Bottlecap swap- a few of my favourite things...

I really got carried away making this little piece for the February altered art swap on UK Stampers. Good job too; the standard was really high, as ever, so I would have been embarrassed if I hadn't gone that extra mile! I used all of my favourite techniques and products :)

Colour: Alcohol inks, Stickles, Distress Inks, Versafine, Sakura clear stardust pen, Opals UTEE in black and gold, Perfect Pearls
Stamps: Cherry Pie
Other: Two bottlecaps (flattened with a hammer and a block of wood), sheer ribbon, adhesive metal tape, Cuttlebug and embossing folder, buttons, Krafty Lady art mould, Melt Pot, Papermania adhesive gem

(If you can read the words, they are from Twelfth Night- another of my favourite things!)

Triptych ATC

I put this onto one of the forum galleries, but have never blogged it- mostly as the photo I had taken before did not show the effect of the acetate at all well. This is my first ever stamp, bought in 1998 and just used for that year's Christmas cards. I had forgotten how lovely it is.

Colour: alcohol inks with metallic mixative, silver detail ep, Stazon
Stamps: All Night Media, Non Sequitur (word)
Other: Mirri card, acetate, metal tape, Pebeo gem

January ATCs- Metal, plus Craft Stamper Blog Challenge

I had fun with these! The backgrounds were experiments in finding different ways to add colour to metal, and to create texture. They started off as an ATC sized piece of Mirri card, then I added random strips of self adhesive metal and embossing powder before running them through the Cuttlebug. The top one was coloured using paint dabbers and glimmer mist, the second one with different colours of Sharpies pens and Stazon (which helps to blend), and the last one was good ol' alcohol inks.

Colour: Paint Dabbers, Glimmer Mist, Sharpies, Stazon, Alcohol inks, Stickles, Distress Stickles, Cosmic Shimmer, Gilt wax, Krylon pen, Sakura Souffle pen (for faces), Distress Ink
Stamps: Elusive Images and Cherry Pie
Other: Vellum, acetate, Silver mirri card and ep, text from the computer

I also had a challenge in mind when I made these; Craft Stamper's blog is running a technique challenge each month, and this month's is to use the Cuttlebug. Isa made a beautiful piece for the mag using a wax-resist technique with the Cuttlebug folders. I have tried this, but my efforts were nowhere near as good as Isa's, so I went back to my favourite metal instead. Hope it's OK!

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.

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!

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.

Cherry Pie 'Tribute to Women' Swap

When I find a technique I like, I tend to do it over and over, so I'm afraid it's the Cuttlebug/Glimmer Mist/Paint Dabber/metal tape thing again! This is a 4" x 4" piece for a wall hanging swap which Marina from Cherry Pie hosted on her Yahoo group. We each made 12 identical pieces, and Marina collated them, punched them and bound them into a gorgeous hanging piece of art, which arrived this week. I love swaps, as I am always so inspired by other peoples' creativity (I love blogs for the same reason!), and I hope my offering has inspired the recipients, too- at least to ask 'how did she do that?'
Other techniques I used here (just in case anyone is inspired, ho ho!): heat embossing onto ribbon, using gold Krylon pen on Dymo labels, then distressing with black Stazon, mount board painted with silver dabber before using alcohol ink to colour, heat embossing using clear lustre powder, then spraying with Glimmer Mist, and good ol' water colouring with Distress Inks and H20s! I think that covers the lot!

Stamps: All Cherry Pie
Colour: Glimmer Mist, Paint Dabbers, Distress Inks, H20s, Sakura Glaze pen, Gold Krylon pen, Versafine, Stazon
Other: Dymo labeller, mount board, white card, metal tape, satin ribbon.

Altered Pringles tube

Would you believe this used to be a Pringles tube? Sid had the idea of doing a swap based on the idea of altering said tubes, and I hosted the swap on UK Stampers. It was quite a challenge to come up with a good idea, as I usually only decorate flat surfaces. I ended up buying some Windsor and Newton Galleria Modelling Paste, and used it to add texture to my tube, before using a silver paint dabber and alcohol inks over the whole thing (See Isa's blog for a step-by-step tutorial of this great technique). I then did my latest favourite technique, which is to use paint dabbers over metal foil which has been embossed with my Cuttlebug, wipe some of the paint off, then spray liberally with Glimmer Mist. The photos aren't brilliant here, as the light was appalling that day, but it looks a bit like distressed enamelling. Love it! I have another piece, also part of a swap, which uses the same technique, and tonight I'm making 'metal' themed ATCs, so guess what I'll be doing...

Colour: Alcohol inks, Paint Dabbers, Glimmer mist, Distress Ink, Versafine, Clear Sakura Stardust pen, Brilliance Ink (for edging)
Stamps: Tanda (alphabet), Cherry Pie (art), free love stamp
Other: Stampbord, felt from the alcohol ink applicator (perfect colour match!), silver-coloured wire, silver-coloured beads, newspaper, rock-crystal bead, butterfly heat-embossed on acetate (like the one on my header!), shrink plastic.

The swap was great fun, and this is the slide show. I got Petra's little tube, and I'm using it to store my mini-misters!

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.

Next CJ Entry

This is the next entry in the 'Just One Stamp' circle journal. We are not far from finishing now; we have three more to do until our own journals wing their way home, full of gorgeous artwork. And the really great thing about this group is that our organiser, Gail, has kept us all on track, so we have no missing journals to worry about, which seems to be a common problem in these kind of groups. Just to recap, here is the link to all of the previous entries.
The stamp which came with this journal is a feather. I don't know who it is by, but it is a beautifully detailed stamp. The previous entries were all so good, and I wanted to do something different, so I decided to turn the feather into a peacock's tail. White peacocks are thought to be incredibly lucky, and I know the journal's owner, Alison, is very ill in hospital and could do with some luck, so I had to make my peacock white. I also really wanted to use the turquoise, as for some reason it is my favourite colour at the moment and I keep using it on everything I do (even my new clock is that colour, and I hope to do a new header soon, too).

Stamps: Unknown (feather), Tanda (Peacock and Peacock feather)
Colour: Alcohol inks, Moonshadow mist, Sakura glaze pen, White embossing powder, Nick Bantock Inks
Other: Words printed on Conqueror Silica blue paper, ribbon from my stash, Self-adhesive metal tape from DIY store, Cuttlebug embossing folder

The background is alcohol inks on glossy card which I then sprayed with the Moonshadow mist. Because of the glossy coating, it beads up when sprayed, and when dried with a heat-gun, you get a gorgeous effect, with tiny dots of the turquoise mica powder (sorry, it doesn't really show up on the photograph). The patterned section is the metal tape, which I ran through the Cuttlebug then coloured with alcohol inks. I can see myself trying that again, and maybe using some glaze pens too- it could look great!

Canvas Tag Swap

These three tags are for a swap I am in on UK Stampers. I haven't joined in with any swaps recently, due to other commitments. I signed up for this one with only a week and a bit before they were due back. Well, I was inspired by working on the canvas, and I did the tags the day I received them. I was supposed to do two, but got carried away and did three! As you can see from the photos I basically used the same design for each one, but I used different techniques on each. I have added the 'recipe' below each photograph.


Stamps: Crafty Individuals (Flower), Paperartsy (Swirls), Stampin' Up (Bird)
Colour: Distress Inks re-inkers sprayed on using mini-misters, Moonglow moonshadow mist, Versafine Sepia, Sakura Stardust pen used with waterbrush, Twinkling H20's, Distress Inks (for stamping swirls)
Embellishments: Meiflower butterfly, Embelliscrap swirl.

For this tag, I sprayed on the colour and dried with a heat gun, before spraying with the Moonshadow mist and drying again. I stamped the swirls for the background, then sprayed with a matte acrylic varnish. I stamped the flower onto tissue, then attached to the tag using the same spray varnish, smothing it down with my fingers. I coloured the flower with the Stardust pen and H20s, sprayed the embelliscrap with the Moonshadow mist, and added the bird and butterfly.


Stamps: Crafty Individuals and Paperartsy, as before
Colour: Ranger Alcohol Inks, Moonshadow mist, Perfect Pearls, Versafine Onyx black, Distress Ink (sprayed), Sakura Stardust pen
Embellishments: Lampshade trim from my stash (I've had it since the '70's!), Star jewels from Hobbycraft

This tag was coloured with alcohol inks before spraying with the moonshadow mist. The alcohol inks really make this bead up and form tiny droplets, which give a great sparkle when dry. I then stamped the swirls in Versamark and added Perfect Pearls in copper and gold. The flower image was stamped on a piece of white card which had been sprayed with Distress Inks and Moonshadow mist, and the flower head was coloured in with the Stardust pen.


Stamps: As above plus Inkadinkado butterfly stamp
Colour: Adirondack Paint Dabbers, Distress Inks, Moonshadow Mist, Brilliance, Sakura Stardust pen, H20s
Embellishments: Lace, coloured using H20s, button from my button box

This final tag (actually the first one I made!) was coloured using Paint Dabbers, before spraying with the Moonshadow mist. The swirls were stamped with Distress Inks, and the flower done as before, except the flower head was coloured with H20s. I stamped the butterfly using Brilliance, then went over it with Stardust pen.

The Moonshadow mist is a walnut Ink with Mica powder added, and the one I have is a turquoise colour. It is good to add an antique look, but really comes into its own when sprayed over a toning colour, as in the tags here. It probably doesn't show well on the photos, but I will try to take some better photos at the weekend, so you can get the full effect!

Catching up on some photos- altered tin swap

I did say I had still been crafting during my non-blogging period, and here is the first piece of evidence: photos of my altered tin. This was for a swap on UK Stampers, and it was a fun little project. This tin once contained yummy ginger and lime sweets, and I was inspired by the colour of the original label, hence the green and orange. It contains a few embellishments and also acts as a ribbon holder, and I thought it could be useful to take to crops. Pat organised this swap, and she got to keep mine, whilst I got Gail (Efemera)'s beautiful tin. I have loads of tins in my stash, all waiting to be altered, so thanks, Pat, for getting me started!

Stamps: Paperartsy
Inks: Ranger alcohol inks, over stamped with Brilliance Graphite Black
Embellishments: Flowers by Prima and ??? from my stash
Other: Cropadile used to make holes and set eyelets.

Arty-farty peel-off piece!

A lot of crafters love peel-off stickers, but I am afraid I am not one of them, so when Sid challenged us at UK Stampers, I tried to use an excuse so I didn't have to play. Not clever, really, as I am easily swayed by a decent argument, and as soon as you start posting to a thread you are inevitably drawn in. However, I have to say that I am quite pleased with how this turned out, and I am pleased that I took up the challenge.
The background is silver peel-offs on brushed silver mirri-card, dabbed with alcohol inks. It is about 15cms square. What you can't really see from the photo is that there are layers of acetate separated by strips of foam board, so the piece has depth, and each element is floating above the previous one. The first layer is a Paperartsy image, stamped in Brilliance ink and embossed with Chiaro Flo embossing powder from Stamp Galaxy (really clear, really fine detail powder). The next layer is the image of the little girl, stamped onto a piece of text (some sort of computer manual, I think!), also in Brilliance. The first two clocks are also on that layer. The next two are on the top layer, and the piece is sealed with a metal tape, aged with alcohol inks.
Things are incredibly busy at home, even more so than usual since all of the babies I see regularly are one this month! I can't believe a year has passed since all of my friends from my Ante-natal classes started to have their babies. Dan was originally due on November the 11th, so this time last year I was on tenterhooks waiting for my first contraction! He was actually nearly two weeks late, and I spent that fortnight doing anything I could to get things started. I can still barely face fresh pineapple, after eating it daily for a fortnight! We are having a party on Saturday, it'll be so much fun! (Next year they will be crafting...!)

Think Monday, Think ATC- Metal

I have taken a couple of weeks off from doing challenges, as I felt like I was stretching myself a bit thin. I don't know why, but now the weather has turned more Autumnal, I feel like my energy has been renewed. So here is my entry to this week's TMTA, the theme for which is 'metal'.
The background of the ATC is the one I made before using the tape-lifted text technique, which was then coloured with alcohol inks. I stamped on it using a maple leaf stamp from Cherry Pie Art Stamps and black Stazon. When I made the background, I had also used the alcohol inks to colour some acetate. I stamped and embossed the acetate using the leaf stamp and gold embossing powder, and cut out the top half of the leaf. I layered this over the background to get a more intense colour, and added the leaf brads (Dovecraft, I think) and the corner embellishment.
It has turned out very textural again, but I like it! Autumn, I'm ready for you!

Warning- lots of photos!

Yes, these are the results of my play session with my Ranger Alcohol Inks. I have had some for quite a while, but so far have only used them to do 'caught in crystal' backgrounds. In my usual roundabout way I decided to have a go at 'polished stone' backgrounds. Here's the trail...
UK Stampers' new ATC swap for August is technique based this time, so each ATC will use an image transfer of some kind. There are several different methods of transferring an image, about which I am bound to write more another time. I remembered that I had seen an interesting Technique on Trish Bee's Art Venture blog involving lifting text with clear packing tape. She mentions that since this technique leaves you with a shiny surface, Alcohol Inks are the ideal medium for adding colour. So I decided that since I would be getting all of the equipment out, I needed to make a few things.
My first attempt was with the greens and blues, and I tried the effect on glossy photo paper. Yuck! The paper is very absorbent, despite the gloss finish, and you cannot 'work' the colours at all. Then I tried acetate, as I had loads of scraps around, and suddenly I could see why people like this effect. As you lay down the inks, the colour moves and changes, so you really don't know what you will end up with. I then grabbed some Dominoes, which Carrie had kindly sent me, and the effects were gorgeous. What a great surface to work on! You can see I tried three different colour combinations before deciding to use the reds on my image-transferred background. I still have plenty to do on that, but it's an interesting start!
Now I have to get around to buying some 'proper' glossy card. I know I need either Kromecote or Astralux to get the best effects. I know where to buy it too, it's just I'll end up buying more than just card! When I get some, I shall gather a collection of things to alter, and really go to town. Hmm, I may have to go and browse the online shops now...!