It's your birthday...

Hello everyone,

For my second inspiration piece for Christine's stencil challenge over at Country View Challenges,  I have made a birthday card.

I started out with a piece of pattern paper on which I stencilled the letters. I used a Tim Holtz stencil called 'Cargo' and Broken China Distress Ink with a blending tool for this. I distressed the edges of the panel and added the same ink. Next I stamped the main image and the gears; all from the same stamp set by Tim Holtz called 'Dapper' (CMS267). I used black and gray Archival Inks for this. 

I then added the sentiments (both TH also CMS219 & CMS236) and decided that it needed a little white. I used a Dylusions polka dot stencil and some white acrylic paint for this. 

I added a chipboard moustache which I had in my stash for ages, I just painted it black and adhered it in between the hat and shoulders. 

Lastly I adhered the panel to a white card. 

Thank you so much for stopping by today. I hope I gave you some inspiration ! 

Through the looking glass with Stampotique! .. and a give away !!

Hello everyone, 

Today, for the UK premiere of the new Tim Burton film

 "Alice through the looking glass"

with the delicious Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter

 a few of the Stampotique DT thought it would be a nice idea to make something to celebrate this film. 

I have made a set of three ATC's featuring Janet Klein's lovely Alice stamps.. 

and here are they individually:

Apart from the sentiment, these are one layer ATC's made with.....

the stamps, Memento and Distress Inks and Copic Markers to colour the images...

Oh, and my old trusty typewriter to make the sentiment and a fineliner for the lines around the edges... 

If you would like to receive these ATC's in your letterbox, all you have to do is leave me a comment here on my blog. I will draw a name out of the hat on the 16th of June and announce the winner. 

I used the following stamps:

Mad Hatter

Daisy daisy

Fax to Wolfgang

Rabbit

Mash up

Alice

Design Cube

Thank you so much for stopping by today  !

A lion with a bird on his head, a monkey with earrings and a flying hippo !

Hello everyone,

and welcome to my two-weekly post for Katzelkraft. Today I have a trio of ATC's for you. The plan was to make all of them one layer and it was going really well until I finished the hippo one and didn't like the background, so I made a new background, cut the hippo out of the original ATC and adhered it to the new one. The other two are one layer ATC's and all I used was the lovely Katzelkraft stamps (list under the photos), some Memento ink, Distress Ink and Copic Markers...

Here is a better look at them individually :

Here is a list of the stamps I used:

KTZ118 - for the background 

KTZ169 - for (part of) the sentiments

KTZ168 - Jungle Animals

Black is not a colour !

Hello everyone,

and happy Wednesday. That must mean there is a new challenge over at the Stampotique Designers' Challenge blog ! Yay ! It is the lovely and very talented Sam's turn to host today and she tells us not to use black this week. This is what she had to say :

"The first thing I usually do after choosing which stamp I am going to use is reach for my black ink pad. So, I'm challenging myself and you to make anything you fancy so long as there is no black ink or paint etc. Have fun."

So that's what I did. I have seen a few people on YouTube do the no-line watercolouring and I had wanted to try that for a while now. Instead of watercolours I used my trusty Copic Markers though. So here is my tag :

I started with stamping this little guy with a light beige Memento Ink. I stamped it off first so the impression I got was very faint. I kept the stamp itself near so I could see the original print on the back for reference. I then started colouring with my Copics and I have to say it is quite difficult when you don't have the nice crisp black lines. I think he looks OK though... After I finished colouring I cut him out and set him aside to work on the tag. 

The tag was made from a piece of Tim Holtz pattern paper which was a warm gray with blue lines and scribbling on it. I added some stamping using blue, pink and gray inks and used a brayer and some Faded Jeans Distress Ink to get some colour on the tag. I then added the pink washi tape along the edges. When I was happy with the result I glued the little guy on the tag and was about to type the sentiment when I thought about the fact that my typewriter's ribbon is black !!! Oh, no.... hahaha

So I wrote it with my fancy fountain pen ! Lastly I added a bit of shading around him and put a ribbon throught the hole... 

That was it ! 

I used the following stamps:

Heart Throb

Fax to Wolfgang

Upholstered

Mash up 

I hope you will play along with us this week. You have all month to participate and to you will have a chance to win one of two $30 vouchers to spend in the SHOP. 

Just remember NO digi's and only one entry per person per challenge. Don't forget to add the challenge number to your Link-up... ie. #246.

Good luck and thank you for stopping by ! 

How do you do ?

Hello everyone,

and happy Tuesday ! For my DT post for Visible Image today, I have made an art journal to celebrate the UK release of the new Tim Burton film "Alice through the looking glass" on the 27th of May.

There is an awesome BONKERS OFFER going on too ! If you like the stamps, you'll have to have a look HERE

As I simply love Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum the choice what stamp to use was easy ! 

Yes, I know.... it is very bright ! haha... 

I had so much fun making this! For the background I used a technique shown by Leandra from Paperartsy on YouTube. You brayer the paint on. It is quick and easy and the result is different every time. I really liked this although I have used a lot more colours than I usually would. 

Anyway, when this had dried I used the 'Retro Dots' (now retired sadly) to stamp the background; using inks in similar colours. I used Archival and Distress for this. Next I took the script stamp from the 'Revolution' set and stamped that with black Archival Ink. 

I also drew a line around the page. I think this is becoming one of my trade marks... 

TweedleDee and TweedleDum were stamped on drawing paper and coloured with Faber Castell Polychromos and Carand'Ache Pablo coloured pencils. Normally I blend the colours 'dry' but today I used a blending stump and some Odourless Miniral Spirit to blend the colours together. 

I adhered the duo to the page and coloured some shade under their feet with the same pencils. Lastly I stamped their names on their chests and adhered the sentiment which was stamped on a separate piece of paper and cut out. I also doodled around the words. 

I have used the following stamps:

TweedleDee and Dum

Revolution

Retro Dots backgound

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Supernova

Hello everyone,

and welcome to my blog where, today, I am sharing a little tutorial about how I made this tag for my DT post for VivaLasVegaStamps! I had lots of trouble with it along the way, but I will explain what went wrong and how I rectified it with the photos.
So, get yourself a drink, sit down and enjoy !

As usual I'll start with the finished tag:

Most of the stamps I used for this tag are from the latest release April 2016. 

... and here's how :

I started with a tag that I cut myself. I have on Tim Holtz tag left from a pack and I just use that one as a template whenever I need a tag. I do have a die set but I hardly ever use it. It is just as easy to cut one by hand. 

 

Next I used a Crafter's Workshop stencil and some model paste and a palet knife to add some texture. 

I dried this with the heat tool. 

Next I painted a layer of gesso over it. 

I then coloured the tag with Distress Inks and a blending tool. 

Love these colours together... Mustard Seed, Picked Raspberry and Carved Pumpkin.

Looked good when it dried. Then I thought I'd better fixate this some how... So I used a spray fixative... first mistake....

It came out all mottled, which I kind of liked. So I decided to continue... 

I then thought the colours needed a bit more oomph so I added some Distress Crayon.... I think I really do not like them... This is the third time I've used them and I have a hard time with them.. 

Anyway.... I then found out that the Distress Ink I used for the first layer was still coming off when I rubbed it so I decided to use Tim's new Distress Collage Medium, crackle of over the top. Of course I knew it was going to smear but I thought that would be OK... This was how it looked and not a crackle in sight.. It might be because I didn't put it on thick enough or because I dried it with the heat tool.. Anyway, everything seemed fixed now. 

Next, the stamping, the fun part ! There is a full list of all the stamps I have used at the bottom of this post. 

Work in progress... 

I then used a white pen and doodled around the stamps.

I wanted to use this gorgeous new star stamp and when I saw this lady in my stamps I thought of putting her in it and that is what I did. 

The star with the lady was then adhered onto the one on the tag with dimensional tape. 

The last thing I did was  stamp the sentiment, cut it apart and adhered it to the tag. I doodled around the words and added a ribbon. 

And here is the finished tag again. I hope you liked my tutorial.... and have learned from my mistakes!

I have used the following stamps :

10488 - Bikini lady

19827 - Dooddle dots

19833 - Tired of trying to cram...

19822 - Squiggly star collage

19825 - Doodle Frame

Thank you so much for stopping by today ! 

Flying round in circles

Hello everyone,

and happy Wednesday yet again ! Kristen is our challenge hostess over at Stampotique Designers's Challenge today and she chose 'Circles' as her theme. This is what she had to say about it :

"I love to use circles in my projects, so this week, I am challenging you to get creative and show us what you can create with circles in you project."

Here is my postcard:

I was very lazy this time and used some patterned paper as a base. I did brayer some paint on to make it a little more interesting. I cut circles from some book pages with circle punches and glued them to the paper. I then used two bottle caps and the same green paint and some black paint to add circles around the circles. I used a stamp and some Leaf Green Archival ink to stamp the background here and there. Next I stamped the pig, coloured him and cut him out. I adhered him to the card. I then thought it would be nice to add some stitching around the edges so that's what I did. 

Lastly I typed the sentiment, cut it into strips, coloured the edges with a Copic Marker and adhered it to the card. 

I used only two stamps for this card:

Flying Pig

Fax to Wolfgang

Why not play along with us this week ! You could win one of two $30 vouchers to spend in the shop HERE... Just remember : NO digi's and only one entry per person per challenge. You have all month to participate.. Good luck ! 

Dreamer

Hello everyone,

For my post for Katzelkraft today I have made another art journal ! I love making art journals. I don't do it to journal as such but more to experiment with different materials and if the end result is a nice picture than I am a happy bunny !

When I say these birdhouses I saw this picture straight away ! So I started with a mini gelli plate 

(3" x 5") and some acrylic paint on a piece of paper. I also used a stencil by Dylusions. When I was happy I added some white paint through the same stencil over the top of the blue and green. Next I stamped all the elements on white card stock: the birdhouses, the cat, the tail of another cat, the umbrella and the sentiment. I coloured everything with Copic Markers, cut it all out and set it aside. 

I then stamped the branch with the birdhouses on the painted background using Archival Ink. I used a black pen to draw the branch bigger so it had room to hang the umbrella on. I painted the branch with brown acrylic paint and the leaves with a green and then drew in some details with a black pen. 

After this was all dry and I was happy I glued on the separately stamped images. 

I used the following stamp sets:

(if you click the link it will take you straight to the webshop)

KTZ156 - for the umbrella

KTZ169 - for the sentiment (part of)

KTZ170 - for the birdhouses

KTZ152 - for the cat and the tail 

Thank you so much for stopping by today ! 

Happiness

Hello everyone,

and happy Wednesday again !!!  It is time for a new challenge over at the Stampotique Designers' Challenge blog. Today, our hostess is the very talented Arwen and she chose 'scribbles' as her theme. This is what she said about her challenge:

"This week I want to see scribbles in your project. That can be scribbles by hand or with a stamp or stencil, you choose!"

I chose to scribble by hand and with a stamp in this art journal:

I really enjoyed making this. It is a little messier than what my normal stuff is but sometimes it's nice to be messy ! I started with a piece of Mixed Media paper that I cut in half (to be able to glue it on two pages in my journal. You could also cut it in half after you finish it) and gessoed. With a stencil and model paste I added the numbers.  I then used PaperArtsy Fresco paints to paint it. I drew a circle with a black pen and then wrote the quote around the circle by hand. It reads: Doing what you like is freedom, liking what you do is happiness. I had some room left so I added 'Freedom = Happiness! I stamped the background with various stamps and Archival inks. I used green, blue, black and grey inks. The coffee rings were stamped with white ink also but I find when it dries it becomes less bright so I poured white embossing powder over them and heat embossed them.  I used a white paint pen to add some splatters and a Stabile all pencil to add some shading around the numbers. I then stamped Mabel in the circle and also on a piece of white card stock on which I also stamped the word 'Happiness' from a sentiment stamp. Mabel was coloured with Copic Markers, cut out and adhered to herself in the circle. A few hand drawn lines along the edges finished it off. 

I used the following stamps: 

Upholstered

French Journal Page

Splattered Mug

Vintage bill

Mabel 

Happiness

Why not play along with us this week. You could win one of two $30 vouchers at the end of the month ! Just remember we don't allow Digi's and you can only enter once in each challenge. 

Good luck ! 

Thank you so much for stopping by today ! 

Dare !

Hello everyone,

and welcome to another post for Visible Image featuring the samples I made for the Create & Craft TV show from the 16th of April.

This first project was made with one of the awesome MDF Monoliths. I gessoed it and then put some white crackle paint on it. I love watching the crackles appear. Next I coloured it with Lindy's Stampgang Sprays. I sprayed some acrylic varnish over the top as Lindy's sprays are water soluble. 

Next I added more colours with Faber Castell Big Brush Markers as I thought it was to pale. These are permanent after drying. I then used my trusty credit card again and made some lines with black paint. I also used a background stamp from another set. 

A used a bottle cap and some more paint to add the circles on the right. 

The lips were stamped on tissue paper and then adhered to the Monolith. 

I did stamp the sentiment straight on but had to do some 'restoration' work with a black marker because the surface is oneven so I didn't get a good impression. 

The back was done much the same; I just added the circles with a stencil and heat embossed them with a dark pink embossing powder by Lindy's Stampgang. 

Here you can see that they are easy to mail too as you can take them apart. Of course when they have reached their destination they can be glued together. 

This card was really simple. I just cut four pieces of pattern paper and stamped the lips on each. I adhered the pieces to a card panel and matted it on black card stock. The whole thing was then added to a white card. The sentiment was made with sticky letters. 

This last card was made by glueing a piece of music paper that was torn not cut onto a card panel. I coloured the panel with water-soluble crayons and used the credit card yet again to create some lines with black paint. I also splattered some white an black paint drops on it. I stamped the lips on the card directly but that failed miserably so I had to do it again. As I didn't want to start again I stamped it on a piece of pattern paper with text on it, tore it out and adhered it. I liked it ! The sentiment was stamped directly onto the panel and doodled around with a white gel pen. 

I used the following stamps:

Sing

Dare to be different

and of course a

Monolith

 Social Media, Blog and monthly Challenge details :

Blog: http://visibleimage.co.uk/blog 

Show & Tell Monthly Challenge details: http://visibleimage.co.uk/challenge 

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/visibleimage 

Facebook PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/visibleimage 

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/visibleimage

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Mailart Monday !

Hello everyone,

It's my turn to show you some mailart for VivaLasVegaStamps! I have altered a boring white envelope today. I hope you like it and maybe do some yourself to brighten up the mail !

Here is the front...

And this is the back ...

This envelope was quite easy to make. I started with the front. First I masked off the address part.  I then used a mini gelli plate, acrylic paint by PaperArtsy and a stencil. Unfortunately I put so much over the top that you can't really see the pattern anymore.... 

I then used a load of different stamps to add more interest. I used the same paints and also some archival inks in similar colours and Jet Black. 

When I was happy with how it looked, I drew a black line around the address area and stamped the Queen of Hearts on separate card stock and coloured her with Copic Markers. I cut her out and adhered her to the front of the envelope. 

The back was even easier; I just brayered the paint on, did the stamping in the same way as on the front and that was that ! 

I used a whole bunch of stamps :

19568 - Double Coffee Rings

19567 - Writing Circles

19571 - Writing triangles

19574 - Paperclip

19575 - Stitching

19566 - Bubble wrap

14260 - Queen of hearts

5559 - Alice 

19580 - Wonderland

19015 - DIctionary page

19562 - Deliver to 

18098 - Birds on a wire lg. 

Thanks so much for stopping by today ! 

Diamonds are a girl's best friend.

Hello everyone,

I regularly take part in swaps. Like this one where the theme was 'Diamonds are forever'.

This is what I made :

Really simple ATC's. Base is a gelli print, stamp by Dina Wakley over top and added some bling and a sentiment. Done ! 

I also made two cards to go with the ATC's. I used the same stamp on a pre-made background (brush, rubbed dry into the paper then stamped with water), this time without bling, added a sentiment & voila! 

Thanks for stopping by today ! 

Approach with caution.. - my art journal page for this month's Craftstamper

Hello everyone,

6 of the Stampotique Designers were given the chance to make something for the June edition of Craft Stamper and I was one of them. Today I would like to share the art journal I made:

On a background brayered with acrylic paints I placed Newton and his doggie. The white dots were made with modelling paste and a stencil and I also did some stamping. Newton and the dog were coloured with Copic Markers,  cut out and adhered to the page.  

Lastly the sentiment was stamped on white card and cut out. I adhered that to the page as well. 

Hope you get the chance to see the real thing in the magazine; there are 5 more fabulous pieces by different Stampotique Designers in the article. 

Thanks for stopping by today ! 

Happy mother's day !

Hello everyone,

over at the Stampotique Designers' Challenge blog it is Captain Claudine's turn to host and she chose the theme 'Motherly Love'. This is what she said about her challenge:

"Lets make something with our Moms in mind, show Mom how much she means to you this week."

I made a card for my mother for mother's day and here it is:

It is a really simple card. I cut a piece of watercolour paper slightly smaller than the card and stamped this flower on it. I then used my INKtense pencils to colour it and the background a little. The sentiment is Dutch and means something like 'have a great Mother's day', it was typed on my typewriter and adhered to the card. Lastly I cut a piece of blue card stock, a little bigger than the watercolour piece and adhered them together after which I stuck the whole thing onto a white card. 

I only used one stamp this week :

Sunflower Large

We hope you will play along with us this week. You might win one of two $30 vouchers at the end of the month... Just remember no DIGI's and only one entry per person per challenge. Good luck !

Thank  you so much for stopping by !

Follow your heart...

Hello everyone,

I have been accepted into the DecoArt Blogger Outreach Programm and I have made my first piece using mainly DecoArt Products and a few others.... I had lots of fun making this, experimenting along the way. I think the result is not bad !

This tag was painted with Cobalt Turquoise Hue acrylic paint. I then added some crackle paste through an Andy Skinner stencil and let that dry naturally. I you heat it with a heat gun, it won't crackle.. don't ask... haha..

Next I added a few antiquing creams, a bit of interference paint and some more antiquing cream to the crackled cornices, if you can call them that ! I really like the end result. 

Here are some close ups:

Doesn't that look yummy ! 

I also stitched around the edges with my sewing machine. 

Next I stamped the background. I used a stamp from a Mixed Media stamp set by Dina Wakley and white pigment ink for this. It dries back a little lighter which I really like in this tag. 

I then stamped the hearts (Unity Stamps) on the tag and onto some book text. 

I cut out the book text hearts and adhered them on top of the ones on the tag. 

The sentiment (which is only part of a sentiment by Carabelle Studio)  was stamped, like everything else with black Archival Ink and accentuated with a white paint pen. 

Lastly I added some whit and black splatters and a piece of ribbon coloured with the same Cobalt paint I used before. 

Thank you for stopping by today !