Black & White Swap

I set this swap up to celebrate the return of Circle of Crafters - the Creator of the Forum is incapacitated at the moment and the Forum was unable to continue for some months but CUP has taken over the running of the Forum so we are very happy folks again!
I had two folks join in the swap, but I think I did not explain the theme very well as you will see.
I only have photos of the cards in a group so I am sorry if the photos are not very clear.

For my cards I wanted to try using the masking technique and I thought black and white would be the easiest. Hah!
So I sorted out my stamps, and I thought I knew what I would do.  Hah!
Let's start with the Mermaid.
I stamped the mermaid and then made the mask.  I attached the mask and then added the rope along the side of the card.  I used a leaf stamp as coral and stamped along the edge of the card.
Now we have a London scene. 
I stamped the taxi in white ink and then in black on copy paper.  I attached the mask and then stamped Big Ben and the lamp post. Some of Big Ben had not printed so I used a white gel pen to complete it and, without thinking, started to paint round the taxi.... so now I needed to continue to make it look like part of the road!
The next card was to be a Parisian scene. 
I stamped the lady with her dog and then again on spare paper to form a mask.  I attached the mask and then stamped the shop front.  I painted the edges of the shop in black.
What I am not going to tell you is how many times I created the mermaid card ..... or the taxi card ...... but .... I only stamped the Parisian scene once ....... so I must be getting better at this technique!!  lol

I received the following cards.
A beautifully silver embossed card on blue.
Some black stamped butterflies on a mixed media background.
The black stamping is behind clear acrylic film and framed with copper.
Thank you Sandy.

The third swap cards were black on white stamping.  Butterflies were out in single file again!
Thank you Val.

Well done girls and thank you for joining in the swap.

July Theme Swap

Oriental is the Theme for this month.


A beautiful Koi peeloff just has to have an orange background.  I rounded the corners and added a banner across the top of the card and some 'waves' along the lower edge.

I used text from a Chinese newsletter for the background of the second card.  The peeloffs were attached to some beautiful flowery paper and then fussy cut along with a fan.  Once I had centralised the image, I added a flower and a butterfly.

I have a notebook from China, given to me many years ago by a friend, so I tore out a page and used the lower edge as the background.  I made a kimono from some printed papers and added this to the card.  A small gold butterfly in the corner and a gold thread across the top completes the card.

I received the following cards:

Text is silver bordered, with a lucky coin in the top right corner.
Thank you Gerry.

Just love this cute image!

Thank you KatyS.

This is a very striking card, the 'red envelope' being the gocal point.

Thank you PatS.

July Colour Swap

This month's colour is Gold.
I selected several gold coloured papers from my stash - which doesn't seem to be getting any smaller!
Chose some gold embellishments and then .... made a cup of coffee and sat down at my desk to work!

I decided that these cards would be clean and simple .... as clean and simple as I can.

I used two papers to each card and adhere them on the diagonal across each card.

I then attached an embellishment to each card.  

This formation came about because I had received  the gold embossed butterfly from our Hostess and I wanted to show off this image.   

The gold sentiments came from a 'club' pack from many years ago but I thought they were perfect for these cards.

I received the following cards by return:



Gold cards with gold ribbon and flowers.
Thank you JanS.

Lovely gold paper and .....Tour d'Eiffel!

Thank you LizR.

Gold peeloffs with the centre on film.

Thank you MargaretC.

July Swap

I love Steampunk (if you want really 'interesting' information click here).
I have decided that I want to try and make steampunk feminine - pretty colours, flowers etc. so here is my first offering.


I printed out some images from various sites, spending a bit of cash as you do!

I have a whole folder of steampunk images, as you can imagine, so I spent some time adding to my feminine selection.  I made the backgrounds for each of my cards separately.



I cut up a dark red doiley, trimming the the centre and slicing the lacey edges into half.
I painted the image with shades of red and touches of copper.
After I had rounded the corners and attached the image to the background, I added some cogs to the corners and the sentiment along the lower edge.  Love it ..... well, I would wouldn't I?  It's red!




I used a brown Steampunk paper for the background.  Although only the glitter shows, I used a yellow glitter gelpen to colour the dress.  A few touches of gold promarker here and there to bring in the metal.   I punched the corners with a fancy corner punch, and added parts of a corner diecut to the lower edge.   I managed to slide the sentiment partly under the diecut.  





I sprayed some pink watercolour over a steampunk stencil for the background on my third card.
The image was then painted with shades of purple, even the hat.  Copper brought in the metal and then the image was fussy cut.

All the sentiments were PC printed.  I have been finding 'steampunky' fonts and keep printouts in my Steampunk box, I  hopeI chose the right ones for these cards.


I received the following cards from Beth.


Beautiful stamping on music sheets and added to a silver card. 

The circular image and text were outlined in brown to match the flowers. 

The Albert Hall - happy memories, our first 'date' was an Easter Celebration held here.  Love this card.

Thank you Bev for a great selection.

June Swap

I used some of my jigsaw ATCs for the swap.
I cut some background papers in three colours to match the outside of the cards.
The Pink one had to be girly........



Flowery dress on the inside with perfume bottle and mirror on the outside.  
Really shiny peeloffs!





The Green one was also girly but with gold peeloffs.





A smooth gold dress with a couple of handbags for the inside and golden words for the outside.





The Blue one was serious girly.



The peeloffs I used this time were very decorated .... shiny!  


Dress and shoes inside this time and the handbag outside on the flaps.





I received the following cards:





This delicate coloured card was a Folded ATC, embellished on the outside with an embossed insert.







A beautiful vintage image in the same colours as before, with pearls and flowers.

Another vintage image with lace and ribbons.

Thank you Kate for some real treasures.

Matchbox for Summer

How I love these Matchbox swaps!!! 
So much so that I have bought two packets (10 in each packet) from The Works.
Looking through the previous posts I notice I haven't posted my Spring Matchbox, will rectify this asap.

I covered the matchbox with some pastel printed paper and added some paper lace to the edges.  In the bottom of the tray I attached a quote - a favourite of mine, Chocolate doesn't ask silly questions, chocolate understands. A small flower brad at the end of the drawer became a fastener.
I sorted out my pictures, managed a small Iris Folded dragonfly, lots of small embellishments etc.
Once the cards are finished, I tied them all together with a small ribbon.
I painted a small wood chip rose and attached it to a black card, adding some peel off squiggles.  A tiny Pyramaged image of a poppy field view.  A gingham tablecloth, on the grass, with a teapot for the picnic.  I cut a shell and a quote from another backing paper.  Some felt flowers complete another two cards.  I cut some Seed Packets and added a 'bunch' of them to a piece of small flowered paper (upside down in my photo!).  A bit of stamping and a bird on the plant pots complete the set.  I backed each card with a piece of the paper used for the cover and edged each finished card with matching ink.
Now that the matchbox was closed, I added some embells - a butterfly, ladybird and Cake, who doesn't love cake!!!

I received the following Matchbox the same day as I posted mine.

Kate had enclosed a mini postcard with her Matchbox.  The label was attached to the top with a pretty flower bead.  When I opened the box, I was greeted by this quote - let this day be full of joy and celebration.


All the cards were beautifully finished with some details on the backs as well.  The tag had crystal lacquer over the blue rose.  Two small charms, a trowel and a bee were also included inside, didn't find them until after all the cards were removed.  Lovely surprise!!

Also included were the two tiny books (next to the matchbox in the photo). 
Inside the pink book were two pockets, and one pocket inside the rose book.

Another rose and a quote were in the two pocket book and a gorgeous butterfly in the once pocket book.

Even the back of the rose book had been decorated.  


This lady thinks of everything!


Thank you so much Kate for your beautiful Summer Matchbox.

Left Overs Again?

Love the idea of this swap.
Theme
Have extra cards you’ve created for a swap? Want to clear out your gallery? Let’s do some spring cleaning and share your lovable leftovers with other artists. Note: These must be cards you’ve created (not pass-along cards from other artists).

I sorted six of my cards - if you remember them from a previous posting then please forgive me for showing them again.

This first card is made up from some Welsh Castles leaflets with added diecut flowers & leaves and sentiment.

I fussy cut the crockery and tray ;pictures from a magazine and was lucky enough to find the sentiment within the pages!

These two cards were made from foreign text pages.  I used some illustrated pages for the background and then added the other pages over the top, opening them out to show the picture beneath.  I stamped the sentiment in sepia.



This is one of my first sets called Eclectic Me!
Lots of stars, fibres, butterflies and most importantly my Lord Jesus.


A vintage photo overlaid with text pages, then gold leaf added in places.  A handwritten sentiment, torn and wiped with a teabag - used of course!


The last card was made for Summer of Colour 2015 - the last one :-(

After the gesso on the background had dried, I spread a little bit of colour ink.  I used paper from a French magazine for the whole series, cutting flower petals from the appropriate coloured pages.  I tore the paper sentiment and then made the petals into flower shapes.

I received the following cards:

What a fantastic stamped crab!
Thank you Allegrae.

This is a cutie stamp!

Thank you cindylou.

This is a silver card, overlaid with printed heavy vellum.  An added triangle of lace is attached with a brad.
Thank you camprose.

So many interesting embellishments, painted and glittered.

Thank you catb.

This is a CUP design resized - clever.

Thank you donnacr.

Painted and embossed, this is beautiful.

Thank you DmyTLadybug.

Thank you Allegrae for a super swap.