My favourite queen

Having not joined in any challenges (apart from DT ones) for a while I have now done two this week.....this being the second one.
The theme on CRAZY AMIGOS is QUEENS and PRINCESSES........did you guess who my favourite queen is?? Am I getting predictable??

 I made this collage of traditional Tenniel Alice drawings (these were actually postcards that my friend gave me for Christmas.....thanks Tracy:) ) and a modern (digi) version of the queen by Lily over at THE OCTOPODE FACTORY

 I coloured the queen and left the other images black and white......I sort of like the LACK of colour!!!

ORIENTAL

is the word this week on TAKE A WORD. Although I like oriental as a theme I found this very hard as I only have limited supplies here......quite frustrating as I have LOADS of stuff I could have used at home!
By complete chance I had the background for this page aready in a journal.....it was meant for something else!! It was made using joss paper.......it was all the rage years ago and I had a big pack stuffed in a drawer.......I used just the centres of the papers.

 For the birds I used my Claudine Helmuth foam stamp, stamped on card, cut out and used as a template......am liking this bird stamp!

 I like to mix things up a little so I used a local newspaper to make my birds.

 I found the little paper umbrellas in the supermarket....they made great wings and hats......my husband thought he was getting them in his G&T....silly man!!!

The gold on the joss paper rubs off quite easily......I like the shabby look that gives :)

Not wanting to waste anything.........

 I was working on something else today and ended up with a very painty sponge and so rather than waste it I used it to colour this page, then to stencil through a circle stencil and some sequin waste.

 Then I stamped HEART SHIRT onto an old book page, cut him out and glued him in place. I used a couple scraps of the book page elsewhere on the page and then wrote on the edges of the book page, glued them in place, added some black painty lines and circles and there it is!

I also used the rest of the book page.....glued it to another page as a starting point for another time.......you can also see how small this journal is :)

HERE FISHY FISHY!

It seems that BLOGGER had some sort of major melt-down yesterday with posts disappearing and then re-appearing! Things seem to be back to normal this morning apart from the fact that any comments on the "Grungy is what happens" post have gone.....so if you did leave a comment thank you even if I didn't get to read them! (I did read a few before things went haywire!) 

So....onwards and upwards...........this WAS going to be my inspiration piece for the ongoing RECYCLED challenge over on STAMPOTIQUE DESIGNERS BLOG.......it got away from what I wanted for the challenge........I was trying to get the mermaids mixed in with the fish but just couldn't get it how I wanted so I set it aside.

 I came back to it today and finished it off!

 The fish are more from the wrapping paper I bought a while back.......I love the colours on them.......

 What was going to be my recycled aspect was these receipts from my local supermarket that I used in the background.......I tried very hard to keep some of them showing but I found it quite hard..........

 .....so added some circles on top.........can you see where it says PAMCTOP? That's the supermarket name in Cyrillic........in English it is RAMSTOR!......then it says Kazakhstan after it, again in Cyrillic.

The lines that look like reeds were made using a piece of thin ribbon........I soaked it in watery ink then put it on the page, closed the book and pulled the ribbon out.....I liked the raggy lines it gave.....not a lot of control over what you get but that's OK!!!

Grungy is what happens

even when I try not to!
While I was home this last time I acquired some of Claudine Helmuths new foam and clear stamp sets.......the houses and bird sets.......I was so busy at home I didn't have time to play with them but now I'm here I have LOTS of time so today I had a play!

 I ended up working in three different journals.........for the size difference and for the fact that one has brown pages in it........and to try out different effects.......

 ...this one is in my A5 Moleskine journal.......

 .....I stamped the foam houses with paint, they came out pretty grungy! Next overstamp the clear images with black ink.

What? Never seen a giant pink bird before!!

Claudines stamps are available from THE STAMP ATTIC and you can see the other two projects on THE STAMP ATTIC BLOG

RECYCLED

As of very early yesterday I am back in Kazakhstan and today is the day for the next 
STAMPOTIQUE DESIGNERS challenge........this time we are challenged to.......RECYCLE.......something I love to do! Head over to the challenge site to join in the fun, there's a $30 gift voucher up for grabs for the winner!


 Here is my recycled book......it's not the piece I set out to make, that didn't work out how I wanted for the challenge.....you know how that goes I'm sure!......it will appear some other time:)

I recycled an old book cover......cut in half to give the two new book covers.......paper that was wrapped around something I bought (can't remember what!!) for the pages..........ribbons used to bind the pages together and to tie the book closed are from inside a new shirt, you know those really annoying ribbon loops that always end up showing when you wear it........and a fish tail left over from another project that gives SMUSHASHA a new look!

 I like the rough torn edges of the pages.......added a little colour..........

 ......fun to have the fish GORLIOIS wrapped around the spine of the book.......and GAWAN on the cover

STAMPOTIQUE stamps are available in the UK from THE STAMP ATTIC.

Time for a pocket watch

This is my "official" piece of inspiration as DT member for 
THE ALTERED ALICE................the theme this month is TIME......why not come over and join in the fun.........it's great if you want to use ALICE images but you don't have to :)
This month we are sponsored by FRESH BREWED DESIGNS......they are offering five digi stamps to this months winner.

 ....it's an old pocket watch hanging from a paper covered twig which is stood in a paper covered teacup and saucer!

 Close up of the pocket watch......inside is another old watch and the HATTER......metal frame with heart hanging off the bottom glued over the opening..........oversize numbers and clock hands added next.....

 Old book pages used to cover a cup and saucer, coloured and then stamped with a clock.....................

 ......clock face on top of cup, twig through the centre....................clock hands glued in place....

...........this was fun to make!!

And then there was a boy.....and a garden

 I got some new goodies in the post this morning......one of them being this boy stamp......And then there was a boy.......by SUZI BLU for UNITY STAMPS.......available from THE STAMP ATTIC (not on the web site yet so just give Wendy a call!)

 ...... I really like this stamp......he is so quirky................the background was made with spray inks and a circle stencil and then a PRIMA flower mask...........and then I wrote on the page..........was still nervous but I took the plunge.....still not that happy with the way it looks...........the spots helped!

 And now for the garden......mine that is!!! Thought I'd show you this view of my back garden (with very green.....duck weed covered pond)......it's getting pretty full!

 Both these plants are PHLOMIS......the top one is the more delicate pink one while the one at the bottom is the far more robust yellow version (not quite in flower yet)........I love the way the flowers appear at intervals around the stem.

SOMETHING FISHY........

THIS WAY COMES!! I love that saying, it's just so SILLY!!

Anyway, a while ago I bought a sheet of fishy wrapping paper.........lots of fish to use on journal pages!!

 

Here is the first page using one of the fish.........

 .....vicious looking bod......just look at those teeth.............

 ........did you know......I like alphabet stamps! This set is by RIVER CITY RUBBER WORKS.....it's pretty old so not sure it's still available.......

 ......painty, gesso-ey stripes and circles..................

 .......background was stamped with this HUGE foam stamp......it's by Donna Downey and measures 111/2 ins by 4ins!!! This one and others soon to be available from THE STAMP ATTIC

TIME AND THE JABBERWOCKY

It's TIME for the next ALTERED ALICE challenge.......the theme this TIME is TIME!
This piece is not my official piece of inspiration, that will appear in a short while, this is just a piece to introduce the challenge and cos I felt the need to make something as it's been a while!!

 ......a page in my A4 journal....................the large clock was a piece by Bo Bunny........

 ......I used the quote chosen to represent the challenge in the centre of the clock..............

 .....OCTOPODE FACTORY white rabbit with a metal steampunk charm added to his head..................

More Alice related news..................recently I had an email from DANIEL COLEMAN who has written a book based around the JABBERWOCKY poem.........here is an excerpt........it sounds great fun.........and there is a HATTER story to follow.........


“One, two! One, two!and through and through the vorpal blade went snicker-snack!” Blood pounded inTjaden’s ears as he breathed in the acrid odor, and his sword didn’t falter.Not after the convoluted road that had led him to set out alone to find andslay the manxome Jabberwocky. But the secretshe’d learned about the Jabberwocky’s sorrowful past made it a sour victory.How different wouldthe situation be if the girl he loved wasn’t at risk? Why didn’t CaptainDarieus tell him the dark secrets surrounding theTumtum tree? Jabberwocky, a shortnovel by Daniel Coleman, is the untold story behind LewisCarroll’s beloved poem. Meet the characters and creatures that inhabitthe world long before Aliceever fell down the rabbit’s hole.While staying true toevery detail of Lewis Carroll’s masterpiece,Jabberwocky provides twists that will keep you turning pages. You might knowhow it ends, but you won’t believe how it happens.