Journey with a Ticket to Ride - TIO #39

This week's challenge at TIO, is all about journeys and tickets and different countries etc. I used a lot of stamps again - nothing new there then!! The main image is by Curious by Design. The tickets are by Invoke Arts, and are brand new to me... there are ones from UMount and a great foam swirl from QVC. There are a couple from Tim Holtz too. The whole is coloured by distress inks. The tag is quite large at 8"x4", being cut from a piece of shiny card from Clarity.

Thanks for looking

Frankie

xx

My Entry for TIO #38 - Along the River

Here is my entry for this week's TIO #38 challenge Along the Rver. It has been set by Janet from Rednoss Ramblings. She has a lovely blog, so do visit her. I shall also enter it at Tellens Place, where the theme is simply tag you're it... well that's just made for me, so I MUST enter eh???

I decided it would be a simple and soft tag, but could not think what stamps to use. Then I remembered my Kodomo set, bamboo lake - ok it's not a river but it fits!! I made this one over a few days, because my back is really bad from walking so oddly with my knee!!!! So I printed the lake stamp and embossed in clear ep. Victorian velvet and stormy sky were scribbled on the heat sheet and sprtized... I embellished with some chipped sapphire and dried marigold, but basically kept it simple... the spikey stamp is a judikins and the crane is another Kodomo set - many of you will know it is a great favourite of mine...  used it because the original image seemed a bit feeble!!! The strong stamp brought the foliage and mistiness together, I think!!

Thanks for looking

Frankie

xx

Under Lock and Key - TIO #37 Challenge Piece

I had a great time doing this for the TIO challenge this week. It is made from a piece of grunge board, so feels a bit like leather... It is covered with gesso and paint dabbers, alcohol inks, distress ink in soot and mica powders. The large attachment is made from black UTEE, melted in the pot and poured on to the table. I added a metal lock piece whilst it was hot . When the UTEE cooled, I brushed it with various cosmic shimmer mica powders...

I want to  make this into the cover of a tag book, which will have the darker, door and grungy images inside. There may well be fragments and small tags attached too, but not got that far yet!! I was only able to add any of these fab metal findings because I shall be keeping it!!! I am just so stingy, eh?? Just LOVED doing it. The stamp was one of the distressed ones from the QVC foam sets... it is a bit more noticeable irl, but not scanned well. Mostly it's pure texture!!!!
Thanks for looking
Frankie
xx

It's my Blogaversary on TIO Today - Distress It!!

I have distressed it on my TIO blog this week, where it is a year old blogaversary today. I shall put up some candy, later, so you can celebrate with me. Anyone who takes part in a challenge in the next month, and who puts up a picture of the candy on their blog, with a link, will get the opportunity to win some stuff from my stash!!! Off to choose what in a moment...

I am honoured, pleased and surprised still to be going strong with the TIO challenge, after all the problems over the winter, but I hope it goes from strength to strength, as many people say it is a source of inspriation to them... Thanks for the support over the months guys, and don't forget to join in so you can win the blog candy...

I used grunge paper, from Tim Holtz, a swirl foam stamp (new to me but I like the way they print out) from QVC, and good old distress inks and an application  tool., in soot, peeled paint and sapphire blue. I swirled some cosmic shimmer power over, in gold, and the perfect peals that came in the QVC kit from Tim Holtz. It was all stamped and coloured over crackle paint, which I had never used before. The small tag was a "fragment", coloured with alcohol inks and stamped with the same image, then embossed... Thanks for looking, and don't forget to look out for the blog candy!!!
Frankie
xx

Another Winner - Top Three Placed!!

I enetered my triptych in the Tellens Place ATC challenge last week, and was placed in the top three. I am so pleased to be named again, because I loved doing the piece for this and the TIO challenge.

Thanks for looking
Frankie
xx

Well... An Incredible Week !!

As many of you know, I have had some dark times with pain and disappointment, recently, but I got back to serious crafting in the last couple of weeks... and all those frustrated ideas came tumbling out!!!

I entered 3 challenges last week at Tellens Place, Haunted Design House and Wednesday Stamper... Well, I made the sampler on the latter, chosen 1 of 12 from 41 entries. Better yet, I was top 1 of  2 from 12, and named "Gruesome Twosome" at Haunted Design House - a great accolade on that blog, I gather!!! But best, I actually won outright at Tellens Place, and was their first ever unanimous choice by the DT!!!!  So three out of three can't be bad!!!!!

WOO, I am floating on air and so chuffed to get back to crafting with such a bang!!! Below are the three entries to the challenges

This is the image that won the prize at Tellens Place. It is called "All About Me" .You can read about how I made them all over on my DragonsDarkerSide blog.

Thanks so much for looking and for supporting my blogs. I really do value all the comments and the followers of each one... I am SO glad to be back!!!
Frankie
xx

Handfasting Invitations Finally Finished

Well, they are done and being sent out... It's a good job we sent save the day cards, because I am near the deadline with these!!! Poorly hands have really hampered me here, but finally they are going out to our guests. Wish I could invite ALL of YOU, my lovely blogger friends, but I know you will be with us in spirit and wishes when the day dawns in June.

I made the fronts by stamping the UMount flower 3 times and masking it. I then stamped Tracy's wonderful Aspects of Design heart flourish stamp in two corners (you HAVE to have that plate everyone!!!) and one from Kay in the opposite corners. It is all embossed in clear ep and coloured with promarkers and distress inks. I made the background paper with an enlarged image of the alcohol inked piece from the std cards, then put it into My Craft Studio to add the flourish.  It's mounted on gold and the crease card is gold.

Two Hearts Become One

I used an Elusive Image floral heart stamp, embossed in Cosmic Shimmer bright gold, to decorate the back cover and beautiful gold vellum inserts hold the actual invitiation message. I was pleased with my finished efforts... just hope the guests are, and they enjoy the day!!

Thanks so much for looking...

xx

New Work on my DarkerSide - The Key to the Door of my Dark heART

This is the first challenge piece for my new blog, DragonsDarkerSide.  It is for Macabre Monday on Haunted Design House. It is a free for all this time, so I decided to take advantage of that to try a piece!! I LOVED doing it because I am crafting again but also because it is so different to be working and thinking on this path...but I am still doing my beloved stamping collage. I tell how I created it and what I used, over on the other side!! Thanks for looking...

Frankie

xx

New Work, New Blog!!!

I finally got to do some work this weekend... I created a new blog and made it's header... this is it below. The blog is called DragonsDarkerSide, and is for darker, grungier and gothic stuff. I have also finished my invitations and made a tag for the next TIO challenge... it's so good to be working again. Can't show you the tag or the invites yet, but here is the header and thanks for looking...

I used several of my new stamps and my new distress inks, so I had a great time and have many more pieces going on in my head!!!

Frankie

xx

A Birthday Card for Cynthia

A card for Cynthia, Rainbow Lady's Birthday .. finally something on here I made myself!!! It was my good friend's birthday yesterday, and I don't know where that year has gone!!!  am finding crafting hard just now, as you know, but could not let the day go without a creation of some kind... So I looked in my box and found some pieces started some time ago. The bookmark was a tag from last August and I have modified it with some distress inks, as I have the background piece. It is quite rich in colour, the scan does not do it justice!! SO pleased  to be having such great help with the blogs but SO pleased to do a piece of my own. !!! Hopefully the warmer weather will help until I can get my hands done again..

Thanks for looking

Frankie

xx