A Cause For Celebration

Probably most people have a particularly busy month whether birthdays, anniversaries, etc. May is one of the busiest months for me.  So as May is rapidly coming to a close and everyone has now received their cards I thought I would share some with you.

Quiet Time

A birthday card for my friend Nicki. Like myself she loves to read so this image was perfect.

I Recognise That Face!

My two Aunts share the same birthday. You will no doubt recognise one of my all time favourite stamps on the card above. Never get tired of using this image.

Sweet Natured

Wear Your Best Dress

Finally Flora by Stampington & co,  an incredibly beautiful stamp.

 

A Few Words of Gratitude

Yes, two  posts in one day but this is a mini post to say how touched I am with all the stunning handmade birthday cards, gifts, presents and on-line birthday wishes I received today. There are far too many names to mention here but thank you all. Each and every one of you made my birthday extra special.

Love Lynne

Introducing The Bennington Girls

You may remember that I was the extremely lucky recipient of a tile book made by the incredibly talented Penny Bennington. On receipt of the book I knew I wanted a theme to run throughout the book and for each page to be relevant to the following page. So let me introduce you to The Bennington Girls!

Dorothy – Dot was the Mom to the twins, Josephine and Tallulah and her youngest, Daisy. She was a nurturer, whether dotting on her family or tending to her much loved garden. She brought the outdoors indoors and the scent of cut flowers would waft throughout their home.

Josephine (Jo) – Jo and Tallulah were the twins. Such opposites they were but despite their differences they were fiercely loyal to each other. Jo hated the name Josephine and insisted she be called Jo at all times although the cries of “Josephine” would resonate throughout their home if she were ever in trouble – a common occurence! Jo was a natural athlete and when summer arrived her favourite place was their summer retreat at Martha’s Vineyard where she would head outside at the crack of dawn.

Tallulah – As soon as she could walk, Tallulah could dance. Many an evening Tallulah entertained family and friends with her song and dance routines – certainly not the wallflower of the family. She always dreamed that one day she would become a professional dancer in Paris so when she came of age she boarded a ship to travel to Europe. Many a tear was shed as her family waved her off on her journey but they were happy tears as they knew she was embarking upon an adventure which would result in Tallulah fulfilling her dream of dancing in Paris.

Daisy – Sweet natured Daisy who everyone adored. Daisy’s love was the piano. Unlike her older sister, Tallulah, Daisy was not an exhibitionist. She would quite as happily sit by herself and play the piano, purely for the joy of it. Although at family gatherings there were cries for Daisy to play and the family would gather around the piano and music played late into the evening. All of the family treasured those times together.

Cousin Claudette – Claudette was the dedicated follower of fashion in the Bennington family. She had a talent at dressmaking. A mere look at a mannequin in a shop display or the latest fashion in a magazine spread and Claudette was able to run up copies. As well as copying she had the flair to create her own designs. She was also one of the first to raise the length of her skirt hem and to cut her hair into a bob. Later in life, not surprisingly, Claudette worked with several of the top Fashion Houses in NYC.

Aunt Gertrude

Aunt Gertrude – The Eccentric of the family. Gertie had three loves in her life: her dogs, writing and her family. No, make that a fourth, cigarettes. A plume of smoke always wafted around Gertie. Gertrude would bestow love and indulge the Bennington girls but for others, let’s just say that she did not suffer fools gladly! Throughout her life Gertie published many books, several of which made The New York Times Bestseller list. She also managed to work her way through several Agents – many she judged as too insufferable to work with. Gertie lived to a ripe old age of 102.

Time Spent With The Family

For this week’s artwork for The Stampsmith I selected an unmounted stamp called Family Tea. This stamp conjures up times when life was led at a gentle pace, families gathered together for afternoon tea and the sun shone every day!

For some reason it also makes me think about family celebrations, maybe of one the children is celebrating a birthday.

Although I used sepia ink this stamp is beautiful stamped in black and the image is also beautiful tinted with Distress Inks.

A Good Read

I’ve travelled the world twice over, Met the famous; saints and sinners, Poets and artists, kings and queens, Old stars and hopeful beginners, I’ve been where no-one’s been before, Learned secrets from writers and cooks. All with one library ticket To the wonderful world of books. – Anonymous –

Bliss for me is reading, so I was keen to participate in Gingersnap Creations challenge theme of “Read” .  Books have always been important to me.  My Mum ensured  I had a Library card from a young age.  Yes, I still have a Library card, its shabby appearance is testament to how well it is used.

For this challenge I used a page from Little Women and a quote from the woman herself ,which in my eyes tied in so well with the image by Oxford Impressions (based on the painting “Young Girl Reading” by Fragonard).

I distressed a book cover through tearing, sanding, painting, spraying walnut ink and Crackle Paint in Tattered Rose and Aged Mahogany. The book page I distressed using Distress Inks, water, scrunching, sanding, walnut ink spray and inking the edges. Embellishments were kept to a minimum, using only some crochet lace and some fine lace which I aged with inks and of course the Tim Holtz ticket which sums up the reading experience for me.

Update – I am so thrilled to have been made a Ginger Gem again!

Portrait Of A Lady

Today is my Mother’s birthday so decided to post the card I made for her. I may take my features and hair colour from my father’s side of the family but personality traits, my Mum and I are so alike, we can read each other like a book. I am incredibly close to both my parents but today is Mum’s turn for praise and heroine worship LOL.

Happy Birthday Mum – I am one lucky daughter to have such a woman as my Mum.

On seeing this set of stamps (there are various sizes of the same stamp in the set and also words) my Mum came to mind as the stamp could not be more perfect. When the novel by Tracey Chevalier was published, we both got caught up in the story. We are both avid readers and are fortunate that most of the time we share the same taste in books. So that is the reason for Girl With A Pearl Earring.

Love Is In The Air

For this month’s Product Challenge from The Altered Element I received the following to play with:

Character Construction Queen of Tarts stamp set, Twiddlybitz Funky Attic House, Rusting Powder, Deko Ice in Crystal, Amber and Green

I was delighted to see a Character Construction stamp set in the parcel as I am beginning to develop a bit of a fondness for them. For the first of the Product Challenges I am using the main image in this set, the stunning Balloon Dress.

 

As you can see on the close-up of the stamped panel (photograph below) the image stamps crisply onto the fabric. I intentionally kept the colours muted for a faded appearance.

 

Supplies

Distress Inks:- Tea Dye, Crushed Olive, Tattered Rose, Victorian Velvet, Rusty Hinge and Fired Brick

Cotton (I used old curtain lining), white tissue paper, Distress Re-inker Mahogany, Adirondack Raisin Colourwash, Versafine Sepia ink pad, green handmade paper, organza, remnant of net curtain, flat back pearls, heart shaped gems, decorative pin, tiny scrap of crushed velvet, green homemade spray ink, cork key.

Instructions

1. Sponge cotton with Distress Inks (Tattered Rose and Tea Dye). Stamp Balloon Dress with Versafine. Add colour to dress with Distress Inks.  Add a sweep of colour to represent the movement of the letters with Fired Brick.

2.Spray homemade ink onto tissue paper. When dry stamp Hero Arts French Script with Rusty Hinge ink.

3. Spray Raisin Colourwash onto tissue paper. Add some Mahogany re-inker.

4.Spray homemade ink onto lace panel.

5. Layer onto panel:- green tissue paper, green handmade paper, Raisin tissue paper and organza and stamped panel. Attach velvet scrap to panel with green decorative pin.

6. Embellish dress with heart gem and gold flat back pearls. Add more heart gems to panel and add the key. Hang from decorative hanger.

Land Of Make Believe

A few years ago I bought beautiful editions of Alice In Wonderland  and Through The Looking Glass. I got far more out of the books as an adult as I ever did as a child. Alice In Wonderland was not one of my favourite childhood reads, my devotion was towards “Charlie And The Chocolate Factory”, “Little Women” also the Famous Five.  Every now and then I will read books that are traditionally for  children, I could possibly blame it on my star sign, as Gemini’s are apparently Peter Pan types (!) but I say, good reading is just that and can be enjoyed no matter what stage we are in our lives.

Although I wanted a sense of the strange and wacky, I did not want wacky colours so kept to muted shades of green, mauve, lilacs etc with the chipboard swirls painted in Lumiere Metallic Bronze.

The close-up photograph shows the stamping in better detail and the layers created from a piece of lace which I sprayed with homemade ink spray and layered some pattern paper and handmade paper. The only other additions are a velvet rub-on and the paper roses and leaves entwined around the swirls, oh and last but not least a little tea-pot charm which I sewed on with invisible thread. The use of silicone glue helped to create a sense of depth to this piece.

Stamp Credit – Oxford Impressions “Wonderland” plate

Hollywood Glamour

When considering what stamp to work with for each week’s DT artwork for The Stampsmith there is a dilemma as they are all so amazing. Anyway, my choice for this week is The Bellydancer, an UM stamp. As I looked through my supplies I wanted anything that shimmered but still remaining tasteful to evoke old style Hollywood Glamour.

I settled upon some shimmery fabric which I wrapped around a tag made from recycled cardboard. Then layering some silver handmade paper, organza and beaded crystal trim. After stamping the image I dipped all edges into Deko Ice Crystal (available from The Altered Element) and tucked a marabou feather (available from The Altered Element) behind the image. An old clip-on ear-ring was inserted into the hole of the tag and a recycled crystal bead added to her outfit.

As I photographed the tag the sunlight was dancing off all the shimmery and sparkly elements.

Hopefully I achieved a glamorous look.

At Gingersnap Creations one of the Words of Inspiration for May is “Shine”, I would say she fits right into that category.

Pin Up

It is time for another Upcycle Challenge. Lynne from The Altered Element purchases an item(s) from a charity shop, sends to the DT members for The Altered Element and we are then required to upcycle the item. As the item is a surprise I cannot tell you how much fun it is receiving the parcel from the Postman and opening to see what will be revealed.

Here is what I received to Upcycle

Immediately I knew what I would make –

PIN BOARD

and a

MOOD BOARD

For the sake of photographing the board I have not completely obscured the board so you can see the paint and hopefully the Deko Ice.  In the evening, I switched on a nearby lamp, causing the Deko Ice to twinkle in a beautiful way.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. There is a lot of prep and several coats of paint but I wanted to achieve a distress look and it really is worthwhile taking the time to work through the stages. Also, it helps to have a heat gun to hand if you are slightly impatient like myself! Thoroughly prep the board with sandpaper. Apply 2 coats of Gesso. Sand in-between coats of Gesso and the emulsion (latex) paint.  Sponge heritage colour emulsion (latex) paint in Camisole Pink applying two coats. Then one coat of Tapestry Green paint. Finally dry brush a coat of Camisole Pink, aiming for some green to show through, especially on the edges.

2. Using a clear drying glue adhere Deko Ice in Crystal around the edges. Deko Ice is available from The Altered Element in a variety of colours. Now I am not a fan of glitter BUT this is an exception and quite unlike other glitters I own.

3. Mark out a grid and use ric rac to form a lattice shape. Use a staple gun to attach at the rear.

4. Hammer in 5 upholstery tacks.

5. Attach lace and fabric blossom to top of board.

6. At the rear create a hanging. I used two eye screws and wire.

EXTRAS –

Pin Board – The stamp set is Anna Corba French Labels which is available from The Altered Element