My hexagon day.....

It has been far too long since I have had a chance to blog - life just happens to get in the way on occasion! But I just had to take the time to share my rather disastrous day yesterday - one of those days where nothing goes how you want it too....

A friend of mine once had a scrapbooking lesson which included cutting and placing hexagons into a design, instead of being a fun activity it ended up being a nightmare. One of those occasions where you want to throw it all out of the window and walk away - well my hexagon day came yesterday.

I was at an altered art class held by Scrapbook Sisters, creating an altered clock using a range of Tim Holtz products. Beautiful example to start us all off and lots of inspiration in the room. However, the colours on my clock just would not go right. I started by priming the base of the clock with Gesso, then added Distress Stains on the top - what a disaster, they all came out neon! Fired Brick looked a sugar pink, then thr Crushed Olive looked like radioactive nuclear waste! Really not my colours and everything I  tried to change the colours just made it look worse.......

In the end I gave up on the clock, shoved it under the table and spent the rest of the afternoon making embellishments to use later on. Leaving with just a bag of bits rather than a complete project. Once I got home I had a break then decided to tackle the disaster head on - what a mess I made. Viva Deco Terra and Ferro pastes and metallic waxes, Distress Inks, Rock Candy crackle glaze, metal findings, pliers, metal punch, and glossy accents. Some hours later I finished, and am much happier with the outcome now:

  

Hope you like the end result. Xx

What's On Your Workdesk?

What a great idea! It seems there are hundreds of us crafters out there who all share one thing in common - a bursting craft space! Head on over to Stamping Ground and take a look at all those fantastically creative spaces that have been linked for WOYWW. I love how we all seem to keep adding to our work spaces until there really isn't any room left to craft, that last inch has been taken up with the latest project or product to use, then - and only then - do we take the time to have a bit of a tidy up before starting all over again. I must confess that my space never seems to stay tidy for more than about 30mins before it all starts creeping back out again!                                     

I really am at that point where I need to have a mass clear up! If nothing else, just so I can see what I actually have on there, and make room for a couple of larger projects I have to finish!

Pure Grunge.......

Wow - two posts in one day! While blog hopping this evening I came across a site called  Studio L3 with a great challenge - Grungy Monday - all things Tim Holtz. Fantastic - right up my alley. I have been looking for inspiration, and time to be able to be more creative on my own terms, and I just couldn't resist this. This weeks challenge is to use Distress Inks and take Tim Holtz's video demo of them as inspiration.

I created the following piece by covering a page in pages from an old book, then used his flourish masks and Stormy Sky, Bundled Sage and Victorian Velvet Distress Inks over the top to create patterned voids, and stamped on top with some of his word stamps. I then die cut the film strip and cogs dies in patterend paper and grunge paper, inked them up with the same coloured Distress Inks and then added metal embellishments to finish.

Vintage Text

I was pleased to find that Make A Moo was back up and running with new challenges! A Moo is a little card sized 2.8 x 7cm, or approximately 1.1" x 2.8". Beside this fixed size it is what you make of it! I love these challenges and the small scale that the work is made to - it is a challenge to get everything you want to on such a small space, and another bonus is you don't need to have masses of time to create something fantastic. This week's theme is Vintage Text. I hope you like my Moo's below - have a go yourselves and get creative........

Framed.........

It has been far too long since I posted! So much to do, so little time........

Anyway, below is a layout I created on the theme of Framed for the Scrapbook Sisters layout challenge. I love the background paper - old weathered wood, and it fit perfectly with the photograph I wanted to use. I cut the frame out and placed the image so it was part tucked behind the frame and then cut embellishments using Tim Holtz dies and Martha Stewart punches. I completed the page with a few gems and a title.

Here's hoping I get a bit more time to be creative for myself................

Music....

I love listening to music, but have a terrible memory for who sang what and what the song is called! Music is the theme at CBH this week and I created an ATC using a music note stamp and some musical instrument peel offs. I stamped the background using distress inks first, then stamped the image again on paper and cut to smaller pieces to represent sheet music, I used distress ink to age the paper and then curled the edges to look like the leaves were blowing up. I finished by glueing this to the background and adding a few silhouette peel offs.

Dragons.....

are a favourite of mine. My Chinese zodiac sign is a Fire Dragon, so the theme at TMTA this week to create art using dragons appealed greatly. I have used a range of shades of red to create my ATC, putting down a base coat of distress inks and then using clear embossing powder on the top to stamp my dragon image in. I then stamped some lettering over the top of this, and to finish added some darker red shades to make the embossed image stand out and added some gems.

The Tribe / Indigenous People.....

is the theme over at CBH this week. So in the feel of the theme I have created an ATC using some Native American Indian stamps, stamping in stazon ink and using a masking technique to layer two different stamp images together. I then added colour using Copic markers and finished the edges with Memento ink. Having looked at other sites this also fits the TMTA theme of Red / Yellow this week too. I love the rich warm colours and how Native American Indians made the most of these vibrant colours.

A Chance To Play....

It was so good to get a lie in this morning and a chance to have a play around with Photoshop. ACF this week have a background to be used to create a piece of art. I chose to use a photograph I took of myself recently with leopard print facepaint and combined it with the background using layering techniques and digital brushes.

I have also had a chance to photograph some of my scrapbooking and altered art pieces which I have created over the year and just not had the time to share, so hopefully I will get a few of these uploaded this weekend. I hope you all have a relaxing time.

Wet and Windy....

is the weather of the week, so much for Autumn having crisp sunny days to watch the leaves turn golden! TMTA this week have the theme of Thanksgiving, looking for autumn in all its glory, so here is my ATC.