Let's hear it for the boys

We are challenged by Impression Obsession to come up with something for the boys. I chose the Pig Bros. Birdhouse image (G1028), and surrounded it with Aluminium sheet to make it more masculine .

I stamped the image using pens and added some color with pencils.

I cut out the frame out of cardstock using 2 sizes of Spellbinder Nesties, applied aluminium tape on it before embossing with a Ten Seconds Studio Kabuka mold.

I embossed the sides of the base cardstock using a mix of powders and created an embellishment with the same mix. This was die-cut with a Spellbinder pinked circle from cardboard, then punched with a standard hole punch in the middle. Thought it looked more masculine than a button, which is my default male embellishment!

Hope you will like it,

Challenged by France Papillon

France has been back this week on the Paper Artsy blog with more gorgeous creations. My project is mainly based on her second post.

I followed France's technique but on a smaller scale (6x6 in) and used Tim Holtz Tissue Tape instead of Tissue Wrap. My colours were South Pacific, Limelight and Claret Fresco paints.
Since I didn't have a clock transparency, I substituted a die-cut circle and embossed it with a wooden grain folder. I applied black alcohol ink on the raised areas.

I tried smuding some oil pastel through punchinella, you can see a hint on the left hand side but this didn't work very well for me.

The central flower is made of 2 layers of navy cardstock stamped with a collage stamp from Hot Pick 1206 and embossed in gold. I used Spellbinders Peonies Nestabilities to cut the flower shapes.

For the texture paste areas I made up a stencil with 3 sizes of the Spellbinders Pinking circles and added an impression of a small chain (France did this in her first post), which I painted black.

Thanks for coming by,

Glossy paper, alcohol markers and gum arabic

Yep, I used all those in today's card and it wasn't even planned!

I have printed the image with my inkjet and embossed it with clear powder. Since I wasn't sure how well this would work, I maximised my chances by using glossy paper and increasing the ink volume setting on the printer. This did work very well... But now how to colour ? Glossy paper and watercolours are not the best bedfellows and I can't imagine pencils would work either... I had seen people using alcohol markers on glossy so I tried that with success.

On top of this first layer, I painted Mica powders (Imagination Crafts) in a related colour to give a shimmer to the piece. Depending on how the light is catching the image, you see it/you don't see it.
This is where the Gum arabic comes in... I tried painting the powder directly with a wet brush but the "paint" just pooled. I realised I needed some Magi Blend (Imagination Crafts) or some sort of acrylic medium, but having neither, I tried mixing with gum arabic (used in watercolour) instead.

I have no idea of the long term outcome of gum arabic on glossy though...


Having spent a fair amount of time just colouring the image, I kept the card simple and just mounted it on a standard cardbase.

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

Ladybug Crafts Something Floral
Imagination Crafts Flower Power
WOW!Embossing Powder Art Deco

Hope you'll like this,

Cushion Covers

My search for the perfect ink, one that would work on shrink plastic, as well as paper and fabrics turned up VersaCraft inks. I bought a few small pads but never got around to try them out on fabric in a big way. With some left over fabric I made up 2 cushion covers and picked some stamps to decorate them.

 

I first chose large stamps that would give an overall coverage with colour and, using masks, stamped a number of smaller images. I chose 2 different colour schemes for the front and the back so I would get 2 looks.

From Crafty Individuals I have used stamps from CI-207 and CI-237 as well as a freebie stamp from Craft Stamper designed by CI (the seashell).

From this detail picture you will see that this ink does print well enough on fabric, without any loss of detail.  I chose subtle colours to begin with but still, the colours aren't as dark as I would have liked. If you're thinking of buying these inks remember that the stamped colour is noticeably lighter than the colour in the pad, sadly there wasn't anything darker than Chocolate (bar black) that I used on the butterfly above.

I am entering the Crafty Individuals challenge so fingers crossed...

Thanks for coming by,

Nearly one layer card!

If I intend to mail a card, particularly if it's international mail, weight and thickness are important. But more than for this practical reason, I love one layer cards because it is all about the stamping...

Last week, I pulled out some travel inspired stamps and made a journal page in bright colours. I enjoyed myself so much I decided to create a card, but this time with a vintage, low key colour scheme (you might find this too drab...)

I have used 10 stamps for the imagery (+ 1 for the butterfly stamped on vellum) from varied brands and some that were made for me. For the background texture, I used the Impression Obsession Cover-a-card Grunge, which I inked with Antique Linen Distress ink, adding Walnut Stain along the borders. It provides effortless ageing!

Since I had some mail-related tissue tape I stuck a small piece cut into a flag shape to finish the card.

I am entering this card in the SSS Monday Challenge, The Artistic Stamper, Lisa.B.Designs, and Stamping Sensations challenges.

Thanks for coming by,

Travel...

As a departure from my usual projects, I am taking the plunge and trying my hand at Art Journaling. Note that I am not committing to anything... and I have used a free standing piece of paper rather than a Journal per se! The Craft Barn challenge letter T made me think of "Travel", which immediately appealed as a theme, and I wanted to play with paints just for myself, with no pressure.

There wasn't a conscious decision as to the hues chosen for my background, although I did choose bright and staining colours so that if they mixed too much the result wouldn't be muddy. I have used watercolours here as I have a lot (in all forms) rather than Dylusions or other dye inks, and used a brush to load the paint from the sides and spraying with a water bottle to distribute the paint around, tilting the paper to control the direction of the flow. After each colour I allowed the paper to dry completely.
It turned out darker than anticipated but I wasn't too fussed and proceeded to stamp my many travel related images (Paper Artsy, Crafty Individuals, Katzelfkraft and Papermania). This is where the choice of a watercolour paper (and what is more a rough texture) was working against me. Still we all like a distress effect...

Finally I added a strip of DIY washi tape and the dictionary definition (and no I couldn't bring myself to destroy a book), which I printed on specialty paper and aged it with Tattered Rose distress ink.

I have scored the sheet in half so, if I fancy making more I will look into making a "Journal" with the individual pages.

I enjoyed the journey... hope you will enjoy the project too!

Inspired By Darcy Wilkinson (2)

This week, the incredible Darcy has created for us a full assortment of decorations for a garden party, with cake stand decoration, cup cakes sleeves, banner, centerpiece, invitations, gift paper and tag and much more... She STILL found the time to bake for her party (I asked ).

And then she revealed her new baby, made out of mesh, clay, and paper. Dont miss her post, the project is amazing, the photos amusing and there are 2 videos so we can see how she did it.

I chose to make something altogether less challenging and created a storage piece for my craft stash. Not as good as Darcy's made-from-scratch bag, but more adapted to my skills!

After numerous layers of gesso, I sprayed my box with a shimmering spray in brown, and 2 colours of Fresco. Sprayed water where needed to guide the flow of paint around the box.

I then stencilled the hearts (part of last Valentine's chocolates box) and the dress form (negative die-cut), using the bump technique. I overstamped , with the mask still in place with a freebie flourish.
I also stencilled a border, using my home made (from a punch) stencil.

There is no ryhme or reason for the stamps I chose or coherent theme for the decoration. I used the girls from Hot Pick 1207 and the butterfly and "Best homes" from Hot Pick 1203.
For the butterfly I used ink on the edges and Fresco paint on the inside.
I repeated the stamps on the box base.

A better view of the lid:

Stamping with paint update!
Following your responses to my problem, I have found the main cause for my smudged stamping and how to remedy.
Last time, I was using a make up sponge to apply the paint, never imagining it would make a difference, but it does. Not because it's Cut & dry but Cut & dry is firmer so the paint is more controlled and doesn't squish between the lines of the stamp so much. So thank you all for sharing your tips and advice.

You can enter the challenge here.

Thanks for coming by,

Pack your bags / Vacations

For this week's Impression Obsession challenge I struggled with inspiration... Finally I plumped for the Damselfly with Boat (F1336) stamp because it speaks of leisurely summers...

I chose my patterned papers from my scraps, except the large rectangular piece, which I have created from a piece of white card, inking with distress inks and stamping with CAC Canvas (CC073) and CAC Grunge (CC076).

I created a die-cut border at the bottom with the Flags Die Set (DIE015-F). I usually separate dies that come wired together but for some reason I haven't done it on this one and I was glad because it allowed me to be sure all flags were parallel as I partially cut them twice.

I also used the middle size die again with one of the matching stamp from the Tag set (3119-SM )and a rub on (very old stash)

I inked the Damselfly image with markers and colored it with alcohol markers, adding gel pen and Copic At You Spica clear pen for a shimmering effect. Let's take a closer look at the shimmer:

As it happens, my holidays will involve marshes so maybe I will be able to find cattails and Damselflies soon...

I have mixed "grunge" and classic in that card and I don't know if it works, so please tell me in your comments!

Keep cool,

For the Girls

This is a bit of a departure from my usual images but I bought this stamp on an impulse because it was half price and I thought having a character stamp would allow me more practice with alcohol markers. As it happens, the image is ideal for a birthday card I had to make for a girl too old for teddy bears but too young for something edgy or vintage.

The background paper is from Graphic 45 (Nutcracker sweet).
The glittered shape is a remnant of a partial die-cut (MFT die).
To make the birthday tag I stuck a piece of washi tape from the Docraft Gorjuss collection on white cardstock and die-cut it with Impression Obsession Flags die set.
The striped pink paper ? Now there's a story...

When my printer ran out of yellow ink last year, instead of switching cartridges like normal people, I decided to use up the rest of the ink by printing patterned papers that had no yellow in them, and when the blue ran out, I carried on printing in pink... No waste!

I am entering this card in the following challenges:
My Mum's Craft Shop - Just For Girls
The Artistic Stamper - Ladies Day

Let me know what you think,

Inspired By Carol Quance (2)

As soon as I saw Carol's first project for the Paper Artsy blog, I knew I wanted to play! However, although I have worn dangling jewellery on occasion, I didn't want my bling to get in the way of everyday tasks, so I made a "bracelet" for my handbag (lucky handbag!).

 

In the main I followed Carol's method, encountering a few hiccups along the way - down to a lack forward planning :

• colours too strong after shrinking
• shrink plastic deformed whilst embossing
• hole a bit too far from edge
• stray white embossing speckles

At least this time I didn't forget to punch the holes before shrinking!

The stamps I used are from Hot Pick 1204 and 1206 and for the first layer of embossing I used a clear glitter EP.

I second Carol's statement about shrink plastic, some of them do not shrink uniformely and some have pitted areas after shrinking. The Polyshrink brand however does shrink beautifully. Plus here's my tip for no-brains measuring, if you have a metric/imperial ruler that is...

Measure your piece of shrink in inches BEFORE shrinking and in centimeters AFTER shrinking.

So if you want your shrunk piece to be 3cm after shrinking you need to start with 3 inches, simples!

Enjoy !

Shimmering Venice

I have a weak spot for photo stamps, and I have had this idea about using mica powders with one for a while. Translating this vision into a reality proved difficult but after trying a number of versions, media and methods I finally happened on a nearly there result.
This stamp from Katzelkraft evokes the holidays for me and I wanted the shimmer to give it that feeling of heat you get in the summer.

I stamped the image first with a blue dye ink to provide the base darkness to the image, then overstamped with Versamark. I applied mica powders (Imagination Crafts "Natural" set), gold on the building, blue in the sky, burgundy on the darkest areas of the image. I had trouble catching the shimmer with the camera, especially since the light flares on the glossy cardstock, but here's two attempts:




















At the beginning I was determined to use patterned papers for matting but as you can see in the end I used plain colours to let the image be the star of the show.

For embellishment, I stamped a Crafty Individuals stamp (It says Violettes de Parme) in a pool of mixed UTEE, in fact not completely mixed, as when I added my last scoop of coloured powder, I thought the swirls would give more interest to the piece. Love playing with embossing powders me !

I haven't got a favourite embellishment as such, but I do prefer to make my own, so my favourite embellishment is one that I created myself !

I am entering this card in the following challenges :

- WOW embossing powder - Summer & Sunshine
- Imaginations Crafts - Anything goes
- Ladybug Crafts - Favourite embellishment

Thanks for coming by,

Inspired By France Papillon (3)

For the Paper Artsy challenge this week, I followed Frances's design quite closely although I didn't follow the steps in the same order!

I first glued my tissue to the tag to prevent tearing, then I applied the Claret Fresco.
As my ancient crackle pot had mostly dried out,  I tried the PVA glue crackle method, and as you can see this method produced very big crackles!

I then stamped the "Joie de vivre" and "memo" from the Hot Pick 1205, then the paste over the chicken wire stencil and instead of cutting and sewing the pieces back together, I faked it with an embossing folder. I also faked the sewing round the tag with pricking and a black pen.

I made the flower with 2 layers each of the small and middle sizes of the Tattered Florals die using mulberry paper.

Quite enjoyed that project, as usual a good learning exercise, even if the result isn't fantastic.

I haven't cracked yet how to reliably stamp with paint though and on the tag my stamping is pretty smudged...
If there is a foolproof method, please share it in your comments!