Floral Passion

Time for the Craft Barn quote challenge! This week I chose the word passion, whilst the colour scheme was supplied by A Sprinkle of Imagination (I used Aqua, Pale Lime, fuschia and purple) and the Floral theme by Pan Pastel UK.
As for the technique, I went back to my all time favourite, pastel on top of Versamark. Not only this method allows multi-coloured stamping in a much easier way than inks, but the colours are also much more vibrant, solid and velvety.

I stamped flowers and leaves without masking (Papertrey Ink), which is why some of the overlaps aren't quite as good as I would have liked. After applying the different shades of pastels I cleaned up around the images with an electric eraser.

I will repeat myself here for the benefit of my new readers that may not have tried the Versamark and pastels/chalks technique: it is fool proof, the results are fantastic and it needs to be seen in real life to be fully appreciated. You can see another example here and here.

Thanks for coming by,

Fabric Stamping

I didn't think I would get the time to enter the Paper Artsy challenge this week but I had to make a phone cover so it was a perfect opportunity to join Keren Baker in her fabric stamping.

I used the houses from the LCP012 set on top of a previously stamped harlequin motif.
I used Versafine, not realising that it wouldn't dry straight away on fabric, and as a result I got black ink everywhere! You have been warned...

The stamped fabric (recycled from an old sheet) has been first stitched together with the "wadding", in this case a piece of recycled ironing board cover, before stitching the sides together (sadly not perfectly straight). With so much recycling I am also entering the Craft-Room challenge.

Unlike the last time I tried this project, I didn't have the actual phone to hand so I couldn't check at each step if the fit was correct. If you could cross your fingers for me that it will be OK...

Masculine card

A quick post to make the deadline at Fashionable Stamping, where the theme is" Circle the Globe". Excellent excuse to use my world map stamp (Docrafts) and make a masculine card inspired by the Lisa.B Designs fortnight's worth of men cards. Although my map is square I surrounded it with embossed circles...

I don't have a bubble wrap stamp such as the Kaisercraft so I used the real thing... Not as easy to use but it did the trick, in a distressed sort of way, but that's fine, we LOVE "distressed" us crafters!
The designer paper has been embossed with clear powder then highlighted with distress inks. On the right of this panel I embossed the card with a sprinkling of regular gold, filling in with a darker gold.
Finally I embossed some chevrons with Sticky stuff and applied gilding flakes. No need to distress further here,, as the Sticky stuff is very temperamental so the result is always less than perfect.
I layered my stamped map (I used Sepia and black Versafine on the stamp), added a sticker and a stamped tag fastened with a screw brad.

I am also entering the WOW Embossing powders challenge.

Thanks for coming by,

Unique and Fame Quote

These are the words selected for the latest Craft Barn challenge.
As usual after a break, my mojo deserts me and I had difficulties coming up with anything. I had several false starts and changed my choice of words twice! In the end I settled on unique and recycled a technique I have used recently on a scrapbook page to produce my background.

For my base, I recycled a scrap piece of cardboard (thank you Amazon) and die-cut it.
I drew around a Crafter's Workshop stencil (Garden Gate) with a water based pen. I then applied a wash of Limelight and Claret Fresco paints on top which both softened the lines and obscured them a bit. I used several Big Brush pens to colour a small script stamp and stamped repeatedly all over the panel.
I used the Chicken wire stencil (also Crafter's workshop) with black ink and stamped a Lynn Perella image (Paper Artsy) as I thought the lady is unique...
To finish I added the quote, handwritten with a pen nib and black ink on a die-cut label.

I feel there is something missing, but as I said, my mojo didn't budge so I left it at that.

I am also entering the Totally Gorjuss and Craft Room challenges.

Thanks for coming by,

Mail Art

With a lot of crafting products coming out of the USA where their standard card size is A2 (4.25" by 5.5") instead of our European A6 (4" by 6") I now find myself designing cards in that format. But then I have no corresponding envelopes!

Fortunately, even without punch board or score board, envelopes are easy to make and, even better, they can be tailored to the recipient or made to match the card inside.
The Artful Times challenge couldn't be more timely and this is what I have produced:

I used free papers from magazine (I can't think how to use them otherwise) and embossed 2 corners with some Tim Holtz folders. I created a mask with a die-cut label (Spellbinders) and stamped a small flower stamp (magazine freebie) around the mask to create the address panel.
I added stamped and die-cut flowers & leaves (Papertrey Ink) and for closure a hand written piece of washi tape.

If you haven't yet tried to make your own envelopes, find yourself a template (plenty on the net) and have a go!

Paper Artsy

This week on the Paper Artsy blog, Liesbeth Fidder made a sewing tin complete with small pockets, all covered with lovely stamping. I loved her altered tin but I will need to wait until the next barbecue/bonfire before I can make my own. In the meantime, I thought I would have a go with a box that can't get the fire treatment! Sara Naumann made a beautiful book cover using tissue papers, a photo and the stamps she designed for Paper Artsy and I used this idea to customise a plastic glass case (see Sarah's project and video here) albeit without the photo.

First I applied some Distress inks (Antique Linen, Tattered Rose and a touch of Walnut) to a piece of tissue paper.
I used stamps from ESN07 and one from LCP012. I had to ink up the latter as I won it recently in a previous Paper Artsy challenge (sadly only a small portion remains on the finished article).
I then glued the tissue with gloss gel medium and realised the colour was too pale so I mixed a glaze with Walnut distress re-inker and gel medium. I wished I'd had Vintage photo instead as it is a lot warmer and less potent but if I still don't like it in a few days I will add orange tones.

Thanks for coming by,

Roses are red(ish)

I was inspired by the Craft Room challenge to pull out my photo realistic Roses stamp (Impression Obsession) and team it up with a rose I made recently with embossing powders in a WOW mould.
I tried to get green leaves and pink petals and it worked well enough so I am quite pleased with the result. My favourite embellishments are the ones I have made myself and with this mould I am able to make endless variations of roses.

The colour scheme suggested itself from the choice of the paper pad I used (a VERY old pad from Making Memories) and the roses of course!
I used a die-cut tag (also Impression Obsession) and a flourish I got from a magazine recently which I HAD to try...
I am also entering the following challenges: Pan Pastel UK (colour palette), The Artistic Stamper (in the garden), Country View crafts (Nature's glories) and Ladybug Crafts (favourite embellishment)

Thanks for coming by,