September elements and link in the chain

A two-in-one post today since the second of the month (reveal day at Card Chain Challenge) coincides with the first Friday (our “elemental” challenge at Daring Cardmakers). 

Miri has chosen our DCM mood board for September — as ever, just chose at least three elements to kickstart your project. I chose the surface rings on the puddle, the autumn leaves and a circle. I used Pan Pastels to colour the die cut leaves and added the framing for the circle as an afterthought so it’s drawn on with a fineliner and a Copic marker. The dots are my trusty tomato paste tube and a few tiny nail art gems.

Just realised Die Cut Divas have an autumn theme this time around so I’m linking this card up there, too. 

Stamps:
Sentiment from Say It All (Hero Arts, retired)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Versafine by Tsukineko (Vintage Sepia)

Other:
Retro circles embossing folder  (Tim Holtz/Sizzix) 
Pan pastels
Circles dies (Spellbinder)
Leaves dies (Impression Obsession)
Stitched rectangles A6 size (Paper Rose)
Tomato paste tube
Nail art gems

My Card Chain Challenge card went to Pat in Texas this time. From the options on offer I chose the theme of fruit and flowers and gave this lovely lemon set its first outing (I have blogged another card with it already but this one was made and sent before that was made). It’s almost my usual one layer card for CCC, just the little blossom is die cut and added over the base layer. 

There’s still time to sign up for the September chain if you fancy it, details here.

Stamps:
Lemon Blossom (The Greetery, plus matching dies)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)
Various yellow, green and pink inks (I failed to keep note!)

Other:
Copic marker
Nail art gems
Corner Chomper

Colourful!

Ruth has set today's challenge over at Daring Cardmakers - she'd like to see lots of colour on our projects this week.

I'm afraid my week went rather pear-shaped so I decided I'd share this rainbow scrapling I made for a Splitcoast event last year since rainbows are about as colourful as it gets!

Stamps:
Sentiment from Wild Mushrooms by Power Poppy
Paper:
Bristol board
Smooth black
Ink:
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)
Other:
Umbrella Man die cut (Tim Holtz/Sizzix)
Timeworks mask (Tim Holtz/Alterations)
Pan Pastels and chalks to make rainbow
Spectrafix Degas fixative
Black fineliner
Corner Chomper
Black Enamel Accents by Ranger
Charcoal pencil

Thanks for stopping by!

Autumn birthday

I should have been tidying my craft table at the weekend but of course I got distracted into playing instead! I've had some gilding flakes in my stash for ages and not really got round to playing with them (I got them from a friend when she de-stashed to move abroad and that's four years ago now!).

I covered a piece of card with double-sided tape sheet and burnished on some of the flakes. They're a nice warm mix of gold and copper tones with just touches of rose gold, silver and the odd blueish-green flake which made me think of autumn leaves so I decided to go that way. I die cut a horse chestnut leaf, accentuated the emossed lines left by the die with a Copic marker and coated it in Triple Thick glaze for an extra glossy finish. The glaze magnifies the sort of "veining" you get from the flakes which seemed perfect for a leaf.

I thought it would be fun to have the very matt finish of Pan Pastels contrasting with  the glossed flake on the leaf and combined them in a clean and simple design. I decided on a whim to introduce a third finish by adding little dots cut from scraps of the gilded cardstock, leaving them with no glaze. I seem to have a bit of a thing for scattered dots as a finishing touch at the moment!

I'm hooking up with the current Pan Pastels challenge which is "autumn" - a lovely theme if you fancy playing along (no requirement to use Pan Pastels or other Premium Craft Brand products, it's just that I often use it as a push to use the Pans I have).

Supplies:
Leaf dies by Impression Obsession
Confetti die by Mama Elephant
Say It All stamp set by Hero Arts
Brilliance Pearlescent Chocolate by Tsukineko
Pan Pastels (Burnt Sienna, Burnt Sienna Shade, Burnt Sienna Tint)
Spectrafix Degas  fixative
Easy Metal gilding flakes by Eberhard Faber
Triple Thick Gloss Glaze by Deco Art 
Pinflair Glue Gel
Double sided tape sheet (151 brand, try your local £1 shop!)

Thanks for stopping by.

Pastel blooms

Back in slightly more comfortable territory today after my foray into tags! I like to go back to basics with a one layer card sometimes so when I saw the current Hero Arts challenge (open through August 10th if you want to play!), I decided to play along. It's a  super-simple card with no embellishments or fancy techniques, just because the mood took me that way!

I've used the lovely Hero Arts Etched Flowers stamp and as these look like wild roses to me, I'm linking to the current Pan Pastels challenge, too (Roses are a girl's best friend).

I was lucky enough to be first out of the hat in a recent Pan Pastels challenge and part of my prize was a pan of Magenta Tint - a super-pretty shade that inspired the colour scheme for this soft, feminine card. I stamped in a really light green ink and then coloured the whole flower shape with a layer of the PanPastel to give me a base. One of the beauties of PanPastels is that it's really easy to erase if you get colour where you don't want it! I used Derwent pastel pencils (which rarely see the light of day, I'm ashamed to say) to add shading and colour the leaves and centres. It's a good idea to have an "index" image of the stamp to hand when you do this kind of colouring - it helps you focus in on the pale lines of the stamped image. I added some extra definition and "direction" to the petals with light strokes of a white Posca pen.

A quick spritz of fixative stopped me smudging or over-working the image and once that was dry I added a hint of background colour with Phthalo Green Tint and accentuated the flowers with a "halo" of blue pastel pencil. As I did a "lazy" background (ie just swiped colour right over the leaves) they ended up a wee bit too muted so I added a bit more pastel pencil. A couple of scored lines and rounded corners are my only concessions to "tools" here!

I thought the elegant lines of the Waltzingmouse sentiment went well with the delicate feel of the flowers.

Stamps:
Etched Flowers (Hero Arts)
Sentiment from Big Day Today (Waltzingmouse Stamps)

Paper: Hahnemuhle Bamboo Mixed Media 

Ink:
Adirondack Willow
Brilliance Pearlescent Chocolate

Other:
PanPastels (Magenta Tint, Phthalo Green Tint)
Derwent Pastel pencils
White Posca pen
Spectrafix Degas fixative
Corner Chomper
Scor-It

Thanks for stopping by!

Dad - look away now!

I don't usually blog ahead of sending projects where they're going but I'll be too late to join in the current Pan Pastels challenge (One for the boys) if I don't get this blogged so Dad, if you're reading, look away now if you'd rather not see your Father's day card before you open the envelope!





I've just treated myself to a few masks from Caroline's revamped Bubbly Funk shop (bargains to be had as well on older stock as she clears out to make way for new things!). I used the Crafter's Workshop 6x6 Wood Grain here, spreading modelling paste through it with an old credit card.

Once the paste dried, I painted over with gesso using a coarse brush to add some extra texture in the more open areas. I then used Burnt Sienna Shade Pan Pastel to colour the panel.

I really must get a new Father's day sentiment stamp - this is the only one I have and I'm sure Dad will notice eventually! I just stamped it on a simple banner finished with some copper brads and added a single die cut to leave the wood grain as the star of the show as I loved the way it turned out. I did colour the die cut leaf with two shades of green Copic marker, just to give it a bit extra depth.

Here's a more detailed shot of how it turned out adding some gesso for that bit extra texture - I think it works well with the woodgrain!

Stamps: Sentiment from Father's Day Centers (Cornish Heritage Farms, retired)

Ink: Brilliance Pearlescent Chocolate by Tsukineko

Paper: kraft, laid texture, scrap of DCWV blue

Other:
Pan Pastel - Burnt Sienna Shade
Spectrafix Degas fixative
Maimeri Light Modelling Paste
Copic markers
Gesso
Crafter's Workshop 6x6 mask - Wood Grain
Leaves dies by Impression Obsession
Corner Chomper

Thanks for stopping by!

Passage of time

Another slightly messier style card from me today - I did balance out a bit with a wide border though! This is a 6" square card and the mixed media panel is 4" square in the middle.

I've combined this week's Splitcoast Stampers Mixability challenge (use book print on your project) with the current Pan Pastel UK Challenge blog challenge to use three textures.

I used modelling paste with some plastic canvas. Once it was dry, I stamped the time sentiment with Versamark and used  Pan Pastel to colour over the paste and the stamping.

My second texture is the part circle cut from gold mountboard and dry embossed and the third is the star which is punched from tomato paste tube and beaten up with an embossing stylus then coloured with a Copic marker for a more copper tone. I used the same marker to make some neutral sequins and tiny pearls look coppery, too.

My French primer text came from the pack of paper ephemera I bought ages ago from a local trader who makes them up by putting together pages from books that are beyond hope in terms of being sold whole.

Stamps:
Clocks 3 by PaperArtsy
Essential Messages by Hero Arts

Paper: white and bitter chocolate

Ink: Versamark and Versafine Vintage Sepia

Other:
Maimeri Light Modelling Paste
Tomato paste tube metal
Fiskars squeeze punch - star
Uber embossing folder
Watch face
Sequins
Nail art pearls
Pan Pastel - Burnt Sienna Shade
Old book page
Scor-It board
Corner Chomper

Thanks for stopping by!

Shabby chic(ish)

This is about as close as I'm likely to get to shabby chic and it just kind of evolved that way. I made the embellishment and then had no end of trouble figuring out how to use it!

If you choose to play along with the DT on the Pan Pastels challenge blog this week, the challenge is to use a stencil to create an embellishment (details here). It sounded like a challenging challenge and I'm up for that so I had a go!

I used a piece of metal from a tomato paste tube, cut with a Cuttlebug die (it started life as a tag but I snipped off the hanging loop as part of the evolution process!). On the back, I drew inside the circles of a sequin waste mask with a knitting needle, flipped it over and squashed the centres of the raised circles and refined it (again with the knitting needle!) to give a sort of rim. The whole lot is stuck to a piece of mount  board and bashed with an embossing stylus for a beaten metal look. I used a bit of Copic ink to colour the centres of the circles and a dot of Glossy Accents for an enamelled finish. So far, so good - I liked the way it turned out.

Then I faffed for a couple of days and nothing looked right. I eventually ended up with this and I'm still not entirely happy but I decided to say enough is enough and call it done!

I used Versamark through the same sequin mask and added Pan Pastel on the card front. Then I added more Versmark and more pastel at the bottom for more solid coverage. The rose has some turquoise Pan Pastel brushed over the edges.

Supplies:
Tomato paste tube
Cuttlebug Tags die
Sequin Waste Mask by Tando Creative
Say It All stamp set by Hero Arts
Delicata Golden Glitz ink by Tsukineko
Copic Various ink (Holiday Blue)
Pan Pastels (Phthalo Green Tint, Turquoise)
Glossy Accents
Vintage Lace Decorative Strip Die by Tim Holtz/Sizzix
Versamark
Rose by Wild Orchid Crafts

Thanks for stopping by!

Experimental hearts

I had a little play with various bits and pieces today. This week's MixAbility challenge at Splitcoast Stampers calls for the use of hearts (here) and the Pan Pastels challenge blog has another anything goes week with the option to join the DT in using fabric on your project (details here).

Very little stamping on here and more die cuts than I'd usually use! I started with two primitive hearts cut from mount board and lettering to spell the word LOVE (I cut the word twice and stacked the layers for a bit extra depth since Spellbinder dies don't cut thick materials). Then I covered the lot with double sided tape sheet and put fine-weave cotton fabric over it. I ran it through my Big shot with an embossing mat to make sure everything was stuck down well. I'd have liked a few more wrinkles in the fabric but never mind, the texture is still interesting!

Then I went to town with Pan Pastels and a charcoal pencil. The only stamping is some Hero Arts brush strokes stamped in the corners in Versamark and rubbed over with more pastel for slightly more intense colour. I left the edges of the fabric deliberately a bit frayed before sticking it to a card base.

I used my finger to apply the white Pan Pastel over the lettering as it seemed to give me most control.

What I learned - Mod Podge doesn't take Pan Pastel very well (I originally Mod Podged the fabric rather than using sheet adhesive); I love the look of fabric over die cuts; you need to make sure there's a support under the overhang of the second die cut to bring it to the same level as the other one before running it through the Big Shot. I'm also extremely pleased with my new fixative - it's a natural substance (based on casein, the protein found in milk and apparently the fixative preferred by Degas!) and it's in a pump bottle so there's no solvent smell or hazard if you're spraying indoors.

Materials:
Mount board offcuts
White cardstock
White cotton fabric
Primitive Hearts Bigz die by Sizzix
Spellbinders Font One dies
Pan Pastels (Turquoise, Permanent Red, Permanent Red Shade, White)
Charcoal Pencil
Brush Strokes stamps by Hero Arts
Versamark ink
SpectraFix Degas fixative spray

Thanks for stopping by!

Bright birthday

The weather is so awful here in the UK at the moment that I thought a bit of brightness might be in order in the craft room! I've just treated myself to a few new colours of Pan Pastels too so I chose the Bright Yellow Green and made a cheerful birthday card for my stash.

The  Pan Pastels blog has another "anything goes" challenge with the option to join in with the DT in using a stencil (details here).  I've actually used a mask but the terms seem to be somewhat interchangeable these days so I'm going to count it as playing along with the theme!

I loved how easy it was to feather out the edge of the pastel - quicker and easier than ink and sponge!

The pretty flowers are really quick and easy to do - they're a two step stamp and as they're clear, it's really easy to line up the various layers. I fussy cut by hand but Claire does have cut files available for this set if you have an electronic cutter and prefer to leave the scissors in the drawer!

The sequins are irridescent white and at certain angles they're almost exactly the same pink as the flowers!

Stamps (all Waltzingmouse Stamps)
Two Step Sprig
Leaf from Funky Flowers
Say It Loud

Paper: smooth white

Ink:
Adirondack by Ranger (Raspberry and Cranberry)
Versamark
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Pan Pastel (Bright Yellow Green)
Timeworks mask by Tim Holtz
8mm and 5mm sequins
Corner Chomper

Thanks for stopping by - hope you're staying safe and dry if you're dealing with extreme weather!

"New" postcard

We've just had one of our occasional postcard swaps on Bubbly Funk. Our theme this time was "new" with interpretation completely up to the players! As ever, our cards are posted as genuine postcards so keeping it flat is good.

I tried to shoehorn in several "new" elements - a new technique, a New Year theme (it is still January - just!) and a new stamp (OK, not that new but the first time I've used it since it didn't get used for what I originally planned for it). I've gone a bit "eclectic mixed media" in the hope it will suit the recipient!

My new (to me) technique was to tint modelling paste with Pan Pastels. The dots on the left are made from the paste applied through a sequin waste mask so they have a bit of dimension. Tinting with acrylic paint can make the paste a bit sloppy but this worked brilliantly, especially as the pigment is so strong you don't need much. Just squeeze a little paste out onto a non-stick mat, rub a sponge over the Pan to dust some powder off onto the paste and mix with a spatula. The dots on the right are flat - I just inked the card and then used a babywipe through the mask to remove some of the Distress ink.

The Pan Pastel blog has another "anything goes" theme this week with an option to play along with the DT in using a metallic (details here). I don't have any of the metallic Pan Pastels (they do look lush though!) so although I incorporated the theme, I did it by giving the party puffin a sparkly crown with a metallic gold glitter pen. If you fancy playing, there's no requirement to use Pan Pastels or other Premium Craft Brands products, it's just that I tend to use the challenge as a push to use the Pans I have.

Stamps:
Party Puffin by Alice Palace at Crafty Individuals
Just My Type alpha stamps by Ma Vinci's Reliquary

Paper: Smooth white

Ink: 
Graphite Black Brilliance by Tsukineko
Broken China Distress ink by Ranger

Other:
Maimeri Light Modelling Paste
Turquoise Pan Pastel
Black pastel pencil
White Posca paint pen
Copic fineline marker
Fiskars squeeze punch (stars doodled by drawing round a punched shape and cross hatching to fill)
Copic markers
Sequin Waste mask by Tando Creative
Gold Spica Glitter pen

Thanks for stopping by!

Warm hugs

I had such fun experimenting with Pan Pastels on canvas for my first foray into 2014 that I thought I'd have a go at something a bit bigger.

The weekly mixed media challenge at Splitcoast Stampers has been set by the very talented Dina who has asked us to concentrate on warm colours. As I'm usually drawn to the blue-green end of the spectrum it was fun to push the other way here! I combined with this week's PanPastels challenge again as I used something other than card as my substrate.

I played with PanPastels, acrylic paint, Posca paint pen, Versamark, pigment ink and Copic marker (on the sequins) to mix up the media. Colouring neutral embellishments with Copics (or other alcohol-based markers) is a great way to get coordinating elements without having to have every colour under the sun on hand!

Stamps:
Jumbo Rose by Stampendous
Truly Appreciated by Hero Arts

Paper:
Bitter choclate
Canvas (inkjet printer type from the £ shop)

Ink:
Pearlescent Chocolate Brilliance by Tsukineko
Versamark

Other:
PanPastels (Diarylide Yellow, Orange, Permanent Red)
Red acrylic paint
White Posca pen
Drywall tape
Sequins

Thanks for stopping by!

Pastel Indigo?

Oh dear - a rather late "Happy New Year" on my blog! A horrible cough and cold put paid to crafting early in 2014 for me, I'm only just starting to feel human enough to venture into the craft room!

As a little kickstart, I visited a couple of challenges I haven't played for ages. This week's challenge at PanPastels is "anything goes" with an extra push to use something other than card as a substrate  (here - challenge closes 12 noon on Tuesday). At IndigoBlu it's "from the heart" (details here - challenge runs to 20th of Feb).

I decided to try a little clean and simple with a side order of grunge and although I made a card I did use a couple of things other than cardstock with the pastels. I stamped the script in Versamark on a little piece of canvas and rubbed Turquoise over it - the colour sticks more intensely to the Versamark than the plain canvas so you get subtle patterning. I use cheapo canvas that's sold for inkjet printing photos for this kind of thing as you don't mind experimenting and maybe wasting some if things don't work out as you'd hoped!

The heart is done with modelling paste through a handcut stencil - I originally intended to go straight onto the card with it but the canvas was a bit too thick for that to work well (because of the "step") so I did it on a separate scrap of card, cut it out when dry and coloured it with PanPastels. It's the first time I've tried it and the "tooth" of the dried paste takes the colour really well.

Lots of reflection here this morning so I'm afraid the pearlescent ink looks very different on the card base than it does on the canvas - it's the same and looks better in real life, honest!

Stamps:
Sarah's Choice by IndigoBlu

Paper:
Smooth white
Canvas

Ink:
Pearlescent Chocolate Brilliance by Tsukineko

Other:
Diarylide Yellow, Oranage, Permanent Red and Permanent Red Shade PanPastels
Meimeri Light Modelling Paste
Corner Chomper

Thanks for stopping by, I hope 2014 is kind to you!

Lost for words

Time for another postcard swap on UK Stampers. Our only constraint this month is "no words".

I had a bit of a Darkroom Door fest on this one and it just sort of grew without any real plan, hence the fact you can see the background through the butterfy wings as there's no masking going on or anything - I decided to just go with it! I think it's probably OK for a late summer vibe!

Stamps (all Darkroom Door)
Woodgrain background 
Carved Flowers
Wings
Foliage

Paper: Smooth white

Ink:
Pumice Stone Distress ink by Ranger
Onyx Black Versafine by Tsukineko

Other:
Diarylide Yellow and Orange Pan Pastels
Blue, Intense Blue and Olive Green pencils
Uni Posca white pen
Krylon Matt sealer

Deadline for swap entries is the 25th of the month so if you fancy a low commitment swap that gets you some handmade happy mail (just make one card to get one card in return) why not come and join us?

Thanks for stopping by!

Eagle for dad

I've just realised I meant to blog this at the start of the week and forgot to make the post live! This is the card I made for Dad for Father's Day. A quick one layer card but one that still has impact, I hope!

The handsome eagle head doesn't need a lot doing to it - just a touch of colour for the beak and eye and a few strokes of grey pencil to shade the head a bit. I masked him and stamped the script at an angle, added some smudged Pan Pastel and then stamped the sentiment (the only father's day one I could find in my stash, as it happens!).

Stamps:
Eagle Profile (Beeswax Stamps)
19th Century French Script (Hero Arts)
Father's Day Centers (CHF, retired)

 Paper: smooth white

 Ink:
Onyx Black Versafine by Tsukineko
Stonewashed Adirondack dye ink by Ranger

 Other:
Prismacolor pencils (yellow and a couple of greys)
Pan Pastel (turquoise)
Corner Chomper

The theme this week at Pan Pastels UK challenge blog is an open masculine theme so I'm hooking up there.

Thanks for stopping by!

Carved flowers

Do you ever get a backlog of new crafty things you've just not got round to playing with? I know I do! These carved flower stamps have been waiting patiently for me to ink them up for quite some time now. The Pan Pastels are a more recent purchase but they've still had to wait a while - oops! It was fun to try them out in anger though (having previously only tested them on the back of an envelope the day they arrived!).

The DL format of this card looks
elegant in real life but it was a swine to photograph - I hope you get the idea!

I stamped the flowers on an old book page and added Diarylide Yellow and Orange Pan Pastels over the top, letting the yellow blend out past the flower outline to get a "glow". I used a green pencil for the calyx area. I then smeared a liberal amount of Turquoise and a little Ultramarine on the background. I really liked the way the pastels spread and the amount of pigment is very impressive - a little goes a very long way and those pots are going to last ages!

The flowers looked pretty but I decided I'd like more definition so I used a stamp positioner and stamped again directly over the top of the original. If you planned to do this in advance I guess you could use a light coloured ink for the first stamping, just as a guide for where to spread your colour and then you wouldn't have to be quite as precise with the second impression.

That Hero Arts sentiment gets another outing - I seem to be incapable of making a birthday card without it at the moment! This one's destined for my sister-in-law but she's not a blog browser so I think it's safe to show.

Stamps:
Carved Flowers by Darkroom Door
Say It All by Hero Arts

Paper:
Old book page, black and white cardstock

Ink: Onyx Black Versafine by Tsukineko

Other:
Diarylide Yellow, Orange, Turquoise, Ultramrine Pan Pastels
Marine Green Prismacolor pencil
Krylon matt sealant
Acrylic nail art gems

The Pan Pastels UK challenge blog has an "anything goes" theme this week and since I remembered to look I'll hook this up there.

Thanks for stopping by!