inspired by ... Ann Wood

Tim Holtz recently posted an image of an owl he asked Tammy Tutterow to make after seeing a number of images on pinterest.  [If you haven't seen it I encourage you to follow either of the previous links, it's worth it!!]  Elements of it reminded me of some I've seen elsewhere but it took me a few days to remember it was Ann Wood's owls that I'd seen images of.

Whilst visiting her blog I discovered that she had a free template for a boat.  Ann's boats are amazing (all her work is to be honest!); her latest one is made from "edwardian gowns and petticoats", how fabulous is that!!  [I also remembered this was where Sue found the template for her wonderful teacups!]

So I got making!!  This is a Mediterranean inspired boat apparently, and Ann's instructions are really easy to follow.  You can find them here.

I was lazy and used washi tape rather than paper mache for the first layer of my boat as I already had it out to tape the cardboard together.  I then coated it decopatch glue (similar to mod podge) after a second layer of washi tape inside.  For the outside of the boat I stamped Journey Collage onto tissue paper then layered it on the boat with the decopatch glue.  

  

I stamped Life onto some tissue paper and attached it to a button before layering it with a crocheted cotton flower I made a couple of years back (they live in a jar for such a circumstance as this!!)

 Stitching the sail was a lot of fun.  I used scraps of fabric and some hand stitching to add interest.

This boat is a gift for my sister and is currently hanging in the window awaiting her visit.  I think I may need to make another one for me though!!

inlayed die cut honeycomb tag

I won some blog candy!!  And it arrived in the cutest little parcel earlier this week.  Thanks so much Neet, 

  

I got the large bee stamp from Stampotique so I could use the wings to create fairies but now I own the Tim Holtz - Sizzix frameworks honeycomb die I just had to try out the whole bee!!

I used the die to cut out the honeycomb from a tag, inked up the pieces then laid it all down on a second tag which effectively creates an inlay from the die cut.  I saw this idea on Jennifer McGuire's blog here

I seem to be playing with really bright colours at the minute!  I started out with orange inks on the honeycomb, had some overspray of lime Dylusions on my work mat and decided that would be the colour to use for the background!  Lots of different text stamps as the background and ....

...I have another inky tag to add to my growing collection!

Stampotique stamps used:

Journey Collage  7148 Amy Wilson Wellenstein

Big Bee  3008 Jo Capper-Sandon

Barcode Text  10020 France Papillon

French Text Journal Page  10015 France Papillon

Row of Numbers  7313 Amy Wilson Wellenstein

Don't forget to visit the Stampotique Designers' Blog where there's daily inspiration for using your Stampotique stamps.

Happiness is ...

Yesterday was International Happiness Day so I decided to theme this week's projects around happiness.  Stamping and playing with paint AlwAys makes me happy!!

A while ago I made up a collection of cards and tags using scrap background paper from my table and decided to use these for my backgrounds.

After mistakenly using 'stamp n bond' I finally found my detail white embossing powder to lift the dark background.  I've not heat embossed anything for years!!  The heart has glossy accents on to add shine to the card.  There's another happiness themed project over on the Stampotique Designers' blog today.  Thanks for coming by, that makes me happy too!!!

Stampotique stamps used:

Heart tie by Jo Capper-Sandon

The earth laughs in flowers by Janet Klein

Owlseeyou by Kira Nichols

Journey Collage by Amy Wilson Wellenstein

Happy happy 

Daisy daisy by Jo Capper-Sandon

teabags and wax

I mentioned last week that my sewing machine had been calling me, but I have to say that wax and teabags were shouting pretty loudly too!  So I gave in ;)

Here in the UK it can be quite tricky finding teabags that have the tags attached (I wasn't in the mood for regular square ones!).  I've bought some in the past thinking they'd be this shape only to discover that they were just regular teabags full of fancy tea.

These were doubled over so I ended up opening them out after experimenting first by just trimming the bottom off.  I then stamped on one side only of the teabag before trapping a dried hydrangea flower and the word 'blossom' between the two pieces and coating them with wax, melted in my meltpot.

I then stamped a Stampotique sentiment on plain paper and mounted it onto scrap paper from my desk to create a long tag. 

There were a few rejects along the way, although they look better on the photo below!!

It's my turn to post on the Stampotique Designers' Blog, as it is every Friday.  I've included a different tag over there but whilst you're visiting, take a moment to admire the beautiful blog makeover it's received from the very talented Valerie and Maria with the wonderful (and also talented) Kim.

Stampotique Stamps Used:

Journey Collage by Amy Wilson Wellenstein

The earth laughs in flowers by Janet Klein

Daisy, daisy by Jo Capper-Sandon

Tall Word Collage by Amy Wilson Wellenstein

Text Stars with tiny star on the side by Jo Capper-Sandon

ps the Stampotique Originals website's had a makeover too, worth a look!

my Stampotique February calendar pages

I am so pleased with myself...I've got beyond January with this year's calendar pages!  This is a first :)

I've missed a couple of days, but keeping my 'journal' by my bed means I usually remember to write something.

I'm particularly happy with the little pages I added which gave me space to list the books I read in January.  I still need to add a couple but it's pretty much up to date.

The stamped lines are from a homemade stamp - I carved it from a big eraser purchased in Asda/Walmart.

And look!

I've completed almost a week in February too :)

To be honest, having a weekly commitment to the Stampotique Designers' Blog helped motivate me to get my February pages made.

I added some sprayed paper to my journal.  This was torn at one end so I stamped Journey Collage with Archival Monarch Orange over the white space.

I decided to colour Peggy's face and hands, rather than paper-piece them.  Whilst colouring I discovered that she had a heart on her jumper ... I'd never noticed that before!

I was a bit worried that the white hearts stood out too much, but once they have writing on they 'tone down' a touch ...

... and I think I like it :)

Stamps used:

Peggy by Jill Penney and Daniel Torrente

Daniel's Hearts by Daniel Torrente

Row of Numbers by Amy Wilson Wellenstein

Journey Collage by Amy Wilson Wellenstein

Alphabitties by Jill Penney and Daniel Torrente

And if you'd like to join in with the calendar challenge, or just drool over some gorgeous pages, head over to Kate's blog here

a little journal page

Doesn't she just look like she's contemplating something as she handles her spider like a yoyo?!  I wonder what it is!

I just love spider girl.  I've left the details on how I made this mini page over on the Stampotique Designer's Blog but thought people in the UK may be interested to see this little bargain from Hobbycraft

I made my own page as part of a little journal I'm making up myself, then went to Hobbycraft tonight, found these journals for just £1...and was surprised at how close in size it was to the pages I'd cut.

Of course, I had to buy one!

Stamps used:

Spider Girl by Jill Penney and Daniel Torrente

Alphabitties by Jill Penney and Daniel Torrente

Journey Collage by Amy Wilson Wellenstein

SDC131: my Stars project step by step

I love stars, they're great images to work with, and they're this week's challenge theme over on the Stampotique Designers Challenge Blog.   I took step by step photos as I made this stitched piece so you could see how I got from this ...

to this...

I started with a piece of white fabric that I roughly painted with white acrylic paint then stamped Journey Collage with black ink.  To make this a bit lighter I first stamped it on paper then stamped on the fabric a number of times.

I then put Peacock Feather distress ink and some blue Dylusions ink onto the lid of a plastic box and smooshed my fabric through it.

Jo Capper-Sandon's text star is one of my favourite stamps (and I LoVe the miniature star on the side of the block, such a clever idea).  I stamped this over the fabric ...

... carefully cut out the larger stars with a very sharp pair of scissors ....

.... before laying a piece of white card underneath and stamping the star again through the star holes.  I decided to go for an approximate fit rather than matching the shape exactly...

A touch of free machining around each star ...

... and some more free machining after I found a quote I liked!

 Then a peaceful afternoon spent adding tiny silver beads around the edge of the fabric 'postcard' and some shimmery sequins amongst the stars.

If you're inspired by stars, you can join us here to read more about Sam's  challenge, then link it up here.  We'd love to see your interpretation of this challenge.

Stampotique stamps used:

Journey Collage

Text stars with tiny star on side

“Just above our terror, the stars painted this story

in perfect silver calligraphy. And our souls, too often

abused by ignorance, covered our eyes with mercy.”

― Aberjhani, I Made My Boy Out of Poetry

Another Stampotique scrapling ....

 ... although this one's not a mini book.  I trimmed this one in the end and think I'll add it to a journal page.

Just not sure where yet!!  This page has been hanging around my desk for a while.  It was an old page that had orange drips on so I added some more warm colours to it, then some stencilling with black and white acrylic paint.

There are various places on the pages that this scrapling would work...

... just need to work out where, and what else this page needs :)  Maybe 'Midge' x3 in a line.... hmmm

Stampotique Stamps used

Midge

giggle

journey collage

Friday girl at Stampotique

Back in September I responded to Stampotique's Design Team Call and how I've kept the secret for so long I do not know!!!!  I am thrilled to be one of seven designers who will post weekly on the Stampotique Designer's Blog - I'm the Friday girl :)  Check the post here to meet my fellow designers.

There are two teams over at Stampotique, and the other one leads the challenges.  You can meet those guys over on the Stampotique Designers Challenge blog.  So come 2014 there will be tonnes of Stampotique inspiration out there!!

I had a little play with my new stamps in celebration of the news, challenging myself to ONLY use Stampotique images :)  This is a large tag from PaperArtsy as I wanted the little rabbit to have a large area of sky in which to float!  I slightly misquoted Mark Twain to make the quote applicable:

"the air up there here in the clouds

is very pure and fine, bracing and delicious"

Mark Twain

Stamps used:

Stampotique Upward Bound

Stampotique Row of Numbers

Stampotique Abstract Foliage

Stampotique 2 Nuages (Fr)

Stampotique Journey Collage