The Final Letters - The Craft Barn Alpha Challenge

I find it hard to believe that I've managed to keep  up with the Craft Barn Alpha Challenge to the very end. Little did I know when I started the challenge what the year had in store for me and that 2013 would become my annus horribilis. However taking part in this challenge a couple of hours every two weeks took my mind off life's events.

The final two letters in the challenge are X and I. There is not a lot to choose from for the letter X and I have my husband to thank for coming up with the word xenogamy - a word I'd never heard before and probably one that I'm unlikely to slip into every day conversation! The flowers on my atc were stamped onto tissue paper, coloured on the reverse before sticking to my Fresco painted grey board. The little bee that was a freebie with an order from Crafty Individuals was yet another unused stamp in my collection. :-)

  
ATC Recipe
Card/Paper
Craft Creations greyboard
Tissue paper
Colortech+
Safmat
Inks/Paints
PaperArtsy Fresco paints - Haystack, Guacamole, London Bus, Satin Glaze
Memento Tuxedo Black
Ranger Archival Jet Black
Wild Honey Distress Ink
Stamps
Flowers -Crafty Individuals CI-206
Bee - Crafty Individuals
Honeycomb/Chickenwire - Creative Expressions
Other
Yellow glitter
Definition text computer generated

For my very last atc of the year I chose the word "Inspire" and a made a little homage to The Craft Barn in recognition of the inspiration they have given me over the years not only with their blog but also the fabulous Extravaganza weekends.  I once again used a previously uninked stamp from my collection - the word inspire is part of  a Crafty Individuals stamp and I masked off the words I didn't need before stamping it.

    
ATC Recipe
Card/Paper
Corrugated packaging
Colortech+
Recycled envelopes (flowers)
Inks/Paints 
Paperartsy Fresco paints - Bora Bora, Ice Blue
Versamark
Vintage Photo Distress Ink
Personal Impressions Gold Sparkle EP
Inka Gold
Other
Craft Barn logo and dictionary definition computer generated
Provo Craft flower die
Flat backed pearl

Finally thank you to the Craft Barn for running this brilliant challenge and to everyone who has visited my blog and left comments, they are much appreciated. I'm excited to see what next year's challenge will be.

 

Week 24 - The Craft Barn Alpha Challenge

We are nearing the end of the Craft Barn Alpha Challenge and I'm amazed that I have kept up. Sadly I've had little time to look at other entries but I thank those who have left messages for me. They are much appreciated. This week's letter is S and I have chosen the word serene. This is not a word I'm particularly au fait with, especially as we fast approach Christmas!

My background was painted with Fresco paints and stamped  with a swirly stamp I had bought in a sale at Stamp Addicts shop several years ago but never used it. So my quest to use an unused stamp from my collection on my weekly challenge continues.The lace flower, with hindsight is a bit too big, perhaps I should have folded the piece of lace in half when I stitched it.

 ATC Recipe 
Card/Paper
Craft Creations Greyboard
Colortech+ 
Paints/Inks
PaperArtsy Fresco Paints - Very Berry, Orchid, Snowflake
Distress Ink - Vintage Photo
Memento Tuxedo Black
Archival Coffee 
Pen-touch Calligrapher Gold
Sakura Gelly Roll pen 
Stamps
Background swirl - Judikins C351
Lady - the Artistic Stamper 
Other
Lace
Heart gem
Dictionary definition computer generated - Typewriter font

Week 23 - The Craft Barn Challenge

Where do the weeks fly away too? Here we are at week 23 already with the letter Q.

Way back in June I bought  a set of feather stamps at the Craft Barn Extravaganza and just haven't had time to use them. What better time to start than this this week for my chosen word "Quill". The background Kaisercraft diamond stamp only dropped through my letter box on the morning that I made my atc. I've been trying to use a virgin stamp from my collection each week on my Alpha trading card. Technically this time I used two but maybe using a stamp that just arrived doesn't really count as part of a "collection".

A very simple atc this week -

 
 ATC Recipe
Card
Anna Marie Designs super smooth, super white, printer card
Inks /Paints/EP
Distress Ink - Iced Spruce
Versamark
Wow Super Fine Opaque Bright White embossing powder 
PaperArtsy Fresco paints - Satin Glaze, Inky Pool, Mud Splat
Stamps
Feather - Artemio ref. 100001192
Texture Diamonds - Kaisercraft C5152
Other
Bottle top
Definition - computer generated
Crystal glitter coloured with alcohol ink.

Week 22 - The Craft Barn Challenge

Skidding in by the seat of my pants again and I have no idea why, as I knew what stamp I would use as soon as this week's letter was published - the letter N. I bought this stamp at least three years ago. One of those impulse buys on Ebay and then didn't know what to do with her! So at long last she has been exposed!

 ATC Recipe 
Card
Colortech+ 
Inks
Distress Inks - Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint, Rusty Hinge 
Stamp
Nude -The Artistic Stamper
Script - PaperArtsy 
Other
Leaves - Bird on the Branch die by Marianne
Definition computer generated - Typewriter font
Pen - touch Calligrapher gold pen

Week 21 - Craft Barn Alpha Challenge

Don't panic, you haven't lost any days in the week. It is only Thursday! I must finally be catching up on life!  When I've finished this post I'm at last going to start looking at other entries in this challenge.

This week's letter is L but there is a twist - there has to be a window somewhere on the artwork. I chose "landscape" as I had a virgin stamp that would fit the bill and of course I had to make my atc in landscape format.

ATC Recipe

Card

Anna Marie Designs super smooth, super white, printer card

Watercolour card

Inks

Memento - Tuxedo Black

Distress Inks - Broken China, Vintage Photo, Frayed Burlap, Pumice Stone, Peeled Paint, Mowed Lawn, Bundled Sage, Forest Moss 

Stamp

From a Stamp Addicts landscape plate

Other

Crafters Workshop template -  Mini Wood grain

Dictionary definition computer generated - Typewriter font

Week 20 - Craft Barn Alpha Challenge

My mojo has disappeared this week and my ATC for the letter J is rather boring, I think. Even worse than that I haven't used a virgin stamp from my collection! I promise to try much harder in week 21. I still haven't had a chance to look at many of the other entries in this challenge but at last I seem to be exiting the tunnel that life has thrown at me this year and I should be able to have a little time over the next few weeks to have a look at more participating blogs.

So without further ado, otherwise I will miss the midnight deadline, here's my ATC for week 20.

ATC Recipe
Card/Paper
Xerox Colortech+
Copier paper
Inks
Distress Inks - Tumbled Glass, Walnut Satin
Versafine Satin Red
Stamps
Darkroom Door Word Block Stamp - Christmas
Crafty Individuals Snowflake
Other
Image from web
Snowflake brad
Diamond Stickles
Definition - computer generated - Typewriter font

Week 19 - Craft Barn Alpha Challenge

Just skidding into this weeks Alpha Challenge by the seat of my pants with my entry for the letter G. Not just one previously uninked stamp from my collection on this atc but two! The background is wrinkle-free distress technique and the gear had all sorts put on it before I reached the stage I was happy with. Basically it's some Distress embossing powder to give it a slightly rough feel painted over with  black acrylic ink before applying a couple of coats of Metallic Glaze.

 ATC Recipe
Paper/Card
Anna Marie Designs super smooth, super white, printer card
Ink/Paint
Distress Ink - Mustard Seed, Wild Honey, Rusty Hinge, Black Soot
Black acrylic paint
PaperArtsy Metallic Glaze
ranger Archival -  Jet Black
Stamps
Gear - Papermania - PMA 907142 $ X 4 Urban Stamp Chronology (Cogs)
Finger - Deep Red Clingstamps Point the way SKU3X404408
Other
Die cut gear
Tim Holtz Distress Powder - Peeled Paint
Definition - computer generated with Typewriter font

Week 18 - Craft Barn Alpha Challenge

Well it had to come sometime and that time has arrived - the letter Z. In actual fact it didn't prove difficult at all and I managed to use another uninked stamp from my collection. The stamps are from the Hero Arts Ribbons collection that I've had for years. I have used the zigzag stitches stamp lots of times but the others have been never seen the light of day - so it was good to liberate one of them. I bought the Tim Holtz ATC and Photo Corners die last week as it was reduced - I really could have done with it at the beginning of the year when this challenge started. When I cut my card for my atc and the corners fell onto my desk I realised I could add a bit of dimension to my atc by lining them up in a zigzag.

 
ATC Recipe
Card/Paper
Anna Marie Designs super smooth, super white, printer card
Inks
Distress Inks - Dried marigold, Spiced marmalade, Ripe Persimmon, Salty Ocean
Stamps
Hero Arts F3342 Stitched Ribbon
Hero Arts F3351 Rickrack Ribbon
Others
Tim Holtz ATC & Corners Die
Sentiment - computer generated - Century Gothic font

Week 17 - Craft Barn Alpha Challenge

Nothing sprang immediately to mind when I read that this week's letter on the Craft Barn Alpha Challenge was the letter O. So out came the dictionary and I hadn't run my finger far down the word list when "oak" leapt from the page. For me, the magnificent oak tree epitomes the English countryside. So oak it is.

I was lucky enough to attend a Lin Brown workshop a couple of weeks (a fabulous day out), so I used a technique learnt there for my background. I should have used a darker colour for my stamping - there are leaves there, honestly but they've rather disappeared below my wash of Fresco paint - and it was virgin stamp. If you haven't read my previous entries for this challenge you won't know I have been trying to use a previously uninked stamp each week. The metal foil leaf is stuck down flat on the canvas backing but I curved the acorn to give it a 3d look.

   

ATC Recipe
Card/Paper
White card
Canvas Paper
Safmat
Inks/Paints
PaperArtsy Fresco Paint - Nougat, Smoked Paprika, Limelight
Black acrylic paint
Archival Jet Black ink
Stamps/Dies
Leaf - PaperArtsy Eclectica by Lin Brown ELB01
Letters - Studio g Alphabet Stamp Set, Series4
Leaf - Tim Holt Tattered Leaves die
Acorn - Sizzlits die
Other
Spellbinders metal foil 
Dictionary definition - computer generated - Aria Script SSi

Week 16 - Craft Barn Alpha Challenge

First, thank you to everyone who left comments on my previous entry to the Craft Barn Alpha Challenge, they are very much appreciated. I am hoping to be able to return your visits before the challenge is over.

This time around the letter D is the order of the week. I was able to get my personal challenge back on track this week and use a virgin stamp. I have used other stamps from this Sioux Jenneys designed set from the Artistic Stamper - this one had remained uninked. I used PaperArtsy Fresco paints for the background with a little stencilling over the top. After stamping the script I embossed with Sticky Stuff Embossing Powder and applied foil. The tutu is some thin self adhesive metal foil stuck to some card with a piece of sequin waste sandwiched between the two, then de-bossed with a paper stump and alcohol ink applied.

ATC Recipe
Card
Anna Marie super smooth, super white, printer card
Stamps/Stencil
Dance plate by Sioux Jenneys from the Artistic Stamper
PaperArtsy script MN11
Mini harlequin stencil by The Crafters Workshop
Ink/Paint
PaperArtsy Fresco paints
Versamark
Judikins Sticky Stuff embossing powder
Brilliance Pearlescent Crimson
Alcohol inks - Jacquard Pinata colour - Chile Pepper & Lime Green
Other
Metal gold foil
Silver self adhesive foil
Sequin waste
Dance charm
Definition - computer generated

Week 15 - Craft Barn Alpha Challenge

T is the prescribed letter on the Craft Barn Alpha Challenge this week. I haven't used any virgin  stamps today but instead I've used a new stencil along with Grunge Paste for the very first time. So that dictated that my T-word would be "texture".
I liked the atc better before I added the beads! It had been my intention to put crackle glaze on that corner but in my excitement to play with my new toys it went straight out of my head and it was too late! I then needed to find some more texture, so beads it had to be!

ATC Recipe
Card
Greyboard
Xerox Colortech+ card
Inks/Paints
PaperArtsy Fresco Finish - Nougat, Guacamole, Mermaid, Inky Pool, Claret
Metallic ink -  Pen Touch Calligrapher Gold
Stamp
PaperArtsy - Mini Script MN75Metallic ink -
Other
PaperArtsy Grunge Paste
Stencil - The Crafters Workshop Mini Cornflowers
Lace
Judikins glass beads - Metallic Rose
Computer generated text - Typewriter font

Week 14 - Craft Barn Alpha Challenge

This week's letter is Y. Not a great number of words to choose from and to make the challenge more difficult we have to use the colour yellow on our project. Yellow isn't a colour that I readily reach for in my life - I don't wear it, paint it on my house walls or use it very much in my craft room, although I did use it on last week's Alpha Challenge - I obviously peaked too soon! The flower stamp was from a freebie set with a magazine and had never been inked, so my mission continues using virgin stamps wherever possible on my set of  atcs.

ATC Recipe
Card
Anna Marie Designs super smooth, super white printer card
Xerox Colortech+
Inks
Memento Tuxedo Black
Copic Ciao Y06
Other
Knitting wool
Cocktail Sticks
Beads
Words computer generated  - Century Gothic font

Week13 - Craft Barn Alpha Challenge

Goodness, where has the time gone - Week 13 already and now my atc is done and dusted I've got half way through the challenge. With so much else going on in my life I could quite easily have fallen by the wayside but actually it's helped me keep just a teensy bit of sanity!

So this week brings us the letter B and a chance to crack open the Lin Brown stamps I bought at the Craft Barn Extravaganza. Using Fresco Finish Paint I started by painting a piece of canvas paper with Cheesecake and then using a brickwork stencil sponged it over with Pumpkin Soup - what great names! I stamped the leaves, flower and word with Distress Inks and then used  lighter colour inks in the range to paint the white spaces.

ATC Recipe
Paper/Card
Canvas paper
Xerox Colortech+
Copier paper
Inks/Paints
PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Paint - Cheesecake, Pumpkin Soup
Distress inks - Picked Raspberry, Worn Lipstick, Peeled Paint, Shabby Shutters
Other
Stencil -That Special Touch Stone Wall
Definition - computer generated, "Typewriter" font

Week 12 - Craft Barn Alpha Challenge

Thank you to everyone who left comments on my Week 11 entry, they are much appreciated. I am determined to look at all your blogs before this challenge ends but life is still full-on. However, if I look intently, I think I can see a chink of light at the end of the tunnel!

This weeks challenge letter is U and there's not a lot of words to choose from! So my word is probably rather predictable - umbrella. I've cheated a bit in my quest to use stamps in my collection that has never seen ink. My new stamp, this time, is one that only joined my collection at the recent Craft Barn Extravaganza and not one that has been forgotten and unloved. It's a PaperArtsy tiny script stamp from their mini series and I think it's going to make an appearance on lots of my backgrounds. I applied Distress Ink to my base card and then misted with water which produced a lovely mottled effect. Dots were made with Fresco paint through a stencil. The umbrella man die-cut was sponged with Black Soot Distress Ink and I covered his umbrella with a piece of scrapbook paper and added raindrops using Glossy Accents.

ATC recipe
Card/Paper
Anna Marie Designs super smooth, super white, printer card
Scrapbook paper
Inks/Paint
Distress Inks - Salty Ocean, Black Soot
Ranger Archival Ink - Jet Black
Fresco Finish - Ice Blue
Stamp
PaperArtsy Mini - MN75
Other
Die Cut - Tim Holtz Umbrella Man
Glossy Accents

Week 11 - Craft Barn Alpha Challenge

Getting my entry in again by the seat of my pants! It's been yet another busy couple of weeks but trips to London were interspersed with a trip to the Craft Barn Extravaganza weekend. I meet up with my lovely forum friends from Cardmaking Paradise who not only made the journey from various parts of England but come from as far a field as New Zealand, Germany and the Isle of Man. Excellent company, fabulous demonstrators and sunny weather to top it off - it doesn't get much better than that!

Back to this week's challenge which is  the letter F but it has to be a word found in the dictionary between FE and FR so an excellent opportunity to use for the first time this fish stamp that I bought a couple of years ago in a sale for a pound. It's a brand new wood mounted stamp by Chapel Road - what a bargain!

My atc just has a simple background of Distress Inks splashed with water and I added some micro beads to represent sand.

 

ATC Recipe 
Card
Anna Marie Designs super smooth, super white, printer card 
Inks 
Distress Inks - Salty Ocean, Evergreen Bough
Versafine Onyx Black
Stamp by Chapel Road B19 
Other
Micro beads
Computer generated definition - Signature font

Week 10 - Craft Barn Alpha Challenge

And breathe! Life is still full on with regular trips down to London but I think the end is in sight with the house almost cleared. Trouble is a lot things especially crafty bits seem to have found their way home with me! Thank you to everyone who left comments for me on Week 9 and it shouldn't be long, with luck and a following wind, before I can go on weekly visits to your blogs to see what you've all been creating.

Week 10 brings the letter K and my chosen word Kindred was dictated by this uninked PaperArtsy stamp in my collection.  Hooray, I'm back on the un-used track! Well, actually, it might have been used before as it was second hand but it hasn't been used by me - until now. I've assumed the kindred spirits pictured in this image are all authors - Ann Bronte, Mary Shelley, Charlotte Bronte, Jane Austen, and Elizabeth Gaskell. If you know better, please let me know.

 

ATC Recipe

Card/paper

Xerox Colortech+

Tim Holtz Vintage Shabby 

Copier paper

Inks

Victorian Velvet Distress Ink

Cosmic Shimmer Mist Rich Gold

Versafine Onyx Black

Stamp

PaperArtsy - Buttons Plate 4

Other 

Computer generated words - Typewriter font

 

Apologies

UPDATE: temporary but legible layout now in place!

I know reading grey on black is difficult and black on black is impossible!

My background has disappeared and I can't put it back because my layout is so old that such options are greyed out in new "super" blogspot. I have my computer man working on it.

Week 9 - Craft Barn Alpha Challenge

Thank you to everyone who has visited my blog and left comments: they are very much appreciated. Time is at a premium at the moment dealing with my late mother's estate and travelling down to south west London to clear her house. Hopefully I will be back very soon firing on all cylinders and able to visit your blogs.

At least I did manage to find a few minutes to relax body and brain and make my week 9 atc for the Craft Barn Alpha challenge. For the second week running I didn't use any new stamps that have been languishing in my craft room for far too long but I'm sure I will be able to rectify that shortly! I used the highlighter pen background technique shown in Paula Whittaker's article in August 2012 Craft Stamper magazine and the dress on the petulant looking little girl has been paper pieced.

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ATC Recipe
Card/Paper
Xerox Colortech+
Dress paper - Helidot Creative Paper DOPGR-Willow
Inks
Orange highlighter pen
Distress Inks - Walnut Stain, Dried marigold
Versafine Onyx Black
Ranger archival Jet Black
Copic markers
Stamps
Crafty Individuals - CI-277
PaperArtsy Squiggly Ink Tops & Tails 3 SITT3
Other
Definition - photocopy of dictionary
Computer generated words - Kidprint font

Tim Holtz Tag Challenge - April 2013

Just in time once again! Lots of substitution this month as I had very  few of the ingredients that Tim used on his tag here. Here is my April tag (not the best of photos, the left hand side of the tag is straight in real life) -

Tag Recipe
Card
Anna Marie Designs super smooth, super white, printer card
Inks/Paints
Distress Inks - Weathered Wood, Broken China, Salty Ocean, Peeled Paint, forest Moss, Evergreen Bough, Walnut Stain, Black Soot 
PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Paints - Mermaid, Inky Pool
Adirondack dabber - Geld
Versamark
Ranger Archival - Jet Black
Distress Stains - Broken China, Walnut Stain
Stamps
Dragonfly Stamp - freebie with a magazine
Ruler - Kanban 8003
Pen - Paper Artsy MN07
Other
Die-cut cog
Acetate
Spellbinders foil
Safmat
Sentiment - computer generated - Typewriter font
Seam binding
Staples
White embossing powder
Peel-off number four

Week 8 - Craft Barn Alpha Challenge

I failed this week to find a virgin stamp. That doesn't mean that I have now used all my stamps at least once, far from it, I just didn't seem to have something to fit in with my chosen word. So week 8 brings the letter W with the extra stipulation that the artwork must also include circles. If you want to see all the details of this challenge, click on the Craft Barn logo at the right hand side of this page.

I used a piece of card left over from an earlier project that I'd sprayed with Dylusions. I added some dots by spraying water through masks to remove some colour and stamped the images. I cut the dragonfly's wings from acetate, coloured them with alcohol inks and just attached them in the centre .  

ATC Recipe
Card
White card
Acetate
Inks
Dylusions
Versafine Onyx Black
Ranger Archival Jet Black
Stazon Jet Black
Alcohol Inks
Adirondack - Lettuce, Cranberry, Gold
Pinata - Sunbright Yellow
Pen-touch Gold Calligrapher 
Black fineliner pen
Stamps
PaperArtsy Squiggly Ink Tops & Tails - SITT3
Postmark - Crafty Individuals
Masks
Creative Expressions That Special Touch Large Polka
Crafter's Workshop Mini Circle Explosion

Week 7 - Craft Barn Alpha Challenge

Week 7 of the alpha challenge brought us the letter R to dabble with all things inky. My starting point is always what new stamps have been living in my craft room without a smattering of ink ever touching them. Heike gave me a set of Kanban ruler stamps at last years Cardmaking Paradise meet up at the Craft Barn Extravaganza and this was a great opportunity to use one of them. Thanks Heike.

I'm old enough to remember buying exercise books at Woolworths and that they always had lots of information about weights and measurements and tables printed on the back. These facts and figures used to fascinate me and I found a copy on line from the Beamish Museum which transported me back to the 50's. I extracted the linear measurements from the document for this atc and layered it over a distress ink background stamped with splatters. The ruler was stamped onto a piece of wood veneer and I found my inchworm on the web and coloured with Distress Ink.

 

ATC Recipe

Card/Paper

Anna Marie Designs super smooth super white printer card

Xerox Colortech+

Blue card

Stamps

Spatters - PaperArtsy  MN72

Ruler - Kanban  - Measurements - A56003

Inks

Distress Inks - Spiced Marmalade, Faded Jeans, Peeled Paint, Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain

Versafine - Onyx Black

Other

Wood veneer

Brads

Inchworm and measurement table from the web

Definition from my old school dictionary!

Tim Holtz Tag Challenge - March 2013

Skidding in again by the seat of my pants to complete my March tag. I don't have the bunny die so I found a picture of it on the web and made a stencil which I drew round and cut it out. No tinsel in my stash so, for the rabbit aperture, I used some glitter/alcohol mix that I had left over from the October 2012 tag. The flowers were made from scraps lurking in various corners of my craft room. The grass and banner were cut by hand.

Tim's tag can be found here and this is my version -

 

Tag Recipe

Card/Paper

White card

Bazzill card

Tim Holtz Core'ordinations card

Tim Holtz Vintage Shabby paper

Background paper  - download from http://www.mrprintables.com/

Stamp

Leaves - Artistic Stamper's Stitchels #ST002 Daisy Dots

Dies

Spellbinders Labels four

Flowers - Tim Holtz Tattered Florals and Provacraft 

Other

Stampendous Crystal Glitter coloured with Aqua alcohol ink

Organza ribbon coloured with Spun Sugar Distress Ink, Tattered Rose and Walnut Stain Distress Inks

Seam binding coloured with Broken China Distress Stain

Leaves coloured with Peeled Paint Distress Stain and Forest Moss Distress Ink

Brads

Words computer generated - Typewriter font

 

Week 6 - Craft Barn Alpha Challenge

Goodness, week 6 of the Craft Barn Alpha Challenge already! The chosen letter this week is P and yet again I found a virgin stamp I could use. I wanted to give my atc a Victorian boudoir feel about it so I applied Forest Moss Distress Ink to my white card before stamping it with the lace stamp and embossing. The perfume bottle was also stamped with the same Distress Ink and then I washed over it with a little water so that the ink lightly coloured the white areas. I've had the little roses in my stash for years and never found a use for them .... until now.

 

ATC Recipe

Card/paper

White card

Inks/embossing powder/paints

Distress Inks - Forest Moss, Frayed Burlap, Walnut Stain

Versamark

Wow embossing powder -Little Lou Purple Glitz (regular) WS17R

PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Satin Glaze

Stamps

Perfume bottle -Crafty Individuals - CI-335

Lace - Inkadinkado 

Other

Frame printed from internet

Lace

Satin flowers

Fabric leaves 

Week 5 - Craft Barn Alpha Challenge

Yet again thank you to everyone who left me comments last week but family matters are still at the top of the agenda and I haven't been able to look at any of the other entries to the challenge. At least I'm making sure that I find a few moments to take part in this challenge to divert my brain.

Week 5 of the Craft Barn Alpha Challenge and the given letter is M but a little twist has been added - the chosen word has to be between Ma and Me in the dictionary. If you want to see all the details click on the challenge logo on the right. 

I've managed to use yet another virgin stamp on this weeks atc. Only a teeny weeny one but never the less new! It's the postmark on the envelope. I used Dylusions Inks (mainly one which is aptly named Postbox Red) on my background with a quick Cosmic Shimmer spritz over the top. I put a spotty mask over the top and sprayed with water to remove some of the colour but the effect got lost under the postmark stamping.

 

ATC Recipe

Card/papers

White card

K & Co background papers

Copier paper (90gsm)

Inks

Dylusion inks - Postbox Red, Melted Chocolate

Distress inks - Frayed Burlap, Vintage Photo

Rangers Archival Coffee

Gold Pen-touch Calligraphy pen

Cosmic Shimmer - Rich Gold

Stamps

Crafty Individuals

Other

Computer generated words - Typewriter font

   

Week 4 - Craft Barn Alpha Challenge

Firstly, thank you to everyone who left comments on my blog in Week 3 of the Craft Barn Alpha Challenge. They are very much appreciated. I'm sorry that I haven't been able to leave any comments on your blogs but life is getting in the way at the moment. I was amazed to see my "eye" on the Craft Barn Wall of Fame! Thank you Izzy.
   
So, now it's week 4 of the challenge. To see the details click on the challenge logo over on the right.

This week's letter is H. I didn't have to run my figure far down the list of words in that section of the dictionary before I came to the word haberdasher. I knew I need look no further as I had yet more uninked stamps that would fit the bill. Surely I'm not going to keep this going through the next twenty two challenge weeks? I knew I had a lot of unused stamps but I don't believe it's quite so many as it seems. Time will tell!

I'm reasonably happy with this atc - just wish I'd stamped the images with brown ink and also added a little more colour.

ATC Recipe
Card
White card
Copier paper
Inks/Paints
Ranger Archival Jet Black
PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Paints - Orchid, Ice Blue, Crackle Glaze
Distress Inks - Walnut Stain, Stormy Sky
Stamps
Cotton reels - PaperArtsy Minis MN65
Buttons/Pins & Needles - PaperArtsy Buttons Plate 4
Safety pins - Crafty Individuals CI-328
Other
Dictionary definition - photocopy
Press stud
Button painted with Orchid Fresco Paint
Embroidery thread
Ribbon

 

Tim Holtz Tag Challenge - February 2013

Yet another month almost behind us and I'm just about in time with my February tag.
.
All I had in my stash was the Fired Brick Distress Stain which resulted in even more improvisation on this months tag. In the end I didn't use the stain because I got a very streaky effect when applied over the Festive Berries Distress Ink that I used as the tag base. Instead I used Fired Brick Distress Ink.

I knew the miniature pack of playing cards I bought in a charity shop would come in useful one day. I photocopied the Queen of Hearts twice, cut out the Queen from one and coloured any white areas with alcohol pen and stuck her on top of her sister for a 3D effect. To say that folding the tissue tape in Tim Holtz style was fiddly would be a gross understatement!

Tim's February tag can be found here and this is mine -

Tag Recipe

Card

White card

Tim Holtz Core'dinations ColorCore card

Inks etc

Distress Inks - Festive Berries, Fired Brick, Frayed Burlap, Walnut Stain

Copics and Promarkers

Black water colour pencil

Other

Photocopies of playing cards 

Butcher's twine

Bottle cap

Glossy Accents

Sentiment and pointing finger computer generated.

Tim Holtz Bingo embossing folder

Tissue tape

Hearts die cut from a recycled envelope 

Birthday greetings!

At the start of the year I had yet another birthday - I'm sure I have more than one a year! 

From fellow crafters I received some really beautiful card creations which graced my living room for weeks:  I just couldn't bring myself to take them down they were so delightful. Eventually, of course, this duster avoidance tactic had to come to an end and I am tucking all the lovely works of art away in a safe place - but not before showing them off!

Sorry my photography skills aren't the best and I haven't done these cards justice.

 Sara

http://blog.cardmakingparadise.com/ 

Christa

http://craftychris.webs.com/ 

 

 Linda

 Marion

Pam

Jill

http://craftingintheloire.blogspot.co.uk/

Hilda

http://hilda-aplacetoshare.blogspot.co.uk/

Glennis

http://creatingcards-grf.blogspot.co.uk/ 

Annie

Chris

http://themessycraftroom.blogspot.co.uk/ 

 

Lynn

Thank you so much ladies.

Week 3 - Craft Barn Alpha Challenge

This week's letter in the Craft Barn challenge is E. For details of the challenge click on the logo on my sidebar.

I think I must have set myself another challenge subconsciously. This is the third week I have used a stamp that's been lurking, unused in the a dark corner in my craft room. It's a Judikins cube that I bought a couple of years ago in a sale (of course!).

I created the face image on my atc from two of the stamps on the cube - it was pure serendipity. I stamped both  images onto a scrap piece of paper to see how they looked and just happened to stamp them close together and liked the result. I used bleached to remove the Distress Ink from the whites of the eyes, the first time I've used this technique.  Have you noticed my creative pun? I've used eyelets!!
  
ATC Recipe
Card
Xerox Colortech+
Inks
Distress Inks - Worn Lipstick, Faded Jeans, Old Paper
Ranger Archival Jet Black
Stamps
Script - A Stamp In the Hand Background Text - Medium N-1772
Judikins Soul Windows#1
Hero Arts - Signature Lowercase Letters
Other
Stencil - The Crafter's Workshop -Mini Harlequin
Eyelets
Dictionary page

Week 2 Craft Barn Alpha Challege

The second letter on the Craft Barn alpha challenge is C. Click on the sidebar for details if you want to join in.

I've chosen the word Couture to make my next atc so that I could use a stamp that had yet to see ink although it has been in my collection for some time.

ATC Recipe
Card/Paper
Cream card
Xerox Colortech+ white card
Copy paper
Dress pattern tissue
Inks
Distress Inks - Frayed Burlap, Walnut Stain
Versafine - Onyx Black
Archival Ink -Coffee
Copics/Promarkers
Stamps
Figure - Crafty Individuals CI-322
Scissors - Crafty Individuals CI-328
Other
Tape measure - photocopy
Button
Pin
Material

Tim Holtz Tag Challenge - January 2013

One minute it was the 1st January and in what seems like a blink of an eye we're at the end of the first month of 2013.

Tim Holtz is continuing the monthly tag challenge this year and here is his January tag. 

The only thing I had in my stash were the Distress Inks and lots of improvisation!
I don't have a clock embossing folder so I stamped and embossed the background with clear embossing powder. The small bolts and washers I found in a tin in the garage obviously being saved for this very day by a kind husband with foresight.

Here's the outcome -

Tag Recipe
Card/Paper
Cream card
Acetate
Stamps
Clock faces - magazine freebies
Film strip - PaperArtsy HP1005
Alphabet - Studio G
Inks/Paints/Embossing Powder
Distress Inks -  Iced Spruce, Rusty Hinge, Stormy Sky, Walnut Stain,
Distress Stain - Broken China
Versamark
Stazon - Jet Black
Adirondack Dabbers - Silver, Gold, Pearl, Black
Die Cuts
Tim Holtz die cut cogs and clock hands
Other
Finger pointing hand - image found on web
Sentiment - computer generated
Peg - painted black
Seam binding coloured with Broken China Distress Stain
Permanent black marker
Black fineliner 

Week 1 - V is for........

........visage.

I'm taking part in the Craft Barn alpha challenge. The challenge will not be in alphabetical order and each new letter will be posted on the Craft Barn blog every two weeks. I'm not sure if taking part in a challenge spread over a year is going to make the year feel it is going far too fast - 2012 slipped away far too quickly without adding a fortnightly challenge!

All the details of the challenge can be found here. I have decided to make a set of ATCs and if possible use techniques that I've seen demonstrated at shows, on blogs or in Craft Stamper magazine.

The first letter of the challenge is "V" and for this background I've used oil pastels. I saw Helen Chilton demonstrating this technique at the Craft Barn's Extravaganza last year.

 ATC Recipe
Card/paper
White linen card
Copier paper for flower
Inks/pastels/paint
Faber-Castell Oil Pastels - 101, 102, 154
Ranger Archival - Jet Black
Dylusions Ink - Bubblegum Pink
Inka - Gold
Claudine Hellmuth Gesso
Stamp
Freebie with Craft Stamper magazine
Dies/Embossing folder
Tim Holtz - Tattered Floral die
Tim Holtz Bubble Wrapping Embossing folder
Other
Eyelets

Capricorn birthdays

Firstly, Jennie, the Artistic Stamper has these goodies to giveaway to celebrate her birthday.

 The details of this blog candy can be found here.

Our grandson had his fourth birthday on Sunday but my inspiration seemed to disappear with the end of Christmas ( I hope it didn't get packed away with the decorations). I couldn't come up with anything Thomas the Tank Engine related so I used an image and a sentiment that were freebie stamps with craft magazines and a Papermania "four" that I had bought way back in the year especially for this occasion.

Card Recipe
Card/Paper
Anna Marie Designs super white, super smooth, printer card
Xerox Colortech+ white card
Scrapbooking paper (possibly K&Co)
Red copier card
Stamps
Rabbit taking tea - Craft Stamper freebie
Sentiment - Simply Cards & Papercraft freebie
Four - Papermania
Ink
Memento - Tuxedo Black
Versamark
Copic/Promarkers
Other
Spellbinders scalloped die
Detailed silver embossing powder

Welcome to 2013!

Firstly, thank you to everyone who has visited Avoiding the Duster during 2012 and to those who have left comments, which are much appreciated. I wish you all a very happy, healthy and fun 2013.

My first card, measuring 95mm x 95mm, was quick and simple. A couple of bottle tops used as stamps, a freebie stamp from Craft Stamper and a bit of black organza ribbon. Job done!
 

This next card took a tad longer and kept me out of mischief cutting out all the flowers. It was a project in the January 2013 Craft Stamper magazine.

Card Recipe
Card/Paper
Xerox Colortech+
Tim Holtz Core'dinations orange card
Aqua Bazzill card 
Black card
Adhesive label
Stamps
Crafty Individuals - CI-237, CI-194, CI-206
PaperArtsy - MN 72, MN11
Diamond stamp by Visible Image
Crackle stamp - maker unknown
Sentiment - Hero Arts C2656
Masks
Creative Expressions Honeycomb, Ivy Background
Crafter's Workshop - Mini Circle Explosion
Inks
Brilliance - Pearlescent Jade, Pearlescent Orange, Pearlescent Yellow, Pearlescent Crimson
Archival Ink - Jet Black
Other
Black embossing powder
Raffia