The Stamp Man Challenge

All being well it's Friday and this post has appeared at the right time, as we're away in a cottage in the North Yorkshire Moors. It's also time for the next challenge over at The Stamp Man. For this challenge we would like to see my most favourite thing and that is Swirls and Curls ! I don't know what it is about them but whenever I see them I have to have them !

For my card I've used the gorgeous Classical Instruments set of stamps by Aspects of Design. This is also the first of three cards that I need to make for my brother in law's birthday in a couple of weeks time. Can you guess how old he'll be ?....lol.....
I started by using Tea Dye DI and blending it over a piece of white card stock. Then I used my new favourite colour Walnut Stain, how gorgeous is this colour ! I then cut out the flourish using the Tim Holtz die and used the negative to stencil over the background using Vintage Photo DI.
I cut the letters using the Tim Holtz Vintage Market alphabet strip and rubbed Walnut Stain DI over the letters and also over the flourish. The numbers were coated in Glossy Accents after the DI treatment.


The image was stamped with black Archival ink then cut out using Labels 8 Nestabilities and I've blended Tea Dye and Walnut Stain DI around the edge. The paper is from the Tim Holtz Lost and Found set and the charm is from my stash, which I've just added a little Espresso Alcohol Ink to make it look a little less shiny. The tickets are cut using the Ticket Strip by Tim Holtz.

As you may have noticed I'm having a little bit of a run on Tim Holtz goodies at the moment, and it's not going to get better because by the time you read this I will also have attended one of his workshops that are happening over the course of Thursday and Friday of this week. Am I excited ? You bet I am !!!!!!

Dabbling with scrapbooking !

I've been meaning to have a go at doing a scrapbook page for ages and I finally got my act together and gave it a whirl. I quite enjoyed it, as I was wandering down memory lane while I was doing it to. The photo's are from our holiday in South Africa from 4 years ago. My birthday is on New Year's Eve and I decided I wanted to see the sun for a change, especially as it was one of those milestone birthdays ( no numbers mentioned !) The main photo you can see is me and my other half cooling off in a plunge pool at the back of our lodge on a game reserve. We thought we were going to melt it was that hot !

I've used Spiced Marmalade, Dried Marigold and Rusty Hinge DI then stamped with a mixture of Katzelkraft and Tanda stamps.



The tag and chain are Tim Holtz Ideaology and the lettering is stamped using one of those cheap cubes of alphabet stamps. Fortunately, I didn't need the letter 'd' as somehow I've managed to mislay it !



The flower was punched from Grunge Paper and given the DI treatment then I added some beads that I was kindly given by a lady who does alot of african beading, so they seemed very appropriate. The lettering down the side is made using my Olivia alphabet and the flourish is a Marianne die. The gorgeous paper is from the Tim Holtz Lost and Found paper stack.

I'm entering this page into the following challenges:

• A Spoon Full of Sugar - Anything but a card
  
• C.R.A.F.T Challenge - Not a card
  

ABC Challenge..'O' is for Old Fashioned

It's time for another challenge over on the ABC Challenge blog, as we've now moved to weekly challenges. The challenge for this week is 'O' is for Old Fashioned, now this can be vintage, distressed look or an old fashioned image. The sponsor for this challenge is Meljen's Designs and the DT were lucky enough to have a play with some of their images.


For my card I blended Spiced Marmalade and Dried Marigold DI over white card stock and then stamped with the Polka Dot background Stampin' Up stamp with Coffee Archival ink. I used the Tim Holtz die to cut a shape from Grunge Paper and blended Brushed Corduroy DI over it and did some faux stitching around the edge. The vintage lady is part of a Crafty Individuals stamp and the small flowers are from the Meljen's image that I printed slightly larger, as are the hearts, and shaded with ProMarkers. The letters are cut using the Vintage Market Tim Holtz Sizzix die and the swirl is another Tim Holtz die, again cut from Grunge Paper and given the DI treatment.


The rose is made using a freebie stamp that came with a Craft Stamper magazine, and I used the same technique to make the rose as I did on my altered box, a couple of posts ago.

I'm entering this card into the following challenges :

• Top Tip Tuesday - All stitched up (I've done 'real' stitching and faux stitching)
• Creative Inspirations - Distress
  

The Stamp Man Challenge

It's time for another challenge over at The Stamp Man and this time we would like to see hearts on your projects (something to do with a date in the not too distant future?...lol...).


I have to apologise for the poor photo, it took me several attempts to get to this one. Unfortunately, I finished my card just as the light had gone on Sunday and then of course it's not light yet when I get in from work. Anyway, onto my card, I started by creating the background using the direct to paper technique. I used Pumice and Fired Brick DI and then stamped the words from the Aspects of Design Alluring Ladies stamp set. The heart is from the Aspects of Design 48 - Wedding 2 stamp set and I stamped it twice onto card that I'd blended Fired Brick DI over. Mounted them onto black card and then onto a square eyelette Nestability and then onto a Labels 16 Nestability. The text on the tickets was done on my PC and then I cut the corners out by hand.


I then stamped the heart twice onto shrink plastic, remembering to punch a hole out of each before I shrunk them!

This card is for my other half, we don't really celebrate Valentine's Day but it's just nice to make something to give each other, because 'oh yes', he has to make my card too !

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:

• Totally Stampalicious - Use at least 3 hearts
  
• Crafty Cardmakers - Hearts
  
• Cupcake Craft - Seeing Red
  
• Papertake - Have a heart
• For Fun Challenges - Hearts
  
• Creative Inspirations - Valentine / Love
  
• C.R.A.F.T Challenge - Valentines
• Crazy 4 Challenges - Valentine Card
• Secret Crafter - Valentine
  
• Stamptacular Sunday Challenge - Hearts gone wild
• Let's ink it up - Romance / Valentines
  

90th Birthday

This is a card I've made for an order for a lady at work for her Nana's 90th Birthday. I've used one of my favourite stamps from an Elusive Images set. I stamped it twice and cut the rose out using a square Nestability. I've painted the flower with Distress Inks and then used Victorian Velvet DI around the edge. The embossed panel is made using the Victorian EF and I've stamped inside the folder using the Bella Toile Stampin' Up background stamp then embossed the card. I've rubbed Victorian Velvet over the top of the embossing and punched the edge with a Martha Stewart punch.


The text has been done on my PC and then I've cut them out using a Tim Holtz Sizzix die and rubbed some more DI around the edge. The rose in the centre of the bow is the same main stamp and I've stamped it onto shrink plastic and cut out the flower head.

I'm entering this card into the following challenges :

• Alphabet Challenge - N is for numbers
• One Stop Craft Challenge - Numbers

Altered box !

This is another first for me as it's a large project that has taken me a few days to finish off. I rescued this box from work as it was heading to the recycle bin. As you can see I had already started to get stuck in when I realised I hadn't taken the all important before shot !


I covered the entire box with Gesso so that I had a blank canvas to work from, it also makes it easier to apply colour on top.


Once the Gesso had dried I then used Kaiser colour acrylic paint in Pistachio and Olive. I used a Tim Holtz mini mask and also a mask I made myself using a Quickutz embossing folder which I cut the diamond shapes out with a craft knife.


The flowers are all from a Katzelkraft set of stamps as is the wonderful flourish stamp. The text stamp is also by Katzelkraft as is the large butterfly. The butterfly was stamped onto vellum then I coloured the reverse with ProMarkers. I stamped the butterfly onto the box and then stuck the vellum butterfly on top. The most amazing thing happened when I glued it in place, as I only put the glue down the centre spine the wings lifted themselves, it really looked like it was about to take off ! The smaller butterflies are punched once out of card and then once out of vellum.


For the lid I covered it with Tim Holtz crackle glaze, then I die cut flowers, leaves and the flourish using Tim Holtz dies out of Grunge Paper. The rose is made using a PaperArtsy die called Grunge flower. This is only my second attempt at this technique so I was quite pleased with it. The first time was using metal but this time I used Grunge Paper and coloured it with Spiced Marmalade and Barn Door DI.


I also stamped the very outer petals of the rose with a flourish Katzelkraft stamp. In hind sight I'm not sure that it's worked that well. The gorgous feet are from Tim Holtz's Ideaology range, it took me ages before I plucked up courage to stick them on, and then I made sure that my other half helped me !

I'm also entering the following challenges :

• Papertake challenge - Anything goes + flowers
  
• Paperplay - Stamp it out
  
• Sew Many Challenges - Anything goes
  
• My Time to Craft - Flourishes
  

ABC Challenge and a change

It's time for another challenge over at ABC Challenge and this time we want to see 'N' is for Nesties (or another make) ! The sponsor for this challenge is Bunny Zoe's Crafts and the prize is a £10 voucher to spend in her online store. We will also be changing the challenge to weekly and have 2 teams to inpsire you, so watch out for another challenge next week. We have another sketch for you too, but this is optional.


For my card I used a combination of Katzelkraft, Crafty Individuals and Stampin' Up stamps. I stamped the background using a Crafty Individuals stamp and used Brushed Corduroy DI around the edge. I stamped the horizontal panel using the Bella Toile background stamp by Stampin' Up using Plum Archival ink then gave it the DI treatment.


I used a new technique (to me) on the embossed panel. I was browsing aroung the internet and came across a fab video by Tim Holtz ( is he good or what ! ) The technique is to stamp on the inside of your embossing folder, I used the Bella Toile stamp, and then emboss your card. It gives a really good effect of the stamped image being the background and the raised parts are then rubbed with DI. I can see me doing this alot !

The gorgeous main image and the text are from Katzelkraft, which I've cut out with Nesties and also treated them to some DI. Bit of stitching and a bow and there you have it !

I hope you get chance to join us this week !