Christmas shine

Christmas is the time where glitter is a pre-requisite rather than an afterthought so I decided to finally have a go at a glitter technique I have seen many moons ago (we are talking years here...).

It's a very simple technique, on a stamped image apply a double sided adhesive sheet, rubbing with a bone folder to ensure a perfect bond, then a fine glitter over the top. Preferably a white/transparent glitter... but mine is blue so the result is not as good as it should, let's face it, it does cover the image a little bit too much. However it SHINES!!!

I then decided to substitute glitter for mica powders as they are finer so should work better than my blue glitter. This was quite fun as I proceeded to "paint" the mica over the image with a brush, in different colours of mica. Rather successful experiment, I think. Although you'll have to look at the photograph below to actually see the design as, even with the cloudy weather, the mica just bounce the light at this angle!





For my last experiment I had the curiosity to try the double sided adhesive technique with a non shiny substance... Fun Flock, and although it does dampen the image's colours quite a bit I like the result.

And finally all tags together.

The Hollie Hobby Christmas stamp is an old freebie from a magazine and I coloured the images with alcohol markers.

What is your favourite result?

I am entering my glitter tag in the Live and Love craft, Bunny Zoe's Crafts and Tando Creative (W2) challenges.
And all of my tags enter the SSS Wednesday and Craft Barn challenges.

Bleu Blanc Rouge

I am making another appearance on the Rubber Dance blog today and I have made something quite different (for me).


From the title you might guess (correctly) that this is about the French flag. But those are also the colours of the Rubber Dance challenge this month.

Paris has a special place in my heart and with very little in the way of supplies I managed to get the page to "say" what I wanted to say.
Distress inks create a French flag background.
Marianne's Eiffel Tower die-cut is symbolic for Paris
The word Souvenir is both for Paris as a tourist destination and for the remembrance of the victims.


The word Always is illustrating famous Casablanca film quote "We'll always have Paris".
In combination these words also deliver their message.


Both stamps are from Rubber Dance, Souvenir from Travel and Always from Nostalgic Couples.




For those new to Rubber Dance stamps, if you want to try their stamps without breaking the bank check this blog post for special offers. And err.. yes I have been unable to resist so I got a big grab bag...



Thanks for coming by,

Also entering the Penny Black and more challenge.

It's....Frosty

It's now all hands on deck for a last flurry of Christmas cards... I realise now I may have underestimated the number I need so I must get on!























The background is a piece of white core cardstock embossed with a Fiskars Snowflakes plate and sanded back. A recycled tag brings some sparkle with the holographic word and a small gem. The door die-cut is from Memory box. I used stamps from my Rubber Dance grab bag (if you want yours I have a link top right), namely the silver embossed Winter wishes tag and Baby it's Cold sign both from the Winter Wonderland set. And behind the door...

It's Mr Frosty the snowman!!! also from Rubber Dance. I coloured the image with alcohol markers . Thanks for coming by,

Mr Frosty is entering the following challenges: SSS Wednesday Challenge, That Craft Place, Polka Doodle, SSS Monday Challenge, Inkychicks, WOW Embossing powders

Winter Trees

We have reached the final challenge for this year at Vintage Stamping Challenges  and I wanted to make something different, something a bit theatrical, a grand finale for Christmas. And the theatre box was born...

In my box I was trying to create the impression of looking through trees to the lit window of a house on that special night. I hope I have succeeded!

My lit window is the Girl with Bird stamp, from Flonzcraft also available in a large stamp sheet full of silhouettes.









I die-cut round apertures of increasing sizes in each of my panels and decorated them with die-cuts:
* stars: Papertrey Ink (centre of Snowflakes)
* Tree branches, Deer and Christmas tree: Memory Box
I cut the tree branches and Christmas tree from a piece of watercolour paper on which I had tested Brushos, not very successful as a background, but I loved the variegated look it gave the die-cuts. Quite pleased I saved it from the bin...

Hop over to the Vintage Stamping Challenge blog to see what the rest of the DT has made this month. Join us in showcasing some winter trees for the chance to win a $20 voucher for the Flonzcraft shop.  Remember your make doesn't need to be vintage but it does need to have some stamping (rubber, polymer, foam...), no digis allowed!
Thanks for coming by,

Also entering the Country View Crafts -Create a scene, Memory Box, Crafty Sentiments, Craft Stamper and That's Crafty challenges.

Gift bag from a blank sheet of paper

The idea for this make is the fusion of the Craft Barn's weekly theme of paper folding and Paper Artsy's fortnightly's theme of  Masterboards.


I first made a Masterboard using Leandra's now famous method, Fresco paints and heavy gel through a stencil. I added background stamping with motifs from ESN10 and EEV06 in colours.
Finally the foreground images all come from Hot Pick 1008 and have been stamped in black.























I was going to add some gilding flakes but decided they are too precious for my bag, which could well join the trash after one outing. Instead, I used a piece of partly used gold foil -ready made distressed look!- here and there using a glue stick.

I made the bag up following the instruction given on the Craft Barn blog here, except I arranged for the glued side to be less intrusive by placing it in the "spine".

I finished the bag by threading some ribbon as handles and voila one unique gift bag!

I forgot to mention the size, this bag is perfect for 5 sets of PA stamps (A5) so I'm keeping it for myself, you know, on the off chance...

I am also entering the Tando Creative (W2)challenge.

Thanks for coming by,

Snowflake aperture card

Never mind Christmas cards I also need a few New Year cards, and ideally I would use the same design to make a batch all at once. The simpler the card, the better, and this idea showcased here is perfect.

I'm using a Papertrey Ink Snowflake die, Distress inks and an Indigo stamp from the Retro Christmas sheet.

I had to add a piece of paper to cover the back of my stamped panel to tidy up but otherwise that's it,  bar adding the appropriate greeting (Christmas or New Year) if I feel it's absolutely essential later.

Have you got any recipes for quick Christmas/New Year cards?

I am entering the IndigoBlu, Country View Crafts (the colour Blue), Polka Doodle, SSS Wednesday Challenge, Uniko Studio and Craft Barn  challenges.

Abstract

Paper Artsy's challenge is Abstract and Leandra showed some very inspiring pieces and fascinating artists' videos.
I started without a plan, but inspired by Michael Lang, and followed Leandra's advice to "go big", OK not as big as Michael, but a 30x40cm panel I prepared by recycling a stiff piece of cardboard (a watercolour pad's backing) and a linen shirt!

I would describe my painting process to you if I could remember but.... anyway it'd be boring and not particularly instructive. Essentially I tinkered... with this colour, that colour (all Fresco paints of course), some glaze... I attempted a circle like Mr Lang but didn't finish it...
Didn't know where to go next but suddenly I "saw" something and picking up that impression, I went with the flow and added a bit of texture with a palette knife just to test out my latest acquisitions from my prize win last week... (thick gel medium BTW).

So here is my abstract in the 4 orientations it could go.

Which one do you prefer, A,B,C or D? Do you "see" something in any one of them? Answers in the comments please....

Here's the one that I chose although I couldn't explain why! I've managed to take this photo in the sun so the colours are a lot truer to life than the above.

Hope you have a great Sunday,

Also entering the We Love 2 Create challenge.

Owl and grey

Time for the November calendar page at the Craft Barn where we need the colour grey and an owl.

Let's get the apologies out of the way first...

The photo is pretty bad but there's just not enough light at the moment, between the days getting shorter and the sun shunning us in the UK so I used the flash.

And the page isn't very good, mainly because I only had one owl (from some magazine freebie) and my image transfer turned into a nightmare and I had no spare owls. Not sure what happened there, I guess it's the type of paper...

I inked my base in grey ink with a brayer and partially stamped the Impression Obsession Branches CAC, having masked the moon first.

To enhance the owl image which looked white after the transfer I added alcohol marker in a few places where I could make out the original design.

Hoping my next (and last page) will go better...

Also entering the Tando Creative(W3) challenge.

Paris sous la neige

As soon as I saw the latest Fashionable Stamping challenge theme and the inspirational makes from the DT I knew I had to join in! Winter in Paris, sounds like the perfect opportunity to show off my Paris stamps...

For the readers wondering what the weather is like in Paris in the winter, it's cold and miserable, not as cold as New York or Helsinki but barely warmer than London. The Côte d'Azur it ain't...

I created my base from Kraft cardstock and used Pan Pastels in light blue, violet and yellow to paint a foggy atmosphere. I had never used Kraft with pastels before and I was surprised to see that whilst the Pan Pastels applied like a dream, regular pastels wiped off all too easily on the Kraft.

I then stamped the lamp post, corner and Paris title from a stamp sheet by Katzelkraft (KTZ50).

The main image, Notre dame church (from the same set) has been stamped with Versafine on watercolour cardstock and coloured with blue and brown Bistres powders.
Then, to complete the Parisian winter I added some "Neige" (snow) with white embossing powder and a stamp from an older Katzelkraft set. Not that it snows that often in Paris, but...
The "Hiver" (winter) word is also from the same Katzelkraft stamp set.

For embellishments, I was keen to use some of my latest stamps, a tag stamp sheet from Crafty Individuals, stamped and embossed on Kraft cardstock. A bit of twine... et voilà, l'hiver Parisien sous la neige!

Thanks for coming by,

Also entering the That's Crafty, SSS Monday Challenge (N is for Neige), We Love To Create, That Craft Place and WOW Embossing powders challenges.

Cardinal

Today I am guesting over the Rubber Dance blog and I am honoured and delighted!

I made a card following this month's challenge colours, using one of their newest stamp which I couldn't resist.... and I'm not a bird person! ** I still haven't fallen prey to TH Crazy Birds **

Anyway, for a full description of how I made this card you will need to visit the Rubber Dance blog here but without further ado, here it is:

Ingredients;
All stamps: Rubber Dance
Dies:           Memory Box Corner and tree branch, Joycrafts leaves
Embossing powder: WOW Pearl Blue
Watercolour: Winsor & Newton
Watercolour pencils: Faber Castell


Thanks for coming by,

Also entering the WOW Embossing powders and Penny Black and more challenges.

3 Times the paint

I had a raging desire to get painty, inky and all around messy in the craftroom this weekend. Time for some mixed media, methinks...

Paper Artsy want Triptychs this fortnight, perfect...

I started my project with only half a plan as is typical for me... it does leave me with problems later but it's more fun this way. Leandra had an inspiring video which I based my project on and I started applying Fresco paints in the same way that she did.
Then I added Distress inks where I wanted more transparent colour. To complete the background I stamped a script (Mini30) with several colours of India ink pens (Faber Castell Big Brush pens), as well as 2 motifs from the ESN10 plate.

Also from Paper Artsy is the focal image which I stamped in dye ink and lost some of its definition in the process. Initially it bothered me, but now, I think the distressed look is quite nice in the context.
Then, it occurred to me that I had quite a large space under my "town" and decided to fill it with a reflection. Had I planned to do this at the start I probably would have remembered to mirror stamp the image, thereby obtaining a near perfect image... but no.., it did not occur and I painted the reflection in with a brush...
On impulse I added 2 journalling phrases from a Rubber Dance plate.

With my triptych finished, I turned my attention to the back, as yet untouched and unplanned... I used a fairly large scrap of Paper Artsy double sided Chatsworth paper, tearing each side apart to get enough to cover the back of my triptych. I transferred the image using gel medium before realising I had to cover it with opaque paint to obliterate the writing underneath. Yep I have been recycling cardboard! Desperation set in and I threw on some acrylics inks and sprayed, resulting in this look:



Finally I die-cut several hinges, following an idea from Alison Bomber seen here with the Tim Holtz/Sizzix Hardware Findings Bigz die.

And in the end, I quite like my triptych warts and all!

I hope you'll like it too but do tell me if I'm deluding myself!

I am also entering this mixed media piece in the That Craft Place, SSS Wednesday Challenge and We Love To Create challenges.

Traditional Christmas

With Halloween behind us the next big event in the crafting calendar is looming large. So at Vintage Stamping Challenges we are concentrating on Christmas, and have chosen Traditional Christmas as our challenge theme this month.

For our Traditional Christmas theme I immediately thought of Graphic 45 and pulled out a few papers from an old collection (including the sentiment).
I used this sweet image from Flonzcraft, our sponsor, and stamped it in black (dye) ink on a very smooth card.

I added some Core'dination cardstock for matting and die-cut the mats to add interest without further bulk.

All layers have been inked all around the edges to give more of a Vintage look and my main image has had the Distress ink treatment (Antique Linen and Walnut inks).

Hop over to the Vintage Stamping Challenge blog to see what the rest of the DT has made this month. Join us in creating a Traditional Christmas make for the chance to win a $20 voucher for the Flonzcraft shop.  Remember your make doesn't need to be vintage but it does need to have some stamping, no digis allowed!

Thanks for coming by,

Also entering the Bunny Zoe's Crafts, Penny Black and more, SSS Wednesday Challenge challenges.