Stitchels Galore!

Morning!

Here are a couple of lovely pieces that Lucy has made for us, using Stitchels stamps and a whole lot of creativity.

For this card, Lucy has used some glossy cardstock and inky techniques along with the leafy vine from the Nature set. The little flowers have been made by stamping onto felt and cutting them out...cute or what?


This next piece is a wall hanger, made up from three beermats, altered with Crafty Individuals papers and embellished with more Stitchels images:


Both sides of this hanger are really embellished and stamped, making it a wonderful gift too!

Lucy added some more of her gorgoeus felt flowers to this piece too...what a great idea!

Thanks for looking....you have probably guessed by the different voice writing this that it isn't Jennie LOL This is Hels, standing in for Jennie while she gets a very well earned rest!

Oh, and don't forget to check out the Blog Candy giveaway we have on going at the moment!

Hels x

Not so perfect..

On Saturday while on our travels, I popped in to see Julia at Simply Stamps in Rye, and came away with two or three Penny Black stamps (my first I have to add) . I don't often buy or acquire other stamps, as I like working with mine, but I loved these, and I made 2 cards this morning (at an ungodly hour!) using Ranger's Snow cap white and my own pearlescent powders, and the other one was made using Ranger's Perfect Medium and Perfect Pearls. Not sure the scans are very good, but what do you want first thing in the morning! How to do: Ink the stamps with Perfect Medium, then brush the colours where you want them , and brush the excess away with the very soft brush in the kit, and a little spritz of water to make them permanent. On the white card I used a little "twizzler" tool I have to make the speckles by just dipping it in ink, and then brushing powder over it. I think I have several of these lurking, so will try to put them on the website later in the week. So, 2 cards, ready for my friend across the road, who is always popping across to see if she could "make" a card to send , and always at the last hour!

Water water everywhere...

...and not a drop to drink! We went on another trip this weekend, potentionally looking for a car for DH, and we always seem to end up at the sea! I love it, and this trip was to Hastings on the Sussex coast. If you have never been there, it is a great little town, with some quirky shops, loads of fish restaurants, and absolutely hundreds of seagulls! Although it has no harbour, Hastings has lots of fisherman, and all the boats are pulled up on to the shore by winches.
My most abiding memories of Hastings are when I was little girl and went on a farm holiday and we used to sit amongst the pebbles on the beach! It hasn't changed much! here are a few photos I took while walking in the wind, and just absolutely adore the seagull, who had posed for me on the post! Even better are the gorgeous shoes by Betty Jackson in a shop window. I even tried them on, sadly and even luckier for my purse they were a tad too small! We indulged in the biggest chocolate meringues from Judges Bakery.. mmmm! lol , and if you wanted something fishy to eat ..here it is!
Hope you had a good weekend

QVC TV Time

Finally The Artistic Stamper has hit the tv, and we got some new and exclusive Stitchels stamps on QVC this afternoon!! I was actually in the post office when Hels called me to say they had previewed the stamps , and where was I??? Err, post was done in a hurry, dinner was bought on the run, and I was cursing all the slow drivers as I drove the 5 mins home, in the vain hope I would see the stamps being shown! I made it, and am now saying a public thank you to Hels who designed the stamps, and to Craig and Amanda who put the kit together, and to Dawn who demoed them. If you want to buy the stamps here is the link. They are exclusive to QVC and won't be on my site for some time to come, so grab them while you can! I made a very quick ATC, as I was posting, 5 mins to stamp , and a heat gun to dry! just so you can see how the little bird stamps out.. he is cute! I used distress inks backgrounds, some distress stickles and a branch from The Maya Road birds chipboard set. Haven't made anything so quick in ages!

I even fiddled with photoshop and now wished I hadn't! but too late now... note to myself, don't experiment when you need to post in a hurry!

Get me to the church on Time...

Saturday was Judith, my BFF's youngest daughter's wedding, and a wonderful day it was too! I took my camera, (even remembered to get new batteries), wore my party frock and little heels (almost unknown for me!) and in time honoured traditon also made a card for them!
I used The Kiss stamp, the Karanatha Swirl stamp as a background, and a card sketch that I love ! I used white ink for the Kiss stamp, and embossed in clear fine detail embossing powder. I distress inked in Tattered Rose and Worn Lipstick, and I have to admit more than one version of the card went in the bin!! I do hope they liked it. Alice and Ross looked radiant, and boy Alice,loved the Vivienne Westwood dress, and the shoes even more! I wasn't the first person in the queue to borrow them either! Both my children were there which was fab, and I even managed to capture a photo of them smiling! It was a wonderful day, the rain held off till late in the evening, and it was so good to catch up on people not seen for ages, and to have a little drink or two or three! hic!!
Today it is back to work with a vengeance, but looking forward to my week off at the end of the month, let's hope the weather stays fine.

Button It Up!

I like to think I am on a roll, creativity wise.. well it is up to you if you think so, you may not! Comment all you like.. love reading them! As I mentioned yesterday I often look for inspiration when I am in a creative rut, by blog hopping all over the world. What a wonderful way to see it! This time my inspiration came from The Next Level, where this week's challenge was to use buttons and bows. I am not sure where this idea came from, but out came my stash of buttons, spent a couple of hours sorting all the greens and blues, and out came a bodice form that has been waiting to be decorated, and of course my trusty Glossy Accents! Forgot to take photos as I was making it..doh! I painted the bodice with Claudine's Studio Multi Medium mixed with a little tad of Sky Blue Studio paint. It did take a little while to dry, but once dry, I played with buttons, and ribbons and of course added a bow! Several sticky hours later, I had completed this!
This the front, note the 2 prominent buttons! They just pointed themselves in my direction! lol

The criteria was using buttons and bows! Did I get it right? Hope you enjoy it as much as I did making it.
Hugs

Mini Art

It seems a while since I made anything creative... is my mojo on holiday? I made some time yesterday to create, and as I often need a kick start, wandered around a few challenge blogs, and on Lots to Do challenge blog, you could use stamping! That was it, no colour , no card, just stamping. I had so wanted to make another grungepaper flower, so grabbed a little canvas, (this one is 2" x 2") some grungepaper, my favourite product of all time, Alcohol Inks, and some gold embossing powder, oh and of course the stamp! I made the flower in a similar way to the last time , but coloured it with alcohol inks, Purple Twilight, Raspberry, and Shell Pink. No blender! I did the same with the canvas. The grungepaper soaks up a lot of alcohol ink, but carries it beautifully.
I then used the Karantha Swirl stamp and heat embossed it in gold on top of the flower petals before gluing together. I did the same on the mini canvas. A shiny jewel in the middle of the flower, and the flower Glossy Accented onto the canvas and voila, an entry into the challenge.
Seems that pink seems be to be my favourite colour, not sure why as I would never wear it! Maybe I should call this blog the pink zone!

More beach...

We seem to be travelling to beaches this month, not that I am complaining....the sea always has a pull for me. On Saturday we went to one of the South East's more remote areas..Romney Marsh, a weird but wonderful place by Dungeness Power Station, which in my mind's eye is scary and large. But the beach and surrounding area is remote, windswept and stony and has great views and wildlife. I saw a lot of miniature butterflies and fauna that I have no idea of the names! There is a miniature steam railway, (I used to take the children on this when they were small) and 2 lighthouses, and a pub, and not much else! The houses are beautiful , built from wood, and set alone with great views of the sea, some with gardens made from beach combing stuff (oh could you make altered art from it all) well actually it is altered art but in a garden! I forgot to take the camera so used the Blackberry and was amazed at how good the pics were.
I hope I have captured the essence of this place. We visited a studio there.. just a couple of huts, but boy I am thinking of moving there just to have a studio in the middle of nowhere.. would you come and visit?
I did pick up a few bits of driftwood and some broken shells and they are sitting by my desk, hoping I will get some inspiration from them!! The mojo seems be on holiday in the sun this week!

The Stamping Parlour....Ultra thick Embossing Powders

Once again here is another little video for you on how to...use UTEE or ultra thick embossing enamel or powder. It seems that Fridays are my Stamping Parlour days! This one took a little bit of editing, but I got there in the end. We kept having electricity power failures every time I edited it, and I had to start all over again!

If you would like to try this, the shop has very thick chipboard, heat guns, and Utee all ready for you!
Any suggestions on what you would like me to demo on video are always welcome.. that is of course, if you like what I do...

Fairies at the bottom of my Drawer!

I had every intention of doing some artwork for the blog this week, but what with work and Wimbledon getting in the way, sadly the ideas have stayed in the paper they were written on!
I have to confess I am a latent ( is that the right word?) fairy lover! For those who know me well, I collect almost everything, and will often go out of my way to find something. Today I came across the most exquisite box of Fairy Dyes. It wasn't so much the fairy label or the box, although that did have something to do with it, but the contents. The box claims that they are "all fast colours superior to any dye put before the public"!!

I knew as soon as I saw them I had to have them. The box itself is a bit worse for wear, but inside the 12 dyes are almost perfect with only a couple that would probably collapse if you opened them. I did pull a little colour out of one, and it colours paper up wonderfully! and are the powders are contained in little glass vials, some with string to pull them open, others not. Oh, and the colours are Daffodil, Cinnamon, Old Gold, Tangerine, and more.. Just gorgeous! I just had to show you them. I found this reference to them on the net, and will search for a bit more, but I am guessing they are from the mid 1940's. Just love it when I find something like this, and if you would like a little bit of fairy dust ,then let me know as I am thinking of putting some on the website.

Sprinkling fairy love to you!!!