Tim Holtz 12 Tags Of 2014 March Tag done with Decoart Chalk Paints.

A quick post today as I share my March tag from the Tim Holtz 12 tags of 2014.This tag caused me to think a lot on how I was going to create the Tim effect but with paint, I don't like to think, not always my strong point ;-) lol

I also struggled till Neil let me borrow his stamp set as I had no stamps in my collection that would fit the bill. Thanks Neil.

Like my other Tim tags I have used a media board from Tando-Creative, This time all the paints are from the Deocart Chalk range. The only bit of ink is the Coffee archival ink I used to distress the edge of the board.

You can find how Tim created his tag by following the link.

I would like to add this to the Tag link up.

I would also like to share this little tag/wood board.

Again using the chalk paints I made this for my Gf Valentines card this year.

Thanks for stopping by x

2 Shabby Tables

Evening, Thanks for stopping by I have a couple of shabby tables to share. These were both picked up at one of my local charity shops.Both of these tables have been painted with the new Decoart Chalk Finish Paints. The first table was fairly rough, the varnish was flaking off etc.

I sanded back all the loose varnish to get a solid base and tested a little area to see if the wood or old stains would bleed through. I am glad I tested an area first as the paint started to turn yellow as the old varnish started to stain through.

I used the Stain blocker product in the range and coated the whole piece.  The table was then given a couple of coats of Vintage and left to dry. Using sand paper I started to distress the surfaces to reveal the wood underneath.

To finish of I gave it all two coats of the Soft Touch varnish to protect the finish and to give it a really nice tactile feel.

The smaller table was given two coats of Relic, a beautiful dark grey colour. 

(I promise I will start taking before shots from now on) 

I used The Flower Market stencil from the chalk range and used the Whisper colour paint stippled through. Once dry the whole table was given a little light distressing revealing some of the wood beneath and just scuffing the stencil to make it look worn.

To finish the table was given two coats of the clear wax.

I will be dropping both of these off at Lovingly Made next week where they will join my chairs. Hopefully they will find a good home soon.

As always thank you so much for stopping by. I love having you here. xxx

De Stempelwinkel - Up Cycled Shabby Shelf Thing.

Afternoon, I hope you are all keeping well?

Things have been a little quiet here in blog land although I al working on several things all at once, as well as house hunting so please bare with me if things are a little sporadic at the mo x

I am sharing again over at De Stempelwinkel today and I have a little Charity shop up cycled shelf thing.

If you have time it would be great to see you over there xx

De Stempelwinkel - Oriental Tile

Morning, I hope everyone is enjoying the nice weather we are having in the UK at the moment?

Here is a little teaser pic of my make over at De Stempelwinkel.

If you have time it would be great to see you over there x

Thanks for stopping by xx

2 More Tim Holtz Chairs And More Decoart Chalk Paint Shabby Chic

Evening all, I have just finished some more chairs, the first two have some more Tim Holtz fabric for the cushions, the second pair have a check pattern in a nice wool cover.

Both pairs have been painted using the new Deocart Chalk Paints. I have used the colour Cameo for the base colour and Whisper for the top coat, It is more of a cream white and a little warmer, it also pics out the base colour of the fabric.

The chairs have been finished with a couple of coats of Decoarts clear cream wax.

Finally to finish off I also painted up this little foot stall.

I used Serene as the base and Lace as the top coat and I have used some more Tim Holtz fabric to cover the top section.

Sorry for the photo heavy post with not a lot of words but thanks for sticking with me xx

I am very happy to say that I have found a local shop that will be taking these chairs and selling them for me so fingers crossed  they can find a new home soon ;)

A Vintage Journey are having their first challenge, the theme is anything Tim chairs and box. Not your usual crafty entry but I really wanted to take part in this new blog with such an amazing new DT.

De Stempelwinkel - Shabby Door Hanger

Morning all, A quick post today with a little teaser pick of my make over at De Stempelwinkel.
I have made a shabby door hanger, to see it in full and a little write up of what I did please follow the link.
xx Thank you all for stopping by xx.

Haunted Design House. I Want To Play A Game./Saw movie inspired.

Ok, So just how many followers will leave after this little post? ;)

This monstrosity has been created for our new challenge over at Haunted Design House  Our latest theme is 'I Want To Play A Game' If you are a fan of Horror you will recognise the quote as coming from the Saw franchise.

Over the next two weeks we want to see your Saw or Game inspired creations. Head on over to see what our DT have created.

For my make I have gone more down the lines of creating something that might look at home on the set of the films, I am picturing tens of these on a wall with some macabre contraption with he victim strapped in and having to go through all the keys to get out and survive.

I started of with a candle holder available from Country Love Crafts, you should be able to find a stockist list on their page somewhere.

All the mediums and paints are from the new Decoart Media Line

The whole piece was given a coat of gesso, Modelling paste was then applied with a pallet knife to add texture,some fabric mesh was pushed into the paste and in places more paste was added to give a worn and decayed look. After the first layer of modelling paste was dry I used the 12" Harlequin stencil from The Crafters Workshop and applied more modelling paste , quite thick this time as I really wanted the diamonds to stand out from the background.. To finish off on the texture front I used some of Decoart's texture sand mainly applying this with a stiff brush to the raised areas.Once dry I painted the whole piece with a watered down Gesso mix.

Using the new fluid acrylics I mixed up my bas colour. How you use the fluid acrylics is a little different to using a normal paint, they are still water based and non toxic like all Decoart products but these new fluid acrylics are pretty much pure high quality pigment, they are an artist quality paint.With them being packed so full of pigment they are ideal for colour washes and mixing with a base white to get what ever colour you require.

I squeezed some white Americana paint out which will form the body of my paint, I then added just 3 drops of fluid acrylic and mixed together to get a nice grey blue base colour. It is incredible how little was needed to get the colour I wanted.A mix of washes and dry brushing came next to give the aged look and I really like how the candle sconce turned out.

The hooks were added as was the chain and old keys.The number plate was given a rusty finish, again using the media products the numbers were stamped over a grungy painted piece of paper.

The Charlotte doll was aged using some paint and one of the new antiquing fluids.

The dolls head was Gessoed and then painted with red and black acrylic paint and was spritzed to get some of the pain to run together. once dry some of the crackle medium was added and paint rubbed into the cracks. I finished off by adding an old jubilee clip to the base of the neck and added it to the shelf.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope your tummy has not been turned to much ;)

I had so much fun playing with this project and love all the different textures and colours.

Hopefully I wont lose to many of you ;) 

If you fancy getting your freak on we would love to see what you will come up with. you do not need to be quite as macabre as this ;) we just want to see your take on our theme. You can alter a game piece or go for a full on Saw experience. Just have fun xx

Hopefully Ill see you next time xxx

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge are having a D is for Distress challenge.

Punkyou Girl are having a fairy tales gone bad theme. Not sure if Saw counts as a fairy tale but things have defiantly gone bad.

The Stampotique Designers Challenge No137 are having a Textured Background challenge. My go to texture is modelling paste and texture sand. I love these two mediums together, As for my stamp, it's the numbers, its the october crow font from de stempelwinkel

Left Of Center are having a special 1st anniversary event, and along with loads of fab prizes are having an anything goes challenge.

De Stempelwinkel - Tick Tock Tag

Morning all, A very quick teaser post this morning, It's my turn over at De Stempelwinkel to share and I have a little tag, I made this for a swap I took art in, I hope Claire likes it.x

It would be great to see you over at De Stempelwinkel.

The main stamp is from one of their new releases, It's one of my all time faves and is now bigger than ever ;)

Thanks for stopping by. xx

I have fixed the link now. Thanks Anne x

3 Shabby Chic Hearts And A Distressed Plaque

Afternoon, Thanks for stopping by, A quick post today with more samples from the CHSI show.

All three of these hearts came from the range in a set, they started life as plain grey moulded stoneware, almost cement really.

I decided to use the three most common finishes on these.

The new Chalk Paint from DecoArt needs no prep work and covers pretty much any type of surface.

For the top heart I used the Vaseline resist technique.

For this heart I used the wax resist technique

and finally I used the new crackle medium specially formulated for the chalk paint range.

I will go into these techniques in more detail very soon, I am just catching up with sharing everything from the show first ;)

Only one more post to come, honest ;) and then I will get into explaining things with a couple of simple tutorials xx

For this plaque I used the Vaseline resist technique and finished off by using one of Decoart's new stencils.

Thanks so much for stopping by, It's always great having you here and means a lot to me. xx

De Stempel Winkel - Da Vinci and Chalk Paints

Morning all, Just a quick post this morning, It's once again my turn to share over at De Stempelwinkel and as you may have notice I am on a bit of a chalk paint trip at the moment, this time though I have been using them in a more crafty way and all I can say is I love them, they stamp incredibly.
You can see the full piece by clicking the link as well as a little what's what of what I did.
Thanks as always for stopping by, it is always great to have you here x

More Decoart Chalk Paints, An Old Box And The Make And Take Frames

Afternoon all, Thanks for stopping by and and a big welcome to my newest followers, It is so great to have you stopping by x.

As promised earlier in the week, here are a couple more pieces from the Craft,Hobby and Stitch trade show. This box was on my table and the tray held the new Chalk Glass paints.

The picture frames are what I was using for the make and takes.

The box was my great aunts sewing chest and is actually the top section only, the bottom piece that has a couple of drawers needs some tlc before getting the shabby chic make over.

I have used one of Decoart's new Stencils for the top of the box and have used the mid brown wax to hi light  the carved leaf details.

I have lined the tray and deeper inside the box with papers from the Madame Payraud 12" paper pack from Docraft, The inside lid of the box has been covered with the Sticky back canvas from the same set, The designs on each paper are beautiful and there really isn't a bad design in the set and it fits in with the whole shabby chic feel really well.

I have also used their papers to fill in the frames bellow.

These frames were from pound saver and horrible cheap plastic rubbish but the fancy edges were ideal for a shabby make over. The frame on the left is what we made on my make and takes at the show, Thanks to everyone who stopped by and signed up, it was great to meet you all x.

The frame on the right was just to show two different finishes showing the paints and waxes in the new range.

I think everyone enjoyed themselves ;)

Check out what Jenny Marples has made with her finished make and take, It is beautiful.

Here are some close ups of the details.

Thank you so much for stopping by, I have been so lucky to have been able to play with these paints early but they are on their way and will be in the craft stores very soon (uk) they are already available in the USA.

Ill do one more show round up in the next day or so and will share with you a new class I will be making available.

xx

Decoart Chalk Paints, Tim Holtz Shabby Chic Charity Shop Chair

Thanks for stopping by, After a very crazy but very enjoyable 4 days I am back home and just about recovered from the CHSI (Stitches) trade show.

First of all I would like to say a very big thank you to Stan, Patrick and Andy from DecoArt who had me demonstrating their new chalk paint range at the show, It was brilliant to meet you and I was honoured to be part of your stand.

It was also great to meet so many people new and old, they guys from Country Love Craft and Personal Impressions,  who are the UK distributors for DecoArt,  Lindsay Mason , Jenny, Brenda, Gabriela and so many other lovely people.

Ok so on with the post.

Now the show is over I can start to share some of the pieces I made for the display and as samples.

Today I am sharing my favourite piece, my charity shop dinning room chair, this cost me £12 and was perfect for the chalk paints.After Kelly saw it finished I was told to go and get the other three chairs and a table to match so we could have them in our new home when we move.

The chair started out like this, pretty ugly but it had all the right features for the type of finish I wanted, some hard edges but also some areas of detail and a little bit of shape, not just flat and square.

I wont go into to much detail of what I have done here as once all the samples have been posted Ill work on some tutorial pieces including another chair.

What I will say though is the paint is amazing, there was no prep work involved at all, no sanding or stripping back involved, I just started with the colour I wanted to show through my top coat.

When I saw the fabric range that Tim Holtz bought out last year I new I wanted to get my hands on several of the designs but was really struggling to think how I would use them in the sort of work I usually make.

As soon as I knew I was going to be working with these paints I had my answer, for me this pattern was the perfect fit for the chair.

The old cover was taken off, Tim's fabric was lined with an iron on piece of fabric (forget what it's called) just to make it a little more durable and the cusion was re covered.

Thanks as always for stopping by, Ill be posting more of my samples over the next couple of days and I also have a new clock class sample coming using the chalk paints.

Simon Says Stamp are having a 'cameo appearance' challenge, they asking us to be creative with the theme, you could use a normal cameo, or think of actors who have made a cameo appearance in a movie or TV show, I know I am pushing it but my cameo appearance is the Tim Holtz fabric ;)

Artistic inspirations are having an anything goes/masculine challenge.

De Stempekwinkel - Chalk Paint Clock

Evening, I hope you are all keeping well, Day two down from Stitches, a really good day today, caught up with some blog faces which is always good, I love being able to put a face with a name.x

Im sharing a Tando-Creative clock today over at De Stempelwinkel I have been working on sections of this at the show demonstrating the new Decoart Chalk Paints in a more way more suited to crafting, I have been moving between craft and home decor aplications. Did I say how much I love these paints?  

For the full pic and more details please head over to the De Stempelwinkel blog xx

That Craft Place - Guest DT and Some Pictures fresh From Stitches ;)

Well, A little late today for this post, but a good excuse, honest. After a very long but very enjoyable day at the Stitches Trade Show Demoing for Decoart I am now back at the Hotel and can get to writing my post.

This is my first post as a guest designer for Lisa over at That Craft Place, the theme for this two week challenge is 'Make Or Alter A Box'

If you are not familiar with That Craft Place, they are a lovely and friendly shop located in Eastbourne (UK)

They also do a brilliant mail order service and have an incredibly friendly and active face book group, all the details can be found in the sidebar of the blog page. The Bricks and Mortar shop can be found HERE.

I will be popping up from time to time throughout the year and am very honoured to have been asked to contribute to along with her regular DT, I am sure you will recognise some familiar faces over there. 

Now this challenge was just what I love to do,I love altering boxes, adding texture and depth, I am also a huge fan of projects that have a use at the end ;)

This started life as a cigar box, I managed to come back from Las Vegas with a case full of them ;) Yes customs did search the bag, all the boxes were full of things like dylusion sprays, ink pads and stamps, I think they were a little disappointed.

The main focal point of the box is this beautiful stencil designed by Lisa and is from her own range of stencils. I used modelling paste coloured with decoart acrylic paint and applied with a pallet knofe through the stencil, when dry, the box was painted with various colours and aged up with washes of paint. I used The Crafters Workshop clock faces stencil, Andy Skinners Code Breaker Stencil and a text stamp from The Artistic Stamper. Finally I used Decoarts two step crackle to give a nice aged look.

The Challenge runs for two weeks and it would be great to see you joining in,The DT have created some amazing projects with a vast range of styles.

To finish of here are some pics from Day 1 at Stitches that I shared earlier on Facebook, I will post a few more over the next couple of days.

As always a big ol thanks for stopping by xx

The stand before the show opened, this is where Ill be demoing and holding the make and takes.

Thanks for everyone who stopped by today.Was great to have Lisa and Lyn on the first make and take of the day. Hope you enjoyed it ;)

I have been using the brand new chalk paints, I will be sharing my projects and test pieces after the show ends.

This Is where Andy Skinner will be going through the amazing new Media range

The Ladies on the second Make and take of the day.

The man himself, Mr Skinner