Christmas in July

Christmas in July is a popular theme in crafting circles and, as it happens, July is also World Watercolour Month so I decided to join in with a watercolour snowy scene to keep us cool...
 

All the stamps are by Crafty Individuals.

I first painted the sky with a brush and watercolour paints.

The bird (CI-507) was stamped next, using a mix of watercolour pencils on the rubber sprayed with water. I sprayed the paper too so that a little colour seeps around the body of the bird as if it's moving.

I masked the bird and stamped the trees (all from CI-450) with grey ink, dry-ish black ink (my old Memento pad), and using my fresh Memento black inkpad for the foreground tree.

With all the elements in place I added hills, snowdrifts and blades of grass peeping from the snow.

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the Stamping Sensations, Lost Coast Designs and  Vintage Journey challenges.

Pushing the Dandelions

Today I have another make for the Country View Challenge where the theme is "Do More Of What Makes You Happy", chosen by Sue. So use your happy colours, favourite stamps etc..

This turned out completely different to what I had planned... As I love scenescapes, I was going to ink my way through a classic whimsical landscape in the Lavinia style with my new stamps.

After a number of false starts I have ended up with an alcohol ink background and my old favourite Lavinia stamps. Still, also something that makes me happy...

I made the background by spreading alcohol inks on a piece of plastic (you can use yupo, metal or any kind of non absorbent substrate) as my "palette" and used alcohol lift ink and an oval polymer plate to lift the colours and transfer on my white card.

I stamped all 3 flowers from the Dandelions set  in black Versafine, curving the stalks as I wished and added the faerie (Mia isn't in stock at the moment but there are plenty of other fairies here).

For finishing touches, I added a piece of paper lace coloured with Oxide Distress inks in Walnut, a flower die-cut (X-cut Trim Borders) and a die-cut sentiment (All occasion Dies).

You still have 10 days to link to our Country View challenge, plenty of time to do something that makes you happy, and maybe win a £20 voucher which will definitely make you happy...

Thanks for coming by,

She

Hello a special post today as I am showing a make with a new STAMPlorations product. The CRAFTplorations line has now laser cut embellishments in MDF, chipboard and Baltic birch (see this introduction post here).

I received a few samples to road test and this is the first project I made, a display sign to put on a princess' bedroom door. I used the Beautiful Silhouette and one of the Mini Rectangle Tags.

I first gessoed both MDF pieces, the tag with white gesso and the silhouette in both black for the face and white for the flowers.


I then applied crackle medium to the face and painted over with a
flesh colour of acrylic paint.


For the flowers and leaves I kept it simple and added colour with Inktense blocks, sprayed with water and used my fingers to spread. Finally I added a bit of black pen for the eyelashes.

I spelled SHE with bubbles alpha on the tag, origins unknown (very old).

For my base I chose to use a piece of thin wood, recycled from a food container to continue the theme. I wondered if it could be embossed with a folder and the answer is yes, although to avoid breaking the fragile wood it is important to add shims progressively.
Here I used  the Sizzix/Tim Holtz 3D Lumber folder and I finished with a light application of Distress ink to highlight the wood grain texture.

Ironic that I used embossing and ink on real wood isn't it....

Working with the MDF is a real joy as it is both very light and very smooth but so much sturdier than paper!

Don't forget to comment here and on the STAMPlorations blog for the chance to win the Beautiful silhouette in 1.5mm mdf !

***
Whenever you shop for STAMPlorations products you can get 20% off with my code: STAMPGIRLCRAFTY
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Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the SSS Wednesday challenge.

 
Note: I couldn't find my regular crackle medium and I used this Docrafts one which a lot of people, including myself, have had trouble with. As you can see, this time it worked and the recipe for success is, I believe, to apply thick layers of both the crackle medium and the paint. The paint also needs to be sufficiently fluid so it can be applied quickly, with as few brush strokes as possible, as that tends to disturb the crackling.

Fragile wings

This is this stamp first outing (Crafty Individual CI- 521) and I was determined to stamp it in colours, however cumbersome it was. I can report it is a bit delicate and time consuming but I did get the required result.

I used a combination of black ink and Versamark ink to stamp and used pastel (chalks) to apply colour on the flower and script. I used coloured pencils for the butterfly.

Apologies for the photo but I had great difficulties taking good pictures without colour casts, so here's a different one:

  

It's one of these images that fill up a card so I didn't add anything to avoid hiding any of its beauty (and my hard work!). I hope you like it!

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the Allsorts (my B is of course Butterfly) and Stamping Sensations  challenges.

Experimenting with alcohol

This should be treat for everyone... My team mate Sue has chosen "Do More Of What Makes You Happy" as the theme of our Country View Challenge this month so all you have to do is use your happy colours, favourite stamps etc..

My faithful readers will know I am a bit of a technique junkie and will not be surprised that, for my first make, I chose to test a new one for me: Gelli printing with alcohol inks. Yes, trying new things makes me happy!!!

As this was a bit of an experiment and I had to work quickly before the inks dried I didn't take any photos but no fear my method is inspired by a video from Barbara Grey who can explain better the process! But in a nutshell, this is what I did:

1. I applied alcohol inks on the plate, added a bit of alcohol, spread the colour with a brayer and placed my stencil on top.
2. With Archival ink and the felt tool I applied colour through the stencil.
3.  removed the stencil, let dry the inks a few minutes and brayered some white acrylic paint on top, then lifted my print with a piece of card.
4.Optionally you can use the alcohol ink remaining on the stencil to create one or more prints by reviving the dried up inks with sprayed alcohol (NOT blending solution).

I managed to get a few interesting backgrounds and some not so great but it is a fun technique. The alcohol inks haven't stained my Gelli Plate except for the yellow (Lemonade), not the end of the world as it is a light colour.

I didn't want to hide the background, which I see as a view over a coastal town surrounded by hills, so I just added some birds (I re-positioned the stencil for that) and the sentiment which I embossed in Midnight Blue.

Supplies:
Ranger Alcohol inks
Archival Mini inks pads Kit 4
Visible Image Strobes stencil
Visible image Where the Dreams take you stamp set
Visible Image Ahead Of Our Time stamp set (the birds)
Versamark Inkpad
Midnight Blue Embossing powder

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 SSS Wednesday, Paperbabe, We Love To Create  challenges.

Have chauffeur will travel

Between the heat and other preoccupations I am less productive than usual but I managed to make a relatively simple tag this weekend so here goes:

 

The background is layers of acrylic paints, brayered and sponged. The stamp is by Studio Light, partially stamped (337 is a VERY big stamp) and the Paper Doll, well no need for introduction!

I hope you are all taking care and staying away from Covid!
Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the The Artistic Stamper, SSS Wednesday, Paperbabe, and We Love To Create challenges.

Phone cover #4

Although my sewing is not up to much, I do like giving my phones a DIY soft cover to protect them. It's cheaper than shop bought hard cases and I have the opportunity of decorating my cover as I wish...

Following my last upgrade I needed a new cover... This time I went with stencilling and used the Visible Image Fibres stencil with some So Soft fabric paints, mixing my purples as I went, aiming for a dark to light ombré effect.  I used calico fabric as my outer layer and re-cycled a piece of ironing board cover for the inside.

I am glad I managed to stencil with limited seepage under the stencil and the dimensions are correct so I am still pleased despite the wonky stitching!

Thanks for coming by,

Under a cloud

Welcome to my second inspiration post for the STAMPlorations Theme & Photo Prompt challenge where the Theme and photo are:

For once  I am really happy with how my design idea turned out and I think this is because the Birds of Paradise never fail to make me smile, especially when I place them in humorous situations. Today one of them is under a confetti cloud to the utter amazement of everyone...Seriously! And I can hear him say: why me????

I stamped the focal bird and masked him before creating a "wet" ground with a mix of Brushos, Infusions and a dash of Perfect Pearls.

I stamped the other birds and coloured them all with markers and set about creating those raindrops/confettis. The  Blue Shimmer shaker blends would have been ideal but I only had the White Frost so I improvised... and tested for you... I placed a few sequins in a small plastic bag, added a few drops of alcohol ink in Stream, Sailboat and Cool Peri (Ranger/Tim Holtz). The result aren't bad, if not uniform, but I had to spend 15mns separating the sequins that stuck together using my craft knife and tweezers. Not worth it...

I placed my Seriously Word die-cut on the card and then painstakingly glued all of the sequins to finish.

***

Whenever you shop for STAMPlorations products you can get 20% off with my code: STAMPGIRLCRAFTY

***

For more inspiration hop on over to the Stamplorations blog, you still have 2 weeks to create something for the challenge and be in with a chance to win a prize…

I hope my birds made you smile too,
I am entering the Stamping Sensations, Penny Black and more and SSS Monday challenges.



     

Wild flowers in the fields

Today I am showing my second inspiration make for our Country View Challenge, which this month is hosted by Rachel, who chose summer fields as the theme.

I made a tag based on wild flowers and grasses, one of my favourite themes, for which I have many stamps and stencils too!

I used the flower stencil from the Mini Layering Stencil Set #10 by Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous and first sprayed blue and green on the stencil onto scrap paper and turned it over onto white card. This gave me a tag shape in blue and green with white space where the flowers and stems should be.

I cleaned the stencil and repositioned it on the card, after drying, and applied Distress inks with Distress foam in Picked Raspberry, Carved Pumpkin and Mowed lawn. 

I stamped a selection of small wild grasses stamps from Crafty Individuals in Versafine ink towards the bottom of the tag and finished by embossing all around the tag with Wow! Vintage Peacock EP, which adds a little shine:

Over to you now, you still have 2 weeks to enter the Country View Challenge 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 Stamping Sensations, Penny Black and more, and Ally's Angels challenges.

Pot make over

Here's a second plastic pot make over. Like the first one I have cut paper to the shape of the pot and painted it with Paper Artsy Fresco paints with the Gelli plate.

This time I followed a sewing theme and used Crafty Individuals stamps CI-401 Ladies Who Latte as my focal point, supplemented by stamps from CI-328 Sewing Notions and CI-461 Vintage Ads, for which I made masks in order to layer the images. 
I couldn't resist adding some die-cuts too, scissors and safety pin die cut from recycled metal with an old X-cut die set (Haberdashery).
Finally I added some crochet lace to hide the top plastic.
A few pics of the finished item:

Thanks for coming by,

I am entering the SSS Wednesday, and The Artistic Stamper challenges.

Balloons shaker

How months go by so quickly... Yes it's time for a new challenge at STAMPlorations Theme and Photo Prompt. The theme and photo are:

Both made me think about parties and celebrations where balloons often pop up, so this was my inspiration for this card. With a different colour scheme (whites & gold for instance) it could be adapted for weddings. A shaker element allows confetti to be dynamic without getting the recipient covered in it!

I stamped the balloons from the A Snarky Birthday to You in Memento grey ink and the stars in red and oranges and used pencils for the colouring.

To make the shaker element I used 2 dies held together with masking tape to make my outer frame (Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle Nesting Dies). I cut 3 additional frames out of cereal boxes instead of a single one cut out of foam and glued all 3 together. This is both cheaper and easier to use than the foam as foam can distort and show under the top cardstock frame.

My confettis are White Frost - ShakerBlends.

Do check out what my teamies made on the STAMPLorations blog, then you have a whole month to create something for the challenge and be in with a chance to win a prize…

***

Whenever you shop for STAMPlorations products you can get 20% off with my code: STAMPGIRLCRAFTY

***

Thanks for coming by,



     

Summer Fields

Roll on summer and nature's exuberant burst into life... and our Country View Challenge, which this month is hosted by Rachel, who chose summer fields as the theme.

Now I like a meadows and wild grasses but for some unfathomable reason I could not come up with an idea for days.

In these situations I go back to basics and design around simple stamping. In this case, I used the Grasses stamp (Art Stamp -from Imagination Crafts) inked with a gradation of Distress Oxide inks.

In black Versafine I stamped the sentiment, from the set HP1205 and the long grass from ELB33 both by Paper Artsy.

Clean and simple...

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.

And just for fun, a bit of reminiscing, here are some of older makes with wild grasses...

This one made Top 3 in 2013 in a CV Challenge!!!
My very first DT make for CVC

Thanks for coming by,