Asian Panels

Three more cards, this time using the glittered Asian Panels. This stamp is available from Non Sequiteur, which can be bought from De Stempelwinkel. It also used to be available on a plate from Tanda Stamps, but having just been looking, I see they are no longer trading.
I started off by matting the glitter panel onto some silver mirror paper, then onto Red glitter card.

I used an assortment of oriental papers, the one with the lettering is a print off a Joanna Sheene cd, and the one on the left, which is the same image as the panel, was from a block of Kimono papers, from Arts & Crafts Direct. I remember buying these from a Hobbycrafts NEC show, and having searched the Internet, they only seem to be on e-bay, with a few items of cardstock!

I added a triple embossed Kanji letter to one, and a Kanji letter stamped & heat embossed onto an alcohol ink background to the other two,with some cord wrapped around the spine as a final touch.The Kanji letters were bought a long time ago, and don’t seem to be available now, although Judikins do have 2 large Kanji cubes, and I’ve linked to that below.


Links for the products:
 Samurai Plate 67, Non Sequiteur,De stempelwinkel
Kanji Cube 2
Kanji Cube 3, both at Blade Rubber Stamps.

Some of my favourite stamp plates.....

Mystic Dreams,72C

This is just a little follow on from the post below, I think the 'Mystic Dreams' plate from Non Sequiteur is gorgeous, and  thought I would share a few other plates I have of theirs with you. These are mainly pagan/celtic/mystic images, perfect for those who want something a little different, or who have friends & relatives these images would suit. I have made the title under each stamp set a clickable link, so they will take you straight to the plate on De Stempelwinkels site. This link will take you to Non Sequiteurs site, where you can view all the plates,as well as the individual images.

Celtic Mythology,75C

Winter Solstice, 71C.

Water myths & Fantasy, 53C

Forest fantasy, 90

Enchanted Forest, 91

Faeries & Flowers, 95

                                                                                                                                                                               

Samurai plate, 67

This one has some lovely 'different' Christmas stamps.

Winter Holidays, 64C

This one features the Butterfly Screen I have used on cards before.

Massive apologies if I have caused anyone to go and spend more money, :) - I know I could spend a fortune there if I didn't retsrain myself!

Oriental Poppy in Gold

   This is a stamp by Hampton Arts, 4523 Asian Poppy, which still seems to be available, I found it here, and here. The background was brayered with Adirondack Lemonade, Sunshine yellow and Sunset orange, the Post-it note Sun mask was added after the Lemonade.The Image was stamped in Versafine onyx black then heat embossed with clear powder. It is matted onto black cardstock, then mounted to the card front. the base card was cut to 14cm square, then covered with a gold patterned washi paper, I think this was in a pack from Hobbycrafts. The Japanese Shop also has a great choice of washi papers,as do Roze. An Oriental coin and Black & Orange ribbon finished it off.

Oriental Poppy in Red & Blue

 Another Oriental Poppy card using the Hampton Arts stamp, this time on a background brayered in  Adirondack reds, Watermelon, Red Pepper & Cranberry. Again the post it note Sun mask was added after the first colour was brayered. This one is also heat embossed, and matted onto black cardstock. I used a blue & gold washi paper for the card base here, as all the red papers are very heavily patterned, and the result was just too busy. I also stamped  a kanji  letter, onto a piece of card coloured with red ink, then triple embossed and the letter stamped in Black into the last layer.  A coin and a piece of knotted blue ribbon finish it off.

Oriental Poppy #2 Tag

The Oriental Poppy & Script image is clearly very popular, and this is a different take on the theme. I finally found out where I got this from- it was featured recently in Craft Stamper Magazine. It is Aspects of Design, Floral 01, from The Stampman. Here it is stamped on an alcohol ink background, in Black & heat embossed. I cut this into a tag, and cut a slightly larger tag from black glitter paper to matt it on to. I added a chinese coin, and the two little black sticks are cut down cocktail sticks, rolled on an embossing pad and dipped into black embossing powder, then heated! I tied a little red raffia around them, and attached them and the coin with a dab of silicone glue.A few strands of red & black fibres finished off the tag. The paper that covers the base was part of a roll I bought years ago one Christmas at the Hobbycrafts show at the NEC. I added three small coins, which have a little hanging loop at the top, so I secured them with a little bronze coloured brad. A narrow black ribbon was tied in a knot on the left side.
                        I often use a knotted ribbon when I am making a card with no particular person or occasion in mind. I think that knotted ribbon works o.k. on mens cards, whereas a bow is definitely more female. It just means I have a little more flexibility with who I can send it to. That is also why a lot of my cards have no sentiment on them- I add that when I need it.
  I seem to have my mojo back, I have been struggling to make enough time to get into my cards lately, and trying to squeeze them in just hasn't been working for me.

Images of the Orient

This is a really simple card, using 9 squares punched out with a Woodware Lever punch, which punches 1 3/8
squares.They are arranged on black card in a grid with a narrow gap between them.This was then matted onto a medium blue card, then onto a Square Black card base.They were all punched from an assortment of stamped images, keeping to a blue/purple colour range. I felt it needed something to offset the visual weight of the Gold Kanji letter in the bottom right, and fortunately the Oriental coins I have are a pretty good colour match.This had a couple of strands of Mizhuiki cord threaded over a piece of cocktail stick, all held in place with a couple of glue dots.

We do not remember days...

I used the Far East paper stack again on this card, to provide the background panel. Unfortunately I have no idea who makes the Crane image stamp, I bought it off E-bay a while ago as an u/m stamp. If anyone does recognise it, please leave me a comment, and I can update this. The sentiment stamp is by Oyster Stamps, and is all on one stamp. I had to split it into two, as my scrap from the stamped panel wasn't wide enough for the whole phrase! The image panel was coloured using mainly blues & purples, with a little yellow- dye ink on a craft sheet, misted with water.The image was stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black, as was the sentiment.The image was then matted onto a medium blue cardstock, and the Far East paper onto black card. The stamped image was added to the panel, then all mounted onto a gunmetal card base. The two halves of the sentiment were also matted onto black, then positioned on the image. I added three different sized oriental coins with silicone glue.

WOYWW #92

 Happy Whats on your Workdesk Wednesday to everyone, if you have found this at random, pop over to the Stamping  Ground to see what its all about, and maybe join in.

 The first of the items on my desk this week is a Mothers Day card, made with an Elusive Images plate, Morning Glory.It was stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black onto an alcohol ink background, then coloured with Promarkers.The base card was covered with paper from the Papermania Antique Cream pad, the image matted onto dark blue card, then layered with foam tabs. Purple dotted organza ribbon tied around the spine. The sentiment was computer printed onto vellum, heat embossed, then
attached to blue card with heart brads.




The second card using the same stamp, this time onto a pink alcohol ink background, matted onto pink pearlescent card. A sheet from The Far East paper pad was used to cover the base card.I used black peel-offs to create the line frame around the panel, and 3 small chinese coins added to the top right corner.

The third card, this time on blue/green alcohol inks. Matted onto dark blue card.The embossed background is a Quickutz embossing folder, Diamonds & Dots, which I embossed to the width of the card by putting the folder through the 'bug sideways.Dark blue gingham ribbon added, a sentiment stamped and matted onto an offcut of the lattice background, which was cut to a tag shape.I added some narrow blue ribbon tails, and a bow.

                                                                                

This is the card from last week with two of the fibre butterflies added. They were given anthers made from mizhuiki cord, with a tiny bead on the ends. I added a peeloff oriental sentiment, as all the stamps I have were just a little too big for the space.





The last thing I want to share with you, will probably have lots of you rushing off to your nearest branch of The Works!

I found these in there last week- tiny canvases with easel, as you can see, 99p each! The canvas measures 3 1/2 in (9cm)  x1 3/4 in(7cm), and is 1 cm thick. I have a couple of projects in mind for these, for a birthday gift later in the year. Though I shall probably get a few more, 'just in case', lol.

Oriental Butterflies

Two versions of the same stamp,which is available as part of a sheet from a couple of suppliers: Tanda Stamps,Far East set 1,where it is also available as a single stamp,and in both rubber or clear polymer, or from Non Sequiteur, Plate 67, Samurai Plate. Apart from the Butterfly block, both plates have different stamps on them. For both cards, the butterfly block was stamped in black ink, then heat embossed, onto alcohol ink backgrounds. The butterflies, flowers and leaves were all painted with H2O's.For the black & red card, the design was then cut into 8 tiles then remounted onto black card, trimmed then matted onto a second sheet of inked card. The sentiment was stamped onto a scrap, matted onto black card and fixed with foam pads.The butterfly embellishment was made using fusible fibres over the butterflies on the block, then cut out and mounted with silicone glue. An Oriental coin had a length of black/gold mizhuiki cord threaded through it, and was attached with silicone glue in the opposite corner.
This card is an example of how a card can change as you are constructing it, and of the benefits of putting it aside if you aren't happy- coming back to it later often helps. This one was originally cut into 4 horizontal panels, then re-matted onto black card. I wasn't sure about it, so left it and completed the blue one.When I looked at it again, I thought the 8 squares would work better, maybe because it seems to mimic the oriental Shoji panels?
For the blue card, the background is printed from a Joanna Sheen cd,Tales of the Orient.The kanji strip on the left was done in triple embossing, using black ink as the base. The sentiment was stamped onto a scrap of inked card, and small black brads added in the corners.

Mulan

This was named after the film that gave me the inspiration. Its an Asian cinema film, and if you don't like subtitled films, it's not for you.It seems that the modern dog-tags worn by soldiers are predated by the chinese army by a couple of thousand years- I assume they were made of bamboo, but carried the name of the soldier, so he could be identified. In a scene in the film, Mulan is washing these tags taken from dead soldiers, to remove the blood, before they are returned to their families. The main tag was made by painting dark brown acrylic paint & crackle glaze onto card, then a lighter brown for the top layer. The Asian lettering is from a Great Impressions stamp(#K50), and the warrior from Non Sequiteur plate 67C.Both were stamped in Staz-on Black. I dabbed some red ink onto the stamped tag.The medium tag was made by triple embossing a tag dabbed with black ink, then stamping in Kanji characters in gold Encore. The red tag had oriental letters stamped in black on a red background, triple embossed then a different Kanji stamped into it. I chose the Kanji's for Strength, Honor and Courage, as these seemed most appropriate.Kanji stamps by Stamp & Go (SIEWKFS01B.). The base paper is a torn piece of snakeskin effect paper, which reminded me of the texture of the armour.A small coin, a couple of bits of cocktail stick and two pieces of raffia combined for the final embellishment. Oh, I threaded some thick cord through the tags, and made a small bead out of Black Fimo to thread on to it. The base card was stamped with a Bamboo motif, in Versamark. I have entered this in the 'Cards for Men' challenge at The Stamp Man Blog.

Kanji strip

For the card on the left I took a strip of thick card and coloured it with red dye ink. This was then triple embossed.The Kanji letters were inked up with Gold Encore ink and pressed into the final embossing. When cold I gently bent the card to get the cracked effect.Edged with gold Krylon pen. I scored a box, slightly larger than my stamped panel, in the centre front of the base card. The panel was mounted with DST, and a gold & Red cord wrapped around the fold. The Kanji stamps are by Stamp & Go .com  and come as a set of 13, plus a pair of koi carp. Item Number SIEWKFS01B.
The card on the right used black dye ink on the panel instead of red.

Serenity.

Japanese lady with Ravens, this time stamped in blue, with a blue washi paper and a small mizhuiki knot. Fibres tied around the spine, and a couple of oriental coins added.The square card was made from an A4 piece of card cut down, the fold creased & scored, then creased again 1''either side of the fold. An insert was added at this point, and the fibres wrapped around the spine. Then I closed the card and made 4 holes between the fold and the crease and inserted eyelets.The word Serenity was stamped onto a scrap of marbled card and mounted onto a scrap of blue card then washi paper.

Oriental'triptych'

This uses the Japanese lady with ravens stamp from an earlier card.Like before I removed the plum ink with cotton buds and added black ink to the ravens with a marker. Image cut into 3 then mounted onto washi paper. A gold triangle frames opposite corners, matted onto black then washi paper again.The Oriental lettering is a small segment of a kanji lettering stamp. I inked a small piece of thick card with black ink, triple embossed, then pressed the letter stamp, inked in gold, into it. When cold I edged with gold Krylon pen, added a tassel and mounted with silicone glue.The black base card has a motif embossed from the Borderfold embossing board from The Glitter Girls.

Oriental

A black base card, with a panel of gold washi paper from Hobbycrafts.The stamp is an unmounted rubber, but I can't remember where I bought it from. Its stamped onto an alcohol ink background using Cranberry, Red Pepper & Raisin, with a little Gold Mixative. The image is matted onto black, then gold, then Black card.I mounted this at an angle, and framed two corners with a peel off corner & straight line, leaving one gold and colouring the other with a black peeloff pen. The mizhuiki knot is formed from 1 gold, 2 black and 2 red cords.This was attached with a few dabs of silicone glue.

Japanese Lady with Ravens

The title is also the name of the stamp, from Stamp Francisco. I stamped it using a Cracked Sapphire Distress ink-pad, then wiped the blue ink off the Ravens with cotton buds. I then coloured them using a black Marvy marker.Stamped onto a grey marbled card, then matted onto black, then blue/gold card.The two strips are Washi paper( Hobbycrafts, among others).For the Kanji strip, I used the Cracked Sapphire inkpad again, tapping it onto white card.This gave me a nice mottled look. The distress pads are also wet enough to take the UTEE, and I used 3 layers. The Kanji letters stamp is just called OASIS( I think this may be the maker) 212E. It has 9 characters in a vertical line, I just taped off the bottom 4 while I inked it up ( Encore Gold Metallic), then took off the tape before stamping.Added a tassel and mounted with silicone glue.Lastly I printed the title in black onto white paper, and used a label die cut from my Silhouette, to give a 'Gallery' feel.

Oriental 2

A really simple quick card. A5 card scored and folded.A strip of red patterned oriental paper mounted onto a slightly larger piece of gold paper, mounted to the left. A small piece of red mulberry paper, torn. Lines 'drawn' with a wet paintbrush help.
The 'coin' was made from Fimo, cut out with a small round lid from a jar. I then pressed a real japanese coin into it for the pattern and used a scalpel to cut out the centre square.I cut out a dozen or so, then after baking rubbed with gold rub-on wax. Threaded through with some narrow red ribbon, and mounted on top of the mulberry paper with silicone glue.Found some small Peeloff Happy Birthday stickers( Craft Creations).