Author: Catherine

I have three ATCs to share tonight that I made for a swap where the theme was to make them with three different techniques.

First I went for watercokouring a stamped image using inks. I love these Mediterranean Moments stamps for this.  I started the whole thing off with a light brayered ink background and mounted it onto a black atc panel.

The second card was using distress inks and a stencil to create the background.  I love this beautiful flowery background. I then heat embossed the sentiment.

And the final one… I went for a mixed media assemblage with lots of yummy texture and fun art alchemy paints.

These were such fun to make. And another three towards my 365 target! In fact I have a plan for the final 65 so think there may be a bit of slow down on the ATCs in the coming months as I take a break from blogging daily (holidays etc. get in the way!). But don’t worry I will finish my challenge and no doubt will not stop making ATCs when I hit the target.

Happy crafting! 

Catherine

I couldn’t resist trying this wonderful technique of making a masterboard for some cards but using distress oxides rather than paints. And I was super impressed with how it worked.

I filmed it all… here is the link. 

And here are the final cards. 

Happy crafting!

Catherine

I have another postcard and another video for you today.

The theme for the month art postcard swap I am involved in is Nursery Rhymes or lullabies.  Well I am not convinced that with that theme you would expect what I ended up making… but it still is the theme … I promise.

Here is the process video.

And here is the card. 

Certainly far from cutesy or sweet… not entirely sure why my mind went a bit horror like… but I LOVE how this turned out. So much fun making and love the different take on the theme.

Happy crafting!

Catherine 

Another swap to share tonight… again for UK stampers forum.  The postcard has to have a theme of sea and sand so I immediately went to the Creative Stamping magazine stamps that I’ve been using a lot recently.

I started with a panel which I used the crackle glaze from Paperartsy to create the background. I then kept it simple with just the stamped sentiment.  

The mermaid I stamped separately with archival and then coloured her with distress oxides which provided a lovely soft finish.

I mounted the panel on a other card with a distress oxide background. 

Happy crafting!

Catherine 

Yes I have another set of inchies to share. These are for the UK stampers forum swap this month. 

I went for a love heart theme. 

The top three are a painty grungy background with iridescent medium masked hearts. 

The bottom three were distress oxide background and heat embossed Badass chick stamp hearts. 

Love how they came out. 

Happy crafting!

Catherine 

Today I have some ATCs to share today made for a fun swap I am involved in… an alphabet swap!  The plan is to make an ATC for each of the letters of the alphabet… or at least as many as I can… this is where I am up to. 

A is for aeroplane…

B is for butterfly … (this might look familiar as I actually shared this a few days ago!)

E is for elephant…

F is for flowers…

G is for giraffe…

H is for house….

O is for owl… 

P is for puppy…

Q is for queen…

R is for rabbit… 

So this is the progress so far… I have a while before I have to finish the rest and I already have another few in progress. Cam imagine that the more unusual letters will make for some challenges!!!  So pleased I moved away from being OCD and creating them in order… this is so much more fun doing them a bit at a time.

Will make sure I share the next batch when they are finished. 

Happy crafting!

Catherine 

Tonight some friends are popping over to mine to make some cards using a masterboard as the basis. 

Here is the masterboard I created for the basis of the samples.

I used Paperartsy fresco finish paints and a mixture of stencils and stamps.

Here are the samples … but obviously the end products may be very different due to the unique nature of creating a masterboard. 

Card one I used Kim Dellow stamps to create the flowers and added a doily to separate the bright blooms from the background. In all except one card the feature image is watercoloured using SU inks and a waterbrush.

Card two uses the finnabair stamp to add the feature stamped onto the same yellow cardstock as the mount to the panel and sentiment.

Card three I decided to jazz up the panel by die cutting a section out. I also added some shimmer ink on top of the watercoloured presents to add some additional shine.

Card four uses the cut out from card three to add interest behind the Gorjuss Girl image.

All in all a fun set of cards made with one piece of 6 x 12 cardstock for the masterboard.

Love this method of making cards.

Happy crafting!

Catherine 

Time for a new circle journal round to start and this time we are making journals where envelopes are the feature.

So here is my journal.  I used some cream envelopes which are 5×7 and stuck them together and then sewed it and added washi tape to the spines. 

I then added a cover from some kraft cardstock and glued the inside of the journal and the cover together. 

Then I set to on decorating the cover.   I used the fresco finish paints to lay down some colour and then added some stamping in the paint too.  Then I used a Paperartsy stencil to add some iridescent medium.  Then finally I added the title and the stickers. 

Then the inside page I went for a purple colour scheme. I also went a little Darcy heart crazy! Then inside the pocket created by the envelope I added a card onto the back of which I put my “rules” for the journal.

So my journal is off on a journey to other lovely artists for the next year. Looking forward to seeing what happens to it and to receiving and playing in the journals I get.

Happy crafting!

Catherine 

Yesterday I shared a card I made for a DT project. Well I had a few scraps on the desk I couldn’t resist making into something rather than grow them away.  So yes another ATC! 

So there was some of the patterned paper left and the heart trim and as I still had the stamps out the smaller butterfly got added along with some other scraps left on the desk and a button. 

Going to put this ATC to one side for a project I am working on that I will let you know about later in the month. 

Happy crafting!

Catherine 

Hello.  How quickly did June go past? Wowser half the year gone! 

So as it’s the first of the month I have a design team project to share with you that I did for Craftyhazelnuts patterned paper challenge. 

The challenge is to use patterned paper and so I grabbed some of mine from the stash and created a card for my Mums birthday (which isn’t until next month but hey I’m organised for once!). 

I chose three papers from the same pack. Unfortunately forgotten what the name of the pack was and layered them up, inking each of the edges I tore.  I stamped the Tim Holtz butterfly a few times lightly and spritzed it with water to oxidize the background… yes I had used my beloved oxides. I let it dry and then did a mammoth amount of sewing on the machine. I thought this gave it a nice patchwork type effect.

Next I took a kraft card tag and added the doily and part of the patterned paper I had cut out. I added some trim which I had got in a swap and then stamped and cut out another of the butterflies to layer up. 

The sentiment was also stamped on the same patterned paper and then I took a stamp with the word Mum and added that too. 

Finished off with the tiny pearl gems from stampin up scattered across the card. 

Love how this came out. Now off to see what the rest of the DT have been up to this month with their patterned paper stash. 

Happy crafting!

Catherine