Smile Scrapbook Page

I wanted to do a sunny page with lots of bright colours and fun, so here goes...

The stamps, chipboard letters and patterned papers are all from My Mind's Eye Bloom and Grow collection.

I didn't really achieved what I had in mind as I was thinking lots of empty space, maybe a bit of spray painting, but somehow these empty spaces called out to be filled in and I could not resist! Hope you like it.

Card with a formal look

I wanted this card to be unfussy so I have only used matting and embossing (rather than using printed papers) as techniques to let the stamped image pop out. The main point of interest is how I did the greeting and flower label, using 2 dies but making it look like one die has been used. This will be my favorite technique from now on...

The photo is quite dark which make the base card look black... in fact it is burgundy, but with more light the embossing was disappearing.

Acetate Challenge

Over at the Craft Barn Blog this week's challenge is to use acetate.
I have used several of the techniques demonstrated by the Craft Barn blog's contributors, as I had never played with acetate before. First, I used acetate as my base card and folded an A4 sheet in two to form an A5 card. I then embossed the top and bottom and swiped these areas with  alcohol inks. I decided to try stamping but with only Brilliance inks and no Stazon the result isn't fantastic.

The flower is made with 3 die cut flowers, embossed and inked to which I added a center with thin strips that I could curl with heat easily.

I have enjoyed the challenge but the next time I use acetate I will be stamping with Stazon !

Black and white card

I have meant to make a card only in black and white for a while but never got around to do it. I nearly didn't managed it this time either, as I was sorely tempted to add a red ribbon, just because the theme of the stamp and printed paper was chinese and I was thinking red, gold etc... Thankfully I resisted, and the card has much more of an impact for it. The background is printed vellum edged with black pen, the black card has been stamped and embossed in white then edged in white pen and the white card die-cut with Spellbinders Banner 2 and stamped in black. Hope you'll like it.

Blog Candy at the Craft Barn

Just back from 3 weeks off  so this is a quick post to tell you about the £ 50 candy at the Craftbarn .They are celebrating their 500 followers et there is still time to enter until the 19th May.
Good Luck!

And now for the second peacock...

Here is the photo of the second card I made during my workshop:

It still is the Katzelcraft stamp wich has been stamped with a blue Versafine ink (it is the only one that kept all the stamp details) on vellum. I then painted with cosmic shimmer powders over some areas, the peacock in particular and unfortunately the shimmer gets in the way of the photograph!
A silver mat has been cut and embossed with some Spellbinders dies and a blue mat has been adorned with the Vine X-Cut corner punch. The rose has been made with organza ribbon and sits on 2 leaves die-cut with a Joy Crafts die.

Enjoy!

Simply Squares

I have taken up the Crafty Individuals first Challenge and put together this card with "squares" as inspiration.

I used the CI-207 stamp sheet, which I have completely dismantled in lots and lots of small stamps in order to create backgrounds. For this card's background I have first stamped and embossed in clear 2 of the stamps and inked the whole square (I have masked a small border all around the card) with varying shades of blue. I then over stamped in dark green and antique linen other elements.
For the main image I made a frame using 2 sizes of spellbinders dies and embossed it using Cosmic Shimmer Aurora powder in Lapis Black and some sprinkling of gold embossing powder. Inside the frame, the square has been distressed with Antique linen and a selection of the CI-207 elements have been stamped in green and blue inks. As a fun twist I then stamped a butterfly that would look sandwiched in the frame.
In the left hand corner I placed the small ferns squares which are also from the same plate and the dinky squares are double sided adhesive sheet cut into squares and foiled.

I love Crafty Individuals stamps and I thoroughly enjoyed making this card.

Thanks for stopping by,

All that Glitters...

This is my entry for the Craft Barn Challenge running from the 8th to the 10th of April 2011.

 

The Flower detail

  
















I have used 3 sizes of punches, the biggest to cut out the doubled sided adhesive sheet, the other two to cut masks from the adhesive backing only. I then applied the biggest mask first and glittered in pink, then the smallest mask and glittered in blue, removed the mask and applied the final transparent glitter. 

Thanks for stopping by...



Stamping on metal

A few weeks back I attended a course involving Katzelcraft stamps (one of my favorite make of stamps), metal and vellum. Here I am showing you the first card, which has the Peacock stamped on metal with Stazon, then embossed using a refiner tool (Ten Seconds Studio), then painted with alcohol inks. I also used the wheels from the TSS basic set to give more texture around the peacock image.
If you look closely you might notice that using my alcohol ink loaded brush I displaced some of the Stazon. Lesson learned, I realised that you only have one chance at putting down your brushstroke in order to keep the stamp definition underneath but it is possible. The frame around the metal is by Spellbinders.

Thanks for coming by,

Terra paste Challenge card

This week the Craft Barn Challenge involves making something with Terra paste. I chose to make my item with Sahara Terra paste and pressed stamps into it to create texture. When dry I overpainted, not with acrylics, which would have been the obvious choice, but with watercolours on the basis that I had them handy. With a paper towel I gently rubbed the raised parts to reveal the designs and voila...

I had fun playing with the paste and tried out other techniques as well, including using stencils to apply the paste through, although the results were not perfect as the paste seeped under the stencil!

Sketch Challenge

Here is the card I entered in the Sketch Saturday Challenge :

I don't usually work with sketches but I have found that it helps when inspirations fails, as part of the design work is already done for you !
The main image has been inked with Blue Sapphire, Antique Linen and Forest Moss Distress inks and stamped with in Forest Moss and Walnut Stain Distress inks.
The largest mat has been punched with Martha Stewart Iron Gate Punch Around The Page.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cute but stylish for the man in your life

I picked up this stamp set because of a particular image I'd been looking for, namely a door, even though the set involves cute animals which aren't my usual choice of imagery. Anyway the boat image looked perfect for an anniversary card I have coming up so I thought I would make a foray in the "cute" style. Here is the result :

The main image has been stamped using Zig Art graphic pen in gray and coloured with watercolour pencils. I then applied a wet brush to produce a watercolour effect. The stamp is from the Lovers Lane Collection by Country Companions.

I hope the intended recipient likes it as much as I enjoyed making it!