My inky travels along life's rocky road

Saturday 31 December 2011

Katzelkraft advent calendar 18

I almost forgot these tags. We had to make 2 tags using distress inks and stamps. As I had completed all my Christmas themed cards etc I decided to go non-christmassy and do a homage to Tim Holtz. The DI are broken china, peeled paint & brushed corduroy and all the stamps (except for a small splatter stamp) are by TH. I made the rosettes with my scoreboard and added some candi dots and ribbon to finish.
My 2nd tag is a homage to Mme Katzele the owner of Katzelkraft. I used the same colours of DI as above but all Katzelkraft stamps (except for the splatter again). The flowers are a Marianne die. Some pearl brads and ribbon finished it off.

Friday 30 December 2011

Katzelkraft advent calendar 24

The last advent calendar challenge was to stamp on a candle. This was the only candle I had that had a smooth surface to stamp on. It was semi-decorated with gold stars and glitter. I removed the stars and replaced them with heart brads. Used some Katzelkraft stamps for the text and the flourish and added a Hero Arts heart. The red is Stazon blazing red but it looks quite different on the heart.
I have really enjoyed both Katzelkraft challenges. I am so glad I completed them although I have to say if it had been a normal year for me (ie without power cuts & builders etc) I probably wouldn't have been able to devote as much time to it as I have done. I have been pushed into trying things I've not done before and that I guess is the true meaning of a challenge.

Katzelkraft advent calendar 20

For day 20 we had to make our tags of days 8, 12 & 18 into a table decoration. Unfortunately I had already sent my 8 & 12 tags off to friends and my tags for the 18th weren't Christmassy. Instead I made these (card) gingerbreadmen as place markers with everyone's initials on. I found a suitable shape online and made a template. I used tea dye DI on the edges and added a bowtie, die cut initials and candi dots.

Katzelkraft advent calendar 22

We had to customise a notebook. I had an A5 hardbound notebook that I decided to use. The image is from an old diary with Mucha images that I picked up a few years ago. I liked it against the red of the book so I decided not to recover the book. I stamped some flowers from an Elusive Images set (butterfly collage I think) with Stazon in the background and added the embossed circle around her head. The text is a CB alpha curls & swirls.

Katzelkraft advent calendar 3, 9, 13 & 15

Not a brilliant pic but you get the idea. I didn't have any canvases so I used mount board instead. Here are better scans of the individual pieces.
The background paper for all these was a freebie from an old magazine. The stamps are by Katzelkraft, Crafty Individuals and Rubber Stampede.

Wednesday 28 December 2011

Katzelkraft Christmas Challenge 10/3 The final card!!!!

For day 17 of the advent calendar we had to make 16 inchies and on day 23 we had to follow a card sketch using the inchies. This was the last card of the 30 card challenge and I felt really glad that I had completed the challenge. I made a background of crumpled card and DIs overstamped with a sequin waste stamp and brushed gold and green perfect pearls over. I then punched out my inch squares and added various stamps, brads and punches. The squares were mounted onto red card and a cream card blank. A ribbon finished the card off.

Katzelkraft Christmas Challenge 10/2

We had to make a triptych card which was also day 21 of the calendar. I needed to make something quickly as time was short and I was determined to finish both challenges. I bought a diary in the sales a few years ago which had gorgeous Erté images. I cut an image out and used a Craft Concept embossing folder and some Dovecraft a hint of pink paper. The left and right sides have been cut down and stamped with an Elusive Images flower in Impress cherry pink. The front has an Elusive Images quotation from the same range as the flower.

Katzelkraft Christmas Challenge 10/1

We had to use a clothing tag on a card. This was also day 19 of the advent calendar. The tags made me think of sewing so I used an old CaroLines set called faux fabric collage. The lace background is a gorgeous stamp from Impression Obsession stamped in adirondack stream. The other background stamp is an Elusive Images fabric stamp in Brilliance orange. I added pearl gems to the faux pinheads and a button to the faux stitched flower.

Katzelkraft Christmas Challenge 9/3

This was also day 17 on the advent calendar. We had to stamp on fabric. It's not something I do very often but I managed to find a scrap of white cotton (an old shirt) to stamp on. I used a Stampendous agapanthus stamp and the text is from the Katzelkraft Norris fleurs plate. Both were stamped with jet black Stazon. The fabric was quite thin and transparent so I stamped a plaid background on a piece of mountboard and put the fabric on top. The pattern showed through quite well. I matted that onto some yellow card on which I used a southwest corner punch. I added a bit of colour with a butterfly from the Sizzix/Hero Arts stamp and die range which is only stuck on by its body to give a 3D effect.

Katzelkraft Christmas Challenge 9/2

This was also day 14 on advent calendar challenge. We had to use a masking technique on this card. I used stamps from the Katzelkraft adore plate for the main image and the text stamped with versafine onyx black. The background is  Hero Arts flower pattern cling stamp stamped with archival teal. I used Spellbinders labels 4  and some ribbon completed the card.

Back in the blogosphere!

It's been a while since I blogged and I've had to deal with power cuts, builders and (worst of all) NO INTERNET! However I have been continuing with the challenges and have completed both Katzelkraft challenges - the 30 card challenge and the advent calendar challenge. I shall blog all the remaining cards and advent calendar challenges over the coming days.

Sunday 18 December 2011

Katzelkraft Christmas Challenge 9/1

We had to use the layout of this poster to make a card. This was also day 11 of the advent calendar. I first saw a triangular shape (sort of) and instantly thought of a christmas tree but if you look closely you'll see a pink & a purple head to the left and the right which made me think of 3 trees. There were lots of colours in the triangle and the text at the top was at the summit of the tree shape. This is what I came up with:
The stamp by Denami Designs was embossed in gold and I used embossing pens in various colours with clear embossing powder. I finished with a punched star. Does it work?

Saturday 17 December 2011

Katzelkraft Advent Calendar 12

We had to make 2 Christmas/winter tags. I made a DI background with wild honey, spiced marmalade, rusty hinge & barn door and used a Katzelkraft stamp from the background plate with spiced marmalade. I added a Christmas tree. These trees are perfect if you are making Christmas cards in bulk. I think I read the idea on Glenda Waterworth's blog a few years ago. Cover a sheet of card with glue stick and stick down long torn strips of patterned paper across the sheet (I used papers from the 'tis the season set). When dry, measure and cut triangles from one end to the other (there is no wastage except perhaps the last piece). I then wrapped ribbon around each triangle and added a gold star. The text is from funstamps stamped in Impress emerald. Some ribbon finished off the tag.
The next tag uses a similar background in DI tumbled glass, broken china, stormy sky & faded jeans with a stamp from the Katzelkraft adore plate in stormy sky. The die cut letters are from Tim Holtz vintage market. The snowman is funstamps scribble snowman coloured with watercolour pencils. The moon is a 1 inch punch and the trees are from a grab bag.
Things are getting very hectic here in the run-up to Christmas and I am wondering if I will get this challenge finished. I would ideally like to achieve both the card and the advent calendar challenges but let's see - sometimes life gets in the way and at the moment there is a lot of life getting in the way!

Thursday 15 December 2011

Katzelkraft Week 8/2

This was also day 7 of the advent calendar. We had to make a background using the marble rolling technique with bleach. You dip some marbles (I used beads) into bleach and roll them in a container onto some card. I coloured my card with a Kaleidacolour ink pad in spectrum before rolling the beads over. I liked the effect apart from the splodge where I dropped the dripping beads onto the card. I used a plastic take away box with a lid which enabled me to give the beads a good shake. I used a scrap of paper from the rose tinted christmas set for the text and some pearlescent paper which I ran through various CB folders and cut with Sizzix circle dies. Some candi dots finished off the card.

Wednesday 14 December 2011

Katzelkraft Advent Calendar 8

Day 8 of our advent calendars asks us to make 2 sparkling tags. I put silver paint dabber on a CB snowflake embossing folder and ran it through the machine. I then used dusty concord DI over the tag & spritzed sparkle shimmer. The snowman is a punch which I covered with crackle accents and glamour dust. I punched a holly cluster in shrink plastic, shrunk it down and added a bit of red glitter for berries. The garland is a Sizzix die and the alpha is a Tim Holtz vintage market die. Some red ribbon finished this off.


The second tag has Penny Black's fantasy tree and some snowflakes embossed with clear sparkle powder. The background is DI stormy sky, broken china & tumbled glass. I added some torn card to represent snow covered ground which I smeared with rock candy distress stickles. Some ribbon and a sentiment complete my second sparkly tag.

Tuesday 13 December 2011

Katzelkraft Advent Calendar 6

We had to make 3 charms (yes I know there are 4 here). The wreath is made with pipe cleaner & ribbon. The snowflake is a wooden piece that I covered with paint dabber in Pearl and then heated so that the paint bubbled to give it some texture. The bauble is shrink plastic cut with a CB die and then a splatter stamp gold embossed on it after shrinking. I also sponged some red ink on. The last piece is a chipboard die cut that I painted with pearl dabber as above, then I added a punched tree & covered the piece with several layers of UTEE with a gem for the top of the tree at the end.

Monday 12 December 2011

Katzelkraft Christmas Challenge 7/3

Card 3 for week 7 asked us to make an embellishment using the faux leather technique. There is a method of stamping into funky foam but I used the masking tape method. Stick small strips of maskong tape onto a piece of card to cover it, colour with inks (I used tea dye & antique linen DI), sprinkle with clear embossing powder and heat. After doing this I ran it through a CB cut & emboss set. I wanted the dove to float/fly so I stamped the paisley background from Katzelkraft contes et merveilles in Versafine crimson red and cut it out with a craft knife to make an aperture. I stuck the stamped background directly behind the aperture. I sponged Adirondack red pepper & meadow and Brilliance galaxy gold onto the front. Stamped 2 text stamps from Paula Pascual's joyful bubbles set and punched them out. I hung the dove with some sewing thread so that it swings freely. I finished with a couple of ornamental corners cut from some spare faux leather card.

Sunday 11 December 2011

Katzelkraft Christmas Challenge 8/3

This was also day 10 of the advent calendar. We had to make a card using heat embossing. Thankfully I knew this would be a quick card to make. I embossed the Crafty Individuals stamp in gold and used Twinkling H2Os to paint the image. Quick & simple which is exactly what I need at the moment if I'm going to complete this challenge.

Katzelkraft Christmas Challenge 5/3

Well this was definitely a challenge! We had to use 2 natural objects on our card - not that tricky you would think but I really struggled with this. I tried feathers, wood, cotton fabric and finally came up with this - a pressed flower & a skeleton leaf. I mounted the flower on a circle cut with a Sizzix die and added some scraps of card. Not very happy with this but I need to move on.

Saturday 10 December 2011

Katzelkraft Advent Calendar 1

This was the first challenge in our advent calendar - we had to make an envelope to match one of our challenge cards to send to another challenge participant. I chose the 3 ticket sketch card from week 1. The paper I had used in the original card was from a 6 x 6 pad so too small to make into an envelope. I found some dotted paper in similar tones in a MME wild asparagus 12 x 12 pad so used that instead. I lined the inside with some co-ordinating festive paper and stamped the Katzelkraft flourish on the front and back of the envelope. I added a glittered ticket punched tree to the front as well.
Ready for posting!
I hope the recipient is pleased with it.

Friday 9 December 2011

Katzelkraft Advent Calendar 2

For the 2nd day of advent we had to make a wrap for a candle. I had an unused (slightly wonky)  glittery candle that I'd bought ages ago. I used a Nellie Snellen ornate circle die, a Sizzix circle die, a circle punch and a scallop circle punch with Paula Pascual's joyful bubbles and large christmas sets to make the central piece. I mounted it on a strip of patterned paper from DCWV rose-tinted christmas set which I edged with some strips cut from the Tim Holtz vintage lace die. Because of the glitter on the candle it was impossible to glue the wrap to the candle so I used the holes in the lace diecut to pin some beads around to hold it in place.

I've never tried anything like this before but it was fun to do and the possibilities are endless.

Thursday 8 December 2011

Katzelkraft Advent Calendar 4

Part of week 8's advent calendar challenge. Click on the pic to enlarge it. We had to make a mini garland. I used some scraps of paper from the Christmas blues set and stamped them with the flourish from Katzelkraft physalis musique in Versamark and then brushed gold Perfect Pearls over them. The pic hasn't really caught the gold sheen but it is just about visible on the 'P' . I stamped the letters with Adirondack red pepper and added some pompoms for fun. I stuck the whole lot onto some cotton cord which I coloured with red pepper. To give you an idea of size each flag is 3cm long.

Wednesday 7 December 2011

Katzelkraft Christmas Challenge 8/1

Week 8 - a 9-circle sketch. This was also day 5 of the advent calendar. I used Paula Pascual's large christmas and filled with flowers sets on 1 1/2  inch punched circles with Adirondack red pepper and meadow. The gold snowflake is from a garland and the tree is a small wooden embellishment. Some gold gems finish the card.

Saturday 3 December 2011

Katzelkraft Christmas Challenge 7/1

Week 7 number 1 we had to follow a sketch. I cut squares from Dovecraft christmas blues patterned paper & edged them with DI bundled sage. I painted 4 laser cut wooden snowflakes with Adirondack dabber in pearl and while wet sprinkled a little glamour dust. I stamped Paula Pascual's large christmas with bundled sage, the snowflake in Impress old rose, the snowflake outline in bundled sage, mounted it on foam pads and added a pearl. Some ribbon finished off the card.

Friday 2 December 2011

Katzelkraft Christmas Challenge 7/2

Week 7 number 2 - we had to make a background using blobs of ink which you spread by blowing with a straw. I have some small bottles of Winsor & Newton brilliant watercolour designers. These are runny inks in bottles with little droppers so I thought they would be suitable for this technique. I used fluorescent red, green & fuschia making sure that each colour dried before starting on the next so that it didn't end up a muddy mess. It's good fun but I felt decidedly light-headed after all that blowing! I overstamped with the paisley background from the Katzelkraft contes et merveilles plate in Stazon rusty brown and cut out the shape. The greeting is an old PSX stamp on a scrap piece of card which I edged with DI worn lipstick. The fairy/angel is moongirl by Stampotique cut out & sprinkled with glamour dust on her wings. I punched a star and covered it with glamour dust and highlighted some stars on the greeting too.

Tuesday 29 November 2011

Katzelkraft Christmas Challenge 6/1

Week 6 number 1 - we had to follow a sketch on a round base. This is a round tent opening card and I've trimmed the base so it stands properly. I used a CB embossing folder for the snow background and the blue snowflake square which I edged in Brilliance lavender. The patterned papers are from the Dovecraft Christmas Blues pack. I added an eyelet to the tag shape, a snowflake brad and some punched snowflakes. The reindeer paper has been smeared with distress stickles in rock candy for a subtle sparkle. The pink background is just some card I used when scanning in order to get a better defined scan of the round card.

Monday 28 November 2011

Craft Barn Calendar Challenge - the full Monty!

I did have plans to bind all my pages but it's not going to happen this week so I'm posting a pic of the full set of 12 pages. Looking at them as a set I'm thinking about what they say about me. Hmm well they're very colourful, fairly random in the sense that there doesn't seem to be a particular style although it shows I don't really do cute. I have enjoyed doing them all - the easy & the not so easy months. They never became a chore. I hope I've done the challenge justice - what do you think?

Sunday 27 November 2011

Katzelkraft Christmas Challenge 6/2

Sorry this has scanned a bit wonky. This is week 6 number 2 - use a watercolour technique on a card. It's a DL card with the Peace stamp by Rubber Stampede watercoloured with Adirondack denim, meadow & cranberry. The printed paper is from the wild asparagus range by My Mind's Eye. The bird is from the Katzelkraft physalis musique set and I've used some candi dots and a photo corner punch as embellishments.

Saturday 26 November 2011

Craft Barn Calendar Challenge Week 12

The final calendar page. The prompt was red, green, pine trees & sparkle. I stamped the Katzelkraft horloge stamp with Versamark and brushed gold Perfect Pearls over for the background. I thought it was appropriate as we are all fixated on watching the clock at midnight on the 31st December. I coloured in a pine tree stamp from All Night Media with Whispers marker pens, spritzed with water and stamped on a piece of white card. I spritzed again for a second impression and repeated. I cut letters with an X-cut alphabet from gold glitter paper and some pine trees from holographic green paper. I know there's no glitter as such on this page but there is a lot of sparkle and shimmer. I'd like to thank everyone involved in organising this challenge. I've enjoyed it tremendously and have thankfully managed to complete each week on time. It's just as well it's finishing now though because I don't think I can put off making our Christmas cards any longer! When I started I wasn't too sure how I would put the calendar together but by luck I managed to pick up a secondhand Bind-it-all at a good price so I'm going to have a go with that.

Katzelkraft Christmas Challenge 6/3

This is a tricky one to scan. Week 6 number 3 - an all white card.  I used a Crafts Too embossing folder for the baubles and a Cuttlebug folder for the text which I cut out and stuck on. Some frosted lace stickles and a small white bow completed the card.

Friday 25 November 2011

Katzelkraft Christmas Challenge 5/2

Week 5 number 2 we had to use the salt technique on our card. I used the rest of the sheet I had made for the ATCs below and stamped a crafty individuals stamp on it. A strip of patterned paper (Dovecraft Christmas blues) and a snowflake brad completed the piece.

Thursday 24 November 2011

Katzelkraft Christmas Challenge 1/1

This is the very first challenge card - week1 number1 we had to follow a tutorial for a tri-shutter card. It took me ages to do (well I followed the tute for the base and then it just sat on my desk as I couldn't think how to decorate it). It's a very easy and attractive card fold but for me it just has too many surfaces that need covering. I'm more of a clean & simple person (quick & easy if I'm honest). I finally bit the bullet and used DCWV Rose-tinted Christmas papers. I then used Paula Pascual's excellent large Christmas and joyful bubbles sets of stamps with some gems and a few plastic snowflake embellishments that I cut from a garland. The inks used were DI dusty concord and Brilliance orchid.

Wednesday 23 November 2011

The last ATC!

This is the last ATC swap for my ATC group. The theme is 'Baby it's cold outside'. This is one of those pieces of work that has a lot more in it than you can see. I had to do a background using the salt technique for one of the Katzelkraft challenges so I did a whole sheet of A4 card so that I could use some for these ATCs. First I clear embossed some snowflakes and then did a wash of DI broken china over the whole sheet. Next I spritzed some water over, sprinkled rock salt and spritzed some more water over.When dry I brushed the salt off. I could see places where the salt had absorbed some of the colour but overall I wasn't too thrilled with the result. Perhaps a darker coloured wash would have been better? I added some more snowflakes in DI tumbled glass and tore some scraps of card to make the ground which I highlighted with glamour dust (you've got to have a bit of sparkle!). I punched out the snowman and used a stamp positioner to add the text on his scarf. This is a tool I bought this summer and although I was a bit sceptical at first about how useful it would be I have to say I have found it invaluable. You don't have to buy one (I got mine for half price so it was a good buy) - the internet has instructions on how to make one out of duplo pieces and once you understand the principle you could adapt many things. So it's au revoir to my ATC friends!

Tuesday 22 November 2011

Craft Barn Calendar Challenge Week 11

Yellow, grey and bare branches was the prompt for the penultimate week. This was a really tough one and I'm still not sure about it. I had no clear idea what I wanted to do when I started and the whole thing just evolved as I went on. The tree stamp is by Sunday International and the flourish by Katzelkraft  from the physalis musique plate. The quote is a stamp I had made a couple of years ago. The inks I used were DI pumice stone and Brilliance yellow.


Katzelkraft Christmas Challenge 5/1

We had to follow a sketch for this card - week 5 no 1. I know butterflies are not exactly festive but I had seen this being made at the Craft Barn minifest by Di Oliver of Tando and I wanted to incorporate one in a card. Being pretty, pretty things I thought a butterfly would go well with this Papermania Contemporary Christmas pack which is (rather unusually for Christmas paper) in pink and grey tones. The grey paper has been stamped with a Katzelkraft script from the background plate in Adirondack lake mist. The 3 circles are stamped with Brilliance orchid and are from a fab Personal Impressions set designed by Paula Pascual called joyful bubbles. They punch out perfectly with a 1" circle punch. Some tiny gems and fibres complete the card.

Monday 21 November 2011

Katzelkraft Christmas Challenge 2/2

Week 2 number 2 - a card with some sewing. I've had this little cross stitch scrap hanging around for a while now. I got into card making through cross stitch as I found it easier to do small items and then mount them onto cards. The background is a Katzelkraft stamp from the background plate stamped with Impress chartreuse. The text is a tiny stamp from Rubbadubadoo (I think) stamped with Adirondack wild plum.

Wednesday 16 November 2011

Katzelkraft Christmas Challenge 4/1

Week 4 number 1. We were given a sketch which I have followed very closely. A patterned paper base ('tis the season again), 4 rectangles of matt silver card embossed to give different textures and a punched photo label for the text (by Hero Arts) edged with broken china DI and raised on foam pads. The bird and branch are by Tando from a set I bought at the Craft Barn during a visit to their mini-fest a couple of weeks ago. I coloured them in with coloursoft & sansodor and gave the robin a light coating of crackle glaze which I applied with my finger.
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