Hello my Darling

So it has been a while but here is a tag I created using one of my vintage photos, texture paste and also plenty of distress crayons. 

I love this vintage photo and for some reason it make me think of my Grandad ...

I started by adding texture paste through a selection of Tim Holtz stencils. When dry I added a layer of collage medium so give a great surface to use the distress crayons on...

I then selected some collage elements to use on the tag. I inked the edges and also selected some idea-ology and a die cut heart that I inked and spritzed.

I placed them onto the tag to decide where to place them and added some collage medium and then some distress crayons..

And here is the finished tag ...I added some dyed seam binding, some staples from the mini attacher

I added the heart and word band at the bottom of the tag

I just love this photo and hope I have done it justice ...

here are a few of the details...

So there is my make ... a vintage coloured tag inspired by a vintage photo..

I would like to add this over at a Vintage Journey - where they are offering that you can add a tag for tag Friday.
I would also like to add it to Go Tag Thursday - where the theme is vintage.

trace x

explore, dream, discover for Country View Crafts

Well like lots of others I have been eagerly waiting to get my inky paws on the new distress oxides from the one and only crafty master , Tim Holtz. So have been playing with some backgrounds (which I will share later ) - and now here is a finished piece .

and a card too :

So all the details of how I created this can be found over at Country View Crafts here .

keep those fingers inky!

trace 

Out of the Cold - guest design for Frilly and Funkie

Well how proud do I feel to be guest designer for the new challenge over at Frilly and Funkie! I haven't blogged for such a long time, so be given the opportunity to guest design having won with my first post in nearly six months was a huge honor...just hope I'm not too rusty!

So the theme is out of the cold...and all the details as well as gorgeous inspiration can be found here .

So I used one of the new fab thickboard Etcetera tags - from Tim Holtz and I chose the medium one for this piece , so here is my make inspired by sunnier times and summer flowers :

I started by giving the base a coat of distress paint in tumbled glass and smudged on some picket fence with my finger. I added some texture paste through dot fade stencil to add some texture, left to dry and coated with a layer of collage medium .

Next I added some lines of distress crayon and smudged in with my finger, gradually and slowly smudging and building up the colour until I was happy  - I know I am late to the party on these but I am loving them !

When happy with the base layer I added a layer of collage medium and added more layers of colour to continue building ...

I then lightly sanded back some areas of the edges ...to give a more vintage feel and added in some walnut distress crayon...well there was bound to be brown in there somewhere!

this show the texture and colours- was kind of hard to cover some areas up.

I then started to add the base layer of collage elements ...slowly building as I went... I had used the other tag to lay out my pieces to get an idea of placement..as that helps me to plan the overall layout.

So now for the details...I wanted a splash of tropical colour and what better than shades of abandoned coral flowers and hand dyes seam binding...I used the Tim Holtz tropical dyes and distress spray stain to colour the foliage and flowers and then added walnut stain distress ink to highlight the edges.

I do love idea-ology so plenty can be found tucked in between the flowers and foliage ...

 The foliage was dipped into spare stain from the craft sheet to create a more natural mottled look..and a compass idea-ology piece to tie in the while travel / holiday feel.

I love the found relatives and am eager to get my inky fingers on the new paper dolls....so this found relative card formed the focal point ...plenty more splashes of colour...very unusual for me..

 The top was finished with a splash of hand dyed seam binding and an idea-ology plaque- wanderlust was coloured using distress crayon..to complete the piece.

So all that remains is to say a huge thanks to all the lovely ladies for having me as guest designer...and leave you with a final photo of the finished piece . 

trace x

Happily Ever After

Well it has been a while but I am back over on Country View Crafts blog with a vintage inspired valentine.... and the project can be found here .

So here is the make :

and for all the details of how I made this please hop here  and a huge thanks to Susan for letting me pop back .... hopefully a bit more regularly x

Trace x

treasure everyday

So , after making my resolution to make more time to craft .. in tiny stolen moments - I have managed ...so far, alongside all the home school and mummy stuff to do just that ... in tiny stolen moments...

The challenge over at Frilly and Funkie this time is winter hues...and I do love this wintery palette , so decide to see if I could make something in time and  I have just managed to finish this in time ... so here goes :

So the front of this mini free standing piece has lots of Tim Holtz goodness and lots of layers of distress crayons and collage medium..I know late to the party but I am loving the crayons!

here is the back with another found relative...oh who is awaiting the new paper dolls eagerly...?

The base layer was some stencilled texture paste onto patterned paper from Tim stack...covered with collage medium and then plenty of crayons and some picket fence distress paint too..

 Here is the front side ...before I added it to the base ...some chit chat stickers and idea-ology to finish

and a close up , just because I wanted to capture the texture...

here is a side shot, I used clear rock candy glitter around the side for added sparkle..

and added some on the base which was painted and coloured with distress crayons...

and added a couple of the tiny idea-ology ice skates too

so there is my wintery hues make ... and I am loving my stolen moments and sometimes they are just a few minutes...and rediscovering why I love distress!!

So I would like to enter this into the wintery hues challenge over at Frilly and Funkie .

well that's all from me for today xx

trace x