Steam Punk Heart - Stampin' with the Dragon Journalling Pages

Hello and welcome to my crafty blog.

My post today is a quick one. My Mum  is visiting and we are spending a lot of time shopping and chatting and hanging out. Great fun :-)

In keeping with the current challenge running over at the Stampin' with the Dragon challenge blog, my project today is a digitally created card-topper in the Steam Punk Style. I have chosen not to do a scrap page, instead I like to demonstrate that digital kits are fab for making digitally created cards.

 I am calling this card-topper ' Steam Punk Heart' and was inspired by some images I discovered on Pinterest and fit very nicely with the Journalling papers from Stamping Dragon Designs.

Steam Punk heart

I used two of the papers to create a dark distressed background with a lighter coloured frame. I used my Photoshop to create the cookie-cut heart and distorted the shape and matched the colour with the background. Using the standard shapes in the Photoshop Cookie Cutter tool, I manipulated the various flower, circles and cog-like shapes to make digital industrial shapes and matched the colours to the papers.  The clock is a scan from a magazine , cut to size and digitally distressed..

Although I can't wait to get my traditional scrapbooking kits around me, I am more than happy to use digital until that day arrives.

Thank you for stopping by to read my blog. Your time and comments are appreciated.

Angela x

Steampunk Challenge - Stampin Dragon Designs

Hello and welcome to my crafty blog.

today my post is my DT project for the new challenge starting today over at Stampin' with the Dragon blog and the theme is the ever increasingly popular STEAMPUNK.

The prize for the winner of the challenge with receive a  £5 voucher to the Stamping Dragon Store
 to spend on the wonderful products available there.

My choice from the SDD digital kits are the wonderful distressed and aged looking Journal Papers.  I felt the papers had that dark quality that Steampunkers like. The papers have a really gritty feel

My layout is not the usual 12x12 inch scrapbook page but a straight forward A4 size that accommodates the Journal Papers comfortably.

 I used the digi kit not only as a background for my layout I also used the papers to create metallic flowers with elongated petals to form a garland for the frame. The frame was also 'cookie-cut' from another of the digital papers and given a metal finish too.   I 'cut' some leaves from a contrasting paper to add some lighter colour to the page and this helped to pop the flowers our from the canvas. Using the Photoshop overlay, I created a hot-air baloon image and placed this along with 2 more of different sizes onto the top right-hand corner of the page. I then used the 'wheel' image from the paper to add colour and depth to the baloons.

I'm quite please with this result and it has whetted my appitite to try some new layouts in this size and with these journalling papers.

Pop over to the challenge blog and check out the great projects created by my teamies and we have some new DT members joining us for this challenge. Once your steampunk creations are ready, dont forget to come back and link up to our challenge. The prize for the winner is a £5 voucher to the

 Stamping Dragon Store

Oh and dont forget to come and join our little family over on Facebook.
We have started a group, just for Stamping Dragon fans. We have loads of fun things going on. We have card swaps, fun challenges, games ect ect... And once we reach 200 members, we are doing a draw for another £5 voucher to the store.. So do come and join us.

Thank you for stopping by to visit and read my blog.  Your time and comments are appreciated.

Angela x

ATC - Take a Number - April Swap

Hello and welcome to my crafty blog.

Today I am posting my  new set of ATCS for the April challenge with my Facebook ATC swap buddies.

Still working with a 'Art Journalling' style, I choose a another bit of mixed media for this set.

The background is a scanned image of several playing cards selected at random and printed onto watercolour paper.  Using watercolour pencils I blocked out the partial lettering in red  on each ATC to create a contrast and I  then used some distress inks and water spritzer to add theremaining colour.  I embossed each ATC with a corner of the Tim Holtz  'College and Notebook' embossing folder to emphasise the number theme and rubbed over the impression with some Tattered Rose distress ink. The numbers were inked with Tumbled Glass ink and when dry I rubbed some dark brown Versa Color ink in places to create a rusty effect. I finished the number with a coating of Crackle Accents to give more texture.

I need to finish the ATCs with a numbers related quotes and then they're off to the ATC sorting office LOL.

I did say I had chosen the cards at random for scanning and then using an aperture to select the view I wanted, I managed to select 6 consecutive numbers from two scanned A4 sheets...go figure. :-)



Thanks for stopping by to visit and read my blog. You time and comments are appreciated and I am looking forward to hearing from you.

Angela x

Cards Galore Challenge - Vintage

Hello and welcome to my crafty blog.

My post today is my DT project for the new challenge starting over at the  Cards Galore Challenge blog and the theme is 'VINTAGE'.

Vintage

and is sponsored by the fabulous

Visible Image

where you'll win these fabulous stamps...worth over £20!!!!!!!

 I used the stamps to create a scanned imaged and then printed this onto a faded yellow background in a brown coloured ink. I was able to digitally distress the edges of the image to help pop the colours a bit.
I am still without my full crafting kit ( still waiting on the paperwork on the house to be completed) but I thought a mixed -media type of project might fit the bill here.

The printed base was then adhered to a standard A6 white cardbase. I used a second image to create another layer and decoupaged the car on top on the back ground image. For a bit of contrast I added some yellow to the headlights and gray tones to the wheels and chrome using my Copics.

I printed the sentiment onto a similar coloured  background and popped it up on a white trim and sticky fixers.  For extra detail I added a torn strip of Washi tape across the bottom of the card along with some tickets I got with a Freebie disc I got with a card magazine. My final embellishment was made using a copper plant tag that I ran through my BIG SHOT with a Sizzix Letterpress embossing plate.  I cut the piece I wanted and adhered it to the front of the card.

I had this idea since I saw the copper tags in the local DIY store and saw how soft the metal is and how malable.  I have used other embossing folders with the copper tags and the results are great.  Just something different you can do with everyday bits and pieces.


The Cards Galore Challenge starts to day and there are some wonderful Vintage themed DT projects on the blog to inspire you and get the creative juices flowing.   Pop over to check out the site and have a go at this very popular theme. You can enter as many time as you like, link your entry using the link tool provided  but please don't back-link to older projects. And ...remember to have fun.


Thanks again for taking time to visit and read my blog,  your time and comments are appreciated.


Angela x


  

ATCs with an Art Journalling Twist

Hello and welcome to my crafty blog.


Today my post is some ATCs I've made for a swap with the the theme 'LOVE' being organised by my crafty mate Sandra. 

I have been facinated by Art Journalling for a while now and I wanted to use this style in my ATCs.  I have created all my backgrounds with canvas, using watercolour pencils, distress inks, glitter sprays and glue.  I then added either stamped or hand drawn images to the backgrounds.

Starry Eyed

This is a piece of canvas with a distressed ink background using Ranger Tumbled Glass ink and some glitter spray for the 'starry' effect.  I lifted the image of the eyes from a magazine photocopy with clear sticky tape and adhered it to the canvas. I added a small heart and the text ' Starry Eyed' to finish.

Moments

This backgrouns was created with watercolour pencils and spritzed of water with the blue rectangle and the red  square my homage to one of my fav artists  Mark Rothko. I added the stamped image in Staz-On black using a Hero Arts Stamp 'Moments and a grunge heart embellishment from Tim Holtz.

Object of My Affection

This background was created with Ranger distress ink and water, spritz with glitter spray and spray enamel. I was experimenting with lots of different things just to see what the result would be. I used words from various stamps with different inks to provide the text together with some scrapbooking 

captions to finish.

 Endless Love

More watercolour pencils and a hand-written cursive 'love' is the base for this ATC. I added the grunge board heart that has a crackle -glazed finish and another scrpbooking caption to complete.

You are My Sunshine

 Hand-drawn sunflower with text coloured with watercolour pencils , background too, and  brished with water to blend. A grunge-board painted red was added to finish.

Falling in Love

Another of the canvas backgrounds that was treated with inks, watercolour pencils, spray glitter and enamel. Grung-board 'love' lettering and a stamped bird and heart outline completes the ATC.

I had a lot of fun doing these ATCs and I have become quite attached to them and I am sad to be letting them go. But...I know they are going to good homes. 

This messing about with canvas and ink and all manner of stuff has given me a few ideas of what I might like to try on a lager scale.  Testing this and that and just going with the flow. LIke I said great creative fun.

Thanks for stopping by to read my crafty blog. Your time is appreciated and your comments mean a lot.

 Angela x

ATC Swap - Black and White - and a Certain Little Book

Hello and welcome to my crafty blog.


Today my post is a for an ATC Swap and mostly about a book I found that has enthralled me. Organised by my FB buddy Sandie, the theme for February's swap was 'Black and White'.

Those of you who follow the blog, will already be aware that I am working with just a few bits and pieces from my craftroom , so ATCs and smaller  projects are ideal for me at the moment.  In my temporary quarters I have come across some things that I can use in craft projects and one of these discoveries is an old book, dog-eared and without a cover called simply ' Enquire Inside'. The book has a fantastic patina and the pages are wonderfully creased and discoloured and the information inside is just amazing!  You can enquire about the treament of Chilblains, Gumboils, Table Manners, the Cup final winners from 1895  to 1926 and the correct used of Vaseline. According to this little gem, Vaseline can be used for Chapped Hands, Burns and Inflamed Eyelids. Taken internally (yes  INTERNALLY!!!) it is reported to ease diseases of the throat, chest and stomach  along with diphteria and croup!!!!! Who'd athought?! This must have been the book Noah took with him in the Ark!!!

Don't know about you, but when I see cards or scrapbook pages with printed backgrounds I try dicypher them. I found one project in a leading card craft magazine that used printed backing paper with what turned out to be a medical report on Uninary Infections  LOL.  So I am hoping  that this little book will provide me with lots of  interesting talking points for my craft projects.

Here are the six ATCs I've submitted for the swap. A mixed bunch using some copied pages from the little book I mentioned and some digital backgrounds I designed myself. I have added some stamped images, parchment with a white relief design and foam lettering to add some texture to the cards. All bits and piece culled from the chaos around me.

 

Can't wait to see what I get in my swap. I am never disappointed and  I marvel at the creativity that my fellow ATCers can fit on to that small canvas.


Thanks for stopping by to read my blog. Delighted to see as always and looking forward to reading your comments.


Hope you are having a wonderful day.

Angela x

Blog Candy winner and a New Cards Galore Challenge

Hello and welcome to my crafty blog!

I should have posted this yesterday but....spent the day house-hunting and couldn't find a brain -cell with enough power to work the computer :-)

Anywhoo I want to announce the winner of the Blog Candy I offered for comments and tips on repurposed, up-cycled, creative and cheap storage ideas to help me through this temporary 'no place to craft' stage.

And the winner is

Lindsay Craftymonster81

Thank you for taking part in the Blog Candy competition and your prize will be winging it's way to you first thing next week.


My second post for today is the Cards Galore challenge which started yesterday and the theme is  'One for the men'.

Not sure about you but I find it a tad difficult to come up with cards for men of the male persuasion so this DT project was a bit difficult. I had two attempts at this and finally settled on this card for my DT submission. Tim Holtz to the rescue again.

The sponsor for this challenge is 

 

Shernocky Crafts 

and THIS is the prize!!!!

 

 They are also offering the wonderful opportunity to join their design team (for UK residents only). If you would like to take part in the Design Team Call, please put the intials 'DT' next to your name when you enter the challenge.

Here's what they have said:

"Do you love creating inspirational, beautiful vintage-style papercraft projects? Are you a cardmaker, stamper, scrapbooker, ATC maker and/or an altered artist? Can you take great photos or your work & write easy to follow instructions? Do you like to make videos? If you fit any or all of the above, then we're looking for you!!
Here at Shernocky Crafts, we're looking to put together our very own Design Team (SCDT) & are looking for passionate, talented, creative papercrafters to become part of that team, who will make wonderful projects that showcase the products we sell. We specialise in vintage papercraft, so this will feature heavily in the projects."

To find out more about this wonderful opportunity please visit 
http://www.shernockycrafts.co.uk/shernocky-crafts-design-team-call/
Where you will find all the informatiom

So to enter the challenge you need to pop over to the Cards Galore challenge blog and get your 'One for the Boys'  project entered and linked to your blog and you have about 25 days to get your project made and submitted. Loads of time !!!

Looking forward to seeing your take on our Masculine challenge.

Thanks for stopping by to read my blog. Your time and comments are really appreciated.

Angela x