Art Raffle October- Dark

I'm afraid you're going to have to use your imagination with this one, but this is a gorgeous sparkly altered matchbox. It looks more speckley than sparkly in these photos, but this is Glimmer Mist over black gloss card with clear embossed CD pieces, so you can picture how lovely it is when you hold it in your hand and tilt it into the light. It is also my Art Raffle piece for this month, where the theme was 'Dark'. When I Googled dark, Googling being the main way I try to clarify my thoughts on a theme, it came up with images of dark matter, and being a bit of a science geek, I was really inspired! If you don't know what I'm on about, try it yourself! Select images, put in 'Dark', and prepare to admire :D

Colour: Glimmer mist, black ep, silver detail ep, clear ep, Ice Stickles, Sakura Stardust pen, Stazon, black paint
Stamps: Cherry Pie
Other: Matchbox, black gloss card, PVA glue, old junk CD.

I cut the old CD with my dear husband's kitchen scissors, and although the corners were sharp, the edges weren't. The coating did flake off a little, just at the edge. The heat embossing was a bit of experiment, as I wasn't sure if the CD would melt or not- especially as I use the UK's version of the white Ranger heatgun, which is hot, hot, hot! It was fine, though, and stood up to two coats of the ep. This acts as a lens, and magnifies the rainbow effect. I think I may have to make some jewelry next...

Happy Birthday to Vicky!

It was Vicky's birthday yesterday, but I actually gave her this on Tuesday. This is a mini-file box, 6 1/2" wide by 5" high, and it started life as mountboard, coloured cardstock, and an A3 sheet of watercolour paper! Craft TV Weekly had this as one of their webisodes, and I knew straight away that I wanted to make one for Vicky as a present. Naturally I wanted to get really inky, so I made the patterned paper with the watercolour/craftmat technique (clear embossing first to create the white pattern) and stamped it to within an inch of it's life. It is not a project to make in a hurry, but I am so pleased with the result that I may make myself one if I ever get the time!

Colour: Vivid inks, Glimmer Mists, Versamagic, Versacolour, Brilliance
Stamps: All Paperartsy
Other: Bazzill and SU cardstock, mountboard, watercolour paper, lots of PVA glue, velcro for closure (the magnet I tried to use wasn't powerful enough), Making Memories ribbon buckle.

Diane's blog challenge

Diane from UK Stampers has put a challenge on her blog this week, and since I needed to make a card for my lovely Sister-in-Law's birthday, I decided to use the challenge to inspire me.
Here it is:

So, the challenge is that I'd like to see YOU make a card like the one in the other post. A maximum of two stamps, one colour of ink, one colour of embossing powder (can be the same or a tonal one). No pre-printed background papers!

It sounds so simple until you get going- just one colour of ink?! I usually use half a dozen! And then what do you do with the embossing powder? My solution was to use a Brilliance green ink, which dries on anything (with a little help from the heat gun), and to use the ep to do an intaglio effect. I like to think it looks a bit like fossilised leaves here.

Colour: Brilliance, Aurora embossing powder
Stamps: Paperartsy (panel), Cherry Pie (fern)
Other: Transparency, chipboard (for the intaglio) and white card- one layer was coloured with the ink, the other with the ep.

The closing date for this challenge is 25th October, and the prize is excellent. Thanks for the challenge, Diane!

Sunday Challenge No11

Credit crunch?...........
It's all over the news and in the papers.
This weeks challenge is to create a little something using credit cards, well not you proper credit cards but gift cards, you can pick these up free from most places. Lets see what you can make with them!
Happy stamping

I'm sure this is a shock to anyone who comes here regularly, but I have done and photographed this week's Sunday Challenge a whole day before the new one gets posted! I am stunned, too :D. Dan has actually napped three times this week, leaving me time to get on with my crafting commitments. Don't ask about the housework, though, I'll do it tomorrow, I promise!

Colour: Versamagic, Versafine, silver ep, Stazon, Paint Dabbers, gesso
Stamps: Limited Edition
Other: gift card, old book page, coke-can metal, mulberry paper, sanding block.

I am fascinated with the look of etched metal at the moment. I don't have the time to experiment with a new technique (yet), so I decided to try and recreate the look by using silver ep on metal, then rubbing white paint into the depressions. For this piece, I also decided to use rust coloured paint, to give a more distressed look. I am quite pleased with the overall effect, and will definitely keep playing to see what else I can achieve.

Little Art Doll for a Swap

This is my first attempt at a shrink plastic art doll, so please be gentle with me! I think it's mostly OK, but I am not pleased with the face. I do like it from behind, though- do you like the grungeboard wings? It's such great stuff to work with. The tassel skirt was inspired by an art doll by Linda Baldock, although with hindsight I should have been more generous with the fibres. Oh well, you live and learn!

Colour: Versamagic chalk inks, Stazon, Stickles, Sakura Souffle pen, Versafine, Aurora embossing powder
Stamps: All Cherry Pie
Other: Prima flower, Grungeboard wings, wire, Lucky Squirrel shrink plastic, gem

UK Stampers' Sunday Challenge No 10

I was lucky enough to get some serious crafting time in on Saturday afternoon- I had been creating in half hour bites all week, and found I had barely got all of my stuff out before it was time to put it away again! By Saturday, I *needed* to stamp, so I completely ignored the housework and the husband, and got inky! This piece was created for the Sunday challenge over at UK Stampers, and was really about a) using my gorgeous new stamp from Elusive Images, and b) trying out some techniques I have just been reading about in an amazing book I borrowed from the library, called 'Paper, Metal, and Stitch'. I think I may need to buy this book once I have returned it, as there is enough inspiration inside to keep me going for ages!

Panel 1
Colour: Glimmer Mist (Peach Delight and Black Cherry), Distress Ink (Worn Lipstick), Versafine
Other: White cardstock base, pattern created with PVA rubbed over with gilt wax when dry.

Panel 2
Colour: Gold embossing powder, Versafine
Other: Base of silk dupion fabric, frayed at the edge.

Panel 3
Colour: Distress Inks (Spiced Marmalade and Worn Lipstick), Stickles, Versafine
Other: White cardstock base, stamped repeatedly with swirl stamp then embossed with Cuttlebug folder.

Panel 4
Colour: Stazon black, Sharpie pen, Glimmer Mist
Other: Base made from inside of coke can, coloured in a flame, and embossed freehand, using an embossing tool and foam mat.

Header
Colour: alcohol inks followed by Black Cherry Glimmer Mist, Stazon
Other: Making Memories metal shim, freehand embossing, Papermania jewel brads, black ribbon, corner embellishments from my stash
Stamps: Notre Dame from Elusive Images, words and swirl from Paperartsy.

The whole piece is 6" x 6" square, conveniently the Notre Dame stamp is 1 1/2" wide. I promise I will clean the lens of my camera before I take another picture- the soft-focus effect wasn't intentional LOL!

October's Inchie swap

These are my nine inchies for Sid's swap over on UK Stampers forum. I think I have gone all primitive and textural! The theme was Autumn, and I started by rooting around in my offcuts drawer, looking for inspiration. It came in the form of a piece of Caught in Crystal I made last year, for Isa's alpha challenge. Instead of using it as an element, I decided to use it as the base for the inchies- you can see from the top photo that they are transparent. What you can't really see from the photos is that I stamped a Paperartsy swirl, and used Perfect Pearls on it- it's clear enough in real life, but didn't photograph at all well. I may try and take a new photo in the morning, at a strange angle, but otherwise you will have to imagine how gorgeous it looks!

Colour: Glimmer Mist, Paint Dabber, Distress Inks, Alcohol Inks, Perfect Pearls
Stamp: Paperartsy
Other: Caught in Crystal background (click on the label in my sidebar for more info), Making Memories metal shim, old book page, mulberry paper, leaf punch, embossing tool.

A Tag Made for the Sunday Challenge

The theme was 'All Things Bright and Beautiful' at UK Stampers last week, and this is what I made.

Colour: Glimmer Mist, Versafine, Stickles, Sakura Stardust pen, Nick Bantock dye ink
Stamps: All Cherry Pie
Other: Redicut gems, fibres

Published!

I am ecstatic about this- really! This is the first time anything I have created has been published (I have never submitted before) and I have not one but two pages in this article! This article was written by Sarah for the UK's only stamping magazine, Craft Stamper, and it is about the UK Stamper's 'just one stamp' circle journal that I took part in. Big thanks to Sarah, because she not only had to write the article, but also had to do all of the organising and posting.
The 'legs' page uses only the stamp provided, with the rest collaged, but the 'dressing up' page had loads of stamping, and I used a lot of fun techniques, too. The other pages are gorgeous, too, and I feel very lucky to have been involved. And the 'pear' journal you see pictured here, well, that's mine, and when it eventually flies home I will do a slide show so that you can see the amazing art I now own :D