Curious boys...

Hello friends

Hope you are all good!

Its been a super busy week here,

but I actually cleared my desk at the start of the week in a bid to be more organised....

it lasted 2 days.... I cannot find a thing! 

Sigh....I'm resigned to the fact that I will never be tidy and I'm completely hopeless at being organised!

After all the excitement of the Creativation show, the postman bought me some happy mail             (available here)....as soon as I saw this sizzix die, I knew it would be in my shopping basket! Its called "Tiny Houses" by Tim Holtz....I think its one of my favourites ever!

The die not only cut but scores too, so makes it really easy to assemble, I covered my chipboard in Tim Holtz paper stash, then ran it though my machine.

I assembled the houses and stuck them down with collage medium

I then added lots of layers of distress paints, gesso, vintage medium and distress crayons to create a really grungy look.

Next I selected my Paper dolls ( Idea-ology) I chose these two brothers and painted them using distress paints.

I then Layered them on top of some cogs (Idea-ology) added some Remnant rub-ons, washi tape, a star, ruler for a chimney and words from  the clippings stickers 

(All the Idea-ology and mediums are available from Art from the Heart here)

Nearly forgot...Those butterfly wings are from the new Idea-ology ephemera packs...you may need them too!

As always feel free to leave a comment, I really appreciate each and everyone!

Have yourselves a great weekend!

Kaz

x

Vintage....

Hello friends

I hope you are all good!

Today I wanted to share a vintage inspired make....

I'm always being asked, where I find my vintage stash....

Let me tell you, its not easy, I spend literally hours and hours scouring different places, 

flea markets,  charity shops, car boots, the list goes on......

sometimes I'm really lucky but more often or not I've had a wasted journey.

On several occasions I've almost had a full blown bun fight over junk.....

I have two general rules.....

If you pick it up....don't put it down!

If you like it buy it....

(Don't think I will come back to it later, there's nothing worse than watching someone else walk away with something you had your eye on!)

 I really love the chase of finding stuff, I guess its my drug....

(oh and gin, gotta love a cheeky G&T to celebrate your finds)

So here's what I did with some of my latest finds.......

I stamped in coffee archival, onto kraft card using Tim's Damask stamp to create a background 

I then layered using paper from the Dapper paper stash.... 

(The French bank statement in the background is an original )

I then added a cabinet card and an image from the idea-ology photo booth

and framed her using a frame....

I then added some more Idea-ology and some of my own vintage finds....

(I have to say I just love that mini envelope!)

I love working with vintage, I'm always intrigued as to who, what, where and when

things were used and the stories behind it,

if only they could talk...

Anyway, feel free to leave a comment I really appreciate each and everyone...

Have  yourselves a great week

bye for now

Kaz

x 

A Patchwork of Wildflowers

Hello friends......

Hope you've all had a great week!

its been so nice to see a little sunshine but

I woke up this morning to a blanket of snow!!

Snow in April?! That's crazy!

Anyway I thought I would warm you all up with a patchwork of wildflowers

created with offcuts, leftovers and my very trusty sewing machine!

The backgrounds were created using lots of distress paints and that gorgeous wildflowers stamp set

In the backgrounds I've used the mixed media 2 stamp set along with the halftone and rings set 

I stamped the images using Ranger black archival ink and I added some rub-ons in random places 

(The quote is from the Perspective stamp set) 

Using colour is always a little alien to me as I'm a creature of habit and always reach out for the more subtle vintage tones.....but I have to admit  I've really enjoyed stepping out of my comfort zone 

( plus its used up my off cuts/leftovers!)

As always feel free to leave a comment.....its great to know you popped by!

Have yourselves a great weekend

bye for now

Kaz

 x

Dapper chap

Hello friends

Hope you are all good!

A quickie blog post to share this make with you...

I've been really enjoying experimenting with backgrounds using a mixture of Distress crayons, inks and paints

I'm really liking the new flip top lids for distress paints, they give you more control over the amount of paint to use...... a little bit really does go  such a long way!

I'm also loving the new Distress Splatter brush, it gives some really cool splatters to backgrounds.....plus its great fun to use (my phone has a whole new look!)

 

I really wanted to use the "Dapper"Tim Holtz/Stampers anonymous stamp set

so I paired it up with one of my favourite stamps..... Wendy Vecchi/ Stampers Anonymous phrenology head stamp as they compliment each other perfectly!

Lots of Idea-ology Rub-ons, distress crayon colouring and lots of stitching

The hat, shirt and tie were coloured using distress markers a

the quote is from the Random quotes stamp set  

The tag is mounted onto a black cabinet card from Idea-ology and is stuck down using distress matt medium  

Thanks  so much for popping by....

As always feel free to leave a comment, I really appreciate each and everyone

Or  if you wish too you can like my facebook page (link in sidebar)

Right I so need to clean up the mess on my desk!

(that's the bit I don't like!)

Have a great week!

Bye for now

Kaz

x

P.S.

If you want to go shopping  for any of the items I've used, then check out Art from the Heart here... they stock everything!

A Trio of found Relatives

Hello friends!

Hope you are all good!

Its been a busy couple of weeks....I've been busy enjoying the Easter break, some precious family time,  some days out oh and the odd bit of  of vintage shopping (oops! a little too much of that.... shhh!)

Anyway I've managed to get in some inky time....usually late at night when everyone has gone to bed and I eventually get time for me! 

.

I always hate wasting ink  on my heat mat so I always mop it up with tags in the hope I will use them in a project..... well that pile of mop up tags ended up as a big bag of tags, ( I'm such a hoarder!) so I thought I would try and use them in a project......

I started by selecting three different coloured tags 

I then grabbed my favourite Dylusion stencil (dotted flowers) and matched up distress inks to match the colour of the tags. 

I applied distress inks directly onto the stencil, then spritzed with water, this left beads of ink on top of the stencil....I then put my tag to the stencil, pressed down, lifted then dried  the tag with my heat tool.

To highlight the circles I used black pen and I used the new splatter brush to add paint (what a cool brush!)

The images are cut out from the Tim Holtz found relatives and are stuck to the tag using glossy accents

I repeated the process on all three tags.... added some stitching, stamped out a hat and mounted the tags onto black card

The words are from Idea-ology small talk and I've also added some Remnant rub-ons

I hope its inspired you (like me to hoard....) I mean use your mop up tags....

thanks so much for popping by!

As always feel free to leave a comment, always great to know you popped by!

Have a great week

bye for now

Kaz

x

Distress Crayon Resist Tutorial

 Hello friends

Hope you are all good...

Today I'm really excited to share with you my latest project, along with a step by step tutorial using the Tim Holtz Distress Crayons to create a Distress crayon resist technique....

This post is photo heavy

So grab yourself a cuppa and pull up a chair

You will need:

Ranger glossy card stock ( I've used their ATC cards)

Wendy Vecchi Archival ink (Watering can)

Stamp and grid block

Ranger heat it tool/heat mat

Blending tool

Tim Holtz distress crayons

Tim Holtz distress markers

Wet wipes

PLEASE NOTE
It is important to use Glossy card stock as this gives the best results for this technique!

Step 1:Take your stamp of choice and mount it onto your grid block.

Using a distress crayon, colour over the image you wish to use quite generously

Step 2:

Instead of stamping down onto the card like you might normally do, take your glossy card to the stamp (glossy side down, so the glossy part makes contact with your stamp) This makes it easier to apply enough pressure to the card stock so that you get a better imprint of the image.

Step 3:

Using your fingers carefully burnish the back of the card.

Step 4:

Peel off the card and turn over so you have your image on the glossy card.

(you may have an image that is uneven  and bobbly due to how the distress crayons have stamped.....don't be tempted to touch it as it may smudge at this point and ruin all your hard work.....)

Step 5:

Take your Ranger heat it  tool and dry off the distress crayons

Step 6: The fun part!

Take some Wendy Vecchi Archival ink (I've used Watering can) and a blending tool.

Blend over the whole image, until your card is completely covered in Archival ink.

Step 7:

Again using your Ranger Heat it tool dry off the ink

Step 7:

This is the really cool part! Take a wet wipe and swipe it over the image, this will remove the distress crayon and leave you with a bleached out image

If you have removed too much of the archival you can go back in around the edges with your blending tool.

Step 8:

If you want to add some colour to your image then take a distress marker and apply to your image

Step 9:

to blend the colours together go back in with your wet wipe

(for this you have to work quite quick)

Step10:

Stand back and admire your work!!
(Don't forget to clean your stamp with a wet wipe...the crayon is easy to wipe off)

I started to experiment and

I was curious to see if this technique would work with Distress ink

I repeated all the steps

but because the ink is water reactive it still worked

but you get a completely different look.....

you are left with a  really bleached out image and little colour...

but this still could be added in the same way as before by using the distress markers

(although I've not had chance to try that yet!)

So I hope this tutorial has inspired you to have a go......

its such a cool technique which gives you a different look each time!

The Distress Crayons are definitely my new favourite medium to work with

to find out more about them check out Tim using them here.....

You can buy them from Art form the Heart UK here or from Ranger here

Many thanks for popping by,

please feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate each  and every one!

Have yourselves a great week

Bye for now

Kaz

xxxx

Number 5

 Hello friends

Hope you are all good!

Wow! Its nearly at the end of March.....How did that happen?

This year is just flying by!

Today I'm would like to share with you my latest vintage project...

I really wanted to try out the new Tim Holtz Distress crayons

I've used set #3

(I'm a bit late to the distress crayon to the party and yes.... I've so missed out!)

I used the crayons on the mini canvas and they worked a treat!

I like how they have blended together and have given the canvas a really cool worn/distressed look.

(To find out more about the distress crayons and how they work, check out all about them here)

(They are available to buy here)

I used Wendy Vecchi potting shed Archival ink on the back of an Idea-ology cabinet card, added some rub-ons and stamped using Mixed media set (Tim Holtz). 

As I created the piece I kept finding things with the number 5, this number has a personal meaning to me so I went with it.... The playing card is one from my own vintage collection and I decided to highlight it with a very old curtain ring..the other 5`s are from idea-ology

The vintage French bank credit is an original from 1922......I adore the writing...its so neat!

To finish I used a Stampers Anonymous stencil and added the word "respond"

using Archival ink in potting shed.

As always feel free to leave a comment....I really appreciate each and everyone!

Wishing you all a very Happy Easter!

I will be back after the Easter break

bye for now

Kaz

xxx