Craft Barn Die Cutting Demo Day 8th sep

  Hi all, Last weekend whilst I was in my local craft shop,
 The Craft Barn I was asked if I would like to help out and demo the Tim Holtz Vagabond machine at their demo day on the 8th Sep. Now I was asked because they know I have a Vagabond not because Im a whizz of any kind ;)
To say the least I was taken back and after a days thought I decided what the hell lets give it a go.
 Basically on the day there will be several of us showing how each of the main machines work, The Vagabond, the Cuttle Bug, the Grand Calibur , Big Shot, sling shot and pea shooter.  Ok so a few of those may be made up ;)
 All I have to do is show how the machine works with all the different dies that are out there and the sorts of material the machine will cut etc. (not to hard??)
 Oh I also need to make a sample board and some pieces of work giving examples of die cut and embossed pieces.
The first pic is the sample board I have made, It has now been label'd with each of the materials. I have a few past projects I can take along and have made a box and a tag, nothing mind blowing but hopefully they show off die cuts and embossing?

Firstly the tag, I really wanted to make this tag using the same techniques and finishes as an ATC I made for a swap a month or so ago. I used the Tim Tag die and cut out a tag in craft card, two in mount board one in acetate.The craft card was embossed with the metal plate folder from Tim Holtz and painted with a copper patina effect from the Andy Skinner workshop, the 2 bits of mount board were then cut with a craft knife so they became frames, the top one was stained with distress inks and then embossing powders to give it a rusty look, the acetate was stamped with a Paper Artsy steam punk stamp.I also cut a couple of cogs from the Tim cogs die and gave them the same finish as the frame.The acetate was layered in between the mount board so it was raised from the patina effect and recessed from the front of the tag. the cogs were cut and stuck on around the edge. I used a couple of other embellishments to even out the colours a little.
I would like to enter this tag into the challenge over at Catered Crop where their challenge is 'No Stress To Distress'
I think rust and patina'd copper is distressed?? ;)

I would also like to enter it into Card Crafters Circle
their challenge is 'For The Fellas'
And I would like to enter it into Simply Create Too
where their challenge is 'So Old Or Vintage'


And of course there is the DragonsDream Tag It On
challenge 'Art For Arts Sake'










Secondly I made this box, Its a simple little wooden box,I stained the top with distress inks and then stamped over the top in sienna archival ink with a cover a card stamp and the 'love' stamp from Dyan Reaveley. This was then coated with a couple of coats of UTEE. I used the movers and shapers butterfly die, embossed them with a script folder and coloured them with distress inks as well.For the sides I used the on the edge die and used the same colours and stamp as i did for the lid, they have also been coated in UTEE to tie it all together.
For the inside of the box I ran some card through an embossing folder and again used distress inks for some colour but added a little black so it was not quite so in your face. I also added another butterfly for the shear hell of it ;)

Hopefully they show a few of the different dies in use??

If you are about on the 8th Sep and want to see me make a fool of myself pop on down to the Craft Barn It would be great to see you, and if you do know me from Blog land say hi ad introduce yourself x


Thanks for sticking with this post,I do waffle at times. ;)

The Craft Barn. Blog Candy

Just a quick post to let you know that the Craft Barn are having a blog candy give away, they are celebrating hitting over 1000 followers.For all the details of how to be in with a chance of winning all of this follow the link and check it out.Ill be keeping my fingers crossed for this little lot ;)

Haunted Design House Challenge.......'Bad Moon Rising'

 Its that time of the week again.This weeks challenge over at Haunted Design House is 'Bad Moon Rising'
and I hope you will come and check us out let lose your dark sides and have a play in our dungeon ;)
We are sponsored this week by On Cupcake Moon
They do all sorts of custom Invites/cards toppers etc, Definitely worth checking out, They are also giving away $15 of store credit to the winner.
There is something there for everyone.
 Basically the challenge is to include a moon and not make it look to cute ;)
 After 2 weeks of using Copics it was nice to step away and create something a little bit different.      When thinking about Moons my mind jumps to werewolf's (obviously).
I thought it would be cool to change up a simple wooden box and turn it into my werewolf kit.I have some silver bullets, werewolf teeth, a little bottle of Wolfs Bane, on the inside I also have a pic of a werewolf and you can just make out some hair straight from the beast.
Oh and of course I stuck a great big full moon on top of the box.

To make the moon I drew a circle and used Deco Art's crackle paste, this was then stained with blue distress inks and then dry brushed with cream and white acrylic paints, building the colour up as I went along. The main box was coated in Deco Art's texture paint and painted first with a dark brown ( I was going to go for a rusty finish at first, but it looked poo) I then went over with a deep blue and dry brushed with the same blue mixed with white so it bought out all the texture, there are probably 3 or 4 different shades of the blue on there, I kind of mixed as I went.On the front of the box I added a cut down Tando book plate, gave this a rusty finish with distress stains and distress embossing powders, added the word 'Lycanthrope' which is another word for werewolf, also it helps break the blue.
The mini Tim bottle was painted with an Andy Skinner Technique from the elixir workshop.The teeth were also done using an Andy technique, they are a couple of teeth bought in one of those Hippy native american type shops and a funky shaped stone, they were all a bleached white colour to start with.
The bullets I picked up at an army surplus store, all I needed to so with them was paint the bullet part with silver alcohol ink.
Inside the lid I added a pic from the internet, I distressed it with distress ink pads and added a paper clip with some stained string to make it look like fur.

Thanks for stopping by, Hopefully I'll see some of you over at Haunted Design House
Holidays are over now so I shall be getting back into the swing of things and shall be visiting more blogs and making more pieces
Happy crafting and see you soon,    Mark

Haunted Design House Challenge

Evening all, or morning depending on where your at ;)
A slow week here last week, summer holidays and work still getting in the way of some good crafting.
However I have got this done, Its my DT piece for Haunted Design House
  This week our theme is 'Who are you calling a Succubus?'
And we are lucky enough to have KennyK sponsor us this week,They are Giving away 2 designs to each of our Gruesome twosome (top two)
Their Digi stamps are very cool, great characters, lots of styles and genres to have a look at,steam punk through to cutie glam chicks.

 So what's a Succubus???
In folklore traced back to medieval legend, a succubus (plural succubi) is a female demon or supernatural being appearing in dreams, who takes the form of a human woman in order to seduce men, usually through sexual intercourse. The male counterpart is the incubus. Religious traditions hold that repeated intercourse with a succubus may result in the deterioration of health or even death.
In modern fictional representations, a succubus may or may not appear in dreams and is often depicted as a highly attractive seductress or enchantress; whereas, in the past, succubi were generally depicted as frightening and demonic.

I chose the image 'Lady Victoria' from the Steampunk/burlesque set. I thought she made a great temptress?
It was another one of those challenges where I needed to use Copics (dang it) I love them but find it a real struggle, I am quite pleased with the end result but know there is a long way to go, If you check out my fellow DT members you will see what I mean. Some really cool stuff.
As Victoria was meant to be a demon I used shades of blue for the skin and other than a little red i went with the warm and cold shades of Copics for the clothes.
I did not want to do a card so decided to do a door hanger instead (maybe I need more friends who require cards??)  ;)
I am really pleased with the background, I used distress inks to stain the wood, I used the bright oranges and yellows with a tiny bit of red. The image is a 'cover the card stamp', I inked it with Sienna Archival
to give it a nice subtle back ground image and to keep it in the warm colours as the main image is Cold.I then went around the edges with black distress ink just to give it a shadow look and a bit of age.

I printed the phrase off and attached it with adhesive pads just to raise them slightly.Finally I used a red and black feather charm I had and pinned it to the door hanger so as to balance the  main image.

The photo's are not really doing justice to the colours, in some lights it has a really vibrant red sheen to it and in more subtle light it takes on the orange hues.

Please stop by the Haunted Design House and come play in the dungeon with us.  Its always good to let the dark side out for a bit ;)

Thanks for stopping by and or becoming a follower and reading the waffle. I love reading all your comments.
Thanks, Mark

Haunted Design House Challenge

This week at Haunted Design House the challenge is 'Hiding in the corners' basically adorn the corners of your project with something.
We also are lucky enough to be sponsored this week by Stitchy Bear  They are a great Digi art shop selling loads of designs from different artists and with lots of different themes, not just gothic horror but some cute stuff too. Go check them out.
They are also offering $10 to spend in their online shop for this weeks winner.

 So after Fridays news about becoming the latest member of the Haunted Design House Design Team they have decided to throw a curve ball at me from the get go.
Digi Images, Ok, so I know what these are and I have been looking at them going I wish these were rubber (my computer skills are pap) I have no real idea how to use them but I like a challenge. When I found out about the Dt and then got the list of the challenges I booked myself on to a copic's class at the Craft Barn. Just in time too.
This is my forst real play with digi stamps. I made the atc first. the image was scaled down and printed out, I then ran it through the Tim Holtz ATC die. I coloured her up with copic's, going for grey skin tones with just a touch of colour on the shoes and hem of the dress.
I then painted over her with matt glue n seal which acts as a resist I also added some around the edges/corners,I could then go in with the distress inks for some background colour.In the corner of the Atc I used some black brads and some eyelets, to finish it off I used a spider charm that was inked with alcohol
inks and then hung through the top eyelet.
 The tag was done in the same way, I wanted a matching pair, the only addition was the spider web which was made with the Tim Holtz Halloween spider web stamp which I stamped onto shrink plastic and shrank.

 If you want to let your dark side out for a little play come and join us and see what happens ;)

I will be entering this into the One Stitch At A Time challenge blog where their theme is 'Anything Goes'

Thanks for stopping by, always love reading the comments.They mean a lot.

Haunted Design House News :)

Ok so for the last week I have made reference to a bit of news.
I can now share,
 I have been asked to be part of the Haunted Design House  Design team. I am over the moon about this as it's my first design team.
 I have been taking part in their challenges since starting to blog about 3 months ago and it's a great place to visit and take part in their challenges it really lets me let loose the darker side ;)
I'm so happy to be part of their team and very grateful they have asked me to come and play in their dungeon and If you guys ever want to let your darker side rise to the surface please come and join us in the weekly challenges!

This weeks challenge is 'Insidious inspiration'  basically use the picture on the right to inspire your project, whether it's a card,tag, mix media etc
Here is what I made using the pic as my muse.I have gone for an old shop window type of display. I painted the skull and used washes to give him some depth, the shadow box frame has been painted with a technique learnt in the Andy Skinner online workshop, I have also stamped onto the frame with one of Tim Holtz's texture stamps.The Bottles are from Tim and the lables are from & gypsies, they have been scuffed and aged a little with distress inks.
I made a couple of tiny books, these were very simple, I just folded some card, covered the front and back with the Tim sticky tape and stained them with distress inks, I coloured the spines with walnut stain to make them look like old bound Journals.

The inside of the box was covered with a paper from graphic 45 and The apothecary tag is also from one of their sheets. The main background was cut in one piece, distressed and folded to fit inside the box, the tag was also distressed and glued into place.
I have taken the pics while the glass was out as the glare was not helping ;)
Thanks for stopping by and I hope you join us over at the Haunted Design House

I'm going to enter this into Simon Says Stamp And Show where the challenge is paint it up.  both the shadow box frame and the skull have been painted.

WOYWW 166

Morning all, It's that time of the week, WOYWW want to know what that is???  follow the link, its the weekly blog hop letting everyone have a good nose around.
Its been a couple of weeks as I have been on my Hol's a great trip to Las Vegas. Managed to check out Viva Las Vegas Stamps when I was there, a wierd little place crammed full, and I mean full of their own stamps.
On my desk this week there are a few stamp sets I picked up whilst away and a few ink pads just poking their head in shot. Under the stamps you can just see what I have been working on, I have been busy since getting back but can't post just yet,
Should be sharing my little bit of news on Friday.
Happy hopping, Mark xx

Thanks for stopping by, really appreciate all the comments. xx

And now for something completely different

Yes it is me, My account has not been hacked, ;)
Today I attended a copic's class at the CraftBarn held by the talented Jane Collman, I have done very little in the way of stamp and colour even though this is what I thought crafting was about in Jan.
I have a few projects coming up where I am going to have to use copic's (or at least try to use copic's) and the standard out there is so high I thought I had best be told how to use them.The class was very informative and great fun, I learnt loads and am now much happier about using the pens than I was before. Still lots of room for improvement but that's just crafting.
Poor Jane had to contend with a bloke turning up for a class last minute, the samples were all beautifully done with brightly floral card and lots of colour, No distress inks in sight. Thankfully after I coloured up my gourjuss girl my way she managed to grab me some paper that was a little more fitting.  I am really pleased with how she turned out and the over all look of the card. I even managed to keep it clean.Its nice to do things out of your comfort zone at times. But oh how I miss my distress inks.

Thanks for reading and popping by. Must go off and work on the other projects, A little bit of news to come in the next few days/weeks ;)

Gothic/ Horror Atc's

Right, time for a jet lagged post. Just back from my holls and the back to work blues are setting in.
Just before I left I sent these off to Carmen, we have been meaning to swap since the 3rd woyww birthday and I finally got around to finishing mine.
I wanted to make and Atc in the same way I did the arches for a book cover I did a while back.
The arch it's self is from Tando Creative, they do great chip board images and I love using them.This arch was given a really thick coating of Deco art texture crackle paste.  when it dries it looks like cracked plaster of paris, I painted it black and then dry brushed it to make it look like old stone. I used alcohol inks to colour up some photo paper oranges and yellows, the image stamped is from one of Andy Skinners latest stamp range.
I got the figure from a shop called 'Games Workshop' they sell models for playing some kind of game. I saw this chap in their window.Turns out he is scenery from a Lord of the rings game. They don't sell him on his own but the guy took him from the set up and told me to run ;) ( he was the manager, so don't worry  )
I cut him from his base and gave him the same paint treatment as the arch and stuck it all together. Thanks to Carmen for the pics, as I forgot to take some before I sent them out. Dough!!
The second atc was stained up with distress inks in green yellow and orange. It was then stamped with a wood grain stamp in a light orange archival ink (think you can just see it in the first pic. The zombie image I first saw on someones Blog  Glow's I think????  and found the image on line, I printed it on to acetate and attached with a couple of brads. I also stuck on a couple of words from the Tim Holtz words pack.

Over at Haunted Design House their challenge is freaker's free for all, so I thought I would enter these.

Regular service will resume soon. thanks for stopping by, Mark

Haunted Design House

First off A big apology for being so bad in blog land this week, I have not been on line much and not had a chance to blog hop like normal, so sorry for being quiet.I have been busy getting ready for my Holls, Off tomorrow to Vegas for a week. See you all when I am back.

Right, this week over at Haunted Design House the challenge is 'Movie Madness' Like last week I did not have to think long about what film I wanted to use. My fave film of all time is 'The Crow' The Brandon Lee version, I have been a big fan for years  in all its formats, especially the graphic novel the films were based on.For those of you who do not know the film It is basically a tragic love story.


I decided to do another wooden board,this one is 8''x8'' the back ground is a Tim Holtz paper, they are dictionary pages, I aged this up even more by dabbing the distress pads on to my craft mat and spritzing with lots of water and laying the page face down on top.It was then ironed dry and stuck to the board. I ringed a couple of the words, they seemed ideal for the piece. Memory and Forgive  both seemed to fit perfectly for the mood and feel I was going for.
The main image I tore from an old Crow calender I had laying around iI also scratched the image lightly with some sand paper to make it look more like he is standing in the rain, Its one of my favourite images from the film.
I found the font used for the film logo It's called October Crow and printed it out on to acetate (  ok I need to say a big thank you to my girlfriend who had to go out today whilst I was working to get acetate that could be used in my printer, normal acetate does not work, she then figured how to get it printing ok, I would have thrown the printer out of the window. So thank you Kelly xx) I also printed out the quote 'It can't rain all the time' again a favourite quote from the movie. These were attached by using panel pins.
I aged up the torn edges with vintage photo  and walnut stain to make it look as though the main pic was showing through the dictionary pages.

woyww 163 ( again ;) )

Happy woyww everyone.Ok so I am very late posting this week, the whole work thing gets in the way of a good crafting life style. Want to know what Woyww is then follow the link to Julia's Stamping Ground. Its the must do weekly blog hop where you get to have a nosey poke and see what everyone is up to.
On my desk this week I have laid out the last Atc from the 3rd b'day swap, this was sent to me from Rosa. It has been made to be a fold out concertina style, very cool.each page has a different billboard style pic from Oz (Rosa is from OZ) I also got the lovely card with the really cool skiing sheep stamp. I love that image so much.

I have also been blown away by 2 random acts of kindness over the last two weeks, The first I should have posted last week but got carried away with all the ATC's. I got sent 2 skeletons and loads of really cool stamped skeleton busts, they are kind of day of the dead style, different outfits.  right up my street. These were sent to me by Neet.  Thank you so much, I am really looking forward to finding the right project for them.

This tag was sent to me by Mel I saw this on her blog, loved it and had no idea it was on its way to me, I also got a little care package to go with it, Am I lucky or what, they all put a big smile on my face coming home to find these, thank you so much.

I have been totally blown away by the crafting community since starting my blog. I have enjoyed every moment, so thank you for the comments and encouragement.
Have a great week.  mark.

I will as ever try to get to as many people as poss, at least all those that visit me and all those that end with the same number as me.

Love it to death

This week over at the Haunted Design House the challenge is Music Mayhem and over at Smudgy Antics the challenge is Creatures Of The Night.
This was an easy choice of subject for me, I have been wanting to do something Alice Cooper inspired for a little while now.I have done a double page in my little fat book (not sure if I'm using the term right but the pages are nice thick card), and I wanted to make it a little more understated so decided to try a project just using browns to give a vintage feel.
My fave album Is Love It To Death and one of my fave songs is Ballad Of Dwight Fry follow the link if you want to see what the straight jackets are about.

The back ground was done with some of the Tim papers and a little bit of vintage text tissue paper.I aged them up more by dabbing the distress ink pads onto my craft mat, adding water and then laying the paper face down to absorb the colour and then ironing dry and flat.I then went in with some distress stain in picket fence to lighten areas up (on the left page)  the edges were done with vintage photo and walnut stain.

I found a couple of images on the net of people in straight jackets and the album cover from Love it to Death,again aged with worn paper and stuck down. the words are song lyrics randomly chosen and stuck down, I also made a noose out of a brown suede thong, If you know Alice Cooper you know why I've done this ;)I think this also fits the Smudgy Antics challenge as I think Alice Cooper is the ultimate Creature of the night?????  ;)



Thank you for stopping by and all the comments that are left, they are all read and mean a lot.
happy crafting.  mark

Haunted Design House Challenge

A last minute dash to the finish line this week, The challenge over at Haunted Design House is 'Butchered Blueprint' I have not tried a blue print/sketch challenge before and it took me a little while to get my head around it.This is the blueprint.
I decided to do one of the pages in my Little fat book.The pages are thick chipboard/card.It is something I started a few weeks back for a different challenge but with my vagabond dying I could not finish it in time,so I tore all the back ground paper out and left only the Image,Another picture of a painting by Mark Ryden from the Blood collection.This was framed with thick card and I used crocco crackle glaze to give it texture. these two elements are the circle and the flame type bit from the sketch. the dagger is one of Tims spiky things (not really sure what they are called) I linked some chain through this and added a sentiment that reads 'Destiny 5890' thought it was quite fitting to have the word destiny with a pic of a baby. The Tim tape is the spiky element on the edge of the blueprint I added some suede thong attached with the tiny staples for the final part of the sketch.
Ok I have used a fair bit of 'artistic licence' with this design. hope it counts.

I did the inside of the cover as well (not part of the challenge) but it needed to be done. I used some of Tims paper and distressed it up.

Here is a pic of the cover of the book, this was done a few weeks ago as well and posted, but it all goes together.

Thank you for stopping by.  Mark x


A big thanks to Crom for the help she gave me in understanding what to do with a sketch.

Layers,let love fly

Hi, and welcome back.
Over at Simon Says Stamp And Show this week their challenge is 'Layered'.  This was one of those projects that started well and then I hit the wall so to speak before figuring out how to finish it off.

I started by getting a piece of chip board cut 10''x10''.The base layers are a mix of techniques I picked up from Andy Skinner. The torn paper was a sheet of different vintage adds, I coloured this up by applying distress inks to my craft mat,misting with lots of water and laying the paper face down into it. I then dried it with an Iron and tore it to shape to layer on top of the other two finishes.  I wanted to get the effect of a bit of wall that had been covered over with different finishes over the years and was being torn back now.                                                                                                                                            

I stamped over the crackle effect and added stains to age the paint and add layers ;)  I added some small pins to make it appear like a wooden sign.In the other corner over the copper Patina I added a Tim book plate with a Key hole inside, this was distressed with alcohol inks,then  I stamped up some acetate with a Tim Quote and the Tim pen nibs, I also layered on top of the stamp one of his pen nib embellishments. the acetate has been attached using some panel pins and is floating above chipboard/canvas.  the pic does not do this justice, If anyone knows how to take pics of acetate please let me know :)

The heart was next. It was a plain wooden heart , i coloured it with fired brick distress stain and covered it with red embossing powders and then a couple of layers of UTEE, added some vintage photo re inker to give it the dark spots and texture. It was finished off with a Tim tag, The wings are a die cut from Sizzix, I coloured them with distress ink pads and embossed them with a texture folder and finished distressing them with vintage photo.
The 33 c sticker was added to a bit of a cardboard box to give it depth and distressed. I added the key to the top off this as well.
Finally I needed some words, I printed them off onto card stock, aged them up and stuck them down with foam pads to raise them off of the wood base.
I have tried to go for a piece that has several layers and is quite 3D.
This was quite a challenge, the back ground came together really quick and I really like it, I was then stuck for a couple of days trying to figure out how to use the heart.Hopefuly this works.
Thanks for sticking with the reading, a lot of bumf again.  sorry.

I will also be entering this into My Mums Craft Shop Challenge where the challenge is No cards allowed.
and at  That Craft Place where the challenge is Anything goes.
I am also going to enter it into the Sir Stampalot  challenge where the challenge is Whats your crafty passion.
This piece is the sort of thing I really like to make, A shabby/vintage look in mixed media, I love to use texture and depth as well.

Mark xx

Woyww 163 and the atc's from the swap

Afternoon all, Happy Woyww, What's that you ask?  Its the weekly blog hop/nosey snoop that fellow crafter's can take part in, follow the link and Give it a go, Its the brain child of Julia Dunnit and is a great way to be inspired and see whats going on in craft land.
My work space this week, the usual clutter and hiding under the paper in the middle is this weeks Simon Says project, hopefully a post later today or tomorrow with that one.

A few weeks ago we had the big birthday atc swap. I can now share with you the atc's I made and the atc's I received as everybody has got them now.

 These are the atc's I made, The airballon pic was taken by Deeyll  I Hope she doesn't mind me lifting the pic from her page, I forgot to take a photo of it before I sent it to her, I also sent her the Da Vinci one as well.
Sorry for so many pics, the atc's were all made and sent as they were done so could not do a group pic.


These are the Atc's I got in return and I love them all.sorry for the side ways pic but blogger is being a pain. The Silver 'Art' one Is from  Anne and I showed it a few weeks back along with the butterfly one which was done by April  The vibrant 'Art' card is by another Ann and finally the last card is from Deeyll
Go check out their blogs, some beautiful stuff on show.
If I forgot anyone in the swap or you have not received an atc from me when you should have, let me know.  I really enjoyed the swap as it was the first time I had done anything like that. I am very much looking forward to next years now.
happy crafting, Mark

Ps   This is an Atc made by my daughter (9) Its her first one,  she was so taken by the ones I made and received she really wanted to give it a go.And I told her I would post it on my blog for everyone to see.I think it turned out beautifully.Since making this she has made a few more and I am sure next time she is here she will want to make another one. ;)