Postcard from Iceland

Here is my Postcard from Iceland as part of the Sunday Challenge over on UK Stampers Forum. This time I did a snowflakey? (is that a word?), effect.

I used:

• Card (Blue, trimmed to 6 x 4 in)
• Adirondack Inkpad (Stream)
• Stazon Inkpad (Jet Black)
• Brads (Small pewter & Large Black)
• Stamps (Alphas - MM Mag, Small Snowflake - Studio G, Tulip Medallion?, Create-IT - Snowflake & For Gentlemen Frank?
• Versamark InkpadEmbossing Powder ( Marcasite, Holographic Clear, Opaque White & Detail Silver)
• Krylon Pen (Silver)

The card was stamped with Versamark using the stamps and heat embossed with the embossing powders as shown. The small snowflake was stamped with jet black Stazon to fill in edges. The Adirondack stream ink was stippled onto the edges of the card to add shading and used to stamp the gentleman frank stamp also. Brads were added and the card finished along the edges with Krylon silver.

Hope you like it :-)

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'Oriental' Inchies

These 9 inchies have been made as part of a swap I organised for UK Stampers. The theme is 'Oriental' for the month of February.

I used:

• Cardstock
• Japanese Book Paper
• Ribbon (Chinese print)
• Krylon pen (Gold)
• PVA Adhesive

The cardstock was first covered in the printed paper using PVA glue and this was allowed to dry. The ribbon was cut into pieces each containing a Chinese symbol and again these were adhered centrally on each inchie with the glue. Finally each inchie was edged with Krylon gold. Click photo to get larger version.

Hope you like them :-)

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Oriental Altered Domino Frame

Here is an altered art project I recently completed for a Challenge over on UK Stampers. We had to use a domino or dominos in our work. I chose to go Oriental.

I used a 3 inch square glass frame I had purchased as the base which I decorated and embellished with the altered domino.

I used the following:

• Glass photo frame
• Card (metallic gold)
• Satin Ribbon (3mm Dark Blue)
• Small metal Chinese coin
• Stazon Inkpad (Jet Black, Ultramarine)
• Krylon Pen (24ct Gold)
• Rubber Stamps ( Stick Background ?, Rubber Stampede-Koi, Kadomo-Bamboo)
• Perfect Medium Inkpad
• Decorative Chalks
• Cotton Wool Buds
• Flat backed gem (Pale Blue)
• Klear Floor Polish
• Glue Dots
• Glossy Accents
  

Firstly I stamped the stick background with ultramarine Stazon onto the gold card and trimmed it to fit the aperture behind the glass of the frame. I took a small piece of the 3mm satin ribbon and threaded through the small Chinese coin before applying to the card with Glossy Accents. When dry this was then slipped into the frame where a photo would have gone.

I then used the bamboo stamp and applied Stazon gold direct to the stamp (working quickly) and stamped directly onto the front of the glass as shown, allowing to dry thoroughly. I cleaned the stamp with Stazon cleaner soon after to remove the gold from the rubber.

The domino was decorated on its reverse side as follows: The koi stamp was selectively inked with Jet black Stazon and carefully stamped directly onto the domino. This was allowed to dry and then the surface of the domino was well inked with Perfect Medium. The decorative chalks were applied using a cotton wool bud using a dabbing action and blended this way. The Perfect Medium acts as a glue to hold the chalks. When happy with the effect I placed a small amount of Klear floor polish into an spray bottle and sprayed the domino, bursting any bubbles with a fine pin. I sprayed three times allowing the surface to dry naturally between coats. This provides a shiny glazed seal over the chalk. The edges of the domino were coated with Krylon Gold to finish. The flat backed gem was applied over the eye of the fish with Glossy Accents.

The frame was finished by applying the domino to the frame front as shown with Glue Dots. I particularly like the muted watercolour effect that the chalks provide and the chalk is easy to remove with a paper tissue if you don't like what you have done (prior to glazing, of course).

Hope you like it :-)

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Xmas Inchies

These Xmas Inchies were done as part of the UK Stampers 3 x 3 Inchie swap. I have used black mountboard as the base. Small studio G Xmas stamps were stamped in Versamark and heat embossed with detail clear embossing powder. I then dabbed on Starburst stains in red, green and gold. The EP acts as a resist and allows the black background to show through. They were each edged with Krylon gold pen.

They are dark, I admit....but have a subtle shimmer with the mica in the starburst stains!

Hope you like them:-)

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'Be Quiet' ATC

This ATC is my entry for this weeks TMTA challenge which was to produce a card with 'staples'. Here is my effort. Can I just say that there was no child harmed in the making of this card !!!!

The card has been coloured with Distress inks (aged mahogony, broken china & milled lavender) applied with cut'n'dry foam. The main stamp is one from Paper Artsy and the swirls origin is unknown. They were stamped in distress inks and onyx black Versafine ink. The words 'Be Quiet' were stamped with individual letters from Studio G in the same ink. I then applied a number of turquoise coloured staples over the mouth of the child and edged the whole card with copper Krylon.

Hope you like it :-)

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Sunday Challenge No 13

This is my entry to this weeks UK Stampers Sunday Challenge set by Gail (Efemera). I did struggle with it though.

The challenge says 'Well it has to be Halloween! Create a 6x6 page with a Halloween theme..........but you must include some fabric and of course stamping! post your finished creations on the blog Happy stamping! '

I used a piece of printed background paper with a muted diamond design as the base. I then found a piece of blue satin fabric which I stamped with a paisley stamp (Tanda) in onyx black Versafine. I mounted this onto a suitable piece of backing card and stuck it in place with PVA glue. I then overstamped with the same stamp and Versamark which I het embossed with gold EP.

I have very few Halloween type stamps actually and found a stamp from Third Coast Stamps which showed a tribal head. I stamped with Versamark and clear detail EP three times down the right of the piece. I then applied Starburst Stains in delphinium turquoise over the embossing which acted as a resist showing up the images. I coloured the left hand side with broken china Distress Ink and cut'n'dry foam. The words were stamped directly onto the sheet with individual text stamps and the spiders all over the left hand side. To finish, the fabric plate was adhered with glue dots and the 'magic happens' plate applied with foam pads. Finally the whole piece was edged with copper Krylon.

Hope you like it :-)

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Newest Stamps ATC's

Here are my three ATC's for the UK Stampers monthly swap for October. We were asked to used three of our newest stamps. I used various colours of Whispers dye inks to colour plain white cardstock using cut'n'dry foam. I then used three stamps from a set of 4 Dovecraft 'Laura Ashley' stamps to stamp centrally wirh Versamark ink. I then heat embossed with metallic powders. I then used three swirl stamps to embellish and again heat embossed with metallic and Moonglow EP's. I edged all three with Krylon gold pen.

Hope you like them :-)

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'DARK'

This months theme for the UK Art Raffle is 'Dark', to be interpreted any way we liked. This art has also been entered into the 'Goth Style' Wednesday Stamper challenge for this week.

I wanted to do a dark atmospheric number so I started with a yellow card as the base and applied Adirondack dye inks with cut'n'dry foam to obtain a murky overall background. I used bottle, denim, egglant and slate to get the effect I wanted, using small pieces of foam and picking up the ink after first applying ink to a non-stick craft sheet.

I had acquired, many moons ago (pun), a laser cut sheet of tree silhouettes and I cut one of these out and sprayed with Moon Glow Glitz Spritz in desert moon wild iris, allowing to dry naturally before edging with silver Krylon to reflect the moons silvery glow. This was set aside. I then stamped the base with a foliage stamp (anon) in Brilliance pearlescent lime.

The devils face was a stamp I have never used before and came from a grab bag from Third Coast rubber stamps in the USA. I stamped this several times in Versafine onyx black to go behind the tree. The stars in the sky were stamped with a dotty stamp (anon) with Brilliance mediterranean blue and the moon was applied top right with silver Krylon and a circle stencil. The bird was stamped onto black/silver card with black ink and cut out before edging wings, beak and tail with silver Krylon. The word 'DARK' was stamped with magnetic stamps from Making Memories and onyx black Versafine.

The tree was applied over the devils faces with glue stick and the bird applied with silicone glue as shown. The scene was matted onto black and green carstock to finish.

Don't think 'I' would like to walk past that tree on a night like that !!! Hope whoever is the lucky winner this month is not put off by my rather macabre art.

Hope you like it :-)

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'Bling'

This is my entry for this weeks UK Stampers Sunday Challenge No.9. I wanted to really go very glittery and glitzy so I started with stamping a Lost Coast Designs large clown doll rubber stamp which was stamped with onxz black Versfine ink onto plain white copier paper. This was then coloured in with Inktense ink pencils and a waterbrush. I wanted the wings to be a bit parrot like in colour. When done I cut out the image with a pair of decoupage scissors and set aside.

I took some hammered lilac base card and sprayed this with Glimmer Mists in passion red and periwinkle, fairly heavily and allowed this to dry naturally to avoid curling. When dry I overstamped the card with Versamark ink and a Dovecraft Laura Ashley design stamp which was heat embossed with violet pearl iridescent embossing powder.

I then stuck the large clown doll image centrally on the background card and decorated this with a variety of glitter gels. The plinth was enhanced with Krylon gold pen. Three flat backed cabouchons were added to the clown hat and two small red cabouchons added to the cheeks of the face. The 4 corners of the background were then adorned with tiny lilac seed beads held in place by glossy accents. The whole piece was matted over a slightly larger sheet of red glitter card and a vellum tag with the word 'Bling' spelled out with clear dimensional self adhesive epoxy letters. The thread was coloured violet with permanent ink and attached with a metallic violet mini peg.

Very glitzy and glittery, but very difficult to photograph too. In real life it is positively 'BLING'.

Hope you like it :-)

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Art Doll Charm

This is my little (3 inches tall) Art Charm Doll done for a swap on UK Stampers Forum. Pinky is running the swap and I have just finished mine.

I printed a doll parts template from the internet onto plain copier paper and then stuck this to a large sheet of black shrink plastic with glue pen. I then cut around the parts and soaked off the template paper with warm water, leaving me with all the bits. I then punched holes in the appropriate places with the crop-o-dile so I could assemble the doll when finished.

I decided to use Opalite inkpads in crystal blush for the arms and glacier blue for the legs. The stamps are two of my unknowns......but I thought they would give a decorative pattern when shrunk down. The torso was sprayed with starburst stains to achieve a mottled, shiny appearance. All parts were shrunk carefully with a heat gun and flattened whilst still hot with an acrylic block until cool. I only decorated one side of the doll with these. I painted the rear of the doll with blue matt acrylic paint and sprayed with fixative. All body parts were edged with gold Krylon pen.

For the skirt I used silver header pins and threaded numerous blue beads and just bent over the ends roughly with pliers to hold the beads onto the header pins. I then cut a length of fine black wire and threaded this through the two leg holes on the torso and threaded the beaded header pins onto this before securing at the front by twisting neatly at the rear of the doll. I then applied dabs of gold krylon on the torso as shown. All parts were attached with silver jump rings so the legs, arms and head were articulated.

The picture of the vintage ladies face was stuck to the head with glossy accents and a malachite star stuck on with glossy accents.

The silver lobster claw clasp was attached to the head with another header pin for hanging purposes.

This is the first of its type that I have made and I don't think it is very serviceable really. I found it a bit tricky but was quite pleased with the results though and it has given me more ideas for future pieces.

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Peace

This weeks Wednesday Stamper challenge was to produce something in the theme of 'PEACE'.

I decided to use a Peace Paperartsy stamp from the Winter Wonderland Plate 5. This I stamped in black Stazon three times slightly offset on purple paper. I then used Inktense ink pencils and a waterbrush to shade the faces and hair of the figures. I then cut out the piece.

Then I used a bird and twig stamp which I stamped on white paper with olive green Stazon. I then cut the bird from the leafy twig and just used the birds head. I collaged all three elements onto a home made background made using spray inks. I again used Inktense ink pencils and the waterbrush to add colour to the twig, leaves and bird. The idea was to make it appear as if the bird was holding the olive twig of peace. Once satisfied with the colours I edged the plate with silver Krylon pen.

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Oriental ATC

Here is a quick ATC I put together for another swap. I brayered the background with green, blue and mustard Whispers dye inks in stripes, slightly overlapping and set with the heat gun. I then applied a trimmed piece of Japanese Washi paper to the bottom left. I stamped an image of a Japanese lady, a stylised chrysanth and three oriental characters in onyx black Versafine ink. I applied a strip of self adhesive gold foil down the left half of the card before applying a small polymer clay plate that I had made previously by stamping into some soft worked clay. I also applied some Pearlex metallic mica pigments to the clay before baking to give it a metallic sheen. I then edged with gold Krylon pen.

Hope you like it :)

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Matchbox Shrine Class

I am taking part in a Matchbox Shrine Swap with UK Stampers Forum and thought it might be useful to do a step-by-step class on how I made it. This is just my interpretation but it may give anyone viewing the class some ideas and inspiration.

The idea of Matchbox Shrines is certainly not new and they can symbolise anything at all, some are used as lucky charms and are carried in handbags and purses. Some have religious significance whilst others can simply be decorative objects.

Mine is designed to be hung on a wall and so has a backing to it. The colourway is blue/purple and it represents 'The Door to Heaven'.

So here goes.........ready........steady........craft !!

Materials:

• Standard box of safety matches (emptied of its contents)


• Acrylic Paints (Metallic Sapphire, Blue Mist - Inscribe)


• Puffy Velvet Markers (Blue, Light Blue - Marvy Uchida)


• Glitter Glue (Crystal - Stickles - Ranger))


• Square Metallic Brads (Dovecraft)


• Craft Wire (Metallic Blue - Dovecraft)


• Leaf Beads


• Flat backed gems (Violet - square)


• Micro beads (Purple Metallic)


• Glossy Accents (Ranger)


• Small Metal Key Charm


• Small glass bottle with stopper


• Fine Glitter (violet iridescent - Art Institute)


• Backing paper (text, Light blue pattern - K&Co, Once Upon A Time - DCWV)


• Heavy board (for backing)


• Bookbinding Glue (Sticky fingers)


• Glue dots (Glue-dots)


• Gold Pen (Krylon)


• Chalk Ink (Indigo Blue, Purple - Color Box)


• Embossing Powder (Metallic Purple - Personal Impressions)


• Embossing Ink Pad (Versamark)


• Gold Thread
  
• Seed Beads (Purple iridescent - Guttermann)


• Gold German Scrap Wings


• Ribbon - Purple Organza


• Tyvek piece (see forthcoming class on how to make)

Stamps:

• Small leaf (See D's - Lattice & Vine Collection)


• Foliate (Stampendous Foliate Quad Cube TC51)

Tools:

• Pricking Tool


• Craft Knife


• Scissors


• Tweezers


• Heat Gun


• Paintbrush


• Paper Trimmer


• Crop-o-dile

Instructions:

Preparing the matchbox.



1. Take your matchbox and empty it of its contents, paint the tray portion of the matchbox with 2 coats of blue mist acrylic paint, allowing to dry between coats.



2. Take the matchbox sleeve in portrait orientation and measure half way across the top, putting a pencil line down from top to bottom. Carefully cut the sleeve open along this line. The top will then open to form two little doors on the finished shrine.

3. Paint the cut sleeve with 2 or 3 coats of the metallic sapphire acrylic paint (no need to cover completely as the back surface of the sleeve will eventually be adhered to the base card) and allow to dry between coats.



Decorating the tray .

1. Take the painted tray and apply the puffy marker colour in blue to the outside of both long sides of the tray. Heat carefully with the heat gun until the colour puffs up and adds texture. Do the same with the light blue along the two short sides.

2. Apply stickles glitter glue in crystal to the inside sides of the tray and smooth over with a brush, allow to dry.



Decorating the cut sleeve.

1. Take the small leaf stamp and apply to acrylic block and using Versamark stamp images of the leaf on all of the inside painted surfaces of the sleeve (use an antistatic bag first). Take the embossing powder and apply to stamped images, tapping off excess powder before carefully heating the leaves to melt the powder. It is worth holding the sleeve in a pair of tweezers to avoid burning your fingers ! Allow to cool before handling.


2. Turn over the sleeve and using the cube leaf stamp inked with indigo blue chalk ink to stamp all over the painted surfaces. Heat with a heat gun until the chalk ink is dry.

3. Using a piercing tool. make two holes in the front of the sleeve 'doors' and apply the two metallic brads as door handles through the holes.

4. Take a length of gold thread and double it, twist together the strands and tie a knot on one end. Thread 4 of the blue seed beads onto the thread and move to the knotted end, tie another knot to secure the beads at that end. At the other end of the thread tie a knot about 1.5 inches in and again thread another 4 seed beads on. Finish this with a knot to hold on the beads. This will then act as a cord to hold the 'doors' closed when wrapped around the square brads !

5. Edge all the sleeve edges with a fine line of Krylon gold and allow to dry.



Filling the tray.





1. Take a piece of the text printed paper and trim to size to fit inside the top of the inside bottom of the tray and adhere with glossy accents.

2. Apply some fine lines of glossy accents and sprinkle on the metallic purple micro beads, pouring off excess beads into the container.

3. Cut the decorated piece of Tyvek to fit the lower half of the inside bottom of the tray and glue in place with glossy accents.

4. Take the small stoppered bottle and half fill with the purple art glitter, replace stopper, add a strand of gold thread to the top and stick in place with a glue dot.

5. Take a short length of blue metallic craft wire and thread onto this 6 leaf beads in purple and blue bending the wire in a circle to secure the beads. Adhere this with glossy accents to the top edge of the Tyvek piece. Allow this to dry before handling.

6. Take the metal key charm and adhere this to the tyvek with a blob of glossy accents, allowing this to dry before handling.

7. Apply the two square purple flat-backed gems to the text paper, top left with glossy accents.

8. Edge the top surfaces of the tray with Krylon gold pen.





Assembling the matchbox.

1. Take the filled tray and apply glossy accents to its base, position the tray inside the cut sleeve and press firmly to adhere.

Making the base.

1. Take a piece of heavy card and cut to a suitable size on the trimmer. Take once-upon-a-time paper and cover the front of the base board with the paper using bookbinding adhesive and a bone folder. Cut blue K&Co paper to size and cover the back of the board in a similar manner. Allow to dry completely.



Assembling the shrine.

1. Cut the gold wings into two, position and apply to the back of the assembled matchbox to suit.

2. Take the shrine with wings attached and apply glossy accents to the back of the sleeve. Position carefully on the backing board and press down firmly to stick. Allow to dry.

3. Using an indigo blue chalk ink pad edge all round the backing board finishing off with the gold Krylon pen.

4. Measure the top edge of the board and cut two equidistant holes with the crop-o-dile.

5. Take a length of the purple organza ribbon and thread through the holes, finally tying in a bow.

This is just my version of decoration and altering, but I hope that it gives you some ideas and inspirations in coming up with your own little version of a shrine.

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'Quotes & Name' ATC's

Here are another three ATC's just completed for a swap with a lovely lady in Australia. Her name is Evelyne so we have done a card with our name on and another two in the theme of quotes.

Both of the quotes cards have brayered backgrounds in denim Adirondak ink. One has hand coloured leaves (Derwent Inktense watercolour ink pencils) which are overlaid on the background and a printed quote. The other has a stamp of dancers (Stamp-It, Tiptoe 2847E) in Brilliance rocket red gold and a border stamp top and bottom in Black Stazon and a printed quote applied. Both ATC's are edged in Gold Krylon.

The name ATC has background paper and printed overlaid letters from K & Co to spell out 'Evelyne'. A piece of lime satin ribbon has been applied and a small bow to finish. ATC was edged in black Stazon.

They are now on their way to Australia. Hope you like them :)

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'Metal' ATC's

These three ATC's are part of a UK Stampers Forum Swap.......just completed on a metal theme. I used panels done with triple thick embossing and two rubber stamps. All other embellishments are metal brads. They were edged with Krylon in Silver, Gold and Copper.

Hope you like them:)

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Chrysanthemum Birthday Card

This is another Laura Ashley-esque creation done on a plain mauve DL background card. A Dovecraft stamp of a Chrysanthemum was inked with Olympic Green Versafine and stamped twice each time to produce the stamped background. Certain flower centres were picked out in purple gellyroll glitter pen to add a sparkle. One of the 12 inch papers by dovecraft was then cut into squares and these were edged with orange chalk ink before being placed on the card using 1mm foam pads to raise the images. The sentiment plate from See Dees was stamped on dark green cardstock with Versamark ink and this was heat embossed with gold embossing powder. Two sides of the plate were lined with gold Krylon pen before adhesring it to the card with foam pads.

Thought the dimensional look was good and hope you like it.

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