The Stamp Man Annual Awards !!!

The Stamp Man is hosting it's third Annual Awards Challenge. This is a chance for us to look back over the past year and select a project that we enjoyed or are proud of. It doesn't have to be something made for The Stamp Man Challenge, but something you are proud of.
Jill from The Stamp Man is offering £30 of vouchers for top prize and 4 runner up prizes. So plenty incentive to join in the fun. So why not pop over to see what the rest of the DT have chosen, then start thinking what you want to show us.

Ghost Resist Butterflies

I chose this card because I love resist techniques. This particular resist is very subtle and delicate. And I liked the colour combination. I did this project as part of a workshop in Stampaholics to show how to make lovely backgrounds from scratch. I entered this card into the Stampman Challenge (Resist) and actually won..!!! Then a few months later Jill asked me to join the team. I was delighted, if a bit daunted as this is a very talented bunch of people. But they were very welcoming and I have enjoyed the challenges so far.

Since closing my shop in March and starting my own blog, I have had a bit more time to develop my own style. Now it doesn't matter if things don't work out, but I feel I am learning more. When I had workshops to plan for I had to try and come up with ideas that had more general appeal. I still don't have enough time ....does any crafter with a full time job? But what time I have is for me. So I am looking forward to the coming year and trying out lots of new things. I also want to venture into the world of Art Journaling.

Remember to display the award Blinkie in your side bar to show that you have entered. Good Luck

Happy New Year to you all.

Siobhan xx

Woodware DT - Thank You

This week we are making Thank You cards. It is so nice to get away from Christmas cards. I recently bought this lovely little bird stamp. It's a new one from Stampendous. Those of you who know me, will see why I just had to have this little one..!!

I also used a new Magenta paper MEMOR-242  Tea Garden. The soft greens and pinks determined my colour choice for the bird.

 
I used Tombow brush markers directly onto the rubber stamp, spritzed lightly with water then stamped onto white card. I love this technique. This will be the nearest I will ever get to painting ...!!
For the background I used various foliage from an Artemio clear set called Silhouette Foliage. 

 
The thank you stamp is from one of the Magenta Puzzle sets. Here is the bird in a little more detail. 

Check out the Woodware Blog for more inspiration.

A Perfect Day

Just before Christmas all the members of our Creative Expressions Design Team were given a fabulous new set of stamps to play with. They have recently started to stock Studio 490 sets, designed by the very talented Wendy Vecchi. The set we have been given is LCS064  Sentimental Art. 

 


It has a big textured brocade like background stamp and some lovely sentiments. I love nice words so this set is right up my street.
For my first piece I thought I would start off with a simple card to show off the background stamp. I used Distress Inks. I started by inking up the whole stamp with Shabby Shutters, then added areas of Bundled Sage, Peeled Paint and Pine Needles. Spritz lightly with water and stamp. I love the variation this gives and no two pieces are ever the same.

The sentiment is also from the set. I stamped in black onto a scrap of green scrapbook paper and cut out with a Labels 7 Nestabilities die.

To finish off I cut some flowers from some text paper stuck to card using the Spellbinder Carnation flower maker set and the leaves are both from the Spellbinder Foliage set. I edged the flowers with Spun Sugar Distress ink to soften. Then a final touch with the brad and gems and the card is complete. 

 
All the stamps and dies used in this project are available on the Creative Expressions website.

Have a good day.

Siobhan x