Women Of Strength (FSC Anything Goes)

Hello Everyone
This fortnight at Fashionable Stamping Challenge we are declaring Anything Goes. There are very few rules at FSC but we do ask that you include stamping on your entry and no digis allowed. You will be able to read the rules and also what the prize is on offer at the FSC blog.
I had this canvas which I had altered some time ago for DT art for The Stampsmith, never having got around to posting it  and realised it fitted the FSC theme perfectly. I had selected three stamps from the Cleopatra and Friends plate and I also used a stamp from Cartolina Postale, a plate consisting of four large postcard stamps.
Dimensions:- approx 11.5″x4″The detail photographs should show you a peek at the texture I built up on the canvas base and the layers of colour. Tags, seam binding, lace, cheesecloth, whatever I could get my hands on were all dyed. Little scraps of whatever were to hand were added. On the main photograph you will see I edged the bottom of the canvas with a wide band of delicious lace. Portia, my absolute favourite stamp from this set. You will see her, in particular, turning up on future artwork that I had also made some time ago.
Visit the FSC Blog and you will be able to view the amazing art created by my fellow FSC DT sisters.
As always have some fun with this challenge but please remember to include stamping.
Thank You for taking the time to visit today, your visits here are always greatly appreciated.
Wishes
Lynne

She Holds Wisdom In Those Eyes

Hello Everyone
This scheduled post is a short one, yes, you are allowed to brief a sigh of relief!
Today I’d like to share a tag I made for my lovely friend Dorthe using, to my mind, a beautiful image of a child which came from Trishia at French Kissed Postcards.  I have some other items to share using images from Trishia but today it is only this tag.This little girl captivated my heart, maybe it is the look in her eyes, does she not look as though she has years of wisdom. This image was available as a freebie from Trishia. Trishia is one of those incredibly generous women (June, you are another!) who provides images for free so we are lucky enough to be able to use them in our art. If you did not catch this image at the time then I am sure it will be available at the French Kissed Postcards Zibbet store.
Thank you for taking the time to visit today and I hope to be able to catch-up with you soon.
Wishes
Lynne

He Pondered, Oh To Be 21 Again

Hello Everyone
Today I thought I would share a birthday card I made last month for my cousin Christy who turned 21.
I turned to my faithful Oxford Impressions’ stamps using London Telegraph and the two other Steampunk sets (all are available either directly from Suzanne at Oxford Impressions or if you are based in the U.K. they are available from The Craft Barn).
I wanted to make a card that showed I had put some effort into making but at the same time, time was not on my side.  What was a time saver, when I’ve used those stamps for other projects I work in a particular way in that  I stamp up a bundle of images even though I know there will be too many to use on the project I am working on. I then keep the extras for when they will be needed in the future. So having those images already stamped and cut out saved lots of time.
I work in the same way with backgrounds. Preparing sheets ready to have to hand for when the stamping will get underway. This background is watercolour paper washed with walnut ink and then gently sprayed with homemade inks that I like to mix-up. Then I selected a bundle of stamps.  I wanted the symbol of the key as traditionally at the age of 21 the key of the door was handed over. I know this tradition doesn’t stand anymore but I still like the key as a symbol.  You will see that the first photograph isn’t true to colour.
Card size 8″x8″.
The following photographs are the true colours. They are fiddly but clock/watch parts are amazing for Steampunk projects. Did you spy the teeny piece I laid over one of his eyes?
The embellishments are a vintage Bingo counter aged with ink and a key was treated with Rusting Powder (again I had this stored in my stash). If you are using Rusting Powder it makes sense to work on a few items at one time and then store them safely. I prefer not to put Happy Birthday on a card front but for Christy’s card I wanted something to add. As my stamps are scattered around me my eye went to the words Celebrated Hats (one of the text stamps from London Telegraph) perfect! I only inked up as far as celebrate.
The clock/watch parts are also great additions scattered here and there.As with the recent Steampunk Tower (“The Inventor”) some of those cogs (or are they wheels?) actually rotate. Just to remind you that over at Fashionable Stamping Challenge we are still looking for Let’s Get Messy and Inky artwork. You still have time to enter this fun challenge. There is a prize for the winner so well worth entering.
Thank you for visiting this post. Sorry for the quality of the main photograph but hopefully the smaller photographs give you an idea of the colours, etc.
Wishes
Lynne

Greetings From Italy (The Stampers’ Sampler)

Hello Everyone
Thank you to all of you who have taken the time to visit this past week and for the lovely comments left for me to read.
This time last week I shared a canvas panel wall hanging with stamps from the beautifully stunning Oxford Impressions’ Venezia well for this post I would like to share some cards that use stamps from this same set.
Last year as I was working on DT work for Divas D’Este I was using a beautiful sheet of images depicting Italian scenes which I had printed onto vellum. As the image sheet was brimming with images once I’d completed the DT work there were still plenty left so I set about to make some more.  Once completed I had the notion to submit to The Stampers’ Sampler.
I made three cards including stamped envelopes and tied them with deep red ribbon.  Once I submit a project I put it to the back of my mind, there is no use fixating over it because you just never know what will (or will not!) catch their eye. I was over the moon that my Venezia collection of cards caught their eye and that they are a Feature Article in the latest issue of The Stampers’ Sampler.
I will share two of the cards.I wanted to achieve a dreamy appearance. The background is watercolour paper that I prepare with a mix of media. Using Distress Inks I was able to deliberately smudge the ink somewhat and tore text from a Venice travel literature book I have. I wish the colours had been more true to life that I had taken, unlike Sampler who photographed them so beautifully and it was lovely to see the full page photograph of all three cards bundled up and tied with the ribbon, just the way that I had submitted to them.
Wishes
Lynne

Let’s Partake Of Afternoon Tea

Hello
For this post I’d like to share the first piece I’ve made using some of the newest releases from Crafty Individuals. and also one of their older stamp sets, CI-340.
CI-350CI-353 (clock hands only) CI-354 and CI-340 Taking those stamps and also one of the Crafty Individuals image books I set about altering this quad slide mailer. Apologies for being photo heavy but I did employ a fair bit of stamping on this mailer.
The front cover was painted and I don’t know if you can see that I repeatedly stamped the clock face onto the base.  Stamped lace was layered and also used in conjunction with lace and gauze dyed in tea (appropriately enough!).As 3 o’clock approaches  (and the hands do move)the tea cups are laid out for afternoon teawith Polly putting the kettle on. Now open up the mailer Elements are repeated inside.Aren’t the lace stamps beautiful. I layered them with a band of real tea stained lace. Tucked inside the recesses with some beautiful lace edging the bottom so that when the mailer is closed this peeks out. Thanks for staying until the end of this post as I know it was lengthy and appreciate that when visiting blogs sometimes we do not have all the time in the world. Always know I appreciate your visits even if I am not always able to reciprocate.
Enjoy what remains of today.
Wishes
Lynne

Kindness That Is Anything But Random

Hello Everyone
Sorry I have been so quiet in blogland this week. I have deliberately taken some time away so please bear with me as I will visit you soon.
This post is to share some beauty I received in the post from two art friends, Lynn Stevens and Marjie Kemper. Both of those wonderful ladies sent me R.A.K.s. but as the title states, in my eyes they were anything but random, they were sent with such thought and love
Lynn sent me this tag which is brimming with Lynn’s style of stamping and Lynn touches of  distressed edges and perfect touches, fabric (it is so soft I can only imagine it is vintage) and a metal heart.Not only did she send me a piece of art, look at this tin filled with chandelier crystals, real crystals that catch the light so beautifully. These are incredibly special as they are so difficult to track down here, or at least I’ve found that to be the case. I’ve laid aside for special projects.Now if you know Marjie then you know that this tag speaks of her with its inky background, texture and Tim Holtz details.  The paper it is laid on she also gifted to me. It is so stunning I don’t know if I’ll be able to cut into it!This ephemera sheet was another gift.Thank You to both of you, that is not only gratitude for the gifts you sent to, the art you sent my way, it is also gratitude for your depth of thoughtfulness.
Wishes
Lynne

Adorn Yourself In Beauty

Hello Everyone
When my lovely friend Penny gifted a hand-carved stamp for my birthday I knew I had received such a special gift as not only was the item itself beautiful but it was useful (William Morris would be so proud of Penny!) and something I could enjoy time after time after time. With one thing and another in life I was unable to ink it up straight away but finally I managed to make this Thank You tag for Penny.
What struck me is that the stamp accepts ink so beautifully. I had selected a chalk ink pad and was sure I’d have issues with it and would have to revert to my trust Archival but nope, it inked to perfection.
Supplies
Image – Dezinaworld (Fair Ladies)
Stamp – Oxford Impressions (this is used on the tag base then I overstamped with Penny’s stamp)
Tag – Shabby tag from Crafty Individuals.
Adorn was stamped onto the tag base and then stamped onto a scrap of Melissa Frances paper and torn out to be layered onto the tag. June’s image seemed so well suited with the lady being adorned herself.  I had to further adorn the image with lace, fragments of Tissue Tape and lace and a shabby bow. The bow and fabric bloom were stained with ink. Thank You for visiting this post and for your lovely comments on the previous post. I will be returning to Venice shortly, hope you will come along with me for the trip!
Wishes
Lynne

Come Away With Me (FSC #26)

Hello Everyone
I had a break from the previous fortnight at Fashionable Stamping Challenge so it is good to be back amongst my DT sisters. This fortnight Shirley is asking us to Let’s Get Messy and Inky. We welcome all nature of art at FSC but please remember to include stamping on your entry and of course, no digis allowed. As always there is a prize up for grabs so definitely worthwhile entering the challenge.
For my DT sample I selected an 8″x8″ canvas panel as my substrate. Now you might look at the finished result and not imagine it to be very messy or inky but my hands are proof that it was!
Gesso, walnut ink (dissolved crystals), Walnut Tintz, cream and portrait pink acrylics were applied to the canvas panel before stamping. Then I applied a stunningly ornate mask to create the pattern.  From there on I applied Golden Glass Bead Gel to the edges and once hardened Antique Gold acrylic was applied.
It might seem pointless to go to such lengths to then cover up with a large panel of lace but it is worth it as the lace allows a peek to the layer below and adds depth and interest.

All stamps – Oxford Impressions – Venezia This is an absolutely stunning set of stamps.

Then it moved onto decorating the top layer of the panel.
Dyed in baths of tea and coffee:- main panel of lace and lace to trim
Dyed in bath of tea with Distress Ink Tattered Rose – seam binding
Stained with Walnut Tintz – tassel.All of the stamped images (including the man and woman) were embossed with Distress e.p. and gold e.p. then the edges had paint smeared onto them. The piece of lace also had some acrylic treatment. Seam binding dyed and tied into a shabby bow to decorate some pendants. More of the dyed lace.  A metal fan painted with acrylics. This bead (thanks Sue) reminds me of the lanterns in old style lamp posts. and a white tassel stained to co-ordinate. We look forward to viewing your Let’s Get Messy and Inky artwork – I am sure you will have lots of fun with this challenge and messy fingers!
Please visit the FSC Blog (link at top of post) to read our rules of entry and to view the incredible DT samples from the other Fashionettes.  Would you like to be a Fashionette? If yes, then there is a DT call. All details are over at the FSC Blog.
Thank you for visiting and have a lovely Sunday.
Wishes
Lynne

Where She Keeps Her Secrets

Hello Everyone
For this post I would like to share a box I altered using the beautiful Portia, this is the same stamp I used on the postcard I shared the other week. The stamp is from The Stampsmith’s Cleopatra & Friends set., fast becoming a favourite.
I cannot tell you the dimensions of the box because I forgot to measure it before I mailed it to a friend, possibly 4″x4″. The photograph shows the box tilted on edge.After painting the box I did some second generation stamping on the  top with a crackle stamp (Crafty Individuals) and the edges using a Carte Postal stamp (The Stampsmith Carte Postale plate). Lace was added to soften the appearance and a shabby bow and I made some little legs for the box.
Are you remembering that TSC is underway for July with Christmas In July as the theme. All rules for entry are available at TSC Blog (see sidebar).
Thank you for visiting this post. I hope to be back on Sunday with a new post and between now and then catch-up with your own art on your blogs.
Wishes
Lynne

Jean Has Amazing Blog Candy

Hello Everyone
A little post to share the news that over at Jean’s Crafty Individuals Blog there is amazing Blog Candy up for grabs. If you are a fan of Crafty Individuals then you do not want to miss out on this.
The link is at the top of the post to Jean’s Blog.
Wishes
Lynne