Box It Up ......

.... that's our new challenge over at A Vintage Journey!

Hello and welcome to another Friday and another post with creative work for A Vintage Journey. The lovely Julia is our host this month and our theme is BOXES.

Perhaps you will make a trunk or suitcase, some kind of package to hold a gift, or maybe make a card or journal page showing presents. Just remember to ensure that you create in one of our preferred styles of vintage, shabby, mixed media, art journaling, industrial, timeworn or steampunk.

The latter part of Shetland summertime is full of the local agricultural shows where locals also showcase their produce, arts and crafts. The SWI (Scottish Women's Institute) show was last weekend and the Institute competition was themed Black and White. Basically as a group (that's us in Tingwall) we must display five different crafts in the named theme. So I made this mixed media box which I thought I would share for our new challenge.

There are no photographs of the "doing" but I will share some details with you.

I used a Calico Craft Parts Box Kit and painted it Chalk White and added some text around the outside with texture paste.

The lid was covered with Tim Holtz Botanical Tissue Wrap and fixed with multi medium before being crackled with DecoArt Crackle Glaze.

It is not very easy to see the crackle although I did rub a little Black Soot Distress Ink over the top, but I didn't want to overdo it and make it look "dirty"!

I kept the decoration simple just a flower and roman numeral as I didn't want to lose the lovely botanical drawings.

And here is our entry on the day - five members, five individual crafts. And they all have to be displayed in an area 18" x 18" x 18".  We won first prize and the 90th Anniversary Trophy (again .... we were defending winning last year!).

I also did amazingly well at the show winning five trophies! I got many lst awards in arts, craft, knitting and photography and ended up winning the most points in the show! I still can't believe it happened. My favourite win was the Fair Isle Pincushion - my busty big backside Shetland wifie! She won the huge rose bowl !!!

Do hop on over to A Vintage Journey where my fabulous fellow Creative Guides have created some amazing box projects. There is so much to inspire you! so I do hope you will join us in our challenge.

As always thank you for joining me and have a lovely weekend.

Jennie x

Flower Girl Mini Album

Hello and welcome to the first of September! 

We have had a lovely summer break over at Mini Album Makers, but we are back again this month!

As always on the first day of the month we start a new challenge and this month I am sharing a small folded book with a few surprises inside!

Over the years I have collected a number of ideas for mini books on my Pinterest pages and I love trawling through them all getting ideas. However, I have wanted to make this particular mini album for ages as it really is a cutie (measuring 4"x 4.5") and can be used for birthdays, scrapbooking or even journalling.

The mini album was designed by Kirsten Hyde and first appeared on Kaisercraft's Design Team blog. Unfortunately that post has now disappeared but you can find the tutorial on Kirsten's blog by clicking the link HERE. She has lots of wonderful tutorials on her blog, so do check them out! I am very grateful that Kirsten has given me permission to share this mini book and link with you all.

I will not share how I made the book in this post as you can see all the details (including the measurements) on Kirsten's blog, but I will share how I decorated mine.

I have used Maja Design papers which are a lovely thickness for this type of project. My cover is made from two sheets glued together as I didn't particularly like the other side of either of my pieces!

I have used many of the labels and little bits and pieces that you can find on their papers .....

..... including the strip at the bottom of the sheet to cover up some wonky cutting at the right hand edge.

And the surprises .... there is a fabulous little drawer on the bottom of the album ......

...... and an accordian fold book which sits on top of the drawer.

I managed to cut some of my leftovers to create the little book - this gorgeous little piece has been waiting to be used for ages.

This mini album was great fun to make and I intend to send it to my grand daughter as her birthday card. She loves flowers and I have found a lovely little flower bracelet to put into the box and I shall fill the pages of the book with photographs of her in the garden. I am sure it will become a lovely keepsake.

I am sure there are many different ways this little mini album could be used and a huge thank you to Kirsten for letting me create with one of her designs.

And now for some news! Today Mini Album Makers Challenge turns TWO YEARS OLD!  To celebrate this milestone, we are hosting a blog hop and giveaway with a $25 gift certificate to Lindy's Stamp Gang!

For your chance to win this prize and take part in the blog hop just hop on over to Mini Album Makers Challenge for all the details and links to my fabulous teamies who have created so many wonderful mini albums to inspire you.

Have a great month and happy crafting!

Jennie x

Tag Friday at A Vintage Journey

Hello and welcome to a simply created tag celebrating silence .......

As it's a fifth Friday in the month the Creative Guides at A Vintage Journey have had their usual fun creating a tag, normally from bits and pieces lying around our desk! I have had lots of fun with the gelli plate this last month and so I took a piece and cut a tag and added some over stamping. I have kept the decoration to a minimum as I didn't want to lose the background.

And here is the paper I cut the tag from.  I am always delighted the way the gelli plate creates such lovely combinations of  colours and smudges!

Do hop on over to A Vintage Journey to see what my fellow teamies have created - I am sure you will find alot of inspiration and some very different techniques.

Have a lovely weekend and hopefully the sun will shine and there will be time for crafting!

Jennie x

Still Melancholy for PaperArtsy

I am over on the PaperArtsy blog tonight creating with Raquel's wonderful autumn stamps for our current mushroom theme.

Do join me if you would like to see more!

Still Melancholy at PaperArtsy

Jennie x

Tea Dyeing and Journal Tutorial

As I am the host for this month's challenge at A Vintage Journey I am today sharing a tutorial of my Cup of Tea project, a jam packed Eileen Hull Wrap Around Journal full of tea dyed papers, tickets, textiles and little envelopes.

Do join me by clicking the link HERE for tips on tea dyeing and how I put together a large journal.

Look forward to seeing you there!

Jennie x

A Cup of Tea for Your Art

..... that's our new challenge over at A Vintage Journey and no surprises that it is me who is hosting the challenge!

You know how much I love dying anything that comes across my desk and this month I am challenging you all to pour a cup of tea (or coffee) and use it in your project.

In your cup you could dye lace, ribbon, wood, paper and flowers, or use it to create splashes or cup rings on your project. And don't just limit yourself to "ordinary tea" - there's green tea, yellow tea, black tea, herbal and fruit teas - whatever you've got in your cup!

As I am the host this month I am only going to give you a few "sneak peeks" as I will be back later in the month with a full project tutorial. I have used Eileen Hull's Wrap Around Journal die to create this little vintage book full of stamped papers and envelopes.

In the meantime why don't you hop on over to A Vintage Journey and check out all the wonderful projects created by my fellow Creative Guides. You will be totally inspired !!

So get the kettle and get crafting!

Jennie x

Time to move on ....

Sadly today is my last day on the team at Calico Craft Parts. I have had a lovely time creating with their wonderful products and shall continue to do so. But other exciting possibilities and openings beckon so I have had to make the decision to say goodbye to the lovely team.

I am sharing some of my favourite pieces over on the blog today, so do hop on over if you would like to see what they are! The Gibson Girl is my all time favourite!

Jennie x

Retro Colours for PaperArtsy

Tonight I am sharing my project for our Retro Colours topic over at PaperArtsy. This was such great fun and so totally different for me! 

Do join me if you would like to find out more.

Jennie x

Let's go to the Beach ......

...... well that's the theme of my project over at Calico Craft Parts today.

I have used many of their mini sheet pieces to make this small beach banner to remind me of summer days.  Do join me over on the blog if you would like to see more.

Jennie x

Creative Card Making

It is my turn to share a creative card making tutorial over at A Vintage Journey today, so if you would like to know how I created this single layered stamped card then hop on over by clicking the link HERE.

Hope to see you there!

Jennie x

Decoupage Box Storage

I am sharing a fairly simple but largish project over at Calico Craft Parts today.

Do join me over on the blog if you would like to find out more.

Jennie x

Time for Tea

Today I am sharing this cute mixed media tea themed 

ornament over at Calico Craft Parts.

Do join me over on the blog if you would like to see more.

Jennie x

Sneak Peek: Arty Wood Blocks at PaperArtsy

I am creating over at PaperArtsy tonight with a vintage arty wood block.

I had so much fun creating this project! 

Do join me over at PaperArtsy for all the details.

Jennie x

Dreamer of Dreams

I have been experimenting with my Gelli Plate and have had tremendous fun with tissue paper!

Which just happens to coincide with our new challenge at A Vintage Journey where the wonderfully creative Astrid is challenging us to use tissue paper in our projects this month.

There are so many different ways you can incorporate tissue paper into your project - create texture by scrunching it up, stain it, paint it, wax it, stamp on it, emboss on it. You could use cheap 

tissue from the supermarket, recycle gift wrapping tissue, or even use old dressmaking patterns.

Just remember to create in one of our preferred styles of vintage, shabby, mixed media, 

art journaling, industrial, timeworn or steampunk.

My fellow Creative Guides have created some amazing projects with their

 tissue paper so do hop on over to see them all. Just click the link HERE.

I was very pleased with the final effect of the painted tissue 

and the masking effect.

As a result I kept the decoration to a minimum.

These were the supplies I was working with - I did try with some supermarket tissue but it disintegrated. The Tim Holtz tissue is slightly thicker and held up well to the paint.

Before I layered the paint on to the Gelli Plate I used these die cuts to create a silhouette. This was the first "pull" from the plate and it picked up just about all the paint.

As  you can see it dried alot lighter.

I used a large text stamp on the cardstock under the tissue paper.

I love how this shows through all the tissue in varying degrees.

My quote was also stamped on tissue and adhered to the page with multi medium.

I thought this would be safer than stamping direct and I always love how the tissue just disappears into the background.

This was certainly great fun and I shall certainly be having another go!

Thank you Astrid for a great challenge.

Have a great weekend!

Jennie x

PaperArtsy Stamp Release!

I am so thrilled to be part of the release of new stamps over at PaperArtsy this week. 

It was such a pleasure to be able to work with three new stamp sets from Lynne Perrella.

Just a couple of sneak peeks here so do hop on over to PaperArtsy to see more of the projects I have made with these stunning images.

Jennie x

Tea Dyed Vintage Tag

Hello and welcome to the last day of May ..... 

... and the fifth Friday of the month, so a Tag Friday for us all over at A Vintage Journey!

As Creative Guides we really love these tag creation days - a chance to experiment, use up bits on our craft table and generally have fun! Do hop on over to the blog HERE see the stunning tags created by the rest of the team.  And some fabulous news as we have four new designers joining us which is really exciting - so welcome to Anne, Barbara, Toni and Jo!

This tag was really a chance for me to use some of the habitual "bits" that sit on my desk. I seem to have crafted so much with textiles just lately there were loads of little pieces gathering dust so I cut some tea stained calico into a tag and decided to just sew bits and pieces randomly.

Once everything was sewn to the linen I could then attach it to a cardstock tag by sewing around the edges.  I didn't use any glue at all - everything is sewn on!

There is no stamping on this tag but I did add a little texture paste to the empty area on the right hand side.

All the ribbons and lace have been in a tea-bath for varying lengths of time and they all take the colour differently. It really is my favourite "go to" dye.

This metal embellishment has been sat on my desk for months, so at long last it has been used!

I really had fun making this tag and it came together really quickly with all the random sewing.

As always thank  you for joining me and I do hope you all have a lovely weekend which includes some form of crafting.

Jennie x