Stampotique Designers Challenge: scraps

The latest Stampotique Designers Challenge is to use as many scraps as possible - so here is my entry. The background has been made using the 'Blended Paper' technique in which I glued torn strips of left over printed and stamped papers to a piece of card and then covered with a layer of gesso. I have added colour using distress inks, as well as bit of spattering. I stamped 'Sheer' three times on a piece of paper that had been used as protection under a variety of stamping and inking activities and made the 'skirts' using a short piece of ribbon. The flower was made using old book pages. I had a lot of fun making this card and I certainly used up lots of scraps that were just lying in a heap on my table!

Tattered Floral

I recently made this flower using layers of muslin that I cut using the TH Tattered Florals die and then sprayed with Glimmer Mists. The background for the card came about by one of those happy accidents that happen now and again - I was doing some stamping using StayzOn white ink, some of which got stamped onto the paper underneath my card. A little later I was using the same piece of scrap paper under some card I was applying ink to and I noticed that the StayzOn was acting as a 'resist'. I really liked the soft and muted result it made, so thought I'd try it out to create a background. I have left the card deliberately simple, just adding a strip of TH tissue tape, and a short quote.

Crocheted flower

Crocheted flowers seem to be very popular at the moment so I thought I'd have a go at making one myself. I used to do a lot of crocheting a long time ago... it must be at least 30 years ago, but I haven't done any since. I knew I'd seen the instructions for making the flower in one of my card making magazines some months past, so I had to search through my huge pile of mags to find it! I made two flowers which I layered together and then used gathered ribbon behind and have used it on this card. I was quite pleased with the result although the darker pink flower is a little bit wonky - this is due to uneven tension I think. Oh well, I'll just have to make lots more to get the practice.

Stampotique challenge - Clean & Simple

Clean and simple is the theme for the latest Stampotique Designers Challenge and here is my effort. We could use any stamps this time, but I have used two by Stampotique on this card together with one of Artemio's modern grasses. I have to admit that 'clean and simple' is out of my comfort zone and so I found this a REAL challenge!!

Something old, something new...

... techniques that is! Here are a couple of cards I have recently made, one using shrink plastic which I haven't used for ages, and the other using a technique I've never tried before - stamping on glass. On the first card I used a brayer & torn paper to create the background and then stamped the trees. The boy in the foreground was stamped onto shrink plastic.

I was inspired to try stamping onto glass after reading an article in Craft Stamper a few months ago. I had some Ranger Memory Glass slides that I bought simply ages and ages ago but had never used!! Anyway, I dug them out and had a go - I've tried two different techniques here, both using alcohol inks on the glass.

Trouble in Blogland!

Hi everyone... I'm sorry I haven't posted anything on my blog for such a long time. This has been partly due to holidays and being busy, but also I've been having trouble actually getting into the blog! I would log in and then a minute later I kept getting a message to say the page couldn't be opened and then I got thrown out!! Anyway, fingers crossed it seems to be OK today.
I have been busy making cards.... Christmas cards! I know May & June seem just a tad early to start, but having recently been asked to set the course programmes for my card making classes in the autumn term, I thought I'd start making a few examples using the various techniques. I made a Halloween card and a couple of Diwali cards, then started on Christmas. You know what it's like - as soon as I began I got completely hooked and just carried on. I think I've made about a dozen or so Christmas cards by now, so at least I'll have some to send out in good time.

Hopefully I'll have something to show you next week as long as I have no more probs.