Gothic Arches - Snap Happy

Effie & Lynn on the Gothic Arch challenge blog have asked us to use a photograph or digital image on our arch. I haven't been able to take part for a few weeks so I thought I'd jump in with a quick entry this time. I used some paper and an image by Crafty Individuals. The background has a grid and splatter stamp over it and the edges have been coloured with frayed burlap DI. The hearts are a scrapbooking diecut border and the crown is from a sheet of cut-outs that I bought at ally pally. I made a rosette with some scrap from the BG paper and added a piece of TH film strip ribbon secured with a heart shaped brad.

LIM 65

For this weeks Less Is More challenge we have a very simple sketch (a square card base with a square or a circle image and a sentiment). The image is a favourite of mine by Hampton Arts stamped with plum archival ink. The text stamp is one I had made. It looked a little too stark so I added some splatters. If this wasn't for LIM I would have added some more elements to the card such as a long flourish running behind the image or some pale grey stamps in the background or even some torn patterned paper but the object of the challenge is restraint so I have been as plain as possible.

UKS ATC Swap May 2012

Vonny has chosen the theme of black & white for May's ATC swap on UK Stampers. I'm trying to get ahead of myself while I can as June is looking like being a busy month. The first ATC has lots of different backgrounds stamped grid style with a Paper Artsy stamp (travel plate 3) as the main image. Although the film strip looks like it's been stuck over, it's all been done with masking. I sponged through some sequin waste, used a Penny Black deco border, Hero Arts crosshatch lines, Hobby Art speckles and the zebra stripes from the same PA plate. After all that inking my waste paper that I use to stamp on looked very interesting so I stamped on it some more and made some paper beads to embellish the ATC. I added a small pearl spray as well.
ATC no 2 has been stamped with Impression Obsession's cover-a-card lace stamp. The image stamp is something I received with an ebay order and I don't know who makes it. I stamped it on a scrap of card and cut/tore it to fit. The flower is by Elusive Images and the leaves are a Mariane die. A candi dot finished off the flower.
I received the chess piece stamp from Efemera in a grab bag and with the help of a Design Objectives embossing folder and a bit of computer generated text the ATC was quickly finished. I used Versafine onyx black throughout.

Dies To Die For 3

The Dies To Die For challenge blog has recently started and I thought I'd submit this card which follows their sketch. I used the Memory Box poppy die  and a circle die for the aperture. The patterned paper is by Crafty Individuals, the plain paper by K&Co and the black strip is embossed with a Cuttlebug border die.

LIM 64 - charms

When you buy something new do you have to use it as soon as possible or do you save it for that special day?  I'm definitely a quick user. This week's challenge on the Less Is More blog is to use a charm on our cards. I wanted to use some more of my ally pally purchases - this Unity Suzi Blu stamp called party girl (I loved her stripy legs) for a start. I gave her a patterned skirt out of a Crafty Individuals paper pad (new) and used victorian velvet DI (new) to colour her top. For some reason the ink didn't go onto the card evenly but I quite like the slightly textured effect it has given. The handbag is punched out of metallic card (does that qualify as a charm?). Her necklace is made of wire and a homemade heart charm which I punched out of shrink plastic, heated and coloured with a Sharpie pen. The text is by Inkadinkadoo & I flicked some glimmer mist over the card blank with a brush. She looks all set for a night out.

LIM 63 - one layer doodling

This week's one layer challenge on the Less Is More blog is to doodle on our cards. I am c**p at anything freehand so I have had to have a think about this for a while. I wanted to use a new stamp I got for £1 last Saturday at ally pally and decided that even someone as artistically challenged as I am could manage a few v-shaped birds. I masked the outside of the image, the sun and the foliage on the tree and used my new Judikins colour brushes with worn lipstick, spiced marmalade and broken china DIs. The foliage was waterbrushed with shabby shutters DI (a new purchase). I decided I wanted the bridge to be transparent so I didn't mask it. The line around the image was very feint so I used a black Sharpie to draw a stronger frame. I've left the card without a sentiment because I'm not sure what occasion it will be used for yet. I will try and have a look at everyone else's entries but I have a busy week.

Tim Holtz Tag - April

NOTICE: No extra products were purchased in the making of this tag! Well this was an interesting challenge as I had none of the elements required for the Tim Holtz April tag but I have tried to keep as true to the original as possible. The bird & branch die - nope didn't have that but I do have some tando chipboard birds and branches which I coloured with broken china and brushed corduroy DI and a felt pen for the beak. I used some Viva Croco clear crackling colour over the chipboard to add a bit of texture. His crown was hand drawn and cut out of gold card. The background was coloured with wild honey, broken china & brushed corduroy DI and stamped with Adirondack archival sepia. I got the script stamp in a grab bag so have no idea who makes it. The oval frame is a Nellie Snellen die which I embossed with the Cuttlebug textile texture folder. I masked the Crafty Individuals journey stamp in order to stamp the quote (yes my inner proof reader is telling me realise is spelt the American way and til should have either an extra l or an apostrophe before it but this tag is one big compromise) and rounded the corners to make a tag. The twine was coloured with more brushed corduroy (this is a colour I only recently invested in but it has been used a lot) and attached with a stapler. The yarn is a small piece from a charity shop find and the key is an original from our old 1930s doors. Thank you Mr Holtz - I enjoyed thinking my way around this.

UKS Postcard Swap April

This month's postcard swap on UK Stampers is feathered friends. Our postcards have to be able to go through the post naked so we have to be careful that anything we use is able to withstand whatever Royal Mail throws at it. I did a masking tape BG (basically small torn strips of masking tape) and then applied broken china & peeled paint DI directly on top. I sprinkled verdigris embossing powder all over and heated to melt. It sticks randomly to the masking tape. The bird and flowers are a Sizzix die. I embossed the bird and applied perfect pearls in various colours. I cut the flowers out of terracotta card and embossed a terracotta strip. The text was stamped in Stazon rusty brown and the flower in Stazon pumpkin. I added black enamel accents to the flower centres.

Baby Buggy

I've just become a great aunt and so had to indulge my inner cute side and make a card for the happy parents. I saw this idea on the sizzix designers blog and adapted it a little to work with the dies I have. I cut some K&Co patterned paper with a scalloped oval nestie for the body of the buggy with a TH vintage lace die for the edging. The wheels are 2 circle punches with felt flower spokes and a small patterned paper dot for the nut. The handle is part of a TH flourish die. If you haven't been onto the Sizzix DT blog before it's well worth a look - they have new designers who are producing some fantastic art that is very different from what I normally expect from Sizzix.

LIM 62

3 greens is the challenge over on the Less Is More blog this week. I have a busy week so decided to bite the bullet and get my entry done early. Green to me could only mean one thing - leaves and so I dug out these 2 very old bamboo stamps by Joroco (now defunct I think). I stamped them in Impress chartreuse, spring green and emerald. I used my alphabet dial stamp to make the word serenity (I wasted some time trying to selectively stamp it from a 'serendipity' stamp but something or other kept going wrong so I gave up). It needed something to make it more of a scene so I added a punched sun. I hope there's enough white space to qualify as a LIM card. I just have in my mind a warm, gentle breeze causing the bamboo to rustle in a pleasing way and that wonderful sense of everything being right with the world. Enjoy the rest of the Easter weekend.

LIM 61

This week's Less is More challenge is to take inspiration and use the colours from the picture below. I thought of spring flowers and pink tulips sprang to mind. I used a Simple Expressions stamp coloured with Memento London fog and coloursoft pencils. The quote is from the same set and cut with a nestie label die. A scrap of patterned paper and some card candi finish the card.