Summer of Colour #2

What ever possessed me, an orange seahorse! Shocking! Yes shocking or hot pink as well, those are this week's colours on The Summer Of Colour Challenge Blog.

I have been looking for a seahorse stamp for a while but unable to find one so I had to source this drawing from the internet.

I stencilled the background with texture paste a few days ago in readiness adding Picked Raspberry and Spiced Marmalade to colourise it.

I had a piece of ribbon handy and picked out the buttons, seashell and starfish beads to add to it. I inked and embossed my seahorse and there we have it.

You can't fit much more on a twinchie (which is a 2 inch square piece of art for those who are bemused by the term)

Thanks to everyone who commented on my twinchie last week. Sorry if I didn't make it back to you but I was having a lot of trouble locating blogs on the ever increasing link list over on the challenge site. I have tried to look at everyone on the facebook group instead but have been quite overwhelmed by the numbers.

TH #06 - June Tag

Well I have finally had a go at Timmy's June tag.

No similar stamps really and no distress markers at all. Just not a colourer-in kind of a crafter. I combined a sewing stamp and one of Tim's "plan" stamps. I used some watercolours from blocks in a tin.

Managed inks, stains and paints for the background though, and I added some tissue tape after being inspired by Tim's Blogworthy link to "that crazy chick"

I even remembered to take a couple of photos in the process this afternoon.

Twinches - Bees

When we get a bit of warmer weather the bees come out in force to feed on our Cotoneaster which is right outside the window. We must get about 50 on there at once which makes walking the path like running the gauntlet!

Anyway on this Twinchie Challenge Blog the theme this month is Bees and Butterflies so here's my twinchie in honour of all our lovely bees.

I tried to get a photo of them but they are far too busy doing what bees do so here's another from a few years ago when one was resting on an old leaf in the Cotoneaster.

I still can't believe all the different species we have visiting us. Trying to identify them remains rather a challenge.

12 Months in View - June Recycling & Technique

Got around to giving the Recycling of Maps a go, as found in the June section of 12 Months in View. I have only done a small bowl and it is still drying due to the copious amounts of glue I used but it is looking good so far.

I got my supplies together up front and the tub of PVA I had since my son was a toddler (he is now a teen!) was still up for the challenge! The Cling film from my craft drawer was from the dark ages too - LOL.

I used my décopatch brush and the whole technique was rather like décopatching really so I was in my element! I did a layer of map pieces for the inside of the bowl, then newspaper then tissue (quite liked this layer but carried on) and finally a map piece layer for the outside of the bowl, a bit of Welsh mountains going on there.










Not sure what to do with the rim edge as yet, but I seem to cross my crafting bridges when I get to them these days. Suggestions welcome of course.

As for the June Technique, it was a video from Tim Holtz using your distress foam as a block stamp. I did pinks and greens and then added some bits and bobs I had in my little drawer.

Such as the leftover art nouveau rose from my glitter paste craft club pieces from earlier this week. Words from one of my latest stamps cut up inked and rearranged. Some roses from a small piece of paper and also a paper napkin courtesy of Karen at The Craft Barn Extravaganza. Oh and a piece of fence and some more of the resting birds from my new die, so useful thanks Kay. I added a few black dots and lines too.

An altogether brighter page than my previous one, which is amazing in itself with the issues I am facing at the moment!

WOYWW #210 - Cards Cards Cards!

Here's my desk for the weekly WOYWW blog hop hosted by the wonderful Julia, do pop over to her place to have a look.

I've received 4 more ATCs from the anniversary SWAP. Top left from Maisie Moonshine, bottom Right from Elizabeth and finally, the other two, from my SWAP partner Shozzy (who sent me a bonus one for waiting too). They are all lovely, thank you ladies.

There is also the reverse of my coronation tag and its pocket. I am using the bottom drawer of my little décopatched set of drawers for bits and bobs - very useful. I'm just about managing to fill in my June calendar too. Oh and top left is the flyer for the 2013 Photographic Scavenger Hunt which I have started here.





But mainly my desk is littered with cards, cards cards! What with all these craft clubs I have recently started going to I am accumulating loads of cards! I already had a shoebox full as well! Good job I was able to make my first Christmas one of the year this week. Perhaps I need to just focus on making Christmas ones at club really - might be difficult! I did manage to revamp a couple of celebration to sympathy cards yesterday, quite ironic really but my new dove die helped.

Bit late today as my husband decided to start backing up the main computer last night so I couldn't access my photographs! Not feeling great either - "that time" you know!!!

Craft Club & Summer of Colour #1

At Craft Club today we did glitter paste through stencils. It was the table I missed at their sister club the other week so I was well pleased. The glitter paste we used was from Glitz Craft and the colours were gorgeous.

The stencil I did first was a Christmas one - well I have to start sometime. I needed to add a bit of distress ink first to get the outline, then I glitter pasted the central parts of the trees. The reveal of the stencil was rather satisfying.

I then did an Art Nouveau stencil, which I cut in half and made up the pink card and had this rose left over so it might just make its way onto my June pages for 12 Months in View as the flower of the month is a rose.

I followed this by doing the Wild Flower stencil. After that I covered a few butterfly and dragonfly embellishments with the paste too. Time just flew by today so I gathered a few card blanks, patterned papers and ribbons so I could complete the cards at home.









I found I missed a few bits on the embellishments so I used distress inks to fill in and to edge them.


I was looking at the green dragonfly and realised that The Summer of Colour colour pallet this week was Citron Green & Turquoise so I just had to use one of them.

I have decided to make twinches for this year, it is amazing what you can fit on a twinchie.

Oh and one lady today thought I was slacking with my blog lately so I hope this is quick enough this time - LOL.

12 Months in View - Summer Zine

Quarterly Zine time and I nearly forgot what size I made for Spring! Fortunately it was A4 so that worked out well.

Remembered how to fold it but forgot where to cut it so had to look that up - LOL.




Thought I'd use my 2 new Dylusion ink sprays, Dirty Martini and White Linen. Gotta love that shade of green and the white worked well through the stencil too. I used another washi tape for the open edges, will "need" another colour for the next quarter!! Oops.





Found a poem on the internet called JUNE...JUNE...JUNE...JUNE by Frank James Ryan Jr...FjR and it nearly took up all the space on my June page! So I stamped and doodled where I could round the edge.

Alpha Challenge #12 - Upping (Swan)

Yes I have had to use a little bit of artist's licence with the letter on The Craft Barn Alpha Challenge this time. I'm hoping Swan Upping will make the grade for the letter "U". It is the annual census of the swan population on stretches of the Thames.

I found a book on a Calendar of Festivals only yesterday in the Scout Book Sale and there was Swan Upping in all its glory and with some drawings of swans too.

I copied the page and stuck that to some 6x6 paper. I masked out the swans and used Neil Walker's "Winged Pattern" stencil. I chose the Red, Blue and Green as they are the colours of the livery of the 3 owners of the swans.



The Swan Upping is held on 5 days each July so I could just go along to watch one day this year.

(EDIT) and I made it too - look here.

12 Months In View - Wild Rose

I got quite excited when I saw this month's giveaway on 12 Months as they were just my colours, Cranberry and Apple, hmmm YUM! I printed off one background and the pocket page.

I made up the pocket decorating it with the Wild Rose Flower from the same page and also the filigree wording. I pasted the tag piece on the back of my Coronation tag, added the rose wording and a postage stamp of Our Queen as she is now for the 60th anniversary since her coronation.

Then I cut up the backing paper to fit my page. I used the cut off top and bottom to make up the wider sides and the little left over pieces in the corners. Then I added various pieces of leftover card from my stencil bumping last week having made twinches out of the main pieces.

Then, as I had a tray of newly cut white card of all my new dies I just laid them on and they looked fine against the darker background so I went ahead and stuck them down. Having a bit of a bird fest at present. Got the tiny birds after craft club last week. I wanted a fence die, as we are having our fence re-done next week, and it came with the medium bird and the birdhouse. And I have been after a dove for a while, so that just popped into my basket too. Oops.

The page isn't anything I planned at all but I am quite pleased with it all the same.

12 Months in View - Photos

Here we are again in a new month and a new photo of my garden. I have been watching the blood red Rhododendron coming out and it is at its very best today. Even the mega cut back lilac Wisteria is blooming well.

I planted up my front baskets and various pots yesterday and the remaining Begonias (slugs and  snails hate these so they do well in my garden) went along the right hand border, you might be able to spot them if you look closely. Also the tall purple Alliums planted in memory of my Dad.



















I have decided to join in the 2013 Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt as mentioned by Carolyn earlier this week on the 12 months facebook group, and also on today's 12 Months blog post.

I have started with #13 A Fence as we are about to have our fence replaced so I will be scrapping the before and afters and here are the befores. Just got my new fence die in the post :) too.

My son used to talk to our neighbour's son through the hole, but that was many years ago, as he towers over it now! When he was a tiddler he loved sticky tape and he even tried to mend the fence with it! Such fond memories of a fence, not to mention the Welsh Poppies who have made a home there, I hope I can save ours.








Also I got 2 new stained glass suncatcher/mobiles on our National Trust Castle visit last Friday so they fitted the bill for #14 A Stained Glass Object or a Mosiac

WOYWW #209 - Summer

I think I promised Summer last week on WOYWW and what lovely weather we have had the past few days here in the SE of the UK.

I have received 4 ATC swaps from last week's mega blog party. Japanese from Claire, Cupcake from Nikki (all the way from Canada), Butterflies from Lottie. and the Flower from Helen. Nikki included some Talking Tags which look like super fun.



I went to The Craft Barn's Extravaganza on Sunday afternoon and saw Karen from Tando and her sister Dawn and bought a few supplies too (couldn't help myself LOL). Karen gave me the rose napkin which is sure to come in useful for my 12 months pages this month.



I have been adding to my June calendar page on 12 Months in View, where the flower of the month is the Wild Rose. I carved another stamp for my calendar page and I've made a coronation tag of our Queen too.

I learnt how to do stencil bumping at craft club last week as well.

Quite a busy crafty week then.

Hope you all have a good week to come.

Happy WOYWW.

12 Months in View - Coronation Tag

We have started Summer and June on 12 Months in View and yesterday's prompt was to make a tag or page from the inspiration on their introduction page.

Yesterday, 2nd June was the 60th anniversary of our Queen's coronation in 1953 so it gave me a chance to get out my saved up pictures of her and make a tag to commemorate the day.

I stamped crowns on tissue to make the background, I made it all sparkly as befitting the occasion.

Here's hoping we get another pocket in the giveaway to put it in. It should go with the flower of the month as she is truly our English Rose.

Craft Club - Stencil Bumping

At Craft Club this week we did stencil techniques.

One was with glitter paste and the other was stencil bumping. As I had tried to do the bumping before, without much success, I went with that technique.

Kay was demonstrating the technique and has made a step by step guide which can be found here.

I made 3 backgrounds at club and made the cards up the following day at home.

Kay brought along a couple of dies to use to make up the cards, a "Happy Birthday" and "Resting Birds".

I just had to find and buy BOTH when I got home, and did at CraftULove.

One of the backgrounds was quite masculine so I made it up for my hubby's birthday next month using some gear dies I had saved from other projects.

So today I had to have another go at the technique to see which of my stencils and what colours worked best. Definitely got inky fingers now.

The basic steps are:-

1) Ink up some card with a pale colour.

2) Fix your stencil on top with masking tape.

3) Ink a section (middle outwards) in a darker colour of ink.


4) BUMP your stencil by moving it a few millimetres across and down.

5) Dab on white acrylic paint with a sponge (not too wet though).

6) Don't forget to clean your stencil straight away as the acrylic paint is hard to remove once it has dried.

 

 

And there we have it, stencil bumping in a nutshell and fun too.

THANKS Kay and craft club.

12 Months in View - Journal Update

Hi Folks, here's an update on my journal as May comes to a close and supposedly Spring with it as we head into June with the hope of a Summer filled with warmth.

First my May calendar pages to show you all I have been faithfully filling them in daily. The scissors show when I gave my boys a hair cut!

Secondly, I updated my tags from strings to ribbons as they fitted much better with the page after I have stuck all the pockets in.

Then to my Summer title page. I used the masking tape technique for the background of this one and just kept adding to it and am really pleased with how it ended up.

Finally my June calendar. Yes - I carved yet another stamp.

I thought a leaf would go with all the wonderful leaves emerging right now.

It got a bit big and doesn't leave me much room for my flower of the month!!

Oops. But I'll make do I'm sure.