Beside The Seaside by Alison

Hello Stampers! I've just returned from a wonderful week's holiday on the Greek island of Corfu, & while I was lying on the beach, watching the sun sparkling on the sea, I was inspired to make this canvas.

On a 5 x 5 inch canvas, I used Claudine Hellmuth Studio paints to create my background. I painted in a few waves & birds, then dotted some Glossy Accents on the sea & sprinkled on some glass glitter.

I recently spotted a recipe for fake sand in a magazine, using a couple of teaspoons of clear ultra thick embossing enamel, a little bit of heirloom gold Perfect Pearls, & some Glossy Accents to bind it together. 

I spread the 'sand' onto the bottom of the canvas, then whilst it was still wet, I added some beads & shrink plastic shells. The shell images are from the Beside The Seaside plate, & I stamped them onto cream shrink plastic, before cutting them out & shrinking them with a heat gun.

I also made some shrink plastic beach umbrellas using the image from the Seaside No. 1 plate, then glued them to the 'beach' with Glossy Accents.

I stamped the phrase from the Beside The seaside plate onto cream paper, cut out the words, inked them with vintage photo Distress Ink, then glued them onto the 'sky'.

To finish, I added some blue glass glitter & beads to the top edge of the canvas, & a wooden fish to the 'sea'. 

Thanks for looking,

Alison xox

Nothing but a pack of cards (and a little book box): By Zuzu

I got one of the little Book box sets from "The Artistic Stamper" Shop... its a pack of two, one slightly smaller than the other so they fit inside each other. I used the slightly bigger one for this project. I used a mini pack of cards (out of a christmas cracker) to expand on the tumbling cards theme of the stamp.

Firstly I used gesso in the whole book. then i sanded it lightly to just add a hint of a distressed age look.

I stained the edges with inks  and then stamped on the Alice stamp in black ink.  I coloured in the image. This close up shows the slight distressing in the gesso.

On the back I simply distressed a couple of playing card images from my stash and glued them in place with some metal charms (carrying on the Alice theme).

The inside: I used a text stamp straight to the inside front cover. I sort of sat on the fence a bit before deciding as I knew it would be tricky and wouldnt stamp cleanly, but as almost everything i make has a distressed shabby look, i decided it would be appropriate. on the main inside section though, I coloured some paper with distress inks and then stamped the same text stamp out.. I cut it out and glued it into place.

Then I started to build up some Alice themed interest inside. I painted a wooden 'A' red, and stamped the text over it.  I drew a toadstool, coloured it in and cut it out and also some grass. I put glossy accents on the spots of the toadstool. I left flaps on them when cutting out so i could glue them into place in a 3D manner. As Mr caterpillar has transformed,  I stamped out the butterfly and glued him in.

On the front cover side, I glued in some metal branches and flowers... then painted them red (as in the story). I had a bit of a notion that maybe the queen of hearts had a bit of a thing for the white rabbit ... (my mind isnt always rational)... So I painted a wooden heart red, then stamped the white rabbit on to it. I coloured him in with paints. I also painted in some random blanket stiches around the edge of the heart in black.

Lastly, I glued on the miniature playing cards around the edges and neatened it on the inside with some blue bias-binding. (I think thats what it is called)... and there you have it.. a "curious keepsake".



Supplies Used from The Artistic Stamper:

Alice stamp and white rabbit stamp HERE (scroll down a wee bitty)
Butterfly stamp HERE
Distress inks (I used broken china and fired brick) HERE
Little book boxes HERE

Wish your Life by Sioux Jenneys

Hi folks! It's tag time today from me :)

1. I made an inky background with Distress Inks wild honey, scattered straw and a touch of frayed burlap....swooshing them around on a craft mat after being spritzed with water in a mini mister.

2. Stamped the Slow/Fast dial in Distress Ink aged mahoganey and masked it before using a stamp positioner to stamp the lower portion of the Around the World in Archival coffee.   
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

3. Stamped the ruler from Ephemera 1 plate in Distress frayed burlap down one side and the post card from the same plate in tea dye.

4. Using a variety of words from Journaling Words 1 and 2 and Journaling mini words to make the fragments and edged with a Distress Marker in fired brick.

5. The butterfly is a grungepaper die cut to which I applied the shattered stains technique featured in The Compendium of Curiosities II using Distress Crackle rock candy and Distress Stains in dried marigold and broken china.

Thanks for looking and hope you liked it ;)
See you again soon!

xoxo Sioux

Careful..I bite..By Trish Latimer

Hello again!
Firstly, THANK YOU for the lovely comments left on my first post!! I'm glad my first project went down well! So, I've made another painty, quirky odd thing to share.... Here she is..

This time I've used probably my favourite surfaces, canvas. I love the texture of canvas, the fact you can build upon it to create something really 'touchy feely' as well as easy on the eye! This particular 'board' was made by adhering Sticky Backed Canvas (by Claudine Hellmuth, the white version) to chipboard. I love the sticky backed stuff as you can have a base whatever size and shape you fancy, just by covering it with the adhesive canvas. No more being limited to the sizes and shapes of ready made canvas boards or blocks! Its also really easy to die cut as well, and this is our first step......

Die cut a circle and flourish (both Sizzix) from the canvas (I've stuck it to thick card first to give it a bit more stability), and then cut and cover your chipboard with the canvas too.
Time to create the background on your canvas board. I've used Adirondack Paint Dabbers as my paint for this part, in Aqua, Cool Peri and Pool. The white is Claudine Helmuths Blank Canvas . Smear on the four colours, drying each layer before you add more. Mine looked like this.....

Next, lots of stamping! Using the four colours of paint used in the background, stamp Random Dot Background, Grid Background and Harlequin . Also, stamp the circles from the Swirls Splats and Dots plate , and the long single harlequin from the A6 Borders Plate .

Detail printing is next on the list... I've used Raspberry Paint Dabber , and Charcoal Black Claudine Hellmuth Studio paint for this. print lines and tiny circles using junk like store cards and bottle caps, and add in some tiny dot detail too....

To complete the background, also paint, stamp and edge the die cut canvas pieces (the circle also has the top of a Flourish on it, from the Swirls Splats and Dots plate....)

Adhere these to the background. I've used hot glue as it gives a 3D effect, as well as ensuring a good strong bond! The Flourish is placed along the bottom, to give my little girl somewhere to stand, and the circle as an accent in the upper right section of the piece....

I've added a digital image of a little girl, looking suitably perplexed ( Weirdly,I LOVE figures looking perplexed!)

 Again, the hot glue gives her that raised 3D look. The quote is from my stash of cut up old Mills and Boon romance novels! Glued on with gel medium....

And thats it! A painted canvas board, with that quirky randomness I love! Hopefully you like it too...

Until next time....
Love, Trish xxxxxxx

Shabby Wall Hanger by Astrid

Good morning everyone. This is Astrid here with my very first post for the Artistic Stamper. I am very honoured to be part of the team and look forward to share some of my creations using The Artistic Stampers wonderful line of stamps.

For my first project I decided to create a little wall hanging;

I started by cutting a piece of 4 x 6 Kraft card. In the centre I sloshed on a thick layer of the Terra Sahara and stamped the wetted Chicken Wire Background stamp into it to add lots of texture to my project. I love how the background stamps lend themselves so well to this kind of technique. I let the Terra dry overnight and the next day I coloured it with Black Paint Dabber and when that was dry rubbed some Viva Inka Gold lightly over it to give it some sheen.

I stamped the Music Background Stamp in Archival Coffee on some smooth white card stock and spunched some Antique Linen and Vintage Photo distress ink over it to give it an aged look. I tore a rough edge, edged it with Walnut Stain Distress Ink and glued it on either side of the central panel. I also adhered some lace from my stash with Claudine Helmutt Matte Medium

I stamped and cut out three of the stamps from the Time and Keys stamp set in Archival Black on thick white cardstock, and sponged some Antique Linen and Vintage photo around them.

I then glued the clock stamp onto one of the Tim Holtz Idea-ology Locket Keys  and glued that to the hanger.

Finally I finished my project by adding one of my home made roses and some little silk roses from my stash. To complete the hanger I still added some Link Chain to hang it by with a couple of jump-rings

Well, I hope you enjoyed this little project, thank you for stopping by and I will see you again later in the month.

VINTAGE BUNTING By Kat

Hi all, Kat here,
I'm here today with a monochrome card with a vintage feel.

I started with a 5x5 inch card

& blended Vintage Photo Distress Inks round the edge

I then stamped the cog border off the borders A6#2 stamp plate,

once onto scrap paper then onto the card to give it a lighter colour.

I then Matt & layered brown & cream card,

& blended Vintage Photo Distress Inks round the edge

& stamped the Stipple background stamp onto it.

I then stamped the focal images onto scrap card

which are Tim Holtz with Coffee archival ink cut them out

& stuck them in place with foam pads,

I used 2 of the flag designs off the Bunting plate again stamped with 

Coffee archival ink & blended with Vintage Photo Distress Inks

I attached the little flags to a covered wire & bent it into shape

with the ade of a pencil end, then stuck it to the card as shown.

Hope you like it!

thanks for reading my post,

Kat x.

Girl With Clock by Emma

Hi everyone!

Hope you're all having a good month, so far and I really can't believe that it's already time for my first piece of June. I decided to get inky again and for this particular piece I was inspired by the one of my favourite artists, Klimt ~ I hope you like it...

To begin with...

I "splodged" some Mustard Seed and Wild Honey Distress Stains onto my craft mat, spritzed them with water and then dragged a piece of card through them to give a good coverage of colour all over. Next, I stamped directly onto the inked background using the following stamps, the large swirl from the Tick Tock stamp plate and two of the border stamps from the Borders A6 #2 stamp plate.

Once the inks were dry, I used the Snow Cap Adirondack Paint Dabber and dabbed the paint randomly over the background using the Circle Grid Crafters Workshop Template. I then matted it onto some purple and cream cardstock from my stash. 

Next, I stamped the Girl With Clock stamp onto watercolour paper using black Archival Ink and painted the image with Distress Marker Pens but used a waterbrush to soften the colours from the pens for more of a vintage look. I cut around the outline of the image and using 3D foam attached it to a further piece of card. I then blended Mustard Seed and Wild Honey DI around the edges of my mounted image and stamped random areas of the border with one of the stamps from the Borders A6 #2 stamp plate. I matted my completed artwork onto some black, gold and purple card before attaching it to my inked background. 

I then painted the 22 x 22cm Collage Frame with the Gold Adirondack Paint Dabber and applied a generous layer of Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint over the top. Once it was dry, I gently brushed the surface to accentuate the crackles with Vintage Photo DI. I then added my picture to the centre of the frame and added a layer of Multi Medium over the top.

Finally, I added a chain to the top, which I've had in my stash for ages to complete the frame. 

Well, that's about it for me and thank you, so much for taking the time to come and look at what I've created...I'll really look forward to reading all your comments.

See you all again soon.

Emma x