Calendar Challenge The finished product

Now I have all my 12 pages for the calendar, I was ready for the finishing touches! First I have made a cover :

I have been careful to keep the pages as flat as possible so I allowed myself a dimensional flower on the cover. I have cut several layers using Spellbinders dies from dyed material and glued them together giving the flower shape.

My pages hang from a ring binder, and I have stuck them back to back as you can see here :

Finally for reference, a reminder of the 12 pages :

Hope you enjoyed the calendar coming together,

Calendar Challenge Week 12

This week the challenge at the Craft Barn is to use embossing. I love both wet and dry embossing as a way to create texture without bulk, so this is right up my alley...
A Cuttlebug folder provided the dry embossing and I inked up the folder with Versamark first so I could add mica powders on top.

 

The image is from Katzelkraft and I embossed it with 4 different powders, applying the powders separately but melting them all at once. I used distress inks on the image and calendar tab to tone down the contrast with the background card, added some washi tape, a snowflake and some glitter to represent snow at the bottom edge of the calendar.

Thanks for coming by,

Calendar Challenge Week 11

Circles are the order of the day at the Craft Barn for the calendar challenge . The first thing that came to mind was cogs, so I run with it and choose a cogs and gears mask as a starting point.

 



With the mask I first used distress inks, then sprayed some mica mists over the top.
The stamped images  are from Paper Artsy, I wished the bus was darker but my ink is too dry and my paper not smooth enough ! Finally with several sizes of Spellbinders Nestabilities I created my "cogs". I used Versamark and mica powders to give them a bit more dimension and when the light catches they really shine :

I am really looking forward to completing the calendar now !

If you have any favorite black ink or tips about black ink don't hold back... I am all ears !

Celebrating The Holidays

Still time for one more Christmas card ? Definitely ! This one I am entering in the Impression Obsession challenge, with the theme "Celebrating The Holidays".

To frame the Winter Scene (H1284) image, I created a stepper card and glued the stamped panel in the recess with a foiled die-cut.

To further create the impression of depth I added branches and fences die-cut to the closest panels, on top of dry embossing  and embossing powder (Stampendous Aged Aqua). A close-up of the image : 

 

 

And another photo better to show the foiled die-cut :

 

Finally to give more strenght to the back page I added patterned paper and white paper to write the message on.

Hope you will like it,

Calendar Challenge Week 10

I can hardly believe I have done 10 pages already for my calendar ! This week, we must use Trees on our pages for the Craft Barn challenge. I have lots of tree(s) stamps, so the most difficult was to choose ! Based on size, I settled for the Cover-a-card Branches by Impression Obsession. If you are a frequent visitor you will be aware that I love it !

I used pastels to establish a sky and ground backdrop for the Branches. I stamped the image with my wettest ink, Aubergine Versamagic, to best capture the details of that stamp.
I stamped and embossed the "Hug a tree" sentiment (Crafty Individuals) at the top.
The "frame" has been dry embossed with 2 sizes of Spellbinders dies, then wet embossed. The embossing is not perfect but I wanted a rustic look anyway.

Had I not used leaves in my last page, I would have added some... but I didn't want to repeat myself, so I just added a bit of twine on the calendar itself, less is more and all that...

Thanks for coming by,

Calendar Challenge Week 9

This challenge is colour based and the Craft Barn asks us to use the Rust/Teal/White colour scheme.

My submission below has been coloured with distress inks and is my second try :

I have first stamped and embossed the script stamp and the Postmark stamp in clear powder, the main stamp in black embossing powder before applying the distress inks.

 

To finish, as it's a September page I added some leaves. I played alchemist and made up some copper paint and aged it with salt and vinegar as you can (hopefully) see here:

 

 

Now as to my first try.... Since Pan Pastels have burst on the craft scene, I have wanted to test colouring card with traditional pastel sticks, which although less practical and more messy than Pan Pastels, should be the same thing at a fraction of the price.
I have found that :

• it's easier to achieve a smooth application compared to the Distress inks.
• to get dark tones use very dark pastels as card is too smooth to grab lots of pastel, I didn't and the result was too pale (this is why I changed tack).
• over the embossing the pastel behaved quite strangely as you can see in the detailed shot below. Unexpectedly the pastel stuck MORE to the embossing and this can be seen clearly on the area to the left in rust colour. However the pastel can be removed with a clean cloth, a little or a lot. If a little, the embossing looks fuzzy (no it's not the photo), an effect which I liked.

I will definitely try again !

Let me know what you think... of pastels, Pan Pastels and/or my page !