Merry Christmas

Well it's a strange old world! Another 4" of snow on Friday/Saturday, minus degrees every day and now no heating. Our boiler has lost it's spark but hopefully Mr Gasman will get it sorted this afternoon.

We did manage to get some christmas shopping done at the weekend - luckily we have a 4 x4 so could get up the hill to the main road - but decided against a real christmas tree this year. A tree covered in snow we thought was too much for a cold house. Anyway we bought a fake one, it's decorated and the christmas lights dazzle you so we can't see how naff it looks!


Not sure I'm going to get any more crafting done till after christmas so thought I'd post a christmas card I made for a friend. I used Oak House Studio's Christmas Tree stamp embossed in Midnight Sparkle, layered up to give some dimension and finished off with a star and gems.

Anyway whatever you are doing, stay safe and warm, and have a very Merry Christmas!

Tim Holtz Giveaway

Check out the talented Lin Brown's blog - she did a great job on Tim's Design Team and is now giving some goodies away. Go check it out!!

Santa Again!

When I haven't been queueing in the Post Office sending cards and parcels overseas, I have actually got round to making more christmas cards. A while back I showed a Santa card in gold and burgundy and said I'd have a go at a blue and silver one - well here it is:


It's my favourite Tim Holtz Santa stamp just edged with silver paint dabber and silver stickles. Very simple but I love it! Hope whoever receives it does too!!
Going to link it to the Artistic Stampers Creative Blog - you can't get much more Christmassy than Santa.

Christmastime

Here is my card for Hels Sunday Stamper Challenge 132 with the theme of Christmastime. Having seen Tim's poinsettia tag this morning I thought I'd show you one of my own. Not in the same league (or style) I hasten to add, but poinsettias are one of those plants that appear in December and really make the place feel christmassy.


Well it's got to the point where panic is starting to set in. I have printed my christmas card list, labels and present list off the computer but not much has been crossed off yet. I've finished making as many christmas cards as I'm going to and as for Tim's Tags, well I did make a start but I've nothing to show.

I've decided that I'll do them after christmas, take some of his ideas and make them into cards for next christmas .... then I'll be ahead!! I just need a few items .... his dies, embossing folders and definitely some of that green wreathy ribbon stuff....anyone know where to buy it???

Snowy Oak

Well it's been an interesting week. A couple of days of continuous snow... about 2ft of it in total .... school has been closed and we've stayed in keeping warm. I've got christmas cards made and started on Tim's tags etc.

This morning it started out at minus 11 and whilst it has warmed up, it's still freezing. I went up the park taking photos but it was grey and foggy. Do you recognise this tree - it's actually the inspiration for Oak House Studio's Oak Tree stamp.



A couple of hours later and the sun has come out, the icicles are growing by the minute and I should really put my wellies on and go outside again.... but a mug of steaming coffee is beckoning!!

Sign of Winter

Here's a card I've made for Hels Sunday Stamper Challenge 131 with the theme of Signs. Bearing in mind the weather outside, is this a sign of winter to come!!

We've all got the lurgy here - I'm not feeling terribly inspired so I went for clean and simple this time. The background is just hessian card put through a snowflake embossing folder and then rubbed with waterfall stickles. The stamp is a lovely old PSX one which I've embossed with hologram super sparkle.

I apologise for the photography. If I get close enough to show off the glittery bits, I can see myself in the mirri card. Not a good look as I'm resembling Rudolf today! Anyway hope you like it and you're all keeping safe and warm.

Winter's Butterfly

Here is my card made for Hels Sunday Stamper challenge 130 with the theme of Butterflies. I've cheated a bit this week and used snowflakes - well as the saying goes, they are winter's butterflies...and it's cold today...and snow is forecast!!!


I've embossed Tim's snowflakes with seafoam embossing powder and then mopped up a selection of blue distress inks spritzed with blue perfect pearls to create the left side. The right is just the same stamp in Faded Jeans with the sentiment printed on the computer. I know this phrase is a stamp but it's not one I own, so I guess that's a double cheat today!!

It's my SIL's birthday at the beginning of December so this will be winging it's way to her in Norway. Brrr....

Santa

Here's my card for Hels Sunday Stamper challenge 129 with the theme of Santa Claus.



Don't you just love this Tim Holtz stamp - has to be my favourite for quick and easy christmas cards. Because the stamp is so detailed it's just a matter of stamping the image and matting it up. This one I stamped in Plum Archival, added gold embossing to create a frame and then finished it off with some ribbon.

Off to create a few more - some red and green and I think I might try blue with silver. Not long till Christmas!!

Something in the Woods

Over on The Artistic Stamper Challenge Blog the theme this month is Something Hidden so I thought I'd have a go at a little piece.


Can you guess what's inside? Yes, it's a little owl hiding in the woods. As ever it looks nothing like what was in my head but as with all challenges you learn something. In this case it was add a little gusset between the arches and then it might have a chance of folding up flat!!


Luckily my OH finished a box of cereals this morning so that was the base painted with Nutmeg paint and then dry brushed with black acrylic to recreate wood. The inside is distress inks (Bundled Sage, Shabby Shutters and Pine Needles) and the little owl is an Embelliscrap one. The ivy stamp is Oak House Studio, the alphabet is PSX and the calligraphy is an Artistic Stamper one.

Hope you like it. I'm off to see what everyone else has been hiding!!

Winter Wonderland

Here's my entry for Hel's Sunday Stamper challenge 128 with the theme of Winter Wonderland. Really pleased with this theme as it's made me put my autumn leaves away and get out my wintery/christmas stamps.


The stamps are Tim's from the Reindeer Flight set. I clear embossed the snowflakes, distressed the background using all the blues (Chipped Sapphire, Faded Jeans, Stormy Sky and Broken China)and then spritzed it with a blue perfect pearls spray. You can't see it on the photo but it is there. My card is also square but the photo doesn't show that either!!

Anyway the reindeer is again clear embossed and rubbed with Chipped Sapphire and the trees I think are stamped with Chipped Sapphire too. I have to admit I got a bit confused as I did 3 variations with different inks to give different looks.

They just need finishing off with maybe a christmas sentiment added and I've made a start on my christmas cards. Thank you Hels!!

Beadazzles

Just spotted the micro bead challenge on The Craft Barn's blog so thought I'd have a go at making an ATC using Beadazzles. As you can see, I seem to be stuck in my autumn leaf rut!!



The Sycamore leaf was stamped onto a distress ink background (Bundled Sage, Rusty Hinge and Vintage Photo) and then clear embossed. The Beadazzles Jazz - a mix of silver, gold and copper - were then stuck on using Copper Stickles. I'd forgotten how minute and lively they are so decided to put another layer of Stickles over the top and to edge the leaf too. I simply mounted it on another piece of the distressed background overstamped with the Winter Garden Text

Hope you like it! I'm now going to put my leaf stamps away and do something completely different next time...... famous last words!!

Christmas & Craft Stamper

Well I have it on good authority that my Mini Christmas Card made it into the December 2010 issue of Craft Stamper magazine - yeh!!!

I haven't had chance to buy a copy yet so have no idea what else is in there but I thought I'd let you know how I made it.


I've used Oak House Studio's Christmas Corner, Winter Garden Text and Merry Christmas stamps and the brief was to use red, green and gold to produce a 4" x 4" card.

I've gold embossed the Winter Garden Text, edged it with gold Stickles and then matted it up onto green then red card. This stamp is great for all sorts of cards - it does include Holly and Hellebores which fits with the Christmas Corner stamp perfectly, but it doesn't actually mention christmas so can be used for any winter/early spring cards.

The Christmas Corner was again embossed in gold and painted with Twinkling H20s. I think I did 3 of these so that I could use 2 layered for the main corner and then use the other to decorate the Merry Christmas. I just finished it off with some red Stickles in the Hellebore centres and a few small red beads for the Holly berries.

Hope you like it. Yes, I know it's the beginning of November, but showing this card has actually made me feel more christmassy so maybe I'll get my christmas stamps out and have a play.

Autumn Colours

Here's a card I made for Hels Sunday Stamper challenge 127 on the theme of Autumn.


We had to visit Lincoln on Saturday and drove back down the A15 - the sky was blue, the sun was shining and the trees and hedges were in full colour. A bit like this card - a mixture of greens, oranges, reds and rusts.

The distressed background is Shabby Shutters and Peeled Paint overstamped with the mountain ash stamp. The leaves were die cut with Tim's Tattered Leaves die from card distressed with Shabby Shutters, Rusty Hinge, Barn Door and Vintage Photo misted with gold and copper perfect pearls and then painted with Rock Candy Crackle Paint. I love this technique - the crackles look like veins on the leaves and it makes them curl up and look slightly more realistic. The words are from a set of rub-ons left on the acetate.

Hope you like it. Let's hope the weather stays dry and the colours continue for a little longer!!

Green Leaves

Here's my entry for Hels Sunday Stamper challenge 126 with the theme of GREEN. All I can say is I'm grateful it wasn't onions!!


The background is a pale squooshy mix of Distress Inks (Shabby Shutters, Bundled Sage, Peeled Paint) oversprayed with gold perfect pearls. I clear embossed the sycamore and mountain ash leaf stamps to create a resist and then blended Shabby Shutters and Pine Needles over and around to highlight them. A gold embossed harlequin and letters to finish.

Whilst this has turned into a card sized piece I think it would be great as a scrapbook background for autumnal photos. Created lots of background pieces so I have more to play with later in the week. Watch this space!!

Bones

Here's an ATC that I've made for Hels Sunday Stamper Challenge 125 with the theme of BONES.



It certainly was a challenge this week - I'm not really a Halloween fan so have no spooky stamps and certainly no skeletons!! However I knew I had a skull image somewhere so I've used that.
The background is Basic Grey Eerie paper with just the branches of a Beech Tree stamped round the edges to create a scary feel. Go on tell me it looks scary!!? I've inked the edges of the skull and then stuck it on a concertina of card so that should it ever be sent to anyone, then the little bit of movement might scare them!
Let me know what you think.

Layers of Leaves

Here is my entry for The Artistic Stamper's Challenge on the theme of LAYERS. I was working on the theory that a pile of leaves is the same thing as a layer of leaves.



The background and leaves are all distressed using Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Barn Door, Vintage Photo and Pine Needles with a spray of copper perfect pearls. The leaves were cut using Tim Holtz's Tattered Leaf die, painted with Rock Candy Crackle Paint and then sponged with Pine Needles to show off the cracks. It looks just like the skeleton veins of a real leaf and feels all dry and crisp like one too.

The leaves turned out better than expected so I'll definitely be making more. Hope you like it.

Tree Silhouettes

I've been playing with gloss card and distress inks again trying out an idea I saw in Craft Stamper magazine - sorry but I can't find my copy at the moment so can't credit the designer. She used just a square of colour and a silhouette flower.

Whilst working on a set of autumnal ATCs I veered off at a bit of a tangent. Everyone knows you can use Distress Inks to produce a distressed shabby effect but they work just as well swiped across gloss card to make a pale background. I've masked the background with post-it notes and used autumnal colours of Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade and Barn Door to show off the Beech Tree.


The Oak Tree background is just swipes of Shabby Shutters, Bundled Sage, Broken China and Stormy Skies again using post-it notes as the mask.

It's so simple but I think it looks very effective and really shows off these Oak House Studio trees. Apologies for the photos - the colours show up much better in real life...honest!

Imagine

Here is my piece for Hels Sunday Stamper challenge 124 with the theme of Imagine.

Having done the ironing, I thought I was allowed some inky time. I started off with some autumnal swooshy pieces and then had a play at a landscape on some gloss card. Obviously the ink doesn't sink in so the effect is more blobby - I realise that's not a good technical term but you know what I mean.

The background landscape was created with Distress Inks - Stormy Skies, Broken China, Bundled Sage and Shabby Shutters - and then sprayed with perfect pearls. I do think it gives a slighty snowy, bad weather feel - imagine what's going to come out of the mist. Silly really as its a beautiful sunny day here!! Anyway the trees are Mr Holtz's and the imagine word is an Artistic Stamper one.

Oh well back to the housework......

String

Here's my entry for Hels Sunday Stamper challenge 123 on the theme of STRING.


All kinds of ideas floated about - string of pearls, string net etc but I decided to just add some plain boring string jazzed up a bit with red acrylic paint. The swooshy background is a mixture of Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade and Barn Door Distress Inks and the stamps are Tim's. I've not used his distress lacey one before but think it makes a good effect.

Bearing in mind the current dismal weather, I hope this cheers you all up!!

Black

Well what a dismal day!! Here is my entry for Hels Sunday Stamper Challenge 122 on the theme of Black.


I can't beleive it's nearly 2 weeks since I wrote on here. Been busy so missed Ally Pally last weekend and this morning we had to take my daughter to the airport for 6am and the other is camping tonight so I'm missing Artisan too....so thought I'd treat myself to some of Mr Holtz's stamps to cheer myself up. I always admire cards made with this man in the rain so I ordered a set and they arrived in the post this morning. Love the sentiment too but a dull rainy day is not the life I've imagined - sunny blue skies would be better!!!

Anyway if you are going to the Artisan show, go and see Lynnda on the Oak House Studio stand - she's there on her own so go and say hello and tell her I sent you.

Have a good weekend everyone!

The Colour Purple

Here's my entry for Hels Sunday Stamper Challenge 121 on the theme of the MOVIES. I was struggling for a little as there are just so many films to choose from and I couldn't think of any that went with my stamps. So a bit of browsing on the internet came up with The Colour Purple......


I used the swooshy distress ink technique for the backgrounds using Dusty Concord and Chipped Sapphire and then a Paperartsy stamp in black to represent the black women in the film - bit tenuous I know but. Just finished it with a short bit of film strip ribbon and some fibres.

Thanks for looking!

Red and Blue

Well I’ve eventually got my act together and done a little crafting. Not very exciting I’m afraid but I needed to make a thank you card so I made it in Red and Blue to fit in with Hels Sunday Stamper Challenge 120.


I stamped this new Rosette stamp (from Oak House Studio) in Rocket Red Brilliance to create a background and then matted and layered, added ribbon and finished off with the Thank You sentiment.

Going to leave it at that for now as Blogger is playing up and annoying me.....more another day!!

Thursday again!

So where did that week go?? Can't believe it's Thursday again and I still haven't done any crafting...oh dear. I can however show you a bookmark I made for the latest Craft Stamper swap - I forgot to take a photo of it when I made it in May and whilst it didn't get in the magazine, it is featured as an extra one on their website so I copied it!!!


The bookmark had to be done in sage, pink and mauve. I embossed the Clematis Tower stamp in white and then used Bundled Sage Distress Ink for the background. The Clematis is painted in Twinkling H20s and then finished off with some ribbon and beads. Hope you like it!

I suppose I ought to go back to my chores - don't faint, but I've already cleaned the kitchen floor this morning. Hopefully it'll take a while to dry ..... and i can browse more!!!

I'm back

Just got back from my travels up country and whilst the weather hasn't been brilliant, we've had lots of sun ... and wind!!

First stop was the North Norfolk Coast where the skies seemed to change every 5 minutes - one minute it was blue with not a hint of cloud and the next it was dark grey - but the sunsets were great most evenings. The seas changed too from deep blue to positively icy green and frothy one day when it was so stormy and we struggled to open the car door to get out!!


We sat on top of Incleboro Hill (with about 100 other people) to watch the Red Arrows do their display at the Cromer Carnival. A brilliant 25 minutes and because we were high and they were flying low, we even got to wave to one of the pilots!!



Next stop was visiting family in Nottinghamshire and then a weekend at Carlton Towers in the lea of a wind farm...and yes, you've guessed it, it was very windy again. We watched volleyball, quoits, tug-of-war etc and went with Lynnda to Coldharbour Farm for some creative fun - here's a view of the Oak House Studio from the lane. We also played cribbage and Lynnda won ....but we think it must have been the quality of her partners!!


Now it's back to school and normality. Funny how September comes so quickly - morning mists and dew - but then maybe I can get some crafting done...... once I've cleared the ironing pile!!

Fun Times

Haven't had chance to do much crafting this week although I have done a little painting. Off to visit some friends for a few days and looking forward to sitting outside in the sunshine, gossiping and watching volleyball, then maybe a BBQ followed by our bi-annual cribbage tournament. How do you like the trophy?!


Sometimes we have a clear cut winner, sometimes we are still playing at midnight on the last night trying to find a winner. And yes, Martin, I have remembered to pack the trophy this time.

Happy Days!!

Butterflies

I've been at it again! Yes, spending £2 on jewellery. Whilst my daughters were looking at clothes in Dorothy Perkins I aimed for the sale section and found this necklace and earring set. Well I couldn't resist it - 8 metal butterflies in 3 different sizes and some chain to embellish cards, frames and canvases etc. Being cream I think they look very vintagey but I'm sure they'll paint too.



Off to find the pliers!!

Bargain Stash

Enjoying the summer hols and spending too much money - so much cheaper when the kids are in school all day!!!



Anyway we were wandering round the shops the other day and I came across these in Topshop. Aren't they fab!! When would I wear them I hear you cry!?? Well I have no intention of wearing them but I do intend to take them to pieces and use them for crafting. Two little birds and four leaves priced at £7, marked down to half price and when I went to pay for them I was charged only £2 - that's what I call a bargain.

I'm thinking those leaves will make great masks for inky backgrounds and when I get fed up with that, then I'll just paint/alcohol ink them!

Think I might be going back to get some more.

Poinsettias

For some reason I was thinking about christmas and decided to use the Build your Own Poinsettia stamps to make a card for a friend.



This is one of those stamp sets (3 different size leaves/bracts and a centre) that you can use all year round - yes it looks good done in red and green for christmas cards, decorations, crackers etc but choose another colour scheme and it makes a great flower for a birthday card. Just done in gold or silver this would be perfect for a wedding or anniversary card.

Here I've used a Kaleidocolor pad in blues and greens swooshed on a craft sheet to make the background. The leaves/bracts were embossed in gold on more of the inky background and stuck together with silicone to give it some height. Then I just added a few gold beads for the centre.

Hope you like!!

Sounds of the Sea

Here's my piece for the Sunday Stamper Challenge 115 on the theme of Music - for more details check out Hels blog.



Still stuck on seasidey projects and my shell stamps were on the table so thought I'd use them. The background is a resist distress one using Chipped Sapphire, Faded Jeans and Broken China spritzed with blue perfect pearls.

We were wandering round HMV looking for a new summery CD and came across a whole selection of groups that were seaside related - never heard of some of them but I liked the names!!!

Summer Heat

I've been working with hot colours recently and thought I'd show you one of a set of ATCs made using a distress background - Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade and Barn Door - with the shells embossed in gold.



At this time of year those hot colours remind me of the summer heat and beach holidays. Shame it's just gone dark grey outside but enjoy!

Old and New

Here's my piece for the Sunday Stampers Challenge 114 based on the theme of Something Old and Something New - for all the details check out Hels blog.


Hels has been using CDs recently so that's where the idea came from - an old CD, free with a Sunday newspaper, that I've covered in glossy card which has been swooshed with Stazon and stamped in black archival. I just swiped the pad on the card to produce the groovy effect. I also decorated the CD sleeve.

The new parts are the Flourish Swirl stamps from The Artistic Stamper - I won Jennie's blog candy a week or two ago and these stamps arrived in the post so thought I'd put them to good use. I love the solid black over the bright background. If you haven't already heard there's a new Artistic Stamper Creative Team blog with a monthly challenge - check it out here.

Hope you like my CD. Looking at it again, it looks like a giant bauble so maybe I'll get some more old Cds out and do some in christmas colours.

Silver anyone??

Anyone out there enjoy silver clay? Lynnda at Oak House Studio has just blogged about her latest project and you can see the photo here. She's used one of the new stamps to not only make the silver brooch/pendant but also make a card and gift box to match. Isn't it just gorgeous.

It's not something I've had a go at but I know she's used several other stamps to make jewellery - they work well with art clay silver leaving a really clean impression.

I can't show you what I've been working on as it's a Christmas Card for the Craft Stamper magazine swap. It's July, the start of the summer holidays and really it doesn't feel right making christmas stuff. Don't usually think about it till November!!!

How about you? When do you start on Christmas?

Queen

Here's my regal 'shield' for Hels Sunday Stampers Challenge 113 based on the Queen song Love of my Life.



It started out being based more on Queen with the Union Jack and Lion Rampant but I found some of Tim's tags so I managed to include Love and Life too. The background is Shabby Shutters and Bundled Sage and the stamping is Brilliance Pearlescent Ivy.

I didn't remember this song from the title but looked it up on youtube and now it's stuck in my head - thanks Hels! It reminded me how brilliant Freddie Mercury was - singing live with just Brian May on guitar and you could hear every word he sang. Now I think I must be getting old as most of today's bands I haven't a clue what they are singing about - the background overtakes the vocals and as for singing live, not many of them seem to manage it. Tell me you agree and it's not just me!!!

Anyway I'm off to listen to my Queen LP...oops CD!

The rest of the Journey

Well in amongst everything else this week (end of term activities and meetings etc) I have managed to finish off my Journey Album. I came across some kraft coloured card whilst wrapping a present - instead of a tube in the roll of paper there was a huge sheet of thin card - so I cut that up into various different sizes and bound it all together. Here are just a few pages plus the inside back cover which I really like.





The pages in the album are quite varied - one has pockets at the bottom, two at the side, one has a flap and one a combination of all three. I randomly stamped seaside creatures and shells, an oak leaf, a calendar and the explore & discover stamp all over and then distressed all the pages plus a back cover to finish the album. I quite enjoyed being random and messy rather then precise for a change!!!

We're off to various places during the summer hols - some time spent at the seaside, some spent deep in Sherwood Forest and a quick trip to see Lynnda in Yorkshire. So I have somewhere to store all those tickets and momentoes I seem to gather, somewhere to write notes and hopefully I'll pick up some more embellies on the way!!

Journey

Here's my piece for Hels Sunday Stamper Challenge 112 based on the song Don't Stop Believing by Journey. It must be my age cos it means nothing to me and I'm sorry to say I think it's been done to death recently with Glee and the new TV show.....so, I based mine on the Journey part.



I had a rummage in my stamp drawer(s) and decided to do an album cover - the summer holidays are nearly here so what better time to make a holiday album. I've used my favourite distress inks (Broken China, Faded Jeans, Stormy Sky and Rusty Hinge) over one of Tim's masks and then stamped the Technique Tuesday It's a Date stamp down the edge. The big explore stamp is by Hero Arts, the shells are Oak House Studio and the journey one is Tim's.

Whilst I've only done the cover as yet (not as quick as Hels) I'll ink up some pages with the shells and calendar stamp etc, make some pockets and bind-it-all together ready to take away on my hols.

Just hoping this weather stays - doesn't have to be hot, just warm and dry!!

A Grand Day Out!

Are you looking for something to do on Sunday and fancy a day out in Yorkshire?? Well perhaps you'd like to visit the Art and The Farm II event at Calf House Studios, Cold Harbour Farm, Bishop Burton, East Yorkshire.

It's the home of Oak House Studios so you can have a browse around the converted stable and watch Lynnda demoing stamps etc. But in addition to that, the other artists will be open to visitors too so you can check out what they are up to. There's a sculptor, a couple of painters, a silver clay teacher and a photographer - all run workshops and courses.

The Open Day is this Sunday July 18th 10am-4pm. Admission is free and I undertsand there's a free prize draw too so you could win a day with the teacher of your choice.

Why not round off the day with a trip to Hornsea and a fish n chip supper. It's making me wish I didn't live so far south .....hmmm! Anyway back to making something meaningful with some inky bits of card.

Song Sung Blue

It's actually more of a hum really!! This is my little piece for Hels Sunday Stamper Challenge 111 on the theme of Song Sung Blue. Well I like the blue bit - my favourite colour - and I thought I'd follow Hels a bit closer this time so I found a bit of canvas, a bird stamp and began.


I used a music stave peel off as a mask and distressed over it with Broken China and Faded Jeans. So far, so good... I've never done the stamp on tissue technique before so thought I'd have a bash. After all, isn't that what challenges are for - to make you try different things and learn along the way etc. Anyway not having beeswax I sloshed some PVA on and it stuck down reasonably but its a bit lumpy in places. Then I thought I'd add some Crackle Paint - which hasn't! I'm guessing I didn't put it on thick enough as in some areas it just seems to have soaked into the canvas.

Anyway to rescue it I added more Faded Jeans, a bit of a scroll stamp at the top and a metal word. I nearly didn't blog it but then we can't all be perfect all the time!!! It's a learning curve etc etc.

So if you see a vaguely blue canvas on another post, then you know I decided to sand it down and alter it!

Summer Wedding

A month or so ago I was invited to join in with an ATC swap hosted by Lexie and whilst June has been manic I did actually manage to complete a set of three. As with all these things, I think about it for a bit, decide what I'm going to do and then make something completely different.



I used Oak House Studio stamps - the background is the Mack Rose stamped in Brilliance. The leaf and flowers are from the Spring Blooms set, embossed in silver and then painted with Twinkling H20s. I then stamped the sentiments from the Wedding Words set and matted it all onto silver card.

Whilst these are ATCs, this selection of stamps could be used to make all your wedding stationary including place settings, thank you cards etc.

Rhinestone Cowgirl

Here's my card for the Sunday Stampers Challenge 110 with the theme of Rhinestone Cowboy - check out Hels blog for all the details.

I was dithering about what to do until I saw The Craft Barn's new competition for unusually shaped cards. So I decided to combine the two and use Rhinestones on a Cowboy (or rather Cowgirl) Boot!


The boot is cut from leather effect card, the Clematis Tower (Oak House Studio) was embossed in silver, watercoloured and cut to fit and then the whole thing was finished off with some inking of the edges, fringing and rhinestones.

I have to admit having a pair of boots this colour many years ago - the blue, not the white!! Not sure I'd go out in these but if the occasion arose, well I think I might ...... hope you like!

Pearls of Wisdom

This is my piece for the Sunday Stampers Challenge 109 on the theme of PEARLS as set by Hels. Well it would be too easy to just use pearls - it is supposed to be a challenge after all - so mine started out based on Pearls of Wisdom and then veered off towards the nursery rhyme A Wise Old Owl lived in an Oak.



The Embelliscrap Owl and dictionary paper were painted with a light wash of Adirondack Dimensional Pearls to make them shimmer. For the oak tree I painted a thick layer of Dimensional Pearls onto some card and then made the bark effect by squidging a plank of wood stamp into it. I think it looks quite effective. I then stamped the words and oak leaves in green chalk ink, oh and yes, I added a few small pearls too. The photo is not very good I'm afraid - too much pearly shimmer - but I hope you like!

It's a bit too hot for crafting - either stuff dries too quickly or the wind blows everything about as all the doors and windows are open. Not that I'm complaining but the garden could do with some rain.

Hope you all have a good weekend!

Metal Aide Memoire

Well here's my entry for the Sunday Stampers Challenge 108 with the theme METAL GURU. See Hels blog for all the details. The first thing that came to mind was T.Rex and that song but with two teenage daughters in the house, dinosaur stash hasn't been my priority. So I found some copper metal and some greeny-copper card and embossed them with not a clue what I was going to make. I had a lightbulb moment, diecut some tags and voila, turned it into a tag holder for the hall.

A few ideas for the tags inside:


The tags are distressed with Rusty Hinge and Pine Needles and stamped with a PSX Celtic alphabet and a clock stamp from somewhere. I've fastened a piece of acetate on the front so that you can write on them, draw the time on etc and then wipe it clean and start again. It's a bit of a hairy project I know but it beats yellow post-it notes stuck everywhere. Now I've just got to convince my family to use it.

For those of you in the north, Lynnda will be invading The Craft Room (Lincoln Shop) on the next two Saturdays with Oak House Studio stamps and there'll also be some on The Craft Room's stand at Stamp Magic in Doncaster on Sunday. So if you fancy getting away from the tennis/football, why not check it out.

Distressing..

England's performance definitely....and Federer nearly went out of Wimbledon on day one....and my daughter is distressed as there is no Glee on tonight but that's not what this post is about.

With apologies to shop owners and Mr Holtz, but does anyone else have trouble with the blending tool. I know it works well but it's a tad expensive so I'd rather not buy 20 or so to go with my distress ink pads. Changing the foam annoys me - either the velcro comes off the block or the blue felt pulls off the foam. Very irritating.....or is it just me?? I'm sure it's not.

Anyway to rectify the situation a 2m length of wood was purchased and my husband spent a 'happy' hour cutting it into 20 blocks! I superglued cut n dry foam to each block then labelled them with dymo tape.


The good news is there is still about 1m of wood left so that means I can buy some more colours!! Now which ones do I need next?

Hope to be back later in the week - I'm working on something for the Sunday Stamper Challenge with the theme Metal Guru. Check out Hels blog for all the details.

Numbers

Here's my entry for the Sunday Stamper Challenge with the theme of Numbers. I haven't had much time this week and it's going to get worse so I made a quick card last night. It had to be a birthday card as it was Hels 40th last weekend.
The background is Distress Inks - Broken China, Faded Jeans, Shabby Shutters and Bundled Sage. The stamps are Tim's and half the background has been put through a Numbers embossing folder.

Hope you like the card - I also did an insert using the same stamps and inks.

Hopefully next week I'll have a little bit more time to make something slightly more interesting...got to go!

Letter

Missed last week’s Sunday Stampers Challenge but here is my entry for week 106 with the theme of LETTER. I couldn’t decide which letter to use/decorate so I went with the idea of writing a letter and the envelope it gets sent in. I did say a couple of weeks ago that I was going to have a go at Mail Art so here it is.


Its so dismal today it didn’t photograph very well but my daughters think it’s cool so that’s good enough for me!!

Searched long and hard through my stamps – the background ones are Oak House Studio – Hessian, Harlequin and Summer Text – done in Versafine Sepia and Ochre Chalks and then distressed with Shabby Shutters and Rusty Hinge. The rest are Tim’s stamped in Cocoa Brilliance and with a Sizzix diecut stamp.

Hope you like it!