Grungy Monday 8 - Brushless Watercolour

On the last minute again for the next installment of the Tim Holtz inspired Grungy Monday challenge which the lovely Linda over on Studio L3 has been organising for the last eight weeks! I've finally got round to sitting down to create this week's piece - I was worried that I wouldn't be able to manage this challenge as it involved Adirondack Dye Inks and I've only got two (Cranberry and Espresso) so I wasn't sure it would work but here it is:

It's quite feminine which is a first for me! The technique is to ink up the stamp with two or more colours of the dye ink and then spritz with water before stamping it. I like the blurry imperfect look this produces. The stamp is a Stamper's Anonymous one and the background paper is from Tim Holtz's Vintage Shabby pad which I've distressed with worn lipstick and brushed corduroy distress inks. I've added tissue tape to the outside of my stamped panel and added more of the Cranberry Adirondack ink with a sponge. The middle piece of card is inked up with various distress inks and a blending tool before flicking water at it and blotting with kitchen roll - I love that technique! I've added fragments using Glossy Accents then stuck Idea-ology nibs to them with Pinflair glue plus a coulpe of pieces of ribbon and a matching Idea-ology Accoutrement. Grungy and girly! Enjoy. JulieD  

Grungy Monday 7 - Colour Blocking

This week on the Grungy Monday challenge on StudioL3, we were given the task of creating something using a colour blocking technique demoed by Tim Holtz using a blending tool and various shades of distress ink. I've created another tag:

I collected together my green shades of distress inks and with plenty of ink on the blending tool, made rectangles of colour on the tag. I felt it was a bit harsh with the clear lines between the shades so I did cheat a bit and did a quick blend over the whole tag when I'd finished with a pale shade!! The stamping is done using archival library green and coffee with stamps from the Visual Artistry set 'Flights of Fancy'. The bird, tall flowers and letters are die cut grungeboard. Just a short post today, I'm off to help on The Stamp Pad stall at the Local Produce Day at my daughters' school! Enjoy! JulieD

bitbox crafting 1!

I've never been good at throwing things away and have got various boxes full of off cuts of paper and card, tiny bits of ribbon, odd bits and bobs which have been left over from other projects etc. Also, whenever I try out a new technique,  a new stamp, die, embossing folder or other product I throw the results of these experimentations in one of the boxes too as I don't usually have a project in mind - I'm just having a play!! The other things I end up with are loads of  'moppings up' - inks from my craft mat - I usually mop up with an ATC or a plain serviette then chuck them in the boxes too.

Anyway, I felt it was time to get these boxes out and see what I could create - some of the results are completely random where I've closed my eyes and chosen a few items then put them together to make a card which is why some of you will think "I wouldn't have put those colours together" - it was completely spontaneous! At the first 'bit box session' I made seven cards in about 40 minutes which is unheard of for me - I usually procrastinate for hours over colours and styles so it was quite therapeutic for me to do this!! Here are a few of the results - I allowed myself to use bits from my embellishment box that I rarely venture into either and some inks for edging with but not much else:

Above is a kraft card with a Graphic 45 image which was left over from my Steampunk Debutante pad  with a TH ticket which I removed from the packet and then didn't use. I coloured the ticket to match the image and stuck a piece of faux stitching along the bottom - simple eh!

My background for this one was a 'mopping up' and a piece of Retro Grunge paper - I'd been playing with the Sewing Room alteration and had several of these die cuts in various papers. I've added them along with a few buttons, fibres and a rub on - I realised I had a friend's 40th coming up so I've added the numbers and will be sending it soon! 

This is a distress ink blended background with a Non-Sequitur stamped image which I'd created for a card a while ago and then decided the colour wasn't right. I've added a bit of sheer red ribbon and a playing card charm and on a black background I'm really pleased with it! Hope this inspires you to get your bit boxes out - I know you've all got one (or more). Happy crafting. JulieD

eye of the beholder ...

This month on the fabulous UKStampers forum we are doing a postcard swap with the theme of 'Beauty' - this is my interpretation:

I'd been wiping colourwash ink up off my craft mat with a piece of red card and I've used that as my background then stamped two of my favourite Stampotique girls in plum archival, stamped a few flourishes on the background then given it a kraft card base (just to make it a bit sturdier as it's being posted 'naked') and finished it off with a stamped title. Gorgeous! Just goes to show, beauty really is in the eye of the beholder as I adore these two characters!!  I think I might cheat and laminate this before adding the postage stamp as I don't want them getting wet! Hope to blog again later. See you then! JulieD

Another Sunday Grungy Monday!

Last week disappeared in a blur of invigilating, working at the Stamp Pad, being a Midday and being a taxi driver to my children and their friends!! So today I have sat down to do my Grungy Monday Week 6 (see StudioL3 for more info on that) and I've lost my mojo... This week's challenge was to create a 'weathered wood' background using a Ranger Dabber paint and distress inks. I did that bit then threw various elements at my tag - at least I can call it collage but I'm not happy with it, however, I've run out of time so it will have to do. Will try harder next week! Here's my effort:

All my elements (except for the ric rac and staples) are from Tim Holtz (this isn't a requirement of the challenge, it's just a little challenge I've set myself as I have so much crafting material of his I'm making all my Grungy Monday pieces Totally Tim!!) I stamped the blue Stampers Anonymous 'flames' in Denim Dabber paint and all the other stamping is done with various colours of archival ink and a variety of Visual Artistry Stampers Anonymous acrylic stamps including the one behind the facet. I was aiming for a sense of freedom ... Pop by again soon - my aim is to blog three times a week! JulieD

Grungy Monday 5

I've been really busy lately with my new job at the Stamp Pad which I'm absolutely loving plus it's exam season so I'm invigilating for the next few weeks - oh no, less crafting time! Been ages since I blogged - luckily we got two weeks to do the latest Grungy Monday challenge from Studio L3! The challenge this time was to embed an item in foamboard - I really enjoyed putting this together but it took me longer than expected! Here's the end result:

I cut two rectangles out of the foamboard with a scalpel then covered it with Tim Holtz Kraft Resist paper. This was the first time I'd used Kraft Resist and I was pleased with the results! I inked it with a variety of distress inks, stuck it to the foamboard, added tissue tape, stamped, embellished and distressed some more! I then added background paper (from the Tim Holtz Lost and Found pad) and stuck the metal items on with glossy accents. Hope you like it.

I had a thrill this week when I opened the new Craft Stamper magazine and found my altered matchbox on page 57! How exciting to be in print! I'll have to dig out a photo of it and blog it for those of you who don't get the mag! Have a great day. JulieD