INKY FINGERS

As you’ll see, my scanner hates anything not perfectly flat and this isn’t…. sigh :( Looking at it now, I wish I’d mounted the smaller tag onto cream and brown, or at least onto brown, to make it more uniform, but hey ho – it’s done, now :)

The words are from Stamp Camp and look great even when not cut up into individual words and phrases. Unfortunately, I can’t find them on the website – I bought the stamp at Port Sunny :)

Inks on the backgrounds are Versamagic Pink Petunia and Pixie Dust (Chapel Road Artstamps image embossed – Versamagic embosses beautifully) and Adirondack Hazelnut for the main image. The face and hand were painted with the two pink Versamagic inks, plus a little Wheat. Don’t think I need to tell you that the main image is from Crafty Individuals.

If you look closely at this, you’ll see that the Greeting is smudged – I was going to cover it with another bit of card, with the same Greeting on it before I scanned it but I thought no, I’ll let you see how stupid I can be at times, lol – I smudged it because I turned over the front bit to apply adhesive to the back and didn’t even consider the fact that I’d only just stamped it – duh! :( Thankfully, it’s a mistake I can put right :) I love this background. It’s one I made a few years ago, using Versamagic chalk inks and one of the Time to Stamp ATC plates, which are really useful collage elements. The stamp still had inks on it from when I'd used it for the card below (naughty, I know - I'm not always good at cleaning stamps immediately and I won't tell you how long it is since I made the other one) so before cleaning, I spritzed it with water and stamped onto the background, then overstamped to one side with Onyx Black Versafine and embossed it. And no, I still haven't cleaned it...

I’ve been waiting for this one to reach its destination, but I give up – it will arrive eventually, I’m sure :) Versamagic is a great ink for pastel colours.

This is one of my all time favourite images and I’ve had it for about ten years but I still love it :)

I've been asked who made these stamps, so here we go. The main image is Impression Obsession, the background is a Stampendous Clear Border stamp and the words are Stampers Anonymous (I think!). HTH

First of all, I’d like to wish my lovely Mum a really Happy Birthday – even though she’ll probably be in bed because she now lives in New Zealand and celebrated her day early :( Love you loads, Mum and hope each year just gets better than the last.

Now onto the draw. We drew numbers last night and I’ve just trawled through all the comments to make sure I get the right names and links and I have to say ‘Never again!’ It’s taken me ages and ages and ages and ages and ages and ages and… I think you’ll get the point, lol - Mr Linky next time, I think :)

Anyway, In no particular order the winners are…

MARTINA

CORNISH MIST

FLUTTERBY CRAFTER

TOSCANIA-ART-LIFE

and

KELLY – ARTSY VISIONS

All Blog Candy was posted on 26 January - hope it arrives soon :)

Sorry everyone couldn’t win but thank you to all for your fab comments and especially to those who have commented on artwork before and since then. It’s been lovely to meet so many new people and to see the fab Eye Candy available on all your blogs :) There will be more candy soon, I promise.

Amazingly, I spotted this just after I sent a message to my Yahoo group, KCUK, telling them the Feb ATC theme was gonna be ‘Think of a Number – Any Number’ – made me giggle :)

I thought I’d do it now, while I’m in the mood :) Adirondack Greens, this time – Citrus, Lettuce, Meadow, Bottle and Pesto. It DID start life as an intended ATC – I was going to trim to size - but then I fell in love with the borders and thought the dictionary page would look good… don’t think I’ve ever been this early for a Challenge before, lol.

I love my da Vinci stamps, although I only looked for one plate to do this card because it’s a theme I love.  I used Adirondack dye inks – Butterscotch, Terracotta, Red Pepper, Currant and Espresso, with a touch of Memories black, then overstamped some of it with a marble stamp, inked with gold Krylon pen :)  Daylight has almost gone, but I tried to get a close up to show the effect – one of my favourites.

 

No more comments for Blog Candy, please because I hate turning anyone away but I will reject any comments left now.  The total number of comments is 211 – wow!  I’ll do my best to draw names tomorrow and will let you know as soon as possible, though I’ll be busy tomorrow, so please be patient…

Meantime, I really must get some challenges done, lol.  Here are a couple of cards I finished the other day.  The first one is one of the Faux Batiks I did ages ago but hadn’t added the inks over the top.  I have a few more of those, too…

Before I forget, today is the last day for commenting on the Blog Candy if you'd like to win it - no more comments will be accepted after midnight (GMT) tonight. I can't believe that 199 people have commented so far!! Wow! Now for something exciting...

The Ink Fairies came this morning, instead of the postie… a
good friend sent me a Memento Inkpad (and some pre-cut glossy card) and an
anonymous friend (although I think I know who she is, from the postmark….) sent
me a new Black Memories Ink Pad! Now I can use my Copics without worrying about
the ink, although I have found that Versafine is okay if you leave it to dry for
a day or two before colouring and I’m not averse to embossing it anyway, to make
sure it doesn’t smear!I cried at the thoughtfulness of these two fairies
and then realised I could now carry on with my experiments and became really
excited, so here they are.

Memento on the left and Memories on the right – on the new glossy card (encaustic double sided gloss type)

Memories on the left and Memento on the right.

Memento – as you can see, it stamps beautifully (where it doesn’t, I think it’s my fault and yes, I filled in a little bit – not too well, either) BUT it’s not as black as other inks, is it? Good for Copics, though – as is Memories ink :)

Recommendation from fellow blogger, Lynne was to try Versamark, then Ancient Page on my inkpad. So I tried that and a few other inks, too. The one on the left (slightly smudged – my fault) is much better and is Versamark with Memories ink. The one on the right is Versamark plus India Ink. It’s a Cuttlebug wax resist background, so I wonder if the wax would have caused some resistance?

This one is Versamark and Ancient Page and yes, it does work (thank you) but I still don’t like Ancient Page because it’s grey, rather than black. Shame… it’s an alcohol inked background, btw.

The following two are stamped with Stazon – naughty, naughty, I know, although they reckon the cleaner does the damage, rather than the ink, so I just used babywipes to clean. The images are MUCH darker and much crisper and I must admit I prefer these. Only problem is, if you look closely you’ll see that each stamping actually pulled some of the coating off the card – strangely, it was the hand in both cases, lol. I can live with that – I’ll fill it in with marker pen :) Worth noting, too that this was coated glossy card – only glossy on one side – so the other gloss should be better.

On the other hand, both Memories and Memento were perfect for line drawings as you’ll see from these clear stamp images, although you’ll have to click to enlarge if you want to see clearly. Once again, you really can see the difference in shades of black – the Memento is definitely greyer.

One of my all time favourite techniques is resist – I love playing with the effects you can get, though this one is pretty basic. Just use Versamark ink to stamp the image, heat set, then add inks over the top, wiping off any excess with a piece of paper towel when you're finished – absolutely no need for any embossing powder. Overstamping in a couple of toning or contrasting colours just adds to the effect and I did actually emboss the overstamping and the words, to create some depth. I used the Nancy Curry idea of torn paper to separate colours on this one – another of my favourite repeat projects. I love the effect.

I don’t really do hearts, but I think I found a way round it, lol :)

I resorted to my favourite colours on this one and really enjoyed it…

Well, here are the disasters – or most of them. I think there must be a Black ink Bermuda Triangle in this house cos I can’t find a Memories, a Memories reinker (found a blank pad) OR a Versamagic Black! Need to restock, I think I’ve given them away…

Anyway, I digress – sorry :( I listened to your advice and here’s what happened.

First Archival stamping (brand new inkpad) which was beautifully clear and a full image, followed by more Archival – gradually deteriorating… all on glossy card or paper.

Newly reinked Brilliance Ink on Glossy

Adirondack Pigment ink on matte card, then on glossy. This one turned out well.

Adirondack Pigment ink on Watercolour paper. I held the stamps to the paper for a while, to let the inks transfer but it isn’t perfect.

Versafine on Watercolour paper – granted a little more difficult to stamp because of the paint.

Colorbox Crafter’s Ink over Alcohol inks on Glossy card.

I think this one and the Pigment ink are actually my favourites, even if this one isn’t absolutely perfect – the other one I did was better. The only problem is it’s VERY matte and I wanted a glossy finish. Need to experiment more…

Ever had one of those days when EVERYTHING goes wrong???? I’ve had one today and this is what I salvaged…

This was originally a full sized card but it ended up being an ATC – duh! I was using glossy card and no matter which ink I used, the stamp wouldn’t stamp clearly, so I gave up and used watercolour paper. It’s a bit better but still not perfect. I must look into which inks are best to use on clear stamps. I’m NOT a big fan of them but sometimes the images are too gorgeous to resist.

I obviously didn't read the Challenge blog post properly before I did this or I'd have realised that 'Make a Wish' referred to something I wish for - not just to 'Make a Wish'. I'll have another go cos I know that I wish for right now... my first card would have illustrated that, too - duh!

I really should NOT be stamping – too much to do, most of which I don’t WANT to do and I’m becoming really lazy – or even lazier than I usually am :( This continuous snow and cold (yes, it’s snowing again up here) lulls you into a strange surreal world where the ordinary things don’t seem to matter – weird!

The theme on Crazy Amigo is Postcard and the Sunday Postcard theme (which I have been musing over since Sunday) was Windows, so I thought I’d combine the two, just so that I don’t feel as if I’m wasting TOO much time :) Enjoyed playing with this, anyway lol …

Thought I’d have a go at this one while it’s still looking very wintry out there. The gritty bits are glitter glaze – bought it about 10 years ago and haven’t used it for a few years until lately, but I love the subtle glittery effect it gives. Must find out if it’s still available to buy! You just paint it on and it dries REALLY quickly, so it’s great :)

It’s a while since I did any paper piecing but I enjoyed this. The images are a little bit ‘off’ but that gives the impression of shadow and movement, so I like it :) The colours are a little deeper than they look on here and are Glimmer Mists, so really glitzy.

This is for both TMTATC and Tuesday Taggers.

NB – NEW Blog candy in Side bar – VERY generous giveaway :)

I really must clean that scanner – the marks on the white card must be on the glass…

Sorry, my scanner doesn’t like anything other than totally flat, so it seems a little blurred, but it isn’t. No point trying to photograph it in the dark. Note to self:- must sort out a photo box :)

Things are still pretty surreal here – the sun is shining, the sky is beautifully blue and clear and the trees look as if they’re filled with Spring blossom – not snow and ice! The frozen snow is slowly thawing but then it will freeze again tonight. I still can’t get my boots on so am still grounded – how can I not take advantage of that?

This first one is a bit of a mess, but it looked pretty good at 2am :) I used nothing but Cat's’ eyes to colour it so I was pretty pleased with it but in the cold light of day, it’s not brilliant, lol.

This one lost a star en route to the scanner – duh!

When I grow up – I want to be ME!!!! I like being me :) Grown ups are always so sad and so prim and proper :(

Paris – I used to live there (dans la banlieue pour ceux qui parlent français) and it has a special place in my heart :)

This one is big – 22.5cm tall! I bought the stamp at a Stamp Show in California a few years ago and this is the first time I’ve used it. I LOVE the French version of the Paperartsy Paris sheet – Paris sera toujours Paris – heureusement!

Not my usual type of thing but Sylvia very kindly sent me this stamped image and I have been playing with my new Copics, so thought I’d overstsamp and make a card with it – I quite like it, too, lol – nice change :) Thanks, Sylvia :) I quite like the stamp - must find out who makes it...

Didn’t quite get the result I envisaged from this but it’s too cold to go into my stamping room now, so this will have to do. I enjoyed it, though :)

I have much more than this to clear but this is just a starter, so if you’re interested in this BLOG CANDY, just leave a comment and don’t forget to tell your friends! If you’d like to become a follower of my Blog, that would be great AND you’ll get an extra chance in the draw, but no obligation to do so.

I’ll draw a name in a couple of weeks’ time – let’s say 19 January for the sake of giving an end date :) It's my Mum's birthday on 21st, so I'll draw names on that date :)

After the 50th Comment, I added more stash, which you may be able to see from the second photo. Much to my surprise, there are now over 100 comments, so there are a couple more prizes - thank you for Commenting and Bonne Chance !

The link in the sidebar will remain there until I've drawn names.

Well, it’s been snowing ALL day which is VERY unusual for this part of England, so we’re more or less snowed in but it’s VERY pretty :)

Cool or what? Most of the schools have closed and the airports (Liverpool and Manchester) have been closed, too. I’m just thankful I don’t have to go out today, though I do have to go out tomorrow, so I hope it’s eased a bit by then, even though I really, really love it :)