Butterfly Dance

There are 2 challenges here, one for Arty Girlz, butterflies, and Created By Hand, stripes. I cut some narrow strips of various papers, and stuck them diagonally across this 4"x4" card. I stamped the close view of a butterfly wing,(UMount plate) and 2 butterflies - top left is from Elusive Images harlequin butterfly plate. The other is also an Elusive Image stamp. I used inktense and watercolour pencils, in the same colours as the background stripes, and the piece is mounted on a sheet of vintage music. Thanks for fluttering by!!

Looking at the Lantern in the Blossom Garden

Oh I do love doing oriental pieces, and this one was for the One Stop Craft Challenge, oriental. I will use it to make a card, eventually. I used some Judikins stamps, from Stamp Addicts again, plum branch and Michiko, printed on to shiny paper. I also stamped 2 facets of the Japanese fabric cube 1. The lantern is a stamp that Pete bought me one birthday, and I love using it. We brought 3 lanterns home from China, after our memorable holiday, and we always loved putting them up in the garden. You might catch them occasionally, as my garden slideshow goes round, on the sidebar.

I coloured the images with inktense pencils, which are rapidly becoming great favourites. I find them so useful when I want to brayer, as here, because they don't run, once they are dry. I masked the lady, and used the good old gumdrop Big n juicy inkpad, which always makes such an ethereal, evocative background. The piece is mounted on to a piece of silk mirri board, and the display sheet is my beloved DCWV Far East 8"x8" stack. Bao zhong - take care of yourself.

From Me to You - "Posted" with Love

This postal piece was made in response to a challenge at Go Make Something - Make it Monday, postage stamps. I found all the postal images I have, to stamp the background. I used black stazon and red distress inks. There are some oriental chops in there too...

The 3 main images are printed using a Judikins postage frame, masked and re-stamped with a central image - from the top, the artifacts cube and small Carol's butterfly, from Judikins (Stamp Addicts) and oriental lady from Inkadinkado. They were all coloured with inktense pencils then brayered with gumdrop, Big n Juicy. I cut the crimpy edges with my cropodile - every one separately!! The display sheet is from a set I have had for ages, and is covered in postcards and postage stamps - funny that!!!

My Treasure - something small and delicately wrought

Well, here is the second grandson... my treasure. I was there at his birth and he is so special - mon petit bijou!!

I have made this to meet the challenge over at Dans Ma Maison Il Y a - un bijou (a jewel) I printed this photo from my set, taken on his first day. So he is less than 24hrs old here (he is just 3 now!!). The paper it is mounted on is from Oriental Dreams from Joanna Sheen and the little tags were freebies from a crafty weekend, somewhere...

He is SO precious - more than gems or gold, so he is my treasure.

Walking in the Evening Garden

A Lady for Rainbow Lady!! her challenge this week is to create a scene, and this is my entry. I have used lots of stamps again... Kodomo set Fanning Lady, my fav bamboo from a plate I have had too long to remember (NS?) and winter trees by Judikins. There is also a Japanese fabric cube from Judikins, and the grass border from Kodomo Butterflies set.

I stamped the lady in black stazon, masked her using Eclipse tape, and over printed with the trees, leaves and foliage. I brayered a background using gumdrop Big n Juicy, and then coloured the image with inktense pencils and a waterbrush. I am really enjoying these, and love the way they blend. Thanks for looking...

A Cupcake Symphony in Red!!

Re-visiting Marie Antoinette this week, for Small World of Inchies and Twinchies. It has taken me a while to get a new idea, as my moo , for make a Moo or Two, was featured in the sampler... So I decided to play with photo images again, for this 2"x2" piece, using 3 different pictures from Google and My Craft Studio. As she is playing an instrument in the righthand picture, I also added a sheet of music into the mix. I think she looks like a cake in the middle photo, hence the cupcake title!!

Oriental Moon

This is a re-working of something I made a time ago, but it fits the challenge over on Ink On My Fingers, moon. I made it by creating a blue backing with my paints, and over-printing with a bamboo stamp or two. The crane is from a Non Sequitur sheet, as is the oriental script. I cut out the moon and mounted all on to dark card. I used a sheet of backing paper and scanned it to make it small, for the scroll. The background card is shiny black and the line peel-offs finish the piece.

Time for Tea

Here is my interpretation of the Gothic Arches challenge, tea time. It will also fit the one over on No Time to Stamp? , use only black ink. I took a card base and cut out an altered arch, with the up-turned roof pieces - these are there to stop dragons falling off the roofs when they alight and sleep overnight!!. I stamped out one of my lovely oriental ladies, in black stazon, on cream card - bit NO colouring a la challenge!! The tea pot is part of a freebie I was given on a craft weekend, somehwere...