Family Matters

The past couple of days have been spent making a tag again (amongst other design projects).

One of the reasons it's been a bit time consuming is because I've decided to make my own "Found Relatives/Paper Dolls" (thanks for the inspiration for that Pam)...I want to use some of my old photo's of relatives and start a sort of family tree/memory book with them! Well...that's the loose plan if there is such a thing as a plan! LOL

I started by scanning a photo of two of my cousins (both deceased some time ago), touching up some dust/scratch marks and then printed out on photo paper and cut out....I will go back and digitally cut them out when I'm in the mood! ;)

I replaced the wheel they were perched on with a Tim Holtz image I stamped onto old french book pages and cut out....repeating this in the top corner with one of his smaller images. The ticket was stamped onto a bit of scrap card previously inked at some point and fastened to the tag with a brad bought many moons ago...might as well start using my stash instead of hoarding it for a change! ROFL

The background of the tag was Dylusions sprays in turquise, lemon and pink.

I made my own word fragments and gave them the "epoxy" look with glossy accents.

n.b. I have no idea if they were buddies or simply putting on a brave face for the camera! :)

Thanks for looking and happy stamping!

xoxo Sioux

I'm entering this in the February Craft Stamper Make it Take it Challenge which is Anything Goes!

Birthday Card at last

Been too caught up with what seems a never ending task lately!

Namely making cards for the hotel.

I've learnt that I can't keep up, work all week and have creative playtime...so sadly I've not been making anything!

We have agreed that I can't carry on like that so my designs are going to be used by a local printer to supply the hotel instead. Not quite hand made but I'm sure they will fit the bill.

On a brighter note....I did get some time to make a card last week....hurrah ;)

I spritzed some watercolour card with Dylusions and went from there....die cutting some different butterflies...Papertrey Ink and Sizzix. Some mini Tim Holtz stamps and large butterfly water coloured stamped, a sentiment from Papertrey finished it off. The wire butterflies layered on top just added that bit extra....a bargain from our local cheapo shop Bastins. :)

Thanks for looking

xoxo Sioux

12 Tags of 2015 April

Wow! Two months in a row at 12 Tags of 2015!

I wanted to play along with this and inevitably I just had to get that flower set!!! lol

I used a manilla tag for the base as I did not have any kraft ones.

None of the chunky word dies but I do have the individual 1" letters so I can make any word I fancy....that's what I call a bargain!

Don't think I've mastered the colouring effect with the pens (I prefer using the ink pads) but I do like the splatter effect you get with the air brush :)

Thanks for looking

xoxo Sioux

12 tags of 2015 March

Having been in agony from a torn deltoid muscle in my right arm since Christmas there has only been so much I have been able to do!

It has just got to a point where I am not fighting pain every day....crikey I only wish I knew how I damaged the muscle in the first place 'cos I do not want it to happen again!!!!

Anyway this month's tag from T!m just had to be done...only just in time though huh....and yes, I have caved in and bought the butterfly...had to....lol ;)
Managed at last to actually cut a mask from T!m's special self sticky masking sheets! Just know I will be using this butterfly again ;)

Thanks for looking.

P.S. As it was barely possible to fasten my bra some days during the last three months I decided to invest in a front fastening one...seemed a logical thing....except.....have you seen the designs? Not a lot of choice basically.....and the lady in M and S tried to sell me one that had a zip in the front (nice look that ....showing through a blouse!) and looked like a vest it covered so much up!! Another thing....why are they made in humongous sizes that would support a small country?!!! ROFLIA

In the end I just left my bra off on the days that were impossible! Rofl.

xoxo Sioux

The same but different!

Hi there!

Two cards started off in the same way, but ending up just different enough to give to two chaps at work whose birthdays are this week.

The "David" stamped with Archival and masked.

Then one was spritzed with Dylusions postbox red and Glimmer Mist patina.

The other was masked and the remaining spray left on my non stick mat was dabbed on with a damp baby wipe.
(The less vibrant one).
David roughly coloured with Distress antique linen.

Distress victorian velvet used to stamp some swirly bits around the edges.

Distress vintage photo for the T!m pen nibs and alphabet block.

Versafine black for the T!m numbers and long wording and also the circular Birthday Wishes which was free with a magazine.....the magazine was not my taste and would have been a waste of money apart from the stamps!!! LOL

Thanks for looking

xoxo Sioux

Out of my Head!

Well.....I just could not get this out of my head...
...and when I can't get things out of my head and they are swirling round and round, perhaps it's time to get the thought into the small art journal! LOL

Distress inks and Archival....all T!m stamps apart from word fragments which are Studio G...
...I particularly love the T!m sentiment used in the top corner...it fits so well with the thoughts behind this page...but so wish he had designed it with a bolder font as it does not seem to show up very well on anything I stamp it on!! LOL
Thanks for looking...
...I'm hoping the weather is nice this weekend so I can play in my garden ;)
Hope your weekend is everything you dream of and more.

xoxo Sioux

Miss the Noise!

So here is the second page of the double spread in my small journal.

Here are the pages side by side.

I'm entering this at Hels Sunday Stamper where the theme is "Life".

Thanks for looking and happy stamping.

xoxo Sioux

T!mtastic Hallowe'en

Yeh! It's back.......Grungy Monday that is :))))))
Here is my piece for Grungy Monday No 22 hosted by Linda at Studio L3.

This week the challenge is A Holtz-ian Hallowe'en.
I'm so glad I can join in this week......I love a bit of the dark side!! ;)
Whooooa (said with a spooky accent LOL)
I believe T!m's skelibob helped me win The Stamper of the Year title back in December 2009 ;) so I revisited the theme using the dancer again....only this time I did not have to draw it from scratch as it's now a stamp!!!! How cool ;)

At the time I could not get the skeleton for love nor money anywhere in the UK so I had to order it from Simon Says who came up trumps......I was very panicky in case it did not arrive in time for me to finish the piece (it had taken me a couple of years to pluck up the courage to enter!).....but luckily it did and the rest is history as they say!
Little did I know that 5 months later my DH would pass away.
....my tag says "Is this my beginning or is this the end?".....these are issues I'm still working on!

Thanks for the inspiration T!m........I could not have done it without you ;)

And thanks to Linda for hosting this great way to start the week ;)

Thanks for looking and happy stamping!

xoxo Sioux

P.S. The link to my stamp sets are in the side bar if you are interested.
I'm sharing a piece for The Artistic Stamper tomorrow...so do come back and take a look :)

Paris Bag

I have been playing today ready for my trip to Paris shortly ;)

I bought a blank canvas bag from the wonder that is Trago Mills!!!

I decided that it would make the ideal bag for Paris as it sits nice and snug on the shoulder and there is a full zip across the top.....can't be too careful can you?

It desperately needed some decoration so that is what I did today...along with trying to work out exactly what I need to take with me......I hate packing!!

I feel the need to take my art journal with me.....to be in Paris and not make some art seems to me to be almost rude!! N'est pas?

TTFN

xoxo Sioux

Kisses like Wine

Knock me down with a feather!

Now don't die of shock!

I'm back again today.....count them....it's three posts in one day!

It just goes to show what I could achieve if only I did not have to go to work! Hey ho ;)

I treated myself to a couple of stamps from Stamp Fransico over in America and they arrived on Saturday morning :) Along with my CS this month which is jam packed full of inspirational stuff.

I love this painting by Vermeer "Girl with a pearl earring"....well actually I like nearly every one of his paintings....anyway I just had to have it! LOL

I'm entering this in Hels Sunday Stamper this week where the theme is "Red"

Apart from Girl with a Pearl and the Studio G alphabets everything else is T!m....script, scroll, frame, Paris and London addresses.

Distress Inks on base tag worn lipstick, aged mahogany, frayed burlap, and weathered wood.

Girl stamped in Archival sepia and lips coloured with fired brick DI.

I read the book "Girl with a pearl earring" nearly as as soon as it came out a good few years ago now but have only just recently seen the movie......is it me or does anyone else find the usually sweet Colin Firth just ever so slightly creepy in that film! LOL

Thanks for looking yet again today! HOL

Happy stamping

xoxo Sioux

Grungy Monday No 8

Here is my piece for Grungy Monday No 8 hosted by Linda at Studio L3.

This week the challenge is to use T!m's 2008 technique challenge.
I'm so glad I can join in for the first time this week :)

I may only be just in time but I hope to make something tomorrow as well for the new challenge seeing as I have the day off ;)
All due to a Bank Holiday here in the UK and the lousy weather today where I live.
...oh!.....and the fact I woke up at 5.30 this morning!!! LOL

Do you know.....yesterday I was sooooo cold I nearly put the central heating back on but I decided to wrap a blanket round me instead!!
At least that saves me some money....see it is just a matter of changing your point of view! HOL

To see how it's done by the real pro follow the link to T!m's blog above.

I learnt everything I know from reading T!m's blog because where I live there just is nowhere to learn these things.....oh! the joys of the internet.

Thanks for the inspiration T!m........you are a diamond ;)

And thanks to Linda for hosting this great way to start the week ;)

Thanks for looking and happy stamping!

xoxo Sioux

Some boxes are more equal than others!

Well hellooo!

Not been around much have I?!

After the T!m megga weekend I was soooooooo pooped I can't tell you!

I had hoped to do certain things....not least tidy up my house ready for the arrival of my friend from up North! ;) But I could not keep my eyes open each night after work and I ended up doing a massive tidy last Friday morning ready for her arrival that afternoon....rising at 5:00 not even getting dressed and working through till 1:15 just in time to get dressed, get in the car and pick her up from the station!!! It was a close call but my house could be sort of called presentable at the end!!! I just don't want to go in the loft right now and have to sort out the bags of stuff I shoved up there!!! HOL...I know she would not have minded but I did!!

We had a fabulous weekend even if the weather was not entirely on our side.....managed a couple of nice walks in the suddenly chilly afternoons and just relaxed.....It's nice to just relax :)

This week I've still been tired but have found the time to have a little play with this...

Mmmm? Playing with a cardboard box? Even I'm not that sad! LOL

Now inside that box was...

...another box! Not just any old box either......of course T!m could not have the most fabulous phantasmagorical machine on the whole planet sent out to me in just any plain old cardboard box now could he?

...Of course not! And inside that box was MY Vagabond!! It's mine...all mine...and I lurve it!! ;)

I knew there was a very good reason I kept resisting the lure of buying any of the die cutting machines out there all these years.....obviously I was waiting for T!m to make someone take notice and actually make a die cutting machine that really ticks all the boxes!!!

So far...and I've only had the most briefest play really....this ticks all the boxes I could ever have thought of ;)

This was the embossed piece on my Artistic Stamper piece yesterday.

Ooh! I'd love to be a Vagabond Queen!! HOL

xoxo Sioux

A Kevin Spacey Sort of Day!

Strange title huh?!

Let me explain...

...one of my all time favourite films is American Beauty...to me it's a perfect sort of film.

...Do you recall the end scene where Lester (Kevin Spacey) ends up seeing that his life is not all bad after all? (Even if he does get shot in the head!)

Yep.....everything about ArtsyCrafts was perfect...it's what I term a Kevin Spacey sort of day!

The drive up was surreal....no jams....no accidents....blue skies...sunshine.....a perfect drive :)

If my memory serves me right I saw a plastic bag blowing in the wind...

...you'll just have to watch the movie for that bit!!! HOL

After checking into my Travelodge the onward drive to Newport Pagnell to meet up with folks who had been on the Thursday course...like Carol and Hels and Joanne and Dan and Sid and I've forgotten some other names already!!!...lovely to meet you all....and Alison who was on the Friday along with Laura and Sue.

Sorry forgot to take pictures!!!

Next day bright and early......another sleepless night....my goodness it's been worse than waiting for Christmas when you are 5 these past couple of weeks!

First class up was Lin and Leandra and time to get the pinnies out

...Sue had a fab version.....it says one more job to do then it's gin and tonic time!...sounds like a plan to me ;)

I only had the idea to stamp something on mine and Laura's apron pockets 10 mins before I set off the day before......and spooky or what?...T!m's February month stamp starts on the right day of the month for this year!!!

Laura was wondering how much more spookiness we could take LOL!

...bag of stuff all prepped for us and ready to go

Lin and Leandra start the class and hey....say hello to Sunshine Girl Nicola who was on our table but I did not realise it was her till nearly the end of the class!!!

I loved the new chalky paint we used from Paperartsy...unfortunately there was none left by the time I went to the shop at the end of the day :(

However I was really pleased with the way my project turned out.....you may have seen other examples that have a roof....I sort of like mine better without and I'm itching to paint over the sentiment and put a different one on!.....sorry Lin and Leandra!! ;)

Break for buffet lunch.....quick trip to reception to see if my room is available....yes...I'm in luck so get my key/card and my luggage from the car and quickly hang up a couple of things.

Back to the gang and we have to wait a little while 'cos T!m and the rest have not had their lunch yet....another coffee for us....and then we start to que for T!m!

We had goodies galore to create with and tons of stuff to put in the configuration box (sorry I swore I took a picture of the table but obviously not!)....this is mine with hardly anything stuck down as I had ideas that I wanted to add to when I got home.

T!m, Leandra, Lin and the gang at the end of the class.

Thank you for all the hard work in organising this for us.

...sorry for the bad photo's but when you are only 5 ft and half an inch it's really difficult not to get other people in the shots too!
We were lucky to be the last group and watched T!m being presented with the inchie book....he seemed genuinely touched....ah bless!

T!m was so sweet and posed for photo's with all who asked (no not me! LOL)...I asked him to sign my apron...which he did...no problem....and a ready smile for everyone.
Then we met up in the bar with Thelma and a lovely Irish lady who for the life of me her name escapes me!! Far too many wines I think ;)

Yes it was definitely a Kevin Spacey sort of day!

Lester Burnam - "I guess I could be pretty pissed off about what happened to me, but it's hard to stay mad when there's so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I'm seeing it all at once, and it's too much. My heart fills up like a balloon that's about to burst. And then I remember to relax, and stop trying to hold on to it. And then it flows through me like rain. And I can't feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life. You have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm sure. But don't worry, you will someday."

Someday I wish for all of you to experience a class with T!m Holtz....I consider myself one lucky girl to have done so......I'm still emotional about the whole thing.

...Thanks again T!m for taking the time to teach this class...

....whoa! There goes another plastic bag! ;)

xoxo Sioux

I had the time of my life!

A favourite song of mine played to us whilst we were creating at T!m's configuration class.

Ooooh! It made me tingle ;)

We certainly do owe it all to T!m :)

Thanks for enabling me to have the time of my life!
xoxo Sioux

Spooky Suitcase!

Spooky or what?

I make a suitcase.......

T!m makes a suitcase. :)

Only T!m's will make it easier for us all as part of his new releases for Sizzex Alterations line ;)

xoxo Sioux

Trees for SCD

Yes it's Friday folks! It's my choice at SCD this week and I've chosen "Trees" as the prompt to make those tags with ;)
Yes one of my most favourite things to make.....Tags! Yeh!

Seeing as it's December I thought you could use Christmas trees if you feel the need LOL.
....but of course any sort of trees are just fine :)
Here is my tag

I love those T!m trees so much I had to stop myself stamping!

Dragged DI's old paper - scattered straw and shabby shutters across the tag
...stamped the lamp post and coloured with black soot and masked it.
..stamped the trees in a mixture of DI's peeled paint - brushed sage - pine needles.
...some of them are second stampings.
..added some Dimensional pearls (opal) to the ground and some of the trees.
...Studio G letters coloured with Copics.
...added a metal charm at the top to hold the tartan ribbon in place.
...I'm off to stroll down the path through the trees and see what I can find.
....It's obviously in Austria ;) so perhaps I'll find an imbiss hütte (snack hut) selling Glühwein! :)

Don't forget that in December we are asking you to try your hand at making a TAG and each week a new theme will be chosen.

Do hope my "Tree" theme grabs you just as much as it has me ;) 

So looking forward to seeing your tag creations over at SCD this week.

Thanks for looking and happy stamping :)
xoxo Sioux

T!m's 12 Days of Christmas!!!

Well as everyone must know T!m is being the generous guy he always comes across as and is sharing his talents to inspire us to make those tags again :) Starting 1st December.

I'm hoping to join in a few at least this year too! I managed to do a tag each and every day last year and on the same day amazingly!!!

It was a mammoth task though and often I worked way into the night to get them done as improvisation was the key ;)

.....I have to say it was worth it as I felt so elated doing them and it gave me a real high :)
Yep...even better than Cava!!! HOL

Here are my tags from last year.

Don't know how well I'll manage as I don't have my little helper this time around....you so need a little helper I find to keep you supplied with tea/coffee/meals and to do the dishes etc!!! LOL

xoxo Sioux

Spooky Coffee!

I noticed T!m was sharing an Hallowe'en project using his die shapes on his blog today.

....so I'm sharing my spooky coffee I had on Saturday courtesy of a T!m die and the lovely person who gave me the die shape and the negative to do this with!! Thanks again :)

Thanks for looking.......I'm off for another spooky coffee!!! LOL

Ooh! BTW I wonder what the QVC special value is at midnight...I'm sort of hoping it might be that Vagabond....but I've got a funny feeling it won't be!!!

I'll be tuning in anyway for a look see if I can keep my eyes open.....I'm a bit prone to falling asleep all of a sudden with no prior warning on the settee at the mo!!

Will have to set my alarm!!! HOL.....I'll be wide awake at 9 though for RA in Spooks :)

xoxo Sioux

Dont' Walk Under The Spooky Tree!

As part of the ongoing saga of the Halowe'en hangy piece that I started over a year ago now...here is another element that I made today - an ATC
...did you sing along to Don't sit under the apple tree as you read it? I did! LOL

Masked the ATC to drag DI scattered straw to make the moon

....masked this circle and dragged DI milled lavender across the rest of the background only it had become a bit contaminated with black somehow and it's a more blended colour but looks fine I suppose LOL!

....the T!m tree is a bit more chunkier than the real die cut would be as I don't have that Vagabond yet....and used a die cut very kindly given to me (you know who you are and thanks) to trace round and cut by hand

....dragged DI black soot to colour and stamped the T!m eye onto the trunk in Versicolour boysenberry....what is it with the colour purple it never seems to reproduce well on my photo's!

....stamped the T!m skellibob in Archival black
...I have to admit that it was not the way I had intended as stupido me completely forgot to mask off the tree!!!.....I had wanted just the ribs and head to be peeking out from behind it! HOL
....should have had more forethought and just stamped it on the background before sticking the tree down! Hey Ho! ;)

...Studio G letters to make the word fragments.

Just for the fun of it I'm linking my layers of stamping ATC to The Artistic Stamper monthly challenge ('cos I can't win you know...being on the DT)....You've got plenty of time to enter still as the closing date is October 31st....spooky time!
There is a random candy prize on offer too from the generous Jennie so it's defo worth playing along ;

Thanks for looking and happy stamping :)

xoxo Sioux

OMG! It's the best news! I hope!

At the risk of all and sundry getting there before me....Oh! Please........Please......PLEASE!

............Let me just have one ticket :) LOL

........failing that...can I perhaps pitch my tent and hope for a snippet of crafty knowledge as he passes me by on the way to the workshop!!?

You must know by now that T!m the man is going to be appearing at a special ArtsyCrafts event in Feb see here for details.

Now.......you would not want me to go over the edge and loose the plot knowing the year I've had

.........would you?

Sioux xoxo