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 

Spring is here

Spring has sprung! Quite literally in the case of my make today, which is my inspiration piece for our Country View Challenge, hosted this month by Corrie. Yes, you might have guessed already our theme is Spring. 

I first used Gelatos for the background and applied Distress Oxides inks in similar colours through the Stamperia Wallpaper Fantasy (KSTDG03)12x12 stencil on top.

The focal image is a stamp from the AALL & Create Stamp Set #529 - In the Wild by Bipasha BK. I stamped it in black Versafine, removed as much colour as I could with a brush and water from the petals and re-coloured with a yellow pencil.

The sentiment has been cut with the 662228 Alpha set and Sizzix Thinlits Die Set - Adventure Words Script by Tim Holtz (660224). I cut the lower case e from the enjoy word and substituted the capital E from the Alpha set.

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 the Addicted to stamps, SSS Wednesday and Paperbabe challenges.

Burst of flowers

More flowers coming this way... 

Our Country View Challenge theme this month is Mother's Day and is hosted by Evelyn.
This is what I made for my second inspiration make: a box card full of flowers.
fun way to offer a bouquet from far away...

I won't tell you the ins and outs of the box card construction... there are plenty of tutorials on the web. My own method relied on partial die cutting and although it worked, I wouldn't recommend it! 

In my defence this is my first.... 

The box is decorated with papers from the Studio Light Memories of Summer pad. 

The die-cut flowers inside were made with Sizzix/Tim Holtz die set and an unidentified freebie die from a magazine. I also added a butterfly on a strip of acetate for that flight effect.

You now have less than 2 weeks to link up your project to the challenge for the chance to win a £20 voucher for the Country View Craft shop, so hop on over to the Country View Challenge blog for more inspiration and details on how to enter.

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield  I am entering the Allsorts, Addicted to Stamps,  SSS Monday and SSS Wednesday Challenges

Creative use of dies

Today is my first of 4 Thursday Throwback posts which will pop up on the STAMPlorations blog once a month. 

My crafting is usually stamp based but this Thursday I chose this die-cut based creation by Maureen that had me fascinated.  

You can check the original post here. 

First I created a camera with my favourite designer papers and used it as a topper on a card front: 

I used  the ATC Tag builder die set and the Tag O'Coffee to cut my pieces and the sentiment is from the Fond Expressions 2 stamp set. 

Next, I made an attempt at making the camera as realistic as I could, taking inspiration from my own camera's colours. 

I used the ATC Tag Builder , the Tag O'Coffee set and Liquid Glass (DecoArt).

Another view showing the dimensional lens:

And for fun I tried my own die-cut recipe for a boat... naive but still recognisable:

Dies are from the ATC Tag Builder, Tag O'Coffee, Stitched Snow Hills and Basic A2 Panels Nesting Dies sets. The background is Distress Inks with clouds made with Gesso and the Clouds stencil.

You can find out the details for all 3 makes on the STAMPlorations blog. Come back in 4 weeks for my next Throwback Thursday!

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the SSS Wednesday challenge and Addicted to Stamps challenge.

Moody grays

Today a journal page as grey as the skies... 

I used Lavinia Graphite grey ink all around the the page and stencilled through Paper Artsy PS001. 

I stamped several images from EEV06 and ESN10 in different shades of grey, the large compass stamp is from ESC11. 

Finally I added the word (my mood at the time), which I coined because I couldn't find anything better,  was created with an old Dymo machine. 

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield   I am entering the Lost Coast Designs challenge

Hexagons and bees

Today I have a tag inspired by the hexagon shape. What else to team it up with, but bees... 

I first built up the background with Distress Oxides in Salty Ocean and Salvaged patina, spraying with a pearlescent Cosmic shimmer colour instead of water to give a subtle shine (can't be seen see in the picture!). 
The large hexagons were inked through a stencil die-cut with the Papertrey Ink Hexagons Cover plate  and I overstamped some of them with a coordinating stamp set (Happy Hexagons). The smaller hexagons are from a small Docrafts set. 
The flower, bee definition and bees were stamped and die-cuts with the Sunflower Bee stamp and die sets by Julie Hickey Designs. I die-cut the black honeycomb with the same set. 

Thanks for coming by, 

 Craftyfield   I am entering the Allsorts, River of creativity, and SSS Wednesday 

                                                         challenges

Multicolour stamping and old supplies

New month new Country View Challenge! My teamies and I have lots of inspiration for you on our theme, Mother's Day, hosted by Evelyn. (In the UK, it is celebrated in March) . 

I pulled out old supplies, loved but underused, for my card: 

The stamps are from Impression Obsession: Dress Form Trio (F13086) and Rose Print Background (F8867). I stamped the first with a Kaleidacolor inkpad (Sea breeze) and applied several colours of Memento ink to the second. I cut the stamped Rose Print in 2 and glued it into place behind the Dress forms. 

The sentiment is a printed label from a magazine to which I added a heart gem. 

The red die-cut is a Nellie Snellen border die and since this was very much de rigueur 10 years ago, I used my Corner Chomper for the focal image and its mat!

Well that was a trip down memory lane... Does this resonate with you, long time crafters?

******

Do join us by creating a Mother's Day inspired make and link up your project to the Country View Challenges blog for the chance to win a £20 voucher to spend at the Country View Craft shop.

Just remember to follow the theme AND the challenges rules!!!

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield   I am entering the Paperbabe, SSS Wednesday challenges

The Meerkat's Birthday

Less than a week before the teenager's birthday I found that I had no card for him... plenty of feminine cards but masculine, none whatsoever! I let serendipity help in the choice of supplies, which in turn influenced the design. Mixing my supplies, especially old and new makes me happy! 

For a fun card I chose the Katzelkraft Meerkats stamp set (KTZ216) and let the character dance on the table. The latter is a new die, a freebie from Creative Stamping (issue 105), as is the Happy Birthday sentiment. 

I wanted a balloon and thought of the Shaker Balloons #1 Heart by STAMPlorations but thought it was too big for the card so I drew a balloon shape out of it by tracing the right hand side of another heart die-cut: 

The background is alcohol inks, lifted and applied to photo paper, an experiment that wasn't altogether convincing... but seemed OK as a foil to Mr Meerkat!

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield   I am entering the Allsorts, Stamping Sensations, We Love Stamping, 

                                                      Addicted to stamps challenge

Hearts and Flowers Greeting card

Hello crafters, today is my turn to inspire the Country View Challenges fans with a Hearts and Flowers make, the theme chosen by Jane. Lack of imagination meant I went totally literal: 

The design would suit Valentine's Day, Mother's day or even Birthdays really! 

The flower image is a stamp from the AALL & Create Stamp Set #529 - In the Wild by Bipasha BK, and the die-cut border is an old 12x12 border die by Docrafts . 

The flowers were coloured with watercolours. 

******

Over to you now, you still have 2 weeks to link up your project to the Country View Challenges blog for the chance to win a £20 voucher for the Country View Craft shop.

Just remember to follow the theme (make hearts and flowers obvious) AND the challenges rules!!!

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield   I am entering the Paperbabe, Stamping Sensations, 

                                                     We Love Stamping challenges

Gesso resist tag

I found a bit of time to play, just play, and made this tag. 

I took the opportunity to test the D.O Villainous potion, it didn't disappoint...and used up my last scrap of an old Stamperia rice paper (it had fish in it but I don't have the reference anymore) which makes me happy! 

A bit of AALL washi tape (AALL & Create Washi Tape #13 - Fasteners), gesso (Heavy Gesso Finnabair by Prima - Art Basics) - to tone down the rice paper and add dimension through one of the stencil from the Stampers Anonymous/Tim Holtz Mini Set #39 (MTHS039), some stamping with Archival ink and a very old stamp (Kaisercraft - Grunge) to add some dark accents.    

The focal image is the Perching Bird by Crafty Individuals (CI-507), stamped with Versafine Clair in Pinecone and lightly coloured with Distress inks. 

My mojo liked the exercise, it was fun if nothing else! 

Thanks for coming by,

 Craftyfield       I am entering the Allsorts, Paperbabe, Stamping Sensations, and

We Love Stamping  challenge

Cupid tag

February the month of Love... 

It's all hearts and flowers at Country View Challenge, the theme hosted by Jane, this should be an easy theme for everyone. just remember to have prominent hearts and flowers on your make to be in with a chance to win! 

For my first inspiration make I pulled out a longed for, and finally bought, Collage Paper from Ranger to make this tag: 

 I cut and glued a piece of the Collage Paper - Botanical (TH93705) on my tag before adding Infusions powders in Are you Cerise, Rusty car and Violet Storms.

I also added Some Distress crayons on the leaves and stalk, to add a pop of contrasting green and some gold pen around the tag. The top flower seemed to lack something so I added a bit more Cerise to make it pop.

My 3 hearts are the waste from the Triple Stitched Heart (Memory box - 99642) die, popped up on foam pads and the Cupid sitting on top is also a Memory Box die (94103 - Cupid with swing). 

I will be back later in the month for a second inspiration piece but in the meantime, 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      I am entering the SSS Wednesday Challenge and the Memory box challenge

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.