I also took a few with the doors open so that you can see what's in there better.













(Remember you can click on the pictures for close-ups if you're curious.)

Not much doubt about my favourite colour palettes...

















Or my tendency to work in threes!













It'll be a quietish week here at Words and Pictures as I'm going to be hurtling up and down to London delivering workshops for my "day job", but I'm planning to fit some blog-visiting around the edges so I hope to see you soon.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a lovely Sunday!  

I'm off to enjoy some more moments...

Forever is composed of nows.
Emily Dickinson

You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Fools stand on their island of opportunities and look toward another land. There is no other land; there is no other life but this.
Henry David Thoreau

“What day is it?"
It's today," squeaked Piglet.
My favourite day," said Pooh.”
A.A. Milne

Earn Your Stripes

Good grief (Charlie Brown), it's busy here at Words and Pictures this week!  I'm just squeezing in my DT post for the new challenge at Fun With ATCs between PaperArtsy projects.  I hope you've enjoyed Projects One and Two so far - number Three will appear later today.

But first of all it's time to invite you to come and play with our new Fun With ATCs challenge theme: Stripes (I told you it was busy!).  

Remember, Artist Trading Card size projects only, please - that's 2.5 x 3.5 inches.  And here's my stripy offering for you...

I originally set off in a completely different direction with this.  Here's the quick proof...






Stripey kraft glassine, run through a stripey embossing folder...






Stripey Tim Holtz stencil, overlaid with Artistic Outpost stripey ticking stamp from the Kudzu Kafe set...







But I was thinking too hard, and then I got completely stuck, so I abandoned all that for another day and another project.








Instead, I grabbed some tissue tape and just let what wanted to happen happen.




It's just such lovely stuff - easy to work with, so pretty, and it does most of the work for you.  I just laid down some strips of it onto a piece of 2.5 x 3.5 cardstock, and there you have them: stripes!

You know what?  I was pretty tempted to just leave it there!

But no, I reached for the Fresco Snowflake, and whitewashed it.  I usually just put a blob of paint on the craft mat, give it a quick spritz of water and then mix that direct on the paintbrush and onto the project.

Then I remembered I had some lovely Kaisercraft lace, quite narrow, which would work nicely as textural and dimensional stripes, so I grabbed a few pieces of that.

You get five different styles within one pack - pretty handy.

And then, although there are already plenty of words going on within the tissue tape, I thought we should really have some more prominent ones.

So I found myself a nice wide Tim Holtz sentiment - not too tall either - that could be another "stripe" within my ATC.  













I distressed the edges with the Tim Holtz paper distresser, and that was really pretty much that.  

Simple, stripey, and it really makes me happy!

I hope you'll have time to pop over to Fun With ATCs and see the lovely inspiration from my fabulous team-mates, and - even better - I hope you'll have time to play along with our Stripes challenge this fortnight.








I'll be back at 7pm today with my third and final PaperArtsy post for September.  It would be wonderful to see you then.

Oh... and I nearly forgot: since it's Tuesday, I'm over at Artistic Outpost today too.  I think I need a lie-down!

Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.
Marcus Aurelius

The fact that we live at the bottom of a deep gravity well, on the surface of a gas covered planet going around a nuclear fireball 90 million miles away and think this to be normal is obviously some indication of how skewed our perspective tends to be.
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