Metal Effects @ Craft Club

Catching up a bit here. At the Ashtead Craft Club last month we had a choice of 2 ways of making metal effects on our art pieces.

1) Scraper board and embossing folders.

2) Metal tape on card with alcohol inks and then embossing.

I chose the first option as I hadn't tried this before, and it was only last night, a week or so after the class, that I finally made up some cards with the pieces I had made in class.






Today at the sister club in Tadworth we happened to do the second option which was great for me, although I do have the supplies to do this at home

3) However, we also had the chance today to have a go with gilding flakes. This is something I have only watched on TV up to now and have been pondering buying, especially with Christmas looming. It was great to have a go.

I ended up with a "Gold Finger" which was quite funny!

One issue which raised some comment in the class was the "shelf life" of Flitter Glue. One member got hers out the other day only to find it had gone quite hard. She contacted IndigoBlu who said they only had a 6 month shelf life, I can only assume this is after opening for the first time! The class organiser then had a look in hers and it too had gone quite hard.

So the question is, has anyone else experienced this and is there a way of saving this from happening?

And finally, here are Claire and Michelle sorting out all the lovely stash they bring each week for us to play with. Thanks for great classes both of you.

12 Months - September (Autumn)

Been beavering away with the first few challenges of the Autumn Season and September over on 12 Months in View.

But first of all a big thank you to Bernice as I was one of the lucky ones to win her August giveaway, here are all the super bits and bobs I received.





The paper napkin came in jolly useful for my Hawthorn picture on my calendar page.




I used Glue'n'Seal to attach it after tearing out the image and separating the top layer. I added some paper flowers too.

The other side has some of the freebie stamp images I got with a magazine this month.


Then to the month's giveaway papers, I have made up the pocket and the back of my recycled Cotton Traders Tag ready for a technique later in the month. I have been writing something about the month on the back of these tags by the way.




Last, but not least, my garden picture for September. All a bit bigger, and greener and oh no some leaves turning yellow and yes I saw some on the grass this morning too.


Autumn is on its way.

Alpha Challenge #18 - Zulu Heritage Day

The current challenge letter of "Z"sure gave me a headache but thanks to Karen over at The Craft Barn, who gave me some suggestions, I have done Zulu Heritage Day.

The day is celebrated on 24th September and is a time for all South Africans to celebrate their diverse traditions, beliefs and cultures.










I took my inspiration from some African art I found on the web and created a colourful pattern using hand drawn and stamped shapes.

WOYWW #222 - Timmy Goodness

So what exactly is on my desk this week for the weekly WOYWW mega desk hop hosted by Julia?

My Timmy Tag Book from the workshop last Thursday up in Coventry, what a brilliant day which you can see more HERE. The finished tag book in detail is HERE.

The rest of the stuff on my desk are the bits left over from the tag book.

My only 3 distress markers from the workshop and the stencil and stamp set I got there too. I caved in and have ordered a couple more distress pens - oops! Oh and the cargo stencil dies too, they look great cut in tags don't they?

There is my September Journal page pending further decoration and a freebie stamp set which might just do the trick nicely. Also the little journal in the round robin journal swap I am doing.



















Anyway, I'm feeling a little delicate as I had a minor operation on Monday so I will leave you with the flowers my Mum sent to wish me well again soon.

Tim Holtz Tag Book 2013

At last my Timmy Tag book is in a state worth showing, although there is still room for more journaling here and there.

I used black and white photographs tinted with Vintage Photo - what else? The pad I got from the workshop is rather a different more reddy Vintage Photo to the one I already had.











Here are all the tags as they arrived home, so I did do quite a bit on the day warranting the extremely inky fingers.













Here's my craft table as I was putting the book together.

I made 2 physical updates to the book.

1) I lined both of the backs of the covers with an acetate tag. The front for strength as the metal bits are rather heavy, and the back one for protection when the book is put down.


2) I filled out the spine with cardboard spacers. One either side of the kraft tags so 10 in all.

I got rather nifty with my new mini attacher and attached all the photographs with it! Also the tape tie is attached at the back so it doesn't get lost.

So, without further ado, here are the photos of all the pages. I have made them small for the main page but you can click on them to get the big version should you wish.

Oh my, what a project, and such a wonderful memento of a great day.

Scavenger Hunt 2013

Thought I best do my last entry least I forget. Here I am hard at work at the Tim Holtz Workshop last Thursday for my final photo for #21 A photograph of you with an artistic tool or craft supply.

There were simply loads of supplies on the table for us to use. I'm getting to grips with the Ruler Binding here methinks.

All my posts are labelled 2013 Scavenger Hunt so if you click on the label at the bottom you'll get a list of them all.

Well that is me done for the Scavenger Hunt 2013, all 21 items plus the 2 bonus ones. What a great challenge this has been - thanks Rinda.

12 Months - Autumn

As the days start to get a little cooler we drift into Autumn both in season and the 12 Months Journal Challenge.

I finished off my Summer section with my season tag page.





Then I made an Autumn intro page using up an old card I had made years ago.











Then on to my calendar page. The flower of the month hasn't been announced as yet so this page is still in its infancy.




Oh and my Sunflower, which self seeded in a garden, has just flowered. I guess I think of them more as Autumn/September flowers really.