ATCs- Black and White

These are my ATCs for UKStampers this month, to fit the theme of black and white. I went for simple, as you can see, and just used masking to get my cat in front of the background.

Colour: Versafine in Onyx Black
Stamps: All Cherry Pie
Other: Dymo labels, black velvet ribbon and brads from my stash.

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.

Thank you.

I have had so many lovely comments about my Nan, so thank you all for your kind thoughts. The funeral was on Tuesday, and it turned out to be a real family get together. I met many members of our extended family that I didn't know, and the best thing of all is that I got to spend the afternoon with my brother, who lives on the other side of the country. Now we are all getting back on with our lives; still sad, but with a reminder of the warmth that you get from having a great family. I am giving myself this weekend as 'chilling out' time, then I will try to resume normal service- if I can work out what that is!

Slide Mailer Swap

I have started to host an altered art swap each month on UKStampers forum, and this is my entry for the first one. I have found myself drawn much more to altered work recently, to the extent that I can barely convince myself to make a card! I love to get inky, and to stamp on unusual surfaces, and altering just seems so much more 'from the heart' for me. I am trying to find a way to incorporate this sort of work into cardmaking, but it will take some experimentation before I feel I have found my style for cards. So here is a lovely altered slide mailer as my first piece.

Colour: H2Os on body of mailer, Caught in crystal behind acetate tag and slide
Stamps: Tanda (Peacock), Rubadubadoo (Peacock feathers)
Other: Sizzix tag, Siver detail embossing powder, Cosmic Shimmer arctic pearl embossing powder, Silk dupion fabric, acetate, Papermania jewel brad, beads and ribbon from my stash.
Techniques: 'Peacock' word printed from computer onto acetate, then heat embossed, Peacock design heat embossed onto silk fabric, back of mailer embossed with arctic pearl powder.

This swap took place in May (slide show is here), and June's swap was an altered Pringles tube. July's swap is about to be posted, so if you are interested, head on over to UKStampers, and sign up!

Nan

I thought I would be OK typing this, but I'm not, so I'll keep it short. My lovely Nan died last week of cancer. It was a long illness, mostly controlled by morphine as it progressed, but a couple of weeks ago she became very ill, very quickly. Luckily I live fairly close by, and so I was privileged to spend some time with her in her last few days. She died at home, nursed by her three daughters and my Grandad, and she is much missed.
I am catching up on my stamping obligations, and have taken photos of my work, but until the funeral next week, I will be pretty busy, so please bear with me.

Weekend Music Video

This time it's Nine Inch Nails and Dead Souls, from the soundtrack for 'The Crow'. What is it about Saturday nights and nostalgic goth music?!

'Quotations' ATCs

I am so tired tonight, so won't waffle too much, but since I have a very busy few days planned, I wanted to show these photos tonight, while I have the time. These are this month's ATCs for UK Stampers, with the theme of 'quotations'. After much dithering about which quotations to use, I turned to the stamps for inspiration and realised that my favourite Cherry Pie images were once again begging to be used. I also wanted to make clear acetate the main material, and I am really pleased with the result. The lettering is all from the computer- if you print onto the wrong kind of acetate (i.e. laser or photocopier transparencies using an inkjet printer) the ink does not dry, giving the chance to add embossing powder. And between the front and back layer of acetate, I have used a simple image transfer of newsprint onto clear packing tape, just to add a little texture. The main images are stamped onto newspaper, and I love the idea that they will yellow and age over time.

Stamps: Cherry Pie, Paperartsy
Colour: Versafine, Stazon
Other: Laser transparency, embossing powder, newspaper, clear tape

Thanks for looking, and a special thanks to everyone who has left a comment. It really inspires me, especially when time to craft or blog is limited. I'll try to keep posting!