When A Few Alterations Are Required

Last week I shared three tags using Crafty Individual products. The shabby tags I used as a base are sold in packs of five  so after making the three Flapper tags with the travel stamps I still had two leftover to play with. As I had more Flappers (CI-322)stamped on the dyed, rose pink fabric I decided to make more tags using those leftovers. The two tags today make use of the other stamp in the set which is a dressmaker sign.
On the first tag I also used the dressform from stamp CI-306. This shows how versatile Crafty Individuals stamps are that they are so easy to mix ‘n’ match.The stamped dressform sits alongside some coffee stained lace, a teeny scrap of vintage ribbon and a vintage button with some ribbon threaded through it.
To create balance I also added  some of the same touches beside the dressmaking sign.On the second tag the dressmaking sign was again repeatedly stamped onto the tag.At the bottom of the tag I tied toffee coloured seam binding into a bow, this looks very pretty when the tag is hanging up. Using a tiny piece of the ribbon Marie gifted to me I teamed it up with a scrap of dressmaker tissue, beaded dangle and paper bloom.I have really enjoyed working on those shabby tags as a base, really like the size they are.
Tomorrow being the 1st of the month means there will be a new The Stampsmith Challenge theme announced and also the random prize winner for the Vintage entries, it would be lovely to see you then. Lynne x

Playful Sisters

To get published in any of the  Stampington & co publications is such an honour and what makes it even more special is to be in the company of  friends who I know via Blogs. The latest issue of The Stampers’ Sampler is also special because my lovely friend Debbie Kaste is now one of their AOCs, I couldn’t be more proud of her.
I submitted this card to Sampler’s Photo Shoot challenge call. Immediately I knew which photograph I would use on my submission. We have in our possession a very large cabinet card of my paternal Gran and Great Aunt which is such a favourite of mine. Although I stamped the year 1912 it would not have been exactly that year but it was the closest date I could find amongst my stamps, this was probably taken in 1908 or 1909.Using such a photograph made it all the more special to see my card in print.
Stamps used are from Oxford Impressions’ Winter Snow and Maiden Voyage plates.
As it is time for Pink Saturday, how quickly that always arrives, I will enter this card. Lynne x

Vintage Lovelies

Lynn (Trash to Treasure Art) recently had an incredible Giveaway to mark her 1000 Follower, yes, that is not a typo, Lynn has reached 1000 + Followers. This is a testament to Lynn’s incredible creativity and inspirational artwork whether she is tackling Steampunk, vintage, Hallowe’en, etc. She is also amongst the most generous bloggers.  Not only did she have an abundance of Giveaway prizes, she also selected some people who she would send an R.A.K. for having added her Giveaway to their sidebars.
This week in the mail I received a most perfect R.A.K. I had to laugh when I spied the piece of shorthand writing as I studied shorthand, much to my loathing but wished I’d saved all my books as I have been on the lookout for such pages. Also tucked inside a vintage book page, playing cards, flash cards and a gorgeous length of lace. Lynn also included a perfectly grungy tag with a favourite stamp of mine which is from Oxford Impressions’ Dressforms and Corsets plate.All of these pieces are quite perfect and I was thrilled to receive them. Lynn, thank you so much again for this wonderful act of kindness. Lynne x

There is Beauty and Joy Down On The Farm

This time last week I shared some of the glamorous 1940s ladies from The Stampsmith’s Isn’t She Lovely plate. As a contrast to the glamour of the polka dot cards, with their grown-up elegance, I thought I would share two cards using more stamps  from this particular plate, stamps that capture a time of innocence. These two young women have such a wholesome appearance to them that I couldn’t help but imagine them to be two sisters living with their family on a farm in rural America.  You can just imagine this girl being the eldest sister, she sits about daydreaming of the latest movie star and pop star. Her whole world revolves around her appearance, music and friendship, including the friendship of a particular boy. She has no time for her family only waiting for the hours she can spend with her girlfriends, probably heading to the local drugstore and gathering around the soda fountain. Whereas her younger sister is content with life on the farm, a bit of a tomboy at heart. Her best friends are the animals that surround her and oh the pure joy when the new litter of kittens were born.The K&co paper has a lovely appearance, reminiscent of fabric, a sort of country chic look to it which I paired with some gingham ribbon to reinforce the country look. The flowers and butterflies were punched from co-ordinating paper. On both cards I used words from the Say It With Flair plate.
I have many favourites from The Stampsmith, the Paris plate and also all three Flappers plates but I would say Isn’t She Lovely is a versatile plate of stamps to have. As well as the four glamorous ladies and the two girls above, there is also an adorable child, a couple and a Flapper.  
If you haven’t joined TSC Vintage theme there is still plenty of time to enter. Lynne x

This Must Be Underwater Love

It is time for another Divas D’Este DT project. I was in a dither as to which project to post for you but as the sun is shining I opted for the altered canvas which uses another image from the Vintage Bathing Beauties CS. You might remember I made some altered canvases and cards with this CS a few weeks ago. This is the final project using this particular sheet.
Normally when picking the theme of bathing belles, I lean towards the softer colours of the beach, sandy colours and soft pinks reminiscent of broken shells. Working with this image I decided to work with colours that are not my first choice but as I was looking at this bathing beauty a story unfolded in my head that it was a day like any other as she was partaking of her daily stroll at the ocean’s edge, the water gently tickling her ankles. She always found such strolls a time of reflection, times to treasure during the summer days. A man’s voice catches her attention, is this soul in trouble she asks herself.   Stepping further into the water his voice becomes stronger but mysteriously she cannot see anyone. The sensible course of action would be of course to call for help but a calmness washes over her as she dives deep into the depths of the ocean. Looking around this new territory she is mesmerized by the clarity of the colours, the shoals of fish swimming past without a care in the world, a myriad of rainbow colours.  Above her the sunlight dances on the water, crystal and blue.  Touching the ocean bed she has the sense that she is home and who should step out from the coral, her gentleman of course!
A tale of whimsy for my whimsical canvas.
As I mentioned with the previous Bathing Beauties canvases  I mounted the image onto chipboard, edging with ink and gently curving the image. The actual canvas was painted various colours, building layers by painting and removing some of the colour only to add another layer and then sanding. I also used decorators mesh to apply texture with paint before removing the mesh. The seashells are from Crafty Individuals The Sea paper pad, creating a frame for the top of the canvas and stamping one of their seaside stamps from the Crafty Elements set.The crystal and blue beads represent the water and then we move to the fish which are also from The Sea pad. Golden Glass Bead Gel was applied in various consistencies, dripping alcohol inks to colour. The bathing belle nestles in dyed gauze, shells and coral and seaweed.
So I will wave goodbye to the Bathing Beauties but they certainly have been lots of fun to work with. Lynne x

The Kindness of One

Cindy Adkins is renowned for her spirit of generosity on so many levels. She showcases blogs and artists at her Whimsical Musings On-line Magazine and she is so generous with sending out tags and other pieces of artwork to cheer someone’s day. Recently, Cindy has completely spoilt me as I received one piece of artwork after the other.
First I received this Parisian dressform tag.
Then a Parisian influenced collage with dressform. Cindy even added my initial to the collage and those beautiful flowers.Possibly the icing on the cake……This image is special to me. When I was on the lookout for an avatar I spied many beautiful images but nothing spoke to me until I came across this image. Many 1920s images are full on in their saucy attitude but I was looking for something more elegant and of course the fact she is dressed in pink helped go a long way in selecting her lol. For Cindy to notice this is my avatar and then to make a pendant for me is very special, is it not?
If you have not visited Cindy’s Blog then you are missing out on her artwork. Cindy has recently embraced re-purposing and sells the items at her Etsy store those items include frames, candlestick holders, etc.
Cindy, once again I say thank you for your beautiful gifts that did more than cheer my day. Lynne x

If You Plan on Travelling This Summer, Always Travel In Style

Last week I altered a tote bag for the latest Crafty Individuals Challenge. I liked how well the Flappers (CI-322) stamped on the fabric that I’d dyed so decided to stamp up some more and then layer them onto their beautiful large shabby tags. There are 5 tags in a pack and they are a wonderful size, what I would term as an outsize tag. They come softly decorated which means you can use them as they come or build up layers of stamping, ink, paint, whatever your heart desires.
For these decorated tags I used quite a lot of stamps. Some are individual stamps while others are Crafty Elements sets –  CI-322, CI-122, CI-124, CI-239,CI-238, CI-307 and CI-214
You can see that I chose to stamp onto the tags, building up layers of stamping with mainly postal related images.
The flowers you might recognise as I used some on the cards I posted just the other day. They were so relaxing to make that I made a batch of them. Here I used it to further embellish a florist’s pin.
As an alternative to a fashion theme I liked the notion that these women were from different parts of the world, Paris, New York and London so I teamed the Flappers up with the cancellation marks depicting those cities.
This woman has such a haughty look to her!
Stamping the cancellation mark and postal mark I layered them to create a stamped embellishment, tucking a scrap piece of fabric behind them.
I am taking part, once again in Pink Saturday and these will be my entry. Maybe I’ll see you there. Lynne x

It Takes A Heck Of A Lot Of Effort To Look This Good

Old Hollywood Glamour was the image brought to mind when I was stamping up these ladies from The Stampsmith’s Isn’t She Lovely plate.Wanting papers that would suit these images I remembered that in the Paris Nights paper pad there were two styles of polka dot paper. I also had polka dot fabric flowers which had obviously been lying in wait amongst my supplies until I needed them for these cards. All the words and sentiments are also from The Stampsmith, from the Say It With Flair plate.In those old movies the women were always perfectly put together, their hair perfectly coiffed, make-up impeccable and clothes immaculate. I am always fascinated when my Mum will share stories of the fashion from yesteryear and how they aspired to be as elegant as the movie stars and of course Jackie O. For these cards I wanted a sense of understated elegance, not cluttering the cards up with lace and too many embellishments but merely accessorizing with some flowers, ribbon and gems.
On the third card, taking another of the flowers I made, I perched it onto the side of her head as a fashion accessory.
The fourth and final card, Portrait of a Lady
In my mind polka dots have an air of the innocence about them but at the same time they can also look quite glamorous. It is a pattern which was popular in this era.
Just a little reminder that the Vintage challenge is underway over at The Stampsmith Challenge.  Lynne x

The Three Muses of da Vinci

Da Vinci is quite a fascinating man a Renaissance man, an artist, a scientist and inventor. As a stamper I was on the look out for some da Vinci stamps but could never make the decision as to which set to buy until I discovered a collection on E-bay. Once again, luck was on my side this particular day when I won the bid for a collection of wood backed stamps.  I’ve been meaning to share some of the cards I made when I bought this set some months ago. The cards today are what I will terms as da Vinci’s  “muses”.
For all three cards watercolour was stained with a combination of walnut ink (crystals dissolved in hot water), plum walnut ink and my own spray ink. I like the texture that watercolour paper gives to a card and it is always the best choice when layering washes of colour.
The first card I call Serenity. Two beautiful text stamps make up the backgrounds.Tissue paper appears on most of my collage style cards as it adds texture without any heaviness/bulk and can be so easily transformed. These pieces were leftovers from the “They Carry Secrets On Their Wings” cards.  Embellishing the card I painted a fabric flower before stamping with the da Vinci text stamp, tucking a piece of tissue paper behind it.
For this card, Grace, tearing a piece of stamped text I layered it at the top of the card, adding teeny pieces of mica tile. Always keep the smallest scrap of mica tile. More tissue paper appears layered with scrap lace and bronze pearl.The final card called  Hope  uses the same text stamp to create the background as on the first card. By stamping an architectural style stamp, cutting out part of the image, layering mica over it, this creates an embellishment for the bottom left corner, tucking some scrap lace beneath it. So those are da Vinci’s Three Muses, another time I will share the cards I made with the same supplies but with a more masculine feel to them. Lynne x

The Sound Of Wedding Bells (TSC#18 – Vintage)

Thank You to everyone who participated in the Christmas Challenge but we  are moving on from Christmas as it is now time for another challenge theme at The Stampsmith Challenge. I am hosting this particular challenge and decided to go for a theme that I particularly love and is also very popular – vintage.  As it is the 15th of the month we are looking for at least one of The Stampsmith stamps to appear on your artwork. For this theme we want to see your interpretation of vintage, will you choose a dark style of vintage, or a soft, faded romance appearance to your art or possibly somewhere in-between.
The stamp I chose for my DT sample  is from Wedding Bells, forming the focal in this hanging which measures 11.5″ (excluding hanger).
The net and lace I stained in baths of tea, coffee and walnut ink to achieve different strengths of colour.
As vintage and distressing goes hand-in-hand, that is what I did to the photograph, roughing up the paper with an emery board, scissors and then adding Distress Inks. Bringing some softness into the image I tinted the bride’s veil and the flowers in her hair, adding some blush to her cheeks, watercolours were applied to achieve this.  A touch of blue lace to bring out the blue in the flowers and after all, all brides need “something blue”.
Embellishing the hanging with a vintage label (thanks Trishia!). This was scanned, re-sized, printed onto cardstock and aged. A customised stick-pin, adding pearl beads and fabric rose. The pearls representing the pearls that the bride is wearing, possibly “borrowed”.Why not visit TSC to see the other DT samples and the rules for entering your artwork. We would love to see your Vintage artwork entered into The Stampsmith Challenge. Good Luck with the Prize Draw! Lynne x

An extra little note. Over at Bella Creations there is a Bella Unique Challenge where they challenged the Bellas to make stickpins, so I will upload this vintage hanging there. The Bellas always extend such a warm welcome if anyone would like to join in the fun.  I will also upload this to Pink Saturday. L x