So Here It Is Merry Christmas Everybody.....

Well Christmas doesn't get much more nostalgic than Noddy and the gang singing THAT song, but for my second nostalgic Christmas piece for Country View Crafts I've gone with a good old fashioned Santa.

I started with a 8x8 black base card and stamped with the small stamp from JOFY28. The sentiment is a Tim Holtz rub-on from his Christmastime Remnant Rubs 

Next we have a layer of silver Mirri card that's been through an embossing folder.

This is one of my favourites, it's Ten Seconds Studio metal that's been through an embossing folder and sanded back. Love it! I should use it more often. I got this from the shop a couple of years ago but it's too nice to use lol.

My jolly old Santa is from Hot Pick Xmas 04, and he's been coloured with Prisma pencils, and has had a bit of silver Frantage around the edges, You can't really tell in the photograph but I've stuffed his tummy with cotton wool to make him stand out on the card.

A bit of black organza ribbon to finish off, and all done. No bow though, a knot's as fancy as I get!
The matching tag has been made with some of the left over metal, and the background's been stamped with the snowflakes from Darcy's Eclectica 04.  The sentiment is from HP Xmas 04.
I always struggle to make cards, but I'm happy with how this turned out, and Mum and Dad seemed to like it.
This will be my last post before Christmas as real life has well and truely kicked in so a big thank you and Merry Christmas to everyone, and I'll be back in the New Year.
There's still time to enter the challenge at Country View Crafts so go on get all nostalgic!
Thanks very much for looking and have a very Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year xx

Love And Laughter

Only 22 more sleeps....
I love Christmas, and today I have a Stampotique Christmas card for you, for Kim's Anything Goes challenge. 

I'm hosting the challenge this week at Stampotique Designer's Challenge.

This our last challenge of the year and it will run the whole month of December.  Our theme is an easy one so show us your best work using Anything Goes.

 For this month only, you will have the opportunity to enter the challenge 5 times (one for each week)- 5 chances to win the random $30 gift certificate for Stampotique stamps.

I decided to make Romek and Agatha Christmas a couple, and nothing says 'I love you' more than matching Christmas jumpers.
I've also used Love and Laughter and Stringed Lights, with lots of twinkles.
Nothing could be easier that anything goes, so please join in, and you could be one of our lucky winners.
Thanks very much for looking and remember only 22 more sleeps :-) xx

It's Starting To Feel A Lot Like Chrstmas

Wow it's December already, so hands up, who's ready for Christmas? - no me neither lol. Over at Country View Crafts the challenge this month is Nostalgic Christmas, and here's what I 
made.

These are just ceramic tiles painted with Fresco Paints, Distress Inks and stamped and stencilled.

This is a 6 x 6 tile that's been gessoed then painted with Snowflake Fresco Paint. I then stencilled through with various shades of Stickles then stamped and embossed the Season's Greetings from the Lin Brown Eclectia plate. This has then been sealed with spray varnish.

This one is a 4x4 tile, that's been painted with Vanilla. I then stencilled through the Tim Holtz Holiday Knit stencil with Festive Berries Distress Ink. The Christmas tree is from the ELB11 plate.
The gold around the edge is the border stamp from the Lynne Perrella
LPC17 plate. It's been stamped and embossed in gold, and the spray varnish has made it flake a little bit which I quite like the look of. I just need to stop messing with it now lol.

This is another 4x4, so just right for my Christmas coffee cup. My Stampotique snowman has been embossed with Frantage EP, and the snowflake is from the Darcy04 set, and the sentiment from ELB11 again. I love how all these different stamp sets work together so well. 
So what makes for a nostalgic Christmas for you? I'm lucky enough to have always spent mine with family, and that really is what Christmas means to me (it's even better when family comes with chocolate lol)
I hope you join in with our challenge, and I will see you later in the month with the second of my projects.
Thanks very much for looking x

Freaky Little Thing

For my second piece for the Country View Crafts Bugs, Bees and Butterflies challenge I've got in touch with my inner freak.

 I started by making by base tag with Tim Holtz Distress Paints just splodging onto my craft mat and swooshing through.

Next came the Grunge Paste which was spread through an Andy Skinner stencil.

When the paste was dry I went over it with White Fire Treasure Gold which is out of stock at the moment. I also roughed up the edges and went around these too. 
The backing tag is some deep purple material that I've had for ages. I stuck it to some card, sewed around, then frayed the edges. 

My little freak is another of Wendy Vecchi's Bugs and Butterflies Art Parts, which is also out of stock at the moment, and it's been stamped with the corresponding stamp from the Art For You plate. The Art Part has been painted with Distress Paint in Pine Needles and Brushed Pewter. The girls head is from Stampotique.

Now every self respecting freak needs a party dress, and mine has a nice sparkly one. If you look underneath her skirt (which you should never do to a lady) you will see the rest of the words which come from the same stamp set.
This was great fun to make, especially when Neil asked what the theme was. When I told him it was butterflies he gave me the wha.... ?look and rolled his eyes lol.
There's still time to join in with our challenge, so discover your inner bug :-)
Thanks very much for looking x

The Moon Never Beams

It's time for another Stampotique challenge, but this time there's a bit of a difference. It's Kay's week to play hostess, and I'll let her explain. 

My challenge this week is a simple one, but requires a bit of research on your part.  Just as many of the Stampotique Originals' artists design stamps that might be described as a bit "quirky," so, too, was Edgar Allan Poe a bit quirky.  He is a well known author and poet, living from 1809-1849.  His quotes range from the romantic to the melancholy, and from the thoughtful to the murderous!  The choice is yours.  Allow yourself some time this week to combine a quote from Edgar Allan Poe with one or more stamped images to create something unique!

Here's mine.

 I started by spraying my background with some Media paints. These are really nice but I have to stop buying paint lol.

When it was dry I applied some texture paste through the Andy Skinner skull stencil.

Don't you just love Arwen's amazing  Skull Moon I've stamped it onto some card that I've painted in white acrylic, then stamped and embossed the face and layered.

The quote is computer generated and is from Annabel Lee.

Yep it's a bit darker than the flying monkey lol but my album is another page nearer completion.

I hope that you join in with our unusual challenge, it's a lot of fun and you get to read some great quotes!

Thanks very much for looking and enjoy your day x

Merry Kissmas

Hi, it's Wednesday, so that means time for another Stampotique challenge, and this time around the lovely Corrie wants us to get stripey. Here's what she says.
 "Hello everybody !

Today is my turn to set the challenge at the Stampotique Designers' Challenge Blog and I'd like everyone to make something with a stripy background. You can use ink, paint or pens whatever you like, just no ready made stripes with pattern paper !! I want you to do it yourself ! I am excited to see what you come up with but most of all I want you to have fun !! Corrie x"

It's ages since I made a tag, so that's what I went with this time.

I must admit I left it until last push again 'cos someone has stolen November which I think is very rude! I made it on Sunday night and I've been going to and coming home from work in the dark so I had to photograph it under floodlight lol.

The background has been embossed in a folder, then I've rubbed over with Versamark and covered with Pan Pastels in silver, and a silver and blue mix.

I've stamped Kisses where the colour changed.

Chilly has been stamped onto Kraft card and colours with Prisma pencils, and Merry Kiss-mas! has also been stamped onto the Kraft.

I'm also linking this to the PanPastel challenge which is cold and frosty colours.

I hope you join in with our stripey challenge, but remember no digi's please.

Thanks very much for looking x

Scrap It!! - With Thanks To Dina Wakley

It's a Magpie day today at Country View Crafts, and the theme is to use up your scraps. I must admit to having the odd bag or two of offcuts, so this is what I came up with.

I've recently bought the wonderful Art Journal Freedom book by Dina Wakley and she has a full step by step on how to make this journal with scraps. I'm not going to give away any secrets, other than you NEED this book.

Here's my pile of scraps, it was fun looking through them and remembering what I originally made.

Coming together....

My sewing machine was a real hero!

And here's the inside.
I have to admit it took me hours to make, but I really enjoyed it. It was one of those projects that I looked at and though 'I can't do that', but I did and and really happy with it.
Hope you like it, and thanks very much for looking x

I Only Have Eyes For You

The wonderful and very talented France is this weeks hostess at Stampotique, and she wants us to bring out the bling!

For the longest time, bling in arting was something I stayed as far away from as I could. I don't know how it happened or when, but I suddenly started to add touches of bling on almost every project. And guess what? I love it!

Now you might still be in that first place I was in, or you might be an avid bling user, but for this week's challenge I would like to see you use some bling! Be it a shiny ink spray, glitters you add or an iridescent paint effect, add some bling to your project!

It will for sure lighten up those days that are getting shorter and darker for us who are getting closer to winter!

I thought maybe the Statue of Liberty could do with a touch of bling, so I've given her a coat of Ferro.

The background is Aqua Tint, that have been sprayed with water. I've used France's stars from Design Cube, this seems to be turning into one of my 'go to' stamps. I've also used France's Cityscape. I've been a grown up crafter this week and did some masking - this is wayyyy too technical for me lol.

I though it could do with a few words so as the lyrics 'Are The Stars Out Tonight' were going around my head 'I Only Have Eyes For You' seemed to be a good starting point. This song is 80 years old! They don't write 'em like this anymore.

Ooops drifted off for an hour or so there listening to some old Northern Soul tunes lol Oh to be young and thin again - and they don't make 'em like that anymore either!

Hope you can join in our blingy challenge, c'mon it'll be fun. 

Thanks very much for looking xx