Guess what...

... the background of my card is made of...

Actually, Jennibellie showed us the technique on her forum, and I had a try (just like I try all weird techniques I view !). You just want to take 4 or 5 kitchen roll used sheets, glue 2 of them together, then another one on top of it and one or 2 again. The glue must completely wet the towels, thus you either want to use your home-made glue (with rice or flour), or add the same volume of water to your glue and mix.
Once dry, here are your sheets, all different and unique :

Now you want to stamp on the sheets :
Handstamped 

Encyclopaedia Botanica Size A5 © Katy Fox  

Numerical plate size A5 © Katy Fox

 outlined with white pen to highlight the stamped images
 

Encyclopaedia Botanica Size A5 © Katy Fox  

And then I stamped the
Grungy Greetings #1 

Kiki 7 x 12cm ©Neil Walker

on to a watercolor paper

 And Grungy Greetings #1   on to school book pages I glued on the inside of the card for the sender to write down some sentiment !

Please let me know whether this technique did interest you, I am looking forward to reading from you ! And don't forget to participate in the Artistic Stamper monthly challenge... talking about memories !

See you !

Titbelsoeur

Les Fleurs

Hi all, Alison (butterfly) here, with a pair of tags for you today.  It will come as no surprise to regulars that they use Katy Fox's beautiful botanical stamps... I seem to be obsessed with them!  (Remember, you can click on the photos if you need a closer look.)

So I started with a couple of plain manila tags, and inked them up with Tim's wrinkle-free distress technique and some spritzing and flicking.  I layered in some stencilling, rays and letters with Broken China and Vintage Photo Distress Inks.

Then I added some background stamping with the Artistic Stamper Large Random Dots.  They're stamped in Picket Fence Distress Paint, and then I used a white pen to add a little dimensional shading.  I also stamped the Sequin Waste in Peacock Feathers - which you can see in a later photo.

The main stamp for the first tag is from Encyclopaedia Botanica, from Katy's first release.

And the second tag uses the large flower from Botanical 2.  On each of them, I've used a very light wash of Mermaid Fresco paint to just highlight the flower heads a little.

 

The adorable little Les Fleurs label is also from that second set.

It's simply stamped on card in Black Archival and then torn and inked, and positioned to complement the flower stamping.

Regulars at Words and Pictures will see that I've created some new glass pebbles for this project.  Rather than sticking my glass pebbles onto book pages, as I've done previously, this time I created some musical embellishments!

I spritzed some colour onto some card (Dylusions and Perfect Pearls Mists), and then stamped the Music Background over the top in Jet Black Archival.  

Then you just glue on the pebbles (the sort you use to fill vases and so on) using gel medium - I use gloss, but I think any would do - wait until dry and then cut around the pebbles.  I do love how they catch the light!

I've also been having another little play with the beeswax (loved my first go on some journalling pages also using Artistic Stamper stamps and stencils).  I painted melted beeswax onto some book pages, and tore and inked them.  

You get a lovely translucence from the beeswax, and I really like the look of ancient parchment that it gives the paper.

As you can see, I also added some Idea-ology cogs and gears - somehow the composition just needed them - and then I simply couldn't resist the urge to mount the tags onto corrugated cardboard (another obsession).

This time it's had a rough coat of a couple of paint colours that complemented the tags, and then a good bit of inking with Gathered Twigs around the roughened edges.  (And here's that Sequin Waste stamping - such a cool background texture stamp!)

A little bit of crinkle ribbon, dyed with Distress Stains and Paints - the paints give it that lovely opaque look - and tied with paper string to top the whole thing off.

You can probably tell from these tags that I'm longing for Spring.  

Again, I caught one of those odd pockets of sunshine to take some of these photos, but I hope you are all keeping safe and dry in these storms in the UK, and not too cold in the US, and generally happy, safe and sound wherever you are in the world.

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and if you've been using Distress products then come and play along in this month's challenge here at The Artistic Stamper where that's all you need to do: Use Distress.  Hope to see you there!

Ingredients used:
Artistic Stamper stamps: Katy Fox - Encyclopaedia Botanica and Botanical #2; Backgrounds - Music Background, Large Random Dots, Sequin Waste
Tim Holtz Layering Stencils
Melt Art Natural Beeswax
Distress Inks - Broken China, Vintage Photo, Peacock Feathers
Distress Paints - Picket Fence
Distress Stains - Peeled Paint, Broken China
Archival Inks - Jet Black, Sepia
Fresco Paints - Mermaid
Dylusions - Dirty Martini, Cut Grass
Perfect Pearls Mists - Turquoise
Inkssentials White Pen
Idea-ology Findings - Sprocket Gears
From my stash: book pages, corrugated cardboard, Idea-ology paper string

One day I'll fly away...

Hello everyone, Alison (butterfly) here with some journalling pages created in a small hardback book.  (Remember you can always click on a photo for a close-up.)

If you've come from my Words and Pictures sneak peek, you'll already know it's not a happy love story being told here.  If you're all loved up for Valentine's Day, you might want to skip it!  I might as well issue a long post warning too while I'm at it.  Cups of tea (or maybe shots of whisky) at the ready...

I've used stamps from the Birds of a Feather plate to express the need of this woman to break out of the relationship which is keeping her caged up.

All she wants is to be set free, to be allowed to fly high and alone.

There are little hearts all around the page, but if you look closely you'll see that many are actually slightly broken, cracked hearts (a touch of Crackle Accents over the Grunge Paste).

And although the cage is a beautiful one it's still a prison...

I started with some torn strips torn from the Tim Holtz Kraft Resist Paper Stash, stuck down with medium.

I started playing with the elements I wanted to include, the stamped and fussy cut bird and cage, and the little vintage photo.

Next I swept some paint over them, working from the spine outwards.  I used Grunge Paste to add the tiny hearts through a stencil, and finally added some splatters of Espresso Color Wash.

But I wanted some blue to add a melancholy feel - so I dabbled and spritzed Stormy Sky Distress Stain across the pages.

I added some extra stamping - the words from Katy Fox's Carte Postale set and some postmarks from the same set.

And having worked out the positions with the fussy cut versions, I now stamped the birds direct to the page using Sepia Archival ink.

I outlined some of the hearts with a PITT pen, and later added Crackle Accents to those ones.

Some Vintage Photo Distress Ink swiped over the whole page warms the tone of the papers again and highlights textures, including the little hearts.

I just had to use my new Spring Greenery die to add the ivy trailing across the pages - I hope it will be amongst Jennie's new CHA stock soon!  It's cut from Kraft Core in the 12 x 2.5 inch size - exactly right for cutting Decorative Strip Dies.

I sanded it and then inked over with Stormy Sky and Vintage Photo Distress Stains to give it the weathered look.

And I added one of the Idea-ology Compass Coins, dabbed with Stormy Sky... which way will she go once she is free?

Both she and the bird cage are layered over some torn book pages, edged with Distress Ink.

And the little bird has had a touch of penwork just to bring him into focus.

And the final touch was to add a couple of woodcut meadow grasses, inked with Stormy Sky Distress Stain... no more wandering in the meadows with her lover for this woman.

These mementos will now lie, forgotten, between the pages of a book.

So there are my pages for you - a walk on the darker side of love in the run-up to Valentine's Day.

What can I say?  Not everyone enjoys the 14th February...

Thank you so much for stopping by.  Come and play along with our February challenge - all you have to do is Use Distress.  But you don't have to be distressed to do it, and I wish those that celebrate it a very happy Valentine's Day!

The only whole heart is a broken one, because it lets the light in.
David J. Wolpe

Ingredients used:
Artistic Stamper stamps: Birds of a Feather, Carte Postale
Idea-ology Compass Coins
Idea-ology Kraft Resist Paper Stash
Core-dinations 12 x 2.5
Grunge Paste
DecoArt paint: Titanium White
Fresco paint: Stone
Distress Stains: Stormy Sky, Vintage Photo
Distress Inks: Gathered Twigs, Vintage Photo
Adirondack Color Wash Spray: Espresso
Archival Inks: Sepia, Coffee
Crackle Accents
PITT pens