Stampbord brooch swap

Sid is hosting a Stampbord brooch swap at UK Stampers, and I was hit by inspiration for this one! I had been using my melt pot for another piece I have made (yes, for yet another swap!) and to use up the excess UTEE I poured it into some of my Krafty Lady Art Moulds. I loved the heart so much that it inspired the rest of the piece.

Colour: Dee Greunig Blending Blox (green), Stazon, Versafine, Gilt wax, Opals UTEE
Stamp: Hero Arts script
Other: Small Puffy Heart art mould, Grungeboard wings, Cuttlebug script embossing folder, Aurora Fusible Film, Stampbord, brooch pin, Pinflair glue gel

The colour of this is changeable, as I started with the Blending Blox before gluing and ironing on torn strips of Fantasy film. The wings were bent and glued on with a supporting blob of the Pinflair glue gel- my new favourite glue!

Art Raffle January- Shiny

This is the first Art Raffle of the year, and how could I resist this theme! My husband jokes that I am a magpie, as I love shiny things (I love rusty things, too, so that makes me one contradictory lady!) and naturally I wanted to play with techniques too. This is a tiny mint tin, the ones that you see at till points, pink, with a mirror inside. I have altered it to be a bag charm. I really had to make myself post this to Sarah, as I was actually very happy with how it turned out.

Colour: Plasticote enamel paint, Stazon, Stickles
Stamps: Paperartsy (swirls), Studio G (Alpha- it says 'yourself')
Other: Fusible film in various colours, 'love' phone charm, black velvet ribbon, clasp.

To create the effect, I painted the tin black (2 coats) and then used gel medium to stick torn pieces of fusible film down in a random pattern. Then I used first the heat-gun, then an iron to smooth and fuse the film so that it became shiny again. I trimmed it around the tin, then used the iron to round the corner. It reminds me of abalone shell!

UK Art Raffle August entry- Summer Sun

I seem to be blogging an awful lot at the moment, but I think that's because I am doing a lot! I haven't even blogged the cards, mostly because they are only really interesting to the recipients; I am not a natural card maker. I have nothing for tomorrow, though, as I have reached the point with the piece I am working on where I have to leave it alone for a while, so that I know where I am going with it. But I thought I would share this tonight, as I really want to wash my hair and do some housework before going out tomorrow morning, and spending time on the internet is not conducive to either!
Anyway, this piece is for Sarah's UK Art Raffle, a fabulous sort-of swap she is running where everybody sends in something, but only one person gets all of the art each month! It's such a great idea, and I can imagine how I would feel if a surprise box arrived, full of inspiring things. This is the first month, but even now a lot of people have put their name down. It's UK only, sadly, because of the expense of posting, but there will be a gallery each month after the parcel has been received.

Colour: Alcohol Inks, Gold embossing powder, Dee Greunig Blending Blox, Distress Inks
Stamps: Paperartsy, Studio g
Other: Gold card, Cuttlebug embossing folder, fusible film, photo of baby laughing (Dan at 4 months!)

This piece owes a lot to Linda B, who has started to do Youtube tutorials. I had never considered using the fusible film and just melting it onto a project, and it was great fun, if a little unpredictable. And it was also heavily inspired by a certain children's show- the one everyone loves to hate, but I just love!

Two Months' Worth of CJs in One Post!

As usual, I have been doing and photographing, but not blogging. Life is busy, blah, blah, blah, I'm sure you've heard it all before. So I thought I would show two months' worth of CJs together, as a sort of catch-up.
The stamp for the first journal was the clock stamp. Now, the clock paper I have used for the background is one of the first scrapbooking papers I ever bought. It's K and Co, from one of their 6" x 6" books. I have stopped buying paper's en masses, as I have loads left, but for once I knew this one was the one to go with the stamp. The quote is by Virgil, and means "but it flees, irreplaceable time flees", otherwise known as "Tempus fugit". Very appropriate for many of us! The dragonfly is Non Sequitur, painted with H20s and with glossy accents over the body, and the wings are Fantasy film. The clock face is covered in crackle accents, but it doesn't show up in the photo. I had the idea that the dragonfly was flying off, holding the clock.
The second journal came with the legs. Everyone before me was inspired in a humourous way, so I had to do my bit. Anyone that doesn't get it, look at 'bingo' on Wikipedia, particularly English bingo calling. Well, I thought it was funny!
I have a couple of cards which I will try to blog later, both Magnolia, and one made in a class which I took on Friday with Isabelle Norris. I have to go and do the housework now, real life isn't always fun... ;-)

Isa's weekly challenge- 'I'

Isa's challenge this week, as well as the usual alphabet theme, is to use something transparent and to use stitching. This is my entry, which I am quite pleased with, although I don't usually do sparkly. Maybe I should also enter this for UK Stampers' 'Cute v. arty' challenge, as this is a bit outside my usual style. Maybe I'm not quite comfortable with it because I only used three stamps!
The inside of the card is a wash of watercolour paints, some sparkly, over stamped and embossed in white with my well-used Stampendous stamp. The outside of the card was stamped at the top using A Stamp in the Hand's 'Field of Sky', one of those useful stamps, then embossed with holographic sparkle powder and over washed with sparkly watercolours.
It all happens on the acetate wrap on the outside. I stamped and embossed the Anita's dragonfly in white, then cut the same shape out of Art Institute's Fantasy Film in Aurora and glued it behind with Glossy accents. Then I did a separate dragonfly, this time embossing in holographic sparkle then cutting out the glued layers and mounting it over the first dragonfly, again with glossy accents. I pricked then stitched the word 'Iridescent' with sparkly floss and glued on the flower sequins with Sakura quickie glue. To attach the wrap to the card I ran a line of the quickie glue down the spine of the card, then weighted the edge to make sure it dried in position.
I think I need to start using more sketches for my cards, as this one uses the same basic layout as two others I have done this year! Funny how you are always drawn to a layout you are comfortable with! Oh well, off to 2Peas to look at sketches!