And More Rainbows!

We're midway through the month but there's still plenty of time to enter our April Challenge at Stamping Sensations, where our theme is "Somewhere Over The Rainbow", quite appropriate at the present time. Full details over on the challenge blog.

I've been taking advantage of the extra spare time, during this period of lockdown, to explore some different artforms, one of which is pyrography. I bought a kit a while ago but hadn't had much chance to try it out until now. I've been inspired by Richard Dickson who, as The Pyronautist, does some fabulous work. Do go and have a look at his Facebook page. He mentioned on his page that he had been burning designs on watercolour paper, which made it possible to produce cards with pyrography designs, so I thought I would have a go at that. It works a treat!

I stamped the flowers (Woodware) on to the watercolour card with Desert Sand Memento ink, and then outlined and shaded the design with my pyrography tool. I wanted to add the rainbow background but didn't want the flowers to be coloured, so I used a Versamark pen to cover them completely and clear embossed them to act as a resist.

I sprayed the card with clean water and brushed various shades of Distress inks over in a rainbow shape, drying it with a heat gun so that the colours didn't continue to spread. I wiped away the excess colour from the flowers with a damp cloth.

The watercolour card, which I thoroughly recommend, is Cass Art Hot Press 300gsm. It's called "paper" but 300gsm is actually quite thick, more like card. I don't think I would want to risk burning on to anything thinner! It also takes the water very well and is perfect for stamping on as it is smooth. I wanted to keep the design clean and simple, so I just added a die cut butterfly (Cheery Lynn) and a sentiment (magazine freebie). For a first try, I was quite pleased with how it turned out, and will definitely be doing more.

We have had some absolutely gorgeous entries for our Rainbow challenge so far, but we would still like to see lots more. Let's fill blogland with this symbol of hope!

August at Stamping Sensations

We're keeping up our easy challenges for the summer months at Stamping Sensations, although up here in the frozen north one might dispute that it's summer! Ok, I exaggerate a bit. Not quite frozen, but a few nights lately have come close. Actually, we did have summer the other week. Just the one day. The temperature on our outside thermometer hit 30C, in the shade, but the next day it reverted to type. Since then it's been cool, grey, wet, misty, with just the odd dry and bright spell. Still, at least the midges haven't been quite so bad as usual here. Always a silver lining!

Anyway, our August Challenge couldn't be easier, since it's

* * * * * ANYTHING GOES * * * * *

So, whatever you like, with the one proviso that as we're a stamping challenge, we need to see stamping - rubber, polymer or digi (not pre-coloured) - as the focal part of your project.

I always find it quite difficult to decide what to do for an "anything goes" theme. Too much choice! So this time I thought I would close my eyes, pull out one of my stamp binders at random (I keep my stamps in A5 ring binders on shelves), and use a stamp or stamps from the first page in the binder. As luck would have it, I picked my Penny Black binder, and the first page contains the "Enamor" set which I bought some time ago but hadn't yet used. Been dying to get the stamps inked up, as they are so pretty, but hadn't had chance. Next question was how to use them.


One of my favourite techniques is to stamp with Distress Inks and colour the image by pulling the colour from the image lines with a water brush. However, this time I decided to add a twist. Instead of colouring in, I pulled the colour away from the flower image to make the background, leaving the image itself uncoloured. The butterfly and sentiment are from the same set. I mounted the picture on to a Spellbinders diecut and backed it with patterned paper by Prima. Nice and simple, job done!

Here's the finished card.

I'm hoping to see lots of gorgeous entries this month to brighten up our dull days! And with the prize on offer, there's no reason not to get busy with your projects! Our lovely sponsors for August are Foil Play, who have donated a fantastic £35 voucher to be spent in their online shop. They have a huge selection of items for your cardmaking and crafting, not just foils. What's not to like? So get those entries in and good luck everyone!

New Stash!!

Had a lovely weekend staying with Sally, so we could go to the Be Creative Open Day at Once Upon A Stamp and also the Stamp Magic show in Doncaster. Sally was doing some make & takes for Be Creative, and I endeavoured to assist her, which meant I got to play with some of their lovely new goodies! I'm certainly impressed with the quality of the new range, particularly of the alcohol markers and the paper pads. I was delighted to be asked by Gordon & Justin to make some samples for them, and here is my first card!

I've used both the alcohol pens and some of the papers. The paper pads (8" x 8") are a good weight (180g) and double sided, and the designs are gorgeous. The pens are comfortable to hold, the ink is top quality and they blend beautifully.

I made an easel card, which I covered with two different designs of papers. They are so pretty that I didn't want to cover them up too much. I stamped the large rose (by Woodware) with Memento ink and coloured and shaded it with the alcohol markers. The stamp wasn't made to go with the papers but it could have been, they co-ordinate so well!

I don't have the full range of markers (yet!) but by blending several colours I managed to get the rose to tone with the papers. I found the Blue Grey (code BG5) extremely useful. By shading with it first where I wanted the shadows to be, and then blending over it with other colours, I was able to achieve the depth I wanted. (At least I hope I did!)

Being alcohol based, the markers are very versatile of course. In the new Be Creative range there are some beautiful embellishments, including tags, buttons, pearls and clear gems. No need to buy lots of different colours, they can be coloured with the markers! I tinted some of the gems blue to act as stoppers and scattered a few more randomly on the card. The tag wasn't quite the right colour, being mostly pink and green, so I sponged some Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink over it and then it matched perfectly! A sentiment by Chocolate Baroque, a length of sparkly ribbon and a butterfly cut from one of the papers completed the card. Here's a side view.

The papers are a perfect weight for making paper beads, so I'm thinking a bracelet and gift box to go with the card might be nice. Watch this space!

June Challenge at Stamping Sensations

Well, flaming June it certainly isn't up here! We have had a few sunny spells between the showers, but it's so unseasonably cold and windy. However, last month's bumper crop of flowers (well over 200 entries) for our floral challenge at Stamping Sensations certainly brightened things up! I'm confidently expecting this month's theme to be equally popular, as it is

* * * * * DIES AND PUNCHES * * * * *

You can use either just dies, just punches, or a combination of both. And of course, as we are a stamping challenge, we need to see some rubber stamping on your project as well. Making a welcome return visit to sponsor us for June is Tonic Studios, who have given us a full set of their Pretoria Alphabet Dies for the lucky winner! What a fabulous prize!

 

I have used a die (Celtic Circle) and a punch (Celtic Strip), both by Tonic Studios, for my card.

Other supplies used -
Celtic bird stamp: Non Sequitur
Small Celtic circle stamp: unknown
Background text stamp: Judikins
Sentiment: Innovative Stamp Creations
Background paper: Paper Cellar
I used Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink for all the stamping and to ink around the edge of the BP

I'm still on a mission to revisit/use up old stash, and everything on this card is at least a couple of years old, and some things many years! Had another mini clear out of my craftroom the other week, but still don't seem to have any more space on my shelves! As long as I can keep things from encroaching too much on to the floor, though, I'm happy! I think back to my old tiny craft room, where I had to step over boxes to get to my desk, on which there was never more than about a square foot clear to work in, and remember how lucky I am to have so much more lovely space in the new one.

Here's a closer view of the gorgeous Celtic bird stamp. I've always liked it, don't know why I don't use it more often!

Anyway, as ever, there's plenty of inspiration for you over on the Challenge Blog My brilliant teamies would love it if you visited their individual blogs too, and we look forward to seeing what you can do with your dies and punches.

Glamorous Butterflies

Just flying in by the skin of my teeth with an entry for this fortnight's Butterfly Challenge. The theme is "Glamorous Butterflies", so they have to glitter and sparkle!

I began by spraying the card with diluted Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink, then stamped the flowers and sentiment with the same ink (undiluted). The butterfly was stamped on a separate piece of card and cut out with the matching Hero Arts Framelits die to give a bit of dimension. I used a water brush to draw some of the ink into the flowers and the butterfly for a hint of colour.

 All that remained then was to add the glamour! I tend not to use a lot of shiny stuff on my cards, preferring a subtle sparkle to bags of bling, so I just added a bit of glitter glue to the spots and body of the butterfly and the centres of the flowers. I hope that's enough for Mrs. A! You can see it better in the following detail shots.

 

The flower and butterfly stamps are by Hero Arts and the sentiment by Stampingallday. Thanks for looking!

Highlight of my day!

I absolutely loved Paula Whittaker's article in this month's Craft Stamper (issue August 2012). Such a brilliantly simple idea! She has used ordinary highlighter pens & Distress Ink to make fabulous backgrounds. I couldn't wait to try out the technique.

Here's what I made.

I used Inkylicious Satin Silk ArtCard for the highlighter backgrounds, and stamps by Inkylicious and IndigoBlu.

If you haven't yet got your Craft Stamper, you can see a gorgeous bonus project by Paula on the Craft Stamper website, though you'll have to buy the mag to get the instructions for the technique. Well worth it, I reckon! I had a lot of fun doing it.

Crafty Passions

Time for another Stampalot Challenge, and this month we want to know

What's Your Crafty Passion?

Are you mad about markers, desperate for Distress Inks, a sucker for stamping, or potty about punches? Do you have a favourite technique/colour combo/subject? Whatever you can't live without in your crafting, showcase it on your project, and tell us what it is.

My crafty passions (well, the ones I've managed to fit on my card at least!) are butterflies, Distress Inks, my Cuttlebug and resist techniques.

I stamped the butterfly (by Inkylicious, as is the sentiment) with Versamark ink to act as the resist, and then sponged over the background with the Spring limited edition Distress Inks (love those colours!) The diecut butterfly is made with two dies by Memory Box, and the border is from the Spellbinders Parisian Accents set.

The prize this month won't disappoint. An eclectic mix of gorgeous goodies with which to feed your crafty passions, generously donated as ever by Sir and Lady Stampalot who are definitely passionate about their craft.

Do pop over to the Challenge Blog and check out the DT's fab samples. We look forward to seeing yours!

Silhouettes

As part of my ongoing clearout, I'd been going through some of my old Take Ten mags, tearing out the pages I wanted to keep and filing them in a ring binder, so that I could get rid of the rest. In one of them was the most beautiful set of cards by Tilly McLeod, with gorgeous coloured backgrounds and silhouette details, exactly the sort of  style which really appeals to me. Tilly has very kindly allowed me to case her cards, and share the result here, although my method was slightly different from hers. Do go and have a look at Tilly's blog, her work is fabulous.

Tilly made her backgrounds by inking up a palette stamp with various colours and stamping straight on to the card, then adding definition with watercolour pencils or the edge of an inkpad, whereas I painted mine with a wash of distress inks and mounted it separately with a thin black border. The stamped couple (Stampscapes) and birds (part of a stamp by Inkylicious) were added, along with the sentiment (The Craft's Meow).

I really like this clean and simple style. Thanks for the inspiration, Tilly!

Shades of Blue

I'm loving the challenge from Less is More this week. It's Shades of Blue, and blue just happens to be my favourite colour! I was in a painting mood, so I painted a little landscape background and then stamped a few images on top. Shades of blue from navy right up to very pale - all done using just one Distress inkpad! The beauty of Distress ink is that it can be diluted with water but retains the colour integrity, in other words it just becomes a paler shade of the original according to how much water you add. I used Chipped Sapphire, my favourite of all the Distress colours.

The tree on its little mound with the grasses either side of it (all one stamp) is by Beeswax, all other stamps and the sentiment are by Hobby Art. There are some fantastic entries this week. I'm really enjoying looking at them all.

Shades of purple

The monochrome look is one which I rather like, so I was pleased to see that it is the theme for Week 18 of the Less is More Challenge.  I used an old favourite stamp and an old favourite technique to make my card.

I stamped the poppy (Stampin' Up) with Dusty Concord Distress Ink, and then pulled out the colour from the outline with a paintbrush and plain water to colour the image. I cut it out with a Nestie Labels 4 and mounted it with foam pads. The sentiment is one I've had for many years. I think the company which made it was V.I.P., sadly no longer trading, I believe.

I spent half term up in Dumfriesshire. Apart from visiting my daughter and family, I was also there to do some preparatory work for the new job I will be starting in September. I still can't quite believe that, from then on, my drives to work will be through beautiful countryside, instead of being stuck in traffic going into the city. I daresay there will still be hold-ups, but I think I can cope with the odd tractor or herd of cows....!

No longer so distressed!

Well, 10.30pm has just passed, so it is time to declare the winner of my little competition. Not many entries - obviously nearly everyone but me had already got a Victorian Velvet Distress Inkpad! I loved Jules's suggestion that I had sneaked into her front room and taken a pic of her dusty coffee table, (which sounds a lot like mine!) but I'm afraid that was not the case! In fact there was just one correct answer, so my superfluous pad will be finding a new home with

CRAFTIMAMMA (LESLEY)

Well done, Lesley! I'll be posting it off to you tomorrow, and hope it cheers you up after your cold.

Thanks very much to everyone who did enter. The mysterious object was indeed a Tim Holtz/Ranger Blending Tool!

I'm just too distressed!

Somehow (long story - don't ask!) I have found myself the proud owner of TWO brand new Victorian Velvet Distress Ink pads. Now, I don't need two, so I have decided to give away the spare. For a change, instead of blog candy, I thought I'd have a little competition.

To enter, identify the object in the picture below, and leave a comment to say what it is. Closing date will be this Sunday evening, May 16th, at 10pm. I will put all correct answers into a draw and Mr. Random Dot Org will select the winner. The prize may also include a little extra surprise!

You may enter as many times as you like, but one answer per comment, please. In the event that no-one correctly identifies the object, all entries by followers of my blog (which will include anyone who becomes a follower between now and the closing date) will go into the draw to choose the winner . Good luck!

Butterflies and Blossoms, and my favourite things!

Well, some of my favourite things! The Sir Stampalot Challenge for May is right up my street, as is the prize! Butterflies and/or blossoms tend to appear on most of my cards, and anything by Tim Holtz would find a good home in my craft room, so this is one challenge I couldn't miss.

The only materials I've used for this card are paper and one shade of ink. Having finally managed to get my hands on some of the new Distress inks, I think Chipped Sapphire is going to become my favourite colour. More of a purply-blue than the denim of Faded Jeans, and just what I was hoping there would be in the new range. The flower stamp is an old favourite, by Funstamps. I've had it for years but use it often, as it's so pretty and versatile. Here I've used a favourite technique to colour it. I'm not sure what it's really called, but I call it the magic painting technique, because it reminds me of those children's painting books which appear to have blank pages until you paint over them with plain water, and the picture magically appears. I used to love them when I was a child (and confess I still do!).

I stamped the image with Chipped Sapphire, and then, with a fine paint brush and clean water, drew out some of the colour from the outline to shade it in. By using more or less water and blotting areas you want to be paler, it's possible to vary the depth of colour. When I've used this technique before, I've always done it with Adirondack rainbow inkpads, and this is the first time I've tried it with a single colour, but I really like the result. The Distress ink works perfectly for it. And to think that when Distress inks first came out, I didn't see what all the fuss was about! Now I wouldn't be without them.

The background stamp is Dots & Flowers by Hero Arts, the sentiment by Darkroom Door, the circle and oval shapes were cut with my Nestabilities and the butterflies were punched from paper coloured with the Chipped Sapphire ink. The overall effect reminds me of Delft Pottery. And, of course, blue and white is one of my favourite colour combinations.

Swirls and curls, and the case for digital stamping

My big reorganisation is still ongoing, but I managed to clear enough space on my desk to make a card for this week's Tuesday Taggers, the theme being Swirls and Curls. For the first time ever, I've used a digital stamp, the Hero Arts butterfly.

I'd previously bought a few digistamps from other companies because a) I thought I ought to try them and b) I liked the pictures. However, subconsciously I think I was reluctant to use them because they were not "real" stamps. I have thought about it for quite a while now, and come to the conclusion that there are parallels here with digital photography. Many people said originally that digital photography was not real photography. Now, especially with the advent of digital SLRs, even some of the diehard darkroom aficionados have embraced it. Photography has been a great interest of mine for many years but I never had the opportunity to have my own darkroom, so I joined the digital revolution with enthusiasm. I decided that whichever way the image was captured, the end result is what counts.

I think that this argument may also be used with stamping. Whether made with ink and rubber, or ink and printer, the image which appears on the paper is to all intents and purposes the same. It's what you then do with it that matters. This is illustrated very well by Jennifer McGuire in her video on the Hero Arts blog. I watched the video, checked out the Hero Arts digistamps, and that clinched it for me. Apart from being very good value for money (because each digistamp set comes with lots of extras) many of the HA digistamps have rubber equivalents (some of which I already have!), giving lots of scope for combining the two. Also, the digistamps can be resized, so there are endless possibilities.

Inspired by Jennifer's butterfly demo, I coloured mine with Distress inks and then overstamped it (real stamp!) with the HA flourish. To fit the swirls and curls theme, I stamped all over the base card with the flourish from Crafty Individuals (who are sponsoring this week's TT with a great prize!) and then added some swirly background papers from the gorgeous new Papermania Capsule Collection. A Martha Stewart punched border and a few Prima flowers completed the design.

I should add (in fact I'm doing just that!) that "real stamping" will always be my preference, and it's not often that I make anything without some stamping on it. However, digital certainly has its place too; it's just a different way of arriving at the end result, and I think we are very lucky to have so many and varied artforms available to us to create with.

I would be very interested to hear any other views for or against digital stamping!

Allsorts Challenge Week 34

The Allsorts challenge for this week is a sketch, by Emma. Since I still had the Hero Arts flourish stamp out on my desk, I thought I'd use it on this card too. This time I stamped it on glossy card with Versamark ink, which then resisted the Distress Inks I sponged over it. The four printed paper panels are old stash (very old! - from Provocraft pre-Cuttlebug!) and the butterfly, which I thought echoed the leaves in the flourish rather well, is Elusive Images from Graphicus. The sentiment is computer generated and cut out with Nestabilities frames. I coloured the punched flowers and leaves with Promarkers.

Well, that's two challenges in two days I've completed! It's unlikely I'll be able to keep going at such a rate, but I mean to do as many as I can.