Walk like an Egyptian

.. and now you're singing it, too, aren't you?

The new challenge at The Library Challenge is Death on the Nile, a book I last read in about 1970. I decided to go with the Egyptian aspect of the story for my card.

First I stamped the hieroglyph border repeatedly on an old scrap of handmade paper, then used a wet paintbrush to paint a tear-line around my stamping, so that the edges would get a feathery, torn papyrus look. A little distress ink over the torn areas gave it an aged look. Both the water and the distress ink caused the colour in the stamping at the edges to separate a little - I think it's added to the antique look and is an effect I might experiment further with.

The Tutankhamun death mask is stamped and heat embossed with gold detail powder, and everything added to a gold mirri background with distressed edges.

Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers #135 - I for Ironmongery

It's our Steampunk challenge over at the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers - I is for Ironmongery

I used some gorgeous Crafty Individuals stamps that came with a recent issue of Creative Stamping

Pretty CAS for a steampunk card, don't you think? Now let's see YOUR Steampunk, with or without snark - you may be crowned Queen or Princess of Snark!

I am sharing this with
Uniko Challenge - Anything Goes/Masculine 


Watercooler Wednesday - Masculine Anything goes 
 

Gin makes everything better!

As lots of you will know, Di from Pixie's Crafty Workshop, home of the Snippets Playground,  has been suffering from a bout of gout (ooh, poetry!) so I made a get well card to cheer her up, and now I know she's received it I am sharing it with you.

I know that Di had to have a blood test this week so it's extra-appropriate!  I hope she got a nicer nurse.
The sentiment stamp is from Crafters Companion, stamped in the closest colour I had to "gin bottle green" and the image from Hampton Arts, coloured with Promarkers.

I'm sharing this with
Addicted to stamps and more - Anything goes 
Less is More - Beverages (a rather sideways take on the challenge!)
Sweet Sentiments - Teacher appreciation or anything goes 

Guest Designer at The Male Room

I'm sure you all know how much I enjoy making masculine cards, so you can understand how delighted I am to have been invited to be Guest Designer at The Male Room where the new challenge is #111 - Origami or Anything Goes

I  decided to make an origami sailing boat.  I fiddled about with some origami papers in the evening, then went to bed. When I woke up the next morning, the  poem "The Owl and The Pussycat" was going through my mind, and when I looked at my craft table and saw again the colour of the boat I'd made, I realised why! 

I'd already prepared the background from a selection of snippets, and stamped the sentiment, but I simply HAD to die cut an owl and a pussy cat to sail away in my pea-green boat!  They, too, were cut from snippets,  so I'm heading over to Pixie's Snippets Playground to share my card. 

Shrink Plastic at Back to Basics

It's time for our new challenge at Back To Basics and this time we would like you to use Shrink Plastic on your work.

I can clearly remember my first encounter with shrink plastic, when the children were small (doesn't time fly, my oldest is about to turn 40) and my husband had to work in America for a few weeks. He came home laden with exciting toys for them including one set called Shrinky Dinks. The children were fascinated with  colouring and shrinking the little figures - but not as much as I was! So I was delighted to discover the grown up version some years later.

When the plastic is heated it becomes 7 times smaller in every direction so you can use quite large images on it - this card is A5 sized and the actual stamp would have filled the whole of the card front.  The image is from Daisy Mae designs and the sun and clouds from a magazine cover gift.

I stamped it onto the rough side of my plastic using Stazon ink, and then coloured it using pencils. The colours need to be applied lightly as they intensify during shrinking, and it's best to use pencils as both alcohol based and water based markers can rub off the plastic.

Shrinking can be done in the oven or using a heat tool. I find a heat tool best, and have a wooden handled pokey tool in my other hand to ease the edges apart if, as it curls during shrinking, they threaten to touch and stick together. As soon as I remove the heat, I slap a heavy acrylic block down on the shrunk motif to make sure it lies flat.

I find shrink plastic a great way of using larger images, although they do need careful shrinking because of the curling. It's also useful for making buttons and button-style embellishments and key fobs - but do remember to punch any holes you need before shrinking!

I am sharing this with Use Your Stuff - Weather 

A Vintage Christmas

It's a glorious sunny day today, summer's well and truly on the way - and so, naturally, I'm bringing you my second Christmas card of the day!

The bauble - a very old unmounted stamp I got in a grab bag many years ago - is heat embossed in gold on green card. The label is die cut with one of the original Spellbinders label sets and then, with the die still in place, stamped with some random text and inked around the edges.

On the inside I've added a doyley, layered onto plaid paper that coordinates with the holly paper, and on both the front flap and inside, I've added a strip of ribbon-wrapped card.  The other inside panel, facing away from the camera, is left blank for the sender to write their greeting on.

I'm sharing this with

Jingle Belles - an old fashioned Christmas 

Christmas Crafts All Year Round - Christmas Ornaments 

Merry Christmas

Last year i won a super collection of Christmas stamps, dies and embossing folders. I thought they were from Crafters Companion but I've just checked the site and can't see anything from the collection I won on there now, but then something I've noticed recently is how quickly brands change their ranges so products appear and disappear very quickly, meaning if we see something we love we have to grab it while it's hot!

Anyway, this card uses several elements of my prize.

I embossed turquoise card with the bauble frame  and mounted it onto chocolate brown card. Then I stamped the bold words onto chocolate brown and heat embossed them with silver powder. Next I die cut them - with some trepidation as I always worry that die cutting heat embossing is going to crack it. A bit of bling to make it festive and the card was finished.

And as always with dark colours, my camera has made the brown look black, so here's a close up  to give you a better idea of the colour (and also of how lovely and sharp the embossing is - if only I could remember what brand they are, I'd definitely buy that brand's folders again, they all give a lovely crisp finish!)

I am sharing this with

52 Christmas Card Throwdown - Brown, silver and turquoise 


Just us Girls -  Bold letters