Birds on a Branch

Just playing around with a few more of my purchases from Ally Pally I made them into this card. The bird die was an unplanned purchase but I'm very pleased with it. I decided to buy a couple more Distress Oxides - spiced marmalade and twisted citron - to complement the 2 I already have. I actually meant to buy peeled paint but picked up the citron instead. The birds have been cut from a wallpaper sample that was hanging around on my desk, it has a distressed, metallic effect and cut without any problem. The jury is still out on the DOs. I'm not sure I will get as many of them as I have DIs which I love but I may buy a few more basic colours.

Love at First Sight!

Last weekend I was at Alexander Palace for the craft show that takes place twice a year. It was much quieter than previous years and I went more for a look around rather than a big spending spree. I needed some basics like DST and Zig glue. What wasn't on my list was another poppy stamp but look at it and tell me if you would have been able to resist it. It's by a French company called Carabelle and this was the first time they had exhibited at the show although some of their products are stocked over here by the Craft Barn. I did walk away from it once telling myself that I didn't need another poppy stamp to add to my collection but, but, but... (sigh!).
I wanted to have a quick play with it and decided to use softer colours rather than the usual reds so I stamped it with Versafine smokey gray. I used my alcohol markers and then broken china DI for a sketchy watercolour background. The panel was mounted onto a card blank and I used a pink marker to give the impression of a matted layer. A punched sentiment by Paula Pascual finished it off.
I'm looking forward to trying other colour schemes with this beautiful stamp.

Postcard No 3

Recently on Craftsy they had a bonus day when you could watch a selection of classes for free for 24 hours. I managed to find time to watch a little of a technique class by Marjie Kemper. Her work is inspiring and she explains things well. There is a lot of her work on Pinterest and she has a blog here. After watching I decided to have a play on a scrap of card that was on my desk. I used picked raspberry, spiced marmalade, mustard seed and seedless preserves DIs with various stencils and stamps. I added the Dina Wakley image with the help of my stamp buddy and some white acrylic circles with a small plastic tube. The 'dance' text is by Non Sequitur and the 'live' text by Tim Holtz.
As this is going through the post as is I couldn't add any further embellishment.
I hope the recipient is pleased with it.

Wordgirl Postcard No 2

This is the second postcard in the swap I am doing this month. I have used a Wordgirl image again but given her a different background. A while ago I watched a Jennifer McGuire tutorial on making a galaxy background. She used DOs which I only have 2 of so I used DIs instead with a gold shimmer spray and instead of black soot DI I used Brilliance lightning black which has a subtle gold shimmer to it. The quote which I read a few weeks ago and had saved seemed appropriate. I added a moon/planet(?), some punched stars and some washi tape. As this is going through the post as is, I did not add any other embellishments but highlighted her hair and the text on her dress with Wink of Stella.
I hope the recipient is pleased with this. Wordgirl stamps can be purchased from here. 

Wordgirl Postcard

I stamped off a few wordgirl images and have been playing around with colouring them in with pencils and alcohol markers. I've blogged a card made with one version here and this is a postcard that I'm sending halfway around the world as part of a forum swap. I used paints, inks, stamps and stencils to make the background and added some washi tape to finish off the postcard. The washi tape at the top says 'do what you love'. I would have liked to have added sequins but as this is being posted without an envelope I didn't want to risk it. I did however add Wink of Stella to her hair and the words on her dress so that she sparkles.
I hope the recipient is pleased with it - we both know the stamp designer, Trish Latimer, so there is a personal connection. Wordgirl stamps are available to buy here.

Monthly Challenge

This month's verse for the monthly challenge on the Craft Barn blog asks for fruit and hunting. I managed the fruit (pumpkins) but decided to depict the birds (hopefully) flying away from the hunter's guns. The stamp is part of a Heartfelt Creations stamp. I coloured it in with coloursoft pencils and added a couple of extra pumpkins to fit the page. The birds are from a Crafty Individuals set.
I was too late to participate in last month's challenge but have managed to catch up although without the added twist of a tractor.

The die is by Spellbinders. I have always had problems getting a good cut with this die but adding some quick release foam to the die and using a metal shim improved things considerably.

Rebel Stampers ATC Swap - Theme

This month's theme is 'opposites'. I decided to go for black & white. I'm sure there must have been an easier way to do this but I wanted to inlay the pieces so that the ATCs were completely flat. It took some time and was rather fiddly but I removed each piece, glued it and swapped the 2 colours round. The die is from Sizzix's flower card set. I added some heat embossed text.

Rebel Stampers ATC Swap - Technique

This months technique theme for the Rebel Stampers ATC swap is 'folds'. For my first ATC I decided to make some origami fish - a large angelfish and a slightly easier set of folds for the smaller fish. The background was made by rubbing broken china & salty ocean DIs and broken china DO on a craft sheet, spritzing with water and picking it up with some card. I then overstamped with a water droplet stamp and highlighted with a white pen. I added some twists of coloured card for seaweed.

 

My second ATC has a Brusho background overstamped with a couple of circle stamps. My 'folds' are some washi tape formed into ruffles and some patterned paper scraps made into rosettes.

Alphabet ATC Swap - Y for Yearn

I've had this spare Dina Wakley image hanging around on my desk for a while and a small piece of the Brusho background that I had made while playing seemed to go well with it. I added the handwritten text and a small crown for the princess in waiting.

Alphabet ATC Swap - Y for Yokel

OK so I am kind of scraping the barrel with this one - Y for Yokel. No rudeness intended and the image is of a scarecrow rather than a human but work with me on this. I brayered ink on an embossing folder and embossed the ATC blank. The coloured and cut out stamped image (by Kadoodle) was added along with some punched flowers and dragonflies.

A CAS Flower Card from Scraps

The background for the main panel on this card was made by wiping off an inked stencil onto an oddment of card that was lying on my desk. The original work I used the stencil on is not quite finished and will appear on the blog later, but after trimming the scrap I inked the edges with picked raspberry and made a quick CAS card. The image is by Hero Arts, inked with Memento bamboo leaves and Brilliance coral and orchid. I used the same stencil (TH scribbles) across a corner of the card base with victorian velvet DI and added the panel on foam pads. The text is the negative from a Sizzix die that was left over from another project.

Alphabet ATC Swap - Y for Yellow

We are now at the penultimate letter in our monthly Alphabet ATC Swap. I'm happy that I've managed to last to the (almost) end but goodness was this letter a challenge! I decided to go for Yellow and created an ATC with various yellow elements and a touch of black. The background was made with a TH stencil and mustard seed DI. After I had finished I moved the stencil slightly and applied more ink to give a more hazy effect. The focal image is from Altenew's Beautiful Day set which I coloured with alcohol marker pens and embellished with enamel accents. I added some yellow washi tape, some punched photo corners and flower brads.

Flower Card

I was playing about making a background and decided to make it into a card. I started by brayering some broken china and peeled paint DI and Brilliance crimson randomly over some card. I added some peeled paint through sequin waste and stamped the Tim Holtz scratches stamp. A Katzelkraft text stamp completed the background. I found a scrap of scrapbook paper and a small piece of thick card left over from a previous project. I covered the card with the paper and added a flower diecut. A Memory Box border diecut finished the card.
I've left the RHS empty for the greeting which I will probably stamp and punch out with a circle punch.