Message in a bottle

Having visited the Hobbycrafts Fair at the NEC last Friday I have been enjoying myself playing with some of the new stamps and stuff I bought. Here are three cards I've made, all using at least one new purchase, although completely different techniques.

I couldn't resist buying one of the new sets of Lynne Perrella stamps by PaperArtsy and on the first card I've used a couple from the set. I have coloured the main image using wax crayons as well as dripping melted crayon onto the card and then pressing a stamp into it while it is still warm (techniques featured in Craft Stamper a couple of months ago) . When the wax had cooled I rubbed Inka Gold over the raised surface to highlight the pattern. The bottle is another stamp from the set which I have added onto a memo pin, and the 'message' is just a small piece of torn paper that I crumpled up and then applied Antique Linen distress ink to the surface.

Towards the end of my visit to the NEC I spotted some wonderful stamps by Dina Wakley for Stampington. I would have been tempted to buy more but by that time I had already spent a lot and had nearly run out of money!! However, I chose this silhouette stamp which I have used on the next card, along with a few other stamps I already had. I also discovered that there are some new special edition distress inks just out! They come in sets of three - an autumn series and a winter series. I bought the winter set which includes the colours Evergreen Bough, Festive Berries and Iced Spruce. I have used these on the background, using the wrinkle free distress technique on glossy card - this gives a slightly different result to matte card and the colours tend to be more vibrant.

On the third card I have used this gorgeous heart stamp by IndigoBlu and the background was created using a flower stencil and spraying over with various Glimmer Mists. I have used some Tim Holtz's lavish trims at the bottom which I also sprayed with purple Glimmer Mist to match.