Castles in the air ..................

The theme for the UK Stampers June postcard swap is

In the sky

and this is my take on the theme.

Firstly I drew a cloud shape to use as a mask, positioned it on the postcard & used my distress inks to produce the background, leaving the cloud shape white.

I used the sentiment & the castle image from my Lindsay Mason set. I coloured the image using my copics.

So there you have it - my take on the 'In the sky' theme is Castles in the air :-)

My 3D postcard

for the UK Stampers swap

The quest was to make a 3D postcard. The normal monthly postcard swap requires you to post the postcard naked (no envelope) so this was a one off swap that could be protected in the post.

I stamped the image & used distress crackle glaze over the copic colour on the wing. The background is distress inks & I used distress inks to colour in her dress.

The butterflies are punches, two different sizes glued together. I emphasised the edges using gold pen.

I used Andy Skinner quote stamps, some beautiful ribbon & some old currency coins & scattered the butterflies .....

I finished off with the bloom, the 3 elements held together with the small brad & the charm.


I boxed the postcard & stamped the box using a stamp set but didn't manage to take a photo in my haste to post!!

January Postcard Swap - Numbers

Over on the UK Stampers forum the January Postcard swap theme is Numbers.

I decided to use lots of numbers on my postcard.

Firstly I used my distress inks to make the background, blending them together where they met.

I then used my new Andy Skinner stamp set, suplemented with other number stamps from my stash.

I then stamped the sentiments onto card, number spelled out on one, cut out & inked the edges then stuck them firmly in place.

So there you have it my postcard to join the other 11 so far this month - why don't you join in - it's lots of fun & it's lovely to receive something special in the post :-)

Recovering.................

After a dreadful few weeks which started with my MIL being rushed into hospital with heart problems, followed by losing my precious kitty to a tumour & the next day having surgery myself, the electrics failing in our house .....

the list just seems to go on!

Well I'm finally recovering & managed to do my first crafting for a while ........

This is my postcard for the November postcard swap over on UK Stampers

The theme is fireworks

I used my 'blob' stamp which reminded me of the burst of a firework & used Perfect Medium & glitter embossing powders to achieve the firework burst effect.

I used blue distress inks for the background 'sky'

and a small alphabet set for remember & the November & 5 from a stamp set to do the wording.

I love to join in with the postcard swap - it's lovely to get something nice in the post each month :-)

Halloween postcard

This is my postcard for the postcard swap over on UK Stampers

Can you guess this months theme?

Yes it's Halloween :-)

Firstly I used my distress ink pads to lay down the blue & orange & where they overlap they give a spooky greeny colour.

I stamped the images & then used distress crackle glaze  to highlight & give the spooky feel

I distress crackle glazed the body of the spider & attached it to the spider web stamped in the corner using a drawing pen.

Finally I stamped the date

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 :-)

An inky fingers day!

Yesterday I had an inky day!

The theme over at Less is More this week is a sketch

I had an idea inspired by my new stamps but they were far too big! so I finally had a 'light bulb moment' & got out my neglected shrink plastic.

After a lot of playing around - note to self & a tip for others, read the instructions! & don't use dye ink - it smudges & rubs off, hence the very inky fingers!

I started out by just stamping the images & shrinking them.

Then added the touch of gold

and finally coloured the whole image

The background was made using distress inks, firstly I used the browny colours & then used the blue after thinking of airmail envelopes :-)  This was then stamped with the postal cancellation stamp

& the shrink plastic images popped on top.

I chose the sentiment Celebrate as I thought the cards could be used for various occasions & stamped this straight onto the card.

So I ended up with 3 cards on this theme :-)

Thank you's

Firstly a huge thank you to the Craft Den for this lovely package of goodies that I won on the Anything Goes Challenge Blog Hop :-) Do pop over & have a look - the current challenge is on the theme Here Comes Summer 

open until the 28th June

A Pearl & a Paper pen & bunches of blooms ...

Sparkly ribbon & packets of blooms ....

and a bunch of all this gorgeous lace!

I've already used some of the lace on this

Thank You card

which is winging it's way via Royal Mail to Sheffield ...

The rose background was stamped using a Lindsay Mason stamp.

The main image was stamped & then coloured using my distress inks

I used a piece of 12x12 paper for the left hand border & 

one of the butterflies (cut using my Martha Stewart punch) & also 

the matting of the sentiment. The other butterfly 

was punched from the rose background & the sentiment stamped 

onto a piece of this as well. I added a piece of the scrumptious 

lace between the 2 parts & a piece of red ribbon on the left hand side.

LIM entry

This is my entry for the Less is More challenge this week which is Thank You or Congratulations.

I chose to do a Thank You card (before my win!) & managed to photograph it finally!!

I stamped the image & used my distress ink to colour it & then cut it out & adhered it to the card.

I then used the sentiment stamp to either side of the image & to balance it out & 'finish' it I used it again in the bottom corner.

Competition entry

This is my entry for the Valentine competition over on UK Stampers

I took a postcard & used my distress inks to 'age' it 

& then used one of my background writing stamps again using distress ink to make the background.

I then stamped the PaperArtsy figures

and the hearts

and the owl post stamp in the appropriate place...

and mounted it onto the background paper on the card.

Finished it off with the ribbon which I stamped directly onto with the Valentine sentiment

& added the brown pearls

and the all important heart for Valentine's Day :-)

The heart was again made from chipboard & heat embossed a technique that I was taught a few years ago at the craft club I belonged to...

My Random Swap effort ...

Over at UK Stampers I joined in with the Random Swap project

We were each sent 5 random items to make an art work with

These were my 5 random items ......

And this is what I made .......

I used the wire to make a heart which i used as a bent frame for part of the picture I was given.

Remember Valentines Day is on Monday!

I added the sentiment stamped onto the paper I was given

 & backed onto the paper strip which I coloured with distress ink 

The backing paper I stamped with the word stamp & 'distressed' with different coloured distress inks.

I cut the hearts from the double sided paper provided, using both sides of the paper & then stamped them with gold ink with the heart stamp

Mounted the silver embellishment onto the coloured strip ..

At the bottom left I added another matted element with 3 brown pearls.

Thank you scrapbookcafe2 for my bits :-)