Grungeday - A Vintage Moment.

Good evening (well, over here),
If Grungy Monday was Grungy Thursday I'd be right on time, but I'd end up doing it Sunday so I'll just stick with calling it Grungeday...I hope you are all doing fine out there - in body, mind (he)art and soul. It's a busy old thing all this blogging frivolity...I love meandering through the streets of Blogland and wouldn't be without it but the logistics of getting it all from from my fingers to the screen can be a quite a task at times...  especially when Blogger fancies a foxtrot instead of doing it's thing. Anyway, enough of that and more of this...Over at Linda's we are delighting our selves in the joys and permanent finger staining qualities of Alcohol inks. Nice stunt-work from Mr. H here.
I was in a vintage mood which explains the romance, lace and  shabby green. I created three small tags to celebrate the beauty of a moment...

Alcohol inks dropped onto embossed metal is a favourite of mine. I also coloured a small frame, and cut a mica front to house these two lovebirds...she's blushing, but loving it too.

Just paper, ink and metal and a sentiment which is easy to stamp and a little harder to do...

Ah yes, the butterfly... stamped onto a glass fragment which I had first coloured with inks, creating a lighter pool with blending solution. I added a dictionary scrap definition of moment and a spinner because moments join together to create a journey. I cut a large tag shaped background which I stitched, stamped and distressed.
Another one for the collection, unless you might like to give it a home? I enjoyed making it but would enjoy it even more if I could make someone else happy with it. She's very petite. If you're into a little nostalgic green romance, let me know and I'll be more than happy to send her your way.

Also just letting you all know my new monthly inspirational feature, My Mojo Monthly started July the 1st. There's a great interview with Art Journal artist Kelly Kilmer, project ideas, great giveaways and a photo link to share your work! Do join in, I would love for you to call by and share your art and musings...



Thanks for being here - always glad to have people in my Bloghome.
See you soon,

Sarah.

My Mojo Monthly Sneak Preview!!!

Hello Everyone,
Welcome to my blog - nice to have you! Wednesday yet again so sharing my desk, antics and ramblings in good WOYWW tradition.

This is a work in progress scene as I put the last things together for my new monthly post MY MONO MONTHLY which starts this Friday July the 1st!!! Won't give too much away yet but there's an array of paint, photos, sticky stuff and snipping on the menu!

So what's it all about??? Well, it's not another challenge blog, but a monthly INSPIRATIONAL feature to get you and your Mojo on the go-go! If you're a bit off track, stuck in a rut, looking for a fresh take on things or just a place to share your work, then come on down! I want you to be in touch with your art and I just love to help people get moving!
I'll be sharing Monthly Musings with thoughts, links and ideas for the month, Delving into Design, and best of all an interview with An Inspirational Featured Artist!!! I am thrilled to announce that Kelly Kilmer, Art Journal Artist Extraordinaire, is July's Calendar Girl. Find out what she and her Mojo have to say...! How exciting is that???
Whatever your crafting passion is, you'll be able to share your creations, thoughts and photos with each other, there's free downloads, and giveaways too! Just once a month, so you'll have time to really get thinking, nudge that Mojo and also just be. It's good know about the why behind the what! Here's a sneak preview of what's on the horizon for Friday!

A touch of colour... and the simplicity of paper.

Up close and personal in black and white.

There's more too, but that's enough for today. I'm very excited, a little nervous but ready to rumble! I really hope you will call by Friday and take a look, it will be great to see you and you know what they say - the more the merrier! Do drop me a line if you have any questions...happy to help. I'll leave you with a small canvas I made yesterday - just dabbling around with blue, a tree and words...

 

Thanks for calling by...see you all very soon. Enjoy WOYWW and your day wherever you may be.

Sarah.

The Colour of Love...

On Saturday it was my wedding anniversary and when I heard some frantic rustling and an "Eyes closed!" command from outside the kitchen, I kind of guessed some floral celebrations were on the way from Mr. Hubby...  But when I opened my eyes they were soon welling up because... it wasn't just another bouquet, but an exact recreation of my wedding bouquet of 14 years ago!!!! I was totally overwhelmed and had to reassure my husband that I was truly happy in between the teariness. Sigh, to be a lady...complaining when you don't get flowers and blubbing if you do...

As you can see, such wonderfully pure yet vibrant colours. The roses are truly gorgeous and so full. And with that, my inspiration for Less is More, had arrived. I'm not normally so quick to work with purples or lilacs but Mother Nature does them so well and I felt moved to create an tribute to my husbands amazing and thoughtful gift.

I took some photographs, selected and cropped three close-ups and printed them onto glossy photo card stock. I glued them onto card for extra strength, rounding the corners of both the photos and the card for a more modern look.

The photo edges have been very lightly sanded and then layered onto a green satin ribbon. I stamped a very true sentiment in Ranger Deep Purple Archival which was the perfect match. I felt the colours and images were all the card needed.

So indeed, a tad different than my usual. In fact, I could even say it's rather chic... a touch of the designer wedding look. Although we celebrated with Fish and Chips Saturday night! Just wanted to share the story, the colours and the inspiration.

Hope you enjoyed a little romance,

Sarah.

Become...

Hello,

Welcome on this sunny day, the summer has come out to play. Monday morning means time for the new theme over at Simon Says Stamp & Show. We say show us a word...and mine is 'Become' - a journey towards the real me. After a few intense inky weeks I really felt the need to return to paper and scissors so I created a Personal Inspiration Journal from envelopes and design papers full of pockets, tags and journalling cards stamped with heartfelt sentiments. 

'I used Wendy Vecchi's Art Parts dress form and leaves and stamps from A Form of Art and Celestial Art .  I cut chipboard covers, all sanded and edged with Rusty Hinge and the whole journal is covered and lined with a myriad of papers from Glitz and K&Company. Dive into those papers and dare to snip, I say.

Here is a side view without the tags to show you the book construction and all the pages and flaps formed by folding the envelopes. Colour, patterns and distressing galore.

I over-stamped the dress form with just the word Become from the full sentiment which fits just perfectly! The Art Parts have been inked up with Distress Inks, stamped and then sealed with Matt Medium. It's funny how a headless form can still portray many thoughts...and those gentle curves give her that subtle feminine je ne sais pas... I also added a ribbon and a small scallop piece painted and distressed with Claudine Hellmuth paints for that pop of blue.

There is something very satisfying and cathartic about making a book from scratch. I like seeing it evolve and love the feel of it getting heavier and stronger in your hands. Here you can see a pocket underneath the flap, a mini pocket and the tag pocket on the left. I went for six envelopes which soon bulks out providing plenty of journalling and photo surfaces.

The journalling cards slide into the right-hand pockets and are stamped with fabulous sentiments and stars from various Wendy Vecchi sets.

Here are the tags which echo the papers used to line the book, some of which are stamped too. Vintage dots and florals liking each others company! Everything is edged with Rusty Hinge which gives it all a welcome lift.

So there you have it. A journal ready to be filled with my thoughts and musings in life! Become was my word...what's yours? Hop over to the blog to see the other great creations by the Design Team. We're looking for three new top designs and there's also a $50 prize spree!

Thanks for visiting me - it's great to hear from you. If you have any thoughts or questions do let me know. For now, I'm signing off...over and out...

Sarah

Metamorphosis...

Hello again,
Time is sure racing along, but I am a happy lady when the weekend rolls in. Especially when I've done all the housework, finished my DT project, new stash has arrived, watched Glee and can lounge at leisure in Blogdom.

I'm still enjoying the ride over at Grungy Monday. Week 12! What does a lass do with 52 tags at the end of the year??? Methinks I must consult Hels Sheridan on that one. This week we delve into paint and resist techniques on show here by the fair and dapper Timotheus Holtz. I originally planned some wild colours and no butterflies but my musings had other plans. I choose vivid Cosmo Cricket paper, rusty paint and the Grunge Alphabet stamp. I've opted for a more distressed version of the technique to allow the paper to show through more and I'm really liking the results.

I stamped just one of the moths from the Papillon set, even snipping around the antenna (OCD of the scissor kind) and layered it up with a paper lace scrap onto a stitched mini-tag - also stamped with the Alphabet in black. I used a chain scrap from a candy tin to hang the tag, ran a paper strip through my Dynamo embossing the word metamorphosis and added Distress ink for extra emphasis. It's a great idea as the Dynamo tape can look a bit too glossy. I thought some black lace worked well with the tag too by adding a touch of black glamour.

I made my flower using a brad and patterns cut from the design paper. It looked a bit too modern at first, but sorted that with ink, distressing and some therapeutic scrunching. Now I really like it and feel like hacking into all my flowery papers! Didn't go for the pocket but decided on more black machine stitching, antique gold ribbon and a rusty ribbon holder. The tag edges needed some roughing up, along with a liberal dose of Black Soot, swooshes of Viva Gold and some rusty staples to finish things off. Not at all what I thought I might do, but a tag that created itself very easily.

That's me all done. I'm having a day off from creating tomorrow. I've been married to my best friend for 14 years, so we're off on a Steam Train! Do wave if you see us chug by...

Happy Weekending!
Sarah.

WOYWW???

Hello and welcome! Here we are again at the mid-week moment, so straight in with a shot of the desk to honour What's on your Workdesk Wednesday? I'm all done with some pretty messy affairs, so not quite the usual chaos.
I'm busy with a paper, snip and stick project now and I have gone through a whole roll of red-line tape. Looks just like 4th of July in my craft room with all those tape papers blowing around.

 I'm also really busy preparing some photos and pdfs for the first edition for my new monthly feature MY MOJO MONTHLY together as July the 1st is fast approaching. Eeek! I really hope you'll join in, gain inspiration and share your creative "heart-thoughts" and artistic musings! Full information next week...

Today I'm also going to, at last, share the gift I made for the WOYWW 2 year anniversary. I've not heard from the receiver Peggy yet, but I read she is globe-trotting so it could be a while.

 I decided to create a journal book and actually made this on the day itself as I wanted to choose a colour pallet that fitted the receiver. I colour washed, tore and distressed some old dictionary pages and glued them to the book covers. I then created a faux Batik look on the centre strip of canvas piece by stamping leaves in Matt Medium followed by a paint wash. I stitched and frayed it too for more detail, adding ric-rac and ribbon in red. Love the contrasting colours!

 I stamped the sentiment "Live your Dream" onto a small chipboard scrap, layering it up with some ribbon. The inside covers have also been lined paper and the stamp is repeated with some leaves.

Of course, a little WOYWW memento in the form of a hanging mini-tag which I've attached to the binding rings along with lots of pretty ribbons. Full On Girly going on here ...

I drew and cut the big flower layers by hand from a design paper that I had colour washed and swooshed with paint to get a different shade. It's definitely a happy shade of red! I finished off with a scattering of smaller flowers, polka-dot ribbon, lots of distress Ink and my signature gold thread! Enjoying the vibrant shades after a week of vintage sepia.
I think it's very Peggy - if you know her blog, you'll know she loves colour, so hopefully all is well! Come on Mr. Postyman...

So that's it for today, got lots to do before Saturday as it's a family day out so my DT work needs to be done. Back to it then... Thank you so very much for calling by and taking time to visit my blog. It means a lot and I'm glad to hear from you all. Take care and have a good week. Be seeing you very soon - time for a bit of blog-hopping I say.

Sarah

Just Good, Clean (Girly) Fun...

Hello to one and all,
Well, the past week went by in a flash because here I am again, on a Tuesday again, with a little something for the new Less is More challenge for CAS cards. My weekly dose to balance out the brain cells...After a very intensive weekend up to my eyes in metal and ink with a DT project, I was just itching to get onto these and embrace some white space and simplicity. The theme is Monograms...not to be confused with abbreviations which was kind of tempting too.

I uuhmed and ahhed for a day and wasn't blown away with the idea of my own initials so I've gone for a "Monogram mood". My letter and it's inner decoration represent the feeling you want to convey, along with a sentiment that also contains the same word in full. Firstly, I chose a letter font that would make a good stencil. This is Kingthings which I like for the curves and modern look. I enlarged it on the computer, printed it out and then cut out the inside. I lay it on my card front holding it steady with a little tape and then stamped the small images with White Stazon. 

I gave it a quick dry holding on like mad to the stencil and then sponged over the top with Stormy Sky Distress Ink. I was huffing, puffing and hoping the stencil would stay put and be nice to me, not daring to peek until all was done. Call me mad, but I get pretty nervous at such a point and then utterly elated when I discover all is well! I was really pleased with the crisp edge and fun feel of the image. I then stamped the simple ssentiment (holding breath) in Black Archival ink.

My second one is done using Barn Door Distress Ink which is very vibrant indeed but looking sassy. Red, white and flowers make me happy. I used linen effect card stock but opted for the smoother side to get a better coverage of ink. I could have buffed the Stazon images to remove a little Distress Ink, but I really liked the faded effect as it was. The mini-stamps are just tiny 99p sets I picked up in a bargain bucket. The sentiments are by Hero Arts - Heartfelt Messages.

And if you also happen to know someone called Hattie or Lilly then you've got yourself a two-fer. If Lilly was learning to drive, make it a three-fer! But on a slightly more serious note, it is an idea you could play around with for a simple yet personal Birthday or Celebration card or even a Journal cover.

That was my inking and thinking on Monograms so I'm signing out. Thanks so much for calling by,it would be great to hear from you if you have time.
Tarraaa!
Sarah.

Loved...

Good Morning,
Welcome...I hope the new week finds you all on good ground. I'm here to share my new creation for Simon Says Stamp & Show where it's all about metal. Metal may sound very modern I'm taking you on a nostalgic walk down Memory Lane. I just love vintage images but there is something very precious about those of your own family and for a long time I've wanted to create a keepsake of my own heritage. Last weekend I enjoyed a good rummage through my mum's photos and came home with a wonderful selection to choose from.

The idea of generations really appealed to me and I found three images that fitted together beautifully. My mum looking very sweet, my much loved Nanny and my elegant Great Grand-mother. They were to be the focal point of the entire piece.

I created three hanging frames by altering three candy tins. No, I am not addicted to Hello Kitty sweets but they caught my eye whilst waiting in a long queue at the corner shop. I sanded off the original paint and then gave them a good bathing in several shades of Alcohol Ink. I took a while to get them covered and it is best to do one colour at a time otherwise they wash each other off. I also used a very old paint brush to get the inks all over the tins. Needless to say, days later I am still scrubbing my rusty fingernails...

I scanned and printed the original photos, altering the size to get the right sizes and proportions for the frames. This turned out to be a tricky old job but I had set my heart on these three images. I aged them with Vintage Photo ink and also cut a "glass" front from Mica which made them complete. A cardboard frame is covered with Ten Seconds Studio Metal which I embossed with the Textile folder. I then used lots of alcohol ink, followed by a light sanding to enhance the detail.

I covered some chipboard with K & Co paper, sanded and inked the edges and added four metal corners. I'm not always so quick to use a ready-made Design paper but this was perfect in every way - just like vintage wallpaper. I made three rusty roses using more metal, Alcohol Ink and the Tattered Florals Die. I scored lines on the petals with my tool kit before inking them up. I tarnished them over a gas flame - hold them there a second too long and you get a fizz, a puff of smoke and all the copper colour falls off... (don't try this at home kids...) Check out some fabulous flower tutorials by Laura Denison and Lin Brown.

 Whilst all this was going on, I had stamped the word LOVED onto tiny paper circles, placed them under a charm clip and filled them with Glossy Accents. I glued just the heads of some brads to the clip tops and when they were completely dry and clear I glued them all to the frame as it would have been a fight to drive a real brad through that metal! I added a length of copper thread underneath them for more definition.

I did then play around with some other decorative ideas but I kept coming back to this design feeling it was right to keep things pure. These three beautiful ladies can hold their own and it's all I want to admire too. It was quite a voyage of discovery and I'm really pleased with the outcome. It definitely a different feeling when you work with those you know. It was quite hard to photograph as the light just loves bouncing off the metal but I hope you can enjoy the nostalgic mood too.

So there you go, another story all told. I hope that you are feeling inspired and will maybe dig out some family history too. There's so much you can do with metal - vintage or ultra modern, just take a look at the Design Teams fabulous ideas over at the Simon Says blog. Every week you have a chance to be awarded the coveted Top Three Title and a $50 shopping spree.

 

Looking forward to seeing your take on the challenge. Thanks for visiting, I would love to hear what you think, so do drop me a line...be seeing you all soon!

Sarah.

Just me and my Shadow...

Hello folks,
Well, the hubby is on a French School trip for a week, I'm ignoring the housework, no work tomorrow and have been playing around in my craft room all day. Cushdy day all round. Just sharing a small piece I've put together for the challenge over at Everything Wendy Vecchi. The original concept from her Making Art! book was a hanging using ric-rak, ball chain and a circle on a square. I've gone for a 5 inch canvas which is just perfect for a few hours dabbling in the afternoon.

I covered the mini canvas with DP, sanded the edges and added Rusty Hinge Distress Ink to the edges and the paper. Stamped a few leaves for a base. I cut and stamped the circle by hand, sanding again to get a smooth finish. It's hard work cutting a decent ring out of cardboard. Just loving the polka dots...

 The flower is an Art Parts piece coloured with Claudine Helmuth paints and Brilliance Ink. Added a metal flower and button centre. The little house is part of a larger Wendy stamp and I've also added the word home to the front. You can also see the ball chain which came off a candy tin and has been dyed with Alcohol ink. Spent all day yesterday working with Alcohol inks for my new DT piece and my hand and nails look abysmal. Never mind a Rubbie Scrubbie, I need an electric sander to get this lot off.

I stamped and embossed the butterfly, cutting it out so he could perch on the circle edge. I layered it all up to create more dimension and added some ric-rac, weaving it through the circle. Just thought I'd create a little summer feeling seeing as we haven't seen much of it this week...

That's me all done - see you again tomorrow with my Simon Says DT post. Thanks for calling by and if you doing the Dad thing - enjoy yourselves!

Sarah.
Joining in with the following:

Sweet Stampin" Challenge - Things with wings
Polka Doodles - All of a Flutter 
Simply Create - Fly with Us
The Stamp Man - Butterflies and Dragonflies
Anything Goes Challenge Blog - Here comes the Summer
The Cheerful Stamp Pad - Things with Wings

A Little Pre-weekend Inking

Greetings!
As the title says - just flying by before the weekend kicks in because we all know how fast they like to zoom by. Here's my take on the new episode over at Studio L3 hosted by Linda. I like to think of it as mix between a laboratory and playground where you can delve into the techniques, inkiness and history of  Mr. T. Holtz. Take a look the demo and grungy gossip here to see how you can conjure up a little faux batik. It's a really great technique and my iron saw more action in one night than it has all month...

 

I stamped the doily in Wild Honey and after the embossing bit I went on to use Rusty Hinge, Scattered Straw and Brushed Corduroy. I love the lacy detailing of this stamp (Hero Arts) and how it's come out with these tones. I got a great lace effect on my brown "soak-up" paper too. So two for the price of one! I added a bit more colour as the heat does reduce the colour slightly and then stamped a little mesh in the back ground. The Paper Artsy girl in an old but well-loved image stamped in Plum Archival, followed by some buttons embossed with Distress Powder.

 I added an old fabric scrap and a whiff of metal with a butterfly. She has received a liberal dose of alcohol ink and burnt Distress powder. It was a charm but I managed to cut the loop off which looks so much better. I felt I wanted to stay within the same tones and so I've also joined in at The Artistic Stamper where it's Monochrome, plus one colour.

 Seeing as there were a few wings around I  stamped Fly Away onto a Mica snippet and placed it with some ribbon trimmings underneath my flower. I cut lots of individual petals and gave them a swirl, scrunch and swish in distress ink and Glimmer mist. I then built them up into a flower and added a press-stud centre. As always, spent more time bashing it around than making it! I added some copper thread, ribbons to the top and then finished off with a serious session of edge distressing and Black Soot ink. I'm always amazed how a touch of black ink can just tweak the mood of piece, and allow the G in Grungy to be a little stronger than the G in Girly with this tag.

So... that was the creative newsflash for Thursday. Do hop over to Studio L3 and visit a few of the arty folk out there. It's really good to see so many inspiring and individual creations!
See you and the weekend very soon...
Sarah.

What Pretties Doth Lavish Thy Desk...?

Hello there,
Good morning and a big welcome to Desk HQ, where we're half way through both the week and June. C'est incroyable mes amis! So, here I am to flaunt my desk, as we all do at WOYWW hosted by wonderful Julia at Stamping Ground.

In the photo it looks fairly sane but in reality it is pretty dire, and also spreading its wild wings  throughout the entire room. I'm still awaiting a burst of domestic thunder to instigate the big clean-up... I had just done a Grungy tag and was working on a Father's Day card after doing a tag. Quite often you're so busy with projects and stuff, family cards get left on ice, but I felt my Dad deserved a decent offering.

Nothing too flash, grungy or quirky for Pa, but good old blokey colours and a touch of humour. If I do something too altered or edgy he'll think it went wrong or ask why I didn't finish it... This is a spin-off idea from a recent DT piece and I'm quite pleased with the end result. My Dad is a retired car mechanic who worked in the same garage for 50 years! He can tell what's up with any car engine just by listening. A computer whizz he is not, so the chances of him seeing this here are less than me winning the Lottery or sorting out my ribbon box.

I'm also having a great time following the on-line collage course from Claudine Hellmuth. She's a fabulously enthusiastic teacher and the course content and atmosphere is brilliant. Here is my take on a horizon line collage. They can do a lot in the medical world these days and I think it's high time they pondered the benefits of flip-top heads for husbands. I could delve straight in, pull out an old conversation and say, "See, I did tell you..."

No news on the arrival of my WOYWW Pif yet (it does have to get to The Philippines), so keeping that for next week. This week I'm going to be working hard on MY MOJO MONTHLY, getting all the technical tricks on the go...eeek! I shall be doing battle with Blogger as I attempt to activate photo buckets, pdfs and linky things. Could be a long week.

Anyway, that's this weeks episode of Blog Soap...thanks for dropping by. Glad you were here. Hope you have a really good week - or at least a few top moments if you're busy.

See you soon, off to have a nose around...
Sarah.

Entering my Card into the following Challenges:
The Stamping Boutique - Men Only
OLLCB - Father's Day
Stamp'n'-Doodle - Father's Day
Creative Inspirations Challenge - Father's Day
Secret Crafter - A male card