Mocha,Chocolate, Butterscotch, Caramel or Hazlenut???

Well things aren't too bad here on the ranch, perhaps that should be prairie as Mr trusty beast of a lawnmower has decided that enough is enough and he doesn't want to play anymore until he's had some TLC and new parts.  This means that the lawn hasn't been mown in a fortnight  and with all the rain its getting so long it's a job to see the cats lying down it!  I know the simple answer is to borrow one but the other half has had man flu all week which has meant he has had to stay in bed or on the sofa nursing and perfecting his cough (I could never be a nurse, no tolerance or sympathy at all).

So a touch of brown eh for Simon Says Stamp and Show?  Well after going on a stash spending trip last weekend with Lin and Karen at the the lovely Stamp Attic I bought more Prima Flowers. 

I know I have a gazillion already, but they just winked at me in that you know you want to buy me way and just I cannot resist.  In the original excessive collection of flowers are some brown ones, so in an effort to actually use some and reduce the size of stash (Chelsea Flower Show has nothing on me in terms of flowers). I though I'd base whatever I made around flowers  - lots of them.

Back to old trusty 8x8 this week and a piece of brown core-dinations card.  I sponged on some Fresco Finish French Roast, sanded that a little bit and then added some Chocolate Pudding through a flower stencil. Some more sanding and then Inka Gold through another stencil to give the tiny gold squares (bit sort of Klimt like if you know what I mean).  Heavier sanding along the edges and finally some swirls in Coffee Archival. 

You can't see most of this, but I know it's there and ~I think it adds texture and depth to the background and more importantly I enjoyed doing it!

I cut some old brown paper with the Vintage Cabinet die and added thin layers watered down French Roast over it.  Embossed it in a swirly folder and added Gathered Twigs Distress Stain over the top to highlight the raised embossing. Finally some text stamp in Picket Fence Distress Stain.

The tag was originally Kraft card which was painted in Chocolate Pudding, some Crackle Glaze over that, a top layer of  Irish Cream and then a watered down wash of French Roast over that.  Some flower stencilling and finally some stamping and embossing (the crackle layer looked superb but you can't see it now as I've covered it up with the stamping and embossing!).

Layered it all up with some corrugated card, ribbon, buttons and of course lots of flowers!

Hugs

jo
xx

Shabby Jubilee

Well better late than never I suppose!  

To be honest the jubilee weekend sort of passed us by, we didn't watch the Thames flotilla (I couldn't get it to be honest just watching boats go by, it sort of reminded me of golf - fine if you are playing but is it really a spectator sport???), couldn't face watching ageing queens and pop stars trying to sing on a roundabout and completely forgot about the service at St Paul's until it was half way through!

I bought a Union Jack embossing folder ages ago from that well know retail park crafting emporium in the UK and thought it was about time I actually used it.  So embossed a scrap of Tim  Holtz paper, added Festive Berries and Tumbled Glass Distress Ink over the top with a bit of Chipped Sapphire as well.  It then sat on my desk for a couple of weeks (you know, just sort of lying there you occasionally pick it up, waft it about a bit, put a bit more Distress Ink on it, say you like it and put it down again).

Finally this weekend I decided to do something else with it.

Now I really enjoy working in an 8x8" format but recently I've felt the need to go bigger (now now all you smutty devils - keep it to yourself).  So went for a 12x12" sheet of green ledger old patterned paper I had knocking around (knocking around, who am I kidding, I've got piles of 12x12. I reckon I've got a tower of paper that might just make that Shard thing they are building in London look like, well a small thing).  

I put a layer of gesso over the top and then started adding colour.  Glimmer Mist in greens and blues, the same Distress Inks as I used on the flag with loads of water droplets to give that shabby look. Once that was dry I stencilled over the top in Pansy for the text and Hyde Park for the circles. Some sanding all over and Walnut Stain Distress Ink round the edges.  Finally the stamping was in Grey Stazon using Tim Holtz wings and crown.

Over this base layer are various elements. I used a Tim Holtz ATC stamp that had crowns and lions on it (tres regal)  on three ATC sized card pieces. They all had Guacamole and Mermaid Fresco Finish as a base layer. Perfect Pearls powder in blue was put over the stamping, I distressed edges and added Festive Berries round the edges.

The file folder was inked with Tumbled Glass and Festive Berries dry embossed in a folder and Walnut Stain added to highlight the embossing.  

Added my usual strips of fabric (the red horizontal strip really pops and ties in with the flag, so glad I was brave and added it in) and loads of Prima flowers to complete.

I am dead chuffed with this and might have to have a trip to IKEA to get a frame to display it in rather than popping it in a 12x12scrapbooking album. Just need to find some wall space to hang it!

hugs

jo

xx

Rum and Raisin

Well it feels like ages since I popped here and left a post (it probably is, but I'm not going to look at dates and anyway how do you quantify ages, um?).  

It's been a busy week as well what with a funeral, always emotional but sometimes more so when the person you are saying goodbye to and celebrating their life is not that much older than you (ones own mortality really gets smacked in the teeth by Dr Death). 

This was followed by an overnight trip to Leeds for the HEIST Education Marketing awards. Big hotel, posh frocks everywhere and the little ole library came second in its category, we were well chuffed.  Of course I managed to get my heel stuck in the staging when we went up to collect our award and had to have my leg yanked out forcibly in front of nearly 300 people and it was all being videoed and photographed  - only me, mind you didn't stop me bopping afterwards (bopping?  BOPPING- it could be worse I could have said boogieing!).

Anyway enough of my hectic life and back to art!

I love this, I've had it finished for well over a week and I keep smiling every time I look at it, I love the colours, I love the textures, I love the composition -  I am one proud mama to have produced this!

It's essentially made up of three components: the frame, the fabric layer at the bottom and finally the tag.

I started off with an IKEA frame and painted it in Fresco Finish in Chocolate Pudding, over the top with some crackle glaze and then a layer of Nougat with a spot of Chocolate pudding.  The brush I used had some red left on it (obviously didn't clean that brush) hence the slight hint of pink in the top layer. An oblong of calico that was painted in nougat and stamped in Coffee Archival with a large text stamp from PaperArtsy. A strip of hessian and a scrap of corrugated cardboard stitched onto that.

The second component was the fabric scraps at the bottom.  I started off with some cream coloured felt, cut the edge with the Tim Holtz scallop die and the added layers of scraps of fabric, lace and ribbon.  The felt gives a really strong but soft  base layer for all the flimsy fabric.

Finally the tag, the spots were added through a mask with Chocolate Pudding again and then Picket Fence Distress Stain over the top just to tone it down a bit.  The large PaperArtsy numbers stamp was added over the top in Coffee Archival.  

A little bit of sanding and distressed the edge and added Walnut Stain Distress Ink around the edges.  A couple of bits of fabric and the most gorgeous pink spotted grosgrain ribbon (I've been hoarding this reel of ribbon for ages and finally plucked up the courage to CUT IT!) stitched on the bottom. You'll recognise the rose photo from previous work and again it has been sanded and had some Rock Candy over the top.  A bit of string, a Prima flowers and button centre to finish.

It's the last day of our loooong Jubilee weekend here in the UK, the weather is suitably bank holidayish - rubbish (see so typically British talking about the Royal Family ad the weather), so I'm off to have a play in my craft room!

hugs

jo

xx

Allium

I'm not going to say much about this apart from I made another A3 size collage picture for our bedroom.  This time in blues and greens inspired by the lovely paper I got from PaperChase in London last week.  Not much stamping but quite a bit of paint, loads of stitching. gorgeous fabric and of course one of my photo's suitably distressed with sandpaper and some Peacock Blue Distress Stain swiped over it.  

Hugs

jo

xx

Hot stuff!!

It's been a while I know since a) I made anything and b) since I posted. Let's just say all work and no play makes Jo a bit of a grumpy girl!

Anyway I have finally managed to make something and yes it's a bit bright and a bit out of my comfort zone colour wise -  I must be craving some sunshine and heat (aren't we all, I can't believe I'm still wearing opaque tights and boots in May and the shops are full of summer clothes, they must be begging the sun gods to shine so that they can sell stuff!).

I am very very VERY pleased with this (don't mean to sound big headed but ...) as I've managed to crack a design issue I've been having for a while - how do I use the all the wooden IKEA frames I've got as a base for my fabric creations without them sagging in the recess?????

I've tried making them into mini canvases or sticking on to card, but they never really sat well or looked lumpy (bit like me really when I think about it) So what was the brainwave eureka moment?  Use the acrylic front piece as the base for the fabric which gives it rigidity and stick that to the front of the frame. Oooh it did make me a happy girl!

So painted the frame in Butternut and Haystack Fresco Finish paints, sanded it back a bit, rubbed a candle over it and then dry brushed a mixture of Claret, Paprika and London Bus over the top.

Took some calico and sponged on Butternut and Haystack and then stencilled Pumpkin Soup through a flower stencil. Sewed on some hot pink and orange strips of fabric with lots of "bad" stitching!

The tag was painted in Claret, London Bus and Pumpkin Soup and stamped in Cherry Stazon using a Wendy Vecchi flower stamp, edges distressed and inked with Fired Brick Distress Ink.

The photo is one of mine, just printed on photographic paper at home. I sanded it carefully to remove some of the ink and add some distressing (love the "spots", it makes it look like an old sun weathered photo from the 70's). A thin layer of PaperArtsy satin glaze with a tiny amount of Dolly Mix Fresco Paint over the top.

A scrap of pink felt underneath and two Prima flowers that had been hanging out on my desk left over from a previous project to complete.

Right, I'm off to work on one of my big pictures with the lovely papers I bought in PaperChase in big ole London last week and some teal / turquoise fabric I bought on Saturday - I only went in for a couple of fat quarters and came out with about twelve!

hugs

jo
xx

Why?

I have many crafting items including wool. It's fair to say I have a lot of wool, boxes and bags of it and all I can knit is scarves, oh and crochet granny squares. I have so much wool that at Easter I sorted through it and decided to donate some of the more lurid acrylic I'd purchased honks ago.

So why dear blogger friends did I purchase this a couple of days ago? I have wool in this colour range in the stash, I have knitted scarves in this colour way already, so why?

Project in mind? Yes to make a wrap for a fawn strapless dress I'm wearing to a function at the end of the month. So why did I buy this colour way rather than a nice soft neutral cream?

Impulse buy, obviously.

I sense another scarf, or possible I'll be daring and knit a snood!

Hugs

Jo

xx

 

In the red

Time, there are apparently 24 hours in a day and 7 days a week, so thats lots of hours, right? Lots of hours supposedly to do everything we need to do (work, sleep, eat) and want to do  (craft, relax, blog).  So why doesn't it seem it this last fortnight?  

The needs, mostly work, the stress around it and the sleep needed to recover from the stress and intense working have taken over leaving very little time for the wants that in truth actually help with coping with the needs - caught!  But yes before you all start tutting and shaking your heads, I know (and I am) I should be grateful that I have a job, and that it is a good job but sometimes it's hard work and I get annoyed with it.

I had intended to be determined this week and get my contribution to Hels Sunday Stamper Challenge in on time. But due to the above time was running out and I thought I'm gonna miss it again. But then I thought, you know what it doesn't matter, you have to work to deadlines at work, crafting is your hobby, your downtime, your creative release, the only decisions you have to make is where to place something.  

In my craftroom I am my own boss and I don't have to respond to others or lead / manage others - it's just me and sometimes the cats.

So here is my take on last weeks challenge which was red.

Got all my red Distress Stains and Inks out and the lovely vibrant London Bus Fresco Finish and set to work. 

Started with my usual 8x8 card.  On top of that I inked some patterened paper stamped with some text stamp (very hidden now but it is there) and sewed on the card after distressing the edges.  

Added some layers of spotty fabric which I'd purchased on Saturday after a quick jaunt out to Bramble Patch in Weedon with my Ma (3 errands in an hour that day: deliver a large lamp to my mums friend for painting in a barge style, buy jam jars for rhubarb chutney making and look at fabric to back her latest quilt. All three just off the A5 either at Weedon or 2 miles up the road - my kind of shopping!) 

A spare bit of the red card (I'd cut a 12x12 down to 8x8 and that leaves enough card to make tags) was painted in some Limelight Fresco Finish, some crackly glaze on top and then some London Bus. Rubbed it back quite hard to reveal some of the LimeLight and then stamped Photograph in Black Archival and some reverse text in Cherry Stazon. Some felt and red ric rac added on the bottom of that and one of my distressed photos that had  a swipe of worn lipstick over it was stapled on.

The flowers are of course Wendy Vecchi.  Some scrap red patterned paper was stamped with as many flowers as I coud get on it in Black Archival then some cherry spray ink and Pefrfect Pearls sprayed over. Cut them all out and added them on trying not to obscure the fabric or the photo!

Ok well it's a bank holiday in the UK today, it isn't raining at the moment but who knows whether the taps will turn on later.  

Today I have some lemon curd to make and need to do something with the rhubarb I cut yesterday and didn't use for the chutney, which is absolutely delish I have to tell you and it will be hard work waiting for a month for it to mature! 

hugs

jo

xx