Beautiful

So the first thing you might have noticed is it is not the most traditionally beautiful photo!  It makes me laugh as it shows what it is like trying to get a beautiful shot of the kids and their characters.

I created this page based on the sketch over at the Studio this week - I reduced the size of the grid and added the title on the other side of my grid, but other than that I stuck fairly closely to it.

I used a mixture of Crate Paper lines - some DIY shop and Flea Market.  I cut little 2" squares from a range of the papers, and then went about decorating, distressing and inking them.  Starting from the top left and going across, I punched a heart and then made a shaker using acetate and seed beads, for the next one a couple of layers of paper and a prima bark star, the next a couple of lines of prima lace and a Pretty Party sticker.  Onto the next line and a little banner made from twine and paper, the next I used some of the word strips on the Flea Market paper, the next was left plane as it is behind the photo.  The bottom line I used the punched heart and piled some twine behind it and then added a prima wooden button to the top, for the next one I used some wood veneer chevrons from Studio Calico.  I placed my photo inside the large polaroid chipboard shape you get with the Flea Market chipboard and added a golden heart.  I then cut a few of the plates for the circle part of the sketch and added a little chipboard button and butterfly.  The title is also from Pretty Party.  

There is lots of inspiration over on the Studio blog here, and I am also up on the Tando blog today with a noticeboard here.

Flea Market Class

I thought I would show you one of the classes that I taught on the ATDML retreat at the end of October.  We used the beautiful papers from Crates Flea Market range, designed by Maggie Holmes.  The colours are beautiful and we made a heart shaker and used some gauze, as well as some of the cabochon flowers and a bark heart.  In there too was lots of distressing and layering and a few flicks of paint.

When we were on holiday earlier this years my husband got the kids to pose for him on one of the beaches and he caught some really nice shots of them, it shows then growing up and changing more than anything.  I edited the photo and over exposed it a little and put it in black and white, then I have all my journalling in a little pocket near the photo.

Christmas cards and playing with a new product

I was sent a tub of ThermoMorph to review - it is a mouldable plastic that you heat up in boiling water and then you have some time to mould it before it sets hard - you can remelt it by popping it back in the water.  ThermoMorph comes in a big jar - I have hardly made a dent in it, and consists of lots of tiny white balls you place them in boiling water and they turn clear and then clump together and become very sticky.  Using some tweezers you get out the mix and then checking it is cool enough you can mould it, you have to mould it fairly quickly as it starts to go hard fairly quickly once it is out of the water.

So I started using my silicone moulds and made some flowers - I soon realised that less is more, as this is not a self levelling liquid, you can cut a little bit of the excess off around the edge if you are quick, but the best way is just put less in the mould.  I then had a go at rolling it, again fairly quickly and I used some star cutters (which I did have to trim around the edge of with scissors as I couldn't get mine to cut all the way through), and then scissors and a pencil and was able to curl some strips too.

The exercise after that was colouring the white plastic.  I tried some water based paints with little success, I then used alcohol inks, and had a little experiment with glitter - again whilst it was fresh out of the water and still sticky and malleable.  So I guess you want to see the results.

I used one of the stars and gold alcohol ink with a drip of yellow into the middle

I was quite liking the gold, so went with that and also tried red and blue which was one of the challenges over at Jennifer Grace's blog this weekend with her Frosty Festivities

Here are some of the cards I made with the cabochon flowers.

I really liked colouring them gold, and it took really well.

This one I coloured red and then brushed on some gold.  I also tried colouring them with pro markers and this worked well too.  If you are wondering about the papers they are by October Afternoon and called Make it Merry.

You get a huge quantity in the tub which is great and you don't really need any fancy tools to use it, it makes cabochons really well, and very quickly.  They colour excellently with alcohol inks.  I guess my  negatives are trying to work out a way to keep it a little more malleable for longer and perhaps having it available in smaller less expensive sizes too, for someone that just wants a go.

Here is a link to where it is sold on amazon, and if you check the reviews you will see other bloggers who have reviewed this product and you can compare our results and experiences there too.

H.M.S Belfast

I should have posted this page yesterday as it was very appropriate for Remembrance Day, even more so that my great Uncle went down on a destroyer that hit a mine not that far from home - a huge sacrifice for my families freedom - we were reading his last letter home which he wrote on Christmas day as my kids have been studying the Second World War at school - so all rather poignant.

Onto the page this was one of our Occasional Day trips with my Mum to see H.M.S Belfast - it's massive.  I snapped this shot of the boys on the banks of the River Thames looking at the size of the ship.  I made this page as part of the this fortnights challenge over at the Studio which is a tic tac toe style challenge.

I chose Masks, Sequins and Gold, so I started the page with my Tando Sunburst mask and texture paste, I then went over the top of that (once dry) with gesso on a palette knife.  Next I layered up lots of strips of paper from Crates DIY Shop and Maggie Holmes lines, and then again added gesso over the top, then some spritzes of glimmer mist in blue and brown.  Once this was dry I used some stamps - the chevron roller stamp from glitz and I used some gold embossing powder on a feather stamp from Amy Tangerine.  I added one of Crate Papers photo masks to my main picture and then some chipboard and ephemera as well as a few more bits of paper - my journalling is on a yellow tag behind the photo.  The last few additions were the title and then some blue sequins.

If you would like to see all the other inspiration and join us this month then here is the link.  Also I am up on the Created by ATDML blog today with a Teresa Collins page, here is the link for that.

Frosty Festivities - Let it Snow

Hello and welcome from Jills blog and if you haven't come from there then check out the Frosty Festivities blog hop hosted by Jennifer Grace (which is where you start and finish).  If you comment on all the blogs in the hop then you are in with a chance of winning some gorgeous December Documented by Simple Stories and Elles' Studio Noel goodies - you need to have completed the hop by November 11th to enter.  Along with all of that there is loads of wintery inspiration on the hop and all weekend over at Jennifers blog with lots more giveaways.

For the hop I created this page using the Santa's List paper collection from Teresa Collins.  I distressed, inked and layered up my papers, adding some gauze and lace to the layers.  I also used some Tando chipboard snowflakes which I covered in white gesso and then added some glitter glue too, the shape went perfectly with the snowflakes on the papers. 

Then I made a non-traditional card.

I was inspired by Georgia Healds card (and video - check it out here)…and decided to do a Christmas version.  Using more Teresa Collins papers, American Crafts and Kaisercraft stamps, glimmer mist and cosmic shimmer, string, a Tando chipboard house covered in papers and glitter and then a few sequins!

It started with a wash of gesso over some card, then a few strips of paper and more gesso over the top but this time with a palette knife. Then some spritzing with red cosmic shimmer, and some brown tattered angles mists, followed by random stamping - not reining every time so that the image wasn't perfect.  I was drying the layers with my heat gun in-between.  Next I layered up some string and stapled it into a circle, then covered my chipboard house with some strips of paper and doodled the windows on it.  I then added glitter and sequins.  It was great fun to make.

For lots more inspiration please hop onto Lisa Jane

Mixed Media Tags

Morning, I am up today on the Tando blog with my mixed media tag.  The inspiration was this lovely video here by Georgia Heald (it is a bit stripy but still a great video).  I also had a go at a card along a similar theme which I'll show you later on in the week.  I think just watching someone else on the layering of masks, paints and inks gives you the confidence to have ago and experiment yourself and it's lots of fun!

I started off the tag with some gesso, then layered up some strips of papers - these are some of Teresa Collins Memorabilia and Family Stories, then more paint, then some ink cripples using cosmic shimmer and a general misting of walnut gold glimmer mist.  Next the stamps - my Glitz roller stamp chevron and some of the stamps (including the words) from Teresa Collins Vintage Findings range (beautiful stamp set).  I then rolled some gauze in tea dye and stapled this on the bottom, made a hoop out of black and white thread and moved onto the Tando chipboard flowers.  I wanted these to be quite bright to match the papers, so I applied a layer of gesso, then once that was dry used pro markers to colour them in.  I then used some more white gesso on my fingers and smudged that on too…they still looked a little bright so I spritzed them with some walnut gold cosmic shimmer mist.  I used the same technique with the butterfly and then added a little bit of glitter.

It was really fun

Octobers Photo Challenge

Ann challenged us over at ATDML to come up with 7 photos for October, I decided to go with Instagram shots and here are mine.

Firstly some leaves, I love the red and orangey colours.

Secondly - the weather, not the big storm that we had - but it shows the change in temperature.

Thirdly - a pumpkin - which was a bit heavy!

Fourthly - winter warmers....my boots have fur all the way to their toes - snuggly!

Fifthly the treat - my kids have had a busy week and this was their treat.

Sixthly - something scary - I have a whole host of scary posed photos...but here is the one I went with.

Seventhly - time - as the clocks changed this month.

So all inspired after the retreat and doing one of Debbie Jewells photo collage classes, I aim to print them all out for a page later on this month.

Here is a link to the blog Novembers photos.