Whats on Your Workdesk Wednesday 138

Steam Punk left overs and Frames! That's what is on my desk this Wednesday!

I got hold of some damaged frames at a side walk sale last year and they have been sitting under my desk in a box for AGES now...

I found a huge pot of black acrylic paint and have been painting them all black and the backing boards black.  Then I am going to use them to display my techniques pages at the scrapbook shops where I teach and to have at home.  The frames in the photo above are standing ones for display tables and the pic below is for hanging on the wall.

Reminds me of a story of a kid who was sent to a psychologist cos he only drew in black and the parents were concerned...after weeks of making him draw at his sessions where he drew in the most spectacular colours, the psychologist finally asked why he only drew in black at school.  The answer was simple: because he only had a black crayon at his desk at school!

Here is what a finished one looks like.  This is my latest page and you can see all the close ups and details in my previous post.

So now you have seen what's on my workdesk, go on to Julia's desk (I mean lap this week) and have a snoop at what everyone else is doing the world over.

Thanks for stopping by.

Bella

Steam Punk & Grungy Monday

Over at Linda's place the theme for Grungy Monday is Crackle Resist, but I got a bit side tracked because...

I went to one of my local Scrap shops and found 4 new embossing folders by Couture Creations, namely: Timepiece, Vintage Dressmaker, Work Shop and Renaissance.  These sparked off some ideas in my head...

They have a very Steam Punk feel to them and this got me going  last night. I finished at midnight, but hey, I had a blast at my desk and when that mojo was flowing I couldn't stop!

So here it is in close-ups:

I have used Lettuce paint dabber on the cog foam stamps (which I made from Tim's Cog die called gadget gears) on the white Bazzil card stock (yes it was white once upon a time...) and then over rubbed it with peeled paint and black soot Distress Inks.  I used kraft-core in black for the lettering which I embossed and sanded back and core-dinations in green for the torn middle square and main mannequin.  All the rest is covered in the two Distress inks, stamped with Archival ink in Jet black and some glossy accents for good measure.

I actually sat down to do Linda's challenge, which is to use Distress Crackle paint and rub some Distress ink into the cracks when it is dry, (you can see how to do this in Tim's video here) well it is there, but you have to really look for it which is why I started this post with a close up of the cog with it on, just in case you missed it!

Thanks for popping by.

Bella

Addicted to minibooks by Minxy

Well, I could not wait to get into my studio this morning to make another mini book like Minxy's.  You can find her video on how to make them here.

This is my second one and I have taken photos to show you how to cut the paper and then how I punch the pockets with an edge punch so you can see where to put the ATCs.  I have also punched to tops of some of the ATCs so that they match the little book.

I am loving this idea that you can give a whole book of  ATCs!

Inspired by Minxy

I went onto Minxy's blog from where I found a link to Snazzy's Design Team Blog cos she is a DT member there and boy did I get inspired by the mini book and bag that she made.  you can watch her Youtube video here on how to make the book that I have done.

I had fun making my own paper using a punched piece as a mask with Distress inks in Spiced Marmalade, Barn Door, Walnut Stain and Fired Brick cos you only need one 12"x12" piece of paper to make all the inside pages!

I used Tim's pine cone die to make the large rose and just color washed the little ones from my stash for the cover.

Though I still have to find photos to put in it, I have discovered that the pockets are the perfect size for ATCs  and have done the base designs for them to go in the mini book.

I can't tell you how much fun and fast this was to make, so thank you Minxy for showing this to the world for me to find and create!

Thanks for popping by

Bella

Simon Says Stamp and Show: Anything but a card!

Since meeting Tim, I have become a tag junkie.  So here is my tag that I made for this challenge over at Simon Says Stamp and Show...where you can do anything other than a card this week.

I guess I got a bit carried away and made 3 tags...This is the one above that I am entering in the challenge.  I used distress inks directly onto my craft sheet, mini misted them with water and dragged the tag through it.  I also did this to the ribbon which makes for a great match up.  I dried it and used a punch to create the Spirograph type spirals and put them on the tag and worked some more distress inks into the holes with my applicator tool.  Having done all of that I then used some of Tim's Stampers Anon word stamps to give it some interest.

I am really into perfect pearls at the moment and made my own spray for the tag above using the mini mister and some distress ink re-inker called peeled paint and a good dose of Forever Green perfect pearl.  I punched the ribbon strip from a MS punch and lay it down to spray over.  When it was dry I added the stamps and the half pearls.

For this tag I stamped a really old (20 year old!) PSX stamp and painted it with distress ink re-inkers and added some perfect pearls highlights that I made into a paint by mixing them with water.

here is a close up so you can see the sparkle.

Thanks for dropping by.

Bella

Whats on my Workdesk Wednesday

Yes it is the speediest day of the week!  Seems to come round faster than all the others...

So what s on my Workdesk?  Until I came home from teaching my latest class at The Scrapbook in Claremont this afternoon, there was nothing to photograph!  Yes, it was spotless!

Here it is now however after dumping everything on it and about to put it away.  I must just brag a tiny bit and say that it is all gone now as I write this, so back to boring clutterless desk!  The vagabond box is my way of carting all my stash, to and from the places where I teach.  Somehow when I go it all fits so beautifully but on returning it is bulging as you can see and needs the belt to hold it all in!

On a personal note, I am oh so ready for this heat wave to cool down a bit so that I can think and create!  I have drunk no less than 4 of those cycling bottles full of water that you can see lurking in the background today alone.  It was still 31 degrees Centigrade at 5:30pm.

We have had the most ridiculous  HIGH temperatures combined with humidity which is killing me.  I don't really mind the heat, but dripping like a melting ice cream is not comfortable or a pretty sight! Cant think straight...will have to wait for it to cool so I can go desk hopping over at Julias place called Stamping Ground.  Do join in, it is such fun to see what all us creative types get up to on a regular basis.

Cards

My good friend was having a birthday and I could not think of what to get her...till she mentioned in passing that she had no cards or anything this year for putting on her Christmas presents....that got me thinking...

I made her 10 cards that she could use through the year and I might even make her some Christmas tags closer to the time...  Here are all the cards I made in 4 hours.

Whats on my Workdesk Wednesday 136 BACK TO SCHOOL

Yip, here in South Africa, we start our new grades with the beginning of each year.  So today was the end of a 4 week Summer Holiday and for my son, the start of Grade 2.

He is such a typical boy.  Lives to play, so school just gets in the way!  He was already plotting his fun afternoon activities before he even went to school today, just to make sure he could fit it all in!

So, on my desk are this mornings photos and a very quick layout.  I still have to dig out my box of stickers and back to school embellies.  I made the title some time last year when I came across the free SVG file on  http://svgcuts.com/   I am trying to keep on top of my latest photos by printing them and doing the pages and then go back into my pile of backlog in between.  That way, I am hoping to catch up... One has to have a plan, at least that way it can be changed or ignored, but I feel better working to a plan.

So now you have seen whats on my desk, hop on over to Julia's desk at Stamping Ground where she hosts the World Wide Wednesday Desk Hop and Snoop.

Happy Birthday Tim Holtz GM

Yip! It is Tim's Birthday today!  Over at Grungy Monday Linda is celebrating it in style with an opportunity to make Tim a card and then post it off to him!

I am a bit late in making it, seeing as today is the actual day (at least he will know I was really thinking of him then...), but I am sure it will get to him eventually (African Time and all - allowing for our postal service...) But I am sure he will forgive me as he has been here and knows that he will get it "now, now" or "just now" which means that it will probably reach him in a week or two!  Talk about an extended birthday!

I have used his Journaling Tickets with one of his Stampers Anon stamps printed with Coffee Archival ink, edged with Black soot Distress ink and finally covered with Rock Candy Crackle Paint.

His name is made up of a tile from a stacking scrabble game and some of his grunge board lettering and blocks which I covered with Pitch Black Paint Dabber and then Antique Linen Crackle Paint and the letters got a good dose of Glossy Accents.

The tag is done using various brown Distress Inks applied directly onto the craft sheet, spritzing it with a mini mister and dragging the tag through it.  When it was dry I used his crackle stamp by Stampers Anon, from his latest Christmas range printed in Coffee Archival Ink and I randomly place it round the edge then finished it off with a mask of cup cakes which I punched using an ek Success punch.  (cos in my book its not a birthday without a cup cake! or 2 or 3 or...)

The ribbon is printed with a Happy Birthday stamp I made using the Stamp Maker by Teresa Collins, with Jet Black Archival Ink.  I added the punched cup cakes which I had used as a mask on the tag cos it is always good to repeat an element on a design.

The rest is metal embellies from a local company called Fab Scraps and some of Tim's brads beaten with his texture hammer for good measure!

I had such fun making this tag for Tim, I hope he likes it!


Bella

Happy New Year

Things have been just a little crazy round here...thought it would calm down at Christmas, but who would have guessed or thought it possible to go up a notch?

So this is a scheduled post to wish you all a Safe and Happy New year, just in case I don't get to my study to do so...

My desk has not been touched since Christmas Eve, so posting for Whats on your Workdesk Wednesday is futile...Start that again in the New year too.

So, see you all in 2012 my friends when I surface from all this craziness to take a week to myself to recover!

Lots of Love


Bella