A Vintage Stamp

Final post of the day, and an entry to The Stamp Man Fortnightly Challenge which is currently looking for vintage or distressed entries. And so...

The main image on this card was created using a Michael Powell stamp, Vintage Photo Distress Ink and Promarkers. Lace and ribbon were distressed using a Marvy Heritage ink pad in Copper, and the K&Co backing paper was distressed, folded, layered and sprayed with  Cosmic Shimmer mica mists.

Some beautiful dark green pearl paper was used to create a wine bottle and stamped vine leaves, antique gold and copper Spellbinder die cuts were sprinkled liberally to accent different areas, and I had fun with the grapes; this required recolouring gold Pearlidoodles dots with a mulberry Promarker (amazing what you can do at a push!!) Overall it was good to see a totally different feel given to the same stamp used for another project (see earlier Inspired By Others post).

OK, that's all folks!! Got to get prep done for work tomorrow. Thanks for dropping by - I'd love to hear what you think and will endeavour to return the favour. Hugs, Buttons x

Reaching a Milestone

Saw a challenge on the Make My Monday blog today and couldn't resist. The theme is Time, part of the Men and Boys challenge.

This was inspired by a card created by Karen Moss for the ATDML design team a talented bunch of ladies who, with such a passion for scrapping, have a wonderful eye for layout and design.

My own version used Kanban papers and stamps, Spellbinders cogs and plain white vellum put through a Creative Expressions embossing folder - simple but effective me thinks.

Hope you like it. Hugs, Buttons x

Little Red Dress

Ahead of the game this week! (that won't last) as the weather was SO grim there was nothing for it but to stay in and craft. And so to my entry for Hels Sheridan's Sunday Stampers Challenge this week.

I love the art of origami, especially when it brings more of a 3D element to cards and projects. The sentiment (yes, this is going in the post this week for a reli) was Flitter Glued, the accessories were from a Spellbinders die purchased at Ally Pally (oh, my poor bank balance!!)with an accent touch of Pearlidoodles and if you look really closely you'll see the large die cut border at the bottom is in fact from a sample piece of wallpaper that looks and feels exactly like ruffled fabric!! (amazing what you can pick up at the local DIY store). I also stamped some faux stitching effects down there to add further interest.

The ribbon dress band got a touch of 'Frantage' with various types of embossing powders, a bit more Flittering and a lovely red element that came from... no, that would be telling. Suffice it to say me and the OH got some gorgeous posh choccies for Christmas which have been savoured and rationed!!!

By the way, if you haven't already seen it yet I URGE YOU to check out the STUNNING creations on Julie Short's blog for this challenge and prepare for your jaw to hit the ground... this uber-talented lady takes embossing folders to a whole new level and I am in awe.

OK, that's all for now. See you very soon.

Hugs, Buttons x

Inspired by others

Back again!!  (with timezone reset!)  This post is about the entry created for the Woodware Craft Collection Blog April Challenge which, in this case, is a sketch.  Another new technique to try this time - I was inspired to create the background strips using Kim Reygate's lemon juice technique (wow, is she one talented lady).

Having had fun with heating lemon juice (Kim, you didn't mention it would smell really yummy!) green ink was applied direct to paper, followed by contrasting stamping using the Artemio manuscript background clear stamp (one of my all time favs).

Having punched a border strip I needed to add a focal point.  Inspiration take two... Anne posted a fabulous card she had created using a Michael Powell stamp.  My version (another of his gorgeous stamps) was stamped with DI, clear embossed in some areas and coloured with mica paint (not sure my photographic skills have done it justice, but hey hoh).

Finally vine leaves were stamped with Flitter Glu and Morris Dance flakes and applied liberally!!

Et voila... my entry to the April Challenge is complete.  Hope you like.

Hugs, Buttons x

New York, New York

First of all, thank you to those who continue to leave me some lovely comments.  It is really appreciated.  OK, busy day. Dog to walk, washing to catch up with, wedding to attend and two challenge pieces to complete.  Now, you'd think with all this to do it would be a case of 'how can I make things easier for myself'?  Oh no, not me!

Ever since Hels set her Sunday Stampers - Summer in the City - challenge I've had a vision of a summer evening in New York, Sex in the City style in my head (with no way of knowing how to achieve it!)  So, let's try something new!  I've never played with achohol inks before and picked up some at Ally Pally.  Thankfully by combining Butterscotch, Shell Pink, Stonewashed and Snow Cap on the back of acetate a sky was born.  No New York stamps of course!  I had to sketch a skyline incorporating the Chrysler Building in black liner on antique gold card, cutting it out and applying it to the front of the acetate.



Tried embossing the lady with her cake and coffee but it didin't work so I had to use archival ink and fill in the stamped image with my trusty mica powders.  The letters were created using Indigo Blu's FlitterGlu and Morris Dance flakes (also a brand new technique, also a purchase from Ally Pally) and the final embellies were bits from the stash box.

Eventually this tag will find its way on to a card but that will be a challenge for another day.  Off now to sort out photos for the next post/next challenge.  Thanks for dropping by.  I'd love to hear what you think.

Hugs, Buttons x

(p.s. the time setting on my blog needs adjusting when I have a mo' - it is infact 18:25 as I waffle away!)

Happy Wedding Day

Hi out there. My offering today is a card I have just finished to celebrate the wedding of one of my best friends.  I am so chuffed that she has at last found her 'other bit of the jigsaw puzzle' and was honoured when she asked me to make the wedding invitations.

It has been created using the same colour scheme as the invitations, so subtle was the key word.  One of the bits that came out best were the charms, gold and pink Spellbinder die cuts with stamped initials and glossy accents.  The rest involved adding layers and various pearly/shiny bits.

OK, time for a rest me thinks.  I met myself coming back today, but there should be a bit more time tomorrow - who was it extolling the virtues of deadlines?  They can wear you out as well!!

See you soon, hugs, Buttons x

Time for Tea

Well here we are again. Sunday evening, another week of work awaits...

However, for now the sun is now shining and, with one project finished and another started (lashings of lemon juice, but more of that to come!!) there have been a number of positives this weekend.

Joining in with challenges is a good way of setting deadlines for completing things (always my downfall) and sharing ideas. It is also just fantastic to be able to see what ideas others come up with for the same theme. They are always so different and inspiring .

With that in mind I decided to enter the Simon Says Stamp Challenge (see link on sidebar), a design layout to be followed/interpreted using Martha Stewart if possible. So here it is...

Union Jacks again! but this time with the main coloured elements cut out individually from Coredinations card which was sanded and recoloured to get a strong, yet chalky effect. Martha Stewart punches were used to edge the embossed background and to create the gold strip through which ribbon was threaded.

The main image is a Just Inklined digital image which was coloured with Promarkers and gold pen, and was then triple glazed with UTEE. I thought creating the 'teabag' was fun and the flowers (lace sewn together with pearl beads and coloured with Spun Sugar) completed the look. Very 'elegant English tea' I thought!

Well done me! I remembered to include close ups this time!

OK, time to away to some ironing (booo) and a Sunday roast with all the trimmings (hurrahhhhh).

Before I go I would just like to send a huge thank all of those who have been kind enough to comment on my creations. It is so heartening to know I am not alone!! and I will always endeavour to return the compliment.

Hugs, Buttons x

Gentlemen's Relish

Things are a little mad here at the moment - I seem to have too much work/not enough hours in the day and everything needs to be finished yesterday. Guess all of you will have faced that problem! So, with the man coming to fix the cooker yesterday it gave me a couple of hours 'playtime' (a welcome relief). As time is not on my side I decided to kill two birds with one stone and created something for this week's Sunday Stampers Challenge and the Turquoise and Brown challenge on the Woodware site.

Got to play with a new Union Jack mask from Stamposaurus, some vellum, embossing TH embossing folders, ribbon, Ranger Glossy Accents and some stamps (of course!) I was particularly pleased with the way stamping through the mask gave me a unique backing to this card and there will be much more of this to come in different colours I'm sure - it seems to be 'the thing' at the moment, what with the Jubilee and the Olympics coming up. Anyway, hope you like it.

Hugs, as always, Buttons x

Happy Anniversary

I am lucky enough to have wonderful, supportive and encouraging parents and today is their special day, so I created a special card for them.

My Mum has a bit of a thing about pansies and this image from Just Inklined was perfect (unlike my photography, but hey, what can you do when it's 6 o'clock in the morning and you are relying on artificial lighting?) Hopefully you get the gist though.

OK, time to 'fess up' - I have been admiring a scrapbook page created by Ania Dabrowska and decided to use a technique for paper blending to create a similar effect. Strips of various papers were ripped and cut, overlayed and covered in gesso and snowflake embossing powder. A pattern tracing tool and gold ink 'faked' stitching and pieces of lace were layered on top and sprayed with pearl mica shimmer mist. The thing is, I liked this background effect so much I took a leaf out of Julie Short's book and did it twice. The first version was used to make a thankyou to Hels Sheridan who has been so encouraging over the past few months, but that one had a completely different topper.

The topper for Mum and Dad's card had a bit of 'treatment' too - now this is a shout out to 'Tracey in the office' who created some beautiful samples for the Creative Expressions stand at Ally Pally. Whoever this lady is she has a real eye for detail and I loved the use of embossing over her stamped flowers. The pansies were coloured with a mix of Promarkers and mica powder paint to make them more vibrant.

A quick word on Ally Pally - OMG!!!!!! Memories of that will keep me smiling even on the worst of days. How generous with their time, energy, knowledge and creativeness were the myriad of talented experts. So thank you from the bottom of my heart to Hels, Julia, Sam, Leonie, Sue, Maria (yes, I will embellish my gorgeous basque brooch) Barbara, Ali and anyone else I've missed.

Well, time to stop waffling on - I can't afford to yawn my way through classes tomorrow so it's off to the land of nod for me.

Hugs, Buttons x

Paper and Lace

Hello out there! As Easter whizzes by the garden is starting to spring into life. This is one of my favourite times of the year. In a few weeks the wisteria will be in full bloom, the first of the summer clematis will be out and there will be baby ducks all over the canal by our house.

So for this post was I inspired by mother nature? No! In fact it was the 'Mistress of Inkiness' herself - Hels Sheridan. She had a Sunday Stampers challenge running called Paper Roses a couple of weeks ago but I could only enter by email as I hadn't dipped my toe into the world of blogging.

Well it is a piece I am particularly proud of it as it worked out just as I had planned (which is a novelty in itself!) and only took a good chunk of a weekend to complete. I hope Hels doesn't mind, but I figured it would be good to give it a public airing and whilst I was at it, enter it into this month's The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Challenge (entitled Ribbons and Lace).

So what took me all weekend? Well, the background was embossed with the Tim Holtz Alterations manuscript folder, inked up using a combination of different brown and copper tones and stamped with some Creative Expression swirls. On top of this went a piece of manuscript paper from 'the stash', followed by some cut out embroidered bits from net curtain remnants. This was all sprayed liberally with layers of Cosmic Shimmer pigments in pink and copper, and then topped with lace, ribbon and die cut embellishments. The small roses were sprayed with the same Cosmic Shimmer pigments and topped with mother of pearl buttons. The large rose was die cut from pink pearlescent card, stamped and aged with gold ink and topped with gold pva glue, glitter and a small mother of pearl shell that was innocently sitting there minding its own business. You can probably tell I'm proud of it by virtue of the fact there's a slice of it sitting under my blog heading!! Hope you like it too.

So, back here in reality I'm squeeling like a mouse as my OH has (get this) insisted that I go to Ally Pally on Saturday!!!!!!!!!!!! To say I CAN'T WAIT is probably a large understatement! It's my first time and I can't believe the line-up of demonstrators! Meanwhile the OH will get some peace (?!) as he watches the Chinese GP and touring cars from Donnington, with only the dog and the kids for company. It's a hard life...

So, better get away as I have a mountain of work to prep for next week and it can't be left until the weekend (squeals again!) TTFN, hugs Buttons x

I Got Your Number (+1)

So it's been a busy weekend of visiting rellies but I managed to squirrel some time aside to come up with my entry for this week's Sunday Stampers challenge (see link on side bar).

It looks a little darker than this in 'real life' and has resulted in me having extremely inky fingers, but that's when you know you've really been crafting right?

I used a combination of Tim Holtz embossing folders, Sam Poole vintage games stamps (wow, is that lady talented!) Spellbinders and a That Special Touch mask, oh yes, and tons of ink!

And now for a 'behind the scenes' shot...

We all have to start somewhere, and I had a bit of a plan in my head about what I wanted to do for this card. However, as I started stamping and adding mica powder to the embossed surface it soon became apparent that things weren't going in the right direction; as the embellies began to be layered on (always without glue at first!) it started to look messy.

At this point I could have binned it, but with Melanie Heaton's wise words ringing in my ears ("at the end of the day it is only paper") I decided to turn over and use the other side - well it was embossed already, and I knew what I wanted to repeat/discard from the first attempt. Sure enough it turned out alright in the end and it made me realise I am going to have to invest in some more masks (oh, that wish list just keeps growing... )

Hope you like this week's entry (the good one of course!) and thank you to those who have made such supportive comments - it is very much appreciated.

Hugs, Buttons x

On The Road Again

Welcome to my first official blog, an entry for Hels Sheridan's weekly challenge entitled Sunday Stampers.

This is a challenge I love to enter each week as it provides a bit of a 'kick up the behind' to ensure at least one project gets completed regularly (anyone else good at starting something but not finishing it?) Hels also provides her own fabulous interpretations to get those creative juices flowing. If you fancy having a go there is a link on the left side of this blog.

My entry this week is rather busy! I had great fun though, embossing, die cutting, stamping, inking, Promarkering - oh yes, I chucked the kitchen sink at it!! Well, what else is a girl to do when there are touring cars whizzing around on the telly and you want to escape from the rest of the world for a bit?

The papers are a mixture from K&Co and Kanban and the stamps are from Dimension Fourth, Clarity Stamps and Kanban (oh, and a little balloon which was free in an issue of The Craft Stamper magazine). The saying is a digital stamp from Mo Manning and is part of a set called 'Dare'.

Hope you like it! TTFN, Buttons x