Heavy lifting

Yes it's time for my second inspiration make for the Country View Challenge, where the theme chosen by Rachel is Under the Sea.

This time I used alcohol inks to build up my background, and, together with the Alcohol lift ink and Yupo paper from Ranger, I had great fun creating water effects .

First I tried to simulate the broken light seen in moving water by using crumpled plastic to lift the ink, then with a small eraser and embossing tools I lifted the bubbles above the fish.

I then stamped my fish (Paper Artsy Hot Pick 1111) with Memento Tuxedo black ink on a piece of paper prepared with an iridescent medium and fussy cut them before placing on my background.

At this point I decided to add "coral" by lifting the colour with the top of a tree stamp. You can see the before photo:

To achieve the effect,  I actually stamped the "coral" twice, once with the Alcohol lift ink and once with an Archival ink. The first pass with the Alcohol lift ink allowed me to lift most of the colour and the second pass added a bit of colour (one was stamped in pink the other in orange) which was blotted to leave just a hint of colour.
The technique relies on having a stamping platform but it is very effective, even on such fine detail as these tree branches (a Crafty Individual stamp from the CI- 450 set).

I will leave you with the shine shot and hope you will join us at Country View Challenges with your own Under the Sea creations!

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the SSS Monday, SSS Wednesday, Lost Coast Designs (inspired by the Disney song Under the Sea...) and Craft Stamper TIMI  challenges.

A birthday like no other

A few challenges pushed me to come out of my creative lethargy and I made this humoristic card (it will hopefully elicit a chuckle if not an out and out laugh!)

I first stamped the otter in black and masked it. The grasses were stamped on top with green dye inks and I applied some Distress inks behind the animal. Both stamps are from a set issued with issue 57 of Creative Stamping (May 2018). as is the sentiment.

The otter was coloured with pencils.

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the Addicted to stamps, SSS Wednesday, Casology, Penny Black and more  challenges.

Just passing

Again, too quickly, back to school is upon us, the heat of the sun is fading and the beach is but a memory. Here at Country View Challenges, we have a final helping of sea albeit underwater... the theme chosen by Rachel for September (Under the Sea).

I hope my first inspiration make gives a good impression of an underwater scene!

I made a card base from a 6" by 14" piece of cardstock and partially die cut the bottom with the outline die from the Studio Light Ocean View and made a mountain fold about 1" from the bottom, to get a folded card of 6"x6".
I die-cut white cardstock with the second die and coloured it with alcohol markers before gluing into place.

I decorated the front of the card with an underwater scene from Crafty Individuals paper  pad No 6 and stamped and coloured the turtle (CI-413) with pencils on a separate piece of card.
The turtle is attached to a piece of acetate I affixed to the back of the very first fold so that the animal leans back when the card is opened and not forward (yes I got that wrong the first time...)

Over to you... create a project following our Under the sea theme for a chance to win a £20 voucher in the Country View Crafts web shop!

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the SSS Monday (my S is for Sea Scene), Addicted to stamps, Penny Black and more and SSS Wednesday challenges.

Another Deer

As promised I am back with a second Christmas card for my Crafts U Love DT post. The Studio Light deer image had so much success in my first make I used it again in this simpler card.

This time I stamped the image on glossy paper and added inks with Distress foam to create a sky and snowy hills background using masks cut from paper.

After the first stamping with Memento black, with the stamp still on the Stamping platform, I cleaned it and inked some of the falling snow with a Versamark embossing pen and stamped over the black impression. I then embossed with White Glitter EP.

 

I cut the image and a mat with the Couture Creations Bracket Frames die set.

 

I used 2 papers from the Studio Light PPSL19 pad to decorate the front of my card base and cut a label using Julie Hickey Designs Layers, Frames & Banners Die Set with both white and red cardstock  using the inside of one and the outside of the other. I added Nuvo Drops on all the pierced holes of the scalloped label frame and, since I had it at hand, I couldn't resist adding some on the brownish dots of the paper.

A closer look at the shine and textures:

Supplies:

Studio Light A6 Paper Pad - No.119
Studio Light Essentials Clear Stamp Set - No.391
Tonic Studios Nuvo Stone Drops - Gold Rush
Memento Inkpad Tuxedo Black
Memento Dew Drop Inkpad Danube Blue and Summer Sky
Versamark Pen
WOW! Embossing Glitter - White Twinkle
Couture Creations Cut, Foil & Emboss Nesting Die Set - Bracket Frames

Do have a look at the other stamps Studio Light have released for this Christmas, they are just as great as the Deer, you can find them here.

Should you purchase any of the products I have used on this card, select  'Design Team'  in the 'where have you seen us' drop down so we know we have inspired you!

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the The Artistic Stamper, SSS Monday Challenge (my S is for snow),  Addicted to stamps,  and SSS Wednesday challenges.

Christmas, deer

Too soon for Christmas? Hmmm… I like doing some Christmas crafting closer to the date to enjoy the general festive feeling, but, if you plan to make elaborate cards, the earlier you start the better. Because, making cards under time constraints feels less like fun and more like work!

Today's inspiration post for Crafts U Love is such a card: it's an interactive card, made with the Square Spinner die, and has 3 decorated sides.

You will notice that the card is oriented in portrait mode and although I have not seen any like that online there is no reason why it shouldn't be done. The interactive part pops out below rather than on the right side when the card is opened but otherwise it works in the same way.

For the mechanism I will send  you to Karen Burniston herself and this video.

Steps:

1. First work on the front panel of the card.
- If you want papers on the inside, start by sticking them in place, then die cut the opening with your chosen shape die.
- Die-cut the opening from the paper to place on the outside of the front panel and stick down.
- add any flat decoration at this stage to the front cover

2. Decorate the inside back panel with the desired papers.

3. Die-cut, prepare and stick down the Square Spinner mechanism (refer to Karen's video)

4. Place the focal image and the spinning element on the mechanism

5. Add any dimensional details to the front now.

I wanted to my card to be slightly larger than A6 which did make things a little bit more difficult as a whole sheet of  paper didn't cover my card entirely, however this pushed me to come up with a more creative design.

The papers I used are from the Studio Light PPSL19 pad, which has a festive feel but a fresh contemporary black, white and gold colours scheme.

The deer image is from the Studio light essential Stamp set No.391 stamped with Versafine for that solid silhouette look. I picked out some of the falling snow with the Nuvo Drops latest incarnation, the stone texture, in gold.

I also used it on the front to add a heart and pearls. As you see the finish when dry is rather matte and grainy too, like a mix of paint and fine sand. This thicker texture requires a bigger nozzle and for that reason it would be difficult to write with the Stone Drops unless you used big letters.

And in action as demonstrated by my not so glamorous but helpful assistant:

Supplies:

Studio Light A6 Paper Pad - No.119
Studio Light Essentials Clear Stamp Set - No.391
Tonic Studios Nuvo Stone Drops - Gold Rush
Karen Burniston Spinner Square Pop-Up Die Set
VersaFine  – Onyx Black inkpad

Should you purchase any of the products I have used on this card, select  'Design Team'  in the 'where have you seen us' drop down so we know we have inspired you!

 

I will be back for another Christmas creation at the end of the month, I hope you will come back to check it out.

Thank you for visiting today,

I am entering the Craft Stamper challenges.

Textured Gents

Today is my turn to inspire you to enter our Country View Challenge on the theme, "Textures" chosen by the lovely Miriam.

My make is effectively a pendant to my first inspiration make, it's here if you missed it, but this time I used more masculine colours and embellishments and, of course, 2 different techniques for textures.

On the left, I used dry embossing with 2 embossing folders (Cuttlebug script and X-Cut Chronology  Clocks) directly on the greyboard (after applying the gesso). Although the standard die-cutting machine sandwich needs to be adjusted for the thickness of the greyboard it will still emboss beautifully.

On the right I applied grungepaste with a knife and stamped into it with a bricks stamp (Katzelkraft) and a lead window design from a Prima Finnabair stamp set (Finnabair cling Trust the Magic). Whilst I was doing it I decided to throw in a bit of Infusion powders before the paste dried.

I then sprayed the Infusions and let the colours run down and merge into each other taking care of the right hand side colours.
For the left hand side, I used Distress Oxides all over in Fossilized Amber, Fired Brick and a little Walnut. To highlight the  texture a bit more, I added standard Distress ink in Walnut on the high points of the embossing. I didn't get the depth of colour expected but I forgot how gesso has a tendency to suck the dyes from above layers!

I flicked some water and some black paint to finish the background.

The focal image are 2 Paper Dolls I combined on top of torn vellum pieces, mat and die-cuts.
Finally I added some cardboard cogs I had painted and rusted previously.

Your turn to create something textural to enter our Country View Challenge and be in with a chance to win a £20 voucher to spend on craft stash!

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the Craft Stamper TIMI, Creative Artiste, SanDee & amelie's Steampunk, We Love To Create  challenges.

Textured dolls

A new Country View Challenge is kicking off today and the theme, chosen by the lovely Miriam, is Textures. The world is your oyster... so many ways of creating textures and so much fun to be had!

Today I used stencils to create the main textures, first with texture paste and the chicken wire stencil and then for added dimension, I added embossing powder on top of the texture paste through the Prima doily stencil.

But going back to the beginning... I created the background on a heavy cardstock panel which I gessoed and stuck a piece of fabric like material on the right.

I painted a large portion of the panel with Prima Texture Paste Clear crackle for fine texture.

The stencilling came next and when dry I used the heat gun on the embossing powder (Seth Apter, Emerald Creek Baked Texture in Vintage Beeswax.

I then applied Paper Artsy Frescos paints all over the panel which revealed the crackles.

A bit of stamping with archival inks finished off the background.

The focal point is a cluster around a Tim Holtz Paper doll, one of the largest in the set. Behind is a doily, aged with Distress inks and a Vintage ad from a Prima Ephemera pack. Under the dolls' feet are 2 die-cuts. I created a cluster with a piece of muslin, 3 flowers made with the Prima Fairy Garden Mould and sprayed with shimmer sprays and some micro beads, the whole held in place with acrylic gel medium.

Once again this project didn't turn out the way I had envisioned but I had a lot of fun making it and so will you when you join us in the Country View Challenge! Plus there's a £20 voucher for grabs, just saying...

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the We Love To Create, SanDee & amelie's Steampunk, SSS Wednesday and Bleeding Art challenges.

Vintage mail

I love making my own backgrounds (saves me actually using up those lovely papers in my stash!) and I wanted to try Distress Oxides with Tim Holtz resist spray so I created a masterboard.

First I applied Distress Oxides with a brayer on a piece of white paper.

Then I sprayed some of the resist on top and let that to dry before applying more  Distress Oxides.

Another spray of resist….

And a final layer of Distress Oxides to finish, this time adding some of the darker Walnut ink.

The resist spray creates lots of dots in varying sizes which resist water based inks and dry to a shiny finish . The shine is not apparent in the enclosed photo but trust me it is glossy.
[Warning: the Resist spray is extremely sticky, it cannot be removed not even from your craft mat, so spray in a cardboard box or protect your work area with newspaper]

For today's card I die-cut a piece from this master board with the Julie Hickey Layers, Frames & Banners Die Set and 2 other mats from cardstock with the same die set.

My focal point is the postcard image from the Woodware set I had already stamped (see my previous project here) and some die-cut flowers from a Tim Holtz set.

I used Nuvo Drops to colour the flowers and add a little something to the sentiment banner.

Supplies:

Julie Hickey Designs Layers, Frames & Banners Die Set - Rectangle
Julie Hickey Designs I Need It Stamp Set - Everyday Sentiments
Woodware Clear Stamp Set - Old Postcard
Tonic Studios Nuvo Vintage Drops - Bonnie Blue and Chocolate Chip
Tonic Studios Nuvo Crystal Drops Gloss - Dandelion Yellow and Woodland Green
Tim Holtz Alterations Thinlits Die Set - Wildflower Stems #2
Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad – Antique Linen
VersaFine Onyx Black
WOW! Embossing Powder - Seafoam White

Should you purchase any of the products I have used on this card, select  'Design Team'  in the 'where have you seen us' drop down so we know we have inspired you!

***

The resist technique I used for the background is fun and easy and I'm convinced it would look fabulous as a night sky or aurora borealis! Perfect for Christmas... no it's not too early for use crafters!

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the challenges.

Words cannot say

A very short post today to show this CAS card.

The flower bouquet (Fancy Frangipanis) is stamped with Memento fog grey for a (nearly) no line colouring, which I did with watercolours.
The sentiment, from the Fond expressions 2 stamp set, is stamped in Memento Black.
Both stamp sets are by STAMPlorations.

I added some DecoArt Glass paint for dew drops as the finishing touch.

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the CAS Watercolour, Craft Stamper TIMI, Penny Black and more,  Stamping Sensations (Sir Stampalot),  STAMplorations, and Unikostudio challenges.

Metal Leaf

I saw the Vintage Journey challenge and the DT's beautiful makes and had to join in... at last some inspiration to get me back in the (crafting) groove!

I threw quite a lot of metallic looking mediums on this piece, the front cover of a book, usage yet to be determined.

I didn't take any in progress picture though, until I got to that stage.

The cover of my book was first gessoed, then I glued down a few (real) leaves, a die-cut (Tim Holtz Mixed Media die) and some corners (die-cut waste).

I used 3 colours of acrylic paints to create a "rusty" impression, adding silver to the high points with a soft cloth.

I created a cluster with a piece of designer corrugated cardboard which I tore.

A closer look at the metal shine....

I used foil on this die-cut    label

The "metallic" glint here is    from mica flakes sitting    on top of metal thread.

And the completed cover:

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the SSS Wednesday, Creative Artiste, Vintage Journey,  Bleeding Art challenges.

You are strong

I have a "quick" CAS card to show you today as I have been inspired to enter a few challenges to kick start my mojo back into action.

The first prompt is from CAS stencil who suggested we used Alcohol ink lifting technique.


Of course I wanted to use it with a stencil and chose one from the Tim Holtz Layering Mini Stencil Set #35.

While pouncing the smoothie to lift the alcohol ink I also applied it where there was no ink, resulting in a positive-negative view of the design.



My focal image is the Flora woman stamp from Cherry Pie and the sentiment is a sticker from the Shine Bright set by STAMPlorations.

Quite a fabulous product this Lift-ink...

Thanks for coming by,
I am also entering the Artistic Stamper,  Addicted to stamps, Allsorts, Craft Stamper  and CAS Mix up challenges.

Framework

Today is my turn to show you what I made with some of the new products arriving at Crafts U Love. One of them keeps going out of stock so I was excited to finally lay my hands on it... the Julie Hickey Designs Layers, Frames & Banners Die Set!

Why so excited you ask?

1. The mix of rectangular dies allow for 4 different sizes mats and 2 thin frames. By mixing those together on different colours of cardstock the possibilities are endless  (well not in a mathematical sense but...)
2. The smaller dies can be used for sentiments and 3 of them are perfect for thin sentiments which is something that was missing from my arsenal. Of course, they also match well with Julie Hickey Designs Everyday Sentiments
3. And finally, above all, the one feature that I have been waiting for since I started die-cutting... the dies sizes are proportional to our A6 cards (14.8 by 10.5cms) rather than the US standard card size (5"1/2 by 4"1/4 ). So now I can matt and layer using any standard paper and card...

Nuff said let's get on with the today's tutorial:

1. Using the largest (scalloped) die I first die-cut a panel and using the 3rd die down in size cut the middle out, creating a frame.
2. To make it easy for myself I then embossed it from the back with the second size down die (the largest of the thin frames).
3. I used the same die to cut out a frame with another colour of cardstock.

4. I finished my frame by sticking the thin frame in the channel I created in step 2.
With the left overs I also got a second frame thrown in!


For the background behind the frame, I made my own patterned paper using stamps and 2 colours of Nuvo Drops as paint.
Slightly unorthodox I know,  but I wanted to see if it worked and also making sure that colours matched...
To do this I spread a bit of product in a thin layer on my craft mat with a silicone tool then tapped the stamp lightly on the paint.

The Nuvo Drops I used are from the Vintage range and have a matt finish to them after drying. The stamp set is one of the many Vintage motifs sets released th year by Woodware and you know I like my Vintage...

Using the same stamp set I stamped the postcard and butterfly several times (I only needed one of each for this project but this will save me time in the long run)

I chose vellum for the butterfly which can be coloured both from the front and the back for a deeper colour.

Putting it all together on a blue card base with a banner die-cut, stamped and embossed with a sentiment and finished with Bonnie Blue Nuvo Drops at the corners of the frame and on the small heart of the banner. I did consider adding a dot to each pierced hole of the scalloped frame but I didn't fancy my chances of getting them all the same size and in the right place too!

Supplies:

Julie Hickey Designs Layers, Frames & Banners Die Set - Rectangle
Julie Hickey Designs I Need It Stamp Set - Everyday Sentiments
Tonic Studios Nuvo Vintage Drops - Bonnie Blue and Chocolate Chip
Woodware Clear Stamp Set - Old Postcard
Vicki Boutin Kaleidoscope Silicon Art Wedge
Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad – Antique Linen
Brilliance inkpad
Creative Expressions White A4 Vellum
WOW! Embossing Powder - Seafoam White

Should you purchase any of the products I have used on this card, select  'Design Team'  in the 'where have you seen us' drop down so we know we have inspired you!

Come by at the end of the month for another inspiration post for Crafts U Love.
In the meantime... keep cool and carry on crafting!