Diamond Jubilee Celebrations...

Wow!

What a lovely weekend of Jubilee celebrations it has been...Shame about the rain...Although it wouldn't be a British Bank holiday without a little bit of the wet stuff ... would it?!

Still, with true British spirit we did not let it dampen our festive spirits.

-oOo-

...and aptly this weeks theme over at..

Tag Tuesday

is...

Diamond Jubilee.

So here is my little royal offering...

I decorated my tag (back and front)

with...

Papermania (Portobello road) papers

..images of a young Queen and one of Her Majesty now.

..Paint

..Buttons

..Ribbon flower

..Alphabet stamps to stamp a few words from the National Anthem.

and some more bunting...using the free stamp on this months Craft stamper magazine.

Thanks for peeking!

Jan x

Bunting and Flags

This weeks theme over at

Tag Tuesday

is...

Bunting and Flags...

(Oh, I do LOVE a bit of Bunting!!)

-oOo-

Well I was supposed to be repurposing/painting an old shelf unit in the garden yesterday....but rain stopped play...( it was torrential here in my part of Essex!!)

-oOo-

So... inside I went, grabbed some fabric, lace, buttons, fabric clothing tag, crown charm, crochet flowers and a vintage baby image printed on to some fabric....

 

and hand-stitched up this little creation for this weeks Tag Tuesday theme...

 I'm a little 'union jacked' out ....it's everywhere you look at the moment, with the forthcoming Jubilee celebrations....red, white and blue in every nook and cranny!!

So... I decided to change it up a little and went a little pink and aqua for my flag!

Thanks for peeking!

Jan x

 

Tag Tuesday - Gardening

This weeks theme over at

Tag Tuesday

is...

Gardening....

Now Gardening is not my forté,

....but I really enjoyed making this little tag.

-oOo-

A Collaged Manilla tag,

seed ad, vintage images,

buttons, lace, string

and a little distressing.

my 'tomato' buttons!!

-oOo-

Can't wait to see what gardening tags the other little 'green fingers' have created this week!

Thanks for peeking!

Jan x

You've got mail - Postcard swap

  Over at

Inspiration Avenue

this month...

I joined in with their POSTCARD SWAP.

where the challenge was to alter 5 postcards...

...and send them to 5 different (allocated) people

-oOo-

My postcards went out in the mail today.

...to the USA, The Netherlands, Canada and South Africa.

This was my first altered postcard swap...

I ended up making 6

5 to swap and 1 to keep :)

 I had fun altering them

...mixed media collage style

  sewing pattern paper backgrounds

and lots of ....

paints...

 ...fabric,

tape measure,

vintage style images...

...wings,

distressing inks,

lace and vintage buttons!!

Can't wait to receive my 'Happy Mail' art postcards now....

Thanks for peeking!

Jan x

Let's Get Shabby - Challenge # 34

....for challenge #34

 over at

Let’s get Shabby

it's all about creating a Shabby Project with

a repeated geometrical shape...

-oOo-

....So here is my DT take on this challenge..

I decided to scrap a page of one of my boys...

 I started with some (webster pages) 12x12 paper

 Then I stencilled with some paint (for my repeated geometrical shaped pattern) using a hexagon patterned mask.

to give me this background for my layout.

-oOo-

Then embellished with...

 assorted lace, charms, flowers, wooden embellies, book paper...

 ...buttons, doilies, metal gate embellie, butterfly...

Oh and a photo of my cutie (when he was about 7 years old...taken 11 years ago!!...so he's a little bigger now LOL!!) and his little pal!

....owl charm, bird stamped tag, more wooden embellies (clock and butterfly).

-oOo-

...and this is my finished page....

For full deets on this challenge ...

hop over to

Let's Get Shabby

..and to see what beauties the other shabby girls have created...

Thanks for peeking

Jan x

Happy Easter - Tag Tuesday

This weeks theme over at

Tag Tuesday

is...

Easter....

I rummaged through my lace box and came across this little beauty...

....So I decided to use this for the base of my tag.

I digtally altered some free clip art images, then printed them onto some printable fabric...

...added lace, vintage and wooden buttons, gingham, coin envelope, safety pin, flower charm and a little stitching...

...and the netted mesh ribbon is recycled from some recent garden furniture packaging.

Wishing you all a

Happy Easter!

Thanks for peeking!

Jan x

 

It must be LOVE......

 Ooooh....It's been a chilly weekend here....

Good excuse to hibernate in the craft-room!!

So for some creative inspiration

I've been blog-hopping

in search of a  Challenge or 2!!(or 4!!) to get those creative juices flowing!!

-oOo-

I've had these neglected wooden mini drawers in my craftroom for absolute ages..

So when I was looking around for something to alter for a Valentine/Love/Recipe/Texture Challenge

It shouted out ....

"Pick Me!!!" 

-oOo-

I shabbied it up with some crackle painting

...and distressed the edges with distress inks (#SSS challenge- recipe element)

...added some crackle painted chipboard wings (#SSS challenge- recipe element)

Tim Holtz #14 plaquette

(perfect for Valentine's day!!)

The crown was originally a metal christmas tree decoration

..... got a pack of 6 of these little lovelies in the IKEA January sale for 50p!!

The crown also got crackle painted,

....then added lots of lovely vintage buttons (#SSS challenge- recipe element),

a gem (recycled from a keyring from a christmas cracker!) and a heart charm.

 

Ripped of the original little wooden drawer pulls

...and replaced them with more TH goodies

(Curio knobs)

The fourth silver drawer pull was a giftie from my lovely friend Tina in Texas!

As I just mentioned

I tore those little wooden knobs right off!!

But they didn't go in the bin...

Oh No!....nothing gets wasted in the Smifferoo household LOL! ;)

I stuck them onto the bottom of the drawer unit

to make little feet!!

Lined the drawers with some old torn edges of music sheets (#SSS challenge- recipe element)

and used some Andy Skinner 'Antiques set' stamps to decorate two of the drawers and the sides.

(Just love this candelabra stamp)

Thanks for Peeking!

Jan x



The challenges that inspired me to alter my drawer unit are...

 Retro Cafe Art Gallery Valentine's Day Contest

Simon Says Stamp and Show's recipe challenge of "torn edges, distress ink, button, and wings"

Sunday Stamper -Wk192 - Love

There is a whole lot of texture going on in the form of crackle paint, buttons, metal, glass etc.... so I'm also entering it in the Stamp Man's "texture" challenge.

Tag Tuesday - Lace ....and an Angel...

I LOVE using Lace in my projects...

...so had fun making this weeks tag.

Here is my 'Lace' tag

for

 Tag Tuesday

Made from a Manila tag wrapped in vintage lace.

I experimented with a rub-on transfer on to some cheesecloth.

added vintage buttons, charms, broken jewellery, distressed paper and a little tag.

Looking forward to next weeks theme...'Hearts'

-oOo-

and now for a reveal.....

I can show this as the lovely Jenny in Australia has received it now...

My first chunky ATC

I was inspired by Jenny after seeing her beautiful Art Blocks

...and was so lucky to beable to trade with her.

 This is what I created for Jenny

I drew the Angel, and coloured with water colour pencils, paints  and PaperArtsy Fresco finish paints.

 Crackle paint, lace, wings, heart, crown charm and vintage buttons.

....drawer knob, doily and I found this vintage velvet yoyo in my stash and thought it would top it off nicely!

Thanks again Jenny for a wonderful trade!

I want to make another one now!!.....

Thanks for peeking

and for all your lovely comments...

Jan x