Stampotique Designers Challenge #150: Celebration

No sight of the sun here in Sweden so I decided to join in on the SDC150: Celebration challenge. You didn't have to use Stampotique stamps but I really love the (only!) one I've got so I wanted to use that one.

I embossed these panels a while ago and since then I tried to figure out what to do with them. I've used photo paper so it's very glossy. Tried to color one with alco inks today and I really like the outcome. Even the back of it was really pretty! Much softer colors. Have to remember that you also can use the back. However, I left one panel white since you can see the embossing really good on the white. And I think it's the one I prefer.

I also got inspiration from a photo I found on Facebook today. I think the sentiment suits the Moth Fab perfectly! I am also a great believer of celebrating everything! Life sure needs that silver lining!

A photo on Facebook inspired me

My take on the SDC #150

Close-up

Take #2 with colored background

Close-up on #2

The back of the panel with softer colors

MATERIAL:
STAMPS:
Stampotique - Moth Fab
Alphabet stamps from PY Hobby
INK:
Alco inks
ProMarkers
StazOn - Jet Black
Distress Ink - Black Sooth
DIES:
Cuttlebug - Embossing Stencil: Once Upon a Princess
OTHER:
Photo paper
Alphabet stickers from Panduro

SimonSaysStamp: monday Challenge: I ought to use this more!

It's my niece's first birthday next month and I found a challenge where you were supposed to use stuff you rarely used. The challenge is over at SimonSaysStamp: Monday Challenge: I ought to use this more! I'm really ashamed that I don't use my ProMarkers more often. I keep on buying them and never use them.

These cards are inspired by a lovely article in Craft Stamper February 2014. Lydia Brooke Evans used stamps from Mama Elephant and Copics. Just loved what she did! The stamps were super cute! I found some other stamps with critters hanging from/holding balloons and decided to have a go at coloring with my ProMarkers. On the card with the teddybear hanging from the balloons I used only ProMarkers and on the cards with the teddybear holding balloons I tried the MCP tecnique.

My niece's card for her first birthday

Couldn't decide which color to use on the balloons 

Life Book 2014 - week 14

It's still raining here so I spent another day in my studio and I chose to make week 16 - Springtime Journaling Collage Bonus Lesson with Dyan Reaverly. This was also just what I needed right now! Amazing! I love Life Book!

I loved to see how quick Dyan was working. She, just like Traci Bautista from week 16, made multiple pages at the same time not to waste any ink. It was also very nice to have all the material used for a change. The only thing I didn't have was the stamps so I drew my flowers and skipped the stems.

I haven't seen much of Dyan before but I've understod that she is a very colorful person with lots of make-up and bright red hair. In this video she had no make-up to help raise awareness for cancer. I did the opposite! I normally don't wear make-up but I actually went to put some on before I started creating just to make myself a little more colorful when I was going to create like Dyan! I think it worked! I'm happy with my colorful piece!

Dyan told us that we didn't have to be deep or profound when art journaling, she wrote just to empty her head because the journaling was not ment to be read again. I did the same. I emptied my head and it felt good. There's a lot going on in my mind right now. So many sad things have happened the past year and I need to focus on being grateful for what I've got instead of dwelling in the past. It's up to me to decide. And just when I finished my piece my aunt called and wanted us to go and plant flowers on my mother's grave. So, I am thankful that I've had a mother for 41 years, I'm thankful that I've got money to buy flowers to put on her grave and I am so grateful that I still have my aunt!

The phrase Dyan used suited me perfectly so I used the same. That phrase really spoke to me. 'Bloom where you're planted'. I need to remember that.



'Bloom where you are planted'

The material I used

Life Book 2014 - week 16

I am so behind in Life Book. In order to catch up a bit I decided to start with a lesson that looked quite easy and quick to do. Little did I know that I had to make my own stencils and rummage around the house to find different utensils for mark making in this Main Lesson: In the Moment with Traci Bautista! It took all night! I left my husband all alone in front of the tele! But I had so much fun. This was just what I needed right now.

Traci tought us to be and create in the moment and not to think too much about what we were doing. She works on multiple pages at the same time. Besides the art journal page she made she cleaned her tools on another page which she uses later on. I did the same thing. I created one page and cleaned my tools on another page. I actually don't know which turned out the best! Interesting! I believe I learned a lot from this workshop. I need to let go and just be in the moment. I also loved Traci's way of doodling and writing illegible at times.

I hade to substitute a lot of stuff and it didn't work out very well. I had no china marker and no Collage Pauge so I used a transparent wax resist crayon and some school glue instead. It didn't create much of a resist at all even though the glue created some nice texture. Instead of the Tulip Slick dimensional paint I found a dimensional fabric paint and some gloss gel I haven't used in ages. I don't know what effect the Tulip Slick dimensional paint gave so I think my substitutes worked out quite well.




My In the Moment art journal page

My cleaning-my-tools art journal page!

The material I used

Take It, Make It - June Challenge

So, my summer vacation has started and I'm not only feeling crafty, I also got plenty of time to be crafty! The weather is cold and rainy here in Sweden and I found another challenge!!  It's the Take It, make It June Challenge. I read about the challenge a while ago in the magazine Craft Stamper to which I have been subscribing to for some years. Since I love the Magazine I decided to have a look at their blog and the challenges.

The June challenge is about a technique showcased in the July issue of the Craft Stamper magazine. Hels Sheridan invented a technique called Bleach Blocking. In short, you remove some of the ink from a background made with Distress Inks. She removed the ink with the rectangular blending tool and the 'bleached out' areas appeared in blocks. Hence Bleach Blocking.

At first I thought it was kind of dull to make only blocks in the background (when you can make flowers!) so I tried to remove the ink through a stencil as well. I also turned the wet stencil over and used it as a stamp. I like the outcome of all three attempts. With all the embellishments added later on, the blocked background is calmer than my floral ones. And not dull at all, actually!

I ended up using some of my favourite things on these cards. I love purple, orange and white together (added some more white by embossing a floral stamp in white and by splashing some white Dylusions spray on the panel). I love this floral stencil from TCW. I have used it in all my latest project and I will keep on using it! I love the sentiment "don't compare your beginning to someone else's middle" and I have been waiting for a project to use it in. Actually, another sentiment would have been better here but I couldn't think of another one.

I also ended up using some of my least favourite things! The flowers I used are made for children and were really cheap. They are very colorful and I have regretted buying them. I must have seen their potential because I thought they worked out very well when used one colour at a time!

The distressed backgrounds

The bleached backgrounds.
The blocked ones in the background,
the stencil bleached ones to the left,
the one stamped with the stencil to the right.

Gluing everything together!



The horrible, but in a way lovely weather!



The cheap flowers!



The blocked background



Close-up



The stencil bleached background 

 

 

The stencil stamped background



Close-up

 

MATERIAL:

STAMPS:Pinkpaislee - Indigo Bleu - 00623 clear stamps

Kaisercraft - CS752 Script
INKS:
Distress Ink Pads - dried marigold, dusty concord, ripe persimon, gathered twigs,

Hi-Boss Embossing Stamp Pad
Embossing Powder - White

Dylusions Ink Spray - White linenSTENCIL:

??? - bought it second hand and I got the wrong name

OTHER:
Cheap flowes from ÖoB



Hobbyworld's juni-utmaning - "Svensk sommar"

Hobbyworld har en utmaning nu i juni och temat är "Svensk sommar". Jag har ju en blommig period just nu och vad är mer somrigt än blommor? Dessutom så hade jag lite överblivna småbitar från Tim Holtzs juniutmaning som jag ville skapa något mer av.

Varje kort består av två spillbitar. Den ena har jag torrembossat och den andra har jag stämplat på. Lappade ihop dem med washitejp och lite bling. Funderade lite på vad jag skulle skriva på kortet och fastnade för 'Carpe Diem'. Det gäller att ta tillvara på den här ljuva, ljusa tiden så man har kraft och ork att ta sig igenom den långa, mörka vintern. Dessutom är det en fras som inte begränsar ett kort utan det passar till många tillfällen.



 



 

MATERIAL:
STÄMPLAR:
Stampers Anonymous - Boundless Flight
#50481 Sharie's Alphabet Lower Mini
Hero Arts - CL510 Sweet Threads Labels
FÄRG:
Distress Ink Pads - black sooth, gathered twigs, seedless preserves, picked raspberry, spiced marmelade, peacock feathers.
Hi-Boss Embossing Stamp Pad
Distress Embossing Powder - worn lipstick
DIES:
Cuttlebug - Emboss Once Upon a Princess
STENCIL:

TCW230s mini Clouds (fel namn! Vet någon det rätta??)

ÖVRIGT:
Washitejp från Tim Holtz
Bling från PY Hobby

FUN WITH COLORS! En Liten Butik söker Gäst-Inspiratör!

FUN WITH COLORS! Jaaa, precis så känns det! Älskade juni-utmaningen i 12 tags of 2014 och jag vill inte sluta att stämpla med stenciler. Det blir så snyggt! Och inte ens färgerna byter jag ut. Så himla snygga tillsammans!

En Liten Butik i Mörrum letar efter tre stycken Gäst-Inspiratörer för juli och augusti med en utmaning som handlar just om FUN WITH COLORS. Tur för mig! Då behöver jag ju inte sluta vara färgglad!

Bakgrunden görs genom att dutta Distress Ink Pads på ett Non-Stick Craft Sheet eller vad man nu har för underlag. Spraya med vatten så distresserna pärlar sig. Lägg stencilen i distresserna för att fånga upp färg och pressa sedan stencilen mot ett tillklippt akvarellpapper. Pressa ned stencilen med ett hushållspapper, hushållspappret suger upp färgen som kommer upp genom stencilen. Spraya med vatten igen så att distresserna blandar sig ännu mer på akvarellpappret och torka med en Heat Tool. Se Tims utmärkta tutorial med bilder här!

Dekorationerna får stå tillbaka litet grand eftersom bakgrunden är själva grejen. Jag stämplade en text med svart StazOn på en utstansad blomma från ett plastlock. Lite återvinning där! Det är ju vad scrapbooking handlar om egentligen! Lite baker's twine och det får räcka så.

Tre mycket somriga kort blev det!

 

The Earth Laughs in Flowers!

 

 

MATERIAL:
STÄMPLAR:
Impression Obsession - CL68 Spring Blooms
Heidi Grace - A Little bird's tale
FÄRG:
Distress Ink Pads - black sooth, gathered twigs, seedless preserves, picked raspberry, spiced marmelade, peacock feathers.
StazOn - Jet Black
STENCIL:

TCW230s mini Clouds (fel namn! Vet någon det rätta??)

DIES:
Quickutz - Nesting Flowers
ÖVRIGT:
Baker's Twine - Leila's General Store
3D Crystal Glaze
Plastlock från återvinningsförpackning

Yeeey! Jag vann Kortskissens RAK!

Yeeey! Jag vann Kortskissens RAK! ...Och tyvärr var det ju inte för att jag var bäst utan jag var den enda som skickade in ett bidrag! ;-) Både kul och så lite snopet, faktiskt! Men massor av roliga grejer kom med posten idag! Tack för det, Kortskissen!

12 tags of 2014 - June

I just fell in love with this technique and for a change I think my background turned out better than Tims! Ssshhhhhh! So sorry, Tim! ;-) This tag was super fun to do and I will be using the technique for other stuff as well. I have some things in mind already! Loved it!

The background before heating it.

My take on June

...and some small tags for other projects

MATERIAL:
INK:

Distress Ink Pad - picked raspberry, peacock feathers, seedless preserves, spiced marmelade, gathered twigs, pumice stone

StazOn - Black

STAMPS:
Stampers Anonymous - Artful Things, Boundless Flight

STENCIL:

TCW230s mini clouds

OTHER:

3D Crystal Glaze

Seam binding

Charms