Truly Green: Garden Notebooks (Greencraft)

Hello
Greencraft, a Stampington & Co magazine which has become important to me and in the past year or so, I’ve been so lucky to have been published quite a few times.
This is a project which appears in a issue of Greencraft, a trio of simple notebooks, packaged simply with re-cycled brown packing paper. Brown packing paper is such a treasure!It was lovely, vintage floral images, from a Danish book, gifted to me from my lovely friend Dorthe, which inspired me to make a trio of notebooks and I had the perfect re-cycled item to make the covers for each notebook…..an old fabric covered storage box which had become dog-eared.By a stroke of luck, I was able to rescue six cut panels, providing me with covers to make three notebooks.When submitting to Greencraft, I am conscious of the materials I use, other than the paper pages and a few eyelets, I re-cycled or used vintage elements for the notebooks.
To give the brown paper packing a “lift”, simple tags made with scraps of old wallpaper with a stamped label from Red Lead Paperworks.Thank you always for your visit.
Wishes
Lynne

A Hint of Vintage (Jewelry Affaire)

Hello
Earlier this year, I had this collection of ear-rings published in Jewelry Affaire, a Stampington magazine which I’d been published in once before but not an article.  It was a huge surprise to receive an article request as submitting to this magazine was really just a challenge to myself, I had not submitted anything since that first time when the pendant was published in the gallery section.
The ear-rings followed on from some play time I had with vintage doilies (the hairbands and hair clips I shared recently).  I didn’t know if it would be possible to make ear-rings from the motifs but I had nothing to lose!

As you can see, only a handful of supplies were used to make each pair.

As with the motifs for the hairbands, they were treated (instructions are in the magazine).

It was kind of them to also include the packaging which was really only intended as a means to prevent the ear-rings becoming tangled as they made their way from Scotland to the Stampington office.

Thank you always for the time you take to pop on over here.
Wishes
Lynne

All Dressed Up (Greencraft)

Hello
Vintage doilies are usually near to hand for me, most often as a background for photographs but also, using torn pieces in projects or some ear-rings I made (need to check back as I cannot remember if I shared the ear-rings on my Blog).  It was around the time of completing the ear-rings that I still wanted to play with doilies, that’s when the idea of hairband and hairclips came into my mind.  Along with the vintage doilies, which would meet the criteria for Greencraft magazine, I also worked with beautiful re-cycled silk sari ribbon and old buttons.  I was so very happy when Greencraft contacted me with an article request for the hairbands and hairclips, with the article appearing in the summer issue of  Stampington & Co’s Greencraft magazine.

The set consists of three hairbands and two hairclips, all with a distinctly vintage air to them.

The ox-blood colours brings a nice contrast amongst the ivory tones.

The same handful of supplies were used throughout, playing around with placement.

This is the detail on the third hairband – only a detail because I didn’t take a photo of this hairband, by itself.

The motifs were all treated the same way to provide stability, no floppy motifs!

I do love a sweet vintage button!

Thank You so much for your visit to this post. I hope you are all having a lovely week and crucially, lots of art time.
Wishes
Lynne

Birthday Wishes

Hello Everyone
Squeezing in a quick post, prior to my regular DT post for That’s Crafty on Sunday.
There is no tale to share other than this card was made for a friend who celebrated her birthday last month.  I wanted a card that was feminine with a touch of whimsy!  The whimsy appears in the form of the Character Constructions stamps I used.  Now you might not associate me with Character Constructions stamps but it was either my very first blog post, or thereabouts, in December 2009, which actually featured Character Constructions stamps and then through connections with one of my first DTs, The Altered Element, I would at times receive Character Constructions stamps to play with.  In the near future I hope to be sharing more Character Constructions artwork as it has been the biggest surprise, a complete bolt out of the blue, to know I will be designing with those stamps!  I still might have reservations about Facebook but I am in no doubt that if it wasn’t for Facebook, the lovely Catherine Moore would not have learnt that I used her stamps.
If you are interested, below are the links for the Character Construction stamps
Queen of Tarts Plate 7
Mannequin Cafe 5
In celebration of the birthday she is wearing her most favourite dress along with a silver crown
and clutched in her hands, a banner to announce a Happy Birthday to my friend.
Many thanks for taking the time to visit this post.
Wishes
Lynne

Paint Your Dreams (Somerset Studio Gallery)

Hello Everyone
Let’s take a break from hearts, at least for the duration of this post!  I thought I would pause to share with you something which appears in the Winter 2016 edition of Somerset Studio Gallery.
I was so thrilled to have quite a few pieces published in this issue ranging from an article, Spotlight, Special Book Section and Gallery.  One of the pieces published in the Gallery category is this altered brush featuring Redlead Paperworks products. She Makes Art  is a Redlead essential, a stamp jam packed full of words/sentiments and it’s really this stamp from Redlead Paperworks that was the idea for giving this altered paintbrush a second and final incarnation.  I first shared this paintbrush HERE, in a post in 2014 but I was never happy with it.  At the time I knew I didn’t want to add embellishments but it was always severely lacking.The bristle areas stay the same.  Yes, there are other things I would tweak now but what’s done is done because I no longer have this paintbrush.  I never request for submissions to be returned, leaving it for Stampington to do as they wish with anything I submit to their offices.  I have no qualms about waving goodbye to anything I make because for me it is the process, the fun along the way, the challenges we always stumble across but once finished, I am happy to move onto the next idea in my head.The handle is where I tinkered around.  With blue spots either painted with my finger or dabbed on with a round sponge brush which I loosely scribbled around with a white marker pen.  Here’s the thing, I never seem to have great success with white marker pens.  Any recommendations would be more than welcome.  I’m sure those of you who art journal will have good knowledge of the pens/markers to seek out.Flipped over, the brush now tells us that she is a work in progress.  Realised I should probably have shown the images the other way around as it makes more sense to read that she is a work in progress and then becomes an artist although it could be argued that many artists would say that they continue to be works in progress, learning all the time.The girl is also from Redlead but I cannot provide a link at this time.  I cannot imagine she has been discontinued as she is one of those stamps many would instantly associate with Redlead.
The rope handle was painted to co-ordinate.Many thanks to Brianne at Somerset Studio Gallery for publishing this alongside so many other submissions and for giving me my first Somerset Studio Gallery article, Feathered Friends, a huge moment for me!
Thanks to you for taking the time out of your day to stop by, always appreciated.
Here’s to painting our dreams!
Wishes
Lynne
(Redlead have a sale on at the moment!)

Adopt The Pace Of Nature

Hello Everyone
Towards the end of April I shared with you the first of my samples for Darkroom Door featuring the stunning new Feathers stamp set.
This post sees me once again inking up the beautiful Feathers stamp set, or at least one of the feathers from the set.This time I added hints of  colour which I randomly applied to the Gesso painted corrugated panel and also a hint of salmon pink in the form of the torn piece of fabric tied into a shabby bow.As with my first sample I once again stamped onto muslin. Darkroom Door have many beautiful  quotes/sentiments/words included on several of their stamp sets. This is one I seem to be reaching for time and again at the moment.  On the first Feathers sample I only used part of the quote, this is it in its entirety.  Believe it or not, the quote was stamped onto Moose Poo paper! Blame my lovely friend Darlene, she was the one who sent me the paper pad all the way from Canada.  It is really great paper for nature themed artwork, I’ve nearly used all the pad. Already I have shared two samples using this set and there are still more to come, that is how much I am enjoying inking up the beautiful stamps.  I realised that one of the reasons I am so taken with this set is the adequate size of the feathers, most times feather stamps are on the small side to be the focal of a project.
Have a great week.
Wishes
Lynne

Once Upon A Time

Hello Everyone
Recently I shared with you a DT post for Gecko Galz (also a birthday card for a friend), a card made with a Spring Queens image. At the time of making the card I made a second card featuring another of the Spring Queens, once again doubling the card up as a DT sample for Gecko Galz but also for another friend’s birthday.
The wonderful Spring Queen image sheet is from their April product selection.

With it being a Gecko Galz DT sample, below you will find a supply list and instructions. 
Supplies
Gecko Galz Spring Queens
Star Crossed digital paper pack
Oxford Impressions Castle Keep
Prima flower
Martha Stewart Metallic Acrylics
Distress Paint Vintage Photo (Ranger)
Distress Ink Victorian Velvet and Tattered Rose
Memento Ink
Gesso (Golden)
Gel Medium (Gesso)
Instructions
Print Star Crossed digital paper onto white cardstock. Adhere to cardbase, distressing the edges. Further distress the paper with Gesso and paints the stamp Castle Keep images with Distress Inks. Blend with baby wipe then continue to add more Gesso and paint to the cardstock. Apply paint to edges.

I isolated Spring Queens, selecting this image, re-sized by enlarging it then printing onto canvas printer paper. Distress edges then adhere to panel of corrugated cardboard which has been painted with Gesso and paints.

Apply metallic paints to white cardstock. Stamp various images from Castle Keep.

Layer the Spring Queen panel to the cardbase, embellishing the card with the stamped elements and various papers (I used papers I had prepared for other projects).

Embellish the card with a Prima flower, torn and stained vintage lace and a piece cut from rose lace ribbon.
The canvas printer paper always adds a lovely texture to images.
As with the first card I made using  the Spring Queens images, I once again dipped into the Oxford Impressions Castle Keep set.
In real life the paints shimmer with metallic goodness in the form of coppers and golds which I liked set against the more chalky, Gesso appearance of the background paper panel.More layering to create this embellishmentThank You for your visit to this post. I always appreciate your visits.
Have a lovely weekend.
Wishes
Lynne

Build Me A Meadow

Hello Everyone
This post was drafted at the beginning of the year, always getting pushed back as I shared other posts with you.
The thistle wall hanging I recently shared with you was my team sample for the Crafty Individuals Challenge, Nature’s Beauty, but this seemed a good opportunity to share the card and share some Crafty Individuals links.
If you would like to enter the challenge then you can create any style of art:- altered, cards, tags, jewellery, etc, etc, but you must include at least one Crafty Individuals product.  Five winners will be selected with the prize of a Crafty Individuals stamp of their choice.  All other information can be viewed HERE.
This Crafty Individuals post sees me inking up one of their Linda Edward’s designed stamps, an elements set, CI-395
For this card I wanted a rustic feel to it yet also a pretty appearance at the same time. It is my favoured way of using floral stamps, where I can include natural elements yet still retain a pretty charm to them, anyway, that is always my hope, whether I achieve it is another matter completely!There is a lovely charm to the stamps in this set.
Although I have used each stamp as its own element they would work beautifully alongside another of her stamp designs stamp, CI-385Each stamped onto one of my all time favourite stamping surfaces.The same stamps used as on panel no. 1 except the composition of the stamps is showing them leaning towards the right.A gathering of pretty pieces to finish the card.
Thank You, as always for the trouble you take to stop by and visit my Blog.
Wishes
Lynne

My Beautiful Rose

Hello
Today I have my March DT sample for Gecko Galz to share.
I wanted a mix of textures for this card yet for the overall effect to be pretty and to bring thoughts of walking through a garden at the height of Spring, the sun shines, the birds sing their songs and there is the scent of roses in the air.

SUPPLIES
Gecko Galz In My Easter Bonnet 1
Crafty Individuals Postcard stamp
Canvas printer paper
Corrugated cardboard
Martha Stewart Paint
Golden Gesso
Golden Gel Medium
Versafine Vintage Sepia
Distress Paint Tattered Rose
Paper doilies, 7”x5” cardbase, paperclay roses, metal frame, paper roses, fabric, lace and burlap

I like the effect from printing onto canvas printer paper.A cluster of flowers and teeny pieces of lace and fabric.

INSTRUCTIONS
In Pic Monkey isolate this In My Easter Bonnet image, remove border and re-size. Print onto canvas printer paper, abrade edges and apply Distress Paint.
Tear corrugated cardboard to size of cardbase. Distress. Paint with Gesso followed by Martha Stewart paint. Adhere to cardbase.
Layer the image onto the cardbase with paper doilies (lightly apply Distress Paint) and embellish with the paper roses, paperclay rose, burlap, lace, torn paper, etc.
Stamp postcard onto found paper. Tear and tuck behind the cluster of flowers.
At top edge staple torn fabric and embellish with a metal frame and paperclay rose.

I have no doubt that the eagle-eyed amongst you spotted something very obvious on the card so I will hold my hands up and declare that I had to photograph the card before the silicone glue had dried. You see it don’t you, the drooping paperclay rose on the metal frame at the top of the card! After photographing I straightened it and it has dried successfully.  That’s what happens when you leave DT samples until the Eleventh Hour LOL.

Thank you for taking the time to visit this post.
Wishes
Lynne

Le Cirque (Published in Somerset Studio)

Hello Everyone
I cannot tell you how excited I was when Renee (Bolton House) shared the news that I was published in Somerset Studio.  My complimentary copy obviously had taken the scenic route to my home but finally it arrived this week.  It is such an honour to be published in any of the Stampington publications but I would say that Somerset Studio possibly has the edge in being the extra special one.
I nearly didn’t submit this piece as it is quite fragile but at the last minute I took the leap of faith that it would arrive in one piece.
I had made it some time ago but tweaked it somewhat by making it a bit more distressed and also emphasising certain aspects such as the edges and stars with vintage glass glitter and other touches of extra colour. The stamp set is Oxford Impressions’ Vintage Circus which is available direct from Austen Gallery or in the U.K. from That’s Crafty.
Many thanks for your visit to this post. Apologies for not having visited you, I am so far behind with my visits this past week.
Wishes
Lynne