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!

XMAS SCRAPS ***TAG***

A lovely hello to you all,

I feel so much better today,
(I am almost back to my normal self)

I got up this morning & dashed into my craft room
& only came out for lunch (tee  he hee)

I have made a tag for the the stamp man challenge
this time the theme is CHRISTMAS, click on the link to read all the details.

I cut a tag from red card as my base,

I then cut a smaller one from scrap paper

 & layered scraps of patterned papers onto it,

then edged it with brushed corduroy DI, to age it up a bit,

then stuck them together as shown.

I made the fragment charms as Tim shows us in his book,

(this is a catch up tag for the compendium of curiosities challenges,

that I told you about a few posts ago,

this one is for week 17 [fragment charms]

another one down, still a few to go but I'm getting there)

the tree is a paper artsy hot pick stamp,

that I stamped in versa mark,

then heat embossed with glittery embossing powder,

I then cut it out,

I went all over it with brushed corduroy DI, to age it again,

I did the same with the sentiment sticker

& added a couple of brads.

next I want to show you the tag hole,

when you make a tag yourself you don't get the nice bit round the hole,

so I make my own with 2 circle punches & stick it over the top,

I think it looks just like the real thing & finishes it off nicely.

all that's left to say is, a gem glued to the star for a bit of bling

& red satin ribbon through the hole,

& it's job done.

hope you like it.

I would love to read your comments,

please speak to me,

I won't bit honest

(well not very hard anyway lol)

May I take this opportunity to say thank you

to all you lovely people that have wished me better, &

the lovely comments you have all left me,

I appreciate every single comment I get from you. 

so thank you once again.

well I'm off to link this up over at the stamp man blog,

thanks for stopping by,

back soon

Kat x.

MY FAVOURITE TIM STAMP & PERFECT DISTRESS

Over at the simon says stamp and show blog
this weeks theme is,
SHOW YOUR FAVOURITE TIM HOLTZ STAMP.

& over at studio L3 blog
the compendium of curiosities challenge 21 is,
PERFECT DISTRESS.

Click there links to hop over to them to read all the details.

As I am still a bit worse for wear, & sore from my surgery
(bruising is all coming out now)
hopefully the pain is over (gallbladder removed)
I have had results from stomach biopsy's, there is no nasty bacteria lurking so,
 good news all round & I'm on the mend.

So I have decided to combined the 2 challenges
as I can't sit crafting for long (I miss it so much)

Here's my entry.

how can you pick just one stamp of Tim's to be your favourite?

I have had to use top 3, my favs for this week,

(coz it dose seem to change every time I get new ones lol)

UMBRELLA MAN from life's possibilities clear stamps

SAYING from purely random set

& FLOURISH from shabby french set

distress ink I used are,

tattered rose, old paper, tea dye, fired brick.

I used coffee archival to stamp the saying

then coloured it in with pens.

umbrella man is stamped with coffee archival,

& heat embossed with clear powder on a separate piece of paper,

cut out & then stuck on with foam pads.

the flourish is stamped with fired brick

with heirloom gold perfect pearls over the top.

Idea-ology bits I used are,

a swivel clasp, a muse token & a pair of corners.

the ribbon & butterfly (part of an old bracelet)

are from my ever growing stash.

sorry about the blur on the photos,

(I'm still a bit shaky from the anaesthetic)

after 20 deleted shots & various  locations

I was defeated & gave up lol.

Thats it from me today,

off for a lye down after linking this post up,

thanks for stopping by,

Kat x.

***DRAW NUMBER TWO***

OK guys, here's the draw,

TICKET LOT NUMBER 1,

everyone that left a comment on the post for draw two (18comments),

TICKET LOT NUMBER 2,

is for every follower I have so far (48 followers)

TICKET LOT NUMBER 3,

is for everyone that was in draw one (I kept the tickets safe)

& the people that commented after the draw was over,

OK that's all the tickets wrote out, folded,

checked & double checked,

Into one big bowl they go,

Give them a good mix up,

Pull the winning ticket,

& DRUM ROLL PLEASE........

THE WINNER IS......

WITH OUT FURTHER A DO.......

THE PRIZE GOES TO A LADY CALLED,

***JACKIE***

Congratulations & well done to you,

You are the winner of draw number TWO.

If you could email me your details

(my email address is on the side bar)

I will get your prize in the post to you.

(you have two months to clam the prize)

well done once again to you Jackie,

thanks to everyone that took part,

 thanks for stopping by,

back soon Kat x.

DRAW NUMBER 2 IS NOW CLOSED

NO MORE ENTRIES PLEASE FOR THE DRAW,
IN ANY OF THE 3 LOTS,
I SHALL BE BACK TO ANNOUNCE THE WINNER LATER TODAY,
(I'm very soar after my surgery,
today is worse than yesterday for some reason,
so I am grateful for the distraction,
I have a lull in between visitors at the moment,
I may be lucky enough to post the results before anyone else turns up,LOL)

Back soon
Kat x.

I'M GOING TO BE AWOL FOR A COUPLE OF WEEKS

I am having to go into hospital on Saturday
for an unexpected operation.
I only found out on Monday
I had the pre admission assessment on Tuesday
so now I'm just waiting to go in.

I have been told it will be a 4-6 week recovery,
so I am not sure when I will be able to craft or right my blog,

I know I am due to announce the second give away next Tuesday,
if I am out of hospital I will do that.
(even if I have to get my Son to write all the tickets & type it all out for me)

I hope you all understand & please forgive me if it's a day or so late.

I will be back as soon as I possibly can
thanks for listening
Kat

INDUSTRIAL GRUNGE CCC 20

 It's Week 20 of the Compendium of Curiosities Challenge
& the technique this time is, INDUSTRIAL GRUNGE
Head over to studio L3 to read all the details.

Here's my tag,

I used Tim's gadget gears die, Idea-ologe cogs

& 3 buttons from my stash,

I inked the tag with distress ink (bundled sage & weathered wood)

then stamped artistic stamper background stamps (cogs & chicken wire)

then sprayed fire opal shimmer mist over the top,

added a couple of embellishments

& job done.

Hope you like it.

I'm off to link this up,
thanks for stopping by,
Kat x.