Sunday Stameprs week 203 "RED" !

Over on Hel's Blog The theme this week for the Sunday Challenge is " Red" !!

Now you'd NEVER guess I was watching a horror movie last night would you lol!... Yep! I'm one of those blood thirsty people who just loves to curl up with a fantastically gory horror movie....love anything to do with Vampires, Werewolves, Zombies or just general loss of lots of limbs and blood!! lol...So I couldn't resist doing this journal spread! It was the first thing that popped into my mind when I read what the theme was!

Anyway.... I was all 'girlied' out after finishing off that Tim Holtz Print Tray so just felt like a wee change!

firstly I gessso'd the pages with an old bank card, dried it off, spread red acrylic with an old bank card, dried it off, then spread black acrylic with an old bank card and dried that off! When it was dry I made up some runny red paint and flicked it onto the pages to give a decent 'bloodsplatter'! cool huh?!! lol .

Put it aside to dry while I worked on the  letters, which are in fact plastic templates, I drew round them but added drips of 'blood' along the bottom of the letters. Coloured them with red promarker , cut them out and then stuck them down and added some little black crosses.

The Vampire lips are drawn by me, (badly) but I used Google for decent EASY images to try and copy! (I'm terrible at drawing) lol!

All in all a suitably gory and atmospheric double page spread! And trust me, those reds are MUCH more vibrant than in the photo, the flash form my camera has washed it out slightly!

I REALLY enjoyed this spread! It's just so... well ... ME !!


Take care and thanks for dropping by

Jackie x

Tim Holtz Print Tray !

Here's what my desk was tidied up for!! lol...... My print tray in all it's glory!! :D

Something slightly different with the fact that it's all girlie and flowery! Absolutely ADORE that little birdhouse though!! Must get me more of those! :D

The wooden bird was just painted in a darkish brown then overstamped with a background stamp and embossed with clear embossing powder! Then painted over with white which was then wiped off, shows up the dots really well! The birdhouse was just painted and some little silk ribbon bows and flowers added. The lizard in the middle is a little toy rubber one which was gilded and then melted UTEE poured over from the meltpot! Did the same technique with that tiny little key in the botttom right corner! There's an old key fob, some chipboard letters, buttons, hearts, and some die cuts. The three paper flowers were versamarked then embossed with clear embossing powder to make them look like porcelain!

The two  big roses at the bottom left were made using a rubber stamp. The Square gold tile is a chipboard square which was triple embossed in gold and them stamped into while it was still hot, got great texture with that one!! The coloured rose at the top is done on stampboard, coloured with Inktense pencils then triple embossed with clear powder, the same technique was used with the rectangular tile at the bottom! The little tile at the top with the green diamonds is actually a domino! Coloured with alcohol inks and them stamped onto!

The little book on the left is a 'ticket strip' which was stained using distress stains, then stamped onto the inside , concortina'd and held closed with a matching ribbon!

Think I've covered all the bases on bits and pieces...  I had a blast with this project as it is a lot 'softer' than the last one I did!

I learned all the techniques from Jennie at The Artistic Stamper , she ran a workshop last year which I attended and I LOVED every minute of it!! Jennie and Co. were wonderful and I learned soooooo much that day! Want to do another one but sadly funding won't allow at the moment!

anyway, It's late and I'm off to bed....

Take care and thanks for dropping by,

Jackie x

WOYWW ! 151 !

Yeeees ... You ARE seeing correctly! I tidied!!!!! lol.... Needed the space to work on a Tim Holtz Configurations Print tray!! So basically all you see is a rather ugly set of headphones for my phone so I caqn listen to music while 'working' !

Before I go any further though, I would just like to welcome some new followers to my and say Thank you for taking the time out to read some of my inane ramblings lol! I really do appreciate it, as I do for all the lovely comments you wonderful people of blog land so kindly leave :D


Right. Now on for the reason of this post, if you would like to see what other people have been up to on thier work spaces then please pop over to  Julia'sStamping Ground   and have a good nosey!!



Take care everyone, I'm off out with my mum today :)

Happy WOYWW !

Jackie x

YES !!!!

Just a quick update on the college saga!

AT LAST I've heard back from them and I've been accepted for a place on an NC Art and Design course! :D

To say i'm pleased as punch is an understatement!! I'm thrilled to bits! Didn't have the academicals required so totally relied on my portfolio!

whew! Glad the wait is over for now....it's just a case of waiting to see how things go for my teenager! He is waiting to hear if he's been successful too ..... *sighs*



Take care

Jackie x ... STILL smiling lol!

Sunday Stampers week 202 summer colours!

I chose to do another tag this week for my entry into Hel's Sunday Stampers Challenge. The theme this week is " Summer colours ".

 I coloured the background randomly applying using Wild Honey and Peeled Paint Distressed stains then overspraying with some water. After drying I then sprayed Daffodil and Mint Green Glimmer mists, and a little of Golden Fish cosmic shimmer! I used Borders #2  for the big dots down the side using Fired Brick Distress ink. I set the tag aside to dry and started working on the flower! This was done using the Flower Power themeplate from The Artistic Stamper, it was coloured using Wild Honey and Dried Marigold Distress inks, and then over stamped with Dots background stamp using Fired Brick, the leaves were done the same way only using Forest Moss.


The Butterfly and Snail are from Tick Tock Butterflies oddly enough lol  I overstamped the butterfly using The borders # 2 in fired brick again and just added some wire for the antenae!

The wording is from a set from my stash

I really like the nice bright colours of this piece! Made me smile while doing it :) I hope it makes you do the same!

Take care everyone and thanks for dropping by.

Have a great Sunday!

Jackie x

Flower Canvas

I was having a little play today with the canvas pad I bought a few weeks ago, I haven't used this stuff before as I've only worked on the stretched deep frame canvases!

I was pleasantly surprised the way this piece turned out, wasn't really sure what it would be like being my first try on this stuff!

Believe me when I tell you though that the centre image blends in a LOT better than in that photo! It was taken using my mobile phone! Anyway... The main image is from the Flora and Fauna themeplate from Chocolate Baroque. It was stamped onto white card which was sprayed with mint green and yellow Glimmer Mists. I coloured it using Inktense Pencils (my favourite). I distressed the edges of the image to soften it slightly, just matted and layered it onto some card which was distressed and then overstamped!

The background of the canvas was quite simply done actually....I sprayed the whole sheet with water then gave it a was with a Ranger paint dabber in Lettuce, dried it off with a heat gun then dotted around some Wild Honey Distress stain, which was immediatley sprayed with water then wiped away using a baby wipe! Dried that off then over sprayed the whole thing mint green and yellow Glimmer mists.

I then over stamped with some various floral stamps from my stash! (Don't you just love those poppy heads) . I just added the little phrase from the same themeplate as mentioned earlier to just balance everything out a little!

REALLY pleased with this piece and I love the colours! I am not usually a fan of green but think but it's quite a yellowy green it has 'warmed' it up a little!


Thanks for dropping by

Take care and have a great weekend!

Jackie x

Altered book lesson 6 pt II

I'm taking part in an online course run by Elizabeth! I must say it has been extremely interesting and quite challenging at times but I'm enjoying myself experimenting!


This spread is for lesson 6 Design prinicipals part 2 - rhythm, movement, contrast, repetition and dominance!

I think I've covered everything with this spread. Not a lot of materials used other than acrylic paints, some spare card, a black fineliner and a white paint pen! Oh yeah...and a roll of tape to draw round for the circle!

Here's a view of the inside of the Yin Yang symbol....

If you would like a btter look then just click on the photos to enlarge....

Here's how it was done....

Gesso base, then again badly mixed some black and white acrylic paint, just swirled it over the pages, then added the red Feng Shui symbols, when they were dry I gave the whole thing a thinned out coat of white paint!

I drew round a roll of sticky tape for the big Yin Yang symbol in the middle three times overlapping each circle, so that when I cut it out they were joined, I folded the layers over each other and then cut through the top two layers so that the lines in the middle would meet exactly! I just painted the inside in red then wrote the words in black fineliner!

Stuck it down (squint) * sighs* with some ordinary white craft glue!

Really like the strength of the Dominance and contrast of this piece! Quite pleased it came out VERY similar to the idea I had in my head!

I hope Elizabeth likes it and I've done what was asked!


Thanks for dropping by,

Jackie x

WOYWW 150 !

Errmmm? ... oh dear !! My desk is a bit of a 'dumping ground' this week!!

Just some of my latest 'haul' over the past couple of weeks! That's a Configurations Print Tray under all that...along with a Canvas Art pad, a couple of new 'arty' books (mixed media) Some new Stamps, a case to store them in, a few wooden birdie things and some Cosmic Shimmers, along with some crackle paints and some Matt Medium!

So if your desk is much tidier than mine will EVER be lol... then pop over to The lovely Mrs D's place and show us all!!


Right, I'm off to tidy...... ha ! ya think! I'll more likely end up playing with all that new crafty stash!! lol!!

Take care everyone, thanks for dropping by,

Jackie x

Altered Book pt 5 chapter II

Think I've covered ALL the bases for lesson 5 with this one!! lol maybe even managed lesson 6 as well!!

After struggling a lot the other day with the "UNITY" part for this lesson over on Elizabeth's workshop for the Altered Book I went back and read and re read the instructions!

While reading the list :-

Harmony

Unity

Balance

Movement

Emphasis

I thought  .... " sounds like the ingredients for a good Swiss Watch "!! lol... I have no idea where it came from really but it was stuck in my head so I just went with it!!

Soooo... I just HAD to try it out! I am dead pleased with the way this spread has turned out too....

Anyway..here's how it was done.....

Background :- I ggogled a side view of a wristwatch and printed it out! Then stuck it down onto the pages along the bottom. I then covered the whole lot with Gesso and let dry.

I  Mixed up some Burnt sienna and White acrylic paint ... now i never mix my colours to a 'solid' colour... I like leave them 'badly' mixed because seeing the brush strokes and differences when you are brushing on the paint seem to give a lot of 'texture'!

I then over sprayed with Cosmic Shimmers and antique brown spray inks. After that I randomly stamped pocket watches from The Time and Keys themeplate from the Artistic Stamper  . I then used the Mini cogs background stamp again from The Artistic Stamper, The big rings are actually from the lid of a stackable storage container!

The Winged pocket watch is again from the Time and keys themeplate as are the words! The wings are part of the Alterations Winged Heart Die.

The big Clock is the Weatherd Clock Alterations die and if you look closely there's a rather subtle reference to an Iron Maiden song in there too lol... (for those NOT in the know it's Two Minutes to Midnight)!! Oh come on!... I just HAD to!!! lol...

The cogs and gears are yet another Alterations die, Gadget gears to be exact and are cut from off cuts of textured mirror card in copper and plain gold, which was then run through a cuttlebug Woodgrain embossing folder.


Over all I have enjoyed this piece today....and I think it all works well together...What do you all think... not only have I done what was asked (I hope).... but I've also thrown in a 'subtle' play on words as well....!!


Take care everyone and thanks for dropping by


Jackie xx

Altered book pt 5

Well here's another spread from my altered book! Over on Elizabeth's Blog She is doing a wonderful course for one of these! This is my first attempt at one and I'm thoroughly enjoying it!

I am not quite sure I've achieved what Elizabeth asked for but this is all I have managed I'm afraid! Couldn't really concentrate due to 'domestic stuff' causing chaos...but I tried.!

Here's how the pages were done....

Yellow and white(lots of it) acrylic paint for the base colour! very roughly mixed and just slabbered over the pages...some great texture there but sadly it's such a bad photo that you can't see it! Some randomly stamped flowers and some randomly stenciled flowers, which are in fact the remnants of the page where those big flowers were cut using the Alterations Tattered Flowers die! I also sprayed some Mint Green Glimmer mists over the page th tone in the green better! the flowers are coloured using various spray inks, pro markers and aqua markers!

The daisy photo was the front of a flier that came through door, advertising some fancy big shopping mall that I probably need to get two buses to get to... lol....some green and yellow paint over the top to blend it into the page...

Not really very happy  with this because I'm not sure what I was trying to achieve....but that's the fun of these books...it's all about the learning! :D

Anyway, thanks for looking in

Take care

Jackie x

Sunday Stampers week 201 !

Over on Hel's blog for the Sunday Stampers challenge the theme this week is " Men" !! Now I don't have a lot of 'men' stuff so I had a rummage to see if there was anything I could use at all! I came across this stamp! I've had it for years and just never really knew what to do with it....it's just one of 'those'....anyway...I did the best I could with what I had!

It's a big tag! Sprayed with Cosmic Shimmer copper along with some antique brown ink, then distressed with Brushed Corduroy distress ink....over stamped with The Small Cogs background stamp from The Artistic Stamper.

I stamped the motorbike onto some white card that I had been using to protect my work surface which had caught some of the spray inks...I just distressed with Brushed Corduroy Distress ink and then stuck it to the tag. I finished off with some funky fibre, a winged skull charm and an old blown car headlamp bulb!!  Here's a close up of them...

Nothing too fancy but it's turned out well considering!

Thanks for dropping by

Have a great sunday

Jackie x

Altered Book lesson 4 pt 2 !!

Well ! Here is another double page spread in Lesson 4 of the Altered Book online Class with Elizabeth . I was palying with glue, Gesso, Tissue paper and of course some string!!


I started off cutting up some ordinary string then spelling out the word " string" ! Stuck it all down with p.v.a glue, I then covered the whole pages with some inexpensive white tissue paper. When that was dry , I just randomly painted splotches <----- a REALLY technical word that lol with some acrylic paints, I added some Gesso just to blend off the colours a little.

I highlighted the word with some fancy foils I had in my stash.... just added a wee bit of glue to the letters and while it was still tacky I stuck the foils down then lifted them again, transfering the foils to the word! It's very similar to 'gilding'!

Afterwards I just decorated the page with a black marker and a White Sakura Jellroly pen!

Here's a close up of some of the details.....

You don't necessarily have to use that 'gilding' technique over the letters you could dry brush over some gold paint or any other colour to highlight the letters... anything goes really... i just did that because i had the foils handy!


These next pages are a doddle!!

Just smoosh <----- another technical word...lol... randomly over the page some  Gesso in a criss cross manner...let dry....then splodge over some colours...wipe them off with an old credit/bank card ! The paint will stick to bits you've missed on the page but wipe off the gesso leaving that cool and funky background! Dead simple!!

The colours i chose kind of looked very 'hippie' like so I was just drawn to that theme! The "Peace" sign is done by drawing round a roll of sticky tape lol... and coloured using a black marker....The letters are plastic templates, which I drew round and coloured with Letraset Aqua markers..I outlined the whole thing with a White Sakura JellyRoll pen!

Here's a close up of the lovely 'splodged' background...

I hope you have enjoyed reading and It just goes to show that you don't REALLY NEED fancy tools to get fancy results!

If you would like to see the other pages I've done then please click HERE.


Thanks for looking and take care


Jackie xx

Ribbons and Lace !

Over on The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog The challenge this month is Ribbons and Lace!

I've done a journal page this month...not really sure if i like it or not but that's what's great about journals...they are a great way to practice new techniques!

Anyway. I just did the background by mixing up some acrylic paints and randomly painted the page, when dry i gave it a top coat of Gesso. Then over sprayed with some Glimmer Mists.

Along the top of the page I stamped the lace stamp from The Harlequin Rose by Chocolate Baroque using Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink.

I stamped one of the Gracefull Ladies from Chocolate Baroque onto a sheet of card from the DCWV Happy Ever After Stack with Sepia Versafine ink and then lightly dry coloured her using some inktense pencils . I distressed very lightly aroound the edge of the mat and the page with some Fired Brick Distress ink, which 'warmed' the whole thing up, sadly it's such a terrible photo that you can't see it!

The lace has been in my craft stash for ages and is a piece that I've just never bothered to figure out what to do with because of the depth of it...so I just stuck it down with some mega sticky double sided tape, added some another strip of tape, then pleated some cream ribbon, added yet another strip of sticky tape and covered that with a piece of white ribbon which I coloured using a "Shale" pro-marker! I just added a little ribbon bow and flower to one corner of the image to finish it off.

not sure how strong this will sticky tape will be so not sure how long things will stay stuck!!

anyway, thanks for dropping by

Take care

Jackie xx

WOYWW 148 !

Wednesday again!! and it's time for another WOYWW with the lovely Julia. Over on her blog you can join in the fun and find out what's on everyone else workdesks all across the world! It's loads of fun!

Anyway.... It seems to be book week on desk this week.... needed some ideas for a few things.....on the bottom is my Art portfolio, A book about Van Gough's art, Pam Carricker's Art at the Speed of Life (which is absolutley fantastic)!! My Art journal and the 'scruffy' little white one is an Altered Book in progress! As well as a few of the other crafting accoutriments such as glue, Gesso, string and huge big roll of Gaffer Tape!!

Fairly short and sweet this week so it gives you all more time to have a nosey at the rest of the desks! lol


Take care and thanks for dropping by

Happy WOYWW !

Jackie x

Sunday Stampers week 199 Transport !

Hi Everyone, hope your'e having a lovely Sunday!

This weeks theme over on The Sunday Stampers Challenge is "Transport" ! Now I have a couple of stamps of 'old school' american cars and motorbikes but no matter how hard I tried I just couldn't seem to do what i wanted with them! Soooo I just gave up and tried something else....when it gets stressfull then crafting isn't fun anymore is it!

Anyway, this piece is inspired by a few things...mainly the previous Green one I did lol plus...I am a member of Joanna Sheen's forum and there was a thread regarding your favourite CD Rom....mine are all The Victorian ones...in particular Victorian Romance!! I have used it endlessly for LOTS of projects including this one.... I just adore that image!! Isn't she sweet! :D

Anyway the box is the middle sized one of the set of three nesting heart boxes bought from Ikea... The technique is the same as the previous Green one but only this time I used Blue...Another of Tim's tickets, and some paper flowers to finish off...

Here's a shot of the papers that actually started the whole thing off....

It's from the Basic Grey Range and called Phresh and Phunky! I love the distressed muted colours in this set.... had it for yonks!!!


anyway, thanks for dropping by, sorry I didn't have something different to show you today...:(

Take care

Jackie x