Canvas Board with Stamping and Heat Embossing (Dee's New Friends Honour)

I decided to see how white heat embossing would work on a canvas board.  I was very pleased with the final piece.

Looking at Stamps in Another Light: Creating a Scene

I had another look at the new Altered Burst stamps designed by Leonie Pujol for Claritystamp.  By turning them to different angles I saw trees and the makings of a snail character and decided to create a whimsical scene.

Watercolouring using a Stencil as a Template

This is the first of the samples that I created using the new Woodland Animal stencils from Claritystamp.  The One Day Special continues today on Hochanda at 9am, 1pm and 5pm.  I love using stencils as a starting point for water colouring as I must admit that I am not that good at freestyling.

Using a Brayer and Cling Film on Coated Card

Having been challenged into using my brayer on coated card at a workshop held by Maria Moorhouse recently, I decided to adapt one of the cards we made.  The stamps used and finishing touches are my own choices but I'm grateful to Maria for making me think about using this skill again.

Brushos and Pixie Powders: Experiment

For a change, rather than completing a full project, I decided to work with Brusho powders and Pixie Powders to create a large background, then made smaller background pieces trying different techniques over different sections. To begin with, I lightly spritzed a piece of A3 white card with water and tapped Pixie Powders over it in Midnight Blue, Peacock Green, Aqua Lagoon and Golden Mint.  Having spritzed the sheet again, I added Brusho powders in Turquoise, Ultramarine, Lemon and Emerald Green tapping the colour through a small hole in each lid onto the card.  A final spritz and then the colours were encouraged to run a little.  I think I went a little overboard with the water as it took me quite a while to dry the sheet completely with my heat gun.

Step 1

Bright Gift Boxes

I thought I'd work on some gift boxes as a change from art journaling, card making or tag creating.  These are a decent size for small gifts such as a scarf, sweets or votive candles and can be made to look completely different just with a change of colour and decoration.  I haven't added any side panels with additional stamped images or words yet, but I may well do so.

Happy Mother's Day

This card was made for my Mum for Mother's Day today.  I finally tried out my Misti and the Altenew stamp sets that I have had for a while.  Happy Mother's Day Mum and thanks for all you do!

The Usual Suspects, Hipster Style!

I've been after the new Hipster stamp set by Stamper's Anonymous since I saw the preview that Tim Holtz shared before Creativation; it arrived in the post on Saturday morning and I couldn't wait to get started. 

Junk Journal Junkies Challenge 5: Purple, Blue, Silver and Diamonds

The prompt for this journal page was purple, blue, silver and diamonds.  Initially I was thinking of using 'diamonds are a girl's best friend' as the tag line, but as you can see, I went in another direction. I have no idea what made this catch phrase come into my head.  I was too young to drink when the adverts were on TV back in the 70s, but once it was in my head, there it stayed.

Aged to Perfection Birthday Card

I had been asked to produce a few more cards suitable for men or boys, so decided to make a card which is masculine, but could also be given to a female gardening enthusiast.  It was great fun to make, especially adding colour to the herbs, pot and vegetables using my water brush and distress inks.

Groovin' 60s: Part One

I wanted to try something bright and cheerful and thought that the Groovin' 60s collection by Sheena Douglass would fit the bill.  Today I'll share the background and tomorrow I'll reveal the finished card.

Gelli Petite Lacy Coasters

Dried Marigold Distress Ink

I'm keeping up my new year's resolution with my third post this year!  These coasters were made and personalised for a group of ladies who frequently keep me company in my shed.  They are great crafters and we learn a lot from each other.  Belated Merry Christmas!They were all made the same way but personalised as appropriate.  A piece of Sheen's stamping card was cut to 8.9cm x 8.9cm; the square gelli petite plate was inked up and a brayer used to smooth out the ink.  This was then 'stamped' onto the centre of the card through a section of the Clarity Lace Swatch to create the lacy pattern.  

Fine Wine Artistry ink.

Archival ink and the alphabet word chain letters were then used to stamp the appropriate name.

Stormy Sky Distress Ink.

Victorian Velvet Distress Ink

Shabby Shutters Distress Ink

Worn Lipstick Distress Ink

Wilted Violet Distress Ink

Martini Olive Artistry Ink

Playing with Colour

As I have now completed my distress ink collection and have a good selection of the spray stains, I thought that it was time that I started playing a bit more with them.  When I'm playing, my current 'go to' surfaces are the #8 Manilla Tags from Ranger and Sheena Douglass stamping card; both can cope really well with water and allow blending as they do not have a high chalk content.
I don't know where I will be going from here yet, but I'm enjoying the process.

Messy Layers Background: Part 2

Having created the basic background yesterday using distress inks, paints and a stencil, today I added stamped elements to the background to provide texture and further depth.

The starting point for today's layers.

 

The finished background.

Clarity Challenge Bingo - My First Canvas

I have had some small 5" x 7" canvas boards sitting on a shelf daring me to use them for over a month.  Then the Clarity Challenge for August arrived.  I have also been attempting to add more texture to my cards recently, so my choice was a no brainer - horizontal line - Stencil, Stamp, Grunge Paste!

Chill - Life's a Beach!

Here's another card to remind us of summer.  I thought I'd enter it into the Countryview August Challenge as the topic was Summertime.
I was inspired for the background by an idea used by Barbara Gray in her 'Strength Always' New Design Stencil Club 14 booklet.  The combination of distress ink colours that she used gave such an impression of summer and the beach - Mustard Seed, Peacock Feathers, Picked Raspberry and Spiced Marmelade.  I had had the Sheena Douglas Laguna Surf and Endless Summer stamp sets for a few weeks and thought that they would make the perfect combination with the background.  I also decided to use pearlescent white card to add shimmer.

Psychedelic Colours to Brighten up the Day

I made this card some time ago but as the weather isn't so great today I thought I'd try to brighten things up.

I started by covering a piece of white card (20x13.8cm) with small pieces of masking tape overlapping each piece randomly and burnishing them onto the card.  I then went over the whole piece with Salty Ocean distress ink.  I stamped the Indigoblu circle dot background stamp onto a separate piece of white card using Versamark ink and heat embossed using white detail embossing powder. 

Turning Tags into Cards

 I love this style of card because it can be adapted for any occasion.

Take 3 #8 manilla tags and emboss them using any suitable embossing folders.
(I used Sizzix folders by Tim Holtz for the 'French' card and Cuttlebug folders for the baby card.)

Blend on distress inks to suit the occasion - including a darker tone at the edge.