Stamping CAS style

New letter, new word for this fortnight at the Craft Barn. This time we must add a heart!

I decide to follow a CAS approach to give my stamped image space to breathe.

I stamped 3 Hibiscus of various sizes (stamp sheet from Rubber Dance) with India ink markers (Faber Castell), although the little one (at the back) had some Spun sugar Distressed ink applied first to get a lighter colour.
It took me a while to find the perfect combination of paper (smooth stamping) and media (Big Brush pen) before achieving the depth of colour and the detailed effect I had in mind.

Since I had to include a heart I decided to use a felt shape as my base for the letter instead of a stamp die-cut as per my previous page. The letter is a die-cut from a very old Sizzix strip (Monde de Blonde) which I don't use very much because I can't get it to cut neatly in my machine. [I had to finish it with the craft knife]

Finally the dictionary definition of the word, very predictably, Flower!

Thanks for coming by,

Also entering the SSS Wednesday, Stamploration CAS and Stamploration Theme & Sketch challenges

3 is better than 1

Today I am guesting over at the Rubber Dance blog with a Valentine inspired make.

I can't resist photo realistic stamps so I couldn't wait to ink the Nostalgic Couples set from Rubber Dance. And one image wasn't enough... so how do you fit more than one image on a card?

I found the solution in the form of this Accordion die (Crafters Companion). I chose to have 3 panels but you can add as many as you want!

From left to right the 3 chosen images are organised in a chronological order, young (courting), older and married, older still, but together!

Each of the image has been stamped with Versamark and I applied chalks (pastel) on top in red and black. Once finished I cleaned up some of the stray powder using blue tack..

I added a heart border (Docrafts die) and some white embossed words/motif from the same Nostalgic Couples plate.

Many thanks to Bibi for having me on her blog, I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Happy Valentine's!

This Accordion card is entering the  Live and Love crafts, Tando Creative and Penny Black and more challenges.

First Love

Can't avoid it, it's February and card making is all about lurve...

Actually I don't mind, because I have the perfect stamp, one that combines my preference for photo realistic images and a Vintage feel.

First I had fun making a background with a Lindy Stamp gang spray, a Chicken wire stencil and some coloured Grunge paste (Paper Artsy) on a piece of watercolour paper.

I stamped my image and a quote (from a full Rubber Dance stamp sheet) on a separate piece of cardstock with Versafine black ink.

I combined 2 paper ric rac die-cuts with a punched heart border and placed a UTEE heart embellishment, which I have dusted with gold mica powder.

Not sure the male in my life will like it but I hope you will!
Thanks for coming by,

I am entering the Country View Crafts (Make your own background), We love to create, Penny Black & More, That's Crafty and SSS Wednesday challenges

Splatters & Drips background

Despite my paper mountain, I like nothing more than making my own background, which is why I chose Splatters and drips for the latest Vintage Stamping Challenge.

I had  no plan when I started and I have been entirely led by how my drips turned out...  I found them mesmerizing and couldn't bear to touch them:

I used my rock paper (made of rocks but also plastic as I found out) which is completely impervious to water. It has a slight grainy texture and this is what creates the patterns in the colours as the paint settles in the dips of the paper. To make my drips I used acrylic inks (Izinks).


I stamped my Fifties Girl and thought about paper piecing her to make her stand out from the background, but first, I tried painting some white over her dress to see if that would be enough.

Not quite, but I liked the effect of her coming out of that background and this is how my sentiment was born. It's supposed to be humoristic and I really don't know if it is or not!

I hope this inspires you to drip & splatter paint with abandon in the interest of Art and come and show us at Vintage Stamping Challenges . You could win a $20 voucher to spend at Flonzcraft, our lovely sponsor,  and your make doesn't need to be Vintage... it just needs to showcase some stamping (rubber, clear, foam etc...) but NO digis.
Thanks for coming by,

Also entering the Country View (Make your own background)challenge

Triplet of Valentine's ATCs

Less than 2 weeks to Valentine's Day and it's all hearts and red! Not my favourite, red, but an excellent accent colour to wake up underwhelming colour schemes. Paper Artsy want to see hearts and have shown some beautiful projects on the blog using special substrates such as glass and fabric.
But that seemed too challenging...

Did you hear about the Distress Crayons from Tim Holtz? These have had great publicity since their CHA debut and I wondered if they were the same as the Gelatos. (Until they land on this side of the pond we won't know for sure but the consensus is "pretty similar")

Which reminded me I must use them more... So I played with a Tando Creative stencil (Random Circles) and Gelatos on 3 ATCs using different colours but with one unifying theme (Hearts) and accent colour (red).

First I stamped the script stamp from the Paper Artsy ESN10 stamp set with Black Versafine ink, then I applied Vanilla Fresco paint through the stencil, coloured the ATC's with Gelatos and finally removed some of the colour with a wet wipe.

The large heart is a Tim Holtz die-cut, painted dark red, with a layer of crackle glaze and a bright red layer on top. The arrow is from the same steel rule die.

I find dealing with the small size of ATCs difficult but at the same time working on them is liberating as, when it doesn't work, there isn't much to lose, time wise of supplies wise!

Thanks for coming by,

Also entering That's Crafty, SSS Monday and Bunny Zoe and Craft Barn challenges.

Alphabet Challenge Letter Q

Things are getting tougher on the Dictionary challenge... The Craft Barn have given us the letter Q and there aren't too many words to play with.

I settled on Quaint and chose one of my oldest stamp to illustrate the word.

The stamp is from Art Kure, and represents Ponsworthy (Dartmoor). I stamped it in black dye ink and coloured it with alcohol markers.

I added the letter Q using an old alphabet stamp set and a stamp die from the Square Accordion set (Crafters companion).
     --- I also added the letter B to my previous page as I realised it was missing *sheepish look on face* after publishing the post!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and keep on crafting!

Also entering the SSS Wednesday challenge .

Lace, Bits & Bobs

At Crafty Individuals, the theme for the January challenge is Lace, Bits & Bobs. I thought I should go for a shabby chic attempt on a scrapbook layout.

The lovely girl in the picture is NOT one of my relatives! I found her on my internet travels... I would have chosen one of mine but they aren't as lovely and clear as this one.

I transformed the base paper with Fresco paints (Paper Artsy) and the Crafty Individuals Inky Script stamp (CI-436). Later on I decided to give more colours with Gelatos in pink and light green.

I used a doily which I distressed with Tattered Rose and a piece of paper as a matt for the photo. I first punched (Martha Stewart) around the page and then sprayed some Lindy's stamp gang Starburst in Bougainvillea Fuschia. Wow this is STRONG! And it should have highlighted my stencilled texture but the dye reached under the transparent paste and spoiled the effect.

I stamped the lady from CI-285 and the perfume bottles from CI-341 and added a heart made with molten EP directly poured on the stamp (CI-342). The black rose in the lower left corner is also made out of EP this time in a mould (Wow).
A number of buttons were stuck with thick gel and painted with gesso and acrylic inks. I had to tone the bright colours down in order for them to fit in with the rest of the page, I use Distress inks for that.

Thanks for coming by,

 

Vintage inspiration

My favourite theme being Vintage, I was inspired by both the Vintage Journey and the We Love Vintage challenges. The first has a theme of travel and the second... not entirely sure as Google translate let  me down and, despite having spent inordinate amounts of time in the Netherlands, the Dutch I picked up could be written on the back of a (small) envelope. Actually strike that, since I wouldn't even know how to write the few words I did learn!
Anyway, I think it had something to do with lace and an edge, I hope I have fulfilled the remit, if not, you have my apologies.

For my background I used a Tim Holtz/Sizzix embossing folder (Eiffel Tower), inked up with Distress inks, sprayed lightly before running through the die-cutting machine. Such an easy technique for a colourful background! I added highlights with chalk for more variety as my base cardstock (kraft colour) is quite dark.

My focal image had to be from the The Journey stamp set (Stampers Anonymous CMS021) and I used Distress inks to age it.

For embellishments, in addition to the lace, I added some Calico Crafts gears/cogs and a DIY cog I embossed with a mix of embossing powders.

Thanks for coming by,

Also entering the Artistic Stamper, We Love To Create challenges.

Bottles

New Year new challenge at the Craft Barn... This year it's a dictionary challenge and the first letter we have been given is B. Coincidentally,  Paper Artsy's challenge first topic of the year is "Transparent" and Country View Crafts first challenge theme is Bottles, so without the need for imagination (my mojo is still not back to normal after the holidays) I had my theme!

For my background, a very loose "wall" was stencilled in blue Distress ink and a table top in Antique Linen. Both stencils were created with Tim Holtz Mixed Media Thinlit dies.
For the bottles, I used the stamps from Paper Artsy Hot picks 1203, 1204, 1205 with Archival ink on acetate.
I coloured my bottles with alcohol pen from the reverse and glued them on the background with glossy accents.

One last thing to finish this page... the dictionary definition.

Please tell me what  you think of this page in your comments!

Also entering the SSS Monday challenge.

Black & White and Another colour (Follow your heart)

Guess who's back on the Rubber Dance blog?!!! Yes, I was invited back and today I am showing a card I made with some of the stamps released in December which I am inking for the first time!
I have been wanting some Art themed stamps for a while and the Artist Plate is just perfect.

My make is following the Rubber Dance challenge's colours for January.

I stamped individually some of the brushes using masks and kept them in place for the background stamping of 2 textures stamps:

• in blue the Diamonds, one of the background from the ATC Backgrounds 1 plate and
• in black the grid pattern from  the Stitch and Frame set.

The sentiment is partially stamped on the card and the last word on a small wooden heart. This heart  came with my last Rubber Dance order and I thought it would be fun to include it here.

A pool of blue watercolour finishes the card, I chose Prussian Blue of course!
Thanks for coming by,

Also entering the Craft Stamper and SSS Wednesday challenges.

Metal and chalk

Tim Holtz is reviewing some of his "old" techniques in his 12 tags of 2016 and January is a very industrial mix of metal and chalkboard. I was inspired to try ...

For a complete step by step I will refer you to the master over here as I followed the steps fairly closely. My focal image, stamped on black cardstock, is an image by Katzelkraft, or rather a very small portion, and represents a helicoidal clock, which I thought could be suitable for a Steampunk vibe.

I tried to make it stand out a bit more by popping up the spiral with increasing heights of foam pads but not enough to show in the picture.

To emboss the tag I used a Docrafts Plaid embossing folder, as on metal I thought it looked industrial.

I replaced the metal embellishment by an embossed word on the same black cardstock as I felt I needed that extra contrast of stark white against black with the rest of the tag being so grey! (Yes I know it looks blue in the photo.... the weather is just not cooperative and the natural light is hard to come by)


Thanks for coming by,

Also entering the Sandy & Amelie Steampunk, WOW Embossing powder and We Love To Create challenge.

New Year, New stash

Don't you love January... After Christmas and crafty sales there is new stash to be tried and played with, yeah!! Hence the theme of the Vintage Stamping Challenges this month.

My new stash is the Tonic Studio Twined Lily Square Die set, although the Flonzcraft stamp I used is also on its first outing. It's  Drinking Tea, also available in the Art Nouveau Silhouettes sheet. Don't you love the oh so delicate details?

I die-cut my frame twice, once with black Core'dination and once with white cardstock, using the white inside for my stamping.
For the backing I used a Melissa Frances 6x6 paper and inked the edges with Distress inks.
A punched border from pink dotty paper (Martha Stewart) and an ivory ric-rac die-cut provide a bit of a colour contrast whilst a sheer ribbon bow adds that finishing touch for this very feminine card.

I hope this inspires you to pull out your stamping stash and to show us at Vintage Stamping Challenges what new supplies have excited you. You could win a $20 voucher to splurge at Flonzcraft, our lovely sponsor,  and your make doesn't need to be Vintage... it just needs to showcase some stamping (rubber, clear, foam etc...) but NO digis.

Thanks for coming by,

Also entering the Live & Love Crafts, Allsorts, Stamping Sensations, Penny Black and more, That Craft Place  and SSS Monday challenges.