UKS Spring Blog Hop - Stamper's Delight project

 
Welcome to the UKS Spring Blog Hop!  If you have come to me from Barbara, you're in the right place, and if you have dropped in on me directly, here is the full list of participants for you to follow.

My project is a 12 x 12 background, using nothing but stamps and inks.  I started with a 12 x 12 sheet of cardstock (Stampin' Up - Very Vanilla).

Stage One

Apply distress ink all over the sheet, first Antique Linen, then Tea Dye.  It doesn't need to blend perfectly, splodgy is fine.

Stage Two

Take a crackle stamp, ink up a circular patch of it in Versafine Toffee and apply randomly over the sheet, leaving gaps.  Try not to leave too many hard edges, but don't worry about the inevitable few as they will disappear by the time the background is done :-) 

Stage Three

Next comes the splatter - I used a Paper Artsy cling mounted stamp for this, holding in my hand rather than using a block.  Apply the stamp randomly all over in two colours, overlapping the crackles in some places, especially over any hard edges, and remembering to turn the stamp as you go so your splatters are not all the same :-)   First use Versamagic Gingerbread - my inkpad is new and so the first impression was quite dark, so I made a second and then third impression with it before re-inking. Then
I used Memento Peanut Brittle.


Close up of the crackled and spattered bottom right corner.

Stage Four

Take distress ink Brushed Corduroy and blend from the edges, to a little way in.  Then use a flourish stamp - I used Hero Arts Leaf Flourish - and apply around the edges in distress ink Aged Mahogany.  Stamp part on and part off the edge, turning the stamp to get different aspects of the flourish around the sheet.

Close up of flourish stamping on bottom left corner.


Stage Five (last one!)

Choose a corner motif stamp - this one is Clockworks from Stampendous - and stamp in the bottom left corner using distress ink Tea Dye.  In the top right corner, use a smaller motif on the same theme - I used a gears stamp from Katzelcraft.  I also inked up one of the gears on the stamp and added it to both corners in a few places ..... until it looked "right".
Then the final bit of stamping. Still using distress ink Tea Dye, take a couple of small flourish stamps - I used two from a Waltzing Mouse set - and go around the edges again, between the Aged Mahogany stamping, in any bits you feel need a bit more "filling up".  And there it is - done! 

Close up of the finished bottom left corner.


These are the stamps and inks I used.  The beauty of this technique is that you can do anything you like with whatever you have :-)
Edited 09:16 am - UKS prize draw details

If you want to be in with a chance to win a random draw for a £25 gift certificate to the sponsor of your choice then:

 visit each blog on the hop during the Hop Day (15th April 2013, 00:01 to 23:59)

• comment, making sure to include your UKScrappers name
• go to the thread in General Scrapping and reply to say you have completed the hop.

 We all know commenting can be tricky - Blogger in particular doesn't always cooperate! If you find you are unable to comment on up to a maximum of three blogs, you can note them in the forum post and still be in with a chance on the draw.

Next on the hop is Carole - hop on over!