Vintage tin?

It's DCM day (sorry I was AWOL last week) and we have another "step away from the cards" dare today - decorate it!

It's open to interpretation, as ever - I chose to make a little ornament that could go on the tree or perhaps over the knob of a drawer in the kitchen. It has a bit the look of vintage embossed tin and cost virtually nothing to make. 

The base is die cut from scrap mount board (free from a framing shop) so it has a bit of heft. The letters are die cut from cereal packet board and the whole lot is covered with double-sided tape sheet and then kitchen foil. I burnished round the letters with a paper stump and then used a bit of black acrylic paint to "age" the whole thing. 

A couple of tiny cones from an alder tree in our back garden and a scrap of gingham ribbon make suitably rustic embellishments, I think. Likewise, garden twine for a hanging loop seemed fitting.  

Supplies:
Styled Labels die (Tim Holtz Alterations/Sizzix)
Font One dies (Spellbinder)
Double-sided tape sheet
Kitchen foil
Black acrylic paint
Alder cones
Gingham ribbon
Crop-a-dile
Garden twine

Thanks for stopping by!

Step away from the cards - tag it!

Friday is dare day and Daring Cardmakers have the second of the "step away from the cards" dares in the run up to Christmas - make a tag!



Tags are usually a last minute thing for me so it was good to have a prompt that made me get some of them out of the way early. To be honest, they looked nearly as nice without the holly so if you needed a super-speedy option at the very last minute this could be it!

I used the MISTI to do these "production line " style so they were quick in any case. If you put a frame (the negative of the die cut) into the MISTI, line the stamp up so it's where you want it in the aperture and then just pop each blank die cut into the frame, the stamp will be exactly where you want it each time.

Stamps:
Noel Plate 2 (PaperArtsy)

Paper: white, green, red

Ink: Memento Luxe by Tsukineko (Love Letter)

Other:
Stitched square die (cheap and cheerful unbranded)
Square Nestabilities (Spellbinder)
Festive Greenery strip die (Tim Holtz/Sizzix Alterations)
Office hole punch
Posca white paint pen
Clear Wink of Stella pen
Crop-a-dile 
White crochet thread
MISTI

Thanks for stopping by!

Deck the halls

It's Daring Cardmaker day and we're getting further into the Christmas spirit - today's dare asks for a card inspired by Christmas carols and songs.

I immediately thought of this lovely big sentiment stamp with words from "Deck the halls with boughs of holly" so went with that and, of course, the holly to go with it!

Colouring is a mix of Copic and pencils. I used a scalpel to cut around the tips of a couple of the leaves so I could tuck the die cut circle in behind them. The berries have a bit of Wink of Stella glitz on them and white paint pen highlights.

Stamps:
Noel (Waltzingmouse Stamps - now available from Gina K)
Freebie holly stamp (Creative Stamping magazine)

Ink: Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)

Paper: kraft

Other:
Copic markers
Coloured pencils
Stitched circle die (just a cheap and cheerful unbranded one)
Clear Wink of Stella marker
White Posca paint pen
Corner Chomper

Thanks for stopping by!

Birthday kicks!

My nephew celebrated reaching double figures recently! He does Taekwondo and is currently a green belt so I went with this digital image from craftsuprint which has the option of belts in different colours.

The image comes with a background and separate bits to layer up decoupage-style. I didn't use the background, just the figure and a couple of layers. The image is pre-coloured but I added a tiny bit of Copic shading as well.

The wonky spiral element is hand cut and I laid a circle die on the card as a guide for placing the die cut lettering. A doodled border finished it off.

Apologies that the image is a wee bit blurry - low light in Northumberland and a posting deadline made it tricky!

Supplies:
Karate Dude image from craftsuprint (Karate Girl is also available if you want something for your nieces rather than nephews!)
Copic markers
Black and white cardstock
Tim Holtz Typeset strip die by Sizzix
Posca white paint pen
White Prismacolor pencil
Pinflair glue gel

Thanks for stopping by!

Step away from the cards!

In the run up to Christmas, some of the challenges at DCM will be to "step away from the cards" and make other things (which can be Christmas-themed or not - it's up to you).

Our first non-card challenge is to make or decorate a gift bag or box.

I made a bag-a-lope using an A4 manilla envelope. This is a useful "how to" if you fancy having a go - Bag-a-Lope Tutorial. Measurement-wise I just trimmed an arbitrary "looks right" amount off the top and scored at 5cm.

It's another one that looks better in real life I'm afraid but I'm sure you get the idea! The snowflakes are glittery and the hanging bauble is silver mirri card which is difficult to photograph. The snowflake is embossed into the bauble with the die rather than cut out of a separate piece and stuck on.

Supplies:
A4 manilla envelope
White cardstock
Fancy Lattice die (Shapeabilities by Spellbinder)
Sizzlets die by Sizzix (Serenity set, retired) 
Snowflake die (Waltzingmouse Stamps, retired)
Sheer ribbon
Silver thread
Corner Chomper
Cropadile

Thanks for stopping by!

November inspiration

It's Friday so it's Daring Cardmakers day and despite having finished my month as Guest Designer I'm still here! I'm delighted to have been invited to stay on as a permanent member of the team which should give me a little prod to make something each week as well as being great fun!

Being the first week of the month it's an "elemental" dare - scroll down to see the picture Kathy chose or, even better, visit the DCM blog to see the picture and the different ways it inspired the team.

There are loads of possibilities in the picture so choosing three or more elements shouldn't be too difficult.

I chose the colours, butterfly (it seems a strange decoration for a Christmas tree but definitely there!), circular cushion and glitz (gold embossing and gems). I tried to keep some of the overall "busy" feel as well which made me a bit twitchy but I think there's enough white space here to counteract it!

My purple circles are domed to fit with the cushion element - I've got a couple of wooden implements that go with a dapping/doming block designed for shaping jewellery pieces which proved very useful on larger circles. An embossing stylus is great for tiny ones but not so much use when you go large!

Stamps: Wings by Darkroom Door

Ink: 
Adirondack by Ranger (Pool)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Picked Raspberry)
Versamark

Paper:
Bristol board
Textured purple

Other:
Gold detail embossing powder
Coloursoft pencil
Circle punches and die
Hello die by Waltzingmouse Stamps (retired)
Cressida stencil by Memory Box
Corner Chomper
Nail art gems
Pinflair glue gel

The elemental inspiration picture:

Thanks for stopping by!

Sparkle and shine

It's challenge day on Daring Cardmakers - today's challenge has been set by Nat and she wants us to make our cards sparkle and shine this week - glitter, gems, metallic paints, sequins, anything with some shiny glitz!

This is one of those cards that looks a whole lot better in real life, for some reason I couldn't make a photo of it look terribly coherent!

I stamped a leaf with Flitter Glue on dark brown cardstock and used metal leaf in autumn colours once the glue was tacky. I did make two leaves but decided I only wanted one so I  used the second one to punch out some circles to use as dots around the leaf on the finished card.

The glitter strips are just double sided tape sheet trimmed to the widths I wanted with gold and copper glitters burnished onto the tape.

Tiny nail art gems have been my "go to" for years - two slightly different sizes and colours got used here. Keeping the sheen thing going, the sentiment is stamped in a pearlescent ink.

Although I've gone down the birthday route, shine and sparkle would give you a great starting point for a Christmas card or two so why not join in with the dare this week and add to your Christmas stash?!

Stamps:
Falling Leaves (Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous)
Say It Loud (Waltzingmouse Stamps - retired)

Ink: Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)

Other:
Flitter Glue by Indigo Blu
Easy Metal by Eberhard Faber
Fine glitter (copper and gold)
Nail art gems
Corner Chomper

Thanks for stopping by!

Tag it

Today's challenge on Daring Cardmakers has been set by Purvi and she's asking us to use a tag on our cards.

I tend to think of tags on gifts so I ended up making my card look like the front of a present with satin ribbon wrapped round a crisp white square. It looked a wee bit stark so I would probably have stitched round the edge to frame it but I've lent my sewing machine to a friend so a good old-fashioned pin and ruler came into play for a pierced border instead!

I cut the tag with a die and matted it using the 1/16" Perfect Layers ruler - easy with a shape that only has straight edges!

The berries for the holly are little circles made with a regular office hole punch, domed out on a foam mat with an embossing stylus.

Stamps:
Festive Foliage (Waltzingmouse Stamps - now available from Gina K)
Christmas Expressions (Cornish Heritage Farms, retired)

Ink:
Delicata by Tsukineko (Golden Glitz)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Ivy)

Cardstock: white, ribbed kraft, red

Other:
Stitched tags dies by Waltzingmouse Stamps (retired)
Satin ribbon
Coloursoft pencil (Grass green)
Hole punch
Perfect Layers ruler

Thanks for stopping by!

True colours

It's Friday which can only mean one thing: a new dare from the Daring Cardmakers! Svenja's "True colours" dare is asking us to go monochromatic with our cards.

I decided to try the "hidden sentiment" thing with a word die, combining it with a loose watercolour swoosh and a stamped image.

If the hidden inlaid sentiment is new to you too, I used this video tutorial to make sure my imagining of the process was actually what I needed to do to get the sentiment right!

This could be a Christmas card or just a wintery greeting, I think.

Also new to me - I've finally caved in and got a MISTI so I had a first play with it here by first stamping the trees in Distress ink and spreading it out, stamping again and spreading to intensify the colour and then stamping a third time on the wet paper for a slightly blurry image. Once dry, I over stamped with Versafine which gives a sharper image on top.

I die cut the sentiment from the image panel and then layered onto a couple more cut from cardstock. It's a bit fiddly but I think it's a nice effect.

Stamps:
Lovely As a Tree by Stampin' Up!

Paper: 
Hot press watercolour

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Peacock Feathers) 
Versafine by Tsukineko (Deep Lagoon)

Other: 
Sizzlets die by Sizzix (Serenity set, retired) 
MISTI
Corner Chomper

Thanks for stopping by!

Autumn inspiration

I'm delighted to be guest designing with the Daring Cardmakers for October - the original cardmakers' challenge blog, still going strong after 10 years!

The first dare of the month means an inspiration photo and a challenge to choose at least three elements from it to kick start a creation. The lovely Gez has chosen this month's picture - pop over to the DCM blog to see it or check out the bottom of this post!

I dithered wildly and finally settled on making an autumnal birthday card for my brother. From the picture I chose the vivid leaves against a black background, the horse's mane (embroidery thread combed out to a fringe) and the silver rings of the bridle (the big eyelet).

Various Distress reinkers, Brushos and lots of water made a lovely multi-coloured mess all over a sheet of mixed media paper. Once dry I die cut a load of leaves and added a touch of clear Wink of Stella to some of them (probably clearer in the close up shot). For the base layer I drew a scribbly circle on black card with a glue pen and covered with gilding flake once tacky.

The eyelet holds the embroidery thread in place and the scribbled circle forms the basis of a partial wreath shape. I spent ages fiddling with leaf position and still ended up not entirely happy with the composition! A die cut circle with a stamped sentiment, inked edges and faux stitching finished it off.

Supplies:
Black and white cardstock
Mixed media paper by Hahnemuhle
Various Distress reinkers
Brushos
Leaves dies by Impression Obsession
Circle Nestabilities by Spellbinder
Sentiment from Big Day Today stamp set (Waltzingmouse Stamps, retired)
Versafine ink by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)
Distress ink by Ranger (Antique Linen)
Clear Wink of Stella pen
Skeleton leaves
Jumbo eyelet
Black embroidery thread 
Zig two way adhesive pen
Mega Flake by Indigo Blu (Chariot of Fire)
Black Fineline marker

The inspiration photo chosen by Gez

Thanks for stopping by!

(A bit too?) Clean and simple

I couldn't quite convince myself that I liked this having made it but hubby did and as it was destined for one of his sons (who runs and cycles, sometimes with a competitive element) we went with it. I was aiming for monochrome and graphic but I ended up thinking perhaps it was just a bit too plain!

I thought afterwards that since the bike and the pocket watch are vintage maybe I should have used sepia tones for the monochrome look rather than black and grey but I'm not sure that would have convinced me, either!

What do you think?

Stamps:
Bicycles (Cornish Heritage Farms)
Clocks Plate 6 (PaperArtsy)
Say it All (Hero Arts)

Paper: smooth white

Ink:
Versafine Onyx Black by Tsukineko
Soft Granite by Hero Arts

Other:
Charcoal pencil
Copic maker - Cool Grey 1
Corner Chomper

Thanks for stopping by!

Anniversary leaves

Gosh, I can almost hear the echoes here in my poor neglected blog! I've not done as much crafting recently and I've also managed to make several things without photographing them before sending them on their merry way.

Here's a clean and simple anniversary card that I did remember to photograph! Unusually for me there's almost no stamping (just the sentiment) with die cuts providing the focal element.

I've had this ginko leaf die for ages and have kept failing to use it. It's such a pretty die though that I'm sure it will get used again now that I've broken the duck.

I used some green metallic rub-on to highlight the embossed "veining" on the leaves - hard to see so I've added a detail shot that might show it up better. It's a subtle detail but gives a pretty shimmer.

The dots are "waste" circles from various tag dies, domed out with an embossing stylus so they're like matt versions of enamel dots.

Supplies:
Ginko leaf die by Impression Obsession
"waste" circles from various tag dies
Cressida stencil by Memory Box
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Tumbled Glass and Shabby Shutters)
Versafine ink by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)
Sentiment from Putting on the Ritz set by Waltingmouse Stamps (retired)
Gilding Wax by Creative Expressions (Spring Green)
Corner Chomper
Pinflair glue gel

Thanks for stopping by!

Birthday bubbles

I haven't used this bubble border in a while and as I started to make this card it made me think that stampers may have been ahead of the wave - this is definitely something that's relaxing to colour in and most stampers were doing that long before the popularity of "adult" colouring books!

This is very simple - just stamped on white and coloured with blue/green Copics with the corner cut off along the line of the wave and mounted on a black card base. I did add some clear Wink of Stella over some of the bubbles for a touch of glitz.

I chose the sentiment stamp as I think the crisp, straight lines of the font are a great complement to the fluid lines of the border image.

Although I made this for a female friend's birthday, I think you could easily use this sort of design for a masculine card, too.

Stamps:
Bubble Border by Lost Coast Designs
Sentiment from Big Day Today by Waltzingmouse Stamps (retired, although worth keeping an eye on Gina K for re-releases these days!)


Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Paper: smooth white and black

Other:
Copic markers
Wink of Stella pen (clear)

Thanks for stopping by!

Pretty Peony

My usual fallback position for a feminine card when I'm feeling at a loss for inspiration is a big flower! Sadly this peony seems to have fallen off the catalogue at Paperbabe but there are others around that would make an equally bold and pretty statement.

I stamped the image twice, once in grey for the leaf layer and again in pink for the flower, coloured them separately, cut the flower out and stuck it on with glue gel for a bit of dimension. I used a combination of Copic base layer colouring and pencil detailing with gold gel pen and fineline marker in the centre.

The card base had a central square masked off and sponged, with just a tiny bit of subtle stenciling up the right hand side for interest. A simple sentiment and a few iridescent sequins finish it off.


Stamps: 
Peony and Bud by Paperbabe Stamps (retired, I think)
Say It All by Hero Arts

Paper: Smooth white

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Picked  Raspberry and Tumbled Glass)

Shadow ink by Hero Arts (Soft Granite)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)

Other:
Cressida Stencil by Memory Box
Copic Markers
Gold gel pen
Fineline marker
Coloursoft and Prismacolor pencils
Pinflair glue gel
Sequins

Thanks for stopping by!

Glorious gardens

I've just managed to sneak in under the wire for this month's postcard swap on UKStampers where Jilly set the theme flowers/gardens.

We have a couple of patches of glorious poppies in our front garden which inspired my choice of stamp. They're just past their best now but we've had a couple of days where the sun has shone through the petals and really set them ablaze.

Things got a bit out of hand with my first attempt but I'd spent time colouring the poppy and liked the way it came out so I cut it out and used it, even though my original intention was to do my usual one layer job.

I found a masterboard sheet of A4 (using resist techniques) while looking for something else so I decided to use that as a base and go mixed media style. I added the stamped poppy, some rub ons, a bit of stencilling and some charcoal pencil.

I made the masterboard long enough ago that my list of supplies might involve a bit of guesswork this time but here it is in case anyone's interested in any of the elements.

Stamps:
Poppycock by Indigo Blu
Numbers border by Kaisercraft

Paper: Smooth white 

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Barn Door, Mowed Lawn)
Versamark
Brilliance By Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Copic markers
White Posca pen 
Fineline marker
Charcoal pencil
Sequin Waste stencil by Tando Creative
White embossing powder
Gesso
Microglaze by Judikins
Dylusions (Fresh Lime, Vibrant Turquoise)
Rubons by Tim Holtz (Apothecary and Words) 
Brick stencil by Dutch Doobadoo


Thanks for stopping by - if you're in the UK, please remember to be especially kind to each other (actually, that applies wherever you are - kindness costs nothing - but it seems particularly important that the UK should remember it at the moment).

Masculine Mechanical

Father's Day seems to be the same date on both sides of the Atlantic (unlike Mother's Day) so I'm guessing quite a few of us were making masculine cards last week!

 I was reminded by Sabrina's sample for the "Make It Masculine" challenge over on Splitcoast Stampers on Thursday that I haven't played with foil tape in an age so that's what I did for my dad's card.

I stuck die cut lettering and dry wall tape to a rectangular base and covered in a patchwork of foil tape pieces. I burnished it all with a paper stump to stretch the tape over the textured bits and added more surface texture with a ball point pen (for "rivets"), a stylus and a pin for fine scratches in one area. The whole lot then got a coat of black acrylic paint that was wiped back when almost dry. I added a tiny hint of colour with some Teal gilding wax on the lettering.

Perhaps because of all the texture on the foil panel, the cogs looked a bit "flat" stamped on the card base so I used a fine line marker and did some crosshatch shading on the cogs themselves and used a charcoal pencil and lots of smudging to shade around them.

Stamp: Mechanics by Indigo Blu
Ink: Brilliance Graphite Black
Other:
Font One dies by Spellbinder
Dry wall tape
Foil tape
Black acrylic paint
Fineline marker
Charcoal pencil
Creative Expressions gilding wax (Teal)

Thanks for stopping by!

Simple butterfly

I think a card for airmailing needs to be light and flat (unless you want to get into sending it as a parcel!) so this is a one layer card. The recipient teaches maths so I went for a numbers border to tie in with that, stamped with grey ink over a masked butterfly.

As I wanted to use Copic colouring I added a sheet of paper stuck inside the front the card to disguise any bleed-through but still keep the one-layer aesthetic.

A charcoal pencil shadow adds a bit of depth to help the image pop off the surface and there's a wee bit of shimmer on the butterfly's spots courtesy of a Wink of Stella pen.

Stamps:
Antique Engravings and Say It All by Hero Arts
Numbers Border by Kaisercraft

Paper: Smooth white

Ink:
Brilliance Graphite Black by Tsukineko
Soft Granite by Hero Arts

Other:
Corner Chomper
Wink of Stella clear pen
Charcoal pencil

Thanks for stopping by!

Figure it out

My dad celebrated a "round number" birthday recently but didn't want to make a big thing of it. So I decided to use number punches rather than featuring BIG numbers on the card!

I started with a loose explosion of turquoise courtesy of some Brusho and stenciled brickwork over the top with white pigment ink. The script is stamped with Distress (which kind of disappears over the pigment ink - nice effect if unexpected!).

The big cog is a couple of die cuts stuck together for a bit of body (I didn't have a chipboard shape of the right size and I don't have a suitable steel rule die to cut my own - if you own the die that cut this cog, you'd be OK to cut your own from something like mountboard).

I used metal stamps and a hammer to emboss dates around the edge of the cog, added a little sand texture paste in some areas and dots between the dates with glue. Once those hardened, I painted the whole thing black and then dry brushed acrylics over that base layer (metallic Espresso and then Bronze) to bring out the textures. The texture paste gives a corroded or rusty texture under the paint which you might be able to see better on the close-up view.

I brushed out excess paint on a bit of scrap card before dry-brushing the cog and that got used to make the matching dots - I just punched/die cut circles and domed them out with a stylus tool. A few tiny turquoise nail art gems, a stamped sentiment and wonky stitching finish it off.
 
I thought this would still fit the current That's Crafty challenge which is to use numbers/figures on your project, even though the numbers are fairly subtle rather than in your face. Lots of the supplies I used are available from That's Crafty, too!

Stamps:
19th Century French Script and Essential Messages by Hero Arts

Paper: Bristol Board

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Blueprint Sketch)
Adirondack pigment ink by Ranger (Snowcap)
Memento Luxe by Tsukineko (Tuxedo Black)

Other:
Brusho (Turquoise)
Dutch Dubadoo stencil (Bricks)
Cog die cuts
Metal punches
Decoart acrylic paints (Black,  Metallic Espresso, Bronze)
Decoart Texturizing paste (the sand ones in the current Media range would be perfect)
Nail art gems
Sewing machine and thread 

Thanks for stopping by!

Karate hybrid!

I got it into my head that a karate theme would be ideal for a friend's son celebrating his 7th birthday since he's just done his grading for his purple belt. Do I have any karate-themed stamps or other supplies? Well now you mention it, no I don't :o/

Time for a hybrid approach, methinks...

I turned to a good old Google search and happened on the ideal image at craftsUprint. OK, the bargain price of 64p was a little less bargainous when you factor in that I had to get other stuff to make the minimum checkout amount but it got me out of a hole and hopefully I've chosen other images that will come in handy for the peskier members of the family!

As usual, I went my own way - the image is on a decoupage sheet and although I did a bit of minimal layering on the karate dude (main image, layer that's jacket and head, separate belt) I ignored the main backdrop and cut my own circle from red card, inked the edge for depth and added a big, hand cut number to tailor the card for the recipient.

The image is pre-coloured (although I did add a bit extra shading with Copics, particularly on the belt) so it's just the cutting out that's time-consuming here.

It's always harder to impress a seven-year-old than his parents I reckon - the card was declared "cool" so I think making it hard on myself paid off!

Supplies:
6x6" card base
Karate Dude printable decoupage sheet from craftsUprint (there's a Karate Girl, too - hooray!)
Sentiment from Essential Messages by Hero Arts
Red and black card
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Fired Brick)
Memento Luxe ink by Tsukineko (Tuxedo Black)
Pinflair glue gel
Fineline marker
Copic markers

Thanks for stopping by -  if you're in the UK I hope you enjoy the Bank Holiday weekend!

Easy watercolouring!

I needed to make a birthday card for my mum and having recently been on holiday (leading to the inevitable creative slump arising from being separated from your crafting supplies!) I needed something that wasn't too challenging!

I've had this stamp set for ages and not got round to using it. I thought a bit of watercolour painting with it might be just the thing.

I kept it simple with just a single panel of watercolur paper, stitched to the card base for a touch of textural interest once it was painted.

The jug, flowers, leaves and grounding are all Distress ink and I used a couple of watercolour pencils for the blue background wash. This is a really easy way to do a watercolour - just stamp with Distress ink and spread the colour with a damp brush.

I added some clear Wink of Stella to the tops of the blooms and a few extra highlights with a white paint pen.

Stamps:
Sweet Havana by Mama Elephant
Sentiment from Big Day Today by Waltzingmouse Stamps (no longer in business but watch the Gina K site in case it's a set that comes back via that route at some point!)

Paper: Ranger Watercolor

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Antqiue Linen, Vintage Photo, Pumice Stone, Seedless Perserves, Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)

Other:
Derwent watercolour pencils
Clear Wink of Stella pen
Posca white paint pen
Sewing machine and thread 

Thanks for stopping by!

Wax fish?

The topic over at PaperArtsy for the next couple of weeks is "wax". I'm trying to join in with a few more challenges this year and thought this one might be fun to play with.

I don't have any wax art supplies and for a first experiment I decided to just go with stuff around the house so a plain old tealight came into play! It's translucent enough to work as long as the layers don't get too thick.

I used an ATC cut from mountboard - I like to go with something small when I'm just experimenting with materials and techniques, it feels more manageable than a full card or canvas. I stamped the fish skeleton on the ATC and coloured the edges with wax crayons (just cheap kids' ones from the £1 shop). Then I tipped some melted wax on there and used a heat tool to spread it out, let it set and repeated.

Once the wax layer was thick enough, I used a pokey tool to draw round the shapes in the stencil and get incised lines. I brushed the wax crumbs off, replaced the stencil and added a little colour with a couple of Copic markers (just dabbing so the nibs shouldn't have come to any harm!). That left the surface sticky enough to hold some Perfect Pearls. In real life it looks much more layered and inscribed but wax and mica combined to make a bit of a photography nightmare, I'm afraid!

Having made the ATC, I decided to mount it onto a card blank with just a little inky stenciling and a stamped sentiment. I think it will make a useful masculine card to have in my stash.

Stamps:
PaperArtsy Mini 100
Sentiment from Essential Messages by Hero Arts

Paper: 
mountboard
Bamboo mixed media paper by Hanemuhl
black cardstock

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Tumbled Glass) 

Other:
Cell Theory stencil by Crafters Workshop
Tea light
Wax crayons
Perfect Pearls (Turquoise and Blue Raspberry)
Copic markers 
ATC and Corners die by Tim Holtz/Sizzix

Thanks for stopping by!

Coffee lover!

Inspired by a mixed media challenge on Splitcoast Stampers, I've been having a little play with coffee!

We don't usually have instant coffee but I got a small jar a while ago when we had workmen around who preferred it to "proper" coffee! The bit left in the bottom of the jar came in useful.

I made a strong coffee mix to start and used it at different dilutions - weak on a flat brush through the stencil to start off with and to sponge the edges of the card, strong to tint some gesso to paint over the hearts and also to add shading. I smeared some of the full-strength solution onto a craft mat, dabbled the flourish stamp into it and stamped around the edges. I finished by stamping a coffee-related quote with pigment ink.

I made a more conventional card with the same stencil for the Bubbly Funk blog too - you can see that here if you're interested!

Stamps:
Dinkie Vintage Flourish by Indigo Blu
My own design coffee sentiment

Ink:
Instant coffee/water!
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)

Other:
Love Post 6x6 stencil by the Crafters Workshop
Gesso

Thanks for stopping by!

Birthday rose

This is one for the stash of birthday cards I seem to need in the early part of the year. It's a one layer design with a bit of stenciling and some dots to add some interest - the dots are just the "waste" from dies like tags and buttons domed out by rubbing over the back with an embossing stylus on a foam mat. If you make them from the same cardstock as the card base they give a nice, integrated look.

The rose is watercolored with a mixture of Distress inks and Clean Color markers with a tiny bit of green pencil in the centre. I think this stamp set must be retired as I can't see it on the Waltzingmouse web site which is a shame as the wild roses are so pretty and make a lovely change from the more traditional rose shape.

Stamps:
Roses in Bloom by Waltzingmouse Stamps
Sentiment from Say It All by Hero Arts

Paper: Bristol Board

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Picked Raspberry,  Peeled Paint, Shabby Shutters)
Versamagic Chalk ink by Tsukineko (Key Lime)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)

Other:
Cressida stencil by Memory Box 
Zig Clean Color pens
Spring Green Prismacolor pencil
"Waste" circles from various die cuts
Corner Chomper

Thanks for stopping by!

Resolutions!

I don’t make New Year’s resolutions but I do often take part in the postcard swap at UK Stampers and that’s what Jill has chosen for January's theme. I decided to use what is apparently the most popular resolution (lose some weight) as inspiration and added the sentiment as I think it's something that might well be appropriate as a resolution for many of us!

I put a piece of low-tack tape across the top of the upright on the stencil before inking the mannequin body in raspberry ink and adding shading with currant, then swapped the position of the tape to ink the stand in brown. I’ve stamped through the stencil after inking the focal point mannequin, using the same flourish as I used to “frame” the card.

I drew round the inside of the body shape on the stencil and cut a mask so that I could put the grey, shadowy mannequin “behind” the main one. As the postcards go to their recipients as traditional postcards (no envelope to protect them) this kind of layering with inks, stencils and stamps is perfect to create interest without adding layers and embellishments that will be exposed to the rigours of the postal service!

Stamps:
Vintage Flourish Dinkie by Indigo Blu
Journaling Words 3 by The Artistic Stamper

Ink:
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Raspberry and Currant)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Shadow ink by Hero Arts (Soft Granite)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Vintage Photo)

Other:
Modern Dressmaker stencil by Memory Box
Corner Chomper

Thanks for stopping by, hope you have 2016 off to a great start!