The Last Dregs of Alcohol

Hello all!  Thank you so much for your lovely comments on my Vintage Journey tiny houses - it was really touching to read them.

I've got an unexpected extra for you here that I'm just squeezing in before things kick off big time tomorrow.

I was a little perturbed when I saw that alcohol inks and glossy paper were involved in Tim's September tag.  I use the inks mostly for altering metal bits and bobs, though I do use them a lot for that.

And no bright colours for me - the inks I have are mostly rusty, burnished, autumnal tones, so that's when it clicked for me... leaves!

I missed all of the autumn crafting last year as I was working away from home and my craft table, so maybe that's why I'm leaping in early this year.

I think that this would work better with the Mini Autumn Blueprint leaves - these ones are perhaps a touch too delicate in their line to really hold their own.  But I don't have those, and besides, I quite like the subtlety of it.

As you'll see, it's hard to get a consistent photo when you've got glossiness and frostiness going on on the same tag.  It seems to change at every angle and in every light, but I hope you'll get the general idea.










The techniques are pretty much exactly following Tim's lead, so you'll find all the details over there but, as I said, my colours are way different.  I've got Rust and Ginger and Teakwood and Red Pepper and Currant with Gold Mixative.

I have to confess I wasn't patient enough to wait for the paste to dry, so I helped it along with the heat tool.  There are some tiny blisters and bubbles as a result, but I actually really love them!










The leaves are from the Daydream set, with the mini version from Nature Walk added in to make the third.  Oh, by the way I've no Frosted Sheets, so this is the Frosted Film adhered to Clearly For Art modelling film.











For the background tag I added Ground Espresso to the Pumice Stone and Hickory Smoke.  Can't put down the Ground Espresso!













I do love the transparent texture over the background - lovely effect.













I used some Jet Black Archival on the glossy flourish texture as Tim does, but then thought the whole thing needed a bit of a lift in my colour version, so I added some Florentine Treasure Gold too.













And I added a burnishing of Treasure Gold to my leaves too, just around the edges to catch the light.














The delicate line of the leaf image means that you get a real skeleton leaf effect...













... barely there in some lights.














And you do have to look closely to see the stamped images on the panel underneath...













... but I promise you they're there.













I fell head over heels in love with how Tim had fastened his WordBand to the tag.












I haven't got any of that really fine wire - or to tell the truth I think I have, but if you can tell me where in my craft stash it's hiding I'd be really grateful! - but I'm always happy to reach for the rusty wire.

Since that was what I had to hand, that's what I used.












I altered the WordBand itself with Treasure Gold and some Ground Espresso Distress Paint to fill in the lettering.










There's some more rusty wire holding my Ground Espresso-inked linen ribbon in place at the top of the tag.  Can you see how I had to hang it on an ivy twig to catch the last rays of the chilly afternoon sun?  How useful a tag hole is! 

And that's pretty much that...





... except to say again that, with my love of how light plays with us so that things change in front of our eyes, I'm really happy with the many faces of this tag.  In light or in shade it reveals different aspects of itself.





Thank you, Tim, for another adventure - so much on this one that simply wouldn't occur to me to play with, starting with those alcohol inks.







But who knows... they might get to come out for more than altering metal in the future.  I'm going to need new bottles of Ginger and Rust though - I'm down to the last dregs now!

Hope you're enjoying a great weekend.  As I said, there's mighty things afoot starting on Sunday evening, so I hope you'll be able to swing by again soon... happy crafting all!

Nature will bear the closest inspection.  She invites us to lay our eye level with her smallest leaf, and take an insect view of its plain.
Henry David Thoreau

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

What makes a house a home?

Hello all, and a warm welcome on yet another chilly day.  I hope you're all wrapped up and safe at home!  It's time for a new challenge at A Vintage Journey and the theme chosen by the wonderful Jennie of Live the Dream is Home Sweet Home.  She's asked us to create projects according to whatever home means to us.

Well, with my dollshouse connections (Small Worlds, anyone?) I knew right away I wanted to make some little houses with the Artful Dwellings die.  But it wasn't until I was cutting, covering and stamping them that I started to think about what home means, or what turns a house into a home.

Gradually the project started to take shape as I allowed those ideas to make their way down on to the craft table.  And assembling the thing became part pleasure, part jigsaw puzzle!






So the first idea was that really it's the people who make a home.  The huge wrench of leaving the family home of 40 years recently was made far more bearable because we remain a very close family.  Where they are is home.












And along with family, there are important things like being accepted for who you are...














... being able to share troubles...













... love, generosity, kindness, forgiveness...













There are some pretty explosive tempers round our way so that last one's definitely important!












And there are the shared memories which build up within the walls of any house... 













I've also done my share of sharing houses with friends and other folk, and the same things apply.












As well as all those things though, there are certain physical elements which I like to have around me if possible...











... plants being one, indoors and/or out - hence the branches stamped on the papers...













... colours which make me feel at peace - blue is always around (and often green - anybody surprised?!), and neutrals too (papers from the new Regions Beyond stash with added branches, blueprints and stitching in places)...











(I used Stormy Sky, Faded Jeans, Pumice Stone and Hickory Smoke on Ranger Mixed Media paper to create my inky backgrounds.)










... and it's definitely desirable that the architecture of the house is "right".  I'm partial to high ceilings and large windows, otherwise I feel very claustrophobic, and I've been lucky enough in my life so far mainly to have had those desires indulged.

So the architectural plans stamp is the other one I've used to add detailing to my little houses.











Some of the photos are from the Photobooth collection.













Others are cut from one of the Lost and Found papers because they needed to be quite small for the smaller houses. 











And the additional panels behind each picture are from my trusty Pocket Cards. 
















I even had some fun with my new paper punches!














I hope you've enjoyed this little tour of my tiny houses - no, my tiny homes.  It's all about the place where you spend your everyday life... the place you call home.









If you need more inspiration, you'll definitely find it over at A Vintage Journey where my team-mates have been creating their usual wealth of fantastic projects.  We hope you'll be inspired to share your Home Sweet Home with us this month.  You could be the lucky winner of our prize draw, sponsored by Country View Crafts, or be picked as one of our three Pinworthies.

Thanks so much for stopping by today and coping with this picture-heavy post, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend, crafting or otherwise.

Home is not where you live, but where they understand you.
Christian Morgenstern

You can never go home again, but the truth is you can never leave home, so it's all right.
Maya Angelou

Home is where you can say anything you like because nobody listens to you anyway.
Anonymous

I'd like to enter this in the Anything Mixed Media/Creative Goes at the We Love 2 Create Challenge.

Cracklin' Chap(lin)

Hello all!  I'm back to share some more details of my Crackle Tag at Tag Along where I'm the guest host this fortnight, challenging you to a theme of Crackle.  I hope this will also serve as a nudge to any of you who had planned to play along…

This is the half way mark, so you've still got a week.  All you need to do is create a tag with any kind of crackle - stamped, pasted, painted - and leave a comment with a link to your tag here at Tag Along.  It would be lovely to see you there.  For now, here's how I came up with my Cracklin' Chap or Chaplin (yes, Julie Ann, it's definitely Charlie!).

I used Andy Skinner's fabulous Old Film stencil and applied DecoArt Crackle Paste on to the whole tag through it.  Once that had dried and crackled, I applied various layers of Antiquing Cream - putting it on, allowing it to dry, and then wiping back with a damp cloth.

I liked the depth this gave it, but I decided I wanted something a bit brighter, so I started adding DecoArt Media Acrylics in blues, greens and turquoises until I had a look which made me happy!












Given that crackle is the theme, I really didn't want to cover it up too much.  I found a Photobooth photo with a suitably 1920s dapper chap - someone who might well have been a minor matinee idol working in the shadow of the great comedian…














… he's only a small star in the Hollywood firmament!












There's a little bit of ephemera layered around him, including my beloved book pages.

The word "explore" is cut from the same paper as I've used snippets from in the collaging.










And then in the opposite corner the crackled butterfly (he's a Calico Craft Part) warns of the short career span of most silent film stars in the 1920s.  With sound just around the corner, many of them wouldn't survive the transition, so they needed to flutter as brightly as they could while they were still loved.












My current favourite topping is back in action (in fact this is becoming a bit of a "set", colours and style-wise).












And nothing could get in the way of Chaplin's legacy, especially with crackle like that!

I hope you like the tag, and I really hope you'll be able to come and play along with me at Tag Along.  You have until Wednesday 9th September.







Thanks so much for stopping by.  I've just got one of those stupid summer colds (summer, what summer? I hear you cry), so that's slightly cramping my style, and I'm feeling pretty sorry for myself if truth be told!

But it always cheers me up to hear from you, and to spend some time wandering around Craftyblogland seeing what you're up to... so that's my plan for the next few days, all being well.  Happy crafting all!

A day without laughter is a day wasted.

We think too much and feel too little.

Failure is unimportant.  It takes courage to make a fool of yourself.
All quotes by Charlie Chaplin

Make Today Count

Hello all and welcome to September... I know, the year seems to be flying, doesn't it?  Well, there's nothing wrong with that as long as you make each day count.  And this month at Country View Challenges we're definitely trying to do that as the theme this month is Numbers, chosen by the wonderful Nikki.

There are lots of fabulous numerical projects from my team-mates over at the blog, and as usual there will be more creations to inspire you throughout the month there, so do pop in every now and then.

My first offering this month is a tag which continues my obsession with a particular trio of the new Distress colours - Twisted Citron, Mermaid Lagoon and Hickory Smoke.  (It was made before the arrival of the Ground Espresso - my new top favourite!)  I used them on my August Tim tag, and for Tag Friday at A Vintage Journey, and now they're back again...

I'd smeared some leftover crackle paint randomly onto a tag, so I applied my three colours over that - just blending and smooshing them on - and did a bit of number stamping with a Tim stamp and the Mermaid Lagoon too.













I added more crackle paste through the numbers of the Cargo layering stencil and let it dry.










And then it was just a question of gathering lots of highly numerical ephemera to collage together.

The odds and snippets are mainly from the Idea-ology Pocket Cards (I was singing their praises recently, and I've not changed my tune yet).










I tried to find as many number-related pieces as I could, including the clock (with added metal hands)...














... ticket stubs and calendars and price lists...














... and there's also some of the tape measure tissue tape underneath it all.












I'm sure the young woman here is doing her very best to make every day count, determined to meet each new challenge with a smile on her face.













There are some little spritzed Calico Craft Parts butterflies - not sure why, but then why not?!  I think there was a little echo in my brain of that wonderful Rabindranath Tagore quote: The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough.











The topping is another current favourite - crinkle ribbon, linen ribbon and some wired thread to finish it off.











With all the calendar references, times and dates, I think the 31 is probably signifying the longest months of the year, of which August certainly seemed to be one for me - horrid weather and heavy work schedules.










I was certainly counting the hours by the end of it, whilst still trying to make each of them count.  I have to say I'm delighted finally to be kicking off a new month now - and one where I should have a bit more time to myself.

I hope you'll find time to check out what my team-mates have been up to, and to come and count Numbers along with us at Country View Challenges.  You'll be in with a chance at the prize voucher from our generous sponsor, Country View Crafts.









My Steampipe Glampunk Plaque over at Calico Crafts didn't get much of a look-in time-wise, so I just wanted to put in a quick shout out for it again here…  and now I'll leave you in peace, I promise - except for hopefully managing to do some visiting this week once all the crafty deadlines are met!

I'll see you out there....

Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted.
Albert Einstein

With my obsessive trio of Hickory Smoke, Twisted Citron and Mermaid Lagoon, I'd like to enter this into the Trio of Colours at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.