Blast from the past

Hello crafters, 

An oldie but goodie today... both in supplies and technique!

I first smooshed bright inks all over my cardstock and applied black ink to an embossing folder (on the flat side) giving that contrast of bright against dark. The folder is an old Cuttlebug/Provocraft and if I remember correctly the one that convinced me I "needed" a die-cutting machine!

The quote is from the "Life is so much Better" stamp set designed by my crafty friend Brenda from Floral Fantasies. I then die-cut it with another oldie, possibly Nellie Snellen (anyone recognise it let me know, it's some 15 years old and I have lost all details!).

There you have it, an easy card but eye catching.     

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield   I am entering the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge, 

                                                         We Love Stamping, Stamping Sensations and Allsorts challenges

Coffee and Lace

Hello crafters!
For my second inspiration make for our Country View Challenge, held in the Facebook group, on the theme "Use Lace and Buttons". I once again stayed away from stamping using (finally) some of those hoarded papers!

I created a background with Distress Oxide Inks splatters in Worn Lipstick and Salvaged Patina. Then I simply added my embellishments:

- a piece of Sizzix Thinlits Heart Mandala die (665587 by Eileen Hull),
- 2 pieces of paper from the Stamperia Coffee and Chocolate pad
- a Vintage piece of lace.
- a button threaded with twine.
Another quick card to make, bar the background which needs drying time and the makeover I gave to the button. To make it more interesting and to match the colours, I embossed my button with a mix of EPs.
Whilst I had the buttons and EP on hand, I transformed several at the same time for future use...

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield   I am entering the Simon Says Stamps Monday challenge.

Vintage vibe and glitter

Hello crafters, 
I have been in a Vintage mood lately and decided on a Mixed Media play for a door sign.

I used Distress Oxides sprays as well as Prima Blooms sprays to add a bit of lustre to the background.
I added some stamping with Versafine inks not realising that they would not dry on top of the Prima sprays... Having smudged some of the stamping, I had to use clear EP to preserve the stamping. The stamp I used is Crafty Individuals 'Just the Ticket Border' (CI-498).

For my focal point, I die-cut a doily with a prima die and embossed it with a mix of Peacock and Seaglass Wow! powders which have glitter in them.
The large tag is 'Chunky Vintage Typewriter Tag' (CI-455) also from Crafty Individuals, stamped and embossed with black EP.
Embellishments are Ephemera Field Notes Snippets (TH94049) and Tiny Clips (TH94025) both Tim Holtz® Idea-ology™, a paperclip adorned with a button and a piece of washi tape (AALL & Create #13 - Fasteners).
Finally, I added mini brads at the 4 corners the top ones fixing the wire that will be used to hang the sign.

Another photo to (hopefully) show the shine:

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield   I am entering the Allsorts, Stamping Sensations and 

                                                       Addicted to Stamps, challenges

Stepper Card and Butterflies

Hello crafters, 

A quick post as I am aiming to enter the Allsorts challenge where the theme is "Show us your folds". Paper construction is not my forte but stepper cards are within my reach, albeit with help from a die...

The die is Step Card by Presscut, the set comes with dies to cut decorative papers for each section as well as the card base and I used some old magazine freebies to decorate the panels.

The stamp in the focal portion of the card is Crafty Individuals "Beautiful Butterflies" (CI-231). I stamped and embossed it, then I applied dye powders, a blue Brusho and Cerise Infusion (Paper Artsy). I should have known better... The strength of the powders overwhelmed the piece so much I had to tame it with Distress Oxides and white pigment ink.

I will add a sentiment, probably die-cut words, when required but I am not sure if I should place it in the middle of the background or at the bottom on the pink card. Suggestions welcome!

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield               I am also entering the SSS Wednesday and 

                                                                   Stamping Sensations challenges

Sledging boy

Me again! Another Christmas card, with a Vintage image but in a CAS and bright style.

 I first stamped the Crafty Individuals Little Snow Baby (CI-240) inking just the boy and sledge with black Versafine. 

Then, after cleaning the stamp still in the stamping platform, I inked the stars and border with embossing ink and used detailed white powder to emboss. 

The embossing resisted the application of Pan Pastel over the top to give me the background colour. 

I layered the image on a piece of shiny blue paper with glints of gold and created a white aperture mat to frame the whole.

I hope you like my card!

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield   I am entering the Allsorts and We Love Stamping challenges

Here comes the sun

Late in the season (the one that skipped the UK entirely) I am enjoying the sunshine, and this inspired me to create a bright and cheerful tag with, literally, the flower of the sun!  

I started the background with Distress Oxide sprays and added some stamping with a very old A5 stamp by Docrafts (A5 Background clear stamp "Musicality"). 

I applied gel medium with a stencil from the Tim Holtz Mini Layering Stencil Set #28 (MST028) and sprinkled Cosmic Shimmer Artic Red embossing powder over it, The EP is a translucent red but depending on the angle has a gold/green lustre to it. 

And to add a bit more bling I created a glitter border with "proper" glitter which I normally try to avoid as it has a tendency of re-appearing for days on end on any and all surfaces (including the humans in the house). 

My focal point is the sunflower that I built with the Julie Hickey Designs Sunflower Bee stamp and coordinating dies sets, with 2 die-cuts of the stamped image, one of them on foam pads. The centre is also popped up with pads to give more dimension.  

Finally, I added 3 pieces of paper ribbon (Lakeland, must be over 15 years old...). 

The shine shot...

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield   I am entering the SSS Wednesday SSS Monday  Allsorts,

                                                        Stamping Sensations and Lost Coast Designs challenges

Silhouette stamping

Dear followers and fellow crafters,

I have been trying to use products I haven't used in a while and today I played with alcohol inks and an embossing folder!  

The image is from Crafty Individuals (CI-471 Make a Wish) and the sentiment from CI-449 My Favourite Place.

I layered the matted image on a piece of Core'dinations embossed with the  Sizzix Tim Holtz  Embossing Folder - Lumber (662718) inked with Versafine in Pinecone.

There you have it, a bit of colour to enliven the day!

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield   I am entering the Allsorts challenge

Timeless

Happy New Year! 

The new year reminds us of the passing time and would you believe it Time is the theme the lovely Evelyn has chosen for our January Challenge at Country View Challenges. Clocks, etc... 

For my first inspiration post, I had fun making this Vintage inspired tag:

To make my background I stuck a piece of Gelli printed paper on a sturdy base. I used a variety of stamps and stencils to build the Gelli paper with Fresco paints.
I added some Tissue tape and embossed all around the tag with Frantage embossing powder in  Aged Rose.
The clock and Timeless sentiment is from a Stamperia sheet of chipboard stickers (Romantic Journal collection)

The lace and flower head are from my bits and bobs box.

Over to you now, have a look at what the DT made on the Country View Challenge blog and link up your project to the challenge for the chance to win a £20 voucher for the Country View Craft shop.

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield   

Travelling undercover

And finally the summer months have arrived, the kids (young and old) will be on holiday and it is time to TRAVEL! Yes Travel is the theme I chose for our Country View Challenge this month. 

And having done quite a bit of that recently, an essential item for globe trotting is...

Well it's hidden here: 

Ok I will give you a clue... 

This is a passport holder, it will protect the document and look different too! 

It's a fairly simple project to make, I used half of an A4 Stamperia Stone Paper and half of an A4 rice paper. I used DecoArt Americana Decou-Page Sealer/Glue Matte 8OZ to bond one to the other and embossed the whole with the Sizzix 3-D Embossing Folder - Quilted by Tim Holtz (665734). 

I highlighted the embossing with Walnut Distress ink although it doesn't show much on the photos.

I used the sewing machine to attach the "border" and added colour to the inside with Distress inks.

Several layers of varnish (matte) on top will ensure durability. 

To hold the passport in place, whilst allowing for easy removal, (some customs people don't like them!) I just added an ordinary rubber band but feel free to use something with more pizazz! 

So I am ready to travel, how about you? And where will you go? Do share with us by entering your project on the Country View Challenge blog and link up your project to the challenge for the chance to win a £20 voucher for the Country View Craft shop.

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield   I am entering the SSS Wednesday challenge

In the stars

This is a post I didn't think I would be able to write following a family bereavement, but, serendipity played its hand and here is a second inspiration make for our Country View Challenge. 

As I thought about the theme, it seemed fitting. Souls are often referred as stars in the sky and I took it as a sign. 

I used a Paper Artsy star stamp (JM06), the Art Marks and Noteworthy 2 stamps sets, both by STAMPlorations, to create the sentiment. All were stamped and embossed with white EP. 

For added colour I applied some Versamark with a sponge on top of the stars and added mica powders, in different colours. Here's the shine shot: 

Do enter the Country View Challenge with a starry make of your own for the chance to win a £ 20 voucher to the online shop but be quick there is only a week left...  

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield   I am entering the challenge

Sweet Robin Tag

With a bit of crafting time just for me I made this tag with some of my favourite stamps by Crafty Individuals, the Sweet Robin Redbreast (CI-456) in particular hasn't seen much action lately and so I was eager to give it some air time! 

I built up the background colours with several colours of dye inks sprayed with water: 

I then used Just the ticket border stamp (CI-498) and Inky Script Background (CI-436) to add interest before applying gel medium with the Stampers Anonymous/Tim Holtz Mini Layering Stencil Set #10 (MST010). 

On top of the gel I spread embossing powder in Midnight Sapphire, a dark Blue EP mixed with fine mica. Below a close-up of the shine:

I stamped the bird (CI-456) on the tag and on a separate piece of card and popped the fussy cut bird on foam pads.

I think a yellow beak or orange breast would have helped the bird stand out more, but I wanted to follow an analogous colour scheme (3 adjacent colours on the colour wheel) so this wasn't an option!  

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield      I am entering the following challenges: Allsorts, River of creativity,                                                             Stamping Sensations , SSS Wednesday and Lost Coast Designs (I                                                                hope my  Sweet robin tag with Stencilled Swirls qualifies...)                                                                            challenges 

Add depth to your stencilling

Hello crafters, today I am showing the last tutorial in my Mixed Media series on the STAMPlorations blog. I made 2 cards as examples of the technique I used. 

First this slimline card:  

Supplies:

Bamboo – ARTplorations Slimline stencil

CUTploration phrase - Art Happens

Die-cutting machine and embossing mat

Colouring medium

I reversed the process for my second card (with similar results)

Supplies:

All Blooms - ARTplorations Stencil

Birthday Wishes Phrase Die - CUTplorations

Die-cutting machine and embossing mat

Colouring medium

Hop on over to the STAMPlorations blog to find out how I made those and leave me a comment telling me what your thought of this and the previous posts of the series. 

Thanks for coming by,

Craftyfield      I am entering the SSS Wednesday challenge. 

          

Monochromatic card

As we finally had a bit of hot weather I have been thinking (obsessing) about the beach and the big blue. So it was pre-ordained that I would choose blue when our August Country View     Challenge came around with Monochromatic as the theme, hosted by Debs!

I settled on a birthday card with a cheesy sentiment:

The background waves were made with an inked embossing folder, using 2 colours of Distress Oxides.
The dolphins were stamped, coloured with pencils and fussy cut. The stamped sentiment is embossed with white detail EP.
Both the folder and the stamps are from a recent Creative Stamping magazine (issue 97).

I hope I have inspired you to enter our challenge, but do have a look at what the DT made on the Country View Challenge blog for more inspiration. If you do link up a project you will be in with a chance to win a £20 voucher for the Country View Craft shop.

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the SSS Wednesday, Allsorts challenges.

Steampunk and textured tag

Welcome to my second inspiration post for the Country View Challenge, hosted this month is by Monika, who chose "Use a stencil or two..." as the theme.
Still under the influence of Tim Holtz I produced this second tag, more masculine and a little steampunk:

 I first stencilled sand texture medium through 2 of the Tim Holtz Mini stencil set #43 and added embossing powders, starting with a bit of Seth Apter, Emerald Creek Vintage Beeswax, then a bit of Aged Copper (Frantage), finishing by Pirate gold , a dark gold.

After the texture medium had dried I "cooked" the EP with my heat gun, then sprayed the tag with several colours of Prima Color Bloom.

My focal point is a paper doll placed on a stamped piece of card (from the Stamperia "Lady" stamp set) with several cogs (665225 - Sizzix Bigz L Die - Mechanical by Tim Holtz) painted with black gesso and "distressed with acrylic paints for an aged look..

Over to you now, have a look at what the DT made on the Country View Challenge blog and link up your project to the challenge for the chance to win a £20 voucher for the Country View Craft shop.

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering SanDee & Amelie's Steampunk's ultimate challenge (very sad loss), River of Creativity and Allsorts challenges.

A stencil, crackle paste and embossing powders

Summer is here, although in the UK it has all the hallmarks of a damp squib! Still, when the weather is bad it's time to craft... and enter our Country View Challenge!
This month it is hosted by Monika, who chose Use a stencil or two... as the theme.

I took inspiration from Tim Holtz session on Textures and medium to create this tag.

The stencil is Tim Holtz Mini set #10. I used Crackle medium, but as I didn't have the Ranger one I used the Prima Texture Paste Clear crackle which gives smaller crackles compared to the Ranger one.

This is why, when I added a mix of embossing powders on top, the crackles disappeared, leaving only a slight texture which gives a bit more dimension to the blooms.

For powders I used Wow! in WH01 Apple red, WH06 Lemon, and a mix of WS78 Seaglass, WE13 Skinny Chai Latte, and WS49 Vintage Peacock to get an approximate green for the stalks.

Once the crackle had dried, I sprayed the whole tag with Prima Color Bloom Sprays in Cobalt and Green and inked the edges to enhance the crackles.

Finally the sentiment is from the STAMPlorations Blooming Buds set.
In the (weak) sun you can just see the shine from the sprays and embossing powders.

This exercise reminded me how much I love playing with embossing powders and how good they are on top of stencilled texture media! So go on have a go and link up your project to the challenge for the chance to win a £20 voucher for the Country View Craft shop. 

For more inspiration have a look at what the DT made on the Country View Challenge blog.

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the SSS Wednesday challenges.

Thank You Coffee

Welcome to the Coffee Lovers Hop!

If you are new to the hop, like me, all you have to do is play along by creating any coffee-themed project, post it on your blog and then link it up at the linky found on the Coffee Loving Cardmakers blog where you will also find details of all the sponsors providing the fabulous prizes!

STAMPlorations is one of the super sponsor of the Coffee Lovers Hop, find Shery's post here where she also has additional prizes to give and if you haven't got any coffee themed stamp, STAMPLorations has made a free image available to use in your entry!

It was high time I joined the hop since I am very much a fan of the strong stuff... yes don't make mine white or too sweet! Espresso rules!

I love that image from STAMPlorations, Thank You Coffee and I think it is one that lends itself well to pencil colouring. I used metallic pencils on black card in this one I did last year and was wowed by the results.

Here I used a more natural colour scheme on more subtle Kraft cardstock but I still think it's very striking.

I spend a blissful moment refining the 3D look of the cup and I could have carried on...

Once finished I added the sentiment from the same set stamping in brown ink and embossing with clear holographic powder. Lovely shine...

I couldn't bring myself to add anything else, not even matting or rounding corners as I felt it would distract from this delicate cup and flower. 

Over to you... time to create some Coffee inspired art and don't forget to check the STAMPloration blog!

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the Addicted to stamps, Caffeine Fueled Paper Play
 and Paperbabe challenges.

Sparkling silhouette

Still some months of cold weather and rain ahead and it looks like this poor girl got caught in a downpour. Should have stayed indoors it's lockdown here anyway!

I suppose I should mention that Silhouette is the new theme at Country View Challenge, which this month is hosted by Rachel.

The background started as a failed alcohol inks experiment, I thought I would try and save it by using Distress inks through stencils (Tim Holtz Layering Stencil - Mini Stencil Set #39), a much easier technique for control! 

I then stamped my image (Visible Image - Sparkle In The Rain) in black.

Then I stamped the rain... I used Versamark only and embossed with clear powder. To give an impression of the rain falling both in front and in the back of the girl, I inked the stamp partially.

Finally I stamped the sentiment in black and embossed with holographic embossing powder for... sparkles! Closer look at this:

In the end I think that my grungy background works well with the stark black silhouette. What do YOU think?
Have a look at what the DT made on the Country View Challenge blog for more inspiration and link up your project to the challenge for the chance to win a £20 voucher for the Country View Craft shop.


Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the Allsorts, Paperbabe, Stamping Sensations challenges.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year and welcome to the STAMPlorations Theme & Photo Prompt challenge where this month we want you to follow either the theme or the photo prompt (or both, of course) below:

 

I took inspiration from the photo which cried out New Year's eve party to me, reminding me of confetti, balloons, fireworks etc... being released at the stroke of midnight.. And since last year was rather insane I am pretty happy to celebrate 2021!

 

I stamped and embossed in Wow super fine EP in silver the balloons from the A Snarky Birthday to You stamp set and coloured them with alcohol markers and pencils. 

A vellum pocket is filled with White Frost - ShakerBlends sequins and some Glitter bitz (Cosmic Shimmer).

The STAMP girls are showing inspiration on the STAMPlorations blog so pop by and don't forget to enter our Theme and Photo Prompt challenge.

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Whenever you shop for STAMPlorations products you can get 20% off with my code: STAMPGIRLCRAFTY

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Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the SSS Monday, challenge.