SDC 49: purple & pink with black

A colour challenge this time for the Stampotique Designers Challenge ... and in some of my favourite colours! I've used Stampotique's Arty for this card on a background which was created by dabbing Distress Inks on an acrylic block, spritzing with water and then pressing onto card.

The flowers were made using die cut scalloped circles, inking, 'cuttling' and then layering. I have used some of the new 'newsprint' card candi for the flower centres. I love these especially as the text printed on them contain words about flowers and plants.

Tiny houses

The other stamps I recently bought from Crafty Individuals are these gorgeous little houses. Joanne Wardle used them in a recent edition of Craft Stamper and I just had to get them! Crafty Individuals usually send you some free small stamps with an order, which is always a wonderful surprise.


On the first card I have used one of the stamps and coloured the houses individually using Pro Markers. The faux wall was made simply using small strips of paper and an old book page, the edges inked with brown, and then glued on 'brick' style (I saw this idea in an Australian card making magazine and thought it would work well on this).


For the other card I decided to go for a clean and simple design.... as a complete change from my usual style!! This time I stamped the houses onto patterned paper, added a scalloped border and then glued to the card. I used one of the free stamps I received along the bottom of the card. To finish, I used this Craft Stamper freebie chandelier stamp at the top, and added a few tiny gems.

SDC 48

The latest Stampotique Designers Challenge is to CASE a Stampotique designer - standing for Copy And Steal Everything. This was not as easy as it sounds!!! It took me ages (not to mention a few dud trials) to decide which of the designers to CASE and eventually went for Kate Crane. Here is my poor effort which is not a copy of one particular piece of Kate's work, but using some of her ideas. I have used various sprays on the background, acrylic paint and gesso to create the circles and rings. See more of Kate's MUCH more superior work at The Kathryn Wheel.

Adding a bit of glitz!

This background on this card was inspired by another idea in Craft Stamper. I used the 'wrinkle free distress' technique on the central panel and dried it using a heat tool. Then I dipped the card onto the craft mat again and sprinkled some glittery embossing powder over it and heated. This creates some nice random texture and glitz on your background. The stamped images I've added are some new stamps that I've just bought by Crafty Individuals.

Painting with Distress Stains

In the January edition of Craft Stamper there was a project by Liesbeth Fidder on using Distress Stains to paint stamped images, and I decided to have a go! I have used this image by PaperArtsy which was stamped in black onto glossy card. In CS Liesbeth used Teykol, a resist medium, to create white highlights before adding the colour but, as I didn't have any of this, I tried white wax crayon instead. Then I added the DS colours straight from the bottles onto the image. I was quite pleased with how it turned out and I really like how the colours mix and blend on the paper. I finished this card off by adding a Tim Holtz adage ticket and an acetate shape by Kaisercraft.

His & Hers Drinks Coasters

I was in my local library a few days ago and I spotted some coasters advertising the local comedy festival. Naturally I helped myself to a few thinking that they may come in useful for a craft project some time. Then I saw that the latest Stampotique Designers Challenge theme is altered items ... so perfect timing! I thought it would be fun to make a pair of 'his & hers' coasters.

I inked up some thin white card with Distress Inks, using masks to provide some texture and interest to the backgrounds. Then added some water spatters, flicks of Chalk Mists and rings which were made using a couple of lids dipped into puddles of Distress Stains. I stamped Stampotique's Smile and Sheer in black ink, then glued the card to the coasters, trimming and sanding the edges slightly. The words were stamped using small alphabet stamps, cut out and glued on. Finally I gave them both several coats of acrylic spray varnish.