The Girl with a Pearl..... by Julie Dandy

As soon as I saw this stamp set I had to have it!!!
I love the painting by Vermeer.

I started by colouring the wooden box with distress stain in broken china, when dry I painted on Picket fence crackle paint.

I stamped  my image on to tissue paper with coffee archival ink and adhered it to the box with a glue stick

I tinted the image with distress markers scribbled on to my craft mat, spritzed, then painted on with a brush to give a nice soft colour. 

I glued on some scraps of lace with glossy accents. then inked the bottom right corner with versamark ink to create a sticky surface for my frantage embossing powders.
They are designed to be heated from below so you need to start with a thin layer and add more while its still hot to build up the layers on a 3d item like this.

If you aren't happy with the areas covered with the embossing powder, brush off before heating.
Because I used a small inkpad I found I had a lot of harsh lines, so softened them this way.

I worked my way around the sides of the box and highlighted areas on the top of the box with the gold powder - I love the way it beads when you heat it slightly or on areas like the lace - you could brush away the extra powder to have a more beaded effect.

To finish off I added distress stickles and added a philosophy tag  embellished with seam binding coloured with the left over distress marker spritzed stain from earlier.

Here's a few more pics for you....

Hugs'n'snogs,
Julie xx

If butterflies could talk . . .

. . . I'm sure they would say "Leave room in your garden for fairies to dance".

To achieve a proper butterfly shape I printed one from the Internet and stuck it on some balsa wood, you could use chipboard or cardboard. I then cut it out and covered it with a canvas sheet, these are great for different sized projects as they cut easily and neatly. I then used some old patterned papers, paper punches and  oil pastels to make a colourful background. I printed the words on my computer and used some 7 Gypsies Conservatory stamps for accent details. Last but not least I thought it had been a while since Moon Girl came out to play. I gave her some acetate wings to make her more ethereal along with a sprinkling of gold glitter, then I covered the whole thing in a thin layer of beeswax and distressed it a little by scratching and stamping in the beeswax and applying some water soluble burnt umber oil paint and rubbing it off leaving it in the imprints of the wax. To age my string I wiped some brushed corduroy distress ink on it.

Don't forget this months challenge 'June Bug' click here for details, good luck!

Wishing you a very happy day, Sam xxx

Journal It By Carol Fox

I made this note book simply because I fancied playing with some stash I have.
I have used stencils and masks for the background. I used the Dylusions Stencil Dotted Flowers and the crafters mask harlequin. I used spray inks with the masks.
The stamps used are Stampotique originals Minky Girl and the swirl is so old the label has fallen off the block...see that's how old it is, its on a wooden block lol.
It was all edged with black acrylic paint.
Don't forget the current challenge is June Bug and there is a £15.00 voucher to be won for the shop. For the challenge details click here 

Altered Cigar Box by Paula Tidman

I've had an old cigar box lurking in my crafting stash for a while now and I decided to give it a make over. I gave it a base coat of black gesso, then as I couldn't find quite the right shade I wanted for my box, I mixed a few different colours of my matt emulsion together to create a custom shade. I gave it a couple of coats, then sanded it down to reveal some of the black gesso. Next I used vintage photo distress ink and a crafters workshop template to create the harlequin pattern. I distressed some old book pages and used this fabulous vintage bird plate by blockhead stamps (as they are really thick rubber, you don't get any ink transfer on the edges of the stamp, which seems to happen on a lot of unmounted stamps) to decorate the lid of the box, using distress inks and coloured pencils to colour the images. I glued in place with matte medium then I sealed the box by rubbing in a small amount of Judikins microglaze, which is perfect for protecting your inky creations, then I buffed a small amount of inka gold around the deges of the box.

That's all from me I hope you enjoy the last day of the Jubilee celebrations. xx

Serenity By Mandy Chilvers

I love these stamps from Artistic Outpost. The set I've used on these ATC's is called Serenity, it has everything I like in a plate of stamps... words, elements and images.

Let me show you what I've made with this versatile stamp plate.

On the first 3 ATC's I've used the stamps as background and elements which I've added collage images.

 The next 2 ATC's I've used the larger stamps as the focal point, I've watercoloured and used chalk inks on these to add colour.

 and lastly, a combination of a small collage image and lots of stamping.

TFL
Mandy x

Romance is in the Air- The Queens Jubilee by Annette Goatley

My Design Team creation was inspired by The Queen's Jubilee celebrations in the form of Garden Parties.

Products used: The new Suzi Blu - La Belle stamp (altered),  serviettes, patterned paper,  beads  lace, gesso, water colours, gold paint dabber,  Prima flowers, Studio multi medium, and glossy accents.

I know I shouldn't say it but really love how this Hanging has turned out.  Hope you like it as well.

Wishing you all a very happy day, am off to a Family Jubilee Garden Party this afternoon.  Thank you for popping in and hope to see you soon.   Hugs Annette x

May Queen Challenge Winner

Drum roll please, It's time to announce the winner of the May queen challenge. There were some lovely entries this month and using the Random Number generator number 9 was chosen.
So Tracey if you would like to email Moira at the shop she will send your your gift certificate to spend on lovely things and details of how to claim your free postage on your order.

The challenge for June was announced yesterday. To see the full details how how to enter for next months random draw prize have a look at the blog post.