Good Morning All. Is it too early to talk about Christmas?
It's been on my mind over the past week as I prepping for some November workshops and, trying to come up with ideas now that the sun is finally shining, has been a real challenge! I'm really pleased that I've come up with 4 very different designs and thought I'd show you one today (on the hottest day of the year so far!).
I like to teach different techniques at the workshops and have been threatening them with a brayer for quite a while now!
I started with a square of gloss card, cut a circle from a post it note to use as a mask and kept the outer from the mask.
I masked off an area for the moon and picked up some Broken China Distress Ink on the brayer. You need to remove the excess ink from the brayer before you start. Roll the inked brayer diagonally across the card and build up the layers of ink until you're happy with the result leaving about
a third clear. Repeat the process with the 2nd colour of ink (I've used Wild Honey Distress Ink).
Remove the mask and use the outer from it to protect around the edge. Pick up a little Wild Honey Distress Ink and lightly colour the moon leaving a little bit of white in one area. Go back over the outer edges of the moon to give definition.
I've used Sam Poole's (Creative Studios) lovely set of stamps called Winter Wonderland and stamped the trees and stars with Black Archival Ink. I've also used a white highlighter pen to add some dots of white in the sky and to highlight some of the stars. To finish, I've matted and layered and added some Creative Expressions 8mm self adhesive black pearls. Hope you like it (and hope the ladies at the workshop like it too!) I must thank Barbara Gray for reminding me of this technique....my head is so full of "new stuff" that I sometimes forget the "old stuff"!
We're back off to another auction today. I saw listed 2, what they are calling, little banjos. I'm hoping that they're banjo ukuleles (think George Formby!). I fancy playing one as the chords are the same as the ukulele. Did I forget to tell you that is my secret vice!
Now on to todays travel photo...where shall we go today?
How about a little island called Nuku Hiva in French Polynesia. It's a little dot on the map in the Pacific. Talking about the ukulele reminded me of it. We (me and the "better half") were booked to teach ukulele on a cruise ship sailing from Tahiti to Peru last year and this was one of the ports of call. Surprising where a ukulele can take you!
Well, that's all for today. Lots to do as apart from the auction I'm determined to finish my mini book today and I also need to pack a back to take to this weekends journaling workshop being run by the fabulous Dyan Reavelly at The Artistic Stamper in Faversham. Hurrah....finally a workshop near home! Don't forget that Sam Poole is on Create & Craft tomorrow (Stamping with Creative Expressions) and will be showing the Wise Owl and Enchanted Trees stamp sets. I'll be back soon so until then, have a happy, crafty weekend and many thanks for visiting and leaving comments.
Good Morning and a very happy WOYWW! Wasn't last week terrific!! I tried to get around as many desks as possible but time ran out and I can only apologise to those I didn't get to.
Time waits for no man etc. so here we are, another week on and my desk still hasn't shown much sign of improvement!
I found a chipboard book I'd bought in a sale about 3 years ago for 30p lurking in the back of a cupboard so thought I should start to do something with it. I've only got as far as covering it with some Graphic 45 papers so far. I have used some of the paper to cut out the pictures to decorate parts of it. The stamps on the desk are the Art Houses from Creative Studios. Not sure if they are going in the book yet but wanted to colour them in!!
What I have been working on though, is my next DT project for Creative Studios using the Wise Owl set of stamps. I just can't stop using them!
I'm posting the full step by step on the Creative Studios blog this morning so I won't do it on here as well (hope you don't mind!) The background is Alcohol Inks and the owl is coloured in with Copics to give you some idea. Hope you like it and it is a nice quick card to make.
Sam will be demoing the Wise Owl and Enchanted Tree stamp sets on Create and Craft this Saturday (8th) and you might just recognise a few of the samples!!
Now for today's travel photo!
These are the giant waterlillies that grow in the Amazon. They really are quite spectacular and I just wish that the photo did them justice.
Please don't forget the blog candy...I really would like to draw out a winner! It's easy to enter, just sign up as a follower and when I reach 300 I'll draw a winner for the Paper Artsy stamps and Tim Holtz mini mask.
That's all for today, I'll try and get to as many of you as possible over the next couple of days. As always, many thanks for visiting and leaving all your lovely comments.
Have a happy and crafty day!
I've been thinking about making a wedding card as my step-son is getting married in October.
I know that this card isn't right for the happy couple (they need something a bit "dafter"!) but it was good fun to make and would be ideal for a Golden Wedding Anniversary.
I've used gilding flakes in several different ways for the card.
The straight lines are gilding flakes on double sided tape which works really well. I then used some flake and glitter glue on a mask for the "crocodile skin" area then pressed the mask down. After removing the mask, apply the gilding flakes. I call it that as I'm not sure what the name of the mask is! Do make sure that you give the mask a good wash in warm, soapy water after doing this.
The message and swirl are stamps. I've used a piece of Cut 'n Dry foam to apply the flake and glitter glue to the stamp (just like inking a stamp up), stamped it then applied the gilding flakes. Again, don't forget to wash the stamps! I cut the shape with a Spellbinder die.
The stick pins have also been re-coloured with gilding flakes. They started life as a cream pearl colour but after rubbing some of the glue on them, I dipped them in the tub of gilding flakes and rubbed off the excess.
The pearls around the edge of the card are made from Cosmic Shimmer Acrylic Glue...I think it was Olympic Gold. All of the products used are from Creative Expressions and Creative Studios.
The BBQ on Saturday was lovely, always nice to meet up with the family. However, the weather wasn't so kind. Luckily there was enough time to cook the food before the rain started. The weather forecasters never get it right, they said sunshine all day!
And now for todays travel photo.
We were lucky enough to go on a catamaran trip out to visit the turtles in Barbados. We were allowed to snorkel with them as long as we didn't touch them. The guide is the one holding the turtle, they seemed to know him and came straight to him for food.
Well, that's all for today. Many thanks for visiting and your very kind comments, they are much appreciated.
Don't forget the blog candy!! Happy crafting.
Good Morning All and a very happy 1st June. Let's hope the weather realises that it's nearly summer and starts to warm up!
I've been playing with my Spellbinder Dies for the last couple of days. I seem to have "runs" on using things, one day it's the Melt Pot then another it's Acrylic Paint and so on. Are you the same?
Anyway, here's one of the cards that I came up with.
First of all, I made the coloured paper by smooshing around a couple of colours of Distress Paints which I spritzed with water then dried. I've overstamped it with Sam Poole's Honeycomb A6 background stamp using Black Archival Ink.
The flowers have been cut using the Carnation Spellbinder Dies and the other die used is the Lattice.
The white background has been embossed (can't remember which embossing folder...doh!). The message is a stamp from Creative Expressions which has been edged with a black Copic pen, then matted and layered onto a piece of the patterned paper.
It's such a pretty and easy card to make and I can still get messy and inky!
We're off to a family BBQ today so here's hoping that "The Sun has got his Hat On!"
I do hope you've been popping over to Sam's Creative Studio's blog. The DT members have been coming up with some gorgeous purple tree creations this week. Give a few people the same stamp and it's fascinating to see all the different ways it's used, that's the great thing about stamping!
Today's travel photo! I thought I'd take you back to Brazil!
One of the children in the village we visited thought we'd like to see her "pet". Yes, it's real!! No, I don't think I want one...I'll stick to cats and dogs if it's all the same!!
On that happy note, I'll say goodbye and thank you for visiting and leaving your wonderful comments. Until next time, have a happy and crafty day.
It's been way too long since I got out my Tim Holtz stamps to play (I mean work) with!
After my purple yesterday I thought I'd get messy with the inks and this is what I came up with.
For this card I've used the Classics 2 and Classics 7 stamp sets from the Mighty Mr Holtz.
First, I swiped Ripe Persimmon and Peeled Paint Distress Stains over a piece of Coconut White card. I spritzed it quite heavily with water to make the colours blend then heat dried it.
I used the large collage image from set 7 for the background and did 2nd generation stamping using Black Archival Ink.
As it was stamped over Distress Stains, I was able to select areas from the stamped image to lift the colour away to give highlights. It's a sort of bleaching effect without the smelly bleach! It really is important to use the right cardstock for playing with water otherwise you get "pilling" which can mess up the finished project. Coconut White is ideal for this, you can throw quite a bit of water at it without any problems.
Next, I stamped the chequerboard effect stamp around the edges to give it a frame, then the Column stamp from Set 2 as the main image.
In the background I've also stamped the words in Set 2 using Peeled Paint Distress Ink.
The edges of the card have been roughed up with a pair of scissors then distressed with Frayed Burlap Distress Ink. A bit of matting and layering and there you have it....hope you like it.
Everything used today has come from Creative Expressions and Creative Studios.
Now for todays travel photo!
Another view of the River Cam showing the punts. I must admit, we cheated and hired a man who knew what he was doing when we booked the punt! I had visions of one of us going overboard....it would have made a great photo (hee hee!) but it would have been a long soggy drive home!!
Many thanks for visiting, the forecast for the weekend is looking good, so here's to long crafty summer's days!
Until next time......
Good Morning and a very Happy 4th WOYWW birthday to one and all.
Hope everyone had a great weekend and wasn't it wonderful to see the sun shining even if it was only for a couple of days!
Today's view of the desk isn't really of the desk, more like next to the desk. I've been having a clear out of bits of paper, card and old rubber stamps that haven't seen the light of day since Noah was a boy. Unfortunately, they're all too good to throw away so I have decided that my friend Jo is going to be the lucky? recipient of this lot!! That's what friends are for, isn't it???
Jo, if you're reading this, please DO NOT leave the country or move house without giving me a forwarding address! I keep on tripping over the bags every time I try to walk around the table. You'd think they'd be big enough to see!!
Now for today's card. The wonderful, yet slightly naughty, Sam Poole set her design team a challenge this week. Make a purple card using the Enchanted Tree stamp set.
Well, I can't resist a challenge so here's my offering.
I've done a full step by step (with piccies) on the Creative Studios blog. The stamps are gorgeous and really versatile. Sam is an amazing designer and I just hope I've done her stamps proud. The other DT members are posting their takes on the stamp set this week and all with a purple theme so stop by and have a look.
Now on to the travel photo of the day!
Another photo taken of the River Cam from the punt at the weekend. It was just so tranquil and the weather couldn't have been kinder.
Don't forget the blog candy...it's still up for grabs.
Until next time, have a very good crafty day and thank you for visiting.
Sorry I haven't been around for a couple of days but my aunt celebrated her 75th and the family de-camped to Cambridge to celebrate. We all met up for lunch at The Orchard in Grantchester then spent a merry afternoon on a punt going up and down the River Cam.
That was yesterday. The day before I got into a bit of a panic as I hadn't got a suitable card made ready for her! Now you would think that I would have a stash to choose from (which I have) but I wanted something that was personal to her. Anyway, I came up with the card here.
This is so different from my usual style that I really had to stop myself from getting out the Distress Inks!
The reason for the Flower Fairy is that when my aunt's mother was a child she sat as a model for Cicely Mary Barker as she was a neighbour. My aunt has had a love of all things Flower Fairy since she found out about the connection to her mother.
I stamped the image with Momento Ink as it was coloured in with Copic pens. I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed colouring!! The lace is from Creative Expressions and the flowers were stamped and cut out from the same paper as I used for the matting and layering.
And now for a confession.....At the last minute I decided to stamp Zinnia (the name of the fairy) and caught the bottom edge of the stamp...aaargh!!! I certainly didn't want to start again so I drew a line over the caught edge and added a few xxx's. You know and I know but to my aunt it's part of the design!!!
We had a fab day yesterday and the weather was glorious so to finish with, here is a travel photo from nearer to home than I usually feature!
A view of the River Cam taken from the punt.
The auction on Friday was great fun. I didn't find anything I was looking for but still bought some stuff! I love pottery and glassware so bought some Studio pottery and some gorgeous vases. There were also 2 enormous seaside prints (framed) that I got for £12 for the two. Well, I couldn't leave them there at that price!!! Now I've just got to find a wall for them!!!
Anyway, that's all for today. Don't forget the blog candy draw and hopefully I'll be back tomorrow but we have a visitor staying for a couple of days but I'll do my best.
Hope you all have a great Bank Holiday and lots of craft fun.
