Wednesday 24 December 2014

Merry Christmas One an All

This year has just whizzed by for me, it's amazing how going back to work part time can take up so much time so hats off to those of you who work and manage your time better than me, I've been so rubbish at it I haven't made 1 single Christmas card so a SUPER BIG apology from me.

It's also been a good year as I  have  been given the all clear for cancer so no more check ups which is a bit scary, some of you will already know that I had a tumour on my tongue,it has left me with a few problems but I work round them as we do. If anyone wants to know more I'm happy to talk about it just email me.

I have still been creating and making jewellery and have done 2 workshops one with talented Andy Skinner and the lovely  Brenda Brown I'm just rubbish at remembering to take photos and making  the time to blog

These pens are covered with polymer clay




Oh yes and I have done the one thing I have always wanted to do and coloured my hair magenta only wash in wash out but looks great especially on the grey bits lol
Well take care all and hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and New Year 
Luv Von ♥

Wednesday 16 July 2014

Still creating Just

Gosh has it really been so long since I last blogged ! what must you think of me, working sure throws a spanner in the works and of course I have been making jams and chutneys among doing other things.


A trip to Sincerely Yours craft show at Portsmouth  found me buying the Silks acrylic glazes from Ali Crafts so of course I have had to have a play with them.
This little tin has been covered with Terra Paste and painted with the glazes little touches of gilders paste and stickles 

  
Then another thing I have been wanting to try for  ages is the faux leather, which I did and thought does it have to look vintage ? no it can look bright and colourful.
I started with a pale colour card did all the wetting with the water and glycerine scrunched it up and used Peacock and Worn lipstick, embossed it and coloured the raised flowers with Pan Pastels. What I love about the Silks glazes is you can paint over a medium which would normally react if you used a water based product, so I've used a pale gold over the top of the PP's giving a soft warm glow, but as you can see this is still a work in progress waiting to be made into a book cover 


I'd like to link these to the Try It on Tuesday colour of summer challenge 

Friday 23 May 2014

My last post for Artful Times

This is my final post for Artful Times as I'm finding it hard to keep up creating challenge pieces now that I am back at work with all the other things I do though I do still intend to create when inspiration strikes, so thank you Neet for putting up with me and Chrissie who is taking her unique style to another challenge blog

Owls are the theme this time and I have only the one stamp from Personal Impression



My starting point was a mono print I did a while back mounted onto to stripped back and painted corrugated card, Timmy's die cut tree and fence and my fussy cut owl the black was then stamped with bubble wrap and Brilliance moonlight white,it still needed some thing so added a strip I'd cut off  to square up the card .
Hope you like it and feel inspired to join us at Artful Times 

Tuesday 20 May 2014

Summers comming

Inspired by the lovely sunny days we have been having and a set of free Indigo Blu stamps from simply cards and papercraft.
A wrinkle free background with dried marigold squeezed lemonade spun sugar and tumbled glass, then a stencil from Creative Expressions and milled lavender an often forgotten colour.The flowers and butterfly were then stamped onto the remaining coloured card and coloured with distress markers before being fussy cut.

I hope this is excitable for Less is More were the challenge is flowers
What a shame the weather has changed in the blink of an eye and it's back to raining  

Friday 25 April 2014

Challenge 54 at Artful Times

I love this theme At Artful Times which is to make a badge, button or brooch with any medium you like, though I feel I  haven't done it justice, time just ran away with me and I have been away on a canal break, I'll say no more other than it's ticked of the bucket list.


For my simple brooch I have used a chipboard disc and embossing powders starting with 2 layers of ultra thick, this gives a nice surface to then add your colour embossing powders the nice thing is if you don't like what you have added you can just add another colour on top there are a few colours you can't see but all add the finished effect, once I was happy with the colours I edged with silver powder,stamped the flower with versamark and embossed with black.Finished with a little lace trim and a brooch back.




Did you know that the old ink it up embossing powders with the clear lids they are translucent .

Hope you will be inspired to join us at Artful Times  where you will see more fab ideas 


Friday 11 April 2014

Challenge 53 at Artful Times

Hello and welcome to another challenge at Artful Times were we are asking you to use any kind of spray inks.
It's a busy old life and there seems little time for daydreams hence the title of the page in my altered book, I've sprayed Dylusion inks for the background and tried the ghosting technique but it didn't work very well probably because of the old paper soaking up the ink, there's lots of white embossing and the leaves have been painted with the Dylusion ink, my sweet little bunny was stamped on the over spray paper


If you love your spray inks then come and join us in the challenge and you could win a £10 voucher to spend at Oyster Stamps  


Friday 28 March 2014

Challenge 52 at Artful Times

This fortnight the challenge at Artful Times is to use metals / foils and for mine I have up-cycled kitchen foil and tomato purée tubes, give them a go as the golden inside is wonderful and so easy to emboss.
To make the flowers I covered card with double sided sticky tape and covered it with crumpled kitchen foil before die cutting using the tattered flowers die, these large sizzix die are great for this, as they don't crush the texture like a slimmer die would. I then coloured with A.I inks and picked up the texture with gilding wax, for the stems I rolled a scrunched up a tube from kitchen foil made it into the shape I wanted then an it through the big shot to flatten it and the leaves die cut and embossed from tube



Hope you like my take on the challenge inspired buy the sun shining on the  flower over the last few day but it's back to the rain and cold again !!
Please check out the challenge blog to see the amazing things the others have made 



Friday 14 March 2014

Challenge 51 at Artful Times

Hello and welcome to our challenge at Artful Times "Games pieces" and please give a warm welcome to our new member Wendy

There are so many different sorts of games piece you could use to create with, with puzzle pieces and dominoes being the most popular, I have gone for the smaller size puzzle pieces with lots of ideas all getting muddled in my head consequently I don't think I have done this challenge justice. My first idea was to make a frame for a picture, the aperture cut in mount board  was then framed with the puzzle piece and built up in layer to give it depth it does look better IRL and when I find the photo of my son proudly showing off the puzzle he'd completed I will use it in a frame





Then with a bit of time between life and work I gave it another go, using the puzzle again to make a frame but this time with out the aperture and adding texture paste to the puzzle pieces







There are still half baked ideas in my in my head one of which is to do a Finnabair style canvas with alsorts of games piece as both my sons loved and still do like playing games, who know I might get round to it or you might like to give it ago .

Don't forget to check out what Neet.  Chrissie and Wendy have made, we'd love to see what you have made and if your looking for some super buys then visit Oyster Stamps

Friday 28 February 2014

Challenge 50 Artful Times

Hello to you all and I must apologise for not being a regular visitor to all the wonderful blogs  I follow, but I have just stated a new job, it's supposed to be part time ! but I have been offered extra shifts and the injection of extra money is most welcome


Now back to the challenge in hand it's ANYTHING GOES

For this I have some more things to show I have made for the Charity shop window


A pine wall hanging painted with pink blue and pale green, a little bit of bead trim and some butterflies, I've kept it simple so it will have mass appeal and hopefully sell


Also a cushion and some draw string bags


Having never made a heart shaped cushion before, I learnt what looks a good shape in paper doesn't make a nice shape when sewn ! hence the ribbon pulling the two sides to sides together

Now pop over to Artful Times and see what amazing things Neet and Chrissie have come up with 

Friday 14 February 2014

Challenge 49 at Artful Times

Hello and a Happy all be it very wet Valentines Day to one and all


At Artful Times we are challenge you so make or decorate a box, so a good excuse to eat those choky's if you were lucky enough to receive some.


My little box came from the charity shop  and has gone back to the shop for there Valentines window display.



First I painted it pink, then stamped with a script in grey which shows nicely through the transparency, for the sides I've added stickles to some recycled metal butterflies also from the charity shop and added some die cuts which have been embossed with a white glitter powder

Neet and Chrissie and I look forward to seeing what you do with your boxes

Friday 31 January 2014

Tim Holtz at Artful Times

Hello and welcome to a new Challenge at Artful Times where we are asking you to think Tim Holtz, you may be lucky enough to have some of his new products to use or you might just love his techniques.
Neet is taking a break from this one but Chrissie has done two a card and a tag to inspire you all.

For my tag I have layered stencils with distress paints (bundled sage and picket fence)and distress inks (rusty hinge, salty ocean and evergreen bough) before adding my focal images.




I'm sure we shall see lot's of wonderful creations from you all over the next fortnight so get those inks and stamps out























































































































































Friday 17 January 2014

Chinese New Year

It's that time of year again when Neet challenges you to make something to celebrate the Chinese New Year. which this year is the year of the horse, but panic not Neet says you can use any image as long as it oriental/Asian
 
An ATC now I'm not a paper person but  I do love oriental papers and I bravely cut some to make the border, the little horse is from a See-D set from many years ago
 

 
A card with the winkle free technique in marmalade and festive berry and a stamp from Non Sequitur
 
 
Now pop on over to Artful Times for more inspiration from Chrissie and Neet
 

Friday 10 January 2014

Don't think

Hello all, thank you for popping by I do love to have visitors.
I thought  it was about time I did some more pages in the altered book I started with Jennie from the Artistic Stamper so I suppose you could say it's assort of journal but I call it my mess about book, but what shall I do, well Don't think DO so I did and when I started to over think it I walked away and did something else.
After randomly choosing some Dylusion spray because I can't remember when I last used them and the first brass stencil that came to hand again for the same reason and the Dreamweavers embossing paste I'm surprised it hadn't dried up after so long, so that's the background done. Another random selection of recut dies out of the forgotten box and that's that done finished. Oh yes need the title so some old printed free mag papers and a spellbinders alphabet.





 
Opps forgot to say I used promarker to colour the embossing and do some titivating (just dab with the promarker or you'd rip them to shreds)
 
I'd like to share this with Ali - Craft where the challenge is anything goes
 
 

Friday 3 January 2014

Blue moon tag

Hello , Happy New Year and welcome to the first challenge at  Artful Times, where  shades of blue is the order of the day,  you can of course make what ever takes your fancy I have gone for a tag but do check out what Chrissie and Neet have made

 
I have used 3 shades of blue paint a stencil from Dylusion  and arch stencil from Stamps Away.
The face is paper clay painted blue with mica powder mixed in to give a clam serene look, a piece of dried foliage from the garden painted blue with distress stickles and an old text stamp from Tim Holtz embossed with blue powder
 
Thank you for taking the time to visit
Hope you are inspired to join us at Artful Times
 

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