Welcome to today's Guest Designer, Annie !

Today we are welcoming a Guest Designer who I know won't be a stranger to you. Annie of Curious and Crafty Treasures. I'm sure you'll all give Annie a warm welcome !

Hi everyone..it’s Annie here as Guest Designer for Stamps and Stencils challenge theme of 'Anything Goes’. 

I was so thrilled to be invited to take part in this month’s challenge, which is the first here at Stamps and Stencil’s blog. The  very talented Design Team have created some fabulous, inspiring projects and I hope you will find time to take part in this “for fun” challenge. 

As many of you know I  have been crafting for over 20 years dabbling in a variety of  styles, but mainly vintage/grunge. I am a huge fan of all things Ranger and Tim Holtz so of course I had to create a project using stamps/stencils and Idea-Ology pieces from Tim’s vast range. Mixed Media is fairly new for me but I am really enjoying the way that I can incorporate paints/gesso/texture paste in to  so many projects and it’s nice to recycle items too. 

For my project below I used the aluminium from a drinks can and some leather pieces from an old discarded purse in my stash. The large wooden tag was a recent purchase and was reduced to 50 pence in M&Co, so of course I just had to buy a few !!!!

Firstly I stamped on the aluminium using Jet Black Archival Ink from Ranger. ( see below) The gentleman is from Stamper’s Anonymous Tim Holtz Purveyor Stamp Set. A China Blue Distress Marker was used to colour the gentleman’s eyes.  To attach the aluminium to the leather I used my WRMK Cropodile to punch some holes and some nail headed brads.

The wooden tag was given two coats of Decoart Chalk Paint in Rustic, then Decoart Crackle Medium was applied. 

Once the crackle medium was almost dry I applied Decoart Chalk Paint in Whisper and you can see the fabulous crackle below. 

Decoart Media Texture Paste in Black was applied through Tim Holtz Cargo Stencil and also the Schoolhouse Stencil

Vintage Photo, Black Soot and Rusty Hinge Distress Inks were applied to the wooden tag, providing an aged appearance. Edging the tag with the Black Soot really defined the edges, making them pop.

I also applied some Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain Distress Inks to the edges of the leather.

Below is how the tag looked before I altered it.

And this is the finished piece……………..!!

Below is a closer look at the stamped images from the Purveyor Stamp Set. The  stamped papers were aged with Distress Ink and then wrinkled, spritzed and flicked with water. Some gears, a timepiece and spinner as well as a  metal wing complete the look.

Thank You once again to Sue, Yvonne, Julia, Toni, Ruth and Sharon for having me join in with them on this fantastic journey. I wish you all the very best and hope to catch up with you again. 

Crafty Hugs And Best Wishes

Annie xx

Apologies for the blip earlier with the photos not being loaded properly....these things do happen!