Pick & Mix challenge

This is the theme of the Country View Craft challenge, their very first one. I thought this would be a good time to try and use more patterned papers and more layers on a card, as I have a tendency to keep to one stamped layer and as a result have a lot of papers lying around unused...

The main image has been stamped in black and coloured with pencils, as has the sentiment.
Then I used some of the paper offcuts to embellish the inside of the card (it also help with balancing the weight from the front).

Quite different from me but I enjoyed making it ! Thanks for coming by,

Inspired by Suzanne Czosek

Well I can't say the Mojo is 100% but there is improvement... Thanks to the Paper Artsy challenge I can follow someone else's inspiration and that make things a lot easier.

I based my entry on Suzz's Vintage Bottle and Springflowers project, but changed a few things, starting by the colour scheme. As this is the back of the binder I altered here, I kept to the pinks and blues, but this time only used sprays.

The main stamps are from PA Hot picks 1203, 1204, 1205 for the bottles and 1206 for the flowers stamped in Archival Ink. I used coloured pencils to put shadows in the bottles and colour in the flowers and butterflies.
Finally, I used a technique I had been itching to try with puff paint and a stencil. Fortunately I had a dry run before attacking the binder with it, because in the end, the only way it would work properly was with a mixture of puff paint and texture paste. When heated the stencilled areas form nicely rounded shapes and the colour is a full tone lighter than the puff paint alone.

Thanks for coming by,

Liebster Award

I am delighted to receive a very special award called the Liebster Award from Anne of Ink-a-Doodle-Do ! Merci beaucoup Anne (Anne lives in France) for selecting my blog, I need all the encouragement I can get ! Go and check Anne’s blog  and look up her recent Oriental screen card and her tutorial on Quilt like backgrounds. Not to be missed !

ABOUT THE AWARD

This award was designed to be a blog award in the pay it forward fashion. Once you've been nominated, you award it to five blogs that you like that have fewer than 200 followers, to encourage new visitors to visit these blogs.

RULES FOR ACCEPTANCE

Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to their blog. Post the award onto your blog. Give the award to five bloggers who you appreciate that have fewer than 200 followers. Leave a comment on their blog letting them know that you have given them this lovely award!

PAY IT FORWARD

Here are the five blogs I think deserve a visit :

Von of http://messyme-von.blogspot.co.uk/

Jenni of http://jennisjems.blogspot.co.uk/

Sylv of http://designsforoccasions.blogspot.co.uk/

Scrapmate of http://rockyroadink.blogspot.co.uk/

Paula of http://phcountrycreations.blogspot.com/

Come and play and discover new blogs...

Inspired By Linda Cain

This week Paper Artsy showcases work by Linda Cain and I took my inspiration very closely from this project. This time I only had to contend with one or 2 problems, so things are looking up !

Like Linda I used distress inks for the background but because I started on a gessoed chipboard panel (it was grey so I had to paint it white) I encountered my first problem. If you've never tried this before know that distress inks do not dry on gesso... even after using the heatgun on it, the inks still moved ! Which is why the colours are not very strong as past a certain point instead of adding colour the cut & dry just moves it around.
Before stamping I sprayed the panel with fixative to avoid smudging.

I used stamps from Hot Picks 1205 (the flower), 1203 (the leaves and sentiment), 1204 (the butterfly), coloured the images with pencils and then used  a white gel pen as per Linda's technique. I had never done anything like this before and I was determined to try but...my pen was not very cooperative. Although fairly new (less than a year old) the ink, when it starts flowing, leaves "dry" residue along with the normal gel. So I didn't go too far with this lest I made it worse !

Let me know what you think,

Paper Artsy Challenge

I haven't posted for a month, victim of creative block, evasive mojo whatever... I blame the awful winter grey skies and miserable rain ! To try and kickstart my crafting I have decided to enter the Paper Arsty challenge which this week features Helen Chilton and Crunchy wax.
Probably due to my lack of mojo, everything that could go wrong went wrong ! Starting by the technique showed by Helen with embossed Crunchy wax and inks. Except I used paints
and as a result the bricks (I used Tim Holtz bricks embossing folder) hardly look like bricks !
If you're looking for them it's the sand coloured splats.

I would have changed tack and used the crunchy wax over the splats but I didn't want any thickness as this (it's an A4 binder) is going to be handled a lot.
I had to use my Chicken wire mask (Crafter's workshop) as I am still trying to find the best technique with it, having discovered that sprays are no good (too much seepage under the stencil). This time I thought texture paste... which I mixed with black acrylic paint not expecting the mix to be quite that black ! To tone it down, I dabbed some silver ink on top with mixed results.

The main images are from Hot Picks 1202 and 1111, plus some bits and pieces from 1206 (obliterated under bricks and chickenwire on the left), 1207 and 1203.
For the background colours I used Fresco Rose, a bit of yellow and some blue acrylic paints, which I watered down a lot. I stamped some texture with craft inks all around the "page" in similar colours and then decide to spritz... my newly made DIY pink spray was a bit too vivid !
I used Aged Aqua and Aged Rose embossing powders in 2 corners.

Although it's not great I had thrown so much a it, it was time to stop...

Thanks for coming by,

Your choice Challenge

For this first challenge of the year, Impression Obsession is giving us free rein.

I had been wanting to use one of my Christmas presents from LAST year, so I built my card idea from there. The present was a pack of pre-scored cards, not quite glossy, but very smooth (it is referred to as silk) and I wanted to use a Versamark resist technique that is usually done on glossy cardstock. The effect on silk cardstock is more subtle, as the resist works less well on that surface.

Then there were some NEW stamps to play with...

 

Background :
I cut the silk card in the middle to give me 2 panels (I am stretching my supplies).
First, I cut a square aperture in a scrap piece of paper to mask the scallops. Then I used the CAC Canvas (CC073) with Tattered Rose Distress ink and dried thoroughly. Next I stamped Ornate Floral CAC (CC077) with Versamark and brayered over the top with several layers of inks, each darker than the previous one.
Finally I used distress inks with cut & dry foam on the scallops.
The stamped panel is matted onto marroon paper and adhered to the printed Kraft card front.

Bird Image :
After stamping the Bird Collage 1 (E13043)I used Martha Stewart punches and distress inks around the panel, adding some twine around it.

Butterfly :
This has been die-cut from vellum with the Butterflies dies (DIE008-I) stamped with Flourish 2 (H5575) in pink and the body has been drawn with alcohol pens.

If you love the IO stamps, take a detour and check-out the blog, where you can preview the Spring/Summer stamps during the CHA Winter DT Blog Hop. They have Prizes to be won too...

Thanks for coming by,

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 !