Carte Postale by Emma

Hi everyone!

Today, I'm sharing a card with you all, using the gorgeous new Carte Postale stamp set from Katy Fox. As always, I've taken lots of pictures for you to see all the detail and I hope you like what I've made!

To begin with I created the background to my piece by using the fabulous new On The Edge Torn Notebook die from Tim Holtz and Sizzix. I can see I'm going to get plenty of use out of this one... I used a piece of cream card, which I die cut with the die, then blended the die cut paper with Old Paper DI over the surface and Frayed Burlap around the edges. I then stamped the paper using the Calligraphic Mat #11. Once that was done, using a Tim Holtz stamp from my stash, I stamped the corners of the card with a Versamark ink pad and then brushed over the top with Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls. I matted the completed background onto some black card, followed by a piece of kraft card.

I then took a further piece of cream card, blended it with DI's and using various stamps from the Carte Postale set,  I created a postcard. I then aged the edges of the postcard by ripping and curling them for a vintage look and mounted it onto my background.

To create the roses, I used Tim's Tattered Florals die and die cut enough card to make three dimensional roses in two sizes. I blended the card with Victorian Velvet DI and then spritzed them with the Gumball Perfect Pearls mist. After drying off all my die cut cardstock, I then created the 3D blooms and added these onto my card, together with a leaf, die cut using the Tattered Leaves die.

Next, I used one of the butterflies from the Insects and Butterflies #1 plate, stamped it onto white card and coloured it with Distress Markers, before adding a spritz of the Perfect Pearls mist to give it a shimmer. I then added it to my cluster of roses.

I inked up the postage stamp stamp from the Carte Postale stamp set with Vermillion Archival Ink and stamped five of these onto white card, cut each of them out and then arranged them onto my card, together with a Idea-ology Gem Clip.

Finally, I added one of Tim's Idea-ology Pen Nibs and attached a decorative pin as the finishing touch.

So, that's it from me for today and I really hope that I've inspired you with my card...

See you all again very soon...Emma x

The Creative Team Stars!

Hi, it's the Chief Rubber Stamper here checking in a little early this month. I thought I would use this opportunity to publicly thank my wonderfully creative team for all their hard work this past year. I know from all the comments that you enjoy their very innovative creations and posts using The Artistic Stamper stamps. I love what they do, and a very BIG thank you, comes from me to Emma, Alison, Sioux, Astrid, Louise and Tit for all their hard work making sure that everything is in place for you to ogle over!

I have been making lots of Christmassy tags, just to get in the mood for next month, and this tag is very appropriate for my wonderfully supportive team .
 Thank you girls, it is very much appreciated.
 I used Tim's new Star die, ( this is one of my favourites :)), inked with distress inks with one of his stamps.

Have a very creative weekend
Hugs
Jennie

Happy Halloween by Jennie

Hi!
I love being able to join my wonderful team here on the blog, and even if time has run away again with me this month, I managed to get time to make a Halloween ATC for you. This is so simple to make, takes a few minutes, and can be adapted for any occasion.
I use some of Tim's Kraft Resist Halloween paper, and added distress inks to it to make the skull pop off the page. I stamped Happy Halloween and a spiders web from one of Tim's Stamper's Anonymous stamp sets in Black Archival ( one of my staples of stamping!) and then added orange and brown distress inks , and cut it out.

 

 

The pumpkin was made using a honeycomb paper , which I die cut from the Alterations mini pumpkin, and then cut in half, and fanned out.

 

 

 

You will often find me in the baking department of shops, looking for silicone moulds so that I use them with UTEE, which is what I have done with the skull. I just used up what UTEE I had left in my melting pot, and luckily it was the perfect colour. The bat was another find in the seasonal department of a well known supermarket! Add all the elements together, and glue with a hot glue gun.

Have a very Spooky Halloween, and if you are in our direction on Wednesday night, we will be tricking and of course treating you to a late night shopping. we are open until 9pm.

Have a very creative day
Hugs
Jennie

Happy Halloween by Emma

Hi everyone! Once again, time has flown by and it's already that time of the month for me to share my first piece with you all and I really hope you like it!

Here's how I created the piece...

Firstly, I used Tim's faux metal riveted technique that he used for his September tag, in the 12 tags of 2012 series and covered a Manila tag. I then covered the tag with Hazelnut, Eggplant and Gold Mixative Alcohol Inks before sanding the surface.

Next, I used the Tim Holtz Gadget Gears Alteration Die to die cut some chipboard which I then painted with the gold Adirondack Paint Dabber. Once the paint was dry, I applied the black paint dabber over the top and then, gently wiped away some of the paint. I then die cut the '31' from the Gothic Boo die and applied black paint over the numerals, before brushing the edges with gold paint.

Next, I blended a piece of white card with Old Paper Distress Ink, added Black Soot around the edges and distressed the paper slightly. I then stamped the image of Phineas Pinchbeck onto the card and I also stamped the Happy Halloween Ticket from Tim's Odds and Ends Stamp set.

I added all the die cut and stamped elements onto my tag, together with the a piece of the Film Strip Ribbon, attached with the Tiny Attacher and some Sprocket Gears, with the Game Spinners attached to the centre.

Finally, I added Glossy Accents onto the clock on the stamped image and threaded seam binding through the top of the tag and tied it into a bow.

Here's a list of what I used:

Phineas Pinchbeck Stamp

Adirondack Black and Gold Paint Dabber

Alcohol Inks

Antique Linen

Tim Holtz ~ Odds and Ends Stamp

Sizzix Tim Holtz ~ Gothic Boo Alterations Dies

Idea-ology Findings

Manila Tag

Glossy Accents

Thank you for stopping by to take a look at my little tag and I can't wait to read all your comments!

That's it from me for now but I'll see you all again, soon!

Emma x

Festive Feeling... Giveaway Time!

Goodly Morning Stampfans! Tis that time of the month again when I do my taggy giveaway... this month the tag has been inspired by lots of different techniques shown by Tim Holtz during his 12 Tags of Christmas bonanza this year. Did you know that Jennie is feeling in a very generous festive mood and not only is she giving away two free limited edition stamps with every single order... she has also set up a special discount of a mahoosive 20% on any orders for the stash used in the 12 Tags... to see all the deets, please CLICK HERE. The offer is only open for a limited time... til 18th December so time to grab yourself a nice Christmas pressie bargain! On with this months tag for giving away. To be in with a chance of winning it is a doddle... simply leave me a comment here and tell my what your favourite Tim tag was this year... the winner will be chosen at random and announced here on the blog on January 3rd 2012. I had lots of fun making this tag because I included all my favourite stashly supplies. The base of the tag was coloured with Antique Linen Distress Stain. I spritzed it with water and then dipped the tag into a smoosh of stain (liking that description!) on the craft sheet... using Frayed Burlap (this has to be one of my faves for vintage, nostalgic Christmas projects)


Anyways... I dried the tag with a heat tool and then did some "Ghost Stamping" with the crackle background from the Joyful Song stamp set. This is a really fab technique and so easy... simply pop your stamp onto your craft sheet face up, ink with your Distress Ink and then pick it up in your hands and kind of roll it over your tag... this will mean that there's no start or finish to the image, instead it just fades out... no harsh edges! I dried this with a heat tool and then roughed up the edges with a Paper Distresser and blended Vintage Photo Distress Ink around the edges. I used a variety of green Alcohol Inks to colourize a piece of Kraft Glassine paper, scrumpled it, dragged Vintage Photo DI over the top of the scrumples and then dried it. I used the Holly Branch Alterations Die to cut five leaves out and then used the Tattered Pinecone Die to cut out three shapes from brown cardstock... I then assembled them into the pinecones and added Picket Fence Stickles to the edges of the bracks. The little holly berries are Baubles, coloured in a zippy bag with Red Pepper Alcohol Ink and tied with wire and some vintage lace - these are FAB ideas from Tim... and all the deets for the 12 Tags are on his blog. I used a piece of Lost & Found music paper to cut a Tattered Banner and popped this into the pinecone/holly leaf assembly and then set about making the sentiment... which is another easy but cute way of stamping; using Distress Embossing Ink for stamping the sentiment onto Kraft card and then embossing with Ranger Black Embossing Powder and cutting around the sentiment and edging with Vintage Photo DI.


Cor... this is a long winded explanation for one tag... nearly done! The Idea-ology Christmas Adornment charm was painted with a selection of Adirondack Dabbers... using a teensy Claudine Hellmuth Studio brush to apply the paints... then drying with a heat gun, sanding gently and then squishing it into the Distress Embossing Ink and embossing with Clear Embossing Powder... worn of warning... don't try to pick it up straight after you have heated the powders... it is metal... and that means it is hot... ouch!!! Just sayin ;o)) I repeated the "enamelling" process so the bells are really covered with a good thick layer of powders... punched a hole in the top using the Idea-ology Screw Punch and popping onto a little Jump Ring and Mini Safety Pin. Once the whole tag was assembled, I gave it is a really fine spritz with Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls Mists.


You will see that there's a border of snowflakes and the odd snowflake dotted around the tag... I made these using more Alterations dies to cut Kraft Glassine that I had coloured with SnowCap Alcohol Ink... I have done a quick Tutorial over on my own blog so you can see how I did this... all the deets are HERE. Well, that's all from me for now... thanks for looking!!! TTFN

Hels x

"Holly" by Emma

Hi everyone ~ it's Emma here!

December is whizzing by and it's already time to show you my first project of the month using one of the FREE stamps that you get with any order placed at The Artistic Stamper during December.

So, time to share my decorative Christmas plaque ~ I hope you like it...

Here's how I made it and I've included lots of close up photos to show you all the detail!

To begin with I stamped the Mabel Lucie Attwell ~ Holly image onto cream textured card and coloured it in.

Next, I cut to size a 15cm square frame from white card, trimmed the edges to give a decorative effect and then cut an 8cm aperture from the centre. I blended Weathered Wood Distress Ink over the frame and then using the free snowflakes stamp, I stamped all around the edge of the frame with some more Weathered Wood Distress Ink. I then mounted my frame over the top of my stamped Mabel Lucie Attwell image and placed the completed frame onto chipboard, trimming off the excess.

Next, using Tim Holtz's Alterations dies, I die cut the Holly Branch from Grungepaper and the "25" from the Noel die from chipboard. I then blended Evergreen Bough Distress Ink over the holly leaves and Festive Berries on the berries ~ both inks are from the Winter Seasonal DI set. I then used Gathered Twigs on the branch which came in the Autumn Seasonal DI set. Next, I blended Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink over the "25" before covering each number with Picket Fence Crackle Paint.

Once the crackle paint is dry, I assembled each of the Grungepaper die cut elements onto the left hand side of my frame, slightly overlapping the edge. I then placed the "25" on top of the holly branch to give the effect of it being suspended in mid air. I squidged some Rock Candy Distress Stickles over all the die cut pieces.

Next, I punched two holes and placed some eyelets into top corners of the frame using a Crop-a-Dile. I attached some glass beads to the twine and threaded this through the holes to create a hanger. Finally, I added some seam binding as the finishing touch, to complete my decorative wall hanger.

Thanks for stopping by to take a look at what I've made and once again, for taking the time to leave comments on these posts ~ I appreciate all your kind words.

Bye for now and have fun creating.

Emma x

Tick Tock by Emma

Hi everyone!

It's time to show you my final project of November and it's been made using some more fab Distress Stains, which until the end of this month, you can find on offer, here at The Artistic Stamper.

So, time to share my creation and I hope you like it...

...and, here's how I made it!

To begin with I dabbed some Weathered Wood, Broken China and Antique Linen Distress Stain onto my craft mat, misted the stains with water and then applied my 20cm x 9.5cm sized tag over the stains, moving it around slightly to soak up all the colour. When you take the tag away, it leaves you with this gorgeous marbled effect on the background. I then inked up the Sequin Waste Open background stamp with the Weathered Wood Distress Stain and stamped the pattern all over the tag. Next, I inked up the clock face from the Tick Tock stamp plate with black Archival Ink and stamped around the edges, masking off the previous stamped image, each time to create an overlap of clocks as a border to my tag.

I then stamped the Mabel Lucie Attwell - Large White Rabbit image onto a square piece of white card and then stamped the same image again onto a separate piece of white card. I coloured both of the images in with alcohol pens but cut around the outline of the second White Rabbit image, which I will eventually be decoupaging over the top of the base image.

Next, I used some Grungeboard to die cut the Tim Holtz Weathered Clock and then, coloured all the die cut pieces with Weathered Wood Distress Stain. Attach the die cut clock to your base image of the White Rabbit, making sure the rabbit is in the centre of the clock and then trim away any of the excess cardstock. Take the cut out rabbit and layer this directly over the top of your first background image, using 3D foam pads for dimension. Adhere this completed section to your tag.

Using some papers from my crafty stash, I made up a rosette with the Tim Holtz, Decorative Strip Rosette Die and stuck this to the bottom section of my tag. I then stamped another of the large clock faces from the Tick Tock Stamp Sheet onto white card and cut this out. Using the hands of the clock that you've previously die cut from the Grungeboard, attach these with a brad, to the centre of your stamped clock face. I made sure that the hands weren't attached too tightly to the clock face, allowing you to move the hands around, so they will always tell the exact time that you want.

I inked up the "Tick Tock' wording from the Tick Tock stamp sheet with Black Archival Ink and stamped onto cream card, trimmed each of the edges to give a banner shape and then added it to the top of my tag.

As a finishing touch I coloured cream seam binding with some more of the Weathered Wood Distress Stain and tied it into a bow, through the hole in my tag.

So, that's about it from me for this month.

Thank you for taking the time to come and look at my creation and I'll look forward to reading your comments.

Bye for now and happy creating.

Emma x

Imagine by Emma

Hi everyone!

It's time for me to show you my second project of the month and once again, I've used some more of those gorgeous Distress Stains that are on offer here, at The Artistic Stamper, this month.

I chose to make a tag and combined the Distress Stains with another of those adorable Mabel Lucie Attwell stamps.

So how did I make it:

To begin with I dabbed some Peeled Paint and Antique Linen Distress Stain onto my craft mat and then pulled the tag that I made from Manila cardstock, measuring 20cm x 9.5cm, through the inks to give a marbled effect to the background. I then inked up the Dots background stamp with the Peeled Paint Distress Stain and stamped the dots all over the tag.

I then stamped the Mabel Lucie Attwell - Coming Up Daisies image onto white card and coloured it in with alcohol pens. I matted the image onto a piece of black card and adhered it to my tag.

Next, I die cut some petals from cream card, using the Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die and using the same technique as I used for the background, I dabbed some Spiced Marmalade Distress Stain onto my craft mat and then dragged the plain cream die cuts through to give them colour. I then overstamped some of the petals using one of the Calligraphic Mat Background stamps, before then making all the coloured die cut petals into two 3D flowers. Next, I dipped the completed flowers into UTEE which was melted in the Melt Pot and once you've covered all the petals in the UTEE, it leaves you with this lovely enameled look.

Using some papers from my crafty stash, I made up two rosettes with the Tim Holtz Mini Rosettes Die and stacked them on top of one another. I then used an old beer bottle top, punched out a circle from some paper off cuts and stuck this in the centre of the bottle top, using a dab of Glossy Accents. I then covered the entire area of the inside of the bottle top, with some more Glossy Accents and set aside to dry completely before adding it to the top of my rosette stack.

To complete my tag creation, I arranged all the elements that I've made and clustered them all at the bottom of my tag. I inked up the "Imagine" stamp with Black Archival Ink and stamped onto cream card before adding this to the bottom of my tag. As a finishing touch I added one of Tim Holtz's die cut flourishes, together with some seam binding.

I hope you like what I've made and as always, I look forward to reading each, and every one of your comments.

Thank you for taking the time to look.

Bye for now and happy creating.

Emma x

It's November Giveaway Time...

Goodly Morning Stamp Fans!!! Tis that time of the month again when I do a taggy giveaway. This month I have made a Christmas style tag, combining the challenge theme for this month, which is backgrounds and also our "focus on" which is Distress Stains.



I have been playing about with different mediums recently and come up with a fabby use for Rock Candy Cracklepaint... all the deets on what I did will be on my own blog today... so I won't repeat myself here :O) So, once I had achieved the background look I liked, I used Weathered Wood Distress Stain to colour the background of the tag and then edged it with Faded Jeans DI. I used Cobalt Archival Ink to stamp some snowflakes in the background... which are from the Tim Holtz Christmas collection sets.



The snow man is cut from the Winter Wonder Alterations using mountboard, which I then overstamped with a sentiment (also Tim Holtz 2011 collection) in Jet Black Archival and then added an extra hat and nose to him that I had coloured with Pumice Stone Distress Ink. The little Ticket is cut from the Movers & Shapers Labels Set and stamped with Jet Black and Vermillion Archival Ink. Finally, I added some Idea-ology Trim and a Memo Pin to hold the ticket and added splodges of Picket Fence and Rock Candy Stickles to add some bling.




To win this tag all you need to do is leave me a comment here... and... if you pop over to my blog, leave a comment there too, you will be entered twice... simples! The winner will be chosen at random and announced on December 3rd 2011 so you will have the tag in time for Christmas. That's all from me... don't forget to nip across HERE to see the fabby special offer ... 20% off Distress Stains this month. Thanks for looking... TTFN!

Hels x

Sweet Dreams by Emma Williams

Hello everyone!

It's Emma here, and I'm back with my first post of November and this time I've chosen to make a twisted easel card, featuring another of those gorgeous Mabel Lucie Attwell stamps, together with an inky background made using the fab Distress Stains which are currently on offer this month over at The Artistic Stamper.

So here's how I made it..

I stamped the Mabel Lucie Attwell image onto mount board, coloured it in and inked the edges with Antique Linen Distress Ink. I then applied a generous amount of Versamark all over the image, covered with UTEE and heated it until it becomes molten and glossy.

To make the card base, I took a square pre-scored card, scored diagonally from corner to corner, across the front of the card blank and folded to give my basic easel shape card. Next, I inked up the Dots Background stamp with Versamark, stamped onto white card and embossed with clear embossing powder. Next, I got inky with the Distress Stains and randomly applied, Wild Honey, Weathered Wood and Antique Linen, all over the embossed piece of card ~ where you've previously embossed with the clear embossing powder, this will act as a resist and those little dots will just pop out.

I matted this onto black card and attached to the diagonal fold on the card blank. Next, using the same colours of Distress Stains as before, I once again, randomly applied them all over another piece of white card card and then stamped this background with the "splat" from the Swirls, Dots and Splats stamp and the Ink Blot Background. Attach this piece of card to the base of the card blank, trimming off the excess.

Using Tim Holtz's Tattered Florals Alterations die, I made a handmade 3D flower, coloured with Tumbled Glass Distress Ink and spritzed with Turquoise Perfect Pearls Mists, I then attached this to the upright section of my card base, together with my enameled Mabel Lucie Attwell artwork and some seam binding.

I printed out "Time For Bed", adhered the words to a piece of card and attached it to the front of my card using a Tim Holtz Memo Pin. I finally made up two rosettes from some paper in my crafty stash, using Tim's Mini Rosette Strip Die and added these to the base of the card, together with the "Sweet Dreams" sentiment which I printed out on the computer.

So that's about it and I really hope you like my card!

I'll be back later in the month with another project. Thank you for taking the time to come and look at my work and for leaving all your lovely comments.

See you soon and happy creating!

Emma x

Getting Into The "Spirit" Of Halloween

Tonight is Halloween, and the night of witches, ghouls and ghosts! How could I let today go by without making something ghostly and ghouly, and not a witch in sight! ( unless of course you count me! LOL) . I spent sometime playing with Mr Holtz's embossing folders, and used a tag in the process. Ink up your tag with distress inks: I used the Autumnal Limited Edition colours ( there may be some more available early next month , if you haven't got your set yet) , and inked the tag, and then ran it through with an embossing folder to raise the letters. I then re inked it to get a better depth of colour. I cut another tag from Wendy Vecchi's clear Clearly for Art sheets, and inked these up with Mini Halloween 2  stamps from Mr Holtz, on both sides with black archival, gently heating them to set.

Add  a skull  cut from black shrink plastic and bats cut from black Clearly for Art, from the mini alterations die, Heat the Clearly for Art to bend the bats so they have some movement, and glue carefully to the clear tag.  Staple to the embossed tag.

May you have a spooktacular Halloween ( always wanted to say that! ) , and stay creative
Jennie