'Surprise' ATC

At the Stampotique facebook group, we voted for our new ATC trade theme for November/December to be 'Surprise'.

Here is the front cover of my three ATCs (two to trade, and one for me to keep) :

Lets take a closer look at the front of one :

I loved the color combo here, the teals and pink. I used my soft printing plate for the background. It was the first time, and I LOVED it. I used a couple of stencils and a tool to draw onto the plate. I randomly stamped some words and did some doodling in white gel pen. Isn't the little dog adorable.

And no black on this ATC time ... its all shades of brown. The little dog is from the dog cube. I also used the Hanging Hearts and one other Stampotique stamp ..... Hmm, wonder which one?

But wait, whats that I see, is there a flap to open ? Oh yes, I think so .... But what could be there ? 

Any ideas ?

Oooooh, what a naughty surprise ! Someone is mooning the little pup ! How rude. LOL 

That is the Rear View Mirror stamp from Stampotique, what a cutie she is.

Thanks for stopping by, and following along with my quirky sense of humour. 

Let hope my trade partners like these :) Nikki x

A Dog is not just for Christmas

Over at the Vera Lane Studios Facebook group there is a Christmas Card/tag trade. 

I have made this tag, featuring the ever so sweet dog, from the set Little Whimsical Witch :

The pooch is colored with copics and gelli roll pens, his eyes have a layer of crystal effects. Once I had colored the dog, I put some blending alcohol onto a piece of felt and pounced all over the dog to soften up the look, to make it look more like a dogs coat. The leash is made from gold thread. 

The tag was run through my big shot with a retired Stampin' Up! embossing folder, then colorized with dylusions sprays. When it was dry I added inka gold over the raised parts of the snowflakes. 

Look how shiny it it in this close up :

The sentiment was printed from my computer, the washi ground and co-ordinating ribbons added to the tag. The final thing was to go around the edge with Tsukineko fantastix all purpose ink in champagne mist.

Anybody from the UK will remember the adverts that used to be on TV, and it is very true : 

A dog is for life, not just for Christmas x

Love your pet x

Fall Fairies ATC

Such a cute image to work with this week at Wicked Wednesday. Meet Girl with Mushroom from Julia Spiri Digi Stamps :

My image is colored with copics and meticulously fussy cut.  Isn't she so lovely and cheery :)

The background paper was too busy so I wanted to subdue it a little. I was at a crop and the lady next to me had die cut velum and threw the negative in the recycle bin right next to me. One persons trash is another's treasure and all that .... LOL ... so I up-cycled it and adhered it to on top of the pattered paper. I think it looks great. The word 'Sweet'  is from a Tim Holtz word sticker set.

Thanks for stopping by x

New Star Wars Movie

Anyone as excited as this dude about the new Star Wars movie ? Look he is all dressed and ready to go to the premier LOL

This is an ATC, featuring the wonderful and most quirky image from WonderStrange Arts. I colored the image with copics and gold pencil. I added diamond glaze to the glasses.

The background was a technique that I learned from watching an Andy Skinner video on youtube. Then I masked off a few areas and painted the background black, some white acrylic splashes added.

The dude is standing on a gold washi gound, and the words were typed on my typewriter and colored with metallic gold gelato :)

Just created this as a little fun to brighten my day, thanks for stopping by :)

At the Movies

I haven't managed to create anything for the Stampotique challenge for a while, but this week the challenge SDC222 is 'At the Movies', and Corrie is the hostess, so I thought I would join in the fun :)

Here is my make, featuring the delectable and very versatile Oliver : 

Can you guess the movie ? 

Oliver was colored with copics and Faber Castell India Ink fine black pen to add the hair and glasses detail. I added a layer of dull embossing powder. It makes the image appear just a little bit sharper.

The background was made using black cardstock, then I used molding paste and a Crafters Workshop stencil called Mini Cubist. When the paste was dry I colored the boxes with inktense pencils in green, orange, blue and red. I used inktense because they dry permanent and I wanted to go over and add some low lights with india ink.

The words were typed on my typewriter, painted with the same colors of inktense pencil as the background and glued on top. Oliver, erm I mean Neo, was popped up on the card and a thin washi ground added for him to stand on.

Here's a close up. Have you worked out the movie and who this is yet ?

This is Neo from the Matrix. One of my all time favorite movies. And I must admit .. my all time fave squeeze ... I just looooove Keanu Reeves.

As soon as I saw the challenge theme I knew I wanted to do this, I just had to get creative with what I had in my stash. I think it worked out pretty good :)

Thanks for stopping by x

Torn Paper or Edges

This weeks sponsor of Wicked Wednesday is the awesome Sweet Pea Stamps. Here I have used an image by Sandra Caldwell, Little Old Lady Clown. My make, colored with copics : 

This is such a cute image, I really enjoyed coloring her. For this Wicked Wednesday challenge of torn paper or edges, I tore up a doily and used it to add some dimension to her ruffle, and a few gold polka dots for good measure.

Sad to be saying farewell to Sweet Pea Stamps soon, but hopefully all the artists images will still be available elsewhere. Sandra Caldwell has a facebook group and is still releasing new images.

Thanks for stopping by, please leave me a comment x

Dia de los Muertos

At the Lost Coast Portal to Creativity this month, we had a Day of the Dead event, or Dia de los Muertos. This means it's All Soul's Day, as celebrated early November in various European and Latin American countries, especially the Mexican observance of this day. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family who has passed, and help support their spiritual journey.

Here is my make, 3 ATC's featuring the Skull Flourish from Lost Coast Designs :

For these ATC's I wanted a very textured background. I used molding paste and colored it with grey acrylic paint. Then I applied it to the ATC base with a pallet knife and stamped into it with the skull flourish while the now grey paste was still wet :

 I then left the molding paste to dry and went to clean my stamp. I just used an old toothbrush and bar of soap. Its important to wash the stamp before the paste dries on it :

I sprayed the ATC background with black and white dylusions and let it blend and drip. Then I left it to dry. When it was dry I tore the edges off, and sponged lightly with grey ink.

I stamped the skull flourish in black ink onto La Blanche card stock, and added a little embossing powder while the ink was still wet and heat set it. I fussy cut it and glued it onto my textured background. I used a C3 copics to go over some of the shading on the skull.

See the texture : 

I typed the words on my typewriter and added the flowers and embellishment.

Finally I matted the textured ATC front onto grey card stock that I had edged in grey ink and stamped the mini skulls. It is very faint, but if you look closely you can see them along the edges. 

Here are individual pics of the three ATC's :

Thanks for stopping by, and if you feel inspired to do so, please leave me a comment :)

Nikki x

Non - Traditional Postcard

A most wonderful trade group I belong to chose 'Non- traditional Postcard' for our December challenge.

Here is my make : 

The most amusing thing about this is that it will be mailed as a postcard, not in an envelope. I hope the postman and the recipients family have a good laugh. LOL

The background is distress paints, then I stamped the La Blanche stamp of Santas face. I added snowflakes  in white, and gold to the edge of the postcard.

The dominatrix is a stamp by Smeared Ink, and the sentiment is in the same set. Isn't she a doll :)

I colored her with copics and fussy cut her, yes, even all those tiny little bits of the chair legs. I am a glutton for punishment ! 

I did actually use versamark and clear embossing powder to emphastize the outfit. I took this photo with the light reflecting off her : 

+

I hope the recipient appreciates my weird and slightly rude take on 'Naughty and Nice' :)

Thanks for stopping by x

Purple ATC

This weeks challenge at Wicked Wednesday, number 184, is to use purple. I love purple, its one of my favorite colors.

Here is my copics colored creation, this image is called Priscilla by The Fantasy Art of Nikki Burnette :

I don't know why, but when I saw this image I instantly thought of a bottle of poison. So I made a bottle ATC - rather novel. 

I resized the image to go onto my bottle, its pretty small. Because the image is so intricate it was very hard to get all the details colored as I would like. But overall, I think she looks good :)

Thanks for stopping by x

SCACD Digital Stamps RELEASE !!!

Welcome to my blog, the last stop showing the gorgeous new images from SCACD. You will have come from Penny's blog. 

SCACD is celebrating 10 newly released exclusive digital stamps. There are some new cute animal stacks think kitten, puppies and birds as well as some Steampunk additions and more!!! So check out the collection as these are really cute, fun and unique. SCACD Artist Carmen Medlin and Susana collaborated on the images and we are happy to be showcasing them to you now :D

Now available for purchase in the USA HERE     

All Our EU International Friends can purchase them HERE    

If you are a none EU country you can purchase direct from SCACD HERE 

Today I am showcasing this delightful folk art cow image, a fun new digi from SCACD. The actual image is a whole cow, I just cut off the back part so she fitted into my frame. Nobody actually mentioned if it was a he or she, but I am thinking definitely a she, with her beautiful body markings :

  Below is a closer look at the folk art cow, colored with alcohol markers. To get the textured look to the cows coat, I colored it then put a few drops of blending solution onto a blending tool and pounced it all over the brown. It gives a more realistic looking animal skin I think :) 

I thought the sentiment was just perfect. And its actually my Birthday today, so thanks very much, things are cow'ing just fine. LOL : 

If you want to make sure you saw all the Designers showcasing the stamps then head back to the SCACD Store Blog HERE for the list. Hope you had fun and found some inspiration :)

Please note SCACD is having a SALE so check it out HERE:

Lots of Stripes

Wicked Wednesday are sponsored this week by A & T Digital Designs, Emerald Faeries. I have copics colored this adorable image, The Larakins :

Thanks for stopping by x

Mail Art Today

The new challenge at the Lost Coast Portal to Creativity is Mail Art. I quite like mail art, it definitely makes you think about the placing of images, address, stamps etc. I have used my all time favorite stamp .. this is THE stamp that inspired me to want to be involved in this design team.

For this standard 5.5" x 4.25" mail art envelope I have used one of the mini flying ladies from Lost Coast Designs. Isn't she just wonderful, here is a close up of her :

I stamped the lady onto my envelope then again onto a post it note. I fussy cut the post it and used this as a mask so I could color the background. I also used a small playing card to mask the area for the address. Using a playing card for this is a tip I learned from fellow DT member Tera Callihan. I colored the background with peacock feathers distress ink and a round blending tool. I used a circular motion, and really liked how it worked out :

I left the masks in place and stamped with the background stamp postcard background from Carmen's Veranda in spiced marmalade and peacock feathers. Then to make the black bubble strip I used Circle Frame, by Lost Coast Designs.

I removed the masks and added the lettering using Lost Coast Designs Old Typewriter Alphabet SOTA. 

Hope you found some inspiration here, pop over to the Lost Coast Portal to Creativity for more inspiration and to enter our challenge. You do not need to use LCD or CV images, but if you do you increase your chances of a win :)