Feel the heat

We've had some lovely hot weather over the last week or so and Carol and I decided to take the lead from that and apply some heat to our Tando technique pieces this week with some heat embossing. Do pop over to the Tando blog to see what Carol's been up to, too!

I chose an ATC to work with and used the emboss resist technique.

The sentiment and flowers were embossed with white powder and then I flooded each petal area with watercolour and used a drop of reinker to colour the background before sponging over some sequin waste with a second shade of green. I also "stamped" a couple of leaves by pressing an inked-up skeleton leaf on there.

Stamps:
Petite Posies (Technique Tuesday)
Sentiment from CHF (retired)

Paper:
Chipboard ATC from Tando Creative

Ink:
Versamark by Tsukineko
Adirondack by Ranger (Lettuce and Pesto)

Other:
Detail white embossing powder by Stampendous
Pink watercolour pencil
Sequin waste
Skeleton leaf

The beauty of the white lined board for projects like these is that you get a really solid base that doesn't warp at all when you apply heat for the embossing and your colours go on true without any priming - gotta love something that lets you stamp and go!

Thanks for stopping by!

PS - have you seen the new Andy Skinner stamp line? Andy's new to the world of stamp designs and has just had his first sets released by Personal Impressions. There's a competition running on his blog with a fab prize, why not check it out?

New nest!

I needed a quick new home card last week - this is what I came up with. The kraft card base came from a huge rigid envelope that was supplied with the calendar we got for our kitchen this year. Obviously we weren't sending it anywhere so I chopped up the envelope for crafting :o) I love coloured pencils on kraft cardstock and I thought it would give a nice look to the eggs in this nest - a quick and simple card, appropriate for a spring move of house! It's a small one layer card (10.5cm square) with just a touch more interest added by embossing a frame for the image with a Nestie. Stamps: Nest and sentiment both CHF (retired) Paper: Kraft Ink: Adirondack by Ranger (Espresso) Other: Prismacolor pencils Nestabilites by Spellbinder (Large Square) Thanks for stopping by, hope you're all having a lovely Easter weekend!

Make an impression!

Carol and I decided to dry emboss our Tando chipboard for our technique pieces this week. Do pop over to the Tando blog to see what Carol has made too!

I have two projects to share with you, a little jewellery piece one at one end of the size spectrum and a notebook at the other!

The domino pieces are a nice scale for jewellery, being 1" x 2". I put this one in the Cuttlebug Jamara folder, lining it up against the bit of the design I wanted before I closed the folder and ran it through the Big Shot. I ran it through a couple of times for good measure but you don't need to do anything special to get a good embossed impression.

I coated the piece with Rub n Buff and then with acrylic paint to accentuate the design. I wiped most of the paint off and then dabbed a little more RnB over the high spots.

The bail to thread the chain through is, believe it or not, a piece from a video cassette! I dismantled an old one a while ago to see if there were any "useful" bits and pieces in there. A little Krylon pen to key the surface and then a little RnB to match the pendant et voila! If you wanted it silver it would be good to go with no effort at all.

Materials:
Domino chipboard by Tando Creative
Jamara embossing folder
Rub n Buff by Amaco (Gold Leaf)
Acrylic paint (Raw Umber)
Divided tube from an old video cassette
Krylon pen (Pale Gold)

At 7" x 5" the notebook is less detailed but lots of fun to work with! As it's bigger than the embossing folder I turned the folder sideways to emboss the top part then turned the whole lot around and embossed the bottom part. Adding a band across the design hides the "join" in the embossed areas.

I then used a technique I saw a while ago on somebody's blog but I'm afraid I can't remember whose - let me know if it was you and I can pop a link in!

Wax pastels are soft enough that they lay colour down really easily on the raised part of the embossing. I used several shades of blue and green for this. You then add gesso over the whole surface and leave it to dry thoroughly. Gently sanding back the gesso exposes the colour and gives a shabby, weathered effect. I sprayed mine with some matt sealant to make sure the colour wouldn't rub off and the notebook would stand up to being handled.

I covered a piece of cardstock and a Dymo strip with aluminium tape, "tarnished" it with some black acrylic paint and stamped a fountain pen before adding a couple of screw head brads that have been in my stash forever!

I don't have anything like a Bind it All or Cinch, for the few projects I do that would need it it's not worth either the expense or the storage space. For something like this, I just punch holes with a Crop a Dile and use a coil from an old notebook (use the covers of the old book to line up where to punch holes in your new cover).

Materials:
Chipboard sheet from Tando Creative
Tim Holtz Texture Fade (Retro Circles)
Wax pastels
Gesso
Dymo
Aluminium tape
Black acrylic paint
Pen from On the Desk stamp set (CHF, retired)
Stazon by Tsukineko (Jet Black)
Screw head brads
Krylon Matt spray sealant

Thanks for stopping by!

Birthday poppies

I'm sharing the birthday card I made for my mum today - happy birthday Mum!

I'm also hosting the challenge at the Crafty Secrets member forum over at Splitcoast stampers and I'm asking players to use something pearly on their projects. I've used a pearlescent cardstock and lots of little pearls along the top of the lace trim.

This is a slightly larger size than I usually do at 7" x 5" but the poppy stamp is substantial enough to carry it. I coloured and cut out the third poppy head so that I could make it overlap the tip of the sentiment panel.

Stamps:
Poppy plus sentiment from Sweet Kids set (both Clear Art Stamps by Crafty Secrets)

Paper:
Cryogen white
Dark red

Ink:
Adirondack by Ranger (Espresso)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Antique Linen, Vintage Photo)

Other:
Copic markers
Vintage lace
Pearls
Nestabilities Labels four
Sewing machine and thread

Thanks for stopping by!

Masquerade!

It's my turn to host this week's technique piece on Tando - do pop over and see what Carol has been up to as well!

We decided to play with masking this week and I decided to go less stampy and more grungy than usual!

I chose one of the journaling block shapes to play with - these are a nice size for a little hanging or a piece of shelf art like this one. I cut a circle from cereal packet with a Nestie to put behind the block and make a stand for the piece, too.

I spray painted my piece black, then used some Tim Holtz masks and sequin waste and sponged silver acrylic paint on there. The sentimenbt was stamped and heat embossed and then I added some cogs, little clock hands and a stamped clock under a glass pebble. The edges and some of the paint were sanded for a more distressed finish.

My dad looks out for stuff like broken printers and cameras for me on trips to car boot sales and the like - they're a good source of little cogs and wheels and although in the case of printers the parts tend to be plastic, you can always treat them to a coat of acrylic paint or Rub n Buff for a metallic finish if that's what you're after.

Stamps:
Time to Stamp and Inchie Style (both CHF, retired)

Paper:
Chipboard journaling block by Tando Creative
Cereal packet

Ink:
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)

Other:
Timeworks masks by Tim Holtz
Sequin waste
Cogs
Clock hands
Brad
Glass pebble
Rub n Buff by Amaco (Silver Leaf)
Silver acrylic paint
Nestabilities by Spellbinder (Large Circles)

Thanks for stopping by!

Yellow Rose

I'm combining challenges again today. I hadn't come across the Copic Creations blog before but saw it in a post Sandy made on the Crafty Secrets blog because they are sponsoring this week's challenge. I decided to pair up their challenge to use your favourite Copic technique with the Crafty Secrets member company forum challenge at Splitcoast Stampers this week where Darlene has asked us to use yellow.

I don't really have a single favourite technique so I settled on doing something I haven't done for a while and gives an effect I love - combining Copics with coloured pencils. You get speed and vibrancy from the Copics and then control and depth by adding extra detail with pencils.

I've use the large stamp from the Crafty Secrets Rose set ( this is a 5" square card so you can see it's a good sized image) and added the little wording stamp which has the English and Latin names.

I think yellow roses symbolise friendship so this would be a nice card to send to a special friend for just about any occasion.

Stamps:
Rose set (Clear Art Stamps by Crafty Secrets)

Paper:
Smooth white
Radiant paper pad (Heartwarming Vintage by Crafty Secrets)

Ink:
Adirondack by Ranger (Espresso)

Other:
Copic markers
Prismacolor pencils
Sewing machine and thread
Silk ribbon
Pearls

Thanks for stopping by!

Birds of a feather

Carol and I had fun last year doing a series of technique pieces with Tando chipboard. We thought we'd have another play for 2011 so over the next few weeks we'll be revisiting some of the 2010 products and techniques and throwing in some new ones, too!

We decided to start simply with some colouring on the white lined board. I've used an inchie, a twinchie and two dominos to make this little wall hanging.

The surface of the board is smooth enough that it takes a detailed image easily, even stamping with a dye-based ink and not resorting to Versafine! Sponging ink around the edges of the piece is also easy as the ink goes on smoothly for a nice graduated effect.

Perhaps most importantly for many people, Copics work well directly on the board - yay! I blended three shades of brown on the bird's breast and belly as well as on the single feather image. The eggs have a slightly deeper blue shaded in at the base, too.

Being nice and sturdy, the board is also easy to handle for fiddly jobs - I added Dymo label words to a domino shape, covered with aluminium tape and burnished over to get the raised lettering to show through. A little acrylic paint and a light sanding and you're done.

I punched holes in all the pieces with a Crop a Dile and wired it all togther with some twigs in between. Spring may not have sprung with full convinciton yet but maybe this little hanging will encourage it along the way!

Stamps: Bird Notes (bird and feather), Farm Chicks (egg) - Clear Art Stamps by Crafty Secrets

Paper: Inchie, twinchie and domino shapes by Tando Creative (Tando stockists list can be found here)

Ink:
Adriondack by Ranger (Espresso)
Distress ink by Ranger (Tumbled Glass)

Other:
Copic markers
Dymo label maker
Aluminium tape
Acrylic paint (raw umber)
Crop a Dile
Twigs
Florist's wire

Thanks for stopping by!

The red shoes

Being the first week of the month, we're back to a colour challenge on Less is More - this week it's a touch of red.

I had an immediate idea of which stamp I wanted to use but didn't get chance to do it yesterday. When I saw Paula had used a Wizard of Oz theme I almost changed tack but the stamps are new so I really felt it would be rude not to ink them up, right?

I've had a couple of cards published recently using Crafty Secrets stamps and they have a brand new rewards program which means you're in with a chance of claiming a $30 gift certificate for a published project - I chose the new Wizard of Oz set as part of my reward program spending, thank you Sandy and all at Crafty Secrets!

The shoes were stamped on red and again on kraft and then paper pieced. I used a Spica pen to give them some shimmer and the bows have had the Glossy Accents treatment. Other than that it's a couple of punched circles, a stamped sentiment and some tiny acrylic nail art gems with a doodled border - all done!

Stamps:
Wizard of Oz (Clear Art Stamps by Crafty Secrets)

Paper:
White
black
red
Kraft

Ink:
Versafine by Tsukineo (Onyx Black)

Other:
Squeeze punch by Fiskars (large circle)
Nail art gems
Spic glitter pen (red)
Glossy Accents by Ranger
Copic fineliner (to doodle the border)

Thanks for stopping by!

Imagination

I'm taking part in a bookmark swap over on UK Stampers. I'm making a bookmark for Jill who is a reasonably new member of the forum so I checked with her to make sure I could make something to her tastes! She likes reading fantasy novels, doesn't like pink and is into the grungier style. Hope I managed to make something that fits the bill!

I started with two pieces of canvas photo paper and a piece of cereal box cardboard sandwiched in the middle. The front has Dymo lettering, a stamped word, lettering cut from an old book page and Tim Holtz masks along with stamped butterflies and ink sponged through sequin waste. I doodled around the edges of the masked lettering, just because the mood took me that way!

The back just has the butterlfies and sponging. The whole thing had a quick spritz of Krylon matt finish to make it more durable and ensure there won't be any risk of ink transferring onto book pages!

Stamps:
Vintage Butterflies (CHF, retired)
Word from Key Expressions (CHF, retired)

Paper:
Canvas photo paper
Cereal box

Ink:
Distress ink by Ranger (Tumbled Glass, Stormy Sky)

Other:
Dymo label maker
Old book page
Tim Holtz Alterations masks (Ransom Alphabet)
Metal loop (Creative Impressions)
Sequin waste
Corner Chomper by We R Memory Keepers
Krylon Matt Finish spray
Copic Multiliner