Gothic Does Steampunk!

Firstly some good news, I was thrilled to be asked to join The Happy Daze Design Team. It was a really lovely surprise. Happy Daze has such a talented design team, and to be honest I'm little in awe of them all as they have some really inspiring blogs.

Happy Daze run a monthly challenge and a winner is randomly drawn and gets a voucher to spend in their online shop, which has loads of interesting crafting goodies. To enter you just need to use at least one item from their shop and post a picture on their facebook or blog page.

The theme for this Monday is 'Dangly Things' and I decided to make a hanging and a necklace using Lost coast Designs labels available from Happy Daze . These stamps are my favourite of the moment as they are very versatile.

I like steampunk but find the grungier elements of it quite difficult to do without it just looking dirty, so I decided to combine it with a touch of gothic. I used a digital background paper, which by the time I finished was completely unrecognisable LOL.  I used distress inks and some Graphic 45 stamps to punk up the background and then found by using black STAZON I could turn any metal embellishments black so everything got the stazon treatment including some copper german scrap. I used the lost coast stamp as my cental image and sprayed it with a few coats of varnish to make it nice and glossy and a black tassel and some chain to finish.

I also am entering this into the Just for Fun challenge which is steampunk and Sunday Stampers which is 'Words'

Still having camera issues at the moment and after my last one broke a few weeks ago this one is looking rather like it's going the same way as the lens protector didn't want to close today whilst out at Cambridge Botanical Gardens which was glorious if a touch on the warm side! 

The necklace was made using the same set of stamps and some shrink plastic. I got this idea from Lin Brown's blog Yours Artfully

I find stamping on shrink plastic quite difficult, but if you paint a thin coat of acrylic paint on the plastic first the stamped images gives a sharper impression. It's also important to punch any holes needed first before heating as the shrunken plastic is quite brittle and liable to break.

A few pictures of the stunning array of flowers at the Botannical Gardens!

Thats all for this post, thanks for looking.

Happy Crafting  X 

Polkadoodles Challenge

Down at Polkadoodles the challenge is Butterflies and I decided to have a go at something slightly different, well not that different LOL, but less vintage shabby than my normal offerings. I made this card for the birthday swap I have joined on the Craft Telly Forum, so hopefully the recipient will not see it on my blog before they receive it.

I made an easel card and the papers used were Tim Holtz and some Kanban card stock in a burgundy colour. The stamp is curious by design that I bought from Stamp Addicts a while ago and is coloured using promarkers and distress inks. Embellished with roses from Wild Orchid Crafts and one of their new metal butterflies that has been slightly distressed and finished with some stickles (unusual for me as I don't do the blingy, glitter thing usually!) and pearls.

Another couple of cards made for friends birthdays that are more blingy than usual.

Both of these cards are using images from People and places Book 2 available from Crafty Individuals. I embossed pearlised card using the larger script embossing folder from cuttlebug. Papermania and Tim Holtz papers and more Wild Orchid roses and their new metal corners.

This last card is one following on from my last blog post and is another folded card which I love making as there is space inside the card in the pocket to add a tag, book mark or similar. The paper used are Tim Holtz Vintage shabby and Ella blue by GCD which are the most gorgeous papers in shades of blue and chocolate. The digital image used is one of the many available from Dezinaworld and the stamp is Labels by Lost Coast Designs another favourite of mine and is available from Happy Daze and more Wild Orchid roses to finish.

Thank you for all the lovely encouraging comments you are leaving. I really appreciate you all taking the time and trouble to visit my blog. 

Happy Crafting X

Our Vintage Affair

The June Card Challenge at Our Vintage Affair is A Sketch with Background stamping.

I followed a tutorial to make a folded card by Loriette on her gorgeous blog A Perfect Waste of Time.

I wanted to make a vintage peachy coloured card, so as I couldn't find any suitable paper in my stash I painted some card stock with a matt peach coloured emulsion then when dry I used one of the Lost coast designs Labels stamps with coffee archival ink and a lacy stamp which I sponged with cream emulsion as a contrast and this was punched out with a Martha Stewart lace punch. The three images are also Lost Coast Design stamps which I highlighted with distress inks.

The card opens to reveal a triangular pocket to which I added a matching tag.

Very short and sweet this post as haven't even thought about what to have for dinner yet. Ooops this crafting is becoming very addictive.

Happy Crafting X

Mucha Canvas

Just a quick post today. I decided to try something different for the 'Alter it Monthly challenge' which is canvas. I started out with a clear idea of what I wanted to do, but somehow it turned out completely differently. I have recently purchased some really lovely Lost Coast Design stamps based on the Art of Alfons Mucha and decided to use one of these.

I used a 10" by 8" canvas board and covered it in Inka gold and copper. Then I used cosmic shimmer sprays and gold embossing powder to create a bit more interest.

I actually used promarkers to colour the stamped image which I don't often do as I prefer more subtle tones. Then I glazed it with glossy accents.

I used a vintage paper from my stash and stamped it with yes, you guessed it another Lost Coast stamp LOL. It is difficult to see but the swirls are made from copper metal which I then diecut. Then I added a few embellishments and gave it a couple of coats of clear varnish.

Really struggling with my camera at the moment as whichever settings I use the colours do not appear true. They seem to have a white tinge to them.

I would like to thank you for your continuing comments and encouragement it is really appreciated.

Happy Crafting

Vintage With A Heart

I was really pleased to be one of the five winners of Crafty Individuals May challenge. It must have been so difficult to choose, as all the entries were stunning and so varied.

The theme for their June challenge is 'Vintage With A Heart'

 I decided to decorate a wooden curio house. I painted the entire house a vintage pink with matt emulsion and once dry I stamped on a pink/burgandy paint using CI - 213 to simulate a crackle effect. I outlined the house with a gold krylon pen.

The banner was painted with both the pink and burgandy paint and embossed using CI - 258 with gold embossing powder.

I used CI - 174 to make the mini pictures with the tando frames also available from Crafty Individuals.

The heart stamp is from magenta and unfortunately its not clear in the picture but it has a crackle glaze. I used a script stamp for the paper and I made a posy from a small crochet doily and some rose blooms. 

The bottom right stamped image is CI - 139 which I chose as my winning stamp! The oval picture next to it is an image from Dezinaworld which I backed onto a small lacey oval spellbinder die which I coloured gold.

That's all for the moment as my back is playing up from prolonged sitting crafting. LOL!

Happy Crafting.

A Couple of Altered Items!

I have quite a few wooden items lurking in my crafting cupboard including this wooden shrine that I bought ages ago but have never got round to doing anything with.

I painted the shrine with white gesso, then used distressed inks to create the background colours. For the centre piece I used Katzelkraft Dragonfly stamp which is available from the The Craft Barn and my much much used Pink Paislee butterfly garden stamps. The statue is a downloaded image from the internet I have had for a while. I used grafix rub onz to add the image to the central panel. The stamps used on the two smaller panels are Artemio hedgerow plants. I coloured these using distress inks then spray varnished to finish.

This is a revamped piece, that I repainted and stamped as I was never happy with how it had previously turned out. I used a pale eggshell blue matt emulsion and stamped the images on the frame with coffee archival ink, Pink Paislee butterfly garden stamps again I'm afraid!! This is actually a photo frame, I decided not to use the glass and I used gesso on the hardboard back to create a surface for stamping, then painted on a coat of matt emulsion. The stamp used is a lost coast designs Winged girl.

Happy Crafting