Housewife tag

I made this tag for my ATC trade partner, over at the Vera Lane Studios facebook group :

This tag features one of The Housewives :

The background is acrylic paints, then I used whipped spackle through a stencil and while it was wet I sprinkled on some Stampendous gold glass glitter. The housewife is colored with copics and the wording 'Capture Life' is from another Vera Lane Studios set called The Photographer. 

Finally I drew around the edge and added some fabric to the tag top :) 

Thanks for stopping by, I think there is something for everyone over at Vera Lane Studios, go check it out :)

See Ya

I do enjoy making tags, I also enjoy a little humor, the two are combined here :

The idea for the wording of 'See ya' came from the hand-wing. It reminds me of when people do that dismissive behind their back wave as they walk away.  'See ya' is a farewell.

I have used a TH manilla tag #8, blue acrylic paint watered down and applied in random strokes. When it was dry I went over it with spiced marmalade distress stain. It now looks green, isn't that awesome. I used the fourth dimension stamp from Lost Coast Designs for the floor and I added a little of the stamp detail all over the tag. Then some whipped spackel through a stencil. I made a separate tag and did the same background, but I stamped it with the licence plate alphabet from Lost Coast Designs and cut out the individual letters.

The gorgeous gal you see here is from the Doodle dolls 1 set also from Lost Coast Designs. She is stamped in stazon, colored with Neocolor 2's and markers. I added some white detail to her dress and stamped and embossed her crown in gold. I also embossed the edges of the tag in gold and added some gold sequins and twine.

Hope you found some inspiration here, thanks for stopping by x

Big Eyed Cowgirls and Cowboy

Today I would like to share a couple of projects using some images from Carmen's Veranda, love the Big Eyed Girls and Boy images.

Firstly I made this mail art :

It was so cool when I wrote the address on , it  now says : "Are you Liz (name and address) feeling lucky'.  LOL

The background is dylusions sprays, then I creased the envelope and sponged a little green onto the ground to give it some texture. I stamped the postcard background and I used the old typewriter alphabet from Lost Coast Designs for the wording. The big eyed girl and boy are stamped in stazon, colored with inktense pencils and fussy cut. I sponged the edges and added white gel pen detail.

 I like to make Altered Playing Cards (APC's) and Artist Trading Cards (ATC's) and these images are the perfect size.

I have used Big Eyed Shooter Girl for this APC:

I love the Western theme, and the monochromatic look. 

Just a reminder about our challenge blog, The Lost Coast Portal to Creativity, this months challenge is Zentangle. 

Hope you will come and join us :) Nikki x

Adding faux stitching to an ATC

I love to do faux stitching, its so easy and effective to make the holes with a piercing tool and link them with a white gel pen. Here is my make for Wicked Wednesdays 'Stitching' challenge, sponsored by That Craft Place. This is Love from Sugar :

The background is distress ink onto gloss cardstock. I love the cotton candy colors :) Sugar is printed, colored with copics and fussy cut. I punched additional hearts, she is spreading the love far and wide ...

The faux stitching is added as the ground for Sugar to stand on. I quite liked that idea. I don't like my images un-grounded, just floating in space, and often I use washi tape for the group, but loved the stitching here :)

Wicked Wednesday does Zodiac Signs

Sassy Studio Designs is this weeks sponsor at Wicked Wednesday, and the challenge is zodiac signs. I have used the Pisces image : 

I sized the image and printed it onto X-Press it card stock, this is my favorite for digital image and copics coloring. I used my Wink of Stellar pen to add shimmer to the mermaids tails. I googled the characteristics of a Pisces, and printed out some words from my computer, I tore the edges of the words. Finally I matted the ATC onto a co-ordinating card stock and then added matt medium to some areas and used Crystal glass beads for the bubble effect in the water. 

Thanks for stopping by, please leave me a comment and come and join our zodiac challenge :)

Zentangle

The July challenge at the Lost Coast Portal to Creativity is Zentangle. 

Here is my make. I have used an image from Carmen's Veranda called Renaissance Madonna. I have zentangled her hair and added a few white highlights. 

Here is the actual image before it was zentangled, you can see the open areas in the area - perfect for this zentangle challenge :

The background is distress ink, then I stamped the image in black stazon. I used a pitt pen to add the zentangle detail to her hair and white gel pen. I then made a mask, stamped the flying birds in the background and added some white splashes of watered down white acrylic paint. Then with distress paint I highlighted around her and the border. I doodled nonsense words in a circle around her head to further accentuate the glow. 

Zentangle is fun, I hope you will take on the challenge and come to join is. 

Hope to see you there x

Alice in Wonderland blog hop

How fun is this Alice in Wonderland blog hop organized by Suzi Baker McKenzie to celebrate the 150th Birthday of the book. If you are doing the hop you will have arrived here from Jenn's blog.

I am an Alice fan. Every time I see or read it I am filled with wonder both at the wonderful weirdness, and the writing just blows me away.

My favorite character .... let me give you a clue, it has long ears .....

My creation :

I made this postcard with Dylusions sprays, and the words are typed on my new trusty typewriter. The rabbit is from a set by Lost Coast Designs.
I love this white rabbit image :

I also made ATC's with three of the Four Alices from Lost Coast Designs. This is Alice falling down the rabbit hole, wondering to herself as she falls :"What latitude or longitude I've got to ?"

"Alice had not the slightest idea what Latitude was, or Longitude either, but she thought they were nice grand words to say".

Each layer is colored with distress ink, the holes punched and offset. I used a ripples stamp from Art Journey for the swirly pattern, stamped in brown.  The Alice's are stamped, colored with copics and fussy cut. I added dimensional between each layer, hopefully you can see the depth in the close up :

And here are all three ATC's I made : 

Now off you go to Black Dragons blog. Thanks for stopping by, enjoy the hop.

The full blog hop list, dont get lost, dont fall down any rabbit holes !

Today we are celebrating the 150th Anniversary of Alice in Wonderland, and what better way to do that, than to share lots of creative projects inspired by this wonderful story.

Not only will you see lots of amazing artwork today, but you can also win prizes from the following amazing companies;

The Stamping Boutique

Rick St Dennis MFA

Faery Ink

That Craft Place

Ike's Art

Delicious Doodles

Sweet Pea Stamps

Sassy Studio Designs

Vera Lane Studio Digital Stamps

Prize winners will be selected from Random blogs throughout the hop using Random.org to select each winner.  In order to be eligible for a prize you must visit all stops on the hop and leave a comment. The prize draws will be open until July 18th, with winners announced on July 20th.

Here's my Alice in Wonderland inspired project;

Blog Hop List

Suzi

Alison

Trudie

Sharon

Milo

Donna

Leigh

Claudia

Leadonna

Nan

Jenn

Nikki

Black Dragon

Teresa

Ike

Creepy Glowbugg

Shelley

Alana

Harp

Lori

Monica

Kemly

Margaret

Julie

Katie

Julie W S

Kathi
Karen
Corrie
Emily
Geraldine
Carol
Avril
Lisa
Kim
Mo
Lorraine

Making gift packs of cards

So much fun to make card packs as gifts.  

Here is the set I made, using predominantly Viva Las Vegas Stamps, although the dog in the hammock is Stampotique :

I don't have brusho's, but I love the look so attempted to recreate it here using Dylusions sprays, I think it worked out pretty well actually :) I wet the card stock then removed the spray nozzle from the bottles and splatted (highly technical term! LOL) the ink onto the card stock. The colors ran and blended. Images stamped onto white card stock, colored and fussy cut.

Sending cards as gifts, I mean how much would each cost in a store ? And could you even get some original and textured pieces ? I sometimes feel that home made cards are under valued and people don't want to pay much for them, but would rather go into a store and pay $5 plus for a printed one ? Makes no sense to me .... 

Here is each individual card : 

Thanks for stopping by :)

Red, white and blue at Wicked Wednesday ...

Octopode Factory are this weeks sponsor at Wicked Wednesday, for our 165th Challenge, 

red white and blue..

Here is my make using the Queen Elizabeth image :

The background is a napkin that a friend in the UK sent to me, it was perfect :) Queen Elizabeth is colored with copics and the words typed on my typewriter :)

Thanks for stopping by, hope you will come to join us and make some ATC's :)

Viva Las Vegas June challenge

This is my last make for the June challenge at Viva Las Vegas Stamps. 

I cant believe this is my third make. LOL. I bought the stamps last month and I have been having such a great time with them, they are so quirky and original.

My card using the bee hung up image and Time flies : 

I liked the combination of flying insect and wording, that time flies :) 

The inspiration board for the June challenge was DOTS, letters and alphas, grunge, insects, moths, butterflies, spray paint, drips, splatters, paint, distressed, scribbles, black, white, lime, green, blue, turquoise, and more!

I got the colors, the splatters, dots, grunge, insect etc. 

I do not own brusho's but like the look they give, so I recreated that look here with Dylusions sprays : I wet the card stock, then removed the spray mechanism from the bottle and splatted (yes, a highly technical term ! LOL) ink onto the saturated background. Pretty neat effect I thought and fairly similar to the brusho/watercolor look :)

Thanks for stopping by x

By the Sea ATC - Poseidon

The challenge at the Mixed Media ATC trade group was 'By the Sea'. 

My thought process went like this:

 'Sea'. Whose the God of the Sea ? Poseidon. Lets look him up on Wikipedia. Ah also the God of horses. A distant memory of a TV advert? Guinness to be exact, here it is :  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qD27dAqV8lU. And this ATC plan was born ....

I had this fab digi image from Smeared Ink, who became the perfect Poseidon with his trident :

The background is sponged with distress ink on glossy card stock and white splatters aka stars added to the night sky :) The image is colored with copics and fussy cut. The trident is colored with bronze ink. The horses and sentiment are from a stamp set by Waltzing Mouse Stamps, Back in the Saddle. I wonder if Claire would recognise her stamps here ? LOL. They are white embossed. The waves are made with torn card stock, with heavy body white acrylic paint on the edges. I wanted to create that white foamy, breaking waves sort of look with my horses crashing down.

The three ATC's together :

I had a lot of fun here, thanks for stopping by :)

Scary Fairy Blog Hop

In honor of International Fairy Day 2015, Smeared and Smudged are having a blog hop, entitled 'Scary Fairy'. The Lost Coast Portal to Creativity is taking part in this hop and here is my make : 

I have used a couple of stamps from Carmen's Veranda : Big Eyed Girl and Wings. They are stamped with versamark on velum and embossed with pewter embossing powder and fussy cut. I also stamped the Long Swirl from Lost Coast Designs in the background with versamark. Here is a closer look at her, I colored the back of the velum with markers :

For the background I made my own bead gel with pop beads, then painted it all with acrylic paint. I loved the larger balls and went over them with white Neocolor 2 crayons to highlight them. The white smoky ground is made with my white big brush marker, and the the words typed on my typewriter, edged in the same color acrylic paint.

I don't know if you are a Shakespeare fan, but I am. I have spent many happy hours reading and attending plays. Seeing The Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-Upon-Avon being the highlight. This line is taken from A Midsummer Nights Dream :

"Lord what fools these mortals be !"

Although Shakespeare refers to falling in and out of love, I imagine any fairies would look at us in bewilderment at how we treat our planet and each other.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you will check out the rest of the hop :)
Link is here

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Add Pearls of Gems - ATC for Wicked Wednesday

This weeks sponsor at Wicked Wednesday is the wonderful Ppinky Dolls Art. I have used the digital image called So Happy, and she is colored with prisma color pencils : 

The background is made with distress paint, then I added the white and pearl embellishments, drawing in some flower stems with a green marker.

Thanks for stopping by x 

If you like to make ATC's, maybe come and join us at Wicked Wednesday ATC Challenge blog :)

Lost Coast Designs Owl tag

Lost Coast Designs and Carmen's Veranda now has a specific Event and Challenge Blog, Lost Coast Portal to Creativity. 

Our challenge this month, #13 is Numbers. Here is my make : A tag featuring the Owl Set. 

 I just love this Owl Set, there are three different sized owls and I used the largest and smallest. Its Mamma owl teaching baby owl some math :) The owls are stamped in versafine black ink and colored with distress inks, then the white detail added with a white gel pen. The background is acrylic paint, I stamped the pencils from ATC Misc 4 Set and used a wood grain embossing folder. I sanded the wood grain and then ran it back through my big shot to flatten it out - I like the distressed look it gives. I added numbers using the Old Typewriter Alphabet, and the plus sign is drawn using a versamark pen. Then I used Stampendous shabby blue embossing enamel on the numbers and around the edge of the tag. Finished by adding some fibres.

Why I wanted to do a separate post for this Challenge make is to show you how I reversed the small owl. In the stamp set all the owls face the same direction, but as you can see this baby owl is facing Mamma.

To do this I used the Shadow Frame Set. Because there is a piece of large flat rubber, I can stamp the owl onto the rubber, then stamp that onto my card stock. Its called mirror reversing. The image is never 100% as crisp as it is from the first stamping, but is pretty darn good as you can see above.

Thanks for stopping by, come and check out our new event and challenge blog, see you there :)

Nikki x

Altered Playing Cards

I began a challenge in 2014 to make two APC's a week, its been such a fantastic challenge, I just love it, but sadly it is coming to an end. I just have two jokers to do and my pack is complete. 

My week 26 APC's for the monochromatic theme :

Firstly this is using an image from SLS Lines, called Mad Hatter : 

 For the second APC I have used one of the Big Eyed images from Carmen's Veranda, this is Big Eyed Shooter Girl : 

And together they look like this :

Monochromatic is not always the easiest to work with, but I like a challenge :)

Hope you found some inspiration here x

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

Summer Skies ATC

I made a series of these ATC's for a local trade entitled 'Summer Skies', using a stamp CI-278 from Crafty Individuals :

I know its not all sky, but its the feeling and essence of summer I was trying to capture :)

This is glossy cardstock, stamped and clear embossed with a very fine swirly stamp. I then sponged with distress ink. The image is stamped on glossy paper in dark purple and clear embossed and colored with markers.

Adding text to an ATC

This week at Wicked Wednesday we are adding text to an ATC. The sponsor is Lemon Shortbread and I have used Girl with Doll : 

The girl is colored with copics and fussy cut. I have used a text background paper, I know its upside down but I liked the swirls and space at the bottom for stamping :) She is a cutie 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.

At the Movies Bookmark

I am participating in an 'At the Movies' Bookmark trade. Seriously, how much fun is that !  I am a big reader, so for me they had to be functional, and of course a little witty :)

So here they are :) Doesn't everyone love Ryan Gosling in all of these 'Hey Girl sketches ? And even better, did you know he is Canadian ? 

 The photos are printed on my printer and fussy cut, and then I marked in pencil where I wanted to put them on the heart patterned paper. I typed on my typewriter, then glued it all together. I laminated them so they will be durable. They are not overly fancy, or layered but they are witty, colorful and will bring a smile to your face as you sit down, open your book to the page they are marking :)  They will endeavor do their very best 'book marking' job. Hope the recipients like them .....

Accompanying the bookmarks, which I mailed yesterday (rubbing hands together with excited glee), are a couple of tags I made with Viva Las Vegas Stamps : 

Thanks for stopping by x

Fave Stampotique Stamp

The Stampotique Designers Challenge is to use your favourite stamp. 

For me that is easy : I LOVE MOLLY.

I remember first 'meeting' Molly, one of the first Stampotique stamps I ever bought.  I was on holiday and found a craft store and excitedly went in.  Isn't it just the best to visit a new store, admire and stroke stuff!
Yes internet shopping is all well and good, but we must support our local stores so we can have this experience ! So anyway, I wander around the store .... la, de, da, de, da .... then I spot her ... our eyes met across the room and I just know that this stamp will be coming home with me ! That's where the affection began and it continues to this day, I use her at every opportunity. I don't know what it is, is it the quirkiness? Her expression? How different and unique she is ??? I just cant put my finger on it. I just know that in the last 16 Stampotique ATC trades I think Molly has been involved in about half, and I am still not bored :)

Here are my most recent Molly makes, my ATC's made for the 'Shiny or Metallic' ATC trade that is going on in the Stampotique Facebook Group :

The background is embossed tin foil, painted with acrylics and sanded down.
Using a hold punch I punched the oval that Molly is peeping through,
Molly is stamped in stazon black ink and colored with inktense pencils, the dots are silver liquid pearls then I embossed her with iridescent ice embossing powder. I don't know if it shows properly in the pic but she positively glows. I matted the atc onto black card stock and the words are typed on my typewriter :)

Thanks for stopping by, hope you can be as fond of Molly as I am :)

Chipboard mask

Masculine Birthday Card -  "Happy Birthday Dear You" - do you like the play on words ? LOL

I make many, many male cards. You  have to get creative with images and colors, and often techniques.  For this card I have used the larger piece from Southern Ridge Trading Company, SPO-392 as a mask.

I used Dylusions sprays for the background, and did a little stamping. Dylusions sprays react when wet so you can get some cool blending techniques, but its easy for it all to turn muddy brown. You could sponge the background with inks or use any sorts of sprays and stamps. You are just aiming for an interesting and colorful background as part of it is about to get covered up. 

The sprayed and stamped background :

 I added some temporary adhesive to the back of the deer and placed him on the card. I then sprayed with brown Dylusions. 

The chipboard piece SOP-392 in place before spraying with brown :

After spraying I dabbed off some of the brown ink and this is the gorgeous image I was left with :)

I used a co-ordinating piece of cardstock and stamped the sentiment, edged the card with archival ink and matted it onto a lighter brown card stock. And tadaar, its finished :)

Its a pretty cool technique, you will always get a different result and you get to use your pieces multiple times if you like. Maybe you will feel inspired to give it a go :) Nikki x

Calling Hitchcock fans ...

For my Lost Coast Designs design team post today, I am showing a little love to the great man himself, Alfred Hitchcock : 

This is a 4" x 4" card, featuring two stamps, Fourth Dimension from Lost Coast Designs and Alfred Hitchcock Standing from Carmen's Veranda.

I love the old Hitchcock movies, and some of his quotes are great, like this one :

"Drama is life with the dull bits cut out"

I colored my background with distress inks, stamped the Fourth Dimension over it in black, then colored a random selection with a white gel pen. I die cut a black film strip, added some detailing, distressed it and backed the photo strip holes with co-ordinating cardstock. Hitchcock is stamped in black and colored with inktense pencils. I added a layer of transparency over him and wrote the quote by hand :)

APC week 25

Here are my week 25 Altered Playing Cards, the backgrounds are all about alcohol inks on glossy cardstock :)

For the first one I used the dog from Stampotique. The dog is stamped in stazon on mixed media paper and colored with Neocolor II's. The brick work ground created using a stencil :

 For the second I used a star stencil with versamark and clear embossing powder, and a paper airplane stamp from Penny Black. I stamped it in coffee archival ink, then stamped separately on crumb cake card stock and paper pieced some of the planes :

And both APC's together :

Add some ribbon to an ATC

For my Wicked Wednesday make this week I have added ribbon trim as a banner, and I used fabric for the background. The sponsor this week is The Fantasy Art of Nikki Burnette. Meet Josie :

Josie is colored with copics and white gel pen details added. Isn't she gorgeous.

Thanks for stopping by x