Splatters here, splatters there....

I made this card for the Take it Make it Craft Stamper challenge, sadly I looked at the Inlinkz closing time, and not the date in the post, and the Inlinkz is still open for a few days despite the winners just being announced.

So I thought I would show you it anyway. The multicoloured card is a result of me "painting off" my brush after painting the organiser that I still need to finish. I added splatters to it with some runny rose pink Fresco paint, the other paints used were Fresco by PaperArtsy and some English Cottage Acylics paint by Indigo Blu. The bird is an Indigo Blu stamp called Take Flight coloured with Promarkers and cut out by hand and I tried not to position it so it looked like it was creating the splatters! I die cut my large panel with Spellbinders A2 card creator biggest size rectangle and die cut the fancy lattice to go on top as a frame, this is a tricky one to attach, I wonder if it was Spellbinder's mistake that it cuts out the middle too? When looking at demo's on the card creator dies I see that every presenter shows the lattice dies then quickly puts them down and demo's a different set! If anyone knows of any examples of cards using the lattice dies I would love to know.

You could attach the lattice using brads, or do as I have done and use glue dots but put something over the top to hide them.

I cut out some flowers with a Joy Craft die, from the multicoloured card and decided to use the negative too, it is too good not to.

The burgandy leather effect card is splattered with Alcohol inks, a couple of colours of mixative, copper and pearl.

I added some teal ribbon, and some Card Candi by Craftwork Cards. Hoping someone will love this card.

I have entered the following challenges:

Allsorts challenge blog - anything but Christmas (Saturdays)

Artful Times - Die cuts or punches. (also max 5 challenges allowed)

Pan Pastels - anything goes (Sundays)

Stamping Sensations - free and easy (December)

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenges - make your own background

Craft Stamper of the Year - Round 3 entry

Now that the winners are published for round 3 I can show you my entry, which again didn't get anywhere!

The sponsor was Imagination, and I didn't have any of their stamps so set off to find some. First hurdle when I got to the web site the company had closed for a couple of weeks and I needed it to be here before then, so googled to find someone else selling them. I found some, and I picked just one large stamp called Echinacea which really appealed to me. I was being frugal, not working now so I try not to spend as much as I was on craft stuff.

Anyway I had an idea and, once the stamp arrived, I spent a week or more stamping images on card and acetate and I wasn't getting a good image. I don't know if the ink pads are drying up, or it was just me, I tried different inks, I tried brayering the card onto the stamp. I also bought some Imagination paints to use on the acetate but when I tried them the effect wasn't good, maybe I need to gen up on their use.

So with only a day to go I changed from trying to stamp and use images on card and acetate to stamping into  melted UTEE. I got the melt pot fired up and melted some Hot Pink UTEE, then poured it out and stamped into it. I then applied some Mica powder to the center of the flower. I used a Kraft frame which I think is paper mache, and was brown Kraft colour (why is it called Kraft I wonder). I painted the frame with white gesso then applied alcohol inks to it with an applicator, the ink mix I can't recall now, it included a mixative. I stamped over the frame with the free Indigo Blue butterfly. Then I die cut first some DCWV paper with a scalloped inside, and on top of that a Kraft frame which was stamped with a Wordsworth quote stamp and I finished off with a few of the butterflies stamped and coloured slightly.

I am pleased with it, there are issues I am not happy with, like the frame center not being square so it was impossible in the time I had left to get the frame to fit, and the UTEE not being totally even in thickness though that is hidden by the frames. With more time I might have found a solution to the not fitting problem!

Looking at the winners I see that they all used more than one Imagination product, they probably got their entries in on time and not at 1:30am which was an hour and a half after the deadline, but I did have to put up with numerous power cuts that evening which didn't really help.

I bought more Imagination clear stamp sets at the Exeter craft show, which is the first place we went on route to Torquay last weekend. When I was looking I didn't see these online, for 3 sets it was a little more than it cost me for this one stamp, and I might have got on better with them.

 I didn't spend as much as I have in the past at craft shows, I could have easily spent more. I bought a set of punches I had wanted last time but they had sold out then, some Kraftin Kimmie stamps at £2 each, bargain,   two Memento Ink pads which I was ripped off on, they were 50p cheaper on the next stall I came to with them, and nobody else was selling them for £4 so I picked the wrong place to buy from. I also bought a larger than usual embossing stencil, some envelopes, some beads to use on crochet flowers (though the first ones I was sold might be too small, I did tell them what I wanted it for but then came across the wholesaler's stall where I was told that wasn't the ones I needed, I bought some larger ones I have been using - so another rip off). I also bought some cheaper than Pinflair non smelly silcone like glue from Spike the punch magician, which is where I got the punches and bargain stamps!

I nearly bought either a Scor-pal or Martha Stewart scoring board, both were at good prices, but I didn't do it in the end. I was really finding the plethora of pretty dies confusing, everyone has jumped on that bandwaggon, I know if I am seeing a good price on Spellbinders or Sizzix but I really didn't know if the prices on the other dies around were cheap or not. Looking when I got home I don't think they were any less than normal. I also saw some Just Rite stamp sets that are designed to go with certain Spellbinder sets, this is another exciting development that stamp companies seem to be taking up, Hero Arts with Sizzix, Just Rite and Unity with Spellbinders and who knows who else. I resisted buying any, though it was hard to resist, I have just received a set of Unity Stamps from the US and bought the Spellbinders set to go with those and got a really good deal on that!

It's Very Puzzling....

and I don't mean the torrential rain and Autumnal conditions here in the U.K. "Summer"!

What I am talking about is the new Quirky Challenge set by me over at Quirky Crafts Challenge blog. I want you to use jigsaw pieces, in any way you like, either real ones (charity shops are great for getting puzzles for very little) or die cut puzzles or pieces or inchie puzzles. Hop on over to the blog to see some great examples.

I have had this giant piece for a long time, Deanne (Quirky Boots) sent the DT one each when she was still around, and I haven't ever got round to altering it. So this was the ideal opportunity. I managed to find it which was a good start, then had to decide what to do with it. I knew I was using the Tree of Circles image from our sponsor The Stamping Boutique. This is what I did:

1. Sanded the shiny picture side of the piece with fine sandpaper.

2. Painted it with white Gesso (you could go right to step 3) and allowed it to dry.

3. Painted over the Gesso with white acrylic with a touch of blue blended in and again allowed it to dry, this was too pale so....

4. I used two different blue alcohol inks and some pearl blender and applied that using a felt pad and applicator handle, also applied plenty to my fingers in the process.

5. While the Gesso and Acrylic paint was drying I coloured the image using my Koh-I- Noor Progresso woodless coloured pencils for the first time, mainly because they leapt off the shelf and hit the floor when I reached for the Trias, and this was quite an intricate image to colour and I find it easier with pencils. These pencils are blendable with Sansador and can be used with Prisma Color pencils too. I think they are very vibrant which I what I wanted. I went over the colours with some paper blending stumps and Sansador, I had trouble finding my stumps and had to open a new pack.

6. When the acrylic paint was dry I found a pretty stamp to stamp the background with Stazon ink. The stamp I used is by Inkadinkado and is a wood mounted corner flourish stamp with a couple of birds on it, I don't know the name of the image.

7. Got out the old Krylon gold pen and went round the edges.

8. Cut out a large and smaller image, and worked out where to place them then I used Decopatch to stick them to the piece and to go over the whole thing to seal it, that stuff dries very quickly compared to the Gesso and acrylic, which was good for me! 

9. I felt it needed more, I added a Kan Ban metal tag, using a gem brad, and then some matching Papermania  adhesive gems to the trees.

10. Still needed more, so the pack of mother of pearl buttons I found in my hand were threaded through with green wire and added.

11. Finally I went over the edges of the image where they met the edge of the piece with Krylon gold pen, and I punched a hole in the top and added a loop of ribbon to hang the finished piece, and that's all there is too it!

I might see if I can get a better photo, looks a bit out of focus one side, or maybe the Decopatch was still a little wet! This was so much fun, and I am really pleased with the result so I will have to go hunt for more big jigsaws at the charity (thrift) shops, unless I can cut them out on the eCraft.

This is a little late being posted, we were out for the day yesterday at my Son and Daughter-in-Law's house, taking my Mother-in-Law to see it for the first time, and we had a lovely lunch out and a busy day with lots of travelling, I was too tired to blog last night.

Hop on over to Quirky Crafts and have a go, you could win some lovely Summer Holiday ribbons or some digi's from our two lovely sponsors: Crafty Ribbons and The Stamping Boutique.

Now I have spotted a few challenges I can enter, so here goes:

Paperplay - Things with Wings, there are birds in the image and background

Paperkutz - The Skies the Limit

Cute Card Thursday - Going round in circles

Lollipop Crafts - Anything goes

Stamping for the Weekend - Wings and Things

My Time to Craft - Bird Watcher (not sure if non cards are allowed though)

First Quirky Craft Challenge of 2011

The first Quirky Crafts Challenge of 2011 is Something New - New Year, new house, new baby - a celebration of anything new this year.

I have taken the plunge and attempted my first ever canvas. I bought the canvas with the small easel because I wanted the easel, now it just may have to stay on display like that! I primed the canvas with white gesso, first time I have used that. Then when it was dry I inked the canvas with Ranger alcohol inks, Sir Tim would be proud of me. I used Cranberry and Lettuce with Pearl and Copper mixers and just swirled it around on a felt pad. Then I tried to ink the word Quirky directly onto the canvas, this took three attempts and I had to find an acrylic block the right size to wedge into the back of the frame so that the inkpad had a firm surface. Not bad I think. I dabbed over that with a Distress ink pad, which didn't work out as I planned.

Then I die cut copper sheet letters, oh I stamped the copper first with Stazon and a Hero Arts background stamp, and stuck those on. For the 2011 I die cut some chipboard packaging with Shadow Box Sizzix alphabet dies, and painted the numbers with gesso. I inked the shadow part with two colours of distress ink and stamped over the top numbers. I also inked the top numbers a little with Denim distress ink. I stuck on some Tim Holtz tissue tape that I got for Christmas from my son, he brought it all the way back from NY. I sprayed the whole canvas and lettering with Perfect Pearls turquoise mist spray, I can't find my glimmer mists anywhere. Then I stuck the numbers together and on the canvas with DST.

Finally I inked up some grunge paper with some Paperartsy stamps, and inked the flowers with Distress inks which were not drying so I added Denim Distress powder and heat embossed. Then I sanded off the powder. I scrunched up the flowers and added a brad through them and the canvas.

My New Baby card is made using a Stampavie stamp that I think I won. It is so sweet, and I decided it was really for a baby card. I coloured the image with Promarkers, cut it with a Nestabilities die. I cut a panel of Papermania paper slightly smaller than the card, and stuck it in the middle before stitching round the edge with my mini sewing machine. I added a piece of paper lace then the image. I also used some paper daisies and a foil panel I found in my stash. I decorated the inside of the card to match, but left it blank so someone can add their own words as desired. I don't know any pregnant ladies at the moment.

I have entered the card in the:

I Love Promarkers anything goes challenge

 Lots to Do New Beginnings challenge (spooky that).

My time to Craft Brand Spanking New challenge.