The Craft Barn: Weekly Challenge

The new theme for the weekly challenge at the Craft Barn is Retiform. Check this technique out here.
I've done this technique before, but didn't know it was called Retiform. 
I masked off different sections on a square piece of cardstock and coloured them with blue and red Distress Inks. Then masked off every section again and stamped the Asian woman and the cherry blossoms in the different sections. I've added the ribbon and the charm and layered the piece on some black card and onto a gold card base. 
A fun technique.
Thanks for looking :)

The Craft Barn: Weekly Challenge

The theme for the 2nd weekly challenge at the Craft Barn is Tando.
I only own a stencil from Tando, which made it easy to decide what to use. I've recently learnt about a technique which is called Bokeh and thought this would go well with my splatter stencil. Well, I liked the end result, but I'm not sure if it's really Bokeh :) 
Here is what I did:
I've used 3 different Distress Inks for the background, let it dry completely and then sponged white Brilliance Ink through the stencil. I've overlapped the splatters from time to time and again let it dry. 
Then I've stamped the Happiness quote from PaperArtsy on a piece of cardboard, which I die-cut with my Cuttlebug, coloured it with Distress Ink and layered it on a blue piece of cardboard. I've layered the whole card on another piece of blue cardboard, added the ribbon and the charm and adhered everything onto a white card. 
Thanks for looking :)

Journal 52 - Week 1

Journal 52 - Week 1

My crafty new years resolution is to finish the Journal 52 challenge this year. Didn't quite make it last year. 

So the prompt for Week 1 is "Pathways": think about things that will inspire you along the path, and things you hope to see in the upcoming year. Maybe you are taking your first steps towards a project, or maybe you are looking ahead with goals and New Year’s Resolutions. What will help you along your journey?

So the Journal 52 challenges are my pathway for this year. I've covered the background with pan pastels and added Grunge Paste through a stencil. Coloured the paste with Distress Ink and stamped the quote on cardboard, coloured it and glued it to the background. Die-cut some letters and glued: "a new path" in the lower corner. 
Thanks a lot for looking. 

The Craft Barn: Q & L Challenge

It's the penultimate challenge at the Craft Barn already. The challenge this time is to use the words HEART and/or RISK in a quote or lyric.
I finally was able to use a song of one of my all time favourite bands: INTERPOL. The song is called "Slow Hands" and the lyrics are: "Can you see what you've done to my heart? And Soul? This is a wasteland now"
I've made a mistake with the lyrics on my page, but hey...I left it like it is. :)

  For the background I've used a wash of different Distress inks. I've made a heart template and used Grunge Paste mixed with silver/grey acrylic paint with it. After it dried I've added some spiderweb stamps and sticked the hands on. I recently bought the Stampotique girl and thought she is just perfect for this project. So she went on in the middle of the heart. I drew a border around the page, wrote the lyrics around the heart and added some more spiderwebs.
 The stamps I've used are from Stampotique and Tim Holtz.
Looking forward to see what everybody else did. So will pop over to the Craft Barn blog now.
Thanks for all the lovely comments on my journey page. Very much appreciated.
Thanks for looking :)

The Craft Barn: Q & L Challenge

A new challenge at the Craft Barn. The challenge this time is to use the words JOURNEY and/or FRIENDSHIP in a quote or lyric.
I went for journey and a song of another favourite singer of mine: Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds. The song is called "Into my arms"
Lyrics:
And I believe in Love
And I know that you do too
And I believe in some kind of path
That we can walk down, me and you
So keep your candles burning
And make her journey bright and pure
That she will keep returning
Always and evermore
  I've started by covering the whole background with black Gesso Then I've made 3 tags where I stamped the stars and added the border. I've stamped three hearts on red cardboard and added the stamped heads and the lover. On the black background I've drawn a white border and wrote the lyrics as well. Arranged the three tags and glued them on. 
The stamps I've used are from Craft Stamper mag., Paper Artsy and Crafty Individuals.
Another fun project. 
Thanks for all the nice comments on my Moon page. Very much appreciated.
Thanks for looking :)

Stampotique Designer Challenge: SDC #171 Favourite Colours
 
This page is for the new Stampotique Designer Challenge: SDC #171:Favourite Colours.
My favourite colours are a combination of yellows, oranges, reds and browns. I've also used my favourite Paper Artsy stamps. 
Thanks for looking :)

   

The Craft Barn: Q & L Challenge

It's time again for a new challenge at the Craft Barn. The challenge this time is to use the words MOON and/or SENSATION in a quote or lyric.
I did a search on Google and found "The Hanging Garden" by The Cure. I love the Cure (and this song) since I was a teenager so that was an easy one :)
The lyrics are:
Catching haloes on the moon
Gives my hands the shapes of angels
In the heat of the night
The animals scream
In the heat of the night
Walking into a dream . . .

  I made another page in my journal and got the inspiration for the background once again from an article in Craft Stamper. I've stamped the moons and stars and heat embossed them afterwards. Added black paint all over the page and once nearly dry, I've rubbed the paint off the embossed images. Then added some gel medium through a stencil in some places and let it dry. After that I've applied some black gesso and white paint. I cut around the edges and glued the page to a black background. Wrote the band name and song title around the main page in white and added the printed out lyric. 
This was good fun.   
Thanks for looking :)

Artful Times: Mail Art

This envelope and postcard are for the Artful Times Challenge 55.
The Challenge theme is Mail Art.
I had some fun with my new Pan Pastels for the backgrounds of both items and also used some Washi Tape.
The stamps are from PaperArtsy, Tim Holtz and Lili of the Valley.

Craft Hoarders Anonymous - Challenge 6

This card is for the Craft Hoarders Anonymous Challenge 6. 
The Challenge theme is a sketh with a twist. The twist is to use something old and something new.The sketch looks like this:

I've used different Distress Inks for the sections. 
The quote stamp is from PaperArtsy. I don't know where the swirl stamp is from though. 
Everything I've used is quite old, however the owl tape is new and I love it :)

 

Less Is More: Makes me smile!

Happy Easter everyone. 
This card is for the new Less is More Challenge - Week 168 Recipe.
The Challenge is Makes me smile!

There are a couple of things why this card makes me happy: 
First the colour combination and I just love heat embossing. 
The stamp is from PaperArtsy and is one of my favourites. Looking at this cute cat just makes me smile and reminds me of the cat we had when I was a kid.
It's maybe a bit hard to read on the scan, but the quote says: "You know you love me" :)
 
 For this card I've used a Rangers Big & Juicy ink pad and a brayer, Cosmic Shimmer gold embossing powder and Candi.

I'm afraid the gold embossing is not easy to spot on the scan. I've added a
larger image of the cat and hope it's easier to see.

 

Less Is More: Shadow Stamping

First thanks a lot to all who left a comment for my turquoise card. All so lovely and very much appreciated. :)
This card is for the new Less is More Challenge - Week 167.
The Challenge is One Layer - Shadow Stamping. 
I've used Distress ink for the background, the first shadow is VersaMark with Perfect Pearls, the second shadow is Memento ink and the third VersaFine. 
I've also used a Gel pen and a Stamp-a-ma-jic tool.
The stamps are from PaperArtsy (Leafs) and Personal Impressions (Sentiment).

  

The Craft Barn: Q & L Challenge

This tag is for The Craft Barn's Q & L Challenge for April.
The Challenge is to use the words TRUTH and / or CHANGE in a quote or lyric.
I've used Distress Inks, Versa Fine, Rangers clear embossing powder and German Scrap. 
The stamps are from Paper Artsy and Sheena Douglas.

The Craft Barn: Q & L Challenge

This tag is for The Craft Barn's Q & L Challenge for March.
The Challenge is to use the words ART and / or ROAD in a quote or lyric.
 I've used Distress Inks and Versa Fine. The stamps are from Paper Artsy and Crafty Individuals.