I apologise if its getting boring...

but I am addicted to jewellery making at the mo LOL :D

this is another of the cuffs I bought incPeacocks for just £1 !!!! (sorry but I have two more to play with yet!!! LOL)
I stuck vinatge music paper to this one with Claudines matte medium and coloured with distress inks in Victorian velvet, dusty concord and broken china.
I covered it all in rock candy stickles, carefully applied with abig splodge on my finger LOL - they are super sparkly and pretty :D
I sprayed the Prima camelot rose with tattered rose distress ink mixed with water and glazed it with utee.
Added a scraps of vintage lace, a couple of buttons and a velvet bow.
And just for good measure I added some rock candy to the rose LOL











I'll try really hard not to do any more jewellery this week I promise LOL

Hugs'n'sparkly snogs,
J xx

Here it is :D

I had to make a slight change as my glossy accents was a disaster LOL - for future reference use thin layers and let them dry inbetween otherwise it doesn't dry out on top of a non porous surface like utee ;)




Its also impossibe to do this with utee using a heatgun as it melts underneath the frame and makes a big old mess LOL :D

I tinted my utee with butterscotch alcohol ink (whilst dry powder and waited for the alcohol to evaporate) and melted in my meltpot along with some metal flakes.



I placed my TH ornate frame over a stamp and then poured the utee over it.
Leave it to cool - don't be tempted to touch it because it hurts!!! I can vouch for that (again!!!!)
Then added some perfect pearls and distress stickles :D
I put pearl acrylic paint on the back of the utee to make it shimmer from the front :D


I was inspired to do the ruffle when I watched The Secrets of Moonacre yesterday (which is a lovely family film by the way :D )
The girl on there was wearing a dress with a ruffle type collar and open neck with a pretty necklace on top - I ahd to then go and find something to cut up to make one LOL
The ribbon is 7gypsies (Savanah I think??) and the dangley embellies were on a necklace that came with a vest top I bought from work (Debenhams - Red Herring)


I am still working on the other frame but trying to do it a bit more patiently this time LOL

Hugs'n'vintage snogs,
J xx

Can you tell what it is yet???

LOL :D


a Sneaky peek :D













Can I resist sticking my fingers in the glossy accents???? LOL - errr no - I've done it twice already LMAO :D

Blog Bits again :D

Here's a gorgeous challenge site with beautiful images and major kudos to Zuzu who has been featured on this weeks challenge :D

My lovely friend Toni has been on a TH style class here

Jak has an amazing give away for anybody who loves pro markers

AND best of all IMHO :D

Prima has another fabby give away...... mmmmmmm :D

Hugs'n'lucky snogs
J xx :D

Glazed flowers+ brass cuff =

I have been playing with my meltpot and utee this weekend and loving the results - this jewellery is sooooooo me :D

Now this ring is technically altered as it was a shop bought ring that the embellie came off and was lost :(
I stuck on a Prima pebble with diamond glaze and gathered a piece of lace with a running stitch and stuck this down again with DG.
Added a uteed paper flower and some charms, some rock candy stickles and distress stickles to add a little sparkle and grunge:D






This necklace is made from two altered dominoes (ones a mini one).
The large one is covered in Prima pastiche, inked round the edges and a piece of lace stuck down the edge before being uteed.
The second is stamped the same way as previous altered dominoes.
Added lots of embellies, including another glazed paper rose - are you spotting a theme yet??? LOL






I bought this metal cuff for £1.50 (and going back for the rest tomorrow LOL ) I coated in TH Cracklepaint in scattered straw and then inked with Dusty Concord, Broken China and worn lipstick. In between each colour I gave it a coat of Claudine Hellmuths Matte multi medium to seal it. I then added the lace and used rock candy stickles over everything.
My prima flower was sprayed with a mist made from tattered rose and pearl Perfect Pearls then dunked in utee to glaze :D
I added a glazed silk violet and rose leaf, some bling, a press stud, and punched a hole with my cropadile and added beaded accents and a clock hand.

Most of the items are available from Happy Daze if you want to have a play :D

What do you think???
I'm not parting with these so don't even ask LOL :D

Hugs'n'vintage snogs,
Julie xx

New Challenge blog for alterers :D

Alter It Monthly is a new Challenge blog. We know there are a few out there, but many are closing, many are very limiting by insisting on a certain size shape or item and most only give you a week to get your project in. If you are like us, you sometimes like to do a large project over the space of a couple of weeks, so a weekly challenge isn't suitable.
And sometimes its difficult to decide on a project. "what will I make?" you think as you stare at a box full of items waiting to be altered. Having a challenge site suggest an item or a theme might be all you need to get you moving.

So here is a MONTHLY challenge, aimed at altered art enthusiasts of all standards. It doesn't matter if only two people take part in a month, it will be worth seeing your work. if you don't have time to join but have a previous project you would like to share then please do. It will get us all blog visiting and sharing ideas.

and to kick us off, April's theme is Altered matchboxes... To take part simply leave a comment with a link to your matchbox, wherever it is.. (for example a blog or a flickr account... )

I was inspired :D

By the gorgeous cuff on Lindas giveaway :D
So I decided to have a with a piece of grungeboard and lots of TH ideaology thrown at it LOL
Now I know its nothing like Lindas as her is just fabuloso in the extreme but I don't think it looks too bad now :D
When I first did it I wasn't happy as it just didn't look right and still looked like a piece of grungeboard stuck on lace -but I have inked, distress stickled, rock candied it to within an inch of its life and I like it now :D
The keyhole is the TH alteration die cut out of shrink plastic and inked.
The lace is a vintage piece I bought off ebay.






I altered a mini domino using my cute angel stamp again and added loads of vintage buttons and a few extra charms.









What do you think???
I'm loving it now :D

Oh and I have to say, I had to scrub my hands with good old wash andgo to get rid of the inky stains before my lovely hubby would take a photo LOL
Thanks hun :D

Hugs'n'snogs
J xx

Stunning art give away

how beautiful would this look on my wrist???

Now you can all enter, but you must understand it has my name on it LOL - I wish :D
Oh to be this talented!!!

Hugs'n'wishful snogs,
Julie xx

And the winner is.......

Congratulations Ginny :D Please contact Rebekah to claim your prize :D



Thanks everyone for all of the lovely comments on my project :D

I also won a little something too :D
I won Leighs lovely domino necklace :D


Blog bits (sorry pinched that from UKS LOL)

Congrats to Dan who has not only been asked to join a design team but two design teams - not surprised though as his work is amazing :D

Ruth has a lovely new LO here using the Prima Pastiche papers I used on my blog hop LO
Also found this lovely floral belt tutorial

Hugs'n'snogs,
Jxx

Last call.....

.... for entries for Rebekahs blog hop prize which is a lovely setof Basic Grey stamps!!!
You have untilmidnight tonight to either leave a comment on the linked post or post a link to your work inspired by my project :D

Good luck everyone :D

Now here's a little something for a friend of mine at work who has gone through a particularly rough year and needs chearing up :D

Its another altered domino which she can either be put on a cord ( through the bead stuck on the top) and wear as a necklace or wear as a brooch as I have attached a pin to the back too :D








ok heres a rough idea of how I did it :D

I glued a bead on the top firstly, then cut a piece of handmade thin type paper (my friend suggested tissue paper but I didn't have any) roughly to the size of the domino.
Stick the paper to the domino with pva or glossy accents then trim the edges with a craft knife, you can sand it too if you want to soften the edges :D

I then stamped the image and coloured in using a waterbrush and my distress inkpads. Added some gold perfect pearls as highlights, and inked the edges.

I then sponged alcohol inks on the back of the domino, the edges and the silver bead in a mix of brown and gold.
Next I squidged it on my versamark pad and then coated in utee.
I melted the utee with my heat gun, and sprinkled in glitter and left over bits of my coloured utee, and added another layer of utee.
I heated it again and added the charms and the jump rings while hot, then sprinkled over more utee to seal them.
Smeared a little bit of distress stickles on to highlight areas.
Then added charms to the jump rings and a TH swivel clasp.
The wing is an earring I bought in poundland that I grunged up with distress embossing powder, stickles and ink as it was bright shiney gold.


Hmmmmm not sure I want to give it away now LOL

Hugs'n' snowy snogs,
Julie xx

I'm on the UKS home page again!!!!

LOL
I'm getting too used to this :D

I didn't realise that my mini book page was being published in two pieces, so oopsie on spoiling the surprise LOL

If you missed it when I first blogged this you can find it here :D

Julie xx

Tim holtz alterations dies...

.... mine arrived on Friday and I have had a little play :D
I have to admit I was so excited to get them, then looked and thought -hmmm now what LOL :D

I have cut masks with them and stamps from funky foam, then I made this pendant from shrink plastic :D



I inked it after shrinking with alcohol and mixatives.
The bird was stamped before shrinking with a TH stamp and a hole punched so that I could dangle it behind the cage on the chain :D
Added a little bit of distress stickles and a little bit of coloured utee I had left over from last week :D





A few blog bits to share...

How gorgeous is Efemeras beautiful vintage sewing shrine????

Another fabulous freebie from the very talented Dan

And have a look at the amazing flowers on lollychops :D

I also found a link to this on Rebekahs blog, how pretty are those crepe paper roses :D

And not a blog bit - but how fabulous is the work of Banksy :D My fave is Dorothy and I will be using that image at some point in my work :D

Hugs'n'snogs
J xx

The first of my blog hop creations :D

This is my take on Lis Lamertsens challenge :D








and my dominoes inspired by Lesleley Collins (Leigh) - I used utee on mine though so I could stamp in to them :D
















I'm a bit obsessed with the dominoes, which I bought in the cutest little case (which is begging to be altered!!!) from the charity shop :D

This then inspired me to visit the local carboot sale and I came back with a large wooden box ( which I think I will keep all my TH stuff together in :D), a tri-fold ornate picture frame and a little wooden hand held mirror ( that Alice might take a peek in soon ;) )


Inspiration comes from the strangest places sometimes - mine was from the Heart Foundation shop LOL

Hugs'n' altered snogs,
J xx

Rebekahs Birthday blog hop

Hiya everyone and thank you for visiting me on this special occasion, I feel totally honoured that I was asked by Rebekah to contribute:D

(Happy Birthday hun by the way :D)If you have visited me already you will know that my style is vintage/grunge.
This has evolved a whole lot more since my visit to the trade show at the NEC, and meeting Tim/Suze/Claudine :D
I was totally entranced by their amazing demos and had to think how I could combine them with my scrapping on my return.
I have to say I'm a few £'s lighter and I have a whole new addiction but OMG its so worth it LOL

When I started scrapping I loved bold modern designs, but now I am definitely a vintage girl. What I will say is that with a bit of ink, distressing and messing most things can look pretty vintage and grungey - sometimes without me meaning them to be LOL, in the end I had to accept that's my niche :D

The first technique I want to share with you was by Suze and she did it in her melting pot - mine hasn't arrived yet and it has taken me a long time to decide it was something I needed.
But now I can't wait to try beeswax and more :D

Right so I'm going to explain how to make embellies from UTEE (ultra thick embossing enamel - which is just coarsley cut embossing powder) on a heat proof craft mat with rubber stamps.







Start off by getting together your stamps and any perfect pearls you want to add to the melted utee, I also added a couple of buttons as an experiment :D

Ink your stamps with versamark ink or coloured ink if you prefer so that they release easily from the utee

I coloured my utee as I only have clear with alcohol inks,now this bits really important particularly if you have a melting pot - do not add alcohol inks to melted utee like you would with the dye inks!!!! you can however colour them when they are powder and leave them to dry so the alcohol evaporates and leaves the ink behind - make sure you mix it well to get the colour through the powder


Take your versamark pad and squidge it on your heat proof non stick mat (squidge is a technical term LOL), and I would advise you also put something heatproof underneath as when I first tried this my cutting mat ended up with a bump in it :o - I just put a melamine chopping board underneath




Sprinkle the dry utee over the versamark ink and start heating, I start at the edges and work inwards as I want the centre to remain hot. when its melted heat it again as you want more powder to stick to the hot utee, add more, powder and melt again.
you can also sprinkle in some perfect pearls if you want

EDITED TO ADD - start with a thin layer and build up as it will just blow away with the heatgun if not on a sticky surface :)


When you have a good puddle in the middle stamp it, leaving the stamp there.






When cool remove the stamp and carefully peel back the utee - this leaves a lovely feathery edge :D You need to be gentle as its very fragile

because your mat is non stick it just wipes off so don't panic when you see the mess :D
I then rubbed in distress stickles and perfect pearls to highlight the image.




To attach to your project I would use a clear adhesive like glossy accents so that you can't see it through the transparent uteeIf your still not convinced about utee or don't own a heat gun ( you know who you are Birthday girl ;-) LOL ) then check out Dyans you tube video here of her demoing at CHA.
It's such a cool product, well not really...... well you know what I mean LMAO :D

I have also used Image transfer using Claudine Hellmuths sticky backed canvas ( you can see her demoing it here) on the blue corner mat using Prima paper - its really easy and you can use scrapbook paper, magazines, wrapping paper or anything photocopied (inkjet won't work).
It does stay a little bit tacky so you can use Claudines Multi medium on top to seal it, this also makes any little pieces of paper you might have missed disappear ;-)

The canvas is lovely and thick and frays nicely, and as you can see is sewable/stitchable ( are they even words??? LOL )

So that's my project, I hope you like it and find it inspiring :D
I used Prima Pastiche papers from Happy Daze, with a selection of prima flowers inked with Ranger distress ink in Fired brick and a prima pebble. I also added vintage lace, a piece of a vintage music score and used my sewing machine.
Edges were distressed and inked with Frayed burlap distress ink




















Now for the really fab bit :D
If you leave me a comment by 31st March you will be in with a chance of winning a set of Basic Grey stamps donated by the Craft Emporium - cool huh :D

AND if you leave me a link to your work inspired by my project you will have a second entry in to the draw - it could be stamping, playing with utee and alcohol inks, image transfer, sewing or just scrapping :D - Good luck everyone :D

The Next blog for you to hop to is the lovely Ania who will posting her project tomorrow morning (Sunday 21st) - now that's one to definitely check out :D

If you've lost your way hop back to Rebekahs place to get back on track :D

Hugs'n'birthday hoppy snogs,
Julie xx

Don't forget your invite....

It all starts at Rebekahs tonight at 7pm - just click the invite :D
Have you got your party frock ready yet????

J xx

Sneaky peek

oh here's a little clue aso what I will be sharing with you over the weekend :D


Don't forget to join in the hopping :D
There's even a prize up for grabs ......

Your invited ....

Its my lovely friend Rebekahs birthday this weekend and to celebrate she is holding a blog bash :D
so come along and join the fun ( just click the blinkie :D )

Julie xx

Tiddy Jiggy 6x6 swap

Ok, be gentle - this is the first time I have done one of these LOL
heres the full jiggy

Illuminated letter T









Metallic










Opposites











Rainbow - Turquoise










Music in black white and silver










Dragonflies (looks much prettier IRL)









I'll let you guess this one haha :D









Pretty embossing







and mine - vintage Parisian chic in pink black and cream - it's the only one I'm not very happy with LOL










I have to share this with you because it reappeared on a UKS thread -
I absolutely love this tutorial from craft weekly on maze books - the section on covering the chipboard covers is so good and give an amazing result :D


Hugs'n'altered snogs
J xx

Christening canvas

This is my present for my gorgeous great nephew Reece who is being christened today :D
Its based on one of my LO's my niece spotted of him on Facebook and loved LOL


How gorgeous is the sparkle on the Rock Candy Stickles I used on the pic above - frayed burlap distress stickle on the photo itself :D

I painted the canvas with cashmere acrylic paint then inked the edges with Frayed Burlap distress ink, I used Rock Candy distress crackle paint on the corners but it didn't really have much effect on the canvas.

I stamped the Fancy Pants design with the Frayed burlap too, then used the same ink and broken china on the Prima paintable paper.
I used my distresser on the edges and inked those too.

The photo mat is coredinations cardstock which I sanded back and inked.
Added lots of primas and some braid and grunged with ink and frayed burlap distress stickles.
I ripped a piece of pizza box for the title mat and tore offmostof the top layer, then inked.
My chipboard alpha was white so I inked that too and added a little bit of pearl paint dabber and distress stickles.

Found a couple of nice things for you to play with :D

Look at the fabby new online catalogue from PaperArtsy :o how lush are all of those stamps :D

I have also discovered these fab free vintage downloads on the Craft Stamper website:D


Hugs'n'snogs,
J xx