Hels Sheridan Workshop

Yesterday I spent the day at The Stamp Attic doing a workshop with the one and only Hels Sheridan, along with some great friends that I have made - Caz, Loetitia and Emma.  The workshop was to create a Christmas themed box and a festive book to go inside.

Here is my creation

The box was decorated using lots of gorgeous Tim Holtz goodies.

This is the little book that I created to fit inside.  We stamped and decorated lots of lovely festive images:

We decorate 10 pages in total.

As you see I wasn't paying attention when I punched the holes in my book (hangs head in shame).

It was a thoroughly enjoyable day - spent in the company of some great friends.

Thanks for looking....

Anniversary Celebrations

I am still in Portugal and currently in one of my most favourite places - Carvoeiro in the Algarve.  So far we will have spent a night in Lisbon, 4 nights in Porto, 4 nights in Evora and are now in the Algarve until we fly home in a few days.

Today is our 11th wedding anniversary.  We will actually be spending it at the Autodromo for the start of the Historic Festival.

Here is the card that I made for Dan:

Here, I coloured a scalloped border card using peeled paint and broken china distress ink.  I then stamped a wood grain stamp using walnut stain distress ink.

The leaves are from an Art Parts set which I have painted using Paper Artsy Fresco Finish paint, and I stamped a script over them.

I stamped a Studio 490 heart onto metal using archival ink.  After heat setting I pounded alcohol inks over the heart and embossed some of the deign to add texture.  I then took a sanding block and gently rubbed over the heart to show some of the bare metal colour.

I die cut the Tim Holtz movers and shapers hearts and stamped a quote onto one before attaching.

I also decorated the inside of the card:

I used the same heart stamp as on the front and coloured the stamp using distress markers then stamped into the card.  I added a Studio 490 quote to finish.

Hope you like it.  I will be celebrating later with a bottle of good Portuguese wine!

Thanks for looking.

Birthday Boy!

As you read this I will be sipping port in Porto. 

Today marks Dan's 'special' birthday - you will never be able to guess his age (LOL!!!).  Dan is a car enthusiast (and there are some special treats in store for him while we are away).  Here is the card that I have made for him:

For the background I have used a sheet of gorgeous Bo Bunny Time Piece paper. 

I used a sheet of Paper Artsy Metal card and embossed it using a Tim Holtz embossing folder.  I then brushed some black acrylic paint over the metal and swiped over it with a damp cloth.

The stamp set is from Tim Holtz.  The tyre truck was stamped using jet black archival and the car in red archival. 

I die cut the regal crest in a deep red coloured card and the numbers are from Tim's Word Play die.

Following this is embellished using the game gears and spinners and a word band. 

To finish I cut a photo of Dan to fit a cash key and attached this to the card.

Hope Dan likes it!

Rebel Stampers ATC Swap

It's that time again.....

Here are my creations for the swap over at Rebel Stampers

The first is based on the free stamp in the September edition of Craft Stamper.  The stamp was of flowers but when I looked at it, it reminded me of alien antennae!!

Firstly I coloured an ATC with picked raspberry distress ink then used a Dylusions stencil over this.  The alien was stamped and coloured using salty ocean distress ink.  It was masked and the 'antenna' stamped before cutting out and layering.  The edges are stamped using archival ink.

To finish I used a white pen to highlight.

Simples!!

The second theme was '3D'.  For this I used a technique taught to me by the wonderful Hels Sheridan.  I started by layering up shapes onto a blank atc.  I then started to colour and add texture through stencils. 

The mad hatter was stamped and coloured to match.

The photograph doesn't show the '3D' effect as much as it was, but I am really pleased with how it turned out.

Thanks for looking.

Thank You Cards

Some of you may have read my updates on Twitter and Facebook over the last couple of weeks.  After 17 years and 50 weeks I am leaving Sainsbury's and my role as HR Manager.  An very exciting opportunity arose with a non-retail company and I was the lucky applicant to get the job! 

 

It means that I will no longer work with some of the amazing people that I have met over the years, although I will stay in touch with them.

 

Today was my very last HR meeting and I was spoilt with cupcakes, flowers and lots of presents.  I nearly shed a tear, but tried to stay strong...  2 more days to go in store.

 

So, what better way to say goodbye than through cards.  Here are 2 of the cards that I have made:

For this card I used the fabulous 'Everything Eleanor' set from Stampin' Up. 

 

Firstly I stamped the swirl randomly on the background card using pink ink.  Using the same ink I stamped the flower onto pink card 3 times and cut out.

 

I stamped the label in green ink and cut this out.  The phrase was stamped in black archival.

 

I overlapped 2 lengths of ribbon before attaching everything to the card using silicone gel.

 

 

For the second card I used 2 different stencils and pounded distress inks through them. 

 

The main image is from Studio 490 and was stamped in coffee archival.  The footprints and phrases are also from a Studio 490 set and are stamped in black and vermilion archival.

 

I finished the card using an Ideology tag.

 

I am sure the recipients will like them.

 

Thanks for looking....