Compendium of Curiosities 2 - Week Three

We're already at Week 3 of Linda's challenges taken from Volume 2 of Tim Holtz' Compendium of Curiosities. Visit Linda's Studio L3 blog to see lots of lovely examples of this week's technique from  page 46 - Marbled Stains. Eclectic Paperie are kindly sponsoring the challenge with a gift voucher.

I used Pine Needles, Tumbled Glass, Scattered Straw, Wild Honey and Picket Fence Distress Stains. I've chosen to use the Tim envelope die again and have decided to do so where possible with all of these challenges, so that I will end up with a pile of envelopes each with a label inside describing the technique. Then I guess I'll have to make a box to hold them all !

The colour of the envelope suggested to me that I should fish out my Artistic Stamper peacock feather stamp, and I've used Indigo Blu glue and their Yorkshire Dales Mega Flakes to decorate the envelope.

A woodpecker has always been a regular visitor to the feeding station outside my kitchen window. I had a marvellous opportunity the other day to get a great photo as he was this side of the feeder showing off his lovely plumage, but of course my camera was not to hand, so this is the best I have managed so far.

Woodpeckers are omnivores and known to attack the nests of small birds such as bluetits, taking eggs and newly hatched babies, so it always amazes me that the other birds don't seem at all perturbed by his presence at the feeders. Yesterday I couldn't get the camera out quickly enough to capture him peck violently at a bluetit who had dared to alight on the peanut feeder beside him. The woodpecker continued feeding by hammering against the peanuts with a tuft of bluetit feathers stuck in his beak, and the bluetit was apparently unhurt but had opted to eat from the nearby fatballs instead.

Compendium of Curiosities 2 - Week Two

This week Linda over at Studio L3 has invited us to try out the Faux Patina technique which features on page 58 of Tim Holtz' Compendium of Curiosities Vol 2.

I wanted to try out my new TH envelope die on glossy card but thought the card might crack. However it worked a treat and in fact has made quite a robust envelope. The flowers are Tim metal ones and the colours I've used are Stream, Lettuce and Sailboat Blue with Pearl mixative.

Compendium of Curiosities 2 - Week One

I was delighted to hear that Linda at Studio L3 was going to start a new series of challenges based on Tim Holtz' recently published Compendium of Curiosities Vol 2; and happily, my copy of the new compendium, ordered back in February, has arrived in the post just in time for me to join in the first challenge. I loved doing all the challenges set by Linda from Vol 1, so hope to complete all those in number two. Simon Says Stamp is sponsoring this challenge with a US$25 shop, so am keeping my fingers crossed for a win some time soon !

This week's technique is how to make custom foam stamps, and comes from page 66 of the new Compendium. It's a technique I've used before when making some of Tim's Christmas tags. Here I've made a stamp of one of my favourites, dear old Umbrella Man. I'm not a great one for Union Jacks and monarchy, but as this year is a special year with the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of 60 years of the Queen's reign and gives us an extra public holiday, and is also the year of the London Olympics, I couldn't resist the Artistic Outpost and Crafty Individuals stamps, and a flurry of red, white and blue inks and pastels. I guess amid all the doom and gloom of these times of recession, a bit of celebration will do us all some good.

I used Chipped Sapphire and Barn Door distress inks on a mask for my background. Umbrella Man is stamped with my foam stamp and Versamark and coloured with red Pan Pastel. The rest of the stamping is in black and crimson Archival. The little gold crown is embossed in the wonderful Ranger super fine gold EP. The whole tag is covered in Paper Artsy's Satin Glaze to fix the pastel.

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When I'm going to be using paints, I usually decamp to the kitchen where spills can be more easily wiped up. So this morning, this is the sight that greeted me. I had been making a birthday card using metal tape and acrylic paints as Tim did in Tag No 6. Finished card on the left.

Front right, a packet of tissues. Have gone through several of these as I have a dreadful sniffy cold. I feel OK, but this is day seven and I am fed up sneezing and blowing my nose, and having red flaky skin at the side of my right nostril. Ugh ! The crumpled white paper in the middle is kitchen towel - not a used tissue !

Also on the table is a journal. When I am using paint, I usually smear the leftovers on to a journal page for future use as a background. I've now got pages and pages of backgrounds, so am hoping to actually finish them this year.

For more What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday photos and tales, hop on over to Julia's !

Happy Wednesday !

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Wednesday is the day when everyone meets up at Julia's to see whose workdesks are on show.

On mine this week are some New Year cards I'm making to take along for the folks at our local Stamping Club. Plan to add the embellishments later today. Still a couple to make using that piece of Kraft Resist that has to be inked and sprayed some more. The smudges of white on the craft mat are from the painted grungeboard snowflakes and there are gooey bits from the Stickles.

To the left of my desk are these shelves which could do with a good old tidy up although surprisingly I do know where things are ! There are various boxes and sets of drawers containing embossing powders, scraps of card and embellishments, and there are loads of things I've collected for altering.

Happy Wednesday, everyone !

At last Tag No 12

At last I have finished Tim Holtz' Tag No 12. I was keeping up very well until tag 11, but a trip to Scotland and Christmas intervened and lots of fun times have meant that my little artsy craftsy corner has been pretty neglected. Part of my New Year ritual has always been cleaning and tidying and finishing things up, so finally the remaining parts of tag 12 have been put together, and I will just make the deadline for posting it on Tim's blog.

A good deal of improvisation here as I didn't have many of the tools and materials. I did enjoy stamping the tissue paper to make the flower.

As the bells ring out tonight my thoughts will go to the lovely people who will no longer be there or at the end of the phone - I will be thinking of mum and Annie and Rosemary - fondly - and grateful for all the happy memories they have left behind.

Wishing you all a very healthy and happy 2012. May it be all you wish for.

Post Christmas WOYWW

Well I hope all you WOYWWers have had a merry time over the last few days. As all the to dos had been ticked off my various lists by Boxing Day (except the ones I've had to reschedule to later in the week), I decided that it was time to spend a couple of hours at the table starting Tag No 12. At bedtime I left it for the glue to dry. Then as yesterday involved a further round of merry making, I haven't been able to get back to it to add the final embellishments.

On the left is a foiled sheet of cardboard that the shop bought chocolate log sat on. Planning to use it to die cut something at some stage.

The Glossy Accents has now been poked and prodded so much that the nozzle has totally disintegrated and will have to be cut off.

In the middle are some polystyrene baubles that will have to wait till next Christmas to be decorated. The plain one has lots of dents in it as the cat stole it and spent some considerable time batting it around the living room floor.

Have just had my lunch of turkey sandwich and chocolate log. Still got the last layer of Ferrero Rocher to polish off. A typical Burmese, Daisby the cat will never miss out on what visitors might be doing and has socialised so much over Christmas that she has slept almost every hour of the last couple of days. Peace and quiet reigns !

Now it's time to pop on over to Julia's to see what the other WOYWWers are doing.