Mail Art Monday: 'Ello

'ello my dears - hope you are doing well on this fine Monday! It's time for another Mail Art Monday and I am sharing a postcard I have made recently. It's for a swap on Swap-Bot for the Hand Made Postcard group. Theme was to make a postcard using a book page in your design. As you can see, I used a book page for the background. I used a handmade stencil made from Tim Holtz Mixed Media dies and sennelier watercolors in greens and blues. Then added some gold and white spatters. The edges are stamped with the knitted border from Dylusions stamps and added the black soot crayon around those outer edges.

The focal point, you might have recognized from this video as I was trying to see which of the ladies would fit better at that page. This one didn't go in that art journal page, but she does look very striking here, wouldn't you say? I gave her more color using wink of stella markers, so she also had a bit of shimmer in her. The sentiment was supposed to say "hello" as it was a negative from the TH sizzix words die cut, but the "h" got cut off and well I like the whimsy this adds to the piece.

By the way, the woman is a stamp from the clear stamp set "with the right hat" from Dyslusions. I really love the line art of this stamp set and stamping it on a piece of gelli printed paper, makes it even more fun.

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful day :)

SDC278 - Use tape

This is the second week of the "Use Tape" challenge over at Stampotique Designer's Challenge blog. You can use any type of tape in your project and I have made this card to share with you. For tape I used my new Jane Davenport masking tape from the fantastical set. I thought the mermaids would go so well together with the images from the mini sea life cube, which is a new release this month. The words, "dreamy, wishful, lovely, magical" are also from the tape set and I believe they do represent Stampotique Originals rubber stamps very well :) The center word is from Hashtags and I have also used Texture cube in my background (I nearly always use this stamp, it's so wonderful!).

A close up of the card.  The sea life is stamped on smooth marker paper and colored with alcohol markers. Fussy cut and adhered. The background is made with a stencil from crafter's workshop, sprayed some deco arts mixed media spray in cyan over it, then some lindy's magicals turbine teal for some shimmer, dry brushed some patina green over some bits for some variation.

Aren't they just super adorable, the teeny sea horses! And as you can see, I have not fussy cut them all over, colored the aria around the spikes with blue, so they would blend in better. 

List of stamps I used:

Mini Sea Life cube

Hashtags

(see more of july release here)

Texture Cube

Why not take your Stampotique stamps and (washi) tapes out for a play and join us in this week's challenge? Share your project on the InLinkz page and you could win a prize for 30$ to spend in the Stampotique store... Now, who wouldn't want that? :)

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Mail Art Monday: Snow in July

Over at Stampotique this fortnight we have a challenge for you to use your tape. I often use it to put it under an image to "ground" them on the page. I have done that with this postcard as well. I've used Cloy from the July new releases combined with this wonderful quote from  Mark Twain. Cloy is such a fun and interesting image! The background is a typewritten book page which I swiped through distress stains and after it dried I spattered some white and gold liquitex paints over it. It looks like its snowing on a warm july day... but cloy seems to be cold none the less ;) Don't forget to link up your project if you make something to fit the theme :) 

I'll be back later this week for more tape inspiration! 

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Art Journal: She left a Sparkle (+ new process video!)

Today I wanted to share a page from my Junk Mail Art Journal. I have also filmed the process and would love to share that with you here as well. I wanted to use the stamps I had bought a while back but not used at all which were the dress form stamps you see in the back. Also a few new to me ARTploration stencils from STAMPlorations were used. The focal point is the woman stamped on the gelli printed paper. Well, you can see how it all came together here:

There were some bits I was struggling with, I wanted to have the dress form popping out and that took a few tries but got there in the end. I also muted the colors down a bit because I didn't want to take away from my focal point as she was very bright and colorful too. With these art journal pages I create I learn something new every time. Glad I can share this journey with you :) 

Materials used:

The Crafter's Workshop; Gold Gesso, Light and fluffy modeling paste, Script stencil

Finnabair soft matte gel

Artplorations Square Links stencil  

Dylusions, perfect pearl and Lindy's Stamp Gang Sprays 

Deco Arts Tradition black; fluids interference magenta, turquoise and gold

Golden glazing medium

Marianne stamps in sewing theme 

Impression obsession dress form stamp

Viva Las VegasStamp! everywhere she went  

Dylusions Couture clear stamps 

Caran d'Ache neocolor oil markers 

Staz-on rubber stamp inks 

Dina Wakley Scrible sticks 

Distress Crayons 

Liquitex inks in gold and white

Modge Podge gols shimmer varnish

I would like to enter this page in the following challenges;

Stamplorations anything goes challenge 

Used the ARTploration stencil as listed above

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge "Get in Shape" 

So these dress forms are showing a shape of the "ideal" female figure. Most women feel compelled to "get into shape" and working towards having these hourglass figures. Believe me you don't need to, you have your sparkle no matter what shape you are built in. 

The challenge for this two weeks is Let is shine 

Thank you for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

WIP: the ongoing struggle of an inkophile

Yes friends, take a good look at my desk in all its messy glory. To some this might be a nightmare, but for me it's a victory. First let me explain what you see here, though for fountain pen people visiting my blog, this is a familiar sight. These are test tube vials filled with fountain pen ink. Samples of ink which were either bought at various pen sites (the main one being Goulet Pens Co.) or swapped/given to me by friends. Yes, there are thousands different ink colors of there by hundreds of different brands. It can get overwhelming, to choose a color to buy a full bottle in. Where to begin and where to stop? Having a sample of an ink you are interested in does help. You can swatch them out, see if it is the shade of color you like, if it has sheen or if it's waterproof... but even a small vial of 2-3 ml of ink (times 50 per tray) has proven to be hard to fully use up. And for a hoarder like me, it's a tough challenge. But I am slowly getting there, with the help of Konmari this year.  From 6 full trays a few years ago and to now 3 is a victory! Let me tell you, it felt soooo goood to decommission that ink tray, I had to photograph and share this momentous occasion with my fellow deskers at WOYWW this week :) So plan is to keep using up those ink vials either in my art work or in my fountain pens, of course. For instance the ink below was sent to me years ago by a dear friend.

Last week I made an art journal with this quote from a stamp and I had to write it down in my Stalogy B6 which I use for quotes. I hardly ever buy pink inks, but they are fun to enjoy once in a while. This Rose rage is a super powerful shade of pink and fun to use in my new pen from Herbert Pen Company. I know I won't be buying a full bottle of this ink but it's an on going struggle of an inkophile, not to continuously buy more and not use what you have. I am trying to be better at that. 

By the way, the work aria of my desk now is cleared of the trays 

What are you struggling to use up in your stash?

Thanks for stopping by and check out more desk stories at Julia's blog this week and play along if you want :) 

Have a great day!  

Wish You were Here - VLVS! July challenge Inspiration

Hi everyone! I have a post over at Viva Las VegaStamps! blog as a bit of inspiration for our July challenge. I have made the above ICAD (index card a day is a challenge that runs every summer in June and July) and while I am not participating this year, our challenge inspiration prompt is summer and the ICAD is always a summer activity so I thought it would be fitting to make one :) 

I have also filmed the process, so be sure to check out that video as well to see how I created this piece. 

Thanks so much for stopping by and hope you have an awesome day!

Mail Art Monday: Fancy a Cuppa?

Today I'm sharing a card for coffee lovers, made with VLVS! (the cup and saying) and the splats are from Marianne Design I think. The background is done with Tim Holtz Oxide ink walnut stain and stamped with as well. I also used Staz-on Timber brown. The cup is colored with tombow markers and I placed a lady next to it which is a cut out from a vintage magazine. Found some "atomic age" icon stamps and stamped those as well. created a border with washitape and a krink marker. Sealed it off with Modge Podge shimmering gold. Fun, simple and effective! 

Over the weekend I have played with the new Oxide ink colors (so fun and BRIGHT!) and got a fun project to share with you tomorrow :) 

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by! 

ATC: Focus your Imagination

Something fun happening every weekend over at Stampotique Originals facebook group is Word Up Weekend, in which the designers emphasize the wonderful words and phrases stamps of which there are many. And they are very versatile in use as well. I have used a part of the Mark Twain quote on this ATC. It's more of an inspiration card and I made it say "focus your imagination" - sometimes that is very needed when you have so many idea's running through your head! It's my fave phrase stamp to pair up with Topher! So you don't even have to use the full sentence/phrase if that is not what you want!

Another fun way to use text stamps is to press them in modeling paste for added texture. I love to do that with small text like Dictionery Definition stamps, you get some fun letter print in the paste. You see that in the background of the ATC here. By the way I also used Kate Crane's Texture Cube to add more texture in the background. It's a stamp I almost ALWAYS use, so fun!!

So how do you focus your imagination? If you make something with Stampotique phrases/words share your creations in our FB group, we would love to see it :) 

TGIF and hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Thanks for stopping by!

WIP: Words with meaning!

After getting my cuttlebug out a few weeks ago and giving it some love, I came completely besotted with die cuts and got myself a few new ones to play with. Like these handwrtiiten celebration words set from Tim Holtz. I just love that font! So my desk was littered with all these die cuts.

They are so fun to cut out from gelli printed pages and that fun whimsical script will be great for on cards. The only thing is, in my enthusiasm I forgot to back the paper with doublesided adhesive, so it's going to be a pain to glue them on... well thankfully I have a trusty ZIG 2 way glue pen that really is useful for this. Anyone has other tips to glue down delicate die cuts? Please do share :)

Linking up to Julia's WOYWW #423 - and glad to hop off to see what's on everyone's desk this week. Last week I missed it because of this special announcement, and it was my week to share inspiration for the Stampotique Challenge Celebration (which is still going on this week) so while I do hope to participate and visit everyone's desk (well try to anyway) I won't be able to do it every week... but I am sure not everyone can participate every week, right?

I also wanted to say a heartfelt THANKS! to everyone taking the time to visit my blog and post a comment on my work or just to say hi :) It's so appreciated and warms my heart everytime, thank you!! I have a giveaway in the works sometime later this month with all sorts of craft stuff I have been keeping but never use. It's time to give them a new home! So if you haven't yet, please follow my blog so you'll get an update on that giveaway :) 

Have a wonderful "hump day", thanks for stopping by and catch you all later. 

Art Journal: Road trip to Paris

Summer is here and obviously summer vacation has been the topic of discussion. While do we don't have any definite plans to go somewhere this summer, I have been feeling nostalgic for Paris. We've been there several times over the years and my sister in law recently went with her family, it made me want to pack up the car and have a road trip to Paris and driving until sunset... Made a little art journal page reflecting those emotions. It's made with watercolors (ecoline) and masking technique and I have this great Eiffel tower mask I used for the negative space. Texture stamps from Studio Light (love the effect it has on the negative space in the tower), some clippings from scrap papers and the car is from a vintage magazine. The sentiment "One's destination is never a place but a new way of seeing things" is from Technique Tuesday.

What is your wander luster within you telling you to drive off to at this moment? 

I would like to share this journal page with the following challenge:

Moo Mania - Wheels

Art Journal Journey - Summer Time Love 

HLS july watercolor challenge

Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge - Distress it 

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you are having a wonderful day!

Mail Art Monday: Sewn with love and happiness

On today's Mail Art Monday I am sharing another piece from the Masterboard cut out series. I think I have only 4-5 pieces left to work on from that large cut on. This part of the collage had the sewing machine stickers on it and I have chosen to go with that theme. I used some great stitching lines from VLVS!; Sawtooth stitching lines and Stitching lines The squiggle heart suited this imagery well so I used that as well on random places and in the middle. I gave the center of the heart a pop of red color. I've used water soluble crayons over this piece and a fixative spray to water proof it a bit. 

I would like to enter this card in the following challenge;

Lost Coast Designs #38 anything goes 

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful day :)

Art Journal: Little Angels (new releases Stampotique)

Today I wanted to show you a few art journal pages I made with a couple of the new releases for Stampotique Orginals in my pocket art journal. The first one is made with this cute little angel designed by Kassa. The background is a lightly gelli printed page on kraft paper and then I worked with some water soluble crayons to get that light blue wash. Star prints from a stencil anc black paint. The little angel was colored with promarkers on neena classic white and cut out and before I adhered to the page I stamped the journey collage stamp on the background. I used some white gel pen for accents and star stickers here and there.

This is another cute little angel from the new releases and this one is designed by Daniel Torrente. The background is done the same way as the other only I added more blue color and a darker border. I've also used Kate Crane's Texture stamp for some more texture on the background. #soulmate is from the new Hashtags stamp designed by Arwen McCullen. Angel girl was colored with promarkers and her wings are covered in shimmer by using a wink of Stella clear shimmer pen.

It was a bit hard to photograph the shimmer but she looks so sparkly in real life :) I added some whate splashes with liquitex inks for some more texture and called it done. 

Stampotique stamps used:

Angel Toes by Kassa Hayselden

Angel Girl by Daniel Torrente 

Hastags by Arwen McCullen

(see more of the new releases for July HERE) 

Texture Cube 1 by Kate Crane

Journey Collage  by Amy Wilson

Materials used:

Gelli plate 

Star stencils 

Amsterdam Acrylic paints 

Water soluble crayons

distress crayons 

Staz-on inks  

white gel pen 

liquitex inks 

letraset promarkers 

Thanks everyone for visiting us over the bloghop this week! Have a look at the Stampotique Designer's Challenge blog today to see if you were one of the lucky winners :) 

Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful weekend and see you all soon!

Find your dream - VLVDT!

Hey everyone, today I am sharing this make over at Viva Las VegaStamps! blog. It's an inspiration Art tile 4x4 inches and I've used some wonderful Viva Las VegaStamps! rubber stamp images, stencils, Lindy's magicals and Deco Arts Media paints for this. 

See more pictures and details on how I made it over at my post at VLVS! today. 

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

SDC277 - Celebration!

Hey all and happy Wednesday! Today starts off a new challenge over at Stampotique Originals Designers Challenge blog. The theme is SDC277 - CELEBRATE and I've made an art journal page in my pocket size art journal.  I've used various lush Stampotique stamps for this page and actually a lot of Left Over strips to form the background. List of stamps used is at the bottom of this post. 

I believe every day should be a celebration, I  have used the "enjoy today" part of a quote stamp to reflect that. Because the background is so colorful, I colored Floating in grey tones (with letraset pro markers) but gave him a red glowing heart. The background is a piece of photo paper on which I let a bubble wrap sprinkled with crimson Brusho and water dry over night. You get such an amazing photographic result with this technique! The other piece which I have used are "mop up"pieces with the brush technique on more water absorbent paper. Stamped some textures with Kate Crane texture cube, doodled around the edges and called it done. 

Stamps used:

Texture Cube 1 

Enjoy Today 

Floating

Others: 

Brusho's in crimson

Dylusions mixed Media stamp palette

Letraset promarkers

Perfect pearl glimmer sprays

Faber castell Pitt Marker in small

Hope this inspired you to join this fortnights challenge :) Make sure to link up your project on the InLinks page for a chance to win a 30$ gift certificate for the shop!

ALSO don't forget our bloghop which is still going on and you can leave a comment until July 6th and stop by the SODC blog on July 7th to see if you've won a prize :) 

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day! 

Mail Art Monday: walking on sunshine

It's Monday and I've got another fun envelope to show you for this week's Mail Art Monday. I was experimenting with some fluorite colors which are a bit outside my comfort zone. But I received these Golden High Flow acrylics in an Art Snacks Box and I played around with the yellow a bit. 

The base of the envelope is coated with different distress paints which I had left over on my palette. I just rolled them on with a brayer. Then stamped some fun mixed media stamps from VLVS! with Staz-on inks. The script stamp is from Paper Artsy. I kept the center of the envelope clear from stamping and added a white circle with pearl accents puffy paint. Then I splattered some of that fluorite yellow paint with a thin paintbrush. The focal image is from Stampotique Originals, Freidrich tries Ballet, which I have stamped on sticker paper, fussy cut and adhered to the envelope. The hills he is walking on are made from dylusions stamps on book paper I received in a swap. I have sprayed some Lindy's over it to give it some color. I had cut out the hills and adhered to the page before I placed Freidrich on. Oh and I stamped him on first too so the little details like shoe laces were already there. Lastly I placed a home made faux postage stamp (the kitty is from Jip en Janneke stamp set from the HEMA) which I have made from really old/vintage stick on labels. They are the perfect size for Faux postage! A little stamping of postage marks and it's done!

Hope you enjoyed this colorful envelope and don't forget about the BLOGHOP we're having on Stampotique to celebrate the new release and DT announcement. You can enter until July 7th for fun prizes :) 

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Stampotique New DT announcement and Blog Hop!

Hey friends! I've got something exciting to share with you all! Stampotique Originals is announcing their new design team on their blog today and I am so happy to say I have been chosen to be in this terms DT :)

Woop Woop!!

So very EXCITING! I LOVE SO stamps and have more than a few in my collection :) Happy to be sharing some creations along side the wonderful DT ladies. And in honour of the new DT AND New July releases we will be having a Blog Hop where you can win wonderful prizes!

Here is the nitty gritty how you can win; 

Our new team will be showing off Stampotique’s new stamps for July and will be showcasing their talents. Make sure to leave a comment on each blog. We will be doing a random drawing for:

1. A Stampotique Grab Bag
2. A 30.00 Gift Certificate to the online Stampotique Store

You will not know which blog we are drawing from so leave a comment on each one. Come back  Friday July 7th to the SDCblog to see if you won!! 

Now let me show you something I have made with one of my favorite stamps from the new releases;

This little guy is definitely my fave in the new July releases! He is such a cutie and a sweetheart! I just want to give him a big hug!!

I paired the little guy Floating designed by Daniel Torrente with the heart background stamp, which I heat embossed over the gelli printed scrap paper, which also had some textured hearts on them. After embossing I did a resist technique with distress crayons and pearl rubs over the complete page. I added some loose cut out hearts which I colored with alcohol markers. The little guy is stamped on neenah classic crest, colored with letraset promarkers, fussy cut and adhered with pop up dots over the sentiment #withlove from Hashtags which is also a new release this month and designed by Arwen McCullen. It does look like he is FLOATING over the background doesn't it? After I made the black boarder with Black Soot crayon I added some silver accents over it just by lightly rubbing on a silver ink pad to get more definition in the embossed aria's.


Matted it onto purple card stock with matching envelope on which I stamped more fum sentiments in the hashtags words stamp! This large word stamp is super fun and versatile!

The Blog Hop line-up and my new teammies are:

Arwen McCullen

Karen Hayselden

Nellie Van Leeuwen

Cassandra Sloan

Sternenglanz

Jo Capper-Sandon

Michele Kosciolek

Cornelia Wenokor

Jools Robertson

Milo Lilja

Gemma Maggs

Valerie Wilson

Yvonne Baas

Cheetarah Cheda (you are HERE)

Elena Martynova

Again – be sure to hop to each blog and leave a comment as you will not know which blog the winners are drawn from so leave a comment on each one. Come back to the SODCblog on Friday July 7th to see if you won!!

Hope you will find some inspiration and have fun!!!

Thanks again for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend!