Sneak peak of recipe cards and how I love my phone

I have been creating some recipe cards for a swap on UKScrappers - still to finish as I have been away in the far north of Scotland for the holiday weekend. I have created seven cards each using the same recipe for whatever you like Biscotti - each one has a pocket to take the double sided laminated recipe card. The very bright one above is staying with me and the first one is going away as are the other six but I'll save them for another day.

Usually my iphone is surgically attached to my hand but where I was staying there was a limited signal and certainly not enough to access blogger, facebook or any of my other haunts. Four days without access may not seem a lot but it certainly made me realise how much time I normally spend surfing and interacting with people and blogs. We are planning to be away in this spot for a few weeks in the summer and I am already investigating ways to access the internet when away.

Vintage Affair ATCs

I made these for the May ATC swap at UK Stampers with the theme of A Vintage Affair. I really struggled as I could not find any suitable vintage stamps in my stash and I am not allowing myself to buy anything until I win the lottery... or receive a massive pay rise. I found three images on Graphics Fairy and began creating backgrounds for them. I applied distress ink to some of TH Kraft resist paper and matched images and bits and bobs and thought I was ready to go... but wait no stamping - quick rethink. Does anyone else begin with an idea in their head only to discover the finished item is totally different?

I used TH Shabby French and Spooky scroll stamps on the backgrounds and then embossed and inked them some more. I also stamped over the images.

It worked quite well with this one and then I added the flower things that I had coloured with alcohol inks, a piece of inch ruler and little bit of text.

I also sprayed some inks on this one and mixed some Blonde Moments pigments to give it a shiny effect. The lace is antique (my grandmother's) and I then sewed on pieces of a broken bracelet.

I ended up redoing the background on this one by using dictionary definitions and adding distress ink and an embossed stamp. I added the image and stamped around the edge. More lace and then some buttons and ribbon. I made the ribbon flower and added it to. I like them all but think the first one is my favourite. 

Thank you for dropping by - I always appreciate the comments people take the time to make.

Freestyle Tri Colour Competition sponsored by Craft Barn

The Craft Barn is sponsoring a competition on UK Stampers using the colour swatch below. The piece of art was to use the three colours below and it must contain stamping.

I decided to make ATCS. I began by applying splodges of water colours to a paper towel and then dried it with a heat gun and stuck the paper onto my card.

I then stamped the cherry blossom stamp, butterfly and dragonfly (Woodware) 

I also stamped the butterfly onto an old dictionary page, coloured with Sakura gel pens and then added Crackle glaze.

I coloured the blossom white and then printed out and inked Flutter By One day.

The bird and smaller butterflies were stamped onto Shrink Plastic coloured with Pro Markers and shrunk - I made some extra ones for future projects. I had lots of problems with the Ranger Archival Ink Smudging.

Sometimes we need sticky cakes

There are times, like this week, when I feel like I am constantly running on the spot and getting nowhere. At times likes this only a bit of sticky gooey cake will do. These are Sticky Toffee Cupcakes from the Jamie Oliver Comic Relief book - I  made them when I got in from work tonight. They are lovely and very bad for the figure but so good for the mood.

Scrapping with punches

I began this double layout at the crop last week where the challenge was to use punches but just felt it wasn't finished. I punched a border at both sides using a Martha Stewart Lace Punch and placed the contrasting colour behind it. The mount for the photo came from 7 Gypsies and the journalling tag was part of that packaging.

I mounted this onto some of the contrasting paper and then onto a piece of an old french book given to me by Suzy at the the crop. She also donated the larger punched butterflies and I found the smaller ones in a tin left over from another project.

Unusually for me I added a little bling in the form of butterflies and flower centres as it was a pretty layout to compliment picture of my daughter.

I used more of the french graphics from graphics fairy to add details and the tiny butterflies. I also stamped a few butterflies using the Versamark Turquoise ink which I used to edge the torn edges with. The flowers are prima flowers. I am going to challenge myself to use more embellishments in clusters but whenever I lay them on a layout I tend to remove most of them.

Multi photo scrapping layout - Eiffel of A View

I am determined to try and finish one album as, probably like many other people, I seem to jump from one project to another. I have been concentrating on my Paris album which is mainly hybrid layouts and in a 8 1/2 x 11 size as I wanted to try something different. I will use my Cricut to bind it all at the end. This album is also a thrifty album as I have bought nothing new for it and have been making a lot of the backgrounds. This one is no different. I knew it had to be a double page but did not have enough of the blue patterned paper so decided to use it on one side and then a strip on the other page. To tie the pages together I stamped   a text based stamp from TH Shabby French all over both pages.

I didn't have enough letters for the badly punned title so used a old letter sheet to draw the title on with. I then water coloured the title and embossed it with Blonde Moments Powder. To make it more like the French blue enamel I drew a thin outline of white. 

I created journalling tags and the camera, pocket and old style postcard from images I found on Graphics Fairy. I am trying to use some of these on most pages to give the album some kind of cohesive look.

I added some old lace, stamping, buttons and more of the blue paint which I also painted around all the photos to try and tie it all together.

It seems a little unbalanced and the photos are squint despite my best efforts but...

Art Journal Listomania

Do I make lists? Endlessly. Electronically and on paper. Am I more organised - not really? But at least when I write a list I feel I will eventually tackle whatever is on the list. As you might have guessed  this week's prompt was all about lists. I sprayed a thin layer of dylusions lime green, jade and blue sky inks onto the page trying to avoid the shopping list stuck onto the page.

The list was created by my daughter before we went shopping yesterday for baking supplies. I stamped all over the page using Shabby Shutters, Faded Jeans and China Blue using a TH sentiment. The final one I stamped in black archival ink. I painted the TO DO Lists with water colours and doodled around and in the letters. I then created a mask and part stamped Angel Boy from Stampotique which didn't quite work on the different layers of paper. I journalled using three sakura gel pens. The colours are inspired by a competition on UK Stampers which were lying on my desk as I experimented with different ideas.

Scrapping and cropping

I went cropping this Saturday (joining the cult as youngest refers to it) and had a great day full of chat, cake and a little scrapping. Unusually for me I was quite productive and managed to complete 2 double los for the Paris album and a single LO. This is the single page lo. I have a little tweaking and finishing touches to do to the double los over the next few days. I used a piece of Ranger Manila card and then stamped using bubble wrap and distress inks to create a background. I then added more distress inks. The pictures show one of the Paris Metro entrances and I decided that the bubble wrap background and elements should reflect this. The journalling is all about how well and frequently the Metro runs and the fact that my son would get very impatient if we had to wait more than 5 minutes.

He has always been in constant motion since he was a baby. To highlight the journalling I used 5 different embroidery threads to sew lines under the text. The text was written in black and then overwritten in white - something I do a lot of in my art journals. The doodled round the photos and added a selection of brads and eyelets. I used Rangers metal foil for the title which I drew freehand and cut out after rubbing a tiny bit of alcohol ink into.

Art Journal and no I am not a domestic goddess!

This weeks prompt asked us if we were a domestic goddess or another type of goddess, use stamped wings and a figure. I began with one of the backgrounds I began last weekend and added watercolours to make me think of beach and sea colours.

I then added some of my extensive collection of sea glass, shells and feathers and my journalling explaining that I am the Goddess of Beach Combing. I found the figure below and added her to the page.

I stamped a boat and some birds and added a bucket and space cut out which I painted over. I also added some paint and pro makers to the goddess.

A very cluttered page as I do believe I could be the Goddess of mess and chaos too but it made me smile and I had lots of fun doing this. The Goddess wings were created stamping Dylusions Ruby Rainbow wings onto a piece of Kitchen roll paper that had been washed with watercolours (part of a batch I made a while ago) as I wanted it to look and feel more feathery.

The Octopus and fish were lying in my stash and I just added some doodling.

A card using watercoloured digital stamps

My nephew is 5 next week and I was decided to use some of my SJ Musings Digital Stamps. The monkey is from Marvin, The robot and robot dogs from Meep Meep, the Scooter from Mod Machine and the bunting and cake from the Cake Set. I painted the stamps using water colours in a very simple style and then layered all the stamps up. It's a bit cluttered and busy but it is to appeal to a 5 year old. I layered the stamps on to striped paper and then water coloured another piece of card to act as a background. Cuttimg them out was a little tricky as I don't have much patience but I got there in the end.

Lens Guy Photo of the Week 4 and 5

Silver Birch Trees at Camusdaroch, Arisaig

Torrance Linn Waterfall, Calderglen Park

Still trying to catch up after being disconnected and on holiday. Two photos from Lens Guy. As before you can go to his facebook page and like him here.

Stampotique Designers Challenge 29 - using a sketch

This is my entry to the Stampotique challenge (Stampotique only stamps) which is a simple card with the sentiment "Always Late". It's becoming a bit of a family joke that I never send cards and presents on time. I often buy the present and make a card and then in my head I think it's posted and several weeks later it is still sitting on my desk.
I followed the sketch using Rangers Manila cardstock which I inked with Faded Blue and Chine Blue Distress Inks and a little Adirondack Espresso. I stamped Oh My Dear onto coordinations card and then mounted a piece of 7 Gypsies acetate onto the top of her.

I used the same coredinations card with stamped circles using a lid and the adirondack espresso ink. The ledger page is a journalling piece from 7 Gypsies. The word always is from Crafty bits and the definition of late is torn out of my large stock of old dictionaries. I extended the horizontal strip beyond the card edge as I liked the way it balanced the rest of the card.

Playing with backgrounds

I had a little time so decided to experiment with some backgrounds using some of that leftover glitter and mod podge and an acetate sheet. The photo above shows the acetate after I had used it to print some backgrounds.

I had mixed some modge podge, ink and glitter in a round lid and then stamped the lid onto the actetate.
I then sprayed it with dylusion inks and each time took a print of the page to create a background.

Art Journal Celebration

This prompt from UKS was linked to the wedding festivities and I seemed to deviate from the prompts which asked us to celebrate one event, use the letters RSVP and some sparkle. This time of year is tough for me as I lost my dad six years ago and my brother three years ago. This year I have been working on a positive approach and thinking about this prompt made me realise that I now try to celebrate life and live each day as it comes as we never know what might happen. It all began with a promo postcard I picked up in Fat face.

I just had to alter it a little.

I used Dylusions acyrlic paints in red and blue to extend the flag and then layered a coat of sparkly blue and white thinly over the top with some glass beads. I did stamp and emboss the hearts but they got lost under the paint layers.

The heart stamp on the postcard section was a freebie from Cards and stamping weekend. I wrote the word Life with glue and then added Martha Stewart vintage glitter over the top before adding my journalling.