Mad Tea Party Journal Page

Good morning all, it's a lovely bright morning here - a bit chilly though.

I'm linking my page to the Art Journal Journey challenge the theme is Magical Mystery Tour.

My old London bus whooshed me through the swirly tunnel to visit the Mad Hatter's Tea Party,

I decided to have a go at a digital page and for the background I used one of my photographs of a field of buttercups.

I added images from a My Craft Studio programme called Make A Date. When I was happy with the result I printed it and glued into my journal.

I painted the swirl with white acrylic paint and stamped the Emma Godfrey swirl with black Archival ink. I stamped the Paperartsy bus onto shrink plastic with Stazon and shrunk it, I glued it to the page. I cut some words out of an old Alice In Wonderland book, stamped some Indigo Blu words and a Non Sequitur clock and added them to the page. I doodled round the edge of the page.

Thank you for dropping by to take a look.

xxx Hazel.

Art Journal Journey - Magical Mystery Tour

Good morning everyone, I'm so happy and thrilled to be hosting this months Art Journal Journey challenge, the theme that I've chosen was inspired by the Beatles song Magical Mystery Tour. Imagine there's a magical bus or train or whatever mode of transport you choose and it's there to take you on your mystery tour - it could take you anywhere, into the future or the past, into one of your favourite books, a country you've dreamed of going to, anywhere your imagination takes you.
I've chosen and old red London bus as my transport and for my first tour it whisked me away to see the sights of London - I wonder where it will take me next.

I painted the background with gesso and acrylic paint and stamped some images onto tissue paper and glued them to the page with matte medium. I printed some photos of London and stamped some images onto white card, I cut them out and glued them to the page. I gave the page a coat of matte medium and when it had dried I used my pitt pens to colour the tissue paper images.

I hope you can to enter the challenge - thank you for looking, have a great weekend. xxx Hazel.

Q is For Queen

Q is the latest letter in the Craft Barns Alpha/Dictionary challenge.

I used a Gelli print for the background and stamped the PaperArtsy image onto the postcard and also onto a piece of white card. I stamped the Ecogreen Crafts swirls around the edges and embossed with gold, the ink on the image hadn't dried properly so parts of that got embossed as well. I cut out the head from the image on the white card and glued it over the image on the postcard. I stamped the crown with Stazon onto gold card and cut it out, I glued it onto the head and added some gems. I added the part of the dictionary page that had the definition of queen and stamped the letter Q.

Thank you for looking.

xxx Hazel.

Oriental

I've made this tag for the Tag Along Challenge the theme is Oriental.

I made my tag from some patterned card from my stash and stamped some Bamboo [PSX] with some moonlight white Brilliance ink and then adhered some washi paper. I then embossed the edges of the tag with black embossing powder.  I stamped the main image [Inkadinkado] and word [unknown] onto one of my Gelli prints with graphite black Brilliance ink then matted them onto some black card. I stamped some stars [Hero Arts] onto a strip of the Gelli print. The image at the bottom [PaperArtsy] was stamped onto clear Shrink Plastic with Stazon, after I heated it I adhered it to some of the Gelli print. I embellished the tag with a charm and some fibers.

Every Inchie Monday - Evil

As usual I'm late with my inchie for the Every Inchie Monday challenge, the theme this week is Evil. I've done an Evil Heart.

Again I've used shrink plastic to stamp my image on. I stamped the image onto the shrink plastic with black cherry Stazon and after cutting the heart out I edged it with black Stazon, then I shrunk it. I used black card for the background, I covered it with Versamark and then two colours of Cosmic Shimmer UTEE.
I used part of a Cherry Pie Art Stamp for the image.

KCUK Deco Swap

The KCUK 2013 Deco Book Swap is well under way and I'd like to share the pages that I made for June - her theme is Steampunk, in fact steampunk is the theme for a few of the members in my group.

I coloured the background with old paper Distress ink direct to the card and used dusty concord and vintage photo to stamp the images.
I covered some card with aluminium foil. I stamped the main image onto card and coloured with Promarkers and stamped it again onto the metal card with black Stazon. I went over the stamping with an embossing tool and then cut out parts of the images and adhered them over the coloured image. I did the moth in the same way. I embellished the page with cogs and chain and I gave her a hat cut out of the metal card.
The stamps that I used are
7Gypsies and Creative Expressions for the background.
Non Sequitur for the main image.
PaperArtsy for the moth.

I coloured the card with spun sugar Distress ink direct to the card and used victorian velvet and vintage photo to stamp the background. The flower and leaves were stamped onto the metal card with black Stazon and cut out. I stamped the lady and coloured her with spiced marmalade then cut her out. I embellished the card with cogs.
Stamps that I used are
Scrolls Work, 7Gypsies and PaperArtsy for the background.
Stampington for the lady.
PaperArtsy for the flower.

Rose ATC

I've made an ATC for my latest Creative Expressions DT piece. I used Sam Pool's lovely Butterfly Girl stamp set and the sentiment is from the Studio 490/Wendy Vecchi Sentimental Art stamp set.

I stamped the background with salty ocean and bundled sage Distress ink and the roses were stamped with shades of pink Marvi Blending Blox. The blue flourish and sentiment were stamped with french ultramarine Archival ink. I'd coloured the card that the sentiment is on by dragging the Marvi shades of pink over some white card. I stamped the butterfly girl onto some shrink plastic with black Stazon and stamped the roses and spots with fuchsia pink Stazon, masking the image before stamping. I coloured her with coloured pencils, cut her out leaving a large border round her and shrunk her with my heat gun. I adhered everything to the ATC, the sentiment was attached with sticky pads so that I could add some tiny roses behind it.

The theme for the UK Stampers July ATC swap is Roses so I've made three of my ATCs to join in the swap.

Steampunk Card

Ive gone all steampunk this week for my Creative Expressions DT card. I've used Sam Poole's Art Sayings stamps together with the Eco Green Steampunk Accessories 1 stamp set.

I covered a card blank with some blue paper and stamped some of the Eco Green stamps over it with walnut stain Distress ink, then I distressed the edges and edged with walnut stain.
I adhered some aluminium foil to a piece of card and embossed it with a Texture Fade, then I covered it in black acrylic paint and wiped of the excess before it dried. I then coloured it with ultramarine and timber brown Stazon. I coloured the main image with stormy sky, vintage photo and walnut stain Distress ink and wrapped some wire round it. I stamped a couple of the stamps onto the aluminium covered card with black Stazon, cut them out and adhered them to the card together with some cogs, game spinner and the words.

It's Our 1st Birthday

The Craft-Room-Challenge is one year old and we've decided to celebrate with you lovely people who have made our fortnightly challenges such a success by having a Blog Hop. We are joined in this by one of our Wonderful sponsors, Liz Welch of Rarebird, the main prize, a Bend it Shape it DVD, has been donated by Rarebird for one lucky winner and she has also donated her other DVD Bend It Makes Cards as a runner up prize.

The start of the blog hop is at the Craft Room Challenge site and
You should have arrived here from My Bird Flying Free
Your next stop should be NM Card Creations

Our hop has a little twist instead of looking for a letter at each stop there will be a very easy question to answer.

My question is
What technique can be done with a light box, a folder or with some powder and a heat gun. 

 Like all such events the rules are simple visit each blog in the hop, leave a comment and make a note of the question. When all the stops have been visited you will end up back at the challenge site, don't forget to leave a comment there! Send an email to Zoe with the answers to all the questions and have fun! There is a prize donated by each team member to be won. The prize for my question is a Tim Holtz/Alterations Springtime Background and Borders Set of embossing folders.

We have a regular challenge as well, the theme is Birthday's, naturally. It has been chosen by Julia and she is donating a mystery prize.
This is my DT piece for the challenge and it's also the card I made for my friend Alison's birthday last week.

I fell in love with this stamp as soon as I saw it at Ally Pally, it's made by Chapel Road Artstamps. I coloured some card with lemon zest, vibrant turquoise and squeezed orange Dylusions sprays, then I stamped the image with black Stazon and used bleach on her face, then I painted some Crackle Accents over the image. I layered two Gecko Galz background papers onto a card blank and then adhered the image. I embellished the card with some sari ribbon, a charm and some pearls.

Before I go I'd like to thank everyone that entered the last challenge, we had some outstanding entries and I don't envy Maria having to choose her top 3. Have fun with the blog hop and I look forward to seeing your birthday entries.

Craft Room Challenge

Another fortnight has gone by and it's time for another Craft Room Challenge. The challenge this time has been chosen by Maria and she wants to see some Material on your work.
We had some brilliant entries for the embossing challenge and I don't envy Esther having to choose her top three.

 The sponsors for the challenge is IndigoBlu makers of fabulous rubber stamps. I used their stamps on my card

I started making this card by colouring the edge of a white card blank with Pan Pastel then I layered a piece of Basic Grey paper and some poppy paper that was free with a magazine, can't remember which one. I stamped the image and words onto material using black Stazon and then I frayed the edges before stapling them to some card and attaching them to the card blank. I dyed some seam binding with rusty hinge and fired brick Distress Stains and  tied it to the card.

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Poinsettia Wreath

Thank you everyone that joined in with the Handmade Flowers challenge, we had some beautiful creations. The latest CRAFT-ROOM  challenge is Diecuts and Punches and has been chosen by Nikki.

For my DT piece I made this wreath using the Spellbinders Layered Poinsettias dies. This set of dies are great as they emboss the flowers as well a cutting them.
I started by cutting a cardboard ring and wrapped strips of patterned paper round it. I then covered some card with some sticky backed aluminium  and cut 7 of the large Poinsettia flowers and 7 of the next size down and 7 leaves. I covered the flowers and leaves with a black acrylic dabber and wiped of the excess paint just leaving black paint in the embossed areas. I coloured the flowers and leaves with Stazon. I attached a small flower to one of the larger flowers and then adhered them to the cardboard ring, then I adhered the leaves. I wrapped some gold ribbon round the wreath and made a hanger and bow. I adhered some gold beads to the centres of the poinsettias. The last thing I did was to shape the petals and leaves.

I'm looking forward to seeing your creations and don't forget to be eligible for the prize draw you must have the CRAFT-ROOM logo in your sidebar.

Autumnal Clock

Well another two weeks have flown by and it's time for another CRAFT-ROOM CHALLENGE. The challenge this time is Home Decor and it has been chosen by Maria. I freaked a bit at the thought of this challenge and then remembered that I'd bought a couple of clock blanks a long time ago and decided that it was time to use one of them. Why not visit the Craft-Room Challenge Blog to see the fabulous samples that the rest of the Design Team have made and don't forget to be eligible for the prize draw you need to display the Craft-Room logo in your sidebar with a link to the shop.

This is how my clock started life.

I sprayed some white card with Adirondack color wash, when it had dried I cut a circle to fit the clock face and punched a hole through the centre with a pencil and stamped the tree. I coloured the outer rim with Distress stain and stamped some branches on it then I embossed the edge with Cosmic Shimmer bright gold utee. I die cut the clock face with grungeboard using the Tim Holtz Sizzix Alterations die, then I painted it black. The next thing I did was to stick all the pieces together and attach the workings and the clock hand.
For the leaves I stuck some sticky backed aluminium to some black card and coloured it with Stazon, then I cut the leaves out using Spellbinders assorted leaves dies. These dies also emboss at the same time.
The flowers are cut out of some card that I'd coloured with Distress stains, I used the Tim Holtz, Sizzix Alterations tattered florals die. I attached the leaves and flowers to the clock and added some gems to the middle of the flowers. I was pleasantly surprised that the clock worked after I put the battery in and is still going strong.

I'm going to enter my clock in the ALTER IT MONTHLY Tree, Leaf, Branch, Twig challenge.

Ingredients.
Adirondack color wash, butterscotch, lettuce and terra cotta.
Stazon, pumpkin, cactus green and olive green.
Distress stain, rusty hinge.
Adirondack paint dabber, pitch black.
Stamps Graphicus and Inkadinkado.

Fun Swap

Firstly I'd like to thank everyone for their commiserations for the  loss of my cat Dino. It's lovely to know that there are so many caring people out in blog land.

In July KCUK had a fun swap. Dot sends out something to the people taking part and we have to make something crafty with it to send to our swap partner, I had to send mine to Darlene. Dot sent us the two money envelopes and the piece of leather on the right of the photo. I was stumped, it took me ages to decide what I was going to do with it, in the end I decided to alter the notebook on the left of the photo.

This is the end result. I covered the notebook with some paper from my stash and coloured it and the envelopes with some rusty hinge and broken china Distress ink. I then stamped a variety of images over the front of the book and envelopes. I attached the envelopes to the front and inside front cover leaving the tops open to make pockets. The next thing I did was to attach a piece of tissue tape and a row of Martha Stewart die cut birds to the top of the envelope. The blue letters were cut with the chip block letters Tim Holtz Sizzix Alterations die. I stamped the pattern on the leather using teal blue Stazon and cut the bird out with a Tim Holtz Sizzix Alterations Die. I had a little bit of leather left so I stamped 3 little birds and cut them out to use as embellishments. I decorated a tag/bookmark the same way as the notebook to fit into the front pocket.
The stamps that I used are by TJ Designs, Inkadinkado, Crafty Individuals and Penny Black.

The notebook and bookmark.

Inside the notebook

When A Bell Rings

I've made this tag for the Grungy Monday 7 challenge at Studio L3 and the Simon Says Stamp Stamp and Show an Old Wives Tale challenge.
For the Grungy Monday challenge we had to do the Tim Holtz distress ink color blocking technique, you can see him demonstrating the technique here.
I stamped the main image, coloured it in and then cut it out. I stamped the wings onto some sticky backed aluminium with black Stazon and then stuck it to some black card. I went over the lines on the wings with an embossing tool to give them a bit of definition then cut them out and attached them to the main image and then I attached this to the tag. I did the words on the computer and cut them out and attached them to the tag. I embellished the tag with an angel word charm and some mini bells that I attached to the sari ribbon with a safety pin.
The stamps I've used are,
Stampotique for the main image.
Magenta for the leaves on the background.
Tattered Angels for the words on the background.
Invoke Art for the wings.

Chunky Alphabet Book J K and L

Feeling fed up as I was supposed to be having a crafting day with friends but I don't feel too good so I've decided to catch up with some blogging.

J is for jigsaw.
I coloured the card with broken china and stormy sky distress inks. For the images I used vintage photo. I did the jigsaw piece the same way but triple embossed it afterwards. The main image is by Crafty Individuals, I'm not sure who makes the jigsaw stamp. I went round the edges of the stamped jigsaws with a quickie glue pen and some foil. I added an alphabet brad and some words cut out of an old dictionary.
K is for kimono.
I coloured the background with broken china distress ink and edged it with stormy sky. The bamboo is stamped with stormy sky distress ink. I matted the oriental paper on to black card and attached it to the main card. I stamped the kimono on to some gold metal with black Stazon and embossed a pattern onto it and then added a little bit of colour with some green and blue Stazon. The letter K was stamped onto gold metal with black Stazon and I went round the edge with an embossing wheel.
L is for laughter.
There's not a lot to say about this one. The background I made sometime ago using Glimmer Mist. Again I'm not sure who made the stamp but I stamped it onto some tissue paper. I added some daisy ribbon, an alphabet brad and the word laughter.

Falling Leaves

I started by sticking some die cut leaves [Sizzix, Tim Holtz tattered leaves] to a piece of mount board then covered it with some sticky backed aluminium and then went round the edges of the leaves with something pointed to give them more definition. Then I covered the whole thing with a black dabber and wiped of the excess before colouring it with Stazon ink, then I stuck this to a piece of mount board that I'd painted black.
The tree and birdhouse are from Crafty Individuals. I painted the tree black and added some gold foil then attached it to the mount board. The birds are some chipboard shapes that I had, I painted them and the birdhouse gold, I used jump rings to attach the birdhouse so that it was dangling.
The leaves at the bottom are some die cut leaves that I've had for years. I melted some UTEE in my Meltpot and dipped the leaves in and coloured them with Stazon. I attached them with silicone glue and stuck in some bits of wire that I'd twiddled round a pencil.
I used some wire for the hanger. The leaf with the words on is a piece of metal coloured with Stazon and then I attached it with a piece of wire so that it's dangling.
Close up of the leaves.