SDC214 - Early Halloween

This weeks challenge from Stampotique is all about an Early Halloween.

Check out the blog here, for both other entries and fab inspiration.

I decided wanted to make a canvas for this challenge, this is how it began.

Step 1, take a 6"x 6" canvas and flip it over, using strips of plaster ( the stuff used for making casts) cover the back wood and staples, smooth down to create an even surface.
Smaller bits of the fabric plaster were placed over the branches of a tree (which made from twisting wire together then around a small pencil to create a twisted tree and branches), it was then put in the conservatory to dry.

 Step 2, the canvas was the sprayed with a few shades of lilac/purple Lindy's Spray Gang sprays to create a muted background.
The bats and figure were stamped and heat embossed.
Step 3, all of the other images were stamped onto watercolour cardstock, coloured with distress inks and cut out. the round shapes were  shaped with a ball tool to add depth.
 Step 4, a little graphite paste was added through a mask to add texture, a little more spray to add yet another layer.

 

 

Step 5, the tree was coloured with a little distress ink on the hanging cob webs/fabric strands followed by treasure gold wax on the trunk and branches.

The images were stuck into position and micro beads added for yet more texture.

 

Here is the finished project.

 

And here are a few more photographs.

 

 

 

Hope you like it.

Sue X

Monster Birthday



 

I seem to be inundated with Birthdays this month and at one point I was well ahead.

How things change!

 I made this card for my friend Kim's son, I stamped  the stampotique gifts/prezzies and monster, coloured them with distress ink. Added a bit of stamping for background and grounding, stuck it all down and added a Dymo Happy Birthday.

 

 

Hope you like it.

 

Sue X

Ally Pally Sunday

On Friday my crafting friend Rebecca phoned, not text, but phoned!

I instantly thought there was a major problem as normally we text.

Fortunately it was good news, a couple of tickets for Ally Pally had arrived on her doormat courtesy of Paperartsy and she needed a friend to go with her, namely me.

So after a lot of  when, where, who and how's, followed by messages to and fro from hubbies, we decided to go on Sunday.
After an early start we headed down the M6, arrived, parked up and shopped.

This is a view from outside the venue, once the sky had cleared you could see for miles and miles amazing.

This is what I came back with.

Just a small hoard this year!

Thanks Rebecca for asking me to go with you. xx

Sue X

Rainbows and Brownies

It's that time of year again, when my friend Kim requests a little help for the Rainbows and Brownies groups. The help come in the form of organising cards for the groups to make for their families.

This means something not to hard, includes a bit of sticking, a bit of colouring and for the brownies a touch of cutting and tearing.  Not forgetting glitter of course.

So whilst waiting for my new Nephews arrival into the world (by C-Section) I thought I'd take my mind of the waiting by doing my little helper job.

Here is what I came up with.

I hope they like them.

Sue X

Stampotique Challege 213 - Milestone Celebrations

Today the  Stampotique Design Challenge is all about Milestone Celebrations.
I'm so happy about this as I have a 50th birthday card to make for Saturday so I can combine the two tasks.
Earlier in the week I'd made several background papers from card using  paints, spraying inks, stamping with homemade stamps and lines with credit cards, using fingers and basically almost anything lying around (except the cats, they would not be impressed). I decided to use one of these to make my card.

Let's begin, I took a 6"x6" card blank and stamped 50 repeatedly all over the front.
Next step was to make a 50 template, using this template I turned over my  made background,  then drew around  it and cut it out. The edges were then inked  with black distress ink.

 I needed to add a touch of another colour and found a green/orange Washi Tape which was cut to the required size then tore down the length to create rough edges, this was also to act as a grounding for my little character Magda Polakow- Agatha Antlers (antlers removed for this project).
Agatha was colours using distress inks in various colours to match the project.
All the elements were stuck together and a Dymo Happy Birthday helped finish off my project.
Yeah! so happy with the result hope you like it too.

You can see lots more cards and inspirational pieces on the Stampotique Designers Challenge Blog,
Bye for now.


Sue X

Painted Backgrounds

I decided to have a bit of fun with my stash of paints
and make a few flat backgrounds, with loads of layers and interest.
This is how they turned out.

There are at least three colours to the initial background followed by using a mask or two with more paint.
More masking this time with spray inks and finally for a few that is, stamping with white paint using homemade stamps. (still got a few backgrounds to finish off).

I will be adding some black somewhere along the line too, to make a contrast and add yet more interest.

That's it for now though.

Sue X

Dad's Birthday Card

I've had a great week so far, lots of making and messy stuff and it's not over yet.
 

I began with a 6"x6" card blank, to this I added a boarder which was stamped in black archival ink onto watercolour card stock (I didn't know at this stage if I wanted to colour it or not). The border was cut out and distress ink in black soot added to the edges then stuck into position.
 

A brick wall mask was used with old paper distress ink to create a wall effect.
 

"Dad", was stamped and cut out again  in Black archival and edged in black soot distress ink.
 

Splats/circle stamps added interest along with a stiches stamps to provide a grounding.

My fav little Stampotique dogs were stamped, cut out and a touch of colour added to the ears and eyes the rest of the image was inked in black soot.

Everything was glued into position and there you have it my dad's birthday card sorted.

Sue X

Autumn Dew!

With the girls back at school and one thing and another I only had Friday of this week to play, I mean really play, get messy, plod at my own speed. Hurrah!

 

I've been waiting a while but it was worth it.

 

It all began with two  6"x6" box canvas's given a layer gesso to prep them, they were bought prepared but I always give them an extra coat to put my mind at rest.

I used my favourite colour black with shades of grey and white, then painted a combination of them randomly and let dry followed by scraping and spreading of  the black and white.

Lids from pens, pencils, shampoo bottles and foam squares helped add interest to the project.

 

 

A tree stamp was stamped directly onto the canvas, however you couldn't make out any detail, I decided to use this image to give the impression of a shadow of  trees.

The trees were then stamped onto watercolour card fussy cut out and coloured with rusty hinge distress ink to an autumn feel. 

Brown wire was coiled with pliers, twisted  then flattened as much as possible.

Rusty splatters were added and dried, the trees and wire stuck into position and small micro beads were mixed with soft gel and added around the wire and randomly around the canvas.

A touch of random stamping added a further layer.

 Almost forgot, the title was a play on words as in Autumn is due soon,

I know it's a miserable time of year but the colours of the leaves can be so amazing, but I also thought of Dew first thing in a morning.

 

 

Here are a few more close ups.

 

 

Hope you like it.

 

Sue X

Stampotique Challenge - 212 - Use Only Two Stamps

Stampotique Challenge this week to use only two stamps.

Initially I thought OMG two stamps, I can't do it!
 

In reality it's easy as I have masks, die cuts and all sorts of materials to create backgrounds/wording. Yes, my Dymo has made another appearance, just love it though this time I cut a strip of basil core card to print on and sanded it back to reveal the title.

This week I have an anniversary card to do.

My plan was to die cut a heart and use the waste part to create a mask then double layer with another mask to add an interesting background to work on.

 

 Worn Lipstick was lightly rubbed around the edges of the homemade heart mask, the heart die cut shape was then used to mask the pink heart and overlaid with tiny sequin waste to which Broken China was lightly applied to create a subtle spot.
Water was sprayed onto the background left for a moment or two and lifted away with a piece of kitchen roll to give a mottled effect.

Pale pink texture paste was put though a mask to produce the raised hearts. I would have liked to use  Torrente - Daniel's Hearts stamp but I don't have one yet, none available in UK at the moment so when my random winners $30 comes through I will be ordering from Stampotique in the USA (along with a few others). Thinking  about it though that would make three stamps so it's a good job I don't have it. LOL.
Glossy Accents were added to a few hearts and Wink of Stella in Clear was added to the remaining ones to add another couple of layers.

I used the new Kate Crane Boy Angel and Ta-Dah (First outing for these two stamps).
I used the legs/arms  from Ta-Dah  to make matching legs and  arms to reach together and hold hands.
The characters were coloured in watercolour pencils.
Tissue tape  was added to create a grounding for the characters to stand on.
Everything was assembled together and there you have it one anniversary card. Only it had something missing, so, I cut a square border (the old fashioned way as I don't have square layering dies) with craft Knife and ruler.
It's very pink and colourful, totally not me but it's good to get out of your comfort zone occasionally especially when your favourite colour is black.

Hope you like it.
 You can find lots more inspiration over at the  Stampotique Design Challenge blog from both the designers and crafty individuals like myself.

Sue X

Week 7 Summer Holidays

Yeah!

Last week of the extra long summer Holidays.

Do you know I'm actually going to miss the girls, they only have the occasional run in but even then not as bad as it could be. Talking from experience I used to stomp upstairs to my room slam the door and if I didn't think it was loud enough slam it again. Thank heavens they do not take after me.

Anyhow, week 7, bank holiday Monday rain, more work, all day for poor Steve.

Tuesday Washing, ironing, girls chilling.

Wednesday SDC211 Primary Colours.
Can't wait to get stuck into this weeks challenge.
 See separate post.

And

I won the random generated prize of $30 and pick of the week anything goes, fabtastic!

Last week I added stitching onto my project, this was because I had started a project for my eldest daughters art pencils and the sewing machine was out. We couldn't find a reasonable priced pencil storage that was light and didn't take up much room in the school bag.
So,  I decided to make one from canvas which was left over from a chair I had covered.
This is how it turned out.

 Friday because the eldest daughter had a homemade pencil case youngest daughter wanted one too this is how Jess's turned out.

 

I forgot to mention because they are canvas they can decorate them however they like, this is what Jess started on minutes after it was completed.

 

I also had to squeeze in a quick birthday card for my niece.

 

I could have used this for my primary colours but I used a combination of all three this ruled it out from that challenge. Using watercolour card the girl image from IndigoBlu was stamped using black archival ink it was then masked using good old fashioned masking fluid.

Inks were then sprayed on the card to create the background. While the masking fluid was still in place more IndigoBlu stamps were used to add interest around the head area and then another to ground the girl image.

The mask was removed by gently rubbing the area. The image was then coloured using distress ink as a watercolour and Happy Birthday produced with my old faithful Dymo.

 

Hope you like it Leanne.

Saturday early up, lots to do, Jess to horse riding for the morning followed by George joining her for a 12.pm lesson  and just stuff filing up the day, school shoe polishing and final prep for first day of school on Tuesday.
 Sunday I finished of my SDC211 project followed by dinner at Grandma's.

Hope You've enjoyed my 7 weeks of holiday posting, back to normal now.

Sue X

Stampotique Challenge 211 - Perfectly Primary

This weeks challenge from Stampotique is Primarary Colours,

use two of the three and the colours they produce when mixed,  including black and white.

Ping! Several ideas squelching around in the brain.
 

I decided to go with what I enjoy the most, a canvas. I've had an unfinished project lying around since SOC challenge finished, a work in progress if you like and decided to re-vamp it.

To begin I neutralised the base and painted it all with white gesso, I  added texture crackle paste  in white so I could add colour to it.

 

I chose to use Dylusions Inks to colour my canvas in London Blue and Lemon Zest Yellow, the two colours blended together make different Hues of green.

 

The colours led me to use Stampotique Sea Horses and Dylusions Sea Stamps to create an underwater scene. I know, I know it's been done lots of times befor but I wanted to make something I could put in my bathroom and it seemed the ideal solution.
I had twisted and manipulated wire to be tree twigs, not anymore, now they are seaweed strings for the sea horses to cling too. These were painted with gesso and coloured with a combination of the same two inks.
The sea horses and sea plants were stamped and coloured (again with the yellow and blue inks adding water and mixing the colours using them  as watercolours).

All the bits were cut out and attached using a 3D glue, micro beads in black and a yellow colour were added just to add a bit of interest. White splatters were also added to give the impression of bubbles which needed a  touch of Glossy Accents to lift it off the canvas a bit more.
Here is the finished piece.

 

Here are a few closer images.

 

 

 

If you would like to join in pop on over to Stampotiue Design Challenge blog and have a go, it's not restricted to just Stampotique stamps in fact you can use any stamp you have so long as you follow the current weeks title.  Or just pay a visit to have a look at what people are producing, if you click on the linking tool you'll be able to see the current months entries.

 

Sue X

 

Week 6 - Summer Holidays

Normally by week 6 girls are on holiday wind down and I'm jumping up and down thinking, "Yes! time to myself very soon".

Not this year though as the Holidays are 7 weeks long.

Here is my Week 6.

Monday, an email from Art from the heart bought a smile to my face new stamps from Stampotique.

Check them out here.

I had to order a couple, Christmas Boots, Frock by Kate Crane and Reindeer, Agatha Antlers by Magda Polakow.

Can you guess what I'm preparing for.

Anyhow I'm a happy bunny, can't wait to receive them in the post soon.

Tuesday my crafting friend Rebecca confirmed she could make the Happy Stampers Festival at Port Sunlight, on Saturday the 3rd October. Yeah!
So as it is a tickets only event I got that request in the post, sorted can't wait for that event too!
If your interested you can print off a form off here.

 Georgina spent the day doing her Art Folder for School, without any reminder. It's only taken 5 weeks.
Wednesday brings on the next Stampotique Design Challenge 210 - Anything Goes, check the blog and samples out  here.

A title of  "Anything Goes" scares me a little as there is a vast amount of stamps, papers, paints
mediums of all sorts to get lost in. So for this I decided to limit myself to Stampotique Stamps as it is a Stampotique Challenge site.
Please see separate post.
Thursday Steve working from home, girls watched Next Step on TV followed by a quick trip to town to buy brown hair dye as purple is unacceptable at school.
Friday delivery due soooooo excited.
Had my stamp delivery, yeah! also got my ticket for Happy Stampers quickest turn over ever, only posted the request on Tuesday and back by Friday. Amazing.
Friday afternoon saw the girls and I getting a tad messy, Georgie finished of the front page of her art folder, she began by writing Nature across the page and using masking fluid to blank it out then sponging three colours all over the page, using masks firstly stippling white then a colour over the tops lightly out of line to add a bit of shading/interest but also to see the true colour of the paint.
Looks Fab Georgie.

This is what Jess Created one with fingers and one with a brush with plastic card scrapping too.

Not yet finished, will keep you updated.

 

Saturday, horse riding, cinema to see Pixels and Steve's cooking.
Sunday Steve trying to catch up with work so spent all morning in front room/working from home room/craft room followed by a visit to my mums for roast dinner followed by Steve doing more work.

That's pretty much it no extra crafting for me this week, all that will change very soon.

Sue X