Dragons Dream TIO #144

This fortnight the recipe has been set by Elizabeth and she has come up with Coastal, Mica and a Flourish.

The Northern Hemisphere is in the throws of the warmer weather of course but here in the South it was a little more difficult to come up with some inspiration, lol

It is always hard to take a good photo that shows up the sparkle of the mica but trust me, it’s there.

I used distress ink spray with the mica added and “dropped” the Silver distress stain bottle in a few random places.  The flourish stamp is one I received from a workshop I took 3 years ago and the sentiment and sea-horse are possibly Bo Bunny (?) but I don’t keep my stamps in their packaging so I have no idea really.  A good amount of clear glue secured the tiny shells and the black trim.

Pop on over to Dragons Dream Tag It On and gather some inspiration to create a tag of your own and link up to share.

Cheers, Esther xoxo

Craftroom Challenge

They are, quite rightly, going to be quite strict with this one.  You may only use the colours Yellow, Blue & Green.   If you are not using a support of those colours then it must be white, and the ink you stamp in must be either one of the three colours or black.   No other colours to sneak in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I decided to make a notebook cover using some canvas art board that I had hanging around.  With texture paste and a resin fern added I used luminous paints in the three specifies shades. Paper flowers and a wee blue book plate have finished it off nicely.

The back is pretty much the same, minus the flowers, book plate and using a smaller fern.

Why not create something that fits in with the challenge and link up at The Craft Room.

Cheers, Esther  xoxo

TIO #143 Red, Book pages/text & an Embellishment

Helen has set the recipe this time round at Dragons Dream Tag It On and I was pretty sure I knew what I wanted to do straight away.

I covered my tag with a book page (ex Readers Digest Condensed book circa 1980-something) and removed patches of text with masking tape.  I made up a spray with water and a pigment powder (Poppy Red) that I bought at Finnibar’s workshop earlier this year.  The resulting colour was just what I wanted.  I cut the rosette on the Cameo using a Penny Duncan file and popped a red star on top.

For the stamping I used a Rosies Studio stamp that I got at Warehouse Stationery for not much mulah (I love a bargain).  I first stamped in Stazon Dove Grey and then over-stamped, slightly offset with black.  My idea was to create a shadow effect but I’m not sure I pulled that off really.  However, I do love the look of the “wishes” at the top stamp in just grey.

Thanks for taking a wee peek, let’s catch up again soon.

Esther xoxo

TIO #142–White, Metal, Transport

This tag challenge over at Dragons Dream Tag It On got me quite excited.

I was keen to try a technique that was quite popular some time ago but I had never got round to doing.

I glued down part of a foil bag from a coffee refill pack onto an existing tag and painted it with gesso.  It took no time at all to dry which was pretty cool as I had what I wanted to achieve in my head and patience is not something I have in abundance, lol

I ran the tag through the cuttlebug and while it was still on the folder I took to it with a sanding tool (in all honesty, it was a pedicure tool).  I thought it best to leave it in place so I didn’t flatten the raised areas.

I then stamped my image and words on white card, cut them out and popped them up on foam squares.  I added extra layers in places to the image for some extra dimension although you cant really see that in the photo.  I used the Pewter Distress Stain on some seam binding to finish it off.  I’m going with a less is more approach with this one.

Cheers, Esther  xoxo

76 Days to go!

We are on the countdown to Scrapfest By the Sea – a fabulous scrapping retreat to be held in Nelson in August.

We have a group on Facebook and every now and then Trina or Lyn will pop up a wee challenge to tide us over.

Trina has issued a photo of the venue for group members to use in any way they please – a card, a layout or as many are choosing to do, in/on a mini album.

I took up this option too so that I could pop in photos, get signatures etc and have a tangible memento of the weekend.

I have only done the covers so far but I do have several 6 x8 pages cut to size too.  I will put in some envelopes, pockets and tags as well I think.

I used a gloss medium and curved brick stencil to mirror the cobble pattern at the venue and cut the lamppost on the Cameo for the same reason.  The room I will be sharing with Miss Brenda is two doors down from the building on the left hand side (The Jewellers).

I am so looking forward to this event and after that I will be on the countdown to the Scrapbook Dreams Halloween Retreat in October.  The fun just never ends ….. awesome huh?

Cheers, Esther xoxo

TIO #141–Yellow, Lightbulbs, Wire

I must have had ESP or something – This recipe would have worked pretty well for last fortnight’s tag, lol

So, having used a yellow lightbulb last time round, what the heck was I going to do for this challenge over Dragons Dream Tag It On ?  I simply couldn’t get the last tag out of my head.

For goodness sake Esther!  Let it go and move on!

 

I tried – but I I am not particularly happy with it. My heart just wasn’t in it this time.

I stamped some acetate with gesso and my crackle stamp, used yellow alcohol ink to colour it and cut the Xmas light shape from Silhouette.  I wrapped wire around the base of the bulb and secured it all to a black tag that had been stamped with clear ink and rubbed over with chalks.  It looked a bit unfinished so I added some yellow wood-grain washi tape at the bottom.  I still think it looks unfinished but I just couldn’t drum up a reasonable sentiment so I gave up.

Roll on the next challenge!  I am sure I will be a bit more enthusiastic by then, lol

Cheers, Esther

Dragons Dream TIO #140

Silvia has come up with the new recipe over at Dragons Dream Tag It On. She has spontaneously selected Brown, Vellum and Hand(s).  Hmm – interesting choices, lol

As luck would have it, I spied a tea-towel in a local shop just a couple of days ago and it gave me the perfect inspiration.

I made the base tag from corrugated cardboard and highlighted the ridges with Walnut Stain distress ink.  I then dribbled some brown ink spray (who knows what that was made from, lol) over it.  I cut an overlay from patterned vellum, ripped the sides and stamped my hands on it, inking the edges with Vintage Photo distress ink. The light-bulb was coloured with alcohol ink.  The word strips were simply typed up in MS Word, opting to “highlight” in brown and changing the text colour to white.   I used some of my new twine from Typo to finish it off.

I’m really happy with the end result – what do you think? 

Cheers, Esther  xoxo