Vintage Christmas ATC's

My apologies as I am still a bit slack with my posting and commenting since my return from holidays.  I have been working on a special order/project as a retirement gift, it's a mini book with tags, each tag is for decorated on the front and blank on the back allowing each person to write a special message.  The book itself is also decorated and has special quotes.    I will share more about this once it's completed and it has been given to the recipient however today I do have some more small pieces of art to share by way of some Vintage Christmas ATC's I have made for a swap over at ATC's for All.

My backgrounds were created simply by tearing a mix of papers into pieces and sticking them down to create a patchwork effect.  I then added color to them using Bundled Sage and Tumbled Glass Distress Inks.

Next I used my Darkroom Door Polka Dot and French Text Stamps with Archival Ink in Green and Blue and randomly stamped these patterns onto the background before adding my collage images which are a mix of images from some free collage sheets and some from Altered Pages.

I added some further details with stamping using Black Staz on such as the Holly Leaves and Sentiments, color was added to my stamping with Memento Markers and Big Brush Stamper Pens.

To finish I added some faux stitching and edged them all with Gold Delicata Ink.  I have signed up for another 3 Christmas Type Swaps and hopefully these will all get me in the Christmas Spirit.

Cards in Envy - A Little Bit Retro

Good Morning Everyone!  It's time to get a Little Bit Retro for the latest Challenge over at Cards in Envy.

Here's my card, using a wonderful vintage lady stamp from the Just my Style set by Darkroom Door and papers and sentiment from the For the Record Collection by Echo Park and my Water Color Pencils.

Retro is classed as "old fashioned style'.  Generally anything from the 50's through to now the 90's is considered retro. For more ideas of retro be sure to visit the Cards in Envy Blog and see the other inspiration provided by my fellow Design Team Members.

And for those of you wishing to play along just a reminder that our challenge is designed for cards that you would easily fit in an envelope to mail, so they should be A2 in size and shape, and flat with minimal embellishments.

I'm looking forward to seeing the wonderful entries this fortnight for this fun theme.

Classy and Fabulous or Vintage and Blue!

Hi Everyone!  I am feeling a little better today, after spending most of Tuesday in bed, particularly now that my dreadful cough and sore throat has eased a little.  Thank you to everyone for all the well wishes you left for me after my last post.

Classy and Fabulous is how I wish I felt right now, whilst Vintage (Old) and Blue could describe how I am feeling especially now that winter is well and truly here.  It is however actually my inspiration for the two projects I am sharing today.

Firstly Vintage Blue is the name of the Glitz Collection of papers and coordinating products from Altered pages I used for my DT project today over on the Altered Pages Blog.

Here's a sneak peak.......to see the whole card you will have to pop over to the Altered Pages Blog.

Now for the Classy and Fabulous - Its a quote from Coco Chanel which I love and is on a stamp I own from Unity Stamp Co.  I teamed it up with another wonderful image from the Vintage Hats Collage Sheet from Altered Pages and some paper scraps to create this ATC.

I used watercolor pencils to color over the background papers and give it a bit more of a messy water color look.

Also just a reminder that you still have time to join in the fun at the June Altered Pages Challenge - Baby Dolls and take out the fabulous Altered Pages Prize Pack, which Jean has added to just this morning.  

Have a great day!

Cards In Envy Sketch #4

Hi Everyone, this will be the first of two posts today!  It's that time again for another sketch challenge over at Cards in Envy!

For this one I have turned it on its side and gone with another CAS Card this time with a male birthday in mind, whilst trying to use some un-inked stamps.

The stamps are from one of my Unity KOTM.  The papers are from the Bo Bunny Enchanted 6 x 6 Collection.

I am going to use this wonderful sketch again, as I found the rest of the design team had so many wonderful ideas for this one, so be sure to see them for yourself here.

Delighting in the Little Things

I was browsing through some of the Collage sheets from Altered Pages when I came across this adorable collage image on the Vintage Chicken Collage Sheet. 

It reminded me to delight in the small things in life which as a child came so easily, but as an adult not so much.  I couldn't resist making this card using it.

You can read more about what other items I have used for this card such as the paper and embellishments by popping over to the Altered Pages Blog.

Focusing on the Love.

Good Morning Everyone!  Happy last day of January!  It was a happy day here this morning as I saw our Foster Son off to school on the bus this morning, what a long few weeks we have all had together.  It's definitely been a bit of a roller-coaster as Rod and I get used to the whole parenting thing and 'A' gets used to the house rules, and new environment.  Let's just say he has definitely been testing the boundaries.  So it isn't just because Valentine's Day is around the corner that  I've been trying hard to focus on the love.....lol

Participating in Life Book 2013 has been a blessing, and finding a few minutes in-between keeping 'A' amused over the school holidays and running the rest of my family back and forth to various appointments etc has been a godsend.  Anyway today I thought I would share a couple of my journal page/experiments that I have been playing with.

This page is for my personal journal I created this week.   I was wanting to do something a little Shabby Chic which is so not my style.  I am yet to add a photo under the banner and words down the left of both pages.  It's kind of fitting as February is the month of Love and also the month Rod and I met some twenty plus years ago.

It was created uses a selection of products from Altered Pages - Vintage Text Pages, Glitz Pretty In Pink Papers, Chipboard Scroll Corners and the Glitz Love Games Clear Stamp Set along with a few other items from my stash.

This page is using a technique by Christy Tomlinson (and part of Life Book) to make flowers from Foil and Tissue Paper.  I created this a few weeks ago.  The background is a combination of Torn Paper, Washi Tape, and Water Color, Stamping, Doodling, Stickers and Rub Ons.  My messy hand written quote reads:-

"You have to take the good with the bad, Smile with the sad, love what you've got and remember what you had.  Always forgive, but never forget.  Learn from mistakes but never regret."

A bit of a reminder to focus on the good and be kind on myself which we all need from time to time.  In focusing on the good, I am looking forward to the month ahead with a short holiday on the horizon for Rod's Birthday.  I also start voluntary teaching next week and know I will have a bit more time to create and play with new things.  Look out too for the New Design Team which I was asked to join for the New Challenge Site Cards In Envy which kicks off Febraury 4th.

Loving my Altered Pages Products!

My Altered Pages Order arrived last week so I have been having lots of fun playing with all the wonderful goodies.   Some of the items I ordered were the Glitz French Cream 6 x 6 Paper Pad  and the French Cream What Not's. 

As the packaging says the What Not's are the perfect finishing touch to add to any project and I have found that combined with the papers which they coordinate with so beautifully they are perfect for making a card when time is short.  A couple of matted layers, inked with some Walnut Paris Trunk Ink (also in my order),  a bit of lace and a few extras from my stash, in no time come together to create a beautiful vintage card suitable for a number of occasions/greetings!

Altered Pages Items Used for this Project!

French Kiss 6 x 6 Papers

French Kiss What Not's

Paris Trunk Ink Pad - Walnut

I hadn't heard of The Paris Trunk Inks before, and found them quite nice to use.  What appeals to me about these inks are that they are an Eco Friendly vegetable based Dye Artists Ink, which are non-toxic with no or very little odour or vapor emissions and they come in a wonderful ergonomic oval shape. Eco Green Crafts have an extensive range of Eco Friendly Craft Products which are packaged using recycled materials. 

I will definitely be ordering more of these wonderful products.  

PTT #89 - Anything But a Card

Tuesday means Party Time!  This week over at PTT we want to see you create anything but a card!

Using one of the the great 50's Vintage Stamps from Flonz Stamps and some papers and Dew Drops from the Robin's Nest, I decided to create a fun Sticky Note Pad Cover.

I stamped the image in Vintage Sepia and colored in including the background with my Tria Markers.

Be sure to pop over to the PTT Blog for all the wonderful inspiration from the Design Team, who are showcasing products from our sponsors this week.  These include:

Thanks for stopping by today!  Your viewing of my projects and your comments are really appreciated! xx

Booties, Babies and More Blue

Firstly a big hello to all my new followers.  This time last week I had about 3 followers to go until I reached 50 and now I am at 3 to go before I reach 100.  Thank you to everyone also for the lovely comments you leave me, they really do inspire me to continue doing what I do and can I just say I am really loving visiting all your blogs too.  There really is so many beautiful creations to admire and wonderful inspiration at every blog I visit.

My title today pretty much gives it away on me.  Yes that's right, more cards for Baby.......and using the color Blue.

My first card uses the baby booties stamp from the Dark Room Door Set called Baby Vol 1.  I have simply stamped two images in reverse directions on to my cardstock and then another one separately which I have cut out and popped up in a different direction over the other two.  I have colored and defined with my Tria Markers and sponged some brown and blue ink around the booties also. To finish I added two blue bows to the centre pair of booties.

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I was asked to create another Christening Card for a boy, so this time I did an Easel Card using Blue and Kraft and a Free Vintage Digital Stamp Image I found on the net here.  I colored the image with my Tria Markers and then layered the image on a kraft,  then patterned paper, then two pieces of blue cardstock before attaching to the card base.  The Sentiment I simply printed on my PC.  Vintage Lace, Pearls and Flowers to finish.

I am entering the above Easel Card into the following Challenges:

I Love Promarkers  - #119 Use a Digi
Pile It On - #22 Two or More Folds

PTT#69 Vintage or Shabby Chic

We are challenging you all to create a Vintage or Shabby Chic Card this week here at Party Time Tuesdays and have been joined by six (yes you read it correctly) SIX fabulous sponsors this week.

For my card I chose to make it look vintage by using lots of distressing, in the form of crumpling my image, distressing the edges of all my papers and using distress inks to give it an aged look.  I also used some vintage lace and old newsprint papers.

Being married to a chef I couldn't go past using the adorable AJ the Chef image from The Stamping Boutique.  I colored in AJ with my Tria Markers and a Touch of Distress Ink.  What's Cooking is something I ask quite a bit at my house as I am lucky to live with two men who love to cook, my dad who now lives with us also loves to cook, so this gives me more time to craft.......hehe.  

Vintage is so not my style, but I was kinda happy how this turned out as its sort of cutesy vintage.

All the other Party Planners this week have created some beautiful Vintage/Shabby Chic cards for your inspiration so be sure to pop over to the PTT Blog and check them all out.  

Some ATC's for a Change

Last night I decided to take a break from making the Thank You cards which I have an order for and finish off a swap for my Wonder Down Under Stampers Group which was to make two Open Themed ATC's.  I got on a bit of a roll and was enjoying the change from cards, so ended up making a set of three using a stamp set I hadn't had a chance to ink up until now just for the hell of it.

These two are for my swap - I chose these as they both were of animals on a scripted background, I simply stamped, coloured, cut out and mounted for some dimension and added some bling by way of glitter and some rhinestones.

 I have called this set of 3 - Through the Eyes of a Child, and have used a background I made using a combination of a Crayon Resist with Alcohol Inks and Metallic Acrylic Paints.  

I randomly scribbled with my crayon over a piece of high resolution copy paper which has a smooth surface and is thicker than normal copy paper.  I then applied Alcohol Ink Over the surface, once dry I rubbed to remove the crayon and reveal the white of the paper.  

Once done I then took three colours of Metallic Acrylic Paint and applied over my paper.  I allowed a couple of seconds for it to absorb slightly and then I rubbed back with a cloth. It left a subtle hint of colour and the sheen of the metallic behind.I then simply added my stamped images which I coloured with my much loved Tria's, the sentiments and Newsprint Paper.

Today I am back to my Thank You Card Making, I have sixty to make in total.  I am trying to make a variety of designs as I would definitely get bored and frustrated easily if they were all to be the same.

Colour Combos Galore #222 - Friendship Card!

Its Card week over at Color Combos Galore, so I decided to play along using their Inspiration Board #222 and also combined a few other challenges with this to come up with today's card.

Stamps:  Stampin' Up! Vintage Vogue, French Script and Tiny Tags

Paper:  Stampin' Up and Echo Park

Other:  Sizzix Die, Button, Rhinestones.

The colours on my card were the closest I had in my scrap pile to match this challenge and the inspiration part of the challenge was to use the initials from your name to decide which elements to use on your card.  For mine I used:

D - Die Cut Large Ric Rac (Sizzix Die)

A - Alphabet Letter F

N - Nine different pieces of paper/cardstock (not including the card base)

I - Ink and if that's a bit too obvious then it can stand for International Flair (required for the other challenge I used)

E - Embossing (Dry embossing used on the Ric Rac)

I used this week's sketch - Day 18 Super Sketchy Sunday from 365 Cards and by using the French Script Background I am playing along with the CCEE Stampers current challenge CCEE1211 which is to add some international flair to your card by using language, image or element.  I sort of loved the idea that Friendship is a universal language particularly now with all the different social media applications such as Facebook.  Staying in touch with your overseas friends has never been more easy.

I have to apologise for the quality of my image, I may take this photo again in the morning.  It was another   wet day here and it was late in the day when I took this, so the lighting wasn't the best.

FWF - Watercolor Wash Take 2

If you saw yesterdays post I shared with you a quick 'How To' on how to make your own watercolor wash backgrounds using a plastic protector sleeve, your felt tip markers and water.  In that post I created my background using colours of similar tonings eg.  all Yelllow/Oranges and then stamped over the top of these designs with a darker colour in the same tones to achieve a unique background for the thank you cards I made.

Today I am using this same technique however I have used different contrasting colours. (Pink and Green which is my favorite colour combo).

The overall result I achieved today is a much softer look compared to yesterday cards, this has a lot to do with my choice of colours and embellishment.  I embossed my background with my Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder from Stampin' Up! and teamed this with a fabulous sentiment from the Unity December KOTM and some sewing themed die cuts from K & Co (Amy Butler Lotus Tea Box Die Cut Cardstock Emphemera).

The blue is not part of the card but the background I laid the card on to take this picture.  Given pink is often hard to photograph in good light, let alone the miserable weather we are experiencing here at the moment, this gave a much better result than the white background of my white photo box.

Aswell as showing you another take on the Water Colour Wash Technique, I have created today's card to join in the fun over on the Unity Blog for their Friday Friends with Flair Link Up.  Be sure to pop over and check out all the other wonderful Unity Goodness there and don't forget if you leave a comment on my blog or any of the other blogs participating in this link up you have a chance to win some Unity Goodness for yourself.

Thanks for stopping by.

A Vintage Christmas Card for Papercupcakes latest Challenge!

I am starting to get on a roll with my Christmas Card making this past week, and this weeks Paper Cupcakes Challenge over at There's Magic In the Air has helped.  The challenge for this week, which is my final week as Guest Designer is to create a Shabby Chic or Vintage Christmas Card.  November has just flown by and I want to thank Nina and all the Papercupcakes Design Team for allowing me the opportunity to join them each week throughout November and showcase the many wonderful Paper Cupcake Images.

This delightful christmas decoration image is called Mary and Jesus Bulb and is of course from Paper Cupcakes.  To give my card the vintage look I chose traditional Christmas Colours, I have distressed my background paper using my SU Distressing Tool and Pumice Stone Distress Inks.  I have also included some vintage lace, ruffled ribbon and a hand made flower with button centre.  The patterned paper is one from the Echo Park Merry Christmas Collection, and I have coloured in my Bulb Image with my Tria Markers and a bit of Glitter from my Viva Decor Glitter Liners.  All in all I was happy with the vintage look and how this card turned out.

If you would like to try your hand at a Vintage or Shabby Chic Christmas Card you will find some wonderful inspiration and ideas over at There's Magic In the Air.  I can't wait to see what you create!

October on the Scrap Lounge!

Get set this month to go Vintage as we explore this style as our Technique Challenge during October over on the ScrapLounge.  Our sponsor Lime Tart had a wonderful selection of products to choose from including their exclusively put together Kits.

I was thinking Romantic Shabby when making my choice for my DT Project Kits this month hence lots of pink and French Themed Papers made up my selection, along with some beautiful vintage lace, and ribbon.

This is a photo of my mother on her 18th Birthday.

I also made a Card with a Vintage Feel

Every month the second Scrap Lounge Challenge is a Sketch challenge. You will be breaking out the banners for the cute sketch by DT Member Jody.

I kept to the pink colour theme for this one and made my scalloped banner using my circle punches.  I also used some more of the items I selected from Lime Tart and the Chipboard Title I won recently when attended a Crop Day for Charity.

Its another cold and miserable day here today with the weather feeling more like winter than spring, so its been perfect for creating........I hope you find the opportunity no matter where you are to do some too!