Madras Stamping Continued

This one is much more subtle as the Kaleidacolour really softened heaps overnight. I am unsure of the stamp manufacturer here as it was a borrowed stamp used in a stamp session at another stamper's house! It is wonderful to be able to have the opportunity to have sessions such as these, though they are quite rare for me due to me living in the sticks!

Madras Stamping

How's the new look? I love it! I haven't finished tweaking it yet but it is ever so interesting to watch it all evolve! I have always thought two columns was such a waste of space. Many thanks to Libby Dyson for steering me in the right direction!

Today, I would like to share some Madras stamping. For those of you who do not use their brayer, you truly are missing out on a great tool and heaps of super effects.

It was effortless to achieve this lovely sunset look with the Printblocks African Tree perfect for the image. I hummed and harred about adding embellishments with this one but decided I wanted to showcase the colour...not take away from it.

Rehabilitating

I am rehabilitating, so the cards I will be doing for the next 6 weeks will be a simple as possible as I have no wish to injure my shoulder again. I am on a mission to use up scraps. I have so much scrap that I could open a shop with it. I am going to try ever so hard NOT to cut into an entire new piece of card from now until Xmas...except for when my mate Cheryll comes to visit and then all bets are off!

This card is using the same set as the other day...Retros Fifties from http://www.pinkcatstudio.com/Stamps/Retro50s.htm Well...I still had all the stuff out so thought....why not? You cannot see but the scarf is glittered slightly with crystal glitter and there is a little bling dot holding her belt to the dress. The wording is raised ever so slightly. As always much prettier in hand than looking at a photo. She has been coloured with Twinkling H2O's as this colouring system had the exact matches to the pinks and browns!

I have had a busy few days! My sister in law arrived with her grandson who hails from America. He was born here and did not go over there straight away but you would not know coz he has no Australian accent at all left. I find it interesting that, say an Englishman can hold his accent here after 40 years, but us Aussies lose our accent almost totally within a certain frame of time.

The Drought is Over!!!!!

Yipppppeeeeee!!!!

The drought is over. I have made my first card since late August. I did take it slowly so as not to damage my shoulder, and I must say that I totally enjoyed puddling around. I was only up to the one of course and it did take a while coz of the little rests in between....but I was determined!


Main fact is of course, that I am going stir crazy! One dreams of just laying around and doing nothing but after the teeniest of whiles the polish gets rubbed off the idea and rust settles in! I am hoping sincerely the other shoulder never has to be operated on!

Ok...to my card! I have this fabulous set from Pink Cat Studios http://www.pinkcatstudio.com/Stamps/Retro50s.htm which I have owned for so long and finally used portions of it to do this card. I know it is a 50's theme but it always conjures up images of Olivia Newton John and the movie "Grease"!

Me!!!!

This is just for Grace!

I hate having piccies taken and am normally found behind the camera! But, at a very recent gathering I was caught on film and for once I actually don't mind how it turned out! So am sharing!!!!

Magella's 21st

Hi there,

I have been out of action for this month due to a very painful shoulder operation. I am now on the road of recovery and currently cursing the physio who is the harbringer of more pain apparently for the greater good down the track somewhere. I do hope the light at the end of the tunnel is nice and bright.

We celebrated the 21st of our beautiful daughter, Magella this weekend just past and I would like to share with you the signature book I made for her for the night. Since my scanner has a teenie problem with the colour purple, I decided to photograph it instead. Ok, now I am certain the colour purple is just a troublesome colour coz it isn't really the right shade of purple as in real life. There is a set of three keys dangling from the front of the book which you can just see if you are really good!

Here are Ashley and Magella. When looking at the party photos who was in 90% of them?....

Ashley!!!

He followed the photographers around and stuck his mug in every one he could. Toad! Must think his chubby cheeks are ready for Make Me A Super Model!

Here are Melissa, Ashes girlfriend, Magella and Carl. (Note: Ash WAS supposed to be in this one!)

The Dungeon

Hi...Today, I thought I would share with you my creative space. I have a dedicated area, commonly known as "The Dungeon!". It is a long, skinny room not good for much at all. Hence, I nabbed it for me when were renovating. I have taken piccies anti-clockwise from the door. The entire long side unseen is cupboards (floor to ceiling, so of no interest here!)

The craft cabinets you see in picture one are just delightful. You have no idea just how much stash you can cram into all these wonderful drawers and it makes the room look quite funky too. I retail these cupboards, but you do need to save up for them coz they are not cheap. In saying that, I have had mine for 6 months now and think they are the best thing I have bought yet! Why? Well hubby thinks I only have so much stuff....but tis very, very deceptive the amount actually there in those little cupboards!

Hubby also put up two cork boards so I could display a few of the many items found in the dungeon. The phone has now been displaced to another room...thank goodness! I used to have my computer in this same room, hence needed the phone, but now I have wireless broadband, so turfed the computer and the phone to elsewhere, freeing up oodles more space in here!

Because I also have a little stamping and papercraft business and because I do need to have lots of card on hand, I also bought the great paper shelving. The wire racks hold patterned paper but the big shelves are chokka block with Bazzill paper. Looks like a giant rainbow, doesn't it?

Under the TV is a very heavy A4 cupboard being hidden in the piccie by a rainbow piece of material. The desk belongs to the same craft cabinet range and is absolutely the greatest idea. With this desk, you can load up all the essentials in the one and two inch drawers and know you don't have to get up every five seconds in pursuit of yet another something necessary in the creative process! In the tall plastic containers next to the desk, I hold most of my inkpads.

The shelves, I had to be extra patient in waiting for, but eventually hubby gave in....after.....I bought the ready made equipment and propped them up against the wall with the comment I was going to try and do it....Well, that got the ball rolling and he finally put them up for me. The extra long table I have had for squillions of years and comes in handy for drying wet work, major cutting projects and using the die cutter and embossing machines.

Under the table are 6 long boxes where I hold stock (plus lots in the cupboards, unseen)...Stuff I am not allowed to get into!

I know it is always great to check out somone else's space, so I hope you have enjoyed looking at mine!

This one is my favourites...Must be the bling and colour coming to the fore! Just shows that the card can be presented in both horizontal and vertical formats. Penny Black, StampIt Australia and Vamp Stamp stamps were used. Prisma Colouring pencils and H2O's were used to enchance the colour.

The stamps from Coronado are just fabulous and always stamp well. I think adding a charm to the knot at the bottom would further enhance the card along with the merest shading of the sails and the sea! All in all, though, it doesn't look half bad as is! As I was visiting another stamper at the time, I did not want to use up all her resources.

Well, I saw something very similar online for this card. Four of us experienced stampers tried to make it from directions we had found, but found there were mistakes. Starting from scratch and checking out one made as a RAK (only smaller), we finally came up with a formula that we could all live with. And....Here are the results! Firstly the card is presented closed and then secondly, opened, after you pull the cord at one end. The GanGangs (from Coronado Stamps) need no further colouring!

Well, here is trouble.... x .....5! Where is Judy?? We should have trouble ...x .....6! Anyways, here is (from the left....Cheryll, Helen, Jackie, Grace and myself as we were packing up after the Clayton's Camp in Canberra late July 2008. As you can see from the gear we have on, it was mighty cold! Smiles all round, though, as there always is at a stamp camp....No husbands or kids annoying us for two whole days. Bliss....Mega Bliss!!!!

I recently got in the monochromatic olives so had to play with them. Stamps used are Hero Arts Flower and Verses Sympathy Stamp. Everything was stamped and aged using the good old Black StaZon pad. The scanner doesn't do the colours justice, I must say!

This card uses a variety of companies...Stamps by Judith Dragonfly, Stamp It Wording, Stampendous Agapanthus and Hero Arts Wavy Sentiment. The tags were created using the Bigshot Scallop Dies (Medium). All stamping was achieved either with White Brilliance or Black StaZon inks. Torn vellum breaks it up in one of the layers.

...

These two cards were the other half of my stamping day today....The other half were two of the boots below. I had 12 people attending which was very heartening indeed, certainly as it has come at a time when I was debating continuing with my classes and my little business.

...

Now I have to put some effort into making 40 odd ATC's for the camp I am attending in Canberra at the end of July. Before I know it, it will be upon me and the jolly things won't be done! I thought...grand plan this...that I would begin after class today! Yeah, right! Famous last words! Wonder if I can report back this time next week with a progress thing??

Hope you enjoy looking.

Michelle

Continuing on with the "Boot" theme here! I used the Diecut with a View glitter paper for the patterned part of this card. The beads and glitter were adhered using that very, very, very tacky tape. It was a little tricky to lay it exactly where I wanted it, but worth the effort in the end. It is simple, this one, but looks really lovely IRL. I was going to add more stuff to it, but left it overnight & I now feel it is just right.

Another boot...well fancy that!

I used the DTP technique and ironed it out to get the pretty part of the boot here. Adding the boot trimmings really set this card off.

What? Another boot! Ok...Last one for a while. I may have gotten them out of my system for a while...

This one was made using Jo Sonja paints and the Faux Leather technique which I just adore. The little embossed flower was just the thing to finish the card.

Enough of boots now. They were lots of fun to make and are for someone who likes something just that little bit different.

Post Note: No looking Leigh!

I have been playing with the old boot template and here is the prototype I have come up with. The paper has been created using Adirondack Cranberry with an overlay of Brilliance Gold & Silver. The paper was crumpled with each overlay and ironed flat at the end so I could use it easily for the template. The stamp is a little Collections motif...perfect for this card! I will be teaching this at class next Monday and so have a few more to try out before I settle on a couple which I hope will be good enough.

This card is a big variation on one I saw in the latest Hero Arts catalogue. HA have some really lovely stuff out there now, which is so pleasing to see. I wanted to showcase the flower and the stem and also play with the Nestabilities (seen here with the wording). If you haven't seen or played with Nestabilities then you are missing out on something quite special in the world of card making. I am lucky enough to be able to offer them through my shop!

Isn't this card just so clever? You open up the front panel (which is the one with the stripes and flower), the open up the left panel (which is the one with the dots only), to find the message inside.

I did this using Kaiser papers...purposely nice and bright! I was trying very hard NOT to wander off and use my favourite colours...sigh...always hard to keep me from my favourite colours!

This little fellow is designed to be used using scrap card (of which we always end up with ...let me see....just a little weenie tiny pile...yeah right!). It is made with 3 x 10cm squares with one side tucking into the other so it will stand alone. There is enough room in the middle to stamp a small wording and also to jot something down!

Lastly, good old pink and brown...cannot beat the combination for creating a great effect! Again using the Nestabilities and the flower stamp which was being showcased today.

I am hoping all the ladies who attended the class today went away with something they were pleased with.

Thanks for looking.

I have playing with the end purpose of conquering the Grid Technique, which I have finally done. The weight of the card has the biggest effect on the results you achieve. Until I went to the heavy stuff I so wasn't getting anywhere. I have done grid work before, just not this particular technique. I shall be doing more now I have it under wraps. The scanner has not done the best job at picking up the gorgeous Brilliance inks but I am sure you get the idea!

I am off to a wedding later on this afternoon and this is the card I made for the lovely bride (I taught this young lady in Grade 1 so it is a very special day indeed!!! I saw one similar on a friend's blog (waving to Frances- Stamp Owl!). Here I have changed the colours used, the stamps , the ribbon and the corners to make it my own creation. I know the bride's colours are chocolate but today I really did want to work in my favourite colour scheme...something with maroon in it! I do think it turned out rather nicely too.

Here are the cards I had my class do on Monday. The platypus and beach scene are both using the cracked glass technique. I did not use UTEE/Opals as when experimenting with the tech, I could not get the pieces to crack at all. (I have decided it is coz of the weather where I live.) I used, instead, just plain old clear embossing powder with 3-4 layers. For anyone else who lives in a very hot climate like I do, here is the best hint for this technique.... Put your piece in the freezer, leave it there for a good 15-20 minutes. When you are ready, pick the piece up and very quickly crack...Do this with your hands and the piece inside the freezer! The piece will warm too quickly if you even walk from freezer to table and then it will be too warm to do any cracking. It will bend but not crack! By doing the cracking quickly in the freezer, you have a better chance of the piece remaining very cold, which it needs to be (as it is most brittle when cold).

These last two are using the serviette technique with mod podge as the glue base. Both cards are made using two panels of the serviettes, as the main image in each is raised after being cut out. This tech is something I learned many years ago and I can safely say I truly look at serviettes with a very critical eye! I have been known to confiscate serviettes when out to dinner, coz they have been far too "interesting" for the folks to use to mop up dinner spills! When travelling, I am always on the lookout for that something different. I always find, the shops in one's own backyard tend to get the same old same old!

Like always, these cards look much more impressive IRL, but I am sure you get the idea!

Thanks for looking.

Ok then, I have been away to the Gold Coast to tutor at a stamp camp, so have been inactive here as a result. Camp was really great. Much mayhem and good laughs to be had whilst a lot of learning was going on. It was a good experience to have to teach in front of more than twenty ladies....much different from the days of teaching 10 year olds, and I must say, much more enjoyable. Many thanks to Jackie McGee for inviting me to teach and for thinking that I was good enough to do so.

I then went to Brisbane Paper Arts which really was such a bomb. Only 18 exhibitors (not at all the exhibitors fault, mind you!) Where are stamping classes?? One would think there is only scrapping on this planet at this moment in time. Nothing wrong with scrapping, but it is not the only paper art out there!!!!

Anyway, back home....Whilst hubby went slashing yesterday, I took the opportunity to rustle up a few ATCs...5, in fact for ACTSA...a Canberran group I belong to. They have a monthly ATC swap which I agreed to do at the beginning of the year. I will not be stamping for 6-8 weeks after I get my wrist operated on, so am trying to get myself ahead.

As soon as hubby buzzes off tomorrow to play with his tractors I am going to get stuck into making covers for the construction technique book I am currently hosting. I also have to rustle up a couple of classes of cards...have a few ideas rolling...so hopefully that will not be too bad a task! All these things must be completed within the next couple of weeks...coz I sure do not see me doing anything left handed~!~

Anyway, here are the ATCs I made yesterday...Enjoy,Michelle...Oh and feel free to comment!

All but the puppy, open to an inner space.

I love the closure on this card. It simply slips over the top and keeps the card in place. It has great potential in the decorating stakes, though this one is probably as simple as it will get. The colours used here were all deliberately toned down.

I have the day to myself today (usually famous last words on my part!), so am trying to finish off my pages in a construction technique swap I am hosting, before going out to dinner tonight.

Today is a red letter day in my family. My youngest, Ashley, is moving into town, twenty minutes away. I am wondering how long he will survive until he realises it is way expensive to live away from home (on a 2nd year apprenticeship wage). He may prove me wrong and thrive!! I still have my other kiddliwink, Magella, at home (she does not look like moving until she is old and grey!)

Hot, humid and sunny today and that will help with drying out everything. My electricity bill though will continue to be poxy, coz the air con will have to back on pretty soon!

Hope ye all have a great day!

Here is another trifold card, this time using a tag and ribbon closure. These cards are impressive but really easy to make. They are extremely suited to double sided paper as long as that paper doesn't have a high gsm (makes them too heavy).

When I finish the other two in the series I will pop them on here too!

Hope you like these first two.

Well I have been absent for a while, very busy with a community event (a Trivial Pursuit night)and wedding invitations.

Both things are now firmly behind me and I look towards the next lot of things on my "to do" list!!!

Here is a trifold card I did last week, using Kaiser double sided papers. It is very pretty in real life. This one closes uses ribbon on the right side. I shall upload another using a different closure soon.

Just when we thought we could dry out from the deluges we have been copping, it has begun again! Absolutely eveything around here is mouldy and damp...except my "dungeon" aka art room! I keep it closed up and have the air con most of the time, plus the extra precaution of having my "stuff" well packed away.

Been playing with the rollagraph wheels of late, getting ready for a class with them tomorrow. This wheel makes for a great male card. Male cards seem to be just a tad harder to achieve for a lot of stampers, but feedback from males themselves tells me they do like colour and wonder why us stampers restrict the making to browns!!!

This card is another using rollagraph wheels. I try to keep the cards made for class quite simple as I have a range of abilities to cater for and don't want to frighten the beginners away by making the degree of difficulty too high.

I am, also, endeavouring this month, to stay away from the red colour family. I tell you, it has been the biggest challenge, as I naturally gravitate to maroon especially!