I'm satisfying my Curiosity .......... Compendium of Curiosities 3 - Challenge

Happy Thursday folks,

Can't believe it's nearly weekend .... again!!!  These four day weeks don't half fly by. 

I was determined this week to get something done for the new Compendium of Curiosities 3 Challenge which got under way last week.

Now I'm new to this challenge ..... a CC Challenge virgin you could say!  But, I love everything Tim Holtz and I've got the books so, when I spotted that the fun was about to start using the third book I just had to join in ... well it would be rude not to wouldn't it!

The challenge is run by the very talented Linda Ledbetter, and .... every two weeks there'll be a new theme based on one of the fabulous techniques covered in the Compendium of Curiosities 3.

There's also the Curiosity Crew who will be providing lots of inspiration for each challenge. And there's fabulous prizes up for grabs too ....... The first of the challenges is sponsored by .....
 

Inspiration Emporium

with a mahoosive 50 Dollars Gift Certificate .... WOW!

What is the first challenge then? .... well it's all about .....

Paint Marbling

There's not a long list of rules for taking part in the challenge, but one thing they do ask is that you don't post details of the technique on your blog .......  You'll have to get your own copy of the book to see all that ..... it's on page 43.

Here's my finished results though .....

 

It took me a while to get a piece of marbled card that I was happy with but eventually, after a few colour choices, and deciding on whether to go with white or manilla cardstock I got there in the end!

The beautiful face is from the Stampers Anonymous Classics #5 set (SCF005)

And the butterflies are done using one of my most used stamps, an IndigoBlu design which was actually a freebie from the Craft Stamper magazine .... ages ago. 
I also used a small butterfly punch, and one of the Movers and Shapers dies from the Alterations range.

The die cut and punched ones were all cut from a piece of paint marbled cardstock, and then I overstamped them using one of my favourite script stamps ..... from the Tim Holtz Letters to Santa (CMS053)

The words I added on a hinged section on the bottom of the tag, one of the sayings from Stuff to Say (CMS110) ..... another of my well used, and loved stamp sets!

To finish off I added the black bow to the ladies neck and some coloured seam binding to hang the tag by.
Hope you like it.

Challenge 2 will begin on Saturday .... I wonder what technique it will be this week!

Thanks for popping by today ..... I'm trying to catch up with everything before the weekend so you might just hear from me again later.

Cheerio for now

Linda

xx

2 for 1 and it's only the 4th! - No! Make that 3!!!

Good morning,

Happy Bank Holiday weekend to you all.  Only 3 weeks to go until I'm sunnying myself (hopefully) on the banks of Lake Como.

I see I have 2 more new followers - Hello and Welcome.  Thanks for taking the time to share in my crafty journey.  Only 3 more then it's Blog candy time!

I've been trying to get myself organised and schedule all my crafty commitments that need to be done before I go on my hols.  Hmmmm ........ how many hours are there in a day? ........ not enough by the look of things.  And, after a lovely catch up chat with Kay (Indigo Blu) last week, my To Do list has just got even longer.  Oh well, the Gelli Plate is going to have to wait a bit longer (sigh!)

Here's a little something I made the other day.  I really should have been tidying the old craft room but instead I found some bits and pieces on my desk, and a Penny Black stamp that's been sat there for a while, and here's what I came up with .......

Another tag!
I love my large tags, and can't you tell I'm hooked on doing the hinged versions at the moment.
This little sweetheart is called  Melle Papillon (Miss Butterfly - I think).
I stamped her onto my tag using Tuxedo Black Memento ink and coloured her with Copic Markers.  I then made a mask for her, covered her over and inked the cloudy sky background using Tumbled Glass Distress ink, and my trusty hand cut cloud.
I added a little bit of foliage around the edges using a Lavinia stamp with Rose Bud Memento, 1st and 2nd generation stamping, and a touch of black, 2nd and 3rd generation to give a more faded colour.

The bottom of the tag was cut away just above the bottom of her dress, and holes punched through both pieces.  I used large jump rings to join them together, but you could use fine ribbon, or twine or even just some wire.

 

I stamped some extra butterflies using a pretty little Hero Arts stamp, onto some scraps of previously inked card.  Cut them out, and attached them to the tag leaving the wings free, so I could bend them up a little to add a bit of dimesion.  A touch of sparkle added to her dress, and a sentiment from a Dylusions stamp set finshes everything off nicely.

As it's the beginning of the month there's a whole new set of Blog challenges out there.  One of which I came across through my good Blog friend Anne.  She's recently joined the Design Team over at Our Creative Corner and I'm so looking forward to seeing her creations.   The Blog Challenge has a brand new look and format, and there's some fabulous inspiration from some of the DT.

The theme for their first challenge is ......

ANYTHING GOES

So I thought I would enter my tag.

I'm also entering this into the Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge .  Their theme is also .........

ANYTHING GOES

Again, I found this challenge through a Blog friend, and fellow Indigo Blu DT member Jo.  She's also part of the DT for Fussy and Fancy - she's one busy lady!

Wow!  2 challenges entered and it's only the 4th of the month! What's going on!?  No rushing at the last minute.  Is this a new me?  No!  It's just lucky that they both had the same theme and it was perfect for my latest make.  Back to normal now.

I've got DT stuff to do next week.  Kay's back on the telly soon - 2 shows on the 19th (I think!) One of them is a Wedding show, and the other is all about Indigo Blu stamping.  Hmmmmm ....... Does that mean new stamp designs ............ I couldn't possibly say!

Speaking of DT stuff, I posted on the Creative Studios DT Blog yesterday.  Sam's got new stamps - yeah!!!   They're sooo cool!

I'll leave you to enjoy the weekend now.  Hope you have a good one.

Thanks for popping by.  Cherrio for now

Linda

xx

PS .......... You can't get rid of me this weekend ......... I'm back with a little extra bit 

Can you believe this ..... 3 challenges!!!  (I'm pleased to say Anne, it fit!!!)

It's the start of this months Penny Black Saturday Challenge, and guess what! ........ their theme is .......

ANYTHING GOES  (whoo hoo!)

My little Miss Butterfly tag is just perfect.  It's ages since I've entered this challenge, so it's nice to be back. 

I don't think I've ever entered a challenge and been the first one up there either - go me!!!  Don't worry, it won't last!

Right, I really am going now. Have a lovely day and I'll see you all next week.  

Cheerio!!!

xx   

Back again! This is really last minute .......

Hello again,

I'm certainly seeing April out with a bang.  I've been busy in the old craft room this afternoon, supposedly tidying the place, but I got a little bit distracted shall we say.

All month I've been meaning to do a little something to enter into the Country View Crafts Blog Challenge, and somehow I've never got around to it.
Since moving to the Isle of Man, Country View Crafts has become my favourite online place to shop for all my craft supplies. 

It's a fabulous online store.  Great products.  Best prices.  Really quick delivery, even across to the island, and it's free p&p too!
It's only their second challenge this month, (I was so disappointed not to enter the first one) and the theme is ..........

BUTTERFLIES

There's some stunning inspiration pieces from the Design Team on the blog, and loads of fab entries too.  The challenge closes tonight - in less than 5 hours actually.  So I'd better get a move on.  See, I said it was last minute.

Here's my entry .........

It's a hinged tag, made using the Indigo Blu Wild Meadow stamp set.

I cut my tag from a piece of white cardstock - approx. 3 1/2 inches by 7, and used Distress Stains - Broken China, Salty Ocean and Picket Fence to colour it.  I put the stains directly onto my craft sheet, spritzed with a little water and then dragged my tag through the stains.  I repeated this a couple of times to make sure the whole of the tag was covered, then dried it off with a heat tool.

Next, I used the stains to make 'splats' to add a bit more interest to the background .......

This is great fun but the ink can go everywhere, so make sure your craft desk is protected - no part-finished pieces of work lying around, or nice new paper pads (why am I telling you this? .......... been there, done that, wearing the splattered t-shirt!).

I stamped the grass silhouette across the bottom of the tag using Onyx Black Versafine, and the dandelion off the edge slightly.  

To make the hinged part I cut off the bottom 1 3/4 inches and made 3 small holes across both edges where I made the cut

The butterflies were stamped onto some cardstock  from my bit box, which had been coloured using blue shades of Distress, spritzed with Perfect Pearls, and then cling film put over the top and left to dry (one of my favourite techniques, I do use it quite a bit, so I've always got scraps of card left over).
The large butterfly is from Wild Meadow, the medium one came free with an issue of Craft Stamper, and the tiny one is a Hero Arts stamp.
The sentiment is from a Dylusions stamp set, stamped onto cardstock and then cut into sections.

I mat the two tag pieces onto some black cardstock, used a fancy border punch for the bottom edge, then joined the two pieces together with some large jump-rings.   I added the sentiment, and butterflies, just attaching the butterflies by the bodies so that the wings could be raised and add a bit of dimension.  I also stamped the large butterfly again onto acetate, and layered it over the top of the cardstock just to make him flutter that bit more.
I added a fancy metal corner and some co-ordinating seam-binding to finish off.  Challenge entry done - yeah!!

I'm also entering this into Hels Sheridan's Sunday Stampers - get me!!  2 challenges from 1 make.  Anyone would think I'd thought about this one (ha ha!)  This week's theme is  ............BLUE  I think it qualifies don't you.

Well, that's it for me today.  Hubby's just got in from work and he's brought me a little treat ........

Fish supper from the best fish and chip shop ever!  It's been a while so I'm going to enjoy these Nom! Nom!

Thanks for popping by (again).

See you all soon

Linda

xx

It's only words ........

Happy Thursday everyone!

Yes, I'm back from my latest crafty adventure ........ more about all that later.

Wow!  What a fabulous response we had to the first Indigo Blu Forever 21 Blog Challenge.  Thank you so much to everyone that took part, we had some stunning entries.  Well done to all of you, but as you know there can only be one winner.   Mr random.org did his magic stuff last night, and the number he came up with was ..... number 7

Congratulations! to Minxy ....... our first winner.  You're going to be getting your hands on that mahoosive prize.  Enjoy all your goodies.

Now on to this months challenge.  The theme for the Forever 21 Challenge #2 is .......

WORDS AND PHRASES

Same rules as last time .....

Entry must feature Indigo Blu stamps only

Only one entry per person

Enter the challenge via Mr Linky at the bottom of the blog post - challenge closes at 8.00pm on the 20th April

Winner will be chosen at random by random.org

Simples!

Here's what I came up with, hopefully to give you a little inspiration .......

For those of you that follow my blog, you'll already know I love my tags.  And, a current favourite thing I like to do, is to add the hinged bit at the bottom. 

My inspiration for this project came from an article by the lovely Hels Sheridan, in the March edition of Craft Stamper Magazine.

I loved the bright colours that she used - not what I would usually put together so I thought I'd give it a go.

I cut my tag shape from a piece of manilla cardstock (approx. 3.5inches by 7inches).  It's then been coloured using Picked Raspberry, Ripe Persimmon and Picket Fence Distress Stains.  The colours have been put onto a craft sheet then the tag has been swiped through the inks to create a marbled effect.

Once this was dry I stamped the background, using the script from Sarah's Choice in Picked Raspberry Distress ink, and the Itsy Bitsy Backgrounds stamped in Black Archival.

I stamped the bottom of the tag with the gorgeous lace stamp from the Mr Darcy set, again in black.

I then cut the bottom 2 inches off the tag and punched three holes, for the jump rings.

From the main part of the tag I cut out a heart using one of the Tim Holtz Alterations Movers and Shapers dies.  I covered a piece of white card with some of the Washi tape and placed it behind the cut out, to add a bit more interest.

My words came from the new 'B.F.F.' stamp set.  I've taken the 'friendship' sentiment and stamped it, using the Flitter Glu and Flakes, onto black card.  I've then cut out the two large words.  The stamping onto the white card was a little more tricky because there's no room to cut around the words.  You need to stamp this a couple of times, and the easiest way is to ink your stamp using markers.  That way you only ink the words you need, leaving lots of space to cut them out.

I stamped my favourite image from the Mr Darcy set, and added a touch of colour to her using the same Distress colours from earlier ............ isn't she pretty!

A paper flower in her hair, a bit of matting and layering, and the odd spot of doodling with a white gel pen finishes off the tag. 
Ialso coloured some vintage seam binding with the Distress Stains so that my ribbon would match the tag perfectly.

Why not pop over to the DT Blog for more fabulous inspiration from the rest of the Indigo Blu Belles.

Feeling inspired?  You have until 8.00pm on 20th April to get your entries in. Good luck!

There's another fabulous prize up for grabs.  This time it's your choice of Indigo Blu stamps - wow!
You can choose one of the following options .....
1.   2 large stamp plates (A5 size)
2.   4 small stamp plates (A6 size)  or
3.   1 large and 2 small stamp plates

How good is that!   Happy crafting!

Linda

x