Small silhouette

Today I have a second piece of inspiration for our Country View Challenge where the theme is Silhouettes hosted by Rachel

Recently I have been looking at my scrap stash and resolved to use more of it in a "Use it or lose it" objective to get things back into control. I'm running out of space....

I picked up a piece of photo paper I had used with Distress Oxides, thinking that it might be a good foil to a black silhouette, and so it proved. 
I simply stamped the Lost Coast Umbrella Woman with black ink and die-cut the panel using the Basic A2 Panels Nesting Dies (STAMPlorations). 

If you are new to die-cutting, note that I first cut with scissors the portion of the bag that would have been lost and placed the die under that portion as per the photo:

I added a sentiment from the Born to Roam set (STAMPlorations)  and matted the whole on black cardstock.

I might use this as a card topper, a bookmark, or as part of a quadtych, another UFO project of mine...

I hope I have inspired you to join our Country View Challenge blog, don't forget that there is a £20 voucher for the Country View Craft shop to be won if you do! 

 
Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the Lost Coast Designs challenge. 

The Meerkats family album

Rounding up my posts after the Katzelkraft show on Hochanda the previous week, my last project is a mini album made from a piece of cardstock folded in accordion with greyboard covers.  I kept my favourite project for last... Don't you love it when things actually work out as planned? It doesn't happen often for me, but this time my vision and execution went without a hitch and I am pleased with the result.

It's fairly simple to make but does take a bit of time, mainly in the colouring and fussy cutting!

Inside pages:

I cut a piece of cardstock to be at least 4 times the width of my chosen covers from the That's Crafty! Surfaces Greyboard #5 Tags Pack and scored 4 times, leaving the excess to be cut later as it helps to hold the cardstock while working. 

I applied Distress inks all over, stamped with water and with blue ink on top using the StudioLight Grunge Collection Clear Stamp - 337

I stamped all the Meerkats (Katzelkraft Suricates KTZ216) on these panels and also on a separate piece of smooth cardstock to be coloured (I used coloured pencils) and fussy cut.

The fun Meerkats' expressions immediately suggested some words to me... I printed them on vellum and backed it with adhesive sheet. Vellum hates wet glue and unless the the adhesive is edge to edge it shows.

I did the same on the reverse of the cardstock but only on the 2 middle panels as the outside panels will be glued the covers:

Covers:

I prepared the greyboard tags with Gesso first and applied Distress inks on top. Some water splatters add a bit of interest.

To the back cover I added the Bunny (mini 114) , which I simply stamped directly on the board and coloured with pencils.

For the front cover I first created masks with circles, keeping both "innies" and "outies", as both come into play.

With removable adhesive I affixed the circles before inking the background. When all splatters had dried I removed the circles and placed the "outies", traced the outline with a pen and stamped the heads inside the white circles. Again, I used pencils to colour the Meerkats.

Finally I folded and creased the pages in the accordion shape and stuck first and last pages to the covers.

As the accordion won't lay flat I added a humble rubber band to keep it closed when not on view. A fancy elastic of some sort would have been better but sadly, it's rarer than hens' teeth since makers of face masks have bought all of the stock!

Some photos of the opened book after assembly:

You can catch up the Hochanda shows here and here and you can also find the Katzelkraft stamps at That's Crafty.

And if you want another look at all my samples for the shows (or even a first look) here's a quick slide show: 

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the We Love Chocolate Baroque challenge (I love stamping and I love when it all works out!).

The Exception

Welcome to a new STAMPlorations Theme and Photo Prompt challenge!

The theme and photo prompt are:


Today for my STAMPlorations challenge inspiration make, I called on the Birds of Paradise again to make this almost CAS card. 
I stamped the birds multiple times using hand-cut masks to create the crowd of orangey birds, stamped the last bird in 2 parts, flexing the neck in a curve and filling in the rest of the line with a toothpick dipped into the inkpad.  I used 2 Kaleidacolor inkpads, one in Autumn Leaves and the other in Blue Breeze.
I added the sentiment which is made of 2 of the ones found on the Noteworthy 2 set, skipping the "enough" from the You are enough sentiment. The No 1 is from an old alphabet sheet.

I don't know whether the blue bird is hanging his head in shame at being different or if it's taking a bow at being no 1 but either way it makes me smile... I hope you like it too!

The STAMP girls are showing inspiration for all the challenges on the STAMPlorations blog so pop by and don't forget to link your make for a chance to win.

***

Whenever you shop for STAMPlorations products you can get 20% off with my code: STAMPGIRLCRAFTY

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Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the challenges.
   

Sparkling silhouette

Still some months of cold weather and rain ahead and it looks like this poor girl got caught in a downpour. Should have stayed indoors it's lockdown here anyway!

I suppose I should mention that Silhouette is the new theme at Country View Challenge, which this month is hosted by Rachel.

The background started as a failed alcohol inks experiment, I thought I would try and save it by using Distress inks through stencils (Tim Holtz Layering Stencil - Mini Stencil Set #39), a much easier technique for control! 

I then stamped my image (Visible Image - Sparkle In The Rain) in black.

Then I stamped the rain... I used Versamark only and embossed with clear powder. To give an impression of the rain falling both in front and in the back of the girl, I inked the stamp partially.

Finally I stamped the sentiment in black and embossed with holographic embossing powder for... sparkles! Closer look at this:

In the end I think that my grungy background works well with the stark black silhouette. What do YOU think?
Have a look at what the DT made on the Country View Challenge blog for more inspiration and link up your project to the challenge for the chance to win a £20 voucher for the Country View Craft shop.


Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the Allsorts, Paperbabe, Stamping Sensations challenges.

Wheat or grass?

This is my second set of Katzelkraft samples made for the Hochanda (my first post is here). This time I used the Wheat Fields image to create 2 CAS cards.

First a classic landscape, as realistic as I could make it: 

Using my stamping platform, I stamped the Wheat fields (KTZ118) with several colours of inks, mixing Distress and Distress Oxides. Do be careful not to cross-contaminate inkpads by cleaning the stamps between ink types!
I did a second stamping, offset to the right of the first, with slightly paler colours.

With the blade of grass in place, I added the sky and background grass, indicated with a light dusting of Distress inks.
I added a bird which is also on a Katzelkraft stamp, BIGZ (KTZ137).

Next, a more whimsical make with the Meerkats peering over the "grasses" as is natural to them.

To create the impression the Meerkats are behind the grasses, I stamped and embossed them first, using coloured inks and clear powder.

Then I stamped one of the meerkat from the set (Suricates - KTZ216) 3 times, changing the colours and height as if they were different individuals.

I coloured the meerkats with pencils.  

The sentiment is a Unity stamp (set or name unknown)

And, as I kept the best for last, do come back to check my Meerkats family album which will be published in the coming days.

You can catch the Hochanda shows on replay here and here.

Thanks for coming by,

I am entering the SSS Wednesday, Paperbabe challenges.

Rabbits and Flamingo

Today I am publishing the first of 3 posts to show the samples I made for the Katzelkraft show on Hochanda this Monday (22nd of February)

First an ATC trio made on That's Crafty! White/Greyboard ATC's 

I made the backgrounds with Distress Oxides inks as the ATC board is white and doesn't need to be gessoed first. I stencilled with an older Carabelle stencil (Weft Fabric and Numbers) and a even older TCW (Chickenwire reversed).

I also took advantage of the board's surface to stamp the Flamingo with several colours of ink (favourite technique!):

I coloured the rabbits with water based markers as I didn't have the right colours of alcohol markers and this didn't allow for subtle blending.

The more I looked at the Flamingo and the more I could see a flower... so I tried!

I simply inked the body of the bird and stamped it 5 times in pink ink before colouring with pencils.

There you have it... Let me know if you liked those and watch out for my next post featuring the Wheat fields stamp, with Meerkats thrown in...

You can catch the Hochanda shows on replay here and here.

Thanks for coming by,

I am entering the We Love Chocolate Baroque, Paperbabe, Lost Coast Designs challenges.

Chirp chirp

Welcome to my second inspiration post for the Country View Challenge where the theme is First Signs of Spring, chosen by the lovely Miriam.
I read somewhere one of the signs of spring is birds singing, one species in particular but I can't remember which. So I hope this here robin will do...

I stamped the robin (Crafty Individuals CI-507) and coloured the image with pencils. The sky and grass were done with Distress Inks and a brush.
I used 3 different patterned papers to mat and layer and voila...

I hope you are inspired to join in our challenge with your Spring makes. Don't forget that you could win a £ 20 voucher if you do...   

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the Stamping Sensations and We Love Chocolate Baroque, challenges.

Round up of Lovely makes

Last, but not least, my remaining projects created with the Craft O'clock Lovely When You Smile collection. 

Sorry there was a bit of an interruption but I was dealing a real life stuff as my other half  was in hospital. (No, not Covid!)

First a small book to hold tags, made with a single 12x12 scrapbook paper: 

To decorate the front I used an image from the Junk Journal extras, backed by the "inside" of a square frame and added a ribbon for closure. I used tissue tape (Tim Holtz/ideology) on the spine and edges of the book.

I decided to give a shape to the folded edge for added interest.

All the tags, except the largest, were cut from the Extras. The largest made from scraps of 8x8 paper. 
Of course, I could put other things rather than tags.



My next Mixed Media creation on a round MDF panel, from That's Crafty, on which I stuck a piece of the 6x6 paper pad.
I sprayed Distress Oxide... and I know you will think pink was involved, but no, actually, I used Blueprint and Antique Linen. So I'm guessing there are pink pigments in the Blueprint that reacted with my next layer of crackle!

The focal point is one of the figure from the Extras 12x12 sheet which I fussy cut and watercoloured, before popping up on foam pads, accompanied by other fussy cut elements from the same sheet.

That's all folks... I hope you enjoyed this mini series of posts.

Thanks for coming by,

Daft Odile

I know... it's only February but we are so keen to see better weather that we are looking for the first signs of Spring for our Country View Challenge, which, this month, is hosted by Miriam. I am not entirely au fait with the fauna and flora announcing spring so do excuse me if my choice is too early or too late in the season!

I used a Daffodil stamp from Creative Stamping (Issue 65) on its first ever outing. I stamped with coloured inks and added pencil shading directly on my base card.

The sentiment is made up of 2 die-cuts, both from Papertrey ink.
As a final touch, I added the die-cut waste from some earlier project cut out of thick glitter paper.

Simple but I think it does have a certain Spring vibe...

Over to you now, have a look at what the DT made on the Country View Challenge blog and link up your project to the challenge for the chance to win a £20 voucher for the Country View Craft shop.

Thanks for coming by,

More square inspiration

Today I am back with a second inspiration make for our Country View Challenge, which this month is hosted by Corrie, who chose "Use a square" as the theme.  This time I made some coasters (square of course) starting with a simply stamped scene with Katzelkraft stamps from the Fruitful set):

As much as I like the stamping (I managed to extend the splash image without hiccups) the colours are underwhelming and the white background may be too stark. I might start again and make a matching coaster to this next one:

The focal image is from the Shabby Chic Stampendous set, by Andy Skinner, the antique products labels/adverts are the perfect size and style for the coasters. The corners are from Crafty Individuals.

After stamping  I applied some Distress Ink in Vintage Walnut all around and added a layer of crackle paste, "highlighted" (or is it "lowlighted"?) with more Walnut Distress Ink.

I hope we gave you ideas to join in our challenge, if you do, you could win a £ 20 voucher! Only one week left, so don't be square and link your makes!  

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the SSS Wednesday, Stamping Sensations (Katzelkraft stamps and Vintage images are my favourites),  challenges.

Papers and paints

Here is a second set of makes with the Craft O'Clock So Lovely When You Smile collection. 

First a Mixed Media creation, using a large MDF tag from a the That's Crafty sampler pack.

I prepared the tag with Gesso and then applied several colours of Paper Artsy Fresco paints with palette knife and brush.
Then I stencilled in several places some texture paste tinted with more Fresco paint through the Crafter's Workshop TCW454S stencil.
I layered pieces of the different papers and muslin, and added my frame sprayed with shimmering grey ink and highlighted with gold paint. Inside the frame I placed a paper doll, chosen for her smile...
Finally a bird die-cut from the Chipboard pack echoes the fussy cut bird from the extras sheet, which I painted in watercolours (the paper will accept the paint very well in small doses).
A sideways look at the tag :

My second offering of the day is a very simple design suggested by one of the 8x8 paper, this elongated flower composition screamed Slimline card to me and I couldn't think of anything to add but matting and layering to enhance the image so I just added a sentiment to finish.

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the SSS Wednesday challenge.

It's only paper

Over the next few days, I will be sharing all the projects I did for the That's Crafty  shows aired today on Hochanda . They were all made with the Craft O' Clock "So Lovely When You Smile" collection, a Vintage inspired feminine paper collection.
There are 12x12, 8x8 and 6x6 paper packs and extras sheets for fussy cutting as well as thick die cuts and a pack of ready to cut envelopes, folders, tags etc... I found that last item invaluable to make embellishments for albums or journals, especially as the sheets are double sided so any unused design doesn't need to go to waste.

First up a card with lots of layers of paper, including fussy cut elements, and to the surprise of my loyal followers not a scrap of stamping...

Second a mini album, constructed with black card stock, each page decorated with a panel from the sheet of extras - Decorative cards. There is also an envelope and a pocket from the Junk Journals extras and a chipboard frame and tab from the Thick cardboard die-cuts pack.



Click on the video to see all the pages:

I hope you like these, do let me know in your comments...

Thanks for coming by,

I am entering my square card in the SSS Wednesday challenge.