Bla Bla Bla

Hi there Bloggers,

I thought I should get one more blog post in before June is over

and so this is from a Card Swap I've been entering over the last few months.

The theme for June is

Monochromatic Cards

I actually looked up the dictionary meaning:

'monochrome' adj. in only one colour; black and white

but I've come to the conclusion that in the papercraft world

it can mean variations of any one colour,

so this is what I posted off.

In this swap we make six identical cards, post them off to a central location

and in return get six different cards.

It is always fun to see what arrives in the mail

and hopefully they might just show up this week, fingers crossed!

This sweet little character is "Schu" with the background "Bla Bla",

 a couple of new stamps I recently ordered from Stampotique

(along with a few others that I will show you soon).

Thanks for visiting and if you have time,

I'd love to hear what you think.

(only nice comments though)

Happy Crafting!!!

Zentangle Teddy

The theme at 

Wicked Wednesday ATC challenge

this week is

"Black & White with One other Colour"

so with this in mind I decided I'd play with a bit of 

Zentangling

 

If you know how to doodle, then you will know how to Zentangle,

but this has become quite an art form

and there are heaps of different designs to choose from

or you can make up your own.

In this instance I have just made my own

but if you look on Pinterest there are simply

oodles of doodles (LOL) complete with instructions.

I started by stamping "Teddy" (Stampotique) 

onto the ATC and then again onto scrap card.

I coloured him with Distress Markers in 'peeled paint', 

fussy cut him out and popped him on dimensionals on top of the first image.

I put a piece of washi tape to ground him and then set to work from the top left corner and made my way clockwise around the ATC.  Two extra little pieces of torn washi tape help to balance the design.  I then went around the edges with Distress Ink, again using 'peeled paint' to finish it off.

This was quite fun to play with and it's ok for my first attempt.

For my second attempt I will look at some of the designs and play/copy them

and I will probably get myself a better pen as well.

Happy Crafting!

 

Stamp It ATC Swap

The theme for those participating in the ATC swap this month was

STAMP IT

The idea was to include postage stamps in your art work

so with this in mind, I asked my lovely friend Jenni

if I could borrow one of her stamps which I thought would 

be perfect for this theme.

"You've Got Mail"

Each ATC used Distress Ink blended together

with a darker colour around the edges

and a quick spritz with water to add age spots.

The mail box was stamped directly onto the ATC

and then again onto white card, coloured, 

and fussy cut before popping up on dimensionals.

I looked through my bag of postage stamps which I have been collecting

for quite some time and as each of the ATC's were heading overseas

I chose a variety of Australian stamps.

I was quite happy with how they all turned out 

and hope the recipients liked them too.

Not only did Jenni lend me the mail box stamp

but a few other interesting characters as well, including:

"Head"

"Heart Throb"

and

"Heart Boy"

all of who accompanied the ATC's to their destinations
around the world.

Happy Crafting!
 

Let's Celebrate Wednesday

I'm a little behind with my challenge entries this week

but luckily for me (and everyone else) 

Stampotique Designers Challenge

 #150 - Celebrate

is still open;

and the theme this week at

Tagalong Challenge is

#42 - Use Pink, a Little or a Lot

 

I started with a piece of newsprint DSP from Stampin' Up!

and lightly gessoed it to tone down the print.

While it was drying I got to work colouring these three

little cuties from 'Line Up' (Stampotique)

with watercolour pencils and the aquash water brush

and then fussy cut them leaving just a little border

which I then lightly coloured gray.

On finding some Kaisercraft letters and discovering there were

only two "E's" left, I decided to go with every second letter and

the alternate letters would be handwritten.  Then I drew an outline

around the words and cut them out.

Lucky for me I managed to work out the letters and used both

the stickers without mucking up the sequence - phew!

Although it's hard to see in the photo, the three little cuties

are grounded on a piece of washi tape

and popped up on dimensionals.

The balloon is SU (discontinued long ago) 

which is stamped onto the newsprint and then again onto plain cardstock

and coloured, cut out and adhered on top.

I coloured around the edges with a green watercolour pencil 

blending the colour into the newsprint.

It is then mounted onto a piece of pink card followed by black card.

A length of ribbon which was sitting on my table matched perfectly.

Happy Crafting!!!

 

Time Waits for No One

The theme this week at

Tagalong Challenge

is

Tick Tock - #40

I have a couple of stamps that would fit this theme

quite nicely, but then I looked at my collection

of tags that already have backgrounds

and found the perfect one.

This background tag has a twin as when I stamped them

they were pushed next to each other

and so each tag got half a clock.

I had started off blending Distress Ink colours together,

probably a mix of 'mustard seed' and 'fired brick'.

(I say 'probably' as these tags were done some time ago,

before I owned 'spiced marmalade', and I know

if you blend yellow, red, yellow and just a tad more red,

you get a lovely rich orange colour)

I stamped the winged clock from Graphic 45 "Happy Hauntings"

with 'jet black' Archival Ink 

and gently blended 'spiced marmalade' and 'seedless preserves'

for a bit of contrast to the background.

The quote is hand written on scraps of white card

blended with 'seedless preserves' and just a smidge of 'vintage photo'.

The winged clock and the words were fussy cut
and popped onto dimensionals.

Background clocks are Tim Holtz and ?

To finish I dragged a piece of muslin through 'seedless preserves'

and tied it through the hole on the tag.

Happy Crafting!!!

Winter Fairy

At Wicked Wednesday ATC Challenge

this week, the theme is

Fairy Wonderland - #138

As I live in an all male household, I don't think I have ever owned

any fairy stamps, so I got to thinking about the stamps I own

and knowing that I have a couple of set of wing stamps, I set to work.

This lovely girl comes from "Warm Wishes" by Julie Nutting,

and her wings come from a freebie 

that was on the front of a Craft Stamper magazine a while back.

I started by lightly blending 'chipped sapphire' Distress Ink

over the ATC.  Next I stamped the snowflake

(also from the "Warm Wishes" set)

in 'shaded lilac'.

I stamped the girl in 'jet black' Archival Ink

blending 'peacock feathers' onto her dress,

and whatever colour brown

(that happened to remain on the blending sponge)

onto her boots and hair.

Her collar, bow and boot ribbons were coloured with

'victorian velvet' Distress Marker.

Her wings have just a touch of 'weathered wood' Distress Marker

before adding 'baby blue' Stickles for some sparkle.

The mini letters making up Winter Fairy

are from Kaisercraft.

Happy Crafting!!!