A Handbag Easel :)

Been playing again :)
It's DD's OH's mums birthday on Sunday. Its also my MIL's birthday too but she lives in Bali and says not to post anything coz it will go walkabout...

I asked DD what does Joel's mum like then? They both replied fashion, she's very trendy. Unlike me then in my hiking boots and my OH's Springbok's shirts :)
I knew immediately what stamp I was going to use. I won some candy from Victoria Case last year and these are perfect for a fashionable gal!
As I was in a tinkering mood I also decided I wanted to make a handbag shaped card and thought I'd show how easy it is to do shaped easels too.

I started with a sketched template and then folded a card in half and drew around the template and cut out. I also made another separate piece as shown below.

The papers I used on the handbag were bearly mine designs - Designer extreme vol 3 and starburst stains Black Orchid Silver.
OK the top half is 2 images by Victoria Case for SCACD - Ms Chardonnay and Suzanne coloured with promarkers. I added some silver peel offs for accents and an organza ribbon bow with a butterfly charm. The organza ribbon has been heated to make it curl :)
I've stamped using some embossing powder called "Stick n stamp" and used a hot pink foil on it. The stamp is a sentiment by Victoria Case too. I added a handle using tiger tail and ribbon.

Closed View

Stick N Stamp uing tonertex Hot Pink foils

Onto the bottom half! I always struggle with the bases of easel cards and as I went into my craft room I spotted some post it notes on my desk so thought ahhh that'll do! It also means the card can be used for longer than just stuck on a mantlepiece for a week (theres a LOT of work in it!) I added the post it note over some black and white spotted organza ribbon and made the funky flower. Saw this in a *really really* old book I bought from the library about 5 years ago.

I'll try my best to explain how to do it (I will do a tutorial soon!)
First cut a small circle of card and some strips of ribbon. Fold the ribbon in half (Check the length to what you want it to be) The book says to stitch them onto the card but the book was written before glue dots were invented hehe! I added the folded up ribbon to the card using glue dots on the ends then I've added a large flower as a centepiece which was white but I dyed it with starburst stains a while ago :)

And the finished card :)

I'm often asked where I get my ideas and influences and with this it was I just wanted to do a handbag as I associated immediately when DD said the word "fashion" and I wanted to do a shaped easel to show how easy they are. The post it was because I saw one whilst mooching round the craft room, the flower was from a really ancient book. The pink foiled stamp I was actually rummaging for my detail white EP and found that instead so thought ahhh that would work with some foils and it did!

The handle of the bag is a clear influence from Debbie Dolphins project in craft stamper last month. The curled organza was something Jill from The Stampman showed on her techniques show on create and craft a couple of weeks back and I was curious to see how it worked so there ya go!

I'm entering this into...

The Pink Elephant - Polka dots, a bow and pink

Quixotic Challenges - Flutterby (Use a butterfly, mine is the pink butterfly charm)

A Spoonful of Sugar - Freestyle

Stamp Something - Funny Somethings (The phrase says Is it friday yet?)

Crafty Cardmakers #13 - Hearts & Romance

Its challenge time again over at Crafty Cardmakers and the theme is "Hearts & Romance" for this I made a heart shaped easel card. I thought on about halfway through I could write a tutorial on it as they're so easy to make so long as you know how a basic easel card works then its a piece of cake. The tutorial for it can be found here

The papers I've used are DCWV and HOTP. The stamp is by My sentiments exactly and I've had it a looooong time! Its a square collage type stamp which I've just used a bit of it and cut into a heart shape. Its embossed onto a background of distress inks (antique linen, vintage photo and red brick) which I've then rubbed over with violet essential oil just to see what it did really! It made the colours a lot more vibrant as shown in pic 3 below. When the oil has dried I've coloured in the cupid image with promarkers and added shimmerz pixie dust to paint the wings.

I'm entering this into..

Quixotic Challenges - Ink up and old stamp
Crafty Catz - Love
Crafty Ann - Embossing
Pile it On - Warm Colors
Caardvarks - Colour Red

This is the heart shape lying on the original sheet it was cut out from. I rubbed essential oil over the image (BEFORE using the promarkers) and it made the colours a lot more vibrant and it smells nice too!

The back of the card I have written in Moonshadow ink using a fountain pen. So long as your fountain pen has a convertor you can suck ink up with then you can use your inks in it to match the card, cool huh!

Moonglow - In a pen!

It works yay!! I asked Jill over at The Stampman a few weeks back if the moonshadow inks were actually inks or stains, she replied INKS! Oooh you can see the cogs turning! Xmas and new year got in the way plus my complete lack of a short term memory despite having a dozen lists and prompts on my blackberry, I forgot to look at them so only recently did I remember to acquire myself a fountain pen with a convertor. The convertor is the important bit, this allows you to suck up ink from an ink pot or in my case a pot of yummy moonshadow in phantom fuchsia :)

I bought a cheap one off fleabay with 4 nibs and the all important convertor and gave it a whirl! Now as mica settles quite quickly you do need to shake the pen before use. I recommend you hold a piece of kitchen towel over the nib or it will decorate your ceilings!

The image I've used is by The Greetings Farm (Autumn Fairy) and is coloured with promarkers. The wings are painted with shimmerz pixie dust and I have used distress ink in antique linen and vintage photo around it which I've also used to make the vintage flower. The faux stitching is done with the moonshadow in a pen as is the writing. Its my DD's 17th birthday today so its for her :)
The lace was already naturally vintage, my nan gave it to me for xmas having found it in a long forgotten drawer at home and she knew (rightly) that I'd love it! I aged it some more with distress ink, firstly swiping ink over it then spraying it with water and scrunching. I added a drop of lavender to some paper towel to dry it off so it smells kinda vintage too!

Paperwise I've used lots of layers as I couldnt resist the A Spoonful of Sugar challenge which has a fab fab fab personalised stamp as their candy prize this week! They're a mix of MME Wild asparagus and HOTP.

The hydrangea centres were a candy prize from stampin for the weekend a few weeks back, fab bead caps which I've also added a sticky pearl to the centre and coloured them brown with a promarker. The pins originally had just a clear gem head so I added some of my own beads which are silver hearts and red teardrops.

*I've been asked a couple of times what colours I used on the dress and it was (promarkers) Red, Poppy & Crimson using the blender for the highlights and using cool grey 5 for the shadow and creases and blending that in with the red.

I'm entering this in

A Spoonful of Sugar - Lots of layers

Cute Card Thursday - Fairy Fantastic

Creative Card Crew - Punch it (Flower is punched)

C.R.A.F.T - Red

This is a sneak peak of tomorrows DT card to show you a bit more of the moonshadow in a pen and how pretty it looks! If you're good at calligraphy (which I'm not) imagine how outstanding this would look ooh!

Dewdrop Craftz #6 - Lilac & Green

Dewdrop Craftz are hosting another challenge, this time it's Lilac & Green. These work so well together and sure brightens a cold dreary day. I say cold because I've had no heating since thursday and its kinda brrrrrr in here! The 3rd gasman finally arrived at gone 4pm today and we have HEAT yay!!

I digress, back to the challenge lol!

Image is Summer Flower Girl by Dewdrop Craftz, you'll find her here. I've coloured with promarkers using the blender for highlights and greys for shadows. The sky is done with heritage shimmer ink and a piece of cut n dry foam.
Background papers are printouts from bearly mine designer extreme disk 3 and I've edged the white base card with shimmerz pixie dust for a bit more bling!

Sentiment is HOTP (I think) stamped with lime green ink. Had a smile & chuckle to myself about this as Cath has been tearing her hair out over clear stamps squashing down when stamped. I see it as a design feature, adds character but Cath is one perfectionist crafter who wont rest until its perfect and has been running experiments on her blog!

Anyhow I do hope you can join in over at Dewdrop Craftz challenge!

I'm also entering this for...

Passion for Promarkers - Any Colour and Girls, girls, girls
Sophisticat - Spring

Cath's uber cool candy!

Ooooh how nice is this candy! Mee mee pick meee lol! Didnt spot this earlier as I only do candy from time to time and when I see something I *really really* like! Only a couple of hours left so pop over to Cath's blog to enter!

I think I like Angels & Fairies :)

Most of my things have wings! I must be a collector of angels and fairies and especially love the Selina Fenech ones and have used one of her free colouring pages again. This one is "Angel of Compassion" coloured with promarkers and I've used shimmerz (pixie dust) on the wings. Funnily enough I do have shimmerz angel wings but its a bit pearly whereas pixie dust dries clear and I prefer that :-)
I used brilliance ink around the image pressing harder in places to create a cloudy type effect.

The background is Voodoo Purple Blue from the Mardi Gras set of Starburst Stains which you'll find here Jill from The Stampman demo'ed the set on Saturdays C&C show as they now have the starburst sprays. Hope you managed to catch it as it was an excellent show of techniques!
I've cuttlebugged a piece coloured with the purple using the cuttlebug birthday folder for the background.

The ribbon I got from secret santa (Vicki) and the mulberry flowers Ive had forever but am learning new ways to use them thanks to all the works I see on blogger (Esp Tab!)

I'm entering this into the following and thanks for looking x

Crafty Catz - Birthdays (Background is embossed with birthday folder)
Flutterby Wednesday - Open week
Mixed Media Monday - Wings (Used starburst stains, promarkers, brilliance ink & Shimmerz)

Floral fantasies mega candy

Two lots of candy on one blog fab! Click on the pics to go to the candy posts over at Floral Fantasies blog.

Firstly there is the followers candy which includes..

1) Anna Griffin wood mounted background stamp 2) Stamps Happen wood mounted reindeer stamp 3) Hero Arts wood mounted collage stamp 4) Spellbinder Poseability cut and emboss set 5) two Adirondack Colour wash mica sprays 6) six bottles Craft Planet glitter glue 7) two packs flowers 8) pack L'ouvre stencils 9) 20 pre scored 300gsm cards and envelopes 10) huge bundle assorted ribbons 11) 2 K&Co DP pads 12) 4 Marvey metallic marker pens.

and secondly the Mega Candy which is a surprise! It says...

"On the 1st February there will be a very special ‘One Off Challenge’………with some rather special candy as the main prize. No ordinary candy I can tell you, but a really serious piece of equipment that all of us would love to have in our craft rooms."

Oooooh intrigued!

Anyone for coffee?

At the play date cafe? They have a lovely colour choice this week and its my first time playing there so be gentle, I'm very sensitive you know!

Play Date Cafe is a challenge blog where you can make ANYTHING so long as you follow the challenge so its a chance to stretch your wings a bit and have a tinker :-)

So what did I tinker with? Welllllllll I'm quite interested in image transfers at the mo so have been trying different mediums and images with mixed results. I've ditched more than I've completed but thats part of the fun as its a learning curve. This one was done on a base of a light blue acrylic paint and trasferred. I paper pieced some blue starburst stains (I *think* its bachelor buttons blue but dont quote me as I'm not near my colour chart to compare!) which I firstly used the scrunch technique then swiped over with a black brilliance inkpad. I've flattened it down using PVA on the back and glueing to card. I like using black brilliance with blue and green starbursts stains, reminds me of marble :)

I've added some sticky gems and to the image as I didnt notice at first but she's actually rudey nudey on top so thought I'd spare her blushes lol!

This piece is available to swap :)

Another Selina Fenech

Had lots of you asking me about the last stamp so I'm showing another! They are colouring sheets by Selina Fenech who does some amazing fantasy artwork, have a looksie here! The colouring sheets are in the section Free for Fans. I'm not linking directly to that bit as I think you should have a peek at her artwork first hehe!

Okies what have I got today? Remember I've said before there is no waste with starburst stains? I used a leftover piece I'd made using hammer textured card and used the voodoo violet blue and gumbo gator olive from the mardi gras set and cut into inchies and stuck them on randomly (in that I mean the pieces weren't necessarily next to each other from the cut) I used Jazzy jivin purple from the set for the matting and the 2 strips at the bottom and all 3 colours for the lollipop flower. The purple has a blue mica so they all work nicely together.
Never any waste, all this is from offcuts!

Image is called Angel of Truth and is coloured with promarkers. I've painted the wings with shimmerz pixie dust and edged round with a tricolor brilliance inkpad (peacock)

I'm entering this into Mixed Media Monday - New as the mixed media is starburst stains, promarkers and shimmerz also the shading with brilliance ink.

Crafty Cardmakers #12 - What's New?

Gosh dont the weeks fly by! We're onto challenge 12 at Crafty Cardmakers which is a blog designed for newer and less experienced cardmakers, papercrafters and bloggers so pop on over if you fit the bill! Even if you're not new you can join in but I do like to see you trying something new or different to challenge YOURSELF!

So what's new?? Well I found these fabulous colouring pages over the weekend by Selina Fenech. I've long admired her fairies artwork and spotted she has some free (yes FREE!!) colouring pages to play with whoop whoop! I've coloured this one called Daisy with promarkers using greys to add shadows and coloured the wings with a copic spica glitter pen. I've edged using a brilliance (peacock) inkpad and used my new sewing machine! I'm getting a little bit neater with that now!

Background papers are My Minds Eye and Moonglow starburst stains which are also sewn on. The charm is blog candy I won a couple of weeks ago on Stampin for the weekend blog. I added a sticky gem coloured gold to the centre of the daisy for a bit of bling. The ribbon is also new from my secret santa :D

I'm also entering this into....

Colour Create - Lemon & Lime

Flutterby Wednesday - New

Fussy & Fancy Friday Challenge - New

Papertake - New beginnings

Crafty Catz - Bright & Sparkly

Attn peeps into mixed media & altered art

Fancy having a go at some tag art swaps??

I've created a facebook group to do mixed media/altered tags in groups of 10-15 so you'll receive some lovely artwork back to inspire you.

The group is on facebook here

If you're not sure how to do tags or want more info on mixed media/altered tags check out hero arts site with an indepth explaination here

The groups will decide a theme and have up to 8 weeks to complete as I know many might like to experiment until happy with a finished piece. It works like a large ATC swap in that you send your finished pieces to the host with an SAE who'll send you one back from each member of the group so you'll have a nice themed tag book at the end.

Fancy giving it a go? Find us on facebook!

Dewdrop Craftz #5 - New Year New You

The challenge set this fortnight at Dewdrop craftz is "New Year New You" so interpret as you wish such as a new technique. I've chosen to make a start on a new art journal. I had a lot of anxiety over it, ummed and ahhed of how it should look or not but you know and art journal is YOUR book, your pages so do with them as you please and simply go with the flow :D

I also had some fab guidance and direction from Sarah over at The Art of Moodling so got stuck in and sprayed and dropped and swirled and just played. These pieces were done with distress inks in spiced marmalade and faded denim on a craft mat, sprayed some solar gold radiant rain then some water to mingle them all then layed over some watercolour paper. Did this a few times till Iwas happy then whilst the corners were wet I dropped in some walnut crystals and dried them off.
After the pieces were dry I randomly pushed some gesso over to tone down some places and dried that off too then started stamping firstly the dragon in the background then the swirls and the large letters (which are done with acrylic dabbers) Then I've stamped and embossed some fireworks. The stamp is by anitas and its absolutely pants, sorry have to say it. Its always left halos no matter how careful you are *but* in this case I particularly wanted them there so used it. I've added some text and highlights with a white souffle pen.

And finally onto the image which is Kimono 2 digital by Dewdrop Craftz coloured with promarkers, I went again for the blue and orange theme to match the distress inks. The reason I chose this stamp is that its the very first page in my journal and I did it on New Years Day (started at 1am actually lol!) We'd just been outside watching loads of chinese wish lanterns floating by and seeing all the fireworks. I've put orange dots using a paint thats like liquid pearls and added some glamour dust. Also my choice of image is the way she's hiding part of herself which is very much like me personally so its new year new me :)

I did umm and ahh about embellishments but I'm not particularly an embellishment person, I like to put the work into backgrounds and colouring so this is quite reflective of my personal style :)


Hope you can join us over at Dewdrop Craftz challenge You do need to use one of their images and there are freebies available too to try!

Particraft blog candy

Feast your eyes on this ooooh!! Prizes will be drawn when they reach 400 followers so get following over at Particraft!

More cards from The Stampman show

If you're looking for The Stampman blog hop just scroll a bit further down or click here!

Finally getting round to showing some more cards from the stampman show from 28th Nov. Hopefully santa may have delivered some starburst stains for you so I hope I can show you some of the different ways to use them!


CARD 1

I've stamped and embossed the bling maiden from the butterfly beauties stamp set and coloured the skin with promarkers then I've use Wisteria purple blue
to paint the hair and used some to make panels and stamped the smaller stamps from the set. Mounted on silver mirri board and I've edged round the image with a blue ink using some cut n dry foam.

CARD 2

This is such a lovely colour - opal sea oats from the Mermaid sea shells set of starburst stains. I've used it on the base of the easel and the background panel. The bling maiden this time has been stamped on acetate then I cut the hair out, added some double sided sticky then the gold leafing and added it on top of a previously stamped image so the hair is gold leafed. I also used strips of double sided sticky around the edge and added more gold leafing.

CARD 3
Well its not a card lol! Its a notebook I made Jill using the Japanese Gardens starburst stains. I used the Black orchid silver for the base of the book and painted the bling maiden with helitrope purple plum (yum yum!) I've embossed some swirls in the corner with razzleberry plum moonglow EP

CARD 4

This is one of my favoured gatefold cards using the Sea mint green from the mermaid seashells set. The panel on the front is made with the starburst fairies stamp set stamped on acetate and embossed and gold leaffed on the back. The inside I used the sea mint green doing a scrunch technique and the panel is also from the fairies sheet stamped with stazon timber brown onto acetate and gold leaffed. The tiny fairies are embossed.