Some Old Artwork

This first card was a commission for Keeley who used to travel on my train each day. She wanted something suitable to give to her boyfriend, Josh to celebrate one year together. I wanted something masculine so went with the Papermania Urban stamps, keeping the colours limited to reds with some perfect pearals sprayed on mixed with Fired Brick distress reinker.

This piece was made for my colleague to give as a birthday gift to a friend after her original gift didn't work. (someone else bought the same thing!) It was a small canvas covered with some pretty paper & the butterflies were die cut using my Memory Box die.

Stamped quotes Tim Holtz.

This next card was made for my work colleague Lesley who gave birth to her second daughter Maisie, sister to Gemma.

Mum and baby are doing very well. Gemma adores her baby sister.

Papermania embossing folder Boofles Buttons, image Lili of the Valley.

This final card was made in March during the time I had no computer. It was a thank you card to the people who kindly took my ailing machine backwards & forwards to the repairers.

Xcut die fancy frames & paper Webster's Pages

All About Butterflies

 This first image is a card made for a forum friend, Joanne for her birthday. Her special day is the day after mine and as my computer system died on my birthday, I lost the last weeks work. Thankfully Joanne was able to email these shots so I had a record of my work.

I based my designs around our other forum friend, Jo Capper-Sandon's background technique featured in the December 2011 issue of craft Stamper. I made the mini canvas to match.

I used perfect pearls on the butterfly wings for shimmer.

This next butterfly item was made for Jo Capper-Sandon's birthday the following month. As she adores butterflies I made her an exhibit box. Sadly it did not work quite the way I wanted it to. The background looks far too dark in this photo.

These too, had perfect pearls dusted onto the bodies.

Materials I used;

Distress inks, Weathered Wood, Wild Honey, Iced Spruce, Rusty Hinge,Tumbled Glass,

Stormy Sky, Seedless Preserves, Chipped Sapphire and Brushed Corduroy.

Gesso, Chalk Emulsion Paint and Standard Emulsion Paint.

Torn newspaper, Tim Holtz stamps -Attic treasures.

Perfect Pearls, Mandarin, Gold, Mint and Plum.

Stampman Challenge - Favourite Technique

Warning: Photo heavy!!

This is my entry for the Stampman Challenge, Favourite Technique. I have three actual favourites, the main one making wrinkle free distress ink backgrounds, but these go hand in hand with stamping & bleaching. As my blog name suggests I am a minibook maker, although to be fair there are over 18 books that will never be seen on this blog because they were made many years ago before I even thought about running a blog & sadly, lost all the images when my computer died! Anyway this is the front cover of the mini & the following pages are the inside. Materials listed at the end.

Pages were made using thin card from an empty tea bag box.

Distress inks used: NEW Spring set; Dusty Concord; Tumbled Glass; Broken China;

Spun Sugar; Mustard Seed; Pine Needles; Shabby Shutters.

Stamps are a mixture of Tim Holtz sets & Studio G.

Computer generated words for front cover & pages 3, 4, 6, 7 & 10.

Secret Garden embossing folder, Heart die & fancy frames both Papermania/Xcut

Bleach. Bind it All. Scraps of ric rak & glitter paint.

Another Birthday & Commission

 This first card is for my train buddy, Claire who has a birthday today. She makes a lot of cupcakes for various engagements, weddings, baby showers & birthdays so I thought this LOTV stamp very apt. Paper was free Pink Paislee Spring Jubilee. Butterfly die, Memory Box.

This card was a commission I made for Claire for her mum's birthday last month. I used Prima Pixie Glen paper. TH Die cut bookplate. Memory Box Butterflies. Papermania XCut fancy frame dies, a white blossom, a pinked circle die cut using Xcut dies. The Chiffon was kindly donated by my forum friend Chris & I made a flower with a crystal for the centre.

The butterflies are embossed with Papermania Secret Garden folder (my absolute favourite)

I thought it quite fitting to show both birthday cards together.