Inspired By Linda Caine (3)

Linda is returning to the Paper Arsty blog this week, and I have been inpired by her colourful tag. Never made one before...
Along the way I encountered some difficulties, some caused by the lack of crafting items (you wouldn't know by looking at my stash !) and some err... self inflicted !

I didn't have an appropriate stamp for impressing in the texture paste so I used an embossing folder instead. It was too soon... I decided to use the small "4" stamp from Hot Picks 1206 on the left of the tag. That was too late ! The impression is so faint it is hardly visible.
For my pediments, I used a Spellbinder Nestie and cut into it with the tip of a flourish die (twice). I tried Linda's technique and stamped into the paint but... maybe I didn't have enough paint on, or the card was too absorbent, but the stamp didn't lift the colour. I tried again without success, so went on to the next step and stamped some lettering in black ink.

For my "plaquette" I used a small nestie, rub ons and glossy accents.

As per Linda's project, I stamped the main image in Archival and embossed. Maybe I wasn't quick enough or the powder I used (Antiquities Crystal) works differently than usual powders but the embossing is really patchy. Still the powder is my latest purchase and I wanted to try it ! I coloured the image with distress inks using Cut & Dry (no suitable markers).

This was a very good exercise and I learnt plenty, so better results next time !

Have you successfully embossed with Archival Inks ? If so any tips ?

Vintage Scrapbook page, texture and bright colours

So far in my vintage album, I have used subdued colours using an old patterned paper pack that cries "vintage". This time I wanted to use a paper from a card kit I got last year as a gift. With the paper also came a number of chipboard pieces, which is not something I use very often so I thought I would try to use as many as possible.
First I had to address the problem of fitting an A4 paper on a 12x12 layout...
To create a seamless page I applied texture paste around the glued patterned paper and stamped into it with various stamps. I then sprayed the paste with colours to match.

I love the look even though the process warped my 12x12 base quite a bit !

To finish I created butterflies with a layer of stamped paper and a layer of patterned vellum die-cut with an Impression Obsession die, a scrap of ribbon and a title made of 2 kinds of letter stickers which I coloured to match the page and each other. I also stamped the chandelier that came with the kit using black ink. The kit also contains lace,ribbon and gems but I didn't want to cover anymore of that delicious texture so I let it be.
I am planning to do a matching page with the second paper using the same technique and the journalling will be on that page.

I am entering this layout in the Artistic Stamper challenge which is all about texture and the Country View Crafts' challenge which request butterflies.

Hope you'll enjoy that one as much as I did making it. Stay tuned for page 2...

Blog candy... Infiniment Scrap

Youpi un blog candy ! Lisez ci-dessous ou allez voir ici sur le blog d'Infiniment Scrap leur annoncement pour la nouvelle boutique Infinimentscrap Design.



***********************

Bonjour à toutes et tous,

 l'occasion de l'ouverture de la nouvelle boutique Infinimentscrap Design j'organise un blog candy

Je vous propose 3 prix mais pour être sûr de vous faire plaisir ca sera des codes cadeaux, vous pourrez ainsi choisir ce qui vous plaît surtout que très prochainement il va y avoir les nouveautés que vous attendez impatiemment n'est ce pas ?

1 code cadeau de 50 euros à dépenser sur la boutique

1 code cadeau de 30 euros à dépenser sur la boutique

1 code cadeau de 15 euros à dépenser sur la boutique

Pour participer il vous suffit de :

Recopier ce message en entier de le poster sur votre blog sans oublier d'y mettre LE LIEN vers la NOUVELLE BOUTIQUE Infinimentscrap Design

Vous pouvez aussi bien sûr le poster sur vos compte facebook ou tweeter l'important c'est de passer le message et de mettre le lien direct de la nouvelle boutique.

Laissez ensuite un commentaire à la suite de ce message en mettant bien le lien du post sur votre blog

Délai pour la participation : 30 avril 2013 minuit

Le résultat sera donné ici sur le blog le 2 mai en même temps que les résultats des challenges

A très bientôt

Isabelle

*********************************

N'hesitez pas... tenter votre chance !
 

Inspired By Helen Chilton

It is Helen's last week as a guest designer on the Paper Artsy blog and I just had to make an effort and produce something... a) I had a chat with Helen recently on backgrounds and b) I have in my hand an original Helen Chilton's glossy card - Might be worth thousands in a few years, should have had it autographed ! -

Par for the course, as much as I actually tried and overstamped my street names in several colours of ink, it is way "cleaner" than I was aiming for. Still, I have a new admiration for glossy cardstock and I quite like the result.

 

 

I finished with stamping Big Ben in Archival black and applied inks all around the card with Cut & Dry foam.The stamps used are all from the Hotpicks 1208.

 

Thanks for coming by,

 

 





A scrapbook page for the Spring fun challenge

Mostly it is difficult to enter themed challenges with scrapbook layouts, but I did my best to squeeze this one in ! On the basis that the photos are taken in March and April (I worked that out by the haircut) and it would appear some fun is being had, this will fit my Impression Obsession challenge remit. There is a bonus page too... as I nearly always end up doing double pages when I scrapbook, since for some reason I always have more photos than I can fit in on one page !

The base kraft cardstock being a bit too dark I used the CAC Rose Lace (CC087) with white pigment ink to lighten the overall effect. This took ages to dry and lifted up when I overstamped with the Rose leaf branch (F8199) inked with Distress. This also re-activated the white ink and in desperation I applied mica powder on top to dry it !
A prima flower, a small and a large doily colored with distress inks complete the layout.
I used punches on the patterned paper and to create the photo slots on the green mat. The journalling tabs tucked behind the photos, and as yet not written, have a decorative scissors detail.

Bonus facing page :

I applyed a dry-ish pigment ink direct to paper to knock back the dark kraft then overstamped with Flourish 2 (H5575) also in white. I then impressed different plastic packaging inked with white and orange pigment inks for more interest on the left side of the page. I used the other half of the large doily inked in pink and a small one in green.
With less photos I had space for embellishments : I fussy cut the Rose (E1332) image and the  Rose leaf branch (F8199). On the latter, I used the kissing technique with the Muslin (E4518) stamp.
I also added a prima flower, ribbon and tag and decorated the edges of the patterned paper with punches.

Hope you will like the layouts, but if you think the design is a bit lacklustre, have a look at this page, where I share my experience working with vintage photos.

All About the dies

After a 3 day blog hop at Impression Obsession, I have finally decided what my card should look like for the challenge. As a stamper first and foremost, I use dies either as an embellishment (flowers, leaves, buttons, borders) or matting for my stamped images.  So this is quite different for me and the stamping is taking second place, in the background, stamped on an embossing folder.

 



The stamp is CAC Canvas (CC073). The butterflies are made of 2 layers die-cut with the Butterflies die (DIE008-I) one out of lightly colored paper and one out of vellum. The paper has also been stamped with Flourish 2 (H5575) in black ink, but you will have to trust me with this as it is barely visible on the picture.
The sentiment, a first for me, is actually written by my own hand ! Needs must... I didn't have a stamp and didn't fancy putting my embossed card through the printer !

Thanks for coming by,

Inspired by Linda Cain (2)

This week my entry in the Paper Arsty challenge is based on Linda's second project. Although it did not turn out as planned and there were a few accidents along the way, I am quite pleased with the result which is so different to my normal style.

For the background I used the same technique as Linda with Portfolio pastels and stamped a few images from Hot Pick 1112 and 1202. Rather than stencilling I stamped found textures with Fresco white (plastic packaging).

Hope you will like this project !

Inspired by Helen Chilton

Helen is returning to the Paper Artsy blog for a new week of projects. I took inspiration from her layering technique of translucent paint using stencils and stamping on tissue paper for my page. A few niggles along the way... but here it is :

I used a gear stencil (Crafter's workshop) and a stamp from Hot Pick 1206-if you don't recognise it it's because I have glued it on the wrong side (Duh!)-
Rather than painting it with Fresco and a paintbrush I used Cut & Dry and distress as I thought it would be more manageable and I have more colours !

Could do better....

Favorite technique

Time for a new challenge at Impression Obsession on the theme Favorite technique.

Choosing the technique was easy, and so was making the background with the technique. The next stage however...

As per usual, once I had done the background, I didn't want to hide it because I thought it so beautiful. Eventually I decided to use the same stamp in a contrasting color as a topper for my card. I tried gilding flakes on dark blue card, which, predictably looked a mess  (detailed stamp + bonding powder is not a good combination), moved on to mica powders on dark blue, pretty, but I realised dark blue was never going to work with my background's blues !
Then lightbulb moment.... I reversed the color scheme and embossed the stamped image in white, applying watercolor on top. I had several tries with that too... and concluded that to get good results watercolor paper was an absolute necessity. To make my topper more interesting I die-cut it with a Spellbinders Accent die, added a ribbon with a rub-on greeting and some heart gems.

Now for the technique : the background is CAC Ornate (CC077) stamped in Versamark, then colored with pastels (chalks) using cotton balls. I used 3 pastel sticks in dark indigo, ultramarine blue and a vibrant violet, concentrating the dark indigo on all 4 sides of the background. I sprayed a bit of fixative to  avoid smudging.
This is the same technique as the one I used here

I encourage you to try this technique, it's foolproof and the results are so beautiful...

Inspired by Michelle Webb

For my entry for the Paper Artsy challenge I took a little bit of inspiration from 2 of Michelle's projects: Fragile Hearts and Old Door. I didn't go as far as Michelle with the stencils and I didn't apply white on top of the stencilled areas, but I stayed with her choice of green because I tend not to use green (not my favorite colour by far !) and I need to get out of a rut...
You will have to forgive the lighting, but the weather is miserable and I don't have my usual camera.

For stencils I used sequin waste in 2 sizes and a Chickenwire template (Crafter's Workshop).
The stamps are from Hotpicks 1207 (the girls) and 1204 (sentiment, dot texture).

Not sure if I like it but hey it's a learning experience, so honest opinions please...

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,