Kinetic

This is the challenge proposed by Artful Times.... Definitely a challenge for me and my creation gave me serious headaches...

I attempted a pop-up card but I had no template. After several goes, it looked as I wanted it to look but then... when I closed it, my pop-up elements peeked out of the folded card significantly! I just added 2 pieces of cardstock to extend the original card and the finished card is  now roughly 8"x8" instead of A5.

As well as being large, the finished project is quite thick so I created a band to hold the card closed with a piece of ribbon and a slider made out of shrink plastic.

The stamps used are all from Paper Artsy Hot pick 1208, the patterned paper a magazine freebie.

Now for the kinetic part, drum roll...

Tada!
The London landscape has been die-cut out of Core'dination cardstock with X-Cut dies. Each die-cut is stuck on its own step, spaced by 1.5 cm. I stamped on the back page and added a die-cut for the sentiment.
The embellishments are also die-cut with the same X-Cut set.

A closer look:

With hindsight, I should have taken a side view and waited for daylight to give you better pictures!

Thanks for coming by,

Celebrate CAS style

Men.... what theme can you use for them? Running out of ideas I went straight to the point with this card! Well, My Mum's Craft shop wants to see some CAS for their challenge, CAS it is...

I used 2 dies, both from Papertrey Ink, and the inlay method which I have admired and never tried before. The inlaid Happy is die-cut from freebie papers (Home Grown by HOTP from an issue of Simply Cards & Papercraft).
The only difficulty is in sticking back the minute negative pieces (e.g the inside of the b, d etc..) into their proper place otherwise it's an easy technique.

Not particularly exciting but I doubt it will make much difference to the MAN...

I am also entering the We Do Doobadoo challenge.

Thanks for coming by,

Summer Play

Oh no... Fashionable Stamping challenges us with the theme Child's Play...hmm time to look through the freebie stamps from magazines, and lo and behold a never inked Holly Hobbie stamp set surfaces.

These are acrylic stamps (as opposed to polymer) and usually don't take dye ink very well. Since I don't use them often, if at all, I now take my sanding block to them and they work a lot better. Don't rub to hard, if unsure, test and sand again. When I started the practice I used such a superfine grit (800) that it didn't make a difference.

Anyway... since this is not a style I undertake very often I figured I needed to use some patterned paper and cardstock from the least used stash area which goes some way to explain my colour scheme. Sorry if you need shades to have a look!

The image has been stamped with Versafine so I couldn't use the alcohol markers as initially planned (doh!) and coloured with pencils instead. I must be the only stamper without a standard black dye inkpad!
The fence die-cut has been embossed with a wood grain motif (Sizzix by Tim Holtz) and inked with Distress ink.
I am also entering the Pan Pastel UK Summer Fun challenge.

When in Blogger I have a tendency to go straight to the posts so have overlooked that I have 4 additional followers since June. Don't you wish Blogger would send you an alert?

I am humbled that you enjoy my projects and I take your following as sign my craft is improving, which is a great encouragement!

So a warm welcome to my new followers, and many thanks to my existing followers for their loyal support,

Mind and Ignorance

Something to do with the sunny weather I guess, I fancy bright, clean colours at the moment, rather than subtle, vintage or steampunk hues...

I couldn't think of anything relevant to illustrate the word "Ignorance" or the quote I have chosen for the Craft Barn challenge, so I indulged myself by using my favourite colours of Neocolors and my latest embossing folder, as yet unused.

I first scribbled the Neocolors on the card then softened with lightly wet brush.
With the card dry to the touch, but still damp, I embossed it with a TH folder and a Cuttlebug border folder.
When completely dry I rubbed the Neocolors on the raised areas.

The quote is handwritten on a die-cut label (Spellbinders), edged with silver gel pen the only embellishment I allowed in order to show as much of the background as possible.

I am also entering the Country View Crafts - Word play and  Ladybug Crafts - Favourite colours challenges.

Thanks for coming by,

Summer Seaside Tag

Just  in time to coincide with the heat wave in the UK, Fashionable Stamping challenges us to dream about summer and The Artistic Stamper about the Seaside. What could be more refreshing than splashing among the waves... I decided to make a tag as this is the challenge at Artful Times.

To plagiarise a football related phrase, this is a tag of 2 halves! (If you're not familiar with it original expression and explanations here).

When I started, I intended to apply colour all over the tag, but I needed to stamp my main image first so I knew where my sea was. Then I masked it so it didn't get colours where I didn't want it...
I was left with the raw cardboard and this where I changed direction... Well, I didn't know if it worked or not but there were a number of areas that I particularly liked so I didn't change anything :

The area of dark Indigo on top of white acrylic and Kraft made me think about a deep refreshing pool.              >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>







/\
The stamped tissue paper showing a little bit of the colour underneath and disappearing with its feathered edges into the background.

Pencil colouring on Kraft (I have been meaning to try this and finally I did!)

Also, to my great satisfaction,  I have used scraps, recycled items and used some unloved flower embellishments ( I altered them first!) as well as some new stash (the ribbon bunting).

Stamps used:
Crafty Individuals: CI-284 - Main image
Artistic Stamper: Calligraphic Mat 13 - in sepia ink in the background
Paper Artsy : EEV06 - background and, ESN07 collaged tissue paper

I guess I'd better show you the tag now, if you're still reading!

Good or bad let me know what you think, as I am clearly not objective!

Textural Journal page

This is my first time page for Darcy's Journal challenge on the Paper Artsy blog and, although time consuming, this piece really spoke to me (I think it said dare you...)

So I followed Darcy's instructions to the best of my abilities and availability of supplies and this is the result:

For the master board I used the ELB02 set and a script stamp.
I drew my own flowers (no stencil) with a black waxy pencil and applied black paint with corrugated cardboard to make the lines at the bottom edge.

I would never have chosen the colours, or attempted the graphic look without a push so I am quite pleased I have completed this page.

I am also entering My mum's Craft Shop and Ladybug Crafts challenges.

Thanks for coming by,

Imagination and logic

I had found the perfect quote for the Craft Barn challenge, one that included both words, by Albert Einstein : Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.
I already had it planned... a path from "A" to "B" with the letters from logic and the word imagination meandering all over the page.
But... it had been used by Pauline on the sample projects so I found another which I quite like too!

The canvas idea is translated by the use of canvas as a base for my page, very literal you say... ahem... I was kind of hoping I would provide the imagination but that isn't my strong point!

I created a background by colouring through 3 different stencils, then stamped my World map with Versafine. Since I had used a water-soluble medium, I could tone down the stencilled colours over the map by re-wetting and lifting up with kitchen roll.

I then coloured the map with India ink (Pitt pens) to make it more prominent.

 

To finish I hand wrote and stamped my quote.

 

This heat wave is not very conducive to crafting so keep cool and carry on creating!

 

Postcard from Italy

For this card I have chosen my products first (the ones I wanted to play with!), added scraps to my craft table and set about coming up with something!

I chose the stamp because I love photo realistic stamps and this is one I don't get to use often, it's one of a full sheet from Katzelkraft (KTZ55).
Then I wanted to play with the new (to me) embossing folder (Eiffel Tower-Tim Holtz), and selected the Harlequin motif from one side. I was thinking of adding an embossed "postcard" motif, also by TH but run out of space.
For patterned paper I wanted to use the cardboard from a Gü dessert package. They often have lovely patterns inside and it's not the first time I use them in projects...
Do I eat dessert because I want to craft, or am I justifying my dessert purchases with crafting? No comment!
Finally I had to break into a pack of Lutradur bought for me by my OH who knows I am always looking for new materials. I decided to use it to make flowers with the Sizzix Tattered Flowers die as it has been a long time since I haven't used it.

I inked my patterned paper with Distress Inks in Chipped Sapphire and then with a white gel pen went over the motifs.
After die-cutting my flowers I coloured them with lime acrylic paint and over-stamped using Versacraft ink in red with another Katzelkraft stamp this time from an older Christmas set (2008), which may be retired, it's meant to be "falling snow" but worked as my dotty pattern! The ink has sunk a bit in the Lutradur but I don't mind, the effect is softer.
Then I used my heat gun to mould the petals and this worked well except for my fingers!

I am entering my postcard from Italy inspired by Tim Holtz's products in the following challenges Katzelkraft, Pan Pastel UK, Wedodoobadoo and Artful Times challenges.

Thanks for coming by,

Colors of summer

At last I am entering another Impression Obsession challenge! You know how it is, so many challenges... so little time!
I was thinking of doing hot colours on glossy card but as I did that recently, I changed tack and used one of my fancy shaped silk cards. I am a fan of IO's Cover-A-Card stamps, but with the shaped card, the design didn't sit well. Instead I decided to forego the stamps completely and use dies to create a stencil.
I first die-cut the bigger butterflies with the IO Butterflies Die (DIE008-I), then added the small butterflies with a long reach punch, from a scrap piece paper (glossy magazine) to make my stencil.

I used distress inks to create my summer haze, applying them liberally and not trying to get a smooth look.

Now for the shine.... I applied Sparkle Medium in Jade (Imagination Crafts) through the stencil and voila!

I am also entering the Country View Crafts,  Imagination Crafts and That's Crafty challenges.

Thanks for coming by,

Inspired By Keren Baker

I managed to squeeze some time for the Paper Artsy challenge to make this card inspired by Keren's watercolour microscope slide.

I won't give you details of the process since I followed Keren's instructions but I had to substitute the microscope slide for a tag so there is no glass.

A quick look at my shrink embellishment :



















I lost my bottle and didn't fussy cut the anchor, in case I smeared the ink (I am using Brilliance ink in silver).
The Paper Artsy stamps I used are from the Hot Picks 1111 and 1201.

Thanks for coming by,

Clean and simple... Roses

Roses are a girl's best friend, at least for the Pan pastel UK challenge!

Excellent reason to pull out my 3 steps stamping roses. Except this time I did only 2 steps...

To get that velvety look on my main bloom (the darker one) I used pastel on Versamark.

I stamped once and applied the darkest shade of pastel, then stamped the second step taking out some of the pastel. Using that stamp now covered with both Versamark and pastel I stamped the lightest rose in the corner.
I returned to the first rose and applied a lighter shade of pink (I know it looks red but in real life it's more pink).
Finally I should mention that I used negative masks to stop the pastel spreading everywhere. Hence the light pink around the rose is pastel that stuck to un-inked card within the mask. A third step that I got for free if you like!
The leaves were stamped with ink.

Thanks for coming by,

Path and Horizon

The two words for the Craft Barn Challenge this fortnight are Path and Horizon. I didn't try and find a quote involving the 2 words but it tickled me to fit both of them in, visually, in my creation.

I hadn't used the brayer and glossy card stock in a while so I thought I would use inks rather than watercolours to create my sunset.
I sprayed my path with water and also my "moon" before writing the quote.

The Dandelions are from Lavinia Stamps so I am entering their challenge.

Let me know if my path be beautiful in your comments....