Warning : Cute ahead (Baby card)

This is cute, with decoupage, pastel colours and lots of paper... not really my style but it's for a baby, what can you do!

I made this Twist & Pop card (very popular at the moment):

I won't give you instructions as there is plenty out there already, in print or video, and I struggled myself so I'm not sure I could explain it in clear terms! Watch the video clip to see the kinetic element in action:

For supplies I used old papers and decoupage sheets (Docrafts and magazine freebies), alphabet dies from Spellbinders, MFT and some die-cuts from an old book about scrapbooking.
If nothing else, a stash busting project!

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

Bloomtangled card

This was painful for me... in fact I very nearly didn't do it at all, but I convinced myself it was for the best and cut up that lovely Bloomtangled page I coloured last month to make up this card:

I used the CUT-plorations Stitched Snow Hills to cut black Core'dination to sandwich a snippet of the page and added a die-cut word (Adventure Words: Script by Tim Holtz), cut from the same page.

In hindsight the black lines from the page made it hard to read against the black cardstock so I went around the word with white gel pen.

Thanks for coming by,
Also entering the SSS Wednesday challenge.

Tulip tesserae

The last fortnight has been about Hybrid inks at Paper Artsy and I saw many inspiring techniques and projects. Despite the lack of time I was determined to enter the challenge...

I chose Wanda's technique, which you can read for yourselves here.

 After inking with the Distress Oxides (Salty Ocean, Wilted violet and Picked Raspberry) I stamped the tulip from the ELB02 set.

The sentiment is from the ELB03 set.

In the top left hand corner I used matte paste as Wanda had said that the effect was more subtle than glossy paste and I wanted to compare both.
Here's a close-up :


Love the effect... I hope you do too!
Have a great Sunday,

Embossed metal frame

Time does fly... holidays over, back to school is upon us and of course a new challenge at Country View! This month Miriam has chosen Metal as the theme, the perfect opportunity to use some of my favourite techniques with the shiny stuff!

But first, if you haven't been checking out the new stash at Country View Crafts, let me share my excitement upon the introduction of the Rubber Dance stamps... I'm especially thankful for Susan stocking them as, with the sterling falling, it's a lot easier buying from UK stockists!

My favourite images are Vintage, photo realistic, nature inspired and, as luck would have it, those are the ones first available at Country View Crafts here. (I'm hoping for more in the future...)

This is what I made:

At this stage I don't know if I am going to keep it as is and display as a photo frame or if I'll stick it on a card blank.

To make my frame I used a piece of aluminium saved from a ready meal (some survive the cooking unscathed and can be cleaned up well).

I die cut a rectangle from the middle, handy as I had the "Alu" brand embossed right in the middle... But I may still use the piece if I can hide it!

I then embossed the frame with a Cuttlebug folder which name I sadly didn't write down and has been lost to the mists of time...

If you recognise it, please let me know!

Next the fun bit... wet embossing and playing with powders.

I used Versamark all over the metal and started by sprinkling some of my mysterious mixes of EP.

I say mysterious because I made them a long time ago and can't really tell what exact colours are in them.


Before melting I covered the whole frame with a tarnished gold EP. The overall look is of distressed and aged bronze, but, in the next step I will bring back some gold.

I used Versamark again on the frame, but this time I try and ink just the raised parts and then apply mica powders in copper and gold to highlight the embossing further.

The focal image, Dancing woman from Rubber Dance has been stamped with Versafine black.
I added D. Oxides in Antique Linen and Walnut stain and spritzed a bit of water to age the piece. I created a brown frame to mat the image (just like a painting).

To finish I embossed another piece of recycled metal, ivory coloured, with the word "Authentic", and decided to add the die-cut word on top, coloured in black with an alcohol marker. Beware the paint has a tendency to rub off, so if you find black metal use that instead! A bit of copper wire threaded through holes and voila!

Here's the shine shot:

I hope I have inspired you to work with metal and that you'll enter our Country View challenge, nothing to lose and a £ 20 voucher to spend on some lovely supplies if you do...

For more inspiration check out what my teamies made here and come back on the 15th, when I'll post my second metallic project,

Thanks for coming by,

Also entering the Rubber Dance Forever, Craft Stamper TIMI and SSS Wednesday challenges.

Gorjuss Alice

Back for my second inspiration piece for the Country View Challenge, hosted my teammate Corrie who chose the Blues and Greens theme.
If you missed my first post it's here.


I turned my attention to designer papers to find a blue and green background. And I found this beautiful foiled scrapbook paper (K & Co) that I haven't got around to use, either because it is a bit garish as a full page for a layout, or because it looked too precious to use but for "best".
I decreed it was time to cut into it and use it!

I chose the stamp because it's one of my never-been-inked stamps, my followers will know I have a few and I am trying to remedy that shameful situation...

I haven't got a step by step for this but most of it is self explanatory, at least for the crafters, so I will only give you this tip for the fussy cutting:

Cut the "inside" and delicate parts with a craft knife before cutting the outside,  otherwise you might rip apart those strands of hair!

And, where you can, use scissors as the finish is better.

Finally, touch up with pens the sides of the image as well as any small areas that you cannot cut.

The words are from the Adventure Words and Vacation words Thinlits Die Sets by Tim Holtz (Sizzix), die-cut from blue cardstock and sponged with metallic paint. The word Music has been stamped with Versamark and embossed in green (Cosmic Shimmer)


Another look from a different angle:

You still have 5 days to enter the CountryView Challenge so don't delay! Get crafting...

You could win £20 to spend at Country View, and us crafters know there's nothing better than shopping for stash!

Thanks for coming by,






I am entering the That's Crafty challenge.

SSSS

Summer, Sun, Sea and Sand are the inspiration for this scrapbook page.

You will forgive the beach photo's odd colours as my printer's ink cartridge ran out on me... and I will replace the photo, as soon as I get around to have a 2 year back log printed, professionally this time!

Do come and check the step by step on the Craft Barn blog.

Supplies:

Watercolour card
Distress Oxide in Faded Jeans and Fossilized amber
Brayer
Kaisercraft stamp:
Impression Obession stamp: Canvas Cover-A-Card
Kaisercraft wooden embellishments
Gel medium
Sand and seashells: the real thing... collected on an beach!

Layouts are for me a labour of love, they do take me a long time because I tend to dither on each addition and I am never sure when to stop! However the size of the canvas (12x12) allows to play with lots of mediums, stamps and stencils and isn't that a crafter's dream...

Do let me know what (if!) you like on this layout in your comments,
Thanks for coming by today,
I am entering the Creative Artiste, SSS Monday,  Lost Coast Designs, The Artistic Stamper,  We Love To Create, Craft Stamper TIMI, and Fashionable Stamping challenges.

Turning a corner

Time for another show and tell at the Craft Barn blog! This time there isn't much of a step by step, just because this is a CAS card and so easy to make you really don't need instructions!

Still, if you want all the inside story come and visit the Craft Barn blog, you may even leave a comment there to show your appreciation... no pressure!

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the Craft Stamper TIMI, Penny Black and more, Stamping Sensations, Stamplorations CAS and Casology challenges.

Dark to Light 2

With just a few hours left I thought I would have another go at this Gelli printing in layers, as shown by Barbara Gray. If you missed my first go at this technique it's here.

This is, of course, for the benefit of the Paper Artsy Dark to light challenge.

Supplies:

Cartridge paper
Paper Artsy Frescos
Stencils:
                 Gears: TCW
                 Reims (Cathedral series):  Paper Cellar
                 Fabric: Dutch Doobadoo
                 Drop screen: Imagination Crafts

This time I managed to go a bit lighter but I still need to work out the sequence of my colours so there is more light colours, especially to stamp on!

Do you see Denim fabric in this print? I quite like it and one of the accidental visual interest has been created by a crunched up paper, used to remove colour. You can see the "white" lines this has produced.

This week has been a bit of a record posting wise... 5 posts in a week! My faithful followers must be sick with the sight of my crafting, so you'll be pleased to know this is likely to be a one off!

Thanks for coming by,

Bloomtangled

Stamplorations are celebrating National Coloring day (2nd of August) and are giving a free sampler to colour on their blog.

I managed to find time to play with my pencils, it is such a relaxing past time...

Here's my finished piece:

I should say that pencils aren't the fastest medium to colour this type of large (5"x7") and detailed drawing but so much more controllable than pens, especially if you are trying to render shapes within the leaves and petals!

The sun is calling me outside but I might play with my Gelli plate later, if so, I'll be back!

In the meantime, have a great Sunday!

Also entering the That's Crafty challenge.

Dark to light Gellis

Paper Artsy are having a Dark to Light fortnight and I have chosen to try one of the techniques shown on the introduction post here. 

I have followed Barbara Gray's video step by step and it looked easy enough... however the choice and order of the colours is paramount and the infinity of permutations means it is actually a lot harder, unless you have a lot of practice. Which of course Barbara has and I ... haven't!

So here are 2 of the more decent Gelli prints I managed to make, we'll not talk about the disasters, except to say they were even darker than those!




Supplies:

Support: Thick cartridge pad
Paints: Fresco (Paper Artsy) and DecoArt Mixed Media
Stencils: Garden Gate (TCW), Shedded and Sunburst from DecoArt

What is on the left hand of the pics is acrylic paint applied with a brayer, the paper being longer than the Gelli plate.

I didn't have time to create a finished piece with my prints but they are already spoken for and you'll get to see them sometime in September.

I must add that, despite the hiccups,  I enjoyed the process and look forward to trying again, maybe even before the end of the week!



Thanks for coming by,
Also entering the That's Crafty challenge.

Inspired by Van gogh

This week we've all gone artistic at the Craft Barn and I took my cue from Van Gogh (loosely..).

In particular, I have taken inspiration from his Cottage paintings and the colours from his straw bale paintings... he liked his series!
Instead of drawing  I stamped my cottage, trust me it looks all the better for it, and I used crayons to "paint" the scene rather than oils.

Supplies:
Cottage stamp by Imagination Crafts
Linen cardtstock
Gelatos
Distress Crayons
Core'dination cardstock

A step by step awaits you on the Craft Barn blog where you can see how I have created the effect of a painting with none of the difficulties of the real thing.

Thanks for coming by,

Blues and Greens glasses case

How scary is this, we are already half way through the summer! The heat is making crafting difficult but I did manage to rustle up some enthusiasm for the August Country View Challenge, hosted by team mate Corrie. She wants to see Blues and Greens and this is an easy remit... plus I needed a personal gift for my OH who keep dropping his glasses cases and breaking them.

So here I go again, a 3rd incarnation for the cheap high street glasses case (Boots, if you must know).

Click here and here for previous versions of the makeovers.

This time I used a Gelli print and over-stamped motifs from sets designed by Andy Skinner with Archival ink. The paper I used is similar to tissue paper in thickness, and is actually what typists used to produce copies on typewriters.

I didn't take any pictures of the Gelli printing or how I applied the print to the case, as both of these things need to be done quickly to prevent any premature drying and I only have one pair of hands! [I'm going to have to look into a DIY contraption that would let me take pics hands free!]

Here's a picture of a similar case before I tampered with it:

Process:
1. Gesso the glasses case, apply 2 coats
2. Apply gel medium, one side at a time and place the tissue trying to smooth out the wrinkles as you go along.
3. Cut or tear the surplus paper, and take care of the corners by cutting out small triangles and folding the paper.
4. Repeat for the other side
5. Make sure, if there is a mechanism to open the case, that it is clear of paper and/or paint. Use a craft knife to tidy up.
6. Coat the finished article with as many layers of varnish as you can bear to do! It is an item that is handled a LOT! I did 4...

Supplies:
Gelli plate and paints
The Crafter's workshop Gears stencil
Stampendous Curiosity (ASCRS04), Shabby Chic (ASCRS05), Toxic ( ASCRS06)
Gel medium
DecoArt Soft Touch varnish.

Here's the front and back pictures of the finished piece:

If my hubby doesn't like it, I'll use it myself as I love how the print turned out.

I hope me and my teammates have inspired you to enter our challenge! You could win a £20 voucher to spend on crafty stash at Country View Crafts is all I'm saying...
 
Thanks for coming by,
 I am entering the We Love to Create and SanDee & amelie's Steampunk challenge.