Feeling Craby For Ink Art Designs

Good morning and happy Monday. I'm back with my second piece for Ink Art Designs, and this time I've made a mini album.

I've used Tonic dies and some wonderful You Tube videos by Jodie Johnson to make my album. It was my first attempt, and although there are things that I will do slightly differently next time, I'm still pleased with the result.

I've made a 3 page book so the spine doesn't need to be too thick. Luckily these Art By Marlene die cuts fit perfectly!

 I knew that Lenny Krabitz was going to be the star of my journal cover, so I needed a background for him. As always I over thought it, I was like 'do crabs live in the sea or on the beach...' Well obviously both, so do I need a sandy background or the sea.... aarrrgghh!

Anyhow I settled for a beachy background. This is one that I'd made a while ago with marbling inks.

 Here's Lenny stamped on another sheet. Although he looks quite fiddly he's not actually that difficult to cut out.

When I said I'd made a background, I actually made quite a few (dozen). Well it's not worth getting all the marbling kit out just to make one or two is it lol.

 This is the die cut album cover, stamped with some of Marlene's background clear stamps.

 And here are my nippy little crabs!

 Everyone looks better with googly eyes - except me, I don't look so good with them!

 I think they look really nice on the marbled backgrounds.

You can imagine them just waiting for some poor unsuspecting toes to walk by...

Just click on the logo to visit the store where you'll find all the stamps that I've used plus many, many more.

Please join in with our challenge over there. The rules are very simple, and there's your choice of stamp to be won.

Have a fun week, and thanks very much for looking x

Embrace Life

Good morning and happy Thursday. Today I'm sharing my second piece for the Country View Crafts 'texture' challenge. 

I started with some Distress Inks and Ink Dusters as I wanted some subtle stencilling.

 I used the Craftascope Flower Flurry stencil to create a border.

I wanted something a bit punchier for my outer layer, so used a black archival inkpad and the Retro Fun stencil.

 Then I prepared a piece of hessian as I wanted a bit of a rustic look and feel. I cut it as neatly as I could, stitched around, and then frayed the edges.

 With the backgrounds done it was time to make some flowers. I did some very basic finger painting with some Fresco paints and mixed media paper. I learned this in a Tracy Scott class and it's one of my favourite techniques.

 I also stamped and die cut some Craftascope leaves out of felt. Note to self - buy more felt!

 I also wanted to use some funky foam, so out came the Retro Leaves die set.

 So I now had lots of leaves...

 And lots of flowers.

 And when you put it all together we have a wall hanging for my craft room. It's A3 so it feels a spot.

 These colours and textures just make me happy!

The sentiment says it all.

I hope you like it, and that you join in with our challenge over at Country View Crafts.
Have a great week, and thanks very much for looking x

Be Crazy

Good afternoon and happy Saturday. I've been having another play with my IndigoBlu Ragtime journal and my Lost Coast Designs and Carmens Veranda stamps.

I'm definitely hooked on this journal now, it's so robust and a really lovely size to be able to make something even if you don't have all day (I'm the slowest crafter in the whole world 'cos I have the attention span of a gnat so I tend to....     lose my train of thought!)

I'm entering my lovely flower into the Lost Coast Designs 'anything goes challenge'

Have a lovely weekend whatever you are doing, and thanks very much for looking x

It's Rag Time

Good morning and happy Thursday. Yesterday I had a play with an IndigoBlu ragtime concertina journal and I love it. This paper really does take everything that you throw at it and then some.

Here's my first page.

I'm entering it into the 'Anything Goes' challenge at Lost Coast Designs. It's been a while since I played with these stamps, and I really enjoyed them yesterday.

Have a very happy day, and thanks very much for looking x

Illuminate The Dark For Ink Art Designs

Good morning and happy Wednesday. I hope that the sun is shining wherever you are. I'm over at Ink Art Designs today with my Art By Marlene journal page.

 I knew that I wanted a bright, colourful page, so I chose a 12x12 stencil and my HUGE gelli plate. It's not often it gets out of the cupboard, so it had a nice day out!

 This time I'm working in my large Art By Marlene journal, so this is an A4 page. Again it's the first page in the journal so I'm being very bold lol.

 When my paint was dry I added some texture paste through more Art By Marlene stencils. I love the Izink pastes as the colours are so vibrant and they dry really quickly. 

 And here's my lovely cyclist. I did a spot of my favourite fussy cutting around the bicycle, and paper pieced her dress with some of Marlene's collage paper.

I did a bit of background stamping too with Art By Marlene clear stamps.

 And we're all finished! I really like these journals as the pages come out so they're much easier to use.

Just click on the picture above to be whisked away to Dot's store where you'll find all of the stamps that I've used plus many more.

Have a wonderful week, and thanks very much for looking x

Be A Unicorn

Good morning and happy Thursday. As I'm typing this we are in the middle of the most ridiculously hot weather EVER. We've had hot with sunshine, hot with cloud, and hot with thunder and lightening! I shouldn't be complaining should I, it is Summer after all.

It's also time for a new challenge over at Country View Crafts, and this time the lovely Miriam has chosen Texture. As it's also birthday card season part 2, I made a card for my niece.

I don't see my niece as often as I would like as she lives at the other end of the country, so I never know if she is going through a 'girly girl' or a 'grunge' phase, but everyone likes unicorns right?...

I started with my Distress Inks  and Oxides  in the same colours, and made an inky background.

 Then I used some thinlits dies to chop areas out. I also stamped the Pink Ink Designs unicorn stamp directly to the card. I stamped it again on a blue background and chopped out shapes and layered them over the original.

To add more texture I choped teeny tiny circles out of different scraps of card and added them.

 Of course every unicorn needs a horn, otherwise it's just, well... a horse! I like the pink one, Neil liked the multicoloured one, so of course it had to be the blue!

 Horn in place, and stitching and sequins for more texture and we just need a sentiment.

We all need to be unicorns in a field of horses don't we. 

This was a fun challenge though it really made me think, which is all good isn't it.

I hope you join in with us, just show us your texture and you could be our lucky winner who gets a £20.00 gift certificate to spend in the store.

Have a very happy week, and thanks so much for looking. 

Open Your Eyes for Ink Art Designs

Good morning and happy Monday. It's my turn to share my second inspiration piece with you for Ink Art Designs, and this time I've gone with some Visible Image stamps.

 I started by stamping the main image from the See Everything plate onto the first page of my previously unopened Art by Marlene small watercolour journal. No pressure there then!

I coloured the image very carefully with my water colour paints, but as this left lots of scary white space, I stamped some of the smaller stamps from other Visible Image sets around the edges.  I liked this more now, but felt like the oringinal stamp had got lost so....

 Time to chop it up! 

I cut the eye out of the page, chopped a teeny tiny bit off each edge, and matted the page onto some black card. The page is now the same size as all the others, and has a nice black border. Then I die cut the circle with a smaller one to make a frame to put around the main eye image.

Of course everything looks better with a little stitching! I also added some Glossy Accents to the pupil, and rather than risking sticking my thumb into it whilst checking to see if it was dry or not, I closed the door and walked away for the night.

And in the morning it was all dry! It must be my only project with Glossy Accents that doesn't have a finger print in lol. I just added a bit of stitching around the edges and we are all done - 1st page in the book!

Please head on over to Dot's challenge, the rules are very simple, and there's rubber (or clear polymer) to be won.
I'm entering this into the Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge 'not a card' 
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday, 'make your own background'
and the Craft Stamper TIMI July challenge 'anything goes'

Have a wonderful day, and thanks very much for looking x

Be Careful What You Wish For

Good morning and happy Wednesday. I'm really happy to be sharing my second inspiration piece for the Country View Crafts 'blues and greens' challenge with you.

 A little while ago Marlene of  'Art by Marlene' fame ran a 'MerMay' event, and one of the prompts was to make yourself into a mermaid. I did this, complete with coffee cup and spare glasses, and my son thought it was hilarious (in a good way) and jokingly said that that was what he wanted on his birthday card. Well...

Why just put myself on when I can put us both on!

The background has been made with Distress Inks in blues and greens then I've cut holes to make the shaker portholes and used the nuts and bolts from the Tim Holtz Stempunk Parts bigz die. It really bugs me that I've only put 4 on each, but by the time I'd realised that something was wrong it was all stuck down, and I knew that I would only make it worse trying to fix it.

This is me as a mermaid using an

 Art by Marlene stamp, and a glasses die from a Timmy 'Crazy' set. I don't know what he finds so funny!

And here's my handsome boy decked out in his PaperArtsy Zinski gear. When he saw the card he genuinly didn't recognise himself which is why I'm allowed to blog this lol. The sentiment is from a Rubber Dance set.

And this is the picture that set this all off!

This is such a fun challenge, so I hope that you join in.

Have a wonderful week, and thanks very much for looking x