Gone Crazy!

Okay, okay, I admit it, I caved... I bought the Bird Crazy stamp set!  Well, it just looked like everyone was having such fun with it.  And I've been having fun with it too, even though it may not be in my usual vein.

I do love to watercolour with Distress Inks but I don't have many blueprints, so when Tim's new inspiration tag for July popped up, I thought I should go a bit Bird Crazy and here's the result. (Also, we're not so much for the 4th July this side of the pond!!)

I won't go through the how-to with you.  You'd do far better to hop over and check out Tim's fantastic tag and instructions.

But, as is my wont here at Words and Pictures, I've got a few close-ups to share with you nonetheless.

As well as the crazy birds, I've been playing with some of the new Distress colours for this tag.  All those blues and greens - I'm a happy woman, and now impatiently awaiting the arrival of the new Blueprint Sketch colour in the UK.  







For now it's a combination of new and old.

We have Faded Jeans, Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn, Peeled Paint, Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Shabby Shutters and Mermaid Lagoon all putting in an appearance... 










... not to mention the Frayed Burlap for shading.  (Oh, and I used Hickory Smoke for my stitching - hickory stitching!)

Since the birds are fairly large, I've ended up working on one of the jumbo, jumbo tags, 10.5 x 5 inches in size.









It's covered with one of the text papers from the Wallflower set.  I started out with a very full-on background from Lost and Found, but decided I'd rather let the watercolouring take centre stage.

The micro-glaze is fabulous stuff.  I nabbed some as soon as it was released, but this was really my first chance to have a play with it.  As you know, life's been a bit busy!










Happily I was able to find lots of winged words amongst the Small Talk stickers...














... one for each of our nervous flyers.















Perhaps they will take flight one of these days!














If they decide to, there are some metal wings to help them out, altered with Mushroom alcohol ink, which means they tone in with the Frayed Burlap beautifully.











I had a ball creating the stripy ribbon.  We're on blues and greens again, I'm afraid, but with such limited time at the craft table, I'm afraid I'm leaning to my favourites rather than experimenting when I do get there.

Oh, one more thing - it's not actual stitching (sewing machines and I continue on terms of enmity), but uses the stitching wheel recommended by the lovely Jenny of Pushing the Right Buttons. Then you just join up the holes with a pen.  Much easier!


You can just about see the gleam of the Glossy Accents applied to their eyes in the photos below...

There's a flurry of posts coming your way over the next few days, starting with a VERY exciting one later today (and back in a more vintage style), but I wanted to sneak this in.

It'll probably get lost in the rush, but so be it.  I had great fun making it and I wanted to share it right away.  I had such a lovely time watercolouring this characterful trio and I suspect they'll be back.

Hope you'll pop back and see all the excitement to come, but for now I'll wish you a lovely Sunday.

I'd like to enter this as my July Tag in Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of 2015.

And since we're in lighthearted vein...

A wonderful bird is the pelican,
His bill will hold more than his belican.
He can take in his beak
Food enough for a week,
But I'm damned if I see how the helican.
Dixon Lanier Merritt

Next stop... Destination Inspiration

Hello all!  I'm afraid it's yet another sneak peek... June has been just one peek after another it seems.  If you missed my second outing over at Artist Trading Post (which you might well have done if you so much as blinked!), do check out my stencilled card there - yes, a card, and a floral one at that!

But right now I'm on A Vintage Journey, and it's my turn to share what's going on at Destination Inspiration.  As you know, for this weekly spot at A Vintage Journey there are specific items in our luggage, and over the course of a month each of four Creative Guides uses those items to create some fuel or further inspiration for the journey.  Here's a little taste of what I got up to... 

This month it's been a lovely bagful - Walnut Stain as the colour, texture paste through a stencil as the technique, watercolour paper as the substrate and a Tattered die as the product to use - we clearly packed very well between us.  You've already seen three of the Creative Guides unpack their luggage and work some magic, and if you hop over to A Vintage Journey now, you can see some more of my offering.

I hope it will provide some fuel for your creative journey!  Happy crafting all!

One's destination is never a place, but rather a new way of looking at things.
Henry Miller

P.S.  There are just a couple of days left to sign up for my Butterfly Blogaversary Candy... what is it they say?  You've got to be in it to win it!

Stencilling again at Artist Trading Post

Hello everyone, and after a brief interlude to share my Coffee House version of the Tim Holtz June tag, we're back on the sneak peeks!

I'm delighted to say that I'm over at Artist Trading Post again today with another stencilled project to inspire you to play along with their Crafter's Workshop stencilling theme this month.

I hope this will tempt you to hop over to take a look - it's another of my rare excursions into card-making.

It's been another quiet month with a sudden flurry towards the end, and it's not over yet - I'll be back very soon with yet another sneak peek... Hope you're ready to hop some more!!

Oh, and speaking of hopping, if you haven't yet joined in with my Butterfly Blogaversary Candy, do hop in that direction too and sign up.  You only have until the end of June to get your name in the hat.  Happy Crafting all!

The writer catches the changes of his mind on the hop.  Growth is exciting; growth is dynamic and alarming.  Growth of the soul, growth of the mind.
Vita Sackville West

Off to the Coffee House

Hello all, and welcome!  I thought it was time we had something other than a sneak peek here at Words and Pictures.

Design Team work is pretty much all I've been able to squeeze in, but - with a hundred and one other things I was meant to be doing - I grabbed some time to riff on Tim's fabulous June tag.

I don't have the coffee cup die Tim used, but I have created a Coffee House.  "What makes it a Coffee House?", you may well ask... read on and all will be revealed!

Apart from the choice of die, I've followed Tim's inspiration pretty closely.  (All his making-of details are here - much the best place to find out how to do it all.)  I've used lots of different materials in the cutting machine, and have adapted the other ingredients he included to suit the house instead.

I had a lot of fun with the background although I had to improvise a touch with how I did it.  I plan to get some of the blank ink pads, but don't have them yet so instead I used the mini Distress pads to ink up my stencil for printing.

I was working with a larger size tag to give the house enough room, so I had to line up my printings pretty carefully.

I do love using the new Distress Spray water spritzer... it really does make it easier to create gorgeous spatter effects, though sadly they've mostly disappeared under my blue-green tartan.











So here's one thing which makes this a "coffee" house - the corrugated roof is cut from...













... yup, a cup holder from a certain coffee seller - recognise it?!













I used acetate behind the windows, and so that it would show up better, I tinted it with various shades of blue alcohol ink (Denim, Cloudy Blue and Stonewashed are all in there).











There's another coffee ingredient in the tinting of the metal elements...

Both the Muse Token at the top and the flowers have had a touch of Espresso Alcohol Ink along with the Mushroom.











I also borrowed the idea of the twine used on Tim's tag to wrap the coffee cup and deployed it instead as my flower stems.  They're growing out of a grassy lawn which was made as Tim made his circular coffee badge.













And I've even used a straw, as Tim did, though mine is playing the role of guttering and down pipes.  I painted the straw with Distress Paints - first Salty Ocean, then Faded Jeans and then a hint of Brushed Pewter for a metallic sheen - and then trimmed it to fit.











At the bottom, since I don't have the hashtag stamps, I've used one of the Simple Sayings on my banner instead.

So there you have it... finally, something other than a sneak peek - though I do thank you if you've been dashing all over Craftyblogland in search of my creations.  Your visits and comments are so much appreciated.












If you missed my Flourishing Butterflies over at Calico Craft Parts, I hope you can check them out... and I wouldn't want you to miss my Butterfly Blogaversary Candy - just leave a comment there before the end of June and I'll put your name into the hat.  Do come and celebrate with me!

For now I'll love you and leave you, and hope to see you soon.

I like coffee because it gives me the illusion I might be awake.
Lewis Black

Sleep is a symptom of caffeine deprivation.
Anonymous



I'd like to enter this as my June Tag in Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of 2015
And I'd also like to play along with Housey Housey at That's Crafty Challenges

With A Calico Flourish

Hello again!  After days of peace and quiet there's a sudden flurry here at Words and Pictures at the moment... mainly a flurry of sneak peeks.  I've been Guest Designing with stencils to create a Box of Delights at Artist Trading Post, playing with Hidden Objects over at PaperArtsy, and today I'm trying to tempt you over to see some Flourishing Butterflies at Calico Craft Parts.

I hope you'll have time to hop over to the Calico Craft Parts blog and see what I've been up to... I rather like this one!  I finally managed to do a bit of catching up over the weekend, and I hope this week will allow me to continue journeying around to see what you've all been creating while I've been wrapped up in the Words part of my life.

In between all that, I hit my third blog birthday on 19th June, so if you'd like to come and celebrate with me, please visit my Butterfly Blogaversary Candy and leave a comment.

That's all you have to do to be in with a chance at winning some crafty goodies, not to mention a handmade card of my own (hop over there to se the full bundle).  It's a chance for me to say thank you for your wonderful company on this crafting journey.

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter.
Izaak Walton

Box of Delights at Artist Trading Post

Hello all, and a warm welcome to Words and Pictures.  So happy you enjoyed my Hidden Objects over at PaperArtsy - thank you for the lovely comments there.

I'm here with an exciting post today.  Earlier this year, I was delighted to be invited by the amazing Kasia Krzyminska to be a guest over at the Artist Trading Post blog.  Thankfully, I was able to make my projects before life got too busy to breathe, and now I finally get to share them with you.

The theme at Artist Trading Post this time around is to use Crafter's Workshop stencils so, as regulars will guess, I leapt at the chance to play.  I'm so honoured to be the Guest Designer for this month.

The first of the projects I came up with (using Kasia's own Herbarium design) is over there now, and I hope this sneak peek will tempt you to hop over and see more.  There's been some major upcycling going on.

Oh, and do make sure you don't miss my Butterfly Blogaversary Candy!

A herbarium is better than any illustration; every botanist should make one.
Carolus Linnaeus in his Philosophia Botanica of 1751

Butterfly Blogaversary Candy

This candy is now closed for comments, and I'll be drawing a winner soon.
Thank you all so much for your lovely words.

It's my third birthday (my third blog birthday, I should say) and it seems only right to celebrate with some candy.

I feel so lucky to share in all the generosity and creativity of Craftyblogland.  Your comments and feedback are a constant source of joy, and the inspiration I find from travelling from blog to blog is immeasurable.  I only wish I could give candy out to every single one of you to thank you for your company on this amazing journey, especially when I haven't been around much lately!

But no, my thanks and love go to all of you, but the candy can only go to one... so please simply leave a comment here if you would like to be included in the draw.  This sticky post will stay at the top of the blog until the end of June, when I'll pick the winner out of a hat.

It's NOT compulsory to join up as a Follower - though if you like the work you see here, then it would be lovely if you did - and it would be great if you shared the candy photo and link on your blog or sidebar, but that's NOT compulsory either.

Thank you so much for everything and good luck!

Let us celebrate the occasion with wine and sweet words.
Plautus (or at least with candy!)

Hide and Seek at PaperArtsy

Hello all!

Another busy week for me, I'm afraid - busy in the real world, that is, but very quiet here at Words and Pictures - and I'm still missing being able to come and catch up with you all.

I'm even being very brief here at the moment - this is just a sneak peek to let you know I've been hiding things over at PaperArtsy.

The theme for this fortnight is Hidden Objects, and if you want to see what's hiding behind this innocuous exterior, I'm afraid you'll have to hop over to the PaperArtsy blog to find out.

I hope you're all having a lovely week, and I'm looking forward to getting back to my craft table and to Craftyblogland soon.

Everything we see hides another thing. We always want to see what is hidden by what we see.
Rene Magritte

Calico Nautical Salvage

Hello all!  Firstly, apologies for my absence here and around Craftyblogland.  I'm caught up in work schedules, but hope to be around more again soon.  For now, I've just got a sneak peek for you to let you know I'm over at the Calico Craft Parts blog today with a creation that took me in the direction of my main phobia!

I have a shuddering fear of things that spend a long time underwater, especially if they shouldn't be there ... so that's shipwrecks (Titanic is probably my ultimate horror film), sunken villages, but also bottoms of boats (or even the thought of being in the water near a large boat - perhaps I was keelhauled in a previous life!) and, on a beach, I won't sit next to the part of a breakwater that's usually underwater when the tide is in.

So when the piece I'm sharing today started to look like a bit of flotsam or jetsam from a possible nautical salvage operation, it did slightly give me the heebie-jeebies.  I had to keep reminding myself it was only paint!

I hope you'll be able to hop over and take a closer look, and I hope it won't have the same effect on any of you!  Thanks so much for stopping by, and I'll be along to visit you all as soon as things settle down on the work front.

Have a great week!

The man who has experienced shipwreck shudders even at a calm sea.
Ovid

Antiquities are... remnants of history which have casually escaped the shipwreck of time.
Francis Bacon

Katzelkraft Extra!

Hello all!  It seems I may have shot my bolt too soon publishing my Katzelkraft journalling pages last week.  I'm very honoured to say that today you can catch them on the Katzelkraft blog as a Guest Design spot.  And what's more there's a special 10% discount at the shop for my followers.  Just use the code ALISON10 and get 10% off all Katzelkraft rubber stamps.

My thanks to Béatrice of Katzelkraft for this very generous offer and for sharing my work on the KTZ blog... I hope some of you will be able to take advantage at the Katzelkraft online store!

Guests bring good luck with them.
Turkish proverb

Apologies for the unusually brief post - am in technical rehearsals all hours of the day and night... normal service will be resumed soon!  But I happen to know there's a new instalment over at Cestina's Dolls Houses if you're up for it.