Lucky Black Cat ATC

A little diversion ! Saw the TMTA Lucky Signs challenge for this week and couldn't resist doing a lucky black cat card as my entry.

I used a white card as the base and cut this to size on the rotary trimmer. I then stamped a cat border stamp (Third Coast Designs) in black stazon at the bottom of the ATC. I then coloured the rest of the card with black soot & broken china Distress inks with cut'n'dry foam. Another swirl stamp (?) was used and stamped with dove grey Stazon and broken china Distress inks as shown.



The words were made from printed K & Co alphas and the word 'CAT' adhered onto a piece of mica sprayed card and stuck in place on foam pads in crossword style.

The 'Meow!' was also from Third Coast Designs and was stamped as shown with Versamark and heat embossed with seafoam white EP.

The ATC was finished by edging with Brilliance moonlight white ink and allowing to dry.

Sid xx

Kind Thoughts Card

Christmas has now passed and the New Year is just around the corner so I decided a change was as good as a rest. One of my friends has not been too good over the break and I wanted to do a card to cheer her up.

I used a stamp called 'Natures Little Helper' from The Artistic Stamper which I won from the very kind Jennie. I used acetate, glitter and souffle pens to colour in the image (attributed to Mabel Lucie Attwell).

I took a mottled pale blue cardstock and trimmed/scored to make a 4 x 4 inch square card as the base.

I took a piece of acetate and stamped the image with black Stazon. I then used dries clear art glue and applied a number of colours of ultrafine glitters on the reverse of the acetate, allowing them to dry between colours. The body, ear and paint tin were coloured with Sakura Souffle pens and allowed to dry. I then trimmed out the image to leave around a 1/4 inch border.

Next I took a piece of K&Co printed cardstock trimmed as shown and cut an aperture top right with a large square punch. This was rubbed over with broken china Distress ink applied with cut'n'dry foam. This was then matted over some dark plum coloured card and the same aperture cut again with the punch.

The matt was applied centrally with DS tape, the acetate applied over the aperture with glue applied behind the glitter and the card finished off with a 'Thinking of you' sentiment mounted on foam tape and matted onto the same dark plum card.

Hope she likes it !

Sid xx

Merry Christmas Everyone

A very Merry Christmas to everyone of my crafting friends and all of those who follow my blog. Hope you have a fantastic time.

Cheers !!!

Sid xx

Xmas ATC

This ATC was done as my entry for the open theme for Wednesday Stamper this week. I used a printed clocking-in card as the background which I coloured with Distress inks in shabby shutters and fired brick applied with cut'n'dry foam.

The background cone stamp is from PaperArtsy and was stamped as shown in vintage sepia Versafine ink. The white highlights were then added with a white pigment pen.

The plate was also coloured with the same Distress inks and stamped with black Stazon with a 'Dec 25' PaperArtsy stamp. The plate was trimmed and matted onto gold paper and trimmed again. Some white was added as before and the plate applied with foam pads as shown. The whole ATC was then edged with gold Krylon pen to finish.

Very simple but I liked the almost faded look on this one.

Sid xx

CJ No. 3 - Chicken Licken

I am taking part in another Circle Journal being run by Efemera over on UK Stampers Forum. Instead of colours as a theme we are just choosing a stamp which everyone has to use as the journal makes its journey round the circle.

Just completed my entry in Chicken Lickens CJ (Tasha) which she has entitled 'Just One Heart'. Her journal pages are loose at the moment and she intends using a Bind It All to bind them on their return. She has made 12 little sleeves out of bookpaper and inside are 12 tags that slide into the sleeves.

Her chosen stamp is a swirly heart with an arrow. My intended theme was to use a lot of red and gold on my entry.


I decorated the sleeve with some Impress red ink applied directly from the pad. I then used a little circular face stamp and randomly stamped this in Versamark and heat embossed with clear embossing powder. I then inked the stamp with the Impress red and stamped again......... its the same on both sides !

Next I took a 2inch square of stampbord and using Versamark and chinese gold embossing powder, triple heat embossed. I had already inked the heart stamp with gold pigment ink. Once the heat gun was turned off I applied the stamp to the molten EP and allowed to cool before removing the stamp. The effect obtained is shown above. I then edged the square with Krylon gold pen and put it aside.

Next came the background. I used a Ranger gold dabber and dabbed on a thick coat of the gold paint and then stamped into it several times with the same heart stamp, leaving an impression (you can just see these). This background was allowed to dry completely. I then used a piece of text printed paper and applied it as shown after edging it with red Versmagic ink.

A metal key was stuck in place with glossy accents as was the Stampboard. I used a clear sticker with the words 'How do I love thee' and applied this to some gold metallic paper, trimmed it and again stuck in place with glossy accents. All edges were finished in the red Versamagic ink and the insert backed with plain red textured card (for my name and sign-in details).

Do hope she likes my entry. I certainly enjoyed making it.

Sid xx

12 Days of............Day 9

I have now got to Day 9 of 12. My plate this time is supposed to represent 'Nine Ladies Dancing'.

I started with a piece of white glossy cardstock, cut to 4 x 4 inches. I then used Ranger alcohol inks and an applicator in aqua, pink sherbet & cloudy blue to make a cloudy sky-type background. Once happy I stamped a stamp called 'Tiptoe' by Stamp-It in Versafine onyx black onto a piece of white textured cardstock. I swiped this with Impress peony purple and hydrangea inkpads and rubbed in with a waterbrush. The coloured image was cut out.

I then took a music stamp (?) and stamped this twice at the bottom of the card in Versamagic turquoise gem & pixie dust inks, slightly offset. The word was made up from Sizzix clear alphas and stamped on a white card in Impress peony purple and whilst still wet heat embossed with clear embossing powder. The background was coloured with more ink applied with a waterbrush. This plate was edged in purple ink also.

The chipboard number 9 was stamped and coloured with alcohol ink and Impress ink. All embellishments were then stuck in place with glue stick.

The outside edge of the card was inked in more of the pink chalk ink to finish.

I like the misty colours of this one, and it is quite different from the rest in the series.

Sid xx

Joy of Christmas Tag

Festive colours again in this Xmas Tag of Joy. I always loved, and still do love the traditional colours of Christmas, so here again is another of my tags.

I cut the base from white card and applied a piece of printed background paper in those colours. I then stamped with a Versamark pad and a flourish stamp (?) and heat embossed with gold embossing powder.

Next I chose a stripey grosgrain ribbon and overstamped this with snowflakes in black Stazon using a background stamp from Crafty Individuals. I applied double sided tape to the ribbon and applied it as shown. I used some Stickles glitter glue in gold to embellish the centres of the snowflakes.

Next I made a round tag from a self adhesive sticker matted on a larger piece of red mulberry paper which had been heat embossed in gold using the same flourish stamp. This was edged in black stazon to give definition. A gold eyelet was applied with the crop-a-dile and a piece of woven gold braid threaded through and secured at the top under the ribbon. Foam pads were used to tension the braid and adhere the embellishment. A square brad was used through the ribbon. This joy circle was also decorated with gold Stickles.

A large gold eyelet was applied with the crop-a-dile at the top of the tag and some more of the gold braid tied through it. A Brilliance galaxy gold pad was used to edge the whole tag to finish.

Lovely rich colour again on this one.

Sid xx

Christmas Baubles

'And now for something completely different!'

Ages ago I bought four clear glass Christmas Baubles and had never done anything with them. I dug them out and decided to decorate them, sort of inside-out. So here are two of the four that I have finished today.

To decorate them I used various Luminarte Primary Elements polished pigments & Simple solution and some fine glitters too. The company also make the Twinkling H2O's and were due to close but have been resurrected because of popular demand and support. I actually used No2 simple solution and this worked just fine.

I am sure that you would be fine using any mica pigments, glitters and some watered down 'dries clear' PVA adhesive though !

The method is simple: Remove the stopper from the glass bauble and pour in the simple solution and rotate the bauble to coat the whole of the inside with a thin film of the solution. Place upside down in a suitable round support (glass jar) and allow excess simple solution to drain. Once drained select your mica powders and glitters and, whilst holding the bauble, spoon in small amounts of them on the end of a suitable spatula. It's best to use sparing amounts of the mica and glitter. The bauble is shaken and rotated after adding each mica or glitter to disperse. This way you can see what effect you are creating. Once happy with the effect leave the bauble to dry for a few hours. I added little ribbons to mine.

The effects can be startlingly beautiful and the world is your oyster regarding the colourway you go for ! Have fun if you do try it.

Sid xx

Snowflake Tag

What's wrong with me? I seem to have gone blue and pink mad at the moment. These are not my colours really but somehow today I just had to use them !! As I sit here the snow is falling down and has left a lovely white coating over everything............. very appropriate for the tag subject matter. This is also my entry for the free theme over on LTDO challenge blog this week.

I took a piece of white base card and cut it to size. Then I adhered a piece of old torn bookpaper to the bottom of the tag and inked this with a blend of faded denim and worn lipstick Distress ink applied with cut'n'dry foam. I then coloured the top of the tag similarly. I used a PaperArtsy stamp of mini snowflakes and stamped with the faded denim ink directly over the top and bottom of the tag.

I next added a torn piece of Christmas sentiment paper, first coloured it with Distress ink and applied with glue stick to the left edge of the tag. Overstamping with the snowflake stamp again.

The remaining background area was stamped with another Christmas flourish stamp from PaperArtsy and Brilliance starlight silver a few times running into the words of both the torn side piece and the bookpage.

The main snowflake stamp (?) was inked with black pigment ink and stamped twice on pink printed background paper with Versamark and this was heat embossed with stardust embossing powder which is clear and sparkly. The snowflakes were cut out and rubbed over with the same Distress inks before a blue brad added to the centre of the first snowflake. This was then stuck over the second image with two foam pads and the double snowflake embellishment stuck onto the tag as shown.

Two lengths of blue and pink narrow grosgrain ribbon were cut and tied in a multiple knot and adhered at the top of the tag with a glue dot. The whole of the tag was edged with more worn lipstick Distress ink to finish.

Sid xx

Reindeer Tag

Just got a little time to spare this afternoon so decided to make another Xmas tag. I had a reindeer stencil and thought I would use this as a base design along with golden snowflakes. I used muted neutral colours to keep the whole tag soft but rich looking.

The white base card was cut to size. I then used scattered straw Distress ink and cut'n'dry foam to colour the background. I used a couple of coats and applied the second coat more heavily around the edges of the tag. I dried in between layers with a heat gun.

I then applied the reindeer stencil and used brushed corduroy Distress ink to colour the reindeer a nice brown. The card was then spritzed lightly with water in a mini mister and allowed to dry naturally. This provided a slight speckling over the applied inks.

When totally dry I rubbed over the inked surface with an anti-static bag and stamped a snowflake stamp (?) inked with Versamark in and stamped randomly over the tag. This was then heat embossed with gold embossing powder. Next a poinsettia stamp from PaperArtsy was inked with black Stazon and stamped twice on printed dark pink background paper. The images were cut out and applied as shown with a dark pink brad. These were enhanced with pink Stickles glitter glue.

Finally the word plate was stamped in black Stazon and coloured with the same two Distress inks. Before applying this with foam pads it was edged with burnt sienna Chalk Ink along with the outside edge of the tag. I added a couple of yellow flat-backed mirror cabouchons as reindeer eyes with glossy accents and added a few spots of white with a pigment pen to the corners of the plate.

Finally a piece of gold woven ribbon was trimmed, folded over and applied with 4 gold staples. I thought the rosy colour of the poinsettia just offset the neutral tones of the background nicely.

Sid xx

12 Days of............Day 8

Now we are on to Day 8 of the '12 Days of' Challenge. Not easy this one ! Supposed to depict '8 Maids a Milking'

I covered my 4 x 4 inch square of card with printed background paper from Basic Gray and tinted this with Distress in in worn lipstick with cut'n'dry foam. I then stamped a couple of text backgrounds in Versafine vintage sepia with a PaperArtsy stamp.



I then inked up an Invoke Arts circular stamp with onyx black Versafine ink onto a piece of the same background paper and trimmed this before mounting on some turquoise paper and trimming again. This was applied as shown with foam pads.

Next two self adhesive acrylic flourishes were applied (Dovecraft) and the letters stamped and coloured individually before applying onto the turquoise and trimming out.

The chipboard 8 was coloured with pink ink and backed again with the turquoise before sticking in place with glue stick. The words were applied as shown and the plate was finished.

Sid xx

Tidings of Joy Tag

Here is another tag. This one uses green as the main colour theme, but also has red as a contrast. Not much stamping on this tag but I was wanting a Christmas holly style to it. Think I achieved what I wanted to, but I am never really satisfied with what I do. Must say though, often when I come back to what I have done next day, it almost always looks better. I think I get overload when I do a project from beginning to end in one session. What about you?

Anyways this began life as a pale pink base cut from card ! It was just what came to hand and because I was using a Distress ink background it really didn't matter.

I swooshed Distress ink in shabby shutters and pine needles onto a non-stick craft sheet and spritzed with water. Layed the tag face down on ink and lifted off and dried with a heat gun. This was repeated a few times (drying in between) until the background was to my liking.

I then inked a swirl stamp (Crafty Individuals) with pine needles Distress ink and stamped in a couple of places and then heat embossed with detail fine clear embossing powder. This provided a nice shine and enhanced the green too.

I then moved to the bottom of the tag and cut a strip of 7 Gypsies backing paper as the base of the embellishment and stuck this in place with glue stick. I then applied some red holly berries and shiny sequin leaves held in place with Pinflair Glue gel. This was allowed to set before the next step. Below this strip I applied some rub-on gold holly border.

Next I used a chipboard tag from a set of dovecraft tags and inked it with lightning white Brilliance to tone down the colour a little. To this I then applied the word 'JOY' as a gold rub-on and edged the letters with opaque pigment pen. I then took a short length of red satin ribbon and stamped it with the same CI stamp and pine needles Distress ink. Drying with a heat gun before applying a brad and mounting the tag as shown on foam pads.

Finally I added a dark green eyelet with the cropodile and edged the whole tag with dark green chalk ink.

Sid xx

'Key to Christmas' Tag

What is the key to a great Christmas? A tag of course !! This one was done in a theme of mauve and pink and I wanted to do a swirly type of design this time. Although it's not easy to see in the pics, the swirls have actually been heat embossed with Kaleidoscope embossing powder giving then a multi-coloured, subtle sparkle. The EP acts as a resist to the application of Distress ink afterwards.

I started with a white textured card base cut to size and stamped this with a clear swirly stamp from L'il Davis Designs. The stamp was inked with Versamark and heat embossed with the Kaleidoscope EP. I then applied Ranger Distress inks with cut'n'dry foam in dusky concord and worn lipstick over the EP. The background was dried with a heat gun and splashed with drops of water which were allowed to dry naturally. The background was finished with a cloud of sky stamp and lightning white Brilliance ink. The outside edge of the tag was coloured with pink chalk ink.

Next a Christmas word stamp from PaperArtsy was inked with Versamark and heat embossed with Moonglow midnight violet obsidian embossing powder on fuschia coloured card. This was edged with violet chalk ink and was trimmed and a hole made with a piercing tool and embellished with a few triangular jump rings. The word plate was applied on foam pads and the jump ring chain secured at the top with a square bronze brad.

A length of silk sari ribbon in dark maroon was wrapped around the tag and threaded with the metal key before securing at the back with double sided tape. The word PEACE was applied with clear epoxy letters.

A hole and pale violet eyelet were applied with a crop-a-dile at the top of the tag and the remaining sari ribbon tied in a bow through this to finish.

Sid xx

Poinsettia Tag

Yet another Xmas tag (in the style of Sir Tim !). This one uses a number of stamps all from PaperArtsy.....except one from Karantha Designs (Sarah Lawrence). I wanted to use traditional Xmas reds and greens on this tag.

The base was pale pink card cut to the tag size and shape. This was then covered in fired brick Distress ink applied with cut'n'dry foam. This was then spritzed with plain water in a mini-mister and dried with a heat gun. The 'Do Not Open' stamp was inked with Versamark ink and heat embossed with maroon embossing powder. The outside band of the stamped image was darkened with a waterbrush and more ink from the inkpad before drying again with the heat gun. A small smowflake stamp was inked with more fired brick Distress ink and stamped randomly over the remaining tag surface to form a background.

In the meantime, the 3 trees were stamped onto the pale pink card with black Stazon and then cut out. The designs were coloured with a dark green Marvey Le Plume II pen before sticking in place at the bottom of the tag. Next the work NOEL was assembled with clear Sizzix stamps and inked with Versamark ink and stamped and heat embossed with detail gold embossing powder.

The poinsettia was stamped twice onto dark red patterned paper and cut out, the two images were then aligned and a silver brad was used through the centre after colouring with a dark green Sharpie pen. The poinsettia was lightly coated with Stickles glitter glue and put on one side to dry.

The Karantha stamp was first inked with signal red Brilliance ink and stamped down the right hand side and along the bottom of the tag. The same stamp was cleaned and inked with starlight silver Brilliance ink and stamped again slightly off the side. This gave a sort of fringed effect which I liked. The poinsettia was attached with the brad as shown and a piece of green organza ribbon attached with two green staples. Finally the whole tag was edged in dark green chalk ink to finish.

Sid xx

Circle of Friends

Here is a little piece I made as part of a swap over on UK Stampers Forum entitled Creative Designs or CD for short. We had to make a piece of altered art using a CD as the base.

Here we go with the instructions:

First I took a CD (the ones that come through the door and normally end up in the bin!). and covered it with some grey pinstripe paper from Basic Grey. I used a gluestick to adhere the paper to the CD. Next I stamped a swirl stamp from Wendy Rhodes with Versamagic tea leaves chalk ink and allowed to dry. Then I applied a fairly thick coat of Ranger Distress crackle paint in antique linen around the edges and when dry rubbed over more of the tea leaves Versamagic ink.

I then applied a variety of paper flowers in cream and white from Hero Arts with glossy accents and filled the centres with Pearly Doodles cream dimensional paint from Sticky Fingers. I also used some Viva gold metallic paint applied to highlight the flower petals as shown.

The final metallic 'Friends' word in green gloss finish was stuck in place with more glossy accents. A folding stand for the back of the altered CD was made from board and hinged with masking tape to support the piece in a display position.

Sid xx