"Windows and Doors" at FunwithATCs

Let me welcome you to another challenge at FunwithATCs!
This time our theme is

Windows/Doors

(If you also want to know the challenge theme over at TioT, please, scroll down to the previous post).

Doors are a very mighty symbol... no surprise then that doors come with many sayings. One of my favourites says:

For each door that closes there is a new one that opens. 

I love the idea that we first have to close doors (or sometimes fate closes them for us) to be able to open new ones and step through  - without carrying too much of the old stuff with us. And I like the thought that we never have to be afraid of having nothing to step forward to... fate always will provide us with new goals and challenges worth being met. There's always the chance to evolve by opening unknown doors.

I had this awesome stamp from DarkroomDoor which I used on a background cut from a paper scrap left over from a selfmade background.

and I also stumbled upon my (seldom used but) gorgeous Lynne Perella stamp showing a door opening and a mysterious man standing in it...

On this ATC I did some metal leafing with IndigoBlu guilding flakes and I applied the glue (and some thin layers of white Gesso in other places) using a stencil, thus creating a couple of dotted layers.

I hope you like it and will hop over to our challenge blog to see what my DT mates have created for your inspiration! 

See you at the challenge!

die amelie x

"Spring has sprung!" - Challenge

is this fortnight's theme with us at Try It On Tuesday!

We would like to see something that moves on your cards or projects. 

I chose to try another 3D pop up card similar to this one.
Only this time I did a smaller version.
The card folds flat to fit with an envelope and opens up by pulling the tab below until the "stage" unfolds to its full depth. The mechanism is quite tricky and uses a hidden ribbon attached to the pull tab and the bottom of the stage.

Stamps used are from  Pictorial Webster's stamp set, RedLead and Art Journey.

All images were stamped with Ranger jet black ink onto white card. The rabbit and the snail were cut out and glued onto a piece of acetate so the rabbit would look as if it was just making a big leap.

As usual there is a prize to win this month! This time our sponsos are

who are giving away a $25  Gift certificate! 

If you need some inspiration hop over to the challenge blog to see the awesome projects my design team mates made!

I look forward to seeing your spring-sprung projects soon! :)

Hugs,

die amelie x

More Distress Paints and Tim Holtz

I am still practicing my Distress Paints background making skills...

The background for this tag was made using DPs "broken china" and "frayed burlap" together with some "White Linen" Dylusions ink spray.

I also used my new Sizzlits film strip and tickets die and my newly bought Tim Holtz "Ultimate Grunge" texture stamps. The umbrelly man was stamped using embossing ink and heat embossed with Ranger "rust" embossing powder. Some of the textures and the saying were heat embossed using white embossing powder.

Tickets and film strip were sewn to the tag instead of glued. Done.


I enter Simon Says Stamp 's "Birthday" challenge with this tag.

Thanks for stopping by!!!
Hugs,

die amelie x

12 tags of 2013 - April (take #2)

I wouldn't be me if I let go of trying to master a technique or challenge theme... so I tried the April tag of the Tim Holtz "12 tags of 2013" again today and discovered that I am better at lighting up the marbled background than trying to darken it by applying dark Distress ink tones...

So my April tag #2 again looks quite different compared to Tim's original according to the colours. But this time I tried to incorporate wings and his design.

After doing some layers of marbelizing with Distress paints, covering that with a layer of Distress inks and flicking some water onto it I got this background:

As I used light colours I added silver metal paint instead of copper... I am really proud that this time you could (finally!!) see the effect of that second stained distress ink layer! (even though most of it was going to be covered up anyway...*lol).

I used a lot of Tim Holtz goodness on this - stamps, embellishments, tissue tape...

As I had no metal corner embellishment I stamped the corner image from one of Tim's stamp sets onto acetate and fixed that to the tag using an attacher.

The letter "a" was coloured using the technique Tim shows on his April post but I also used the scratching tool on it to add some texture.

The tag hole for the ribbon was embellished using one of the Tim Holtz ring fasteners and I especially do love the tag label in the upper right corner!!!

I hope you like this one too! :)






With this tag I enter Simon Says Stamp and Show's "very strict" challenge. 

Hugs,
die amelie

"Nature Studies" altered book project

Easter brought some chocolate and that came with a lovely small book box which was perfect for altering!

So I created this:

First I gave the glossy surface of the chocolate box a coat of Gesso. Then I applied a coat of glue over the front of the cover and covered it with sandwich paper I crumpled while trying to keep the center flat and even. After that was in place I continued with the spine of the book where I had glued three thick pieces of cord which were now covered in the same way. The back was most fun as I could crumple the paper here as much as I wanted!

After all had dried I trimmed the edges leaving some for glueing it to the insides to get nice edges.

For the inside of the cover I stamped some cut to size card with images of the "Nature History" stamp set from DeStempelwinkel (which I love veeerrry much), blended the edges and the card with walnut stain Distress ink and flicked some water over the finished piece to get a stained look.

The inside of the box was painted with turquoise acrylic paint.

The outside of the sandwich paper covered book was first painted with a dark brown and then dry brushed with a lighter brown to highlight the creases and some areas. I also used Inka Gold, which gave the book a lovely leathery, old and precious looking finish!

The book panel was also created by using stamps from RedLead and DeStempelwinkel, blending with DI walnut stain and flicking water onto.

I hope you like it! I had a lot of fun making this (and have another of these chocolate boxes in store ;).

I enter The Artistic Stamper's challenge "Texture"  , Craft room challenge "In the Library" , City Crafter's "anything goes" challenge and  Simon Says "Anything Goes" challenge, with this project. 

Hugs,

die amelie x