Crystal Pendant

This month at the workshop we did bead stringing and I made this pendant out of Swarovski Crystals. There are approximately 135 crystals and it took ages, the workshop was for 2 hours but we were there nearer 3 hours. I'm pleased with the result though and will have another go one day.

Bangles and Beads

I thought I'd blog something different today.
Last year I started going to a monthly jewellery workshop and these are some of the pieces that I've made there.

Sketch Challenge Card

This is the card I made for a sketch challenge on KCUK.
The background paper is by Crafty Individuals. I went round the edge with distress ink and attached a piece of ribbon before matting it onto a cream card blank. I stamped the image onto the same paper and rounded the two bottom corners with a punch, then I matted it onto some mauve card and punched the corners. I stamped the moth and added a sentiment and a flower that I bought from Oxfam. The stamps I used are by PaperArtsy and I used distress ink.

American Inchies

This is what I should have blogged before pressing the wrong button.

Here are my America inchies for the U K Stampers continent inchie swap. I don't have any suitable stamps so I had to resort to other means. I inherited my dad's American stamp collection and remembered that there was a bag of loose stamps in the collection, so I sorted through them and found some with the flag and some with the Statue of Liberty on them.The Indian is an image from a My Craft Studio CD, I reduced it in size so that it fitted onto the inchie.
I stamped the USA.

ATCs

Here are three ATCs that I made for a swap last year and never got round to putting on my blog. I stamped the main image [Crafty Individuals] on to some white card and then masked it before colouring the background with distress ink. The background stamps are by The Stamp Bug I don't know who made the dream stamp. I removed the mask and then coloured the image with felt tips and then added a little butterfly brad.

I stamped the main image [Stampington] onto white card then masked it before stamping the other images. The other stamps that I used are 7 Gypsies and Non Sequitor.I then coloured the card with distress inks and removed the mask. The clocks on the image are coloured in by using distress ink and a water brush. Last but not least I added a watch face to the ATC with a brad.
For this ATC I stamped the main Image [Elusive Images] on to white card and them masked it before colouring the background with distress ink and then stamping it. The stamps used for the background are Stampendous for the leaves and the Stamp Bug for the rest. I then removed the mask and gave her hair a little colour leaving her face white.

Journal Week 4

Week 4 Sweets.
For week 4 we had to remember 5 sweets from childhood, how much they cost and where we bought them. Being a big fan of sweets I remembered a lot more than 5.
I coloured the background with Marvy blending blox put on with a baby wipe. The only stamp I used was a swirly stamp by Penny Black. The letters for sweets are die cut. I added a bit of a Rowntrees Fruit Pastilles wrapper and the round shiny things are clear domed stickers that I stuck to coloured card and cut round.

Chunky Alphabet Book M N and O

M is for music.
The background is a piece of card that I embossed with a Tim Holtz Alterations embossing folder, I coloured it with distress ink. I'm not sure who made the stamps that I used but I stamped the main image onto white card and on to a post it note. I cut out the image on the post it note to use as a mask on the image on the white card. I coloured the card with distress inks and then removed the mask. The other bits that I used are an alphabet brad and a metal flower with a jewel in its centre.
N is for Nefertiti.
I used a baby wipe to colour the background with Marvy Blending Blox ink. The pyramids are made by cutting a triangle shape out of some Cut-n-Dry foam and using it as a stamp. Again I'm not sure who made the stamps that I used, but I stamped the main image and name onto some turquoise card, then I cut them out and stuck them onto some black card, then I cut round the image to leave a black border. I stamped a few beetles along the bottom of the card and then attached the image and name and a few nail heads.
O is for owl.
I coloured the background with distress inks, before I did this I made a mask for the moon so that it would stay white then I stamped over the moon with a Clarity Stamps moon and cloud stamp, then I stamped a little owl silhouette. I added trees [Crafty Individuals] along the bottom. The main owl image is by Joanna Sheen, I stamped this onto some white card and coloured it by using a water brush and some distress ink. I then attached it to the background with some sticky foam.

Journal Week 3

This is the 3rd page of UK Stampers weekly journal, the theme is school days. We had to list 10 things we remembered about school. I had to think long and hard about this as it was such a long time ago, all I kept remembering was the fact that I didn't like school.
The ink blot and fingerprints are from 7 Gypsies Steampunk set, I used distress inks to colour them. All the other bits are from a Paper Pizazz school scrapbook set and I added a few doodled flowers.

African Inchies

U K Stampers are doing a continent inchie swap, this month we did Africa.
The background was done by brayering Ecogreen Crafts acrylic paint on to card. The silhouette images are by Clarity stamps and I stamped them with Archival black ink. The elephant and cheetah were stamped onto white card and cut out. I stamped a few green leaves and the word Africa.

Chunky Alphabet Book J K and L

Feeling fed up as I was supposed to be having a crafting day with friends but I don't feel too good so I've decided to catch up with some blogging.

J is for jigsaw.
I coloured the card with broken china and stormy sky distress inks. For the images I used vintage photo. I did the jigsaw piece the same way but triple embossed it afterwards. The main image is by Crafty Individuals, I'm not sure who makes the jigsaw stamp. I went round the edges of the stamped jigsaws with a quickie glue pen and some foil. I added an alphabet brad and some words cut out of an old dictionary.
K is for kimono.
I coloured the background with broken china distress ink and edged it with stormy sky. The bamboo is stamped with stormy sky distress ink. I matted the oriental paper on to black card and attached it to the main card. I stamped the kimono on to some gold metal with black Stazon and embossed a pattern onto it and then added a little bit of colour with some green and blue Stazon. The letter K was stamped onto gold metal with black Stazon and I went round the edge with an embossing wheel.
L is for laughter.
There's not a lot to say about this one. The background I made sometime ago using Glimmer Mist. Again I'm not sure who made the stamp but I stamped it onto some tissue paper. I added some daisy ribbon, an alphabet brad and the word laughter.

Free Theme ATC

It was a free theme for the UK Stampers January ATC swap.
I'm not sure what make the stamps are for the first two ATCs but the butterfly image is by Crafty Individuals. I used distress inks to colour the images. I covered the middle one with a piece of acetate.

Journal Week 2

Best and Worst Gifts was the theme for week 2.
I chose my children for my best gift and a windup musical clown doll that my in laws bought me for my worst gift. He spent most of his time hidden behind the curtains and let out when they came to visit.
The background is part of a Christmas card, it has lovely glittery swirls on it. I chose the Peter Pan image [Artistic Outpost] because when my son was about 8 he told his dad that he was never going to grow up, he's 22 now and he hasn't.
The stamp I used for the clown is by Katzelkraft.

Pink and Brown ATC

I made this ATC for KCUK's pink and brown ATC swap.
I stamped the main image [Rubber Stampede] on to pink card with Coffee Archival ink. I did the same with the letters and added a little gem to the M. The background paper is from my stash. I went round the edges with some pink foil.

Journal Week 1

I can't believe that it was the beginning of November that I last posted anything, so I think it's about time I started again.
This is my first offering.
UK Stampers have started to do a weekly journal challenge so I thought I would give it a go. It'll be interesting to see if I can keep it up.
For week one we had to choose 3 goals to keep during 2011 and we had to include a photograph. My goals are:
1. Eat healthy food.
2. Take the dogs on longer walks.
3. Spend more time in the garden.
I used distress inks to colour the background. The sequin waste stamp is by The Artistic Stamper, all the other stamps used are by Eco Green Crafts. The photo is of a bee that I took in the garden that I want to spend more time in.