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!

Vellum

Dawn has set the challenge for us at Daring Cardmakers this week. She says she finds vellum tricky to work with so she'd like to see some ideas.

My instinct with vellum is to go for soft and pretty so I decided to challenge myself a bit extra and see if I could do something more masculine. I ended up using it as an overlay to tone down a busy background to make more of a feature of a sentiment. 

I couldn't actually find my vellum so I used a sheet of heavyweight tracing paper - this is some that has draughstman's markings on it so I kept that part as a sort of base line for my piece.

The age old question of how to attach vellum is solved here by wrapping it round the panel and sticking to the back . I also added a few dots of glue and then used black enamel dots to hide those spots.

The background has been in my scraps box for years - it was part of a masterboard for resist techniques but I stand little chance of remembering what was on it - spray inks, acrylic paint, white embossing powder and gesso at a guess! 

Stamps:
Numbers border (Kaisercraft)
Birthday (Letter It range by Ranger)
Essential Message (Hero Arts)

Paper:
Bristol board
Black
Mixed media piece from scraps box
Heavyweight tracing paper

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukieko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Pearl pen by Viva Decor (Anthracite)

Thanks for stopping by!

Glorious gardens

I've just managed to sneak in under the wire for this month's postcard swap on UKStampers where Jilly set the theme flowers/gardens.

We have a couple of patches of glorious poppies in our front garden which inspired my choice of stamp. They're just past their best now but we've had a couple of days where the sun has shone through the petals and really set them ablaze.

Things got a bit out of hand with my first attempt but I'd spent time colouring the poppy and liked the way it came out so I cut it out and used it, even though my original intention was to do my usual one layer job.

I found a masterboard sheet of A4 (using resist techniques) while looking for something else so I decided to use that as a base and go mixed media style. I added the stamped poppy, some rub ons, a bit of stencilling and some charcoal pencil.

I made the masterboard long enough ago that my list of supplies might involve a bit of guesswork this time but here it is in case anyone's interested in any of the elements.

Stamps:
Poppycock by Indigo Blu
Numbers border by Kaisercraft

Paper: Smooth white 

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Barn Door, Mowed Lawn)
Versamark
Brilliance By Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Copic markers
White Posca pen 
Fineline marker
Charcoal pencil
Sequin Waste stencil by Tando Creative
White embossing powder
Gesso
Microglaze by Judikins
Dylusions (Fresh Lime, Vibrant Turquoise)
Rubons by Tim Holtz (Apothecary and Words) 
Brick stencil by Dutch Doobadoo


Thanks for stopping by - if you're in the UK, please remember to be especially kind to each other (actually, that applies wherever you are - kindness costs nothing - but it seems particularly important that the UK should remember it at the moment).

You're fabulous!

I had fun playing with the current mixed media challenge at Splitcoast Stampers - a different style and I'm not eniely convinced about the finished product but I enjoyed playing anyway!

Lydia's "Pin up" theme challenged us to find a magazine image, cut it out and coat it in something like Mod Podge to make a mask. Mine came from an advert for a clothing catalogue that was a loose insert in the Radio Times!

I spritzed, stamped and sponged through dry wall tape with the mask in place. Then I added a bit of very pale Pan Pastel to tone down the bright white of the silhouette. I added a charcoal pencil outline and then scribbled right across, one side to the other with a paper stump to give that "whoosh" to the image.
Those stars made this almost impossible to photograph! They're glittery in the middle and coated in Glossy Accents so all the different reflection going on there made it tricky.

I used the bubble border stamp just to get a line to cut along for the wavy edge - I could have done it freehand but I toyed with the idea of having some of the stamped border before deciding I prefered the idea of a dramatic black strip along the edge.

This is a larger format card (5" x 7") - I found it surprisingly difficult to find an image that works as a silhouette at a smaller size!

Stamps:
Numbers border by Kaisercraft
Essential Messages by Hero Arts
Bubble Border by Lost Coast

Paper:
black and white

Ink:
Brilliance Graphite Black
Adirondack Raspberry
Dylusions spray ink Funky Fucsia

Other:
Charcoal pencil
Pan Pastel Magenta Tint
Dry wall tape
Hot pink glitter
Glossy Accents
Corner Chomper
Thanks for stopping by!

Hello!

Gah, what happened to September?! I had a holiday in August so I can excuse myself for that absence but September is another matter!

I've been doing a bit of crafting but nothing I could share. I've just managed a bit of time at the stamping table for a clean and simple card for the current That's Crafty challenge which is to keep it simple. That's Crafty is one of my regular shopping haunts but I tend to forget they host a challenge, too!

These Doc Martens are fun for masculine cards, maybe even for those pesky teenagers! I masked them so
that I could let them overlap the stencilled strip that's acting as an "anchor". As it's a slightly grungy design, I stamped the numbers border through the stencil, figuring that if it didn't make perfect contact at the edges that would be fine (it's actually pretty good, the stencil is not too thick). I doodled round the chevrons as well to make that border a bit more defined.

I finished it off with a few dots of Enamel Accents (not because I needed to cover up a stray ink smudge; who could think such a thing?).

Stamps:
Doc Marten Boots by Deep Red Stamps
Numbers border by Kaisercraft
Essential Messages by Hero Arts

Ink:
Versafine Onyx Black
Distress Mowed Lawn

Other:
Hearts and Arrows stencil by Crafter's Workshop
Black fineline marker
Enamel Accents

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