Andy Skinner Workshop

I had a fabulous day at the Craft Barn on Sunday doing an Andy Skinner workshop.
This is what I made.

We all got very messy playing with paints and I learnt some new techniques, one of them was image transfer - something that I'd always wanted to do and will definitely be doing again.

Here is a closer look at the rust technique.

I'm linking my piece to the Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge Rustification.

Distressed Summer/Nature ATCs

Distressed Summer/Nature is the theme for the July Paperplay group ATC swap.
The backgrounds for my ATCs were inked up ages ago and I can't remember what inks and colours I used.

Dragonfly ATC. I stamped ferns [unknown] on the ATC and stamped flowers [ Stamp Bug] with acrylic paint, I also used a crackle stamp [Tattered Angels]. I used a Dreamweaver dragonfly brass stencil with some Dreamweaver Crackle Embossing Paste. I was going to put some colour on the dragonfly when it dried, but decided to leave it as I liked the way the wet paste had soaked up some of the background colour. I edged the ATC with stormy sky Distress ink.
Fern ATC. This was made exactly the same way as the dragonfly except that I used a Crafters Workshop fern stencil and I added a small leaf charm.

Bumble Bee ATC. I stamped the small bee [Stampotique] onto the ATC and scraped some acrylic paint over it. When the paint was dry I stamped the sequin waste [The Artistic Stamper] with spiced marmalade Distress ink. The large Bee [Stampotique] was stamped onto white card and coloured with the spiced marmalade. After I cut it out I added Stickles to the wings and adhered it to the ATC.

Rose ATC. The background stamps that I used are by The Stamp Bug and Tattered Angels. I used a Dreamweaver Rose brass stencil with the Dreamweaver Crackle Embossing Paste. I embellished it with a Tando Creative mini butterfly embossed with Frantage shabby pink embossing enamel.

I'm entering my ATCs in the Simon Says Stamp and Show No Rules challenge.

Modes of Transport

The latest Challenge at Artful Times is Modes of Transport. For my card I've used the lovely bus on the  Stamps Away Pilkington Transport 1 stamp set. I've also used the Creative Expressions Plaid stamp and the small bus is an Artemio stamp.

The inks that I've used are fired brick and broken china Distress ink and black Archival. I edged a white card blank with the distress inks and then adhered a piece of Idea-Ology Kraft Resist paper to it. I attached some ribbon and stapled the small buses. I stamped the plaid pattern with the Distress inks and adhered it to the card. The bus was stamped with black Archival and water coloured with fired brick. I used my Dymo machine to make the Happy Birthday.

I'm entering my card in the following challenges
Artful Times challenge Modes of Transport.
Simon Says Stamp and Show some Layers.

Furry Four Legged Family

Thank you everyone that joined in with our Birthday Blog Hop, we had some fabulous entries. I don't envy Julia having to choose her top three. I'll be putting names into my hat this week and will draw out the winner of my prize and I'll announce the winner next Tuesday June 19th.

The theme for the latest Craft Room Challenge is Our Furry Four Legged Family and this has been chosen by Zoe. The sponsor for the challenge is Tando Creative.

I have a cat and a couple of dogs at home and couldn't decide what to use on my card, then I remembered that one of my favourite stamps is a cat stamp by The Artistic Stamper, so I decided to use this on my DT card.

I covered a square card blank with two coordinating papers, then after rounding the corners I went round the edge with walnut stain Distress ink.
The latest Just Us Girls challenge is an acrylic distress technique challenge. I must say I enjoyed this doing this technique and will definitely be doing it again. I embossed some card with a Cuttlebug embossing folder, then I painted it with clam shell Eco Green acrylic paint, when it was dry I sanded the paint of the embossing and then sponged walnut stain over the top and removed the excess with a damp cloth. They have a tutorial on this technique on the JUG's blog.
The cat was stamped onto patterned paper with coffee Archival ink, then diecut and matted onto a larger diecut piece of card that I edged with walnut stain. I stamped the meow but have no idea who made the stamp. I embellished the card with ribbon, silver charm and flowers from my stash.

I'm entering my card in the following challenges.
Just Us Girls Acrylic distress technique challenge.
St Luke's Charity Challenge Our Little Furry Friends
Simon Says Stamp And Show Anything Goes

I'm looking forward to looking at your creations, the rest of the Design Team have made some lovely samples so why not pop over the the Craft Room to have a look.

If The Crown Fits

I'd like to share this tag with you.

The stamps that I used are by Studio 490/Wendy Vecchi. For the background I used the Sentimental Art set and the image and sentiment are from the Regal Art set.
I embellished the tag with an Art Part border, a wooden crown and some silver crown charms. I also added some red gems.
To colour the tag I used Distress ink and stains and some chalks.

I'm entering the tag in a couple of challenges 
Sunday Stampers Queens and Crowns
Simon Says Stamp and Show Anything Goes

Under The Red, Yellow and Orange Sea

The latest theme for the Stampotique Designers Challenge is Red Yellow and Orange and Stampotique stamps have to be used. I'm also going to enter this in the Simon Says Stamp and Show Anything Goes challenge.
I started of with a white card and stamped the images masking them as I went along, then I coloured the card in wavy lines using the direct to paper technique with a shades of orange Marvy Blending Blox. Then I stamped the plants with Elusive Images stamps. When I'd removed the masks I coloured the images with Promarkers. I then embossed the edges of the card with tropic red Cosmic Shimmer UTEE. and added some little coloured dew drops to look like bubbles.

Steampunk Hanging

I started of by painting some burgundy corrugated card with orange and white acrylic paint, then I coloured some white card with tattered rose, antique linen and dried marigold distress ink using the direct to paper technique, I stamped lots of images on top of this using broken china and tea die distress ink and black archival ink. I cut out three images from a piece of Graphic 45 Steampunk Debutante paper, then I attached it all to the backing card. I added cogs etc and wrapped some wire round a pencil to get the curly wire.
The stamps I used are by Katzelkraft and 7 Gypsies.
I'm entering this into Simon Says Stamp and Show some metal challenge and Just For Fun steampunk challenge.

Distressed Edged Card

I'm entering this card in the Simon Says Stamp and Show your distressed/torn edges challenge.
I coloured a white card blank with milled lavender and old paper distress ink, I used the direct to paper technique. I distressed the edges and then went round them with old paper distress ink. I distressed the images the same way. The lovely lady image is an image from Gecko Galz , I added a little bit of mauve to her dress using a coloured pencil. For the other images I used stamps by Artistic Outpost. The last thing I did was to add a few pearls to the edge of the card.

Leonado Tag

i

The Grungy Monday challenge at Studio L3 is to use Distress Ink and the challenge at Simon Says Stamp and Show  is to show a tag so I decided to combine the two challenges.
I went to the Craft Barn Extravaganza on Sunday and bought a lovely set of  Leonado Da Vinci stamps by Katzelkraft, these are the stamps I've used. The Distress inks I've used are vintage photo, old paper, scattered straw, mustard seed and dusty concord, I've also used black Archival.

If The Crown Fits

 

This is the card I've made for the Simon Says Stamp and Show some Wendy Vecchi style. As these are the only Wendy Vecchi stamps that I own I didn't have a lot of choice as to what I used. The silhouette and sentiment are the Wendy Vecchi stamps the other stamps that I used are Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous. The inks used are Distress inks. I coloured the chipboard crown with gold ink and added some gems.

When A Bell Rings

I've made this tag for the Grungy Monday 7 challenge at Studio L3 and the Simon Says Stamp Stamp and Show an Old Wives Tale challenge.
For the Grungy Monday challenge we had to do the Tim Holtz distress ink color blocking technique, you can see him demonstrating the technique here.
I stamped the main image, coloured it in and then cut it out. I stamped the wings onto some sticky backed aluminium with black Stazon and then stuck it to some black card. I went over the lines on the wings with an embossing tool to give them a bit of definition then cut them out and attached them to the main image and then I attached this to the tag. I did the words on the computer and cut them out and attached them to the tag. I embellished the tag with an angel word charm and some mini bells that I attached to the sari ribbon with a safety pin.
The stamps I've used are,
Stampotique for the main image.
Magenta for the leaves on the background.
Tattered Angels for the words on the background.
Invoke Art for the wings.

Grungy Monday 4

The theme for this weeks Grungy Monday challenge over at Studio L3 is Texture Fades and Distress. You can see Tim Holtz demonstrating it here. I'm also going to enter it for the Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge, their theme this week is to show a Lord Tim Of Holtz technique.
I started by spreading some mustard seed and worn lipstick Distress ink over a postcard texture fade and then embossed some cream card with it.Then I went over the embossing with some vintage photo Distress ink. I coloured some card with mustard seed, worn lipstick, tumbled glass and vintage photo Distress ink and stamped the images. After cutting the images out I attached them to the card together with a mini postcard from my stash and a metal tag.
The stamps I used are
Clarity Stamps, the Eiffel Tower.
Stampers Anonymous, the car and words.
Invoke Arts for the rest of the images.

Altered Notebook

I did this for theVoila Ink group Challenge over on Bella Creations. The theme is umbrellas. I am also entering it for the Simon Says stamp and show some distressing challenge.
I decided to alter the front of one of those long thin shopping list notebooks. I started off by covering the cover with a piece of card to make it a bit stronger. I used the colours lake and sunflower Eco Green acrylic paint to colour the front of the pad. I stamped some circles and blobs with distress ink and stamped the small umbrella man with black archival  ink. Then I inked the edge with my finger and black soot distress ink. The distress ink looks quite pale, I think the acrylic paint soaks it up a bit. The Sizzix Alterations die of the umbrella man is one of the goodies that I bought at Alexander Palace on Saturday. I used card to die cut him and coloured him with the lake acrylic paint. Then I used distress ink to stamp circles and blobs, then using my finger I went round the edge of him with black soot. I attached him to the notebook then I attached some words cut from some adage tickets.
The stamps I used are all from the Stampers Anonymous apart from a flourish that is made by the Stamp Bug.
The Distress ink colours that I used are stormy sky, vintage photo, and black soot.

Grungy Monday No 2

I made this hanging for the Grungy Monday No 2 challenge over at Studio L3. The challenge was to use Studio Multi Medium as a resist. You can see the technique here at Ranger
I started of with a 5"x5" piece of mountboard and I covered it with a page from a book. I didn't have any foam to make a stamp so I used a grungeboard cotton reel and button die cut from the sewing room Sizzix Alterations die, I used the die cuts later as embellishments. I coloured the hanging with various Distress inks, added some material and lace at the bottom, the die cut dress form from the Alterations die down one side and some tape measure ribbon down the other side, then added other bits and bobs. I don't know who makes the word stamp that I used on the dress form, but the other stamped images are by Crafty Secrets.
The Distress inks that I used are dusty concord, shabby shutters, dried marigold, mustard seed, milled lavender and rusty hinge.
I'm also entering this in the Simon Says  stamp and show anything but a card challenge.