Spooky Pumpkins...

Morning Peeps! Tis me again, back with another ATC to giveaway... this time it is a Hallowe'en themed one... using those luverly Tim Holtz Hallowe'en Mini's... I have to say, this is my first foray into the whole Hallowe'en thing this year and I am a total convert... I can see this skelington being used for things other than spooky too!



So, the base of the ATC was made with a piece of the Retro Grunge paper stack, coloured with Wild Honey and edged with Vintage Photo Distress Inks. The spider web was stamped with Brushed Corduroy and the bats and barbed wire with black StaZon. I stamped the skelington onto Grungepaper and cut him out and then once he was in place on the ATC, I added Glossy Accents to make him pop... however! The pics for some reason, are showing him to have a whiteish tinge to him... not sure why cos the GA is all dried... but I quite like it... it looks more... erm... lived in ROFL I have some beaded fringing in my stash which is white and pearly... so I made up a Mini Mister of Spiced Marmalade Re-Inker, mixed with Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls and water, soaked the fringe with this mix and then dried it. I added some wire to the top of the ATC to make it into a hangy thing.. well, you know me and my hangy things... love 'em ;o))



If you would like to own this ATC, pretty please leave me a comment here and I will pop all the comments into the Random.org thingy and a winner, chosen at random, will be announced next Saturday, 30th October '10. Oooh, and while I am on about all things winning... have you seen our monthly challenge? The theme this month, set by moi, is Layers... and you can win £15 worth of Artistic Stamper stamps and KlingOn to mount them onto if you join in... that is open until October 31st... so you still have a week to play :O)) All the deets for that are HERE. Hope you have a brill weekend and thanks for looking... TTFN

Hels x

Poison Comes In Little Bottles...

...aha, just like precious things come in little packages... bit like me really LOL Anyways.. HELLO!!! I am back today with a double whammy for you... firstly... did you know that here on the Artistic Stamper Creative Team blog there is a monthly challenge??? You didn't??? Well, there is... and... this month the theme, set by yours truly, is to use LAYERS on your artwork **click the wordy to find the post :O))** The rules are simples... all you need to do is make a piece of art, be it a card, ATC, wall art, altered art... just use some stamping and the theme... and... if you use Artistic Stamper stamps on your entry you will be entered into the draw twice! The prize is £15 worth of stamps from the Artistic Stamper shop... along with the KlingOn to mount them onto... so... whatcha waiting for??? :O)) Actually, before you dash off to get creative... please let me introduce you to my latest tag creation...



Yes, I finally have succumbed to all things Hallowe'en and got myself a couple of sets of Tim Holtz Collection stamps... BTW, if you click on the blue words that will whisk you off to the exact page on the AS webby... so you can do a bit of shopping too... see, I am an enabler LOL The background of the tag is coloured with a mix of Distress Inks; Rusty Hinge, Spiced Marmalade, Dusty Concord, Aged Mahogany and Black Soot around the edges... however, before I did the colouring bit I used a script stamp and a birdy stamp and some Pearl Dabber to make a resist effect. Once coloured the images really pop off the page... just simply wipe off the ink from the paint and voila, resisted!


The Skelington is stamped in Pearl Dabber and embossed with white embossing powder... then cut out.. he is on Grungepaper so he is quite supple.. if Skelingtons can be supple LOL The Poison is another Tim stamp - one of the Mini Hallowe'en... stamped, inked and popped onto a titchy bottle that has Espresso Alcohol Ink dropped into to make the ... poison!



I added some Fragment Charms... these are made by inking cardstock, stamping the image you want and then using Glossy Accents to stick the Fragment to the card... simply wait til dry, cut out, edge with a sanding block to smooth it down and then use Black Soot to finish the cut edges... these are hung from the tag by poking a hole thru and making a twist of wire and a Jump Ring. The Ticket is from the 100th Collection from Mr Holtz ...cut using the Ticket Alterations Die and this is attached to a Memo Pin. So.. my layers are the Fragments and the Skelington... and the little Calendar Page... also a Tim Mini Hallowe'en stamp. I hope you get chance to play at the challenge... it is open until October 31st and the winner is chosen by Random.org and announced the following week :O)) Thanks for looking... have a FAB weekend! TTFN

Hels x

Second Hand Rose - By Lynn Stevens

I am so enjoying being a Guest Designer for The Artistic Stamper.

I had so much fun creating my Second Hand Rose collage box. I used several stamps from

The Artistic Stamper

Time and Keys plate and Girl With Clock

Along with Grungepaper for my Rose, Idealogy numbers, crackle paint and Distress inks.

All of which can be found at The Artistic Stamper.

The images are from Graphics 45. The Steampunk collection.
Thanks for looking!
Lynn Stevens

Layering It On... The October Challenge

Goodly Morning peeps... THANK YOU all for your lovely colourful entries in the September Rainbow Challenge. The Winner of the Candy will be announced in a few days when Jennie gets back from the Artisan Show. I have chosen this months theme and you all know how I love to add layers to my projects... so the theme is... LAYERS!




I altered an Ikea photoframe by layering lots of strips of Nostalgic Tissue Tape over it so it was entirely covered and then colouring it with Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink. I made a little centrepiece using white card, coloured with more Distress Inks, this time; Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Barn Door, Broken China and Vintage Photo. I stamped a Tim Holtz sentiment - I love this one, it has to be one of my faves - and then adding some backgroundy sprigs using Pine Needles DI and a few butterflies using Rusty Hinge and Aged Mahogany DI's.



I used some Grungepaper, StaZon and Distress Inks to make some flowers - the stamps I used are: Flower Power, Flower Blooms and Flower Fever and then overstamped with lots of background stamps. I added a little dimensional butterfly using one of the new Steampunk Stamp sets - overstamping him with a lacey background. I cut a few leaves from the new Tim Holtz Tattered Leaves Alteration Die and embossed these with Texture Fades... colouring with Crushed Olive, Forest Moss and finally Aged Mahogany to get an autumnal look to the leaves... All of these layers were stuck together with Glossy Accents... gotta love that as a glue... I added a little gem into the centre of the flowers and popped a couple of pins from my stash behind to jazz them up a bit.




So... that is my entry... what will you make for yours? The rules of the challenge are simples...make a piece of art (it can be absolutely anything) including the theme... once you have blogged it (or added it to your Flickr or similar account), leave a comment here for us with a link to the place you are showing your entry, add your deets to the Froggy-link and we can come and see your entry. If you use Artistic Stamper stamps in your piece, then your name will be entered twice into the draw. The winner will be chosen at random and announced at the beginning of next month... the prize up for grabs is £15 worth of Artistic Stamper stamps of your choice, plus the KlingOn to mount them onto! Thanks for looking... have lots of inky fun!

Hels x

On a Rose Role....by Jennie

Seems that roses are the order of the week here on The Artistic Stamper Creative Team blog! I am no exception! I love making them when I have time, and these are made from grungepaper, using the large and small Flowers from the Flower Power set. I painted them with Claudine's Studio paints from Ranger, in altered orange, yellow pastel  and dab of yellow. When they were glued together, and guess what my silicone glue is still working!! ( who'd have thought it! lol), I painted rock candy crackle paint over them. If you have absolutely no idea how to make them, then I did do a video which you can see here.

I actually covered the large jigsaw puzzle piece in Sticky back canvas, and painted it in a mixture of the same paints, and then stamped over it with a couple of background stamps in Rusty Hinge distress ink. I tore some of Tim's Tissue Tape and stuck it on top for added texture.
I stamped the birdcage on top of the painted canvas with black Archival ink. Then i liberally(I did actually pour more rock candy crackle paint over it!)
The gold and black bird cage was made by pouring clear and gold, and spoonful of flex ( mixed gently together) utee onto a non stick craft sheet, and allowing it to cool for a few seconds before stamping into it with the stamp, which was inked up in black archival.

Allow it to cool for  a few more seconds..do not burn your hands, and remove the stamp. Whilst still warm, cut round the birdcage. I added more silicone glue!! to the back of it, and added it slightly to the side of the stamped image.
A couple of leaves ( picked up in a big bunch from a charity shop, and a button at the bottom finished it off!!

See what I mean about the role of the rose here... lol
Don't forget Hels is giving away some rose filled ATC's and if you are coming to Stamperama we have all the ingredients to all of our projects by the Creative Team there, plus a special make and take :))
Have a very creative day
Jennie x

On The Bottle...

... I got my new stamps this morning so had to have a little play with them... the bottle stamp is just FAB isn't it? It comes plain and SteamPunky too :O))




I altered a wooden frame, painting it with Traditional Tan paint, covering this with Rock Candy Cracklepaint and then using Mini Misters with Perfect Pearls and Re-inkers mixed with water, to make a colouration for the background... The bottle was stamped onto a piece of mountboard, coloured with Tumbled Glass and then painted with Rock Candy Crackle. Once this had dried, I smudged some Inka Gold over the top of the crackles to make them look...erm.. more crackled!




The flowers are made from Flower Power, Flower Fever and the new Flower Blooms plates, stamped onto Grungepaper and coloured with Distress Inks, then I used some backgrounds to overstamp a pattern onto them. They were then all curled up and stuck together with some little strips of Grungepaper behind them to make stems.. then popped into the bottle.




The centre was made using card, Distress Inks and a couple of Tim Holtz collection stamps... and then I added some Glossy Accents to highlight words... finally, I added a little golden chain (from a Jamboree Bag) and stamped some of Tim's butterflies onto Grungepaper, added Enamel Accents for the bodies and popped them onto the frame. Oh and then colour I used for the butterflies is Broken China. Thanks for looking... have you had chance to play at the Something Old, Something New challenge yet??? It is open til August 31st and there is some delish Candy up for grabs too! TTFN

Hels x