FLU FLU & MORE FLU

So many of my family have been hit with the dreaded lurgy this Christmas,
(new years party canceled)
touch wood I  have managed to miss it.

I am making a job lot of tissue boxes to try to cheer them up,
My sister asked me for one like mine,
so it's very similar to one I have made before,

It fits the bill perfectly for the theme over at
simon says stamp and show
the theme is yesteryear,
Head over there to check it out.

As I haven't entered yet I thought, I would kill 2 birds with 1 stone as time is running out,
(I hope that's OK)

I am also going to enter it for the monthly challenge over at
the artistic stamper blog where the theme is Christmas.

I thought it very apt for this time of year,

It reminds me of an advert that was on a few years ago

where it was all sepia except for the little girls red dress.

the template to make the tissue box is by Creative Expressions

& the stamps are build a sceen by Sheena Douglas,

I used distress ink & a water brush

 glitter & glue.

Hope you like it.

hope everyone has a grate new year,

see you back here in 2011

thanks for stopping by,

back soon,

Kat x.



WHEN THE HEART SPEAKS LISTEN

Hi all,
busy,busy,busy,so I won't keep you long,
I just want to show my tag for,

Compendium of Curiosities Challenge 25,
over at studio L3 this weeks technique is
SCRIBBLE STAIN DISTRESS,

I am also entering this tag for challenge #12
over at the stamp man this time it's
ANYTHING GOES TAG,

Click on there links to read all the details.

I must admit the tag you see is not the first attempted

at this technique,

I used walnut stain reinker the first time

& got carryed away with the scribble part of the technique,

do you want to see it? lol

I'm sure you will agree, less is more for this one,

the second attempted was fine.

well they can't all be master pieces the first time,

can they? lol

Here are some close ups & angled shots

to try to get the dimension,

Love that Spider,

couldn't wait any more to use her,

so weather or not she went with what I was doing,

Cynthea (that's what I have chosen to name her)

was going on this tag, lol

Here's what I used,

Wendy Vecchi stamps &

Tim Holtz alterations die heart wings,

& the edge distresser,

scraps of paper, card & metal from the bits & bobs box,

tiny bit of fibers & ribbon,

glossy accents & silicone glue

archival ink pads (sepia & jet black)

& clear embossing powder.

hope you like it.

Well, this will most likely be the last post before the new year,

I have rellies coming every day of the holidays,

then it's straight back to work,

& the same rellies new years eve & new years day,

then it's straight back to work again,

so not much of a rest for me,

but the alcohol will flow

& the chocolates will be on my lap, lol



So have a lovely time whatever you chose to do,

& have a creative & prosperous new year to you all. 

Thanks for stopping by,

Kat x.

PS.I will have a give away, blog candy up in the new year, x

"ODE TO LORD TIM OF HOLTZ"

Hi to you all,
I bet your all wondering were I have been,
well I have no excuse to give other than,
a hectic work load & all the extras that Christmas brings to family life.
I hope you will forgive my absence to my blog.

Today I would like to show you my entry for,
simon says stamp and show blog
the theme this time is
show a Lord Tim of Holtz technique,
click on the link to read all the details of the challenge.

How do you pick? I can't there's so many,
so this is what I came up with,

I decided to make covers for my Tim Holtz stamp sheets

using only Tim's products,

I used, stamps, alterations dies, idea-ologe,

retro paper stack & distress inks,

I also used gray board, a corner rounder & glossy accsents.

for come reason the glossy accents

 hasn't shown up in the photos on the letters at any angle,

but this technique was one I learned from day 9

of his fab 12 days of Christmas tags

check it all out HERE there are so many cool ideas.

I think the rosette, piece on earth tag

has to be my all time favorite tag of Tim's

what do you think?

stunning ha!

I am disappointed with the picture quality,

the photos come out to orange when I use my flash,

but as I leave for work in the dark

& come home in the dark

theres not much I can do about it.

that's about it from me today

hopefully I won't leave it so long next time,

my creative mojo seems to

take a hammering at this time of year.

I'm off to link this up as I am almost to late to enter,

thanks for stopping by,

back soon,

Kat x.

MONOCHROME TAG (love it)

Hi to all,
The compendium of curiosities challenge 24 is out
the technique this time is
ROCK CANDY DISTRESS STICKLES,
head over to studio L3 to read all the details.

This also fits for the Ginger Creations,
spicy supply challenge GC82 GLITTER,
head over HERE to read all the details.

Here's my tag for these challenges

Boy it's hard to get the stickles to show up on camera

(lots of shots later this is as good as it gets I'm afraid)

I used lots of Tim things on this tag,

paper stash (vintage shabby)

distress inks (pumice stone, stormy sky & frayed burlap)

alterations die, movers & shapers (tag & bookplates)

stamps, visual artistry collection (french market)

The flower stamp is by, crafty notions, karantha stamps (floral)

& Archival ink (coffee)

To get the flowers to puff up like this,

all you do is rub your ball tool in a circular motion

on the back of the flowers, resting on a soft mat.

The leaves are from some old silk flowers

I have horded for yonks.

The sparkly magpie bits are from a bracelet

my husband bought me a few years ago,

every time I wore it, it broke,

(the links were to small to take the weight)

I payed to have it fixed a couple of times,

then chucked it in a draw & forgot about it,

on a resent sort out I found it & thought

I may as well use it instead of it being in a drew.

I sewed it to the tag because I couldn't glue it.

& if you look closely it is the perfect size

(made to measure, & meant  to be lol)

I love the monochrome feel to this tag,

I don't think I will be parting with this one,

it's my favorite (for now anyway) lol

well that's me for today,

I'm busy doing Xmas prep (as most of us probably are)

off to link this up,

thanks for stopping by,

back soon,

Kat x.

AUTUMN LEAVES........

....Late for this year, or am I extremely early for next year?
I'm not sure,
just woke up in an autumn mood lol.

OK, to the post at hand,
how appropriate for me is the challenge over at
Simon says stamp and show blog
this week the theme is A TAG
(click the link to read all the details)


Lucky for me because that's all I seam to be making lately
& I'm loving it, (don't know how long this TAG craze will last,
 but there is  no sign of it letting up in the near future) lol

The stamps I used today are,

Tim Holtz,( birds, sentiment & script)

Wendy Vecchi, (splatter background) 

& Paper Artsy (twiggy tree)

Tim Holtz alterations die (branch tree)

& it has been put through one of Tim's fab texture fade folders

& covered in crackle paint (rock candy)

The birds in the tree I drew free hand,

(I have saved a template in case I need a bird again)

but I struggled with drawing the wings,

couldn't seam to get the right shape,

so I chucked it to one side &

moved on to looking through my punches for

the leaves for the tree,

& look what I found, the blue punch is a

perfect wing shape me thinks lol

The distress ink I used are,

brushed corduroy, forest moss,

peeled paint, mustard seed, wild honey,

spiced marmalade & rusty hinge,

(all graduated in the back ground

to give the illusion of the autumn sun)

Archival inks I used are,

jet black & coffee.

I am also using this tag as a catch up for the

compendium of curiosities challenge

(as I am still behind lol)

over at studiol3.blogspot.com

this one is for the distress crackle

that was way back in week 9

as I put a layer of rock candy paint on the tree.

I relay enjoyed making this one,

hope you like it.

I see I have picked up 2 new followers

that makes 50 (yippee)

I always get so excited when I get new followers,

so a big thank you to each and every one of you,

as I have now hit the half century

(no, not in age, not quite, but in followers) lol.

I would also like to let you know,

I am fighting fit & back to normal from my Operation

(won't be wearing a bikini any time soon though )lol

Sorry for not posting any tip or technique Tuesdays in a while,

I think I am going to wrap it up,

& post hints & tips as I go on posts relating to them,

instead of waiting for a Tuesday,

I hope that you are all OK with this.

Well that's about it from me for today,

thanks for stopping by,

have a crafty day,

Kat x.

PINK & PURPLE TRIO (wallhanging)

The challenge this week over at
Simon says stamp and show blog is
SHOW YOUR DISTRESS INKS,
 click the link to fly over there & read all the details.

Here's my entry

I thought I would take this opportunity to kill two birds with one stone,

my Niece asked me to make her new step daughter

something for her newly decorated bedroom door,

that had to be pink & purple (her favorite colours)

& include flowers & fairies.

The wall hanging was so long to photograph

I have some close ups.

The colours of Distress Inks I used are,

Brushed Corduroy, Peeled Paint, Spun Sugar,

Worn Lipstick & Dusty Concord.

The base is half a Papermania bare chipboard album

covered with patterned paper (edges sanded & coloured with DI)

the Stamps are all Wendy Vecchi's,

The frames are 3 different shapes of nesties,

I used Tim's Tattered floral die,

silver eyelets (set with the crop a dile)

Necklace parts,beads & ribbon from my stash,

The faeries are cut from a card I have recycled.

This project was completely out of my comfort zone,

it's to pretty (lol)

I am a vintage grunge girl all the way,

but it felt good to challenge myself,

I think it turned out perfectly for a young girl,

It's hanging on my living room door waiting to be collected,

(another nail hole my Hubby will have to fill) lol

Hope you like it

 (the pictures don't do it justice).

I have posted a smiler wall hanging before,

(my niece saw that one & said that's what I want,

but can it be different colours etc)

I was only to happy to oblige,

It gives me a real buzz when someone

wants something I have made lol.



I'm off to link this post up to SSS&S blog

Thanks for stopping by,

Back soon,

Kat x.

SEW YOUR DOUBLE DISTRESS

That's the order of the day over at studio L3

It's week 23 of the
COMPENDIUM of CURIOSITIES challenge
& the theme this week is DOUBLE DISTRESS,
Click HERE to read all the details.

I'm also entering this for the GC80
the theme is VINTAGE HUES
& it also fits for GC78 witch is SEWING NOTIONS,
so I am also entering this tag for that challenge,
Click HERE to read all the details for both challenges,
(this is the first time I have enterd a gingersnaps creations challenge)

Here is my tag for this weeks entry,

I had to think on this one,

 how was I going to put this technique on a tag?

instead of a full grunge paper tag I opted for this frame thingy

I am pleased with the way it turned out.

I chose to use a stamp set from Creative Expressions

designed by Sam Poole for all the images,

I used nestabilities dies for the frame,

All the images were stamped with Archival ink

(Coffee & Sepia)

Distress Inks used are

Aged Mahogany, Brushed Corduroy & Walnut Stain.

I raided my Button stash & sewed them

(yes by hand lol) with a metallic thread,

The ribbon, gems, safety pins & bits

came from my ever growing stash.

Hope you like it.

I'm off to link this up,

thanks for stopping by,

Back soon,

Kat x.

BUTTERFLIES for sunday stampers challenge

Hi all,
Yes I know it's another tag
(I'm a bit tag crazy at the moment)I can't help it,
mabe it's an illness (I don't want a cure for) lol.

It seems so long since I have entered
THE SUNDAY STAMPERS challenge
over at INK ON MY FINGERS BLOG,

So here's my entry,
for the theme of BUTTERFLIES.

I used Tim's alterations die (fanciful flight),

& hand made paper for my butterfly,

I think he looks Oriental,

For the tag I used a Martha Stewart punch

& fire opal mica spray,

The mask is a decorative adhesive scrapbook strip

that I adapted for this tag.

The hanging bits are part of a necklace a friend gave to me,

 (she thought I was more likely to use it in my crafting

than she was ever likely to wear it) lol.

The sentiment is one of Tim Holtz,

the ribbons & fibers are from my ever growing stash.

I am also going to use this tag as my

MASKS BASICS

for the Compendium of Curiosities Challenge

(as I am still playing catch up) lol.

Hel's asked what a group of butterflies is

well a school teacher told me (yes it was a long time ago)

that it's called a RABLE I have never forgotten it,

because I thought how strange to label something so pretty

with such a rubbish name, LOL

I'm off to link this up at Hel's blog,

thanks for stopping by,

back soon Kat x.

ALCOHOL INK SPLATTER ***CCC22***

Hello to all you lovely people,
on this, not so sunny morning.

It's week 22 of the
COMPENDIUM of CURIOSITIES CHALLENGE,
over at studio L3 blog go check it out.

The technique this week is,
ALCOHOL INK SPLATTER,

Here is my tag,

It's a pretty cool technique to do,

but I will say it's hard to stop,

(less is more),

when that voice in your head says stop, STOP!!!!!,

(I find this hard to do at the best of times,

sometimes my art work is like making pizza,

if its in the fridge, it must go on LOL,)

Here's what the background looked like before

the pizza attack lol,

cool ha!.

here's a bit of an angled close up,

(I have finely found the perfect place in my home

to take the best photos, look how clear they are

(flash off) & natural back light through a blind,

(who new?) lol.

(I wonder if I could balance the kids on the window ledge,

'huummm' that's a thought )lol

The stamps are Wendy Vecchi's,

The ticket & bookplate are are of course Tim Holtz

& the fab little bird is a broach

that I got from a car boot for 50p (bargain hay!)

I thought I would show you my latest purchase,

 it's the bigz die (movers & sharpers alterations)

Tag & bookplate,

I am thrilled with it already,

It came in the mail yesterday,

 I used it to cut the tag for today's project,

the tag is exactly the size I use,(perfect) & I love the little hole reinforce rs

I would recommend it,

can't wait to use the bookplates.

I also brought Tim's Bitty grunge stamp set

can't wait to get started on them.

I'm off to link this post up,

then it's off to my craft room I go.

(I'm making the most of it before I have to go back to work on Monday)

Thanks for stopping by

Back soon,

Kat x.

***TAGS MAKE ME HAPPY***

The challenge over at simon says stamp and show blog this week is,
WHATEVER MAKES YOU HAPPY!
click the link to read the all the details.


Well guys,
this is what made me happy yesterday,(lol)

All afternoon in my craft room, undisturbed (Haven)

catching up on my Compendium of Curiosities tags,

(if you are unfamiliar with this challenge click here to find out about it)

Yesterday was one of those days that doesn't happen often,

you know the ones,

when the ideas flow one after the other

& you can't keep up with your own head (lol)

every thing I done fell into place & worked first time,

(I must say, I'm lucky if I have maybe 3 of those days a year)

Here's some individual shots of tag number one,

It wasn't my idea to put the eye with the rosette

(but for the life of me I can't remember where I saw it,

sorry I can't acknowledge you, whom ever you are, it was such an ace idea)

The technique on this tag is,

wrinkle free distress.

The distress inks used are,

crushed olive, chipped sapphire, brushed corduroy,

All but one of the stamps used are Wendy Vecchi's

& the circles stamp is a Paper Artsy one.

The sparkly wire thingy is part of a napkin ring

(I picked up a job lot in a charity shop)

Onto tag number two,

I really got a buzz out of making this tag,

I'm so pleased with the way it turned out,

The technique on this tag is,

Inked Grunge.

The distress ink's used are,

antique linen, bundled sage, Forrest moss, peeled paint,

stormy sky, rusty hinge, spiced marmalade, wild honey,

The stamps are all Wendy Vecchi's,

the flowers & butterfly centers are dangle earrings

that I dismantled,

I used a piece of ball chain & a small charm for the bottle label,

I love the way it all turned out, (so dimensional)

Last but not least tag number three.

The technique on this tag is,

Grunge paper flowers.

distress inks used are,

crushed olive, chipped sapphire, brushed corduroy,

vintage photo

the background on this tag (was free)

I used the ink that was left on the craft sheet after I done tag number one

the stamps are all Wendy Vecchi's,

I used tattered floral die & a Maya road chipboard frame

I used 4 pearl pins &

the flower center is a beaded flower embellishment used for fresh flowers on wire.

Hope you like them,

Thats me for now,

I'm off to link up to SSS&S blog,

Thanks for stopping by,

Kat x.

UP DATE: I was picked for top 3 for these tags over at

simon says stamp and show.blogspot.com

how cool is that!