Countdown : 116 days

There are only 116 days until Christmas, a scary thought in August when the sun is still shining!
There is a new challenge on the Fun with ATCs blog where the theme is black, white and red and I ended up with this ATC, it wasn't intentional, it just happened. Earlier in the week I found a die cut bauble and started doodling zentangle patterns on it. When I saw the black, white and red theme for this challenge I thought I'd enter just for fun.

Recipe :
Die cut bauble, zentangled.
"deck the halls" sentiment from JOFY06 stamp plate by Paperartsy
Red pearl embellishment
Additional doodling around the edges of the ATC to finish it off by me.

Holidays and Destinations

My August entry for the Show us your Twinchies challenge entitled "Holidays and Destinations, Home and Abroad", is a variation on my last post.
I found some shrink plastic in a drawer in my craft room so stamped the Tim Holtz aeroplane and shrunk it, I'd forgotten how satisfying it is to watch it curl up and then flatten out to a tiny version of the original, a perfect size for a twinchie.

The background is pan pastels blended in purple and blue, I like that combination. I love maps. I collect old Ordnance Survey maps, yes, I love them. The background is overstamped with a section of the Papermania All Aboard - map stamp in coffee archival ink and the aeroplane added so its flying over the Atlantic towards the UK. That's my "home" part of the challenge theme because although it may be fun to go away, its always good to come home.

Travel and Destinations

I have been wanting to have a go at Tim's Tag for August for a couple of weeks but have been distracted by other things. So today I revisited the blog and decided to have a play.I like using the masking technique and particularly like the colours Tim used for his tags.
I have the aeroplane stamps but they are the mini versions so look a bit silly on the bigger tags that I have so rather than attempting a smaller tag I thought I'd just make a panel and mount it on a card.
As mentioned before, I liked the colours used for the background, frayed burlap and pumice stone but did not have those distress stains so used distress inks instead with a lot of water. I like it, it pleases me.
I won't describe the details here as Tim's tutorial is very good, go check it out via my link.

So, here is my "inspired by Tim" card :

This post is for Michael and Donna-Jean who are off on holiday (vacation) tomorrow. Have a great time!

Mannequin

Today's post was inspired by an idea in Craft Stamper magazine this month using the freebie stamp by IndigoBlu.

The mannequin is stamped using black archival ink and mounted on pink polka dot paper from my stash distressed with antique linen ink. The flowers and butterflies are cut from the same image stamped on white cardstock and coloured with promarkers then mounted with pinflair glue. The sentiment is from an Anna Marie Designs stamp set on a panel of the same polka dot paper. Added the dotty corners and ribbon and all mounted on a 6x6 Kraft card. 

I am 1

It is one whole year since my first blog post and I would like to thank all of you who have encouraged me along the way. I've learned so much from the blog challenges and from following the inspirational crafts people and artists over the past year. Thank you all so much.

I will start year two with my entry for this month's Twinchie challenge which is #4 Florals.
My 2 inch square piece is (predictably) a daisy from Paperartsy's JOFY 13. The background is stamped using a Judikins cube in shades of green and the flower stamped on white cardstock and coloured with inktense pencils then softened with a water brush, cut out and mounted on the background.

Happy Tuesday everyone and thank you for dropping by.

Masking with Flowers

Where does all the time go? It has been a couple of weeks at least since my last post. I haven't been entirely idle on the craft front although the day job has got in the way of any real creativity.
Last weekend I was playing with a set of Sizzix dies and stamps that I purchased at The Glitter Pot back in May. See how the time flies, I hadn't even got round to opening the packet!

Here are two cards using the same set : Sizzix Framelits & Stamps - Flowers, Scallop.
The first was and exercise in masking which can be quite addictive and is certainly effective. I have quite a stash of post-it notes now as I picked up a few advertising ones at a recent work exhibition and they are perfect to use for masks. Interesting to note that Tim's Tag for August uses the masking technique so I want to have a go at that when I get some spare time too, the examples are fabulous, I bet I don't have any of the materials so I'll have to improvise (or shop?).

Stamped with Memento Angel Pink, Rose Bud and Pear Tart on white cardstock and mounted on fuschia pink card from Craftwork Cards.

The cardstock is from Craftwork cards, as is the dotty paper. The flowers are stamped using the Memento Angel Pink ink pad and die cut and mounted with foam pads. A few gems added and the sentiment and the simple card is done. Its OK, I prefer the first one as there is more stamping and less bling but thats just my personal taste.

Have a great weekend and thank you for dropping by.

Julia x