Stampbord Creations

This is Stampbord.........Well it was before I altered it! It's now a very individual piece of jewelry. The Stampbord started out as a 2" x 2" plain square. I sponged colour onto the board using dye based inks. The image was stamped using black Stazon ink and then coloured with Sakura pens. I made a hole in the corner of the board using a Cropodile. Finally, the whole surface was daubed with VersaMark ink and a coat of clear fine embossing powder. To complete the piece I fixed a brass eyelet to the hole and applied Wonder Tape around the edges of the board and dipped the piece into Bedazzles. A Junkitz pin balez was adhered to the back using superglue and threaded with a brass coloured ball chain from LB Crafts. Finally, a length of brass chain had beads and charms applied and I used an antique brass dog clip to fasten it through the eyelet. Simple - but very effective.

I am a huge fan of Stampbord - having used it for so many projects including embelishments on box lids, cards and tags, book covers, embelishments on box lids.... and the list goes on. But I really do love creating pieces to wear. It is ispirational and it makes inks so vibrant and blendable and the stamped images are crisp and prestine on its clay surface.

This piece was created with another 2" x 2" square. The process for creating the background was the same as the piece above and this time several images were stamped as a collage using Tim Holtz distressed inks - the colours in this ranges are truly wonderful. Three small holes were punched across the bottom of the piece and I repeated the process of glazing the surface with a coat of clear embossing powder to protect the clay surface. This time I covered the Wonder Tape with micro beads and fixed brass eyelets in the holes. Metal charms, beads and chain strands were attached through the eyelets and a Pin Balez added to the back. The gold coloured ball chain was found in Specsavers (it's a spectacle chain that I addapted) and Hey Presto! another peice of wearable art.

The great thing about the Pin Balez from Junkitz is that you can wear your jewelery as a pin or a necklace - very adaptable, I found them at Art from the Heart in Harrogate. All of the amazing rubber stamped images are by Elusive Images. These stamps are just perfect for projects of this kind and lend themselves perfectly to the technique of Collage. The stamps, Stampbord, ink pads, embossing powder and Wonder Tape are all available from Graphicus.

Diesel's Diary Update

Thursday 21st September 2006:

This time last year Diesel became a father for the first time. His partner was Saskia, the beautiful German Shepherd bitch on the right of this picture. One of their daughters Bella, stands to the left of Saskia. Pictured below are Bella and her sister Sienna.

Saskia is owned by my friend Karen and her daughter Danniella who have kept these two pups (now 15 months old) from the first litter. The most remarkable attribute that all three girls and Diesel possess in abundance, is their superb temperament. With this in mind, Diesel and Saskia have been mated again on the 21/09/06. All being well, we should see a new litter being born towards the end of November. Saskia was a wonderful mother who took easily to the role. Diesel was introduced to the puppies after a few weeks and he too was gentle and loving to the pups. He has never forgotten Saskia and the mere mention of her name sends him running to the door or the gate to see if she is visiting again.

They all still get on really well together. Bella is most like Diesel - she is similar in build, tall and slim with many of his quirky mannerisms. She is also very vocal. Sienna is quieter but really stands up for herself. Both are very active and are always into something - usually something that they shouldn't be. The pups have already attended their basic obedience training course with Andy Bloomfield at Aeolian House, following in the footsteps of their parents.

I'll keep you updated with news and pics of the (hopefully) new litter and proud parents.



Can you believe that somewhere in this basket of pups are the two girls above?

Saskia and Diesels' July 2005 litter.

Back On The Road Again

Early in September, Darren, Emma and I hit the road to Wrexham for the 'Artstamp Wales' show. It was the first time we'd attended this show and didn't know what to expect.

The journey was uneventful and set-up went well. You can see how nice the stand looked with Darren, Emma and some of the other exhibitors in the photo.

Our hotel was lovely, in a wooded setting and we were made to feel very welcome.

Saturday 09th: no where near as busy as most of the other shows that we attend. Lots of people stopped by to watch the demonstrations and were very enthustiastic about our products. I was demonstrating Elusive Images new Christmas Stamps in conjunction with alcohol ink backgrounds - Wow! I love the Poinsettia Script. I think I've decided on the design for my own Christmas Cards this year!!

Sunday 10th: does anyone know we're here? It was so quiet today. The weather was absolutely beautiful which probably didn't help. If people were out and about they certainly weren't at the Stamp Show in any great numbers. The picture below right was taken early afternoon when usually you have to fight your way to the stands - I wish!!

The journey home was slow going..... lots of traffic, lots of hold-ups and even a vehicle on fire which really held us up. But at least the weather was still good.

We'll notch Wrexham up to experience and look forward to the next one at Harrogate at the end of the month. I'll be back with another update soon.

Preparing for the Weekend

It's been a really busy day at work today and tomorrow is going to even busier. We will be getting everything ready to hit the road early Friday morning and heading south west - we're off to the Artstamps Wales show in Wrexham.

I'm really looking forward to this show, it sort of kicks off our round of Autumn shows and it's the first time we've exhibited at Wrexham so it will be interesting to see how it goes.

I'll report back with all the news and hopefully some pics too!

Overglinns Brodie - better known as Diesel

Let me introduce you to my boy Diesel. He'll be four in October and is the most intuitive, loyal and loving friend anyone could wish for.

We've had Diesel since he was 8 weeks old when he arrived in the back of a police dog van with his sister and four of his brothers. Two of the boys had already been selected by the Cleveland Police Force and the little girl was going to a local farmer. I picked Diesel or should I say - he picked me! I was warned that he was going to be a handful and would probably be the most difficult of the remaining pups but it didn't deter me.

So, the other boys all went off to be big bold police dogs around the UK and Diesel joined our family who at the time included another wonderful German Shepherd Dog called Degas who was to be his mentor.

Diesel is such an entertainer, he is relentless in his quest for play, a great friend and a formidable presence as a protector of the family and home. I'll tell you more about his antics in later postings.

This is my first posting and I'd like to use it to say a big thank you to my friend and colleague Carrie Anne who has helped to get me this far with my blog.

Those of you who've checked out my profile will already know that I'm an art & craft addict and my blog will probably feature heavily with things related to my passion for crafting. So please come back and visit again. Got to go and get my daily fix now....... There's a blank canvas waiting!

First Post

Hello.......come back for more later!