Lotstodo Week 5 - In Stitches

I really struggled with this theme and I'm still not over the moon with what I've produced, but never mind. I punched holes around the outer edges and stitched my cord throught the holes. I got a new wizard die, which fits perfectly through the cuttlebug although you do need the tan embossing mats, and this die had 3 different buttons in the set. So I sewed my buttons onto the card and finished off by printing the saying 'a stitch in time saves nine' onto safmat and stuck it to my skinny.

Luggage Label

When I was making my tags and book marks for the Lotstodo swap Hilda is hosting, Martin made a comment. He actually liked the bandana technique. So, we decided after failing to get some luggage labels from a travel agent, that I would make some that were easily recognisable. So here it is, I made 10 in total. I used safmat to print the logo and stuck it to the label.

ATC

Having stamped my new stamp onto a piece of card I decided to alter it into an ATC. I mounted it onto thicker card and used my RIA to round off the corners. This is the first time I've used my RIA and that's when I found out that the backing card was not quite square!!!! I then went round the edge with a black marker pen.

I was also having a play with my cuttlebug and an empty coke can. I cut the top and bottom off the can and then across the middle so I had a strip. Cleaned it up and then used it with a die cut in my cuttlebug. So the arrow on the right and the flower bottom left, are recycled bits of coke can!!! Embellished with a gem.

My New Stamp

Picked this beauty up off the sale table at Paper Paradise - have only stamped her onto card with black stazon up to now, but have some fab ideas for her. The 'believe' is from the CI range.

Lotstodo Week 4 - You've Been Framed

I tore a piece of newspaper to make a frame, added an image, a newspaper flower, a piece of grungeboard and 3 brads. I used a variety of shades of brown inks.


This started life as a red plastic frame. I painted it with copper acrylic dabbers. I wrapped wire and beads around the frame before using rub offs to add the word 'inspired' and then added an image and a piece of ribbon.

Fantastic Friends

What wonderful friends I have on the Lotstodo forum. I opened my post today and this is what had arrived. I was so over whelmed with it. Everyone on the forum had joined in and made a couple of skinnys to make up this absolutely stunning book. Thank you to Chris, Jo, Angie, Shairon, Alison, Andrea, AngC, Lauren, Dawne, Caz, Ju, Kathleen and Mags for the stunning pages and Hilda for the fabulous covers. Hilda was having problems getting to grips with the metal, but as you can most definitely see, she's cracked it now. A big THANK YOU to all of you, especially Andrea who came up with the idea but everyone else for taking her up on it and joining in.

Recipe Swap

Ang on the Lotstodo forum is hosting a recipe swap. You have to produce a 4 x 4, a skinny and an atc all containing the ingredients, a stamped image, a word and a piece of ribbon. My 4 x 4 has been created by smothering the background in gel medium. I left a smooth space in the middle for my image to be stamped. When dried, hazelnut, expresso and pearl acrylic dabbers were randomly added. I then stamped my image in the centre with black stazon. A piece of ribbon, 2 buttons and the word 'cherish' were added. It has a really nice texture but it is hard to see from the photo. The skinny was created by splodging texture paste around the perimeter and then using an old credit card which I'd previous cut 'teeth' out of, I dragged it through the paste to create a pattern. When dried I applied pitch black, red pepper and silver acrylic dabbers. I stamped my new image which I got yesterday from Sue's workshop sale table at Paper Paradise onto a piece of card, cut it out, punched a hole, inserted an eyelet and attached a piece of ribbon, making it into a tag. I used 3d foam to mount it onto the background and added the word 'memories' stamped in my Nick Bantock, vermillion laquer. I covered the atc in a backing paper, stamped a flourish or two. Stamped the image onto a separate piece of card, cut it out and stuck it to the atc. Added a piece of bright red ribbon and the word 'beauty'

Lotstodo Week 3 - Keys

This is a 2 x 2 piece of stampbord which I covered with peach bellini adirondack lights ink and pumpkin stazon ink. I stamped the image with timber brown stazon. I took my scratchy tool and scratched away around the crown, enhanced his face and across the number 7. Added a lock and key charm to finish.

Arches

I am hosting an arches swap on Lotstodo forum with the theme of family.

The woman arch is a stamped image and the flourish has been traced with gold stickles. The male image is housed in a metal frame containing various patterns and coloured with pitch black and expresso acrylic dabbers (which I finally managed to remember to pick up from Sue at Paper Paradise!!!). The word dreamer is a rub on. The child image was stamped on to the arch then masked off, and using a brayer I inked walnut stain distressed ink across the arch to create the background.

Bookmark Swap

Hilda on the Lotstodo forum is hosting a bookmark swap with the theme faces. Here are mine using the bandada technique. The tutorial can be found on the techniques blog

Tag Swap

Hilda on the Lotstodo forum is hosting a tag swap with the theme of faces. I've used the bandana technique to make mine. For a step by step tutorial on how to achieve this look click here

A Couple More Pages

Decided to add the words Flying Fraz to this one as I thought it looked bare with no words!!

The 'puppy' was painted with Jo Sonia's paint - sky - and the letters, when dry, were diamond glazed. The word 'love' was painted with faded jeans crackle paint. The fancy pants chipboard flourish was painted with brushed cordaroy crackle paint. White photo anchors were used to hold the pictures down and held in place with green and blue brads

Another Page

I painted my splodges stamp with snowcap acrylic dabber and stamped over this 12 x 12 page, added a few large snowflakes, tore a piece of white paper to make a frame and place the photo of me, Fraz and Alfie in the snow in the middle. The letters were pink and flowery, so I gave them a coat of gesso then a coat of snowcap acrylic and touched them up with metalic pearl acrylic - quite pleased with this page

Stamping In Soot

Hilda found this fantastic technique of stamping into soot. She has put a step by step tutorial on the Technique Zone Blog. But basically you heat up the paper to create the soot and then stamp into it. You have to use hairspray to set it else it goes everywhere. Also if you do try it, two things to remember, don't set the paper alight like I did (right hand side of face atc) and don't burn your fingers!!!

Been Scrapping

As you will know if you know me, I'm not one for great detail and lots of things going on on my pages as I like the photo to be the main attraction. My pages are usually simple with very basic embellishments. I thought I'd share a few pages of Fraz and Alfie.

Lotstodo Week 2 - In the News

Hilda has set the theme of 'in the news' for week 2 of the Lotstodo challenge. I stamped my flower images with black stazon directly onto a newspaper, mounted them onto card, cut them out and used tattered rose distressed inks to colour them. I used Crafty Individuals background papers and stamped a few dandelion images onto the paper, again using black stazon. 2 of the flowers are flush to the background and for the middle one I used foam pads. I put a black gem in the middle of each flower to embellish.


This is my second piece for this weeks challenge. I used the tape lifting technique demonstrated in full in the techniques blog. The picture has also been uplifted in the same way. I randomly stuck the tape over the fat page. Coloured with latte, ginger and caramel alcohol inks, added an embellishment and used safmat to add the words 'years gone by'.

TGIF - Dogs

Hilda is TGIF's guest designer this week. She has chosen the theme dogs. I made this frame as a christmas present for Lauren, Andrea's daughter, but for some reason forgot to take a photo of it before I sent it. But Andrea came to the rescue and took one for me, so here is my doggie frame with Alfie and Fraz inside!!!!

Metal Art

I made this atc for Andrea who runs the Lotstodo Forum. I used a mold to create the flower and drew the 'A' freehand around it. I used a wheel tool to create the patterns around the letter. I used alcohol inks to colour. I made the orange by mixing butterscotch and cranberry.

Atc Swap - Colours

I am hosting an atc swap on the Lotstodo Forum for 3 atc's. 1 brown, 1 green and 1 purple. This is my green one. I used willow and juniper adirondack inks to create the background, lettuce dimernsional pearls to outline the image and added a button

Metal Atc Swap

I am hosting an atc swap on UKStampers Forum, this months theme is 'metal'.

I embossed a flower from a ten seconds studio mold (B25), coloured it with naked alcohol inks using a thin paintbrush, cut it out and stuck it onto my CI background paper, added a ticket and outlined it with butterscotch adirondack dimensional pearls.

For the middle one I used latte, ginger and caramel alcohol inks to colour a piece of metal that was an off cut of something else. I then cut the off cut into smaller pieces. I swirled hazelnut ink over the card from the adirondack brights range and stamped my image onto plain white card using stazon timber brown and stuck onto the card. I then placed my pieces of metal around the image, stuck them down and outline some of them with terra cotta dimensional pearls.

I created the background using alcohol inks, lettuce, butterscotch, latte and gold. I stamped my image using stazon timber brown and added 2 metal brads, the word dream and a dragonfly.

Lotstodo Week 1 - Time

Hilda has kindly taken over the Lotstodo Challenge Blog as it was about to be closed down, which would have been a real shame.

The theme she has chosen for her first challenge is 'time'.

I took my piece of 2 x 2 stampbord and firstly covered it with adirondack hazelnut ink from the brights collection. I then added ginger to it. I then stamped my clock face, hands and squiggle using black stazon. I then took my scratchy tool and scratched away betwen the outer and inner lines of the clock face and on certain areas of the squiggle down the side. This revealled the white of the stampbord. I was quite pleased with the look of this as it's the first time I'd scratching on stampbord.


Martin was hanging some pictures of Fraz and Alfie and we needed to take the supporting arm off the back of one of the frames as it wouldn't hang flush to the wall. Anyway, this gave me an idea. I coated the offending piece in gesso, let it dry and then added splodges of texture paste. I then ran an old credit card through the paste but had cut a zig-zag pattern into it. I blasted it with a heat tool and proceeded to randomly paint it with hazelnut, copper and pearl acrylic from the dabber range. I stamped a few words onto tissue paper and using mod podge added them to the piece. I randomly stamped some clock faces using ginger adirondack ink, but due to the texture, they didn't show up too well, but I think you can just about make a few out. Using my grungeboard letters I coated them in the acrylics too and then I pinched the idea from Dansmum (Hazel) of wrapping wire around the letters. I then added a sprocket gear from the TH idea-ology range, added 2 photo anchors and a brad to make the hands of a clock, a silver button, 2 eyelets at the top and finally added my stampbord piece that I'd made earlier.

I am very pleased with the results but it does look much better in real life, due to the poor lighting!!!! Took the one on the right the next day in daylight

Lotstodo Mega Challenge

Andrea over on the Lotstodo Forum is hosting a Mega Challenge. Everyone has something different to make. My challenge was to make something for Hilda which went like this - Canvas - must have brown somewhere on it, you must use 2 pieces of metal, you must put 1 word on it, NO people images or stamps. Can you imagine my horror, no stamping, what was I to do!!!!

Firstly I covered the canvas in walnut distressed ink, then I tore some brown patterned papers and some TH papers and stuck them on using melted beeswax. I coated the papers with another layer of beeswax. I added my one word 'hilda' using various different designs of letters. I tore a piece of rippled brown paper, threaded string through the top and bottom, and again used the beeswax to stick it down. I attached a metal key again with the beeswax, hung a mini hanger from one of the pieces of string and hung beads and a couple of charms from it. I used my metal hinge at the top to create a hanging device and added some string. I then used gold perfect pearls to add a bit of sparkle to it.

Hilda - I hope you like it xxxx

Happy New Year

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all my crafting buddies and readers of my blog

Hope your first day of the year is a good one xxxxxx