Copper Etching

Do you remember copper "etchings"? There was a craze for pictures using that technique back in the 1970s, and my parents went mad for them. In fact their stairwell is still lined with pictures of that style.

Ever since I got the Tim Holtz "Cityscape" stamps I've thought they would be great for making a faux version of them, using heat embossing on metallic copper card, but stamping on metallic card is tricky, and images tend to blur and streak, so although I did use the idea a couple of years ago I wasn't satisfied with it.

However now I have a stamping platform, I can be sure that neither card nor stamp will move, eliminating the risk of streaks and smudges - so here is my "etching" of the New York skyline.

As you can see, the card is so very shiny that it was a complete and utter PIG to photograph! I must have taken about 30 shots to get these two. How I wish my Dad was still around, I'd be sending him this card to add to his collection.

I am sharing this with Make My Monday - New York.

A taste of "hunny"

I have some Winnie the Pooh stamps somewhere, I KNOW I have! But I've turned my craft room upside down and can't find them - I can only assume that they have been stamp-napped by the grandchildren and are in the depths of their craft box, which is almost as daunting to sort through as my handbag.

So I've had to colour a different bear in Winnie the Pooh colours.

The bear and sentiment stamps came with an issue of Making Cards a year or two ago. I've combined them with a backing paper from heartfelt creations and two honey jars fussy-cut from another of the papers in the pad.

I am sharing this with
Allsorts challenge - Bears 
The Library Challenge - Winnie The Pooh
Sweet Stampin - Sketch  

Autumn is coming

Autumn is approaching fast this year thanks to the long, hot, dry summer. The trees are already starting to change colour and lose their leaves.

So here is a very autumnal looking card, made with stamps from a recent issue of Creative Stamping. The speckled border to the oak leaf stamp makes it great for stamping a quick all-over background. I coloured the pumpkin with Promarkers and added a quote from the same stamp set.

I am sharing this with
Love to Craft - Anything Goes
Alphabet Challenge - Leaves  
Creative with stamps - Pumpkin

Dancing dragonflies

You don't get to go for very long without seeing a dragonfly or two on here, do you?

I made a circular mask and inked the card through it with blue ink then stamped the leafy silhouette through the mask and, before removing it, ran a fineliner around the edge to neaten it up. Then I stamped the sentiment and added two dragonflies cut with Gummiapan dies. Actually I originally cut then in a beautiful iridescent blue/green card but the colour really clashed with the blue so I had to set them aside and cut them again in black. Oh well, they are all ready for another project.

I am sharing this with
Little Red Wagon - back to basics
2 Crafty Critter Crazies - anything goes with a creature
AAA Cards - Sketch

and a second visit to Less is More - Black, white and one colour

Bright Christmas

I got this vibrant Funkyhands download, called Funky Little Christmas, about 10 years ago and still love it. Sadly Funkyhands is no more, but I still love my CDs and downloads, they are fab resource especially for backing papers.

I used two of the background papers, in vibrant pinks and greens, plus a topper sheet. I used the large topper on the outside, adding extra trees with 3D glue to give a slightly decoupaged effect, and finished with twine and more trees and a touch of glitter.

I used the rest of the images on the sheet to decorate the inside.

I am sharing this with
Addicted to stamps and more - Holiday
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge - Anything goes or Joy
52 Christmas Card Throwdown - Lime green and hot pink

Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers challenge #118 - Leaves

It's new challenge time at the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers and this time Edna has chosen the theme Leaves.

I decided against an autumn theme as I know I'll be producing a lot of those over the next few weeks, and headed up salad street instead.

The rather peculiar image and sentiment are cut from a postcard in a book of Graham Rawlinson's "Lost Consonants" designs. Each card is an illustration of what a quite ordinary sentence would become if just a single consonant was removed from one of the words. Here they have removed the t from 'cost' to give 'cos'.  I don't know whether it's the same all over the world, but  here in the UK, cos is a variety of lettuce similar to the American Romaine lettuce. If you're not familiar with cos lettuce, the joke might fall a bit flat.

The background is stamped with leaves from the hero Arts "Stamp your own salad" set, coloured in using a water brush and the same inkpad each leaf had been stamped with. There's a bit of inking around the edge and I finished it with gold mica spray. The button's there because the card looked as if it needed a bit more dimension.

Girls' night out

Well I seem to be up and running again, but please, if you get emailed when somebody leaves a comment on your blog, will you check your spam folders from time to time to see whether I have commented, as Blogger seems to think my new email address is spammy and is marking it as such - even emails I send to myself!

Anyway, up and at 'em, I've actually managed to find time to make a card - it was getting pretty urgent as it is for a friend whose birthday is next week. Don't worry, she won't see this, she doesn't read my blog!

The background uses an embossing folder from a recent issue of Papercraft Essentials, covered in pale blue ink before embossing to give a faux letterpress effect. The sentiment is a SoSuzy stamp - the grammar may be questionable but the sentiment is very true, especially of this friend with whom I have a 30+ year history of over-consumption!!!
The image of three besties is stamped with a recent Making Cards freebie that has become one of my most used stamps, which may say a lot about my friendships... I coloured it with Promarkers, again sticking to shades of blue as it is my friend's favourite colour - except when it comes to wine, when it's red all the way for her.

I am sharing this with
Shopping Our Stash - crazy for colouring
Stamping Sensations - Something beginning with B -   blue, black, bubbles, besties
Watercooler Wednesday - feminine anything goes