Tutorials

Tuesday 30 June 2015

My Crealies Cards ..... I adore these little Patchwork Dies !!!

Hello again

Here are a few of my Samples I made for the Sincerely Yours Craft Show at Portsmouth.

I was there with Oyster Stamps and they asked me to demo using the Crealies Patchwork Dies and how lucky was I..... I just loved making these and in the making I wrecked my Ebosser Dies Cutting Machine ...... just hoping I can get it fixed !!!

I used Crealies Circular Die No 1 and Penny Black's Cling Stamp called "Fresh", it is so pretty..... It's a 3.5 x 5 inch stamp and it really was a joy to use and one I will be using again soon..... I water-coloured using Crafters Companion Aquamarkers and aren't they pretty colours !!!




 
My next card I used the Crealies Octagonal Dies No 3 and I think this is my favourite one.....
On this one I used the Penny Black Cling Stamp called "Sparkler" and if I can say it myself I think I made a good job of this flower..... It would be a good one to use for a Christmas Card..... Again I watercoloured using the Aquamarkers .....
 
Here's my photo's .....







 
 
Before I finish here is a Sample Card I made using the Heartfelt Creations Stamp called "Fuchsia Cluster"..... isn't it a beautiful Stamp ??? Here's my photos
 
 


 

There we go ..... Hope you have enjoyed having a nosey.....
 
I won't promise but I will try and Blog again soon .....
 
Thanks for stopping by and see you again soon
 
Lots of Love xxx

My Canvas made at Eileen's Workshop - 13th June 2015

Hello again all you lovely Crafters.....

Thought I would share my canvas with you that I made at Eileen's Workshop last Saturday..... and what a messy day we had..... but boy did we enjoy it !!!

Below is a photo of my Canvas and when I was making it I really struggled to see where I was going with it as it has so many different layers but all in all I think I did a good job on it..... Thanks to Eileen's Demo's and her sharing her techniques with us all.....

This is how I remembered creating it but excuse me if I have it a bot wrong as I am sooooo busy at the moment I don't even have time to Sleep !!!

First I glued some screwed up tissue paper with a clear gesso and with the same Gesso I then added a light coloured Brusho Pigment Paint which is so high in pigment you only need a little..... I then smeared with a paint brush the coloured Gesso over the Canvas is a really messy random way...... Some of the Ladies at this point used a wet Baby Wipe to take away some of the messy Gesso but I chose not to as I loved the vibrant colour.....Then I dried the mess with a Heat Gun until it was thoroughly dry. I then picked a few more colours in the Brusho's and shook a little in various places and then wet and spread the colour around to create an interesting background..... Once again I dried in so I could then add some Circles using various sizes of Jar and Bottle Lids and Black Gesso which I dipped the lids into and then pressing the lids onto the canvas it left the black circles and then I kept dipping into the Gesso and in a random pattern I turned the lids onto the Canvas to create the spheres and when I was happy with the pattern I just cleaned my lids to use for another time..... Again I dried my canvas using a heat gun making sure it was completely dry..... I then used the clear gesso to paint over the inside of the spheres and again dried it thoroughly and then painted it a few times using White Acryllic paint to cover the colour within the spheres..... well as best as I can because the Brusho's have such strong pigment that keeps coming through whatever medium you put over them..... When it was all dried I sprinkled a tiny bit of various colours of Brusho's on one side of my Spheres to try and make it look as if there was a light source on one side giving it the 3D effect.... (Not quite sure I achieved this). Again I dried it and painted around each sphere in a deeper colour to try and make them stand away from the background again to try and enhance the 3D effect.....
 Once all of the above was done I added some Stampendous Frantage to give some added interest and then stamped with a distress old writing stamp into my spheres. I then hunted for a Stamp to add the focal point to my Canvas and for this I used the Stampers Anonymous Stamp called "Crazy Birds" and I chose the one I thought looked the best and stamped it on a White Stamping Card and cut him out and stuck him on the Canvas..... I left him white so he would stand out against all the busyness in the background and then found a sentiment Stamp by Jofy saying "Perfectly Imperfect" which if I must say seems to work really well.....

Phew..... I think I have got it all but anyway here's my photo's...... Go on have a go and enjoy where it takes you, just like I did .....






Sunday 14 June 2015

My new Love Stampbord !!!

Hello there..... Well I thought I may have blogged before now but due to my poor Cat Jasper having been through the wars and according to the Vet it looks as if someone had given him a good beating..... I have spend the last week or so nursing him back from being very poorly..... but on a brighter note he is now really good and getting stronger by the day.....

I visited The Craft Barn last Saturday and well I was taken by the demonstrations of a lady called Kathy Byrne and she was using Stampbord and I fell in love with her work..... Anyway I treated myself and have spent the last week playing and having a go and to be honest I don't think I have done too bad.... If I say so myself !!!.....

Here are the 3 completed pieces that I have been working on.

The first two are using Crafty Individuals Stamps, not sure of what they are called but if anyone wants to know just let me know and I will try and find out for you......




 



 
....and my last piece was made using the Heartfelt Creations Fuchsia Stamps.....
 






 
 
Thanks for stopping by and having a look and will try and get back again really soon,,,,, Promise, lol
 
Take care
Lots of Love xxx

 

Tuesday 2 June 2015

Yes it's that time.....Ready for another Lavinia Challenge - Challenge # 6 June Use any Colours You Like

Morning All

I really don't know where the time is going but it's June already and that means it's time for another Lavinia Challenge..... This Month its Challenge #6 "Use Any Colours you Like" !!! .....

You could win a voucher for £40.00 to spend in the Lavinia Stamps Web Shop http://laviniastamps.com/shop/ ...... So go on give it a go as you know you have to be in it to win !!!

Here are my Four Samples that I have made to inspire you although with all the fantastic entries that are coming through I think you have loads of Inspiration yourselves.....

For my first Sample I cut a 2" circle in a piece of card but if you have a stencil that would be better and easier to use but you need the inner and outer circles. You can use a die cutter and that way you can get both..... I blended Fossilized Amber and Squeezed Lemonade and for my Moon giving a darker side to show the light source.....I then blended Chipped Sapphire and Broken China in the Sky, then I blended Shabby Shutters, Abandoned Coral and Fossilized Amber together for the foreground meeting the blues at the horizon..... I then stamped the Spring Trees in the background about one third up the page leaving enough room for me to stamp the 2 little Pixie Stamp called "Star Gazing" into the foreground between the trees which immediately gives it perspective..... Then right in the foreground using the same Ink colours I used the Lavender Stamps and then highlighted it with a Gold Sparkle Gel Pen. I stamped and cut out 2 more pairs of fairy wings and layered them up just for a bit of interest....Whoops nearly forgot I then used the Stamp called "Leaf Trail" stamped in Archival Ink first and second generation ink again to add perspective at the top of the card.....





 



For my second Sample I did much the same as before but this was because I really love the look of the first Sample so needed to do another one using some different stamps which are just as gorgeous. On this one I used 4 of the new Distress inks being Cracked Pistashio, Blue Lagoon, Abandoned Coral and Fossilized Amber and what beautiful colours they are..... I randomly blended the inks on the card obviously putting the blue into the sky and then just put the rest where they fell, lol there was no plan.... the I went to work with some water splashes which always amazes me at how much colours is removed. I then dabbed it dry with kitchen towel and left it to dry thoroughly before I stamped anymore..... I knew the stamps I wanted to use and for my main image I chose the "Tree Goddess, "Luna" she is beautiful..... and then from the Tree Limb that she is sitting on I stamped the "Trailing Ivy" and then from the tree limb to the base of the card I stamped the "Fairy Web and the Spider.... The "Leaf Trail" again was used to help me give some balance to my card and at the top hanging over the moon I stamped the pretty "Willow" Stamp in first and second generation ink.... once I was happy with what I had done I highlighted again various points with the Gold Sparkle Gel Pen.... I nearly forgot on this one I stamped and cut out 2 more pairs of fairy wings and layered them up just for a bit of interest....
 




 
 
Now for my 3rd Sample I wanted to do something different and although I had something else in my head this is how it turned out and I am quite pleased with it.... Hope you like it !!!
I masked off a section using "Post It Notes" about an inch from the bottom of the card and about 2 inches high and made a scene within there just using a piece of torn copier paper to create my hills and then I have stamped the "Christmas Tree Group" from left to right again in 1st and 2nd generation ink. I then used one of the tiny £1.00 Fairy Castle Stamps in the distance.... The "Leaf Trail" and yellow flowers from the same set was used stamped from the top edge cascading down over on the left hand side of the card where I then added the flowers and I used one of the "Zen Flower" Stamps from this set and coloured them using the Spun Sugar Distress Ink watered down and painted on roughly with a Wild Honey flower centre which I cut out and shaped the flowers with my fingers and then layered them up. On this I chose to just layer up twice so not to make them too high..... once I had put the card together with Matts & Layers I added the "3 Dancing Fairies" and the £1.00 "Slender Mushrooms" to the bottom right hand corner and once I was entirely happy with the card I added extra interest with my Gold Sparkle Gel Pen and some Stickles to add some bling.....
 



 
For my finally Sample No 4.... I thought I would have another go at something different and it didn't quite come together but I will adjust it and save my thoughts for another day as I will make it work, I promise you I will..... I started with a blank card and cut away a section from the centre and added Acetate to the back to make it steady enough to stand up..... For this card again I used one of the pretty Zen Flower Stamps and handed painted them in Shaded Lilac and Spun Sugar and cut them out. I also used the "Maple Leaf" stamped using a 3 different Greens in Distress Inks, Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint and Crushed Olive and inked them up with the paler colour first and then just dabbed a touch of the Crushed Olive to the edges of the leaves..... Once dry I cut them out with the leaf stems and laid them out until I was happy with the design and then glued them on one by one..... I added a tiny word Stamp to the back page of the card so you could see it through the acetate and then out come that Gold Sparkle Gel Pen again to add some interest.....
 


 
Well that's it for Month 6 Lavinia Challenge and I must now go and feed my poorly Cat Jasper as many of you will know all about his poor state and I am trying to help him through this tough time I just pray he makes it.....
 
Thanks again for popping by and hopefully see you again soon xxx
 
Lots of Love
xxx