On the sea shore ATCs

Hello! Sorry I've been MIA for a while, had a busy couple of weekends with people stopping over , so unfortunately there was no time for crafting. Back to normal this week and today I've created three ATCs for an organised swap I take part in every month at http://addictedtoatcs.blogspot.com/ This months theme was 'Make a spash' and I decided to make a sea shore themed set. Here they are:

I used some lovely new paper I brought last week from Elusive Images  which I tore around the edges to try and get the effect of waves on the beach. 

Each stamped image was coloured with Distress Inks and then covered with clear crackle paint to give texture. I used some clear Distress Stickles on the sand to give it a gritty, slightly sparkling effect. 

I finished them with a bit of hessian/ woven material and a few tiny seed pearls glued on with glossy accents. 

I've just written out my list of cards to make for this month and there's quite a few in the next couple of weeks, I'll be aiming to keep up to date here with those creations :-)

Sarah x

First batch of Christmas cards

Hello! I've had lots of house work to do this past two days but I managed yesterday afternoon to take a break from it and fit in a bit of crafting instead ;-) I know a lot of crafters start in July to make their Christmas cards but I have just not been able to contemplate Christmas in the summer, until now! Maybe because the weather has gone downhill, very rainy and overcast here this week, and maybe because Create & Craft tv channel has gone all Christmas too I was inspired to make my first batch. These ones aren't for my close relatives and special friends, they'll just be for colleagues and neighbors so I decided to make them all the same and to keep it simple.

Unfortunately I've found it hard to take a detailed photo of them, as the pearlised card doesn't show up too well with the flash on and there's not much bright daylight today to show it up either, oh well! 

Using a metal embossing stencil from Papermania I ran it through my Cuttlebug machine with some thin pearlised white card, I trimmed it down and used a curved corner punch. This was then layered onto some thicker lilac pearlised card mounted on a textured A6 base card and embellished with peel offs, crystals and some punched out snowflakes. I also added an insert to each card with a Christmas greeting inside. 

I really enjoyed making something simple and uncomplicated, which helped me produce a batch of 10 cards towards the Christmas stash. I'll have to pop out and get some more card blanks as I have to make another 30 or so 'every day' xmas cards as well as the special ones for family if I am to make everything this year...which is my intention, wish me luck! :-)

Sarah xx

Vintage Parisian Post slide mailer

Sorry it has been a little while since I last blogged, it's been a combination of being busy and being ill that has kept me from posting here.

To make up for lost time I've been making something a little more intricate today, it's also something new to me too...a slide mailer. I'd had the blank for a couple of months now and today I was inspired to decorate mine after reading this months 'Stampers Sampler'.

I decided to go with a vintage post theme as I had some cute tiny acrylic stamps and some rub-ons in that theme. First painted the cardboard mailer in white acrylic paint, after it had dried I glued various papers to the front and back covers and inside. I then stamped swirls onto the papers with a flourish stamp using Distress ink in 'Antique Linen'. After that I stamped various postage and Parisian themed stamps using Distress ink 'Brushed corduroy' and rub-ons to decorate the front and back.

Inside the front cover I used an Art Nouveau lady stamp from Katzelkraft and Distress ink in 'Brushed corduroy'

For the glass slides I used the same set of Art Nouveau ladies stamps as the inside cover. These were stamped onto the glass using Stazon in grey. I glued paper behind the glass using Glossy accents (it makes amazing glue!) To finish them off I used gold embossing powder to create a faux soldering effect on the edges of the glass. I decided that if I wanted to display the mailer with the cover open I would have to fix the glass slides into the backing in some way. I didn't want it to be a permanent fix so I used some tiny magnet closer attachments from Papermania. That way I'd be able to take the slides out, leave the cover open if I wished and I can also use the slides as fridge magnets too!

I enjoyed altering this mailer, something I will definitely try again in the future, maybe with some brighter colours next time :-)

Sarah x