Let's hear it for the boys!

Shabneez is setting our challenge over at Daring Cardmakers this week and she'd like to see some ideas for masculine cards.

I’ve gone for a teen boy card. He’s a guitar player (got his Grade 7 a few months back) and likes a bit of classic rock. It’s a one layer card, achieved with masking and reverse masking so the guitar could be stamped as a design on the shirt with ink blending and stencilling for the background. 

Stamps:
Nothing to Wear and Rock Out (Visible Image)
Say It All (Hero Arts, retired)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (various blues)
Hero Arts Shadow ink (Charcoal)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Copic markers
Corner Chomper
Play Guitar Stencil (Visible Image)

Thanks for stopping by!

Be Happy!

Shabneez is setting our challenge at Daring Cardmakers this week — she’d like to see something featuring the word happy. I did have plans to make something with “happy” being a more prominent feature but things didn’t pan out that way.

This was made for a young lady who is very maths and science oriented (hence choice of background stamp) and whose favourite colour is purple. She’s not a girly girl so I thought this t-shirt might make a good base for her card.

I stamped the shirt, stencilled the swirl design and added just a bit of shading with a couple of Copics then cut it out. I masked the edges of the card with low tack tape, stamped the background and doodled a border. Die cut numbers and a stamped sentiment finish it off and the shirt is stuck on with gel glue to lift it slightly off the background.

Stamps:
Nothing to Wear (Visible Image)
Sentiment from Essential Messages (Hero Arts, retired)
Numbers border (Kaisercraft)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Tim Holtz Distress Oxide by Ranger (Wilted Violet)

Other:
Time Tunnel stencil (Visible Image)
Tim Holtz Alphanumeric dies (Sizzix) 
Copic markers
Fineline marker
Corner Chomper 

Thanks for stopping by!

Stencil it

Nat is setting our challenge at Daring Cardmakers this week and she'd like to see us using stencils. All the details here.

I decided to try out some Oxide ink on a black background. I'm not sure the colour survives particularly well if you apply them with brushes — it may be better if you stamp — but I quite liked the effect, I think this would be a good masculine card.

Supplies:
Bristol board and smooth black cardstock
Alphabet Sprinkle stencil (That Special Touch)
Tim Holtz Distress Oxides by Ranger (Cracked Pistachio, Evergreen Bough)
Happy Stamp n Cut and Essential Messages stamp set (Hero Arts)
Stitched rectangle dies A6 size (Paper Rose)
Bright white embossing powder by Wow!
Versamark by Tsukineko

Thanks for stopping by!

Stencilled Scrapling

Svenja has set the challenge for this week's Daring Cardmakers - she'd like to see stencils and shades of green on our projects. I've made a scrapling in which the stencil took a bit more of a supporting role that my original plan but I find you can't always dictate what happens at the craft table!

I started with a piece of mixed media paper with Juniper ink sptritzed and pooled on it that was left over from a previous project and built up from there, stencilling and stamping over the top. A pretty die cut butterfly, a spatter of Enamel Accents and pen dots and some messy silver thread and I called it done - I seem to be having a problem including sentiments on things at the moment!

Supplies:
Mini Butterfly Duo dies by Time Holtz/Sizzix
Wings stamp set by Darkroom Door
Bamboo Mixed Media paper by Hannemuhl
Scraps of black and orange cardstock
Juniper Adinrodack dye ink by Ranger
Bundled Sage and Peeled Paint Distress ink by Ranger
Cressida stencil by Memory Box
Copic markers
Clear wink of Stella pen
Black Engamel Accents by Ranger
Fine line marker
Silver thread
Corner Chomper

Thanks for stopping by!

April elements

Its Friday so it must be Daring Cardmaker day! It's also the first Friday of the month so that means it's an "elemental" dare with Dawn choosing fresh, spring time inspiration for us this month. As ever, choose three or more elements to kickstart your card.

I chose a frou-frou style flower (in the vase top left), pink, pale yellow, soft blue and green from the colour scheme and tangled nesting material.

This really should have come together quickly but I had one of those days where you just shuffle stuff around in endless combinations and can't make anything look right at all! Looking at it now I realise I've done my default of "shove a big flower bottom left and leave lots of white space"! About the most creative thinking here is using a stamp that should be a spike of flowers and making it into supporting foliage by stamping in shades of green - never mind!

Stamps:
Sweet Havana by Mama Elephant

Paper:
Textured white

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Tumbled Glass, Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)

Other:
Home made stencil (cut with Spellbinder Fancy Lattice die)
Paper flowers (a couple of Prima hydrangea heads and a Wild Orchid cherry blossom, I think)
Crochet thread
Corner Chomper

Here's the inspiration picture in case you'd like to join in and didn't arrive here from the DCM blog!

Thanks for stopping by, have a lovely weekend!

Anniversary leaves

Gosh, I can almost hear the echoes here in my poor neglected blog! I've not done as much crafting recently and I've also managed to make several things without photographing them before sending them on their merry way.

Here's a clean and simple anniversary card that I did remember to photograph! Unusually for me there's almost no stamping (just the sentiment) with die cuts providing the focal element.

I've had this ginko leaf die for ages and have kept failing to use it. It's such a pretty die though that I'm sure it will get used again now that I've broken the duck.

I used some green metallic rub-on to highlight the embossed "veining" on the leaves - hard to see so I've added a detail shot that might show it up better. It's a subtle detail but gives a pretty shimmer.

The dots are "waste" circles from various tag dies, domed out with an embossing stylus so they're like matt versions of enamel dots.

Supplies:
Ginko leaf die by Impression Obsession
"waste" circles from various tag dies
Cressida stencil by Memory Box
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Tumbled Glass and Shabby Shutters)
Versafine ink by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)
Sentiment from Putting on the Ritz set by Waltingmouse Stamps (retired)
Gilding Wax by Creative Expressions (Spring Green)
Corner Chomper
Pinflair glue gel

Thanks for stopping by!

Pretty Peony

My usual fallback position for a feminine card when I'm feeling at a loss for inspiration is a big flower! Sadly this peony seems to have fallen off the catalogue at Paperbabe but there are others around that would make an equally bold and pretty statement.

I stamped the image twice, once in grey for the leaf layer and again in pink for the flower, coloured them separately, cut the flower out and stuck it on with glue gel for a bit of dimension. I used a combination of Copic base layer colouring and pencil detailing with gold gel pen and fineline marker in the centre.

The card base had a central square masked off and sponged, with just a tiny bit of subtle stenciling up the right hand side for interest. A simple sentiment and a few iridescent sequins finish it off.


Stamps: 
Peony and Bud by Paperbabe Stamps (retired, I think)
Say It All by Hero Arts

Paper: Smooth white

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Picked  Raspberry and Tumbled Glass)

Shadow ink by Hero Arts (Soft Granite)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)

Other:
Cressida Stencil by Memory Box
Copic Markers
Gold gel pen
Fineline marker
Coloursoft and Prismacolor pencils
Pinflair glue gel
Sequins

Thanks for stopping by!

Wax fish?

The topic over at PaperArtsy for the next couple of weeks is "wax". I'm trying to join in with a few more challenges this year and thought this one might be fun to play with.

I don't have any wax art supplies and for a first experiment I decided to just go with stuff around the house so a plain old tealight came into play! It's translucent enough to work as long as the layers don't get too thick.

I used an ATC cut from mountboard - I like to go with something small when I'm just experimenting with materials and techniques, it feels more manageable than a full card or canvas. I stamped the fish skeleton on the ATC and coloured the edges with wax crayons (just cheap kids' ones from the £1 shop). Then I tipped some melted wax on there and used a heat tool to spread it out, let it set and repeated.

Once the wax layer was thick enough, I used a pokey tool to draw round the shapes in the stencil and get incised lines. I brushed the wax crumbs off, replaced the stencil and added a little colour with a couple of Copic markers (just dabbing so the nibs shouldn't have come to any harm!). That left the surface sticky enough to hold some Perfect Pearls. In real life it looks much more layered and inscribed but wax and mica combined to make a bit of a photography nightmare, I'm afraid!

Having made the ATC, I decided to mount it onto a card blank with just a little inky stenciling and a stamped sentiment. I think it will make a useful masculine card to have in my stash.

Stamps:
PaperArtsy Mini 100
Sentiment from Essential Messages by Hero Arts

Paper: 
mountboard
Bamboo mixed media paper by Hanemuhl
black cardstock

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

Other:
Cell Theory stencil by Crafters Workshop
Tea light
Wax crayons
Perfect Pearls (Turquoise and Blue Raspberry)
Copic markers 
ATC and Corners die by Tim Holtz/Sizzix

Thanks for stopping by!

Coffee lover!

Inspired by a mixed media challenge on Splitcoast Stampers, I've been having a little play with coffee!

We don't usually have instant coffee but I got a small jar a while ago when we had workmen around who preferred it to "proper" coffee! The bit left in the bottom of the jar came in useful.

I made a strong coffee mix to start and used it at different dilutions - weak on a flat brush through the stencil to start off with and to sponge the edges of the card, strong to tint some gesso to paint over the hearts and also to add shading. I smeared some of the full-strength solution onto a craft mat, dabbled the flourish stamp into it and stamped around the edges. I finished by stamping a coffee-related quote with pigment ink.

I made a more conventional card with the same stencil for the Bubbly Funk blog too - you can see that here if you're interested!

Stamps:
Dinkie Vintage Flourish by Indigo Blu
My own design coffee sentiment

Ink:
Instant coffee/water!
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)

Other:
Love Post 6x6 stencil by the Crafters Workshop
Gesso

Thanks for stopping by!

Birthday rose

This is one for the stash of birthday cards I seem to need in the early part of the year. It's a one layer design with a bit of stenciling and some dots to add some interest - the dots are just the "waste" from dies like tags and buttons domed out by rubbing over the back with an embossing stylus on a foam mat. If you make them from the same cardstock as the card base they give a nice, integrated look.

The rose is watercolored with a mixture of Distress inks and Clean Color markers with a tiny bit of green pencil in the centre. I think this stamp set must be retired as I can't see it on the Waltzingmouse web site which is a shame as the wild roses are so pretty and make a lovely change from the more traditional rose shape.

Stamps:
Roses in Bloom by Waltzingmouse Stamps
Sentiment from Say It All by Hero Arts

Paper: Bristol Board

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Picked Raspberry,  Peeled Paint, Shabby Shutters)
Versamagic Chalk ink by Tsukineko (Key Lime)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)

Other:
Cressida stencil by Memory Box 
Zig Clean Color pens
Spring Green Prismacolor pencil
"Waste" circles from various die cuts
Corner Chomper

Thanks for stopping by!

Resolutions!

I don’t make New Year’s resolutions but I do often take part in the postcard swap at UK Stampers and that’s what Jill has chosen for January's theme. I decided to use what is apparently the most popular resolution (lose some weight) as inspiration and added the sentiment as I think it's something that might well be appropriate as a resolution for many of us!

I put a piece of low-tack tape across the top of the upright on the stencil before inking the mannequin body in raspberry ink and adding shading with currant, then swapped the position of the tape to ink the stand in brown. I’ve stamped through the stencil after inking the focal point mannequin, using the same flourish as I used to “frame” the card.

I drew round the inside of the body shape on the stencil and cut a mask so that I could put the grey, shadowy mannequin “behind” the main one. As the postcards go to their recipients as traditional postcards (no envelope to protect them) this kind of layering with inks, stencils and stamps is perfect to create interest without adding layers and embellishments that will be exposed to the rigours of the postal service!

Stamps:
Vintage Flourish Dinkie by Indigo Blu
Journaling Words 3 by The Artistic Stamper

Ink:
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Raspberry and Currant)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Shadow ink by Hero Arts (Soft Granite)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Vintage Photo)

Other:
Modern Dressmaker stencil by Memory Box
Corner Chomper

Thanks for stopping by, hope you have 2016 off to a great start!

More Brushos!

I needed a card for a friend with a Christmas birthday - her favourite flowers are poppies so this still looks a bit Christmassy because of the red/green combo and it would be easy to substitute a poinsettia if you were that way inclined.

I played with Brusho again to make the background, stenciling over the top after it was dry for a bit of subtle "texture" and to tie it together a bit. The poppy is coloured with Copics with layers cut out and stacked for a bit of dimension.

Stamps:
Poppycock by Indigo Blu
Sentiment from Say It All by Hero Arts

Paper: Bristol Board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko - Graphite Black
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger - Mowed Lawn and Peeled Paint

Other:
Copic markers
Brusho - Leaf Green
Pinflair gel glue
Cressida stencil by Memory Box

Thanks for stopping by!

Colour me Christmassy!

I'm posting on the Bubbly Funk blog again today - three cards made from the lovely Colourful Christmas kit currently available in the shop

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Daring reindeer

Bubbly Funk is sponsoring the Daring Cardmakers this week and I'm sharing my card on the BF blog, hope to see you there! (There's a prize package from Bubbly Funk on offer too - even more reason to join us in stenciling something!)

Supplies:
Message Wreath stencil by Hero Arts
Memento Luxe ink - Pear Tart
Canvas textured paper (inkjet printing stuff - try your local pound shop!) 
Kraft card blank
Tim Holtz/Sizzix Reindeer Flight die
Tim Holtz/Ranger Distress Glitter - Antique Linen
DecoArt Glamour Dust - Crystal
Pebeo Metal Touch paint - gold
Acrylic nail art pearls

Cuddly Creatures

It's Nat's turn to set the dare on DCM this week and she's given us the theme of cuddly creatures. I've gone clean and simple with these super-cute kangaroos - I reckon being carried around in a pouch must be like a permanent cuddle!

 The image is just a shade small to stand alone on a regular A6 sized card but I reckon giving it a swirly focal point sorted that out. I sponged over the mask with two shades of ink which gives a nice effect, I think. Kanga has her feet stuck to the card blank and her ears supported with some dimensional glue so she leans forward a bit - poised for her next hop, perhaps?!

The "hello" sentiment is dark brown in real life so it's not quite as heavy looking but the camera refused to treat it as anything other than black in today's odd lighting conditions! It has clear Wink of Stella on there for a little glitz.

Stamps: Kanga and Joey by High Hopes

Paper: Cryogen White and Chocolate Brown

Ink:
Versamagic (Key Lime and Turquoise Gem)
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Espresso) 

Other:
Rubber Bands by Crafters Workshop
Hello die by Waltzingmouse Stamps
Copic markers
Wink of Stella clear pen
Pin Flair Glue Gel
Corner Chomper

Thanks for stopping by!

Birthday bird

I needed a birthday card for my nephew this week so combined some slightly quirky stencilled stars with the very quirky party puffin!

More chat about the card in this post on the Bubbly Funk blog.

Stamps: 
Party Puffin by Crafty Individuals
Say it Loud by Waltzingmouse Stamps

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko - Graphite Black
Tim Holtz Distress by Ranger - Tumbled Glass and Broken China

Other:
Starry Starry Night Stencil by Dylusions/Ranger
Chit Chat Stencil by Claudine Hellmuth/Ranger
Typeset die - Tim Holtz/Sizzix
Copic markers
Wink of Stella clear glitter pen
Charcoal pencil
Black fineline marker

Thanks for stopping by!

Metal makeover

More stenciling today but a bit of a different direction with a makeover for a throw-away item. Do pop over to the Bubbly Funk blog for a look if you have the time - we'd love to see you!

Talking 'bout love

I've had another clean and simple play with stencils over on the Bubbly Funk blog today - break out the charcoal pencils!

Subtle stencil WOW

A white on white (WOW) card from me today over on the Bubbly Funk blog - it would be lovely to see you there if you have chance to drop in!

Celebrating 10 years!

I'm helping Caroline to celebrate 10 years in business with Bubbly Funk with this big paper mache 10. All the details over on the Bubbly Funk blog today - hope to see you there!