Artful Times Challenge #73: Men

Hi all ...
I made a birthday card for a coworker the other day and would love to join the Artful Times Challenge. This time it's 'MEN'.

The background of both cardstock panels is made with Bistre, brown and yellow.
Several images were stamped onto the background (Stampers Anonymous/Brett Weldele, Katzelkraft) with StazOn inkpad timber brown and the main image is from Chocolate Baroque. The panels were then distressed around the edges with an x-acto knife and mounted as seen.
Thanks so very much for stopping by today and having a look.
I wish you a great day, wherever you are ....

Hugs, Suzanne xxx

take the road less traveled ...

Finally I'm back after being away for a few days here and a few days there during the children's Summer holidays. It feels good to be at home for longer now :-) School starts again on Wednesday and I hope I'll be able to comment more regularly again then. Sorry for not being around much. I'll be glad when some routine will set in again.
Anyway, after some time without crafting I made a card for Artful Times where the challenge is to create anything male themed.

For the background I used a mix of the 'wrinkle free DI-' and the 'spritz and flick' technique with some vintage photo and walnut stain on a piece of cardstock and overstamped it in parts with a background stamp by Acapella Stempel. Then I teared out a piece of a map, crumpled it up and also used the spritz and flick technique on it. The car stamp is by oxford impressions. I layered the map, the cut out car and the die cut weathered clock (from a piece of patterned paper by 7dots studios) and glued everything down. Then I took a piece of paper from the engraver series and treated it in the same way as the map, added the sentiment and a few embellishments.

Thanks so much for stopping by and having a look.

Hugs, Suzanne xxx

the Dead Eyes of London (masking)

Hi folks, thank you so much for taking the time to have a look at my blog. I hope you are well wherever you are ...

A big welcome to my newest followers too. I'm delighted to see you and hope you'll find something around here that you like ;o)

This is my entry into the 'Artful Times' challenge #34 which is masking. I'm so glad I finally found the time to join this fab challenge again, it's one of my favorites.

As it happens I've been commsissioned to make a birthday card for a coworker again.
At first I stamped the eyes (stampinback), the gent (indigo blu) and the flag (indigo blu) on a piece of cardstock (the flag is stamped with DI, misted with a little water to achieve a watercolored look). Then I masked the eyes and the gentleman and stamped Big Ben (artistic outpost) and the tombstone (paper artsy/hot picks) and masked them as well to dab the background with DI faded jeans and fired brick with a crumpled plastic bag. At last I added the 'London' stamp (artistic outpost).

Thank you so much for looking.

Hugs, Suzanne xxx

Alcohol Inking

... is the theme over at the artful times challenge blog.
Here is my version:

The background was made with the 'alcohol ink floating' background technique Andy Skinner shows in this video. Then I stamped the grass (T.H.) three times with various ink intensity. The boy (adhered with 3 D dots), the birds and the branches are by Art Jorney, the butterfly is a die by T.H., cut from a gelli plate print, stamped over with a script stamp (also T.H.). The hope script stamp is by lost coast design.

Lets hope for spring to arrive ;o)

Oh, the little car (T.H. again) arrived just in time today for the boy to play with ...

---------

Hintergrund: 'alcohol ink floating' Technik. Verschiedene Stempel, der Junge von Art Journey ist mit Abstandsklebern aufgeklebt. Der Schmetterling ist ausgestanzt aus einem weiteren Gelli-Plate-Druck.

Thanks for having a look.

Hugs, Suzanne xxx

TAG - was supposed to be my entry for Artful Times ...

... but I got a visitor that day (don't know why I'm always doing things at the last moment ...) which I hardly could throw out LOL and so I didn't make it in time :-(

The wonderful and adorable Ladies over at the artful times challenge asked for blue, a female image, sparkle and a ribbon.
I adhered several masking tapes, torn dictionary pages and some muslin on a TAG and swiped it through some DI salty ocean and brushed pewter (which I sprinkled with glimmer mist pearl - sadly it isn't recognisable on the pic - and spritzed with water) on my craft mat. The girl (zettiology) was stamped seperately and colored with DI. Then I cut out a sentiment (Tim Holtz stamp) and adhered everything onto the TAG.


Those other two, much simpler TAGs developped along the way, there was plenty of ink on my craft sheet ... LOL and we don't want to waste anything, do we? ;o)

(stamps: zettiology, Dina Wakley, Acapella, Tim Holtz, cherry pie. All the main images are black embossed.)

I'll take pics of the last two later again, when there's hopefully some daylight out there ...

Thanks for having a look.
Hugs, Suzanne xx

Bats, bats, bats ...

challenge #154 over at Haunted Design House: Bats in the Belfry.
We are to 'create a dark, Gothic or Halloween-based piece that has anything to do with bats'.

Now this time I dared to do something bigger and a little more elaborat than a card :-) in honor of the BATs, some of  the most adorable and fascinating creatures on earth. Just love them ...

So I decided to do a mirror.
First I glued down pre-cut and torn scraps from patterned paper and dictionary pages. Then I stamped the haunted house with a flock of bats from paper artsy/hot pick in the bottom left corner (sponged it a little bit with green, grey and purple ink), in the background I stamped a spider web by Tim Holtz and a little flock of bats (also paper artsy) several times.

Then I covered the frame with a coat of craft glue and sprayed it with mixtures of distress reinker and water (iced spruce, dusty concord and shabby shutters) and some glimmer mist slate for good measure. Then I scattered different cut-out bat stamps all over the frame.

At first I glued the hanging bats onto the frame and the barbed wire has been stamped in black, so nothing really to recognise properly. Also I outlined the bats with white because they've been too dark which didn't look very good.
In the end I stamped the barbed wire again with silver acrylic paint dabber, stamped the bats again on grey cardstock and cut them out generously to cover the white outlining. I adhered them with 3d pads and tried to complete the wire on the cardstock. Finally I added a metal ornate plate with the word BATS in case someone would miss it's all about bats this time LOL
So in the end it looks better than the first attempt :-) Hope some of you like it, too.

I think it's quite funny how people dig up their various kinds of bats :-D


A few close ups, hope you don't tire of looking :-)

This one is just the scrap I covered the mirror with, but I think I might do something with it, though ...

I also like to enter this project into the Artful Times challenge #15: fur or feathers (I'd so love to stroke a bat's fur and hold such a little cutie in my hand ... :-D), and the 'Anything but a card challenge #4: Fall or Halloween or Fall Colors' - I think this definitely fits for Halloween :-)
Usually I'm not the challenge hopper but since at the moment there are Halloween challenges everywhere and I sadly am not able to do as many things as I'd love to, I'll make an exception.

Thanks for having a look and your patience.

Hugs, Suzanne xx

quick last minute card for the Artful Times - challenge

just finished my entry for the Artul Times Challenge #14: 'postcard' this minute.
It should be a postcard sized 4 by 6 inches and it should include some script/letters.

I've been inspired today by an article in the Craft Stamper magazine.
For the background I dry-embossed some blue cardstock with chipboard letters and sanded them back a little (sadly the embossing doesn't show and stands out that well, I think I used the 'wrong' cardstock - certainly will try this again). Then I overstamped them with a script stamp from darkdroomdoor in brown.
The panels are stamped with images by indigo blu from the 'Grand Tour I' plate on a wrinkle free distress background which I cut out and arranged on the cardstock. I sponged the chipboard letters with vintage photo, overstamped them with the same script stamp and coated them with a layer of glossy. Arranged them on a post-themed strip of Tim Holtz tissue tape.

 

 Thanks for stopping by
Hugs, Suzanne xx

traveling Europe

I just finished my entry for the Artful Times Challenge - a trip to Europe on a TAG.

• I didn't want to use Paris/France stamps / own a very few but never been there neither have I any plans to ever go there.
• I didn't want to make another London tag - the ones already shown in the challenge are too gorgeous to compete with :-)
• I don't have too many stamps from other countries and/or places.
• ... :-D

So it's Ireland - Germany (Frankfurt) - the Netherlands.

The background is green - white - orange, the colors of Ireland (distress ink, sprinkled with water droplets), of course, but orange also is for the Netherlands.
Good old Johann is a shrinkie. To show Ireland I made a transfer of a map on cling film* - turned out very well, I must say. Finally I added a few stamps here and there and a bit of Tim Holtz filmstrip.

Thanks for stopping by
Suzanne xx


For those who asked:
*that's applying and pressing cling film onto a picture and rubbing it firmly (bonefolder, fingers, back of a spoon ...). Then turn it around and moisten the paper with water in order to rub it gently away. Advantage: it won't turn out back-to-front :-)