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.

Oil pastel backgrounds

I bought some water soluble oil pastels at the NEC last November for creating coloured backgrounds... this was being demonstrated by the PaperArtsy team. I had a very quick try out when I got home, but it wasn't very successful. So they have been lying about unused since then, but last week I decided I really must get to grips with them!! I soon discovered what I had been doing wrong the first time and managed to get a good result at last. You blend the pastels on the card with your finger and I really like the bright colours they create. You can also blend two or more colours together. I had to make some ATCs for a couple of swaps I am involved in, so decided to use the oil pastels for the backgrounds. I used various inks for my stamping including Versafine, Memento, Archival and dye inks - they all worked well on the oil pastel surface.

In the middle ATC I used Stampotique's Smile and the other two both use stamps by PaperArtsy.

SDC 43

The latest Stampotique Designers Challenge is to make a non-traditional Christmas card and NO red or green allowed! On this card I stamped Sheer and Smile onto white card, masked the images and then sprayed 3 colours of Glimmermist across the card. When it was dry I added colour to the images with Copics and some Flower Soft for the snow. The Christmas tree was made by gluing lots of punched 'branches' using a fern punch onto a triangle of card.

The Moving Finger!

This was one of those projects that seemed to take on a life of its own! I began with a vague idea of making a vintage style collage and I also wanted to include an interactive element of some sort, but once I started it all came together really quickly. I used mainly stamps from Tim Holtz's Steampunk set which includes the hand, so I thought it would be fun to use that as my moving piece - I have attached it with a brad so that it can be rotated and the finger can point in any direction. Lots of fun! I've also used a TH philosophy tag and a small strip of tissue tape which was folded almost in half, leaving a small piece on the right hand side to attach it to the card, creating a little flap.

SDC 42

The latest Stampotique Designers Challenge is a sketch and having missed the last couple of challenges I've actually made two cards this time, although one was a happy accident! I'm glad to say that I now have a new stamp - Smile - so at last I can use a different image.
I had already decided to use an acetate clock (by Kaisercraft) for the circle and coloured it using alcohol inks. The background paper was a free art paper that came with one of last year's Somerset Studio magazines. I have a friend who occasionally passes old copies to me, but usually she has removed the free papers. However, this time she had left one of them in the mag - I think it may be a little too arty and abstract for her use, but I loved it. I had pretty much finished when I suddenly thought it would make a good belated card, so I added the wording.
Sometime later I noticed that the waste paper I had used to protect my work surface for this and earlier projects had an interesting pattern, including a circular area (where I'd inked the clock), so I thought I'd see what I could come up with using this. I went for a Christmas theme and stamped Smile onto the paper, made him a party hat out of another bit of waste paper with stamping on, and also used the star stamp which was a recent Craft Stamper freebie designed by Jo Capper-Sandon. I highlighted the circle shape with a thin line of Stickles. The band across the centre of the card was made by masking off the areas above and below, blending inks in the gap and then overstamping with the pine branch.

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.

Crinkled ink background

I'm always excited when the new edition of Craft Stamper arrives - there's usually an idea or technique featured that I just have to try out immediately! The latest copy of the mag is no exception, there is a wonderful background technique by Jo Capper-Sandon using a plastic bag. I have tried a similar idea ages ago using scrunched up cling film, but this is definitely cleaner on the fingers as your hand is inside the bag! Anyway, here is an effort of mine using this idea and a stamp by PaperBag Studios.