Greatness ...

I do love Viva Las Vegas stamps, there is always just the right one for every occasion.

I was tasked with making a card for our school Principal, he is retiring in a few weeks time. I have quite a high opinion of this man, he has done a great job at school and is a Shakespeare fan. I searched for the perfect quote and coupled it with Boy in tug boat :

Isn't that great how they came together. The background is dylusions sprays. I typed the quote onto the colored paper - boy was that nerve wracking ! LOL But phew (wipes bow), no mistakes. The boy in tug boat is stamped in black versamark and embossed in clear. I fussy cut him and added him on top in black and white, I loved the contrast.

I am entering this for the VLVS challenge, I did quite a few of the things to be able to enter this for the challenge:  dots, letters, scribbles, sprays, the colors are right etc. I didn't include anything winged, but the meaning of this really is to take flight, moving onto the next chapter of life :)

I used my sea bubbles stamp fro Designs by Ryn also, I love how the boat is floating on the bubbles. I stamped it in blue sapphire and added some white gel pen details. I am also entering this card into Ryns monthly challenge, anything goes challenge :)

I had made another very similar card too, which I will enter into the challenges.

Thanks for stopping by :) Nikki x

Bonne fete

Making a Birthday card for a French speaking little boy turning 8 today :) With Viva Las Vegas and Designs by Ryn stamps.

The sitting elephant is stamped in black versafine with white gel pen and copics added.  The Designs by Ryn sea bubbles stamp is stamped in white craft ink. I like how this gorgeous elephant is blowing sea bubbles :)  The background is made by dripping dylusions sprays onto a wet piece of water color paper. I added a little stenciling with a Crafters Workshop numbers stencil and I doodled around the edge.

I am entering this into the VLVS Mood Board challenge, I love to take on a challenge like that, to use the colors, and suggested techniques, images etc. Here is the challenge
" We'd like to inspire you with words like DOTS, letters and alphas, grunge, insects, moths, butterflies, spray paint, drips, splatters, paint, distressed, scribbles, black, white, lime, green, blue, turquoise, and more!
I have the colors, letters, spray paints and drips, scribbles and the essence of dots. lol.

I am also entering this into the Designs by Ryn Challenges, anything goes. I actually won sea bubbles in a challenge a while ago, its the first time I have used it so thought I would link up :)

I hope this card is a big hit at the party later today and the Birthday boy loves it.

Wings ATCs

Making ATC's for a mixed media trade entitled 'Wings', I have this gorgeous Lucine moth from Designs by Ryn, so have created my night sky to showcase this gorgeous creature. 

The moth is stamped in coffee archival ink and sponged with frayed burlap distress ink. The wings are stamped on vellum with coffee archival ink, them embossed in Wow pearl white embossing powder. Can you see the shimmer and how the brown still shows through but it's changed - I love it. A close up : 

I used my copics to color the back of the moth, in a blue and a mustard color. So you get some color showing through the vellum.

For the background of the ATC I added molding paste with a pallet knife, when it was still wet I pushed some of those little tiny pops into the paste. When this was dry I was still a bit worried about them coming off so added a layer of gel medium. Then I sprayed with dylusions inks. When it was dry I sanded the top a little to expose some of the pops, and added some splashes of white acrylic paint.

The wording was very exciting .... I got myself a manual typewriter. Woot woot. Years ago I remember going to night classes to learn to type, but its been such a long time. I will have to get used to it again. So I used it for the wording and LOVED it, here is my new beauty : 

I hope the recipients like their ATC's, and I also entered this ATC into Ryns monthly challenge :)

Thanks for stopping by :)

'Words of Wisdom' ATC

'Words of Wisdom' was the title for this ATC trade. 

The famous Nike quote came to mind, 'Just Do It !' See the logo on his swim shorts ? LOL

This is an Art Impressions stamp called 'Jump In', colored with copics. His swim shorts are paper pieced and the image fussy cut. I added glossy accents to his goggles and a light application of versamark over his body, so that the clear embossing powder only stuck to certain areas, I wanted a wet look :) The background paper is stamped with some water drops by Designs by Ryn, so I thought I would enter this into Ryn's January challenge, something a little different with her stamps :)

Hope my swap partners like this motivational ATC :)

Shelter from the rain

A New Years project I made today and entering it for monthly Ryn's challenge.

All stamps used in this project are by Designs by Ryn.

The inspiration from this project came about when I was thinking about and reflecting on the past year, 2014. Sometimes things are great, other times no so much and there is sadness and sometimes regret. There is not necessarily anything we can do about this, or about tragic and upsetting world events. All we can do is live our lives, control what we can control and accept what we can't. By this I don't mean apathy, but I know that I can not carry the weight of the worlds problems on my shoulders, so its ok to take care of myself a little. I hope you are also able to do this in 2015.

Happy New Year x

Designs By Ryn Celtic Bird

A new stamp to my ever growing (house groaning under the weight) stamp collection, is a beautiful set from Designs by Ryn. I loved working with it, and made a cute card for my card box. The background is sprays from Dylusions and Lindys Stamp Gang onto water color paper. I stamped the bird with black versamark and embossed with clear embossing powder. I colored the bird in with my signo white gel pen. Its subtle, but quite special. A hero art flower stamp in the background, using pale green ink to keep it subtle. I wrote the sentiment, and used clear pops to embellish.

Published on Ryn's blog :
http://www.designsbyryn.blogspot.ca/2014/03/customer-gallery-10.html

Designs by Ryn Artist Trading Card (ATC)

My groups latest ATC title was 'Pig Out'.  So my gorgeous origami pig stamp, from Designs by Ryn, made its debut :)

I paper pieced the pig with b&w origami paper, adding a few red dots with liquid pearls to mimic the Japanese cherry blossom and tie into the red background. I cut around the paper pieced pig leaving a thin border of card stock, which helps to distinguish the pig from the busy background.

On a foam pad I used my 8m McGill stylus, rubbing his belly in a circular motion on the back of the pig to give him some dimension, make his belly pop out a bit. I don't know if you can really see the effect in the pic below, but it is there and enhanced by using thicker pop dots in the centre of the pig to adhere him to the ATC.

I coated the pig in a thick layer of diamond glaze/ crystal effects to give him the glossy look, that turns him into a thick and sturdy embellishment. Adding something shiny/glossy to the ATC draws the eye directly to the object, in this case the pig, and makes the colours appear more vivid.

The background card stock was cut to 3.5 x 2.25" and covered in strips of various origami papers. The outside was sponged with black soot distress ink. The red strips and 'PIG OUT' title added. I made the little red tassel using red embroidery thread, my TH tiny attacher and a silver brad.

The pig out spin on this ATC is that the pig is outside of the ATC - see his head sticking over the edge, and also that he 'pigged out' and has a rounded body shape - don't we all post Christmas ? LOL

Hope you liked my ATC, thanks for visiting.

Published on Ryns blog :
http://www.designsbyryn.blogspot.ca/2014/01/customer-creation-gallery-8.html

Favourite book quote - Cloud Atlas

I read Cloud Atlas a while ago and am totally in love with the ending of that book, it is such a profound statement : we are many, but each one of us is important.

"Only as you gasp your dying breath shall you understand
Your life amounted to no more than one drop in a limitless ocean
Yet what is any ocean but a multitude of drops"

If you ever feel low or disillusioned, its good to remember that we, each of us, matter. For me, I took this quote to heart. After years of child rearing where I put everyone else first, and neglected myself resulted in negative consequences for me. I am now beginning to see the light .....

I wanted to do a page in my art journal to acknowledge this. It had to be just right .... You can relate to that type of pressure, right ? lol Then I came across the amazing water stamps from Designs by Ryn. How absolutely wonderful to use them for this page, the realism and attention to detail in these rubber stamps is just amazing. And I think the stamps did justice to the book quote and my feeling about it.

I gesso'd my pages and used Lindy's Stamp Gang starburst sprays for the background in my art journal. I don't know if the pic truly captures the gleam and beautiful colors of these sprays. When I stamped the raindrops in black memento ink, the ink stayed wet enough on the sprayed background that I was able to emboss it with clear powder. The result is a wet looking water drop - perfect - yeah !

I printed the quote from my computer, sponged and adhered it.

There is actually a slit cut above one of the lines of text on the right hand page, there is pocket where I have journalled why this quote is so important to me. It is private and I didn't want it to be written on the page, not everything is for sharing :)

I hope you like it :