Home Sweet Home

This week over on Bubbly Scrumptious I created a cute little canvas in the style of Claudine Hellmuth with this fabby set of chippies from Tando :D

The canvas is just a cheap one I bought in a local shop, which I sponged blue and green acrylic piant on to give me my back ground.

Next I covered the chippies with Claudines sticky backed canvas and cut round them carefully with a craft knife - not a quick or easy job, but worthwhile :D I left the edges a bit rageddy as I like the worn look

I didn't attempt to cover the fence or the gates as they were just a bit too fiddly to cut around, so painted them with my white pearl acrylic dabber.

I used a mix of acrylic paints and Claudines paints tocolour the shapes and left them to dry.

I set them out on the canvas and when I was happy with the composition glued them down with matte medium. I added small pieces of chipboard behind the overlapped shapes to add some dimension.

When everything was dry I used a black marker pen to add faux stitching and detail.

I wrote on some small pieces of canvas, stuck them down and added faux stitching.

The cloud was a left over from my i-pod cover from my previous post using the transfer technique.

I finished it by sticking down buttons and lace with the matte medium.

Claudines products are fantatsic to work with and so versatile.

Hugs'n'snogs,

Julie

How about a little sneaky peek tonight???

Yes its more from Stitches but its so exciting :D
Moira, Carol and myself were so excited when we came to this stand and found lots and lots of prettiness :D

Does this picture help??? Let me tell you, we started off unsure of having enough for the minimum order, but poor Moira ended up having to add to it when we found more pretties :D

There was smoke coming off that credit card I can tell you LOL :D
Now I know the lovely items have landed in Sheffield, so its time to stalk the SHOP, BLOG, FACEBOOK and now TWITTER to see when they appear in the shop!!!

I don't think they will be there long so keep your eyes peeled for some lush embellies to adorn your projects, whether its cards, scrapbooks or altered art.

Hugs'n'sparkley snogs,
Julie xx

Should I be mean???

..........and not show you any more pics???





Oh go on then LOL :D
so what do you want to see??? more pics of Selfridges??
Me??
T!m????

Oh I see what you want now!!! humph!What??? were you expecting a pic of T!m himself???? I was too busy watching him work sorry :-(














Oh but wait............... whats this????



Its T!m!!!!
:D

Hugs'n'snogs,
Julie xx

Repurposing anyone???

How fabby are Janettes creations on THIS POST????
I'm loving the house keys :D

I am having issues with my next videos from Stitches as they are too long for youtube - so if anybody has any suggestions let me know because I really want to share them with you all :-(
Oh well - here are some pics from Stitches to keep you happy for now :D





And thats just the Sizzix booth!!!!! more to follow ........maybe a few pics of T!m and his new products if anybody wants to see them???

Hugs'n'snogs,
Julie xx

Batik Bridie canvas fun :D

Don't you just love finding new ways to use products you already have??

I do anyway :D

I saw Tim Holtz demo this technique at the weekend and was desperate to have a go :D

I cut a piece of Claudine's sticky backed canvas to the rough size I wanted, peeled the backing off and stuck it to my non stick craft mat.

I then took a very small amount of Claudine's multi matte medium and spread it on to another piece of the craft mat.

I coated my chosen stamp in the medium by swizzing it around on the mat until i hadan even coat,then stamped on to the canvas

Make sure you clean your stamp immediately as the medium won't come off your stamp once dry!!!

I gave the canvas a quick blast with my heatgun to make sure it was dry,then started inking with my distress inks.

Once you have the effect you want take a slightly damp cloth and wipe over the stamped image and the ink will be removed from the medium. As its a matte finish you can't see it on the canvas and it looks like batik fabric.

I painted a piece of chipboard with Tim Holtz Crackle paint, blasted with my heat gun then highlighted the cracks with more distress ink.

I then stamped over it with black archival inks and added a quite on an extra inked piece of canvas

When dry I added distress stickles and spritzed with cosmic shimmer mist .

For the hanger I took a piece of american seam binding and coloured it with my distress ink by squishing the ink on my non-stick mat, spritzing with water, then rubbing the binding in the ink, crumpling up, an d drying with my heat gun.

I punched holes with my cropadile,threaded the binding through and tied it in a knot behind the chipboard.

Add some distress stickles and a few metal charms coloured with alcohol inks and your done:D

How fun is that???

Now of you go to play :D

Hugs'n'snogs,

Julie xx

Stitches part one!!!

Well I was so lucky to accompany Moira from Happy Daze to Stitches at the NEC Birmingham this week and would like to say a HUGE thank you for the invite :D
It was a fab weekend, not only did I get to see Moira and Carol again but I also got to ooooohhhh and ahhhhh over Tim's amazing creations :D

Now before we went Moira asked me what I thought about the new distress stains and I had to say.............not much really!!! LOL

well how wrong was I????
They are not just distress ink pads or re-inkers re packaged they are a whole new entity of their own!!!
They are very intense colours - way more than inkpad - it would take you forever to build up that intensity!!!

well here's the first of three videos I have for you.............apologies for the poor photography .......I'm a very short crafter not a camera man after all LOL :D



Did you spot Carols amazing spoon ring??? and Moiras gorjuss sparkley nails??? good job you can't see my yukky nails!!! LOL

I love the amazing technique for the faux batik!!! and Carol is lucky enough to own that tag so if we ask her nicely she might just take us a fabby close up shot!!

Stay tuned for the next one coming soon - I promise :D

Hugs'n'inspired snogs,
Julie xx

Sooooooo, a needle pulling thread.............

Sooooo what do you think hgappened tomy i-pod this week??

Well if music is the food of love play on and I love anything with a sewing theme so I used Tims stamp :D

I started with a plain white plastic cover I bought off e-bay for my precious i-pod and gave it a coat of white gesso to prime it

Next I coloured it with beige acrylic paint and left it to dry.

I stamped the Tim Holtz stamp with archival ink and tinted parts of the image with promarkers.

I added some distress inks with a sponge and dried off with my heat gun. I knew they would lift with anything I coated them with as they are water based and don't dry properly on acrylic paint, so I dabbed on Claudines matte medium with a sponge, building up layers as it dried.

Next I used Claudines sticky canvas and used the same transfer technique with patterened paper as I did last week .

I glued this down and sections of vintage lace with the matte medium and left it to dry.

I added extra stamped stitches then grunged up the edges with the black archival ink

The embellies are stuck down with a combo of the matte medium and glossy accents.

When everything was nice and dry and sealed with the matte medium I added distress stickles.

I'm hoping to see the amazing, most wonderful, and uber talented Tim at the weekend and hope to share this project wsith him :D

Why not customise your gadgets? just find a cheap cover on ebay and go wild :D

Hugs'n'snogs,

Julie xx

I have had this Maya road chippie for a while and it suddenly hit me when I was looking at my Claudine Hellmuth sticky canvas what I should do with it :D

This is a little wall or door hanger made specially for my little niece Jess :D

I started by drawing around the chipboard on to the sticky backed canvas and cut out so that it was slightly bigger than the chipboard shape.

I placed the sticky side down on the patterned side of the paper I had chosen ( K&co Cut and paste) then burnished with the back of a spoon. I gently scored the paper, dunked in a dish of water and rubbed away the paper to reveal the pattern adhered to the canvas.

When all the paper was removed I enveloped it in a towel and ironed it dry.

I then stuck it on to the chippie with glossy accents - my fave glue as its really strong and dries fast :D

I coated it with Claudines multi matte medium when dry as this hides any little pieces of paper you might have missed when you removed it and makes it look neater. You can fray the edges if you like but I would do it before you seal it with the medium

I inked the edges with a chalk inkpad then used Viva Decor stamps using the same ink pads.

My letters were coated in versamark the dipped and heated in cosmic shimmer utee - what a gorgeous shimmer it gives YUM!!

Please excuse the still wet glue on the pic!!!

But how nice is the texture on the canvas - this has to be one of my fave techniques :D

I added a transferred canvas butterfly with some perfect pearls, Prima flowers, gems and buttons.

The T-shirt chippie was meant to be in a mini book so had a hole punched on one side, so I added another hole and a ribbon to create a hanger.

Most of the ingredients are available from Caroline at BUBBLY FUNK :D

Well, I got a lovely suprise today :D

I spotted a gorgeous bag and fell in love with it on my last trip to Carlisle bu Disaster Designs but my hubby wouldn't byme it LOL

Well the lovely girls I work with gave me a belated birthday prezzie today - we were meant to be going out for a meal (which is when they planned to give me it) but I was ill, so today I received this....

Thank you Kerry,Kell and Lou :D

You have made me a very happy peep.............its defo coming to Birmingham with me next week :D

Hugs'n'snogs,

Julie xx

Check me out...........

....... :D
I'm on the Tando BLOG today :D
Woop woop :D

My next bit of news is Scrolls Work Stamps is holding another comp over on their FACEBOOK PAGE :D
pop one over and tell them I sent you :D then repost to your friends and ask them to do the same :D
The person with the most referrals by Friday 11/2/11 will win a $50 grab bag of stamps :D

Also a HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Jacque who is expecting her second child :D Huge hugs to Jacque and her family who are really excited about the fantastic news :D

Hugs'n'snogs,
Julie xx

Lush Leafy necklaces

Hi everyone,

apologies for it being jewellery again from me but when I received these lovely leaf Tando chippies from Caroline at Bubbly Funk I just had to do it :D

I was inspired by a necklace I received as a Christmas prezzie which has a lovely sparkly feather hanging sideways with a little dangley section at one end, so thought I would try and recreate it my way with..................UTEE :D

I painted the small chipboard leaves with Jenni Bowlin brown sugar acrylic paint.

I added holes to three of the leaves with a hand drill and smoothed it off with a nail file.

When dry spritzed them with Cosmic Shimmer mist in Golden Mint and left it to dry.

I then wrapped around artist wire creating a loop at the small end and leaving a nice long piece at the other end so I could use it as a handle for dipping in the utee.

I inked a Viva decor swirl stamp with versamark ink and put to one side

I heated some clear utee in my meltpot - you could do this with e foil tray if you wanted but heat from below so that your utee doesn't blow everywhere. When completely melted I added a little bit of Cosmic Shimmer utee in Tropic Pearl and Lapis Jade and swirled together with the end of a brush.

I dipped the chipboard shapes in until completely covered then removed and placed on an acrylic block, while hot I pressed in the swirls stamp to create some texture.

When cooled I created another loop on the end of the leaf and would the excess around the centre of the leaf randomly as I had done earlier (now encased in the utee)

I trimmed the edges of the utee with small sharp scissors and a craft knife until I was happy with the shape then smeared on some Distress Stickles in bundled sage and antique bronze.

I then slid it on to a neckwire I bought in my local craft shop and added more wire to hold it in place, added a few trimmings and some dangley beads :D
The second necklace was exactly the same except I drilled a hole in one end and threaded wire through to create my loop.

I love the texture of the stamped utee and the added sparkle of the cosmic shimmer utee :D

Hope they inspire you to have a go with utee - its so much fun :D

Hugs'n'snogs,

Julie xx

Its HERE!!!!!

CHA that is :D

Apologies,I lost my way with the senak peeks I'm afraid - it was my birthday so I got a little bit ditracted by prezzies and a delish New York style baked cheesecake that my lovely hubby had delivered for me :D
nom nom nom :D and even better .............hubby didn't like it so it was ALL MINE :D

Anywho, CHA is underway in LA and I have spotted a few cracking items already ......

Loving the Hambly washi tapes check out the rest of their new items ontheir BLOG

Love these Graphic 45 stamps

and check out Rangers booth on their BLOG no prizes for guessing this is Tims display LOL
Oh I can't wait to see new items in real life and touch them at Stitches in just 3 weeks time!!!
The man himself will be there, but I have promised Moira faithfully I will do more than stand gawping while he demos this time LOL :D

I'm a little bit sad that Claudine and Suze won't be there this year though :(

I'm hoping to bump in to Caroline from Bubbly Funk but if you are going please say hi if you pass me :D

Hugs'n'snogs,
Julie xx

Steampunk style grungeboard choker

Well what a busy week last week was, but I nearly got this choker finished for you LOL :D

I haven't added the findings yet as I'm waiting for some ribbon to arrive.

I started with a strip of plain GRUNGEBOARD and painted on slighlty watered down VIVA DECOR INKA GOLD in graphite - I mix it on the lid with a water brush until its a nice creamy consistancy and paint on a few layers.

When its dry buff with a soft cloth or tissue.

Next I stamped my ScrollsWork gears stamps inversamark ink randomly all over the grunge and embossed with Tim Holtz DISTRESS EMBOSSING POWDER.You have to be patient with the distress powder and wait until it cools or it will all brush off.

I repeated the same on a grungeboard disc - when I heated it it curled on the edges turning it in to a dish shape, so I took advantage and added melted clear utee to make a pendant and added some watchparts and a metal flower.

I punched holes in the choker section to add the chains and rings which the ribbon will be attatched to, and added some flowers made using my DICHROIC TECHNIQUE, prima say it in studs centres and a metal dragonfly.

I love this grungey but pretty look and the mix of textures and metals.

Hugs'n'snogs,

Julie xx

CHA SP update 6...........

Oooooooooooo well I shared a little pic from Websters pages but go and see for yourself...... LADIES & GENTS and YACHT CLUB.............. I'm in love with the Ladies and Gents!!

Sparkling spring from PRIMA and some lush flowers again, love the petticoat flowers.


Wendy Vecchi has more fabby stamps on show and from her Facebook post it looks like there is going to be something pretty exciting coming tomorrow!!!

GRAPHIC 45 has some lush metal embellies!!

Ooooooo what will tomorrow bring folks????

Hugs'n'snogs,
Julie xx

P.S. T!ms just added his 4th sneak HERE ;-)

CHA SP update 5...........

OMG Graphic 45 have teamed up with Hampton arts...............SO...............STAMPS!!!
I wonder if they will release stamps for their past collections??? I hope so!!!

**edited to add I asked the question on facebook and here is my reply............

We (Graphic 45) & Hampton have partnered together to make stamps for our following collections: Communique, Fashionista, Le Romantique, Christmas Past (wood), and Steampunk Debutante. Look for these stamps at your LSS that sell Hampton Art Stamps.

T!m has evenmore dies!!! loving the words!!!

Claudine has something up her sleeve but isn't giving anything away yet!!!

Maya Road are also being a bit shy but have posted this photoAND check out their facebook page for the most amazing opportunity......your work could be on display at CHA and you could also win a goody bag!!!!

Oooo and looky at the image Websters Pages have added to their facebook page!!!And HERE is the new Glitz catalogue!!! Love them all!!!

I am loving this seasons new releases..........are you??
What are you craving???

hugs'n'snogs,
Julie xx

CHA SP update 4...........

Now we are rolling!!! LOL

Websters Pages have released a sneak of their COUNTRY ESTATE

Tim snook on late last night and added fabby pics of his

Say hello to My Minds Eye STELLA ROSE and LUSH

The next set of stamps from WENDY VECCHI

A good look at Graphic 45 CURTAIN CALL -------------Yummy!!!!

Studio Calico COUNTRYSIDE
and lots more on HERE including Teresa Collins

And last but defo not least .....................PRIMA has done it again!!!

and thats just a teeny selection!!!

lots and lots to drool over today :D

Hugs'n'snogs,
Julie xx
P.S check out T!ms blog again for todays update :D

CHA SP update 3...........

The first of PRIMAS new papers and check out those Dechire flowers .............I'm in love!!!

a closer look at Graphic 45s LE CIRQUE

and the first of Wendy Vecchis new STAMPS

Oooooo and a drum roll please ............ 7 Gypsies


Have you found anything nice???

Hugs'n'snogs,
Julie xx

CHA SP update 2...........

Ooooooooooooooooooo lookie lookie - Graphic 45
Le Cirque
Curtain Call Best CreationInc Travel Line scrapbook papers

Can't wait to see the Graphic 45 lines in all of their glory :D
Hugs'n'snogs,
Julie xx