Happy Memories

Hello everyone, Astrid here with my first post for 2013. So let me start with wishing you all the most wonderful, happy and creative New Year!!
For my first post this month I decided to make a little tag book, that can be used to keep some happy memories of a journey or other special occasion.

These are the stamps and products I used:
Stamps:
Travelling Words
Labels
Postage No 1
Crowning Glory
Journaling Words 2
Ephemera 1
Tim Holtz Papillon
Other Products:
Distress Stains Variety of colours
Distress Inks in colours to match the stains
Claudine Hellmuth Multi Medium Matte
From my stash:
Smooth white paper
scrap book paper
Kraft Card
Dies
Flowers
Vintage Ephemera
Postage Stamps
Seam binding

The booklet is made up out of 5 different tags, each made in a very similar way:
1. Squeeze some Distress Stains onto your craft mat, include either some Picket Fence or a Metallic Stain as these are more opaque and give some "body" to your background.
2. Once you are happy add some further depth of colour by blending Distress Inks in matching colours over the stains.
3. Stamp a background stamp in a matching colour of Distress Inks. I used the Ephemera 1 stamp for each of mine.
4. Stamp some of the other label and postage stamps on white paper (I used matte photo paper), cut out and colour with distress inks.
5. Collage your cut out images, other ephemera and postage stamps onto your tags using the matte medium
Here are my 5 tags:

I kept the back of my tags quite plain, just covering them with scrapbook papers and creating a pocket here and there to keep notes and other bits and bobs picked up during travel.

One of the backs with a little pocket and journaling tag

Two further pockets made out of mini envelopes covered with paper and then coloured and stamped like the tags.

The covers were made in a very similar way.  I cut two pieces of vanilla coloured card, slightly larger than the tags, I then added some Kraft card between the stamped front and the scrapbook paper back. I used the Tim Holtz Papillon stamp as vocal image after creating my background like on the tags.

Front cover

Back Cover

 Here are some of the pages still after I bound them together:

Well, I hope you liked this project and sorry for all the many photos, but I hope you have enjoyed it and feel inspired to make something similar yourself. I love making little books like this, they are small enough to fit in a hand bag and great to keep memories of a journey!

The Roaring Twenties by Emma

Hi everyone and welcome to my first piece and my first post for The Artistic Stamper in 2013!!

For this piece, I decided to create a card design with a difference and here it is, I hope you like what I've made...

To being with, I cut two separate pieces of cream card to make my sleeve and cut a circular aperture in the centre of the card, which will form the cover. I stamped the image of the Deco lady onto the corner of my cover and then masked her off by stamping the image onto a post it note, cutting around the outline and sticking the post it note over the top of the main stamped image. I then inked up the front cover using Old Paper DI. Once that was done, I then used polka dot stencil and inked through the holes with Vintage Photo DI and a Snow Cap Adirondack Paint Dabber, all the time, keeping the mask over the top of the stamped image of the lady. I used the Music Background stamp to stamp random areas of the cover and I also used one of the dotty border stamps to stamp around the edge. I dabbed randomly around the edges of the record sleeve with Versamark Ink and then added embossing powder to give an aged look.

Finally, I stamped a Tim Holtz, Paris Postmark from my stash, onto the cover and then removed the mask and coloured the Deco lady in, using Distress Marker Pens. Next, I stuck the completed cover to the plain backing to make my record sleeve.

To make the "vinyl record"...I cut out a circle of black card, using a plate as a template and then added matts and layers of card to create the centre of my vinyl and finally, I printed off the wording from the computer, adhered that to the card and punched a hole into the centre.

I used the Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die from Sizzix to create my large flower, which I inked with Tumbled Glass DI and misted with Biscotti Perfect Pearls Spray. I stuck the finished flower onto the front of my cover, together with leaves die cut using the Tattered Leaves die and blended with Bundled Sage DI.

Finally, I stamped the "Admit One" from the Tim Holtz Steampunk stamp set onto cream card, blended the edges with Old Paper and Vintage Photo DI and attached it to my flower using a Idea-ology Memo Pin and added a small amount of the Idea-ology Film Ribbon as a finishing touch.

Here's what I used to make my "Record Sleeve Card with a Difference"~

Twenties No.1 Stamp Plate

Music Background Stamp

Borders A6 #2

Tim Holtz - Steampunk Stamps

Distress Marker Pens

Biscotti Perfect Pearls Mists

Sizzix/Tim Holtz Tattered Florals Die

Sizzix/Tim Holtz Tattered Leaves Die

Distress Inks

Adirondack Paint Dabbers

Idea-ology Film Ribbon

Idea-ology Memo Pins

So, I really hope this has inspired you to create new card ideas and I can't wait to read all your comments, I always read and appreciate every single one of them! 

Thank you so much for taking the time to come and visit and take a look at my creation...see you all again very soon!

Emma x

Butterfly Frame by Alison

Hello Stampers! I hope you've all had a crafty start to the new year. I have a decorated wooden frame (160mm x160mm) to share with you today.

I started by using Studio Matt Medium to glue small pieces of Composer Tissue Wrap to the frame, adding creases for texture. Next, I used the Matt Medium to glue lace around the edges. I also glued on a few bits of torn book text.

When the glue was dry, I brushed a thin layer of Studio Gesso all over, to bring everything together.

I highlighted the texture on the frame with Cobalt Blue and orange Viva Inka Gold.

I smeared a little Gesso onto a metal corner and a butterfly charm, then highlighted with the blue Viva Gold. I also used the Viva Gold on the edges of 2 small metal filigree leaves. I shaped the leaves, and glued them & the butterfly charm to the top right of the frame, using Matt Medium. I glued the metal corner to the opposite corner.

For the background in the centre of the frame, I used the Caught in Crystal technique. Here's how it's done...

1. Take a sheet of acetate, & dribble Glossy Accents all over it. As this is quite messy, it's best to do this on a non-stick craft sheet.

2. Drip  different colours of Alcohol Inks all over the Glossy Accents. I used meadow, stream & butterscotch. At this point, you can also add glitter, guilding flakes, micro beads, or fibres.

3. Take a large piece of white tissue paper, and lay it over the coloured glue, scrunching it to add creases, then leave to dry completely.

I cut my Caught in Crystal piece to fit in the frame. Next, I stamped the butterfly from the Insects & Butterflies 1 Plate onto book page, and cut it out. I bent the wings slightly, and attached the body of the butterfly to the background, using glossy accents. I attached an Ideaology Game Spinner for the body.

To finish, I stamped the Butterfly Words on the edge of some book paper, cut it out in two parts, then glued the pieces to the frame.

Thanks for looking,

Alison xxx

Layers... by Titbelsoeur

Salut les patouilleuses !
Here is my first creation for 2013, and I have chosen this card made of multiple layers. I started with purple ink I stamped the calligraphic mat on, and then glued various sheets on top of  the others, such as a piece of an envelope, postage stamps, lace, cloth label, stamped fabric, tea bag, fabric net, a button... and stamps, stamps and stamps !

Stamps I used :
Art
Inspiration
Gibson girl
Houses
Calligraphic mat

I hope you like my card,

thanks for stopping by, 

I am looking forward to reading your comments ! 

A très bientôt !!

Titbelsoeur

Winner of the December Challenge, and Blog Candy!

Hi to you, and a Happy New Year!

I love this part of my job, which involves choosing a winner of last month's challenge, and although Christmas is such a busy time of the year lots of you joined in, and we loved all of your beautiful creations! Thank you for taking the time. Sadly there can only be one winner, and Mr Random.org picked number 10! A gorgeous creation by

 

 

Grace N
 

 

 

Grace, Congratulations, and please email me , so you can choose your stamps.

Don't forget we have a new challenge every month, and we would love to see your creations. You find the new challenge here. It is your favourite stamp or stamps, as the case might be!

Now as you know I love to giveaway, and today is my birthday, so what better way to celebrate than to give you the chance to win a present from me! LOL

You can leave a comment here if you wish, or you can leave a comment on my own blog as well. I will pick the winner after I return from CHA in Anaheim, where I will be perusing all the new products and everything else!! LOL For those of you who are unfamiliar with CHA , it is a huge trade show where manufacturers showcase their new products. I will also be doing lots of workshops, so I can teach new techniques.
Please do follow my blog, as I will, hopefully be posting everyday from the show!!
Have a wonderfully creative day
Hugs

Jennie

Tag Card by Sioux Jenneys

Hello everyone and Happy New Year! It's my turn again and I'm here to share a tag card :)

1. Coloured my base buff tag with Distress Ink wild honey and vintage photo.

2. Stamped the a journey sentiment at the side and the word dream from journaling words  II in Archival black.

3. Stamped the splatter from swirls, splats & dots A5 in Distress aged mahoganey.

4. Stamped the small crown from crowning glory in Stazon black onto some metal, cut it out and moulded it a little with some Ten Seconds Studio tools before attaching with silicone glue.

5. Stamped the wine bottle from mens plate 001 twice onto card in Archival black and crimson, cut out and attached with glossy accents, tattered the edges and inked with vintage photo and added a threaded button at the top.

6. As with so many of the tags I make, it got turned into a card for a friend.

I'm hoping we can all keep that dreaded loss of mojo at bay this year :) See you again soon!

xoxo Sioux

January Challenge ~ Your Favourite Stamp

Hello, and welcome to 2013 and I can't think of any better way of starting this new year than with a brand new exciting challenge!!

Thank you so much for all your wonderful entries for December. As always, we had so many fabulous creative pieces from you all and we will be announcing one very lucky winner in the next few days, so make sure you check back to see if it's you!!

During December, we had the pleasure of having the very talented Mel Hookham join us as our Guest Designer and on behalf of the team, Jennie and I would like to say a big thank you to Mel, for all her hard work and for the stunning creations that she made and shared with us. 

The new challenge for January is all about your FAVOURITE STAMP and the whole team are all looking forward to seeing all the wonderful and varied creations that you submit. To join in with this challenge is simple; make a piece of artwork, making sure that you include the theme and some rubberstamping. Pop back here to link up using the Froggy at the bottom of this post, so that we can see what you've made and then, leave us a comment to let us know you have joined in with the challenge. As always, there will be candy for one randomly picked entrant - the winner will receive £15 worth of The Artistic Stamper stamps of your choice plus the Kling On to mount them onto. And don't forget....if you use Artistic Stamper stamps on your entry, you will entered into the draw, twice!!!!

If you do need any inspiration, then look no further than a couple of our Creative Team's stunning creations for this month's challenge.

TITBELSOEUR 

This is the stamp I use on almost each of my creations, I like the spirit, love the police and the way it is designed. It has the exact size to be stamped on a tea bag (top center pic) or on a toilet paper roll (top left pic) to make a mini notebook. But it has its place on an art journal page as well, see the bottom picture... You may want to find it here : Journaling Words 3

ALISON

I love The Artistic Stamper Collage Art images, and I used the lady from Collage Lady Elements, and some words from Collage Art 1, on a stampbord ATC. The images were stamped with Archival Inks in Sepia & Jet Black, then I triple embossed my ATC with clear ultra thick enamel. On the last layer, I sprinkled a little gold embossing enamel on the lady's hair and on a couple of edges. I finished my ATC off with a border of ruched lace, an Ideaology Trimmings bloom & an Accoutrements Button.

EMMA

For my favourite stamp, how could I choose just one? So, I chose to use Papillon from Tim Holtz and the gorgeous blooms were made using another favourite, the Flower Power A6 plate. I stamped the script background from the Papillon stamp onto Kraft card and embossed it in white. I then stamped the butterflies from the set and water coloured them with Distress Markers and blended the edges of the card with Old Paper DI. I made the dimensional blooms from white paper, blended with Tumbled Glass and Frayed Burlap DI, then spritzed with Biscotti Perfect Pearls. I used the Branch and Leaf Movers and Shapers Die from Sizzix and added this to complete my artwork.

We hope you will join in with this month's challenge and we're really looking forward to seeing your interpretation of our theme and all your amazing creations and artwork. Please, don't forget to add a comment when you post your entry.

I hope you all have a happy and very creative month.

See you soon...

Emma x