Stampsmith's December Challenge.

 

Items Used:

Stamps from Stampsmith -Wording -  Say it with Flair set

Picture stamp from Marilyn 2 set

Quickutz Nesting Star set

Cuttlebug - Round tag from he Baby Face Alphabet set

The challenge for the December Stampsmith Yahoo group was to make a Christmas card for a person who provides a service.

Can you guess who I've made the card for?.......    Here's a hint, once you start getting a bit older, this person becomes very, VERY important........especially to fight off the grey's and I'm not talking the little Alien variety of Grey's...lol either, whom in most cases have no need for the services of this person!  

Making - A very Hairy Christmas card.......

First step was to stamp the Marilyn with versafine black.  Wait a while so it's dries or else you will get smudging even though it is waterproof ink.    I use a cheap set of children's watercolour paints but they are just as good for this purpose.   I have gouache paints but they offer a more solid colour rather than a wash of colour so I prefer to use the watercolours.   I used glitter on the dress and earrings  and gave her a lick of mascara with a very fine black pen.

 The wording was stamped using a combination of words from the "Say it with Flair" stamp set.   I used an acrylic block and some double sided tape and arranged the words in a staggered pattern, embossed with gold Zing.    You can go back and fill in any gaps with a smaller word or object.   I filled the space with a little Christmas tree punch out.

The bauble is made using the tag punch from the Cuttlebug Baby face set.   If you look at my Quick Birthday wish card you can see I used the flower die.   I hate to throw anything out so I used the left over negative cutout as the top decoration on the bauble.   The first version just didn't work for me.   The string was to small and the colour was too washed out.....So I added colour with a bit of glitter and used a thicker ribbon through the loop, some bling......instant bauble!!!.    It is slightly raised  on the card

Right Picture (Before)

Below Picture (After changes)

I thought this would be an easier challenge than the last two as we do have Christmas here in Australia....but I found this one the hardest.!    I think having lots of ideas rather than no idea has served as a bit of a hindrance.   A wonderful friend of mine in the US has sent me a "Care Package" of lots of Halloween goodies so I'll be ready for that one next year.!   

Thanks for looking and a Merry Christmas to all.    

Quick Birthday Wishes

 

Items Used

Matha Stewart Happy Birthday punch

Cuttlebug Dies -  2 x 4" Flowers Dies (37-1508)

Leaf from the Combo Persia set (37-1919)

This was a fairly simple and quick card to make.   Many colour combinations would work great with this style of card too.    Assembling the flowers first makes it easier to arrange them.    For the leaves I manually cut the a darker colour leaf to stick behind the leaf cutout as it's much easier to do this than to fit all the little pieces into the cut outs.

Thanks for looking.   Comments are always appreciated, even the anonymous ones...lol !

KSCC#29, kitchensinkstamps

 Kitchen sink stamp Challenge #29

Items Used

Kitchen Sink Stamp set 3 step sea shells

Cuttlebug Tiny bubbles embossing folder

Beach punch

Quickutz lettering Banana Splits and alphabet from the Flirt pack

Cuttlebug Love language Combo die

Earthly Ores Colorbox

The Kitchen sink Challenge 29 called for a Monochromatic colour scheme.  

I used the brown tones from the Earthly Ores Colorbox ink set to do the shell.   The papers are from all different places and often I grab them from a scrap box.

I used a glitter and sand mix on the edge of the punched border and blow the shell and lettering.    Bronze glitter is used on the edge of the embossed tiny bubble paper.

The two hearts are  die cut from the Cuttlebug Love language Combo die in a lovely shimmer paper.

Thanks for looking.!

Stampsmith November Challenge

Items Used

Plain white bag with handle

Pipecleaners 2 Red, 2 Green

Quickuts dies - Leaves 

Leaf Shapes

Red, green & yellow Crayon

Moon Glow sprays - Bucket o' blood and Treasure Island Aqua

Stampsmith Stamp from Darling Boys sheet

The Challenge for the Stampsmith group is as follows.

Using a Stampsmith stamp create a Thanksgiving card and bag.

Make your own background paper.   Use warm browns, reds, yellows, golds and shades of green.

Make for an elderly person you know and the card should attach to the front of the bag.

I should have known by now that any challenges in the months of October/November will most likely be Halloween & Thanksgiving!.     Not being from America these are not things we celebrate nor do I know much about.   Halloween isn't so bad as I know it involves scary things...lol....but Thanksgiving?    I felt there was a little space for international interpretation.    

So how to make it harder for myself.....make it for my grandfather, who at the ripe old age of 95 is the oldest person I know...lol.!!!!  

The stamp I chose was from the Darling boys sheet.    Stamped with Versafine Ink and then painted with watercolours and a very, very fine brush.  

(right)The before colouring and after.

The background paper

Using 2 different stamps of leaves, I used gold, red and yellow embossing powder.   Some of the leaves are two toned sprinkling the embossing powder in sections.    I then used red, green and yellow crayon to colour the leaves and create a resist.  

It was very hard for me not to use glitter or feminine touches but that's all part of the challenge.    I wanted the background paper to have the sparkle but old world look and still be masculine.     

 

 

I sprayed the Moonglow Shadow mists in two shades all over.      It looked like this when wet (right) but dries to a lovely walnut brown shade with rivers of darker areas where the walnut ink colour has pooled.   The whole area has a subtle sparkle of mica in aqua & red.

Assembling the bag


The background paper I used to decorate was a piece of white sticky back paper.   This made it easier to attach the backgound paper on the paper bag(recycled).  Using two colours of pipe cleaners, I wrapped around the handles to add colour. 

To be able to attach the card as required, I used 2 small pieces of red paper glued only on the straight sides to form two pockets.     I cut lots of leaves from the quickutz dies and placed them around the top edge using the larger ones on the bottom.  These were only stuck down at the top so they bottom edge would overlap the card and hold it more securely in place.

The Card

The background paper strip was used with three stripes of paper in yellow & greens.   The gold and red stripes are gift wrapping ribbon that I stuck down using double sided tape.   

The leaves are layered on a darker colour to form a shadow look.

I used my computer to make the wording as I didn't really have anything that I though was Thanksgiving related or that sort of fit the theme as well as fitting into something I could give.     It's Remembrance Day on Thursday 11th for us here in Australia and my grandfather served in the army and lost many friends and family to war.   I would like to think I've captured the Thanksgiving theme in a way that my grandfather and I would be able to relate to.   

You can see from the picture at the top how the card slips into the corner pieces and under the leaves for a complete package.  

Thanks for looking.

Tip : Your computer is often a forgotten resource for wording.   Many programs come with text and text editing.  Don't forget, you can have a lot of fun using  the text editing in the  photo editing programs which most people have now.  I usually make the text, then cut and paste several times and change the size of each so when I print it out at least one is the right size I need.

A Stampsmith Halloween

Items Used

Stampsmiths - Thank heavens 2 set. 3 girls

Quickutz - Spooky scroll Die

Quickutz - Houses Die

  Quickutz - Leaves Embossing folder 12"

My entry in the Stampsmith Yahoo Challenge - Halloween.

The challenge was of course Halloween.  

Now Halloween hasn't really taken off in my corner of Australia.   I thought last year we'd get a few knocks on the door but no....nobody.....I even bought chocolates to give...   I have US friends so I hear about Halloween and how great it is and lots of fun but I guess you have to be there.    So what was a girl to do.   No Halloween stamps, no stickers or ribbons........luckily I had bought the Spooky scroll from Quickutz for a different reason but came in so handy as did the house dies.

OH Silvery Moon

I cut the folder to the required size and used watercolours, sponge and brayer to colour the background.     The folder just sucked up the colour and water and ended up warping and buckling but it just adds to the character.              A bit of chalk is also used around the moon to give a little glow.    For the moon I used a circle of paper with a few smudges of gray chalk the glued  Angelina film over the top so it glows.   I love doing the moon like this as  it's so effective.  

I used a fine black pen to draw cobwebs and spiders all over the scroll with silver highlights.   I also drew the bats flying around the  moon.  They look a little kooky rather than spooky though. !

The little girls in the original stamp all had pretty dresses on and flowers.   I sew and have a little niece and just love the idea of making her costumes one day so that's my inspiration.     The arm of the clown girl is cut separately and raised up to give a 3d look and what girl doesn't love oodles of glitter............ So I made sure the dresses had lots of sparkle.  

(Right) The grass is a bit of freehand machine stitching in a glitter thread and some fluffy black wool for spooky grass.                                                                                (Left) I used the quickutz Leaves folder on some adhesive aluminum tape used for guttering and household repairs.   You can find the one with the texture or the plain one from hardware stores.   For Aussies, I found both at Bunnings in the plumbing section.   It takes the embossing beautifully.   I coloured the leaves and added some scrolls with the Bic Mark-It Colour Pens which come in a pastel and bright set.   These pens are great as they are alcohol based and are permant on shiny surfaces.  I found mine in the stationary section at Woolworths in Aust.   I'd never seen them anywhere else, not even in craft shops but they are brilliant for shiny paper and hard to colour things like metal and glass.   (No affiliation but I should be offered shares now...lol...)

This was a fun challenge...and challenge it was.!   I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out and venturing outside my comfort zone.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN to all my US friends....hope it's a spooky one for you....!    BOO!

It's a Girl

Items used:

Stampsmith stamps - Ooh Baby set

Cuttlebug - A2 Combo Welcome Baby

    Cuttlebug  -  Die2x6 Fruit & Tags

                        Cuttlebug - A2 Tiny Bubbles Embossing Folder

Core-ordinates paper

Colorbox Stamp Pad - Pastel (rainbow)

This was a fun little card I made for a new baby.    The gorgeous stamps are just 3 from a great set of fun baby photo stamps.  I used the pink section of three colours to stamp the babies.   Cut with the Tags and threading the ribbon through gives them a fun way to display them.

The words were cut once in white and then in sparkle pink paper and joined together off centre to create a glowing shadow.   

The Bubbles folder works really well with the paper that you sandpaper to reveal the base colour.  Mixed with the gingham, this all came together beautifully.   A few glitzy flowers of bright colours added the last bit of sparkle and contrast.

Glass fusing

Coming soon to ETSY.

Beautiful handmade fused glass. 

Sterling silver bails drill set NOT GLUED.

Also grooved glass pieces to wire wrap yourself and cabochons to use in Polymer clay,  Metal Art clay  or PMC.


These pieces are currently available from Sunshiners Gift shop located in  Two Rocks, Western Australia.  Please contact me if you'd like further information.

Stay tuned.!

A Special Birthday

Items Used

Cuttlebug Baby Face

Martha Stewarts Happy Birthday punch

Quickutz Stripes Label Embossing folder

Quickutz Nesting Square border dies

This card was a fun one to make.   I had some balloon paper but really wanted a bunch effect rather than the random ones.  I used the Babyface dies to create this look.   This allowed me to get the shading without having to do any colouring.    Before placing the final balloon, I gathered some coloured threads and stuck them across doublesided tape, sticking it  to the card where the two pink loops are shown.

The blue balloon was then placed on top.

The box was made using the the Quickutz Nesting Square. There are several sets of Nesting squares but this one has the border.     The inner square piece was embossed with the stripes and a piece cut from the border for the top of the box. 

The balloon  threads were pulled tightly and fastened into a bunch with double sided tape and covered with the box.  Tissue paper was added  and box lid and bow.

Thanks for reading.  Any questions feel free to ask.

    

Kitchen Sink Stamps Challenge 25 - Entry 2

Items used:

Kitchen Sink Stamps Multi step berry set  (blueberries and sentiment)

Quickutz dies - O from the Rainbow alphabet set for the dots under the flowers

QK- Flower from the border die 

QK-Oval Scallop set

QK - Striped Label embossing folder

QK - Flower Folder 

Assorted inks

For this card I used the berry set blueberries.   I stamped the birthday sentiments twice but used a darker colour just on the edges for the second stamping.  This was then embossed with clear powder.

These colours stood out so I decided to relate the rest of the colours to the words.   The striped lines were made using the QK striped label folder then I coloured with the ink used in the birthday stamp.

 

I couldn't find a small circle die so used the letter O from the QK rainbow alphabet set.  It has a few holes in it but under the flower they disappear.  The flowers are from the flower border set.   I then used the flower embossing folder to emboss them.   I lightly dusted with a  yellow chalk to bring out the detail and dotted with Kindyglitz. The flowers and oval are raised slightly with sticky foam.

Rhinestones give just a little extra sparkle to this birthday wish.


Thanks for looking.   Any comments are appreciated.

Kitchen Sink Stamp Challenge #25

Items used:  

Kitchensink Stamp

Cuttlebug Plum Blossom folder

Quickutz - Ladybug boarder (Scrapbuggy exclusive)

Quickutz scalloped ovals (largest)

This is my entry to the Kitchen Sink Stamp Challenge which involves a sketch or template to follow found here KSS Challenge 25.   I've never tried one of these types of challenges with a sketch before.  I don't know how exact you have to be with following the template but I assume there is a little room for creative licence.  

The stamps used are from the KSS  3 Step Hibiscus set.  The ladybugs are from a 2 colour boarder die.   After you piece the two colours together you end up with a strip of ladybugs - 12" long.   I cut 4 off the boarder for the dots.   I just love the cuttlebug Plum Blossom folder.  It is one of the larger sized ones and is a perfect background for so many projects.  

A Birthday for a special Girl

Items used in this design:

Cuttlebug folder from the  Plum Blossom set

Quickutz : Teddy Bear (see below for technique)

QK Nesting Stars(set of 5)

QK Nesting Scalloped Ovals (set of 3)

QK Banana Split Alphabet

Jones Tones Glitter

The bear was cut out in Quickutz double sided adhesive paper.   I placed all the body parts down with the protective top layer still on the sticky paper.   To shade, lift the parts of the paper from the areas to be the darkest first.   Folding back each part until all areas are ready.  Sprinkle on the dark pink glitter.  Remove the rest of the paper and sprinkle the pale pink glitter.   Tip of the excess glitter as you go. The paws, inner ears and nose are placed and coloured separatedly or alternatively you could just use glue in the same manner.    The letters and number have a light coat of Kindyglitz in Chrystalina.  This product is Aussie made so may not be available readily in other countries but I believe it is similar to Tim Holtz Stickles.

I made this card for a very special girl.   All the parts are made with the Epic Six cutting & embossing machine.   All the Dies used are from Quickutz.   A great place to buy from is Scrapbuggy .   This is a US shop but has international flat rate shipping of $15.     Stay tuned for a review on both the Epic and Scrapbuggy.    

If anyone wants anymore information please feel free to ask.

TIP:  When you've finished all colours, flick back of card several times with the right side facing down over a piece of paper.   This will remove any stubborn loose glitter.   If you have used more than one colour, the excess will be multi coloured.   I have a spare jar that all the excess multi coloured glitter goes into.   This can be used later and looks great on black.

KSCC#24, kitchensinkstamps - Entry 2

Entry number two for the Kitchen Sink Stamp Challenge was inspired by the gingham paper I had in the green.  Squares and more squares is the theme and I ran with it in this one with many forms of squares everywhere.

The little duck and words are from the Kitchen Sink Stamp set http://www.kitchensinkstamps.com/shop/product41.html.      I was limited in the yellows I could use for the duck so I used a gel pen in gold to highlight the beak and a small dot of dimentional fabric paint for the eye.   While there are probably lots of more appropriate products to use I had this paint and it worked great.    The nest is made from Raffia.   I was given a bag of the stuff years ago and tend not to throw anything out.  It was perfect for the nest.   I twisted several strands together and put some glue on the back to secure.   With a bit of shaping and fiddling...the perfect nest.   To make the small bow I coloured  white ribbon with an ink colour that matched, made a small loop and glued together. The centre is then tied with a thread several times and secure at the back with a dob of glue.

TIP: When using wet glue, test on scrap piece of  paper first.   Some paper will stain, warp or stretch with some glues (ask me how I know...lol...!.).

KSCC#24, kitchensinkstamps

Time for another challenge card.     The latest challenge from the kitchen sink stamp challenge blog   -  Hip to be a square card, creating a card with squares.

Our summer has been so hot, too hot to even enjoy the beach without being cooked like a hotdog.  Finally the weather has calmed down and it's just right.   It's now beautiful beach weather, which gave me the inspiration for my square card.

I used a total of 17 squares.   What was I thinking..lol....but I think it turned out just right.   The stamps are from the Kitchen Sink Stamp line 3 Step Sea Shells with diecuts of bathers and hat.

Any colours can be used for the shells and it was fun to mix and match all the colours and squares together.

For an authentic beach theme I mixed white beach sand with a multicoloured shades of gold, bronze and tan coloured glitter.    Using a glue pen I drew stripes and squiggles around the stamped images.   The glue pen made quite thick lines so this resulted in a lovely 3D raised effect.     It really is hip to be square.!

TIP:   Stamp more images than you need at one time.  Nothing worse than messing up an image half way through a project and having to re-stamp, especially if you have lots of inks and can't remember the colour combo used.

Global Warming.....

It's been so hot in Western Australia.  Record breaking heatwave in fact.   I've been itching to get stamping and crafting again but it's so hot I just can't be bothered...lol....I keep seeing the Kitchen Sink Stamp challenges and hope I can join in again soon.  

COMING SOON:

I bought a Paragon Kiln just before Christmas for my metal clay and glass fusing.   I'll be reviewing the kiln in the next few months with some schedules for basic fusing.   Roll on winter.

Good Luck Card

Well the idea was there. 

I needed a good luck card urgently and while the idea was in my head, execution was not as easy as I'd planned.   Given a bit more time I would have changed quite a few things but more on that later.

The stamp is from My Heart Stamps 4 U - set number 183

These stamps can be bought separate or as a sheet of red rubber. 

The  sunflower is stamped in versafine black, coloured with  watercolour paints.   The background and words were designed in a graphics program using a photo of the sunflower seeds.     

I would have prefered to have embossed the stamped image in black before painting however at the time I didn't want to loose the details in the centre of the flower.    I cut around the flower.   With the butterfly, the wings are cut so only the body was still attached and then place on black paper and cut around again.   The butterfly wings are slightly raised to show the black paper underneath like a shadow.    The colours on the butterfly came out too bright,  to tone the colours down I used crystal glitter.     The colours in the flower have photographed muted but are much brighter in real life.   I was in a rush and didn't check my photo's before sending....thus the tip for today.

Tip:  Take photo's or scans of all your cards.    Don't forget to check how the scans or photo's came out before sending.  Once it's gone...it's gone.

Kitchen Sink Stamp Challenge 21_Entry 3

We are having a heatwave here in Western Australia.   All the flowers are burnt around the edges, dry dead grass and leaves are certainly a bit depressing to look at.   What's a girl to do....well,stamp of course.!!!

So here is my final entry to the Kitchen Sink Stamp Challenge 21

Now the contest is all about stitching AND using  Kitchen Sink Stamps  

For this card I uses 3 sets.  The 3 Step Butterflies, 3 Step Pansy and the words from the Multi Step Berries

I did have some limitations for this card as I don't have very many ink colours.  I found this lovely sheet of paper for  behind the pansy's that just matched perfectly.

For the stitching, I stitched the line up to the butterfly then unpicked it and used a glittery marker to draw faux stitching.    The green lace  leaves I've used are also stitched by me on my Janome MC10001 Embroidery Machine.   I purchased the embroidery designs from Embroidery Library and used the 3 leaf design stitched in a multicoloured green thread.

Because the card has a texture, stamping directly ontop would have resulted in a patchy inking.   I stamped the side facing butterfly on a separate piece of paper,  cutting around the wings and body only.   I stamped the legs onto the card and embossed in a shiny black and mounted the wings in over the embossed area.

Kitchen Sink Stamp Challenge 21_Entry 2

I enjoyed playing with the idea of stitching on cards so much I made another one for the Kitchen Sink Stamp Challenge 21.  I have a fashion & textile design background so it was fun to play with the paper instead of fabric.  For the stitching, I went with a geometric faux quilt look.  This would be a great way to use scrap paper or small stamps especially in a more crazy quilt pattern.   A crazy quilt pattern has no really structured pattern, just peices of all shapes, sizes and colours.    The stamps are both Kitchen Sink Stamps.

The process I used to make the quilt background is as follows:

 

• Cut 2.5cm squares of 3 coodinating papers.
• Used a white piece of paper as a foundation sheet. Cut to the size I  wanted the finished faux quilt.
• Placed a strip of double sided tape down on the paper (around the centre of where each row will be placed) and press the  first row of squares along the edge of the foundation paper.  Repeat until you have the correct size alternating colours.
• When sewing stitches, use greaseproof paper or tearaway at the edges and start and finish your stitches off onto the scrap paper so as not to miss stitches at the end of your design.   (if stickytape gums up the needle use alcohol wipes to clean needle)
  
• Tear scrap paper away and pull extra stitch threads to the backside and secure with a dob of glue.   You can also put a dob of glue on the backside close to the edge and cut extra threads when dry.
• I placed a thin strip of double sided tape all around the edge and sprinkled glitter for the faux sashing.   

I sparkled for the rest of the day after making this one.   Glitter gets everywhere but it is a lovely effect.

I used a thick paper for both the butterfly and word note, both are curled & shaped.






TIP:  Curl paper from the back using strokes from the outer edge inwards.  A rounded  item works best. Cake decorators have a special double sided tool that has a small ball on one end and large ball on the other. It is used to shape icing for flowers but works well for paper too.  Support you item on a folded towel or firm foam.  

Kitchen Sink Stamp Crew Challenge 21

In my webtravels I came across these fun stamps from Kitchen Sink Stamps .    This is my first ever entry to the  Kitchen Sink Crew Challenge #21  involving the KSS stamp and stitching.

Here is a close up of the stitched elements and the Kitchen Sink strawberry stamp.   The strawberry is stamped in 4 colours, layering from the lightest shade to the darkest.   This is the magical thing about KS stamps.  They are designed to be stamped to form a 3D image.  Brilliant.!  I used a fabric background which is zig zag stitched on a rectangle card punched with the Fiskars boarder punch.   I used an applique stitch to sew the strawberry circle on (see tip).

For those new to Kitchen Sink Stamps, particularly Aussie & New Zealand stampers, I'll be doing a review shortly on products, postage and customer service.

TIP:  To sew a circle, go slow and lift the foot to move your position frequently.  Pivoting when the needle is down on the outer edge.

Here we go.   First post ever.   "Why now ?" I here you all shout...oh no that's just an echo of me shouting in this empty room !!!   Bare with me as I stumble though this new art of blogging.

Well, I guess at some point we all have to get on the bandwagon .  I suppose I'd like to think I have something to offer this big wide world.    I dabble in all things creative from sewing, stamping all the way to fusing glass and metal clay.   I've had to stumble along alot of the way as there isn't much in the way of classes where I am.  So I hope some of you will stumble along with me. !