Frilly and Funkie Challenge

Sharing my make for the latest Frilly & Funkie challenge today - the challenge is Let the Words Do the Talking, so a favourite quote stamp has a place of pride on my piece. I've gone very vintage for this make, using one of my favourite go-to colour palettes - soft, gentle yellows and pinks.

My background is layered with lace and book page then gessoed and stencilled with a leaf frond created with crackle paste. I used Distress Spray Stain spray inks and acrylics to add the colour over the top.

My focal point is a lovely vintage image (I think this is such a pretty photo). She's surrounded by a whole heap of embellies - sprayed flowers (Distress Spray in Scattered Straw and Tattered Rose), paper ephemera, lace sprayed with Scattered Straw ink, pieces of gold netting and metal embellishments. I also made up some stick pins and added micro beads. 

The large flourish is created with a Prima mould and coloured with paint and Treasure Gold. 

To finish I added Stampendous Frantage Tea Stained Mica Flakes here and there on the edges - LOVE this product!

And of course there is the all important quote - it's a PaperArtsy one from a Darcy set - it reads 'I want to be improbable and beautiful, afraid of nothing as if I had wings.' - isn't that just beautiful?

Before I go I must give a nod to my friend Caroline Ward who gave me some very useful constructive criticism - and the piece is better for it. Thanks Caroline!

Hope you like my challenge piece - thank you for visiting :).

Katy x

Blatant Bragging!!!

I just needed to share this - I am SO proud to have been honoured on these wonderful challenge blogs this month. A much needed confidence boost :).

Top 3 June 2015 - Anything Goes

Top Pick June 2015 - It's Summer Challenge

Top 3 June 2015 - Lots of Layers Challenge

Designer Spotlight June 2015 - Stamp and Mist

Top 3 June 2015 - Out to Sea Challenge

Top 3 June 2015 - Makes Me Smile Challenge

Still wishing for the seaside!

Yes, I am back in my seaside themed comfort zone again - get used to it - I might be there until the end of summer!!! The background is basically a gesso resist with Distress Spray Stains - described in detail below if you want to know more.

Today's creation is going into a few challenges that inspired it (gotta love a challenge when you need some ideas to get you started).

- Art with Heart June Challenge - Summer with Sizzix

(I used three Sizzix dies - Cobblestones, Tattered Pinecone (foliage) and Sand & Sea)

- That Craft Place - Layers 

(Many MANY layers - check out my info below)

And last but not least...

- Simon Say Stamp Monday Challenge - Mist and Stamp

(I used Distress Spray Stains and Cosmic Shimmer Mists, plus a Prima texture stamp (Finnabair), and shell and quote stamps (Rubber Dance New Retro Beach set).

Here's a little more info about how I made it.

The background is layered up as follows:

1 Torn pieces of book page, Sizzix Cobblestones die cuts (torn into pieces) and net ribbon.

2 A loose coat of white gesso - the coverage is incomplete.

3 Distress Spray Stains in Squeezed Lemonade, Wild Honey, Salty Ocean and Evergreen Bough. I added a few layers, drying between. The gesso resists the ink and the book page is more absorbent than the background, so you get paler and darker areas of each colour.

4 Circles created with texture paste through a stencil (Tim Holtz), then painted over with a wash of Distress Paints in Salty Ocean and Evergreen Bough once dry.

5 At this stage I added a touch more spray here and there and stamped speckles around the edge in Potting Shed Archival.

The background is mounted onto torn corrugated card which has been lightly gessoed.

The decor was created as follows:

1 Seahorse: Die cut and sprayed with two colours of Cosmic Shimmer Mist - dried and then inked with Wild Honey and Walnut Stain Distress Inks. Then spritzed with a Distress Marker Spritzer and a Frayed Burlap Distress Marker to create the speckles.

2 Foliage: Cut from the Tattered Pinecone die, inked with Bundled Sage and Peeled Paint Distress Inks and stamped with the same Prima texture stamp for detail. Glued only on the central stem to allow it to to be bent upwards to simulate movement. The chipboard foliage is Tando.

3 Sea Bed: Pieces of torn sandpaper, driftwood, a real shell and stamped shells inked to match the real one.

Many of the elements are glued with Pinflair for dimension.

Took a fair old while to make this but I think it was worth the effort :).

Thanks for popping in!

Katy xxx

Country View Crafts Guest Designer!

Delighted to be guest designing for Country View Challenges today. The theme is 'Stencil It' which suited me nicely as I've just added a few of Tim's Layering Stencils to my stash.

I used stencils to create my background using the stencil effectively as a stamp (it's a Tim Holtz technique). I inked the stencil direct from the pad using Distress Inks, misted lightly with water and pressed onto inked cardstock. This creates a lovely soft effect. To add detail to the stencilling I replaced the stencil (after cleaning it) over the original impression and applied Treasure Gold into the gaps.

The tag is decorated with my very own Artistic Stamper stamps that I've gently coloured with Distress Inks and a waterbrush. I added finishing touches with pearls and seam binding.

I hope you've enjoyed today - make sure to keep checking back to the Country View blog as there's lots going on throughout July.

Katy x

The Birds Part Two

Pretty amazing week so far with awards from both Frilly and Funkie and Virginia's View for my artwork - feeling humbled and energised by that recognition!

Playing with bird stamps again! Got these from my lovely hubbie for my birthday - Tim Holtz's Bird Feathers set. Remember the vintage notebook cover that I binned? Well I decided to give it another go! Once again I went for a flat, practical finish but added a metal token for a little texture.

It's practically all Tim's stuff - Distress Inks, Layering Stencils, Stampers Anon stamps...... I was inspired by playing with the Layering Stencils, which were the subject of Tim's Tags this month, so I am entering this into the A Vintage Journey - Wings & Things Challenge.

Thanks for visiting!
K x

Step away from the comfort zone...

Having a mooch about t'internet as you do, I came across a new challenge blog 'Less is More' via Joanne Wardle's blog. Those who know me will appreciate that less is more is not generally a doctrine one would associate with my 'style' of making, but I thought I'd give it a go. Challenge is black, white and pink.

The result is a card which I am not sure I really like and onto which I had to try desperately hard not to stamp a huge flourish in the background!

But I am trying to push myself out of my comfort zone this year, so onwards and upwards!

For my stamp obsessed friends, those rather nice hearts are by the lovely Dy from Art from the Heart and the wording is a SU set :).

Look, it's me!

Quite a while ago now I was asked by the folks at ATDML to be a guest on their monthly Ingredients Challenge. Well, I do like a challenge so of course I accepted. Three different scrappers were sent the same page kit to work with - I loved the kit, just my colours and I was lucky that stamps were allowed as an optional extra so I could go to town!

I made the layout weeks ago but it only went live today. This is just a sneaky peek - to see the full layout go to the Created by ATDML blog where you can also see what two other ladies did with the same kit. It's interesting to see how different the LOs are when the starting points were identical.

What I didn't know when I accepted the challenge was that there is a public vote - eeek!

What's your favourite colour?

I did this layout for the Gingersnaps colour challenge - this was the most easy peasy challenge, to create something using your favourite three colours. My favourite three colours are brown, cream and blue so a seaside layout fit perfectly.

My scraproom and living room are both decorated in these colours and I get through more brown cardstock than you would believe!

The papers are Creative Imaginations, Basic Grey and Stampin' Up!. I've stamped the netting with a gorgeous background stamp from Innovative Stamp Creations which is one of my fav stamps ever. The seaweed is a Stampington stamp. All the edges of the paper are distressed and the little journaling card has been crumpled up and then flattened out to give it texture.

The picture is another from Cape Cod - beautiful beaches. My OH cannot get enough beach.

A couple of challenges

All the jobs are done and I had a bit of me time today so as well as doing a layout which I'll share later in the week, I also got around to making the OHs Valentine card. I used the sketch on Basic Grey Challenges (the papers are BG Archaic and Bittersweet) and it also counts for the Our Creative Corner challenge which is 'masculine valentine'.

It's not a very traditional Valentine but I think he'll like it. The stamp is by Bam Pop - nuts but I just love it!!!

Thank You time

Now xmas is over with it's time for a few Thank You cards. This one is made with a stamp my lovely friend Jaki got me for crimble. It's from the sketch on Mojo Monday.

I am challenging myself to use up some old papers before I shop more; these are ancient! I've also used a brad I've had for about a hundred years for the flower centre and a teeny scrap of ribbon. Starting my new year resolution to use up my stash early!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Today's card is rather appropriate for the present UK weather conditions (although there is no snow here - just as well as I walk to work and back!). I made this one for Grandad. Now Grandad is 90 but he always loves my hand-made cards and always says 'did you make that?' with an impressed look on his face. That makes me happy so I always make him an extra nice card. Bless him.

The snowman's scarf is coloured with Glimmer Mist for a touch of Christmassy sparkle :).

This one started out based on the Sketch Saturday challenge - I am entering it but as I ended up changing the layout a little I am not sure if it counts...

Also entering this one for Stamp Something (holiday somethings) and finally Our Creative Corner where the theme is snow.

Last Christmas card for 2009 - yay!

Cupcake Challenge

The Cupcake Craft Challenge this week was a really easy one - make a 5x5" birthday card. Here's my quick make using yummy scrummy BasicGrey papers and a new Hero Arts stamp which I absolutely love, love, love!

Also entering this for Charisma Cardz as it's not Christmassy in the least!



Am hoping my friend Nix is too busy to look at my blog cos this is for her birthday, which is on Christmas Day the poor thing. I made a really summery card because I wanted it to stand out among the Christmas cards - it must be hard to celebrate your big day when it's on Christmas Day!

Twinkly trees

Cracking on with the Christmas cards now (yes I know there are people who did theirs in July or something crazy but for me before Xmas Eve is a major improvement!).

I made this card using the sketch from Friday Sketchers.

It also fits the Winter Wonderland theme for Stamp Something (quite literally as I happen to have a stamp that says just that which I used here!). Creative Inspirations is non-traditional colours so I think it counts for that too :)

Challenge-tastic!

This one's for my Mum and Dad. I seem to be liking this mauve and white colour scheme this year for some reason - it is nice and calming I think.

The card is inspired by the work my friend - the amazingly talented Isabelle Norris - did in the Jan issue of Craft Stamper. I've used the same stamp set she did, by Katzelkraft, for this card. The background panel is stamped with two colours of Memento ink, the strip at the side is Cuttlebug-ged and wrapped with raffia. I've also stamped a Crafty Individuals background under the tree.

An angelic creation!

I thought I would share with you a card I made for a friend's little girl who is three. She loves all things girly and bling so I am hoping she will like this very lilac, very glittery card!

I'm entering this for several challenges as it fits lots of the ones out there at the moment:

-The Simon Says Stamp Challenge - theme Let it Snow (lots of snowflakes on my card both stamped on the background and die cut embellishments)

-The Sketch & Stash Challenge - it is loosely based on their sketch and the new stash is the angel stamp from PaperArtsy (this is the first time I have used it too).

-The Papertake Challenge - no red and green - check!

-And finally Stamp Something - theme glitzy; I think this qualifies as there is a lot of glitter and shimmer I promise, although not apparent from the photo unfortunately!

Phew!!!