Elemental July

Dawn is setting the challenge this week at Daring Cardmakers and of course because it's the first one of a new month, it's an "elemental" dare - just choose at least three elements from the inspiration photo to kick-start your project. The picture's at the end of this post if you didn't arrive here from the DCM blog and want to see it.

I chose: girl's face, pastel colours and sequins (after the fact I realised the ones I chose had the same iridescence as the material behind the plates top right).

Molly is delightful and she's a lovely big stamp so you don't need to do much else really. I masked her off, sponged on some pastel inks and then used a piece of acetate with circles punched in it as a stencil to sponge on a bit of white paint for a sort of bokeh effect.

Stamps:
Molly by Beeswax Stamps
Journaling Words 3 by The Artistic Stamper

Paper: Bristol Board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Tumbled Glass, Spun Sugar, Scattered Straw)

Other:
Sequins
White acrylic paint

Here's the picture Dawn chose to inspire us this month:

Do pop by to see which elements inspired the DT and we'd love to see your take on it, too!

A galaxy of wishes

Miri is setting this week's challenge over at Daring Cardmakers and she'd like us to do a bit of galaxy gazing. She says:

"A galaxy is a system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, and dark matter." (wikipedia) And astronauts and spaceships and aliens ...

Create a galaxy card with a galaxy background or galaxy elements.

I was a bit pushed for time so although I'd planned to try out an ink blended background, I did a super-quick scribbled galaxy with five Copic markers, dotted on some white pen and a few quick "twinkles" (just four flicked pen strokes radiating from a central point). I scribbled a white pencil around those for a bit of soft glow (a trick I saw on a YouTube video some time ago, sorry I don't remember whose).

A stamped sentiment and vintage telescope image made finishing touches.

Stamping the image made me think of last year's holiday - we visited the Museo Galileo while we were in Florence and there are some wonderful old telescopes among the exhibits there. Florence is a beautiful city and the Museo Galileo is a good escape if you fancy somewhere a bit less busy than the Uffizi, Duomo or Accademia (although to be fair, most of the Accademia is quite quiet, it's only the bit around David where there's a crush!).

Stamps:
Reach 4 the Stars (Cornish Heritage Farms, no longer with us)

Paper: smooth white

Ink: Graphite Black Brilliance by Tsukineko

Other:
Copic markers
White Posca pen
White Prismacolor pencil
Pinflair glue gel

Thanks for stopping by, hope any wishes you make this weekend are granted!

Wonderful world

Time for another song title challenge at The Craft Barn and this month's song is "What a Wonderful World". It doesn't always feel very wonderful when we look at the news so this is probably a timely reminder that there really are lots of wonderful things for us to appreciate.

I combined stamping with a laser printer (or photocopy) image transfer technique for my postcard this time.

The world map and compass are stamped around the edge of the card (the shapes are very simple to mask so they all overlap) and then sealed with a satin varnish. Make sure you use a waterproof ink if you do this (ask me how I know!).

I found a vintage handshake image and added tiny text for the lyrics onto one of the hands and the song title around it before printing on a laser printer. Because there's text, it needs to be a mirror image print otherwise your finished text will be backwards - explore your printer settings if necessary! I used acrylic paint (white for the cuffs and sleeves, flesh toned for the hands) on the print out so those bits would be opaque and then sealed with the same varnish.

Once everything had dried, the base got another coat of varnish and while wet the image was burnished onto it and left to dry thoroughly (image transfer is not for you if you're in a hurry!). Dampening the paper and rolling the pulp off to reveal the transferred image has some magic about it!

Louis Armstrong is the only man for me when it comes to this song so I hand wrote his name onto a shirt cuff - as it's an acrylic paint surface there's enough "tooth" to make that feasible.

Stamps:
Journey set by Crafty Secrets (no longer making stamps, they've gone digital only these days)

Paper: kraft

Ink:
Vintage Sepia Versafine by Tsukineko

Other:
Vintage image
Computer and laser printer
White and Desert Sand acrylic paints by DecoArt
Satin Varnish by DecoArt
Black fineline marker

Thanks for stopping by!

I must go down to the sea

Lythan is setting our challenge over at Daring Cardmakers this week and she'd like to see anything to remind her of the sea as she misses the Welsh coast these days!

I played with Yupo paper and alcohol ink - although I used a single ink colour, it broke down beautifully into blue/aqua/green and really looked reminiscent of the ocean. I decided lots of white would show it off better though so I was brave and instead of leaving it in one piece, I die cut/punched circles to go against a fresh white background.

A single stamped starfish and bold sentiment finish it off and I think it came out nice and summery.

Stamps:
Seaside by Craft Secrets (no longer making stamps - they've gone digital)
Say It Loud by Waltzingmouse Stamps (no longer with us)

Paper:
Yupo
Bristol board

Ink:
Pearlescent Chocolate Brilliance by Tsukineko

Other:
Holiday Blue Various ink Copic refill
Circle dies/punches
Corner Chomper
Pinflair glue gel

Thanks for stopping by - do have a look at the DCM blog for the DT's breath of seaside air to go with the heatwave if you're in the UK!

Out of this world

I'm setting this week's challenge over at Daring Cardmakers - I'd like to see something mythical or fantastic on your creations this week. Since time immemorial we seem to have been telling tales of the inexplicable, of mermaids, dragons, unicorns, pixies, selkies etc... bring it up to date a bit and you might find aliens, hobbits or gremlins. Where will your imagination take you?

Mine took me to dragons - he's a bit more Land of Honalee than Game of Thrones though!

I found some punch art dragons with a google image search and just used those as a guide to do my own thing with dies. Combining basic shapes means you can tackle almost any theme without splashing out on specialist stash!

In doing my own thing, I added ears  and a tongue which made him look more "finished" to me. The tongue, neck and his spikes are hand cut, everything else is die cut or punched shapes (some halved or partially cut/recut).

I sponged ink round all the edges as well as over the "scales" of his neck (embossing folder). He's poking his head through a castle window (stone texture again an embossing folder) to say happy birthday.

Supplies:
Circle, oval and square dies by Spellbinder
Oval Framelits by Sizzix
Tiny circle punch
DCWV textured cardstock
Scales embossing folder by Marianne Designs
Dry Stone Wall embossing folder by Crafter's Companion
Essential Messages stamps by Hero Arts
Fine line black marker
White Posca pen

Thanks for stopping by!

Forever Young

I very nearly forgot the Craft Barn song title challenge this month but remembered just in time to sneak in before the deadline. This month's song is Forever Young.

Sticking with my format of making postcards for this challenge, I took inspiration from the lyric

May your heart always be joyful

May your song always be sung

May you stay forever young

I know Bob Dylan wrote it but for me, the only voice I hear in my head for this song is Joan Baez so I hand wrote her name inside the balloon and used Dymo tape to add the song title.

Nothing complicated here - just a hand cut heart mask, stamping, sponging, smudged charcoal pencil and a few doodled lines.

Stamps:
Joy by Carabelle Studio
Musical Backgrounds by Waltzingmouse stamps (no longer with us)

Paper: smooth white

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Pool)

Other:
Zig Clean Colour marker (pink)
Dymo labeller
Fine line marker

Thanks for stopping by!

Elements for June

It's Shabneez's choice of inspiration picture for the start of a new month at Daring Cardmakers - as ever, just choose at least three elements to kick start your card.

I chose the shades of red/orange/pink from the ice lolly, the sprinkle of tiny flowers from the cake and the raised "stripes" from the top of the lolly.

The background wash of colour is just scribbled watercolour pencils blended over with a damp brush. Once that was dry, I scored some vertical lines with the Scor-It (useful for this sort of decorative scoring as it's a "face up" tool).

I cut out three teeny tiny stamped flowers, shaped them slightly with an embossing stylus and sprinkled them on to finish the card.


Stamps:
Tea Time by Graphic 45
Say It All by Hero Arts

Paper: Bristol board

Ink:
Pearlescent Chocolate Brilliance by Tsukineko

Other:
Derwent Watercolour pencils
Copic markers
Scor-It 

Here's the inspiration picture if you haven't already seen it on the DCM blog and would like to play along:

Thanks for stopping by!

Green tea?

Leo is setting the challenge over at Daring Cardmakers this week and she'd like to see projects featuring a teacup with something in it - it could be just the drink or it could be something else, have a look at the blog to see what the design team put inside theirs!

I decided to go small for a change and make an ATC. I used the MISTI to let me do some slightly complicated masking so I could stamp my little green monster inside the cup, jumping out to say hello.

I hope Leo will forgive the use of an espresso cup rather than a teacup - it was the closest thing I had. Mind you, many years ago we visited Japan and in a lovely hotel in Hiroshima I ordered green tea and a traditional cake. Maybe it was the combination of the sugar in the cake and the "gun powder" style of the tea but it practically gave me hallucinations so green tea can definitely rival espresso for potency!

Stamps:
Monsters Ink by Technique Tuesday
Splat That by Waltzingmouse Stamps (no longer with us)
My own cup design

Ink:
Soft Granite Shadow Ink by Hero Arts
Graphite Black Brilliance ink by Tsukineko
Shabby Shutters Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger

Other:
ATC and Corners die by Tim Holtz Alterations/Sizzix
Copic markers
Hello die by Waltzingmouse stamps (no longer with us)
MISTI stamp positioner
Clear Wink of Stella pen

Thanks for stopping by, have a lovely weekend!

All that glitters...

Shabneez is setting this week's challenge at Daring Cardmakers and she'd like us to use plenty of glitter - the only catch is that it can't be gold!

I decided to go all-out with the glitter and do a whole sparkly panel. I stamped the stylised flowers first and then covered the whole piece with double sided tape sheet and smothered it with Glamour Dust. Both the tape and the glitter are transparent so the stamping shows through.

If you burnish the glitter into the tape, you get a sort of velvety-feeling surface. Then, just because I haven't played with my air brush and Copics for ages, I sprayed graduated colour over the sparkle. I did then use a black Copic to dot over the flower heads, just to boost the contrast.

Given that much glitter, I decided a simple treatment would be best so the piece just got a narrow black mat and a die cut sentiment.

Stamps:
Stylised Flowers by Indigo Blu

Ink: Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Paper: smooth white

Other:
Double sided tape sheet
Crystal Glamour Dust by Deco Art
Copic markers
Airbrush and compressor
Hello die by Waltzingmouse stamps (no longer with us)

Thanks for stopping by!

Peacock parade

The first dare of the month from Daring Cardmakers is always an "elemental" one - just choose at least three elements from the inspiration picture for your project.

I'm in the hot seat this month and I've chosen this lovely mood board from the folk over at Tanis Fiber Arts.

I'm very late to the Yupo paper party but I've just treated myself to a pack and had a first play with it here to mimic the looks of the top right and middle left squares in the inspiration picture.

The stamped butterfly is coloured with Copics and then has turquoise glitter pen over the top. Crisp white die cuts (inspired by the leaf sprig of the necklace) provide contrast for the busy, rich colours and a stamped sentiment and doodled border finish it off.

Stamps:
Antique Engravings and Say It All (Hero Arts - both retired, as far as I can see)

Paper:
Yupo
Smooth white

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Copic ink refills
Copic markers
Fineline marker
Crop-a-dile
Back to Nature dies by Sizzix

Do have a look at the DCM blog - it looks gorgeous with all the samples inspired by this picture!

Thanks for stopping by!