A Watery Theme

For September we have the theme of "Water", which enabled me to rifle through my pretty Stampscapes stamps...Yummo!

I had a brayered piece of card laying around in my backgrounds box which had a bit of blue in it so decided to stamp the creek scene on top. Once done, I thought it looked really anaemic! BUT....I pulled out the Micro Glaze and rubbed and polished it. What an enormous difference. The piece really is very vibrant now and very pretty.

The wording was stamped on a scrap piece and dealt in the same manner. It is from Darkroom Door.

I do have to apologise for the quality of the photo...but it is gloss card, which is always a right royal pain to photograph, but the weather is not helping here either! The only way to avoid getting a light splotch is to take the photo at an angle. But, I am sure you still get the drift!

What do you think?

All Things Egyptian!

Coming through to July, the theme is "All Things Egyptian". Now, this is a very hard one for me to do, as I own all of TWO Egyptian stamps.

Here is one of them. A tasteful nude stamped onto an alcohol ink background. The hieroglyphics was stamped again on to the yellow/green alcohol ink background and positioned to the side.

I realise this won't be to everyone's taste, but I just went with the flow on this one!

The Feel of Winter

And we come to July's theme which is "The Feel of Winter". Well, July is the middle of winter for Australians and I would so much love to experience a full winter with snowwwww! We didn't even get cold days last year!

I put a piece of blue card thought the Cuttlebug using the snowflakes embossing folder and then swiped white ink over the top to highlight the embossed bits. I then stamped and embossed SU snowmen, coloured with Prisma pencils and smoothed out with odourless mineral solvent. The very old PSX stamp I had was really too big for the ATC, so I stamped it on white Shrink Plastic, cut it carefully in half, shrank it and it was then small enough, in two pieces, for me to use.

I brightened the whole thing up with Kindy Glitz and a little bit of grosgrain. What do you think?

Brayered and Sponged Moonlight Sky

And for June we have the theme "Sky".

Here is my interpretation. I have brayered and sponged a la Michelle Zindorf style to get the background. Then, overstamped using a SU leaf, gel penned parts of the leaf to imitate the moonlight and stamped part of an Amazing Creation sentiment in the corner and added a dragonfly just coz.

I remember my friend Cheryll and I sitting down one day to have a go at this style of stamping.....It takes some practice but worth it in the end I think....I think the background came from one of pieces back then and from memory we were trying to follow a tutorial closely!

I like this one the best of all the ATCs done so far!

ATC Theme Australiana

Here is the next in my series of ATCs. The theme for May will be Australiana...so I have chosen the old outside dunny as my feature stamp, surrounded with gum nuts and gum leaves.

The main image and gum leaves are Stamp World stamps and the little gum nuts are part of a Krafty Lady stamp. I covered the leaves in Versamark and clear embossed them before cutting them out. The main image is coloured with Prisma pencils and softened out with odourless mineral solvent. The roof of the dunny is stamped and paper pieced cork.

There are a few layers to this one, but I enjoyed creating the dimension.

I know the Aussies will get this....but I will be curious to see the comments of my o/s mates!

ATC for April

Good morning everyone,

The theme for April is "Urban". I had this Eclectic Image stamp of some city buildings which I thought would be ideal for this theme. I didn't want to laboriously colour, so I made a H2O water wash background on watercolour paper. Then I stamped the image in India Ink, edged the border with gold Krylon pen and layered onto black and then the base colour.

This one, I have been tossing up. I am in two minds about whether it needs more and if so, what? So, my fellow bloggers, please feel free to give me a suggestion or two...I have tried a few teeny tiny words...but they cover the image too much, as does ribbon.

ATC for March

Good morning everyone,

A simple one for this one. The March theme is Rainforests. Now I live in the tropics, so I am well aware that one must be very careful of tipping one's toes into the water. It may be hot. It may be muggy. It may look like a lovely little waterhole in the middle of the rainforest.

Yeah.....not this little black duck. No sirreeeee! We do have many warning signs around...which tourists love to nick. We are all still trying to figure out why the signs all have "warning" in English and then in German???? Is Achtung a universally acknowledged word for "watch out"?

The stamp is made by Amazing Creations and has been quickly coloured using Prisma Pencils. The whole thing didn't need much colouring. All edges except the base have been distressed.....which is what you would be if you met one of these chompers!

ATC for February

Here is my ATC for the month of February. The theme for February is Asian. I stamped the image in ....guess??????...Yep! India ink, once on the pale grey card and once on the Yuzen paper. Same with the little Non Sequitor symbol.

I then paper pieced parts of both images. I added some gold Krylon pen to the top and bottom of the grey card and layered on to the Yuzen paper. Finally, I added some pale peach coloured pearls here and there.

I know it isn't the "traditional" colour scheme, but I think this one works pretty well. What do you think?

ATC For January

Good morning all,

Here is the first of a series of ATCs which I am making for my Yahoo/Stamping Group ACTSA.

The theme for January was "The Beach", which could encompass anything which reminds you of the beach. Well, in my case, since I cannot swim in the waters around here (too many munchy things to get me...read....crocs, sharks and stingers!), I immediately think of fishing.

The little fish stamp is made by Stamp It Australia. I have stamped in India Ink....yeah ...yeah....I am gunna hide it soon.....coloured with H2Os and then applied ultra fine micro beads over the lot to give the appearance of water.

The background piece was the same technique as yesterday but with a totally different mood. The Pearlex here is just gorgeous!.

I added some cord, a little word from Stamps By Judith, raised the main focal image with DSFT and called it quits.

What do you think?

Love is in the Air

Good Morning all,

I also had this Cuttlebugged background made up, so decided it really should be showcased.

I was gifted the little Penny Black image which I have stamped in India Ink. I think I had better hide the India Ink. It is making me lazy! I also stamped the Hero Arts sentiment in the same.

The Cuttlebug background was made by brayering Kaleidacolour ink directly onto the Cuttlebug embossing folder and then running it through the Cuttlebug machine. Pretty nifty, eh?

A bit of DSFT to raise the main image, some grosgrain and a buckle and the card is done.

Penguin Chick!

Good morning everyone,

Here is a fun card made using up some of the many scraps I have laying around. (Except for the base card),

I had made the Acetate/Pearlex background some time ago, but yesterday it decided to appeal to me and so here we are!

The little stamp featured is Penguin Chick by Imaginisce. I also picked up the Penguin Dude when I bought her, so I had a matching pair. They are really cute! I stamped her up in India Ink, mainly because that was on my table and quickly coloured her with Prisma Pencils. A bit of layering and I was done.

She is a bit bright...but then ....if I go outside....It is so bright it hurts your eyes...so, I thought the bright colours were in keeping with my days!

New Colourbox Chalk Pad

I recently acquired one of the new Colourbox Chalk inkpads called Grey Whale and wanted to see what it looked like. Here I have stamped my Coronado Island elephant and wording in the Grey Whale on a pale grey Bazzill cardstock.

I quickly roughed up the edges with my trusty distresser and layered with DSFT. I did use the Nesties to get the rectangles for the main image. I love those Nesties....takes all the worry out of cutting straight!

I added a little diamante to make my elephant an Indian one!

For those interested, I am a retailer for Colourbox stuff.

A Watery Scene

Afternoon all,

Don't you just love Stampscape stamps? So much potential.

I have used Marvy Markers, Colourbox Stylus Tips and tool to create the background shading with India ink to overstamp the scenery elements to create this really pretty scene. The best bit is rubbing micro glaze over the tope when done and buffing it all to a beautiful shine.

This card is destined to go o/s as a RAK to someone in my Ladies, Ink blog group.

Recessed Window 1

Good afternoon everyone,

Something totally different today! This is a recessed window card which I found the instructions for at SCS. The camera really doesn't have the recessed part show up too well...but the man collaged image is indented 1/4" into the card.

I slipped a torn piece of vellum in between the DP and the card front. It was stamped and sponged with an unknown UM text stamp with Colourbox Dark Brown ink.

The focal image is also stamped in D. Brown ink on the reverse side of the DP. Can anyone help me with the manufacturer of the UM please?

I Opalised the chipboard (from Collections), which has a couple of beads thrown on top of the second last layer to add a little bit of texture...would have had more texture 'cept I burned my finger, so decided it could well do without! The little ruler embellishments come from Collections, a great Australian company which specialises in ephemera. Email me if you are interested in anything from her, as I am one of her retailers.

The only thing totally not male is the butterfly embellishment....Though my hubby would say I was being sexist! He loves the really pretty ones we get around here!

One Sheet Baggie

Hello there,

Here is my first attempt/protype/practise one sheet bag. The tutorial for this bag can be found here http://splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/one_sheet_box/

The stamps used here are from an old SU set and were stamped in Colourbox Dark Brown.

I have been thinking I would have loved to have all this knowledge many years ago when I was still teaching in the primary sector. We could have played with paper ALL year and not revisit or get bored!

Just a quick project today as I have been rearranging my dungeon (aka art room) since my air con is getting right up my nose....literally! The new one either blows lovely cold air at my work or straight at my head! (My old one did not do this!) This has forced me to have a bit of a think as to how to sort out my area without being blown to Timbuktu. I have finished the task and now must get ready for a webinar tonight....learning how to make the website stuff.

*** Not sure that I should have attempted to do that rearranging. Yes, Cheryll! I am now extremely sore and more than a bit brittle!***

Pretty in Pink

Not the best photo...SO I will retake it in the morning. Just wanted to use my new PB stamps. A fun card. No techniques, no whizz bang....Just slapped together!


***Edited*** I have retaken the photo...outside in the brilliant yet very hot sunshine and now it is so much better. I would like all my visitors to take note that Michelle put something on an angle!!!!!!.....and wasn't THAT hard for me to get around!

An Easel Card! Fancy That!!!

Now are you surprised?

Here is my third easel card for showing. A fun one, I am sure you will agree. The image is by American Art Stamps. I have quite a few of these quirky stamps and find they are just right for certain moods! I coloured with Marvy Markers and an aqua brush and used some old DP I had laying around. I DID have to manipulate the sizing to bear with a larger square but didn't find that too hard to manipulate.

I DID have trouble trying to get the Bazzill Pansy to be the right colour (I didn't get to take the piccie until late afternoon)...and have had a go at Photoshop to correct it....The jury is out on the result!

Open and Standing on the Easel

Closed Ready for Posting

What do you think?

Another Easel Card Variation

Open and on the Easel

Laid Entirely Flat

Good morning everyone,

I have been playing with the Easel card form, some more. I varied the dimensions to suit the stamped image.

I had this set of flowers already stamped up from a little while ago and decided to see if I could incorporate them into this format. The main image stamps are from Stamps By Judith. The little wording on the main panel is by SU and the main wording at the bottom of the easel is by Hero Arts. I like to spread my manufacturers around....NOTHING like variety! Stamping was done using Adirondack Denim and Kaleidacolour Spectrum inks.

The sun is shining so brightly today, it actually hurts your eyes to be out in it. Very hot and humid, the tennis is on the telly and the dungeon (aka, Shell's Art Room) beckons. Have a great day, all!

Easel Card

Sitting as an Easel.

Laid totally flat.

Closed for Posting.

Hi all.

I hope everyone had a marvellous Xmas break. I sure did! But now, I am ready to stamp, BIG TIME!

Here is the Easel card I finished off this morning, using a Split Coast tutorial by Beate Johns, found here http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/easelcard/ . I have really enjoyed making this, so now I know the way, be warned. I will be doing more.

As you can see, I have now used my birthday prezzie from my friends (obviously also stampers!!!!!). I guess I need a little practise with the sewing machine, but this little Sew Mini sits on my desk beautifully, so I don't have to take it out and put it away all the time. THAT has to be a great selling point!

Stamps used in my creation are by Darkroom Door from the set DDRS005 Wildflower, with the reeds from Stampscapes. All stamping was done using Colourbox Dark Brown Chalk Ink.

Off to create some more and watch the tennis. I LOVE tennis season.