A few tags and a Fodder Challenge reminder...

Hello all!  I'm just dropping in with a few tags that have been on the go lately... many of them as a result of Tim Holtz's brilliant nudge to make use of any unused or part-finished backgrounds we have lying around (you can see just some of my hoarded backgrounds here if you have access to Instagram).

I also wanted to add a reminder that the Free Fodder Challenge starts on Monday.  More than 12,500 artists from around the world have already signed up to join in... why not join them?  You'll get 12 free online mixed media art classes, one with each of the 12 teachers contributing to Fodder School 3 (starting in October)... and yes, one of them is me!  The classes will arrive daily from 10th - 21st July, and you can create along with the videos, share your creations on social media, or just watch for inspiration if you prefer.  All the details and registration can be found here... it would be great to see you there.  Here's another sneak peek of the project I'll be sharing...

And here are some of those tag backgrounds which have finally made their way to the finishing post...

That moth background is one of my all-time favourites, and it sat there waiting for so long because I didn't want to risk wrecking it with whatever I did next!  I made it by using the Perspective Moth die by Tim Holtz as a stencil, spritzed with some Distress Mica Sprays along with plenty of other Distress Inks and Oxides... something I must do again some time soon, because I love it.

Do you ever put your favourite backgrounds aside (for years!) because you couldn't bear to spoil them?  I'm just curious... 

I hope you all have an amazing weekend, and I hope that I'll get to see some of you joining in with the Free Fodder Challenge very soon.  Happy crafting, all!

Every moment is a fresh beginning.

T. S. Eliot

Advent Countdown (part 1)

Hello all!  I'm trying to create something daily during December so I'm here to share the first week's worth.  There are definitely some new wintry favourites among them for me...

I haven't always got as far as a finished tag - so some days are background-creating days, and some days have more than one tag.  Hopefully in the end it will all add up to 25!  Here's what we have so far...

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Those silvery blue crackled stencilled backgrounds appearing were actually made back in the summer during one of my first playtime sessions with the (then) new Uncharted Mariner colour.  It's taken until now for them to get their chance to shine!

There are some of my own PaperArtsy EAB28 Juniper Edition berries and text in a couple of the others.  And I think my favourite maybe the layered stamping backgrounds from Day 6.  I'm looking forward to finishing those off. 

I hope you are having a gentle run up to the festive season, and I hope to be back with some more Advent Countdown creativity soon.  Happy crafting, all!

I pray this winter be gentle and kind--

a season of rest from the wheel of the mind.

John Geddes

Mica Moth

Hello all!  I know I haven't been around here much lately, but the Glimmer and Sparkle theme at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge was the perfect fit for my Mica Moth.  I succumbed to the new Mica Stains released by Ranger for Tim Holtz, and this was my first spritzing play with them, over a die-cut of the magnificent Perspective Moth... so it's definitely a Mica Moth.

I'm still not sure whether they work best with the moth complete or with the wings separated.

And I'm also undecided about whether they're entirely finished, but I do love them just as they are, so they'll be staying that way unless creative lightning strikes.

I had smooshed a couple of tags in some leftover Salvaged Patina ink and oxide on the craft mat, and the pair of them were sitting there when the Mica Stains arrived.  You can see the underlying turquoise tones of the Salvaged Patina best on the moth's body.

My original thought was to create a shimmering Moth die-cut, but I didn't want to waste the ink I was spritzing, so I laid the die-cut over the two tags to do my spraying.  And then it turned out I liked the background better than the moth itself!  I love that there are places where the moth's wings are really clear, and others where it's much more ghostly.

The Mica Stains in use are Hocus Pocus (the purple one), Bubbling Cauldron (the green one) and Empty Tomb (the dark greyish one), and I also spritzed some Stormy Sky Oxide into the mix.  (There may have been something else, but I don't know what... I was just having fun.)

Both text stamps are from Tim's Dapper stamp set.  The large Merchant Tailor advert is done in Archival Night Sky - lovely colour.

And the smaller text is stamped in Old Paper Oxide and then embossed with Speckled Egg Embossing Glaze.  Oh, and there are some torn scraps of script washi tape in the layers too.

I expect they'll get some twine through the top, and maybe a Quote Chip across the lower halves some day, but for now I'm really happy with my Mica Moth as he is...

... if I could only decide which way round to place the pair!

I hope you like them as much as I do.  The shimmer of the Mica Stains really can't be shared in still photographs so I'm hoping this ten second video will work to show you the fabulous glimmer and sparkle they give you.

You can see why they were perfect for the Glimmer and Sparkle theme at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge!

I hope you're all doing okay, and maybe enjoying some late summer sunshine (we can live in hope, right?).  Stay safe and I'll see you again soon.  There's lots of stuff to share here - I just have to find time to sit down and write some blogposts!  Happy crafting all.

Between our birth and death we may touch understanding, As a moth brushes a window with its wing.
Christopher Fry

... he was trying to create the spell that is ethereal and delicate as the dust on a moth's wing ...
from Jacob's Ladder by F. Scott Fitzgerald

I'd like to share these at the the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge for the Glimmer and Sparkle theme

Encore - Steam Pipe Trunk Distribution Venue

Encore Posts

Projects which made their first appearances elsewhere for Design Team duties or Guest Designer opportunities, but which only had a sneak peek here, are being gathered together in the pages of my virtual scrapbook.  I'm calling them "Encore" posts and they're formatted differently (all the way down the centre), so you can spot them easily.

Please don't feel that you have to comment all over again!

This is a Calico Craft Parts DT piece from the end of August 2015 and you'll see that I was ahead of the (Tim Holtz) loop with my suggestion to Calico Craft Parts that it would be nice to have some pipes and connectors to play with.  Oh, and what's more - this plaque is almost exactly the size of the medium-sized new Etcetera tags.  Just goes to show there is "no new thing under the sun"!  This is what I wrote back in 2015...

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Steampunk fans will be excited to hear that the latest additions to the Calico Craft Parts range offer a wealth of Steampunk inspiration.  There are fantastical cogs and flourishes, quirky characters and vehicles, as well as the pieces I've been playing with... a set of pipes and connectors (I'm proud to say they were my suggestion, though the actual design details were all in CCP's hands).  They're so much fun to play with, and here's what I've cooked up on my first go.

It's not where I meant to go, but I rather like where it ended up.

(The post title is there for any West Wing fans - you'll know what I'm talking about with the Steam Pipe Trunk Distribution Venue!  It just seemed the right title for this piece.)

The whole thing is on a large plaque, so there's plenty of room for one of my favourite steampunk-style stamp images as well as lots of the pipes and taps and screws from the Pipework Maze set.

The base is one of the Birch Plywood Plaques - the large Rectangle, 30x15cm (12x6 inches for those in old money!).  I had a little play with the pipes and the image to get a rough idea of where I might be headed.

Next step was to cut and emboss some card to fill the plaque around the area for the image, and then I covered that with black gesso from the edges and white gesso from the centre, so that we'd have a nice glowing light at the centre of things.

Then I started adding colour - some ink and mica sprays and some DecoArt Traditions Prussian Blue Hue - before dry-brushing with white gesso to highlight the texture.  (It's all a sort of combination of things learned from Andy Skinner and Finnabair.)

I spent a while playing with the pipes, trying out various finishes.  Thankfully, the Calico Craft Parts are more than sturdy enough to take several changes of mind.  Here's one that didn't make it - too dark against the background, but a look I'll be playing with again soon!

In the end, I've got DecoArt Dazzling Metallics Silver paint with some mica sprays over the top, and a shading wash of the DecoArt Prussian Blue applied with the fingertips down the "dark sides" of the pipes and washer heads and taps.

In places, there's also some Pewter Treasure Gold providing highlights along the inner sides of the pipes, shining in the light cast by our beautiful Steampunk woman (a La Blanche stamp).  I love all the stopcocks and pumps and taps (I'm sure there are proper names for them all... I just don't know them!).

And I love that you can pretty much create any map or maze of pipes that you like.

I altered some of the Mini Cogs, Styles 3 and 4, in the same way, and added them to the steam pipe maze...

... along with some metal cogs of various sizes.

I was lucky enough to be given some tiny lightbulbs by a friend of Cestina's.  I've been hoarding them, but finally some of them have a home of their own.

So the glow of the woman at the centre is not the only source of light in the piece!  She's stamped on tissue paper and glued into place.

You'll probably have noticed that the Pewter Treasure Gold made its way onto the background cog texture too.  It adds a great metallic lustre.

The sentiment is stamped on watercolour paper, tinted around the edges with the same ink and paint colours to tie it in with the rest of the piece.

I can see so many possibilities for these steam pipes.  They'll work on layouts (they make a great framing feature for an image or photo), or on masculine cards or tags.

You could go all out grungy and rusty, but for this particular creation I'm going to claim the Glampunk label again.  I'd intended to go for rust and verdigris, but that just wasn't where it took me this time around.  There's always another day!

I hope you like my Glampunk plaque, and do check out the new Steampunk offerings over at Calico Craft Parts.  You might just find yourself setting out on a Steampunk adventure of your very own. 

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So there you go - if you don't fancy cutting your own pipes with Tim's new die, then Calico have got it all sorted for you!  Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I'll see you again soon, once I've got the current bit of dashing about done.

I never drink water.  That is the stuff that rusts pipes.
W.C. Fields