Make lemonade

Today's dare over on Daring Cardmakers is to use fruit on your project. I just got a new stamp set called "Fruit Basket" so the timing is perfect! My only problem was deciding which fruit since they're all lovely! (ETA - on revisiting the DCM blog to leave the link to this, I see Jo has added her sample and we've picked the same saying, how funny!).

I decided to make a "pick me up" card for somebody having a difficult time of it at the moment using the old saying "When life gives you lemons... make lemonade!" combining the DCM dare with the current "clean and simple" challenge on SCS which is a sketch.

I computer generated the sentiment (fonts are Baskerville Old Face and Lainie Day Script) and the lemons are coloured with Copics so this was a quick card (other than the fact I can dither for hours when trying to choose fonts!).

Stamps: Fruit Basket (Shady Tree Studio at Cornish Heritage Farms).

Ink: Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Paper: Yellow (Bazzill), smooth white and Epic Laid Black (Prism)

Other:
Copic markers
Computer and printer
Classic Oval Nestabilities by Spellbinder
Paper piercer
Nail art gems

Thanks for stopping by - hope your day is more lemonade than lemons! I'm hoping mine will be as I'm entering this in the Charmed Cards blog candy!

Smouldering damask

Well, it could have been smouldering but in reality I did manage not to set light to anything here - soot stamping is a bit of an adventure, you know!

I love this new backgrounder stamp (it's being released on Friday, 27th March), it manages to be detailed and still pack a dramatic punch. I thought it would lend itself to a sultry kind of look and that soot stamping might be a good thing to try for that, too!

I actually did the negative soot stamping technique, stamping the backgrounder in Versamark first and then running the piece over the candle flame as you usually would. Once it's nicely coated in soot, you can wipe gently with a tissue and the soot sticks more to the Versamark than the rest of the piece and you get a nice variation in tone and a textural look, too. A quick blast with a spray sealant (or in my case, cheap hairspray!) and you're done.

If you're having a go at soot stamping yourself, I found the key thing is to keep the piece moving all the time and don't go right out to the edge since the edges are where it's most likely to catch light! You can always stamp on a piece of cardstock that's larger than you need and then trim to size once you've sealed the piece.

Stamps (all Cornish Heritage Farms):
Double Damask backgrounder (releasing Friday, 27th March)
Motivational Centers

Paper: Smooth white, Epic Laid Black (Prism)

Ink: Versamark by Tsukineko

Other:
Detail embossing powder (copper)
Vintage lace
Flowers by Prima Marketing
Crystal brad by Making Memories
Sewing machine and thread

Thanks for stopping by!

Tree Hugger!

It's "Ways to Use It" challenge day on SCS today and guest hostess Michele has asked us to go green. We could interpret that as the colour or to reuse/recycle or any combination of those!

We have young silver birch trees in our garden and just this morning I peeled off some of the loose, thin bark thinking it might be good for a papercraft project - so I think I have the ultimate "green" material here!

I washed it carefully and left it to dry between a couple of sheets of kitchen towel with our big AGA kettle on top to keep it flat! I then stuck it to some copy paper to make it sturdy enough to use and stamped the tree trunk and the sentiment words with Stazon.

I've reused by making the tree with scrap paper from my desk too, I just turned it over and used the back of experimental bits and pieces!

Stamps (all Cornish Heritage Farms):
Spring Trees (Kim Hughes collection)
Paisley Backgrounder
Everyday Petites (Mona Lisa Moments line)

Paper:
Kraft shipping tag
Silver birch bark!
Scrap copy paper

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Peeled Paint)
Stazon by Tsukineko (Timber Brown)

Other:
Glaze pen by Sakura (red)
Inkssentials white pen by Ranger
Prismacolor pencil
Jute twine

Thanks for stopping by, hope there are signs of spring in the air where you are (unless you're reading in the southern hemisphere in which case signs of spring would be worrying - I wish you a pleasant autumn instead!).

Make a Wish

Over on the Bubbly Funk forum, Karen has decided we need to be challenged out of our pure papercraft zone! The first challenge is to alter a tin. I scratched my head for a while as I didn't fancy tackling the great big tin that had amaretti biscuits in it last Christmas and then remembered I'd bought a little candle in a tin in Poundstretcher a while ago, intending to turn it into a little Christmas gift but didn't get round to it.

I'm going to start here with "things I have learned about tomato paste". I made a card last week using a tomato paste tube and uploaded it to Splitcoaststampers. I was feeling quite pleased with myself as I remembered to call in "tomato paste" rather than the more typically British term "tomato puree". Little did I realise that its name was the least of the differences!

Tomato paste in the US typically comes in cans so most people had no clue what I'd used. I did a little research and apparently some Italian grocery stores stock it in tubes and I even tracked it down on Amazon.com in the "gourmet foods" section - so, if you're reading this in North America and want to get your hands on this stuff, you now know where to try! It's much less wasteful than a can if you're cooking for small numbers, BTW - just pop the top back on and put it in the fridge for next time.

So, all that was by way of telling you that I used a tomato paste tube here! Just snip the top and bottom off your empty tube with kitchen scissors then slit up one side. Flatten it out and wash it and you're ready to go. I have yet to meet a tube that was not a rich gold colour inside - the acid from the tomatoes apparently oxidises the metal and turns it that colour. The circle for the lid here is cut with a Nestie and the whole lot is embossed and then sponged with Stazon which is then polished off the high spots. It's all glued down with Bostick.

I stamped a plain Prima hydrangea with a script stamp and sponged the edges with Vintage Photo ink.

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Spanish Script backgrounder
Birthday Centers

Ink:
Stazon by Tsukineko (Timber Brown)
Tim Holtz Distress by Ranger (Vintage Photo)

Other:
Candle tin
Tomato paste tube
Cuttlebug Embossing folder (Textile Texture)
Hydrangea by Prima Marketing
Vintage button
Classic Circle Nestabilities by Spellbinder
Linen thread

If you're blowing out a candle today, don't forget to make a wish! Thanks for stopping by!

Clean and.... third time lucky!

There's a new weekly challenge at Splitcoast for "clean and simple" cards. Well, this one has the clean and simple look and really should have been easy but I managed to mess up twice so you're looking at the third time lucky!

This week's challenge is a sketch - I've turned it through 90 degrees and where the sketch has a cluster of three stars, I've used the out-of-the-box technique to make my trees both the stamped image and the corner treatment.

Minimal colouring and only two stamps should have made this fast - the first one was all finished, I turned it over to put adhesive on the back and turned it back to find I'd plonked it into a blob of ink on my work top. Try again! Second time, I jittered as I put the final sentiment in place and got a slow-motion blurred effect as if "Hello" was rising out of the black lagoon. Hmmm. Third time, I stamped the trees, stamped the sentiment, cut it out, coloured it in and then put a clean sheet of paper underneath while I added adhesive to the back - phew!

I've used stamps from two Kim Hughes sets here. The Be Creative blog has a challenge at the moment - mix stamps from more than one Kim Hughes set (or singles from different releases) for a chance to win some Kim Hughes goodies. Check out the details in this post, challenge closes 1st March.

Stamps (all Cornish Heritage Farms):
Spring Trees (Kim Hughes Collection)
Sentiment from Silhouette Blooms I (Kim Hughes Collection)

Ink:
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Espresso)

Other:
Copic markers (Yellow Green and Brick Beige)
Foam tape

Thanks for dropping by, hope your day is clean and simple!

Kinkade Blitz

There's a new Thomas Kinkade stamp coming tomorrow at CHF and there's a Kinkade Blitz happening by way of celebration. If you've Blitzed before, you know they're a lot of fun! More of that in a moment...

Here's the new stamp. It's called Sunrise and immediately reminded me of the "Gipfel Kreutz" you find in Austria. If you do a serious hill climb there, you'll almost always find a cross at the top, overlooking the valley and mountain tops beyond. There's usually a little wooden box there too that contains a book for you to sign and record any thoughts about the journey you just made. Of course, this stamp could represent a spiritual journey for many people, too.

I had fun airbrushing the sky on this one. I found that you can use the colourless blender pen to remove colour and put those radiating white lines in, too.

Stamps (all Cornish Heritage Farms):
Sunrise (Thomas Kinkade line)
Everyday Petites (Mona Lisa Moment line)
Leaves #3 backgrounder

Paper:
Simply smooth and Stormy light (Prism papers)

Ink:
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Espresso)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Weathered Wood)

Other:
Copic markers
Copic airbrush system
Antique copper mini brads
Foam tape

So, about this Blitz - kick off is tonight at 7pm EST (so a little late for us Brits) but Julia has pre-announced the challenges for anyone who would like to join in. There will be prizes throughout the Blitz, drawn randomly from gallery submissions. So if you have Kinkade stamps and would like the chance to win more, why not check out the details on the CHF forum {here}.

Thanks for stopping by, your visits are much appreciated!

New banner

OK, I finally made time for the new banner - any feedback very welcome! I've fiddled with the fonts so many times that I can't see the wood for the trees! I like the & and Iron but I'm not quite convinced about the Ambrosia. I think it's growing on me, though! Lots of people said they'd be disappointed if the Angel (of the North) disappeared so he's been worked in collage-style over a stampy, inky background.

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Beautiful (Rummage Bin line)
Cracked Montana Earth backgrounder

Ink:
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Stonewashed and Denim)

Tools:
Brayer
Sponge

Other:
Photo from freefoto.com
Computer generated text

Thanks for stopping by!

Dreaming of summer!

There are new Shady Tree Studio stamps being released today and when I got this one, I was immediately reminded of the beautiful, delicate single layer yellow poppies that fill our garden every summer. I know them as California Poppies although I don't know if that's their real name.

I cut multiple masks so I could airbrush a little blue around them as well as overlapping the stamping and although that made the process a little time-consuming, the masks are stored in the CD case along with the stamp for next time so I only have to invest the time once!

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Perfect Poppies (Shady Tree Studio - releasing today)
Motivational Centers (Mona Lisa Moments line)

Paper:
Smooth white

Ink:
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Espresso)

Other:
Copic markers
Copic Airbrush system
Inkssentials white pen by Ranger

Thanks for stopping by to take a look, I hope you enjoyed the card!

Oh - just in case anyone is wondering about that temporary blog banner! I changed over to a three column blog style as I like the wider central column and the opportunity to make use of both sides of the screen. Sadly, I didn't anticipate the fact that my existing blog banner would look very small and sad with the new layout! I have a new one planned when time permits but something seemed necessary in the meantime!

Fourth folder, fourth pic

I've been tagged by Tracey with the "fourth folder, fourth picture" tag. Well, this proved tricky as if they were ordered by name, my fourth folder only had one picture in it (what's that all about then?!) so I reordered by date and got this...

Sorry it's not anything funny or embarrassing but it does tell you that most of the photos I take are of crafty projects rather than people/scenery/flowers etc etc! I made these during my Guest Designer slot for Crafty Secrets back in May and I don't think I blogged them at the time so maybe you're getting to see something new in any case!

The stamp set is Little Chef but I'm afraid I don't remember any of the detail of inks etc and I'm too lazy to go away and look it up in a gallery or anything - sorry! They're jumbo sized paperclips though so they'd make good markers if you're planning a dinner party menu any time!

I think most people I know in blogland have already been tagged with this one so I'll just say that if you fancy doing this for a laugh, then consider yourself tagged and let us know where to come for a look at your fourth folder/fourth pic reveal!

TFL!

Inching along

I haven't really got into the whole inchie thing. They're cute and challenging at the same time but I haven't quite figured out what to do with them! I've made a few and used them as an embellishment or focal point on a card but this is a first for me - I joined a swap over on Bubbly Funk!

We had to make 12 inchies and Karen's coordinating so we each get a full set back. We had a colour theme so our sets should coordinate.

As the theme was BLUE, I couldn't resist using this stamp as I think he does look a bit dejected. The "feeling blue" wording seemed like a natural pairing and highlights the theme. The wording strips are computer generated as I needed something really tiny. I used the DYMO font and then just snipped out the little strips and glued them on to my stamped image.

I wouldn't normally use Versafine ink and Copic markers together but my forward planning failed on this occasion. I was careful with the Copics and got away with it!

I forgot I'd signed up for this so these were a bit last minute and hence all made production-line stylee to the same design. There are tiny blue gems at the top right corner, not sure the photo really picked those up!

Stamps:
Inchie Style (the Rummage Bin line at CHF)

Ink:
Versafine by Tsukineko (Majestic Blue)

Paper:
Simply Smooth (Prism)

Other:
Copic markers
Computer generated wording (font: Dymo)
Nail art gems
Krylon leafing pen (silver)
Fineline marker (to sign them)
Chipboard inchies

Looking forward to getting the swaps now and then I'll figure out what to do with them!

Thanks for stopping by!