Its a Marvelous night for a Moondance ... Van Morrison

I was really inspired to play in a more arty challenge this week, over at The Gauche Academy blog. The October challenge was moon related, inspired by “Le Voyage Dans La Lune” and this is the mood board :

Loved loved loved this whole thing. So clever, so well considered, a real artistic challenge. Oooh la la ... I remember this from years ago, the movie and music. Love how whimsical and free it is. Some things really just are better in black and white.

Here is my creation and I just love the ambience I created here  :

My fairy is of course dancing on the moon to the classic Van Morrison song "Moondance". Dont you just long to be free like her and dance in a whimsical, non judgemental way ...

I used the moon die from Ranger and paper that was in a 2007 edition of the Stampers Sampler magazine. The dancing fairy is an image from Artchixstudio, #147 winged nudies and I think she is awesome. The chipboard flourish is from Southern Ridge Trading Company, and I love the shape and how I could get the letters to dance across it. I colored the flourish and stars with inka gold. Below the flourish is a strip of Ranger tissue paper with musical notes, adhered with gel medium. Each letter was stamped individually and cut out.

I had a little aha moment with the background. My faithful old spray box had come to the end of its life, it was warping and totally ink saturated. As I broke up the box the light caught the shimmer ... and I knew ... this was my background : 

I had a really lovely time making this project, yes, a little risque to use a nude image but it is very tasefully and artistically done. This cardboard piece will form the back cover of my positive affirmation journal when I bind it. I wish you could see all the colors and layers in this background, its stunning.

Thank you for stopping by and if you get the chance, go and watch the wonderful video, All I wanted was the moon :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLXt2KBOYP8

Things that go bump in the night ....

Halloween is almost upon us .... The title of the Wicked Wednesday atc challenge this week is 'Things that go bump in the night'. Smeared Ink are the sponsor, and I used one of the Hallocuties images called Pumpkin Head. 

Yes, a little risque I know, with the image and the wording. But its all in fun, hope no-one is offended :)

I was really happy how this atc worked out. Her body and hair are copics colored. The pumpkin is paper pieced with orange cardstock, a layer of gel medium added then some depth added with india ink markers. I make a mask, slightly bigger than the image and sponged the background with black distress ink. I love that white glow around the image, makes the image just pop off the page and ads a lot of interest. The sentiment was stamped with individual alphabet stamps. Yes, I made it up myself, arent I witty ! LOL. I wanted this to be light hearted and fun. So the play on the traditional Halloween 'Boo' made me giggle.

Thanks for stopping by x

Multicolored Stamping

My favourite craft magazine, and the only one I subscribe to actually, is of course the Craft Stamper, but did you know they have a blog ? You should check it out, awesome info, projects and design team. 

Their October Take it Make it Challenge it is to do multicolored stamping. There are so many fabulous samples already linked up on the blog, so much talent out there. Here is my submission. 

My focal point is the wonderful Feather Bird from Lost Coast Designs. This card is my debut for the design team over at Lost Coast Designs, and I am excited to be part of this talent group with such wonderful images to work with  - look out for my future projects :)

I coupled feather bird with a sentiment from the Vivienne stamp from Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps.

How I did my multicolored stamping is that I used three colors of distress ink, I rubbed the ink pad directly onto my craft sheet and lightly spritzed with water. Then I stamped the bird into the ink and onto my card stock. I love the color variation and the water color, imperfect sort of look you get. Here is the inks I used - doesn't look like it will do much does it, but it works like magic .... lol

 The excess ink was mopped up and used as my background. And I lightly sponged the edge with salty ocean distress ink.

 I fussy cut my multicolored feather bird, lightly sponged the edges in salty ocean and a smidge of black. Then I embossed him in a couple of layers of clear embossing powder. I love when you add a shine to an image it makes the colors so much more vivid. Its all a trick of the light reflecting into your eye, makes you see the colors clearer :) Its a good way to get contrast between the image and the same colored background.

I stamped the 'Shake your tail feathers" sentiment a few times onto a strip of cardstock to give Feather Bird something solid to stand on. This was lightly sponged on the edges too.

Everything was glued together and feather bird added with dimensionals. The final touch was to add a couple of glass em bella shments from Stamping Bella. They are clear so the color shows through them when the glue dries, they look like beautiful little water droplets. These are obviously fromfrom my birdie, shaking his tail feathers :) Do you see them in this pic ?

So wish me luck, there are some really awesome prizes to win by Paperbabe Stamps, and of course  publication in the Craft Stamper magazine. Now wouldn't that be exciting :)

Thanks for stopping by x If you feel so inclined, please leave me some love x

Guest dt projects - Not Just Cards

I made a few projects for Zoe at Not Just Cards. Thats a great challenge blog is anyone is looking to create, link up and possibly win free stuff ! 

My first project is using an image from SLS Lines called Garden Flower Fairy. She is so beautiful, sitting their contemplating life and the universe .... 

This is a postcard sized piece of art that with either be framed or go into my positive affirmation book. I loved this poem I found online on the Gothica Website, so decided to hand write it around her :

"Believe in fairies, they make dreams come true.

Believe in the wonder, the starts and the moon.

Believe in magic, from the fairies above.

They dance on the flowers, and sing songs of love.

And if you just believe.

And always say the truth.

The fairies will be there to watch over you".

The image is colored with copics, prisma pencils and Faber Castell india ink pens. The wings are shining thanks to my wonderful wink of stella pen. You can probably see better in this close up. Isn't she gorgeous.

My second project was something really quite different, its an easel card using this cute image called Forest Gathering by Dragons Lair. 

The dinosaurs and animals are colored with a combination of copics, Prisma pencils and Faber Castell India Ink pens. I paper pieced the frog - frogs are my favourite, so maybe I was a bit biaised and gave him some special attention :)

Close up of the adorable little critters :

They are fussy cut, sat on a strip of washi tape and adhered to the easel card front. I used October Afternoon pattered paper and a sentiment from a set by Scrappy Moms.

OK, thats it for me today, thanks for stopping by x

Altered Playing Card Challenge week 8

This is the loooooove week over at Claudines blog for the altered playing card challenge. LOL

Here are my cards :

The first was made with gelato's, smudged with my finger onto the gesso'd playing card. The hearts were punched from a retired Stampin' Up! heart punch out of red core'dinations card stock. I then embossed them with a swirly embossing folder, sponged the edges lightly in black and sanded away the top of the embosing. The quote is an adaptation of Claudine's. I loved the wording she used : "When there is love there is no darkness". But I wanted to add on that "Believe in love love love" I wrote the text with a Faber Castell Artist pit pen then a little bit of white gel pen highlights, and sponged the edge with black soot distress ink and a little broken china distress ink. I am not a neon pink kinda girl, but this worked out ok. I actually added a layer of distress paint then some white prisma pencil to tone it down.

The second card is much more arty and organic. I smushed (yes, that is a word) the card through aged mahogany distress reinker. Then when it was still wet I watered down acrylic paint in turquoise and yellow and ran it down each end of the card. I loved how it pooled and how the colors interacted with each other. The heart was punched out of white cardstock and smushed (theres that word again - see told you it was real LOL) in an acrylic paint and aged mahogany distress reinker mix. Then I distressed the edge with scissors and lightly sponged it in black. The turquoise circle was die cut and painted. The love is a die cut, in black with white gel pen added. 

I am thoroughly enjoying this challenge, Claudine makes something and then everyone else (think there are 70+ people playing?), makes their own interpretation of what she did, using their own crafting supplies. I love seeing the many different cards each week. Thanks Claudine for starting this off and  'leading' us through this weekly challenge.

Thanks for stopping by, please leave me a comment and follow my blog :)

Sailing Pineapple - Lizzy Love Blog hop

Hello hoppers :)

If you find yourself here, you have possibly come from Ilaria's blog, welcome :)

Lizzy Love images are so great aren't they, The Sailing Pineapple sell the rubber stamps by Lizzy Love, there are LOTS to choose from. The stamped images are approximately 3.25" high.

I hope you have enjoyed the Halloween theme of this hop. For the hop finale, I have used the super cool Frankenstein image, image #92 if you visit the store :).

This quote is from Young Frankenstein. It is actually pretty long, so I shortened it, but you get the idea (whole quote is at the end fyi). It works so well with the image, dont you think ? I stamped the letters individually from an alphabet stamp set I have. My mixed media background is made with Dylusions sprays in blue, lime green and orange with salt added for that spotty/grain affect. I added a layer of white dylusions over the top to lighten it all up. I doodled around the edges in white gel pen and added a Halloween washi-tape pedestal for Frankenstein. The bats are dollar store plastic embellishment.

Frankenstein was colored with copics. I actually have about 25 copics, so if you ever need to know the colors I used, please ask, it is fairly easy for me to rediscover with my limited selection :) I added two coats of clear embossing powder to him and popped him up. He looks pretty great I think :)

Hope you enjoyed the inspiration here, now we have a great offer for you  :

We are offering 35% off all Lizzy Love stamps Oct 25-27 (Saturday through Monday), and if you buy 4 or more Lizzy Love stamps, you get a FREE digital image from Lizzy, so head to the store and pick up some great stamps :)

And leave some love on everyones blogs for a chance to win a Lizzy Love rubber stamps :) Winner to be announced on the Sailing Pineapple blog on Monday 27 October :)

Here are the blog links for the hop, incase you want to go back and look at anything :

The Sailing Pineapple- http://sailingpineapple.blogspot.com

Sharon- http://sharonshowcase.blogspot.com

Tanya- http://little-scrapper.blogspot.com

Tracey- http://mowbraydesigns.blogspot.co.uk

Vikki- http://tspvikki.blogspot.com

Kim- http://craftisanstudios.com/

Ilaria - http://ilascrappa.blogspot.com

Nikki x

Whole quote from Young Frankenstein :
"After many years of observation, multiple hypothesis, well structured analysis, and deeply reviewed interpretations .... I've FINALLY come to the conclusion : I'm NOT normal!"

Day of the Dead atc ...

An ominous title for such wonderfully beautiful and detailed art, by Aurora Wings. This image is entitled Memento Mori and this atc was created for the Wicked Wednesday atc challenge blog.

 I have actually cropped the image to the right hand side, I wanted the atc to have a solid corner there, then flow in all the other directions. To further emphasize this I actually fussy cut the image and applied it to a sheet of acetate. The image is colored with copics. 'Silence' - a perfect accompanying sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by ...

Nikki x

Week 7 - Altered Playing Card Challenge

Always a week behind ... whats with that ? LOL But only missed it by a day this week - yay.

Here are my Altered Playing Cards for Claudine Criners challenge. I really enjoyed this weeks nautical theme.

The first seahorse one was actually made using the playing card I punched a circle out of in a recent challenge. Here is my inked background and embossed clear film :

 I used a Stampin' Up! set called By the Tide for the gorgeous coral and seahorse. You know sometimes you learn interesting things and techniques by accident .... well here is my daily learn. Because I do not have many colors of permanent ink, sometimes when I use/stamp with pigment/water based ink it takes too long to dry on the gesso'd background, so I emboss it. Look what happened - look at that yummy texture as the ink and gesso on top of the plastic playing card bubbles when heated. It adds so much depth to my underwater card - I loved it.

 I dont know why I added a sort of port hole, it just seemed right somehow to frame that circle. I took a pic of how to get the perfect frame using punches : Punch the smaller first and the second later. Seems so easy when you know how .... LOL

My seahorse was sponged and crackle glaze added. I also added bubbles with a Designs by Ryn bubble stamp - if you dont have these, your stash is severely lacking ;-). The bolts on the port hole are made using liquid pearls, and the wording 'Love Nature' is actually a free stamp from the Craft Stamper magazine. I switched the words around though, they stamps 'Nature love'.

A close up of the end result :

I see that Designs by Ryn now has a challenge blog, so I submitted my little seahorse card :) Fingers crossed, I really love her stamps x

For my second card I used images from a Technique Tuesday stamp set, All aboard. Love the tall ship and the Bon Voyage sentiment. The sentiment stamped a little lighter than I expected, so I lightly embossed it :) Its all trial and error ....

I also used a few background stamps, Off the Grid by Stampin' Up! and a Ranger Architectural image for the compass. The circular anchor image is from the Stampin' Up! set By the Tide. My finished card :

Newsprint/Wording/Sentiment/quotation challenge

Making a project using the gorgeous image from Lizzy Love, for sale through The Sailing Pineapple.

Isn't she sweet, so engrossed in her book. I colored her with copics, sponging the edges with distress ink.

For this sentiment, I actually copied a few lines from a dictionary, printed it out and tore and lightly sponged the edges. Lots of people get totally engrossed in a book, transported or escaping to another time and place - ok, my hands are up ..... guillty as charged ? LOL

Thanks for stopping by x Nikki

'Wicked' atc

The title was 'Wicked' for one of the atc trades I facilitate. I know its October and all that, but I just didn't fancy doing a Halloween one. Plus, I love the surprise of making a totally unexpected atc. I hope the recipients like it ... always a risk I know .... LOL. So here she is, poor woman, had a wicked night out, and is feeling the effects of that today ....

I bought this Dina Wakley stamp set a while ago, but it is only just making its debut. My background is made with acrylic paints, then details in acrylic, grey lines and light circles. Then I stamped my image in black stazon and painted her with acrylics. She is a little grey around the gills (if you know that expression).. to put it mildly.

 After I painted out the detail with the acrylic paint I wanted to add it back in. Its so funny to make such a messy background etc, but then get the stamp-a-ma-jig out so I could align the images properly. I stamped her the second time in coffee archival ink.

 And her is the close up of her. She is just awesome :) Lets hope she is appreciated when she makes it to her new home ! 

Thanks for stopping by x

Balloon Overload ...

I made this fun 6x6 kids Birthday card using frame FRA-134 from Southern Ridge Trading Co, which I painted with acrylic paint and then added some white highlights to :

The idea came from wanting to frame the little Close to My Heart monsters and then for the balloon strings to be interactive with the frame. The middle monster is having a hard time holding into all those balloons ... lol

The balloons are just circle and oval punches, sponged around the edge and embossed in clear powder. It is compulsory when doing balloons to add the white light reflections - adding this suddenly made the balloons seem real and shiny.

Close up of my copics/Stampin' Up! write marker/prismacolor coloring .... I think they look fab.

If you look up this frame, FRA-134 you will see that the frame on the website is larger than mine. Guess what, I trimmed it down ! I used my Tonic scissors and just cut off the large corner pieces as I felt they were too ornate for this project, but I loved everything else about the frame and its size. Having a chipboard piece/s doesn't mean you have to use it exactly as is ...

The pieces I cut off are awesome, I am thinking some sort of boarder, maybe in my art journal :

Thanks for stopping by, hope you found some inspiration and ideas here :)

Nikki x

Few fall and Halloween makes

In the technique classes this week, we made this card with fall colors. Would be great for more demure or mature occasions :)  I was inspired by the cover of my favourite craft mag from a few months ago, The Craft Stamper. But I wanted to do the northern lights technique for the background of the sihouette image of the birds on the branches.

Ingredients : Stampin' Up! stamp set : Serene Silhouettes, 2013-2015 in colors.

After this more serious and mature card, we moved to kids Halloween treats using punches and the stamp set called 'Bite Me'. So a treat bag filled with yummy skittles and an embellished tic tac container. I have seen so many of these on pinterest/the www, I dont know who was the initial creator of the tic tac sleeve to give credit, but whoever it was - awesome idea :)

Wicked Wednesday atc's : Halloween

Fun challenge this week to create Halloween atc's for Wicked Wednesday atc challenge blog.

I did two, the first is a Dilly Beans image. Here is my atc and a close up of the fab image , which I also entered into the Dilly Beans Challenge this week :) Aren't their images just awesome x

I colored my image with copics, and added some stars / dots. The background was made with strips of washi, then I added a thin layer of gesso to tone it down a bit. 

The second atc was with a funky spider image from QKR Stampede:

I printed the image onto a graph paper and sponged lightly with distress ink, then fussy cut it. I layered this onto brown cardstock and left the top corner where I drew in some more web.

I reprinted the spider image, added a thin layer of acrylic ground for pastels, then when it was dry I used my prisma color pencils to color and blend. So much fun ... I fussy cut the spider and glued over the top of the black spider beneath.

Thanks for visiting :)

Stampotique 'Halloween' atc trade

Oh my, did I have fun with this one .... I really am not a Halloween fan, but that's what everyone else over in the Stampotique facebook group wanted, and heck, I only facilitate the trade, I don't choose the topics .... But I was so so happy we chose this, I had a great time :

So here is the front door, you can just see Molly peeking out of the window there.

 But what happens when you open the door, see the hinges on the left side, and there is magnet holding the door closed on the right. Its Molly in all her glory .... With 'Boo' on the inside of the door.

Here is a close up of the added effect of 'Boo'. Yes, Molly has a bobble head ... LOL. She also has layered wings. All these little details make all the difference I think ... Mollys head is embossed with multiple layers of UTEE, its pretty thick and robust, probably like her real life persona :)

Here she is showcased in all her beauty. The background is acrylic pain, with texture added when the paint was wet. Molly was stamped on pale green cardstock. embossed and fussy cut. I added some darker green detailing to her body and arms with a green artist pitt pen. The spiders web you can just see behind Molly was stamped in Versamark and interference purple perfect pearls added, it has a lovely sheen :) The spiders are from a Halloween set by Stampin' Up! The bat is a dollar store plastic embellishment. Mollys face was stamped and embossed in black onto pale ivory cardstock.Some orange artist pitt pen added, then the UTEE as previously mentioned.

 The back is pretty plain, just used small sections of the web stamp and couple of spiders. You can see the Basic Grey magnet there, its pretty strong and I am hoping my atc's make it to their destinations and don't magnetise to too much stuff on their way to USA and UK. I hope my swap partners like them, I enjoyed the process and spent AGES on them.

And so endeth another totally awesome atc trade with a group of uber talented. motivated and supportive artists with the wonderful Stampotique images :)

Thanks for stopping by x