ATC Swap - "Stamp"ed Heads...

Couldn't resist joining in with this swap over on UKScrappers - make ATC's using postage stamps that feature "heads" and give them new bodies... the freakier the better in my opinion as from the others I have seen you can really go to town on these!

I have a large used postage stamp collection (sad person that I am) because at some stage in the grand scheme of things I want to make myself a screen room divider and cover it in postage stamps - so any time I see any "pretty" ones, whether foreign or UK, I leap on them... I lay siege to the used postage stamp boxes in the two kitchens at work and snaffle the pretty ones out of there, but make sure I keep it topped up with ones I don't want from home.

Finding loads of heads wasn't a problem, finding bodies to go with them was a little trickier. Luckily I get a free newspaper most days from the railway station next to my office and I spent a couple of evenings cutting out likely candidates. Also, our local Co-Op gives away a free foodie magazine each month which has some good pics in too! Thank goodness for cutting out because I am no good at drawing lol...

Backing papers are cut from one of Mr Holtz's paper stacks, images are glued on with Glue-n-Seal - which I have totally fallen in love with as it gives such a great finish to anything decoupaged... and I can write over it with black and white journaling pens with no trouble at all. (FYI I use black Faber Castell Pitt pens and a white Signo Uniball which I personally find gives me the best coverage - but there are plenty of other white pens out there!) I also went around the edges of the images with a black Stabilo All pencil and ran a wet paintbrush over it to give a slight shadow and blend the images into the background a little more. 

Matching the stamp heads to the bodies was certainly challenging but I like how they have come out. My favourite is the pregnant "Mr Punch" - guess it proves I am totally warped...

May catch-up...Fit the First...

This is starting to become a habit lol... not posting for a few weeks or so. Gonna have to pull my socks up!

First up - May's "Anything Goes" Atc's...a totally free choice for the theme, so I wandered into the town after work one afternoon for some retail inspiration. Ever been into Hawkins Bazaar? It's a great place to pick up all sorts of useful things for all occasions... my brother and sisters usually end up buying loads of silly presents for us all every Christmas lol... but they do have some little odds and sods that are perfect for crafters.

Like the packs of miniature playing cards - just couldn't resist... so here are some of my ATC's this month...

I started with cream cardstock and used one of TH's new Distress Stains (either Fired Brick or Barn Door - can't remember which!) diagonally across the card. The Joker was stamped in black Memories and covered in Glossy Accents. The playing cards were sorted into suits and hole-punched with my CropaDile, then a matching eyelet holds them together. Or should do, the eyelet shank is a little small so had to use some glue on the last card lol...)

Kept it simple this month!

I'm no poker-player at all, much prefer Blackjack (last year I won 114 euros at a casino in Ostend playing Blackjack!) but apparently this is an ace-high straight flush - or Royal Flush, and is the highest ranking standard poker hand.

Wonder if you get extra points for the matching eyelet??

Mays tags will follow in a short while...

ATC's

To my shame, these are 2 ATC's made a year apart... but I still love 'em both!

Halloween 2009 first,




then November 2010's 'Anything Goes' ATC swap... shame we're still all waiting for our ATC's to come home...

Crafty creations from 2010

Might as well try and bring this blog up to speed with some of the crafting I did last year... better late than never!

Took part in another cybercrop, this one was Monopoly themed, and I was in the Thimbles team. Here's a Thimbles ATC I made,

along with some thimble inchies made by casting some resin thimbles using UTEE and Mold'n'Pour.

The mystery kit had papers from Sassafrass Lass in, not quite my style but I did do this rather wintery (for April!) layout,

 

as well as producing my page for the pre-crop challenge using colour-blocking.

Here's an A4 layout done of my Number 1 Dad, not used paint on a layout before and boy does it show... not sure whethere I'll try that again or not!

Another class, this one using custom hand-cut frames

A trip to Hanningfield Reservoir nature reserve during the summer was the inspiration for another class,

and I think that this night-time shot of our hotel in Ostend goes so well with this 'Black Market' paper!