Mixed Media Monday

On this weeks Mixed Media Monday the challenge is to create something with a theme, colour or image that re-occurs and explain what it means to you. Now I can't explain it, but as most of you who already know me know, I just love the colour green - any shade, it doesn't matter as long as it's green. So I am submitting the above piece.

The background material was dyed with lettuce adirondack colour wash spray and an ArtJourney image was stamped with memento ink in bamboo leaves (green). The lovely Joanna Sheen paper which was given to me yesterday by my good friend Kath has a slight green tinge to it. The main piece of material in the middle is stamped with olive stazon. Some of the stitching is done in green and I've laid green angelina fibres over the top of the bronze (you might be able to pick it out just between the orange ribbon and the prestuds).

So I hope this qualifies even though I can't justify why!!!!!!

A couple of tags

Have just been playing and made a couple of tags

Sunday Stamper - Wings of a Dove

This is my contribution to this weeks Sunday Stamper challenge which has the theme of 'wings'. The background is alcohol inked in various colours. The birdcage stamp is from the PA hot picks plate. The dies are T!m's Alterations and the words were printed onto safmat.

Wool and buttons

Been playing with wool, buttons and my heat gun. I cut lots of strips of wool and totally covered a piece of fusible material, pressed them all over with the iron and hey presto, the wool stuck to it. I ran it through the sewing machine and added burnt orange organza ribbon, a blue dyed tumble dryer sheet and a piece of wine coloured organza. Once all secured, I took my heat gun and blasted away. The wine organza and the tumbe dryer sheet burnt away to reveal the wool fibres. I added a piece of mesh (picked up at yesterdays show), a few buttons, which I think would have looked better sewn on in a purple or orange, but as I'm just building up my supplies, I don't have any of those colours, yet, so I used black instead. Added the small purple button and piece of worded twill (again picked up at yesterdays show).

Lincoln Craft Stash

I was very good today and only bought the above bits. Just had to have that stamp plate, and I got some fusible fibres to try with my fabrics. Lots of organza ribbons to burn, lots of glue and stick things. A fab new cuttlebug folder of cogs and clocks, some beads to maybe sew on the fabrics (jury is still out on that one!!!) and some real thin pieces of wood to die cut from, oh and a new A3 self healing mat.

Just Playing

Having dyed all the fabrics I stamped a script image on the base layer. Cut a piece out the middle of the next layer so the image would show through and placed a piece of organza over the top. I attached the lace down the right hand side and used the heart that I'd previously made. I sewed all these onto the base layer. I stamped the word moments on a piece of untreated fabric, used a small piece of wadding to pad it out and sewed around it, again sewing it onto the base layer. I added a button and a piece of ribbon. The brown section is a piece of foam attached with eyelets, which I heated, stamped into, cut out and rubbed over with glimmer paste. I rolled a piece of net curtain around a piece of wadding and tied it at each end with a piece of hemp and hand stitched it to the base layer, top left. I then blasted everything with my heat gun.

Postcard/Mail Art - Lotstodo Challenge

Back to my favourite stamps of the moment for this challenge piece. I chose a postcard, covered it in various bright colours of distressed and Adirondack inks. I used black soot distressed ink to stamp the triangle eye images, covered them in clear embossing powder and heat embossed. The background and words were stamped in black stazon. I ran round the edges with a paper distressing tool and inked with black soot.

Creating Layers

I've been playing around with fabrics, layering them up again, but thus far, I've resisted using my heat gun to burn some of the layers!!!! The little green square on the bottom left with the button on is actually padded but it's hard to tell from the photo.

This post could be edited shortly and a new picture of this might appear in it's new format !!!!

First Fabric Postcard

This is my first attempt at a fabric postcard. I cut the flowers from T!m's alterations die in yellow and orange felt. I stamped them with a script image using black stazon. I attached the smaller piece to the larger one by sewing the centres. I cut some wool and laid it on the fabric, placing the flowers over the top. I then stitched the flowers to the purple fabric taking in some of the wool. I put a piece of black tulle across the bottom and again trapped the wool. I stitched a few times over it. I attached a piece of white card to the back which was postcard size (6" x 4") stitched right around the edge and cut off the excess materials. Not quite what I had in mind when I started, but then it never is!!!!!

Playing with Fabrics

I've been playing again today. I stamped an image with black stazon onto a piece of a cotton hankie which I'd previously dyed a yellowish colour. I used a dyed redish piece of cotton fabric for the base, added a dyed tumble dryer sheet and a piece of dyed tulle or netting to you and me. I added a piece of wool which I draped round the image in order to try and create a frame. I stitched all the fabrics together, as above.



Using my heat tool (the one with the nozzle, not the hair dryer type), I heated the various materials. The tumble dryer sheet and the netting melted quite nicely to reveal the image and some of the wool fibres.

So Proud.....

...of myself!!!! I'm getting into this sewing and really surprising myself along the way. I stamped one of my new ArtJourney images with black stazon onto one of the fabric pieces that I dyed previously. Re-threaded my machine with green thread and stitched the green zigzag a couple of times around the image. I used a different stitch for the left and right sides but this time sewed on the brown. Now this next bit is where I really suprised myself. I turned over the edges of the green backing piece and using a straight stitch, sewed very straight, neat lines to finish it off, I was so pleased with it, I just had to show you!!!!



Next I cut a brown and a green heart out of felt with T!m's heart wings alterations die set. Chose my stitch as above and manage to keep more or less to the edges, again I was very pleased with the outcome and how neat it was.



For this heart I changed the thread colour to brown for some contrast, again selected my stitch and off I went. Another great result. I've purposely left the threads long as I might add some beads or something at a later date.



Then I thought I might attach the brown one to the first piece - still undecided????

I know you probably all think I'm mad posting my first attempts and getting so excitied about having straight(ish), neat(ish) lines and stitches, but at least in a few months time when I've got better, I will have something to compare with.

Lotstodo Challenge - Flourishes / Swirls

This is my tag for the Lotstodo challenge. The hearts and crown are from T!m's alteration dies. The flourishes have been painted with gold dabber paint through the back pieces which were left from the flourish backers. I stamped the background with the CI one heart stamp using brushed corduroy distressed ink, edged the tag with gold pen, added some gems to the gold crown and finished with some fibres.

Chair Swap

Ages ago Kath, aka LazyKay, sent me a chair from a dolls house. We decided to make something for each other using it and then have a swap. I received mine in the post today, isn't she just fab. I just love the idea of using a round box!!!!

In case you forgot, this is what I made for Kath - see here

Wednesday Stamper - Orange

I'm going for a hat trick this week, my last 2 weeks pieces have hit the sampler on Wednesday Stampers challenge blog. Their theme this week is 'orange'.

I swiped my white piece of material with pumpkin stazon ink and frayed the edges. I printed the image onto ink jet transparency film and lightly melted the edges with a candle flame. Using my 'new toy', I stitched the image onto the fabric, again I just stuck to a simple stitch, added the flower and the ribbon.



I then realised, in order for it to qualify for Wednesday Stamper, a stamped image has to be present, so I got out my new ArtJourney stamps and used the word 'precious' along the bottom. I stamped it in spiced marmalade distressed ink.

Playing with Fabrics

I then had a play with my fabrics. I laid a few of the earlier dyed pieces together and incorportated some strands of wool and other materials. I laid a piece of organza over the top and using my 'new toy', I stitched them all together with a plain straight stitch but in a very ramdom pattern as you can see from the black stitch lines!!!



I then took my heat tool and burnt away at the materials. Obviously I've just started out so am at the very early stages of learning which materials burn the best and which don't do anything!!! I managed to singe all around the edges of the brown piece of material. I was very pleased with the outcome being as it was my first try at anything like this. I also can't believe how much more control you have with a 'proper' sewing machine.

If you want to have a try at the above, just a tip, make sure that you are in a very well ventilated room as the smell is really over powering!!!!

Dying Fabric

Last night I dyed some scrap pieces of fabric and this morning I hung them on the line to dry out been as it was such a lovely day. I used my diamond glimmer mist to get the yellow colours and my Adirondack cranberry and lettuce colour wash sprays for the reds and greens. I used lots of bits of material most of which I don't know what they are but mixed in there is a cotton hankie, some cheesecloth type fabric and some tumble dryer sheets.

Theme Thursday????

Having mis-read this weeks Theme Thursday theme of 'butterflies or butterfly wings' I'm not sure if this now counts, as they are not butterfly wings. Me being me, just looked at the pictures and thought the theme was simply 'wings'.

Anyway, whether it's in or out, here it is!!!

I covered a 4 x 4 in green material putting the swede pattern to the bottom. I added some black stitching. Stamped the words 'precious moments' from ArtJourney on the material using black stazon. Hilda sent me some fab pieces of copper wallpaper so I cut some wings from them using my new T!m dies, they arrived last week too, but only just got them out today. The image is from Lisa's Altered Art.

Black, White and Grey Matter

Got some new stamps from ArtJourney yesterday but wasn't up to playing with them. I've simply stamped using black stazon, black soot distressed and lake mist Adirondak inks. The background cardstock was a nice vibrant white. I've used a paper distresser to distress the edges and inked with black soot.

I also want to enter the first 4x4 into this week Crazy Amigos challenge as the theme is numbers.

It's Party Time

The theme on this weeks Wednesday Stamper is 'party'. For my 4x4 I thought I'd use these 2 groovy chicks as they look like they are dancing the night away. Balloons and streamers are stamped in black stazon and painted with water colour paints. The words are stamped in black stazon too. Images are from Lisa's Altered Art and the hats are made from music papers.

TMTA - Travel

This weeks theme on Think Monday Think Atc is Travel. Here is mine. The background is weathered wood, faded jeans and walnut stain distressed inks. Journey and the bike were stamped with timber brown stazon, then masked off. The crackle was inked in walnut stain and spritzed with water before stamping.

Loves Music ....

Loves to Dance - This weeks Gothic Arch theme is 'music'. I covered my arch in a sheet of music paper, stamped my new ArtJourney dancing image, added the words Loves Music Loves to .... from my computer and stamped the word dance.

Lotstodo Challenge - Stamped Collage

This weeks Lotstodo Challenge is stamped collage. I created the background using distressed and Adirondack inks. I stamped my Mona image, masked it off and built all the other images up around it. The P for Paris has been covered in diamond glaze for extra dimension and one of the post marks has been re-stamped, cut out and inked in different colours to make it stand out. I distressed the tags edges with a paper distresser and inked them with black soot. I finally added some fibres to finish.

One More Tyvek Piece

This piece has been finished for a few days but I caught a bug and have been in bed for the last couple of days, I'm just starting to feel human again, so sorry for not blog hopping etc, but I'll get caught up with you all.

More Tyvek

Having gone back to my Somerset Studio mag and reading the instructions, as opposed to just looking at the pictures, this one has turned out much better!!!!

Mail Art - Envelope

Been having a play with an envelope today. Background was painted in Juniper acrylic dabber, various images stamped with varying shades of green. Middle butterfly stamped, cut out and glued onto the flap.

Quick and Simple Card

It's my BIL's birthday this week and the whole family are mad on Man United, so I made this very simple card. Can you spot the T!m alterations die?

Flowers - Wednesday Stamper

I made this atc to enter into this weeks Wednesday Stampers challenge. The theme is flowers. I chalked the atc in orange but left the middle white. Stamped the image in a couple of different light browns from the colorbox chalk set. I used my pearlescent watercolour paints to enhance the petals. I inked the edges with gold brilliance ink.

That's the Ticket - Tag Tuesday

I don't think I've entered on this challenge site before, Tag Tuesday, but first time for everything I guess. I used my big n juicy pad to create the background, braying the ink in different directions. Stamped my main image, the word giggle and the TH scratches stamp. Outlined the words in black pen. Stamped the tickets using another TH stamp onto white card, cut a couple out and stuck them on. Distressed the edges of the tag using a paper distresser and distressed walnut ink. Added fibres to finish.

Think Monday Think ATC

The theme on this weeks Think Monday Think ATC is 'green', so how could I pass this up. All you have to do is use the colour green. I have used lots of shades of green including my silkies which have given it a shimmer, not sure if you can see it or not in the photo though.

Perhaps you can see the shimmer better on this one

Brown, Cream & Gold

I was blog hopping last night and Cath had made some lovely atc's using the above colours. This inspired me to have a play and here's what I came up with.

Friendship - UK Stampers Swap & Lotstodo Challenge

I am hosting an ATC swap on the UKStampers forum with the theme of 'friends/friendship' and these fit in great with this weeks Lotstodo challenge. The blue and green backgrounds have been created with 3 colours of distressed inks, spritzed with water and blasted with the heat gun. The one on the right has been created with alcohol inks from the light range. The image and quote stamps are from my holiday stash. The edges of the blue one have been roughed up with the paper distresser and walnut stain ink added and the alcohol inks one has been framed with a black marker pen

Playing with Tyvek

Hilda and I have never had any success in the past using Tyvek, but my Somerset Studio mag arrived this week and there was a techniques workshop using it, so I thought I'd give it a go and these are the results. I painted a piece of Tyvek and stitched it along with lots of other background materials. I 'hid' an image under the Tyvek. Then using my heatgun I melted the Tyvek to reveal some of the image underneath. I added some embellishments and decided to paint the crown and the heart in stream to give it some contrast. I attached everything to a white piece of card for stability.

This one was done in exactly the same way, but it hasn't burnt as well as the first one and was painted darker to start with, so there are shadows over the image which has made it hard to photograph, but it looks much better in real life. I also decided to see if my alteration dies would cut hessian, and they did, see the top right flower!!!!

Another Tag

This is the last of the tags I made, but I had to wait for the diamond glaze to dry before I could carry on with the background!!!

I made these tags with yes, you guessed it, T!m's alteration dies. I can't stop playing with them!!!

Flower Faces

These tags were made using the floral set of alteration dies and the PaperArtsy grunge flower die (the leaf). I got the idea to put the faces in the middle from a piece that Alison (craftytrog) made for the Lotstodo Challenge.



The flowers were cut from various materials including sand paper (thanks Deb), fabric, cork and thick card. The leaves were cut from T!m's retro grunge pad.

All at Sea

Background paper is from T!m's new range, and of course I had to have the green set, ermmm I think it goes by 'retro grunge' . I used the 'on the edge' scallop die for the top and bottom. The cogs were cut from sand paper as suggested by Deb. I covered them in walnut stain and black soot distressed inks, dried them with a heat tool and they bubbled!!!! I put some rock candy stickles on them too and it was like paint stripper, it stripped the colour off on the large one, so I was more careful with the smaller two. Again I heat dried them and they went really limp!!!! The image is from Lisa's Altered Art. The font used for the words is 'OgdredWeary' and it was printed onto safmat. I finished off by threading a piece of ribbon through the holes in the top made by the scallop die.

PaperArtsy Hot Picks Stamp Set

Been having a play with my new set of PaperArtsy stamps. The background is alcohol inks on matt card!!! The flower, and the stem on the right are heat embossed with clear embossing powder after being stamped with black soot distressed ink. The flower is attached with 2 spinners and a brad. The outsides have been torn using a paper distresser and edged in black soot. I added gems to the middle of the bodies.

Lotstodo Swap - Tags

And the last one for the moment is for 3 tags with the theme of 'circles, cogs and/or wheels'. I have made 3 but can only show you this one at the moment!!!!

Lotstodo Swap - Butterfly in the House

Hilda is also hosting a house swap, with a theme 'there's a butterfly in the house'. I'm not sure if these will qualify or not, as I kind of cheated. I don't have much in the way of butterflies, so I searched through my CI images and found these 3. They each have a butterfly on them. I then found some rub ons. You might have to enlarge the photo to find them!!!