Vintage Stamp Frames Make number 3 ....362 to go

I recently bought some vintage stamps in bulk at a bootsale. I paid £5 for about 400 stamps they are all different so I sorted them into colours and themes and have been using some of them to make these vintage stamp frames.

I draw a shape onto a plain piece of card and then fill the shape with the stamps. I really like the result and have got a few of these frames hanging up in my room at home.

Decoupage for Beginners

Today I have made two cards using a combination of coloured digi stamps and some decoupage techniques.

I had two identical images and coloured them both in, I then decided on the elements of the image that I wanted to have raised. For the single robin I decided this would be the hat and the holly branch. I then cut one image out as a whole and cut around the edges, I think a better effect could be achieved if the image was a uniform shape for example an oval but to achieve this I would need some sort of die cut machine which as of yet I don't own. On the identical image I cut out the hat and holly branch I used the scissors to cut out the basic shape and then the craft knife to do the more intricate bits, it was a bit of a faff but I got there in the end. I then affixed them to the matching image using foam pads, I used two foam pads on top of each other to make sure I got a really good 3D effect. I then stuck the whole thing onto a A5 card.

The second image I did was from a digi stamp of some love birds, I decided to try and make it more christmasy by changing the love birds into robins and adding some snow effects. It's not as Christmasy as I would like but I think the 3D decoupage effect on this card is really good.

3D Robin (camera doesn't show 3D hat or holly very well) 

As you can see I only made one or two elements 3D in these cards and stuck with quite simple images, I really enjoyed the technique and the effect it gave so may give it a go with some more complex designs in future.

Lovebirds changed to Robins (camera doesn't show the 3D effect well) 

Pro Markers Part 2

So after my attempt at colouring in the hamster digi stamps with pro markers earlier, I decided to give it another go, and this time make the stamp into a Christmas card for some friends.

I was much more careful with the merging and blending of colours this time and took a separate piece of card to use as a sort of palette. This enabled me to try different colour combinations and blending techniques out before using them on the final image.

I was much happier with the outcome of this image then I was with the two previous, the shadows aren't perfect but they give the impression I was looking for. I teamed the image up with a tartan paper with shades that matched the colours I had used on the mouse's clothes. I added some faux stitching round the edge of the paper to add to the handmade impression. The mouse image was adjoined to the card using foam pads it gives the card a 3D effect (not too obvious in the photo) I then used some Christmas stamps to create a pattern along the top, the stamps were a cheap assorted pack from Ebay so I think that combined with too much ink meant they didn't come out perfectly but I kind of like the more handmade effect the extra ink around the edges gives. I added the personal touch by stamping my friends names along the bottom. Overall pretty pleased with this card. 

I have decided to enter this card in the Celebrations Mega Challenge at Passion for Promarkers. It's the first time I have entered a competition and my first attempt at using pro markers on a card so I don't hold out much hope, but you cant win if you don't enter.

http://promarkerchallenge.blogspot.com/