12 TAGS OF 2012 - NOVEMBER

Another wonderful tag from Tim for this month. I adore the Autumn colours although not the season. I much prefer it when everything is springing into life rather than going to sleep because the awful cold is coming.
I had all the distress inks and stains plus the strip die, but that was it really, so another compromise which I think has worked really well.

I think the squirrel has his eye on that acorn but he had better wait a while because the glossy accents aren't quite dry!!
The leaf stamp is from Tim's Falling Leaf collection, the word is a Hero Arts stamp, the chicken wire stamp is from The Artistic Stamper and the gingham stamp is from Wendy Vecchi.
Another fun project which has given me a great idea for a birthday card I have to go and make now for an elderly male neighbour. Thanks Tim.

TIM'S 12 TAGS OF 2012 - AUGUST

At long last I have made the August tag. I couldn't take my craft room on holiday so, having just returned after 4 weeks, I have just completed it. I just want to say a great big thank you to Jennie of the Artistic Stamper fame. I placed an order with her for a few things with which to make my tag, one item being the small leaf and branch die. Jennie thought she had one in stock but it turned out not to be the case so as a good will gesture, she cut some leaves and branches from her own die and sent them to me. How generous is that then. Thank you so very much Jennie.
Right then, another gorgeous tag from Tim. Here is my version,

WW # 45 - THE BLUES (shades of blue/sadness)

I certainly wasn't feeling blue when I made this card for the WW challenge this week.

Distress inks mopped up from my craft sheet for the background, over stamped with a chicken wire stamp from the Artistic Stamper, paper roses coloured with distress markers, leaves punched out of blue papers, a stamped and cut out butterfly also given the blue treatment and some tiny words cut from an old dictionary and distressed with blue. So simple but very effective.
I did find another blue card during my rummaging:

I reckon blue isn't 'blue' after all.

12 TAGS OF 2012 - JUNE

I think Tim's June tag is wonderful. However, I don't have half the embellishments he used so as usual, I had to make some.

I don't have any of the gem paper pins, so I used an ordinary paper clip, unbent one end and stuck a bead on it, simples. I didn't have a single metal number but did have one that said 1/2. I simply cut it apart and used the no. 2. I didn't have the background stamp but did have Visual Artistry - lost and found. I didn't have the stamp he used on the photo but did have one from The Artistic Stamper which works well. The rest is all Tim's stuff, just different. It broke my heart to have to cut into the Destinations papers. I keep going through the whole stash and reading each page. It's a trip back into history.
Another fun tag from the master himself.

SONIA'S ATCS

Before we left for York - where I am at this moment (on free wifi too!!) - I received 5 ATCs from my pal Sonia. She is having a real good go at distress inking and alcohol inks. I think she has done a lovely job with these cards and as usual, her talent for neatness is outstanding.
Well, I've tried and tried to upload the photo I took but it just won't have it. I'll have to wait 'til I get home to show you these works of art.
Just before we came away, I read Tim's blog about the 3 new distress inks and asked through Facebook who would be stocking them in the UK. I didn't get a reply but The Artistic Stamper later announced that they would be stocking a very limited number. When I went on to the shop web, I saw they were sold out already.
Good job I had already ordered mine from Simon Says Stamp in the US.
So 3 fab colours to add to the rest -
ripe persimmon
gathered twigs
seedless preserves.
Yummy.

FLOWERS ON THE GO

There is a little 'sproggit' in the family whose birthday is next Tuesday, her 8th actually, so we decided to pop over and take her birthday presents. Beverley, in Yorkshire, is a lovely little place and the site we found last year (where 'peg leg' broke his hand and ribs) is our stopping place again.
The weather is lovely, the birds are many and singing their heads off and all the daffs are out. Perfect.
I decided not to pack a load of craft this time but just a few bits in  order to practice making paper flowers following the instructions that Hels put on her blog the other day.

I've used this Artistic Stamper flower stamp many times to make flowers, but no matter whether I use that or a die, I always struggle with the middles.

This time though, I cut the odd petal and the middles before sticking the parts.

Then I stuck one lot together without cutting the middles.
This flower is a complete version where the middles were cut before I stuck the petals together. I think it is much better.

Oh! that photo is a bit blurred, sorry. However, I think you can make out the middle petals and agree that they sit very nicely in the flower. I'm happy with that. Thank you Hels.

SCD WEEK 3 - ORANGE & BLACK

I am covered in black alcohol ink!  This is why:

I finally completed my entry for the SCD challenge this week, orange and black.
I just had to do Halloween as I found some skeletons yesterday which were perfect for this wooden frame.
The frame was painted with orange dabber and then distressed with wild honey and rusty hinge inks. I over stamped in several places with Tim's cobweb, paint splodge and greeting stamps then with the Artistic Stamper's chicken wire stamp. The tree is cut from black mount board using Tim's new branch tree die which I covered with clear rock candy crackle paint. The flowers are cut from black card and black sequin waste using Tim's new tattered floral die. The leaves are Martha Stewart autumn branch punch and the roses in the flower centres are from a local wholesale store made black with alcohol ink - hence my now black fingers! -
So to begin, I covered the skull stamp with orange paint dabber and stamped into the centre of the mirror. Once dry, I masked it and went over the whole thing with black alcohol ink - more black on my fingers! -  I then stuck some black lace all round the inside. I spread a thick layer of crackle paint to the place where the skeleton was to go, stuck the tree on plus the owl - some orange peel stickles gave him eyes - assembled the flowers and leaves then added some dried marigold distress stickles to various places such as the web. Finally, I glued some black and orange beads to the base of the tree in order to 'ground' it.

It looks better in real life and as I had no idea what I was doing all through the process, I think it's not bad.

Now, I'm not sure whether I can enter the Artistic Stamper Challenge twice, but if you use their stamps, you get entered twice anyway. No harm in trying eh?