Gothic Arches - Tailor's Shop

This is the last Gothic Arch for a while so I thought I would make an effort to participate. I don't have many sewing type stamps so I resorted to a Gothic Arch version of my TH tag for April. The embossing folder on the dummy is called swirly whirly and the stand is the TH hanging sign die. I made the rosette out of a scrap of card and added the flower (a Craft Stamper freebie) behind.

Gothic Arches - Carnevale

This fortnight's Gothic Arches challenge theme is Carnevale. I used some Crafty Individuals patterned paper (conveniently called Travels in Italy) as a BG taking care to ensure that the beautiful mask image was visible. The mask stamp is by Simply Stamps, embossed in gold, painted with Twinkling H2Os and embellished with gems. This was stuck onto a marabou feather. I die-cut a TH flourish and punched some photo corners from gold card. I've left it fairly plain as I wanted the gorgeous paper to show through.

Gothic Arches - Black & White

Here is my entry for this fortnight's challenge on the Gothic Arches blog. The theme is black & white. I was a bit stuck for ideas as to what to do and I wasn't sure if the whole arch had to use only black & white (as you can see I decided to give it 2 spots of green). I used the TH umbrella man stamp and a BG of circles from an Inkadinkadoo plate (although I have various grey ink pads for some reason I decided to use my Versafine onyx black for this, stamping the first impression on scrap paper). The flowers are from a TPC Studio borders set and the text is from Fiskars. I finished with some metallic green brads.

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.

Gothic Arches - Bedazzled

The current challenge over on the Gothic Arches blog is 'Bedazzled'. The BG is bundled sage DI through sequin waste, Brilliance orange sponged through a TH flourish negative and an Anita's starburst stamp. The image is from an old Erté diary embellished with a gold pen, silver glitter and black enamel accents. Some computer generated text and a beaded pin complete the arch. I bought some buttonhole pins in black and pearl from a florist wholesalers and I'm having fun adding beads and making my own decorative pins. It's a great way to use up the odd leftover bead that languishes at the bottom of the container.

Gothic Arches

This is a fortnightly challenge that's been running for a while but has recently been revitalised by Effie and Lynn, two very talented crafters who I chat with on UK Stampers. You can find more info here. I thought I'd give it a go as the theme resonated with me - DS2 will be leaving for university this year and I have the perfect PA stamp (kids plate 5) for this. My BG is made from Impress inks tapped onto a piece of acetate, spritzed with water and then some card is smooshed over to pick up the ink. The swirl border is an Inkadinkadoo inchie stamp stamped in Impress cerulean blue. I added some CI birds and a bit of glossy accents to add a touch of dimension.