February Craft Stamper

February Craft Stamper is out this Friday, January 1st. Looking at the Craft Stamper website ,it seems to have some great projects once again.
My project this time was stamping on glass, which did prove to be quite challenging! Here's a sneak peek of one of the glass items I decorated:



Thanks for looking!

Helen

In the Bleak Midwinter...

Well, that's what it feels like here! The boiler's broken down!!! Typical, just before Christmas and when I've got my 85 year old mother staying who's broken her leg (in Singapore actually - she had to be repatriated with a nurse escort, but that's another story!)
The plumber's here now putting a new boiler in - he's got 3 men on it just to get it done by tomorrow - I'm so grateful.
Anyway, as I can't go out I've made another Christmas card to wish everyone a Happy Christmas and to thank you all for taking the trouble to visit my blog and leave comments.
It looks like this close-up:


Recognise those stamps? They're from the Elusive Images Snow is Falling plate. And in full like this:


The words are from the Crafty Individuals Christmas Trees CI-257 and the snowy flourish is an Inkadinkado Filigree Snowman set.

Happy Christmas to you all!

Helen

On your bike...!

I haven't had time to blog much lately as we seem to have had one crisis after another, finishing off with the boiler deciding to give up the ghost on the coldest night of the year! It's always the way isn't it!

Anyway, here's a card I made for my nephew Huw's birthday. It uses the Boys on Bikes stamp from Elusive Images and is finished with the Cogs and Watch parts from PaperArtsy:


I rounded all the corners - don't know why, just felt like it!

Thanks for looking!

Helen

Blog Candy

Get on over to the Craft Stamper blog for a great Sharpie giveaway. It says:

"For your chance to win this fabulous prize just leave a blog comment (on the Craft Stamper blog) before midnight (GMT) 30th December and link back to this candy from your blog. Who knows, you might get a fabulous Sharpie goodie bag to help write away the New Year blues!"

So go and get commenting!

Thanks!

Helen

January Craft Stamper

Yes, January Craft Stamper is out in the shops this Friday and it's a great issue.
It's got loads of different ideas in. Here's a sneak peek from the Scraps to Scrumptious article I wrote - this card uses the Elusive Images Butterfly Poppy and Daisy collage stamps:



Actually, that's the only sneak peek I can give you as I forgot to take any more photos!!! You'll just have to buy the magazine!

I also took part in the Stamping Contrasts article which uses the fabulous Keeper stamps by Artistic Outpost from Happy Daze - I'm not telling you how many of those sets I've got - just can't resist them!! You can see extra ideas on the Happy Daze blog.

Thanks for looking!

Helen

Last minute again!

I've been making another birthday card at the last minute, this time for my niece, Ceinor. As she's doing art at college, I used this ATC:


It uses a PaperArtsy stamp from their Architecture collection (Plate 4) stamped onto glossy card and embellished with rub-ons and a fine black pen.
I then decided to add patterned papers and diecuts from WRMK 'Nonsense' collection to make the card. I added some flourishes to finish off (from AL Elegant Flourishes):


I really like making cards this way - using lots of different colours and patterns and seeing if you can pull it all together at the end!

Thanks for looking!

Helen

Red, green and gold!

Well, I've finally started my Christmas cards,inspired by the plate of Crafty Individuals Christmas trees that landed on the mat. If you haven't seen these stamps then go and have a look as they are lovely.
This is what I came up with:




The flourishes are also from Crafty Individuals.

Thanks for looking!

Helen

For something completely different...

This is the card I made for my youngest's 14th birthday using a photo I took in Central Park earlier this year! Her bike had Dutch style back pedal brakes which proved interesting going down the hills!

I've actually cut out the larger photo and put it on the background photo using papers and stamps to decorate. You can just see my son in the right hand corner - they both thoroughly enjoyed themselves!
Thanks for looking!

Helen

Smile...

I made this for my niece's birthday - it was originally an ATC and, running late as usual, I thought i'd just put it on a card. That way the main artwork was already done - I just added some flourishes (Autumn Leaves) and some borders (Kelly Panacci):
I love this Paperbag Studios stamp - it always cheers me up. Paperbag Studios stamps are available from Happy Daze, and I'm delighted to be on their Design Team, 'cos I love their stuff!

Thanks for looking!

Helen

I'm dreaming of ...

......a pink and blue Christmas!
I love this quirky stamp from Crafty Individuals new Christmas selection (CI-254) - the buildings are fantastic and Santa in his sleigh just finishes it off!
First of all I made a little hanging decoration using one of their slidemount frames. I embossed it with some white tinsel embossing powder (called Winter Wonderland) that I've had stuck on the back of the shelf for ages but hardly ever used! (I'm too lazy to get the powder and heatgun out!) I then thought I'd paint it with the Stream paint dabber and noticed that the glitter still shines through:

Then I went on to make a card, spraying some semi gloss card with Glimmer Mists and stamping over the top. The frame is embossed with the same powder. Then I stamped the buildings repeatedly to make a mitred frame round the whole picture:

I might try it again with different colours.

Thanks for looking!

Helen

December Craft Stamper

Don't forget December's Craft Stamper is in the shops today!
My article is on Winter cards, but not Christmassy! Here are some sneak peaks:




Thanks for looking!

Helen

A Quick Card

This is just a quick card using the tiny square stamp from the Outpost set by Artistic Outpost:
I was playing around with the metal again and made the tiny square in the middle, then had to make something with it! This is what I came up with.
I even used the tiny Artistic Outpost label stamp round the edges - why waste it?
Artistic Outpost stamps are available from Happy Daze.

Thanks for looking!

Helen

Autumn Sun

This is using the Artistic Outpost stamps from Happy Daze again and the same technique as the windmill card but a totally different colourway:



It almost looks like the rays of the sun. Actually if I'd thought, I could have put a sun behind the tree - might have a go at that. I love the fact that the tiny stamp echoes the big picture.

Thanks for looking!

Helen

Hare we go again!!!

This is what I made with the rest of the image:


I stamped the collage onto some of the Crafty Individuals paper and used the metal hare for the middle. He was originally puffed up and filled out at the back with Glossy Accents but I forgot that when I stuck him down and deflated him by mistake!
I wasn't too sure then how to finish him but then remembered my workshop with Linda Brown where we made metal covered frames and thought I'd do something similar. Thanks for the inspiration, Lin!
I then added twiddly bits to finish off.

Thanks for looking!

Helen

Run rabbit, run rabbit run,run, run....

Except I think it's probably a hare!

My hanging ornament started out life as this:

It uses that lovely Hare Collage stamp from Crafty Individuals, part of the Flourish Frame, some of their Travels in Italy paper and one of their chipboard swirls.

Plus other stuff as well of course - in fact it's not until you write it down that you realise how much actually goes into making one thing!! I picked up the wooden plaque thingy at a bric-a-brac stall several years ago (knew it'd come in handy) and used the Big Bite to punch the holes. This is how it turned out:

I've been at the metal again and had a good play with this piece - I've just got some basic tools - my brother brought me a beginners kit back from America. This metal is very thin but I like the bright colour. I didn't have a matching charm so punched one out of the same metal and stamped it to match.

In actual fact I cut the hare bit out and have used that on another piece but I'll show you that one tomorrow as it's not quite ready. Also it means I have to practise my typing then - my kids laugh at me as I'm so slow!

Thanks for looking!

Helen

Blue/Green vista

I called it that because I'm not too sure what sort of wind thing it is, but I like the picture. It comes from the other set of Artistic Outpost stamps that I got from Happy Daze.
I had a lot of fun creating this. It's stamped on glossy white card and I was going to colour in the background with dye inks but then decided to use the tiny writing stamp to cover the background. I stamped it over and over in Memories Olive Green and Colonial Blue inkpads and when I wanted more colour I sort of dragged it along.The card it's mounted on is actually white, but that seemed too bright so I used the same technique on that and then knocked back the colour by overstamping in black. the rough edge on both the card and the main picture is the bottom of the picket fence on the house and tree stamp.
I finished off with two sort of rosettes made from the windmill's(?someone tell me what it is!) sails.

Thanks for looking!

Helen

PS Happy Daze have got some Blog Candy to give away over on their blog!

PPS Deby tells me it's a wind driven waterpump!

The Old Grist Mill

I told you I couldn't resist buying some of these Artistic Outpost stamps from Happy Daze. Well I couldn't resist playing with them either. I used the same stamp in two different colourways.
This first one uses quite pale colours with the daisy stamp in the corner:
This second one is more Autumnal:
and I've stamped some of the leaves onto thin copper metal and then worked on them (not very expertly!) with embossing tools:


Thanks for looking!

Helen

Artistic Stamp!

I got this stamp Girl with Clock from Jennie (thanks Jennie!) at The Artistic Stamper stand at Artisan and knew it would work really well with the bleach technique:
The background is made with Distress inkpads again and then I used the Artistic Stamper Flourish Swirls. I love these swirls because they're both thick and thin lines. I also stamped one of the clocks from the Time and Keys plate repeatedly in orange onto the card.
If you're wondering about the torn edge effect on the photo, I've been playing around with the Microsoft Digi Imaging programme - I hadn't even realised there was one until someone pointed it out to me! Doh! It's great fun but time consuming - I could sit there for hours, but then I wouldn't get much blogging done!

Thanks forlooking!

Helen

A couple more cards

I made this card for a colleague at work who loves Italy and of course this PaperArtsy stamp just fits the bill:

I love detailed stamps like this, as you can do very little to it and still get a great result. It works well on Stampbord too. The paper is from the Crafty Individuals Travels in Italy paper.

This next card uses Inkadinkado stamps and some of the Basic Grey Periphery paper:

Enjoy!

Helen

Bright and Bold 18

Making cards for boys isn't always easy, especially when you've already used up most of your ideas over the years! (And you're last minuteas usual!)
I made this one for my nephew for his 18th after I'd been playing with some Cuttlebug folders:
It uses some Autumn Leaves number stamps that I bought ages ago and Prima borders from the Build-A-Frame sets.

Cheers!

Helen

Time flies...

It certainly does when you're having fun! I've been playing with the Stampbord again and more of my new PaperArtsy stamps. These ones are the new Ink & the Dog Clocks 1 set that Leandra put on her blog last week. They fit perfectly on the 2 x 2 inch stampbord tiles.
I used quite light colours for me but still managed to get a lot of them in there! I'm fascinated by all the metalwork from Leandra and Lin (from LBCrafts) so am going to have to practise. These wings are very basic - I just tried to puff them out a bit as Leandra was showing on her blog. Not sure I managed it though!
Thanks for looking!
Helen

Ding & Dong

I told you I'd been shopping at the show - well, I couldn't resist some (well, quite a few actually!) of the new stamps by PaperArtsy. I've made this with Ding & Dong Plate 4:
I doubled the legs so he's sort of got kneecaps and backed them with metal so they can bend! He looks a bit like a demented flamingo!
The body is made from a circle of Stampbord that I had left - unfortunately they're not making circles and ovals any more. I stamped the background with the words in green and edged with some of the Viva metallic paint. The pattern round the edge is made using the tip of one of the clock hands:
Now I'll just have to think of a name for him!

Helen

Halloween Greetings

I love all the Halloween stamps but don't get a chance to make many cards with them so decided I'd make one for my brother's birthday!
I made the background with Distress inkpads and then stamped various images from the Cherry Pie plate #47 Gothic Halloween. I took colour out using a water pen filled with bleach. This technique was something I saw on Hermine's blog and she's right , it's very addictive!

.
She had got it from Stamp Zia.

I mounted it up onto red paper stamped with the flourish bat:



and then a black card and finished it off with fibres and a pumpkin charm that I painted with Viva Coral metallic paint:



Hope he likes it!

Helen

Back from Artisan

Got back from Artisan yesterday tired but happy!
Met up with people from Craft Stamper - poor Katy had to put up with me all weekend! Actually we had a great time - I hope I didn't drive her too mad. She was a great help in my Make 'n' Take and we both managed to get a little shopping in - just a little you understand! Some of those must have items!
I really enjoyed the Make 'n' Takes - everyone was really lovely (I didn't have to tell them to behave!!!) and produced some great ATCs. If I'd been organised I'd have taken my camera with me to take a picture.
I met quite a few people whose names I recognised from online, either from blogs or Graphicus Guild. It's always nice to put a face to a name - hi ladies!
This is what we made from the Elusive Images Curly Birds plate:



And here are some variations I put together with different backgrounds, embellishments etc.,all using the same plate:

There were some of my favourite places there: PaperArtsy, The Artistic Stamper, The Altered Element, Artist Trading Post plus some new ones I found that I'll have to add to my list! Add in all the glittering beads and I was well away.
We did several ATC swaps so I came away with some lovely artwork as well.
I also met some of the mag contributors - Lousette, Rachel, Kate B. and Anneliese.
You can tell I'm on a high!
I'm going to go and look at all my goodies now - just had to get the new clock stamps from Leandra and I got some great background stamps at The Artistic Stamper - thanks Jennie!

Cheers!

Helen

Artisan tomorrow!

Well, it's the Artisan Show tomorrow and I'm off to stay with my brother tonight who lives part way up the M40. Just packing everything and making sure I've got everything for my Make 'n' Take (I'm bound to forget something!)
Here are some more of the ATCs I've made - we'll have to see which I come back home with!




Enjoy!

Helen

Artisan Make 'n' Take

Hope to see lots of people at the show next week - you must come to the stand and say hello.

Believe it or not it's the first Make 'n' Take I've done (yes, I'm a Make 'n' Take virgin!!) so you'll all have to be on your best behaviour LOL! Including me - that'll be difficult! They're half hour slots so my project's very quick. I think you might have to book, not sure yet.

There'll to be other CS contributors there as well which'll be fun as I'll get to meet them too.

If I'm not on the stand it'll be because I'm trying not to spend too much money elsewhere! I'm sure I'll see some stamps I just have to have!

Here are some more pics of ATCs - I think I'm a bit addicted!
The first two use Oxford Impression stamps from LBCrafts - The Art of Being Beautiful and Field Notes.


These ones use Crafty Individual bird stamps:


This last one uses a dragonfly from Inkadinkado Morphic Bugs and the quote is from Artistic Outpost stamps (love those) from Happy Daze:



Enjoy!
Helen