Collage Background

Good Morning All and a very Happy Wednesday!

I'm back with another project for Creative Studios today.

Sometimes you just can't find the right papers to match a project and it's just easier (and faster if you've got a craft room like mine!) to make your own!

I've made a collage background for this card using stamps from "Weigh Anchor" and the A6 Background Map.

I've posted the full "how to" with step by step photos on the Creative Studios Blog so please pop over there to have a look.

Just a quick one today as I've got stacks to do!

Many thanks for visiting and until next time.....keep crafting!

Sandcastles and Seashells

Good Morning and a very Happy Tuesday!  Another glorious weekend which has to make you think of long summer days on the beach.

Well, that leads nicely on to this weeks project for Creative Expressions!!

Today I've used the Singles stamp called "Sandcastles in the Air".  So let's get started!

Matt and layer Duck Egg Blue and Chestnut Foundations Cardstock.  Add a strip of Brown and Cream Striped Ribbon.  Stick onto the front of a card blank.

Ink up the Sandcastle with Black Archival Ink and stamp twice onto Coconut White Card.
Paint with Squeezed Lemonade, Mustard Seed and Wild Honey Distress Inks.  Paint the flags with Broken China Ink.

Matt and layer onto Chestnut Card.

Ink up the shell stamp from the A5 "Voice of the Sea" set with Broken China Distress Ink and, using 2nd generations stamping, stamp onto the Duck Egg Blue Card randomly.

Attach the Sandcastles to the front if the card.

Ink up the sentiment "By the Seashore" from the Justrite Oceanside Oval Medallions Labels stamp set with Coffee Archival Ink and stamp onto Coconut White Card.

Cut out using the Spellbinder Classic Ovals Large Dies.
With the die still in place, distress with Broken China Ink.

Cut out a matt from Duck Egg Blue Card and Chestnut Card using Spellbinders Scalloped Ovals Large Dies.
Matt and layer and attach to the card with 3d foam pads.

Using the same shell stamp as before, ink it up with Coffee Archival Ink and stamp onto 2 different shades of yellow card.  Cut out.  Cut some of the shells in half.  Glue the shells onto the card, add a final few with 3d foam pads.

And there's the finished project!

It's a really easy one to make and the sandcastles were a lot of fun to paint.  I really do recommend using Coconut White Card if you're planning on using water on any project as it doesn't leave that nasty "bobbling" that you can get.  It's better than watercolour paper as it isn't textured so it's nice and easy to stamp onto.

Well, that's it for today.  I'll be back tomorrow with a project for Creative Studios so watch this space!

Looking forward to the workshop on Saturday...it's going to be busy and it's going to be messy!!!

Until next time, have a happy, crafty time!

And the Winner Is......

Many thanks to everyone who took part in the Creative Expressions Blog Hop.  Your wonderful comments blew me away!

Unfortunately, there can only be one winner on this blog and so, using my husband as the random number picker (blame him!), the winner is..................................................................
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Nicola Belshaw.

Many congratulations and a big thank you again to everyone for entering.  Please go to the Creative Expressions News Page to find out how to claim your prize,

Now onto other things!

I've put a full "how to" on the Creative Studios Blog for this weeks project.

I've used Sam Poole's new Singles Nautical Stamp "Just For You" plus stamps from other sets I already had.

All of the products used are listed on the how to.

Don't forget that Crafty Sunday is this week at my studio.  Please contact me if you'd like the address.  I'll be open from 10am-4pm.  There's lots of new stamps to try as well as Texture Paste and Masks.

Well, that's it for today.  Please head to the Creative Expressions Blog for a full list of winners from all of the hops.

Hope everyone has a very happy, crafty week!

A Day at the Beach

What glorious weather we're having and to celebrate that, I've made a summery door hanger for this weeks Creative Expressions Design Team using the new beach themed stamps.

I've used a chipboard door hanger for this project.  Now for the "how to".....

Prime the door hanger with 2 coats of Cosmic Shimmer Gesso Primer White.  Dry thoroughly.  Paint with Cosmic Shimmer Warm White Matt Chalk Paint.
Ink up the Seagulls from the Marina Bay set with Black Archival Ink and heat emboss with Cosmic Shimmer Clear Powder.

Stamp the images from "Kite Dreams" onto some Coconut White Card with Black Archival Ink and Heat emboss as before.
Paint using Cosmic Shimmer Drawing Inks.  Cut out.

Paint the seagulls with Silver Sheen Drawing Ink.

Paint the door hanger with a wash of Cosmic Shimmer Watercolour Paints using Pastel Aqua, Pastel Lemon and Pastel Orange.
Dab the sky area with a kitchen towel while the paint is still wet to give a cloud effect.

 

Ink up the "Beach Flora" stamps with Black Archival Ink and stamp randomly.

Glue the cut out figures and the kite into position with Cosmic Shimmer Dries Clear Glue and add a thin piece of black thread to the kite to finish.

I hope you like it!  The Drawing Inks are fantastic for painting in detail and the new Skin Tone set has a perfect range of colours.  I also fell in love with the new Cosmic Shimmer Pastels Watercolours....in fact I loved using all the products on this one!

Don't forget that I'm having a "Crafty Sunday" this week at my studio in River, Dover.  Turn up anytime between 10am and 4pm and have a look at the new stamps and masks as well as trying out some of the texture pastes.

The draw for the blog hop takes place this evening so do please check back for the winner on Wednesday.

Until next time, have a happy, crafty time!

Creative Expressions Blog Hop!

Welcome to the Creative Expressions June 2014 Blog Hop!
Hopefully you got here from Kezzy's blog, but if you didn't, here's the start at the Creative Expressions News Blog http://blog.creative-expressions.uk.com/2014/06/creative-expressions-june-2014-blog-hop.html      

The four new large Frame Stamps from Creative Expressions have been designed with co-ordinating mini frames inside, which can be used separately or as a whole and also swapped with the other frame designs in the range.

There are also an additional four mini frame designs, plus sentiment sets which have been designed to fit inside the various frames.

One randomly selected person commenting on this blog post before the closing date will won a fabulous prize of some of the new stamp designs.

Anyway, onto a project using these fab new stamps and it's back to the beer mats for me!

Cover 3 beer mats with patterned paper. Paint around the edges with Black Soot Distress Paint.

Stamp and heat emboss 2 of the large square frame stamps and 1 small one onto Coconut White Card.
Paint the leaves with Shabby Shutters and Peeled Paint Distress Inks.  Paint the flowers with Dusty Concord and Broken China Inks.  The butterflies are painted with Dried Marigold as are the centres of the flowers.

Cut out the 2 larger frames leaving a small white border.  Glue onto the beer mats.
Stamp and heat emboss the "Thank You" sentiment in the centre of the small square.
Matt and layer onto black card.  Glue onto the last beer mat.

Punch holes and thread string through to hang.

Die cut butterflies from Les Papillons 2 Spellbinder Dies using the same patterned papers as before.  Shape the wings and glue into place.  Add 3mm white pearls to the bodies of the butterflies.
Die cut flowers and leaves using Spellbinders Finishing Touches Faux Quilled Blooms.  Glue into place and add 8mm pearls to the flower centres.

And there's the finished project!

Just to add, here is a photo of the prize!

Thank you for visiting my blog, please leave a comment below in order to be in with a chance of winning a prize!
To help you along the way, here is a list for the blog hop:-

1. Julia Watts
http://inkyfingerzone.blogspot.com/2014/06/creative-expressions-blog-hop.html
2. Kim Robertson
http://inkykimcraft.blogspot.com/2014/06/creative-expressions-june-2014-blog-hop.html
3.Tracey Laughton   http://creativetracey.blogspot.com/2014/06/creative-expressions-june-2014-blog-hop.html

4. Donna Ratcliff
http://donnaslittlecraftycorner.blogspot.com/2014/06/creative-expression-blog-hop.html

5. Neil Burley
http://perfectly4med.co.uk/2014/06/12/ce-june-2014-blog-hop/
6. Tracy Heaton
http://ahintofmagnolia.blogspot.com/2014/06/blog-hop-time.html
7. Kerry Hickton
http://kezzyscraftyjourney.blogspot.com/2014/06/creative-expressions-june-2014-blog-hop.html

8. Pam Smith (http://smiffyscards.blogspot.com)  You are here!

Start page, prize details and how to take part: (Creative Expressions News Blog). http://
The blog hop started on Thursday 12th June and ends Tuesday 17th June at 5pm

Thank you for taking part in our blog hop - good luck!

A Father's Day Project

Good Morning All and Happy Wednesday.

Today is my turn to blog for the Creative Studios Design Team so I thought I'd show a Father's Day card using the new Singles stamps.

This one has used the Lighthouse stamp which comes with the sentiment...good value for money!

I've also used the Net Mask and the anchor has been cut out using Spellbinders Nautical Accents Dies.

I've used the waste from that to create a mask for the anchor in the background.

I've posted a full step by step over at Creative Studios so I won't repeat it all on here.  Please do pop over there and take a look.  The rest of the Design Team have done an amazing job with all the projects they've come up with using these lovely Nautical stamps.

Well, that's it for today.  I'll be back next week with more ideas so hope you can join me.  Until then, many thanks for visiting and have a great week.

The Song of the Sea

Good Morning All and a very Happy Tuesday.

I thought I'd kick things off today with a very summery card to make us all think of fab beach holidays and glorious hot days.

I've used a selection of the Singles stamps, they are called "Sandcastles in the Air", "Treasure Seeker" and "Beauty and the Beach".  So, let's get started....

Ink up the "Treasure Seeker" and "Beauty and the Beach" stamps with Black Archival Ink and stamp onto Coconut White Card.  Heat emboss with Cosmic Shimmer Clear Powder.

Paint the skin areas with Cosmic Shimmer Warm Delight and Cosmic Tone Drawing Inks.  These are from a set called Skin Tones.  I've also used Cosmic Skin from Set 6 of the Drawing Inks.
Paint the hair with Chestnut  Brown (Set 6) and Umber (Autumn Shades)
Paint the dress and shorts with Peacock Teal (Set 3), the bucket and spade with Scarlet Blush (Set 3) and the T Shirt with Golden Glow (Set 3).
The sand has been painted with Cosmic Shimmer Pastel Lemon and Pastel Orange Watercolours (The set is called Perfect Pastels).

Cut the images out including some of the sand.

For the Background:
Cut some Coconut White Card to size and wet it.
Starting at the top, use a wash of Pastel Aqua for the sky varying the intensity.
Add a thin streak of Pastel Green at the point of the horizon and paint the sand as before with a mix of Pastel Lemon and Pastel Orange.  All of these watercolours are from Cosmic Shimmer Perfect Pastels Watercolours.

Ink up "Sandcastles in the Air" with Black Archival Ink and stamp onto Coconut White Card.  Heat emboss with Cosmic Shimmer Clear Powder.  Paint with the same Watercolour Pastels as before.  Cut the image out, cutting off the flags.

Make a mark on the background where the sandcastle will go, then stamp it onto the background. 

Glue the cut out image over the top.

Add more of the Yellow and Orange Paints to the foreground to blend with the Sandcastle.

Stick the children into place with 3d foam pads.

Matt and layer onto Teal, Black and Coconut White Foundations Cardstock.

Stamp and heat emboss the sentiment from a set called "Treasure of the Ocean" and matt onto black card.  The set is available from Creative Expressions.

Cut a length of Teal Seam Binding, glue the centre of it to the card and attach the ends with foam pads.

Add the sentiment over the top with 3d foam pads.

And voila...the card is finished.

Not one of the fastest cards I've ever made, but certainly one that I enjoyed.  There's nothing like a bit of painting to relax you!  The Cosmic Shimmer Drawing Inks are amazing for fine detail as the brush is like an eye-liner brush.

Well, that's all for today.  Just a gentle reminder that the Crafty Sunday in the studio is on June 22nd.  I do hope that some of you can make it.  I've got some new stamps for you to have a play with (including the ones in this project!)

So until next time, have a happy, crafty week and many thanks for visiting.

Another Lantern!

Good Morning All and a very Happy Wednesday.

I'm back today with another Creative Studios Design Team project.

For this one, I've used the Singles "Lantern" stamp.

The biggest problem I had with this one was that I didn't have a mask that would give me the effect I wanted of the rays of light.

As you can see, I got around that one!  I've put the solution on the Design Team blog over at Creative Studios with a full "step by step" tutorial.

The ships wheels are from a set called "Weigh Anchor" from Creative Expressions.

Well, that's all for today.  We're getting ready to head off to a comedy festival at the weekend...a whole weekend of laughter...just what the doctor ordered!

I'll be back on Tuesday with another project for Creative Expressions.  Don't forget that Crafty Sunday will take place on 22nd June at my studio.

Many thanks for visiting and until next time, have a happy, crafty week!

Have a Beautiful Day!

Good Morning Everyone and a very Happy Tuesday.

I've been sent the most gorgeous new stamps to play with from Creative Expressions (as well as a new Embossing Folder) and I couldn't wait to share this project with you.

The stamps are all in the Singles range and the one I've used for this project is called "Little Fisherman".  So let's get started.

Stamp the Little Fisherman with Coffee Archival Ink on Coconut White Cardstock.  Paint the image with Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap and Gathered Twigs Distress Inks. 
Cut the image out but don't worry about the middles of the fishing rod.  Just colour them with a little of the Antique Linen Ink.

Cut some Kraft and Chestnut Foundations Card to size.  Using a Grand Nestabilities Big Scalloped Die, cut out 2 oval apertures in different sizes so that there will be a border when the Kraft card is placed over the Chestnut Card. 
Ink up the Netting Background Stamp with Coffee Archival and stamp randomly over the Kraft card.  Matt and layer the 2 colours of cardstock.

Colour a piece of Coconut White Card with Antique Linen Distress Ink.  Emboss with the Couture Creations Lighthouse Folder.  Go back over the raised areas very lightly with Frayed Burlap Ink.

Use 3d foam pads to mount the frame over the top.  Mount onto the blank card with 3d foam pads.

Glue the Little Fisherman into place.  Use 3d pads where the aperture is.

Stamp the sentiment with Coffee Archival Ink onto a piece of Coconut White card that's been distressed with Antique Linen Ink.  Cut it into a pennant shape.  Matt and layer onto some Chestnut Card.  I've used a sentiment from Dandelion Wishes A5 Stamp Set from Creative Expressions.
Shape the pennant and add to the card with glue and 3d pads.

Colour another piece of card with Antique Linen Ink and stamp some Seashells.  Cut them out and add some with glue and the top ones with 3d pads.  The Shells are from a set called "Voice of the Sea"  again from Creative Expressions.

For the finishing touch, tie some knots in a piece of string and glue to the bottom of the card.

I do hope you like this one, I was so pleased with how it came out.  I'd love to know what you think.
Would my lovely ladies from the workshops like to make this one?  Let me know!

Well, that's all for today.  I'll be back tomorrow with a project for Creative Studios using the Nautical Stamps again.
I do hope you'll stop by.  But for now, many thanks for visiting and have a very happy, crafty day!