Wahoooo....& Spots, Dots and Circles....

Look what has arrived in the post all the way from Australia, to play with....

I was so chuffed to have won these two fabulous Crafty Individuals stamps for my Arch entries for the '2010 Gothic Arch Challenge' for having the  'favourite set of arches' chosen by the Inkurable Stamper herself , Sarah.

I really enjoyed the year long arch challenge throughout 2010. There was some amazing artwork created by all the other Arch 'players' and it was fun seeing all the different interpretations of each theme So, thank you again for organizing such a fab challenge Sarah.

...Couldn't wait to get all inky with my new stamps...so what better way to get some inspiration and to join in with the current challenge over at Inkurable Stampers  'Spots, dots and Circles' (Junes Theme)

I'm currently working on a mixed media journal, with inspirational and fun quotes....so I thought I'd incorporate one of my new Crafty Individual stamps (CI294) into my pages.

(click on pic for better view)

I drew my mermaid and coloured my pages with water soluble wax pastels, watercolour pencils, promarkers, gesso and acrylic paint 

Used some bubble wrap with gigantic sized bubbles, to stamp the circles (bubbles) on to the background, then coloured them with some watercolour pencils.

I then stamped my Crafty Individual (CI294) randomly over my pages , (I chose this stamp because of its assorted circular shapes) I did this by, individually inking the images on the stamp with a whispers pen. I also used a papermania medallion stamp around the edge of my pages. Highlighted some of the stamping with white pen. 

Distressed with more acrylic

Then added a quote....

Don't wait for your ship

to come in

swim to it.

  ~Author Unknown~

So, If you fancy a stamping challenge, hop over to Inkurable Stampers

Thanks for Looking !

Jan x

Mystical Creatures....

I was honoured to be asked by Sarah

to be a Guest Artist for the

Inkurable Stampers 2010 Gothic Arch Challenge.

The theme was Mystical Creatures.

Here is my example

You can read more about how I created it on the Inkurable Stampers Blog

...and also check out the regular designer,the talented Fiona Shultz's fantastic example

Here and Here

Thanks again Sarah for asking me to be Guest Artist on your wonderful Blog.

Wow, I can't believe there are only two more Arch themes until the end of the Challenge!

Been Fun!

Also check out the Inkurable Stampers Blog for some other fab monthly stamping challenges

Thanks for Looking!

Jan x

Run out of Steam!!

Well, I must admit, Steam Punk is a bit of a challenge for me!

...but I bought some Tim Holtz alterations at the Ally pally show earlier this year,

So I was quite looking forward to having an attempt at this one!

This is my 'steampunk' Arch

for the

Inkurable Stampers

Gothic Arch Challenge #10

The background is stamped with

'Paperartsy - Clocks 5' stamp

Distressed with inks

Added this fab free image that I found on flickr

(Sorry I can't remember where I got it from, so if it's yours,

please let me know, so that I can give you credit for it!!)

.....added some Tim Holtz 'sprocket gears (using two of the alterations as wheels) and ball chain'.

Then added some words/saying.

I put some Glossy accents over the face of the image (inside one of the gears)

...and voila - My attempt at steam-punk!!

The next to challenges are #11 - Paint and #12 - fabric

looking forward to these two!!

Thanks for looking!

Jan x

A taste of the Orient.......

I made this Asian Arch a couple of weeks ago

for the

Inkurable Stampers

Gothic Arch challenge #9 The background is stamped with

(Chinese script background by Personal impressions)

Then distressed it with some coloured inks.

Added a paper cocktail drink umbrella

...and a freebie asian image

which I've added some wings too.

Finished off with a dragonfly and coin charms.

The present

Gothic Arch Challenge #10

is...

Steampunk

So better get my thinking cap on for that one!!

-oOo-

The Asian Arch inspired me to make some Asian dress creations for the

The Artist Trading card swap 'til you drop

ATC swap

-oOo-

The fantastic theme was set by the talented Margaret

( a great mini version of the Dress up Challenge!!)

Our task is to create a pocket atc using the instructions supplied

....then to make a li'l dress to tuck neatly inside the pocket.

Here is what I came up with....

....Using the same (Chinese script Background) Stamp,

Stamped a piece of white card

...then glued the paper from a paper cocktail umbrella to the stamped card

the background stamp shows nicely through the tissue paper :)

....then cut it into a dress shape

...inked a little here and there

...finally added an asian image and charm.

-oOo-

The paper pocket was made from a page with asian script on

distressed with inks

... hand sewn around the edges.

...added a little fake scroll and dragon fly to each pocket

-oOo-

I've really enjoyed making these little dresses

A fun swap!!

Pop over to Chriss's ATC Blog to join in with the ATC swap

...and see links to more fabby pocket/dress creations!

-oOo-

Thanks for Looking!

Jan x

Gothic arch Challenge #6, #7 and #8

These are my Gothic arches

for the challenges over at Inkurable Stampers

-oOo-

#6 - Men

-oOo-

-oOo-
#7 - Women
-oOo-

-oOo-

#8 Children

-oOo-

Don't forget it's not too late to join!

The only deadline for all arches to be completed is 31st dec 2010.

So if you fancy an Arch ATC challenge

pop over and join in with dedicated flicker group:

Inkurable Stampers 2010 Gothic arch challenge

Thanks for Looking!

Jan x

Garden Fairies......

This is one of the 5 ATC's (all very similar) that I made for The Artist trading club 'swap 'til you drop' March challenge.

This month's challenge theme was Garden Fairies,

and the Guest host is the fabulous Nancy (love her artwork!!) keeping my fingers crossed that I get one of her beautiful cards in my trade !

For my ATC...

I used a Paper Artsy stamp (wings-plate 3) ,coloured with promarkers, distressed with inks, added some embellies, words and a little glitter!!

-oOo-

Thanks for Looking!

Jan x

You need hands....

The latest Gothic Arch Challenge over at Inkurable Stampers is Hands.

The first thing that popped into my head, when I see that the theme chosen by Sarah was 'Hands' was..... Clocks!!

You have to use at least one stamp on your Arch...and being as I have no stamps with 'hands' this turned out to be a good idea!! I used a Crafty Individuals Clocks stamp (C1-255) for the background distressed it with some inks. Chose an image also by CI with some 'hands' in view!! So I covered all bases by having two sets of Hands LOL!!...added some german scrap, a saying and a pointer onto one of the clocks.

If you enjoy making Arch atc's why don't you pop over too Inkurable Stampers dedicated Flickr Group (Arch Challenge), we are only on our 4th Challenge, so plenty time to catchup and join in with the Fun!!

Thanks for Looking!

Jan x