A favourite LO

I had great intentions of a crafting and blogging Bank Holiday weekend.... however a streaming cold and hacking death-rattle of a cough rather scuppered the plan :-( So instead I am taking an idea from Karen's blog and sharing one of my favourite old (as in pre-blog)layouts with you.
This page was for a challenge born at our crop - the "fully loaded" challenge, otherwise known as "chuck it all on" in the style of Anita MacDonald (I don't have her blog address, but she is anitam on UKS). This is very far removed from my normal clean and simple style, so I approached it with trepidation...... but after chucking on a mix of patterned papers, mesh, scrolls, buttons, brads, eyelets, punched borders and chipboard letters and probably other things I can't even remember - I am really pleased with the result and it is still one of my favourites :-)

Venice ATCs

These are two ATCs which I have just sent off in a swap. The background is smooshed with 3 inks and crackle stamped. The photos are from our trip to Venice last year, tinted sepia in Picasa. The word "Venice" is cut on DH's laser cutter out of balsa wood and glimmer misted - bit tricky to stick down, I had to use very narrow super strong double sided tape!

Birthday card

This card is made using another of my "bargain" pack of yucky coloured card blanks, this time covered with paper. The lady is a Clarity stamp bought at Ally Pally, stamped onto a background smooshed with three shades of ink, then circle-punched out and matted onto a punched scalloped circle. A bow, a sentiment, and a few gems finish it off :-)

OK, I can't figure out how to put more than one photo at a time when blogging direct from Picasa....... but here are a few more ATCs I have swapped recently :-) When DH saw the "inspire" atc, he said "I like the swirls being on the metal and then coming off it .... *pause* .... was that deliberate?" He wasn't joking, either! The rose stamp is an old one, but so useful (stamped in Pearlescent Rust again!) and the harlequin border is new, as are the marble background and the cogs stamps. The third one is textured using my sizzix boutique and the butterflies are glimmer misted and then stamped with a swirl background stamp... actually the same one as is on the first ATC, come to think of it!

Another ATC

This is one of the ATCs I swapped recently. It uses a new stamp I bought at Ally Pally, stamped with a new inkpad (Pearlescent Rust) and a morroccan border punch. Not sure how this post will look as I am experimenting with uploading direct from Picasa........

Aqua birthday card

Just an quick update on the "misted" card blanks.... here is a completed birthday card using one of them. I should say that the idea of jewels on this tree stamp comes from Helen over at fiddlefart (link in the sidebar)!

I have also covered about 20 blanks with papers from my scrap box and am slowly working my way through completing those - then I will have a sufficient stock so as NOT to have a mad and panicky rush on next time DH remembers a birthday or 4......... LOL.

New cards for old

A few years ago I bought a "bargain" pack of card blanks from a certain shopping channel. The colours were dire to say the least, but it was too much hassle to send them back so they have been in a box for all this time. It occurred to me the other day, whilst looking through my stash mountain(s), that I could change them ..... either by covering with paper or colouring them somehow. Only took me 4 years to think of this ......... :-) I did a few with paper on, then out came the Glimmer Mist. The picture below shows the various effects I achieved, the card on the left is the original horrible grey.




I still have about 50 blanks left, in other horrible colours ......... :-)