Hip Hip Horray!

card from  Print for  Love of Wood on Folksy.

 

Last year I was whisked off to New York and taken to Tiffany's on 5th Avenue for the big 40. 5 days in what has to be my second favourite city.  My favourite being York.  Such different places but both make me smile. Luckily we live close to York and I have a full weekend spending time with my lovely husband and kids. My week started with a bouquet of flowers being delivered to me every day.  Then a weekend where I spent a Friday with just the two of us, lunch at my favourite restaurant in York with a spot of Christmas shopping along Stoneygate (home to Kath Kidston, the Teddy bear shop, The White Stuff and numerous other places pulling at your purse strings). Then it’s family time with a trip to the cinema to see Arthur Christmas (the kids haven’t stopped asking to go and see it since they saw the trailer for it) and dinner in the form a of Chinese meal.  And finally, a trip to Whitby to take in the sea air – the cold biting air I might add and , more food, fish & chips.  I loved every minute of it.

caught up in the hype…

Tim Holtz is fabulously creative and brings us humble folks in the crafting world, with the likes of Tonic, Ranger, Advantus & Stamper Anonymous, products that truly, I for one, would be lost with out.  I covert my scissors and oooh all those gorgeous distress products and idea-ology trinkets.  More recently I am in love with the District Market range…possibly because I’m a sucker for all things notebook and I was not disappointed when they turned up for the shop along with the burlap panels.

Now we’ve all see video footage of Tim at the shows with his trinket box full of idea-ology goodies and gone oooh with jealousy.  When I saw the new range of storage, and because I have access to these products because of the shop I ordered one, yep just one, of these Trinket cases.  It arrived this morning.

 

It’s my birthday next week,  but this was not a birthday present to myself. I genuinely wanted to know what they were like so I could decide if it was something I wanted to stock.

The trinket box was sent in the original box it was shipped in so when I realised I will admit to being a little excited and eager to open it, to take a peek at this prized possession.  What happened next surprised me.  You know when you get given a birthday present, and you know that your fabulous other half had provided someone with a list of idea’s at their request so they could get you something you really want, and you know each and every one of those idea’s was something you really wanted, then you open the present with them standing in front of you to find that they completely ignored the idea’s given to them but you still have to smile while you battle that sinking feeling.  That is how I felt this morning.

Now I knew it wasn’t going to be big, but I’m going to need a couple of these babies at least to house all my idea-ology bits and bobs. I ‘m also not enamoured with the quality of it either,  In the photo’s it looks quite good, nice solid handle, metal corners and latches, but the rest of it lets it down.  The faux leather trim, in my humble opinion it ain’t  all that when seen in real life.  the design frustrates me as the box opens out the opposite way to the way the trays open taking up, for me, much needed space on my desk to use it.  We don’t all have palatial studio’s to work in with huge expanses of worktop space.

 

The bottom tray is glued in place, as you would expect but, and yes I am being ultra picky now, the glue is all over the shop and not contained under the tray.  This isn’t ooze from using too much, this is brush strokes of glue. The tray are made from sturdy stuff, as is the box, but I am disappointed with the finish and with a retail price around the £30-£35 mark I’d expect something a little better, doubly so as it carries Tim’s name. This is of course just my opinion, and I dare say lots of you will be dismissive of it, and I’m probably missing a trick by making the decision not to stock them.  But there, you’ve now had my two-penn’orth, do with it as you will. I for one will continue to keep my trinkets in a RUB box with tray inserts.

and the winner is……

lemon said...

thanks for the great techniques uks lemon

Congratulations!  One set of Claudine Hellmuth Mini Studio Paints is yours!

 

 

 

 

did you blog hop here?

If you are participating in the UKS blog hop, you may have come here from 3 Jolly Scrappers .  Hope you enjoyed their project and didn’t forget to post a comment so that you can be in with a chance to win one of the prizes on offer.

First up, if you are new to my blog, a bit fat welcome to you! I’m Vicki, owner of a sprinkle of imagination where we have a passion for memories and getting messy! Which brings me nicely to our project - an accordion art journal, although, you could use it as a mini book rather than an art journal if you preferred.

To complete the project you’ll need:

a sheet of grungeboard (you know you have some, we all got it when it came out and then said – “now what?”)

a sheet of watercolour paper – I’ve used Windsor & Newton Bockingford 14x10 inch – 300gsm.  The size is the most important part, any watercolour paper will do, or you could substitute with a heavy weight cardstock. Check places like The Range or The Works.

Claudine Hellmuth Studio Paints

Brushes and plastic palette knife

Ranger Craft Mat

Liquitex Acrylic Inks

Jenni Bowlin Paint Dabbers

Liquitex Gel Medium & Gesso

Stencil of choice

Waxed Thread and a charm

Stampotique stamps

and lastly – an old gift card.

 

Start by applying a thin coat of gesso to both sides of your watercolour paper and grunge board.  Using an old gift card will help you get a thin coat. Let it dry on one side before you do the other.

Once the gesso is dry, apply some gel medium through a stencil with a palette knife (easier to get the gel out of the pot that way as well) in patches to create some texture for your backgrounds.  I used the Crafters Worskhop small circle grid, a big favourite of mine at the moment.  You’ll notice that the dots left on one side were a bit black as lazy me hadn’t cleaned off the black paint from the last time I used it.  Again, you’ll need to let it dry before you do the second side.

 While you’re waiting for everything to dry, select the colours you want to use to create your backgrounds. Add a little water to a small amount of paint and create a colour wash over both sides of the water colour paper and the grungeboard.  You’ll notice that the dry gel medium will create a resist.  If you want the resist to stand out more, then you can dab the still wet paint off, or if it’s started to dry, use a baby wipe or a slightly damp cloth to lift the excess paint off.  Keep applying the paint until you are happy with what you have.  Tip – use complimentary colours to avoid a muddy outcome. 

 

The next later on the page is created by drawing circles with the Liquitex Acrylic Inks, if you are worried about getting round circles then you can always use one of the basic circle stencils as a guide to help you.  Acrylic Inks come in dropper bottles so I just used the dropper to draw with.

 

This is the point where the size of the watercolour paper is perfect for working with the grundgeboard. Fold the watercolour paper in half – lengthways, and then cut it in half.

Next, score and fold each half at 3 1/4 inch intervals.  You’ll have a small excess at the end, cut this off ONE of the lengths. The stick the two pieces together with gel medium, using one of the short lengths to overlap them. This will then make one long accordion piece.

I’ve cut window in some of my pages, so if you want to do the same, this is the time to do it as it’s easier than when it’s stuck on to the cover.

The grungeboard is to form the cover for your book.  Lay it down lengthways and find the centre, then mark half and score across the short side a half an inch either side, giving you a one inch wide spine for your book.

Before you adhere your pages into your book, using a 1/16th inch punch, punch two holes in the back cover for the wax thread to go through and create your closure.

I’ve used a 1 meter length of red waxed thread, may seem a lot, but it will wrap around your journal three times to make an attractive closure.  Wiggle the thread until you are happy it’s in the right place, then stick the last page of the accordion to the back cover with gel medium and let it dry.  You can then wrap the thread and decide where to add a charm.  To do this create a lose knot and add a charm to a jumping, thread through the know and tighten.

You’re now ready to decorate the book, adding photo’s, or in my case stamped images and some doodling ready to add your journalling.

Hope you’ve enjoyed the project and feel inspired to have a go!  If you do, please leave us a link so we can come and see your version.

Now a chance to win prizes!

If you’re a member on UKScrappers, and leave a comment on each blog TODAY you’ll be entered for a chance to win a prize, remembering to include your UKS ID so we know who you are.

Anyone posting a comment here will also be entered in with a chance to win a set of Claudine Hellmuth Mini Studio Paints and a winner will be chosen at random on Wednesday.

 

Next to visit is A Trip Down Memory Lane. 

If you get lost along the way you can go back to UKS and find the full list of blogs taking part here