Get Well Soon

I set out to make a card for a good friend of mine that's not too well at the moment but it was one of those days.  You know the ones where nothing goes to plan!   So, this is my FOURTH attempt at the background ... one layer was brayered and every time it just went wrong and had to be binned.  I am talking seriously unrecoverable!!    

Worse still, in between drying times, I was finishing another new piece which involved gluing a large piece of tissue paper which I had printed text onto. Well, I should have know better than to attempt it today as I battled with it all covered in glue and ready to fall apart at any moment!  Yep - it folded in on itself, ripped in half and generally misbehaved!  I had to reprint it THREE times and unjam the printer TWICE!!!  

But finally, I am done.  I can send the card to my friend and sit back and admire the tissue paper with a well earned cuppa.

Hope your day has gone better than mine! xx

Fly

I have just discovered Fran-tage by Stampendous and I LOVE IT!!  The shabby embossing enamels are beautiful and as for the mica fragments ... well don't get me started!!

I wanted to have a play with them straight away so I used some of the corrugated card from the box my order arrived in as my background.  I started by picking the cardboard apart to expose the 'ribs' before using paint dabbers over some of the background.  I wanted to create two big splodgy areas so I tried melting the shabby enamel in a melt pot.  However, I found that I lost all the colours and glitter and ended up with white.  So I poured this onto the card which allowed me to re-adhere more embossing enamel over the top.  I also tried heating it from below but as the card is quite thick, the heat doesn't really get through sufficiently to get the melt going and I was worried I would set fire to my project before I'd even got going!!  When the enamel was still wet I added the mica flakes and beads.

The birdcage is cut from Tim Holtz Kraft resist paper which I then inked and made little dangly pendants for the bottom.

I cut the birds with my cricut and stuck them onto wire and allowed to dry.

The flowers are made with crepe paper which I stamped with text and spritzed with glimmer mists.  Once dry, I cut individual petals and stuck them around the centre on a cocktail stick.  Creating them like this allowed me to make big soft and shabby blooms which I have fixed by pushing the stick through the background, gluing and trimming.

I painted the old watch face with Viva Gold metal paint and used PVA around the edge before dipping it into Cosmic Vintage Mica Flakes.  The words are a Stampotique stamp which I stamped and embossed in black before embossing the ends with Fran-tage and mica flakes.

  The card is double mounted onto Lost and Found papers. I have torn, distressed, curled and inked the first layer and I embossed the back layer with music before inking the edge with black soot and tattered rose.  I also added some gold rub-on with my finger to accentuate the embossing.

I love the soft summery shades the Fran-tage adds - hopefully it will remind me of summer now we are getting grey rainy days :(



I have entered this into the following challenges:

Crafty Mess - 19th Challenge: Anything Goes
Craft Pad - No. 191 Vintage
Stampin' for the Weekend - Challenge 18: Feeling Floral
That Craft Place - Make you own Background
Totally Gorjuss - Punch and Die
  Hope you are having some sunshine wherever you are ... x

Listen to your Dreams

I couldn't resist this new Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Classics stamp.  The stamps create images that are like fine newsprint and stamp beautifully.    I also love my dream stamp, which another one by SA.




I started my card with a sheet of paper from the Bohemian range by Craftwork Cards.  I then stamped flourishes and the gothic windows.  The eye and mouth were stamped onto Lost & Found paper I added a little glitter to the corner of each using Copper Kettle and Golden Sparkle embossing powder.





I stamped my Dream centrepiece on another piece of Lost & Found paper and inked it up with distress.  I re-stamped it onto chipboard and cut out the 'D' which I also embossed in black.


I stuck the papers down and whizzed it under my sewing machine to add some further interest before fixing it to my card and adding the metal embellishments.  



I am entering my card into the following challenges:

Gingerloft Challenge GL49 - Stitching Real or Faux
Simon Stays Stamp - Glimmer & Sparkle

Magical Card

A little card featuring doodling and a magical castle which I've made just for fun.  I hadn't used this stamp in a while and fancied a bit of a magical moment ... so what better thing to do?!! 

The background was created with Dylusions inks and white Indian calligraphy ink.  The spotty border was stamped using a Differentcolors stamp which I cut down to a narrow size before doodling around the edge.

I coloured the castle with distress markers which I love (one of my best recent purchases!) and I finished the card with a Stampotique flower stamp to which I added silver sparkly centres.

Hope your day has had some magic too ... 
 
x

Woodland Bird House

 

I bought this MDF birdhouse last week at The Big Stamp Show held at Alexandra Palace in London.  It is actually a money box with a slot in the roof, but as I have no use for that, I covered the slot when I made my new roof!

The roof is covered with Ten Second Studio metal which I have embossed and sanded.  I wanted to add a decorative roof edging so I used Art Parts by Studio 490 which I painted and stamped.

I altered the entire birdhouse to look like white peeling weathered wood and I stamped leaves and flowers in chalk ink using some gorgeous new stamps by Differentcolors who are based in The Netherlands.  A few Lost Coast butterflies finished the background.  The picket fence is an alterations die which I painted with dabbers in two shades.

The birds and branch are by Maya road.  I painted the branch with acrylic paint and covered the birds in old text before tinting them using distress markers.  I added a small crystal for an eye and part embossed the larger bird with some Golden Sparkle embossing powder by Cosmic Shimmer which I got at the Show.  The little nest is from The Range;  it came in a pack of 6 around Easter time and I tinted the eggs with alcohol ink.  The butterfly is a download from Divas D'Este.

The final addition was the sentiment which is a Unity Stamp by Donna Downey. 

On this side, I cut some tattered florals in grungeboard and coloured them with distress inks before overstamping them with patterns.  The stems are made from a coffee spatula (thanks to Costa Coffee!) which I tinted with Walnut Stain distress.

The bee is  Stampotique stamp by Jo Capper-Sandon.

For the other side I stamped and cut out a tree by Stampotique and sat my crows, also Stampotique, on its branches.

It was really fun making this house, which is for my new studio.  I'm entering it into 'Lots of Layers' challenge on Try it on Tuesday, into 'Birds, Butterflies & Bees' challenge with The Stamp Man and also Challenge 3 on Anything But a Card

Have a happy day ...  x

 

Altered Bunting

So the Jubilee celebrations are now over and fast becoming a distant memory, along with the little sunshine we had this year!!

I had this paper bunting from our camping trip and decided to give it a makeover.  It took a bit of time as there are 16 little flags, but it's finally done and I'm really pleased with it.  It will hang in my new craft studio (which is yet to be built but that's another story!)

  Each flag has a message which I hope will inspire me as I work ...