Sweet as honey

The object of the month over at Something Completely Different is the "skinni" (3" x 5") and this week's theme is "flora and fauna". My word, you wouldn't believe how I struggled with this! I very nearly gave up when the third version hit the bin but I finally made something I was half way happy with. I confess I found the proportions of the skinni really hard to work with. Not sure I'll be trying this again but you live and learn, eh?!

The flora is absolutely literal - I picked some lavender sprigs from the front garden. I'm hoping they dry successfuly on there so it will still look pretty once the fresh bloom stage has passed! My fauna are the bees that are going to turn that lavender into delicious honey for that label to get stuck to at a later date! I do love that French language honey label stamp!

Bees are in trouble with numbers in rather alarming decline so I thought it would be good to celebrate these useful little beasties and all they do for us.

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Sweet Bee (Rummage Bin line)

Paper:
Vintage sheet music
Smooth white
Black

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Vintage Photo)

Other:
Copic markers
Squeeze punch by Fiskars (large circle)
Lavender from the garden
Gingham ribbon
Elegant flourishes die (Tim Holtz Alterations/Sizzix)
Stick pin

Thanks for buzzing by!

Botanical bliss

I decided to have a go at adapting Mahlin's sketch on the Bubbly Scrumptious blog to make a card rather than a LO - I used the first of the June sketches {here}. I did actually toy with the idea of venturing into a bit of scrapping as I had a LO idea but my printer let me down and I couldn't get a decent print of the photo I wanted to use so I went for the card option instead!


Glimmer Mist spritzed and then deliberatley splattered onto black card for the background, image stamped and coloured with Copics. There's subtle stamping on both the large rectangular panel and the green strip. I've substituted a row of gems where there's a title on the sketch - I did try a sentiment there but it didn't look quite right.

Stamps:
Botanical Bliss (All Things Considered line - if you're shopping in the UK, Bubbly Funk has these in stock {here})

Paper:
Black (cheap scrapbook from a local £1 shop)
Simply Smooth white
DCWV white core

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Tim Holtz Distress by Ranger (Antique Linen and Peeled Paint)

Other:
Copic markers
At You Spica glitter pen (red)
Glimmer Mist by Tattered Angels (Maple Red)
Vintage lace
Gems (from my Secret Santa bag - thanks Caroline!)
Corner Chomper
Sewing machine and thread

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for the sketch, Mahlin!

A promising tutorial...

My turn to post a tutorial over on the CHF Be Creative blog this week. I've used the Haute Couture stamp set to create a little booklet full of "coupons" that the recipient can trade in for treats (a dozen freshly baked muffins, a night of babysitting etc).

Hop on over if you'd like the full step-by-step on how I put it together - {here}.

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms)
Haute Couture (All Things Considered line - if you are shopping in the UK, Bubbly Funk has this set in stock {here})

Paper:
Simply Smooth white
Simply Linen Black
Copy paper

Ink:
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)
Tim Holtz Distress by Ranger (Weathered Wood)

Other:
Silver mini brads by Making Memories
Scor It
Crop-a-Dile

Thanks for stopping by!

All things considered ... it's Week Three of the Fling!

Welcome to Week Three of CHF's summer fling! Full details of the fling are here if you're not sure what I'm talking about! We're focusing on the All Things Considered line of stamps this week. Now, as their name might suggest, they're perfect for ATC projects but they're versatile enough for all kinds of other stuff too! If you stopped by on the Be Creative blog earlier, you'll have seen one card I made with the Key Elements set already. I thought it would be fun to do a second card using the same set in a totally contrasting style! (Note for my regular visitors - you know how much I struggle with patterned paper: if you want proof that I'm tackling the phobia, the card on the Be Creative blog is probably as good as it's going to get!) This is a scrapling (a card made from the bit you trim off a standard size sheet when you make a square card) and I've kept it clean and simple. I think this would make a great new home card, perhaps for somebody getting his first bachelor pad! I stamped the key onto a 1" strip and then cut it up to make three inchies. I sponged around the edges and then stuck them to some black card stock to make a narrow border. I stamped the text stamp over the key and then stamped it again on the base card, using a stamp positioner so that everything would line up when I stuck the key panel in place. Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms): Key Elements (All Things Considered line) Paper: Smooth white Simply Linen black Ink: Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black) Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Vintage Photo)

So, the low down on this week's Fling and its blog hop...

• all stamp sets in the All Things Considered line are 25% off this week (ends Thursday at midnight)
• make sure to leave comments for the blog hop girls by Thursday (24 June 2010) at midnight EST to have a chance at the CHF gift certificate prizes - the more blogs you comment on, the better your chances!
• create along with us if you have All Things Considered stamps and upload to this week's special gallery (by Thursday at midnight) to be in with a chance of winning the Design Team Favourite prize this week (a stamp or stamp set of your choice up to a value of $16.99)
• check the Be Creative Blog on Friday to see if you won
• if you get lost along the way, go back to the beginning (Be Creative Blog) for the full list of hoppers.

Leave a comment here and then Jennifer is your next stop along the hop - have fun!!

RSS is all the fashion

I've been away on my holidays so I'm only just managing to sneak in on the very last day of the current Ready Steady Stamp challenge. Nefertiti has set the ingredients and they're quite tricky!

If I'm honest, I probably made it even trickier by deciding that I would like to make an ATC!

The embellie made out of punched shapes was my biggest challenge as I don't own very many punches so my options were limited.

The instruction was that the embellie had to be made by using the punch a different way (so not a flower from a flower punch, a butterfly from a butterfly punch etc). My little flower is made with hearts punched out of tissue paper and stuck to a circle in a couple of overlapping layers to make fluffy petals. I pushed a velvet brad through the middle to finish it off. I found that punching through six layers of tissue paper at once was the way to get a clean shape (and it saved time, too!).



For the fabric, I stamped the ladies on a piece of silk, coloured the dresses and then stuck the piece to some double sided tape sheet before cutting out just the dresses. I stuck that piece over the same image stamped on plain card and coloured with Copics. I hope you can see the texture and sheen of the silk on this detail shot.

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Haute Couture set (All Things Considered line - if you're in the UK, Bubbly Funk is now stocking this and other CHF sets {here})

Paper:
Simply Smooth White
Simply Linen Black
White tissue paper

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukinkeo (Graphite B lack)

Other:
Silk fabric
Copic markers
Sequins
Seed beads
Heart punch
Velvet brad
Double sided tape sheet (look out for 151 brand in your local £1 shop if you're in the UK!)

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget there's a new RSS challenge tomorrow!

Birthday Roses - Summer Fling Week 2

Welcome to the second week of the Cornish Heritage Farms 12 Weeks of Summer Fling! We're focusing on Thomas Kinkade this week so the girls on the hop will have some detailed stamping to share with you today! Full details of the Summer Fling are available here if you haven't seen them already.

I chose the stamp that is perhaps least typical of the Kinkade images in the line when I made my sample for today's blog hop - most of them focus on buildings or landscapes but this one goes up close in the rose garden and is such a good size that you really don't need much else on the card! I used a linen cardstock to give a nice touch of texture. You do need to be careful with textured cardstocks and the Kinkades as they are so detailed that something with too much texture means that you can end up with bits of your image missing as the stamp can't make enough contact with the bumpy bits! I like the CHF Simply Linen as the "weave" is fine enough that you still get plenty of detail from the stamp.

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
A Perfect Yellow Rose (Thomas Kinkade line)
Thomas Kinkade Birthday Expressions (this sentiment is also available as a single wood mounted stamp if you prefer your sentiments that way)

Paper:
Simply Linen Natural
Herbal Garden Medium (Prism/Bazzill)

Ink:
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Espresso)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Vintage Photo)

Other:
Copic Markers
Cream Prismacolor Pencil
Silk ribbon
Stick pin
Corner Chomper

Leave a comment here for your chance to go into the draw for one of the gift certificate prizes this week and if you have a Kinkade stamp in your collection then why not create with it this week to be in with a chance of winning the Design Team's Favorite prize? Just upload to the special gallery for the week. Comments and gallery submissions need to be in before midnight EST on Thursday 17th June to be eligible.

Next on today's hop is Tracy with more Kinkade to share! If you didn't begin at the beginning and would like to then jump back to the Be Creative blog and leave a comment there for an extra entry to the prize draw!

Thanks for hopping by!

Paisley Pendant on the Hop!

I've said it before and no doubt I'll say it again - I do love the versatility of backgrounders! So I'm delighted that CHF's range of background stamps are the featured line for this first week of the 12 Weeks of Summer Fling! Welcome if you are following the blog hop and looking for a little backgrounder inspiration.

What's the 12 Weeks of Summer Fling? Each week will feature one of the rubber stamp lines at CHF with a blog hop and special gallery showing new samples using stamps from that line. The featured line will also be on sale for the week so definitely the time to add to your collection:) Two Gift Certificates will be awarded to 2 lucky winners who successfully follow the blog hop & comment as they go in the time allotted. This is not a race. All Blog Hops will start from the Be Creative Blog on a Monday, comments must be made before midnight EST on the Thursday of that week & winners will be announced on the Friday. 1st prize is a $20 CHF Gift Certificate, 2nd Prize is a $10 Gift Certificate which will be emailed to the winning participants. The Gift Certificates will be valid for 6 mths from date of issue. PLEASE NOTE that if you have a Club CHF award awaiting you on your next order, you will need to wait for the following order to use your Gift Certificate as the store only allows one discount per order. If you upload a qualifying card (using the featured week's stamp line) to the CHF special gallery for that week you will be eligible for the Design Team's Favorite prize which will be a rubber stamp/stamp set of your choice up to the value of $16.99 Looking forward to having you play along with us for the summer.

So... on with the backgrounder show!

Paisley was one of my first background stamps and it's such a timeless and classic pattern that I can't see me getting tired of this one. Like many of the BG stamps, the scale of the pattern lends itself very nicely to jewelry so I've made a pendant to share with you today.

I started with a 2 ¼" square of heavy chipboard and punched a hole in one corner with a Crop-0-Dile. Then I dusted two colours of Perfect Pearls onto a sheet of paper and pressed the stamp into them and set it to one side, ready for action after the next step.

I added two layers of UTEE crystals (melt the first layer, add another on top and melt that) and then quickly pressed the stamp onto the piece while the UTEE was molten. Give it a few seconds to set and then peel the stamp away. If you find the UTEE has oozed over the edge, just trim it off with sharp scissors while it is still slightly warm and soft (I love my Tonic studio scissors for this). Same with the hole at the top, just repunch with your Crop-o-Dile if necessary. Doing it before the UTEE is fully cold means that it won't crack or shatter.

Some of my high spots were just a bit too high so I carefully shaved off just a tiny bit with a blade and then rubbed over the whole thing lightly with fine sandpaper.

I finished by swiping Precious Metal paint over the whole piece, using Cut n Dry foam and being careful to keep it flat so the paint wasn't pressed down into the recesses of the piece. A wooden bead that was coated in black embossing powder and then painted with the same copper paint makes a finishing touch as the pendant threads onto a leather thong.

Stamps:
Paisley backgrounder (Cornish Heritage Farms)

Other:
Heavy chipboard
UTEE by Ranger (Black)
Perfect Pearls by Ranger (Patina Green and Patina Blue)
Crop-o-Dile
Wooden bead
Leather thong
Precious Metal paint by Viva Decor (Copper)
Sandpaper

Next stop along the hop today is Tracy who has been stamping up a backgrounder storm recently so I'm sure she'll have something special to share with you! Don't forget to leave a comment here before you go to increase your chances of winning and if you have CHF backgrounders, why not create something with them this week and upload to the special gallery for your chance at the Design Team's Favorite prize?

Comments for this week's hop need to be left by midnight EST on Thursday June 10, 2010 to be eligible for the draw.

Thanks for hopping by!