Some last minute Christmas cards.....

Just a couple more Christmas cards to share, I had already finished my card making for the season but a friend asked for a card for her boyfriend so I made these two.

I am entering the top one into the Happy Daze Challenge and the bottom one into The Artistic Stamper Challenge.

Tim's 12 tags of Christmas - another one.....

I have been seriously lacking inspiration to do anything yesterday. Imagine a whole day off in a room of stamps and no inspiration to create anything. Well, I thought I may as well make another Tim tag and see if it inspires me and I did end up making a few more Christmas cards and that so I guess it worked.
I don't actually have the holly die for this tag but instead I used 2 cut offs off the tree die as branches and one of the leaves from the tattered leaves die. It did the trick.

I am entering this into the Artistic Stamper Challenge - Christmas as well as the Pan Pastel Challenge - Tags.

Another year, another 12 tags of Christmas....

It's that time of year again where everyone in the crafting world creates their own little interpretations of Tim's 12 Tags of Christmas. I like the fact that we can now link them all on Tim's page and you can see everyone else's tags. So many different ones, amazing!!! Unfortunately I won't be able to make every one due to a lack of time. I have even given up my forthcoming monday (day off = craft day) as I'm visiting a friend. But I'll try to make some tags in my spare moments before and after work.
So here is today's tag, love the canvas reindeer, fab idea!

I am entering this into The Artistic Stamper Challenge where the theme is Christmas.
And also The Happy Daze Challenge - Christmas gifts, cards and tags.

My blog makeover is complete.... and a journal page

Welcome to my newly designed and improved blog. Things have changed a little around here, out with the old tired looking design and in with a new fresh design, all in white with a few splatters of colour around. I have been working hard on the new design and layout and hopefully it'll make it a bit more userfriendly and more pleasurable to read for my followers. I have also improved the presentation of my photos, been a busy bee playing with my camera and photoshop, so bear with me it's work in progress.

To get started I would like to share my first "real" journal page with you. I say real because before I have only done art journaling style things on canvases and decorated mirrors with it, but this one if actually a page in a book. But not an ordinary journal, no, this is a board book. It's chunky and durable and I won't lose interest in finishing it as it only has 10 odd pages or so. I hope to do one page every week - inspiration allowing!

I would like to enter this page into the following challenges:

Happy Daze - Explosion of Colour (Distress Ink and gold Paint Dabber available from the shop)
Stamp Man - Backgrounds
The Artistic Stamper - Backgrounds

So let me know what you think of the new blog. I will try to post every other day from now on, hopefully I can keep up. I still have to overhaul my website too, which is a little more work than the blog was. Laters!

Halloween ATC's and the new Stampotique Flickr Group

I said only a few days ago that I don't really do Halloween, but with so many Halloween and Atumn Colour Challenges around at the moment I can't not get into a slightly spooky mood.

These ATC's have been created with various challenges in mind. I used some of the new Distress Inks and LOVE them, I mean, how can you not?! Can't wait for the wintery seasonal release ones next month - www.timholtz.com.
Also I am still rather attached to my Stanpotique stamps at the mo, maybe that's because they are ALL sitting on my desk taking up valuable crafting space. I really have to get that shelf made I want for my wall to display all my woodmounted stamps.

Also, I wanted to tell you about the new Stampotique Flickr group I started, with permission of course. It's a nice way of gathering all Stampotique creations in one place and to browse when you need some inspiration. So join us HERE and add your creations or just browse and chat.

These are going to be entered into the following challenges:

Playdate Cafe - Colour Challenge
Artistic Stamper - Autumn Colours
Happy Daze - Halloween
Tando Creative - Spooktastic

And last but not least - Grungy Mondays - it has been aaaaaages I have entered one of the lovely Linda Ledbetter's Challenges. Life has just got in the way and one can't enter all challenges in the crafting world (although this week I'm trying bloody hard!). So I hope time will allow me to take part in more Grungy Mondays from now on!!!

Halloween Candle & Trick or Treat

I'm not much of a Halloween person, I'd rather go straight from summer to Christmas, but I had these 2 glass jars hanging around and they somehow inspired me to create some Halloween decorations.

This one I painted with Fresco paints, a little stamped trick or treat band around the bottom, some ribbon and Stampotique's Uncle Buck is just perfect for Halloween. Pop some sweets in, done.





This one I coloured with alcohol inks, added some ribbon and pumpkins and let 2 tealights melt inside.
Very quick and easy to do, might be a nice project to do with children. The glass jars were from some yoghurts I bought.

Both of these are being entered into a few challenges....

Artistic Stamper - Autumn Colours
Happy Daze - Christmas or Halloween
Simon Says - Anything Goes
Tando - Spooktastic
ABC Challenge - Anything Goes

Where would you fly?!

I've been playing with some canvases again and this is the result. I used an old photo of my dad, the photo just works so well with butterfly wings behind it.

I made this for the Artistic Stamper Challenge where the themeis Male/Men. And I am also entering this into the Sir Stampalot Challenge where Anything Goes.

Monochrome plus one colour challenge....

Whilst working on some cards and ideas the other day I ended up with this background that I inked with a mask using black distress ink. I quickly grabbed my Art Journey writing stamp and popped it on and voila, a really quick and easy card.

And it goes perfectly with the theme at The Artistic Stamper this month - monochrome plus one colour.

My first card was black with aged mahogany lettering, so I decided to make another one with aged mahogany spots and black lettering.

My new favourite stamp and a couple of challenges.....

I have spent a fortune on new stamps recently, well I kinda always do. But there is sooooo many I just love at the moment, but the face stamp from Stamp Francisco is my new favourite stamp I think. I stamped it a few times, cut it out and pushed it around the page and there is just so many ideas popping up in my head.... that's always a good sign.

The branch in the background is by Memory Box and also quickly becoming a favourite. I use it for all my backgrounds at the moment.

I made this one for the Artistic Stamper Challenge "Ladies and Girls" as well as the Stampsmith Challenge "Celebrating Mothers".

Rusty Metal Roses Frame.....

I have really got into using metal recently, it never agreed with me before but since I started making these flowers with them I've really caught the metal bug. This frame is for a few challenges and it started life with an old 6"x6" shadow box frame. I painted it copper using viva decor inka gold and as that was way too bright I never used the frame for anything so it has been sitting here for ages. But now I came across a Gingersnap Challenge with the theme "Ginger, Rust, Copper" and a challenge over at Try it on Tuesday where we are re-vamping an old frame. And I am also goin with the Spring theme at the Artistic Stamper Challenge Blog, always a fab challenge to enter and I do love their shop. So I used some rust paint on the shiny (very shiny!) frame and went a bit mad with some walnut spray and rubbed it all and that, sounds quicker than it was, I spent hours doing that!!! Much better now the frame with some shiny copper still peeking through here and there but overall much more toned down. The roses are made from Ten Seconds Studio metal using a Paper Artsy flower stamp. The swirls are grungeboard painted with rust effect paint (by Modern Masters, I love their paints!). The background is made up of layers of corrugated card and natural tone canvas. Assemble it all and add a few metal butterflies and that's what you get.