More ATCs in a similar vein

When I was trying to work out how to create the ATCs for chain and charm swap I had a little play. I stamped Olivia from Stampotique onto shrink plastic and made holes. I tried colouring some (did not work) and on some of the others my holes bubbled and filled again. I used the Paper Artsy rule stamp on the the same background with Lost and Found dress form and bunting and added the paper fibre again.

 I stuck her down (hole vanished) and then found the rabbit brad and decided I liked the surreal contrast of elements. Living free seemed right at that moment. The other one is a variation on the chain ATC but with different chains and brads. Really the same elements with a different chain and brads.

ATC Chain and Charm Challenge

The theme for this challenge was chain and charm. As usual we are asked to make 3 ATCs for the UK Stampers swap and I decided I wanted them to be the same which I find makes it trickier. First I had to obtain some charms which I did from the lovely lady at EK Craft and Crop (but forgot her name...) then I went through the broken jewellery box for some old chain. I sprayed Cosmic Shimmer Chalk Mists onto the background and then stamped the key and rule stamps from Paper Artsy. Next I layered some thin tissue/fabric style paper, that I frayed, in pink and white. This gives a lovely tactile feel to the card.

I sprayed a small sheet of Lost and Found sunshine paper and stamped the typewriter. Then to be quite honest I was stuck. How would I put it all together and which charm should I use? I searched for apt quotations and sayings but nothing seemed right until... my return from a hellish 10 hour day at school yesterday. We have been back for 10 days and the pupils a week and any of their goodwill has worn off combined with a hellish timetable  and various other factors. I came home drained and in a tired (Lens Guy would say foul) mood and that's when it came to me: Break the chains that stifle creativity.  Inspiration! I used the Stencil Font, printed the text, sprayed and cut it out. I attached charm to chain and chain to ATC with a brad.

Art Journal Secrets

This was another prompt on UK Stampers but I have put off this one for weeks as I did not want to reveal my secrets... Then I realised I could hide the journalling under the tag. This is a very grungy distressed page and I had fun trying out different techniques.
I placed a layer of gesso on the page and then added distress inks. Where the gesso was uneven it has created a much darker scratchy layer that I really like. I used Paper Artsy stamps and I think the student book-keeping one is going to be overused. I added a ledger stamp from same range on the side of the page but embossed and stamped it in clear ink.

I crumpled, stamped and embossed a tag with di and mahogany distress embossing powder and added to page with journalling hidden. I then decided to try embossing/stamping keys with some success and then added alcohol inks over clear embossed areas. Letters from TH papers with distress crackle and ink  were then added.

The books goes to

Random comment picked by youngest daughter (can't get to grips with random generator) goes to Sherry Edwards.

Scrapping and cropping

It's been a while since I scrapped or cropped. I had a wonderful day with all the girls at EK Craft and Crop run by the fab Suzy and Audrey.
The photo shows youngest daughter and her friend at T in the park (and another of my felt birds sneaked into the photo. I used Bazzil Card and paper from My Minds Eye as the background. Then used up scraps of I love Elsie. At the crop I was able to borrow TH Tattered Floral Dies and scalloped edge stencils to make all the layered flowers.

The book I'm giving away

To celebrate 250 random posts I am giving away a book similar to the one I altered. If you are into altering books you will have lots of fun with this or you might want to give it to a young child to colour in. It's published by a French coming called PlayBac and it is lovely.

A very idealised view of Russia

Think Anna Karenina meets no poverty

There is a window through to the deer

This is a train window

Stampotique 36 - Altering A Book

Wow this is my 250 th post. In celebration I will be giving away a book similar to the one I altered for this challenge. I will pick a random comment from this post next Sunday 21 August. Sorry there are a lot of photos in this post.
Valerie at Stampotique challenged us to alter a book. I had such fun with this one and ended up altering three pages in my book. The book was given to by my eldest son as he worked for the publisher when he was in Paris. I was going to give it to a niece or nephew but something told me I would want to play with it.
The book began life as this:

It has lots of different sized pages like the screen that  is a separate page

This made me think of changing rooms which are not places I like going into to.

I applied gesso to all the pages as they are quite thin and for that reason I used a mix of dylusion paints, inks, glimmer mists and water colour pro makers.

I tried adding some texture with the gesso

Inked, painted and coloured some of the existing elements on the page

Lots of ink dripping on this page

I stamped Stampotique's Olivia on card three times and then added her head and three sets of legs to the dress, I stamped dylusions Ruby Rainbow legs and Love Struck Lucy onto card and added them. I wrote the journalling on the paper that I had used to protect my pages and stuck it down. "Does my body look okay in this?" and "Why am I the wrong shape?"

I outlined the original girl and changed her clothing a little. On separate pieces of cards I stamped Stampotique's Angel Boy and Oh Dear on card and added the wings and Oh Dear the page,  then Ruby Rainbow in three layers. I also used my new stamps from Shady Tree Studios for borders and words. "Embrace your curves, bumps, lumps and imperfections!"

I used more border stamps from Shady trees and the number stamp from Paper Artsy. I drew a danger sign on card and added it to the page.

I hope you all embrace  your bodies - or maybe you are that rare breed and actually love your shape.

The book I'm giving away is Colour Your Way Round Russia. I will post more pictures in another posting to avoid too many pics.

Mohican Bird Pin Cushion

As I am still off the cigarettes but at the needing to stuff my face with cake and chocolate stage I am trying to keep hands occupied in evenings. Last night I made this bird pin cushion with a vintage lace mohican. The cushion is using up more of the old jeans and I used some of my felt and bakers twine from the Ribbon Girl. It is a present for a friend visiting today who has just started quilting and the bird is to match her quilt colours.

Journal Pages

I spoilt myself this week by treating myself to some of the beautiful felt, charms and twine at the ribbon girl, bought Kate Crane's DVD which I have really enjoyed and somehow bought a set of cosmic shimmer chalk mists (I honestly don't remember pressing buy on that one). I rationalised the expense as a treat to myself for not smoking for three weeks. These two pages are influenced by the Kate Crane DVD and my desire to play with the chalk mists. They have a beautiful finish but try as I might the photo does not do them justice. I could ask Lens Guy to explain how to do it but then I might have to confess to the purchases...

I used an alphabet stencil and pink and orange glimmer mists to build up this background.

Yellow and blue and lots of drippage

I used stamps from Dylusions Ruby Rainbow and Love Stuck Lucy which I stamped, cut out and painted with glimmer mists. I then tried to create shadows around the image to "ground" it but as I didn't have charcoal I used pro markers with mixed results. 

The things that made me smile this week included :my new purchases, winning stamps on Shady Tree Studio's blog hop, Lens Guy's face as I dragged him round the garden centre, catching up with old friends and last night deciding to experiment with my daughter's bright green nail varnish before I went out to a party and then discovering we had no nail varnish remover in the house...

The other page was all about Truth and for some reason I liked the combination of Tim Holtz skeleton with a dylusion hat.

In case any of you were worried that my craft space was too messy it is quickly reverting to normal

My next purchase is going to be a moleskin journal so I can journal properly. My UKS journal is a journal but as it is not yet bound I feel it is kind of cheating.

My oh so tidy craft room - blink and it will be messy again!

My computer area

I have spent the last two days cleaning and sorting out my craft space and it is now a wonderful place to be in. I know it won't last because I am just not that tidy but now I can relax and find everything. Here's a quick tour round.

The old sofa is covered in a patchwork throw which was a present from my sister and numerous cushions and is now a lovely place to sit and contemplate the world or read a book. The first sets of shelves are full of books and are a useful place to show scrap booking layouts and canvases. I have glass doors for the Ikea shelves as I like the extra light that is bounced round the room from the glass.

I also have a glass table which used to be eldest son's desk. Glass is brilliant to work on as it doesn't stain and you can chip off the excess glue with a craft knife (something I do a lot as I am such an untidy crafter).

I keep a lot of pens on my window in a variety of old tins but so far have only had time to alter the old box my Pro markers are kept in.

The shelves above my computer are full of bits and pieces and if you look closely you can see I have now made a white felt mouse to keep the bird pincushion company.

I have two notice boards and these pegs around my computer for changing displays and photos.

Those of you who have been following the sorry tale of my glasses (eaten and destroyed by the dog) will be surprised to hear that the damage is not covered by our insurance - initially they told me it was and I went off to the Opticians and was told I needed new frames and lenses. As I thought I was insured I paid the £300 today only to be told by the insurance company that they got it wrong! I am not covered under building, contents or personal possessions for damage caused by animals. The man very kindly informed me that if I had stood on them, or sat on them and said that was what had happened I would have been covered. It just goes to show that honesty does not count for much in this mad world.