Steampunk Lady Cyclist

This weeks theme at the

Tagalong Challenge

is "Steampunk"

so with this in mind I set to work using 

"Steampunk Lady Cyclist" from Deep Red stamps.

I blended Distress Inks 'peeled paint' and 'peacock feathers',

spritzed it with water, mopping of the excess with a tissue.

I then stamped the Lady Cyclist directly onto the tag with Archival Ink 'jet black'

followed by various gears and grungy bits from "Clockworks" SU.

I added a couple of pieces of washi tape for extra interest

and lightly blended 'black soot' around the edges.

I am entering this tag in the

Tagalong Challenge

Happy Crafting!

 

Cute as a Button

The theme at Wicked Wednesday this week is

"Cute as a Button"

I don't often use buttons and own just enough that if I'm looking for one, then I'll find something suitable for the project as was the case for this ATC challenge.

I started off by stamping some foliage from SU "silhouette sentiments"

and found three pretty buttons (also SU) which were just right for the flowers.

I added just a touch of blending for the sky and the grass with Distress Inks before stamping "Schu" from Stampotique directly onto the ATC.

"Schu" was coloured with Distress Markers and a smidge of Stickles 'picket fence' added to his wings for some sparkle.

I'm entering "Schu" (such a cutie) in this weeks

Wicked Wednesday ATC challenge

Happy Crafting!

Merry Christmas Holly

"Christmas in July"

is the theme at Stampotique Designers Challenge this week.

When I think of Christmas, I think red & green because it's is celebrated

in the summer time where I live.

 

There are restaurants who do Christmas in July here 

but it's more to give the feel of traditional roasts and roaring log fires

of a northern hemisphere Christmas.

 

Anyhow, with a summery Christmas in mind, have a look at the tag I made.

 

 

I started by blending Distress Inks 'peeled paint' and 'barn door' together until I was happy with the ratio of colour, then spritzed it with water and blotted off the excess with a tissue.

Next "Holly" was stamped directly onto the tag and again onto white cardstock.

I coloured her with Distress Markers and fussy cut around her before gluing directly over the first image.  I added Liquid Pearls 'buttercup' to the lights falling from her bag;

and to the holly around her head, Liquid Pearls 'ruby red' and Stickles 'lime green'.

The 'Merry Christmas' sentiment is a piece of washi tape

and the tag is finished with a length of green ribbon stapled into place.

I am entering this tag in this weeks

Stampotique Designers Challenge

Happy Crafting!

 

Celebrate Today

Today I am showing you the second 18th card

as a follow-on from yesterday's blog.

This one was cased from one I found on pinterest

which I thought rather nice and would suit a variety of people of different ages.

It started off with a black shimmer card

followed by a white mat.

The green is a piece of leftover paper (Kaisercraft)

from a previous project.  It is folded around a piece of cardstock to give the appearance of a gift, and then gold thread is wrapped around it.

The stars are punched (SU punches) from more black shimmer card

with japanese shimmer wire (I'm really not sure how else to describe this) attached to each star and the back of the gift.  Smaller pieces were tightly wrapped around a bamboo skewer to create a coil and carefully glued using Glossy Accents.  Number '18' was randomly stamped onto the gift.

An extra star sits next to the sentiment (SU "Perfectly Penned").

Happy Crafting!

Heart Throb turns 18

During the week I was asked if I would be able to make two "eighteenth" birthday cards, both for the one recipient, with a theme of black, white and a splash of green.  Since I (like many others) find male cards hard to make, I had a browse of pinterest for ideas.

So, in the opposite order to how they were made, 

this is the one I came up with using "Heart Throb"

I started with a shimmer black base (which was left over from the first card) and found a pack of white 12" x 12" card with a resist pattern (SU) which I cut to fit on top of the black mat.  I built up colour around the edges using Distress Ink 'peeled paint' which then brings up the resist pattern on the cardstock (which I think looks pretty cool).

Next I stamped Heart Throb in Archival Ink 'jet black', fussy cut him and added green stickles to hightlight the heart on his jacket.

I mixed a drop of 'old olive' reinker (SU) and 'glossy accents' and painted it onto the chipboard numbers before sprinkling them with 'stampin' glitter' (SU) and then put them aside to dry.

I was doing a SU class earlier in the week where the technique was playing with glitter and this was one of the ways which we were shown, except we were using acetate rather than chipboard.  I was quite impressed by how it turned out and so thought I'd play with this technique a bit more.

 I then added a length of washi tape for a bit of ground for Heart Throb to stand on, and once the numbers were dry, glued them into place, and finished by adhering to a white card.

I was rather chuffed with how this turned out and hope the birthday boy enjoyed receiving it.

I'll be back tomorrow to show the other card that was made for the same young man.

Happy Crafting!

 

Japanese Style Cards

Oh no!!!

I just looked at the clock and have less than an hour left of today to blog something.

I've blogged every day this week (well, almost) which is almost unheard of LOL!!!

Tomorrow I am teaching a Japanese Style Card class at

Alice in Paperland (a repeat of last Wednesday)

so thought I'd show what the ladies will be making.

These Japanese papers are just too nice to cover up so I tried to come up with ways that maximise the beautiful designs.

Just for the record, I've cased a couple of these cards from magazines and pinterest, so if they look familiar in any way, that is why.  I have no idea who designed them but thank them for sharing!

This is the bonus card as the kimono stickers didn't arrive in time for the class.

They will also be making a simple origami and when I say simple, I mean SIMPLE!!

I admire anyone who can create animals and such from folded papers, but even with a book of designs open in front of me - well, just don't expect mine to look like the pictures!

Happy Crafting!

Have you met Natalie?

When I was packing the bits & pieces to take to Craftanoon last Saturday,

I threw in a couple of my new Prima Doll stamps and some tags

so that if I either ran out of challenges to do, 

or needed a different distraction, then they were it.

I find these Doll stamps such fun and so reminiscent of my childhood days

playing 'paper dolls' and creating stories around them

(that was long before I became the horse-mad teenager).

Let me introduce Natalie who is wearing a gorgeous Japanese inspired dress

with matching jacket and shoes.

Natalie was stamped directly onto the tag (made especially for these stamps)

and then stamped again onto a leftover piece of Japanese paper

which was then fussy cut.

I colour matched her jacket and shoes by rubbing Distress Ink 'barn door'

over a piece of white cardstock until it was well inked.  Once it had dried I then stamped the jacket, sash and shoes with Archival 'jet black' and again let the ink dry completely.

They were then fussy cut and paper pieced into place.

Natalie's hair was coloured using water colour pencils.

Next I inked up a Darkroom Door texture stamp "Floral" with 'jet black' and rolled it in random spots on the tag.  The 'happy birthday' and 'borders' came from JOFY collection 11 & 14 which I borrowed from my friend who was also at Craftanoon.  To finish off the tag, I cut small pieces of Japanese paper and stapled them into place.

I have a couple more of these Doll stamps that I have yet to ink up, so perhaps that may happen this coming weekend ....... maybe?

Happy Crafting!

Flying Monkey

Four days in a row?

This has to be some kind of record - for me anyway!!!

When I was at Craftanoon last weekend, they had a sketch challenge which was mainly for the scrapbook ladies, but could be adapted for cards etc, which you can tweak, turn around, add or subtract - you know, put your own spin on it.

So, this is what I came up with, thinking along the lines of the

Stampotique Designers Challenge 

from a couple of weeks back

#154 "Travel/Vacation"

I watercoloured the "Flying Monkey" with Distress Ink

and blended a little bit of 'barn door' around the edges.

I adhered different lengths of washi tape across the spotty paper, and carefully cut around two of the circles with my craft knife, so the corner of the stamped square could be tucked underneath.

Simple, but fun!

 

Stampotique Designers Challenge

 Happy Crafting!

Be the Rainbow

Three days in a row!!!

WOW! that would have to be a first for me!

This week's theme at

Tagalong

is #47 "Bright Sunny Colours"

and to top it off, there is still time to be included in

Stampotique #155 "Newspaper/Magazine"

The tag was made by blending Distress Ink 'mustard seed' and 'spiced marmalade' which really creates a lovely orange glow to the tag.

 

A background "Sea Bubbles" by Designs by Ryn

 was stamped in 'picked raspberry'.

The basket (which reminds me of a nest) was torn from an old scrapbook magazine

and then "Toucan and Budgie" from Stampotique were stamped onto white cardstock

and coloured using Distress Inks and a blending tool, with small details added on the beak and feathers.  They were fussy cut and popped onto dimensionals in front of the basket.

 

 

A word sticker from Pink Paisley seemed to suit these two birds perfectly

and I was able to borrow a cloud die which I then lightly blended 'black soot' followed by just a touch of yellow, orange and pink to reflect the idea of a rainbow.

 

Lastly using a blending tool, I ponced 'mustard seed' and 'spiced marmalade' onto a piece of muslin, spritzed it with water to blend the colours, and after leaving it to dry, stapled it onto the tag.

I am entering this tag into the following challenges

Tagalong Challenge

Stampotique Designers Challenge

Happy Crafting!

 

Carrot

The theme at 

Wicked Wednesday

this week is

#145 "On the Farm"

I started by stamping "Carrot" from Stampotique

onto scrap white card, water coloured with

Distress Inks "Mustard Seed", "Spiced Marmalade" & "Peeled Paint"

and fussy cut.

 

Next I blended Distress Inks "Peeled Paint" & "Peacock Feathers"

onto a white ATC and flicked some droplets of water over it.

I added just a bit more "Peeled Paint" through a stencil on the bottom section.

 

I wrote the words onto scrap white card, outlined and cut them out, before

popping the words and "Carrot" onto dimensionals.

 

To finish off the ATC, I doodled a border around the edge.

 

I hope you like my entry in this week's challenge at

Wicked Wednesday

 

Happy Crafting!

The Famous Five

Yesterday I joined another Craftanoon event

and while most who come along are busy scrapbooking,

I was catching up on this week's various challenges.

I had a lovely relaxing day and hope to be able to go along to the next one

scheduled for mid September.

This week's theme at Stampotique is

#156 "Book Inspiration"

As soon as I read what the theme was, I knew what I wanted to do.

Any guesses?

"The Famous Five" by Enid Blyton

This is a series of books that I really loved when I was a child although I think from memory I actually only owned one and was able to borrow the rest from one of my friends.

When my children were little, I would buy one book every two weeks and we all enjoyed them - me included - until we had the whole series!

Recently the books were released as a box set which I purchased and

gave to my BFF for her birthday - a surprise she certainly wasn't expecting!

(this came about from a conversation we had had earlier in the year)

Anyhow, back to the challenge.

I decided "Line Up" and "Kitty" would fit my book title perfectly

so I stamped them directly onto the tag and coloured them with watercolour pencils.

I then tried out a technique that was on youtube this week

(I can't remember who did it, though I think Tim Holtz linked it on FB)

where you cover the image with tissue or washi tape, 

then colour it with Distress Inks and stencils etc until you are happy with the result,

then carefully peel off the tissue tape to reveal how it looks above.

Craftanoon always has a shop set up and I found these paperclip arrows 

and the teeny tiny letters which were just right for naming each of the characters from the books.

I finished off the tag with 'measuring tape' washi tape Nos. 1 -5 to go along with 

the book title as well.

This is my entry to this week's theme at Stampotique Designers Challenge.

Thanks for looking and hope you like my interpretation!

Happy Crafting!

The Answer My Friend ......

This month's ATC swap theme was

"Sing a Song"

and there was lots of different interpretations

among those who were playing along.

Now that just about everyone has received their ATCs

I thought it time to blog the ones that I sent travelling around the world.

This lovely girl "Breezy" was part of my last order from Stampotique

and I thought she would be perfect for this song by Bob Dylan.

I started by blending blue and green Distress Inks together for the background.  

Using a torn piece of cardstock I made darker parts in both the sky and the ground to give the illusion of a windy/stormy sort of afternoon.

The title/verse is computer printed and cut into strips which in turn, are lightly blended with the Distress Inks to blend into the background.

"Breezy" was stamped directly onto the ATC and then again onto scrap white cardstock with her dress, scarf, head/hair and flower fussy cut and popped up on dimensionals.

"Breezy's" hair and the flower were coloured with Distress Markers

and her dress and scarf were coloured with a Gelly Roll pen which adds a nice glimmer.

To ground her I added some washi tape which I recently bought from 'Typo', 

with an extra bit on the top left to add some balance.  

It has crossword squares in different colours and I thought it rather snazzy!

To finish off I doodled a double border around the edges.

And, here are the ATCs I received :

 these from Corrie

 and these from Amanda

Thanks for looking today
and you are most welcome to leave a comment
(only nice ones of course)

Happy Crafting!!!
  

Mutterings!!!

Oh dear,

where does time go?

I have good intentions on updating this blog on a regular basis

but somehow days and days and days go past

and still nothing.

It's not that I'm not doing anything, 

it's just that what I'm doing is quite often for classes etc

and ... well .... I don't know!

I want to do more challenges too

but they take a backburner when there are classes to prepare.

I need to organise my time better and then do what I say I will do!!!

Anyway, enough of these mutterings ......

Last Friday, my BFF, her daughter and I headed off to the

Craft & Quilt Fair

in its new temporary home at Glebe Island.

All the stalls were really well set out with wide aisles

and plenty of space, it was very well lit and airy

and a number of new stalls were there too

which is always good to see.

Probably 50% of the stalls were for quilting supplies and fabric

with the remainder being a variety of papercraft, beading, toy making etc.

I picked up a few goodies to add to my stash

including a Zentangle book, as I would like to play with that a bit more.

There was also a quilt display and a calvacade of fashion

which unfortunately we ran out of time to look at

as we didn't want to get caught up in peak hour traffic on the way home.

 

Once home, I grabbed my overnight bag and headed off to the Central Coast

and my 'home away from home' with my BFF.

I had a lovely few days relaxing and chatting with her family

and even managed to finish knitting a square and completed another one

to be part of a rug.

 

I arrived home yesterday morning and the rest of my day was largely

catching up on housework and trying to dry the washing.

After near perfect winter days, it is now grey, cloudy and drizzling.

We need rain but this isn't enough to do much.

Anyhow, enough of this,

time for a cuppa and a crafty play 

and before you know it,

I'll be back to show you what I've been doing.

See you later!!!

 

Fun with Cork

Today's class was using thin sheets of cork to make three cards

with a fourth as a bonus card, if we had time.

We started with this one, the fiddliest of them all,

and also the sticky-est.

Using a Memory Box die "Scalloped Posies" we ran it through the Cuttlebug three times which creates the spiral to make the flowers;

of course, you have to roll the flowers and then glue them, getting just a tad sticky in the process.

(By this time, the ladies were just about ready to throttle me, especially when their flowers kept unravelling and not sticking to the skeleton leaves, LOL!!!)

The tendrils are the negative pieces, but very useful for adding an extra touch.

A squeeze of Liquid Pearls finished off the flower centres.

Next up, a corkboard easel, and apart from cutting the legs, much easier and

not a spot of glue in sight - only double sided tape.

Third in line is the delicate poppy design, again using Memory Box die "Prim Poppy",

with a hexagon embossing folder, and then mounted on another piece of cork.

The fancy edging is a SU punch from a couple of years ago.

The 'bonus' card is using the negative image from the previous card

with decorative papers behind the cut-out.

I'm hoping the ladies didn't think the cards were too tedious and will come back again later in the month when I'll be teaching Japanese cards with a teensy bit of origami!

(and I do mean 'teensy' as I find origami quite difficult, so this has to be easy)

If any of these cards look familiar, it could be because I gleaned ideas from Pinterest

as Mr Mojo seems to have gone AWOL lately,

so to all those people who post on Pinterest - THANK YOU!!!

Happy Crafting!!!