Grocer Jack?

Enfys is setting today's dare over at Daring Cardmakers and she's asking us to use packaging from a grocery item in our makes.

I used a bit of card from a box that held lasagne sheets to stamp the main image.

Thankfully I'd decided to use the MISTI so that I could paint the face and collar and then stamp again so the detail wasn't obscured. I say thankfully because (as I should have anticipated) the card was coated which meant it took several goes to get decent coverage on areas like his hat. Brilliance ink is great though - it will dry on a slick surface, no problem.

A couple of grocery extras round this out - my age-old trick of using tomato paste tubes gave me the frame (embossed in a folder and swiped with black acrylic paint). I also stuck some textured foil from the inner seal of a pot of spreadable cheese onto a scrap of card and punched out the star. A wee bit of "aging" with the paint brought out the texture nicely - might be more obvious on the detail photo.

A snippet of film ribbon and the "scrap" from between strips of stickers on a Tim Holtz "industrial" sheet finish it off.

The song "Grocer Jack" (proper name "Excerpt from a teenage opera", I believe) started running through my head as I edited the photos for this - who knows, maybe this gentleman really was!

Stamps:
Dashing Gents by Darkroom Door

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

Paper:
Smooth white
"Kraft" from a lasagne box

Other:
Tomato paste tube
Foil seal from pot of spreadable cheese 
Diamonds embossing folder (Sizzix/Basic Grey)
Star punch (Fiskars)
Rectangle Nestabilities (Spellbinder)
Filmstrip ribbon (Tim Holtz)
Scrap from Industrious stickers (Tim Holtz)
White acrylic paint 

Thanks for stopping by!

Greens

Lythan has chosen this week's challenge over at Daring Cardmakers and in honour of St Patrick's Day she'd like us to use shades of green (and a dash of leprechaun's gold if you wish).

I started by brushing several shades of green acrylic paint randomly onto a piece of watercolour paper. Once dry I used chalk ink to stamp a bit of script and a swirl and added a tiny scrap of torn book page (inked with Distress ink).

There's a tiny bit of gold Rub n Buff on two corners and around the edge but I'm afraid they just look dark and muddy on the photo!

The die cut leaf was also painted with acrylic paint and has white pen highlighting the top edges of each bit.

Stamps:
19th Century Script (Hero Arts)
Beautiful (CHF, sadly with us no more)
Sentiment from Big Day Today (Waltzingmouse Stamps, retired, keep an eye out at Gina K in case it comes back via that route)

Paper:
Watercolour
Cryogen White

Ink:
VersaMagic by Tsukineko (Tea Leaves)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)

Other:
Acrylic paints - various greens
Back to Nature dies by Sizzix
White Posca pen
Gold Rub n Buff

Thanks for stopping by!

Take the rough with the smooth

I'm setting my very first dare over at Daring Cardmakers this week. I'm asking for projects that take the rough with the smooth - combine a rough (or bumpy) element with something smooth/shiny.


I've die cut some circles of sandpaper for my rough texture and added glaze to circles that are inked and domed out for the smooth. There's a bit extra shine as I used Perfect Pearls and a stencil for the background.

The shells have just the tiniest touch of Copic shading but the stamps are detailed enough that they really don't need much doing to them - I do love this set!

Stamps:
Antique Engravings and Say It All (Hero Arts)

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)
Versamark by Tsukineko
Tim Holtz Distress in by Ranger (Salty Ocean, Peacock Feathers, Tumbled Glass)

Paper:
Smooth white
Sandpaper

Other:
Circle dies (Spellbinder)
Cell Theory 6x6 stencil by Crafters Workshop
Perfect Pearls by Ranger (Forever Blue, Blue Raspberry, Turquoise)
Triple Thick Glaze by DecoArt
Corner Chomper

I'd love it if you could play along with my dare! Thanks for stopping by!

March Elemental

It's the start of a new month so Daring Cardmakers has an "elemental" challenge for us - Enfys is asking us to be inspired by at least three elements from her striking picture (it's at the bottom of this post if you didn't arrive here from the DCM blog).

I chose the grid lines formed by the window frames, the various vases and bottles (including some twigginess!), the shiny chrome of the light fitting and the overall black and white/muted colour palette.

The image was stamped first and masked with a Post-It note mask. I used low-tack tape to make the grid and gently sponged on grey ink. The image is lightly coloured with Copics (the tiny flash of yellow is a nod to the yellow book that drew my eye on the bookshelf).

I used Flitter Glu and shiny silver flake for the sentiment which looks pretty but does tend to "disappear" with the light at certain angles which made photographing it a bit tricky!

Stamps:
Vases (Serendipity Stamps)
Sentiment from Big Day Today (Waltzingmouse Stamps, retired)

Ink: 
Soft Granite by Hero Arts
Brilliance Graphite Black by Tsukineko

Paper: Bristol Board

Other:
Flitter Glu and Sheffield Steel Mega Flake by Indigo Blu 
Low tack tape
Copic markers
Charcoal pencil

Here's the inspiration picture:

Thanks for stopping by!

Sombody to love...

I've managed to play along again in The Craft Barn's Song Title Challenge - this month's song is Somebody to Love by Queen.

Queen were one of my favourite bands when I was in my teens, I had all the albums up to The Works and can still remember being so excited to find an original copy of their very first album in a record shop in Morecambe after the (flimsier!) one had been released under the "Fame" branding.

When I saw the challenge, an image popped into my head straight away, inspired by the lyric that says "I just gotta get out of this prison cell". I've decided to make a postcard for each of these challenges and this time I had fun with cocktail sticks, corrugated card, die cuts and dry brushed acrylic paint! 

As the challenge wants us to include the artist as well as the song title, I made a little plaque for the cell door by hammering letter punches into a scrap of mountboard before giving it the acrylic paint treatment.

Dry brushing is probably not the technique for you if you're in a hurry but it's great to watch details emerging if you have time - I used some texturising paste for a corroded effect in places as well as the die cuts and embossed plaque.

Stamps: Jane by Indigo Blu

Paper: 
Black
Corrugated card
Mountboard 

Ink: Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Cocktail sticks
Copic markers
Typeset strip die by Tim Holtz/Sizzix
Letter punches
Texturising medium by DecoArt
Pewter and Silver acrylic paints 

Thanks for stopping by!

That's torn it

It's DCM day and this week Dawn is asking us to "tear it up" - add something ripped or torn to your project.

I still have pages from an ephemera pack I bought ages ago from a local outfit that put them together from books that were beyond rescue. I tore a strip from a page featuring a children's story and used it to anchor the stamped image. I used a charcoal pencil to smudge underneath it to give it a bit more heft.

It's ages since I used bubble wrap to stamp with - I thought it would suit the style here and used the same ink to add a touch of colour to the balloon.

Stamps: 
Joy by Carabelle Studio 
Essential Messages by Hero Arts 

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Tumbled Glass)

Paper: 
Bristol Board 
Torn book page

Other:
Charcoal pencil 
Corner Chomper 

Size: 7 x 5"

Thanks for stopping by!

Geometrics

Leo is setting the challenge this week at Daring Cardmakers and she's asking us to make geometric patterns on our cards. Any kind of shapes used repeatedly to make a pattern is fine here, Leo's only stipulation is that it shouldn't simply be a piece of patterned paper, you should make the pattern yourself (stamps, die cuts, stitching etc).


I decided to make my pattern with die cut circles, double sided tape sheet and glitter. In the end I chose a reinforcer die from a tag set so I ended up with rings rather than solid circles.

I stuck the die cuts to a square covered with tape, keeping my fingers off the sticky as much as possible (keeping the release paper handy and using it as a shield is a good idea). Then I burnished fine glitter over the piece to complete the pattern and stuck it to a black mat.

A stamped butterfly and a simple sentiment finish off a fairly bold, graphic look.

Stamps: 
Antique Engravings and Essential Messages by Hero Arts

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Microfine glitter
Tag die set (Tim Holtz/Sizzix)
Double sided tape sheet
Copic markers
Corner Chomper

Size: 14cm (5.5") square

Take a look at the blog to see what the team has been up to with triangles, squares etc - it would be lovely to see you there with your own geometrics, too!

Thanks for stopping by!

Bricks and mortar

I needed a new home card with a masculine vibe - this is the eventual result. It really shouldn't have taken as long as it did but for some reason it was a bit of an uphill struggle. I was kind of content with the result but hubby really likes it and as he asked me to make it in the first place that's the main thing!

I decided against adding a sentiment, I think it's nice to have a card that speaks for itself with imagery sometimes and I hope the brick embossing and the key add up to the right message!

Stamps:
Key Elements (an old Cornish Heritage Farms set)

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

Other:
Dry Stone Wall embossing folder by Crafter's Companion
Back to Nature dies by Sizzix

Thanks for stopping by!

Mirror, mirror

Sharon is setting this week's dare over at Daring Cardmakers and she's asking us to include a reflective element in our cards this week.

I started with some watercolour paper and stamped the seahorse then used a mask cut from a Post It to cover him up and stamped the streaks in three Distress inks. I spread the ink just a little with a damp paint brush and then added three stamped splashes.

There's just a tiny touch of Copic shading added to the seahorse before finishing with a stamped sentiment and the very shiny dots. They're the "waste" portion from various dies that include a hole which are domed with an embossing stylus on a piece of fun foam. The mirror card really is very reflective - you can see the window frame if you look carefully!

Stamps:
Under the Sea by Darkroom Door
Brush Strokes and Say It All by Hero Arts

Paper:
Watercolour
Silver mirror card

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlscent Chocolate)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Salty Ocean, Peacock Feathers, Broken China)

Other:
Copic marker (Eggshell)
Tag and bauble dies
Embossing stylus 
Corner Chomper 

Thanks for stopping by, hope you have a lovely weekend!

February elements

It's the first dare of the month at daring Cardmakers and Svenja has provided our "elemental" photo this time. As usual the dare is to take at least three elements from the picture to use in your card.

I chose the cogs, the diamond shape and the loose coil of wire as my elements and made a clean and simple, masculine-looking card.

I have no idea what happened with the Enamel Accents - it went on looking like enamel dots, nice smooth domes. I left the card aside to dry overnight and discovered all the dots had a central dimple the next morning! It's done it very neatly so I decided it could just be considered "supposed to be like that"!

For the diamond frame, I used a knife and ruler to cut around the aperture left after die cutting one of the solid shapes.

I used a red Spica glitter pen to go over the stamped sentiment which probably just about shows on the detail shot.

Stamps:
Cogs background by Indigo Blu
Essential Messages by Hero Arts

Paper: Bristol Board

Ink:
Shadow ink by Hero Arts (Soft Granite)
Memento Luxe by Tsukineko (Love Letter)

Other:
Geometric shape dies by Hero Arts
Enamel Accents by Ranger (white)
Spica glitter pen by Copic (red)
Silver metallic thread
Corner Chomper

Thanks for stopping by!