Katzelkraft S4/C2

After the previous all-black card I was in need of some colour but I wasn't planning for it to end up quite so colourful! The challenge was to use one or more feathers and I immediately thought of those feather wreaths that were so popular a few Christmases ago. One of the great thing about these challenges is it encourages you to use stuff that hasn't seen the light of day for a long time. This was the case with a bag of rust coloured feathers I had bought for something or other several years ago. I cut out a doughnut shape with 2 framelits circle dies to use as a base and then stuck some feathers on (not as easy as I thought). My desk still has bits of feather to go with the bits of black glitter that I haven't cleaned off yet. I decide to decorate the wreath with some ribbon and found a teal bow that I had made sometime ago. If I end up with a reasonable sized offcut of ribbon after trimming it from another project I tend to tie it into a small bow for future use. Even quite small pieces that can't be tied into a traditional bow can be knotted like the black ribbon in my previous post. So having tried  various coloured bows I found the teal really stood out against the rust and I added tiny matching gems. I used alcohol inks (stream, sailboat blue, cloudy blue, rust, terracotta and peach bellini) with blending solution to create a coordinating BG. I added some gold heat embossed snowflakes and a greeting but TBH they don't really show up that well.

Katzelkraft S4/C1

This was definitely a challenge and required the use of many grey cells! The card had to be all black - not black with a hint of something else. It was a tough one to do and a tough one to take a pic of, trust me the glitter, the ribbon and the card is all black. I would have liked to use some pearlescent card but I couldn't get hold of any in the given time so I decided to go with texture on black card. I used a Sizzix frame embossed with a CB candy cane folder. The inner rectangle was embossed with the CB snow folder and I added a tiny blob of PVA (white glue) to each snowflake. This dries clear to give a slight sheen (click on the pic to get a better view). The chipboard was coloured with a black Sharpie and then sprinkled with black glitter. The ribbon is waste from a box of M&S Belgian chocs. I'm quite pleased with the effect. The glitter has been lying in a box for a few years and it looks very dark and sophisticated IRL.

Katzelkraft 10 weeks before Christmas - Week 4

This week's very interesting recipes for the challenge are:

1. An all black card.

2. Use 1 or more feathers.

3. A number collage inspiration poster.

DT. Following from Gwen Scrap's fab card on the DT blog  we have to:

(a) Heat emboss with a mask.

(b) Heat emboss with a stamp in a different colour to (a)

(c) Put some splatters on the card

(d) Use some masking tape.

Phew! Now I really need to get my thinking cap on for these.

UK Stampers ATC Swap - November

This is the last ATC swap for 2013 on UK Stampers and Vonny has chosen the brilliant theme of Office Supplies. I covered some card with the patterned paper found on the inside of envelopes and randomly stuck on some ring reinforcers (you know the doughnut shaped sticky things you put over punched holes when they have torn. I then sponged salty ocean DI all over and then removed the reinforcers. I highlighted the centre of each hole with a blob of white corrector pen (Tippex type stuff). The pen and airmail sticker are by Clearly Impressed and the other stamps are by Paper Artsy (do not bend because documents have to go securely, numbers because that's what we deal with in our office and I don't feel like working because that's me). The airmail sticker is secured with a staple and I've used a jumbo paperclip with a scrap of ribbon as an embellishment.

Katzelkraft S3/C1

The final card for week 3 is to use paint. I'm more of an ink person myself but I do have some paints and for guidance I turned to the queen of all things painty - Trish of Ink, Paint, Beads. She has a great tutorial on how she achieves her wonderful painted backgrounds, I followed and ended up with this:

The grey strip at the bottom is the unpainted card I started with. I used Paper Artsy Fresco rusty rose, Reeves titanium white, Ranger silver & lettuce paint dabber, English Stamp Co pink (through a stencil). I stamped the KTZ number border in Archival plum and a KTZ flourish in Impress old rose. I cut a piece out and edged it with peeled paint DI and matted it on some green card. The sentiment is by Paula Pascual. I still have lots of painty background left to make more cards with.

Katzelkraft S3/DT

The DT card for week 3 is to take inspiration from DT member Ellie's work. I chose the card below:

I masked off an area and stamped and clear embossed some snowflakes. The masked area was coloured with tumbled glass, salty ocean and broken china DIs. I cut 3 snowflakes from some Marianne dies and added a small readymade sentiment.

Katzelkraft S3/C2

Card 2 for week 3 is a card with musical scores and splashes or as they say in French 'des partitions musicales et des éclaboussures' isn't that latter word just wonderful? The music, splats and baubles are all KTZ stamps. I gold heat embossed the music, coloured the baubles with coloursoft pencils and stamped the splats with dusty concord DI. The baubles are raised on foam pads.