BirdSong CJ Entry

Here is a CJ entry I have completed for a Circle Journal group over on UK Stamper Forum.  The pages on this particular journal are small  and I had to use a supplied stamp in the design.  The little birdie stamp is just that !

I associated birds with song and found a music stamp which was just the right size to make a plate, linking the song with the bird.

I started with the blank white card and worked directly onto it.  I first stamped with tan Colorbox pigment ink with a swirl stamp and heat embossed with detail clear embossing powder.  Once cool I sprayed with some Moonshadow Glitz Spritz mica sprays in desert moon horny toad and royal crimson fire, drying between sprays and building up a decent mica layer.  The finish is subtle but very iridescent (unfortunately it's very difficult tp photograph because of this). 

I then took a thistlehead stamp (PaperArtsy) and inked this with Adirondack cranberry dye ink, followed by oregano ink and whilst still wet again heat embossed with detail clear EP.

Next I stamped the bird (supplied) and the music (Crafty Individuals) onto straw coloured card with Versafine onyx black ink and trimmed both images out.  I then edged both with burnt sienna chalk ink and coloured the eye blue and the beak yellow.  The images were then applied as shown with Glossy Accents with the bird holding the music in its beak.  I then edged the page with burnt sienna chalk ink and applied rub-on letters as shown.

Hope Efemera like it !!

Sid xx

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'K' is for King Tag

Not posted for a while, so busy with our College Ofsted inspection..........anyway glad to say we achieved a Grade 1 'Outstanding' across the College, which is a superb result. All the hard work has paid off !

This tag was done belatedly as part of a n ongoing challenge over on UK Stampers. The tag theme was the letter K for King and this had to be included on the finished tag.

A bit quirky but I was pleased with the overall effect. To make it I used:

• Glossy magazine cover with picture of a chef in his whites (cut to tag size)
• Gesso
• Stamps (All PaperArtsy - Text (MN44), Crown (Egg & Nog SIEN8), Fence & Eiffel Tower (Wrought Iron 3 USW13) except the field of sky (Judikins)
• Adirondak Inkpads (Butterscotch, Espresso & Wild Plum)
• Embossing Powder (Gold)
• Versamark Inkpad
• Waterbrush
• Chipboard K
• Self adhesive letters
• Crop-o-dile
• Glossy Accents
• Brad (Ochre)
• Gold elastic cord

The glossy image was cut out to tag size and rubbed down slightly with fine glasspaper to roughen. The gesso was added in a thick textured coat and the chefs face wiped clear of gesso. This was allowed to dry thoroughly. The stamps were all inked with the Adirondaks and stamped as shown and dried with the heat gun. The waterbrush was then used to spread and highlight the inks as shown. The field of sky stamp was applied after inking with Espresso as shown.

The crown stamp was inked with Versamark and heat embossed with gold EP. The crown was cut out and coloured with Espresso and the waterbrush. The chipboard K was coloured with gold pigment ink and applied as shown with glossy accents. The other self adhesive letters were applied to spell the word King.

A hole was cut in the tag and an eyelet applied with the crop-o-dile. The final flourish was to add a length of gold elastic cord as shown.

Hope you like it :-)

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Postcard from Australia !

Here is my entry for this weeks Sunday Challenge over on the UK Stampers forum. This weeks theme was 'Australia'

For the postcard I used:

• Ink-jet image of Australia
• Cheap hairspray
• Moonglow Glitz Spritz (Shimmering Silver)
• White card
• Adirondack Dye Ink pad (Eggplant)
• Brayer
• Stazon Ink Pad (Royal Purple)
• Rubber Stamps (Foliage Cube Fern, Invoke Arts Alphas, See D's Alphas)
• Versamark Ink Pad
• Embossing powder (Peach, White)
• Skeleton leaves
• Satin ribbon (Maroon)
• Glossy Accents
• Micro Glue Dots
• Glue Stick

I must say I didn't have one directly related stamp so I used an ink jet printed image of Australia which I cut out and set with cheap hairspray then sprayed with the Glitz Spritz.

The card was cut to 15 x 10 cm and brayered with Adirondack eggplant then overstamped with the royal purple Stazon and the foliage cube stamp.

The Invoke words were stamped with Versamark ink and heat embossed with white EP. The word OZ was stamped similarly with the See D's Alphas and heat embossed with peach EP.

The ribbon was applied with glue dots as shown and three skeleton leaves tucked under the ribbon and stuck with small amounts of glossy accents as shown. Finally the map of Australia was applied with a glue stick.

Hope you like it :-)

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Postcard from America !

This is my entry for the UK Stampers Sunday Challenge for this week. The hostess wanted us to produce a 10 x 15 cm postcard with the destination of USA. So I went a bit abstract and not true to theme exactly..........but who cares ! This is how I made it.

I needed:

• White card (cut to 10 x 15 cm)


• Adirondack Inkpads (Cranberry, Butterscotch & Espresso)


• Make-up sponge


• Versamark Inkpad


• Ranger Embossing Powder (Lemon Yellow & Magenta)


• Stazon Inkpad (Jet Black)


• Gold Artist Ink


• Marvey le Plume II pen (Crimson Lake)


• Colorbox Chalk Ink (Burnt Sienna)


• New York Postal Stamp (Crafty Individuals)


• Grand Hotel Stamp (Inkadinkado)


• Gone to Beach Stamp (Vap Scrap)

I coloured the card using the Adirondack Dye Inks applied in a circular motion in layers with the make-up sponges to achieve the background colour effect. I wanted warm and rich colours to give the impression of a warm beach. Once happy with the effect I heat set with a heat gun.

I then inked the Grand Hotel stamp with versafine and heat embossed with the lemon yellow Ranger EP. Next I inked the gone to beach stamp with Versamark and this time heat embossed with the Ranger magenta EP.

I then drew a line down the centre of the card with the Marvey pen and wrote postcard at the top left. I inked the postal stamp with Stazon and painted three wavy lines in gold artist ink to represent a postal frank. Finally edging the whole card with the chalk ink.

Hope you like it ! :-)

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