Vintage Christmas Tag

December seems to have arrived pretty quickly and I have been busy making a selection of tags for a few family gifts....so I thought I would make one as my design team project over at
More Mixed Media for the December Challenge.
The theme is always Anything Goes...each month there is an option and the option for December is "White"

I kept the background of my tag white and stamped the Artistic Outpost trees in black archival ink.

When the ink was dry I highlighted most of the branches in a green whisper pen, using the fine nib.

The children were stamped on to some spare card, as well as the December date.

I coloured the children and the little tree using whisper pens...once dry I added some glitter on the scarves and coat edges and the outer edge of the date label. ( that was stamped in peeled paint distress ink...which was also used to distress the edges of the tag )

Close up to show the sparkle....

Do pop over to More Mixed Media and enter our challenge..there is a prize on offer for the winner, so well worth a look..hope to see you there soon.

Let it Snow....

Rhedd's Creative Spirit has it's last monthly challenge for 2018...and it will run from the 1st December to 31st January..giving the design team a well earned break.
For the December challenge I created a Let It Snow canvas, although it didn't actually start off as a christmas themed project.
I started with strips of torn book pages and backing papers that I glued down, then scraped over with texture paste, once dry I went over it with white acrylic paint, wiping back over some script with a baby wipe..I repeated this a few times and noticed that a sort of snowy landscape had been created and I thought it would look good with a row of houses on it...

I die cut a few houses and added them to the canvas...then added the sisal fibres, twigs and mini cones that I had daubed with white paint. 

I had some frosty snow texture paste that was really past it's sell by date, but there was enough left to dab a brush in and swipe it over the canvas and twigs to give it a little more texture and some sparkle.Once that was dry I flicked some diluted white paint over the canvas to give it a snowy look.

Finally I added the image of the little girl throwing a snowball...

I darkened the last photo to show the sparkle in the sky....

Hope you manage to find time to pop over and join in with our challenge...it ends the 31st January, so plenty of time
You can find us here at Rhedd's Creative Spirit

Tic Tac Toe

Tic,tac,toe is the theme over at Tag Tuesday and was chosen by teamie Joan.

I chose the center line...stamping, brads and die cut to create my tag.

The background of my tag was coloured using oxide inks..once dry I used a selection of stamps to decorate. I added 2 brads and the two little girls die cut from Tim Holtz relatives.

I also stamped "dream" on some spare card and added to my tag.

Do pop over and check out the challenge...you can find us here at 

Tag Tuesday

Poppies

The theme over at Tag Tuesday is Poppies and was chosen by Wendy for a special memory she has, so the theme is very close to her heart.
As today is Remembrance Day I felt it the best day to post my Poppy Tag.....

I kept the background of my cream tag plain...using an old set of stamps by Elusive Images, I stamped the poppies in black archival ink.
I used whisper pens to colour the image.
I printed the sentiment, cut it half and distressed the edges in red and added it to the tag.
Today is certainly a day for thought and thankfulness...

Do pop over and check out the challenge at
Tag Tuesday

More Mixed Media

I've been decorating some hearts for christmas so I thought I would make one that fits the theme over at More Mixed Media.....as always the theme is Anything goes..with an option and that option is Black.

I have several sets of these birch wood folk type hearts, I used the largest one for this project. I painted it twice in acrylic black paint, set it aside  to dry.

I used one of the smaller hearts and traced around it on some thick card and cut it out.

 I stamped the sentiment and distressed the edges in distress ink.

Back to the large heart, which was now completely dry. I added some green mesh, burlap and sisal fibers to the heart ( I used hot glue  to secure in place ) then added the small heart.

From my stash I added some leaves that I had previously stamped, a few that were glittered and a few that were heat embossed. I made a small bundle of twigs tied with string..so adding the sycamore seeds and leaves first I layered the cluster up..adding the Autumn label and a string bow.

To finish I flicked over the finished heart with a paintbrush loaded with some white acrylic paint that had been thinned slightly with water.

Do pop over and join in with the challenge..you can find it here at 

More Mixed Media

Rhedd's November Challenge

Time for another monthly challenge over at Rhedd's  Creative Spirit..as always it is Altered Art/Mixed Media..definitely no cards.
For my design team project this month I have some wooden shapes that I trimmed in to little house shapes....

The first and second house I painted with gesso then swiped other colours over the gesso.

I used a stencil and swiped some orange paint over and also painted the number five.

Using stamps in my stash I decorated the first two houses then added embellishing and the lovely relative images by Tim Holtz.

The tall thin house I covered with some book paper...then used distress ink through a stencil and added more designs using stamps. I added the postage stamp and then another relative image.

I distressed the edges of the tall house with ink...I am so pleased with these houses and have them on display on my circle of wood....

You can find our challenge at 

Rhedd's Creative Spirit

Edgar Tag....

Time again for another challenge at Tag Tuesday..a great theme too, chosen by Michele.
I have to admit, Edgar Allen Poe has never been a subject that I have created with..so I was stumped for a while....then I remembered I had bought a second hand rubber stamp some time ago..Goth the Raven..perfect for the tag.
As for Edgar, I had to download a clipart image....I hope I have managed to cover Michele's theme....

I hope you can find time to pop over and join in with our challenge..you can find us here at
Tag Tuesday

Bunting or Flags, the choice is yours...

Hi Everyone..it's Tuesday..and that means a new challenge for the next fortnight over at Tag Tuesday and guess who is hosting..Me!
I have chosen Bunting or Flags for my theme...I am hoping all you crafters out there will come along and join in...
Here are my Tags..hope the inspire you to join us...

For this tag I created a back ground using stamps, printed book pages and washi tape then added the toadstool, which was an illustration from an old book. I stamped the bunting on some patterned backing paper and cut them individually and added them to the tag. adding the little girl, which is one from Tim Holtz Relations.

The sentiment was stamped using my set of alphabet stamps.

This tag was made from scraps of G45 papers that I had in my stash...all the images were cut from the scraps...I have added a couple of flags..there are also flags in the poster on the tag...Other images were stamped....

Please come and join in with the swap...I shall look forward to visiting your blog and leaving some  love.

You can find us here at Tag Tuesday

Halloween Triptych

I am so pleased I was ahead of myself and got my project for this months challenge made a few weeks ago...to be honest I thought I had already written up my post for today and scheduled it for today..I hadn't,lol.
So this month's challenge at More Mixed Media  starts today and runs for 4weeks.
The theme is always Anything Goes..with an optional twist..and the twist this month is Orange.

I created this triptych from scratch by cutting the 3 arches from pressed paperboard, it's quite thick, so I had to be careful using my craft knife.
I gessoed each piece and then swiped over yellow orange and brown acrylic paints, blending each time with a baby wipe.
Using the fab IndigoBlu stamps I stamped each arch.
For the owl, books, bird and sentiment, I stamped them on some card, shaded them and added them to the arches.
Finally I distressed the edges in ink.
I do hope you will pop over and join us for this challenge at More Mixed Media...there is a prize on offer too...so well worth a visit.

Autumn Tag

I had a restless night so I decided to play for an hour or so in my craft room...my mojo had deserted me for a while and I wondered if I could get a tag done for the challenge over at Tag Tuesday.
I started to sort things on my bench that had been there for a couple of weeks and I kind of slipped in to crafting mode...

I found scrap of hessian and the short twigs, that's what gave me the idea for the tag..I stamped some leaves on some scrap card that had been inked with distress inks..the colours were perfect.

I used a corrugated tag that I swiped with wild honey distress ink then added the hessian, some sisal fibres and the leaves.

I also added a sycamore seed and the twigs.

I had some micro beads that were given to me recently so added them as well.

You can find the challenge here at 

Tag Tuesday

October's Challenge

It's been a couple of weeks since my last posting..I have been failing miserably on keeping my crafting on a regular basis...
So a Huge Thank You to my Design Team for getting Rhedd's Creative Spirit all ready for this months challenge.

Do please pop over and have a look at the challenge and see what the design team have created, you won't be disappointed, also if you check back on the 15th you can see Sammy's tutorial..
You can find the challenge here at....
Rhedd's Creative Spirit

Getting Ready for Halloween...

Just wanting to share my 4" cube with you all.
It can be purchased from Fernli Designs and although it arrives flat, it is very simple to assemble with a bit of glue.

The backing papers and labels are from a pad and some labels I rubber stamped.The embellishments are dies cuts and other Halloween pieces are from my stash...
Do drop by Fernli Design..not just for the cube, but to have a lookie at their other goodies..well worth a look...

A few things....

I was just going through my photo library and thought I would share some of my projects that I have made recently. Most are for group swaps...and for personal use, as in my Circle Book Page.

3 Atcs..Point Hats or Crowns was the theme, must have some stamping.

3 Atc Coins..Anything Goes theme..but must have some stamping...
I have used these for my blog header....

The first page in my Circle Board Book..this is personal to me and is an ongoing project

A Pennent I made for a Bunting Swap

Thanks to all of you that drop by my blog and are kind enough to leave me a comment...
Hope you all have a crafty weekend..x

If the crown fits......

Time again for another challenge over at
More Mixed Media.....
As always the theme is Anything Goes..but with the option of a twist and the twist this month is "Brown"
For my design team project I have created a page from my circle board book, the pages are made from MDF, so they are nice and sturdy.

I gessoed the page, then covered it with backing paper. I layered up the photo and added the crown.
I added 2 strips of vintage lace to the page and then added a die cut to lay behind the photo.
The photo was then added to the page along with a few flowers and then the sentiment.
To finish I flicked some diluted white acrylic paint over the whole page.

I do hope you can find time to pop over and join in with our challenge this month...remember there is a prize on offer too..some beautiful papers designed  by our Boss Lady Lozzy.

You can find us here at

MORE MIXED MEDIA

Altered Dominoes

Good Morning...hope you are enjoying the cooler weather..I am that's for sure.
Not back in to full swing re my crafting, due to health reasons..but I am managing some as I would go stir crazy if I didn't ,lol...

The September Challenge has just started over at
Rhedd's Creative Spirit
As always there is no theme..but it is an altered art/mixed media blog and strictly no "papercrafts"

My design team project this month are some altered dominoes...I have so many stamps and I wanted to use a few of them to decorate my dominoes. So I had a look through my vintage style ones and selected a few that I knew would work for the size of the domino.

I removed the spinner from under the domino..the cleaned and dried each one thoroughly.
I wanted to keep the colour of the domino blank, so no other preparation for them was needed.
I stamped my images using black Stazon Ink.
To colour them I actually painted them, using LuminArt Twinkling H2O paints...they gave a nice shimmer to the images.
I left them overnight to dry and the I sealed each domino with 2 coats of spray and seal gloss medium....finally adding a bale to each one so they can be used for a necklace.

Hope you find time to visit Rhedd's this month..you can find us here at
Rhedd's Creative Spirit

Clock Face....

Tag Tuesday have a great theme this fortnight..Clocks/Time.
I have created my Tag using one of my favourite stamps.

His face wasn't suitable..so I used a "clock" instead!!!

Do pop over and join us..we are here at
Tag Tuesday

Another Landmark

Couldn't resist creating another Landmark Tag for the current challenge over at Tag Tuesday

I coloured the back ground of this tag with distress ink before stamping the images...

All stamps are by Darkroom Door..they were just perfect for this theme.

I do hope you will find time and join in with this challenge...

You can find us here at 

Tag Tuesday

Landmarks....

Hello to all my blog visitors..looks set for a nice weekend here..so much cooler too, which for me is wonderful...

I'm sharing my "Landmarks" Tag with you today..made for the current challenge over at Tag Tuesday

The theme, which I think is great, was chosen by teamie Wendy...

I have a few stamps that were suitable for this theme, but I have used my favourites from Darkroom Door and Artistic Outpost...

I kept my tag relatively simple regarding the colour palette...if I find enough time, I will make another tag with a different landmark..I am child free ( no great grandson duties,lol ) so I can get in to my craft  room this week...

Do pop over and join in with our challenge..we love to see your tags and visit your blogs...

Find us here at 

TAG TUESDAY

Such a "Bright" Birdhouse....

My goodness, time seems to be flying by..it's August already and I have noticed there are quite a few christmas themed projects appearing already in the crafting world....
Not for me though..at least not yet..I have this pretty Birdhouse to showcase today...

This is my project this month for the challenge over at 

More Mixed Media

As always the theme is anything mixed media goes...but with an optional twist..and this month's twist is "Brights"

So after sanding it down I gessoed the birdhouse, I used bright acrylic paints to bring it to life.

The roof was then stamped with my bubble stamp from Indgoblu in black stazon ink.

Using my paint pen I added dots to the bubbles and also dots around the opening and wall and base.

Reindeer moss made for a bit of grass...I added flowers and then the bird....

Do go and check out the challenge here at 

More Mixed Media....there is a prize for our winner each month too of some gorgeous papers designed by Lozzy, our boss lady..

Bingo!!!!!

What a great theme for this fortnight's challenge over at Tag Tuesday.
The theme is Bingo and was chosen by design team member Michele.
I had just the stamp for it too..actually it's one that I bought from another crafter some time ago.

If you love making Tags..and you enjoy a challenge, then why not pop over to see us here at 

Tag Tuesday

My Wooden Heart

It's time to get out all your recycling and mixed media stash and pop along to Rhedd's Creative Spirit and enter our challenge.
Myself and the design team would love yo see you so we can all pop along and leave some love on your blog.
We are a strictly no paper-crafts challenge blog..so you can let your imagination go wild with whatever takes your fancy.
Myself and my team invest a lot of our time and energy to inspire you ..and again this month our wizardry Julie will be doing a mid month tutorial on the 15th August.

I myself have had a busy month..mainly family and health issues..so my project this month for Rhedd's wasn't what I had originally planned..but never mind it turned out ok I think....

I started with this lovely wooden heart that I painted twice with gesso..then when that was dry, I cut up some sponge and daubed different coloured acrylic paints on to the heart.
I dried it with my heat tool..then using stazon ink I used my my bubble stamp and stamped that all over the heart.
I then used a paint pen and dotted inside some of the circles.

I stamped the sentiment on some yellow card and distressed the edges and added that to the heart.
I twisted some wax cord and used hot glue to add it under my feather butterfly..I then added some more wax cord for the hanging loop.

I hope to see you over at Rhedd's Creative Spirit soon.....

Seaside/Nautical Tags

I'm hosting the challenge over at Tag Tuesday for the next 2 weeks....and for my theme I have chosen Seaside or Nautical.
Living close to the sea all my life, I have many happy memories of my childhood and my own children's childhood spending such long lazy days at the beach....so this theme is close to my heart.

For this tag I coloured the background using ink dusters and distress inks in faded jeans and fossilised amber.
All the images were then stamped and then coloured using water colour pencils..this is such a lovely set of stamps that my friend had given me a while ago....

This is my skinny tag..it was cut from scrap water colour card that I had used inktense colour blocks on and swiped over with a wet brush...
I used Crafty Individual stamps for the script and beach huts and birds...I highlighted the huts with water colour pencils.
Betty Grable is a photo type stamp, that I stamped on to plain card, cut and then coloured and added to the tag...

I do hope you can find time and enter our challenge, you can find us here at
Tag Tuesday

Altered Peg....

It's time for this months challenge over at More Mixed Media....and for my design team project I altered a large peg.
The theme is always Anything Goes..with the option of using a colour chosen for that month...this month the colour is "Pastels"
I enjoy altering pegs, they are so useful in my craft room because I use them for note holders.

I sanded the peg, then brushed it off before staining the sides..then I added backing paper to the front and back and underneath the peg.

I stamped the image of the girls..coloured the image then added it to the tag.

To finish I added the ribbon and flower..I didn't get too fussy with embellishments as I wanted to keep the peg simple...

Do pop over and join in with our challenge this month....Lozzy, our "Boss Lady" has a prize for the winner..so well worth giving us a visit..hope to see you soon.

You can find us here at...More Mixed Media

Sunflowers

Good Morning..looks like rain..a welcome change from the intense heat we've been having..far too hot for me....
Many moons ago when my children were small, they used to plant sunflower seeds and see who's would grow the tallest...so when I saw Valarie's Flower theme for this fortnights Tag Challenge I remembered an old stamp I have and that reminded me of my childrens flower growing...
So here is the Tag I made...I love this stamp of the little girls sitting among the sunflowers...

I stamped on white card and then using water colour paints I coloured the image. The word stamp is from a different stamp...

I had to take the photo against a dark background, even though it was a bright day yesterday, the white tag against a white background looked grey.....
So if you love making Tags why not come along and join in with the challenge.
You can find it here at
Tag Tuesday

Too good to waste....

It's July already..where has the last few months gone..I don't know if it's because I am older that time is flying by. The weather is ridiculously hot at the moment, I am spending more time indoors with all the fans going, but the time at home has given me an excuse the sift through a lot of my craft stuff.
I was given some albums some years ago..I was loathe to throw them away, so I stripped them back to the original covers and decided to make a couple of small journals for my design team project at Rhedd's Creative Spirit.for their July challenge.

I decided to make 4 journals  from the 4 boards so I measured them so 2 would be slightly larger than the other. 

I took one of each size and rounded the corners and the other 2 I set aside to alter at a later date.
I gave them a good sanding with some fine sandpaper to remove any glue residue.
I then gave them 2 coats of gesso.

For both of the journals I added some texture through a stencil to the front cover and left it to dry overnight.

 I painted both sides of the front and back covers using green,blue and yellow acrylic paints..then highlighted some areas in gold gilding wax for the shell journal and then I used brown,black and orange for the steampunk style journal, highlighting areas with gunmetal gilding wax.

For this journal, I adhered some orange mesh, muslin and shells to the top cover and finished decorating it with some pearls from an old necklace that was given to me some years ago, well I was never going to wear it,lol.

The pages in the journal are from scraps from around my craft room..some pages have pockets etc..sorry I forgot to photograph the inside.

The Steampunky journal is a great size..more for a man I feel. I decorated the cover with cogs and chicken wire that are from Fernli Designs...after painting them I added rust effect to areas to age it some more.
Again, the pages are from scraps in my craft room..

The Seaside journal measures 14cms x 8cms

The Steampunky one measures 14cms x 6cms

The covers are really sturdy as the board is really thick.

If you have any old board books and you no longer need them, why not recycle them and come along to Rhedds and enter our challenge...

You can find our July Challenge here at 

Rhedd's Creative Spirit