The Stampman Challenge - Anything by Tim

I normally try to make something for this challenge because I find their DT so inspiring. What a great theme - Anything by Tim. I decided to go very simple this month as I have limited time for crafting.

"The world of reality"

I used Distress Inks and a mask ( Gate - Tattered Angels) to create a soft distressed backgound on white card stock. Then I over stamped with various images - the tree branches and birds are Tim Holtz stamps as is the quote. I love this quote as I think it sums up what Tim does so well, that we are all in awe of his creative talent.

To add a bit of depth I stamped the final layer of plants in gold and embossed with Detail Gold powder.
There are some fabulous samples on The Stamp Man Blog. Be sure to check them out.

Woodware Design Team - Summer Fun

As soon as I saw this title I immediately thought of the seaside. And although I do have seaside stamps none of mine are available from Woodware.

So I have gone for a garden theme with my accordian tryptich tag card. Most of us do spend alot of time in our gardens at this time of year when the weather is good!!

The stamp set I have used is a Francoise Read set called "The Garden" FRCL042. There are lots of fun images to build up a garden scene.

In the Garden

The sentiment is from StampendousH248 "Everyone Smiles". No matter where in the world you are, people love a beautiful garden!!

The "green washers" to cove the tag holes were made by punching with a hand punch the smaller hole. Then line up the hole in the centre of a orange Woodware circle punch, to create the washer. 

The flower is a favourite technique I use for making flowers. I can't claim the credit for this one as it was in a magazine!! I have used two sizes of flower punches - this was the Woodware six petal flower. I punched 4 larger ones from double sided patterned paper, and 3 smaller ones. Choose a coordinating brad and layer up the flower on the brad starting with the small flowers. Offset each flower until all 7 secured by the brad. Flaten the prongs of the brad at the back of the flower. Then spritz lightly with water. Working one layer at a time scrunch up each petal of each layer. I spritz water after each layer to soften the paper and make it easier to scrunch up. Once all the layers are done pinch the whole flower together. 

Then very carefully unfold your petals from the outside in. Eventually you see your centre brad and you have a lovely vintage looking flower. I usually spritz with a mica spray to give it a shimmer and allow to dry.

Be sure to check out the rest of the ideas from the team at the  Woodware blog. We would love to hear your comments and see your cards in our weekly challenge.

Better get back to my housework!!

Siobhan

A Little Story

Sorry, I haven't had much to post over the last few weeks. Between birthdays, graduations, dogs and work the last few weeks have just flown by. 

However I thought I would share a little story I wrote for my friend Liz. It was her birthday recently and a few of us went on a picnic to a little island in Loch Leven to celebrate it. There is a very old castle there where Mary Queen of Scots was held captive for almost a year by Elizabeth I in the 1500's. It is a lovely place to visit. The boat takes about 10 mins and you can spend a happy time wandering around the ruins of the castle and there are lots of lovely spots for a picnic. We all had a lovely day. 

To cut a long story short, I was able to give Liz the book I had made her at the picnic. She loves Penny Black hedgehogs, mice, rabbits etc. So I made up a story and illustrated it with the stamps I had. They all had names of people she knows or dogs she has or had.

I then used my Bind-it-All machine to finish it off.

  

 

       

I am sure if you are a Penny Black fan you will recognise some of these characters. I haven't  entered any challenges lately so this is going to be entered into this month's Penny Black at Allsorts Challenge .The theme this month is flowers, and lots of the stamps I have used in this book feature flowers. So I think it fits the brief. There are some beautiful Penny Black floral stamps that aren't cute, which reminds me I have a fair few of those too!!

Siobhan

Woodware Design Team - A Touch of Pink

I am not really a pink kind of girl!! But when I was dusting my dressing table (YES, I DO DUST OCCASIONALLY), I saw this little doll that my friend Carey gave me a few years ago. 

So this reminded me that I had a lovely little Woodware stamp set of these cute little "Oriental Ladies" FRCL070. Just perfect for this week's challenge.

The biggest challenge this week was finding them!! 

Rather than stamp onto a white background I sponged a light background using strips of torn paper to create a sort of landscape effect, If you look carefully you should see Mt Fugi behind the lantern (you have to use your imagination here!!) I used the Brilliance triple pad Twilight to give a nice soft shimmery effect

Then I stamped the branches, lady and lantern in black. I also stamped the lady and lantern onto a piece of the background paper to cut out to paper piece. I added gliiter to the flowers and made a little tag. I also used the Woodware inverted corner punch when layering up as this adds to the oriental feel.

A very simple card but quite pretty I think. 

A Touch of Oriental Pink

 

 I wonder what the rest of the team do this week, why not stop by the Woodware Blog to have a look.
 

Woodware Design Team - Anything But a Card

This was actually a harder challenge as I left it a bit late. And as many of my customers will remember, I hate to be in that situation!! The first project I started ended in the bin. So I went back to making a little mini book. I had already used these little Woodware Chippie Cascade Albums as workshop projects. So I decided to go with that!

These little albums come as four chipboard pages and four matching thin perspex pages. I love them because they make great gifts, whether stamped on a theme or used as a little scrapbook of a family gathering or other event. And they are very inexpensive. 

The bird tile is stamped with a newish Stampendous stamp (you will see it again inside), then enamelled with 3 layers of normal clear embossing powder (I cut a square of white mount board for this). All the stamping on the clear pages is done with Cotton White Stazon.

The little square images comes from a lovely new ARTEMIO clear set.

The leaf and butterfly are also from an Artemio clear set.

The quote is an old favourite of mine from Stampendous.

The bird panel on the left is from a Magenta Puzzle set.

On the right panel is the gorgeous Stampendous stamp I also used on the cover - lovely isn't it!!

Another favourite quote by Stampendous - I do love words!!

And the Stampendous Agapanthus makes another appearance. 

And finally the back cover - where you can stamp or write your own message. The album comes with 2 book rings to put it together, and then you can tie some ribbons or fibres to finish off.

If you want to see what the othe girls have been upto then check out the Woodware Blog

Also on the Woodware site you can see the new Stampendous stamps.

Time for Tea

Back to work already!! This weekend flew by. My friend and right-hand woman for several years at Stampaholics celebrated a special birthday on Saturday. It was great to catch up with all the girls that worked in the shop and several other crafting friends. That's what I really do miss from the shop days!!

Then yesterday was my daughter's birthday for which the family gathered. Sadly though the planned barbeque became a roast dinner due to the rain. But I did actually manage to make something for Catriona this year. She loves Alice in Wonderland so I made her an altered box for her fancy tea bags (she loves all these fruity teas) and a bracelet. I told a few folk I would put it on the blog. So here it is. I actually enjoyed making it. I am now scouting around to see what I can alter next!!

Alice in Wondeland bracelet

My favourite link in detail

 

 

Catriona's Tea Box

 

Inside the box

And the matching card!!

Hope you like them!! Catriona was amazed I actually finished something in time for her birthday!

Woodware Design Team - Sketch Challenge

This week's challenge was to follow a simple sketch.

I wanted to use some lovely new Magenta papers for my background. And the stamp I chose for this card is yet another of my favourite stamps by Magenta. This one is called Shadow Branch. And it is just such a useful little thing! 

Here I have used it with about 4 colours of Tombow Brush Markers directly onto the stamp and spritzed with water. Without re-inking stamp again to get the soft shadow background. I layered it all up and I needed a little something to finish it off - hence the butterfly. 

Shadow Branch Thank You

The butterfly was from a sheet of chipboard shapes by Magenta. I inked it with Versamark and built up 3 or 4 layeres of normal gold embossing powder (you don't need to use Ultra Thick). Then press the shadow stamp into the hot molten powder. If you ink up the stamp with Versamark it will release more easily. Then I brushed over a copper mica powder (I used Pearl-ex but any make will do). Because the Versamark is in the impression, the powder sticks to it. I love this technique. It allows you to make some lovely embellishments to match your project. 

The butterfly in detail

Check out all the other DT samples on the Woodware Blog . The girls have all been very creative this week.

Where There is Love

I haven't had much time for entering challenges recently. But when I saw this month's Crafty Individuals challenge I couldn't resist. This month the theme is "Pink, Brown and Cream" and using at least one Crafty Individuals product. 

This is a lovely colour combination which I often use for a vintage feel. The stamp I chose as my center piece is CI 289 of the Rooster and Hen. This card is destined to be a birthday card for a friend who has a thing about chickens. And as she is a lovely soft and gentle person, this colour scheme was a perfect choice. The punched lacy border is a Woodware  punch. It is one of the cassettes for their "Crafty Edger". If you have problems lining up for continuous punching, then you shoud get yourselves one of these. The cassettes fit into the punch, then you use the tool (looks a bit like a 12inch trimmer) to guide the paper through the punch for fool proof punched borders.

The flower idea came from instructions in a Magnolia magazine. I use this technique quite alot as I find it easier than making fiddly little roses. If you want the instructions let me know.

Where There is Love

You should check out Jean Hardy's sample - it's absolutely gorgeous!!

Too Hot to Craft

What beautiful weather we have had this weekend. We had a lovely walk along the River Tay this morning. Our Westie Rory went in for a swim. Being blind this can be a little hazardous, especially when trying to get out.

I am trying to get lots of work done in the garden, but had to come in for a cold drink and a quick blog!! 

All I have to shere today is a quick tag. I am trying to get a few Woodware DT projects done. This foliage stamp is another favourite Magenta stamp that I am using for the DT challenge so I made a quick tag at the same time.
The sentiment is just perfect for how many of us feel at times!!

Birthday Wishes - Woodware Design Team

This week's DT theme is "Birthday Wishes" . So I guess anything goes! I chose to use one of my all time favourite Magenta Stamps - the Onion Flower tile. This stamp has versatility written all over it. It lends itself to so many techniques like resist, brushless watercolour, deep impression embossing to name a few. For my main card I stamped it onto white card with versamark and embossed with white powder. I then chose 3 shades of soft blue pigment inks and used DTP (direct to paper) over the top. This is easier with small pads like dew drop shaped pads. It makes it easier to blend. Wipe off the excess with paper towel to let the image pop!

Magenta Onion Flower

The "Blowing Birthday Wishes" stamp is by Stampendous. For the butterfly I dragged a Brilliance Pearlescent Sky Blue ink pad over a scrap of plain vellum. I then embossed it with crystal embossing powder and punched out a butterfly. I don't think it shows in the photo but it does give a lovely transluscent, glittery effect.

When I had my shop the Onion Flower was one of our best selling stamps. 

Here are a couple of other samples with this stamp. 

Alcohol Inks directly on stamp and stamped on glossy card.

Silver powder and Distress Inks