Mirror, Mirror, Mirror.

I've just had the most fabulous weekend of crafting and fun with Sue and Laura.

We met up to try out some techniques....learn from each other....make a decorated mirror

...and share some Cava!! LOL

Laura was working on some tomato paste tube metal...

...and this frame is full of it gorgeously embossed.

Sue was arranging elements for the final placements...

...I just seemed to be creating a mess!!!

Here is a section of Laura's steampunk themed mirror...

...I can't show the whole thing as it is destined for a DT piece and in addition Laura wanted to add some other things when she got home...you will just have to keep visiting her blog to see the full result ;)

This is my unfinished (no surprise there then!) mirror working to a theme of classical ladies...

...I'm pleased with most of it so far ;)

And then there was Sue...you can visit the mirror on her blog here.

...Laura and I were in awe that she finished this gorgeous mirror and it seems that Dr. Schroedinger (one of Sue's very handsome cats...a.k.a. Ding Ding for short) was pretty awe struck too! LOL

Thanks for the great hospitality Sue.

Can't wait for the next time :)

Thanks for looking

xoxo Sioux

Grungy Monday - Faux Batik

Here is my piece for Grungy Monday No 11 hosted by Linda at Studio L3.

This week the challenge is to use T!m's January 2008 technique challenge Faux Batik.

I've never tried this before.....purely 'cos I'm lazy and can't see the point of going to the trouble of getting out the iron!!! LOL
But....having actually done it....I sort of see the point now....but then again I sort of don't! HOL
I really must store this away in the filing cabinet of my brain 'cos I expect it could be the perfect thing for using a different stamp combo in the future :)

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

Thanks for the inspiration T!m

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

Thanks for looking and happy stamping!

xoxo Sioux

WOYWW Decorative Tag

I've had a very minor tidy of one side of my cupboard desk! If you want to see lots more desks tidy or otherwise they are all at WOYWW over at Julia....why not pay a visit after you take a little look at my how to on the tag shape I used for my Pass it Forward gift.

I've got stuff out 'cos I need to decide what I need to take with me on a crafting weekend to Wiltshire. Laura, Sue and I had such a good time at Artsycrafts that we decided to get together for our own little workshop weekend. :)
Three girls having fun again with T!m...well not quite with T!m...but at least with T!m's stuff LOL ;)

I really like making those little hanging pieces like my PiF piece and it all started by buying a garden implement from QVC that had a lovely shaped tag on it......I just reproduced it quite easily...

Want to know the details?

that's the tag and not the garden implement you understand! LOL

Measure a piece of mount board (it is nice and sturdy and won't warp with inks and glue etc) 10cm by 16cm.

Next make marks at the middle point at the top of the tag then draw a line 1.8cm down from the top and 1.8cm in from each edge.

Next you need to find a cup or mug to draw round...lining up the top and where the intersection of the the two 1.8cm lines are.

Next it is cutting it out! There is only one way to do this neatly in my opinion and that is using a scalpel knife. Please be careful if it is not your first cutting tool of choice! Use a steel edged ruler to cut the straight lines and free hand for the semi-circle bit.

....the trick is not to force your way through the mount board in one go....that way leads to disaster and very probably a sliced finger!!!

Ouch not so LOL!

Instead lightly trace your (sharp) scalpel over the pencil line for the first pass and on the next pass your scalpel will follow the slight cut you have just created....I find that you can cut through the mount board in 3 or 4 passes. If your scalpel skills are new and you have a slight wobble....don't panic you can always sand the edges later!

Now I have one of those excellent corner rounders from We Are Memory Keepers that can cut through all sorts.....but it only does on outie corner and I needed an innie corner!
Is there such a tool? If not come on WAMK and make one PDQ!

Anyway I got round it by using a pair of decorative scissors by Fiskars "Cloud" to cut the innie corners instead!

Although I don't think they will stand up to lots of cutting through mount board!

And that's your finished tag just rub away your pencil marks.

Now....whilst it is pretty simple to reproduce I see that T!m has a movers and shapers die out called Vintage Cabinet Card.

(I don't know how big this is though).

It is a very similar shape....only the corner innies are 90 degree straight corners.
...it would certainly speed up the making of the base tag quite a bit :)
Thanks for looking.
Don't forget to pop over and visit Julia and the rest of the work desks. ;)
xoxo Sioux

My Pass it Forward piece for WOYWW

My Pass it Forward WOYWW celebration piece has made it all the way to Elizabeth :)
How very spooky that it was an Elizabeth (Liz) who gave me a Pif gift....my Pif gift was sent to an Elizabeth and believe it or not my Mum wanted to call me Elizabeth but I ended up as a Susan!!!
(Does anyone know why there were so many Susan's in the 50's by the way?)

Anyways....I can reveal my Pif now....
...I could not stop myself and just had to make something with my Dance stamp designs for The Artistic Stamper ;) and a few other favourites too ;)

I aged the base tag with antique linen and scattered straw and added some extra wild honey dark spots with an inked dried up baby wipe.

Then added a little bit of stamping in aged mahogany with the very tiny grungy stamp from the mini set that was in the T!m TSV on QVC a good few weeks ago.
...love those speckles ;)

The tag is made from mount board and I'm making a little how to on the making of the tag shape for a future post ;)

Then stamped the Dance dictionary background with weathered wood.
Stamped T!m's corner flourish and crosses in aged mahogany.
The mount board had some printed numbers already on the bottom.....so to make a better background for my sentiment I dragged a bit of gold paint dabber over the area before stamping "Light you own Fire! in Archival black.

The crown is one of the lovely new ones on Crowning Glory from The Artistic Stamper...I stamped it onto some tomato paste tube metal in StazOn and molded it a bit with tools.
The WOYWW letters are stamped onto some grunge board that had the crackle glaze biz done to it using Paperartsy fresco finish acrylics....rusty rose as the first coat and snowflake as the top coat...and then the T!m metal stencil letters were inked through with black soot.....stamped onto more of the same with the month and date using T!ms month stamps and a Papertrey Ink number.
OOOH! I just love that crackle! ;)

My Dancer was stamped onto grunge paper using the outline version on the set and cut out....then I got out the distress embossing powder in tattered rose but....well.....I don't know about you but distress embossing never seems to be quite...well...
...just not distressed enough to me!!! LOL
So I do something that I don't believe T!m has ever suggested doing!!!

....I double or even sometimes triple emboss with it....yep I know it is not what everyone says but I like the effect it gives....it works particularly well when covering large areas like the dancer image....sometimes if you heat it for too long it can take on a shiny look in little areas but that too is not a bad thing and adds to the whole look....again it is just what pleases you.
...I can tell you it pleases me! ;)
....I would warn that it can use quite a bit of powder though.....
I used the crackled wings from the same dancer plate stamped in black onto grunge paper and embossed with Ranger holographic powder....love that stuff ;)



So that was my Pass it Forward art and I can tell you I liked making it a lot even if it did take me weeks to finish due to lack of motivation here!!! LOL

Oh! Nearly forgot...I gave the back a little decoration too.
...mainly because I accidentally got a splodge or two of snowflake paint on it!!! HOL

Typed up the wording on the old computer and die cut it with a Papertrey Ink mat stack 3 die.

Thanks for looking and happy stamping!
xoxo Sioux

Tag Card for The Artistic Stamper

I'm sharing a card today over on the The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog

Curious? Then just hop on over to The Creative Team Blog for all the details.

Thanks for looking and happy stamping
xoxo Sioux

P.S. I appreciate each and every comment here but time is short in all our lives so please do not feel obliged to comment both here and on the creative team post.
...I'll see your comments and share the feed back all at the same time if you use The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog post ;)
Thanks

Nothing but Distress!

Here is my piece for Grungy Monday No 10 hosted by Linda at Studio L3.

This week the challenge is to use Distress Inks created by T!m and manufactured by Ranger.

I'm glad I could join in again this week and here are the colours I used :)
EDIT! Whoops forgot to put the Spiced Marmalade on the pile!!! LOL
Double EDIT!! Double Whoops!!! Forgot to put the Faded Jeans on the pile as well!!!

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 star!

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

Thanks for looking and happy stamping!

xoxo Sioux

WOYWW a lovely gift!

Hello fellow WOYWW'ers!

I'm sharing the gorgeous jewellry piece I recieved from the lovley Liz as my PiF gift (the WOYWW wording is around the edges ;).

It goes very well with my wrap don't you think? Liz must have known! LOL

Thanks a million Liz :)

And on my desk...

...yep still not had a clear up yet!...my grungy Monday tags hanging next to the heat gun....some stamps in the midst of pondering a piece that I don't quite know how big it will end up.
...really depends on how much room all the images take up that I decide to use when I decide to use them! LOL
And what's that? Ah...I seem to have started to fill the floor up again as well!!!
There really is no hope for me! HOL

If you are curious to see the piece I passed forward to Elizabeth you will have to return next week 'cos special instructions mean I can't mail it till this Friday.
In the mean time head over to the engine room that powers all our desk hopping at WOYWW with Julia :)

Thanks for looking

xoxo Sioux

You rock Guy!

I've started watching a programme called Guy's Big Bite.

He is really into meats and BBQ (he also does the Diners, Drive-ins and Dives programme) but on a recent show he cooked something that took my fancy and had hardly any meat in it and what there is....I really like....chirizo!

I may have mentioned before that I like veggie meals best....although I won't say no to a good steak LOL

The recipe is here if you want to take a look...I added a lot more mushrooms as I forgot to get some artichoke hearts...and I could not be bothered with roasting some peppers to go on top......but I can tell you it is scrummy.

I served mine with some dry toast on the side with coriander and parmesan on top...even scrummier!! :)

Thanks for looking

xoxo Sioux

Blogger problems - or not!

Hi folks!

Just thought I would share my experience of Blogger these past few weeks!!

Like many others I had difficulty with the big problem they had about 3 weeks ago when none of us could access our blogs!!!

"une catastrophe magnifique n'est-ce pas?"

Practising for Paris!!! ;)

Well....eventually we can all gain access again but a strange thing happened with me.

My home computer calmed down and is now behaving as per normal...I sign in am kept signed in even when I go off visiting people so it is easy to leave comments just like the old days  LOL

Now the big strange thing is that on the computer at work it has never got back to normal and seems to have slowed down!!

I sign in and whilst I am on my dashboard I can edit my posts etc but as soon as I view my own blog or any other blog I become unsigned in and cannot leave comments....well I could but they would be anonymous and I don't want to do that!

Both computers use Internet Explorer so in a way I am lucky that I can try to work out what may be wrong!! Just think if I only had the one computer at home as many of us do? Nightmare!!!

Anyway I decided to leave well enough alone on the home one and tried every which way of the suggestions on Blogger to no avail with the one at work!!!

At last today I can now sign in and access everything just like the one at home and the miracle that made it happen is switching my browser from IE to Google Chrome!

It does not make sense to me that IE at home is O.K. and the one at work is not, but at least I can access everything both at home and at work now! Phew!!!

Just thought it might help anyone having the same issues :)

xoxo Sioux

My only problem now is getting used to the new look interface for using the net!

Cheerful Sunday Stamper

Hels Sunday Stamper this week wants us to use stash that makes you happy :)
I couldn't be more happy than when I am using my rubber stamps (especially T!m's) and distress inks ;)
So I did! LOL
I was up way too early again this morning so why lie in bed struggling to sleep when you can make tags instead!! LOL I should have been able to sleep for England after all the work I put into the garden yesterday!

I'm also trying to do a bit of a catch up over at Grungy Monday and this idea came from Grungy Monday No 7 hosted by Linda

The challenge week has long since closed but I used T!m's video showing the colour block technique to make the background only I used the postage stamp from the "I see Paris" set instead of the ink blending tool.

Added part of the carte postal from the same set and the Eiffel tower and scrolls were smaller stamps from a clear stamp set of T!ms.

Thanks for looking and happy stamping!

xoxo Sioux

Travelling to Menton for The Artistic Stamper

I'm sharing a card today over on the The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog

Curious? Then just hop on over to The Creative Team Blog for all the details.

Thanks for looking and happy stamping
xoxo Sioux

P.S. I appreciate each and every comment here but time is short in all our lives so please do not feel obliged to comment both here and on the creative team post.
...I'll see your comments and share the feed back all at the same time if you use The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog post ;)
Thanks

A lovely day in Exeter

I took a holiday day off work yesterday to go to Exeter with my friends (they work in schools have to take school holidays) we went by bus then train. It was a glorious day (how come I was freezing to death only last Saturday....nearly turned my central heating on!....and yesterday was scorching?

First port of call had to be for coffee...we sat in a little square that has an very old church still in use on one side...

...and another church (ruins) on the other side.

Had a smooch around the shops...the others bought Paris travel guides ready for our trip later in the summer (I bought mine before Christmas, I'm that excited) and by that time it was time for lunch so we headed for "The Fat Pig".

It's a lovely quirky bistro pub.......

..we shared some wine...

...got the travel guides out and dreamed of Paris...

..ate some great food...

...surrounded by an eclectic mix of stuff...

Old mirrors that had seen better days but look soooooo atmospheric...

...Love the wall sconces...

...A lantern...

...A fabulous wall of flowers...

...And my favourite shot of the day (can you tell I've been practicing with my new camera? LOL)

This artistic collection of herbs growing in old wooden boxes and the best bit?

...obviously the sheep's skull placed on the window sill behind!!!

Hope you liked the pics ;)

Thanks for sharing the day in Exeter.

I'll be back tomorrow with my next Artistic Stamper piece....see you then.

xoxo Sioux

Happy Anniversary WOYWW!

I'm so pleased I can take part in this years WOYWW anniversary PIF! ;)

Soooooooo Happy 2nd Anniversary to Julia and the mighty desk hopping porthole that takes us all to so many desks around the world.

I wonder who will receive my little hangy piece...it's 10cm wide by 16 cm tall and it's just about the first thing I have made in a number of months beside my DT commitments.....yep the dreaded lack of mojo struck big time!! This is a picture of my cupboard workdesk area that I have not even had the will to tidy up for just about the same number of weeks by the looks of it!.
....oh dear I really need to tidy it as it's driving me nuts! LOL

We are asked not to post any pics of the gift until the recipient has it in their possession to keep it a surprise......but I will say...
there is a dancer ;) some dictionary background ;) and some cool other stuff included on mine ;)
If you are the person before me on the list and you are participating in the swap just e-mail me (it's in my blogger profile) and I'll get back to you with my address for you to post your art work to me just as soon as I can as I am at work all day....equally I won't be able to contact the next person on the list to send my art work to till later in the day either!
Don't forget to add an * before your name when you enter your link at WOYWW then make contact with the next person on the list with an * and get their address and post off your Pass it Forward gift.
This is so exciting.....;)...I wonder how far away my little bit of art will be travelling?
Thanks for looking
Sioux xoxo

P.S. Please see my previous post here today for this month's Artistic Stamper challenge piece.

Monochrome Plus One Challenge for The Artistic Stamper

It was nice to see all the "Lovely Ladies and Gorgeous Girls" created for last months challenge, some were vintage, some cute, some arty :)
So..... how do you feel about this one then?

"Monochrome plus one other colour"

Yes it's a colour combo challenge for June over at The Artistic Stamper Creative Team ;)
As soon as I see that particular combo prompt I have to force myself not to add red every time!!
Hey! I could not help myself! LOL

I started by stamping a variety of backgrounds in different colours of Archival.
....I used black, crimson and coffee.....at this point I did not know what direction my piece was going to take!

Anyway........after I decided on the red option ;)
I used the houndstooth background stamped in Archival crimson as the first layer
(I used second stamping 'cos I did not want it too in your face!)
The next layer uses two different papers the dots background simply stamped in black and the baroque background stamped in crimson and then coloured over with Distress Ink aged mahogany.
...so elegant don't you think?
The dancer was stamped in black and I then cut just a portion of the image out using a scalpel knife.
...it works best for this...I find I end up creasing the card as I cut if I use scissors!
All of these layers were matted onto white card that had been coloured with Distress Ink black soot and attached with double sided tape....adding a bit of red ribbon to disguise the join where the two papers meet and a decorative brad.
The rosette....
.....ah! Yes...I have succumbed and bought both the original large rosette and the new die that cuts two smaller ones!...
....is using the smallest rosette from the mini rosette die with the large rosette middle on top stamped in Distress Ink aged mahogany and coloured with the same.

I had a happy accident with the rosette as I had cut it out of some decorative paper but when I put it against the layers it was glaringly miss matched.....I was so miffed I sort of threw the rosette back on the desk and it landed upside down.......wow! I really liked the way the score marks show up on the white and to help it blend in a bit more I added a bit of aged mahogany to the edges :)) It's a small thing but it made me happy!

Oh! By the way I am soooo looking forward to adding some of the new colours of Archival to my stash 'cos I like the effect of stamping in Archival and then colouring over with Distress or Adirondack dye inks ;)
Here are a few combo's I played with...

...Adirondacks pool and sunset orange...Distress walnut stain, faded jeans, wild honey, shabby shutters and brushed corduroy.
I like subtle tone on tone ones the best and I've taken a picture to compare the difference between stamping with Archival and then colouring over and colouring then stamping with Archival.....I hope you can clearly see that the Archival first gives a more blended look and the Archival on top (the larger sample) a more defined look to the pattern.
......which ever way you want it I think it looks fabby :)

...................

 

Make sure to take a look at the "Monochrome plus one other colour" creations the rest of the team have made and here are the DT member links for you.

Alison, Hels, Jennie, Minxy and Tina

So don't forget.............the monthly challenge is "Monochrome plus one other colour"

The rules are simple... all you need to do is make a piece of art, be it a card, ATC, wall art, altered art, scrapling ;)... just remember that it must include some rubber stamping and the theme... and... if you use Artistic Stamper stamps on your entry you will be entered into the draw twice! The prize is £15 worth of stamps from the Artistic Stamper shop... along with the KlingOn to mount them onto.

I hope you get chance to play at the challenge... it is open until June 30th and the winner will be chosen by Random.org shortly after :)

Thanks for looking and happy stamping

xoxo Sioux

Grungy Monday No 9

Here is my piece for Grungy Monday No 9 hosted by Linda at Studio L3.

This week the challenge is to use T!m's 2007 Day 10 Christmas tag technique for that shabby chic look.
It's a big bonus to be on holiday today so I can join in again :)

Mine has turned out much darker than I'd like mainly because I only have 4 colours of dabber....ideally I would have liked to add a touch of pinkness to the background but I had to make do with sitting the word fragments on a bit of pink card instead!!! LOL
To try to give it a bit of a lift I added some gold dabber in places and added the T!m word photograph in white dabber.

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

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

P.S. I always apologise when using this stamp as I know clowns freak so many of you!
What can I say........I love this stamp! HOL

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