Altered Tin- Inspired by Van Gogh

This tin was for a swap on Zuzu's forum, and I was over a week late sending it because I had one of those last-minute ideas that complicated the project but I had to do it! Typical me! Originally, I was just going to decorate the outside of the tin and prettify the inside, but then I realised that the tin was the perfect size to fit slide-mounts (I have rather a lot of these, bought years ago and never used!). So I decorated the slide-mounts and joined them together to make a wallhanging.

Colour: Versamagic, Sharpies, watercolour crayons, Brilliance, Aurora ep, gilt wax, Distress Inks, Vivid Inks, Cosmic Shimmer powders, Barry M eyeshadow powders
Stamps: Paperartsy, Studio g alphabet, ISC butterfly
Other: Crackle Accents, Gesso, Galleria moulding paste, heavy florist's wire, bead, twig, metal from coke can, plastic slide mounts

The tin originally contained saffron, and had the pink flowers as part of the original decoration. I was inspired by a Van Gogh painting and was trying to capture the swirly effect of the background. The three slide-mounts all have Van Gogh paintings in. To capture the vibrancy of the originals I printed each painting on paper and on transparency- when you lay the transparency over the paper print, suddenly the image comes alive.
PS Plastic slide mounts do not like being heated with a heat gun....!
PPS I realise that many of the mediums I used are not supposed to be used on metal, but it's amazing what a few light coats of spray varnish enable you to do!

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.

UK Stampers September Inchie Swap- Numbers

This is what I made after my mammoth creative effort on the butterfly was over- nice and simple, a set of inchies for another swap (we are busy bees over on UK St!). The theme was numbers, so I did a number background, and because I'm currently surrounded by books which teach you to count I did a visual representation of each number, plus wrote the numbers in French! (Told you I can't do simple LOL!)

Colour: Vivid dye ink, Glimmer Mist, Woodware liquid pearls, black pen
Stamp: Free from Simply Stamping magazine
Other: Redicut gems

UK Stampers are doing Sunday challenges!

I know there are a lot of challenges out there, but it never hurts to have another choice! UK Stampers is now doing a challenge each Sunday, and the challenge is being set by Efemera, otherwise known as Gail, whose work you will have seen in last month's Craft Stamper. We have done two challenges so far. The first was to make something with your oldest and newest stamps. I used the bright card I made for my friend Vicky as the example of my newest stamps (those Inkadinkado flowers), and the top photo here is what I made with my oldest stamp, the Personal Impressions snowflake. I bought it in 1998, and used it originally to make that year's Christmas cards, before putting it away and forgetting about it. Using it again, on the triptych ATC, made me realise how pretty it is, and I may even use it this year for my cards!
The second challenge was to make two Oriental-themed tags, one in colour and one black and white. I found this really challenging, as I don't really 'do' oriental, even though I have a gorgeous set from Non Sequitur. I started by making some stamped paper, then I got so inspired by it that I made a little origami box! (The design for this is from CraftTV Weekly, although I made it smaller this time. Here is the last one I made) I then remembered to make the tags, and I quite like them. I think the black and white one is better, and my Husband likes the red. You decide!

Colour: ATC- alcohol inks, Stazon, silver embossing powder, Tags- Distress Inks, Vivid inks (to colour paper), Brilliance, Perfect Pearls (brushed on and made into a paint), watercolour pencils
Stamps: ATC- Personal Impressions, Non Sequitur, Tags- Non Sequitur, Judikins
Other: Japanese paper, free origami paper downloads from Canon, red card, gold card.

The kimonos were created by paper piecing, using the origami designs. The origami downloads were printed out at half size, so that the proportion was correct for the kimonos, and the Japanese paper was embossed with clear embossing powder to make it go transparent to give the look of a screen.

The Penultimate CJ Entry

So close now, this is the second-to-last entry in the UKStampers CJ. I am currently working on the final entry, and I feel like it needs to be the best of the lot (no pressure!!!) as I have met Tasha, and have spent the last nine months sending things to her.
It has definitely got much harder to do something original. The stamp for this journal is the face, and I kept having ideas, only to look at the (gorgeous) previous entries and find that my idea had already been realised. In the end, I took my inspiration from Cherry Pie, where I am a member of the Yahoo group. Last year, the group did an art doll swap, and the result of that swap was a plate of stamps which had the body and accessories for an ATC-sized art doll. This entry turned into a real technique-fest for me, as I used all of my newer craft products, and had lots of fun creating the individual elements.

Colour: alcohol inks, vivid inkpads, glimmer mist, paint dabbers, versafine, Brilliance
Stamps: face (unknown), Cherry Pie, Studio g (alphabet)
Other: Papermania jewel brads, acetate, silver detail embossing powder, printable magnet paper (used for doll and accessories), heavyweight watercolour paper, vellum, fibres and bead, all from my stash.