Thank You

This is a card that I made for a very special friend who very kindly went and searched for a collection that I had tried to buy (unfortunatly Create and Craft failed me) but never received. Thanks to her hard work and effort I now have the collection that I was trying to buy. You know who you are if your reading this, I can't thank you enough. I made the card using Pink Ink's Hare stamp, first by making a background using Picked Raspberry in Distress Oxides and Tim Holtz Stencil. I then inked in some hills and using small stamps from the set in the background made a scene. I then stamped the hare onto the scene and also stamped it onto a piece of white card, after using very pale pink alcohol pens and a blending pen on the hare I fussy cut it out and stuck over the one on the scene. I'm going to enter this card into the months challenge over on the Stamping Sensations Challenge blog as this month their theme is All Creatures Great and Small.

I hope that you are all keeping safe and well

Thank you for taking the time to look and your kind comments which are always appreciated.

Sue

February Rudolph Days

Wow nearly the end of February already, where did this month go. As it's the 25th today it's time for another Rudolph Days Challenge over at Scrappymo's. As normal Maureen has a choice of two wonderful prizes for the winner that will be chosen at random. Do pop across to the blog and take a look at the inspiration cards and why not join in the fun. For my card this month I really wanted the traditional look so I've used Tim Holtz's Scenic Holiday. I stamped in blue ink then just blended a lighter blue over the top when the ink is dry. I then mounted onto some silver mirri card and some navy card with a little silver ribbon across the middle. This was then mounted onto a 6x6 card base.

I made 4 to go into my stash box ready to be shared between my Mum, Father-in-law and myself.

Thanks for taking the time to look and your kind comments which are always appreciated.

Sue

Rudolph Days

I can't believe that it's time for the March Rudolph Days Challenge already, the time has flown by. This month I tried a new (to me) technique called Black Ice, there are lots of videos on the Internet showing how to do this so I won't bore you by telling you how I done this, but needless to say it gives a great effect. I used Tim Holtz snowflakes stamps with a sentiment stamp from Chocolate Baroque.

As usual I made more than one for the box ready for this year.

Thanks for taking the time to look and your kind comments which are always appreciated.

Sue

Another Mixed Media Tag

I so enjoyed making my last mixed media tag for the Allsorts Challenge that I decided to make another one, which I'm also going to enter into the More Mixed Media Challenge which is Anything Goes with Optional Brights. I started with the same size tag as last time but gave it a coat of white gesso this time. I then used a different Tim Holtz Stencil with some texture paste and this time I sprayed with distress sprays in three different colours. As they looked quite dull when they were dry I popped the stencil back over and coated the exposed with versamark ink and put some clear embossing powder on top, this gives it a bit more depth in colour and makes it nice and glossy. I added some lace, flowers a metal leaf and a butterfly button from my stash to finish.

Thanks for taking the time to look and your kind comments which are always appreciated.

Sue

Mixed Media Tag

The current challenge over on the Allsorts Challenge blog for this fortnight is Tags and I had great fun making this for the challenge. I have a pack of grey board tags that I bought from Tando at a retreat earlier this year so taking one of the largest I started by giving it a coat of black gesso. Next I added so texture paste through a Tim Holtz stencil, when this was dry I added some colour using some Luscious from Indigo Blu (although you can't see a lot of it). Then I added a little guilding wax in gold over the stencilled part before adding some hessian and a little cardboard. Finally I had a rummage through my box of metal embellishments and added these over the hessian and cardboard. I added some thread that I've had for some years to finish the tag (this was left over from my Machine Knitting days).

Thanks for taking the time to look and your kind comments which are always appreciated.

Sue

Crafty Play Day

I belong to a local group of Crafters who meet once every two weeks on a Thursday evening and again once a month on a Saturday. Last Saturday was one of those days and below was the result of some playing with a canvas, texture paste, black card and gilding waxes. We started by putting texture paste onto the canvas and then partly drying it (the aim is to get like a skin on the top) and then pushing it about to get the ripple effect with a palette knife. When this was dry it was painted with a wash of Deco Art paints, I used Red, Yellow and Green on mine, although the green is very pale. While this was drying I cut out from black card, a Bee from a Tim Holtz Sizzix, Texture Fades die and embossing folder. I also cut out some flowers and leaves using some Tattered Lace dies that use the same technique as the bee, again in black card. The Dream die was from Tonic, I cut two of these and stuck them together. I then used Pebeo guiding wax on the Bee and Dream, and Viva Decor Inca Golds on the flowers and leaves (these come in various colours). After sticking everything in place I added some pearls that matched into the centres of the flowers and then some gold leaf around the edge of the canvas.

I'm entering this into the following challenge:

More Mixed Media Challenge - Anything Goes /Optional Green

Thanks for taking the time to look and your kind comments which are always appreciated.

Sue

Butterfly Challenge 95

I made this card for the Butterfly Challenge which currently is P, giving the choice of three things beginning with P. I went with Patterned Paper, Pink and Pearls. The pattered paper comes from a pad that I bought many years ago, but being someone who just strokes their papers rather than use them, the pad is nearly unused. I decided that it was time to stop stock piling the papers and get on and use them. The die was from Crafters Companion, the sentiment from Chocolate Baroque, pearls from my stash and last of all the Butterflies were from a Tim Holtz set from Stampers Anonymous. I also used pink distress inks around the edges of the paper, die cut and to colour the butterflies.

Thanks for taking the time to look and your kind comments which are always appreciated.

Sue

One Layer Christmas Card

I was thrilled when I clicked on the Stamping Sensations Challenge blog at the end of last week and found out that I had won the October Challenge. For this months challenge they are asking for One Layer Christmas Cards.This is a challenge for me as in all of my years card making, I don't think I have ever made a one layer card. Until now that is. I've used a 6x6 white card blank, a piece of masking tape across the middle, Tim Holtz snowflake stamps and Distress oxides. I used a technique that Tim showed us a his recent workshop at Art From The Heart, which was to stamp with the Oxides and then quickly blend with a blending tool. The sentiment was from a set by Sheena Douglas.

Thanks for taking the time to look and your kind comments which are always appreciated.

Sue

A Very Special Weekend

So back track a few weeks and you would have seen myself and fellow UKSN member frantically trying to get onto the Art From The Heart website to obtain ticket for a workshop with Tim Holtz. After 2 hours of trying we both managed to complete checkout getting 3 tickets each. However then came the news that the website had crashed and they were re-releasing the tickets later on in the week. However we had been lucky and had managed to complete as the website died. So fast forward to Saturday and four very excited ladies were driving up the M1 towards Harrogate getting ready to first meet up with two other members who were making their own ways there and attending the final workshop on Sunday afternoon. The photo below shows us waiting to go into the workshop.

All to soon the four hours were over and we had all managed to make 10 tags using distress inks, distress paints, distress crayons and not forgetting the new distress oxides. Tim was a wonderful teacher and had us all laughing most of the time too. Mario worked away in the background clearing away any rubbish that was made during the class and then handing out the goodies that Tim had bought over for us too. Below is a photo with Tim and the six of us that attended and underneath that
a photo of myself with the Tim.

We even managed to get three of us with Mario too. Six ladies went home on Monday very happy.

My card today was a order that someone had asked me to make, It made me feel old as I know the person that I made it for and he used to be a former Scout when I was a Scout leader many years ago.
It was made using stamps from Stampscapes, some masking, brushes and distress inks.

 

Thanks for taking the time to look and your kind comments which are always appreciated.

Sue

Allsorts - Ladies and Girls

This week the challenge over at the Allsorts Challenge blog is Ladies and Girls, in celebration of International Woman's Day. For my card I've used three different Tim Holtz stamp sets, which I will admit to not having used these stamps before either. I stamped the cat walk lady first and then made a mask and covered her before stamping the Paris Cityscape in the background and the sentiment at the bottom. Next I blended some distress inks across the scene' I then took a paint brush and some tea dye ink and painted the city and added a few bright coloured  blobs at the edges to represent flowers. Finally I coloured the lady with promarkers and went around the edge with a black promarker. I rummaged in the scrap box and found some holographic card that matched the colour of the dress for the matting.

Thanks for taking the time to look and your kind comments which are always appreciated.

Sue

Butterfly Challenge 74

Today sees the start of a new challenge over on the Butterfly Challenge blog and for this Challenge it is asking for Fancy Edges and Mint Green. I've spent a lovely morning playing in my craft room and managed to make this card. I used Tattered Lace - Ornamental Label Shaped Card Base and Edge Mat 3. I cut this from a 6x6 card base, the die just fits from one end to the other and just edge to edge, then I placed the patterned edge onto the front only. Next I had a good rummage through my scraps and found this piece of glitter card in mint green which was just big enough for the matting. The oval die is a from Crealies and the sentiment from a Crafters Companion set. The butterfly is a Tim Holtz stamp which I fussy cut after colouring, I also gave it a coat of sparkle pen but it does not show in this photo. When I stuck the butterfly to the oval I drew in the feelers with a fine liner pen. When it was closed together it looked a little bit too white, so I added some Cracked Pistachio Distress ink the the inside edge.

Thanks for taking the time to look and your kind comments which are always appreciated.

Sue

Daisy, Daisy.

I've been stamping for quite  few years now and have accumulated a large number of stamps. But as I racked my brain to think, I could not remember having a daisy stamp. This is the new challenge over on the Allsorts Challenge blog this week. But then yesterday as I was looking through some of my many CD's, looking for something else, I found this image on a Katy Sue (Flower Soft) CD. Just right for the challenge, so instead of sitting on the sidelines I can take part this week after all. I printed the Topper and two of the matching backing papers from the CD. Then after I cut everything down to size I distresses the edges with a Tim Holtz Distressing Tool from Tonic. I added a couple of ribbons from my stash and even found some white daisy shaped flowers to add as embellishments too. I've not added a sentiment, as this card will go into my box until I decide who I will send it too.

Thanks for taking the time to look and your kind comments which are always appreciated.

Sue

Texture At PCC and Butterfly Challenge

I made this card to cover two challenges, At Perfectly Created Chaos the theme is Texture and the Butterfly challenge is looking for Jade and/or Jewels. The card looks more jade in real life than it does in this photo, but it has got jewels on as well so I have the challenge covered. I started by embossing a piece of white card stock in a Tattered Lace butterfly embossing folder and the taking a distressed crayon (peacock feathers) and rubbing over the whole of the card. Next I took a damp baby wipe and rubbed over the crayoned piece, as the crayons react with water this gave it a softer look. I then took the same crayon and went back over the top of the raised areas this time I left it alone. I mounted this onto some gold mirri card and then onto a white 6x6 card blank adding some gold and white ribbon around the middle. The fern is from tattered lace and the beast wishes a Tonic die. The butterfly is a Tim Holtz stamp, which was coloured and fussy cut before I added the jewels to the body. I mounted this onto the card with glue gel.

Thanks for taking the time to look and your kind comments which are always appreciated.

Sue

A Birthday Card and Two Challenges

I suddenly remembered this morning that it was our Great Nephew's Birthday tomorrow and I hadn't made him a card yet, and with it being Sunday it's a new challenge over at Pixie's Snippets Playground. So with both of these things in mind I started rummaging in my scraps box. I found lots of small (but not too small) pieces of white card, plus a square piece that I had stamped something on and then abandoned it. Then I remembered that the new challenge over on the Allsorts Challenge blog was Dogs and/or Cats, and sitting in my cupboard were both the cats and dogs sets of stamps from Tim Holtz. As I have never inked any of these stamps I thought it was time to remedy this. The reason that I picked this dog over any of the others and the cats, is the fact that yesterday afternoon my sister turned up with her dog. I had just started chopping up some meat ready for dinner and this was the look that Luka (the dog) gave me thinking that I might throw a piece his way. I created an inky background using distress inks and then over stamped around the edges with a star swirl stamp from Stamping Up and an ink pad with luminous ink however it did not show up in the photo very well. I stamped the dog on a smaller piece of card and then coloured him with Aqua pens before cutting him out with the matching die.

Thanks for taking the time to look and your kind comments which are always appreciated.

Sue

Crazy Birds

I fell in love with the Crazy Birds stamps from Tim Holtz as soon as I saw them, so when they popped up on the Art From The Heart website they dropped straight into my basket. I had to make a quick card for my son this week and these hopped into my hand and said stamp me. I stamped the birds with Versafine Black Onyx and then cut the birds out with the scan and cut, then coloured them with Distress Markers. The background was made with Distress Ink pads, and the branches are from a Heartfelt Creations set - Birds and Blooms. I cut the branches down from the original size to short branches which suited the card better and then stuck them down. The words are from a Tim Holtz Idea-ology Chit Chat pad, I just added the question marks with a black fine liner pen and the "happy birthday" was created on the PC using a type font to match the chit chat.

Thanks for taking the time to look and your kind comments which are always appreciated

Sue

Tim Holtz Snowman

Another Christmas card today, again using craft card. For this one I've treated the base card with a little gesso painted lightly over surface, then when dry I brushed a little tumbled glass distress ink over the top. Next I made some splodges by whacking my distress stains onto the surface in tumbled glass and broken china. I allowed this to dry before stamping the snowman stamp directly onto the card along with the sentiment. I then stamped the snowman onto some white card and cut out using the die that came with this stamp. I coloured the twigs, hat and scarf with pro markers and the base of the snowman with tumbled glass on a brush.  He's stuck onto the card with a thin layer of glue gel, I'm trying not to make my cards to dimensional to keep the cost of the postage down.

It seems that our lovely weather from September is leaving us, although the sun is our here in the south of the UK at the moment there is a nip in the air when you go outside. But at least it's not raining yet.

Thanks for taking the time to look and your kind comment which are always appreciated.

A Little Bit Tim Holtz

I love Tim Holtz stamps and Stampers Anonymous and have quite a few in the cupboard. But I sometimes struggle to use them. The day we return from our latest cruise is our sons Birthday, so with this in mind I got the stamps out and managed to put this together. I used an embossalicious folder for the background which was given the distress ink treatment and then popped onto some matting, this was the packaging that the folder came in. Next I stamped the main image which was from a set using the art from Brett Weldelf called Dandy Robot, the clockworks stamp was from a Tim Holtz set. I added the tattered clock and letters from the alterations Wanted Alphabet set to finish it off. Just hope that he likes it now.

Thanks for taking the time to look and your kind comments that are always appreciated.

Sue

Inspired By .....

Eileen's Crafty Zone. I love Eileen's work, and have been lucky enough to attend a couple of her workshops. The card that I'm showing you today was inspired by Eileen and what I have learnt at her workshop. I had great fun making this yesterday, splatting (Eileen style) and getting inky, blending and stencilling. The stamp is Tim Holtz, which came with a set of dies which made cutting out the snowman so much easier. The ladies attending Eileen's workshop this coming weekend will be make a card using this stamp (this is where the inspiration came from) do pop over and take a look at Eileen's blog, her work is amazing.

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:

Artistic Inspirations - Winter Wonderland
Creative Inspirations - Contemporary Colours
Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
Sister Act Card Challenge - Anything Goes
Stamping Sensations - Free and Easy
My Craft Creations - Anything Goes

Thanks for taking the time to look, and your kind comments which are always appreciated.

Sue