The house that Cazzy built - fit for Tim Holtz?

I commented on a fantastic project by the lovely Alison (whoops, forgot to link to it - I have now), and she came back to visit me and commented on one of my little houses saying if I could make one in the style of Tim Holtz I could enter it into the monthly challenge at A Vintage Journey, so I thought and I thought, and I thought some more and this is what I came up with - eventually! It has taken about a week to make this, and I could probably still finish a couple of bits off like the drawer inside and out!

First of all I cut a house out in kraft card using the Zing and the 3d Houses file from The Cutting Cafe. I decided to make the house opening so lined it with distressed looking "wallpaper" which is from a pad by Me and My Big Ideas (MAMBI), and all through the assembly I have used my Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher where I could to strengthen the structure in addition to using adhesives. Sadly the plastic spring on the Tiny Attacher keeps coming off - this is a bit annoying as I haven't had it all that long or used it a great deal. I think it was in a closing down sale too, so I can't complain to the seller.

I decided to use one of my brand new (NBUS) bargain dies from Sizzix, the brick wall strip which is an Alterations long Sizzlet style die. I cut out the "mortar" first and knocked out all of the bricks, then cut it again in a few colours for the bricks. Then the fun bit, I added some of the mortar to carefully selected house corners and began to add the bricks (sticking each one with Cosmic Shimmer glue) - this was a lot more difficult that I imagined.  The die didn't cut properly, or at all using the Crossover, and I had to get the Big Shot out, it still didn't cut right through but I think it was because I didn't have the die facing upwards, will try again on the Crossover to see if that solves it there as I was just thinking I could maybe sell my Big Shot when this happened.
Anyhoo - every single brick seems to be different, so finding the right bricks to fit the holes took several hours that evening.......and the next day..... and next evening......! I really think I could have built a real brick wall in the time it took, and then I decided that the chimney would just have to match so many more hours later..... it was like a nightmare jigsaw, or some sort of mad skills test!

I should add that I live in a red brick house, I love bricks. Our bricks were hand made by a small brick company near Brighton, I remember going down there to get a few more when we built the conservatory, but by the time we built my craft room the small company was no longer, or had been taken over, and now it is really hard to match the bricks we have on the main house.

The panels on the outside are draughtsman type house plans by Karen Foster (I thought of Tim and his plans of things), and I tore or curled corners to expose the bricks, after inking the edges of the plans with Aged Mahogany Distress Ink. Also when we bought this house many years ago it wasn't even built, so we saw another one and the plans!
We don't have any top hatted men however, or even top hats here!

The house base is covered in a panel of an old book page cut out with another brand new die (NBUS) - the Confetti Alterations strip die by Sizzix, which is inked with various shades of green Distress ink, then the puddle holes are painted with Sky blue Distress paint, brown Crackle Distress paint in other holes, then Rock Candy Distress paint on top of the dry Sky. The Rock Candy is a new jar (NBUS?) I won in some blog candy from Katy - thanks again Katy, just as well as the little I had was totally dried up!
On the front apex is a NBUS pocket watch charm from That Craft Place, tied up with some Tim Holtz paper string.

I have made a modification to the box base, I hope Regina doesn't mind, I wanted a little drawer in the middle and it isn't brilliant but it works, and is full of treasure! The drawer knob is a children's wooden bead which was green but has been toned down with Peeled Paint distress paint.

The back of the base has a scene cut with a Sizzix on the edge Alterations die called Townscape. At the front of the house the Sizzix Umbrella man is making his way home, I bought a stamp set with him in too and was disappointed to find that on this first time of using both the die and stamp that they are not the same size at all! Never mind I stamped on the die cut anyway, and filled the gap below his knees!
 See the birds stamped from the same set on the house?

I added Black Soot Distress ink to the chimney bricks, seemed appropriate somehow!

Oh dear Umbrella Man looks a bit bendy!

Peeping out from most of the windows are top hatted men, stamped on a background of the paper used inside of course - so that when you look in the windows you will see what is inside (trick)! The stamp set is another Tim Holtz Stamper's Anonymous set, which I don't think I have used before (NBUS).

Doors and windows are cut from wood grain gold card, inked a little and two brads added for doorknobs.

Round the side I added some On The Edge Sizzix Alterations spooky twigs, and some of the confetti as flowers, some inked with Distress ink. This is the sunny side of the roof, grunge paper embossed with a Texture fade and inked as per the Compendium of Curiousities Vol I. The sunny side had to be the chimney side, anyway it is raining the other side - see the umbrella and puddles?

I've added Tim Holtz Tissue Tape to the rest of the edges of the base.

Now the roof, which as I said opens. I realised after the Christmas box, well after I stuck the chimney on and it was too late, that I should have stuck another roof piece on top of the opening piece so that the sides actually match (so I didn't show the photo of the opening side deliberately). This time I have not only added the relevant piece I have added another layer of Grunge Paper, which I embossed with Sizzix Tim Holtz Texture Fade embossing folders, on one side a sunset and the other arrows, the arrows is a brand new folder and I haven't used either before. I used a technique from the Compendium vol I where you emboss Grunge Paper, ink it with Distress ink with the Ink Blender then swipe it with a Distress Ink pad in a contrasting colour. The reason for the extra roof piece - Grunge paper is a little soft and bendy and I wanted it to be strong and last a long time! I searched everywhere for the Grunge Paper, just so I could do the Inking Grunge Paper technique, and finally when I didn't know where else to look I spotted a dusty folder I had missed!

To the roof on the arrows side I added a Tim Holtz spinner (NBUS), and a Tim Holtz File marker (NBUS) which I recently received in Katy's blog candy that I won. It really is a 9 but upside down is a 6 ("cos" I live at number 6), and I can open the roof with it. I added a star button to the game marker - just felt the urge to add something!

I also used a Word Key by Tim Holtz, and the rest are in the treasure drawer.

I hope I can post this to not only show you but enter in two challenges in particular, A Vintage Journey Home Sweet Home challenge, where all entries must have something Tim Holtz inspired included (I think I have managed that lol), but also the NBUS (Never Before Used Schtuff) challenge at the lovely Darlene's blog which is ending tomorrow! Then I need to choose two more worthy challenges very carefully, there is a 4 challenge rule at NBUS and this is so special it needs special challenges! As I didn't win the NBUS and it is over I am ignoring the rule now - because I found another special challenge.)
At the time of typing  all of this Blogger is refusing to let me select any photos and shouting "Error 400" at me every time! I hope I can add the photos to the words soon, or it will be too late! Sorted, but all my cookies are now deleted so I have to put passwords in all over again etc.

I've added a few charms and some treasure gold to the drawer knob and drawer, and a metal button to the end of the knob.While I was looking for buttons I found a wire twist tag that reads "love begins at home" and added that to the number 6. It's amazing the difference Treasure Gold can make, I am happy with my drawer now.
See the two dogs (one on the way to the front door and one by the bricks on the side - looking at the bone), and a bone on the garden for them? We have two dogs at home too.

Challenges entered:

NBUS -Anything goes
Ike's Art - one for the men (Tues)

Pan Pastels Love 2 Create - #19 mixed media (Sun)
Simon Says Stamp - die crazy (Wed)
Country View Crafts - numbers (Sept)


Awards.

A Vintage Journey - Home Sweet Home (Sept)

Humming birds

Here is my first card using the beautiful Stampendous stamp set and die set that I bought at the Shepton Mallet show. I added a sentiment by Unity Stamps which I thought was perfect, this is how I feel when I see something amazing in nature. I think this would be a perfect Spring birthday card for someone special.

I coloured the images with Promarkers, and I used two Versacolor ink pads to ink the sentiment stamp. The birds and two of the flowers are die cut and the flowers are layered. The smaller bird is layered because I couldn't get the die to cut it perfectly. The stamped panel is die cut with a Spellbinders card creator die. The colours I used are for the Rubber Dance colour palette.

My card has flown into the following challenges:

Rubber Dance - colour palette (April)

Die Cut Divas - in the garden (April)

Coffee, Chocolate and cards - use a die cut (Fri)

Fussy and Fancy - #137 Spring Flowers (Fri)

Crafting from the Heart - #57 anything goes (Mon)

Papertake Weekly - my pick - Use a Quote (Tues)

Cute Card Thursday - use a sentiment 

TTCRD - anything goes (May 4th)

That's Crafty - keep it simple (Fri 8th May)

Won:

Red Rubber Inspirational - Spring Birthday (Thurs)

Choo choo - BANG!

I made this card for my eldest, his birthday is just before Christmas and he was in bed ill with the flu on the day.

He didn't get this until today when visiting for Christmas. I used Stampendous Tim Holtz cling rubber stamps, not used these before, I stamped the train and tracks on kraft card in brown Memento ink, then added white highlights with my Sharpie white paint marker and added a bit of green with a Prismacolor pencil. Son is stamped with a clear stamp from a Papermania Set and Happy Birthday to You is die cut with an IO set. The three panels are cut with Spellbinders 5"x7" card maker die set. I added square antique brass brads to each corner. 

Oh and Christmas day - just as we were preparing the food to cook our dinner - the cooker blew up! Well the electric part of it, the gas hob still worked but required matches to light. So we had roast potatoes and parsnips cooked in the Actifry in three lots, veg in the steamer, and the boys went round to Richard's house with the meat (apart from the beef which I had cooked for a couple of hours before the cooker went "BANG") and stuffing and cooked it there, then brought it back. We had 10 people to dinner, and the table all set up.

We went through a few options for cooking, including the barbeque before doing what we did in the end! It was all a bit exciting really, and everyone enjoyed their dinner even if some of it wasn't as hot as it could be - and it was really healthy!

This card has chuffed its way into the following challenges:

Papertake Weekly - take your pick - one for the boys (Tues)

Simon says stamp - Wednesday challenges, anything goes.

Paula Holifield - anything goes except Christmas (Dec)

Less is More - family (Sat 3rd Jan)

Stampotique - anything goes (Jan 5th)

Autumn in Paris.

Julie is my Son Richard's Girlfriend, and I wanted to make a card that tied in with her main present from him, a trip to Paris - lucky girl! I didn't have as much time as I wanted to make this, so it is done in a hurry and maybe not as good as I wanted it to be. The reason for this was that on Thursday my mother in law had a mini stroke, and luckily a concerned relative rang us, and we spent a few hours over at her house finding out what happened, calling the doctor, waiting for the doctor etc. Then we dashed home for a quick and very late lunch while the doctor consulted the practice doctors, before she rang us to say she needed to go to the RUH in Bath for a CT scan.

So we set back off to collect her, after feeding the poor confused dogs, and take her down arriving at 4:30. At 9pm she had undergone examinations, blood tests, ECG, BP checks and was being wheeled off for a chest xray, and still hadn't had the CT scan, and we went home exhausted. 

Yesterday wasn't much better, we spent the morning updating concerned friends and family, getting the shopping that we weren't able to do Thursday done, and after lunch we had to go to MIL's house and find her some clothes and toiletrys, and  a nightdress, and her medication - she was there with nothing at all. Then we went back to the hospital and sat with her for a couple of hours before dashing home for the plumber, and to cook dinner.

Then I made this card very quickly so that Richard could take it with him, and Julie's present is Euros for their trip, I really should have made the card to fit the Euros but when I realised I had started this and was too tired and short of time to change it.

I used a Stampendous Luggage Lables background stamp which has a Paris stamp at the top, stamped with Distress ink in Dusty Concord. I wrapped a piece of black lace round this and adhered it to a blue and white striped card blank, then added butterfly corners (Filigree corners, La La Land die which I won), and an Eiffel tower die cut from silver glitter card with a My Favorite Things Dienamics die. I popped a couple of  mother of pearl heart buttons on, then die cut some Mini Wavy Pennants, also with a Dienamics die, in white and stamped Happy Birthday on them to fly from the top of the tower.

I think I will be safe to post this - I don't want to spoil the surprise.

Happy Birthday Julie!

I found a couple of challenges to enter:

That Craft Place - girls but no pink (Sun)

Vintage Stamping - used purple (3rd Nov)

Carousel - altered art.

I posted this photo of my partly painted Carousel ages ago, last year anyway. It is a Kaisercraft Carousel that came in white, or off white anyway. I thought it was just crying out for the big white spaces round the edge to be decorated, and I started it - but other stuff got in the way and it stayed on the floor under other stuff until yesterday. I had a kind of life changing moment, which is described in the previous post!

This is the carousel on my desk right now. I can't turn it due to the stashberg next to it, so the next task is to sort that out a little, and I have the pink "Stuff Bucket" which was in that spot before. I went through that and moved a lot of stash over to the carousel, and already I can find it better and organise it better. I found stuff I forgot I had and haven't seen for a long time as well as a couple of mystery objects!

I got my stencils out and "Air Brush" marker spritzer and my Promarkers and Graphit markers and got to work. The stencils are all Creative Expresions ones. I love poppies, and airbrushed them in two colours. I think I need to add a butterfly somewhere, a charm or a stamped one maybe.

This panel has birds on overhead wires and I overstamped with Visible Image feathers, birds and a saying, it is hard to read the saying which didn't work well but it says "free your imagination". You can see the spritzer in the organiser.

This was the first panel I did last year, I didn't have the spritzer then so I used Cut n Dry foam to dab it, then over stamped it with the cogs.

I love this stencilled effect, I used a Graphit turquoise marker to air brush this one. Needs something else.

 Raindrops, I will have to find an umbrella to add!

Finally part of a scene, just the houses.

Then I painted round the rims with some Plaid Folk Art Acrylic paint in burgandy, it doesn't go right the way inside the drawers. The rest of the paint is either by Indigo Blu or Paperartsy. I painted two coats of burgandy then this morning doodled on it with gold Permapaque pen, which was one of two pens I chose with a gorgeous Stampendous stamp as my prize from the Woodware challenge I won.

I think there is more to do to this, more to add to the stencilled panels, more doodling and those drawers look a bit bare now don't they? I am thinking of adding brass charms maybe to the panels.

I have entered the following challenges:

Anything but a card - #38 repeating patterns (Sun)

Allsorts - masking and stencilling #272 (Sat)

Pan Pastels - #20 bold and bright (14th Sept)

Through the Craft Room Door - Anything goes (Aug 25th)

Stamping Sensations - anything goes (Aug)

Visible Image - anything goes with a Visible Image stamp (Aug)

It's a Quirky great day for a picnic, and a late Alpha challenge page.

Doris choose the theme of Picnic or Barbeque at Quirky Crafts Challenge Blog this week. We are sponsored by Crackerbox Palace who are providing 3 generous prizes, and provided these images and more for the team to use. I used ant, small watermelon slice, small pie, plaid rug, picnic basket and ant picnic sign. I printed the images on white card and coloured them with Promarkers, then printed the ants on green card and cut out the coloured images to add to the green, paper piecing the ants. Does it need some ribbon? I might add some gingham to it (updated photo, card now has ribbon from Crafty Ribbons). The Glorious day sentiment is from a Hero Arts set. The Life's a Picnic sentiment is from Crackerbox Palace.

Hop on over to Quirky Crafts to see some more great examples, and lovely images and please have a go at the challenge, and share your makes with us.

I did have a few problems while making the card, I decided to print the ants onto green card and piece their bodies, and that was ok, I made the main panel up. Then I decided to die cut the sentiment, I had it in green and white, decided to use the green one - the die slipped and it was ruined. So I tried to cut the white one - same thing happened. Then I tried to find more green to print on, the printer would not print, after several attempts I realised the card was slightly different - that is when I found that the sheet I printed on was the only one exactly like that! So I had to re-print the white sheet and use that. I found some green I think will go through the printer but it was a different shade of green altogether! 

I have entered this card in the following challenges:

http://daringcardmakers.blogspot.co.uk/Daring Cardmakers - colour combo

Crafty Ribbons - anything goes with ribbon - Thursdays

This is another T page that I did for the Alpha challenge at The Craft Barn, and I was working on it Saturday evening trying to make the deadline and didn't, it took longer than I thought it would. So not entered but it was fun to do. I chose Travail meaning work (hard work, manual work, handicrafts, supervised pratical work,, housework etc), and Tricoter meaning to knit. So I have knitting chickens by Penny Black, knitting House Mouse by Stampendous, and some Quickutz die cuts, and on the work side Monica the seamstress by Kraftin Kimmie, fireman and housewife by Paper Nation, and I love to read which is a Sugar Nellie stamp by Krista Smith. Saws and paint brush are Visible Image stamps.

The Craft Barn Alpha Challenge - T for Tailleur (Tailor)

The Alpha Challenge at The Craft Barn is on T, no twists. I have so many words I could do in the T section!
For those who don't know, The Alpha Challenge was set at the beginning of the year, and the challenge was to alter an old dictionary. Every two weeks a new letter is given out - not in alphabetical order. Sometimes there is an extra twist to add something, or restriction on which words to use. By the end of the year the alphabet will have been completed.
I don't know if I will manage another of the 3 or 4 T words I have bookmarked though, I have one page prepared but I don't know how I am going to do it, and it will need a lot of doodling!
Well T for Tailleur, or tailor, I had a lot of fun with this one. I used my Toodles and Binks Habedashery stamps, first time they saw ink, and a new Stampendous stamp - the sewing machine. I also used some freebie stamps, the needle and the spool tops. I die cut some elements with a Sizzix Tim Holtz die called Sewing Room, and I wrapped the dummy with material tied with ribbon. I added a couple of scissor charms and a real button to finish.

Wedding cards

Wedding card one, cream pearlescent card Papermania vellum, music score stamped hearts (Stampendous) words are from a Visible Image set. The gorgeous rosebud ribbon I bought a long time ago from the USA.

Inside the Hearts Entwined stamp from Visible Image.

Same hearts, ivory cardstock and vellum overlay. Words from Visible Image set.

Words and musical corner from Visible Image, die cuts are Memory Box. 

I have entered the following challenges:

Daring Cardmakers - Ink it up.

Papertake weekly - The Sound of Music.

Inside, Hearts Entwined again, and musical corners.

This is just a birthday card from a kit I have, I added the Spellbinders Filigree Delights die cut which makes it a lot better I think.

I have entered the following challenges:

There She Goes Clear Stamps - Moving on (Sundays)

The Alpha Challenge - W for World and background circles.

Here we go again with the Alpha Challenge 2013.

The Craft Barn set the letter to W and with a twist, there have to be circles in the background. My chosen word was World.

I got out all my circle stamps and had good fun stamping the background, and then used the children holding hands around the Earth as my main stamp, the second stamping got smudged sadly. I wrote in the border circles, that stamp is by Stampendous, other stamps are by MFT and Hero Arts, the globe with the children stamp is by Rubber Stampede. Memento inks and Promarkers.