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

I've been playing :D

I made two tags in the style of Tim LOL
I used distress inks, distress powders, cosmic shimmer mica powders, Perfect Pearls, Basic grey stamps, Prima stamps and Tim Holtz stamps :D

I'm loving this look :D









I also decided to alter a LO I did for a challenge on the last UKS cyber crop - I never thought it looked finished so I have grunged it up a bit :D I'm much happer with it now :D

Before











After













Thanks for looking,
Hugs'n distressed snogs,
J xx

Interesting finds...

Blog Candy, Blog candy, blog candy!!!!
here at the lovely Prima site :D
and I wonder what is behind these curtains :0 I'm so excited - something new from Prima which I'm sure I will NEED :D



If Basic grey fabric doesn't sound interesting enough how about BG digi ?????
I didn't know it existed :o but I think I might be a regular there LOL

I have been a bit naughty this week after meeting Tim ,Claudineand Suze so it will have to wait until next month LOL

Found a cute flower tutorial here which I'm sure will be popular because of the grungepaper flower frenzy thats going on at the mo LOL

And if you want to stick with the grungepaper ones and have SCAL or a robo visit Dan here for a free flower template

And if you remember the you tube video I posted of Tim using the I-top brad maker and Claudines sticky canvas??? I asked him where he got the fabby vintage images from and it was here - I haven't managed to find them yet but I did buy some fabby Alice in Wonderland ones for a project I have in mind :D

I also found this by Caroline which is exactly what I was going to do but she beat me to it LOL :D

This is a doozie of a blog post re copics:D

And lastly why not join Rebekah for her blog party :D
I will be doing something for this - not quite sure what yet though LOL

Off to play now with my new stuff :D

Hugs'n scrappy snogs :D

Julie xx

Quick, quick, quick!!!

gorgeous blog candy here but it ends today!!!

J xx

Claudine at work

Claudine Hellmuth was demoing her gorgeous Studio paints at stitches along with her sticky backed canvas.
The paints have a gorgeous creamy consistancy and are translucent. They looked amazing painted over printed papers such as news print, and because they have that translucancy can create beautiful layered effects.
There are only 15 colours in the range but she gave us an easy mixing guide showing 51 different colurs than can be mixed with just two colours and its downloadable here on Claudines website :D
They can be mixed with water to watercolour but still keep their beautiful colours due to the high pigment content.
You can use them on fabric and they will be washable - how amazing is this so far??? :D


The house on the left was Claudines CHA workshop - pretty huh :D
And the project on the right is a photo printed on the sticky canvas, the music paper is also printed on the canvas and has been stitched on to fabric. How cute would that be as a Mothers day project:D




These dresses are photos of Claudines mum printed on to the canvas - they are normally stuffed with padding when hung up but she removed it for putting them on the table :)







She also showed me image transfer using her sticky backed canvas by using a piece of laser printed paper or you could use scrapbook paper (I think you can use magazines and wrapping paper too!!) , but you it won't work with inkjet printers.
The image is stuck face down on the sticky side of the canvas and then burnished with a lolly stick. You then dunk the canvas in water and rub the paper away to reveal the transfered imageObviously because you place it face down you can't use any words but what an amazing effect (thanks for dragging me away from Tim and making me go and look Debbie :D ) If all the paper doesn't come off or you get fed up of rubbing brush some of the Studio gel medium on and the paper will disappear ;)

Its such a shame you didn't get to see her demo on QVC but check out her website and blog for some fab tutorials.

And did you notice the little blue organiser she is using in the first pic??
Its also a water container that collapses so perfect for crafting on the go or for anybody with limited space :D

The flowers in Tims grungepaper wreath also use Claudines gel medium - the printed paper was stuck down with this and then brayered so it was secure. The bonus being its a flexible medium so won't crack when you manipulate the grunge paper.

Check out Moiras HappyDaze shop for all of these fabby products and all Tims stuff too :D

Debbie took loads of notes so I can't wait to hear what she has to say about them :D

Oh and Claudine and many others (including Suze) at the show loved my kilt pin brooch with the buttons etc :D

Tomorrow I will share some of Suze's work :D
Hugs'n'snogs
Julie xx

More from Stitches

ok, I'm sorry to make you all even more jealous but here I am with Tim :D









and Suze with Moira










and Claudine









and here's the tag made especially for me :D





















A pendant made for me by Suze












and a memory glass tile with faux soldering with clear UTEE and red ink












I'll share some of Claudines fabulous examples tomorrow :D

Hugs'n'snogs,
Jxx