A message from Russia (posted by Claire)

Good morning, Claire here with a large tag made using some of the fabulous new stamps and stencils that Lesley launched on Hochanda recently. I love mail art so I couldn't resist having a play with the new collection.

I began by making a background using distress stains (Tarnished Brass, Vintage Photo, Broken China and Faded Jeans). I stamped here and there with  the beautiful Russian Exquisite Egg stamps but holding it in my hand so I just caught parts of the design and then embossed with gold embossing powder. I also added a little crackle with the crackle stamp using the same technique. I took one of the stencils and inked through it with a deep blue inkpad and then applied a layer of glassy gel medium. While that was drying I made the rest of the elements. I stamped Katya, again with dark blue ink and cut her out, I inked a post card from my stash and used one of the Silhouette Palace stamps and faux postage paper to make the 'stamps'.

Once everything was dry I assembled my tag, adding some flowers, pearl trim, charms, lace and ribbon from my stash.

Thanks so much for visiting today, keep popping back as my teamies have created some really gorgeous artwork to inspire you

Claire xx