Have Faith!!! It's a Gesso ATC

Morning. Surprised to see me I bet? Well I thought that I'd show you this ATC that I made for the Wicked Wednesday ATC Challenge Blog who are being sponsored this week by Stampotique. The theme is "Wing It" which basically means anything with wings, so should be a nice easy challenge for most of you.

I have to say I really don't know why I don't make more ATC's as I had lots of fun with this one and they are great for trying new techniques and using up scraps of card. Maybe one of my New Years resolutions will be to make an ATC a week and participate in few swaps?

Anyway, onto my ATC. I used a Gesso technique that I'd spotted in Craft Stamper magazine to create the textured background. I liberally sprinkled the wet Gesso with angel dust aka as glitter and left it to dry. Whilst I waited for the Gesso to dry, I stamped Daniel's Tree Topper Large onto lightweight card three times, coloured with Promarkers and then cut her out.

Once the Gesso was completely dry,  the raised parts were swiped with silver acrylic paint and the edges stamped and heat embossed using Abstract Foliage.  The angel was then decoupaged onto the ATC. I printed the sentiment from JM Barrie onto tissue paper and then cut it out and used Mod Podge to place it onto the ATC. At this point I decided that the ATC needed something more, so I stamped Daisy Daisy onto some tissue paper, coloured with Promarkers and Mod Podge'd (is that a word??) it into place.

I do hope that you'll join the challenge.

Thanks for stopping by.

Claire x

I wanna tell ya a story........

So grab a coffee and settle in for a long post!!! It's time for another challenge over at Stampotique and this week we're challenging you to use Mustard, Orange & Navy. Yep I groaned too, but I actually think the combo works really well even if it did have me ripping my hair out wondering what on earth to do!

It would've been oh so simple had I planned ahead and used the C&S card that I made for CASual Friday's the other week, but oh no little Miss Disorganised merrily created a card for that challenge and blogged without even looking at the forth-coming challenges for Stampotique!!! Eeek lesson learned!

Then I made the fatal mistake of catching a glimpse of what the other girls had done and full scale panic set in (Pop over to them to have a look and you'll see what I mean!). So I gave myself a slap and tried to focus on the project for several days in a row and....... Nothing!! Dontcha just hate it when that happens??

Then, just when I'd given up all hope I spotted a picture several times on various  Pinterest board's for a salt scrub which I thought would make pretty nice Christmas gifts for my girlfriends. This then led to much googling of various homemade scrub and beauty recipes (I know you're wondering where this is going, but hang in there with me!?) and eventually I hit upon a brown sugar and honey one which immediately sparked an idea for this project! So there you have it the secret to my creative thought processes - just genius huh? Rofl! :D

Anyway, this is what I've eventually come up with, not fantastic, but it fits the challenge! I hope you'll be kind after all my pain - lol!

I started off by sterilising an empty screw lid jar and ensuring that all of the adhesive used to hold the label on with had been removed. The scrub was then made up loosely based upon this recipe (I made a larger quantity, and used olive oil and some almond and orange extract for fragrance and adjusted the texture of the scrub by adding a little more sugar). Once the mix had been placed into the jar and I'd made sure that the lid was on firmly (believe me this is essential!!!) the jar was cleaned up with an acetone nail polish remover to get rid of every last trace of oil.

I then inked some cardstock with Distress Ink and scanned the background into my computer before using the Freezer Paper Technique to print it onto some fabic. A single flower from Daisy Daisy was then stamped randomly over the fabric before ironing to set the inks. I used a cereal bowl as a template to cut the fabric into a circle. The edges were lightly frayed (if you don't want the edges to fray at all, simply run some PVA around the edge before cutting.

Next I stamped Big Bee several times onto some white shrink plastic, coloured with pencils. Once shrunk I added Glossy Accents to the bodies and Stickles to the wings. These were attached either end of some jute twine which I then used to secure the fabric jar cover.

I didn't want to waste the inky background paper that I'd made to create the fabric with, so I made a tag card with my Sizzix Tag Die. To create a little more interest, I sponged Distress Inks through a piece of sequin waste and knocked back the colour in places by dry brushing with Gesso. I then used some navy paint on the end of a paint brush to add more interest.

The word BEE was created from some old paper scrabble tiles that I've had kicking around in my stash for ages - they've simply been inked and then punched with a circle punch, before being given a layer of Glossy Accents. I then used some blue ink to stamp the Grass before attaching more of the shrink plastic bees.

Well I think that's about it, well done if you managed to stay with me - told ya it was an epic post!!! Thanks for stopping by today.

Claire xxx

I'd like to enter this project into the following challenges:
Make It Monday - Anything Goes
Inspire Me Fridays - Anything Goes
Top Tip Tuesday - Recycle It

Piñata Bunny Meets The Monsters!

Today's the day!!! That's right folks it release day over at Stampotique. You finally get the chance to buy some (or all) of the lovely rubber we've been showing you over the past few days. Today I thought I'd show you a different take on the oh so cute  7302 "Hung Out To Dry" bunny and another new stamp from Kira 4024 "Line Up"  (I'll apologise in advance if I've managed to offend anyone, especially Maria as I'm not sure this how she envisaged him being used, but I blame the monsters!!).

So there you have it! One oh so cute bunny that's now not quite as cute and a very guilty looking monster in the line up! I have to say both of these new releases are just brilliant as you can use them in so many ways. I'll be blogging some more of my new release makes over the next few days/weeks.

For our last little surprise, all of those who have hopped with us this week and today will be eligible for our random drawing of a winner to get some new release goodies.  We will choose our winner next week before our next challenge. Almost the entire team is hopping and sharing some creations, so we hope that you will join us.  If you've not started the hop yet, then you need to go to Sam's blog and follow the directions from there. If you're already hopping then you should have arrived here from Jo Capper-Sandon's blog and your next port of call is Kaz Boughton's blog.

Enjoy the hop and thanks for stopping by today.

Claire x

Stamps:                                                                                                                                             
7302 "Hung Out To Dry"
4024 "Line Up"
3031 "Abstract Foliage"
9163 Stones & Grass Cube
3002 Daisy Daisy
6090 Picket Fence

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Haunted House Designs - Bare Bones
The Octopode Factory - How Does Your Garden Grow

I know I like a challenge or three, but.........

OMG one layer cards - eek! The lovely Gez has set the challenge of a one layer card over at Stampotique. Now I know that I've done a few inked and silhouette one layer cards in the past that were super quick and easy, but this time I couldn't find any Stampotique silhouette stamps in my stash that I hadn't already shown you recently. So after much thought I've come up with this card which is something completely different for me in everyway! I hope you like it and I'm really hoping that my friends daughter will like it too, as it's for her birthday!

Now if this card had been decoupaged, a stepper or a digital card it would've been a piece of cake as I could've done it in almost any order and it wouldn't have mattered. As it was I actually had to do a bit of planning to get the images layered in the right order :/

The following images were used on this card Stones & Grass Cube, Key Keeper, Daisy Daisy, Welcome Door and Abstract Foliage. I started of by stamping a set of stones, before masking them to over stamp the Key Keeper and then the Welcome Door before filling in with the other stamps. The 18 was created using the numbers from Sizzix Vintage Marketplace as a mask and inking the back wall area with  Distress Ink. Everything has then been coloured with Prismacolor Pencils. I've added some Stickles to the 18, the centre of the daisies and the Key Keeper's body. To give a little shine and dimension I've added Glossy Accents to the heart on the door, key, eyes and horns.

The sentiment has been handwritten (like you couldn't have guessed!!) and says "You've got the key to the door.." and on the inside of the card "...don't lose it!!!"

I hope that you'll come and join the challenge as there is a fantastic prize on offer of $30 to spend on Stampotique stamps. It's worth noting that our rules have changed recently and whilst we'd be thrilled if you used a Stampotique stamp, it's no longer a requirement. I can't wait to see what you all make.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Claire x

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp & Show - Anything goes
Anything Goes Challenge - Make your own background
Top Tip Tuesday - One layer card
Lollipop Crafts - Anything goes
Make It Monday - Anything Goes
Inspire Me Fridays - Anything Goes
Paper Crafting Journey - Happy Birthday/Celebration
Papelitos Stamps - Happy Birthday/Celebration
Bearly Mine - Anything Goes

You'll never guess who I'm GDT for!!!

Well have you guessed - I bet not!!! LOL

Only STAMPOTIQUE!!! Yep you heard right Stampotique!!! Shocked huh?? But not as shocked as I was!

I really don't know how I've contained my excitement and nerves for this GDT as it's completely out of my normal zone, but I have had a blast and will definitely be incorporating their stamps in more of my makes! I'm still a little (OK well a lot) surprised that they invited me, so I hope that I can rely on your support over the next month cos I kinda feel a little teency bit intimidated by the uber talented designers they have over there! Pop onto to the designers blog to check out some of the work.

For my first project  I thought I'd make an acetate exploding box, but it didn't quite pan out as I'd planned and I'm not entirely sure that there's an easy answer. If anyone who reads this post has managed to make a box without the problems I've encountered, please do let me know where I went wrong!!!

As you can see from my photo the box only opens on two sides. I tried a full explosion, but the walls went wildly out of shape, so I thought the solution would be to give it more stability by making the explosion on two sides only. It kind of worked but still isn't 100% as I would like it!! However, this was a "happy accident" for me, as I actually think I prefer it to a full explosion as it gives me far more scope for scene building!!

The next problem was trialing the caught in crystal technique using floor polish which I personally don't think is as successful as using glue! The alcohol inks don't spread as effectively and the solution struggled to contain glitters, plus it was really, really messy. However, I did make a discovery from this experiment which I'll share on another day, so again, it's not all bad!!!

So in summary, an all acetate exploding box is going to be a no, no for future projects. As is using floor polish to create the caught in crystal panels! So with the wondrous thing that is hindsight, I'll use black card for the box base and the caught in crystal acetate panels will be created using glue!

Anyway, lets move onto the things that did go right! :D The scene in the middle was created using the image Smushasha by Daniel Torrente and Cloud Clay covered in modelling paste and spray inks for the rock. I stamped the acetate panels with the image Daisy Daisy by Jo Capper-Sandon, coloured them with Metallic Promarkers and then placed a tiny pearl in the centre of each one. The text is also by Jo Capper-Sandon and can be found here. I then used a tiny flower punch to create the flowers on the rock and glued them to some cake decorating wire that I twirled around my pokey tool.

Well I think that's about it from me today, if you've got this far I'm impressed!! :D So all that's left to say is "Thanks for stopping by today, I hope you've enjoyed your visit!" I'll be back on Friday with another project.

Claire xxx

I'd like to enter this project into the following challenges:
Just Keep On Creating - Anything goes
Papertake Weekly - Anything goes
Hooked On Crafts - All that glitters
Make It Monday - Anything goes
Smudgy Antics - Anything goes
Catch the bug - Anything goes
Crafty Mess - Fantasy
The Secret Crafter - Anything goes
Simon Says Stamp & Show - Texture