Just wanted to say ... thanks for taking the time to stop by, hope you enjoyed your visit.x

Sunday 28 September 2014

sneaky peak for countryviewcrafts - festive found relatives

Well it is my turn over at countryviewcrafts and for my project this time I have been playing with some of the new occasions found relatives. so if you would like to see these projects in full and all the details of how I made them please hop here .





keep those fingers inky!
trace x 

Sunday 21 September 2014

A chance to Win .... Wendy Vecchi's gorgeous new embossing powders....

How you like to win a set of Wendy Vecchi's gorgeous new embossing powders?
Well now you can be in with a chance .....
AND YOU GOTTA BE IN IT TO WIN IT!

Hi everyone. There's an exciting chance to win the new Wendy Vecchi Embossing Powder bundle over at the Frilly and Funkie challenge blog!!! Get over there now as the contest ends midnight Eastern Time on Monday, September 22nd. Results announced on Tuesday.

here are the details of how you could win...

 Contest ends midnight Eastern Time on Monday, September 22nd.  Results announced on Tuesday. 

You can enter our random drawing multiple times in multiple ways.  Here’s how:

Make sure you head across to Frilly and Funkie for all the details, the post to comment on and your other ways in which you could be the lucky winner ....

good luck x
trace  x


Wednesday 17 September 2014

love makes all things possible

Well it is time for the Funkie team to add their pieces to the current theme over at Frilly and Funkie, and I am the lucky one who got to choose this theme ....from the heart and so here is my piece, created with a heart as its focal feature and it really is made from the heart :



This piece not only has a heart as its focal piece but really was from my heart, The last few weeks have been a little emotional as James ( not attending a lot due to his CFS but none the less still massive and loads to sort ) started secondary school, Oliver returned to year 5 (where did that go ?) and little sunny , happy Lucy went last week for mornings at school (this week she has started full time :( ). So whilst busy my heart has been feeling it, missing silly little things...........
like finding the bathroom sink full of plastic washing up, the seats full of toys so there's no room to sit, the noise from x box games, laughter and just general happy (most of the time! ) noise.

It made me realise how much I have loved my role as a wife and mother and how it has filled my heart with such love and joy, it is by no means perfect and so much going on at the moment, some days as many as 10 trips and sorting tutors ) but I am lucky and I love my family! So that's where my piece came from.... what a sentimental ramble sorry! :(

I started with a piece of paper onto a square piece of mdf, dipped it into some frayed burlap stain and dried...

I then edged with pumice stone distress paint and distressed when dry. Then I took a Wendy Vecchi art part heart and covered with glue and seal, when dry a layer of her scrummy crackle paste.


Then I left it to do its magical thing and when it had finished rubbed some frayed burlap into it using a baby wipe. Gotta love that crackle.


i printed off some thumbnail pictures of my family in black and white and then applied some frayed burlap over and heat dried.

Then it was all about assembling the finished piece . I added the photos to the background to create a collage feel, plenty of idea-ology and some chit chat stickers .




For the heart I tied some dyed seam binding and added a stamped sentiment which summed up my thoughts nicely.


added a heart charm, love these and love adding the little details that seem to bring it all together as  a piece.



Sorry for the rather sentimentally indulgent post, not what I had planned to make at all it just happened, now to find somewhere for this to go xx

Sorry if I haven't popped by but sleep has been lacking, worries have been a plenty and time has been disappearing but normal service will be resumed once all the teething issues are sorted and when I have found a new routine .x

There are some wonderful projects for inspiration and a week left to play , so make sure you pop across here for all the details of what you could win and how to enter x hugs to all those whose life is not as smooth as it could be .xx Hoping life becomes less bumpy for you soon x


keep those fingers inky!
and those hearts full x 
trace x

Tuesday 16 September 2014

Recycle it !

Well I was lucky enough to be offered a guest design spot for Try it On Tuesday and the theme for the GD spot is Recycle it. So here is my offering from some recycled belts :
I have been making some vintage style faux leather cuff bracelets of late from recycled belts so this was a perfect opportunity to make some more .
I started by cutting a piece from my belt and then set too adding some colour to the design. Some of them I leave plain as I like the original look and some I added colour to, to enhance the design of the belt.

For this belt I lightly rubbed across some distress paint . Then when dry I added some dots of colour following the pattern on the belt itself. I have made lots of different ones and some have been embossed or left plain.

Then when dry and happy with the design I added snaps for closing the cuff bracelet.
I have been dabbling with metal stamping so on a piece of metal I added a metal stamped phrase and then added to the cuff using rivets.
For the plain leather one I purely added snaps for closure and a stamped phrase.


For the last one I added colour onto the pattern of the belt but left the base colour alone , added snaps for closure and a metal stamped sentiment.

Well thanks to the team over at Try it on Tuesday for the GD spot . some of my bracelets from recycled belts can be be found on my folksy shop here... and I also post some of them here . I am currently in the process of enabling people to choose customized items too.

thanks for taking the time to stop by xx

Monday 8 September 2014

Shine Brightly sneak peak.

Well it is time for me to post a project over at Country View Crafts blog and so I have got a little sneak peak for you...all the details can be found here .

So here is a peak of what I have been creating :


For all the details please hop here .

keep those fingers inky!
Trace x

Sunday 7 September 2014

Under the ocean

well the challenge theme over at countryviewchallenges is Nautical and here is my second offering on the theme...
Imagine a rusted ship / submarine at the bottom of the ocean but still with wonderful things happening around it.. :


So for this card I created a take on the industrial metal technique that I love so much and added plenty of rust. I wanted the feel of a sunken, abandoned port hole..not sure I pulled it off but I am pleased with the rusty effect at least .


I created a rusty porthole for the delicate seahorses to swim in...using distress powders and idea-ology fasteners.


I added some dyed seam binding to tie in the soft blue seahorses and a muse token , dabbed with distress paint.

Some gears and cogs....they get everywhere you know!


And there you have my nautical make , there is plenty of time to play along as the challenge lasts all month and all the details can be found here .

The supplies I have used are listed below and any questions drop me a line and I will try and help .


keep those fingers inky!
trace x