At Last! April's Inchies

I have finally downloaded my camera and I am ashamed to say there is some quite old work on there. This photo is a month old! Hopefully it is still worth showing, even if the swap is over and done with. These are April's Inchies, and Sid set the theme of 'Bling'. Even though I was already starting to feel a bit stressed with work, I had to join in with this swap- it just said 'Stickles' to me! Mmmm, Stickles...

Colour: Glimmer mist, Distress Inks, Gold ep, Stickles, Sharpie pen
Stamps: Elusive Images (a borrow- thanks, Lucy, it is now on my 'must buy' list!)
Other: Err... nothing- for once!

I added the second photo to show all the bling- yummy!

Hannah's Pink CJ- Queen of He-ART-s

Here is another entry for our UK Stampers' 'Colours' CJ. This is Hannah's lovely little pink book, and for once I decided to stamp directly onto the page, as the page colour was so delicious! I love pink, but don't use it in my work as much as I used to, despite having lots of yummy paper in that colour. Must remember to use it more often...

Colour: Dee Greunig Blending Blox (again!), Distress Ink, Glimmer Mist, Sharpies, Stickles, Versafine, Stazon
Stamps: Elusive Images (small 'art'), Limited Edition, unknown 'A-R-T' signing stamps, Tim Holtz (Grunge Alpha)
Other: Playing card, border punch/fancy scissors (used to create paper lace), cardstock-weight vellum for corner, Ranger Crackle Accents (used on A-R-T)

Mother's Day

Before I start describing the top card, I just want to say that it wasn't that colour! My Mum loves coloured card, and so I used a soft turquoise card as the base. I have tried to get the colour back using various editing tools, and it wasn't happening, so I am sorry, you will have to imagine the real colour.

Anyway, this is the card and stampbord brooch I gave to my Mum for Mother's day. I used my new Elusive Images plate, which I absolutely love- expect to see a lot more using it as it is really versatile.

Colour: Card: Distress Ink, Whispers Dye Ink, Versafine (used on acetate then embossed), aurora ep, Sakura glaze and Stardust pens, Stickles; Brooch: Dee Greunig Blending Blox, Whispers Dye Ink, Stickles, Sakura Stardust Pens, Stazon, Opals UTEE, silver Paint Dabber
Stamps: All Elusive Images
Other: transparency, shrink plastic, wire, brooch back, blue card, Stampbord, butterfly charm.



I also wanted to share with you my own Mother's day card, made by my little budding artist. Inside it says 'Remember when you do my washing that I love you'. Bless! I couldn't eat the cookie as I am gluten intolerant, but my little boy was more than happy to eat it for me :)

Lots to do challenge- Masks

I made these little tags to send off with the swaps- I don't normally blog these little RAKs, but this week the challenge on Lots To Do is 'masks'. I bought a Tim Holtz mask a while ago, but hadn't got around to using it. Tags are a brilliant way to experiment, so I got out that mask and away I went! I haven't entered a challenge for ages, but since this one came along at just the right time, I am entering.

Colour: Glimmer Mists, Distress Inks, Versafine (red and black), gilt wax
Stamps: All Elusive Images (the damask design is actually the corner flourish from the new Butterfly Daisy Collage plate)
Other: Mountboard shapes cut with Sizzix (thanks, Tasha!), Tim Holtz flourish mask, Prima flowers, gem shapes from Hobbycraft.

Faux sea-glass no. 2

This is yet another present for a friend, and spookily, the day I handed it over, it co-ordinated with what she was wearing!

Colour: Dee Greunig blending blox, distress inks, versamark, Perfect Pearls, Paint Dabbers
Stamps: Elusive Images
Other: Stampbord, UTEE, Crop-a-dile.

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!

Mum's Birthday Card

When I started to make this, I told Vicky that I wouldn't blog it as I wasn't too happy with how it was going. Actually, I felt in the end that it came together pretty well, so here it is!

Colour: Dee Greunig Blending boxes, Sharpies, Iridescent Medium, Versafine
Stamps: Magenta, Elusive Images, Field of Sky, Hero Arts
Other: Bazzil Bling card, brayer

Colours CJ- Morti's purple book

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Here is my second journal entry for this new CJ I am in. I can definitely say that this one is more challenging than the last as thinking of a colour theme that fits the stamp is hard! I love a challenge, though, so here is my entry in Morti's book. I was thinking of 'purple heart' for a while, and had decided how I wanted to do the background, but my original idea was to pin a tiny 'medal' to the art doll's chest. Well, as you can see, I was a little rough when cutting out, and pulled the poor creature's arm off! Perfect really, as she then was really a wounded soldier! The real purple heart medal has the phrase 'For Military Merit' inscribed on the back, so I had to change it to 'artistic merit'.

Colour: Dee Greunig Blending Blox, Distress Ink, Distress Crackle paint, Stickles, Versafine, Glimmer Mist, Stazon, permanent fineline pen, Liberon gilt wax
Stamps: Elusive Images, plus Morti's Paperartsy art doll
Other: Shrink Plastic, metal corners, ribbon, safety pin, all from my stash.

When I made the shrink plastic 'medal' I stamped on one side with Stazon, then sprayed the other with Glimmer Mist, not realising that the GM and the Shrink are not completely compatible! The back (the side I sprayed) has a very bobbley texture, and you can see this distorted the shape of the piece, too. However, I love the effect, as it looks less new and perfect than usual, so I may try this again!

Hello to you!

Hello to you! I am taking a little time out to blog, safe in the knowledge that the housework is mostly up to date, and Dan is happily asleep in his bed! This may not sound like much, but trust me, it is really amazing to me. On Christmas day, Paul's and my main present was Dan, in his sleeping bag (which is really restrictive), coming into our room to wake us up. He had learnt how to escape from his cot, and needed to have a bed, as the escaping was a pretty hair-raising process. Then we came across a new issue, that of keeping in his bed. To start with we were staying in his room to stop him from escaping, and I stopped being able to craft as I was spending up to three hours in there. I got really down, the housework suffered, and none of us was happy. Then I had the miraculous revelation of just leaving him to it (with locks on a couple of doors to prevent him from flooding the house!). So this week he is finally happy, falling asleep in his own time (occasionally on the landing) and leaving us time to be adults again.

Anyway, enough waffling, I usually try not to bore everyone with family stuff, so now about the card! It was only my second ever commission, and I really enjoyed making it. I used patterned papers from an Artylicious CD, and I can really say that it was worth getting, as the designs are beautiful and I could print off what I needed on the medium I wanted- great for a control freak like me! And I have the co-ordinating stamps, of course :D

Colour: Distress Inks, Sharpies, Versamagic, Stazon, Cosmic shimmer, Aurora ep
Stamps: Elusive images and Cherry Pie (butterfly)
Other: Artylicious Damask Delight CD rom, Vellum cardstock (used inside and for the butterflies), mountboard (for hand cut numbers), paper roses, selvedge of silver ribbon, jewel brads, poem from Internet, Fiskars border punch.

The vellum cardstock is amazing to look at, but you need to handle it with extreme care as any crease or mark shows as a white line. I managed OK for this, but will only use is when nothing else will do otherwise!

Shh, don't tell anyone I'm here...

I told Paul I was just checking my emails, but was overcome by the urge to blog! I have two last projects from before Christmas, and the other project requires a slide-show, so here is my notebook swap piece. This was a bit of a long-winded swap for various reasons, but worth waiting for when I saw all of the entries. Everyone started with two pieces of semi-opaque polypropylene, 3" x 5", and altered them however they wanted. Mine uses Paint Dabbers and Glimmer mist, and has images stamped on the front and back of each cover- the dark blue colour is showing through from the back.

Colour: Paint Dabbers, Glimmer Mist, Distress Ink, Stickles
Stamp: Elusive Images
Other: Embelliscrap butterfly, metal tape and cuttlebug folder, charm, ribbon selvedge, Bind-it-all

When I put the colour down, I started by spraying with Glimmer Mist, then painted over it with a Paint Dabber. Note to anyone else that tries this: seal it with spray varnish between the two mediums- the Glimmer Mist is not a stable surface and the paint flakes off! It took me three coats of paint before I thought to do this :D

If you want to see the rest of the notebooks, check out the UK Stampers Cyberblog

You are invited...

At last, I can show you the pictures of my new CJ. Hurrah! I thought I would never have time to edit these pictures. Life is very busy at the moment, and I seem to be going from one thing to the other with barely a pause. Better to be busy than bored, though :D

I was just about to type my usual list of ingredients, then I realised I have used practically everything I own! (Not every colour, I hasten to add!). The main stamp is by Elusive Images, and the other stamps I have used are also EI apart from the little butterfly, which is Rubadubado. If anyone wants any other info, please email me and ask- I am only not adding it because I don't want to be typing for an hour LOL!

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!

I can't believe it has been 14 years!

It was my Wedding Anniversary on Wednesday, and as the title says, it has been 14 years since we got married! For once, I hadn't made a card, as I was so busy last week, but Paul knew I would make him 'something'! This is a tiny canvas, 8cm x 6cm that my friend got for me from LB Crafts. I have made the reverse into a niche, and I am going to use it for something personal and probably slushy for Paul!

Colour: Glimmer Mist, Stazon, Distress Ink, Versafine, heat embossing, Paint Dabber
Stamps: Elusive Images, Studio g (i)
Other: self-adhesive metal tape, tissue paper, old book page, Sizzlits tag die, embossing tool, drinks can

The little word plate was made by cutting up a drinks can and heating it in a gas flame, and I was told about this by Tasha. It was fun to do! ( Yes, that's my handwriting again :D ) I also planned this piece to fit in with Wednesday Stamper, where the theme is pattern. The damask background was made by stamping a heart stamp three times, close together.

Two Tags

I may moan about making cards, but I can't say the same about tags- I love making them so much! Maybe I should make some tag-like cards LOL! These are for two kind cyber-friends, who both sent me something and saved me from spending money unnecessarily- thanks, Sid and Sarah. I hope you enjoy the little packages I sent back!

Colour: Glimmer Mists, Distress Inks, Versafine, Cosmic Shimmer mica powders, clear and aurora ep, Ranger white pen
Stamps: Cherry Pie, Paperartsy, Rubadubbado, Elusive Images
Other: Manila luggage tags, old book page, acetate, eyelets staples, ribbon and fibres, all from my stash, Cuttlebug embossing folder.

The dragonfly is part of the stamp sheet I bought last weekend, after swearing I would not buy any stamps! But after spending half an hour with Paperartsy's Leandra Frainch, I couldn't resist any longer! Now I just need a melt pot... :D

A Photo of a Card I Made

I haven't really shown a lot of cards recently, as I am usually pretty dissatisfied with the results. They are OK, but not really 'me'. Well, this one is different, because I am actually quite pleased with it! I realise it isn't complicated or technically brilliant, but it's true to my style and I knew my Mum would like it, too. Whew! I hope I can keep it up, as I have nine children's birthday cards to make, and four more adult birthdays, too. I am finding time for fun stamping, too, but you will have to wait a couple of days before I can show anything else, as it's in the post, going to the recipients!

Colour: Distress Ink, heat embossing
Stamps: Elusive Images
Other: silver card, free patterned paper (I can't remember which magazine!)

4" x 4" page and charm

Someone I know from UK Stampers has been very sick, in hospital, for some months. She became ill with a very rare disease (not cancer) a few months into our CJ, and has only just reached the point of having one short day out of hospital. She has a very good friend, Sarah, who has organised a way of us stampers saying 'we miss you- get well soon', which is a charm bracelet with each of us making a charm, plus a 4" x 4" page which will show her who made which charm. I am not a jewelry maker, although I love playing with shrink plastic, and I definitely love working on 4" x 4" pages!

Colour: Glimmer Mists, Distress Inks, Perfect Pearls, Brilliance Inks, copper embossing powder, Stickles, Moonshadow Mist, Paint Dabbers
Stamps: Elusive Images
Other: Caught in crystal background (click on the word in my label cloud for more on this), acetate, old book page, florist's wire, Papermania jewelled brad, Sizzix tag die, Crackle Accents, Cuttlebug embossing folder, semi-precious gemstone beads (sorry, I have forgotten what they are!), jewelry findings, shrink plastic.

The panel on the top of the page is inspired by Arts and Crafts ceramics, and the Cuttlebug panel is my version of faux aged copper. It looks even better in real life!

The original inspiration for this charm project is here. Scroll down the page and you will find it near the end. What a great idea; Thank you.

Glenda's Stampbord Challenge

I am a regular reader of Glenda Waterworth's blog (as so many are- it's number 9 on the Crafty Blogs listings site) and recently she set a challenge with the chance to win some gorgeous new stamps. Those who stop by regularly will know that my current favourite stamps are the Elusive Images words set with all those fab quotes- I have used them for most of my recent projects! I also have a couple more sets, and a wood mounted mandala stamp, which I haven't used since last Christmas. Well, to stop the rambling, Glenda's challenge is to produce something using Elusive Images stamps plus Stampbord, and this is it- a star ornament for my Christmas tree! I haven't had time to look at the other entries, but I am sure they are all beautiful and inspiring. As soon as I have finished this, I'm off to admire!

Colour: Glimmer mist, Dee Gruenig Blending Blox, Paint Dabber, Sakura Stardust pen, Ranger Stickles, Cosmic shimmer embossing powder, Versafine, Versamark
Stamps: Elusive Images
Other: Shrink Plastic, acetate, Stampbord, ribbon and star eyelet from my stash.

The star itself is made by stamping the mandala onto acetate, heat embossing, then spraying three times with Glimmer Mist, leaving it to dry each time. Then I cut it into six triangles, flipped it over, and re-arranged it as the star. I did this twice, and layered them back-to-back. The front Stampbord is a Versamark resist, and the back is heat embossed before colouring, to get a stronger image.

Thanks for the challenge, Glenda, I really enjoyed making this!