The Cat's Meow....

.... was the PaperArtsy stamp collection used by the 3upsters over on the blog yesterday..  and they (as usual!) created some great projects.  The stamp range is very different to the other ranges - it has a slightly retro/cartoony style.  I like the range - fun images.

Back in 2007 I upcycled a little book using the stamps - I blogged about it then but only the front cover (?!) so I thought I share the whole book with you now, prompted by yesterday's PA theme:

This cat image is great - I love it! and lets face it- what cat doesn't think it should wear a crown!

This was created in the days before Fresco Finish - I think I would've painted it with Ranger Dabbers - Wild Plum/Raspberry & Stream (who didn't love those colours!).

The book is an upcycled kiddies book - only about 6x6 or 8x8cm - great size (and I love a little book project) and the book was sturdy - I only took off the printed layer and painted directly on to the cardboard pages. Love it.

It shows photos of our first two cats Fredd and Phoebe- now sadly in the big cattery in the sky.  Lovely to have this little reminder of them...

The paw print image is so appropriate - cats love to sit on what you're reading or working on don't they! Several times I've had to catch a cat BEFORE they jump on the desk and land in paint or AFTER they've done it and trodden paw prints everywhere - gotta love 'em. :o)

Just thought I'd show you what I created with the Cat's Meow stamps. They are fun stamps - and there are some really nice alphabets on the plates - go take a look here on the PaperArtsy site

Have a good day!

The PaperArtsy play day that wasn't!

I tried/planned to spend a day over the weekend with PaperArtsy stamps but the plan was hijacked slightly by M, but in a good way - a hallway destash/clearout was in order to get ready to pull up carpets so that new carpets could be laid - and one job seemed to have a knock-on effect to another...
so here's one of the pieces I made - keeping them simple was the aim of the day! oh, and flat!

(These stamps are from the 'Nature' plates of Urban Snapshots)... Simple & Flat! (well, simple-ish - distress inks, acrylic paint, stamping, embossing, colouring...)

PS - carpet is in (and looks really nice.... ) ..now to get the Estate Agents in for a valuation - and then the 'for sale' sign goes up....

Things that make you go 'hhmmmm'

Another 'something' where I was just playing with 'stuff'.... acrylic paint resist, stamping & resist, cuttlebug embossing, die cuts, shimmer sprays, perfect pearls sprays - you name it I used it - layer on layer, on layer, on layer...
Sometimes you have to get inky, and random, and Embrace the Inks!

Houses... everywhere...

Little houses - they were all over our house but in September quite a few of them relocated.  Here are two of them: 'made do and mend' on the left (bought by a lady who makes patchwork items -very appropriate!), and blue/grey on the right....

And this house - didn't sell at Village Green - I think because I was sending out 'don't buy it' vibes because it was my 2nd favourite! (& someone had already bought my favourite! lol)(which I'm very grateful for obviously! lol)

Love making these - and I can feel a christmassy one coming on...  ho ho ho  (only 30 days 'til christmas day!!)

Taking the 'stress' out of 'distress'....

...with the help of a few Tim Holtz stamps...

I made these for a classI taught  at Card Inspirations last week - Mixed Media...  The stamps came in at the very last minute - well, technically half way through the class (luckily I had a back up plan!)  I don't think I've ever been so pleased to see a set of stamps! lol  and they are very nice stamps lol

The cards were created using distress inks, acrylic paint, perfect pearls, archival inks (the oriental text on the bottom left card is a different stamp make - sorry, don't know which...)

Finished!!

ArtsyCrafts is taking place in Warrington this weekend - its a weekend of all the best bits (so many to choose from!).
I posted my arch to Leandra'n'Lin yesterday - I reeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaally hope it gets there! lol ... safely, in time, not bashed about! fingers crossed.
Here's a detail shot of my version of the Arch, its such a great project they designed - covers a whole range of techniques: metalwork, stamping, sewing (there's even a bit of cuttlebuging in there!)...   Love it!

I'll post bigger shots when the weekend workshops are over...

During my current 'tidying up' project (and I'm using the term loosely because I just seem to moving things around according to M - but its all part of the process!) I found this photo (on the pc - tidying that up too!) of a book I made from lots of bits of cardboard, all different sizes, bound together with the bind-it-all. Its a book that I keep on my studio desk to try out bits and pieces in rather than on random bits of paper/ card or in my sketchbook (different surface). This page was created using a scroll cuttlebug die I'd just bought (so of course had to use straight away! lol) and Banana Frog alphabet stamps - these ones are great because they are quite large (about an inch-and-a-bit tall)... I like the page because of the metal effect to the scroll (didn't photograph too well) but at the same time am not too keen because it looks a bit 'halloween' - due to the colours - I might go back to it and try and alter it in some way.......