More Magic Stamp atc's....

Here's some more that I've done... see previous post for description of how to do it.

"She was"... (Another retro one)

Two that are similar, one is for my technique book, the other is one of the raffle atc's for my classes.

"A good wife"...

"Past"... (I didn't crop this one as much as I normally do when I scanned it so you can see the gauze hanging off the edges of the atc. I coloured the gauze with Suede Glimmer Mist).

More to follow...

Magic Stamp Revealed!

The technique that was mentioned in the previous post, Smoosh & Magic Stamp, is the upcoming atc technique class at Scraptivate. There were some good guesses as to what it actually was but Gaby was the one who guessed correctly! I used a foam stamp, sometimes called a Magic Stamp, or Make-a-stamp, or simply a Foam Stamping Block.

You heat the block up with a heat gun, then quickly impress it into something. For my class I'll be using the Cuttlebug Embossing Folders to make the impressions in the stamp. These work wonderfully as you can impress into either side, for more ink or less depending on which side you use. The base underneath the magic stamp is paper that's had the smoosh treatment.....a bone fide Tim Holtz word! Distress Pads swiped onto a craft mat, spritzed with water, then paper pressed onto it and twisted and lifted to reveal a beautiful swirl of colours.

So here's a couple of retro Magic Stamp atc's.

"I'm Creative"...

"I don't cook"...

More to come.....

Peeled Paper and Magic Stamp Peek (& Giveaway)

I have my final Peeled Paper technique atc class this morning at Scraptivate and if the previous 3 classes are any indication, the girls are going to have some "oh no!" moments that will turn into "oh...yes!!!". lol Some techniques are like that, you think it's all turned to cr*p, and then finally it just comes together and looks fantastic.

"What we see"... (The bamboo stamp is by Hero Arts. This atc is for the WTA - Winner Takes All, sort of like a lottery - that's held each month on the Paperarts Yahoo Group)

"Pilot Light"... (I can't remember who the flourish stamp in the background is by, it's not very clear anyway so guess it's a moot point! This is the raffle atc for this mornings class)

My next technique class is called Smoosh & Magic Stamp! This has had a few of the girls stumped and I've told them I'm not going to tell them what the magic stamp is until the class. The smoosh technique is Tim's one of using Distress Inks direct to craft sheet, spritzing with water, laying down a piece of paper, twisting then lifting to reveal a beautifully coloured piece of background paper. The colours in the atc below in the background are Scattered Straw and Vintage Photo. The magic stamp bit is the stamped background....for that info, you'll have to wait until after the classes! But I will come back in around a week or so with some more samples.

Just for fun, if anyone can guess what I've done to make the background, leave a comment and the first person who guesses correctly will get some atc's from me, including a magic stamp one! Remember to leave your email addy please. (No cheating from any of my girls who know already what it is!!! hahahahaha)

By the way, see the lovely German Scrap on the bottom of this card above? It's new from Scraptivate, click here to see more new ones - click on Scraptivate German Scrap in the left hand column, then New Nov '09. This one started out white and I painted it with Burnt Umber Light to alter it to suit the atc.

Peeled Paper Background atc's

I have just three samples so far for the Peeled Paper Background Technique, more to come after Friday. This is a technique that comes from the talented Claudine Hellmuth. I have all three of her books as well as her video's and even though her style may be different than mine (or should I say, MY style is different than hers!), I can still absorb her wonderful techniques and apply them to my own work. I think this is something that some people tend to forget, even though you may not like a particular "thing", be it a card, an atc or even a scrapbook page, there may be some technique included in it that could be adapted to your own particular style. You just need to learn to look beyond what you actually see, to see possibilities that you never realised were there. Enough talk....

"Temptation"... (Hero Arts Bamboo stamp embossed with Copper Dreams embossing powder. This is one of my own recipes, 4 parts Copper embossing powder mixed with 1 part copper glitter. Adds a little sparkle in real life! If you want more embossing powder recipes, check out the post here).

"Illusion"... (Wrought iron stamp found here)
"Work backwards"... (Circular stamp from Non Sequitur, Burning Hearts Plate #56)

More to come over the weekend. ;-)

Faux Tin Type Finale

A quick post as I'm off in an hour for a weekend down south with hubby for a break....mmmmm.....driving in the beautiful South West of our State, might even get all the way down to Albany! No plans made, no bookings made, just drive and stop where and when we like. This does SO not sound like my husband!!! lol Plan, plan, and if there's extra time...plan some more! But not this time. ;-)

Here's the last 2 Faux Tin Type atc's I made for the last ATC class at Scraptivate, think the girls really loved the look of this technique. Making the frames takes way more time than the actual technique, but it still doesn't photograph or scan any better than before. You'll just have to imagine the reflective quality of the images.

"HIM"... My homage to Ville Valo, lead singer from my favourite band, HIM. The bat stamp is one of Cherry Pie's fabulous stamps! The tree is a clear one that I don't remember the name of. It did have a little girl swinging on a swing, didn't like her so I cut her off the stamp...permanently! hahahaha


"Fashion Plate"...The frame has been run through the Textile Cuttlebug embossing folder, gorgeous folder that one! Pity she looks so bad, this one is going to a friend over East so she at least will know it looks better in the flesh.

That's me, I'm off! Next class is Peeled Paper and just for Tracey...some Christmas images (I'm really going to struggle with this one!). lol

Faux Tin Type Technique & last of the Dominoes

I'll start off the with the last of the Domino atc's from the previous class.

"Flagrant Desire"...

"Mother Nature"...

The Faux Tin Type technique is trying to replicate the old tin type photo's using modern materials that most paper-crafters have...foil tape, transparency & a xyron machine. They are notoriously difficult to scan or photograph because of the reflective nature of the foil but you'll get the gist of it.

"Illusion"... (yes, I've used the black texture paste to create the border around this)

"Spectral"... (same image but with a cuttlebug frame made from chipboard)

"Liberation"... (another cuttlebug frame but with foil tape over the chipboard, thanks Ness for the great image, though I feel the word "Liberation" should have a question mark at the end of it! lol)

"Hex"...

"Twilight"...(yeah, I know....can't help it though, I've been a vampire fan since I was a kid with all those Bella Lugosi films & the original Nosferatu. Of course I've read Twilight, then went onto the more adult books of Laurell K Hamilton, the Anita Blake series. I've finished the series, 16 books in total and was reading 3 of them a week, just couldn't put them down! (Thanks Mandy for the loan but I've now ordered my own set). Now I have to wait for #17....darn it, I hate that! I do the same thing with Lee Child, he brings out only 1 book a year in April and I buy it and read it in a few days then have to wait another year for the next one.

More to come after I've done some demo's in my classes.

If you want to see a REALLY, REALLY, cool haunted house, take a look at my friend Julie's blog here. I think from memory she told me it was around two feet tall and she lists all the Collections chipboard products she's used to make this. Gorgeous!!! I told her I wanted to live in it. lol

Time for some Dominoes!

Dominoes are the focus of my next atc technique class.....and focus is the correct terminology for using dominoes on a small area like an atc. It's generally the first thing that hits you when you look at them in real life as they are so dimensional you can't help but be drawn to it, touch it and hopefully, it will marry itself nicely to what your particular story is in the atc. I'm always saying that the girls in my classes, let your atc's tell a story....it doesn't really matter if you are the only one that understands it, still tell it.


So here's my first domino atc, and it's my favourite one. A sheer heaven transfer (thanks Svetlana for the image!) with the beautiful bamboo stamp silver-embossed over the top and the same silver embossing on the domino.


"Delicate"...



This next one is a background made by spraying a perfect pearl/distress re-inker/water mix over canvas paper and then stamping with white embossing powder. I used my old stand-by, the Hero Arts Vintage Map (discontinued). Also had to include the black texture paste around the edge for a finishing touch!


"Escape"...



This is a close-up of a larger domino that I glued a picture onto, then wrapped with gold thread, then coated with Glossy Accents. A little machine stitching with the same gold thread holds the book paper onto card stock sprayed with the perfect pearls/distress re-inker/water mix again - different colours from before obviously!


"Radiate Life"...


Here's the full size atc...

Next is a simple little atc using glossy card stock coloured with alcohol inks, as well as the same colours of the alcohol inks on the domino that has been stamped with a flourish stamp and a key added with silver thread. The domino comes out a slightly different colour from the background, even though I've used the same colours because the gloss card base is white and the domino is cream.

"Dwelling"...

Finally, black on white with a touch of blue....created with Black Stazon on white gloss card and Twinkling H2O Mystic Blue for the eye-colour. The domino is coloured with some blue sharpie & blending solution with a touch of gold metallic mixative thrown in for good measure....and a stamp.

"Serene"...

More to come later...