Heamochromatosis

Heamochromatosis

Not heard of it before? Not many people I know have!

This is the hereditary blood disease that my husband suffers from and if you click the link above it will take you to an explanation of what it is.

As you will read in the article.....whilst there is no cure there is a treatment that involves taking blood from the person periodically to artificially reduce the high levels of iron that accumulate

........I know.....sounds archaic.....brings to mind Victorian medicine & leeches!!

Under normal circumstances............if detected early enough the condition will not necessarily shorten your life.

Unfortunately by the time my husband was diagnosed 7 years ago a great deal of damage had already been done.

His condition might have gone undetected even then due to a combination of factors colliding at the same time, one of them being pneumonia that landed him in hospital......however he was lucky.......as it turns out we have one of the leading experts in the field based at our local hospital.

That was 7 years ago and now he has to return to hospital.

Please read the
Heamochromatosis

web site......you never know.....someone close to you could possibly have this without them necessarily knowing.

I don't post about really personal things here as a rule but felt the need to share the info

..........it just might be a help to someone out there :)

xoxo Sioux

Colour my World

I decided to put the tag I made a few weeks ago to good use....it took some time but at last I am happy with the result :)......I'm such a fussy crafter!!! LOL

...over at A Spoonful of Sugar the theme this week is Easter..."make something inspired by Easter" .....well Easter has to include daffodils for me...I just noticed this morning that my tete a tete ones are in flower....didn't see them there yesterday I'm sure!!!

I stamped the full Popcorn stamp in Impress chocolate onto white card and used it as the background to attach the coloured tag to.....see here for a run down on the colours used.

....created the sentiment block on the computer....inked the flowers and scrolls with a combo of DI's scattered straw, spiced marmalade, rusty hinge, pine needles and shabby shutters......adding the little wording stamp used on Popcorn's tag to the petals of the largest flower.......stamped a little flower all over the base card and layered everything up....although I've used brads to hold the flower layers together I glued them to the card with silicone to get different heights.

I've sent this off to Crafters Companion to say thank you for donating the fabulous set of popcorn stamps and CD's I won as Craft Stamper of the Year (have I mentioned that before? HOL).

Thanks for looking and thank you again Crafters Companion for donating the prize....happy stamping.

xoxo Sioux

P.S. Thanks for your well wishes yesterday...I & DH very much appreciate them....I did not find the time last night to visit everyone......so sorry! And time may be in short supply for a while with hospital visits as I'm afraid he will have to be admitted as soon as...like tomorrow!!

Trial Backgrounds WOYWW

Nothing much crafty to see here for WOYWW.....just a lot of mess on top of mess I'm afraid!!

My excuse....if I really need one is the time taken up with DH trips to both doctors surgery for blood test (3 times in 7days) and hospital for scans as he can't make it on his own...off to the hospital again later today to see consultant.......It's a good job I have an understanding boss :)

Anyways the bits of paper stamped in Shabby Shutters on the cutting mat are background paper trials I'm practising with.....seeing the green colour (spooky coincidence) reminds me

...........Happy St. Patrick's day!

I find it really necessary to use a stamp positioner when using rubber stamps for this.....it's the only way to be sure it's lining up right :)....not that these samples are.....so don't look too close!

.......I love those polymer Papertrey background element stamps which make it much easier to line up but I can't bring myself to pay the extortionate cost of the P&P they charge from America to get some!!! Also some of the sets, to me, don't seem that competitively priced but hey I'd still like one or two!!! LOL

Do you want to see my stamp positioner? Are you ready for a laugh?

.....what do you think? Bit of a Heath Robinson affair eh? But it does the job!

TTFN Sioux

Men Thrinchie for SCD

It's thrinchie making time over at SCD this month and the theme this week is Men.

Even though I make quite a lot of male cards I only seem to have three images of men on stamps!!! I'd like more LOL!

Base card stippled with DI's Rusty Hinge, Wild Honey and Shabby Shutters...Paperartsy man stamped in Versafine then masked...Tanda cheque stamped in Shabby Shutters then masked....Crafty Individuals ledger stamped in Frayed Burlap....CS mag free key stamp in Colourbox celedon and clear embossed....sentiment stamped in Rusty Hinge.

Thanks for looking and happy stamping.

xoxo Sioux

Boys 2 Men Card

Remember this ATC I made? Well it's turned into a birthday card for a dear friend. It also fits the Double Dutch challenge this time so I can enter it there now....only just in time but could not blog about this till said friend had got the card could I?

I added some more stamped images and collaged them......stamped an image in Staz on onto a large brad in the lower corner....the base card I've had for ages...a QVC TSV from way back........dragged some gold paint dabber over the embossed bits and around the edges too.

.......I think the size of ATC's make great accents for a card don't you?

Thanks for looking.

xoxo Sioux

ATC Hallowe'en

Here is the ATC I made for the Hallowe'en swap over at the Artist Trading Club in October.

I stamped and embossed the T!m skeleton with winter wonderland powder (it's got silver glitter in it!) and used DI's frayed jeans & scattered straw on the background...masking off a circular section for the very full harvest moon...we get some really fab ones around here and it takes your breath away when one looms at you over the hill as you drive into our little town.

.......the ticket I designed on the computer and inked....the web is Inkadinkadoo...the dots the full stop from a Studio G set of alphabet stamps as are the word fragments.

Here are the fabulous swaps I received in return.

Thanks for swapping everyone and for looking in today........happy stamping.

xoxo Sioux

Time - SCD

The theme of "Time" is the challenge over at SCD and we are making an ATC for the last week of the month......then we post 'em in to Carol and wait for the swaps back :)

Time is a constant source of inspiration as it can mean so many things in so many ways don't you think? For the time challenge I decided to go down this road.........I often wish you could take 50% off LOL!!

I inked up the background using the swooshing T!m way using DI's Frayed Jeans, Scattered Straw and the divine new colour Rusty Hinge......stamped the Paperarsty crown and masked it then stamped the skull...used a quickie glue pen to stick the gilding flakes on the crown and added Adirondack wild plum dimensional acrylic dots........stamped the Stamp Attack label onto a previously made background and wrote/stamped the wording.....the ruler idea I've done before but Hel's fab tag the other day reminded me how good it can look......applied glossy accents to the stamped letters and cut out....the bracket and exclamation mark are both stamped in Rusty Hinge although in the photo they look completely different!

Thanks for looking and happy stamping......looking forward to seeing what delights return in the swap :)

xoxo Sioux

Men and a No. 9 Bus!

You know how it is?......you wait hours for a number 9 bus and then 5 turn up at once!!!

I'm talking about challenges not men btw!!HOL.....all of a sudden inspiration to create is bombarding me from all directions LOL my only gripe is that I just don't have enough hours in the day to give 'em all a fair attempt!!...I should make a note of the prompts I suppose but I'm just not that organised!!

So over at Hels Sunday Stamper this week the theme is "Men"........as luck would have it I found I could use my new stamp from Joan Gevaert again...paired up with the Paperartsy man I got with the CS subscription last year.

I masked off two negative oval shapes with paper and stamped each with an image and stippled with Scattered Straw.......then masked the image with the positive oval and inked with DI's Dusty Concord and Frayed Burlap.......added the wording in Spiced Marmalade and the pens (Artifacts) in Impress Chocolate........Oooh!...and what do you know the crackly grungy bit on the background is some of that packaging inked up from this post............Fab & Free!!! Who could ask for more?

BTW.....I passed on the Di's on offer at QVC....the colour combo did not include my preferred choice in either option, so have decided to just go for a couple of re-inkers elsewhere......however.....I did buy the mini mister set with stand as I have yet to find it cheaper elsewhere in effect even with the P&P you get a set of 3 misters for free!!!

Thanks for looking and happy stamping!

xoxo Sioux

ATC - "Cookies"

The Artist Trading Club theme this month is Cookies!

Mmmm......yes....I did not know what it was either.....not sure if I do now HOL!

Anyways it definitely includes doodling and I think an image...anyways that's what I ended up doing!!! :).....you know by now that I'm not one for making 5 different ATC's but there was no way I could see me doing 5 the same that involved doodling so went with the idea of 5 different ones from the word go......using an old favourite song to start me off..."Up on the roof".....there is not much to say about the making I just found 5 images that suited and doodled around them in a Pilot pen and coloured with Copics.

These are the four I'm sending in for swapping.

This is the one I'm keeping.

...I usually keep number one of my ATC's purely because it's the one I trial on for the rest, but because these are all different anyway it's because I don't think it's as nice as the rest....so if I'm not happy with it I'm not about to lumber someone else with it!!! LOL

You've still got time to join in.......closing date end of month.

Thanks for looking and happy doodling!!!

xoxo Sioux

P.S. Call me sad but I'm taking a holiday day off work tomorrow...it's Craft Day on QVC and there looks like a mega bunch of talented people turning up......I will take what I can from the shows although I realise the main aim is to sell products.....perhaps some gems of crafting wisdom will come my way....there is no other chance of seeing the like in my neck of the woods!.....I don't intend to buy anything.....yes I know!......but I mean it....that is unless the new DI colours are a bargain waiting to be had ;) LOL

Searching

Something Completely Different or SCD for short have the theme "Keys" for the week 39 challenge.

Don't forget it is a month of making ATC's and swapping at the end of it! Fun.

I stamped the umbrella man in Versafine onto the base white card then masked him and gold embossed the key (CS freebie)......stippled Spiced Marmalade and Faded Jeans....stamped the tickets in WS and the compass (Tanda) in Tea Dye..........added the rainy dots in FJ too and the T!m wording in Impress Chocolate........."searching" is in Fired Brick which I then outlined in black.......stamped the grass (Tanda) in Pine Needles

.......ooh! BTW don't go looking for a grass stamp like that at Tanda you won't see one....It was actually a bit attached to another stamp I bought and I have to say I think it's the bees knees....I've used it a couple of times already to add a bit of distress edging to ATC's....yes, I know........little things etc. etc. LOL!

...Whilst we are on the subject of free stamps I made a fabby discovery yesterday.....what do you think of the image I got from inking up the piece of foam packaging? The word scrummy comes to mind!!! LOL.

Thanks for looking and happy stamping.

xoxo Sioux

Time will tell!

Yep! Time will definately tell on this! Not sure if I like how much time this takes up or not yet LOL.

I decided to have a go at a bit of art journalling for the challenge this week at Tuesday Taggers "Time"...this is a 4"x4" size....well actually it is 4x4 and 5/16ths...I wanted to allow space down the side for the holes needed to put it in book format later and then forgot and left more space at the other side...........don't ask!!!

I inked the card lightly with DI Antique Linen then stamped the girl (Stamp Attack) in archival...masked the girl and clear embossed the skeleton (Stampers Anonymous) over the top.....stippled Scattered Straw, Tea Dye and Spiced Marmalade on the background...although you can hardly tell there is any Spiced Maramlade there now!!!......stamped the script stamp (SA again) in Walnut Stain and the pens (Artifacts) in Impress Chocolate....doodled with a Pilot drawing pen and coloured with copics....coloured the girl with distress inks.

Thanks for looking and happy stamping!

xoxo Sioux.

Days of Wine and Roses

Well...at long last I manage a Gingersnap Challenge! It just seems that every week I look and think yes I'll do that one.......then it passes me by and before I know it the whole month has passed by!!! How can that happen LOL? Here is my tag for the Chestnut Challenge with the theme of Romance. My inspiration was one of my favourite movies "Days of Wine and Roses" which sounds like a very romantic movie and in some ways it is in a bitter sweet sort of way......it does become quite dark and haunting....haven't seen it for years....does not seem to crop up much on the television repeats....anyways my tag is not meant to be dark and haunting!!! LOL..and if you are going to have days of wine & roses you may as well spend them in Paris.....not that I've ever been but I imagine that's where you ought to be!!!

The Paperartsy Eiffel Tower was stamped in Archival and the post card and Bordeaux (Royal & Langnickel) in red Stazon then DI's Fired Brick, Frayed Burlap and Tea Dye used for the the background.....roses made from stamped paper coloured with DI's as per T!m's instructions on the 12 tags of Christmas posts....a couple of scrolls at the top in shabby shutters and an All My Memories metal heart to finish.

Thanks for looking and happy stamping :)

xoxo Sioux

P.S. I have to confess I started thinking about this tag for Hels Sunday Stamper The Rose last week but was sidetracked and missed it yet again.......sorry Hels!!! Ooh! I also love the song btw.

Stacks of Ink!

Whoops! it seems I've taken over the dining table again! For WOYWW the ATC's on the craft sheet are for the Artist Trading Club this month....still unsure about these...but am carrying on regardless and colouring them in..........and the stacks of ink?

Well whilst waiting for some elements to dry for a different ATC I was making I decided to do something I've been meaning to do for ages.....you know how it is!!

Stamped the wording with the small Studio G letter stamps......they are just peeking out from behind the ink stack in the first picture.....Oh! How I wish I could find some more of those at 99p!!! I've got three more colours of ink (Fired Brick, Anitque Linen and Dusty Concord) but they are in re-inker form.....I decided that I could probably save money that way.

.........I wonder if T!m's new colours will be the TSV on QVC on Craft day next Tuesday?....and more to the point will they really be any cheaper than anywhere else seeing as they have "such a large buying power" they always are banging on about!!........I do sometimes wonder at the P&P charges they come up with C&C are no different I noticed the other day on there that some Cut & Dry Foam was selling for £4.95 and the postage was exactly the same....outrageous!

xoxo Sioux

Special Love

Hels Sunday Stamper this week is Love thanks for the challenge!

I'm never satisfied........here I am waiting ages to own some Crafty Individuals collage style stamps....I'm then lucky to win some and what do I do? Start to dissect them (not literally!!) to create something different!! LOL....I wanted to practise masking off the actual rubber image with sellotape to isolate the bit I wanted...you can see what I mean here.

I then whisked off the sellotape and stamped the birdies onto an ATC that I had inked with Fired Brick, Tea Dye and Frayed Burlap.

I then did the same with the moon in the corner (from CI Whitby Abbey)...only looking at it now.....is it just me?........or do you think it looks like vultures are waiting to strike the cute birdies?........call me weird......yes you can if you like...LOL......but I quite like the effect!!! HOL

Thanks for looking and happy stamping.

xoxo Sioux

Broken Wings - SCD

The theme at SCD this week is "Wings" ...another fab idea....still keeping to the monthly ATC format.

I swooshed DI's Antique Linen, Scattered Straw and a touch of Dusty Concord onto the base card then stamped the lady (Stamp Attack) in Tattered Rose with a touch of Tea Dye on the hat

.......masked her off and stamped the wording "secrets" in Dusty Concord with a little x in Spiced Marmalade......stuck a piece of book paper to some card stamping the butterfly in Archival tattered the edges and inked with Tea Dye then added Distress Crackle Rock Candy....used a bit of wire for the antennae and attached with silicone glue.....stamped the word fragments on a bit of left over background from my Eternity ATC and added Anita's 3D gloss.

Don't forget we can swap our ATC's this month......Carol is kindly organising that.

Thanks for looking and happy stamping.

xoxo Sioux

P.S. Nearly forgot.....there are some digital image sheets for a lucky winner this week........June from Dezinaworld is kindly offering them.

Love is all around - TT

That's the theme over at Tuesday Taggers this week.....the birds are singing beautifully in our back garden at the moment.....spring is starting to spring all around.....here is my Twinchie.

I've left this fairly neutral so that I can use it on a card to say thanks or as a birthday motif to a friend etc.

I stippled DI's Tea Dye and Fired Brick on the background and added a small damask motif (my own) in Tattered Rose the xoxo is stamped in Impress chocolate......tattered the edges and inked with DI Walnut Stain........the Crafty Individuals stamp was stamped in DI Walnut Stain onto a textured card.....I like how the texture gives it a shabby look......tattered the edges and inked with Fired Brick.

..................the Craft Emporium is sponsoring the challenge this week with a surprise paper pack from CHA...oooh! I wonder what that could be :)

Thanks for looking.

xoxo Sioux

TMTA - Eternity

Over on TMTA the theme is "Eternity" so they want to know what you think of when you hear the word.

......I love that word...........ETERNITY.........it makes be drift off and think of all that has happened in the universe before we arrived.....all the associated things we don't understand yet....I think about all that is yet to be discovered after we are gone....I journey through the darkness past our solar system and beyond the galaxies we can see from Earth...........further and further.....

....until I get a bit spooked and have to stop!!! LOL.............Well....they did ask!!!

I used the free stamp from CS this month.........now......it may not look like it represents Eternity but as soon as I saw it the words of a song by Joni Mitchell and famously sung by Crosby, Stills and Nash drifted into my head (showing my age there I think)

......(I won't say my brain because by now you probably think I've lost it!!! HOL)

"We are stardust...we are golden...we are billion year old carbon"....perhaps it was the circles which of course are never ending.......as is eternity........that did it :)

So here is my ATC........sorry about the babble but I felt like sharing!

I used am emboss pen to make circles and embossed with Moonglow Pumpkin.....they are a representation of the stars in the constellation Orion......swooshed DI's Faded Jeans and Pine Needles a la T!m for the background and hand wrote the star names adding the number of light years away......the girl was a mistake that turned out in the end!!!

....I distress embossed with antique linen but it was not showing up so I over stamped with Versafine...the circles now almost look 3D...the compass image was another mistake that turned out!!....I wanted a grey almost ghostly effect but it was that ghostly you could not see it so threw a bit of verdigris embossing powder on and hoped for the best!!! LOL

Thanks for looking and happy stamping

xoxo Sioux

Teddy Bear

This is only just in time I fear for Tuesday Taggers this week...heck it's Tuesday again tomorrow!!!

I have made a start on a card that this tag will eventually be going on but it is not coming together at the moment so here is my tag.

This is a Popcorn bear image from Crafters Companion......the full image is rather large so I decided to stamp him onto a smaller area of card to cut him down to size so to speak! LOL

.....image water coloured with DI's Walnut Stain....Antique Linen.....Shabby Shutters.....Pine Needles.....Scattered Straw.....Fired Brick and Spiced Marmalade.

.....I know strictly speaking he is not a tag yet but I'm not really sure if I want a hole at all

......or if I want rounded corners or what just yet!!!

Thanks for looking and happy stamping.

Oooops! Nearly forgot......there is a prize this week from The Craft Barn for the lucky winner.

xoxo Sioux

Celebrate ATC for Joan Gevaert

I made this ATC as a small thank you to Joan Gevaert who donated the twinchie stamps that I won over at The Artist Trading Club recently....and I had a lovely comment from Hermine who is the stamp designer that I very much appreciated....It makes you feel all warm inside!

You know I mentioned before about having a really bad aversion to ripping up books? Well....I bought a paperback the other day (one that held no desire for me to read!!) that had a naturally aged patina to the pages and am using them now...phew and only 30p...bargain!!! LOL

...now that I have started stamping on pages there will be no stopping me...so I am entering this into the Lots To Do challenge this week which is backgrounds.

Glued a piece of book page to the card and let dry.......then put sellotape where the stamp was going to go and ripped it back off to take away some of the top layer just like T!m did on one of the 12 tags of Christmas posts.....stamped the twinchie stamp in Impress chocolate and a Paperartsy border stamp on three edges in archival......the Paperartsy word "Joy" was distress embossed in tattered rose over worn lipstick ink...cut out and edged with black marker...a mixture of tea dye and walnut stain used to age the edges.

.....do you see the brads in the corner?

...these are not just any old brads!

...these are genuine antique brads!

.....over 50 years old at least to my knowledge (and the rest I suspect)....as you can read on the label these are from the days when they used to be called paper fasteners!!...I only have a small supply in this old tin box that I inherited from my father so they are very precious.....they have a colour and quality you just don't get today and the paperclip (bit on the rusty side LOL) was from the same source......Gorgeous!!
Thanks for looking and happy stamping.
xoxo Sioux

P.S. Anyone know what the copper medallion was for? It reads Accrington Corporation with the number 288 and is plain on the back.

SCD - Mad March Hare

What a fab lot of creations from the DT this week for the start of a new month focusing on ATC's over at SCD with the theme this week being Mad March Hare set by Laura.....and what's that I see? Chriss from the Artist Trading Club is guest designer....go over and take a look.

I could not wait to get my thinking cap on and here is the result.

I googled the knave of hearts and found the old playing card image on Wikipedia printed it out and stuck it to the base card....did the same with the mask....I love Venetian masks don't you?...I also found in my searching that the original mad march hare in Alice in Wonderland was drawn with straw in his hair......it seems it was a Victorian depiction of madness!!

...I've gone mad myself and given the hare points of the compass for eyes!!!...I also embossed the mask although It does not show up well on the photo.....much better irl.

(Tanda Stamps for the compass and the postage stamp)

......the word fragments are part of a phrase from AinW when the hare is at the Mad Hatters tea party......at least I think it is when they are at the tea party!!! LOL

.........crackle painted the larger heart in fired brick and glittered the little heart.

I can't seem to get Alice in Wonderland out of my head at the moment.....have you seen the trailer on my sidebar? I am so looking forward to seeing that film.....looks like a grand grown up version.

Thanks for looking and don't forget.........we are all going to send our ATC's in at the end of the month and get swaps back.....fun...fun...FUN!

xoxo Sioux

P.S. I've at last got round to buying some ATC pockets for protection....got them fromTanda along with the two stamps I used above

...................and they popped two free stamps in with the order isn't that great?!

ATC for Chriss

I've had more than my fair share of luck just lately and Chriss at The Artist Trading Club asked if I would make her a special ATC just for her with one of the twinchie stamps I won

.....I was happy to oblige :)

I clear embossed the sentiment "Dream as if you'll live forever......" onto the base white card then stippled DI's Scattered Straw and Frayed Jeans all over and then blended the colours a bit with a dry baby wipe......stippling seems to give the colours a more muted look in my view.......stamped the twinchie stamp kindly donated by Joan Gevaert in archival and sponged a bit of FJ on the watch and FB on the postage stamp......stamped and embossed the Elusive Images word "ART" in pewter (love that...it looks like liquid metal :)).....the word "make" is Paperartsy coloured with copics...T!m scroll around the edges in WS and the bingo line in Tattered Rose...Artifacts pen stamped onto copper paper and cut out..edges tattered and inked with WS.

I am thrilled that Chriss liked it.....doing a happy dance ;)

Thanks for looking and happy stamping.

xoxo Sioux

ATC Sewing

Here is the ATC I made for the Sewing theme over at the Artist Trading Club.....I thought I had posted this ages ago but it seems not!!!

I photocopied an old sewing pattern and reduced it to an ATC friendly size and cut out the sewing diagrams.....now....I can't remember exactly what I did with the background but I know it involved gluing some scrunched up tissue paper onto the base and scattering some distress embossing powder over it for some texture then I stamped a watch face in archival.....alcohol inked two of the buttons in the corner and the sentiment was computer generated and stitched on top of a small sample I had of patchwork quilting material.....I have enough of those small pieces to last 3 life times I think at the rate I am using them HOL!!!

Here are the ones I received in the swap are they not fab?!

Thanks for looking

xoxo Sioux

A Fond Farewell!

No...not from me!

Rach has decided to take a blogging break.....shock horror!!

She seems to indicate it might be some time before she returns too.

Just to say that Rach inspired me to get in touch with my girly side...no mean feat as I am more of the grungey type LOL!....and her card confections are never anything but perfect.....I will miss popping along.

So have happiness in whatever you are doing instead of blogging Rach and thanks for the brilliant inspiration :).......

As sure as eggs is eggs.........if I were to be on a design team.........I think it would kill my creativity stone dead!!!.........I would end up feeling like I had to create instead of wanting to create....This is my way of relaxing not putting extra pressure on myself LOL!.....I don't know if that is how she feels but I understand if it is the case.

xoxo and hugs to Rach

SCD - Gothic Cat

SCD theme this week is Cats I hope this is o.k. nothing was said about how big a cat!! LOL

I am madly in love with Tigers :) and drew the image some time ago (wooo!! that would be about 18 years ago when I used to engrave glass.......time flies when you are having fun!!!) and now I have turned it into a digi stamp thanks to the wonder of computers.

I printed the image and quickly threw some clear emboss powder over it as soon as it came out of the printer!!! Whilst you don't always get the great coverage as with stamping, the heat does help to set the ink that might not have caught much powder.

......proceeded to stipple DI's Scattered Straw and Spiced Marmalade over the tiger and radiated outwards.......then masked the tiger and added some Faded Jeans and Tea Dye in places

........stamped the dark green leaves in DI Pine Needles using a second stamping for the lighter image......stamped the ferns in Shabby Shutters and over stamped with a second stamping of Walnut Stain......grunged the edge and dragged with Walnut Stain.

........I did not feel like doing my normal word fragments for the quote so decided to print it onto acetate.....added eyelets and for now have used fibres to hold the two pieces together...added a couple of gems and gold peel off scrolls.

I rather like the arch format.....thanks for the challenge all at SCD!....and perhaps will use metal rings to hold a whole book full of them in the future.......here is the open arch as it is not obvious about the overlay from the first photo!

The leaf and fern stamps are Royal & Langnickel.

Thanks for looking and happy stamping.

xoxo Sioux

SCD - Gothic Angel

Big fan of angels and any quotes that go with them

........could not miss SCD Angel theme this week then!

Decided to doodle my angel a la Teesha......the background is a digi paper from Rhonna Farrer that was a freebie collaboration for breast cancer awareness one year and I added the angel quote before printing it out........stamped the swirly edge stamp from Woodware and added the angel that I cut out and colored with chalks as I wanted a muted look then Distress Stickles Antique Linen was added to the wings.

Thanks for looking

xoxo Sioux

Thank You Crafty Individuals

At last some real life stamping to show!....Still got the sniffles...still got the sneezes....still blowing my nose!!! Sorry.......was the last bit too much information? LOL

...Thank heavens for Kleenex Balsam tissues!!!!!!

Here is the card I made from some of the stash from Crafty Individuals.

I used plate numbers C1-203 - Ledger background C1-201 Four square blocks with silhouettes of birds in hearts C1-053 Journey wording and C1-180 Venezia bird.

........I could have done with some of that Distress Ink colour co-ordinated ribbon again for this!!! Why not vote on the side bar if you haven't already....I know there might not be many of us but perhaps T!m will give it some thought if enough people enter the vote widget...who knows?

...and speaking of T!m have you seen the new die cutting tool he showed yesterday on his blog?

...Wow! I don't own a die cutting machine and have no plans to buy one but seeing that has really made me have a double think....it seems it can cut really thick stuff like acrylic.....lets hope it will be manufactured sturdily enough to cope with the tough jobs I know a lot of people will want to do!! LOL ;)...unfortunately in my experience far too many craft tools/machines are not up to the job they were designed for...don't know about you but I for one cannot afford to throw good money after bad!

Here is a (fairly) quick how I did the card......

I stippled DI Shabby Shutters onto some white card and stamped the Venezia bird in Impress Chocolate...wiping off the ink on the postage frank area and adding DI Fired Brick cut out and tattered the edges and inked with FB again

.....Stamped the ledger background in DI Tattered Rose and stippled bits of Tea Dye and Scattered Straw.......tattered the edges and inked with DI WS

....Stippled DI Worn Lipstick onto white card and stamped the silhouette bird in Walnut Stain and distress embossed with worn lipstick....n.b. I forgot to dry off the stippled background and everything was still wet when I embossed...der!...as it happens I quite liked the way it turned out!!! ;)

........Stamped part of the Journey wording onto a sheet of CI printed paper and cut out a bracket shape from thin chipboard to stick this to...filed the edges and edged with a Pilot gold pen

..........the photo corner was chipboard again with a piece of CI paper......made a mini tag at the side from left over bit of a previous stamping trial!!.....stamped and clear heat embossed the sentiment and attached a paperclip with a ribbon

Sorry for the long waffle.

Thanks for looking and thank you Crafty Individuals for giving all this scrumminess as a prize.

xoxo Sioux :)

P.S. I'm entering this in Allsorts challenge as it seems to fit their Hearts & Flowers theme.

Crafty Individuals Prize

I have coveted owning some of these stamps for ever! So you will probably understand how thrilled I was that these were part of the Craft Stamper of the Year prize :))))

It is thanks to not having the money to buy any of these that I played around with the stamps I did have to try to emulate the fab collage stamps they do......I'm convinced it has helped me on the road to being a better stamper in a perverse round about way and has helped me try out techniques I might otherwise not have.....LOL!

I'll be posting a card made with some of these goodies soon :)

xoxo Sioux

P.S. I never did get round to making the Home Impressions card I promised due to that pesky cold/fluey bug!!.....in fact I have felt I bit perkier only in the past couple of days....I'll have to make another attempt at the card soon...the idea I did have has gone off the boil! ;)

Home Impressions Prize

Eclectic mix of fab stamps in the Home Impressions prize package

These have to be some of the most deeply etched stamps I've come across

....don't think there is much chance of ever not getting a perfect stamped impression!

I received some bright white coated paper today in a candy package from my sweet blogging chum Gez and have had yet another Copic practise!

.......Yes!........It really must be the paper that makes the difference I'm quite pleased with the result on this as I only used 3 colours and just kept adding another layer of the same colour to get the different shades......the more experienced Copic creators out there might question the state of my blending but I'm just so happy that there is no bleeding!!!!

I'll post the card I made with it tomorrow if I can get it finished.....got another fabulous cold from hell!!! :(

Thanks for looking

xoxo Sioux

Gothic Arch New Year

Over at SCD it's Gothic arches for the month and this weeks theme is New Year

Here is my offering.

I stippled.......like that word makes a change from swooshing!.......the background using a cheapo shaving brush with DI's Spiced Marmalade and Shabby Shutters then spritzed some copper glimmery mist which miraculously I seem to have captured again on film!! LOL

.....stamped the clock in Impress chocolate.....the sentiment in DI Fired Brick and embossed the chandelier with disco black......dabbed some Adirondack dimensional acrylic in terra cotta onto the scroll and stamped bits near the top and bottom.....tattered the edges with my scissors and used Walnut Stain around the edges..........word fragments stamped onto a piece of same background and edged with DI WS.

Not too sure this is finished quite as I am hoping to join in with a few more Gothic arches this month and depending on how many perhaps turn it into a triptych or a book or maybe this will be the only one in which case it might be the cover of a little journal book.....who knows?!

.........I have such good intentions LOL.

Thanks for looking

xoxo Sioux

P.S. As a bit of fun I've added a vote widget about Distress Ink colour matched ribbons on the side bar.....closes end Jan

Hearts

A Spoon Full of Sugar challenge are asking to see "Hearts" this week.

I couldn't resist using the freebie stamp from Craft Stamper this month designed by Glenda Waterworth from Elusive Images.....it is gorgeous!

Stamped the image 3 times in DI's Scattered Straw, Dusty Concord and Fired Brick.....then masked them and used a T!m script stamp as a background with a gold ink although it does not look much like gold either in real life or on the photo!! LOL

The layer below uses the small flourish stamps on the Dawn Chorus plate from EI stamped in DI's Frayed Burlap, Tea Dye and Tattered Rose....both layers had tea dye sponged edges and Walnut stain to finish........stamped and clear embossed the sentiment and added the ribbons.

Now.........those ribbons......although I was ever so lucky and managed to find some bits I had saved from crackers a few years ago.......the top ribbon is not from the same source and is a different width etc but the colours are pretty good as a match to the inks so I went ahead and used them!

...........Guess what though? I had an idea and decided to e-mail T!m Holtz about it.....do you think I'll get a reply? Perhaps not........he must get hundreds of the darn things! LOL

.......anyways I asked if he could get someone to manufacture gro-grain and satin ribbon in Distress Ink colours.....do you you think you would use them if he did?.......perhaps T!m (being a man) does not think about ribbons much! HOL

I know I could have coloured some plain stuff with the DI's but it was not quite the look I was after.

Off to link it now before I'm too late!

Thanks for looking and happy stamping

xoxo Sioux

Edit: Ooooh! Ooooh! Ooooh! T!m replied.....he said "thanks susan - i'll pass it along."

Thank You Woodware!

Here is the card I promised yesterday!

I used the elephant image from this post and punched a decorative border along the bottom before matting it onto a piece of purple card.....The base A6 size card is Kraft and I stamped the peacock feather from the same Woodware set randomly over the top half using a mixture of Colour Box cats eye ink pads directly onto the stamp in Celadon, Colonial Blue and Peacock....how fitting!! LOL

Stamped the sentiment and clear embossed then sponged around the edges of both the card and the focal image with DI TD.....tied knots in the blue ribbon both sides of the focal image...'cos an elephant never forgets!.....and added some gems for a bit of bling.

Thanks for looking..and thank you to Woodware for donating the prizes.......I have only scratched the surface and used this one set of stamps so far..........happy stamping!

xoxo Sioux

Woodware Prize!

Here is the Woodware part of my prize and if anyone is looking from Woodware and thinks there is something missing they would be right!......I shared some of these goodies with my Auntie Bella as a Christmas present along with some other bit and bobs..........she is 94 years young and has been making things all her life and really enjoys making cards now that she is not as physically active as she used to be.........it must be where I get it from!

I'll share the card I made tomorrow.

xoxo Sioux

P.S. thanks for all the helpful input regarding best card to use with Copics.

I believe in Angels

"I believe in Angels" one of my all time favourite ABBA songs!

So I thought I'd play along with the Three Muses challenge this week "Angels" and share a scrapbook page.

There is not one bit of stamping on this as I made it some time ago....I'd need three lifetimes to give scrap booking my undivided attention so needless to say I have not done many pages!!! LOL

The base page is Basic Grey and the music paper is 7 Gypsies both are to die for!! The hearts are padded and use some quilting material.......yes I've dabbled in that too.........the middle heart opens and has some pages of angel quotes inside........the picture is of one of my favourite Christmas decorations bought from Homebase a few years ago....she is gorgeous.....and the Angel wording was designed in my Serif programme and printed onto acetate which I raised up over the real feather that I had found on the ground and was so pristine white it was unreal! It was the starting point for making the layout in the first place as it looked to ethereal.

Thanks for looking.

xoxo Sioux

Copic Colouring Trial and Error!

Trial and error!

Yep......I'm still practising Copic colouring!!!

I'm sure eventually I will get the hang of this..........

I bought some 100lb smooth surface cartridge paper from Winsor & Newton to try and the first attempt (the wishy washy one on the left or is it the right.........never too sure if it's my left or your left or whatever!!! LOL) was stamped with an Archival black pad that could do with a re-inker...must find one of those on the net!...and as you can see there is no definition I tried going back and adding a bit of black lines over the top but everything slowly merged together wishy washy like!!........I suppose at some point it might just be the effect I want..but not on this....strangely the watercolour paper I tried the other day does not bleed the colours like this

....I would have thought it might!!

Not to be defeated I tried stamping with another black ink pad and clear embossing the image...then tried colouring and have to say it looks 100% better........still not blended quite as I would like but hey it is only the 3rd thing I've coloured in!!! LOL :)

Thanks for looking

xoxo Sioux

P.S. My northern friend Gez advised to try bright white coated card stock but that is easier said than done obtaining any round here!! LOL

WOYWW?

Or should that be Who's On Your Workdesk Wednesday?

Fitz has taken to sleeping in here lately if I forget to close the doors.

.....I've been using it for about 18 months now and he has never even thought of jumping up on the desk never mind sleeping in there!

Maybe it is his age? I forget he is going on 14 now.......not sure of his exact age as the rescue centre only guessed he was around 3 or 4 when we got him....do cats have senility problems?...Our first cat lived to be nearly 19 and was active until near the very end.

xoxo Sioux

P.S. What do you know? My link within widget is working again!!! I have installed and un-installed it more than once but tried it again yesterday and seems to be back after each post!!! Technology?!!! LOL

Thank You Paperartsy

As soon as I saw the fancy shield/plaque stamp from Crowns & Castles 5 I thought it looked like a face/head and decided to try and make a body with some of the other stamps to go with it!

Here is the card I promised to share yesterday...it is A5 size.

I stamped the shield onto a piece of card that had already been coloured and cut it out then used the Copics to colour the crown and added some Adirondack dimensional acrylics and bling.

....the nose and eyes were from Crowns & Castles 3.......one of the small arch windows became the nose and the eyes were from the arch border......the body was from the set of stamps I won before Christmas from Paperartsy.........designed to be used with metal........but I stamped it onto some paper with an image from the Graphics Fairy ssbfl left over from this project....the arms are the pen nibs from Crowns & Castles 5 stamped onto some dictionary quote papers (K & Co I think)...the border around the card is from Crowns & Castles 6 stamped with Adirondack stream and the whole background had inks & glimmer sprayed over the whole lot.....and I seem to have caught the glimmer for a change in the photo!!

Both sentiment stamps are Paperartsy and a bit of fibre wrapped around the spine finished it off along with a printed insert.

Thanks for looking and thank you to Paperartsy for donating these as a prize I shall have many a happy stamping hour I'm sure.....Spookily Hels' week 85 challenge over at Sunday Stampers is Faces...so I'm off to link it there.

xoxo Sioux

Paperartsy Prize!

Been having a play with the Paperartsy part of my prize.

Fitz decided to get in on the act...I'm too soft....that is my piercing mat he is resting his head on!

All together now Aaaaaah!

Will share tomorrow the card I made.

xoxo Sioux

We have winners!

Just a quickie!

Great news!

T!m decided to give away more than one main prize for the 12 tags of Christmas

...such a generous guy!

What do you know? Gail on the splinter group was one of those lucky people!

Huge congrats :)

What's more Katie, Joanne and Helen won some candy over at The Artistic Stamper too!

Huge congrats :0)

xoxo Sioux