Another Splash of Green

Got my free stamp yesterday with CS and loved it so just had to use it.  it was designed by Tracey Coates (designer for The Stamp Man - and check out Jill's  fab clock in this issue).

I made this card yesterday as soon as I got the stamp but decided to leave the uploading until today as I will be out for most of it and no time to blog later (well, make anything to blog).

Felt the image really lent itself to black and white so decided to do another entry for PDC.  Consequently I had to include some green in it so again I used it for part of the mount.  Don't know who the swirls are by but thought I would make my own patterned paper and they seemed to work.

Think I have gone a bit mad with the black and white - thanks Sarah for helping my mojo.  See you later!

Black and White

Couldn't sleep, eyes tired but mind too active so I got up and made Chas his birthday card.  I am entering this into the Play Date Cafe Challenge this week, set by my friend Sarah.  It is Black and White with a touch of green.

Not a clue when I started which stamp I was going to use so went in my drawer marked "men" and found this one from Art Journey which I bought at Stempel Mekka a couple of years ago.

Stamped it in Archival Black and embossed with clear ep then mounted on some black cs and then on another white piece which I stamped randomly with some leaves from the same plate.  Next I mounted it on more black with bits cut out and then on green cs.  A final mount of black and it was finished apart from the "Happy Birthday" which again was stamped and embossed in black.

So that is it - got to hide it away for another week so he doesn't see it, now to find him a present.

WOYWW

Ok so it is Thursday but I have decided to follow loads of my friends and join in WOYWW - a day late - does it matter?  Hope not.  Here is my desk last night:

You can see my spray booth (love it - it is by Colorbox and folds up to nothing.  There are several pieces of lace hanging from it drying in readiness for attaching to my album for Chloe.  The pasta machine is to the right (waiting for me to get going on my claywork) and the box to the left with the brown edging is full of clay stuff too.  You can't really see but in front of that is a tile with some half finished clay pieces on - I really must get on with them.  The rest is just some of my drawers of rubber stamps and general stuff - bit of a mess behind the spray booth to be honest.

Well, this morning I put my lace ties on the album and did a bit more titivating on it - this is the result:

As you can see I have put some pearls on and a little charm which says "dream".  I then proceeded to use the four photographs her mummy had sent to me (remember?  "so you don't forget me") on the inside pages.  Might still add more in the way of pearls down the side and some charms - haven't decided yet.  Now I am not sure whether my friend would agree to me putting photographs of her little treasure on the internet so I have put paper circles over her face to preserve her anonymity.  

These photos are of her on a Ladybird ride - I wanted to put them both on a page so made a pocket, with MS punched lace border, and turned one photograph into a tag.  The letters are cut out with Spellbinders dies and were cut from some dark blue scrapbook paper which I dabbed all over with three or four colours of Ranger Dabbers.

Now a question for all you scrappers out there - what glue do you use for adhering your photographs?  I have been using Tombow but it has run out now luckily had another that said "acid free" but wonder what else I can use as I get in such a mess with glue sticks.

Domino Stamping

To begin - prepare dominoes:

Either bleach overnight in strong bleach (careful not to get spinner immersed or it will tarnish) – wash well in clear water afterwards OR Use Gesso artists medium (gives a good base on which to colour).   OR Use a nail sanding block (available from good Chemists).

You can stamp direct to domino with Pigment or Solvent Ink Pad.

Stamping on Dominoes

I think the best Ink Pads to use are Brilliance (you must heat set first and allow to cool) or Stazon, but you can also use Memories, Ancient Page, Colorbox Chalks

Take domino to stamp rather than stamp to domino – heat in well-ventilated room.

Colouring Mediums:

Lumieres, Drawing Inks, Watercolours or Watercolour Pencils/Crayons, Pencil Crayons, Gel Pens, OHP Markers, Adirondack Pens, ,Chalk Ink Pads, Dye inkpads.  Always heat set between each stage.

Seal (takes 10-15 mins to dry) with:

Anita’s 3-D Clear Gloss Finish, Glossy Accents, Mod Podge, Diamond Glaze, Crystal Lacquer, Humbrol Acrylic Varnish

Before varnishing you can seal with a Fixative Spray (especially for inks/felt tips etc) but the only one that I found works does not seem to be available in the UK  – Krylon Fixatif – available in America.

Finish off with a border and edge the domino using  Edding paint markers or Krylon Pens.

Make into:

Pins, Pendants, Bracelets, Fridge Magnets, Keyrings,  Use as embellishments for cards and boxes, Use as spotlights for cards, Make a picture using several dominoes placed together and the masking technique or as large stamp.  Cover a flat clock face or old tray .....

If you are going to drill use  a low speed drill or Dremel (cheaper versions are available) or the domino will shatter – wear eye protection and put a piece of masking tape on first to stop the drill bit slipping when you start off.

Also use:

Trionimoes, Poker Chips, Check Its, Majhong tiles …….. most of these are available in America if you don't find them over here – www.SkyBluePink.com is a supplier I use.

(some people leave the back showing the domino, some paint the pips, some paint the whole back and some cover in felt/velvet.  I like to leave the back to show it is a domino, nice gift for a special birthday if the pips reflect an age.)


The above are notes I used to issue at my workshops (way back in 2003/4).  Sid asked me why I stopped doing dominoes - well, I guess I got so many I did not know what to do with them.  Towards the end I bought a tray from somewhere and lined the base of it with lots of my dominoes.

Can you see Elvis?

and there's Marilyn top right

I once did an article for Craft Stamper on dominoes, here are a couple of the things I included in that particular article

A couple of Coasters

Wine charms to go with them

and a cuff for the bottle of wine

There were also some Christmas tree decorations but they are away with all the other Christmas stuff so not easy to get to for the blog at the moment.

If you look on my post of the 20th April you can see the domino (tiled) picture on my cutlery box which I did.


I hope you enjoyed my nostalgic look back on my dominoes.  Now what can I think of to make with them next?

Back in Domino Land

I used to do lots of stamping on dominoes but haven't been there for a while.  Recently Leigh (Sharpie Domino Queen) got back in touch and I have decided to do some more.

I used to love doing faces on dominoes and here are three quite different ones.  The first one has a Brilliance background - love using the tri-pads - this one is Aurora - with the image stamped in black Stazon and a little colour added with a Sharpie pen.  The second one was coloured firstly in Black Stazon, the image stamped in Versamark and then gold ep put on and heated.  This was an experiment to try to do something different.  The last one is stamped and coloured with watercolour pencils.

this is a Tri-onimo

The first one above is coloured with Alcohol Inks to give the background (Lettuce and Butterscotch) and then stamped and coloured with Sharpies.  The second one has a bead at the top to act as a bale for using as a pendant and again is coloured with watercolour pencils.

My last showing are two dominoes using the "kissing technique" where I used Lumiere paints.  I cannot decide whether to leave them or stamp over them with something - maybe another day you will find they have changed.  If anyone is interested I can put up some of my notes for stamping on dominoes - do any of you remember when I used to demonstrate the various techniques at shows?  Remember my jacket full of them and my "tiara"?

I Love Neutrals

I love all the beigey colours so when I saw the colours on the Play Date Cafe Challenge I just had to do something.  Besides which I had this image on my desk and the colours were just right.  Can't remember stamping this but I know the stamp is from Butterfly Kisses.

There are some fabulous samples on the blog done by the design team so I suggest a cup of tea and a sit down - you'll be there a while.  I might even do another as I love these colours so much.

Another LTD Challenge

When I saw the topic for this week's Challenge on Lots to Do I immediately thought of a word stamp that I have and knew I had to use it.  I might do another card which has a bit more to it but for now this has to be my entry.

Not a clue where I got the word stamp from but I think this garishly coloured image goes well with it.  Had to colour her in with lots of different colours because that is how I think this person would dress.

Trouble is now I have this card but will have to think carefully who I can send it to without offending them.  Think she will have to be a very slim person!

Work in Progress

I have a friend who I used to work with when I was teaching in school and she now has a little girl who I love dearly.  Every school holiday the three of us go out for the day and I just love it.  Last week they went on holiday and the day after I got an envelope with the message on the back "just so you don't forget me whilst I am away" - it was from my little sweetheart (via her mum of course as she is only two).  As if I could.

Well, this new set of photographs would not go in my current album so I decided to set to and make a new album for her photographs.  Having just got The Cinch (thanks to Jayne) it was my first venture into ring binding and so I set to and made the cover.

Now you have to use your imagination here and pretend that there are ribbons and lace pieces decorating the spiral binding - which is not there!  Not there because I want to make all my pages and decorate them before adding the back cover and binding the whole lot.

The mountboard was covered with scrumpled paper which had been treated to a good old squirt or two with Sunshine, Popsicle and Waterslide Glimmer Mists.  Then I added Milled Lavender Crackle Paint to two opposite corners but it looked so white that I tried to cover most of it with Metallic Rub-Ons in Iris and Sky Blue.

Still looking a bit white I dyed some lace with the Glimmer Mists and stuck them on one side with Glossy Accents to cover up a little.  Then I sprayed some flowers and leaves with the two colours (Popsicle and Waterslide) and stuck them on.

Trying to be clever I used my Nestability 'Fleur de Lis Die' to make a square with Grungepaper.  I know, I know, everyone says it cannot be done.  After shimming and running it back and forth I gave up but there was sufficient "cutting" to allow me to go round with a craft knife and once I started I had to continue.

This was then coloured with Dabbers - Cool Peri and Purple Twilight - and finally a squirt of the two Glimmer Mists again.  Lettering done with a Spellbinders alphabet, a few rhinestones on my flowers which had been painted with Twinkling H2o's, and that was it.   Check out the little hearts that are dotted about.

So that is my front cover - as I said - imagine it with lots of ribbons and lace on the binding when it is finished.  Now to start on the pages which are going to make up my book.  Might be a "work in progress" for a few weeks yet but I will show it to you when it is complete.

As Promised

Teased you a bit with not uploading the two gorgeous atc's I got in a recent swap.  It all began when the subject was "Childhood" and I forgot to take my rendition along to Vicky Stampers.  Gill (Yin), who runs the swap, was kind enough to say that if I posted mine to her she would send me hers (taking it out of the swap that day).

Well, I never expected to get this in return for my meagre efforts

Isn't it beautiful!

When I next saw Gill I told her how overwhelmed I was by her atc and she said she had almost sent me a different one - and she just happened to have it with her.  When I saw it I thought it was absolutely gorgeous, especially the wall and I loved how she had shaded the blue sky.

To my surprise she said I could have that one as well.  Was not hinting - honestly.  But now I just cannot put them away.  Whether I will put them both in frames or use them on the cover of a book I am hoping to make shortly for photographs of my favourite little girl remains to be seen.  What would you do?

Lots to Do Challenge

Over on Lots to Do this week the challenge is "Stitches".  Not sure if someone laughing would do ("in stitches" - my poor attempt at humour) and not being one for actual sewing type stitching I decided to hunt for my stamps which depicted something to do with sewing.

Convinced I had a row of stitching somewhere I eventually gave up looking for it and instead made this card

I think the main image is Hampton Arts but know for certain the needle and stitching is Stampattack.  I stamped the main image on cream cs and again on white which I embossed in black and coloured in.  The painted image was then cut out and stuck over the top of the other one along with the words.

Now I think it should be eligible but then I got carried away by finding two more images which show someone stitching - does that count?

It's not really "stitches" is it?

Neither is this one but if you use your imagination they both are creating "stitches".  I'll leave it there.

Tomorrow you are in for a treat.  I am going to upload two atc's I got from a friend of mine.  Both are watercoloured beautifully.  Since I received them I have not been able to put them in my atc folder - they have both sat on a shelf in the dining room.  Now I can't make my mind up what to do with them - I certainly do not want to put them in the folder.  Until tomorrow ...

Good Grief

It's almost a week since I blogged.  I have been feeling pretty rotten but now am coming out of it and the cough has disappeared and the voice is coming back in fits and starts but I do feel much better.

Must do as I have finally been in my craft room to sit down and make a couple of cards.  These are for two challenges on one of my Yahoo groups.  The first is a "resist" challenge and for some reason I always go to Asian stamps when doing this technique.

  

You can hardly see the 'resist' tree in the background but it is there - just tip your monitor back a bit.

The second is the "Sketch" challenge and I am not satisfied with it so will probably do another one tomorrow. it only has one bit of stamping on it as I got a bit carried away using some gorgeous papers I had given to me for my birthday.

The image was determined by the wording on the paper I used in the background.  Perhaps tomorrow I will do something totally different and with more stamping on it.  Let's hope so.

Mind you tomorrow I must also make a card for the "stitching" challenge on Lots to Do.  Can't miss that one as I have missed too many recently.

Lots to Do Challenge

My entry for the Lots to Do Challenge this week is a tag I made prior to going to Paris.  I did intend doing the reverse to match in with the hotel to be a reminder to us what it was like but I think I have flu.  Don't feel up to doing anything.

I also did a couple of images for using on cards when I got back but have not got round to doing them so I have taken a scan of the three of them.  Hope this is ok for people or places for the challenge.

The tag was covered with Gesso to begin with then various Dabbers were used to create a background reminiscent of Monet (pinks, blues, lilacs and white).  A small Eiffel Tower was stamped in the top left corner and then a white Dabber was used lightly to mist it out a bit - the face was then stamped over the top and finally the words from PaperArtsy.

The card fronts were coloured as near as possible to the indices on the rubber stamps with Twinkling H2o's.

When I finally make them into cards I will upload them - for now it's back to bed.

The Hotel

Well ... what can I say?  It looked like a building site when we first arrived - obviously way behind schedule.  No bar - and I was looking forward to seeing it (not necessarily sitting there all evening) but it promises to be absolutely gorgeous!

Our bedroom was, thankfully, complete - and it lived up to and beyond our expectations.  The bed was quite high off the ground (two small glass stools were there, I presume to stand on if you did not have long legs like I have).  Snow white duvet, huge soft pillows and a most comfortable mattress awaited us.  Unfortunately because of the lighting I could not get perfect photographs to show you but this is how the ceiling looked when we woke up and throughout the daytime.

If you looked very closely you could see tiny pinpricks in the ceiling and at nightime the sky darkened and fibre optic lights shone through like twinkling stars.

The walls of the room were covered in a light navy material and all the furnishings were a thick perspex giving the appearance of glass.  When you first went in, and when you returned in the evening, the lights had been left on so that the wardrobe (complete with perspex coat hangers) and all other fittings were illuminated.  It has to be seen to be appreciated.

Can you see the tiny individual bedside lights - you just had to touch them and they became illuminated.  At the opposite side of the bed was a perspex cupboard and just down from the wardrobe was a shelf for the telephone which had a line of tiny lights running inside the edge of it.

At the bottom of the room there was a further perspex unit which had a Neopresso Coffee machine and 16 individual containers (think the usual milk containers in hotels) of coffee.  Apologies for the quality of the photograph but I just had to take one of the coffee.

Now all this seems very nice but the shower - oh the shower - absolute bliss!  And the towels - fresh every day and so big, white and soft as down.

The floor was glass slats and you could have got three people inside the shower unit.  If you look closely you will see three rectangular taps.  You simply lifted the central one and the water came showering down on you from above but that was not all.  There were two other shower "wands", one left and one right.  These too could be operated by lifting the taps and water jets came at you from either side.  It was your choice whether you had them at waist level or higher.  The walls were like stainless steel tiles and at night tiny fibre optic lights shone blue from every corner of every tile.

The separate toilet was tiled in the same way and there was one of those touch bendy lights, I presume for reading on the loo!

I really do recommend this hotel - when it is finished - and do so want to stay there again.  By far the best hotel we have stayed at in Paris and that is despite it being unfinished.  We have had such small, dark, poky rooms before that this was simply heaven.  The reception staff were lovely, could not stop apologising for the inconvenience and ... guess what?  A free stay!

This will give you an idea of some of the little touches that will be in place - as we exited the lift this was facing us - changing colour all the time

And hopefully you can get past the bits lying around on the ground and envisage what the bar will  be like when it is complete.  I can.

Paris - So Hot!

Well, we went, we came back - and I had a cold on our return (felt like flu) so this posting got delayed a bit.

As we had been to Paris previously and seen most of the sights there were not that many places on our "to do" list but even that did not get "done" fully.  The reason?  It was 38 degrees in Paris during our stay!   I had expected it to be slightly warmer than at home but the weather was so debilitating we spent lots of time drinking water and seeking shade.

The first night we just settled into our hotel (more about that later) and went to Rue Mouffetard for something to eat.  Found a lovely restaurant and had a nice meal, enjoyed it so much we went back the following night.

Next day we ate 'le petite dejeuner' at a pavement cafe and made our way on the Metro to the Trocadero.  Chas had never seen the fountains in play from there as there had always been some event stopping them playing.  It happened again - no third time lucky for him.

Then it was down to the river and onto a Bato Bus to the next stop, the Musee D'Orsay.  We both love this building, the inside is gorgeous and that is before you look at the paintings.  After feasting our eyes on all the beautiful works of art we boarded the Bato Bus again to Notre Dame.

Musee D'Orsay

Across the road - The Louvre

After a look around Notre Dame area we decided to go to Jardin Des Plantes so it was back to another sail and a welcome ice-cream just through the park gates.  You must have a Nestle Double Choc Pistachio and Chocolate Cone.  I had one each day whilst we were there and now am longing for another.  Then it was back to the hotel and out for a meal again.

Thursday we went to Versailles.  First time for both of us and boy oh boy was it hot!

Lots of people walked about with umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun - mine was at the hotel - so I had to buy one - it was unbearable.  It got quite busy in some of the rooms of the Palace so progress was slow but views from the windows (some open thank goodness) were spectacular.

Inside could be described as spectacular too - imagine dusting this little lot and keeping the floor clean!

Chas was most impressed by this Hall - there's the War Room at one end, then this Hall of Mirrors followed by the Peace Room.  (In 1919 (ending the 1st World War) the Treaty of Versailles was signed in the Hall of Mirrors.)  The chandeliers were spectacular, wish I had counted them.

After leaving the Palace we made our way down, supposedly to the Palaces of Trianon and Marie-Antoinette's Estate, but it was so hot we never made it - and that was despite the umbrella!

One km was about all I could do - I had to do it again to get back - and more, because once we left the Palace we had to walk back to the station.  Ah well, they do say "Springtime in Paris" - maybe next Spring?

Our last morning - on waking it seemed as if the forecast for rain was going to be right.  No.  The sun came out before too long and we made our way to Gallerie Lafayette for some good air con.

I just love visiting here

and the sales were on.

Views from the terrace on the roof

and looking down

Then it was off to St Sulpice Church, one of the churches we had not visited previously, which features in The Da Vinci Code and is a Late Baroque Parish Church.

This shell was one of two that were presented by the Venetian Republic to the French.  

From there we decided to return to our hotel to collect our luggage and make our way to the airport.  Au Revoir Paris!  But more about the hotel tomorrow.

More July Birthdays & Candy Winners

Yes, another birthday coming up for a friend.  This time I did a cute image as I know she likes cards like that.  She does some of the most amazing cards herself but I can't say who it is as the card is going off early.  I do have her blog down on my sidebar though.

Painted with my Twinkling H2o's again - still cannot find my flesh Promarkers - this one has paper forming the background, something I don't often do as I have not got the knack for putting two together.

Have just done the drawn for the Blog Candy (this post ie the card above was done before I went to Paris) and the 1st name drawn out was .... Dot!  Congratulations!  The second name drawn out was ..... Zoe!  Congratulations to you as well.  Will get your things sent out as soon as possible.

Would just like to thank each and every one of my followers, those who put comments etc - you are all treasured and I hope that next time I can draw one of your names out.

Had a great time in Paris but have come back with a stonking cold - feels like flu as my whole body aches and I spent yesterday in bed.  Will post about my trip another day as I think I might be back to bed in a short while.