I want more...

It's dare day over at DCM and Miri is asking us what we'd like more of this year.

I count myself extremely fortunate to have what I have and struggled a bit with this challenge - all the things that popped into my head were pretty esoteric. In the end I decided to run with that and go for something more symbolic than concrete.


A while ago I was looking for a decent olive stamp. I remembered that on that hunt I saw a digital image that combines olive and oak. Since an olive branch symbolises peace and oak is traditionally associated with wisdom and strength I thought it would be a good representation of things we could use more of in the world right now.

I used Copic markers (cool and warm greys plus black) to colour the image then surrounded it with some charcoal pencil. I almost left it just like that but ultimately decided this die cut word was simple enough not to detract from the overall feel.

Supplies:
Olive and oak digital image (Power Poppy)
Copic markers (Warm Grey 1 and 3, Cool Grey 1, 3 and 5, Special Black)
Serenity word die set (Sizzix, retired)
Charcoal pencil
Corner chomper

Thanks for stopping by!

Let it snow!

The Craft Barn is running a challenge through the year with each challenge taking a different song as the starting point. I thought it would be fun to try to play along and make a postcard each time.

The first challenge is "Let it snow" and you must include the song title and the name of an artist who made it famous.

I ended up including three artists - Frank Sinatra, Rod Stewart and the one I think of immediately on hearing the song which is Dean Martin. I wrote their names up the "strings" holding some of the snowflakes, first in silver gel pen and then with a fineliner so they look a bit different, depending on the angle of the light.

There's Stickles over the silver snowflakes which has made them look fainter on the photo but they're nice and sparkly in real life! The word SNOW is silver gilding flake on lettering die cut from double sided tape.

Stamps:
Grunge Flakes (Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous)
Alphabet stamps

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Peacock Feathers, Salty Ocean)
Versamark
Delicata by Tsukineko (Silver)

Other:
Bright white detail embossing powder by Wow
SilverGel pen
Stickles (Frosted Lace)
Mega Flake by Indigo Blu (Sheffield Steel)
Font One dies by Spellbinder
Double sided tape sheet
Black fineliner

There's still time to play along if you fancy it, all the details of the challenge are here. Thanks for stopping by!

A stitch in time

It's dare day over at Daring Cardmakers and Nat is asking us to "stitch it!" - use stitching as a prominent feature in your design.

This is absolutely not what I intended to make when I sat down at the craft table and I'm not sure how prominent the stitching really is but it's what happened so I'm going with the flow!

I'm still without my sewing machine which is on loan to a friend so I decided to do something I could hand stitch. Each of the stars has a slightly wonky line of stitching through it and the sequins are stitched on as well (just a knotted thread on the small ones but through the centre and out to the edges on the larger ones).

The stars were punched from a scrap of watercolour paper that had orange and purple re-inkers on it that has been lying around for ages.

I find the best strategy for hand stitching on card is to pierce holes first rather than trying to do it with the needle as you go.

Stamps:
Bubble background by Indigo Blu
Big Day Today by Waltzingmouse stamps (retired)

Ink:
Memento Luxe by Tsukineko (Bahama Blue)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Spiced Marmalade)

Other:
Clean Color markers (Cobalt Blue and Light Blue)
Spica glitter pen (Turquoise)
Star punches
Sequins
Corner Chomper
White and silver threads

Autumn anniversary

This was made for my mum and dad's wedding anniversary. I did the leafy stamping and painting without any particular plan in mind. When I came to trim it to make a card I decided it looked elegant as a tall, slim design with lots of white space so I went with that - it's a DL card.

This stamp is very detailed and the watercolour paper is a bit textured - my newly-acquired MISTI came into its own since I could just re-ink and stamp again to make sure I got a good impression despite the bumpy surface.

I think this image is good for an autumn anniversary without being too in-your-face about things - two acorns carries a suggestion of two people who can grow together.

Stamps:
Oak branch (Beeswax Stamps)
Sentiment from Putting on the Ritz (Waltzingmouse Stamps, retired) 

Paper:
Watercolour

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (various autumn tones, I lost track!)

Other:
Watercolour pencils
MISTI

Thanks for stopping by!

Gilded die cut resist

It's dare day over at Daring Cardmakers and Kathy has asked us to do something new as we're just into a new year.

I've had this idea I've been meaning to try out for a while so the dare gave me a little prod. Gilding flake acts as a resist for water or dye-based media and I thought that rather than stamping with glue and gilding, it would be fun to try die cutting double sided adhesive and gilding that before using wet media over it.

As well as trying a new technique, I haven't used this die before so that's an extra new element, too! Being tape rather than card stock meant I could curve the die cuts as I stuck them down so the two shapes look a bit different.

The gilding flake I used is gold but as it's extremely reflective the richness of colour changes with the angle and the light.

The Brushos were still out on my desk from last week so I used one of those over my gilded leaves. I sprinkled a second time when it was almost dry to intensify the colour near the edge and a bit along the leaf shapes. I stamped background leaves with Distress ink (which the gilding also resists in the areas there's overlap).

When the piece was dry, I added a couple of gilded spots and some tiny gems along with a sentiment to finish it off.

Supplies:
Back to Nature Thinlits dies by Sizzix
Double sided tape sheet
Mega Flake by Indigo Blu (Chariot of Fire)
Turquoise Brusho
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Salty Ocean)
Brilliance ink by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)
Doddle Parts clear stamp set by Dylusions
Essential Messages stamp set by Hero Arts
Nail art gems

Thanks for stopping by - hope you get the chance to try out something new, do join us at DCM if you do!

January Elements

Hello, Happy New Year!

Sticking with tradition, the first dare of the month over at Daring Cardmakers is an "elemental" one - choose at least three elements from the inspiration picture to include in your design.

From the picture (it's at the bottom of this post if you haven't already seen it on the DCM blog) I chose the strong green of the foliage, a word spelled out in capitals in a serif font, the tiny heart from the top of the house and the pearlescence of the flowers in the wreath.

The background is a simple water and Brusho splurge. I put a piece of copy paper over while it was still wet and peeled it off which gives those nice marbled lines.

The die cut letters have three shades of Perfect Pearls on there (Perfect Pearl, Gold, Heirloom Gold) but it's subtle enough it was pretty much impossible to capture with a camera!

I made an extra scrap of Brusho background and die cut the tiny hearts from it. I gave them a coat of Wink of Stella which, again, is hard to capture but might be more obvious on the detail shot.

Supplies:
Brusho (Emerald Green and Leaf Green)
Bristol board
Perfect Pearls (Perfect Pearl, Gold, Heirloom Gold)
Font One dies (uppercase) by Spellbinder
Confetti die by Mama Elephant
Wink of Stella pen (clear)
Corner Chomper

Here's the inspiration photo (my green is closer to this sort of green in real life but it didn't want to photograph that way!):

It would be lovely if you joined us for a dare or too this year!


Thanks for stopping by - I wish you all a peaceful 2017.

Vintage tin?

It's DCM day (sorry I was AWOL last week) and we have another "step away from the cards" dare today - decorate it!

It's open to interpretation, as ever - I chose to make a little ornament that could go on the tree or perhaps over the knob of a drawer in the kitchen. It has a bit the look of vintage embossed tin and cost virtually nothing to make. 

The base is die cut from scrap mount board (free from a framing shop) so it has a bit of heft. The letters are die cut from cereal packet board and the whole lot is covered with double-sided tape sheet and then kitchen foil. I burnished round the letters with a paper stump and then used a bit of black acrylic paint to "age" the whole thing. 

A couple of tiny cones from an alder tree in our back garden and a scrap of gingham ribbon make suitably rustic embellishments, I think. Likewise, garden twine for a hanging loop seemed fitting.  

Supplies:
Styled Labels die (Tim Holtz Alterations/Sizzix)
Font One dies (Spellbinder)
Double-sided tape sheet
Kitchen foil
Black acrylic paint
Alder cones
Gingham ribbon
Crop-a-dile
Garden twine

Thanks for stopping by!

Step away from the cards - tag it!

Friday is dare day and Daring Cardmakers have the second of the "step away from the cards" dares in the run up to Christmas - make a tag!



Tags are usually a last minute thing for me so it was good to have a prompt that made me get some of them out of the way early. To be honest, they looked nearly as nice without the holly so if you needed a super-speedy option at the very last minute this could be it!

I used the MISTI to do these "production line " style so they were quick in any case. If you put a frame (the negative of the die cut) into the MISTI, line the stamp up so it's where you want it in the aperture and then just pop each blank die cut into the frame, the stamp will be exactly where you want it each time.

Stamps:
Noel Plate 2 (PaperArtsy)

Paper: white, green, red

Ink: Memento Luxe by Tsukineko (Love Letter)

Other:
Stitched square die (cheap and cheerful unbranded)
Square Nestabilities (Spellbinder)
Festive Greenery strip die (Tim Holtz/Sizzix Alterations)
Office hole punch
Posca white paint pen
Clear Wink of Stella pen
Crop-a-dile 
White crochet thread
MISTI

Thanks for stopping by!

Deck the halls

It's Daring Cardmaker day and we're getting further into the Christmas spirit - today's dare asks for a card inspired by Christmas carols and songs.

I immediately thought of this lovely big sentiment stamp with words from "Deck the halls with boughs of holly" so went with that and, of course, the holly to go with it!

Colouring is a mix of Copic and pencils. I used a scalpel to cut around the tips of a couple of the leaves so I could tuck the die cut circle in behind them. The berries have a bit of Wink of Stella glitz on them and white paint pen highlights.

Stamps:
Noel (Waltzingmouse Stamps - now available from Gina K)
Freebie holly stamp (Creative Stamping magazine)

Ink: Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)

Paper: kraft

Other:
Copic markers
Coloured pencils
Stitched circle die (just a cheap and cheerful unbranded one)
Clear Wink of Stella marker
White Posca paint pen
Corner Chomper

Thanks for stopping by!

Birthday kicks!

My nephew celebrated reaching double figures recently! He does Taekwondo and is currently a green belt so I went with this digital image from craftsuprint which has the option of belts in different colours.

The image comes with a background and separate bits to layer up decoupage-style. I didn't use the background, just the figure and a couple of layers. The image is pre-coloured but I added a tiny bit of Copic shading as well.

The wonky spiral element is hand cut and I laid a circle die on the card as a guide for placing the die cut lettering. A doodled border finished it off.

Apologies that the image is a wee bit blurry - low light in Northumberland and a posting deadline made it tricky!

Supplies:
Karate Dude image from craftsuprint (Karate Girl is also available if you want something for your nieces rather than nephews!)
Copic markers
Black and white cardstock
Tim Holtz Typeset strip die by Sizzix
Posca white paint pen
White Prismacolor pencil
Pinflair glue gel

Thanks for stopping by!