RSS Challenge 7 (skipped 5 and 6!)

Have been very busy so absent from blogland for a while, though I've been having the odd late night catch-up with my favourites. I have had a go at the latest RSS challenge - I did actually make cards for the last two but never got round to posting them. I've included them here in case anyone is interested! The challenge this time is:



So anyway, here is my entry for this one. The base card is cream and has been stamped with Basic Grey cobweb stamps in suitable shades of Distress inks. Using the same inks, I swooshed them onto glossy card and overstamped it with Elusive Images "Nature's Peace" stamps. The tree in the centre has had little pearls added, which have been coloured with a gold Promarker pen. The hazelnuts (or maybe they are chestnuts?) were also coloured with Promarkers then glazed with Crystal Lacquer. "Autumn" was mounted onto a piece of brown fabric with staples - I'm not quite sure whether it's hessian or a rather open canvas so I hope it will do. The central panel was matted onto brown card and the right hand one onto a patterned ochre paper.








These are the cards that never got entered onto the challenge - ran out of time I guess! Looking at them all together, I realise that I have no consistency at all! They are all different and there's nothing to make them recognisable as mine. I'm sure that's not good - the work of designers I admire are usually instantly recognisable as theirs! I'll think I'll have to try and come up with something ....

RSS Challenge 4

The latest challenge from Ready Steady Stamp! was very interesting again, this time the ingredients were these:

and of course, the usual no cute, no digital and at least one stamp.

So here is my entry:

It's a small canvas, 7" x 5". I stamped the "A" (Elusive Images, Classic Alphabet) at the bottom left with Golden's white Gesso quite thickly - it has a lovely consistency. When it was dry I coloured the canvas with various brown and cream Promarker pens, and brown and cream shades of Distress inks, wiping colour off the "A" if I got it on there and leaving part of the canvas white. I shadow outlined the "A" with darker pens. Meanwhile I made some clear dewdrops with Golden Clear Tar gel and put three small ones next to the "A". I used a Paper Artsy Mini script stamp on cream paper with a Distress ink which I then tore and distressed and stuck over a brown patch top right. The "A" on the scallopped circle was also stamped with Gesso onto cream paper and sprayed with Tattered Leather glimmer mist, which I rubbed off the gesso which had partly resisted it. This was mounted onto a larger scallopped circle and fixed as shown. The oblong of brown and blue cloth was cut from my paint rag (a clean corner) as it just seemed to fit and I like the contrast of textures and colours. Then I punched lots of little squares from brown, cream and white vellum and paper, stamped "A" on some of them (Hampton Arts Old Book mini's) and stuck them on randomly as shown. The remaining dew drops were stuck on last. Hope you like it! You can see the challenge here:

http://www.readysteadystamp.blogspot.com/

Monumentally Blue

No, I'm not feeling particularly miserable! The RSS challenge this time, which you will find here: http://www.readysteadystamp.blogspot.com

has ingredients which include a monument and the colour blue. Also required is at least one stamp, no cute, cuttlewax technique, (see their website for a tutorial) a metal embellishment and cork. I made two pieces this time, the atc was completed first, and I was trying to make a larger item with the same elements, but it wouldn't come out right. I stopped and went off to make a journal page or two, which turned out to be about the sea - they aren't quite finished yet, I may post them when I'm happier with them. So when I came back to the challenge the sea and seaside was in my mind. I love the seaside particularly in cold winter weather - I was brought up there - in summer it always seemed to belong to the visitors, and we all had to work in our holidays anyway. I was a waitress, assistant cook, chambermaid, shop assistant, but one of my schoolfriends, Jane, had a fabulous job (I thought) looking after the donkey ride! But in the winter it was given back to us - we had more free time and there was more room. Anyway, this Crafty Individuals stamp appealed to me immensely and reminded me of Jane so here it is on this little wall plaque. Yes it was near Blackpool where I lived as a teenager! The crown on the donkey's head is metal, the lettering is cork and mounted onto a cuttlewax piece. I hope Blackpool Tower counts as a monument - it's certainly monumental! The Big Wheel is there also. On the atc, the only cork is a picture of a cork in a bottle - but we were told cork in any shape or form!