Non-traditional Christmas cards

With only a few days left before Christmas,

here are some cards that were made for some crafty ladies.

A variety of stamps from different companies were used on these cards, and all backgrounds are Kaisercraft.

I hope everyone enjoyed their non-traditional Christmas cards.

Happy Crafting!

Surprise

I don't always blog swaps, but this afternoon I have been working on an ATC swap with the theme being "Surprise"

In the back of my mind I could picture the stamp I wanted to use for the box - it is an old Penny Black (2001) called "Funny Present" where a cat is jumping out of the box surprising the dog sitting next to it.  So after a bit of fussy cutting, this is my "Surprise" ATC.

Although we can use other stamps, primarily the stamps need to be Stampotique and that is where "Hamlet of Halloween" and "Dog Cube" come into the picture.

The cat has been removed from the box and replaced with a dog, all fussy cut and put back together.  Hamlet of Halloween was stamped onto some leftover shimmery blue paper, fussy cut and then had dots of ruby red Liquid Pearls added to his body.  He was then put aside to dry.

Each ATC is slightly different, this time the box is a brighter colour and the dog is different.

This box contains a double surprise, poor Hamlet is really going to have his hands full with this one!

Each background is also different but they all came from the same piece of card.  The letters are little stickers, perfect the colour and size of the ATC.

I hope the recipients like their ATCs, and in return I wonder what I will receive?

Happy Crafting!

In Tune

In between some housework, finishing off a couple of postcards and a driving lesson, I made this little ATC ready to enter a couple of challenges.

The theme at Sisterhood of Snarky Sisters this week is "Yodelayeehoooo" and 

over at Wicked Wednesday it is "Torn Paper/Torn Edges".

As I was looking through my stash of stamps, I came across this favourite by Penny Black (2003) called "Carolers".  I stamped, coloured and fussy cut the chickens and popped dimensionals on them.  The music paper was in a little pack of goodies I recently purchased from a craft show, so I torn a small piece to fit the ATC.  I edged around the music with 'pumice stone' Distress Ink for definition and then attached to the black ATC.  I added a piece of piano key washi tape across the bottom for the chickens to stand on, and then attached the chickens.

These chickens look like they are having a great time singing their little hearts out - hope you enjoy them too!

Happy Crafting!

Colour Purple

Gosh, here I am blogging again for the second time today!  

This time I decided I would play along with Wicked Wednesday where the theme this week is "The Colour Purple".

I was going through my stash of patterned papers this morning when I came across this one which I bought a number of years ago and was saving for something special (?).  I have always liked the bright flowers against the sunny yellow background and thought is would be perfect for the purple theme.

I stamped "Every Girl and Dog" onto ivory cardstock, colouring her with Prismacolor pencils, and adding a little bit of glitter with Gel pens to her collar, waistband and shoes.  A piece of washi tape was added for them to stand on and for overall balance before both 'Girl' and 'Dog' were fussy cut and popped onto dimensionals.  With just a smidgen trimmed from the sides of the flowers, it allowed a co-ordinating backing to be added which in turn leaves a very narrow border.

Happy Crafting!

 www.wickedwednesdayatc.blogspot.com.au

Take a Box

Good afternoon folks, I'm back again with a cute (I think, anyway) little 3D scene in a box.  I like to have a little fiddle around with layering and this week's challenge at Stampotique is to "Take a Box", which is perfect to create a little scene.

This is actually half a box which was left over from a few weeks ago when I was trying to make a lid to fit properly - let me just say I have a couple of bottoms without lids!  Anyhow, as this box was a bit wide, I cut it in half, slid the two pieces to where I wanted them for this little stable and glued them back into place.

The background and awning paper is all from Kaisercraft, with the special delivery notice from Graphic 45.

I stamped "Reindeer" from Stampotique onto a piece of lightly patterned paper and fussy cut him out.  I added a touch of colour to his nose, eyes, tail and bell.  

"Picket Fence" also from Stampotique, was stamped onto patterned paper and fussy cut, leaving the bottom edge to be tucked under the front edge of the box.

A dot of Liquid Pearl 'onyx pearl' was added to the top of the special delivery notice.

This little box was quite fun to make and for "Reindeer" to make his first appearance on this blog!

Happy Crafting!

Purrfectly Simple

Well, here I am back again - two days running - WOW!!!

The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers have a new challenge
K is for Kitty
and I knew exactly which kitty I would use to play along.

Today I've used the alcohol inks on gloss card as my background, unlike yesterday when I stamped directly onto the card.  You never quite know what you are going to get when using alcohol inks, and this was no exception.  I hadn't quite gone to the edges and was thinking of cutting the card down so no white would show, but then I got looking at it and decided I'd leave the edge as it was.  It almost gives a two dimensional look but it is just one piece of card.

Anyhow, movin' along, I fell in love with this kitty as soon as I saw it and she/he has been in my stash of stamps ever since.

I stamped "Cat's Meow" from Stamp-It (2003) twice onto white card stock.  He/she is coloured with black, dark grey and light grey watercolour pencils, blending them with a blender pen.  I then cut both images out, although one image leaves off the tail and back legs.  The top of the cat down to the shoulders is glued directly over the first image and the legs are popped up on tiny foam squares to give a 3D appearance (although you'll have to take my word for that as it is hard to see in the photo).

As kitty needed something to sit on, a piece of sparkly lace washi (style) tape was added, leaving the white border.  "the Queen of everything" (Stampotique) was stamped down the side, kitty was glued into place and a piece of ribbon finished it off. 
This is more a bookmark than tag but I guess it could be used for either.

I really like how this bookmark turned out with the mottled background, so much so that I'll think I'll have another play with gloss card and alcohol inks!

Happy Crafting!
 

Admit One

I'm not very consistent when it comes to challenges, although I do enjoy playing along.  October tends to be a rather busy month and so not very much crafting was done.  However, it is now November and with less on my calendar, I should be able to start playing more.

Today I am combining a couple of challenges, 

Wicked Wednesday with the theme "Lots of Stripes", and

Stampotique Designers Challenge where the theme is "Bright Colours"

Introducing "Ellie", one of my new stamps from Stampotique.  This is the first appearance of Ellie and she looks all ready to party!

The striped paper arrived in my letterbox in a 'random act of craftiness' yesterday, just in time to use in this challenge.  I cut it to ATC size and glued it to some co-ordinating card for weight.  Ellie was stamped onto gloss card that was sitting in my stash from when I was playing around with Alcohol Inks a while back.  I thought this suited Ellie quite well although in the right light, the brown splodges are actually a copper colour.

Ellie was again stamped onto white cardstock and her hat and trunk were cut and coloured before glueing back into place.   

The bunting/banner are washi tape that I bought at a craft show last weekend.  The admit one is also washi tape that I had in my stash.  To finish off, Ellie was popped onto dimensionals.

Happy Crafting!

Be Yourself

Earlier this week I received my first ever stamp order from Katzelkraft.  I have seen these used by overseas friends, but to my knowledge they have never come on the Australian market.  So I was very excited when my order arrived and couldn't wait to have a play.

 They stamped beautifully straight away.  I also created masks for them, gave them backgrounds and added some appropriate words.

They are all so quirky and I simply cannot decide which is my favourite.

I edged each with 'black soot' Distress Ink and finished with a black ribbon.

These bookmarks will be left at random places as part of Art Abandonment - hope whoever finds them enjoys their uniqueness!

Happy Crafting!

 

Edith & Miranda

October has been a bit of a busy month which hasn't left much time to play, but that hasn't stopped me from buying some new stamps.  Last Saturday my friend and I headed off to the Penrith Papercraft Show to look at all the goodies on display, but you can't go to a craft show and not buy anything, right?  Hmmm .... these two lovely ladies accompanied me home - introducing

Edith & Miranda

These lovely stamps come from Eclectic Images, a company that I generally only find at craft shows.  I thought I'd start with something simple hence the bookmarks.  They are all stamped in Archival 'Jet Black' ink directly onto the card, with a second image stamped and cut out to form a mask.  The backgrounds were then stamped around them.

If Miranda had been at the Melbourne Cup yesterday, she could have taken out the award for best dressed!

Each of the girls was coloured using watercolour pencils and a blender pen.

These bookmarks will probably be placed somewhere for someone to find as Art Abandonment.

Be sure to come back again to see what other new stamps have made their way into my stash!

Happy Crafting!

 

Happy 21st Birthday

This is a month for birthdays, fourteen to be exact; however that doesn't mean everyone receives a card.  Some get a FB message, some a TXT message and a couple of unlucky ones get ...er... forgotten! (gasp, horror)  Then there are the 21st birthdays, three this month who will all receive an appropriate card.

This card was a quick make on Saturday morning before we headed off for lunch celebrations.  Luckily I'd made a similar one only a week or so ago (using "Gooseneck") and so this card came together very quickly using "Heart throb" instead (both from Stampotique).

Heart throb's balloons, hat and gift are from Tim Holtz "Crazy Things" and co-ordinate quite well. All the images were coloured, fussy cut and either glued or popped up on the background paper.  To make up for not having a 21st stamp, if you look closely you will see that the wrapping on the gift has tiny 21s all over it.  

 Silly me forgot to take a photo of the other card, along with two Doctor Who cards that were also made at short notice!!!  (Must be old age creeping up?)

Oh well, back to the drawing board ............

Happy Crafting!!!

Bad Idea

This week's theme at Wicked Wednesday ATC Challenge is 

"Orange & Black"

so with 'spiced marmalade' Distress Ink and a blender sponge, off I went!

After colouring the ATC, I stamped the web and stars ("Happy Hauntings" from Graphic 45) and then stamped "Mr Stripes" from Stampotique at the end of the web.  I stamped him again another two times, coloured, fussy cut and popped his body onto dimensionals.  To give his body a bit more dimension, I went over his stripes with 'majestic purple' and 'onyx pearl' Perfect Pearls, then put him aside to let dry.

Mr Stripes' face was coloured with a purple Gelly Roll pen, the words are from "Barcode Text #2" (Stampotique) and to finish, black Distress Ink was inked on the edges and the ATC was adhered to a black card.

I wasn't sure about the first ATC, so made a second one but in this instance, Mr Stripes is coloured with the Gelly Roll pen.

The background started off with crackle paint (done some weeks ago just to check how well it would crackle) with the 'spiced marmalade' added over the top.

Mr Stripes was also mounted onto black card and to finish him off, I gave him beady eyes with dots of Perfect Pearls.

To see the other entries in this week's challenge, please go to

Wicked Wednesday ATC Challenge

See you soon ....

Happy Crafting!!!

 

hello ...

Tracey, who runs Craftanoon, was spraying some flowers with Dylusions Ink in the afternoon and as there was leftover ink on the craft mat, I was able to use a couple of pre-cut ATCs to mop up the excess.

My friend Jenni, had brought along some new stamps and I decided Agatha Flower (Stampotique) was the perfect size for one of the mop-up ATCs.  I watercoloured her using Distress Inks (they are so versatile), fussy cut her, added some washi tape that I had just purchased from the Craftanoon shop and then popped her onto dimensionals.  I stamped 'hello' (also one of Jenni's stamps) to finish off.

I then decided to make a second ATC, again with Agatha, but ......

..... alas, I still had some pale green ink on my water brush and so this Agatha is not feeling very well!  And to top it off, when I was fussy cutting, her leg almost got severed (hanging on by a whisker).  I glued it so she's just resting her foot on the flower stem - oops!

Oh well, I got a fit of the giggles at this stage, you have to see the funny side of things!  I'll be back again after I've calmed down, LOL!!!

Happy Crafting!!!

 

An Angel to Love

One of the things that Craftanoon does each time, is set a couple of challenges.  One of the challenges is to use something out of the 'goodie bag' which each person receives, and while most of the ladies are busy with layouts, I played with another new stamp on a tag.

Now I know this isn't the most exciting tag I've ever made but I was reasonably happy as this was the first time I had stamped up this lovely girl.  She is from the set "An Angel to Love" by Carabelle Studios and is available from Time to Create in Australia.

The flowers were in our goodie bags so I wanted the outfit to reflect those colours.  She is coloured using three different Distress Inks with just a pop of Gelly Roll ink to add a little sparkle.

See you again soon,

Happy Stamping!!!

Xmas calories don't count

Well, here I am again, hot on the heels of yesterday's post

with another Crazy Bird.

Yes, I know it's a little early for Christmas but ......

The background is Distress Inks blended together and the words are Dylusions.

I stamped Crazy Bird directly onto the tag and then again another two times and fussy cut around the two images. He was watercoloured using Distress Inks and a water brush.  The white fluffy edge and pompom on his Santa hat have a little sparkle thanks to my clear Wink of Stella pen.  Lastly I added the candy cane and finished with a red ribbon.

I can see it's going to be fun dressing up the Crazy Birds, can't wait to play again!

Happy Crafting!!!

 

Halloween already?

I skipped off to Craftanoon with my friend Jenni on Saturday, for a day of crafting fun.  I took along a few stamp sets including a new one I grabbed off the shelf last week which seems to be scarce as hen's teeth at the moment - squeeee!!!

I already had "Bird Crazy" but now I also have the accessories "Crazy Things", so I thought I'd start with a little halloween fun.

The background is created in a bokeh style using Distress Inks and the Crazy Bird stamped directly onto the tag.  He is then stamped again onto extra card along with the hat and pumpkin lantern and fussy cut before colouring.  A glittery purple ribbon finishes the tag off nicely.

I'll be back again shortly with another Crazy Bird, so don't go too far away!

Happy Crafting!!!

Floriade & More #2

After roaming the gardens of Floriade this morning, we went to the Australian War Memorial which currently has an ANZAC exhibition as 2015 is the centenary year.  There is much to look at/read about here and is well worth visiting.  Two hours just wasn't long enough.

Our visit to the War Memorial finished with a Service of Remembrance of a fallen soldier and the Last Post.

Looking from the Australian War Memorial to Parliament House.

We returned to our hotel briefly to grab some warm jackets before making our way to Floriade's night events (see previous post).

After a good night's sleep and a yummy brekkie, we decided to visit the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex which was really interesting.

There are quite a number of interesting artifacts and astronomy items exhibited here, including a piece of moon rock, space food and a space suit among other things.

Ah, nothing like pretending to be a spaceman!

Listening to the universe!

And so we headed home, having enjoyed our mini break away.

Floriade & More

..... and now for something completely different

(from craft, that is)

On Tuesday, my DH and I set off on a road trip to Canberra, mainly to look at the gorgeous flowers at Floriade, but also to stop and look at sights along the way.

Our first stop was at Fitzoy Falls in the Southern Highlands.  These falls are quite high and go straight down to the bottom, and although there is a viewing platform, to really see them you have to lean out a little.  Ugh!  not this little scaredy cat!  It really doesn't help when you can see through the platform you are standing on and you're looking at the floor of the valley - eeeek!

This is a view of the top of Fitzroy Falls through the trees along the track. 

We then followed the track around to another lookout with more falls

but this time we were standing on solid ground - phew!

As we returned to the car and the continuation of our drive to Canberra, the rain started but luckily only lasted half an hour or so.  We arrived at our hotel in Canberra around 6.30pm and then met up with our good friend for dinner.

We joined him again on Wednesday for our walk around the gardens of Floriade.

The theme for Floriade this year was ANZAC day as it is the centenary year.  This wall was full of poppies that people were placing and the word 'reflection' was actually a mirror.

There are such a beautiful assortment of tulips planted in the gardens with under-plantings of other spring flowers.  Here we have gorgeous little pansies.

I love poppies as they always remind me of my grandmother who grew them in her front garden.

These interesting critters were walking around the gardens.

Looking across the beds of tulips.

The tunnel of flower lights were beautiful by day and night!

We had tickets to return for the night event which only runs over 5 nights.  Lots of pretty lanterns, colours and entertainment.  T'was just a wee bit chilly though with the cold coming straight from Antartica!  We were glad of some hot soup for a dinner snack.

We then headed back to our hotel for the night.

I'll be back with part 2 of our short break later.