Sparkly Stuff

Today I have been making something just for my own pleasure, one of the stamps from the new Elusive Images Christmas designs kept popping into my head with thoughts of an ice blue and white colour scheme. At first I was thinking "stamp it on vellum", but when I sat down to have a play with the stamp  I found my hands reaching for some Stamp 'n' Bond and Glitter.... have I ever mentioned that I am addicted to glitter? The stamp in question comes from the Winter Birds themeplate, it's a sort of counter part to the ornate corner stamps which feature on the Angel of Light themeplate, and yes I used one of those fancy corners too.

The dangly square is actually 2 squares, cut with nestablilites, which I stamped and sprinkled Stamp 'n' Bond onto, heated, then applied the glitter.  I edged the squares with a little Tumbled Glass Distress Ink, then stuck them back to back so as no matter which the the dangly bit turned you would see the design.

I cut an apperture in the main card with one of the bigger nesties, edged it with glue and more of the same glitter.  I also stamped the corner stamps in each corner, again using the Stamp 'n' Bond and glitter.  The greeting was created the same way.  The dangly square was suspended on jump rings and a bow at the top finished it off. 

As this weeks challenge on My Time to Craft is "Glitter and Glitz" I have decided to enter my card into the challenge.

WOYWW 62 - I tidied a bit

Ok the mess got to me.... it was getting to be really tricky to make anything without loosing stuff I was actually trying to use! Now I just need to organise the rest of my storage a bit better, cuz it's pretty much a hodge podge.  Anyhow the tidy was done on Sunday, and included the piles of stuff on the left side of my desk. What you see now is something I have been working on... a stamped image which I have had to cut out as I can't show it yet, and some card and papers in colours I might use with it.  The papers are from an Artylicious paper pack which I think you can see in the second photo.  I also included a piccy of a cupboard where I keep a lot of my unmounted stamps and a few other bits and pieces.

Thanks for all the lovely comments last week.... perhaps I ought to explain about the wallpaper... When we moved in, that was the wallpaper that was on the walls, we thought OK that can wait to be redecorated...BAD MISTAKE... because the spare room ended up becoming a dumping ground for stuff we couldn't find a space for, we never seemed to get around to doing something with it and then my I got my first computer and needed a place for that....and finally when I took up stamping I needed a craft room!  The room still fulfills all of those functions, but as a result I'm sorta trapped as to how to change that wallpaper cuz I have no idea where we could put our stuff if we had to empty things out to redecorate.

Now there were somes questions in amongst those comments last week, so I figured I should reply.

Pam, what I was doing with the trees will be revealed in due course .... but it's something spooky.

Bleubeard and Elizabeth, the white looking thing is a one of those La Blanche foam backed rubber stamps.  As for the stamp in tubs... well there's more, check out my third photo today.....all those A4 storage boxs stood on end like books contain more rubbah.

Sunshine Girl, the trees are from an Elusive Images Themeplates called Arboretum: Design-A-Tree.  They are bare trees that come with small leaf and flower stamps to "dress" the tree with - if you want a spring,  summer or autumnal tree you can have it... or just leave them bare as winter trees.  I've put a link in for you cuz I love to enable fellow stampers!

Julia, yes haha.... I adore trees so of course I have a bit of a "tree thing going on" [insert evil grin here]

I hope I have answered everyone's questions, sorry if I missed any out and for writing such a long post.  And there you have it, the crazy snoopy fun that is WOYWW - to join in the fun, visit Julia's Blog Stamping Ground - but be warned, it's addcitive!

Last but not Least

The last of the 6 cards I made for the Elusive Images DT application - a colour challenge.  Glenda had specified that one of the projects submitted must follow a specifed theme and given a choice of about 4 or 5 themes, I chose a colour challenge - Brown and Teal. 

This time the main image is by Clarity Stamp, but the patterns in the dress, and on the edge of the inside back, are done using what I tend to think of as "incidental stamps".  Those small decorative stamps that come on sheets of unmounted stamps which, while they are pretty, often sit around unused because we are not sure what to do with them!  The stamp in question comes from the Elusive Images "Delightful Damask" themeplate

To make the card I stamped the lady onto some white card using a permanent black ink, I also made several stampings onto pages of a post-it note pad, making sure that part of the image fell over the tacky area, this was for cutting out to make masks for the dress.   I placed the masks in turn over various parts of the image and coloured the dress using a stencil brush and Versamagic inks in the appropriate brown and teal colours.  The pattern was added  by overstamping through some of the masks with the pattern stamp from the Delightful Damask themeplate.  The border round the image and also on the edge of the inside back of the card was created in much the same way, using masking, stencil brushes and overstamping.  The right hand edge of the front of the card has been trimmed back to reveal the stamped border inside the card. 

The background layers were cut from card in the challenge colours, the ornate cormers were cut with a Cuttlebug die.  I should appologise for the photo, this one seems to have a lot of camera shake in it, I always take more than one picture of my card, but in this instance I must have deleted the wrong image from the camera and as the card is no longer in my possession I cannot take a better picture.

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - 62

Here we are, Wednesday again and time to join in the madness that is WOYWW!  Last week was fun, I made it round everybody's space - yipeee. Thanks to eveyone who visited me, I love reading your comments!  If you are wondering what WOYWW is all about,  take a look on Julia's Blog.  I have to say I enjoy having a snoop round other people's spaces, great way to get ideas and be inspired by what they have going on in their space.
This week I have some stamps sitting waiting to be cut out, that will be my next job today, I have some projects bubbling away in my head to make with them.  You can also see some failed attempts at an idea, they are sitting there to remind me to keep working on it when I have time, the idea will take shape eventually. 

I also thought I would share a peek at some of the mess on the left side of my desk... errrr shameful ain't it, I really must try to tidy that away and reclaim some space!  Those tubs contain mostly stamps, I really ought to get them stored away in my filing system - hmmm maybe I should show that cupboard next time, it's fairly tidy.

Quick 'n' Easy Elegance

One more of my design team submissions, and a break from the nautical theme.  This card uses a stamp from the Words of Inspiration themeplate by Elusive Images.  It's been heat embossed in gold on to Southfields gold Moondust pearlescent card that I had cut using a Nestabilites die.   The card blank is also the same gold Moondust card. The matting layer is cut from Base Metal card also by Southfields.   The printed design is from the Artylicous Decadent Brocade CD.  I printed this onto ink jet printable pearlescent paper so it would have the same shimmer as the rest of the card stock I was using, sadly the photo does not do the shimmery quality of the cardstock and papers real justice.

I chose the words for this card because it seemed to fit the occasion, applying to for a place on the Elusive Images design team, I was indeed holding onto the thought "why not"!  However, while I was making the card I was thinking that any appropriate sentiments could be substituted to suit many different of occasions, Birthdays, Christmas and even sad times such as a sympathy card.  For any of these occasions and more, the design printed from the CD would make a lovely elegant background for a wide variety of messages.  I suspect that for Christmas this year I may make a few more cards using this kind of layout and some of those lovely papers as it's not a time consuming card to make when lots need to be made!

Seashell Stepper

This is another of the cards that I made as part of my submission for the Elusive Images Design Team. To make it I used  Elusive Images stamps from the Underwater and Seashell Collage themeplates, both of which are available from Graphicus.  This was one of those cards that seems to take over once you start making it, and ends up being very different from the card you first imagined in your head.

To make the card I started with an A4 sheet of ice blue pearlescent card onto which I stamped the large corner stamp of the shells and seaweed  and embossed with detail silver EP at the bottom right corner.  With that done I cut the lines needed to free the middle section of the card from the outer edge, freehand cutting the curve around the edge of the stamped image and scored the lines across the card needed to create the stepped folds.  With that done I stamped and embossed the little silver seahorse on the right side of the card and then folded along all my scored fold lines.

For the seashells I used Distress Inks with the wrinkle free technique to colour some white card. The ink colours are Tumbled Glass, Spun Sugar and Bundled Sage. Once that was dry I used detail silver EP to emboss the various shell and starfish images onto it and then cut them out. I glued all my cut out shapes to the front and middle steps of the card.   

The card was finished off by making a greeting for the back step using Nestabilties dies to cut and emboss another piece of my Distress Ink coloured card onto which I stamped a greeting using a stamp from Clarity Stamp. I used a little Stormy Sky Distress ink to blend around the edge of this to pick up the embossed detail from the die.  If you look closely there are also some small shells stamped randomly in the same Distress Inks used to give the card it's colour, not sure if they really show up in the photo.   This was layerd onto some scalloped mats cut from more of the the same ice blue pearlescent card I made the step base with and another cut from silver foiled card. and stuck to the back step of the card .

WOYWW 61

My latest crafty acquisition  is what's on my workspace! I've been lusting after Copic markers for about 2 years now.  These are my pressy from hubby to celebrate being chosen to be part of the Elusive Images Design team!   Not got time yet to play with them as I have some deadlines to meet. The projects are already underway and were  planned without the use of Copics in mind.  As I expect to have to work through a learning curve with the pens I figured it's best to wait till I have time to have a proper play and making mistakes won't matter.   Off to get a refill for my coffee now then have a snoop round some other workspaces! To join the snooping why not visit Julia's Blog - she's the evil genius behind WOYWW!

More from the Sea

My last posts have featured some of the lovely Elusive Images Sea themed plates, and this one does too, but after making that very grungy card I felt the the need to make something cleaner and fresher.  This card also formed part of my application for a place on the Design Team. 

While I had been toying with watery themes it had occured to me that I have the Cuttlebug "Tiny Bubbles" emobssing folder and that if I coloured some silver foil card with Alcohol inks I could make a lovely bubbly background for something. I used Stream, Stonewashed and Lettiuce alcohol inks to colour the silver card, cut a shape using a nestabilites die and cut a frame with the same dies from plain silver card.  The background shape was then embossed through the Cuttlebug folder to create the bubble texture.   I stamped and heat embossed the little seahorse from the Elusive Images Underwater themplate onto an assortment of card using different embossing powders and cut them all out to find the one I liked best against my background.. My final choice was white EP on white card.  With all my bits made I assembled the frame and background and stuck the little cut out seahorse into place. 

Next I needed something to mount this onto, so I made a background blending Broken China, Stormy Sky and Shabby Shutters Distress Inks onto some card.  Once the inks were dry I stamped one of the seashell images from the same Underwater themeplate and embossed with white EP.  I mounted this onto white card stock, added a band of silver card across the centre with some white spotted organza ribbon then finally stuck the framed seahorse over this.

Getting Grungy

This one is another card that I made for the Elusive Images Design Team Application - remember I said in my previous post that the Lighthouse Scene is a lovely image - well it is an I couldn't resist making a very different card with it.  As Glenda has posted a photo of  this one over on the Elusive Images Design Team Blog I thought I would share how I made the card.

The image was stamped with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and I used a wet paintbrush to drag colour from the stamped outline to create extra shading in the image.  Where I needed more shading I dabbed the ink pad onto my craft sheet and used my wet paint brush to pick up a litte more colour.  If you look carefully there is also a tiny touch of Aged Mahogany in the image.  The ink was very watered down on my craft sheet then picked up on my paint brush and used to make the sails on the boats stand out just a little more.  Once the image was dry I used  the blade of my scissors to distress the edges a bit then used Cut 'n' Dry foam to blend more ink from the Vintage Photos pad around the edge to create a vignette effect.  Finally I dragged and smudged my Versamark pad around the edge, sprinkled on Gold EP and heated.

The finished image was mounted onto black card which I embellished with some kitchen twine that had been grunged up to look like old dirty ropes from a sailing ship. I did this by  using just about every shade of  brown distress ink I own, from Frayed Burlap to Brushed Corduroy!  It was easy enough to do, just splodge the brown inks onto a craft sheet, spritz liberally with water then roll and scrunch the peice of twine around in the inky puddle so it soaks in the inky water.  Let it dry then repeat as needed to darken.  Once the twine was nearly dry  I made the browny shades more uneven by smudging a little ink directly from the ink pads onto the twine and lightly spritzing so as to make the inky smudge bleed into the twine more - it bleeds better if the twine is still a little damp when you do this.   The knots were tied using an authentic sailors knot - in this case a figure of eight knot.  I wanted the knots to be the Real MaCoy, so I did some research online and found this web site with some great instructions on how to try proper sailors knots.  Just click on any of those knots and an animated page opens that shows how to tie the knot.

Finally my background layer - once again I turned to my Distress Inks in assorted shades of brown and used the wrinkle free technique to create the background.   Once this was dry I overstamped with Versamark using an anchor image from the Seashell Collage themeplate and dusted this with Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls then very lightly spritzed with water to set the Perfect Pearls.  The edges were treated in the same way as the edges of the main image - distressed with the blade of my scissors, a little ink blended with Cut 'n' Dry foam, and smudgy gold embossing.  The whole thing is mounted onto black card from the same stock I used to mat under the main image.

If you got this far, sorry it's such a long post, but I wanted to share how I made this card because I had a lot of fun making it!

OMG - On Cloud 9!!! & WOYWW 60

OMG I can't believe this - I got picked. The only sure way to fail at something is to never try.......so try I did, but with no real expectation of success. What am I wittering on about I hear you ask? The Elusive Images Design Team Call,  I applied and got chosen! For me this is a dream come true and my feet haven't touched the ground since! I am both extremely humbled and incredibly proud to be a part of Glenda Waterworth's Design Team. Humbled because I see so many wonderful creations on other people's blogs and find myself thinking every time.... "if only I could make something so beautiful"; and  proud to think that someone as talented as Glenda considered my work worthy.

At this stage thanks must go to my 2 most wonderful friends Fabyon and Jess. Fab thank you, your support and belief in me when I was trying to put together projects for the DT Call submission helped me to not loose faith. Jess - you know what you have taught me about life and giving it your best shot no matter what - if not for your wisdom I would never even have applied.

Now you may have noticied my blog has been a little quiet, my father in law's death followed by an intense 3 weeks of overtime at work left me with not a lot of time to craft recently.  However normal service has resumed and I can now share some of the projects that I made as part of my DT submission.... so here's the first.  Nothing fancy, just a simple stamped image from the Elusive Images Seashore Scenes themeplate, coloured with Derwent Inktense Pencils and a brayer for some of the sky, then matted an layered on black gloss and white linen card.  This image is so lovely it really doesn't need anything else. However if you scroll down a little bit you will see a different treatment in this post.  The greeting stamp is one from Hobby Art and was stamped and embossed with black embossing powder so it would be shiny to co-ordinate with the black gloss card.

What's On Your Workdesk Wedneday (WOYWW) - hmmmm gotta be careful about what is camera view now - but this is what was on my workdesk when I went to bed last night - I am trying to flatten some card that curled when it got wet - Glossy Accents being the culprit in this case.  The bits under that acrylic block weighed down by the tub of Rock Salt are for a Design Team project, but I hope I can share the results with you soon.  Off now to take a wee peek at some other workdesks, why don't you join me by visiting Julia's Blog.  Julia hosts this little bit of fun every Wednesday and lots of crafters join in, I guess we are all a little bit nosey about other crafters workspaces!

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