Kaboom!

Kids' birthday cards are always a challenge for me for some reason but when Claire at Waltzingmouse stamps brought out this stamp and die combo I thought it would be perfect for the plethora of boys I seem to have to make for!

I usually resist dies that match a particular stamp (I'm happy with a pair of scissors!) but this word just looked like too much fun to pass up and I caved in - it would be difficult to cut by hand, I think.

This kind of card also represents one of those rare occasions where the font Comic Sans is actually appropriate! I printed off the sentiment, cut it into individual words and outlined the boxes for that comic book feel.

The die cut is raised on some gel glue to give the whole thing a bit of dimension. I coloured with Copics and then gave it the Wink of Stella clear pen treatment for a bit of razzle dazzle without being too girly. That's a bit difficult to capture on camera but the detail shot might give an impression of it if you click through to make it bigger.

Stamps:
Kaboom by Waltzingmouse Stamps

Ink:
Brilliance Graphite Black by Tsukeniko
Distress Mustard Seed and Spiced Marmalade by Ranger

Other:
Kaboom die by Waltzingmouse Stamps
Copic markers
Printed sentiment
Corner Chomper
Black fineline marker 
White Posca paint pen
Clear Wink of Stella pen
Pinflair Glue Gel
Corner Chomper

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All the eggs in one postcard

OK, maybe that's not quite the saying but Sam asked us to go with the theme of "eggs" for the postcard swap on UKStampers this month.

I decided to have a little play with eggshell mosaic. I've tried bending it etc and it's quite stable so I'm quietly optimistic that it will survive the post. I used lots of ModPodge to stick the shells on and it's been coated over with both Mod Podge and then a satin varnish as well as I wanted a bit more egg-shellish sheen.

I also cut egg shapes from the mosaic piece but that may be harder to spot as I ended up chopping them to make "hills" instead.

Some sponging over torn paper for a background, stamped feathers and sentiment, black enamel accents and doodling with black and white pens finish it off.

Stamps:
Bird Notes by Craft Secrets (retired)
Big Inspiration by CHF (retired)

Ink:
Adirondack by Ranger - Pool and Stream
Archival by Ranger - Manganese Blue

Other:
Egg shells (cleaned and membrane pulled out)
Copic ink refills (any alcohol ink will do)
Copic multiliner
Posca paint pen
Enamel Accents by Ranger
Mod Podge Matt
Satin Varnish by PaperArtsy

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Altered Grunge Paste!

The current theme at PaperArtsy is "altered Grunge Paste" - Leandra's hoping we'll try out something other than simply using paste through a stencil.

I was super-lucky and Random pulled my name out of the virtual hat on the last challenge so I had a lovely time wandering through PaperArtsy's online shop, choosing my prize goodies. A big thank you to Leandra and to Darcy for organising it.

Grunge Paste sounded intriguing - a bit different to most texture pastes - and so I popped a tub in my prize basket. Hearing Leandra describe it as "almost clay-like" had me wondering whether a DIY substitute for StampBord might be doable with Grunge Paste taking the role of that clay layer on the board.

I cut an inchie-plus (1.5" square) from scrap mountboard and "buttered" it with a layer of Grunge Paste. Once it was thoroughly dry, I used a sanding block to give me a silky-smooth surface. As you really want colour that doesn't soak in, I sponged Stazon over the top and then stamped the daisy heads (also part of my prize package so another thank you!) using Brilliance. Then the moment of truth - adding those scraped back white highlights with a pin.

I think it looks very much like Stampbord but, if you want to mail it, has the advantage of being lighter and thinner and of course you could do any shape you wanted as long as you could cut it from a substrate with enough rigidity to stand up to the Grunge Paste layer.

The finished square got a super-simple mounting on a scrapling with just a bit of doodling to frame it.

Stamps:
Hot Pick 1203 by PaperArtsy
Sentiment from an ancient HOTP set (one of my first ever stamping purchases!)

Paper:
Off-white laid texture cardstock
Scrap mountboard

Ink:
Teal Stazon
Graphite Black Brilliance

Other:
Grunge Paste by Paper Artsy
Cuttlebug square die
Corner Chomper
Copic 0.3 Multiliner

Thanks for stopping by!