One of a kind Love

This was an ATC I made for a swap on the Mixed Up Mag Mixer group where the February theme was of course Love ...there's just no getting away from it at this time of year eh?  😍

I used an MDF blank base to which I applied black acrylic paint, added weathered wood and when that was dry, topped with a dark red acrylic. I love weathered wood more than plain crackle because it allows you to use two shades and have one show through the other when the cracks appear.

For the heart (again MDF) I added red acrylic paint and then stamped with black archival. I ink edged all the way around and then added a little metallic wax to finish it off.

The wings were stamped and heat embossed onto a speciality paper and then cut by hand and adhered behind the heart. The one of a kind  wording was stamped, cut and adhered top centre and the word love  at the bottom was a chipboard piece which I dipped into versamark and covered with metallic embossing powder and heated.

When all was dry and stuck down firmly, I added a little metallic wax around the edges and called it done. I quite liked the end result and hope that by swap partner will too.

Until next time
Cxx

Love is in the air

I am taking part in a year long swap with UK Stampers. Each month we make a  square relating to the month in question... and this is February. Pretty sure the word February in the top corner gave it away 😉
I didn't want to make a square inspired by the cold and grey climate, bare trees, rain etc and I wasn't in the mood for pancakes... but Love has been everywhere this week. 

For this one I used my new favourite distress oxide ink for the background. The heart focal point is MDF which I painted with decoart acrylic and then stamped a patterned heart design with versamark and added platinum embossing powder. I used Payne's grey acrylic around the edges. The wings were stamped and embossed onto speciality paper and then fussy cut. I used heavy body gel to adhere the finished heart to the card square. I used an assortment of stamps for the words and hearts.

I was quite happy with the end result and its winging its way to the recipient as I type.

Until next time
Cxx

Choose your own Adventure

This was the tag I made for the regular monthly tag swap over at UK Stampers and I am grateful to my swap partner Michelle for the photo.

This one was made using a die cut tag base to which I adhered some map paper as my starter layer. Distress paints were added, then  some texture paste through a stencil. The character bird and the wording were stamped and the image coloured before being adhered to the tag using matt gel medium. I used a charcoal pencil and blending stump and a white gel pen to add the finishing touches. Some soft fibres were added to finish it all.

I was quite happy with the end result and Michelle says she loves it, so all is good. This week I hope/plan to start on the tag for February.

Until next time
C xx

Sweet Sixteen

This was a card I made recently for sixteenth birthday. I deliberately kept it simple and although its not clear in the photo, there is a hint of sparkle  on both the word Sweet and the numbers  (courtesy of "A Wink of Stella" )

Sometimes it is good to go back to clean and simple basics.

Until next time
Cxx

Friendship card

Once a month I take part in a buddy swap and this was the card I sent to my swap buddy Suzanne for the January swap.

I thought we could all use something pretty to counteract the January blahs and so shades of pink with a teeny pop of yellow was the way to go.

A mix of embossing, stamping and die cutting resulted in this card. I was quite happy with how it turned out and Suzanne says she loves it, so all is well

Until next time
Cxx

Everyone loves a Thingummybob

The BIG tidy continues...although not at the same rate as when we started. Tonight while sorting I came across some Chocolate Baroque stamps that had never seen ink (actually - shame on me -  they were still on the plate and hadn't even been cut)...and so with a few minutes to spare I decided to have a quick play around with them.

To save time, I  grabbed an ATC blank (from my desk) that I had already added distress oxides to, and I used a stencil and a baby wipe to wipe back some of the ink. Then I stamped the sentiment in the bottom corner and the image above and slightly off centre and carefully added colour to the image with  gold and silver gel pens and a poppy red promarker. A couple of marks and some distress soot around the edges later and I was done.

I love the saying and the image and was quite pleased with how this turned out for such a quick project.
Until next time
Cxx

Be Strong and lift others

The sorting of the room of doom  remains underway and in progress but I just could not hold out another day...I had to create something...

I am signed up for a few swaps each month and so thought I could at least spend an evening making my swap items....and what fun I have had tonight!

This particular piece will be on its way to Canada shortly and there are tags, postcards and greetings cards going off in all directions around the globe this month... but for now the other projects are in various stages and are drying on my worktable as I type.

This is an MDF substrate and I used some very fine parchment paper printed with maps as my base, Decoart media line acrylic paint, Tim Holtz paper dolls, sticker by Marta  Lapkowska (of Maremismallart) and charcoal pencil. I was quite pleased with how it all came out and hope my swap partner will like it when it lands on her doormat.

Until next time
Cxx