Distressed Ballerina

I was teaching last weekend at An Siopa Bui, in Spiddal. Four projects, one day, great fun! We started with a treasure cheat which we covered with paper and embellished. We then made a quick centre-stepper card. A break for a lovely lunch and then straight into a scrapbook layout. I had made the little hanging (above), as a kind of filler project. Just in case we had some time left. The ladies were very eager to make it, so we did a variation. The background is stunning wrapping paper which was the inspiration for the piece. I used Lord Tim's dress form die which was covered in lovely embossed scrapbook card called two scoops. The whole thing was sanded back to show the lovely flowers and the edges inked with both worn lipstick and dried marigold distress ink. The tutu was made using little circular doilies. They were folded and inked in the same colours, then ruched(?) and stuck to the dressform using strong d/s tape. A piece of pink organza was tied around the waist and a small spiral flower added. Some larger flowers were added to the top corner and the edges of the hanging were inked, et voilá!

This is the layout which we did during the day, quite simple but with lots of embellishment.

Kitchen Wall

Once upon a time this range cooker stood on one wall in my kitchen. Almost 2 years ago we took it out and were left with this.......

Yes a large concrete un-plastered section on the wall. Normal people would have had a plasterer come in, level out the wall and paint it to match the rest. In our house it is seen as a project which needs to be mulled over and discussed for nearly two years. Until yesterday when I used lots of lovely scrapbook papers to make a beautiful collage which covers the whole wall.

To the top of the collage I added some botanical prints which came in a writing set from Martha Stewart. I had planned to use the colours shown as a base and to put my all time favourite papers on top, but for once decided that less is more! My good friend Mandy helped me out for the day and made the process a real pleasure. Thanks Hunny!

Grungy Monday 10 - A guest designer!!!

I am so, so, so, excited to be guest designer for this weeks Grungy Monday challenge. This wonderful challenge is hosted by the fabulously talented Linda Ledbetter of Studio L3, in honour of our great and glorious inspirational leader Tim Holtz. The way this works is that we are given a link or product to inspire us and we get to create wonderful projects using that inspiration. I have been chosen to be a guest designer this week, knees quaking with trepidation, along with fellow crafter Marjie Kemper. So the technique/ project for this week is to use Distress Ink/ re-inkers in your project.


Now anyone who knows me and my work will know that I love distress ink. I am the most disorganised person on the planet but my distress inks are all labelled and arranged by colour. I also have individual sponges for each colour too! That is absolutely as far as my organisational skills stretch though, life is too short to do housework is my motto. 


Anyway enough excited waffle. I was at a loss where to start with this challenge, as I use distress inks for everything, and I do mean everything. I stamp with them, stain with them and even watercolour with them, so you can see how it might be a problem corralling the brain to a single project!


I decided to use some paper from the crowded attic paper stash from Lord Tim of Holtz. The piece I chose was the one with the nursery rhyme pictures on. I love that paper and wasn't sure how to use it to best effect, so I decided on a wall hanging. I stuck the paper to some heavy card and inked the edges with peeled paint and spiced marmalade ink. 
The old fashioned playing cards are from my stash and were lightly coloured with vintage photo distress ink. 
The bingo card in front was made using the bingo texture fade which was coloured with walnut distress stain then sprayed with perfect pearls mist (heirloom gold) and edged with spiced marmalade. The second bingo card is from 7 gypsies and the 'Lucky' bingo card was from Jenny Bowlin. I inked this with mustard seed, spiced marmalade, barn door and peeled paint. It was quite bright so I swiped Snow Cap paint over the top and wiped back with a baby wipe. The 'be' is grunge letters on grunge blocks painted. The hanging ribbon is seam binding swiped with spiced marmalade and vintage photo and sprayed with perfect pearl mist. A bingo tile and 'play' word tag was added to finish it off.

The wonderful thing about distress inks is that they are so versatile. I think my favourite is Vintage photo, although each of them has a special place in my heart. Any piece of cardstock can be altered using the inks, they blend beautifully and can even be made into ink sprays using a re-inker and water in a mini-mister. 


So go ahead and take up the Grungy Monday challenge, I promise you will be delighted you did.  


What's the best discussion group on the entire Yahoo Groups roster? Why, it's All Things Tim, moderated by the fabulous Miss Gloria, and populated by the coolest group of Tim fans on the planet. If you're not a member there, you're missing out on some awesome friendships, not to mention all kinds of insider tips and great ideas for making your Tim-themed art even better! Gloria has created a photo album especially for Grungy Monday, and you're welcome to upload your art there and learn from the work of other members. It's free, it's fun... get on over there!