Gothic Arch

This morning I have been fiddling with a great set of chipboard gothic arches I got at Ally Pally from LB Crafts. This is probably the first one in a little set I will work on while doing other things! They obviously look like doors and the the ticket I foound in one of my Vintage Paper Ephemera bags works perfectly inside the Ornate Frame. The background is distressed inks Vintage Photo and Weathered  Wood, spritzed to give a soft look. The stamps are one of Tim Holtz's and the distressed background from The Artistic Stamper.

I am not sure if you are coming to Artisan at the weekend but if you are I have a workshop both days and as far as I know there are still tickets available. We will be making lots of grungepaper flowers and adding them to an alcohol inked Picture Frame. In my time honoured fashion, you will do too much in the given time (1 hour!). To book the workshop either do it at the show, or book here
Have an inky day!

A Bucket full of Roses!

I finally feel a bit more human, and have recovered from Ally Pally. It was a fab show , as always, with lots of friendly familiar faces, and great fun!
Hels and I demoed , the new Mabel stamps, and made lots of grungepaper roses and flowers using the Flower Power stamps and backgrounds. It is always hard work getting ready for a show, loading the van, unloading the van, setting up a mini shop, making sure we have everything. I always forget something, and this time was no exception...£1 coins and the rolls for the credit card machine! Hels rescued us with her stash of £1 coins and my friends from Craftynotions with the credit card rolls. Thank you :)
Here are a few of the flowers we made using alcohol inks, Claudine's studio paints , and of course grungepaper!

Now all I have to do is get ready for Artisan this coming weekend, and if you are thinking of being there, I am taking a workshop making a grungepaper flower picture frame. It should be great fun!
Off now to take a rest in front of the telly....
Have a great evening

Revealed!

Finally the day has come! It is so hard to keep a secret, especially one like this!
I can reveal that The Artistic Stamper has the licensing rights to the children's artist

Mabel Lucie Attwell

to manufacture rubberstamps worldwide . For those of you who have not heard of her, she was a well known illustrator during the early to middle part of the last century, illustrating annuals, and books including J M Barrie's Peter Pan in 1921. Her work is nostalgic, and humorous, and I just love her cheeky style!
We have 6 designs initially , with more to come each month, so you can build up a collection.
These are now available on the website here as unmounted natural red rubber stamps. Of course if you are coming to Ally Pally, then you can get them from us!!
I know you would like to know who has won the sneak peeks, so
Day one is Crafty Chris, for guessing a tyre.. this was the "Jolly Day Out" Stamp.
Day two the winner is Paula, for guessing Scamp's Tail!
Day three was Becki for rightly guessing that it was a fairy in a balloon. This stamp is the "Its My Balloon one!
and finally on Day Four, Helen has won the "Rainy Day" stamp!
Please email me with your snail mail addresses, so I can send you your stamps.
Congratulations everyone, and thank you for your wonderful comments, they made me smile:)
I made a quick tag with my Rainy Day girl, and used alcohol inks, for the background, and coloured her in ( badly, was in a hurry) with alcohol ink pens. The Flowers are the Prima e-Line and will be available next week on the website.

Watch out for more artwork from the Creative Team, as theirs will be so  much better than mine!, and later today Hels also has artwork, which I know is fabulous!

Happy Creating and don't forget to pop by and see us at Ally Pally where we have a great offer on Mabel!

The Last One...

I hope you have enjoyed the sneak peeks, as this is the last of them! Tomorrow is the launch, and I am keeping my fingers crossed you like them! Thank you to everyone who has joined in, and on everyday there is someone who has picked the right answer! Hels also doing a sneak peek too on her blog. I am almost ready for Ally Pally, the last of the boxes arrived yesterday after much chasing, and all the stamps are packed away. Now all I have to do is a little bit of artwork, and help my DD pack  for her trip to Germany. She goes tonight! I shall miss her :(
Here is the last of the sneak peeks, so the first person to guess will win the stamp.

This is way too easy, but then I love this stamp it is my favourite!

Until tomorrow, when I will reveal all, and also tell you the winners.

Have a great arty day!

2 Days to Go!

It is always very strange launching a new range of stamps, as the emotions are mixed always for me.. will you like them?.. will the Creative Team like them? Do they do as they say on the box? I don't think these will disappoint, but I always welcome criticism, so please do let me know when they are launched on Friday.
Her is today's sneak peek, and as usual the first person to guess correctly will win the stamp.

Have a brilliant Wednesday, and just as a matter of interest my followers appear to have disappeared. I am on IE7, so if anyone else has the same problem, please can you let me know.. I think it is a blogger problem:(

Can you guess this one?

For the past few days I have been moulding RUBBER for the Ally Pally show, and now we are in the process of packing all the boxes,and hoping I haven't forgotten anything. ooh I have some lovely "stuff", We are just putting the final touches to the new stand for alcohol inks that Mal built. There are so many now, that I designed a stand for them and he built it! Are you coming? Please drop by and see us, and mine is a cappucino with sugar! lol
I shall be demoing this year, the first time for a while.. Did I say I was nervous?
If you can't make Ally Pally, we will be at Artisan (workshops available)in Leamington Spa the weekend after , and at Happy Stampers in Port Sunlight ( my favourite show) the weekend after that. After that I shall just fall asleep! All the show details are on the website
Okay I know you are bored now by my waffling, so here is the 2nd sneak peek

Suddenly this looks a bit bizarre, but don't worry all will be revealed in 4 days.....

Happy Guessing

Sneak Peeks all week!

Oooh I am so excited, we have new stamps a'coming! These are a BRAND NEW collection of an artist never seen before in rubber stamps! I have had to contain my excitement for at least 6 months, and finally this coming FRIDAY the first set will be released. They will be available at the Big Stamp & Scrapbooking Show on Saturday and Sunday 26th and 27th September where you will be able to buy and see them in the rubber!
I know the last time I sneak peeked a set of stamps we had lots of interest, so here goes....the first person to guess the actual image will win the stamp! All winners will be announced on Friday.

Looking forward to all your guesses.

Blogaversary Candy Winner

Thank you to everyone who joind in my blogaversary candy post. I picked a winner via Mr Random.org,

and Congratulations to

LYNNE STEVENS!

Lynne please email me your snail mail address so I can put your candy in the post!
I know that some of you who read my blog are waiting to see if you have been chosen for the Creative Team I have been very busy the last couple of weeks, so have still to choose the successful candidates, and I will let you all know by 30th September.
Now watch this space tomorrow as there are going to be sneak peeks of our new stamps, and of course, in time honoured tradition, giveaways!
Have a great Sunday

Lizard Duo

Mal asked me to make a bookmark for his new book, The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. Now bear in mind, he reads gardening magazines, and newspapers, but doesn't often get his head in a book! I really didn't know what to make as I have no idea what the book is about, so I made a simple bookmark using my favourite symbol(!) the lizard. I used some chipboard offcuts, and distress inked the background with Old Paper and a little bit of yellow. Then I stamped with Old paer the dots background. I then used some Radiant Pearls to ink up the lizard (American Art Stamp), and did the same with Dare to Dream ( Stampington) . When I coloured the background with brown shades of RP's it dripped onto my craft mat, and inadvertantly landed on the front. A Happy mistake! The Radiant Pearls are full of Mica , and I have had the bottles for at least 8 years, and they are open with no lids, and still work perfectly! How is that for a product!! I absolutely love these paints, but haven't used them for years.. I am not sure the scans do the mica shine justice.

The 2nd bookmark is more of a tribute to Kat Runge, a wonderful larger than life, person extraordinaire, who sadly passed away this week.  I met Kat while I was the UK distributor for Radiant Pearls, and so it was with very fond memories that I drew into my past to use all of these products including the stamps. I used radiant pearls to ink the Violet (Graphistamp) on top of the Radiant Pearl background,  and stamped one of Tim Holtz's stamps in the middle. I embossed the flower stamp after inking it with clear (one of the great attributes of Radiant Pearls was that you could emboss it. The little lizard was covered in red and silver foil using Duo Glue.

Art is a great carthasis, and in making this piece, I remember Kat with a smile in my heart, and with very fond memories.
Hugs

Blogoversary Candy!

When I first started this blog two years ago, I hadn't a clue what it would bring, but I have met some fantastic bloggers, seen some amazing ART, written 208 posts ( that's 104 a year, and 8.6 a month, and 2 a week! ), given away lots of art and candy, and I get to go round the WORLD everyday! What more could a girl want?  I have played with alcohol ink, distress inks, paints, grungepaper, made layouts, cards, canvases, and had so much fun just creating work. To thank everyone who has read or commented on my humble pieces of ART, and all my blog posts, I am giving you the chance to win a blog candy of my favourite things.

All you have to do is comment, link it to your blog if you like, and next Saturday night I will choose a winner! If there are enough comments*!*!*!*, I will also give away the same to the 104th comment ( as that is half the number of posts I have made) , so you have at least 2 chances of winning!

Today is my daughter's graduation, so will post photos hopefully tomorrow, so have a GREAT Saturday, and thank you for reading my blog.

Crackle your way to Paris!

Such a silly title, but very apt as I made a crackled tag using the NEW Clear Rock Candy Distress Paint, which arrived in my hands yesterday! It works a treat, and is so easy to use. Just brush it on over any surface, but I do recommend that you use a thicker card or paper as my first attempts at a tag were more than a little curled! I distressed inked the chipboard tag with Vintage photo round the edges, and Tattered Rose, and stamped in Cranberry and Cobalt archival inks. A Fragment tile emphasised the little words from Mr Holtz, and the Paris stamp is one from a French comapny called Absolument Scrap.  Everything used except the Paris stamp are available from The Artistic Stamper

Have a cracking evening wherever you are!

Ticket to Wander

This week, I have been so busy that making anything has been near impossible...but I did manage to put together a little piece with my favourite reptile, and I even managed to incorporate a ticket too, so it is eligible for Hels' Sunday Stamper, and in my case I even did it before the next Sunday!!!

I used a chipboard lizard from CaroLines, and distress inked him. One of Tim's stamps finishes him off. Then I used the chicken wire stamps on a piece of alcohol inked card, and layered on top some of the Salvage stickers. These are brilliant and finally I have found a use for them! The word spells lizard, in case you wondered! Finally I layered it on a green stripy paper, and attached a wander tag and ticket. Not sure what the lizard has to do with the ticket, but they do have tendency to wander.. unless you know better!

Thank you Hels for the challenge, it made me make something this week!

Beanz mean a tin!

Or in Linda's case, it means Tim Holtz, Flower Power stamps, grungepaper and the Bind-it-All machine. I just love what she has done with the mean bean tin.. sorry for the pun!

Linda is part of my Creative Team and is extremely creative, so if you have never seen her blog pop over and say hi.
I am busy up to my eyes, swimming in rubber , making new stamps for you, which will be released next weekend! In the meantime, don't forget the blog candy, where with the help of a tin, you could make your own mean tin!
Hugs till the next time

From Graduan to Graduate!

It is not often that I write about my family on this blog, but yesterday was the most brilliant hot day, a perfect day for my DD to graduate with a BA Hons in Stage Management from Rose Bruford College. All I can say is I am very very proud of her as I am sure everyone was of their offspring. I am still smiling today, as it was just perfect! I hope that she goes into the world with a smile on her face, a song in her heart and the prospect that every day will bring something new and exciting for her. Aimee love you to bits....

Spicy Grunge!

Trying to find time to even make anything this week, has been my mission, and I got out the Grungepaper to make a bracelet using charms , and everything else I could lay my hands on, and inspiration struck!
So armed with a guillotine, some broken china and vintage photo distress inks, I cut up the grungepaper into strips.

 I then lightly inked them and wove it all together. I glued them all down at the ends, and then onto another strip of Grungepaper for strength, and to join the two ends together I used a hitch fastener.

To bling it up for Gingersnaps Creations GC22 Spicy Supply Challenge, I added broken china distress stickles, and my favourite Waltz Beadazzles!

I hope it qualifies for the challenge!

I see all sorts of possibilities for the woven grungepaper including flowers!

Watch out for a special post tomorrow

QVC Special

Today on QVC we have an exclusive set of Stitchel stamps to them. It is a fab set and can be found here. I made this little card from papers I had in my new, not so tidy drawers, and just simply cut out the butterflies and layered them on the card.

Simplicity at its best!

more fishy tails...

This is a quickie post this evening as I am in my flippers swimming along in my rubber..lol Actually I am making stamps! But it is appropriate as I made a tag from my oldest stamp using a crackled background ( kept from a while ago- nothing ever goes to waste here in The Artistic Stamper Studio) Tag.

I used a lovely snatch of paper found for the sea . If anyone knows what this paper is please let me know) It is lines and leaves and is a vellum type of paper, and I thought worked really well. I coloured the shell charms, which I love, with alcohol ink just dripped carefully on them, and the same with the little glass nuggets, and stuck them all down with glossy accents.  Bubbles from the mouths of the fish finished it off.

Have a Creative evening!

Fishy Tails

When I was clearing up or should I say clearing out my studio, I came across this little leaflet that I got many moons ago from PSX ( Personal Stamp Exchange)

It tickled me that they demonstrated embossing using a heat ring. Those were the days when there wasn't a heat embossing gun, and we all used toasters, light bulbs, or paint strippers! I even used a candle to heat emboss with at one show!! Health and Safety would have been round in flash these days!! was that a pun??lol

Anyway , the leaflet got me thinking and I found the very first stamp I ever bought, a little fish from PSX called Tropical fish. I am so into anything from the sea, and I collected fish stamps for years! These days I collect "stuff" instead.

I already had a splattered inked card from here, and it fitted perfectly, so using the original stamp ( which btw the foam had shrunk on it , and had to be re-foamed as it didn't stamp properly) and another fish stamp, some fabulous seashell charms from jewellery I made over 10 years or more ago, I created this little card.

The little glass nuggets were coloured by dropping alcohol ink on them and letting them dry. The little fish is a Willeez found here.

What was your first stamp, and do you still have it? Make something with it and let me know....

Happy Creating!

Graduating...

Only another week, and my gorgeous daughter will get to put on a gown and mortar board ( strangest name for a hat!) and walk up to receive her degree. I even have bought a new dress for the occasion (don't do clothes shopping!) When I knew that she had got her marks, I made a card for her, but as she was at the Edinburgh Festival, she only recently received it. I used photoshop and a mortar board pic I found on the net to amalgamate the 2 pics. I used Grungeboard Mixed minis for the letters and a saying inside the card I found in a box, sent to me by a Canadian colleague.
I distress inked the letters with Old Paper , and layered everything up. I was rather chuffed with it, and I know she liked it. Have an Arty day!

September is full of good things...

I cannot believe September is with us, it only seems like yesterday was June! I am so much a morning person, and more often than not wake up before the birds, and now it is dark until about 6am, horrid! I generally like to do my creating in the natural light, so my days are now numbered so to speak!! What sort of person are you night or day? Here at the home of The Artistic Stamper we have a great new set of stamps coming to you at the end of September, I am just crossing the t's and dotting the i's on them while I type, and I am absolutely positive that you will love them when you see them! Watch this space! In the meantime, Nicky, has created a fab mini canvas over on her blog using the Flower Power stamps. I just love these stamps, very versatile as well as perfect size for grungepaper roses. I have extended the call for the Creative Team for another week to give more of you a chance to enter, well that is if you would like to, of course. You will get to play with all of our stamps, and spend time making ART!
I have a very busy day, or should I say morning in front of me, so have a good day
Hugs