New Gothic Arch

Here is my Gothic arch for this week`s theme over at INKURABLE STAMPERS (which you can join in at any time)

For this week, the theme is crowns, & as is usually the case for me, I worked on this backwards LOL, I`m so not the planning type LOL!!!!

I set myself the challenge of using a stamp that had not seen ink in a long time, so I decided to play with one of my Non Sequitur images.

I stamped the image (from the "Every Woman Is A Star" plate) with black Stazon ink onto watercolour paper, & then used some gel pens to colour it in, & trimmed it with my craft knife, but I wanted to add some more dimention to it, so I stuck the image to some cs for stregth, & trimmed it again. I then worked out the shape for my new arch from HERE , & pasted an old page book onto my arch, painted it with white acrylic paint, & when dried, stamped the flourishes (AL Flourishes Vol 2) with Brilliance Moonlight White ink, & heat-embossed with clear EP. I then painted over the flourishes with jade wc paint, & wiped with a clean rag to reveal the stamped flourishes. I stamped the wording (from the same Non Sequitur plate) using timber brown Stazon on off-white cs, trimmed with scallop scissors, & edged with Brilliance Pearlescent Coral ink.

I also wanted to add a bit of trim, & found the perfect LACE RIBBON in the stash that Nicole (from CRAFT QUEEN) sent me (thanks Nicole)

So, after adding the trim, I stuck the dancer & the words using some foam tape, & thought I was finished, & then realized I had forgotten to check that I had a suitably sized crown!!! Just like everyone else, I have lots of crown stamps, but none of them were small enough to go on my dancer, so I decided I would cut one out of cb, but when looking through my scraps box I found a bag with some shrink plastic scraps, so I changed plan & stamped my crown (from Studio Astarte) using Brilliance coral, trimmed it using Kai scissors, & shrunk it, sticking it down with Pritt gel (very strong stuff)

There`s a lot to be said for planning!!! : )

Nicole has put some of my work up in the gallery HERE, so if you get a chance, go & check it out, & let me know what you think.

Thanks for reading through the long post, & I hope you get a chance to play with your supplies too. Have a happy Sunday, & see you soon.

Ooh, & before I forget, final DT Doctor Who episode is on tonight! : (

Rubbing Shoulders With Royalty...

I am so excited to share that NICOLE from CRAFT QUEEN has asked me to be part of her design team (yay!) A little while back, my friend SANDIE put me in touch with Nicole, who then sent me a lovely kit to play with, & I guess she liked what I made with her kit, because she asked if I would be interested in playing along for the rest of the year!!! Would I ever! So I have lots of cards that I have made, but I can`t share just yet LOL, but in the meantime I`ll let you have a peek at the MARCH kit:

& HERE is where you can purchase the kits. & while getting the link I just noticed some of the past kits are on special, so what better time to treat yourself : )

I have to say I`m not normally a pastel kind of gal, but all the bits & pieces in the kit went very well together, & you even get a small set of stamps included in the kit, which I think is a great idea. There`s enough cs & pp in the kit to make up 6 cards ( I had enough left-overs to do an extra 2 small cards, one of which can be seen in Nicole`s CRAFT QUEEN BLOG) as well as other bits & pieces that could be used in other projects (the kits are very generous) & what better way to give some gorgeous ribbons a test run : )

I hope you`re having a great weekend, & don`t forget to set some time aside to play & create...

Thank you for visiting me, & allowing me to invade your monitor for a little while, & now I`m off to get some dinner ready...I don`t want to be cooking in the middle of Doctor Who! Only two episodes left with David Tennant in them! I`m going to miss the 10th Doctor. B4N

She`s A He !!!!

We took Minkie to the vet`s yesterday, & he discovered that she wasn`t a she at all, apparently an easy mistake to make when they are under 6 weeks...so we came home with a little boy! I keep thinking of him as a her, it will take a while to get used to him, but DD wasn`t fazed by the news, & even though I suggested a change of name (Elton came to mind LOL) she thought the name should stay the same.

On another topic, the new theme for the INKURABLE STAMPERS challenge blog is metallics (have a look HERE) & as I was in need of a card, I killed two birds with the one stone, so to speak...only thing is, after sending it in I thought "mmm, is it metallic enough?" but I`m very happy with how it turned out, & as I haven`t used anything metallic in a while it felt about right : )

I started by taking an old book page & wiping some teal StaZon directly onto the page, I then stamped the Darkroom Door image (from THIS set) onto it using Archival ink in jet black. I took a small Stampbord piece & coloured it using the teal StaZon ink & I then stamped a portion of the same image using black StaZon ink onto the stampbord, & using my craftknife, I scratched away to reveal the white highlights. I then inked the edges with Encore metallic copper ink, & covered the block with DiamondGlaze.I added the stampbord piece to the stamped image, & layered the page to some teal coloured BB cs, inking the edges of same with the Encore metallic ink,adding the copper coloured ribbon, & the thread. The DD words ( from THIS set)were stamped onto black cs using theEncore metallic ink & covered with clear EP, the edges were inked with same & they were stuck using some foam tape, this was then stuck to a folded piece of olive BB cs.

I have not used that Encore ink in a looong time, & the ribbon has been in my stash for quite a while as well, so it was great to put them to good use : )

Yesterday, Sarah let me know that I am now "officially the ONLY person to have completed ALL of the monthly challenges" at INKURABLE STAMPERS!!!! (I feel like a stalker LOL!!!) But I have to say, I`ve enjoyed every one of the great themes she`s come up with, & some have been more challenging than others, but they have all been fun, & if you`re ever short of inspiration, just take a look at the great slide shows in the blog showing all the entries to date...& don`t forget the new Gothic Arches challenge & its Flickr group, lots of great projects there as well.

In other news, I managed to do all of ONE challenge for last month`s CC over at SBT50, but in my defence, it was a double page LOL.

Lots of colour, lots of journaling, & lots of photos! This was challenge #2, & we had to do a double page LO, four photos or more, & it had to have the year in the title, as well as the theme being some kind of over-view of the year. I hadn`t scrapped for the last 2 months or so, but I`m really happy I got the chance to get this LO done! But there`s no time to stop & smell the flowers LOL, the CC for this month has already started!!! So if you`re into scrapping, check out the challenges HERE, there`s always great prizes up for grabs, & even if you don`t win, you`ll end up with some great LOs to add to your albums : )

Now I`m off to check my friend Sandie`s BLOG, she has a napkin thing happening that looks quite interesting HERE. My apologies for the essay, & thank you as always for your visit, & if you leave me a comment, I thank you for those too : ) Now go forth & CREATE!

Gothic Arch, Lace & A Kitten...

Look who`s been helping me in my craft room, & at the computer LOL...Her name is Minkie, & she`s a cross Chinchilla cat, & she`s just adorable! But she`s not mine, I just babysit her during the day, she happens to be DD`s, & she`s been having a ball in my craft room, I never knew there were so many places for a kitten to hide in/climb into/ lay on/ play in. Thankfully, she`s very smart & fully toilet-trained, but I did have a lot of trouble getting my latest bit of work done...Minkie took a liking to the piece of lace I was working with, so let`s just say she`s VERY playful & leave it at that :)

So, without boring you further, here is my Gothic arch to match the lace theme in INKURABLE STAMPERS Gothic arch year-long challenge, which is now up to its second arch. You can read all the details HERE

I stuck an old book page onto my arch, then painted it with a coating of MM specialty glaze in Rose Petal, & when dry I applied some Twinks H2O wc paint to the edges in Cinnamon brown. I then used my Crafty Individuals stamp (part of my prize from Inkurable Stampers, thanks Sarah) & Jet black Archival ink to stamp directly onto the arch. I covered the image with clear EP, & applied a second pair of wings (stamped onto some wc paper) & stuck with some mounting tape. I added my piece of lace (singeing the edges) & added some KG to the dress & wings to balance the pearls & sequins on the lace. I had left it at that, but I knew it needed something else, & this morning -right on cue- I received my order from TSQ, & I had a play with one of the stamps in my parcel...it was just what I needed to complete my arch. I stamped the "seize the day" stamp (Catslife Press from THE STAMPING QUEEN) onto kraft cs with Timber brown StaZon, cutting & mounting the words individually with foam tape. I also used the ampersand from a COLLECTIONS alpha set (also from TSQ) covering it in Opals & the letter tiles are also from Collections. Here is the Flickr group for the INKURABLE STAMPERS arches (you need to be signed-in to view all of them, as I found out last week LOL)

This is only my second arch, & I am so enjoying working with this shape & size... I hope you get a chance to do something creative, thanks for visiting & I hope you come back again soon : ) Now I`d better go, I hear some mysterious sounds coming from my craft room LOL, B4N

Stuck On You...

I`ve been itching to show off what I did using a new (to me LOL) stamping surface called STAMPBORD. Yes, I know it`s been around for quite a while, but this is the first time I`ve actually played with some, thanks to SARAH, who gifted me a great assortment of pieces a little while ago as a RAK (thank you SARAH). She also happened to have a link to THIS great STAMPBORD competition up on her challenge blog (INKURABLE STAMPERS) so I thought I would have a go. The Stampbord website has a great, easy to follow "how-to" page, & there`s also a variety of very inspiring samples up in their gallery & there is also a "Featured How-To" page (Sarah has a great LO there) Anyway, because I entered the competition, I haven`t been able to show my entry until now (the winning entries have been announced HERE) & I`m so happy to say that I`m one of four mini prize WINNERS (insert happy dance here!!!!) So, if there`s a lesson to be learnt here, it is this: Don`t be afraid to play, have a go, you may just win something, & even if you don`t win, you`ll have fun trying, AND you`ll end up with some cool magnets LOL :)

You can click HERE if you want to find out how I made these...

& if you want to find out more about some great alternatives to plain ol`canvas, visit AMPERSANDART, click on "products" & have a look at some of the gorgeous projects artists have created.

As always, thank you for visiting me, & I wish you a very creative week, B4N :)

A New Challenge

Sarah over at INKURABLE STAMPERS has set up a great new Gothic arch challenge which will run for the rest of the year, you can read more about it HERE. & the theme for the first Gothic arch is butterflies, which you can read about HERE .

The top photo shows my Gothic arches (I used the template for a triptych card from HERE ) all ready & waiting for the themes, & this is the one I finished last night, I had to ask DD to hold the arch for me to photograph it, thanks darling :*

After tracing the design onto heavy card, I covered it with an old book page, painted the b`ground with white acrylic paint, inked the edges, stamped the swirls (Sculpey texture sheet) & the face (My Stamps) Added the b`flies (Darkroom Door) which were stamped onto painted cs, cut out & mounted). The sentiment is from a red rubber butterfly plate (?) & I added the tiny rhinestones to the lower corner. This is my very first Gothic arch, & I have to say I`m so happy with how it turned out, I can`t wait to see what the other themes will be! Sarah has created a Flickr group HERE where the arches can be uploaded. You can join in at any time, so if you`re like me & haven`t made one of these before, why not have a play : )

Welcome 2010

CAUTION: LONG POST AHEAD :)

Welcome to a brand new decade, I know I`m a little late updating my blog, but as the old sayng goes, "better late than never".

It`s school holidays here ATM, so not much crafting happening, plus the heat over the last few days has been quite annoying! But enough about the weather :)

DD has been invited to a couple of sleep-over b`day parties, so while she was busy getting her things ready last night, I had the chance to join in this month`s brand new theme over at INKURABLE STAMPERS (where I was lucky enough to win one of the fabulous prizes, for the colour challenge with my party cones , thank you Sarah)

A few months back the theme was "By the Sea" & I made THIS mermaid using a template from THE ENCHANTED GALLERY (a great resource for paperdoll templates!) so I went back & downloaded a different mermaid to make her into a bookmark.

So, here she is, complete with navel jewellery (hard to see, but it`s there LOL)

After tracing all the pieces onto cream coloured cs, I used various images on her arms & torso (by Technique Tuesday & Oxford Impressions), & attached them using tiny brads. I added some beads by sewing them onto her neck as well as onto her wrist. Her "hair" was cut out from a printed book page, & painted with acrylic paint & KG. I like my mermaids to be a bit on the conservative side LOL, so I added a couple of butterflies (Non Sequitor,from my scraps box) to cover her bossom.

Her tail was painted with silver paint, stamped using THIS set of DARKROOM DOOR stamps (part of my prize pack for taking part in DRD Flickr challenge, thank you Rachel) as well as some Victoria`s Secret stamps, using royal purple StaZon ink, & highlighted with a white Souffle pen. I added a little chalk to her arms & her cheeks, & she kind of reminds me of Cher (must be the purple hair LOL) If you look very closely, you`ll see there`s a tiny purple rhinestone where her belly button should be (DD`s idea, thanks darling) She`s approx. 11" long (or should that be 11" tall?) & she will reside happily-ever-after in my currently-being-read book from now on :)

There`s heaps happening over at INKURABLE STAMPERS, including a new prize structure (if you haven`t had a go at the challenges before, this is a great time to take part, as there`s a prize for newbies as well as for domestic AND international entries, so go & check it out HERE And if you`re looking for something a little different there`s also THIS starting this coming Sunday, & I can`t wait to see what the theme will be.

On another note, I also managed to finish my ATCs for THIS swap, but I`ll share when I get my returns back...

& I just got an email from LEESA about THIS competition, so if you have a little time to play, why not join in?

And just what I need to get me scrapping again, this is the prize pack I received on the 24th of December from DARKROOM DOOR, thank you so much Rachel. You`ve heard it from me before, & here it is again: You`ve got to be in it to win it, so go & create something, have fun & play along, & USE that stash, you know you want to!!!!!!

So in conclusion,thank you for reading this far, & Happy New Year/Decade, & as always, thank you for visiting my humble "palace"