UK Stampers Sunday Challenge no. 7- Pirates!

Gail likes to do interesting themes for her challenges, and this week's was no exception!

Sunday challenge no7

Did you know that the 19th of September is International Talk Like A Pirate Day?.............
Well it is!This weeks challenge is to create something with a Pirate theme...It could be an eye patch, a hat (which you could wear on said day!) or something simple like a card or an ATC..Upload here on the blog or post a link
Happy stamping!

It took me all week to think of what to do for this, but in the end it was a shop window display that inspired me!

Colour: Glimmer Mist, Stazon, Distress Inks, Paint Dabber, Versafine
Stamps: Rubadubbado (map), PSX (alphabet)
Other: Thin leather thong, Cuttlebug embossing folder, Lucky Squirrel sanding block, Grungeboard mini, Redicut gems, 3D Jean corner embellishments.

I was originally going to do the Bandanna technique for the background, but I was inspired by a recent post on Glenda Waterworth's blog. She had been playing with white core card, embossing folders and Glimmer Mists, and so I cut out the white-core card stage and just used plain ol' white card! The red colour is Glimmer Mist, then I sanded, then inked the pattern with Stazon, and sanded again. There you have it, textured Bandanna!

ATCs- Children

This month's 3 for 3 swap on UK Stampers had a theme which most people jumped at, but I found quite hard: children. I am not a brilliant collage artist, and don't have a lot of children-y stamps, so I ended up buying a new stamp. I love these two little cowboys, and I can see this image being handy at birthday and party invite time; it's nice to find something arty and yet also suitable for children!

Colour: Distress Inks, Perfect Pearls (sprayed)
Stamps: Crafty Individuals, Studio G and PSX (alphabets)

My trick-of-the-day for these ATCs was to tap the edge of a rough old plastic ruler into my ink pads and then use it to add the 'scratches' to grunge up the work. I'm sure it's not a new idea, but it impressed my husband!

This Month's ATCs

The theme for this month's ATCs over on UK Stampers was 'Incorporating a tag', and I actually started these with two weeks to go before the deadline, as I was feeling inspired. Not like me at all, (the early start, not the inspiration!) as I usually find that time pressure helps me to work. However, I found once I started that I was *really* inspired, and took my time over these. I am really pleased with the outcome; I really feel that I expressed myself artistically, and I can't believe I made them! Let's hope it wasn't a fluke ;-)
I even made a slide show, so all of the hidden details can be seen:

Colour: Distress Inks in Broken China and Vintage Photo, Versafine, Moonshadow mist, Silver detail embossing powder, Cosmic shimmer lustre pearl embossing powder
Stamps: Paperartsy, Inkadinkado, Crafty Individuals
Embellishments: Star gems from Hobbycraft, Turquoise gems by Pebeo, pins, beads, wire, and ribbon from my stash
Other: Sizzix originals tag die, Sizzlits mini-tags die, Making Memories metal sheets (used to make mini-tags), Vellum from Lakeland, Silk dupion from Fabric Land, Vintage paper from old book
Thanks for looking!

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... ;-)

2 More ATCs

I did these ATCs last week, but I had a tummy bug that wiped me out for a couple of days! After feeling better from that, I had to catch up on all of my housework etc, so this is my first opportunity to post these pictures. As you can see, I'm still inspired by my new Paperartsy stamps, and I also had some fun with shrink plastic and heat embossing.
All details as previous post.

New header.

As you can see, I have finally got around to making a few little changes on here, just little tweaks to make it a bit nicer. This is partly thanks to Godelieve, as she has a blog devoted to helping us novices with improving on the original template.
I've been planning this header for ages, I have just been so busy with other projects that I kept putting off making it. I wanted to use all of my favourite stamps and techniques, to reflect the general content here. So, stamp-wise, you will see my Cherry Pie and Aud Design swirls, Hero Arts script, PSX alphabet, Cherry Pie face and a butterfly stamp (Rubbadubadoo). The background was made using the craft mat/water technique and Distress Ink in Dusty Concord plus Nick Bantock Dye Ink in Damson Plum. All of the black stamping was done using Versafine, and the golds were either Perfect Pearls on Versamark or Gold heat embossing on acetate. The chipboard letters are from Making Memories and were coloured with Brilliance Inks, the gold swirl is 7Gypsies, and the flower is Prima.
Oh, and if anyone is interested, the name of this blog is from an ATC I did for one of Isa's challenges, which said "I like it...but is it Art?" It refers to the interesting question for stampers, that since we are using someone else's images, is it art? Or maybe it should be "Whose art is it anyway?"

UK Stamper's Jacob's Ladder swap.

Good old blogger! I knew it would put these photos on one above the other so I didn't need to mess around in Paint Shop Pro, stitching them together! This is my finished Jacob's Ladder for the UK Stampers swap. For those of you who don't know what a Jacobs Ladder is, it is a child's toy made of squares held together with ribbon. When you turn over the top square, all the other squares flop downwards in turn. And, thanks to Craft TV Weekly, this one does work! I will make a little matching box to store it in, but I wanted to show the photos now, as this is also going to be my entry for Wednesday Stamper, for this weeks open theme.
The stamping on the front is all done in various colours of Brilliance Ink, using stamps from Paperartsy, Crafty Individuals, Rubadubadoo, Anita's, Limited Edition, and PSX. The back is heat embossed in white and the stamps are Judikins (flower) and Rubadubadoo (butterfly). And just in case you can't read the phrase, it says "Live life free like a butterfly".
PS. The patterned paper for the base is from Fancy Pants, but the bit with the name is stuck down!

Wednesday Stamper- Hats

I could have managed to be a little later for this weeks Wednesday Stamper, but not much! I seem to be pretty much caught up now, so hopefully will be more on time for everything. Of course, give me enough nights without sleep and that'll change again!
I'm into making ATCs at the moment. I usually have someone in mind for a card, and arty ones don't go down well with my family! But ATCs are just a little artistic indulgence, as they aren't 'for' anything. Hence this one, which I have called 'Hats off to the Music Man'. I am still inspired by these Paperartsy stamps; this is my third ATC using them. When I'm done I will label them as a series, my first!
Stamps by Paperartsy, Tanda Stamps and PSX, inks used are Distress Inks in Scattered Straw and Vintage Photo, plus Versacolour pigment inks in a mix of blues. The 'the' is Sakura Stardust pen. Thanks for looking!

Isa's weekly challenge- 'G'

Hurray! The first of my weekly challenge entries is done. This ATC is for Isa's weekly challenge. I was puzzling over interesting words beginning with the letter 'G', and I got hit by inspiration! This doesn't happen all of the time to me, so I did rush into my craft area and get going as soon as I could. Then I had to rush back to my computer to create the background text, which is from the various spam emails I get trying to sell me pills I definitely don't need! I am fascinated with the computer generated text that these emails contain, they make no real sense but have a gothic, whimsical feel. (If you haven't received this kind of email, lucky you.) I also have this great Cherry Pie face image, which also has a gothic feel, so there we are!
All of the images are stamped in black Stazon onto white card. Stamps are by Cherry Pie, Tanda Stamps and PSX, and I coloured the eyes with blue felt pen, washed over with a metallic watercolour paint. The black line at the right hand edge is narrow black velvet ribbon. Isa's extra options this week were to follow a sketch for the layout and use alphabet stamps, both of which I have done!
I ended up with four ATC sized backgrounds, so may do another three ATCs in this vein. I think 'Vampire's kiss' may have to be one of them, very traditional!

A Big First.

This Father's Day was particularly special for my Husband, as it was his first! Sadly, we didn't plan anything much as he had to pack for a trip away with work, and had to leave in the afternoon, but he got coffee in bed, and a lot of play time with Dan! I have actually got something planned for him, but my lips are sealed as he may still get around to reading this in the next couple of weeks while he is busy.
I saw the sentiment on this card as a stamp for Mother's Day, but knew then that I had to use it for Father's Day, as 'Danny and Daddy' time is all about smiles and laughter (Mummy time is all about eating and sleeping, boring!). I had planned to use more colour, but in the end I chose black and white because I thought it would be more punchy.
The capital letters are Papermania foam stamps, the curly letters are an MSE clear alphabet, and the small letters are my trusty PSX alphabet. I used Versamark to stamp the background with the Cherry Pie Klimt swirls, then used white embossing powder for the words. The photo was re-sized, adjusted to black and white and the words added in Paint Shop Pro, then the brad and the ribbon added. I stopped there, as Paul rightly says I add too much 'stuff' to my work, and don't know when to stop! At least he is honest enough to tell the truth!