March Inchie swap : Birds

I have decided to try something new for the inchie swap and I have invited a guest artist to choose the theme and make the sample for the swap.

This months guest artist is Kaz, and she has chosen the theme "birds"
and this is her wonderful sample

and a note from kaz

Hi Inchie Addicts!! I'm very honoured to be the guest artist on Joanne's inchie swap this month, and my favourite theme too, "BIRDS". I've known Joanne a while now and she was, and still is one of my biggest inspirations, and introduced me to some really talented and lovely new friends as well.
Hope you all enjoy and join in with this month's theme, I love receiving all of your inchies, and always so beautifully mounted too. Happy Crafting!

Kaz xx

aww shucks I'm all embarrassed now!! lol

The rules are the same as always, and the inchies are still sent to me, I am still organising the swap, Kaz's work is done!
1) Make 9 inchies, send 8 of them to me.
2) If you are in the UK enclose a SAE with a LARGE stamp.
3) if you are out of the UK, send me a small gift, or an ATC and I will cover the postage. please also send an envelope with your address on.
4) They can all be the same, or all different, whatever!!
5) they can be any media you like as long as they are 1" square.
6) there are no rules how to make them or finish them.
7) you do not need to mount them (just make sure they won't fall out of the envelope)
8) the swap is open to anyone, even if you have never made inchies before.
9) put your name on the back of each inchie
10) let me know by email, or by commenting on this thread, that you have posted your inchies, and then I will know to expect them.

closing date 31st march
just email me for my address if you need it.

do sissix (or is it sizzix?) dies work with the x-cut impress?

this is something I've been trying to discover for a while. The very helpful man at the craft fair today said he thought they would with their plates. but I didn't want to buy their plates unless absolutely necessary. surely the plates that come with the impress would work. well the answer is no they don't. but as I didn't buy the plates. I decided to find another way to make them work.

you see the problem is in the thickness of the dies. the sissix (sizzix) dies are much thicker than the impress (double-do) dies

normally you use one grey and one blue plate with dies. so I thought that the two blue plates (used with embossing stencils, would do the trick. No!! they are still too thick.


so I looked around my craft room to see what I could use instead. I tried a piece of perspex- it cracked- do not try this!!
so I decided to use some stiff card. The kind that you get at the back of paper packs.

I built it up one sheet at a time until I got a thickness that worked (in the case of this card, 5 sheets.


so now I have my own "sissix converter". this shows how to arrange them (make sure the die is face down else it will cut into you beautifully crafted converter


and here it is going through the impress


ta-da!!!!



I tried cutting through a few different materials
paper, thin card, card and funky foam, and as you can see it worked on them all


see, where there's a will.......

4x4 friday: watercolours

ooo I'm doing well with challenges today!
the theme at 4x4 friday is watercolours.
On this 4x4 I have water coloured the bird. I love the effects you can get colouring stamps with watercolours.
and yes! I've been using my new Inka stamps again, can you tell I love them? this one uses the large chirper, leafy swirl and mesh. I have then mounted the 4x4 on a larger card so it can be used as a greetings card.

make a moo

this week's theme at make a moo or two is travel I've used a page out of a french road atlas. I hope my husband didn't need it!! lol

The arrow is one of the new stamps from Inka. I've also used a background script from Inka.

wednesday stamper :bookmark

The theme at wednesday stamper this week is bookmarks. luckily for me I just had a load of new stamps arrive from Inka yesterday, so I had to play and this was the result

this uses three of inkas new stamps crows, leafy flourish and torn

TMTA insects

Right in a bid to not leave it until the last minute, I am doing my ATC for Think monday think ATC, actually on monday!!!!

The theme this week is insects, I have decided to go with dragonflies and use one of my favourite paperartsy stamps. all the stamps are by paper artsy. The wings are done with alcohol inks, as is the bottom half of the background. The top half is done with distress inks.

spring inchies

just to let you know, I've done mine!!
if you are wanting to take part, please remember february is a short month so you need to get on with them soon.
I've also used the spare one of mine to make a quick(and I mean quick) card.

sneaking in a TMTA

talk about last minute!!
but I really wanted to take part in think monday think ATC this month, as I thought it was a great theme: children and birds. I haven't made an ATC ages, so it felt a bit like visiting and old friend. and although this was a quick one, I really enjoyed doing it.

and oh look! it's that girl again (she's called Erica by the way, and she's from Inka stamps- inka named her not me), and this time she's holding a bird.

all the bird stamps are from a Clear Arts set, and the background paper is more from the new vintage papermania set. I really do like that set.

make a moo or two - friendship

This weeks theme at make a moo or two
is friendship
I decided I really should take part again, as last week's was such a quickie!!
I felt it was the perfect opportunity to play with this stamped image which was sent to me by Elisa Wall- a swedish stamp designer, whose designs you can see here. she sent me a collection of stamped images (along with some other gorgeous stuff) with her inchies for the spring with a twist swap.

I've just used one image here, but rearranged it a little and coloured it with watercolours. I was inspired by the most gorgeous blue butterflies I saw when we visited tropical world yesterday

Happy Valentines day

I recently organised a secret valentine swap on a forum I am on. this was the piece I made.

I used a collage image from Inka and the vines stamp was also by inka. I used some fabric stickers and rub ons that I also had. the basic ida was that the girl was going to be sat on a heart shaped swing and it sort of developed from there. the clip at the top is a curtain clip for cafe style curtains

as I used a vine stamp on this, I am entering it for wednesday stamper

Make a moo or two

My friend Nellie has started a new challenge blog called "make a moo or two", if you don't know what moo cards are, it is explained very well on the site.

now you'd think I'd find these easy, what with loving inchies, but I really don't.

the theme this week is romance


I feel I cheated a bit with this as I've basically cut out a collage image from Inka and slapped it on some of the lovely new vintage papers from paper mania. added an i-kandee twist tie, and that was it!!

surely that can't be it!! it must be harder than that. however I am short of time this week as the children are on school hols, so that's my excuse. I'll try harder next time, honest!!

"Not to put too fine a point on it.....

.....Say I'm the only bee in your bonnet,
Make a little birdhouse in your soul"

that's the song I had going through my head as I made these last night!! now I know you'll be humming it the rest of today!!

Anyway. these are two new home cards I made for a couple of friends (I apologise for their lateness)
The fronts (and backs - because the cards were too front-heavy and kept falling over) are covered in wallpaper, which I thought was quite appropriate. The stamps are all by Clear Art Stamps which I bought from the joanna sheen website.
The pegs which the birds are standing on are made from a strip of wallpaper rolled up, I took the idea from quilling!!! (I quilled!!!! flower soft, quilling, whatever next?? die cut bunny decoupage???? lol)

My big sister's fortieth birthday card

This is the card I have made my sister for her 40th birthday.


I know she doesn't really like the stamped cards I do, so after A LOT of deliberation I decided to use a collage image from Inka. it took me ages to think of the quote, but when I did I thought it was just right. I then spent ages fiddling around with all the bits until I was happy. but then comes that tricky moment when you have to disassemble it to glue it together. This is when it usually goes wrong for me, as I can't remember how I had it. so I had what I think is a brilliant idea. I went and got the digital camera and took a photo of it.



PRE_GLUING PHOTO

this made it much easier to put it all back together! the only problem was the camera kept switching itself off, when I was looking at the picture.

...and the winner is....

now for the results of my valentine giveaway. I put the numbers 1-17 into a random number generator and the randomly chosen number was..



....number 10




and for those not paying attention, lol

the 10th comment was left by Carrie

so the winner is Carrie!!!!

knitting!!

I had a finishing of projects day yesterday. I have a dreadful habit of nearly finishing projects. so I was determined.

first of all I wanted to finish this bag


I was alright apart from the lining. I hadn't a clue what I was doing but I got there in the end


what's that in there? it's not another project is it?


I then finished a tiny little baby jumper for my sister's baby that's due in june


which I had already made socks to match (two needle socks from a debbie bliss book- really easy!!)


and then I finished my prototype for a phone sock for the mothers day secrets room at my son's school.


so what now? well what was that in the bag. well my friend and I found this fabulous ball of wool. in my local wool shop.


it's gorgeous, almost a shame to use as it's like a cushion. that's a 200g ball! (for £3.50!!!)
here's a close up



yum!!!
and here's what it knits up like



and of course while I was at the wool shop that wasn't all I got.


The pink one is the phone sock yarn, and the denimy one is to make something else for my sister's baby.
here's a close up of those ones too


you can wake up now!!! I've finished the post!! boy that was a long one!!

February's inchie swap

And the theme is....

Spring With a Twist



a 45 degree twist that is.
basically I want you to turn your inchies so the are "on the diagonal" .
with me so far?

then just do a spring theme. you can be as open with the theme as you like. Go with the colours, or flowers or anything you like that reminds you of spring (and I do mean the season, not the thing zebedee boings about on)

The reason I chose to do this like that was because I was inspired to make a card using inchies. I made this VERY simple quick card, which I think works because of the diagonal inchies.

N.B. I am not asking you to make a card, this was for demonstration purposes only.
The rules are the same as always
1) Make 9 inchies, send 8 of them to me.
2) If you are in the UK enclose a SAE with a LARGE stamp.
3) if you are out of the UK, send me a small gift, or an ATC and I will cover the postage. please also send an envelope with your address on.
4) They can all be the same, or all different, whatever!!
5) they can be any media you like as long as they are 1" square.
6) there are no rules how to make them or finish them.
7) you do not need to mount them (just make sure they won't fall out of the envelope)
8) the swap is open to anyone, even if you have never made inchies before.
9) put your name on the back of each inchie
10) let me know by email, or by commenting on this thread, that you have posted your inchies, and then I will know to expect them.

closing date 29th february


if you need my address, please email me through my profile