Destination Inspiration at A Vintage Journey

Hello Friends

Over at A Vintage Journey it is my turn to share a Destination Inspiration post

using certain predetermined items from a travel bag.

Since I am looking forward to the end of Winter and the arrival of Spring

and Summer, I went for my favourite theme - underwater.  Here is a sneak peek...

I hope you will go over and have a look at the details HERE.

Thanks for your visit.  See you soon!

Hugs, Anne xx

Creativation (CHA) with Eileen Hull

Hello Friends!

It is that time of year when Designers from around the world meet to show their latest

designs for the year, at CHA - or Creativation as it is now known.  This year it is being held

in Phoenix, Arizona.

It is always such an honour to be asked to do samples for Eileen Hull and I have to say

that this year there was much excitement in our Design Team when we saw Eileen's

designs for this year!

I can only show you a sneak peek at this stage, of the four projects I made for Eileen, but all will be revealed very soon!

Eileen drives around 2,500 miles to the venue each year, along with her beautiful 1960's camper van called Scotty and this year Eileen is taking Scotty into the venue again, where I am sure he

will create much interest!

Here is Scotty at CHA in 2016 all set up in the Make and Take area.

If you are lucky enough to be attending Creativation this year I hope you will visit Eileen and Scotty, where you will be able to see all the samples that the Design Team have made.

This year my dear friend Jenny Marples will be demoing for Eileen Hull, as well as Mitsyana Wright from the Design Team.  They will be on the Sizzix stand, using Eileen's latest release dies.  I am so excited for both of them and just wish I could be there in person too!

Thanks for looking, I hope to see you again very soon.

Hugs, Anne xx

Baby It's Cold Outside...

Hello!

I don't make New Year Resolutions, mainly because I always fail to keep them, but this

year I have resolved to start making Christmas cards early.  I don't want to be caught out again

this year, having to rush at the last minute...

The lovely ladies at Creative Carte Blanche have a new adventure for us this month, 

called 'Baby It's Cold Outside' - a perfect opportunity to make my first Christmas card

of the year, with a view of a cold winter scene through a window.

In addition Frilly & Funkie would like to see what we are inspired to achieve this year, for me it is to create Christmas cards all year long!

 I am not sure of the technical term for this kind of card but I call it a book box card, I am not going to go into any detail about it's construction as there are so many tutorials available on YouTube.

I started by making the 'book' element which measures 6" x 5", stamping the Tim Holtz Scribble Woodland view and die cutting the Sizzix window, which was cut twice, along with a piece of acetate for the 'glass'.

The sky was coloured with Distress Ink, the cabin and trees were coloured with Distress Markers and I used Distress Stickles on the ground part.

The outer part of the book box was created by cutting a piece of patterned cardstock (Maja Design) 6" wide and 11" in length to cover the front, back and spine of the book box in one single piece.  I added the strip of card around the middle to hide the ribbon closure.

To create the inner part of the box I cut a piece of patterned cardstock 6" x 5" with an aperture measuring 4.1/2" x 3.1/2".  The tree and deer die cuts were a gift from my lovely 

friend Sara Emily of Sarascloset  - thanks again Sara!

Another aperture was cut into the front part of the book box, measuring 3.3/4" x 2.1/2" to fit the window frame.  One window was attached to each side of the aperture with a piece of acetate between to form the 'glass' part.

Finally, I added some die cut foliage (Tim Holtz).  The berries are from Tim's Idea-ology range (Pearls) and I coloured them using Ranger Alcohol Ink in Red Pepper.  The sentiment was stamped in Ranger Black Archival Ink.

So that is one card down, just a few dozen more to make.

I am joining in Craft Stamper's January challenge which is Anything Goes!

I would also like to join in Emerald Creek's latest challenge - #4 - Bring on the New - my new items are the gorgeous Tim pearls and the Maja Design papers I purchased specifically for this project.

Thanks for your visit, hope to see you again soon.

Hugs, Anne xx

Eileen Hull - Share a Card Technique

Hello Everyone!

Belated Happy New Year wishes to you!  We have been under the weather in our household so I am a bit late with this post.  This month for Eileen Hull, the DT are concentrating on card techniques.

I have gone for a simple technique, not new by any means but one that is useful for covering up papers that you may not like and a great technique for making quick and easy cards.  Of course, I had to add my all time favourite of Eileen Hull's flower dies - Flower, Heart & Soul - Sizzix 661108.

The technique is very simple.  Using a piece of packaging material and your favourite die, cut two sets of flowers from the same sheet.

Cut your chosen patterned paper to size.

Stencil over the paper, I used some Cut & Dry foam and DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylic in Translucent White, but this would work equally well with watered down Gesso, or any chalky paint.  The idea is to create a faint outline and not not a solid print.

The leaves were cut from another of Eileen's dies - Leaves, Spring - Sizzix 661111.

To create the flower I die cut three sets of petals, and used a button from my stash for the centre.

  I die cut a sentiment using a Tim Holtz Thinlits word die and then gathered my pieces together to complete the card.

It was a last minute decision to add some splatting to the card and I did this using Tim Holtz Distress Paint in Picked Raspberry.  In real life the splatting looks beautiful, the light is very poor here today.

It took me less than half an hour to put this card together, the die cutting took the most time but you could have lots of items die cut and you could put cards together in no time - so quick and easy.

As I write this post, Eileen Hull is making her way to Creativation (formerly CHA), in Phoenix, Arizona in her beautiful vintage camper van, Scotty.  Eileen will be taking Scotty onto the convention floor and she will be demonstrating her fabulous new release of dies (they are must haves!!).  I am also thrilled to tell you that my dear and exceptionally talented friend Jenny Marples (Buttons) will be demonstrating for Eileen Hull, in the Sizzix Booth!!  If you are attending, please do try and visit both Eileen and Jenny, they would both love to see you! 

Thanks so much for your visit, I will try and catch up with you all soon. 

Hugs, Anne xx

Tag Friday at A Vintage Journey

Hello Friends

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, or other celebration, this last week and are now looking forward to the New Year!

At A Vintage Journey it is Tag Friday time, as there are five Fridays in December.  Whilst attempting to tidy my Craft Room I found some bits and pieces that I wanted to use to make a tag.  It was lovely doing something grungy, just for fun - and not related to Christmas....

I did not do step by steps for this one, I just got a bit carried away in the process.  For those of you who like a little detail - the tag base is a Tando chipboard one, they take a lot of mediums without buckling.  The base was painted with DecoArt black Gesso, left to dry and then coated with a fairly thin layer of DecoArt Crackle Paint.  Once the paint was dry the tag was covered with a couple of thin washes of DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylic paint in Cobalt Teal Hue.  I lightly brushed some watered down DecoArt Quinacridone Gold, in places, over the tag.

To colour the cogs and the edges of the tag I first applied a coat of DecoArt Paynes Grey Media Fluid Acrylic, followed by a coat of Quinacridone Gold.  Whilst still wet I dabbed on some Prima Artisan Powder and left this to dry.

The heart is also Tando chipboard, it was coloured with  DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylic in Pyrole Red followed by a thin layer of One Step Crackle.  The words are Tim Holtz Chit Chat stickers.  They have had a light wash of DecoArt Titan Buff Media Fluid Acrylic.

I used a Tim Holtz stencil and DecoArt Titan Buff paint to do the stencilling.  I wanted it to show more so I went around the stencilled words with a fine liner pen.

The heart was a little too red for my liking so I toned it down with DecoArt Antiquing Cream in Carbon Black.  Once dry, I wiped it off with a damp cloth and the cracks show up beautifully. Don't you just love it when a plan comes together!

If you would like to see some more tags, created by my talented teamies, then please have a look over at A Vintage Journey, you will find some wonderful creations there!

As always, thanks for looking, I hope to see you again soon!

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you and yours
A VERY HAPPY AND HEALTHY NEW YEAR,
 I hope it is a great one for you all!

Hugs, Anne xxx

Tim Tag - December 2016

Hello Friends

Apologies for the lack of blog posts, we have been away, having an early Christmas with family.

Today, I am sharing my Tim Tag for December.  You can see Tim's original post here.

I have really enjoyed doing the tags again this year so it's a big thank you to Tim for all his hard work in creating the Re-Mix tags this year, it's been fun!

The background was created with Festive Berries Distress Spray Stain onto a hessian covered tag.

The other elements were added using Tim's techniques but I didn't have all of the 'ingredients' so I improvised here and there!

Here is a close-up of the stencilling and some of the stitching around the edges.

So, that's it, another year over!  

I would just like to take the opportunity to wish you a Happy Christmas, if you celebrate, and all the very best for 2017.  To my regular followers, thank you for sticking with me, I really do appreciate it very much!

Hugs, Anne xx

Destination Inspiration at A Vintage Journey

Hello Friends

Just a quickie to say that I am sharing a Destination Inspiration post over at 

A Vintage Journey.

I appreciate it is a very busy time for you all but if you do have time, it would be lovely if you could pop over to see my holiday tag.  Here is a little sneak peek...

As always, thanks so much for your continued support and your very welcome comments!

Hugs, Anne xx