Apples, but no Pears.....

Oh my...teamie Wendy certainly had me thinking about her theme in the current challenge over at Tag Tuesday
I must have at the very least over a thousand stamps, but not one for Wendy's Apple & Pears theme...so the best I could do was find some images from an old book I picked up in a charity shop a  year or so ago, but sadly no images of pears.

I used a page of blackberry images for the background on my tag then swiped it over with some gesso, then lightly wiped that back with a baby wipe.
When it was dry I distressed the edge of the tag in green ink, then added the images of the apples and leaves.
I used some chalks to bring up a bit more colour on the apples and leaves, then with the white pearly chalk I brushed over the complete tag, sadly the photo really doesn't show the light shimmer.
Fingers crossed Wendy doesn't mind the missing pears...
Please do go and check out the challenge, you can find us here at
TAG TUESDAY.

My Purple Tag

I am gradually easing myself back in to my crafting again....and do you know, it really does take up a fair bit of time when you have been away from it for a while, trying to remember where different things are,lol.
Over at Tag Tuesday their current challenge is to use Purple..I do so enjoy making tags, so it's nice to be back in to the swing of things again.
Please do pop over for a look, teamie Michele chose the theme this time around...
Below is my Tag for the challenge...hope you like it.

You can find the challenge here at..... Tag Tuesday

More Mixed Media..with a colour option.

Hello Everyone...I am back crafting again. It's been a while, although I recovered relatively well after my knee replacement, my back let me down for a few weeks, so sitting,standing and even lying down hurt...and to be fair I had no interest in anything.
Finally I am feeling better and more settled and able to get back to my crafting.

So here we are, Septembers Challenge over at More Mixed Media...literally anything goes, but there is an option of a colour and this month the colour is Brown.
There is also a prize to be won, a wonderful selection of papers designed by our boss lady Lozzy...they really are lovely designs too.

All my Artist Trading Coins are quite thick as they are in MDF...with hindsight I think I should have made them from thick card as the MDF tends to leave the pockets slightly open when the album is open...I'll remember that for the next time,lol.

The Atc coins were coloured with distress inks, stamped and when completely dry I sprayed with a gloss spray which bought the colours up beautifully.

I added cellophane to the windows of each pocket, so a bit of a nuisance when taking the photos.

I created the 6 page Artist Trading Coin Album from a video by Teresa Collins on youtube.

So there you are, I hope you like my album...and I hope to see you over at our challenge this month over at....
                            More Mixed Media

Wings is the theme.

Whoop, whoop...it's my turn to bring you all this fortnight's challenge theme over at Tag Tuesday, and the theme is "Wings"
I love this theme because there is so much scope to be creative, from winged insects, fairies, angels, even prehistoric winged creatures.
Below are my two Tags...I hope they will be enough to inspire you to join in with the challenge.

For this tag I stamped the background over distress ink. The image was stamped several times, coloured, cut and then layered up over a lace butterfly.

For this tag I stamped the image on to the tag, then again several times on spare card. Also coloured and cut and layered up. I finished the tag by using distress ink around the edges.

So get your thinking caps on and go and create something gorgeous so I can visit and leave some love on your blogs.

You can find the challenge here at
TAG TUESDAY

Time for Tea

Here's my Tag for the challenge over at Tag Tuesday The theme is "Beverages" and it was Valerie's choice...a good one too, as it gave me a good excuse to use my tea cup and saucer stamp that I had free with a magazine many years ago.
Valerie's theme covers a wide selection of beverages, including alcoholic ones.
I covered my tag with some pretty vintage style backing papers.
I stamped the images on some scraps of backing paper an managed to get the design almost perfect on each cup.
The clock was also stamped on a scrap of backing paper and the sentiment was made using my alphabet stamps

 There is still time to enter the challenge..would love to see you there...
You can find us here at Tag Tuesday

Pretty Heart Plaque

June already, where does the time go.lol.
Over at More Mixed Media they have just launched this months challenge...always Mixed Media with an option of using a colour...and this month the colour is Purple.
For my deign team projects, I use a medium sized heart plaque.
First I covered it in white card, once the glue was dry I trimmed the edges. I then used distress inks to colour the background before adding the stamped images.
I found a Vellum Butterfly in my stash that matched perfectly, so I added the wire antennae before attaching the butterfly to the plaque.

I managed to find a little selection of matching flowers and made a corsage adding coiled green wire.

I attached that to the plaque using hot glue.

To finish I added the lilac string bow and flicked some lightly diluted white acrylic paint over the whole plaque.

Do pop over and check out the challenge, you can find it here at 

More Mixed Media

Mary.Mary

Every time I have used this gorgeous stamp, its brings the Mary,Mary,quite contrary nursery rhyme to mind and I end up singing it, it kind just stays in my head all day,lol
The Gardening theme over at Tag Tuesday was chosen by teamie Joan, a perfect excuse to bring out this delightful stamp again...

It would be great if you could pop over and join in with our challenge...you can find us here at
Tag Tuesday

Atcs & Display Frame

My 2nd design team project this year for Fernli Design is a set of 12 Artist Trading Cards with their display frame..all made from MDF.
Fernli Designs are in the process of changing their products at the moment, so this item is no longer available....but as it was part of my designer package I feel I should honour my commitment and use the products as promised.
So here it is....

Here I have lightly gessoed the atcs, just a quick wipe over, making sure not to go over the edges...then I covered each one in different backing papers from my stash.

I sorted through some of the Tim Holtz "Relatives" images that will be added to the Atcs.

Here I have used gilding wax in copper and gunmetal directly to the frame, then buffing up with a paper towel.

I stamped each of the Atcs to give them some background before adding the "Relative" images.

Here I have assembled the frame, each atc has been glued in place securely with Pinflair Book Glue, PVA would have been suitable, but I prefer the  book glue.

I have now added the "Relatives" images..I love these, so vintage, lol.

At this stage I set the frame aside as I just couldn't get any ideas of what else I could do to make it look so much more..I needed something to make it "pop"

Finally after a couple of weeks, I came up with the idea of the hearts and tulips, also Fernli Design products.

I used Sharpie pens to colour them, especially the tulips, as paint would clog the detail on the leaves and petals.

I also used Fernli Design scroll work shapes to add to the top of the frame, for this I used the same gilding wax as I did on the frame.

Finally it is complete...and I am delighted with it to be honest. I love the splash of red of the tulips and hearts...it was worth leaving it aside for a while until I decided how to finish it......

and it looks rather nice on my sideboard....

Thank you to all of you that drop by my blog...x

You can find Fernli Designs... HERE