April elements and a link in the chain!

It’s the first Friday of a new month so it’s an elemental challenge over at Daring Cardmakers. Jenny is providing our inspiration picture this month - as ever, just choose at least three elements from it to kickstart your project. 

I chose a typewriter, script writing, hearts and the word “love” to make a clean and simple card. I added a touch of Glossy Accents to the tiny wee die cut hearts and used glue gel under the typewriter so it has just a bit of lift. The GA proved very reflective when I did the photo this morning!With hindsight I think I’d have been happier without the grey inking along the base of the card but you live and learn!

Stamps:
On the Desk (Cornish Heritage Farms, no longer with us)
Sarah’s Choice (Indigo Blu)

Say It Loud (Waltzingmouse Stamps, no longer with us)

Paper:
Bristol board
Red

Ink:
Shadow ink by Hero Arts (Soft Granite)
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)

Other:
Confetti die (Mama Elephant)
Pinflair gel glue
Corner Chomper
Glossy Accents by Ranger

It's also reveal day over at Card Chain Challenge - my card went to Renate in The Netherlands this time. 

From the options on offer for March I chose the colour scheme of flamingo pink, sea green and sunshine yellow (I don't think I'd have ever put these together without prompting), women and friendship. Simple stamping and colouring, then a bit of masking over the show girls to create the sunburst background with a stencil. I used a fineline pen to create some grounding.

Stamps:
Show Girls (Lost Coast Designs)
Essential Messages (Hero Arts, retired)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Sunshine Yellow)

Other:
Copic markers
Strobes Stencil (Visible Image)
Black fineliner

There's still time to sign up for the April chain if you'd like to make and send a card and receive one in return, it's a friendly challenge with a lovely bunch of crafters.

Thanks for stopping by!

A galaxy of wishes

Miri is setting this week's challenge over at Daring Cardmakers and she'd like us to do a bit of galaxy gazing. She says:

"A galaxy is a system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, and dark matter." (wikipedia) And astronauts and spaceships and aliens ...

Create a galaxy card with a galaxy background or galaxy elements.

I was a bit pushed for time so although I'd planned to try out an ink blended background, I did a super-quick scribbled galaxy with five Copic markers, dotted on some white pen and a few quick "twinkles" (just four flicked pen strokes radiating from a central point). I scribbled a white pencil around those for a bit of soft glow (a trick I saw on a YouTube video some time ago, sorry I don't remember whose).

A stamped sentiment and vintage telescope image made finishing touches.

Stamping the image made me think of last year's holiday - we visited the Museo Galileo while we were in Florence and there are some wonderful old telescopes among the exhibits there. Florence is a beautiful city and the Museo Galileo is a good escape if you fancy somewhere a bit less busy than the Uffizi, Duomo or Accademia (although to be fair, most of the Accademia is quite quiet, it's only the bit around David where there's a crush!).

Stamps:
Reach 4 the Stars (Cornish Heritage Farms, no longer with us)

Paper: smooth white

Ink: Graphite Black Brilliance by Tsukineko

Other:
Copic markers
White Posca pen
White Prismacolor pencil
Pinflair glue gel

Thanks for stopping by, hope any wishes you make this weekend are granted!

A bit of bling

A new month means a new object to make over at Something Completely Different and for August the team is asking us to make torsos at ATC size. I used Ruth Ann Zaroff's mannequin template from Mirkwood Designs {here} but changed the size and proportions to make it more ATC-friendly. She's a curvier model this way :o) The theme for our torsos this week is "bling".

I confess I'm not very good at bling - either in my personal style or in papercrafting. So although I really did try with this week's challenge the bling is still on the subtle side! I used a row of tiny nail art gems to define the waist curve along the right hand side. The other idea of having a necklace looked dreadful and ended up with me cutting the deep neckline and sitcking onto another blank torso to get rid of the gluey bit where the necklace attempt had been!

The swirls were embossed in clear for an emboss resist with Black Soot Distress ink swiped over.

Stamps:
Beautiful (Rummage Bin line at Cornish Heritage Farms)

Paper:
Smooth white

Ink:
Versamark by Tsukineko
Tim Holtz distress ink by Ranger (Black Soot)

Other:
Detail embossing powder (clear)
Nail art gems
Copic marker (to colour the neck)

Thanks for the challenge girls and thanks for stopping by!

Continuous effort

I signed up for a postcard swap over on UK Stampers. I thought I'd go the whole hog and make something that really could be mailed as a postcard rather than feeling it had to go into an envelope for protection. Here's what I did (Linda, look away now if you'd rather not see before it reaches you in the flesh!).

I had a play with the bouncing brayer technique to make the background (tutorial {here} if you've never heard of this), inking up with three different Distress inks - perfect for the current Gingersnap colour challenge of yellow, orange and red. Then I overstamped the keys and script in Spiced Marmalade, used bubble wrap and gesso at top right and bleach stamped a couple of small clocks before adding the sentiment and clock face in black ink.

I gave the whole lot a spritz with Krylon sealant to give it a bit more protection as it goes through the post. The lace wasn't quite the right colour so I swiped over with a Copic marker before sticking it down firmly and then sitching it along the edge and stitching the sequins in place to be sure there was nothing loose going on. I stuck the whole lot to another piece of cardstock so the back was neat.

Stamps (all Cornish Heritage Farms):
Time to Stamp (Rummage Bin line)
Key Elements (All Things Considered line -in stock here at Bubbly Funk if you're in the UK)
Key Expressions (Mona Lisa Moments line)

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Fired Brick)
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)

Paper:
Smooth white

Other:
Lace by Prima Marketing
Sequins
Gesso
Bubble wrap
Bleach
Krylon Matt spray sealant
Gold thread

Hope Linda likes it! Thanks for stopping by!

Vintage Christmas snowflakes

I know it's only July but that means we've reached that point in the year where next Christmas is nearer than last! I haven't been doing well with my effort to make a few cards each month but maybe a few non-card projects will help get me kick-started!

This beautiful snowflake plaque is one of Tando Creative's new releases for Christmas 2010. It's so lovely that I thought it would be fun to make something that would stick around rather than being here and gone on a card. I've turned this one into a vintage style ornament to hang on the tree.

I used gesso on the whole piece and then added Rub n Buff metallic wax over everything except the snowflakes. Those were treated to a bit of Rock Candy crackle paint and topped off with pearls.

The sentiment panel is also coated in crackle paint. I've found in the past that putting it over Copic colouring makes the colours bleed so I tried something different here - adding the Copics over the top of the paint. It worked well and gave a nice variation in the colouring because of the cracks.

I rescued some crystal chain from my "might come in useful" box of broken jewellery etc. I reckon it's been in there for 20 years! A metallic cord hanger made from twisted thread finishes it off.

Supplies:
Snowflake plaque (Tando Creative - find Tando stockists {here})
Winter Vintage Signage stamps set (Cornish Heritage Farms)
Versafine ink by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Vintage Photo)
Rub n Buff by Amaco (Gold Leaf)
Copic markers
Gesso
Distress Crackle paint by Ranger (Rock Candy)
Flat back pearls
Nestabilities by Spellbinder (Classic Ovals Large)
Crystal chain
Metallic thread

Thanks for stopping by!

Elegant anniversary

Anniversary cards always feel a bit tricky to me - you feel you need to get the masculine/feminine balance right somehow when you're sending to a couple! I went for creating my own "designer paper" here by doing some repeat stamping in a tone on tone kind of way with a big, ornate roundel stamp. The ivory and dark red were the couple's wedding colours.

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
So Happy (Rummage bin line)
Ornamental Beauty (Rummage bin line)
The word "happy" from Birthday Centers (Mona Lisa Moments line)

Paper:
Simply linen natural
Dark red (unknown maker)

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Antique Linen, Vintage Photo)
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)

Other:
Flower by Prima Marketing
Flat back pearl
Sewing machine and thread

Thanks for stopping by!

Birthday Flowers

Sometimes I like to go back to basics and use just stamps and ink. The clean, graphic style is one that has a timeless appeal and using minimal supplies to make something pleasing to the eye brings its own sense of satisfaction!

I thought the little inchie frame element would combine well with a vivid ink colour and lots of white space. Just a simple sentiment makes it occasion-specific but I reckon you could make a set of these, maybe switching up the colour of the flowers, as all-purpose notecards to make a little gift.

I used Cryogen White cardstock to give a subtle shimmer to the whole thing.

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Inchie Style - frame and flower (Rummage Bin line)
Birthday Centers - sentiment (Mona Lisa Moments line)

Paper:
Cryogen White

Ink:
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx black)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Spiced Marmalade)

Thanks for stopping by!

Cherish the moments

I like to find different ways to use the stamps in my collection and I've been having some fun looking for images that will work on inchies, even though they're not designed with that format in mind.

Lots of the images in the Baby Dear set lend themselves to an inchie treatment and it changes the look of them significantly. This sweet image of a mother enjoying smiles with her little one is actually circular if you just stamp and go. To switch up the look by making it into an inchie try cutting or punching a one inch square in a piece of scrap paper and laying the square hole over your stamped image to select the portion you want.

Some DCWV cardstock in a pretty duck egg shade with a strong contrast (chocolate brown) makes for a quick and easy vintage look, especially if you sand lightly round the edges and finish off with some silk ribbon!

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Baby Dear (Rummage Bin line)

Paper:
Simply Heavy Chocolate
Simply Smooth White
DCWV white core

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite black)
Adirondack by Ranger (Espresso)

Other:
copic markers
Silk ribbon
Edge punch by Fiskars (Threading Water)

You may have heard already but Liz and Richard, owners of Cornish Heritage Farms, have decided to move on. The business is up for sale and while the hunt for a buyer is on, they'll be running down their levels of stock and offering some discounts as the weeks wear on. You can find full details of what's happening here if you'd like them. I hope you'll join me in wishing Liz and Richard every success in whatever adventure they embark on next and in hoping that there'll be a buyer for CHF who will carry the catalogue forward and bounce to even higher rubber heights!

Thanks for stopping by today!

The sweetest moments

I'm delighted to be joining Something Completely Different this month as guest designer for July - thanks for the invitation SCD! We're making tags this month and the first theme is.... hearts!

I discovered that I don't have much by way of heart stamps but when I remembered this little honeycomb heart, the rest just sort of fell into place. I couldn't resist using Wild Honey ink with it ;)

The bee was stamped on vellum and cut out and then stamped again on plain white card and just the body cut out and stuck on top of the vellum so his wings are semi transparent. I used the Wild Honey ink to colour him. I stamped the head part onto the cut out heart so that his legs and antennae show there rather than trying to cut round them!

I stamped the sentiment straight onto the tag and then stamped again on white cardstock and cut around the "dymo label" words and stuck them over the top. A little bit of doodling and a silk ribbon through the top finishes it off.

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Sweet Bee set (Rummage Bin line)

Paper:
Manilla shipping tag
Scrap of smooth white
Scrap of vellum

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade)
Stazon by Tsukineko (Jet Black)
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)

Other:
Silk ribbon
Copic multiliner
Foam pads

Thanks for stopping by!

Sweet as honey

The object of the month over at Something Completely Different is the "skinni" (3" x 5") and this week's theme is "flora and fauna". My word, you wouldn't believe how I struggled with this! I very nearly gave up when the third version hit the bin but I finally made something I was half way happy with. I confess I found the proportions of the skinni really hard to work with. Not sure I'll be trying this again but you live and learn, eh?!

The flora is absolutely literal - I picked some lavender sprigs from the front garden. I'm hoping they dry successfuly on there so it will still look pretty once the fresh bloom stage has passed! My fauna are the bees that are going to turn that lavender into delicious honey for that label to get stuck to at a later date! I do love that French language honey label stamp!

Bees are in trouble with numbers in rather alarming decline so I thought it would be good to celebrate these useful little beasties and all they do for us.

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Sweet Bee (Rummage Bin line)

Paper:
Vintage sheet music
Smooth white
Black

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Vintage Photo)

Other:
Copic markers
Squeeze punch by Fiskars (large circle)
Lavender from the garden
Gingham ribbon
Elegant flourishes die (Tim Holtz Alterations/Sizzix)
Stick pin

Thanks for buzzing by!

Inchie baby

Inchie Inklings is a blog that's been around for a while but has been sleeping for quite some time as its owner, Ellen Hutson, has been busy with other stuff. 'Mona' Lisa Strahl has just taken on the role of waking it up with regular updates including a weekly sketch challenge. I worked with Mona when she was Art Director at CHF and it's fun to see her indulging her passion for teeny weeny artwork!

Here's my take on the second Inchie Inklings sketch - a vintage baby card. Steering away from blue or pink means you can have some cards on hand for those babies whose gender is unknown before they're born (I think it's much more common in the US for you to know in advance - UK mums seem to opt for a surprise much more often!).

I softened the look of the the chocolate card base by stamping the Fine Houndstooth in sand pigment ink. A really quick and simple card since there's minimal colouring to do and splitting the image over two inchies adds just that little bit extra interest. Thanks for the sketch, Mona!

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Baby Dear (Rummage Bin line)
Fine Houndstooth Scrapblock

Paper:
Simply Heavy Chocolate (CHF)
Simply smooth Vanilla (CHF)
Chipboard inchies

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Versacraft by Tsukineko (Sand)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Vintage Photo)

Other:
Copic markers
Threading water/Scalloped lace edge punch by Fiskars
Sewing machine and thread

Thanks for stopping by!

Catchin' a wave

If you're a visitor to the Tando Creative blog then you may already know this but if not then I have news to share! Carol and I have been test driving Di's new white-coated board shapes for the last few weeks and as we neared the end of our experiments, Di invited us both to join the very talented ladies on the Design Team! As most of you know, I love to stamp so I'm very excited to be taking up this new role as the board has been lovely to combine with my stamping habit!

To celebrate, I had another play with the wavy inchie shape over the weekend and did a bit of CD "upcycling" to make this little brooch.

Your Tonic Studio scissors are handy for this kind of project as they cut through a CD with no problem! I cut a little strip and stuck it to an inchie that was first slathered in Ferro. I pressed a moistened stamp into the top part for some pattern and textural interest and then sponged over with some Precious Metal paints once dry.

ETA - Janice asked about the "tooth marks" on the CD strip. They're just the micro serrations of the Tonic blades. I thought it looked attractive so didn't try doing anything to smooth them out.

The whole lot was stuck to another piece of CD, using the edge of the circle to make a gentle curve at the base of the brooch. I coloured the resulting spaces with some more Precious Metal. A couple of flat back gems (courtesy of my Secret Santa - thanks Caroline!) and some tiny nail art gems finish it off.

Stamps:
Beautiful (The Rummage Bin line)

Paper:
Wavy Inchie (Tando Creative - find Tando stockists by looking here)

Other:
Ferro by Viva Decor (Graphite)
Precious Metal paint by Viva Decor (Blue Azure, Lilac, Mother of Pearl)
Freebie CD
Flat back gems
Nail art gems
E6000 adhesive
Brooch pin

You can visit Tando Creative and the other girls on the Design Team through the links in the blog roll over on the right if you'd like to.

Thanks for stopping by!

Measure of time

I managed to make time to play along with Ready Steady Stamp's current challenge. Here are the required five ingredients. I was struggling a bit with the numbers and then remembered I had some printed ruler twill that's been in my stash forever! The rest came from there and as I did it I realised that it fits this week's Sunday Stamper as well. I guess Roman Numerals should count for numbers too so my clocks are doubling my number quota!

The base for my project is an empty chocolate box. One advantage of hubby travelling is that he often buys me nice choccies at the airport. The added bonus of that is that the boxes are usually really sturdy which makes them perfect for decorating later! A quick covering with a couple of coats of gesso and you're ready to roll. I stamped the sides of the lid by putting my inked stamp face up on the desk and pressing the lid down onto it - you can get your fingers inside and make sure you get good contact that way.

I watched a video tutorial a few days ago for making faux suede carnations. They remind me of an extreme version of the "sloppy poppies" that Kathy and others have been doing for a while and I thought it would be fun to have a go as the 3D element required for RSS. A good excuse to abuse a piece of card stock and get a pretty result at the end!

Here's a close-up of how mine turned out. The video is here if you'd like it - leave Mary a note if you liked it, she's just getting going with the video tutorials and likes to know how she's doing!

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Time to Stamp (Rummage Bin line)

Paper:
Simply Smooth Vanilla
Baby pink (Prism Papers)
Empty chocolate box
Corrugated packaging card

Ink:
Stazon by Tsukineko (Timber Brown)
Tim Holtz Distress by Ranger (Vintage Photo)

Other:
Circle Nestabilities by Spellbinder (I used the second size up in the Classic Circles Large set)
Labels Nine Nestabilities by Spellbinder (trimmed so just the deep bracket was left)
Printed twill
Brad
Gesso
Copic markers (to colour the leaves and tint the edges if the carnation)

Thanks for stopping by!

Framed in Ferro

Carol and I have subjected the Tando white board to more gunkiness today - Ferro paint by Viva Decor this time.

I used four of the wavy domino pieces arranged to make this little frame - each one coated in Ferro, stamped for a bit of texture and lightly sponged with a couple of Precious Metal Paints. I did them individually so that I got clear joins between the pieces on the final frame. I think my stamps were just a bit small to get a clear impression in the thick Ferro but I like the effect I got!

I stuck an acrylic fragment over the picture hole and dry brushed a little of the copper paint around the edge. A glass pebble over a stamped clock face, a few tiny glass bubbles (aren't those fabulous - 2mm and 3mm glass spheres with an AB finish) and a coil of copper wire finish it off.

You could easily use a small photo instead of a stamped image if you wanted to personalise this idea and maybe use it as a gift.

I did find my dominoes curved just very slightly with the moisture of the Ferro (maybe a just shy of a millimetre lift at each end) but nothing that didn't flatten back out easily for sticking to a base.

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Inchie Style (Rummage Bin line)

Paper:
Chipboard wavy dominoes (Tando Creative - you can find Tando stockists by looking here - I know Bubbly Funk already has this shape in stock, not sure about other places)
Simply Smooth

Ink: Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)

Other:
Ferro Paint by Viva Decor (Graphite)
Precious Metal Paint by Viva Decor (Blue Azure and Copper)
Fragment by Tim Holtz/Ideaology
Glass pebble (the sort you put in vases)
2mm and 3mm glass AB "beads" (no hole)
Copper wire

Thanks for stopping by! This and Carol's Ferro project are on the Tando Creative blog along with lots of other chippie projects for inspiration if you're in the mood for a little blog hopping!

Dream a little dream

I read Sharilyn Miller's book Rubber stamped jewelry a few months back but got distracted by other things before trying anything out. A couple of days ago I found big bags of clear glass "pebbles" in a local £1 shop and remembered one of the projects in that book used one as an accent. Here's the result - it uses the same base materials as the one in the book but is different in just about every other way!

I made a batch of "sea washed" glass a while ago by breaking a square section bottle and tumbling in a rock tumbler. Some craft shops carry sea washed glass or the Ranger Memory glass range works well if you want a regular shaped jewellery piece. I painted the edges with Precious Metal paint and in doing so hit on the idea of wiping a thin coat of it across the back of the piece as well. I love the effect! The mica in the paint makes the glass just slightly more opaque but it still has a translucence.

The pebble was stuck onto a stamped piece of paper with Glossy Accents, trimmed and edged with copper tape then glued onto the base piece which had been stamped and embossed with detail gold powder. I added Glossy Accents to hold a little drift of seed beads. When dry, I dotted a few beads with the Precious Metal paint to deepen the colour. Stick a pin on the back (hidden by the pebble and beads on the front) and you're done. The cost of this is literally pennies - gotta love that!

I used a backgrounder in this design - one of the reasons I love them is that they're so versatile, useful for everything from a full card front to a small project like this (it's about 6cm/2.5" tall). Backgrounders and their bigger cousins the Scrapblocks are on sale this Friday/Saturday at CHF - buy one and get a second of the same value at half price. You can see the details on the store's home page {here} if you fancy stocking up.

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Inchie Style (Rummage Bin line)
Spanish Script backgrounder

Ink:
Versmark by Tsukineko
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Espresso)

Paper:
Simply Smooth

Other:
"Sea washed" glass
Glass pebble (the sort used to put in vases)
Detail gold embossing powder
Seed baeds
Precious Metal pint by Viva Decor (Blue Azure)
Glossy Accents
Copper Tape

Thanks for stopping by, hope you have a lovely weekend!

Beautiful bleach!

Di is introducing some new shapes and a new sort of board as part of the Tando Creative range. Carol and I have been putting things through their paces and you can see the results of the first experiments -Distress Ink backgrounds- over on Tando. Yes, I really did use bleach here (and yes, I really did have to go buy bleach just for stamping!) - check out the full details and some pieces from Carol too on the Tando Creative blog.

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Ornamental Beauty (Rummage Bin line)
Tree Swallow Silhouette

Paper:
White coated chipboard arch (Tando Creative)

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Shabby Shutters and Peeled Paint)
Stazon by Tsukineko (Timber Brown)

Other:
Bleach
Seed beads
Wire
Dangle from old earring
Copic markers (to tint white beads as I didn't have anything the right kind of colours).

Thanks for stopping by today!

Dance to the music of time

I haven't played along at Tuesday Taggers before but I saw through Gez's blog that this week's challenge was to get messy - too hard to resist!

As the challenge is being sponsored by the Craft Barn, I thought I'd take the opportunity to play with some Viva Decor products as they stock a fab range of them and they're perfect for messy projects! This week's SCD challenge gave me the theme of time for my ATC.

I decided to add to the obvious watch/clock theme with some sheet music indicating something about the timing or speed of the music, too. My clock face is done on shrink plastic and the little cog and wheel are old clock parts. I thought the circuit board could be part of a timing device, as well!

The texture at the bottom (which I've mostly covered up!) was done by stamping the harlequin backgrounder onto chipboard and heat embossing with UTEE - I gave it three coats. Then I laid aluminium tape over it, sprayed with Glimmer Mist and once it was dry I rubbed over with a buffing block to expose the silver tape. The top bit that has the more organic texture is Tera with a heat gun applied to make it bubble - fun stuff!

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Textured Harlequin backgrounder
Circuit Board backgrounder
Time to Stamp (Rummage Bin line)

Paper:
Chipboard
Vintage sheet music

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Vintage Photo)

Other:
Tera paint by Viva Deco (Kenya)
Precious Metal paint by viva Decor (Copper)
Black acrylic paint
Aluminium tape
UTEE by Ranger
Shrink plastic
Glimmer Mist by Tattered Angels (Red Maple and Vintage Brass)

Tuesday Taggers invited us to show our messy hands or workspaces too - I only managed a picture of one hand since I couldn't get them far enough away from the camera to use the timer and have the picture in focus! Note the tasteful crusting of Tera right down on the heel of my hand - no idea how that got there!

Thanks for stopping by, hope your weekend is going well!

Baby love

Do you have some types of card that you always struggle with? For me, it's baby and wedding cards! I think the baby ones just got easier though - Baby Dear and Vintage Baby Expressions should help things along! I do like a bit of vintage so if I just forget the baby bit and focus on the vintage bit things should go along much easier!

I went for a mono sepia look on this card, aiming for a sort of vintage photo look. The base layer and the border inside the cut out circle are coloured with a marker so this is a minimum supplies project - just white cardstock, a handful of markers, embossing folder, a couple of pearls and a die cut.

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Baby Dear (Rummage Bin line)
vintage Baby Expression (Mona Lisa Moments line)

Paper:
Smooth White

Ink:
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Espresso)

Other:
Copic markers
Textile Texture Embossing Folder
Pearls (Kaiser)
Labels Four Nestabilites by Spellbinder
Fiskars circle cutter

I bought the blossom top box template from Everything Creative a few weeks back and finally got chance to play. I was so pleased to find that the ETA stamp from the Baby Dear set is an absolutely perfect fit! I alternated it with the stork from the Vintage Baby Expressions set around the six sides of the box and finished off with faux brads - they're just cardstock punched out with a Crop-a-Dile and coloured with the ink pad.

Wouldn't this be a cute way to present a tiny gift to an expectant mum? Any favour box would look great with the same treatment.

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Baby Dear (Rummage Bin line)
vintage Baby Expression (Mona Lisa Moments line)

Paper:
Smooth White

Ink:
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Espresso)

Other:
Copic markers
Pearls (Kaiser)
Labels Four Nestabilites by Spellbinder
Fiskars circle cutter

Thanks for stopping by!

Skinny snowflakes!

It's Ready Steady Stamp time again and I didn't have any ingredient issues this time so I'm playing along (couldn't find my hessian last time - frustrating as I'd only used it a couple of days earlier!).

Here are the ingredients for RSS8 - nice ones, I think!

I've never done a skinny so that made a nice change. I went for totally simple treatment on that bit and thought it would be fun to make a fairly modern looking card with a vintage style stamp set so The Night Before Christmas got an airing (OK, I only managed the snowflake and sentiment but still!).

I used silver metallic thread and did crazy machine stitched lines in the hope they'd look kind of like the drift lines if you're watching snow fall through a light source. Sorry the photo doesn't really pick up the metallic sparkle - it's like glitter really isn't it, you really need movement for the effect to show!

I added crackle by using Rock Candy paint on a die cut snowflake. It's very cool stuff but you do have to be patient, especially if you add a reasonably thick layer so you get bigger crackles. You can speed it up with a heat gun once it's started to crackle but that can seem like a long time coming! Impatient? Me?

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Night Before Christmas (Rummage Bin line)

Paper:
Smooth white, black, lilac (Bazzill)

Ink:
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)

Other:
Snowflake Wonder dies by Spellbinder
Crystal brad (Making Memories)
Silver metallic thread
Distress Crackle paint by Ranger (Rock Candy)

Technique: machine stitching

Great challenge girls - thanks!

Thanks for stopping by today, I appreciate you taking the time!

Je sais qu'il ya beaucoup de participantes françaises pour les challenge RSS - si vous voulez me laisser un commentaire, mais vous n'aimez pas le faire en Anglais, s'il vous plaît n'hésitez pas à le dire en Français! Je ne le parle pas bien, mais c'est OK pour la compréhension de commentaires court. Merci de votre visite!

Don't worry...

...be happy! I found it impossible not to be singing in a Bobby McFerrin voice while working with this stamp set!

Trying something different here - I don't usually do "scrappy" cards. This one took long enough that I remember why and I'm not entirely convinced about the outcome but I thought I'd share anyway!

This is for Ready Steady Stamp Challenge 6 - I've been AWOL for a couple of challenges what with vacation and the enormous workpile that greeted me on my return but I was determined to get this one in before number seven goes up on Wednesday!

I used a couple of Grungeboard swirls for my masks as I didn't have anything to hand that's actually designed as a mask and I was too lazy to cut anything by hand!

The hearts are done with the rock n roll technique in two shades of pink (Salmon and Watermelon) and although the grey is minimal, it is there! (two shades of Copic on the B).

Isn't that crochet lace stamp lovely?! It was the reason I had to order this set and I think it looks really realistic embossed with white powder like this.

I pulled my usual stunt with the bee - stamp the head and legs onto the heart, then stamp the whole bee on another piece of paper and cut him out without trying to cut round the legs and antennae. Line up the cut out with the stamped head/legs and you'll have a perfect bee without trying to cut round those fiddly bits!

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Sweet Bee (Rummage Bin line)

Paper:
Smooth white
Black
Watercolour

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Versamark by Tsukineko
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Salmon and Watermelon, Juniper reinker used to spritz background)

Other:
Copic markers
Twill ribbon
Cardstock stickers (Heartwarming Vintage)
White embossing powder
Sewing machine and thread
Mini Mister
Spica glitter pen (clear - on the bee's wings)

Thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoyed the visit!