10 November 2010

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.!

09 November 2010

Stampsmith November Challenge


Items Used
Plain white bag with handle
Pipecleaners 2 Red, 2 Green
Quickuts dies - Leaves 
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.











06 October 2010

A Stampsmith Halloween


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!









07 September 2010

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.






04 September 2010

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.

    





20 May 2010

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.