Rebel Stampers ATC Swap - April Theme

This month's theme for the ATC Swap is 'Years Gone By'. I used an old Crafty Individuals stamp for the first and a selection of Paper Artsy stamps for the second.

Rebel Stampers ATC Swap - April Technique

This month's technique on the Rebel Stampers forum is Intaglio. Usually this means printing where the design is sunk into the surface as opposed to raised from the surface. For the purposes of this swap we used the triple embossing technique to build up layers of melted embossing powder and then stamped into it (only use a rubber stamp. Please do not try this with clear stamps). I used a chipboard butterfly and die cut a leaf from Tim Holtz's tattered leaves set. I had some clear UTEE which builds up the layers faster and added some gold and glitter powder in the last layer. I haven't used this technique in ages and it was good to have a go after so long. The background for the butterfly was made up of strips of washi tape. The leaf was mounted on a Hero Arts leaf background stamp.

Another Poppy Stamp!!!

Can someone have too many poppy stamps? This is what I asked myself after I had gone against my self-imposed ban against buying any more stamps of what is probably my favourite flower. This is such a tiny (@7cm/3.5" square) stamp that perhaps it doesn't strictly count? Besides it also has daisies on it so its not totally a poppy stamp is it? It's made by Little Claire Designs and I loved it when I first saw it at Ally Pally. I did walk away from it once but I passed the stand again as I was leaving and it called to me so I had to have it.
I've been having a lot of fun colouring this in with my marker pens and have made various cards with it including a blue version.

The stitched square I have used with all of them is the largest of a set of frames I bought on Amazon. I was a bit hesitant to purchase this (and a set of perforated rectangles) as they were very cheap but the ones I've tried so far have all cut cleanly with my Cuttlebug. The top card also has a piece of paper embossed with a TH bubble wrap folder and a sentiment by Paula Pascual. The blue poppy card has a background made by stamping Indigo Blu's poppy stamp with Brilliance starlite black.

I have used a Wink of Stella pen over the flowers in this card which gives a subtle sheen.

 

 

This card was coloured with a darker shade of marker pen and the side-fold blank is embossed with Papermania's secret garden folder.

 

 

 

LIM 324

It's been a while since I've been able to enter the challenge on the Less Is More blog. This week the theme is 'Spring Walk'. The die I have used is a freebie from a magazine. I mounted it on a blended background of spring colours - salty ocean, worn lipstick, mowed lawn and abandoned coral DIs. I cut out the butterflies from an extra diecut and stuck them over the existing butterflies for a 3D effect. The card blank is a very pale pearlescent green. Some clear sequins finished the card.
 

Pantone Card Challenge - April

This month's colour for the UK Scrappers Pantone card challenge is called Greenery. All the stamps used are by Katzelkraft. My background was made with Impress Inks in Chartreuse, Spring Green and Emerald and a gold shimmer spray. The main image was stamped, masked and then the text and the trailing flowers were added.

Monthly Challenge

Continuing with Sara Coleridge's poem 'The Months' we have to include a daisy or primrose on our page. My previous pages have all been outdoor scenes, this month I've brought the flowers inside as April is usually the month when the garden produces blooms that can be cut and enjoyed indoors. My page shows a freshly picked basket of flowers (including daisies) on a red gingham tablecloth. The shelf above has a vase of primroses.
Here's the link to the Craft Barn blog with all the other entries.

Alphabet ATC Swap - P for Penguin

My final ATC for this month is P for Penguin. I bought a stamp and die set from Clearly Besotted a year or so ago which has the penguin and various scarf and hat combos. The embossed igloo is a folder from a free set in a magazine I bought recently. I embossed some snowflakes which came in the penguin set with WOW sparkle powder and then rubbed tumbled glass DI over the ATC blank. A scrap of torn card formed the ground and then I added the igloo and the penguin. His hat pompoms have been heat embossed in white.

Alphabet ATC Swap - P for Paisley

My second ATC this month is another favourite - Paisley. Although this pattern was named after a Scottish town it has its origins in India where it is known as 'aam' meaning mango or 'badam' meaning almond. If you look at an alphonso mango (which is only available for a few weeks a year) you will see that it is not perfectly oval but slightly pointed at one end. The paisley pattern  is basically a very stylized mango.
I rubbed ripe persimmon, picked raspberry and mowed lawn DIs onto an ATC blank, spritzed it with shimmer spray and then ran it through a paisley embossing folder. I brushed over pumice stone DI to highlight the pattern and added some white dots with a Posca pen. The main image is by Banana Frog, coloured with marker pens.

Alphabet ATCs - P for Poppy

A new month brings a new letter in the alphabet ATC swap. The letter is P so how could I not use one of my (several) poppy stamps. This particular one is from a set I bought in Lakeland years ago when they used to sell craft stuff. I used my marker pens to colour in the image and as poppies are used for remembrance I added the text by Oxford Impressions. I wanted to keep the rest of the ATC simple so added a wash of blue ice Twinkling H2O. I rounded 2 of the corners and mounted it on some red card for added interest.