Curiouser And Curiouser

The challenge this fortnight over at Stampotique is twins, so you need to use the same image twice. So a bit like football, my card is a game of two halves. 
I started by stamping Mushroom Forrest in the middle of a piece of card then tearing it down the middle. One half was then stamped and coloured with bright Pan Pastels and Prisma pens, and the other with various shades of grey.
It's really strange just colouring in greys, and really quite depressing lol, but I like how this side turned out.
I'm also entering this into the Pan Pastel challenge, which is anything goes.
I can't believe England has just lost on penalties again - where was David Beckham when we needed him lol.
Bed time for me now - work in the morning.
Thanks very much for looking x

My Little Book Of....

...well sunshine would be nice, but I'll settle for a day trip to the seaside lol

Out Of The Hat are asking for a mini book, which is something that I have never done - they always look far too fiddly to me, but nothing ventured...

The challenge at Artful Times is Beside The Seaside, and at Crafty Individuals its Summer Ball. Don't you just love it when a plan comes together... The covers were cut from mountboard, and covered with CI papers. The stamp has been inked in blue, the her face bleached out to make her pale and interesting.

This was the inside, lots of Crafty Individual papers, stamps and a little bit of Tims photo reel ribbon.

This is the back, all CI stamps and papers. The sea shell has been stamped and had gilding flakes applied.

From the back all tied up.

This was really good fun to make, and I'm glad I stepped outside my comfort zone.

I'm also entering this into the Stampman challenge which is Time/travel, and Anything Goes which is Around The World/ Travel (I hope a trip to the seaside counts as travel lol.

Thanks very much for looking x

Woo Hoo I Made A Card

What with one thing and another I seem to have had very little 'me' time these last couple of weeks, so it was very nice to get in my craft room (the rather chilly conservatory 'cos surprise surprise it's still raining) and make something.
As it's Summer(?) Sir Tim has brought out a new set of Distress Inks and I didn't want to be rude by not trying them out.
The background is Kanban Kandi Core that's been embossed and sanded. My inky layer has been inked in Squeezed Lemonade and Salty Ocean, and both are my absolute favourites. The top part has been stamped with Tim's Papillon stamp and embossed in white. The bottom has been stamped with a Wendy Vecci stamp, and again embossed in green and white.
The butterflies have been stamped on an old book page, and put onto some cheesecloth to give it a bit of texture. The flowers have been cut out of more Kandi Core.

My butterflies have been painted with VerDay paint and sprayed with the patina solution. It was meant to give it a nice verdigris finish, but I think I overdid it with the spray 'cos it's rusted it to within an inch of it's life lol. Actually I think they look quite nice but I need to keep practising with this. The little gem accents are from Prima.
It was really nice to do this, and I'm entering it into the following challenges;
Fashionable Stamping - Nature
Frilly and Funky - Photo Inspiration
Happy Daze - June Bug
Simon Says Stamp And Show - A Bit of Brown 
Pan Pastel - Summertime
Thanks very much for looking and have a fab weekend x

Dum And Dee's Excellent Adventure

Wonderland's all very well and good, but we all need a change from time to time, so Alice and Co have had a day out in Old London Town (cue Phantom Raspberry Blower - you had to be there lol)
The monthly challenge at The Altered Alice is 'Going Postal', so I've made a postcard to commemorate their visit.
My card has been Pan Pastel'd in blues, magenta - lurve this shade, and greens. The stamps are a mixture of Clarity (that's the ATC sized postage stamp top right), Tim Holtz (postcard) Cherry Pie (all of the Alice stamps) Kanban (London and the cancellation stamp). The main image stamps are Creative Journey and Artistic Outpost.
You can imagine the state of my craft room with this load of stamps out, and the bin in overflowing... I wanted to do this on glossy card with a brayered background, but after getting smudgy fingerprints on 5 or 6 I gave up and reached for the Pans. I love the crisp image Versafine gives, but I always smudge.
Check out the amazing artwork at The Altered Alice, and thanks very much for looking x

Men Men Men Men Manly Men....

This blinkin' tune has been going round and round in my head as I made this tag, and I  really DON'T like this programme (Two and a Half Men) either with Charlie Sheen or without him lol.
It's Gabrielle's turn to set the menu for this fortnights TIO recipe, and she's chosen Industrial Chic. This means clockwork/cogs, vintage brown, industrial imagery, and at least 1 real stamp.

I started by breaking out my PaperArtsy Metal on card, and running it through a Timmy embossing folder. This has then been dabbed, splodged and squirted with alcohol inks in Expresso, Caramel, and Ginger.
If you look closely you can see where I have stamped 'Thingamajig' in Archival, then rubbed it off again so that it removes the AI's. 

The Scrollswork stamps have been stamped on some of Tim's Distressables, embossed and cut or torn out. I've embossed the edges with Distress Embossing Powder (I had to blow the dust off this first), but it does kind of fit in with the rusty old industrial feel to this.
The big cog has also been embossed in the DEP's in green first, then brown on top.  I love the sandpapery feel to this.
The smaller one was painted in acrylics in black, orange and brown to try and give it a rusty look. The green and the gold one (needed to use a bit of colour by now) have been stamped and UTEE'd.

I've added a few screw brads, cogs, and the odd propeller, then some manly ribbon to finish off. 
I've really enjoyed using stash that has literally been sat in a tub for years along with the new stuff.
Thanks very much for the recipe Gabrielle, this one was great fun to make. Please have a peek at the TIO blog and join us in making a tag.
I'm entering it into the following challenges, 
Artful Times - Men
The Stampman - Make It For A Man
Simon Says Stamp And Show - Anything Goes.
The Crafty Pad - Lets Hear It For The Boys
My Mojo Monthly - Man Up
Thanks very much for looking x

You Are Now Entering...THE TWILIGHT ZONE!!

Yes I am of the age where I can remember The Twilight Zone, and I LOVED it. Anything a bit weird and spooky is right up my street. The Scrolls Work stamp in the background always reminds me of the opening credits lol.
This is a piece of 6x6 chipboard that I got from a stamp show last year. It's been coloured with Pan Pastels in blues and grey, with a little black around the edges as I was trying for a night sky effect. I then stamped various Scrolls Work and Cherry Pie stamps with embossing ink, and applied bronze and silver paint with bubble wrap and mesh.

Big Moon and Stella (both Stampotique) have been stamped and embossed, then Stella had a liberal dose of Frantage glass glitter sprinkled over her. 
The Tim Holtz sentiment was embossed in white, then the edge torn around and embossed in bronze.
I'm entering this for the following challenges
Fashionable Stamping - Mystical and Very Magical
Lets Ink It Up - Favourite Embellishment - in my case the glass glitter.
I really enjoyed making this, it was good to get the stamps out and get inky again.
Thanks very much for looking x

It's Summertime....

The challenge this time over at Stampotique is to use bright colours. I made my background with Pan Pastels in yellows and oranges, and used various stencils, bubble wrap and bits of plastic to give it some texture. The small bee and butterfly have been stamped and embossed, and the grass has been stamped and sprinkled with gold glass glitter.
Arty has been coloured with Prisma pencils, then covered with Glossy Accents.
This is my own little bit of sunshine, 'cos it's disappeared  again here, and it's blowing a gale. Typical Summer eh!
Thanks very much for looking x

Coming Up Roses

There is a fab article in Craft Stamper this month by Sarah Engels-Greer showing how to make lovely flowers with Kraft Glassine, so I decided to have a go. I've had this for quite a while, and this gave me just the kick start I needed to give it a try.
I really like how the glassine absorbs the inks when you heat it up. The two lower ones are just Kraft Glassine and spacers and brads, and the top one is Kraft Resist and linen.
I've also used the Kraft Resist to make the 'flower pot'. It's been inked with Distress Dabbers in blues and yellows.
The only stamping here is a little text stamp that I've stamped and embossed on the leaves. It was really weird not to stamp, but at least I was surrounded in inks.

I've stuck little bits of twine in the bottom to give it a bit of texture, and some ribbon and lace 'cos this is a birthday card for a very girly girl.
I'm entering this into the following challenges,
Artful Times - Ribbon and Lace
Frilly and Funky - Kraft and Twine
The Crafty Pad - Ribbon
Simon Says Stamp and Show - some texture
Thanks very much for looking x