Sunday stampers: 160. More than Words.

Ever since I visited Venice I have been in love with it. On my last trip my hubbysand came with me and loved it as much as I do. I decided to make a canvas to try and capture some of the magic and I finished it today and am entering it for the Sunday stampers challenge as included are some Italian and English words:

I started with a 10"x12" canvas and painted on a thick layer of guesso. Then I adhered lots of different ornate papers which I painted over and rubbed down as every where you look in the city there are fabulous peeling paint layers. Then I stamped and layered images and added the gondolier. I tried lots of different masks, even a little one I bought back with me but in the end stamped the face mask I have owned for ages and then stamped the Virgin Mary. The words come from a foam alphabet set and from TJ Designs that I got from the Stamp Attic. Various other stamps come from Paperartsy and some images from a paper bag! I tried to keep the feel of water by using distress ink, and the wooden posts that are all along the canals are curtesy of my garden. The idea-ology frame balances the Cross I purchased in the awesome Basilica San Marco. For those of you who have visited Venice I hope it captures a little of the magic. I must go again some day, I wish I was rich enough to visit during the Carnival and dress in scarlet! The city is a glorious decadent faded rose and quite quite beautiful.

I am now on the hunt for a very ornate thick frame that I can guild and distress to finish it off! Arriverderci!

A whiter shade of not pale!

I have a great love of pale, but can never do it in my crafting, so I sat down this morning to have an attempt. My first play was a tag.

As you can see, not all that pale. I used pieces from an old pattern, some lace, scrim and Tim's sewing room die. It still looks too colourful to me, not the look I wanted at all. Perhaps it's my eyesight in my dotage!

My next piece is a present for my Mum. She is known as Mattie to her grandchildren.

She always kept a button jar as I do now. I used the CRESCENDo mason jar over a piece of embossed button paper and added a few real ones for depth. The base is recycled cardboard with a piece of muslin over and a scrap of lacy paper I toned down with walnut stain ink. The lace trim on the bottom is punched from a paper pattern with a Martha Stewart edge punch. She loves Flowers, so her bouquet is made from two small rossette dies, some hessian, a prima flower, a rose stamped from some scraps, a crochet flower, two flowers cut from Tim's tattered florals, the larger one from dressmaking tissue and the smaller one from a very old paper doily.  The inspiration for this came from the very very talented Sue Allan, see her work here: http://aviewoftheworldfromhere-sa.blogspot.com/ Several months ago Craft Stamper featured a calender made by Sue, so this piece for my Mum uses the jar and elements of her idea, hope Sue approves! Dear old Mum is 84 now, and loves cards and flowers, so am off in a while to visit. Back to the craft room now to practice pale and try to stop using strong hues! See you later!

Sunday Stampers week 159 - All around my hat.

Prom Queen had an invitation to a party and got out her best party hat so it seemed fitting to enter her for the Sunday Stamper this week!

I stamped her on to a tag inked with distress inks and overstamped in wild honey with the word Party and Star by Stampotique. Then I cut out bunting from some inked paper and her balloon from the craft stamper magazine free stamp a few months ago and added the string with a black pen. Her invitation came from a Tim Holtz set and her bag with the present was from a 'name unknown'  clear set I had lurking in my stash. Her wonderful hat is from a set by 'Lost Coast designs' attached with foam pads and adorned with a game counter. A red glittery pom pom on top and there we are - already to go! Hope she puts a smile on before she gets there!

Sunday Stamper: Week 158. Steampunk.

I have never done steampunk before, so I had a search around and then put my thinking cap on and have come up with this card.

For the background I mounted Tim Holtz Kraft Resist paper onto a black background, then distressed it with weathered wood, wild honey and bundled sage distress ink. The athletic figure is from  Artistic Outpost 'fortune teller' and I cut him off at the shorts and added a pair of jointed legs. The steampunk bike thingy is made from die cut cogs out of black card and gold corrugated card, then I added bits of accumulated old jewellery and chain. I messed up with where I put him I think, as when I added the grunge board skull for the top of the bike it hid his legs! The handlebars were pieces of a long forgotten kit of something or other. The red arrows were from grungeboard again and the sentiment from Paperartsy stamps. The hat was trimmed with a metal flower shape and a red brad. Fun to do, but it was a real challenge!

Simon say stamp and show a tag!

When I saw this challenge I just felt it would be too rude not to enter, as I love making tags!

This tag was vagabonded using Tim's tag die with the LOVE word die cut out. Then I covered the tag with another tag cut the same but out of some paper I  had in my stash. This was then distressed inked with pinks and greens and the Paperbag Studio stamp was added over the top, then coloured with promarkers to blend. The flower was a bundle of scrim dyed with colourwash ink and die cut from the tattered florals. I had just bought Martha Stewarts monarch butterfly punch, so I layered two of them in the corner. I adhered plain scrim behind the love word, stamped some tiny butterflies on the top and finished with some pink pearls and wool trim to match. This will be perfect for my little sisters birthday present, which I can safely disclose as she is on holiday at the moment! I so love playing!

Stampotique Designers Challenge: 32 - Clean and simple.

Well here I am on a day off and with another challenge done! This was a challenge as I usually want to fill all of the paper, but it was good to be stretched in a minimalistic way!

I used Prom Queens head and framed it in a mount and used the base of the Tim Holtz sewing room die upside down for the handle of the mirror, painted them with black acrylic and popped some beads from an old bracelet on. The writing is my own. I did originally stamp her head on some mirror foil but could not photograph it because it glared! Any ideas anyone? My photography skills are about as good as my computer ones I'm afraid!

Sunday Stampers: Week 157 - Reasons to be Cheerful.

I am cheerful today! Day off and a chance to play. As getting messy and anything connected to Tim H makes me happy I have used the Stampington Mona Lisa stamp on a very distressed background with splodges and splatters, all in various D.S. inks, vagabonded it with the paint splatters embossing folder and coloured it with my promarkers, then used an old paint brush, a piece of scrim that I mopped up inks with and two little bottles with D.S. inks squirted in. The little round paints came off a small pallete topper and the sentiment was from catslife press.

Do you suppose that is the question she asked Leonardo that made her smile? So here it is, a tag to make me cheerful!