Tim Holtz Tag - June

Having missed last month's tag on Tim Holtz's blog I thought I'd better get this month's done early. It's quite unusual in that it has no dangly bits or pieces - just stamping and colouring and almost C & S by Tim's standards. I used salty ocean, brushed corduroy and wild honey DIs on a craft sheet. I used various stamps from the Classic favourites set. I stamped a Paper Artsy dragonfly on some watercolour paper, masked it and stamped the Katzelkraft text stamp (I know I use this a lot but it always seems to fit - it's a fabulously useful stamp) and a B-line Design postmark . I used my Whisper markers to colour in the images according to Tim's instructions, highlighted the edges with brushed corduroy DI and stuck it on the tag.

UK Stampers ATC Swap - June

The theme for this month's swap on UK Stampers is embossing. I clear embossed some bubbles (by Rubber Stampede) and then used ripe persimmon, seedless preserves and mowed lawn DIs on a craft sheet with gold shimmer spray. The ATC blanks were then embossed with Papermania's secret garden embossing folder, Versamark rubbed over the raised parts and Perfect Pearls applied with a brush. The die is a coneflower by Joy Crafts. The corners were rounded and gingham ribbon and computer generated text added.

UK Stampers Postcard Swap - June

This month the theme for postcards on UK Stampers is hats. I've had this Pink Cat Studio stamp from the Women in Art set2 for quite a while (I think it came in a grab bag) and it seemed appropriate to use it. The BG is ripe persimmon and mowed lawn DIs spritzed with gold shimmer spray on a craft mat. When dry I used a mask and perfect peach Glimmer Mist. Again I waited until it was dry and added a couple of rub-ons in the corners which I then covered with spiced marmalade DI. The BG script is by Katzelkraft with Brilliance platinum planet. I stamped the Pink Cat Studio lady on a scrap piece of card, coloured her in with coloursoft pencils and Sansodor and cut her out. I hope this month's recipient likes it.

Hexagons

I've just scrapped my first complete album about a trip I made in April. It was an 8 x 8 album and I ended up with a lot of 4 x 12 scraps. I'm trying to use these up as side fold cards that are roughly A6 in size. This piece of grey Bazzill cardstock was perfect for a card that I made to try out my new Sizzix hexagon dies. I've been wanting a set of hexagons for a while and when I saw this set demoed by Paula Pascual at the Extravaganza on Sunday I knew it was just what I was looking for. This makes a very quick card and if you use a set of patterned papers they should all go together. I used K & Co's Remake Ocean Blues pad and a Paula Pascual sentiment on one of the hexagons which I raised on foam pads.

Floral Rub-Ons

As I mentioned in a previous post I didn't manage to do Tim's tag for May but it wasn't because I didn't try, it's just the results were awful. However looking on the bright side I did get some ancient rub-ons out and as there were only a few odds and ends on the sheet I thought I'd use them up. The BG is a remnant from one of my attempts at the May tag, made with DIs on a craft sheet. My Mona Lisa stamp looked hideous on the BG but this flower rub-on seemed to fit the colours well. I used my nesties to cut the plain & scalloped ovals and mounted them on a teal card blank (this is actually the same colour as the darker parts of the leaves and not as blue as it appears on screen). A Paula Pascual sentiment completed the card.

Craft Barn Alpha Challenge - F

The twist in the 11th Alpha Challenge on the Craft Barn blog is the letter F but only words between Fe and Fr. That ruled out several good words such as family and face. I've been away for a few days and have been trying to catch up with various things so I've only just managed to complete this.
I decided to go with Free/Freedom. Apparently in the language of colours, blue is the colour of freedom (who knew?) so there is quite a bit of blue.  I drew hand sketched frames (you could call them freeform?) and used tumbled glass, salty ocean and stormy sky DIs on the BG over some cloud-shaped masks. The flying birds (they have feathers, right?) are Tim Holtz and Crafty Individuals stamps and the bird die is by Sizzix (I could say it was a finch but I think it's a swallow). The foliage and flowers are by Paula Pascual from the punchable tags set. The text is cut from an Xcut set and Tim Holtz's alphabetical die.
I'm sorry I have not been able to visit anyone this week - I have an awful lot on at the moment but I will try and have a look at your no doubt wonderful entries.

Tulips!

Well it's been rather quiet on this blog lately but that's not to say I haven't been busy on the crafting front. I've been away on 2 trips and actually made an album of my first trip. I'm way behind on several challenges (I've missed the boat for May's Timmy tag) and I have my dictionary page to do but first (and here's a sentence I never thought I'd write) here's a collaborative card made with Jean Hardy from Crafty Individuals. I went to the Craft Barn Extravaganza on Sunday and it was not the usual bunfight to get a seat to watch the demos, in fact it was all rather civilised and I managed to sit and chat (and watch) Gio (CI and Craft Barn DT) who had come all the way from Rome, Paula (Sizzix designer) who convinced me I needed the Sizzix hexagon die set and Jean Hardy (Crafty Individuals). Jean released her new stamps at the Extravaganza and this tulip stamp is one of them. She gave me this sample which she stamped on a distress ink BG on satin card (which they sell on the CI site), and coloured with DI markers. She then used Sparkle Medium, which is a sort of glitter paste available in various luscious colours, through a CI mask.  I made a quick card out of it when I got home. I trimmed the card and edged it with worn lipstick DI using a brush (a great tip from Jean). The colour blends more easily than with cut & dry foam and gives a lovely soft finish. I edged the card blank in the same way and added 2 squares of CI paper from the Springtime range. I added glossy accents to the tulip heads which has lifted the colour slightly but I like the effect. Do check out the new additions to the CI stamp range, they are fab.
Edited to add Jean has very kindly included my/our card in an announcement about the new stamps on the Crafty Individuals blog. You can see it here.