Artful Times - Challenge 12

A while ago I was playing with modelling clay and stamped a couple of faces from a Hampton Art stamp.  I cut them into individual tiles as there are 3 faces on the stamp.  Now luckily for me they were an inch square, and this week on Artful Times, Neet has chosen inchies as the theme.  Once the clay had fully air dried, I coated it in golden matte medium, I then applied a very small amount of Spanish copper rub n buff.  Rubbed it in and buffed it up with a cloth.  I mounted it onto a piece of chipboard which I coloured black.  Using the script from the TH papillon plate I used black soot distress stain to ink it up.  I punched the edges with a Martha Stewart lace design, attached it to a piece of black card which I then attached to white to make a card.

I used exactly the same technique for this card, I just altered the colours and the punch.  The background is stamped in gold metallic acrylic dabber and the rub n buff colour is Grecian gold with a hint of Spanish copper.  (It was still on my finger from the first one!!)

Hop over to the Artful Times blog to see what Neet and Von created.

My New Stash

I was just sat at home having my lunch and look what the postie brought me.  I was lucky enough to be picked for the $30 random gift certificate for Stampotique challenge SDC#58. Scroll right down and you'll see my name at the very end of the post.  So of course, I couldn't just spend the $30, I had to get a few more, well it would be rude not to, so I did!!  Luckily they survived customs too, so nothing extra to pay there.  Carol who is Stampotique Originals along with her hubby, is extremely accommodating and very helpful - thanks Carol.

So the question is, will I be able to find time to play with them tonight or shall I just wait until tomorrow and see what this weeks Stampotique challenge is, hmmm....decisions, decisions!!

Earth, Wind & Fire

Over at PanPastelUK this week I was a bit stumped by their challenge theme of earth, wind and fire, but after reading the exp and looking at the fantastic DT projects it all became clear.

The background is melted wax crayon applied with a travel iron over glossy card stock.  I stamped the grass in black stazon and some clouds in the sky with white eco-friendly paint.  I've been looking for a good white ink pad, but haven't found one yet!!  The tree is a TH die cut painted and stamped.  And finally as it is a pan pastel challenge I had to use some somewhere so I die cut a circle, coloured it with orange (280.5) to make a sun.

So my earth is the grass and the tree, my wind is the sky and the clouds and my fire is my orange sun.

Stampotique One Layer

I've held off putting an entry into this weeks Stampotique challenge, which is a one layer card, because my Stampotique stamp order left Phoenix last Saturday and I was really hoping it was going to arrive for the weekend so I could play all bank holiday, but alas the postman never came, so I turned to my trusted Moth Fab and combined her with some Art Journey stamps.  The background is picked raspberry distress inks with TH fabulous flourishes images spritzed with water and stamped into the distress ink to create a water mark effect.

All the images were stamped in black stazon, some are enhanced with a white uni posca pen along with Moth Fab.

Top Tip Tuesday also have a one layer card challenge, so I'm also entering that too!!!

Art Journey & a Photo

Art Journey's theme this month is 'use a photo'.  I've had loads of fun with this one.  I printed out a photo from our ski holiday (2011, as I missed this year!!), just onto normal photocopier paper.  I covered a large piece of chipboard in the shape of a jigsaw piece with white gesso.  I then gave it a coat of acrylic dabber paint in sandal.  I outlined it with cloudy blue acrylic paint. I gave it a blast with the heat gun to make sure it was totally dry.  I then painted on a very generous coat of Golden soft (matte) gel.  You have to be quick as it dries really fast.  I put the printed copy face down into the gel and used an old credit card to really smooth it over.  After a few seconds I peeled the paper off and voila, the image had transferred.  It's not perfect, but I was very happy with the result.  I then gave it another coat of the gel.  Once dried, which wasn't long, I added a bit more acrylic paint with my fingers to the sky.  I stamped on the AJ words, Precious Moments and swiped them over with a bit more paint.  I stamped the AJ characters onto a separate piece of card which I'd painted with juniper acrylic paint, cut them out and mounted them onto the jigsaw piece.  Finally I added some fibres.

**Apologies for the quality of the photo but it's been raining, thundering and hailing for most of the day, so not good light at all for taking photos!! 

Today the sun was out and this photo is a much truer representation of the colours.

Mad Hatter

Over at Dragons Dream TIO this week Frankie (team boss) has chosen the recipe of: 
It's Art For Art's Sake - handmade background, interesting character(s),quirky twist

My background is Dina Wakley images stamped in perfect medium, coloured over the kraft card with pan pastels.  Heart throb is my interesting character and my quirky twist is the light bulb in his hat.

The hat has been decoupaged to fit in with this weeks PanPastelUK challenge of - add decoupage!!!

I was given a Dragons Dreamboat top 3 blinkie for this tag.

Black, white and a-n-other!!

Well, here I am again back with a tag, Dina stamps and pan pastels!!  This week over at Out of a Hat Creations, they are asking for something black, white and any other colour of your own choice.  So I chose yellow, yellow ochre (270.5) pan pastel to be precise.  

The Great British Craft Festival

Well let me reassure you, there was nothing great about it at all.  In fact it was a total fiasco from start to finish.

Firstly it took 45 minutes to get in the car park from the motorway, a total of probably 3 miles.

We got parked and got into the exhibition centre no problem, but it was absolutely boiling in there, no air con.  All the stalls had been squished in, the space between the isles was minute and when a disabled buggy was going one way and another the opposite way there was nowhere to go, so the isle came to a standstill.

The guy announced on the tannoy that as it was hot perhaps it would be a good idea to step outside into the breeze and catch some fresh air, he also stated that there would be no problem getting back in, just show your ticket and you can come in and out as many times as you like.  So about 11.30 am as it was extremely hot, we stepped outside for a couple of minutes.  When we went to go back in we were told we were not allowed due to too many people being in the hall and it was a health and safety risk.  I explained that we had literally just walked out and she was adamant we were not allowed in.  I asked her to explain why there had been the tannoy message and she said she was only following instructions.  I asked her to go and get someone in charge but she said she could not leave the door, when one of her colleagues came along she ignored me.  Maz spotted that the guy opposite was letting people back in, so we just burst past her and went back in, followed by most of the people stacked behind us who had done the same thing.

After a few calls over the tannoy for people to go to the organisers office, there then comes a message over the tannoy saying if you have finished your shopping can you please leave as there are other people outside waiting to come in!!!  This did not go down very well and people were chuntering about the message up and down the isles!!!!

This message was broadcast at least 5 times whilst we were in the hall.

They had clearly sold way too many tickets.  This was the scene at around 1.15pm from the inside looking out.  The people on the right clearly found themselves in the same position we did by stepping outside!!

One of the organisers asked what I was doing and why I was taking photos, I explained it was a shambles and that they had obviously sold way too many tickets.  She said that all the people queuing outside had 'just turned up' and didn't have tickets.

We then caught up with Leonie and Dawn who were demo-ing on the C&C stand.

We were so hot and bothered we decided to leave and I came away with ....

Yes, I bought absolutely NOTHING!!!!! Not even lunch!!

This was the scene outside from the outside with people trying to get in the right of the building, by now it was about 1.45 pm.

The queue at the left of the building.

Finally the queue at the centre of the building.  As we were walking down the lines we clearly saw people with tickets in their hands, so they had pre-booked them.

Then to top it off this is what happened in the car park.

They had parked the cars in rows of 3, so the people in the middle row could not get out.  The lady in the pink on the left had been waiting ages to get her car out of the middle row!!  Luckily the car in front of us had gone.

They will not be having the pleasure of my company next year.  Sorry for the rant guys, but I felt it was needed especially when companies like Create and Craft and Hunkydory get involved with the organising and promoting.  Total shambles!!!

***Edited***

Find out what other people thought here and here

*** Edited again***

I am now totally appalled as I hear they are trying to blame the emergency services for actually taking H&S into account and limiting the number of people in the venue.  Apparently the venue is good for 4,000 people, 20,000 turned up!!!  I am still in total disbelief that they state they did not know how many tickets they had sold - greed, greed, greed.

Circling the World with Happy Daze

Ginger (aka Carol) has kindly alerted me to yet another challenge blog - Happy Daze where she happens to be a DT member.  Their theme this month is 'circling the world'.  There is a fab prize on offer for one lucky winner to get their hands on a £15.00 voucher to spend in the on line shop.  All you have to do is use a product in your piece that is sold in the shop, so as Ranger paint dabbers are sold in the shop, off I went!!  The background is coloured with hazelnut, lake mist, espresso and mushroom dabbers.  The TH images are stamped onto tissue paper with timber brown stazon (also sold in the shop but currently out of stock!!).  The white circles have been created by dipping a bottle lid into snow cap acrylic paint, and the smaller fuller circles have been put through some sequin waste.

Artful Times - Challenge 11

Gosh these challenges come round so quickly, it's back to my turn this week to set the theme.  I chose, 'using acetate as a layer'.  I used purple and blue Dylusion ink sprays to create the background for my postcard.  I sourced a butterfly, printed it out and stuck it directly to the background.  I stamped the rays from the TH plate psychedelic grunge, in black stazon onto the acetate and placed it on the background.  Cut the words wish and hope from a piece of twill and coloured them in green distress stain and positioned them on the background under the acetate so they would show through the rays.  I attached the acetate using red liner tape at the top and bottom.  I added ribbon and lace with the hot glue gun to hide where the acetate is attached.  And finally I glued the image of the girl onto the acetate.

A Splash of Colour

Over at the PaperPlay forum this months ATC theme is 'a splash of colour'.

Stampotique Alterations

Over on the Stampotique Designers Challenge this week the theme is alter it.  My two pieces started off life as a beer mat.

Simon Says Stamp & Show

Are looking for your favourite technique.  At the moment my favourite technique is stamping in Perfect Medium and colouring with Pan Pastels. Both the Dina Wakley images were stamped on separate pieces of card, coloured with the co-ordinating pan pastel to the background colour, cut out and mounted on the tag.  The background stamps are from the T!m Holtz mixed media plate.  The pan pastel colours are raw umber extra dark (780.1), bright yellow green shade (680.3) and neutral grey tint (820.7).

Snazzy Steampunk

This week over at the Snazzy Design Team they have a steampunk themed challenge.  They have a set of steampunkery stamps by Chocolate Baroque as a prize for one lucky winner.  But you have to be in it to win it, so hop over to their blog to see what the fab design team have made and don't forget to link your entry up to be in with a chance of being a winner.

A Gift Bag

This week the ladies at Out of a Hat Creations are looking for gift boxes or gift bags.  I took a plain brown paper bag and stamped it with butterflies, numbers, script and mini sentiments using the browns of the distress ink range.  This is the front.

And this is the back!!!

CAS-ual Square Card

I have just found this new to me challenge blog courtesy of Carol & Sue, both of whom have just become Stampotique DT members.  Stampotique are this weeks sponsors over at Cas-ual Friday and you could win a $30 gift certificate if you enter a clean and simple square card with lots of white space.

Playing Bingo with Simon Says...

This week over at Simon says Stamp Challenge we are playing bingo!!!  I have chosen the diagonal line from top left to bottom right ~ ribbon / free / blooms.

A Sketch Hanger

Stampotique have relaxed their challenge rules and now you can use ANY stamps you like to enter to be in with a chance to win the $30 gift certificate.  They have also now gone WEEKLY and will be picking 2 random winners every month.

This is their first weekly challenge and it has been chosen by Kim who is a big fan of sketches.  Pop over to the Stampotique Designers blog to see the sketch, join in and you might be a random winner, just like I was!!!

Simon Says Paint it Up

Simon Says Stamp and Show are asking to see some paint!!  I gesso'd a couple of beer mats and painted them with a few coats of sunset orange Ranger dabber paint and put citrus through some sequin waste.  I stamped Heart Throb onto a separate piece of card and coloured him with Adirondack pens.  I stuck him onto the beer mat, masked him off and stamped the picket fence in black stazon.

Painted in the same way as above, stamped in black stazon the Stampotique row of faces and the swirl stalks.  Head and Titus were stamped onto separate pieces of card, coloured and cut out.  Titus was stamped onto the background for his arms, legs and hair and his cut out body was matched up!!

Summer Fun

This week over at PanPastel UK challenge they are asking for Summer Fun.  Yes, this is patterned paper for the background with pink, blue and yellow flowers.   It's okay, no need to call the doctor, I just liked the paper with the image!!!  I stamped Newt with Lunch Box onto a separate piece of card, coloured her with Adirondack and OHP pens.  The background is shaded with magenta (430.5) pan pastel.  I added a piece of lace and some pearl gems to split the patterned panel.

What do you say?

Simon Says Stamp and Show are asking for sentiments this week and I'm also entering a second card into Out of a Hat Creations as their challenge theme is lines.  Simon Says Stamp Challenge have a colour theme challenge, I've chosen the black, white and green.

I stamped the Stampotique image Winter onto a blank piece of white card and coloured her with Adirondack pens.  I shaded the edges with bright yellow green extra dark (680.1) pan pastel, mounted a piece of green lined paper onto the right side of the card and added some Hero Arts flowers and a bow as it looked too plain without.

Violet tint (470.8) pan pastel was used to frame the Newt with Lunch Box image.  Heart patterned paper for the background and 3 hearts die cut from a lilac and dark purple card stock.  Ribbon with heart and pearl gems added to embellish.

5 x 5's

I coloured the backgrounds with various shades blue of distress inks.  I spritzed various stamps and took the ink off with the water and blotted with kitchen roll.

This one is crushed olive and mowed lawn distress inks and a mixture of Dina Wakely and Art Journey stamps.

And finally shaded lilac, pickled raspberry and seedless preserves.  I used my new TH classics #1 stamps for the main image and the words, again more Art Journey and another dragonfly stamp.


And yes Kate it is sort of pink, but not really as it's pickled raspberry and raspberries are traditionally red, so it's just a shade of red!!!

Artful Times - Challenge 10

Von chose Mona Lisa as this weeks Artful Times challenge theme.  I made an atc using my Cherry Pie - Da Vinci - Woman plate of stamps.  I stamped in black archival and coloured the images with TH distress ink markers.  I used mustard seed, spiced marmalade, peeled paint, bundled sage and tumbled glass.  I mounted the main image onto black card, attached a piece of film strip with a couple of eyelets, mounted again onto white card and another piece of black.  The jigsaw piece was cut out and mounted with 3d foam.


Hop along to the blog and see what Neet and Von have made.  Please feel free to join. Don't forget to link your entry up to Mr Linky.

Lines

This week Out of a Hat creations are looking for lines.

Two more

I used A6 as opposed to square cards for these two.  The purple and pink Moth Fab was coloured with OHP and Adirondack pens.   Seedless preserves and picked raspberry were used to colour the panel.  And a piece of ribbon was added to finish.

Rusty hinge and ripe persimmon distress inks used for the panel on this card and Moth Fab was coloured with water colour paints.  Again I added a piece of ribbon I picked up from the Doncaster Race Course show here.


Again no sentiments, waiting for the right occasion!!

Cards

Same technique as the previous cards but used Newt with Lunch Box character.  Again embossed and coloured with perfect pearls.

Heartthrob was stamped onto the card, masked off and Hero Arts birthday surprise stamp was stamped in salty ocean distress ink.  The same stamp was used in the panel of blue to lift off the ink.  The happy birthday is also a Hero Arts stamp.