February Postcard swap

The theme for the February postcard swap on UK Stampers is Circles.

After hearing the theme I couldn't get out of my mind the song Windmill's of your Mind which begins - Like a circle in a spiral, Like a wheel within a wheel, Never ending or beginning, On an ever spinning reel .......

So my postcard is based on this.

Firstly I used distress inks to do the background colour.

To make the dots in the spirals I used my cropodile to cut a circle from an old distress ink pad which I stuck onto the end of the wooden end of a paintbrush that I removed the metal end with the bristles - necessity is the mother of invention!

I then wrote the wording round the outside of the spiral.

And stamped tempus fugit across the middle

I used part of the free stamp from Craft Stamper magazine & emphasized the eyes,

 & the face again a freebie from Craft stamper with the lips emphasized.

I finished by adding circles using the same distress inks as the background.

Postcard swapping

The theme for the August Postcard swap on UK Stampers is Tea Time

and this is my postcard for the swap.

For the background I used a torn page from an old book & distress inks.

I used a Paper Artsy script stamp & then over stamped with the pocket watch (a freebie from Craft Stamper magazine)

both of the other sentiments are Paper Artsy stamps

The cup & saucer is another Craft Stamper magazine freebie

I firstly stamped it onto the card in the position that I wanted, then stamped another onto white card & inked it & then liquid embossed to make it more prominent & shiny to draw the eye. 

It was then left to dry properly & then stuck down firmly.  

I'm looking forward to seeing the other participants creations now :-)

Inspired by Craft Stamper

This is the book cover that I made

inspired by the article in Craft Stamper's Jan 2011 edition

by Trish Latimer

To Die For

Trish suggested using not only the die cuts, but also the 'off cuts'

I inked them using various distress ink colours.

I cut out the birds from 12x12 paper & inked the edges then realised that more definition was required so went round it with a black pen.

I used a stamp for the sentiment which I repeated at various 

angles around the front of the book

& used the red yarn on the spine of the book

The swirl is the die cut piece as it is meant to be ...

The other decoration is this lovely lace material that I found, which I cut up & used the pieces from the brown piece of this gorgeous lace.

I think it all works well together to form a coherent whole.

Thanks Trish for the inspiration :-)

Nephews Xmas Present ......

Started out like this

A plain plastic box.

It was based on this Recipe box that I made a few years ago for my daughter.

This one was made from scratch using mountboard.

as this photo of the inside shows.

I used the same paper that I covered the box with to make these reinforced corners to the box for added protection.

I used my Go Slim Sizzix alphabet to cut the Recipe letters & inked them for toning colour.

I finished it with a cardboard fastener which I again inked.

So back to nephews pressie ........

Firstly I inked all over using my alcohol inks.

As he has just left home for Uni life I've kept things quite simple

I mounted the title onto a label cut & embossed using my Nestie die, the paper was cut at the same time as the mountboard then stuck on & the edges inked to blend in ...............

I random stamped all over the box with the cover stamp from the Jan issue of Craft Stamper magazine (cup & saucer) but didn't have chance to take a photo due to the absconding camera!!

and the finishing touch was the ribbon 

which brings the eye to the opening lip.

I made sections inside using mountboard 

and added a few recipes ...

The idea is that relatives & friends can add to the box & so can he :-)

No doubt the local takeaway numbers will be included!! :-)