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July 25, 2010

Alter it Montly Challenge - July

EDITED WEDS 28th JULY to say: Anyone popping round on the WOYWW rounds, sorry, I thought today was Tuesday until I saw the post on Helen's  blog! I know, I'm losing the plot (actually lost it long ago!)  Happy Wednesday to everyone x

Sneaking in just under the wire for this month's Alter it Monthly challege, which is Home Sweet Home, here is my entry - a wall hanging.
This has taken quite a while as so much else has been going on.  I started back at the beginning of the month tearing and inking and stencilling and shimmer misting and generally altering some corrugated cardboard (you can see it at that stage here if you like).  I then had a bit of a hectic couple of weeks and the corrugated card just sat there on my desk, neglected, until I found a bit of time and made some background to stick onto the card with papers that I inked, stamped, tore and again generally altered, even making an attempt at shabby chic while I was at it (more about that stage here).
At that point I got fed up with my craft area and started a mass clear up.  That is still going on but I realised I needed to get this finished if I was going to enter it!  So I dug out some stuff and had a fun day yesterday cutting out some letters, covering them with PP, inking them, sticking them on and then just had a play with all kinds of stuff to stick on them.  The flowers are made with t!m's tattered floral die and bits of fabric and left over PP from the letters, the cat is a Stampotique image stamped onto grungepaper and inked with Spiced Marmalade DI, the stamped butterflies are Wendy Vecchi again on grungepaper this time painted with Viva metallic paint (the bodies are a row of beads), and the hearts are grungeboard inked with Nick Bantock Damson, covered with clear Croco and then shimmer misted with a few colours (whichever ones I grabbed that weren't clogged), the lock and key are grungeboard covered with Old Gold Ferro and sprayed with the same shimmer mists.  I also stuck on some random bling and lace just because I could, then used my crop-a-dile to attach eyelets and tied the panels together with some overdied embroidery floss I had in my cross stitch stash. I used swivel clasps at the top to hang it with.
This was really fun to make :)  Now I have to go back to trying to organise my mountain of stash.... not sure how I managed to pack it away before, it seems to have grown since I've been moving it around!!

July 21, 2010

WOYWW.... nuffink!

*cue tumbleweeds*
Told you I was reorganising.... I think it's gone a bit too far!!
Here then, is my nekkid desk.  It's an old gateleg table I got from a junk shop ages ago when the kids were little and I needed a dinner table that I could fold away when not in use.  Then I inherited my gran's regency french polished jobby, so this old wreck was relegated to my bedroom as my workdesk.
I'm having some deep thoughts about Ikea and Expedits but then... think of all the stash I could buy with that money... decisions, decisions.
Anyway, I am off this afternoon to the oncologist for my 6 monthly prodding and poking to make sure the cancer is still cured!  Hopefully next week I will have a neat and organised desk to show off (or the same old mess in a different configuration, lol)
For anyone passing through and wondering what this is all about, hop on over to  Julia's blog to join in and show us all what is on your workdesk this Wednesday.
Happy Wednesday everyone.
Edited to add: Thanks for all the good wishes.  All clear again at the hospital, back again in another 6 months.

July 18, 2010

Did you miss me?

I have no idea where the past week and a half has gone.  It started badly, then descended rapidly into hell and from there it was downhill all the way! Anyway, I have now had a chance to catch my breath and even to do a bit of crafting, yay!
Some of you may have long enough memories (or have scrolled down to my last post, lol) to recall the corrugated cardboard I had started playing with.  Well here is how far I have got now with it.  Still very much a work in progress, but I have taken some background papers and torn, inked, distressed and stamped on them then attached them to the cardboard.  The backgrounds are from an unidentified 8 x 8 pad that has lost it's cover, the stamps are t!m's Artful Flight plus some from a CI plate and the ink is coffee archival, apart from the greeny one which has a pretty dismal dismal attempt at shabby chic overstamped with the same stamps but in saddle brown stazon.
So, after this burst of creativity I got really POed with my craft space and foolishly started to reorganise.  I say foolishly because I have now made an almighty mess and am past the point of no return so have to keep going with it until I have restored some sort of order..... this may take a while!!!

July 07, 2010

WOYWW flyby post

Phew, was late home last night then overslept this morning, so just snapped a quick pic on my mobile phone and have now uploaded it at work and am making a quick post just before 9am so I'm not officially meant to be working yet!
Not the greatest pic in the world I'm afraid.  Usual "pushed back" mess.. a glimpse of my wonderful easel from the lovely Julia Dunnit who co-ordinates the WOYWW weekly event holding some offcuts of background loveliness made at the Artsy Craftsy weekend which I will find a use for on another project.  The corrugated cardboard has had a quick Titan Buff acrylic glaze (using the golden acrylic glaze you can see mixed in with some Titan Buff paint) then been sprayed with some cosmic shimmer mist and been inked around the edges with brown chalk inks and then some Wild Honey DI through a stencil which didn't come out how I expected but I like the effect all the same (which cannot really be seen in this crappy pic).  Anyway, these are intended as backgrounds for a project I am planning (I say "planning", it's more just making it up as I go along really, but I have a vague idea where I am going, so in my world that is hard core planning).
Anyways, I am now officially meant to be working, so I had best do some :(
Have a great Wednesday everyone, and I will visit later x

July 04, 2010

Boxed off

Edit: I finally get to play with the Sunday Stampers this week as the theme is Rhinestone Cowboy and I have used gems on this, so this is my entry :)
Maybe I'm finally getting used to the heat, or maybe it has cooled down a degree or two, but anyway, I managed to finish off the box that was languishing on my desk on Wednesday.  I woke up yesterday with some ideas buzzing around and set to work dry brushing some Claudine Hellmuth Classic Teal over the Traditional Tan, then wiped it over with a wet baby wipe to fade it in to the background.  I stuck some scraps of patterned paper into two of the squares and then spritzed the whole thing with some light blue mica and water in a mini mister.  The other two squares were filled with some scraps of TSS metal run through a couple of cuttlebug embossing folders.  The patterned one was just sanded off and stuck in, the bird one I coloured with some alcohol inks.  I then coated the frame with rock candy crackle paint (because it was on my desk and the transparent croco had been put away).  I also coated the PPs and a bit of the corners on the metal squares.  it crackled, but I think I prefer the effect of the croco.. bigger cracks.  Anyway, at that point I was dragged off by my DDs for a meal out.  We went to a bar called Belgo (I think) which had the most sublime mussels I have ever tasted.  Not only are they the biggest and juiciest mussels, but they do them in loads of different ways, not just the usual Mariniere (which I love BTW, but it's nice to have something different), all washed down with chilled Belgian beer. Wonderful!
On to this morning then, when I rubbed some Walnut Stain DI into the crackles (such as they were) then rummaged about in the box of wonders (aka the RUB with all the broken jewellery and stuff) and found some faux pearls which I glued in one corner, and a little wooden heart (I feel a song coming on!), which I painted with Classic Teal then stencilled a swirl on with some Viva Precious Metal in Blue Ice.
Forgot to mention, I had stamped a swirl around the edge in Coffee Archival Ink between the Classic Teal dry brushing and the spritzing with Mica.  I added a few Prima gems and flat pearls (because you can never have too much bling).  I found this pom-pom trim in my ribbon box which was the perfect shade so attached that to the top and bottom, then swiped a bit of the Ice Blue viva around the frame in the middle to tie in the heart.
Not sure if I should put some of the trim across the middle as well.  I did offer some up to it, but didn't think it looked right, but now I'm not sure if it looks right without it.  What do you guys think?