A Couple of ATCs

There's not long to wait now until Sunday (2nd Feb) when Barbara Gray will be on Create and Craft TV for February's shows. My final card took me some time but I got there in the end and my samples went in the post yesterday.

As I have no cards left to share I thought I'd show you a couple of ATCs that I made recently.

The theme for this one was "Film Titles". Can you guess what it is? Yes, it's "Cinderella".

It doesn't show up very well in my photo but the carriage is sparkly. I used Stampendous Jeweled Gold embossing powder which is a beautiful, glittery, yellowy gold. Some Glossy Accents on the windows give the effect of glass.

The slipper has been made with Angelina Fibres.

The them for this second one was "Dreams". I used my Cameo to cut out an aperture the shape of the fairy......

......and mounted it on top to create some dimension. There's sparkly bits on this one too - chunky holographic glitter on the back and some clear Sakura Stardust pen on Puck's wings.

I do love green. Can you tell?

The stamps are all by Claritystamp, except for the phrase on the first one which is a Tim Holtz one.

Lynne
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Merry Christmas

Well, it's nearly here. There's only one more sleep until Christmas Day. I hope you've got everything done; I just have presents to wrap and mince pies to eat.

I've been saving this ATC for today's post so that I can wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. 

The snowman is made with white Angelina Fibres and his scarf and hat are coloured with ProMarkers. The snow is Shabby White Frantage Embossing Powder.

See you all after Christmas.

Lynne

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Christmas Greetings From London

Weren't the weekend's shows fab? They always go so quickly though. It's hard to believe that the next time Barbara is on it will be 2014.

This is the first of my samples that were on the shows.

It was inspired by this ATC that I'd made previously.

They were both made in the same way - by masking off the central panel before stamping the border, then colouring them in with ProMarkers.

For the card, the word "London" is made up of letters from the other sentiments in the kit e.g. the "L" and "O" come from the "Love" stamp."

For the ATC I printed out the large "O" on my computer and used the regular Letter Box stamps for the rest.

The flag on the ATC is a little pin badge that I bought on eBay.

You could also use the Welsh and Scottish sets to do something similar.

Stamps Used

Remountable Letterbox Sentiments

Letter Box Set

British Isles Outline

Remountable London Set

Remountable Christmas Set

Off to walk Maya now. When I come back I am going to start my own Christmas cards!

Lynne

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Sew Safe ATC

Just a quickie today. The theme for this ATC was "Arts and Crafts" so I thought I'd have some fun with one of the Bunny stamps.

Much to my delight, the bunny's paw was the right height to grab hold of the needle. I was sat in my craft room planning a design around this when in comes Hubby. He picked up the thimble and stuck it on her head saying that it was her "sewing safety helmet". Apparently she grabs the needle with both paws and headbutts it through the material. I thought it was really funny and just had to use it. We are as bonkers as each other!

I hope it makes you smile too.

Stamps Used

Bunny 5

Remountable Haberdashery Set

Camelia

Lynne

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Colourful Hot Air Ballon Card and ATC

Like everyone, sometimes I struggle for ideas for my cards.

I had a friend's birthday card to make and I just couldn't think of what to do. Luckily I also had an ATC to make and it then gave me the idea for this card. The ATC theme was "Colour", so I got out all of my Memento ink pads and created a colourful patchwork. It took me quite a while to do but once I'd finished it I wasn't that keen on it, so I started again.

I love making scenes with the ballon stamps and thought a grey background with a rainbow coloured balloon would fit the theme.

I was really pleased with how it turned out and thought it would also make a lovely card for my friend. Problem solved!

This is the patchwork one. It made me laugh as I sent them both off for the swap and I think the recipient preferred this one! Which one is your favourite?

Stamps Used

Small Hot Air Balloon

Medium Hot Air Balloon

Large Hot Air Balloon

Be The Change

Sprucescape

Remountable Haberdashery Set

Lynne

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Laurel Does Glastonbury ATC

I love thinking of fun things that Laurel could be doing with her outstretched arms.

The ATC theme was "Festival" and I was racking my brains trying to think of what I could do when I suddenly thought Glastonbury - Laurel dancing - tent! It made me smile and I thought it would be fun.

I started off by printing out a clip-art tent  and stamping Laurel in Archival black. The rest of the scene evolved from there. There are actually clouds in the sky but they don't show up in the photo.

Once I'd created the scene I added alcohol inks to a laminating pouch so that they would form a funky frame around it. The whole thing is then run through the laminator and sealed together.

As I said before, it made me smile, although I probably should have put Laurel in wellies, in the mud, with a rainy sky for an authentic Glastonbury look!

Well, I'd best get in my craft room as I have a busy day ahead. I have to make a birthday card that needs to be in the post today, I'm working on July's Clarity samples and I still have my Clarity Stamp Challenge Blog project to finish. On top of that, the grass needs cutting as the recycling bin gets emptied tomorrow !!!!

Stamps Used

Laurel from the Remountable Clarity Characters Set

Music from the Joy Frame Set

Lynne

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Spring ATC

Here's my Spring ATC. Mum and Dad bought me the Best of the Classroom set at Harrogate and I thought they would be perfect to use on this.

First, I stamped the Blooming Corner stamps around the edge and coloured them in with my ProMarkers. I went around the edge of all of the flowers with a Pastel Blue ProMarker to give them a bit of shadow,  then cut out the middle to create a frame.  Edging it in black made it stand out.

I created the scene as I would a large picture but had to make a special little mini mask to create the clouds. So cute!

The tree was made to blossom with my Sweet Pea Flower Soft which gives it a bit of interest and texture.

I finished it off by sticking the frame on, as it has a bit of dimension it helps to protect the Flower Soft.

That's my vision of a perfect spring day but when I look out of my window today, although I can see the cherry trees along my road coming into blossom, it's pouring down with rain. Last night we even had a hailstorm!

Stamps Used

Spring from the Remountable Seasons Set

Tree and Blooming Corner Frame from the Best of The Classroom Set

Sheep from the Remountable Farm Set

Lynne

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Claritystamp ATCs

Love

I've recently started making ATCs again and this is one I made with the theme "Love".

The background is done with Distress Ink and my Ink Dusters. I added some Perfect Pearls to it which gives it a lovely shimmery finish that doesn't really show up in the photo.

I initially stamped the word Love in the bottom corner (top left version) but I thought it looked a bit boring and needed an embellishment. I added a little plaque from an old K&Company kit with the word  Love stamped on it and then covered in Glossy Accents.

Loooking at the photos side by side I think I actually prefer the first version. What do you think?

This photo shows the detail I added with a clear Sakura Stardust pen.

Stamps Used

Large Kissing Couple

Small Sprig

Bullrushes

Love (stamped on card) from Lesson 10 - Birdcage Set

 The other Love stamp is an old clear one and I can't remember who it's made by.

Inspiration

This one uses the theme "Inspiration". I've made a card similar to this in the past (my scarecrow in a field painting) and thought the same idea would work for an ATC.

As I tend to do with small things, the colour is added with an Ink Duster and the stamping is done with Black Archival.

The fun part of this was doing the shrink plastic paintbrush. This photo shows the stamp I used and the size it shrunk down to. It wasn't an easy thing to do and I ended up enlisting Hubby's help. He used some blocks to get the sides straight once it was heated, then I whacked the top of it with another block to flatten it. It's a shame it wasn't captured on camera like Barbara and Dean's efforts!  We probably looked as comical, although as we weren't on TV the language was a lot worse!!!!!!!

Stamps Used

Small Daydreamer

Large Daydreamer

Easel from the Remountable Artist set

Paintbrush

Grass from the Remountable Garden set

Inspiration stamped with the Remountable Letter Box set

Better go and walk Maya now - I've been putting it off as it's snowing, freezing cold, and really windy. It's a good job I love her!

Lynne

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Spring ATC and GNPE Harrogate

This is a fun little ATC that I made in a similar way to my Easter Egg Card.

It opens up to reveal the little chick inside.

I stamped the Cracked Egg stamp onto Centura Pearl card using Archival black ink and coloured the chick inside with ProMarkers. Like the large card, a brad acts as a hinge. Once the egg was finished I stuck it onto a simple scene I'd created for it.

Stamps Used

Cracked Egg

Chick from the Remountable Chicks Set

Spring from the Remountable Seasons Set

We had a great time at the GNPE Harrogate on Sunday. It was lovely to catch up with Barbara, the Clarity team, and some crafty friends. I had my birthday money with me and I had fun spending it. I bought some Clarity stamps (of course!), Lili of the Valley stamps, Flowersoft, the IndigoBlu clock kit, 200 sheets of A3 card (that should keep me going for a while), some more PanPastels, and a few little bits and bobs. I also got lots of inspiration from all of the beautiful samples on display.

As always Barbara had a huge crowd at her stand watching the demonstrations. We saw Maria Simms making dresses for the new lady stamps with Angelina Fibres and gilding flakes. They looked fab and I shall definitely be having a go.

It still seems quite surreal seeing my cards on the Clarity stand and I couldn't resist photographing them. 

I also had to get a photo of this board for Hubby - his melting snowman was there too. He didn't believe me when I told him that Barbara said people were asking her for the melting snowman stamp!

There was entertainment too - Barbara and Carol on the karaoke! What more could you want in a day out?

Lynne

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Some Bunny Loves You!

I used to make ATCs years ago, so when Barbara Gray and Claritystamp decided to bring them back I couldn't resist having a go.  The theme for February is "Love and Cherish".

My card is inspired by Barbara's demo on Create and Craft this month and a beautiful card by Linda Spencer. I mixed the two together and added my idea of a heart shaped moon. 

I have used Coated Clarity Card for it, so that I could flick water onto the sky to give it a romantic starry effect.

When I'd finished it I thought it would make a fab Valentine's card for Hubby, so I made a larger version too.

I do love those bunny stamps!

Stamps Used

Bunnies and grasses from the Remountable Bunnies Set

Love from the Birdcage Set

I also have a guest designer today - Hubby!

He's a last minute sort of person and usually disappears to the supermarket the evening before any occasion to buy a card. Unfortunately we had quite a bit of snow here on Tuesday so he had a bit of a problem! Knowing what he was up to I told him not to bother. I'd rather have an intact car (and Hubby :-)) than a card.

So he decided to go and play in my craft room and this is what he made.  

It's so much more special than a last minute supermarket card!!!!

He started off cutting bits on my Cameo but then changed his mind, so the inside is beautifully decorated too. I was impressed to see that he'd even backed the bit where the ProMarkers bled through. It's good to see that he's been paying attention!

Unfortunately he failed to notice that my ProMarkers are all stored according to colour, so I have a bit of sorting out to do today..........

Lynne

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