Nature's Bounty

TIO#90 - Nature's Bounty

The theme this week on Dragon's Dream tag it on challenge is set by me, and I have opted for "Nature's Bounty". It struck me that we are surrounded with all nature has to offer at the moment, from fruit to vegetables, and I noticed whilst walking to the post box the other day, that the blackberries are nearly ready for picking. There is an abundance of locally grown produce available at the moment. So I thought it would be an apt theme.

We are really impressed with all the fabulous entries we have the pleasure of checking out each week on your blogs. So thank you so much for dreaming along with us.

Now, on to my entry. As you can see I have opted for blackberries, from a Joanna Sheen stamp plate, and fungi from a Graphicus (now Chocolate Baroque) stamp plate. The sentiment is from a Sheena stamp plate.



I have stamped the berries and foliage using Whispers Markers, and the remainded with sepia archival. I have coloured my tag using broken china and scatered straw distress inks, and gone around the edges with vintage photo DI. I have coloured the images using aqua markers, which I have scribbled onto my craft sheet then spritzed with water so the colour is not too intense.

The fungi has been stamped on a separate tag, cut out and 3D mounted to give some dimension.

Lastly, I have plaited some twine and threaded this through the top of the tag. I would have preferred to use rafia but can't, for the life of me, find it. Isn't that always the way with these little used products?

I hope you will feel inspired by the design team entries to give it a go and show us your interpretation of "Nature's Bounty". Just remember, you must use at least one real stamp in your entry.

Bye for now. Thanks for stopping by. I love and appreciate your comments.

Wanda xx

Gossamer Felting

A couple of weeks ago I atttended a super workshop at Stitch It in Llandudno with my friend, Elizabeth. I made the gossamer scarf, shown below. Firstly, we learnt about all the products that are available for felting. We then had the daunting task of deciding on our colour schemes. Now, to anyone who knows me, it will come as no surprise to learn that I am the queen of indecision. However, on this occasion, I found the decision making process relatively easy. I opted for pale blue with a smattering of pink. Not my usual colour choice, but I decided I wanted to do something different.

The day just flew by. Once we had laid our main colour of merino felt tops out onto the clear plastic sheet, three layers with a bit of cross-hatching, we then laid down our chosen quantity of contrast colour in various types of silk wools, giving our work as much texture as we wished.

The next step was to spray the peice liberally with soapy water, then lay another piece of clear plastic on top. Then the work began, firstly with pre-felting to start the binding process, then the felting, then we washed and rinsed our scarves.

Definately something I will be doing again. I have since watched a u-tube video where the lady demonstrating used bubble wrap instead of clear plastic, and rolled the work up, firstly from one end and then from the other, rolling the work about 100 times from each direction.

Bye for now. Thanks for stopping by.

Wanda xx

TIO#89 - Pressing Matters

TIO #89 - Pressing Matters

My, how the weeks are flying by over on the Dragon's Dream TIO challenge blog. The number of fabulous entries seems to be increasing week by week. This week the challenge is set for us my the very talented Helen and her theme is "Pressing Matters". She is looking for embossing of any kind, and, of course the use of at least one real stamp.

For my entry this week I have used stamps from TH Papillon and Mini Muse stamp sets. I have coloured my tag using Spun Sugar and Tumbled Glass distress inks, edging my pieces with Broken China and Victorian Velvet DI's. I have stamped and embossed the Papillon text using Magenta Twinkle WOW embossing powder. The embossed section to the right uses the Butterfly Vine embossing folder. My butterflies are also from the Papillon stamp plate and have been embossed using the same ep. The sentiment on the small tag is from the Mini Muse stamp plate and has been embossed using Magenta Twinkle WOW ep, over a spun sugat DI base.

The flowers have been made using new to me dies, I think they are Marianne, from TH Vintage Shabby papers.

The ribbons and gems on the butterfly bodies are from my stash.

Thanks for stopping by. I always love to read your comments and to check out your entries. Pop on over the the TIO blog and check all the fabulous design team entries for inspiration then let us see your take on this weeks theme.

Bye for now.

Wanda xx

TIO#88 - Look to the Skies

TIO#88 - Look to the Skies

The challenge this week, over on Dragon's Dream TIO challenge,  is set by Elizabeth who has decided we should all "Look to the Skies". Well, this conjures up all sorts of images in my head. I thought about planes, birds, kites, but then settled on balloons. They look so serene and peaceful, don't they? Hardly a sound is made as they pass over. I would just love to go up in one, but wimp that I am, kI have never dared! So I decided to make them the focal point of my dream.

Firstly, I stamped and masked off my three balloons (Clarity Stamps), then I spritzed my tag with a mixture of Cosmic Shimmer Mist in Mango Blaze, Sticky Fingers mist in Frost, and Moonglow Glitz Spritz in Dessert Moon Endless Sky.

I then inked around the edges of my tag with Shabby Shutters, Mustard Seed and Tumbled Glass distress inks. Next was the rest of the stamping, some script  (Stamp Camp)secondary stamping in a couple of places in Archival sepia, then the trees (Clarity Stamps)at the base in Olympic green archival, with some secondary stamping for depth. The birds (Clarity Stamps) are stamped in black archival secondary stamping. The clouds, also secondary stamping are by A Stamp in the Hand.

I then distressed the edges using a TH distresser then ran around the edges with black archival.

The strands, disc with "F" on it, and TH "Journey" tag are all from my stash.

Do pop over and check out the samples from my super talented design team buddies, and check out their blogs. You are sure to be filled with inspiration.

Thanks for stopping by. I love to read your comments.

Wanda xx



Picking Flowers

Here is a card I made today for my grand daughter's birthday, which is tomorrow. I had intended to go with pink and blue, but somehow I ended up with green and lemon! Now how did that happen? Image coloured with copic markers. Not sure where the backing paper came from. The flower centres were made using dies then these were mounted onto flowers from my stash. The sentiment is stamped in black and cut out using a nestie. Ribbon from my stash.

Sorry it is such a short post. OH has just made me a hot chocolate!

Bye for now.

Wanda xx

TIO#87 - Project Tim Holtz



The challenge this week on Dragon's Dream tag it on challenge blog is Project Tim Holtz, set by our leader Frankie. I have purchased a couple of the mini series of TH stamps recently so decided, of course, that I would use those.

I decided to opt for the TH dabber resist technique, so I fished out the only white I had which is, in actual fact, pearls, and repeat stamped the flourish from one of the said sets. I left this to dry then, as I don't have any of the stains - yet, I used a glimmer mist in Cherry Blossom and a cosmic shimmer mist in Ocean Sunlight on my tag. I then edged it with tattered rose and broken china distress inks. I stamped a couple of images using the same inks, then over-stamped in black stazon. I stamped umbrella man in black versacolour then embossed in black. I then mounted him on the wire so he is high wire walking. I distressed the edges using the TH paper distresser, then edged in black stazon.

The vintage seam binding has been coloured using the same distress inks, then stamped in black stazon using the harlequin design. I added the ribbon then finaly I added the ball chain with the token which says "believe".

I hope you approve of my take on a TH project. Must go the steamer has just pinged!

Please do pop over to the TIO challenge blog and check out the fabulous entries by my design team buddies. They really do produce some amazing work. Then give it a go - show us what you can come up with. We love to see your entries and we try to comment on each one. Just remember to use at least one real stamp in your creation.

Bye for now. Thanks for dropping by. I love to read your comments.

Wanda xx

Age of Chivalry

TIO #86 - Age of Chivalry

The theme this week over on Dragon's Dream TIO challenge is "Age of Chivalry" and is set for us by Janet.

I have used a stamp set by Tanda stamps for all of my images. The knight is stamped onto metal using black stazon, then cut out, andf 3D mounted onto my tag. I have used DI's in pumice stone, putty and black soot for my background and have stamped my images with the same DI's and black stazon where I wanted more emphasis.

The fleur de lis and crown have been cut using TH dies and a nestie for the larger fleur de lis. I have then run the die cuts through my cuttlebug using a script embossing folder. Sanded the raised script then brushed over very lightly with black soot DI.

Finally, I have made the rossette, using a mould and ultra thick EP, to which I have added bronze and gold EP. I have brushed over the raised areas very lightly with old gold rub and buff, kbut have to admit this isn;t showing very well in the photo. I thought the rossette could signify the war of the roses. Not sure if I have the right era in history though (not my strong point!)

That's it for now. A cup of tea calls. Do pop over to the TIO challenge block and check out the entries by my super talented design team buddies. Then let's see what you can come up with. We love popping over to your blogs.

Bye for now. I love reading your comments so do let me know what you think of my entry. And I know my fellow design team love to receive your comments too. Even more, we love looking sat your entries.

Wanda