My First Freebie...For you !

Hello All

So here's my first freebie for you to download.
There are 4 YES 4 ! envelopes, designed to accommodate a 5x3 tag or photo mat.
Here is a sample

So these are my own designs which you are free to download and print and use as much as you like.  Please don't resell these - they take me lots of time and late nights (after putting the kids to sleep) to make these so it wouldn't be fair to credit them to someone else would it ?!
Anyway please pop on over to my Zibbet store and Weebly (when I open it) to buy any of my other collections.
All my designs are for A4 use but you could resize them to US letter easily.

Do let me know what you do with them, just for my curiosity !

TC
x

https://app.box.com/s/tixs4g5c3kd4zv9u5ls8

Shop's Open !

Hi ALL
So I've decided to leave Etsy...I never got enough traffic through and I still don't know what I did wrong but I thought the fees a bit extortionate if, as a seller you're not selling enough.  So after a bit of research, I thought that opening a Weebly shop would be the best option and hope that I can direct traffic from future Youtube vids of tutorials and Pinterest posts.  I might even move this blog to join Weebly and have the whole thing under one umbrella.
So the idea is this... I am going to release 4 pdf tutorials of mini albums, which can be bought for a very reasonable fee.  Alongside this I will be selling digital scrapbooking packs which can be used with any humber of my album tutes.

I would love a bit of feedback from a you guys as to whether you like my digi packs and if you would use them at A4 size or would have a preference for them being available at 12x12 inch size.

Here are some samples and stay tuned...I will give you guys some freebie downloads !

TC x

the Botanical collection; available as an A4 digi pack

here;

http://www.zibbet.com/TheCollagist/artwork?artworkId=2285607

the Florals collection; available as a 12x12 inch digi pack

here;

http://www.zibbet.com/TheCollagist/artwork?artworkId=2281406

Too many projects !

So I've nearly finished the glass tiles and here is what I've done so far

I'm waiting on another delivery of tiles because I want to make a picture frame for a 6x4" photo and I'm chomping at the bit to get going with that.

Another little project I've been doing is the April tag of Tim Holtz' monthly tag challenge.

As of tomorrow I'm guessing the May challenge will be up so check it out for techniques and tips

http://timholtz.com/12-tags-of-2014-april/

On his blog, there is the opportunity to upload your attempt at recreating his tag, and some of the entries are incredible.  I'm still a little shy about doing such a thing...I'll probably do it when I've attempted to do his May creation !

Finally, I'm starting a mini album for my step-daughter.  She's about to do her GCSE's, and here in the UK there is usually a big build-up to them starting now, where teens are feverishly revising for the 20 odd exams they'll be sitting.  I know she's getting a little stressed so I want to make her an album complete with photos frames and die-cut sentiments so that she can assemble a lovely collection of photos of herself and her friends for the last term before they pop off to other 6th form schools.  

I'm trawling the net right now for the right tutorial; something concise that's full of surprise compartments and tags so if any of you crafters out there have any ideas I'd be grateful !

Until next time...

Playing with transparencies and layers.

For a while, I've loved the layering aspect of collage.  I've been reading up on ways to do image transfers for fabric, paper and mixed media and there are so many options out there.  Of course the most interesting for me are the methods which require the least amount of time and expenditure.

My latest Ebay buy was a small selection of glass squares, sort of like the cabochons you get at craft shops; actually I've been eyeing up a pack of Tim Holtz' Fragments but didn't want to spend the money.  So I got a great little selection of glass squares with frosted edges for about £2.50.
The plan was to make small one of a kind mosaic tiles to make a photo frame and I really fancied the idea of using layers of images per square.
This is what I did;

 I chose a small square (approx the size of my glass tile) to cut from a laser photocopy.

 Next, I stuck a piece of common office tape to the front of my image and then burnished for about 30 seconds..

After soaking the strip of paper in paper for about 60 seconds;

 I carefully rubbed the paper from the back.  Do this slowly and with medium pressure so as not to start rubbing the black laser toner off.

 Nice job.

Using Glossy Accents (by Ranger) I adhered the transparency to a scrap of paper. Glossy Accents are great as they mimic a glassy finish, and as long as you make sure there are no bubbles in your glue, the transparency will be dry in about 10 minutes.

You can see from this one that even if the image is feint, it still works a treat.

Tomorrow I'll show you what they look like with the glass tiles adhered to the front, and then I'll start on the project I'm going to use them on ...

A crafty beginning

Hello everyone,
This is yet another blog on the frequent musings of an obsessed craftist..
I am the daughter of a secret knitter / embroiderer / quilter (that was my dad) and a painter / gardner / sculptor and clandestine jam maker (my mum). So it stands to reason that I would spend my life dipping in and out of a world of crafty obsessions.
I wish to remain anonymous, not just because it's fun to do so, but because I have an aversion to posting on social media anything that might incriminate me in future lawsuits (that of course are craft related).
So, I therefore heartily introduce myself as The Collagist (a pretentious but I think, catchy name) and use this blogging platform to share some interesting craft ideas, tips and general thoughts.

In the meantime, here is a photo of today's craft obsession.
A repurposed crackled frame, made for my husband's birthday for a photo of our kids.
The base of the wooden frame was covered in Tim Holtz Distress Paint (Weathered Paint) which was then lightly sanded on the edges to show the pine wood. After which I covered in Tim Holtz' crackle paint in Rock Candy and then rubbed on some Vintage Photo Distress Ink. Finally it was sealed with a varnish.  I'm still debating wether to add any 'shabby chic' embellishments ??