Charm kilt pin

I really don't know what to call this: I just know I've been wanting to make one for ages and finally got round to having a play! First attempt, and I'm not a big jewellery fan, but I quite like it.
The 'charm' materials are basically Tim Holtz idea-ology and some watch parts all held together with jump rings and glossy accents!

The Grungy Monday challenge #21 to use Tim's Fragments links to 'Transparent Illusions' on his blog where he shares even more techniques using these. I have used three Fragment Charms: One glued with glossy accents on to some of Tim's Lost and Found paper, a second one glued on to a scrap of My Mind's Eye paper and embellished with an idea-ology metal foliage flower and watch part and the third one which is coloured on the back with alcohol inks (terracotta and copper) and embellished with watch parts. While the alcohol ink was pooled on the back of the fragment, I also dabbed some on the pin itself so it takes away a bit of the bright silver.
With the use of gears and watch parts I am also entering this in the Simon Says Stamp and Show 'SteamPunk' challenge.
Materials: Tim Holtz idea-ology Fragment Charms, Sprocket Gears, Trinket Pin, Foliage, Lost & Found paper; Ranger alcohol inks and Glossy Accents; kilt pin, jump rings and watch parts.

Handmade bead flowers

Here's another holiday snap (only another few hundred to go - lol!) scrapbooked with some handmade flowers so I thought I'd share the technique too: I started off by tying some thread through one seed bead, then threading on 5 more and taking the thread back through the first bead. Repeat this 4 more times (for a total of 5 petals), always threading back through the first seed bead, then tie off the thread. If you want bigger, more open flowers you can simply add more beads to each petal. Using thin wire as the thread is another good option. I've used the flowers here as the centres to paper flowers which I've inked a little with some Wild Honey Distress Ink.

 Materiels: Papers/ card / vellum by Bazzill, ColorCore and Clairfontaine; Distress Ink; Gold Cosmic Shimmer spray; Heidi Swapp mask; Sizzix Wingo Zingo alphabet; Prima flowers; Tim Holtz stamps (Bitty Grunge); WRMK snaps; gems.
Entry for : Simon Says Stamp and Show - Anything goes; Paper Play challenges - Make your own flowers

Trimcraft (Dovecraft) Inspiration

My delighted to say that two of my cards, made with Trimcraft (more usually known as Dovecraft) decoupage 'Fairy Cakes', have been featured on Aussie Scrap Source in their Inspiration weekend! It is worth having a look at the fabulous scrap pages the team have made too: They really are great inspiration. I'm also pleased to say that I have all the Trimcraft products featured in stock too!
Here is another card that I made for our Grandson's 2nd birthday this month:

This one is using the new 'Cookie's Birthday' decoupage and Paper Pad. I love how quick and easy the pre-cut decoupage are to make and you don't have to scramble for the right papers as there is a choice of double-sided papers included too! I just added ink, text and a bit of paper ribbon and layered it all on a Dovecraft card blank  :)

Travel - Intergalactic or Tunisia?

So who knew parts of Star Wars were filmed in Tunisia??? Not me, not until after we booked the holiday and started researching the tour sites: Wow, was my son excited when we found we were visiting two Star Wars film locations!
This week Simon Says Stamp and Show 'Travel' which is the perfect excuse for me to get started on scrapbooking my holiday photos! This 8x8" (20x20cm) page shows the place at Matmata where (apparently) Luke Skywalker's aunt and uncle lived until they were killed by nasty stormtroopers! In real life it is a troglodite hotel but they left the props in place after the filming was done. Of course, Jack had to wear his favourite Star Wars T-shirt that day! 

Materials: Bazzill kraft; Distress Inks (Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain); Distress Stains (Peeled Paint); Tim Holtz idea-ology: Sprocket Gears; Tim Holtz Stamps: CMS-089  Bitty Grunge Stamps; MSE alphabet stamps; Punches: Dovecraft star and circle; Spellbinders 'Labels 1' and embossed with Cuttlebug 'Script'; lots of scrap bits of card.

Summer Tag - GM#20 & SSSS

Back from a fantastic week in Tunisia, I've made a tag to try to encapsulate our little adventure. I've made 6 for an exchange of Summer tags and I collected things to use while we were on holiday: the bottle cap, the charm taken from a necklace I bought there and real Saharan sand! The stamps were printed out and I was inspired by some art that I saw in Tunisia to have a go at metal palm trees!
I've also incorporated the Grungy Monday #20 challenge - to use Tim Holtz' Distress Stickles - and the Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge - Bling. Well, if Distress Stickles aren't bling enough there is the charm and all that shiny metal so I hope that's covered?!
You might need to look closer for the Distress Stickles: I've used the Rock Candy which is a lovely sugary texture and I made good use of it as a glue for the sand and then over-coated that in places to define the 'dunes' a little: Subtle but lovely sparkle.

Materials:
Tim Holtz - Ranger: Manilla tag; Distress Inks (Broken China); Distress Stains (Broken China, Wild Honey, Peeled Paint); Rock Candy Distress Stickles; Foil Tape; Alcohol inks (Bottle and Citrus) and blender tool; Paint Dabber (Pitch Black).
Tim Holtz idea-ology: Charm clips;
Tim Holtz - Stampers Anonymous: CMS-089  Bitty Grunge Stamps
Other: ribbon (coloured with Distress Stain), Ten Second Studio metal tools to create the palm tree.

Grungy Monday 16, 17 & 18 !!!

Ooops, been a bad blogger again!!! I've been crafting in snatches and not getting to blog, at least not in time for Linda's Grungy Monday challenges: Until now!!! Made it for #18 !
So challenge #16 was to use grungeboard/paper; #17 was to use Rock Candy crackle paint and #18 is to use this technique demonstrated by the genius himself, Tim Holtz.
So here's my project with all three! The current challenge is the page with the stamped parchment in the 4th photo: You can zoom in to have a closer look :)

I have wanted to use Tim's Valise die to make a mini-book since he demo'd it back in January and here is my first: A little travel book for me to keep my notes and souvenirs as we travel around Tunisia for a week soon. I have made it general with lots of pockets and spaces for notes so that afterwards I can use all the bits I collect in scrapbooking the holiday and hopefully the little book will last for many more adventures to come.

Materials:
Tim Holtz - Sizzix: Vintage Valise die
Tim Holtz idea-ology: Dotted Grungeboard, Grungepaper; Lost & Found Papers, Ring Binder; Salvage Stickers; mini paper clips;
Tim Holtz - Ranger: Manilla tag; Distress Inks (Walnut stain, Vintage photo); Rock Candy Crackle Paint; Archival Ink (Sepia);
Stamps: Tim Holtz, Inkadinkado, Hampton Art.
Other: Zutter strap & clasp; PaperArtsy Old Gold Fresco paint; brads; scraps of paper, card and ribbon

Grungy Monday tours Europe

Some members of the European branch of the All Things Tim Yahoo group have recently swapped pages representing their home region so, of course, the resulting book needed covers. I took my inspiration from some covers Tim Holtz recently made and used this week's Grungy Monday technique, as demonstrated by Tim (are you noticing a pattern here?), to colour the grungeboard letters spelling 'Europe'.

All the details of the challenge, including the link for the technique, are on Linda's blog. I used Crushed Olive and Black Soot Distress Inks for my example then outlined the letters with black pen after they were stuck down.
Here's the rest of the cover and I shall show the pages over the next few days so be sure to check back.

My covers are made from Dovecraft chipboard covers and a recycled clothes tag then decorated with Tim Holtz stamps, Distress Stains, 'Pitch Black' Paint Dabber and 'Kraft Resist' paper, Hitch fastener, Charm clips, D-Book rings, Alpha Parts, Grungeboard (Nature) and Sprocket Gears from the Tim Holtz idea-ology range.

Finding My Wings

When my son asked me what I wanted for Mother's day this year, I said "This!" - I was looking at Kelly-Rae Roberts' book 'Taking Flight'. So, here is the cover of my journal, created by trying to follow some of her tutorials, substituting materials where necessary (a lot) and generally playing with paints and inks. I've also managed to incorporate the theme for Hel's Sunday Stampers challenge #162 - Flying: Wasn't difficult was it?! In the process, and through trial and error, I've learnt a little more of what to do and not to do when trying different techniques. That makes me happy :)

I've used a child's board book, sanded and painted with gesso. Then on the front cover I've used Studio 'Traditional Tan' paint, 'Stream' ColorWash, Tim Holtz' butterfly stamp, 'Snow Cap' paint dabber, Perfect Pearls mix and Tim Holtz' idea-ology tissue tape. The 5 pieces stuck on the left are fabric collage, painted with acrylics. The panel on the right is a paper collage on card, painted with a variety of acrylics watered-down to different extents, black and white pens, Lumiere paint (wings), 'Snow cap' dabber. Studio Matte Gel Medium has been used for several layers across all of these.

Mixed Media Scrapbooking

This little piece was made as an assignment on a Mixed Media course I am currently taking with Shirley Pando on My Creative Classroom. The photo is of my husband's grandmother and I've used fabric, lace, ribbons, paper, ink, card, chipboard, faux leather, beads, metal....lots of stash that has been hoarded for years. All that on a piece that only measures 4x4" (10x10cm): The small size was the biggest challenge for me!

I'd love to know what you think.

GM13 - Alcohol inks

I'm determined to get something, anything blogged AND to get something on to the Grungy Monday challenge -this week. Did you notice I'd disappeared again ??? I've actually been making lots of things and have loads to blog but I'm soooo tired that I just haven't found the motivation to sit in front of the computer and show the world. And I'm rather embarrassed that, with everything else I've been doing, this is such a simple piece!
It's basically using the platform of the Grungy Monday challenge to kick-start an alcohol inks technique book which will be just a sampler of different techniques on different surfaces:

Here I've used 4 different blues and greens with pearl mixative and stamped over the background with stamps by Fiskars and Tim Holtz and black Stazon. You can pop over to GM13 on Linda's blog or click this link to Tim Holtz explaining the technique.