Love from Audrey

I have just bought this fabulous Stampsmith stamp (Audrey Hepburn) from Crafts and Me and couldn't wait to play with her.  I stamped her on glossy card with Onyx Black Versafine and mounted her on some lovely red card.  The bg is black card which has been run through my Cuttlebug using the Textile folder, red ribbon round it and then again mounted onto red card.  I have had this gorgeous Anitas Lips stamp for ages and knew it was time to get it out to finish off my card.  It's stamped with StazOn Black Cherry and cut and matted using good old Circle Nestabilities.

I have made this card for the fabulous Stampsmith Challenge Blog - they run two challenges a month.  On the 1st of the month you can use any stamps you like and on the 15th of the month you have to use Stampsmith stamps (so gorgeous!!!) and each time have a chance of winning some of their lovely stamps.  This time the challenge is to use black and white and one other colour (and this time at least one Stampsmith stamp)

Edited note:  Thanks to a head's up from Valerie H Wilson (from The Stampsmith) I checked my image only to find that after several hours the Versafine was not dry (and of course after checking needed touching up with a cotton bud).  Hopefully it will dry in a day or two, lol.

Chunky Alphabet Swap - I

I had this all planned out.  My I was going to be India.  The only problem was I'd left my India stamps at my friend's house and I'm not seeing her till Wednesday and I needed to get these pages off asap as I'm a bit behind (how unusual I hear your all say, lol).  Soooo, after much thought (and a quick look through the dictionary) I came up with I for Imagine.  I decided this page would look best in monochrome so I stamped Pam Bell's lovely lady (P43) in black Versafine and added a touch of Sakura Stardust to the dandylion clock and stars, then matted and layered it on black, silver, white and then finally the black page.  I printed the word 'magine' (Imagine minus the I - see) onto white vellum, ripped it off and pinned it to the page with a lovely letter I (from Making Memories Metal Alphabets).

Chunky Alphabet Swap - H

Having just come back from a holiday in a decidedly damp Wales I can say with all honesty that it's true - There's No Place Like Home, lol.  The little cottage stamp is from Stamps Away (L1018) and is watercoloured with Whispers Pens.  The frame is cut with good old nesties (square and labels two), the title was printed onto velum and the lovely ruby red slippers are cut from sparkly holographic card using a Cuttlekids die. 
(Looking at this now I wish I'd put the other shoe in the front but as I've posted the pages off it's a bit late for that, boo hoo)

Chunky Alphabet Swap - G

G is for Goblin.  I've had this stamp a little while and I got it from Dragonfly Laser on ebay.  I coloured him in with Whisper Pens.  The DP is from Me & My Big Ideas and the little metal G is coloured with alcohol inks. 

Digital Plus

Over at Crafty Cadmakers the challenge is to do something different with your digi images.  Well, after a morning discovering I can't merge digi images (even though Vix's tutorial is excellent - turns out I haven't got Paint Shop Pro!) I decided to do something different.  I have used digital images and rubber stamping - yay!  All my images for this card  are all from the Graphics Fairy and are printed onto glossy photographic paper.  I started with the fabulous picture of the Eiffel Tower and made it into my background then added a few stamped images (ink - StazOn Jet Black and Saddle Brown; stamps - ClearArt Stamps French Mail).  The correspondence was some old french bills and a postcard tied with ribbon.  I framed the portrait with a music folder cover and gave the portrait height with some foam dots.

Go check out the other fabulous cards by the DT.  Soooo much better with digis than I am.  And we've also go some super prizes for this week.  We've got 5 digi images from Stitchy Bear AND 3 digi images from our very own Ei. 

Lucid Dreams

Today I decided to have a play with a stamp I got ages ago and have never used.  It's from OnyxXpressions (Lucid Dreams Ink).  It's quite a large stamp and I had some trouble getting a good impression.  After several tries I realised that the problem was me - I was putting too much pressure on the stamp and squidging it (technical term, lol).  So I inked it up once more with Versafine Onyx Black and tried again, this time just using an even, light pressure and voila! 

Edited addition (15.10)

Looking at this pic it's not as good as it could be.  Honestly, the original stamped image looks better than this.  This looks like a photo you take of the TV, all lines, and the image wasn't like that.  Must improve my photography skills.

Purple Postcards

 

 

I have had great fun making postcards for a Purple Postcard swap.  The Paris postcard uses stamps from Paper Artsy (Monmatre), Elusive Images (the arch from the Eiffel Tower) and Creative Expressions (French Script).  The Venice postcard uses stamps from Paper Artsy (main image) and Elusve Images (Pierrot).  I found it hard to start with being restricted to just one colour but once I got into it I really enjoyed making these.

This is the back of one of the postcards (the India postcard - there were 4 in all).

Editors Note:  My sister (who's son has just gone up to Oxford) has pointed out that my lovely Venice postcard is not in fact a stamp of Venice at all but of Hertford Bridge, Oxford!  Oh well, you live and learn, lol.  She said the clue was in the lorry at the back of the bridge which would have been in the canal!

All Dressed Up . . .

. . . and nowhere to go!

My friend let me play with some of her fabulous Oxford Impression stamps and I chose to make a card with this one from April in Paris. I'm calling her Maud (I've no idea why it just seems to fit, lol).  She has got herself all dressed up and is waiting for her lover to come and take her out.  It looks like she has been waiting a long time, I hope he turns up as I think she looks resigned to the fact that she has been stood up.

The card base is made from sparkly cream card that I got from The Paper Mill. The DP is from a 6x6 K&Co Pad called Life's Journey.  I added 2 strips of the sparkly card top and bottom of the card then a strip of green card punched with my Martha Stewart Zigzag punch and then topped it off with some lovely cotton lace.  The sentiment is from Crafty Individuals, and the flowers are from Wild Orchid.

I am entering this into the following challenges:

The Stampsmith - Getting All Dressed Up

The Cheerful Stamper - Women

Fancy Folds

This week at Crafty Cardmakers it's time for a spotlight and the theme is folded cards.  I decided to go for something a little different and made this Star card.  It's base on an accordian card.  The image on the front is (of course) by Penny Black and the star is decorated with paper I made using Azure Sea Aster Starburst Stains and snowflake stamps stamped with Brilliance Mediterranean Blue.  Below is how I made it:

 

Cut 5 squares of card (I usd 14cm squares).  Fold in half horizontally and vertically and then diagonally from top left to bottom right.

Push the corners with the diagonal folds towards each other so they look like a frogs mouth, then push flat.  You should end up with a square a quarter of the original size. 

Repeat with all five squares of paper.

Stack all five squares on top of one another, gluing each square to the next one until you have all five stuck in a stack.

They should end up looking like this.

Alternative view of all five folded squares stuck in a stack.

Decorate all exposed surfaces (I used 3 sheets of A4 for this).

Another view of the sides decorated.

Attach a piece of ribbon around the folded squares diagonally.  Use a length of ribbon at least 4 times the measurement of the diagonal of the folded square  plus a little extra (my square measured 10 cm so I used 50 cm ribbon)

Make and decorate two covers exactly the same size as the folded squares and attach on each side of the stack.  Thread both ends of the ribbon through some large holed beads (pony beads) and then tie a knot in the ribbon.  This forms the closure for the book and the star.

To open the star, slide the beads up to the knot (be careful not to slide them right off), open the card out until back and front covers are back to back and slide the beads back down the ribbon.

I am entering this into the following challenges:

Bah! Humbug - Cuties (got to be a PB Hedgehog)

Totally Gorjuss - Not a Square

C.R.A.F.T. - Shaped card

More cute little mice

Today I had a play with my other set of Penny Black Stamps - Hugs! I chose these two little mice and coloured them with whispers pens, then matted and layered them with Nestabilities. The DP is from a 6x6 pad I have had for ages (and is nearly all gone) from Vanessa Arbuthnott and the pearls are from Debbi Moore.

This card is being entered in the following challenges:

Penny's Paper Crafty - Circles

2 Sisters Challenge - Animal Fun

Stamptacular Sunday - Layers

Simply floral

I saw a card made by Jo Capper-Sandon in Craft Stamper that I thought would be perfect for my Daughter-in-Law's birthday. I didn't have the stamps she used so I had a rummage (she's right - everyone has flower stamps) and found these. The main flowers are from Laurence Llewelyn Bowen's Retro Rose set, the swag is from Hot Off the Press Botanicals and the leaves are from Clear Choice 20 Leaf Decor stamps. The main flower was stamped first and then masked, then the swag, then the leaves. I coloured the flower with a pink felt pen and then matted and layered my image to define it, before mounting it onto a white card blank.
I am entering this into the following challeges:
Fab 'n' Funky - Black and White with a Twist (Pink)
Stamps R Us - All Nature
Pollycraft Monday Challenge - Anything goes
C.R.A.F.T. - Fancy Florals

Make a Wish

I decided to get my little Penny Black stamps out as they have been in the dark for far too long. This stamp is from the Critter Party set. I coloured the image with Whispers pens and the icing is done with a Sakura Stardust pen. The image and mats were cut with Nestabilities Labels One and the DP is from DCWV Pocket full of Posies (a fav of mine).

This card is going to be entered in the following challenges:

Crafty Catz Weekly Challenge - card for a child with sparkle
A Spoonful of Sugar - sparkle and shine

Incy Wincy Designs - Sparkly and Glitter

LM's secret is revealed!

My friend Lynne leads a secret life and I decided it was time the whole world knew about it. I thought the best way to reveal all was to publish, lol. (Warning - LOADS of pictures!)

I started with a board book (poor old Woolly) and cut off the spine. I cut out two windows, then I covered each page with gesso, then cream acrylic paint then pink acrylic paint. I stamped loads of images (Clear Choice 22 Travel France Stamps, LLB Retro Rose, Darkroom Door Monmatre) in Tumbled Glass Distress Ink. I put my images behind the windows and stuck two pages together to seal the images in. Then I added a few adornments - the fan is actually a MIC corset that has also been altered, lol, the little envelope has been in my stash for ages and has a piece of cream card that has been stamped with Creative Expressions French Script Inside and the pearl necklace I made. The story was printed in blue onto cream card, cut with Nestabilities Labels Ten and edge with Old Paper Distress Ink. The book was bound with my much under-used Bind-It-All.

I am entering this into The Stampman Altered Challenge

The Stampman Blog Hop

The Stampman are having a fabulous blog hop with fabulous prizes at each stop. The hop ends at 9pm Thursday 7th October. All you have to do is display the Challenge blinkie on your sidebar, create a post about the hop with a link back to The Stampman blog, leave a message on each blog you visit, make a note of each letter displayed on the blogs as they are an anagram, the answer on the last blog you visit.
Good luck and have fun.