'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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'R' is for Rust Tag

Here is a 15 x 9 cm tag I did for the Sunday Challenge on UK Stampers Forum. The Letter was 'R' and the topic was 'Rust'. I wanted to do a dark and rusty finish so this is what I used and did to create the tag:

• White base card
• Dark Brown croc effect handmade mulberry paper
• Stamp (Frayed linen ?)
• Chipboard letter R
• Epoxy stickers
• Ruler background paper
• Black fine wire
• Copper gauze
• Embossing Powder (Chinese Lacquer)
• Versamark Inkpad
• Black Eyelet
• Sticky fingers gold spray
• Antique gold rub-on wax

I first took the handmade paper and covered the tag with it, cutting a hole and applying the black eyelet with the Crop-o-Dile.

The stamp was inked with Versamark and applied three times randomly over the tag and heat embossing with the EP. The tag surface was sprayed with gold sticky fingers spray and finished with metallic rub-ons in antique gold.
The copper gauze was distorted and small amounts of the EP were melted into the surface in a random fashion. This was then adhered as shown with sticky dots. Next the chipboard R was heat embossed with the EP and the black wire wrapped around the R (which was then adhered with a sticky dot) and then around the tag adhering at the back with sticky tape. The ruler paper was cut into strips and two strips were applied at the top and behind the copper gauze.

The epoxy letters were applied with sticky dots as shown. Finally some more black wire was twisted through the eyelet to finish.

Hope you like it :-)

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Stampbord Brooch

The Brooch

The Brooch & Bag

This brooch was made for a swap I ran on UK Stampers Forum. Each person playing had to make a brooch using Stampbord as a base. This is my creation for which I also made a little bag to contain it.

I used:

• Round Stampbord
• Rubber Stamp (Agapanthus Bloom - Stampendous, Field of sky - Judikins)
• Distress Inks (Spiced Marmalade & Dried Marigold
• Versamark Inkpad
• Clear UTEE
• Versafine Inkpad (Onyx Black)
• Piece of Faux Dichroic Glass (made earlier)
• Lumiere paint (Bronze)
• Gold Elastic Cord
• Brooch Back
• Gold iridescent paper (for bag)
• Decorative scissors
• Glossy accents

The Stampbord was first coloured using a piece of Cut'n'Dry foam with the distress inks and graduating from dark on the outside to light on the inside. The field of sky stamp was inked with the darker of the the two inks and stamped around the outer edges of the front of the piece. This was dried with the heatgun and overstamped centrally with the Agapanthus stamp using onyx black Versafine ink. This was again dried with the heat gun.

The front of the brooch was then inked with Versamark ink and the clear UTEE applied and heated until a smooth thick layer was achieved. Then whilst still molten the piece of Faux Dichroic Glass was embedded into the hot UTEE taking care to place it centrally. The whole piece was allowed to cool completely.

The back and sides were painted with two coats of bronze Lumiere paint and allowed to dry. A piece of the gold elastic cord (round cross section), was cut carefully to size and adhered around the edge with glossy accents. The brooch back was adhered with superglue.

The bag was made from the paper which had been randomly stamped with the same Agapanthus stamp before cutting and making into a bag with double sided tape. The top edge was trimmed with scallop pattern decorative scissors.

For anyone interested in making Faux Dichroic glass why not look at my classes which can be found in the 'Crafty Classes' section of the blog.

Hope you like it :-)

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Altered Playing Card

Here is an altered playing card.......err well 3 really, that I have done as a swap run by Hazel over on UK Stampers Forum.

I have entitled my piece 'You're A Diamond in Disguise' because I suppose that is just what it is the main playing card is the Ace of Diamonds. The main piece consists of two cards sandwiched together with foam pads and the third card is used as a tag with details on it. The back card is a Joker and the card tag is the 4 of Diamonds.

This is what I used:

• 3 ordinary playing cards (Joker, Ace & 4 of Diamonds)


• Stazon Inkpads (Eden Green, Imperial Purple)


• Whispers Dye inkpad (Crimson)


• Versamark Inkpad
• Lumiere Paint (Purple Halo Gold)


• Embossing Powder (Moonglow - Midnight Teal Obsidian, Midnight Ruby Obsidian & Holly Berry Red/Gold)


• Stamps (Diamond, Stone - Texture Cube, Crown & Fleur de lys - Paper Artsy, Tag - Crafty Individuals)


• Wire coil (Red)


• Mountboard
• Krylon Pen (Gold)


• Gelly Roll Pen (Stardust Purple)


• Eyelet (Red)


• Decorative Fibres


• Foam Pads


• Glossy Accents


• Square PunchMetallic


• Spray (copper - Sticky Fingers)

The Ace of Diamonds card was taken and a hole punched with a square punched twice from opposite sides to produce an oblong window in the centre of the card. The crimson Whispers inkpad was applied straight to the card to ink in a random square effect and this was dried with a heat gun. The Tag stamp was inked with the Imperial Purple Stazon and stamped over the card as show leaving an edge left and bottom. The stone texture stamp was inked with Eden Green Stazon and this was applied to these edges. The Crown and Fleur de Lys stamps were stamped as shown with Versamark and heat embossed with the Moonglow powders. All edges were inked in Purple Stazon.

Next the Joker was taken and stamped randomly with the stone texture stamp and Eden Green Stazon. The card was allowed to dry and then sprayed with the Copper spray and dried with the heat gun to give a metallic effect. The edges were again edged with Purple Stazon.

The other side of the Joker card was giver two coats of Lumiere Purple Halo Gold Paint. When dry the diamond stamp was inked with Versafine and this was stamped centrally (to show through the window in the top card) and heat embossed with The Holly Berry Moonglow EP and finished by assembling one card over the other with six 3mm foam pads.

Next the diamond stamp was stamped twice with Versafine on the mountboard and heat embossed with the Holly Berry Moonglow EP. These two diamonds were trimmed out to make the dangly embellishment.

A length of the red wire spring was taken and the two halves of the diamond stuck together back to back with Glossy accents after trapping the wire between the two. A small nick was cut into the top left hand corner of the top card and the wire passed through this nick to allow the embellishment to dangle on the front of the card. The remaining wire was laid against the foam pads inside the card sandwich and passed round all four sides before finishing at the same left hand corner nick. Two small sticky pads were then used to adhere a square flat backed gem over the edge at this top corner to attach and seal the wire to the card. The diamond embellishment was edged with Krylon Gold pen.

I then took the Four of Diamonds and again added ink to card directly with the Stazon Purple card on both sides. I puched a hole with the crop-o-dile and applied a red eyelet as shown through which some decorative fibres were added. I hand wrote in Gelly Roll stardust pen (horrible writing !!!) the details of the swap and the title on the front of this card to act as a tag.

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'Vintage' Inchies

Here are a set of 'Vintage' inchies I have made for a UK Stampers swap I am hosting.

I used:

• Mountboard
• Printed Papers (K & Co)
• Gelly Roll Souffle pens (assorted colours)
• Gold Artists Ink
• Stamps (SeeD's Vintage set)
• Versamark Inkpad (Onyx black)
• Punch (1 inch square, Woodware)
• Whispers Dye Inkpad (Dark Brown)

I punched out some suitable K & Co printed papers into nine 1 inch squares. These were then stamped with the stamps and Onyx Black Versafine. Dried with a heatgun and decorated with the Souffle Pens and allowed to airdry (about 5 mins). The gold ink was applied by fine brush selectively and allowed to dry.

The mountboard was cut on the rotary cutter into nine squares and the decorated squares adhered with glue stick. After a little trimming all edges were inked with the dark brown dye ink direct from the pad.

That's it. Hope you like them :-)

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Postcard from Japan

This is another postcard in the series for a challenge over on UK Stampers Forum. This weeks challenge was to make a postcard from Japan. I wanted to achieve a sort of 'Floaty' feel for the background with the soft pinks of the Japanese Sakura.

I used:

• Card (light moss green cut to 6 x 4 inches)
• Whispers Dye Inkpad (Grand Cranberry, Port Wine)
• Stamps (Kodomo - Learning from Bamboo & Plum, SeeD's Morsels - little flower)
• Versafine Inkpad (Vintage Sepia)
• Gelly Roll Glaze Pen (Sakura - Plum)
• Paper Flower (Hand Crafted)
• Flower Mask (made from cardstock)
• Cream Paper
• Pink Pearl embellishment

The card was cut to size and the flower mask moved randomly over the whole card with ink applied by a piece of cut'n'dry foam to produce the flowery background. The Whispers Ink was used for this.

The Kodomo Plum stamp was inked with Versfine vintage sepia and stamped 3 times as shown. The flowers were coloured with the Gelly Roll Glaze pen and allowed to dry. The learning from bamboo stamp was inked similarly and stamped as shown along with the work from the plum stamp.

The home made paper flower was applied with sticky pads and the pearl applied with glossy accents. The word banner was printed on the computer on cream paper, stamped with the SeeD's morsels stamp, coloured with the Whispers Ink and applied as shown with double sided tape.

Hope you like it :-)

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Postcard from Africa

Another week, another postcard............or so they say !! This weeks challenge on UK stampers was to make a 'Postcard from Africa'. So this is my entry.

I wanted to have a contemporary finish, hot colours and a 'Tribal' feel to this one.......

I used:

• Printed Background Card (Imaginisce - Rococo Loco - double sided)


• Mask Embellishment (home-made from polymer clay with mica applied)


• Rubber Stamp (African lady with plate - Third Coast Stamps)


• Brilliance Inkpad (Copper)


• Versamark Inkpad


• Embossing Powder (Judikins - Cloisonne)


• Rub-on (DCWV - seasons)


• Chalk Inkpad (Colorbox - peach)

The card was cut to 6 x 4 inches and a triangular piece cut as an overlay and turned over to reveal the opposite side. The stamp was inked with Versamark and stamped several time along the bottom edge of the main piece of card and this was heat embossed with the cloisonne EP. The same stamp was cleaned and the top portion stamped in Brilliance copper ink along the base of the triangle.

The pre-made clay mask was adhered as shown with glossy accents and the card finished with the rub-on as shown. All edges were edged with peach chalk inkpad.

Hope you like it :-)

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'Mickey' ATC

This is my entry for the TMTA challenge for this week. The challenge was to craft an ATC in the theme of 'Comic'. It's the first I have done for a while but I enjoyed making it. I can't think of anyone who hasn't seen Mickey Mouse so I chose this character as my subject.

I used:

• Card (white cut to 2.5 x 3.5 inches)
• Whispers Dye Inks (Yellow & Orange)
• Versamark Inkpad
• Versafine Inkpad (Onyx black)
• Embossing Powder (Glitter Gold)
• Rubber Stamp (small outline star, Making Memories alphas)
• Brads (metallic red)Inkjet Transparency

The image of Mickey (from the sorcerers apprentice in Fantasia by Disney) was first printed onto Inkjet transparency film. The background of the card was coloured with cut'n'dry foam and Whispers dye inks in yellow & orange, applied in a sort of starburst effect. This was heat set.

The star stamp was inked with Versamark, stamped four times as shown and heat embossed with the gold sparkle embossing powder. Finally the acetate with the image was positioned over the background and affixed with four brads as shown. The acetate was then trimmed to size.

Hope you like it :-)

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Butterfly Box for Mum

Well it's Mothers Day tomorrow so I decided to make a little box for my Mum. Its base is actually one of those travel sweets tins. I have simply covered the side and lid of the tin with K&Co printed papers and used a piece of sticky ribbon to decorate the edge of the lid. The papers were tinted with various pink and blue Whispers dye inks and a blending tool to mute the colours.

The top is decorated with a paper flower I made by stamping randomly onto plain copier paper a butterfly stamp from Elusive Images with vintage sepia Versafine ink. The flower was made by cutting out 3 large and 3 small flower shaped pieces of the stamped paper colouring with the same colour dye inks and curling with a pair of scissors before assembling with mini sticky dots and adding a pearl to the centre.

A little plate and sprig of violet flower buds was also added. The inside is coated with black velvet making it a good little box for keeping jewellery in !

Hope she will like it :-)

The inspiration for this came from one of the UK Stampers forum members, Angelnorth.

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Spinner ATC's

Here are three ATC's done with the spinner machine. I am doing a swap with my crafty friend Diane over the pond in the USA. I used glossy paper and various alcohol inks and Inkabilities to provide the effects. I also stamped two with black Stazon ink to add interest.

I have also done a class on Spin 'n' Splash on the blog and have been asked to do Part 2 which is coming up very soon.

They are on their way.......hope she likes them :-)

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