Time Flies

And it certainly does! I've had the base of this tag sitting on my desk since Tuesday (it made an appearance on my desk this last Wednesday!) and I just wasn't sure what to do with it.

It's an ordinary manilla tag, run through my lovely 'Bug with a beautiful embossing folder that came with it. I inked over it with Tea Dye DI to bring out the embossing even more and then edged it with Walnut Stain.

Then on Friday the back issues of Craft Stamper magazine that I had ordered arrived and with the February issue was this rather fetching little pocket watch and 'Tempus Fugit' script. So I tore a piece of card and inked with my fave combo of DI's; Antique Linen, Tea Dye and Walnut Stain. I flicked a bit of water at it and once dry the script was stamped in black StazOn and the watch in WS. And then that was it again for a couple of days.


Anywho, over the weekend I finally finished it! I wrapped the panel with a bit of twine and layered on foampads. The watch was stamped again, this time in black, onto white card and inked (AL and TD). the little inner dial and the hands were glazed with a Sakura glaze pen.


I cut some wings out, using a template, from a grey-ish board for a different colour and inked and stamped with TD and WS.


The letters were torn ransom stylee from the freebie newspaper we get here and aged with those same inks.


As this weeks theme over with the lovely Hels at the Sunday Stamper is brown I thought this was a very apt project.


And also, there is not a flower in sight so I will also enter this into the Creative Card Crew's 'no flowers' challenge.


Charli x

Never-ending Nature

Phew, I am just in time to enter the Sunday Stamper's challenge, which this week has been 'nature'.

Also the Take a Word prompt was 'birdlife'. So with those two ideas in mind this project was born:

Last year for Mother's Day I made my Mum and MIL never-ending-cards and my Grandad was thoroughly fascinated by Mum's; kept playing with it and thought it was really complicated (of course I didn't let on how simple they actually were lol!!). So I decided that for his birthday this year I would make him his own to play with.

I chose to use my gorgeous bird stamps (from 7 Gypsies) -I've had them for a good while now and I still reach for them all the time! And chose to go with neutral colours for a masculine look and a natural feel.

The base and panels were made from white card, inked up with DI's (Antique Linen, Tea Dye and Walnut Stain). All stamping was done with black StazOn and the two darker DI's. The panels were layered onto black card and it was all stuck together using a combo of DST and gluestick. It took quite a while to do - 14 rectangular panels and 24 squares, plus the layers argh!!

Well I think all that work was worth it as I love the outcome. Just need to sort out some wording for it now, but as his birthday isn't until June I've got plenty of time to find something appropriate!!


This is also being entered into Simon Says Stamp Challenge, which this time around is Anything Goes!


Thanks for looking, I now have to try to remove the Walnut Stain Distress Ink from my fingers....


Take care and happy crafting,
Charli x

By Royal Appointment

Once again I was in the mood for getting my hands all covered in ink this morning; I suppose I need to make the most of it while its half term and I don't have work to go to!

I managed another three-for-one, well I suppose technically its a three-for-three lol; I haven't made an ATC for so long that I just couldn't stop at one!!

So this little set of three Royal ATCs are entered into:

Simon Says Stamp and Show 'stripes'

Sunday Stampers 'numbers'

and The Crafty Pad 'red, pink and black'

 The ATC bases and the inchies on the first one were cut from an old cereal box. All were created with plenty of stamping, masking and inking (coloured with Victorian Velvet, Worn Lipstick and Barn Door Distress Inks). A couple of bits cut from some old playing cards, crowns stamped and cut from white card and some'coins' punched from silver mirri coloured with black ink.
You can't see it but the crowns on the inchies and the ones from white cardstock are highlighted with a Sakura glaze pen.

Incidently, all 3 ATCs are available if anyone wishes to do a trade, either the whole set or individually. Just leave me a comment here and/or click the link at the top of my blog to email me.

Charli x

PS. The stamped stripes were done with another background stamp I made myself with some strips of craft foam and a lid from a small cigar tin. Here is a little pic of it and the harlequin design I made a while back and used on my tag here.

Lucky, Lucky Me!!

I came home from work yesterday to be greeted with one of those little cards from the postie. So after dropping little one off at school this morning I went to the Post Office to pick up my parcel - which I'd already figured was my extra special candy from Hels over at the Sunday Stampers.

So I got home as fast as my little legs could carry me and opened the box and.....

WOW!!

Check this lot out. So many yummy little things to play with - including the smallest, cutest little canvas I've ever laid eyes on!! And a really gorgeous key stamp that I somehow managed to omit from the pic - but I plan on trying it out a few times once I'm done here!!

And now I have to find somewhere to put that beautiful shadowbox - somewhere I can see it from my desk to inspire me.

So a very big, heartfelt thank you to the wonderful Hels!

And if you haven't stumbled across her yet, check out her fabby blog HERE, filled with lovely projects, lots of tips and inspiration and home of the Sunday Stampers blog challenge.

Take care all, and happy crafting,

Charli xx

PS. Hels, I'm keeping that lovely pizzabox that you sent it all in too! lovely and sturdy storage there! Thank you xx

First Altered Beermat

I have sat here since the end of the Easter holidays with a nice pile of circular beermats in front of me, waiting (and waiting, and waiting) to be altered.

Finally I got around to having a little play with one. I was relieved that the top layer of paper (the bit with the advertising on) peeled away neatly, leaving me with a blank canvas.

I have been drooling over all of Hels' beermats over at Ink on My Fingers, so it seemed only fitting that I would enter my first attempt into the Sunday Stamper's big special challenge to celebrate 100 weeks. The theme was FREE, under the song title of Free as a Bird (so I added a little bird to mine). Take a look as there is some SERIOUS candy to be won!!


This was nice and simple to do. I covered the base with Antique Linen DI, a bit of torn book page coloured with Worn Lipstick DI, a distressed paper flower and stamped elements all coloured with the same DIs plus a hint of Tea Dye DI too.


I loved making the masks for the various colours on the Cute Companion and completely love the tickets; they are one of Tim Holtz's stamps and come all joined together in a block but I very patiently cut them all down and went to work with the DIs!


The finishing touch was a gold eyelet and a strip of old-looking lacy stuff (from a bag of lace from the charity shop) which has allowed me to hang it on my notice board.

Will need to do more beermats now! (well I do have 29 left in my pile!!)


Take care and happy crafting

Charli xx