CCC15 - Agate on Grunge

Hi folks,

Well it's a quick post with this weeks Compendium of Curiosities challenge, I've been trying to do this all week along with an order of 15 cards and can't get my head round any of it for some reason.

Linda over at Studio L3 has challenged us to do something with Agate on Grunge which can be found on page 53 of the book.

This isn't one of my favourite tags but I'm running out of time so hope you like it.

Labour of love - Memory Box

I spent the weekend making something really different.

Last week at the car boot I bought two of these lovely boxes, I knew they'd be perfect for putting stuff in but wasn't sure I was brave enough to alter them. Anyway thanks to Bowlingbelle who suggested I turn them into Memory boxes that is what I spent my weekend doing and loved it.



I sanded the box down and gave it an undercoat of Gesso, then added layers of pink and purple acrylic paint with baby wipes inside and out, apprently this helps give a distressed look. Next I took some of my favourite Kay & Co papers and tore them sticking them down with Claudine Hellmuth's multi medium (I only had the gloss one and I say had because I've now used it all!), then gave it a coat over the top to seal it. The letters were cut with Cuttlebug alphabet and again sealed with the multi medium.



I didn't like the grooved edges once they were painted as they looked too rough and weren't very easy to sand down so I made some panels and again used the multi medium and Kay & Co papers to cover the side. Added some corners on the lid as a bit of a feature.



Finally, I added the dregs of my Tim Holtz Rock Candy Crackle Paint and inked with Old Paper distress ink and added some embellishments. I just love the TH lock and keys and this was the perfect project to put them on as it means I get to keep them!



I hope you like my box as much as I enjoyed making it. I'm going to keep some of my childrens little treasures in this one and make another to keep all my bits or altered art in.

Thanks for looking and thank you to Viv for the inspiration and advice on making it.

CCC14 - Basic Masks

Well it's a quick post tonight, before I forget and the challenge ends tomorrow, this weeks Compendium challenge is Basic Masks. Unfortunately I do not have Tim Holtz mask but got a gorgeous Viva one which is a similar Regal style to Tims.



I used it with Acrylic paints and Silver Cosmic Shimmer on top, you may just be able to see the crest and the lion. I used Broken China and Fired Brick although the cosmic shimmer has turned it a subtle pink and grey colour. I didn't want to add any fancy embellishments to detract from the simplicity of this tag (the photo's don't do the shimmery effect justice).



I'm working on a Memory Box at the moment which is the biggest altered thing I've done and I can't wait to show you, I'm really pleased with it so far, but first I've got to make a Wedding Anniversary card for my Hubby ready for Monday, better get to bed now though and get on with that tomorrow.

Night folks,

A couple of Tilda cards

Here are a couple of cards I coloured with my new pastel copic Sketch pens. I couldn't decide whether to get some more Promarkers or Sketch pens, as I hardly use my Promarkers and they are almost the same colours as the Ciao's opted for the 000 in each colour group and they are gorgeous.





Unfortunately my photography isn't brilliant so doesn't do the colours justice, they are really subtle and don't need much blending at all with the O0's.

I'm off for a cuppa now, hope you all have a good day.

September Art n Soul Swap - Altered Beer Mat

This month's swap is a bit more normal, lol, to alter a beer mat with an Autumn/Nature theme. I had to get my Dad to go and raid the pub for some beer mats, he looked a bit puzzled when I told him what they were for.

Anyway here's what I've made



I covered the mat with gold and copper Adirondack acrylic paints, covered in Tim Holtz Rock Candy crackle paint, inked with Spiced Marmalade to colour the cracks, then inked through some sequin waste with Fired Brick and Vintage Photo, sprized with gold Cosmic Shimmer and stamped the sentiment and swirls with Timber Brown Stazon.



The flower and leaves are clay casts, I saw a tutorial in Craft Stamper. You stamp the image into the clay, when it's baked you then cover with layers of napkins and watered down pva, when it dries the pattern appears through the layers, even more so when you ink it up. I used distress inks and Perfect Pearls.



I think this little work of art has had everything thrown at it, hopefully the person who receives it will like it.

The Art and Soul Cotton Reel Doll swap

Last month's fabulous challenge was to make a Cotton Reel doll my swap arrived from the very talented Sherry

I've pinched Sherry's picture as it's better than mine, but you can pop over to her blog for more piccies and details of how she made her.

It really is amazing,

A couple of cards and not a Tilda in sight!

I've been trying to make some cards that are a bit different from the usual cute characters as I'm going to see if I can sell some through the local farm shop/cafe, being in a rural village thought flowers and countryside might go down well.

Joanna Sheen poppy stamp masked with Prima Script stamp coloured with Prisma's



Ducks over water with distress background



This one is my sample for next week's craft club project - Paper Piecing

Little Claire image "Blissful" with Papermania Capsule collection

CCC 2 and 7 Fragments

Finally got round to making these two tags for the Fragment challenges I missed.

The first one is basic fragments





This one was really quick and easy which is why it's called basic fragments, the second however Tinted Vision invloves Alcohol Inks, now I can't quite get to grips with these and the fact that I only have three colours plus a gold doesn't help.





What I love about these challenges is you never know what you're doing but it all seems to fall into place.

CCC13 - Grungepaper flowers

Ooo I love flowers and especially the Tattered Florals, well that's this weeks challenge for the Compendium of Curiosities flowers made from grungepaper - so glad it's the paper and not the board it smells much nicer.

I've made another tag for my collection, we're only a third of the way though the book, so I'm going to have to pick my favourites to frame I think, otherwise I'll have no wall left.

I inked the tag with Tea Dye and Aged Mahogany, stamped Viva flourish in Aged Maghogany.

The image (a freebie from Magic Moonlight) was transferred with Claudine Hellmuth's multi medium, I saw a tip in Craft Stamper to use transparencies instead of paper and it worked brilliantly, grungeflowers covered with T.H Retro papers and inked.

I'm trying to take better photo's and love how a few people have used Tim's book as the background, it looks fab.

Thanks for looking and any comments you feel like leaving.

CCC12 - Chipped Enamel

It's week 12 of the Compendium of Curriosities challenge, this weeks technique is chipped enamel which can be found on page 44 of Tim's bible.





I don't have many of the Tim Holtz embellishments, so used a metal tag I had with one of Tim's flowers and added them to a tag.

Colours used: Dusty Concord, Worn Lipstick and Bundled Sage.
Prima script background stamp

My fragments finally came, so hope to make those soon.