easy peasy 40th birthday card

I needed a quick 40th birhday card for a male friend. (have to admit the words "40th birthday card for a male friend" nearly sent me scurrying to a shop to buy one, but NO! I am made of stronger stuff than that!! lol I CAN do it!!) I quite fancied trying to make a card that implied 40th birthday without using the words. I made this with a studio g set of clear stamps that was sent to me by one of my fabulous inchie swappers.

Innovative stamp creations, sketch challenge

The third challenge on the innovative stamp creations blog is a sketch challenge


when I saw this challenge, the little tabs at the side made me think of a handy way to attach acetate to a background. so I created a background with oil pastels and distress inks and attached an ISC image stamped on acetate to this with paper string and a brad. The background paper is by papermania

I also added a clear dome sticker over the ball she is holding, for depth.
I love this stamp. This was actually the very first unmounted stamp I had. and was given to me by Jo. Up until this point I didn't "get" stamping at all. I had some stamps but nothing beautiful like ths one.

Theme thursday

Well I thought it was about time I took part in theme thursday. The theme this week is women ATCs. I made a really simple quick ATC using June from Inka stamped in purple. I decided to mount it on a card (I know an ATC is not the same as a topper, but hey, I think we are past all that now, lol)
All the background paper is laura ashley

tag on acetate card

I was reorganising the challenge links in my side bar today , and browsing all those challenges left me totally inspired, so here's a piece combining
Saturday's workout - resist
Created by hand- Tags
Artygirlz -wings

I started off by doing a versamark resist on the background using a background vines stamp, and pale colours of ink to brayer over it. I covered so much of it up though, you'll have to look carefully to see it.
All stamps and collage images are by Inka

Dans ma maison il ya a la couleur verte

I have to say I am loving these Dans ma maison challenges, the shape has such versatility. The colour green made me think of leaves, so I decided to give erica (well, we haven't seen her for a while) some leaf wings, using a skeleton leaf stamp.
all stamps are by Inka Stamps and Papers are by Papermania.
I added the pink flower as a contrast to all the green.
I've used verdigris embossing powder on the edge and to fill in the leaves on the leafy swirl.I used a quickie glue pen to achieve this effect

Innovative stamp creations

(I've added a better picture)


Innovative stamp creations have started a new challenge. This week is a colour challenge as can be seen in the ISC link.

All pieces for this challenge must use just ISC stamps. As I have a few of these I thought I'd have a go.
I really enjoyed working to a colour theme as I could start by just gathering bits together and taking it from there.
I did the background by gluing two background papers together, but not applying glue all over, and then when it was dry ripping away the top layer where there was no glue to reveal the paper underneath.

I apologise for the quality of the image, but I have had to scan it as my husband has taken my, sorry, his camera off to wembley!!

first steps

I made this card for a friend whose little boy is starting to walk. it's a special celebration as he was very late walking and it was starting to cause some worry. So I felt a card was necessary!
The stamped image was given to me by Elisa Wall as a gift when she took part in my inchie swap.
The paper is by Papermania.


As it's dark here now,I had to take this picture in my craft room as the light in there is blue, so I get reasonable pictures. however when I took the first one I noticed I had a bit of the mess behind in the picture. This reminded me of those beautiful blogs where the artists artfully assemble some of the products they have used around the card.
This is my take on that!! lol

name that notebook

I recently took part in a "name that notebook" swap. in which we had to make or decorate a notebook. I had to do one for my good friend Jo. SO at least I only had to do a short name. I decide to cover a 10p asda notebook. The front of which is about the size of a skinny page.
all the stamps I used are by stampington. The background is done with a versamark resist. the scroll and name are die cut.

dans ma maison il y a un papillon

I'm being a bit of a challenge tramp today! 3 challenges in one day. don't worry it won't last it's only because I got a DT package from Inka recently and can't leave the stuff alone!
The theme at Dans ma maison this week is butterflies.
I've used the wings and the woman from inka's collage sheets. I've also used the leafy flourish and word. The background uses moonshadow spray and acrylic paints. the pink flowers are also done with acrylics!
this is a large one, 8 inches tall!

TGIF paper rests

The theme ar TGIF is paper rests,
not a phrase I am familiar with, but on reading I assume it means the same as paper scraps.
I made this christmas hanging skinny! I don't normally think about christmas this early but I recently got this little girl (Rachel) from Inka, all wrapped up nice and warm, which seemed to go so well with the "let it snow" phrase I already had.
one of my favourite ways of using scraps of paper is paper piecing, i.e stamping onto scraps and joining the bits up, and that's how I did this outfit. Even the white was scraps from the back of a card that had gone wrong. Even the blue paper was a leftover just the right size.
I have made this "skinny" size, and added a ribbon so it can hang.

daring card makers - Animalia

The theme on DCM this week is animals. I recently got this cat stamp from Inka, which I thought would be useful for children's cards or quick notelets. and this is what I've done here.
not very daring, you are saying? well for me it is, very daring to put something so simple on my blog. but sometimes I love a simple card.
I've stamped the cat straight onto a white card blank. coloured with watercolours, stamped the stripie hat onto a piece of white scrap and coloured with watercolours as well.
2 minutes...done!

crazy amigo wings

Another challenge blog I've never tried before is Crazy Amigos the theme this week is wings (but not birds)
now I know mine has a bird on it, but that's not the wings I'm entering it with. it's the little angels wings.
When I saw this stamp from Inka, I thought it would be perfect to make a free standing angel holding the greeting card. The angel has a stand at the back, and the message can be written inside the little card.

The angel looks so thoughtful I thought it would be perfect for a thinking of you card.
The stamps on the little card (the bird and sheet music) are also both by Inka.

Dans ma maison il ya une petite fille

I couldn't resist the challenge at dans ma maison il y a.
This is the first time I have taken part in this challenge, but I received these architecture stamps from Inka, and although they are designed for making tryptich cards(see Inka's site for tutorial), I thought they would be great for making the house shape. The cute little girl is also a collage word from Inka as is the word, and the leafy swirl in the background, which I have stamped with watercolour paints.

The background is a combination of paints and papermania papers.

and a knitted dotee doll for those who can't knit

This "knitted" dotee has been made using an old child's sock. this and the knitted dotee doll are an upcoming featured project of the month on Inka's website. Full instructions for both will be given there! I'll let you know when it's up on the site.

knitted dotee dolls

I have seen lots of those sweet dotee dolls about on blogs, and I really wanted to do my own version, and in this piece I have finally managed to combine two of my favourite crafts, knitting and stamping, in fact there's even a little crochet in there.



I have made the doll from leftover sock yarn, as it is perfect for small projects and the self striping yarn makes it easy to add interest. The face is Gretchen from Inka, stamped onto fabric with versacraft.

I have photographed it on my hand to give an idea of the size.

april inchie update

just to let you know all of Aprils inchies have now been posted out.

tooth fairy tin

my youngest son lost his first baby tooth today, and he wanted a box to put it in, just like his brother's. I made this from a small mint tin. Painted it with gesso and then silver embossed around the edge, I used Althaya from Inka and did her wings with vellum. I used "believe" from the large collage words. I decorated it with some star waste and a punched star.

I just hope the tooth fairy appreciates my efforts

April's inchie swap

Here is a sample of one inchie from each person who took part in the April inchie swap, which had the theme children. Aren't they great. I have been waiting for a last few to arrive before I sorted them. I hope that's all that's coming now as I'm sorting them now ready for posting.



made by
Deb Freeman, Louise Granlund, Fiona Whitehead
Carol Plume, Roberta Gill, Kana Conger
Danielle D'onofrio, Liliane Gfeller, Jenny Davies
Valerie Myers, Jo Capper-Sandon, Paula Atkinson
Audrey Barret, Me, Laura Kirste Campbell
Carolyn Reed, Linda Freeman, Michelle Cummings

wednesday stamper Diva!

What a great choice of theme on wednesday stamper this week. I immediatly thought of this Diva word stamp I have from Inka. I first of all thought about doing the usual, you know ..a skinny, an ATC etc ,but then I thought I do something a bit different. I recently bought a versacraft inkpad so that I could stamp onto fabric, as I have this idea of stamping onto knickers as fun gifts for girlfriends. And this theme seemed the perfect opportunity.

so I added a crown, the calligraphy swirl, twice, a chanel ribbon (could that be anymore perfect?) and a silver button.

fun don't you think?

TMTA black and white

This weeks theme at TMTA is black and white. this instantly made me think of photo stamps. I am always amazed by the detail you can get from a photostamp with just black ink.
I also went a bit mad in the background with some of Inka's background stamps. There are 6 different stamps on the background!!
I added a bit of black lace and a hand cut heart to finish.

stamps used : Glysy, Ringer, Mesh, Sequence waste, leafy swirl, torn, mesh and Desire (from large collage words)

alcohol ink stripes

The theme on saturday workout is alcohol inks and the theme at wednesday stamper is stripes.

somehow these two ideas combined in my head and I wondered if it would be possible to make stripes with alcohol inks.
I also like to dig something out of my craft box (box? who am I kidding? lol) every now and again that I haven't used in a while and see if I can give it a new lease of life.





so, I dug out my card ribbler, put a piece of glossy card through it. I then inked this using the polished stone technique, so that only the ridges took the ink. I used the nature's walk set (unfortunately the wild plum had leaked as I hadn't replaced the lid properly and now my fingers are a lovely shade of pinky purple. I then used the blending solution so that some of the ink would fall into the dips yet maintain the overall stipe.
I stamped over this with a stampington background stamp. I then used the dreamward stamp from stampington and did her dress separately on striped paper, which I also used for the flowers. The Dream stamp is from Inka large collage words.

The second picture shows the texture in the background. I decided to make an ATC as I need 6 for a pay it forward swap. This is the sixth, so I can get them posted now.

My May inchies

Here are my inchies for this month's swap with the theme romantic liaisons. I had originally intended to go for a picture of a couple, but then I saw this little love birds stamp from Anita's and had to use it. I have used 3 diferent patterned papers from a laura ashley set.

May's Inchie Swap :romantic liaisons

The Guest Artist for this month's inchie swap is Deb Freeman.
I'm sure lots of you will already be familiar with her blog. Deb makes the most beautiful gentle pieces with a romantic feel, so it seems fitting that she chose the theme romantic liaisons.
This is the inchie she has made for us



This is her introduction to this months swap

I am no expert at making inchies, in fact to say I avoid them is an understatement so when Joanne asked me to be guest designer this month you could have knocked me down with a feather. I could have refused and run for cover but I saw it as a personal challenge so I do hope you like my chosen theme of ‘romantic liaisons’.



Thank you for the invite Joanne.



debxxx

remember, you can interpret the theme however you want!



The rules are the same as always, and the inchies are still sent to me, I am still organising the swap, Deb'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 may just email me for my address if you need it.

I am still waiting for some inchies from the april swap. if you know you have sent yours and I haven't contacted you to say they have arrived, please could you let me know. I know I have seem some blogged that I haven't received.