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.

Completed calendar 2016

Edited on 07/01 I have added pictures of all 12 pages

As a fitting post for this end of year I thought I would show you quickly my completed calendar 2016.


I used a small ring binder mechanism to hold my pages together but didn't fix it to a cover in case I want to use it again.
And now I can tell you without spoiling the surprise that I used the Spellbinder Grand Creative Book Pages set to die-cut my pages.

The increasing sizes of the pages and the acetate page allows glimpses of later pages.

I hope it all makes sense now!

And a quick reminder of all 12 pages:

Before I leave, I would like to point you in the direction of my Gallery, which you can access by clicking on the Gallery at the top of this page. There you will get a view on many projects at once and review my output for the year if you have time to kill...
For the Bloggers amongst you, you might like this set-up for your own blog. I have created a specific page for this "Dynamic view", called the Flipcard because, although I think it is interesting, the classic post view is better on a day to day basis for the regular readers.

Time to wish you a Happy New Year, full of creativity!

Storage part 2

I finally got inspiration to finish my second can of a trio (see the first one here) and seized the chance of doing a bit of crafting!

I used the same masterboard as last time and just added the stamping. I chose images from the KTZ-50 Paris Monuments stamp sheet and black dye ink.

One more to go...

I am entering the We Love 2 Create, Tando Creative and That Craft Place challenges

Frosty Trees

The theme for this card is provided by the Craft Barn and the technique by the SSS Monday challenge, "Just a pinch".
My pinch is clear embossing powder, as this is the closest to salt in appearance and was ideal to create a frosty look on a tree.

I inked the Crafty Individuals stamp (CI-429) with pens, which allowed me to avoid some of the branches (the "frosty" ones) and embossed with clear EP.
With a brayer I applied blue ink over the top, making sure the top of the sky is darker than the horizon.

And that is it really.... It looks a bit drab but winter landscapes do look grey and, of course, my photo is suffering of a lack of proper sunlight!


And with Christmas round the corner it's time for me to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

Also entering the Polka Doodle, That's Crafty and Allsorts challenges.

Calendar Challenge last page!

Yessss... made it! I now know how Hercules felt!
The theme this month was Tree and Gold/Silver and I chose an old freebie stamp set and stamped the tree in black Versafine and the some of the smaller motifs with glue (Flitter glue or similar).
When the glue was touch dry (but permanently tacky) I applied gold foil over the top.

Stamping with glue is not easy... It's transparent so there is no way of seeing how well it has stamped, in this case the gold motif have a "distressed" look about it, which is when one invokes the grunge inspiration...



There may be a bonus post with a few pics of my assembled calendar if Christmas preparations don't swamp me completely!

Also entering the Artistic Stamper and We Love To Create challenge.