Men's Cards (3)

I made this card with the beautiful Bird Collage stamp from the Artistic Stamper. I thought it would be perfect for a man's card, or for a bird watching friend.

Cards for Men (2)

This is the card I made for Colin, using the Artistic Stamper plate which has a selection of stamps suitable for men on it.

Cards for Men (1)

I don't know about you, but this seems to be a busy time of the year for birthdays. In particular for me, male birthdays, which I find hard to make cards for. On Monday it is my husband's birthday, and my nephew, Joseph. Here is the one I made for Joseph, using the Cycling Plate from the Artistic Stamper. They have a very good range of stamps for men.

........And the Matching Box!

I thought before the trail goes cold I should quickly upload the matching box. The stampbord pieces were just offshoots of the mirror project. The wooden box was painted with Bronze Precious Metal Colour, then I went over the lid with Tarnished Brass Distress Crackle Paint (from the Artistic Stamper) then more of the Bronze to blend the colours together, then a little black ink rubbed into the crackle and wood grain for emphasis.

I am not sure whether it needs a little more? Maybe a 'handle' on the front, or something round the edge of the stampbord tiles? My husband says when I get to this point, stop, as I am a bit of a 'More is More' person!

Bird and Nature Themed Stampbord Mirror

Yesterday Alison came over and we had a brilliant day crafting. She is such a giggle, and always makes something amazing! A while ago I bought a pack of plain large mirror pieces and gave one to her, so she suggested we framed them with stampbord pieces. I'm sure she will be uploading hers later, and it is divine!

So here is mine. Not a very good photo as it is difficult not to get the reflection in the mirror. I used a selection of nature stamps from Crafty Individuals, including the brand new Bird plate, CI 265. It was this set which determined my choice of both domino and square stampbord pieces as I wanted to capture the birds' beaks (I'm sure Jack will tell me what kind of birds they are). So I kept the assymetry in the way I placed them on the frame, and also with the green accent beads. I did a little scratching back, but nothing too heavy.

I started a matching box yesterday so I hope to get that finished and blogged soon.

More Shrine Examples!

 

I hope you won't mind that I have used the same stamp as yesterday, as it is a new one and is really inspiring me to experiment. For the first one, I have stamped the shrine onto polymer clay, and dusted with Artistic Stamper mica powders, which are great and are much cheaper than a lot of the alternatives. I then cut out the shrine part. I also stamped one of the Crafty Individuals Clocks, using gold mica powder. I popped the veiled girl part of the image into a small matchbox, behind the shrine frame, to provide depth.

For the second one, I painted the wooden container in the same way as yesterday's upload, and stamped just the roof of the shrine in polymer clay, and then added some Crafty Individuals butterflies, made in the same way (and another clock, as I decided I liked that bit).

I have made these for a very dear friend's 'special' birthday next weekend, but I can't decide which I prefer, so please can you help me, via your comments? As it is a birthday gift, I would like to enter it for this week's Sunday Stampers, as the theme is Birthdays and Something Stamped!

A Shrine Example!

This lovely shrine image is a new one, CI264, from Crafty Individuals. It was love at first sight! I stamped her on glossy paper and sponged inks over her, added some white opaque pen highlights, and separated the roof from the body of the stamp, adding some chandelier ribbon. The basis is an empty wooden container which had housed embellishments. I copied Jean Hardy's paint technique from her Chinese Box in Craft Stamper a couple of issues back, by using Gold Croco paint, then a little Pink Precious Metal paint, then softening the colour with a black ink pad. I finished it off with wooden cotton reel legs, painted with the Precious Metal again.

Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking?

Noel Notebook

I decorated this notebook for Pauline using a piece of faux metal made with the fleur de lys embossing folder. I cut one of the emblems out of it for the embellishment and added a piece of torn French book paper. I think the plate is Noel by Art Journey. Alison let me use it when she was at my house before Christmas as we had both loved Jo Capper Sandon's article in Craft Stamper using this plate.