Autumn Leaves

I'm doing my usual last-minute-minnie act here - today is the last day for this month's Song Title Challenge at the Craft Barn and I've just made my postcard this morning!

This month's song is Autumn Leaves. I have to confess it wasn't one I knew so off I went to YouTube. Mickie had recommended the Eric Clapton version but the one that really stood out for me was Eva Cassidy so it's her name I used on my card. Both song title and artist name are hand written into two of the leaves at bottom right.

I think this face has a rather wistful, meloncholy air about her which seemed perfect for somebody thinking about lost love. I did some masking and planned a one layer card but a dropped marker meant a little bit of camouflage became necessary so I've added a couple of extra leaves that have been cut out and stuck on.


Stamps:
Molly (Beeswax Stamps)
Autumn Leaves (Sheena Douglass)

Paper: Smooth white

Ink:
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Espresso)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)

Other:
Copic markers
Clear Wink of Stella
Fine line brown marker

Thanks for stopping by!

Parisienne Walkways

I'm squeaking in at the last minute with an entry for the Craft Barn song title challenge this month.

Mickie has chosen "Parisienne Walkways" for us - as usual, the song title and artist should be included and I've stuck with the postcard format I've been using for this challenge.

There are things I would do differently if I was doing this again but it's the last day of the challenge and I don't have time to do a re-make, I'm afraid! I'm reluctant to miss a month though so here it is, even if I'm not 100% happy with it!

I took the lyric

"Oh, I could write you paragraphs
About my old Parisienne days"

as the starting point, stamping a paragraph in the centre of the card. I added the song title and Gary Moore's name in my own handwriting then stamped the Eiffel Tower, the number 49 and some art nouveau style detail before sponging the edges with blue ink.

Stamps:
Haute Couture (Cornish Heritage Farms, no longer with us)
19th Century Script (Hero Arts)
Paris Nouveau (Waltzingmouse Stamps, no longer with us)

Paper: smooth white

Ink:
Shadow ink by Hero Arts (Soft Granite)
Versfine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)
Delicata by Tsukineko (Golden Glitz)
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Stonewashed)

Other:
Memento makrer (London Fog)
Fine line black marker
Charcoal pencil

Thanks for stopping by!

Summer in the City

I managed to miss last month in the Craft Barn song title challenge so I've tried to be more organised and get it done in plenty of time this month!

This month's song is Summer in the City. I've stuck with my postcard format for this challenge and I seem to be developing a bit of a thing for image transfer!

The background is shaving foam marbling done with alcohol inks in hot colours to go with the theme of the song. Twiggy was the Face of 66, the same year The Lovin' Spoonful had a hit with Summer in the City and I think she'd definitely have been the kind of girl to dance all night. I used one of Andy Skinner's threshold graphics (you can find them all here) and did an image transfer over the background.

The number stamps are already a bit eroded/grungy in style so when they didn't stamp absolutely perfectly first time I decided I liked the way it looked and left it alone. Sadly, the handwritten song title and band name did smudge a little when I added a final coat of satin glaze but I decided they're still legible so I'll grin and bear it - waiting for an image transfer to dry is not my strong point so I didn't want to start again!

Supplies:
Bristol board
Copic reinkers (Cadmium Yellow and Cadmium Orange)
Laser printed image
White acrylic paint
Satin Glaze by DecoArt
Fineline black marker
A & P Number stamps by Ma Vinci's Reliquary (sadly defunct)
Stazon ink (Jet Black)

Thanks for stopping by!

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!

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!

Can't stand the rain?

The song title for this month's challenge at the Craft Barn is very apt for April - I Can't Stand the Rain!

I'm definitely going to show my age with this one - the disco version by Eruption is the first and only thing to pop into my head on mention of this title (although I confess I did have to look up the name of the group to make absolutely sure I had it right!).

Lots of hand drawing on this postcard - I started by drawing the curved lines and lettering the song title and group name, adding just a bit of Copic colour in shades of blue/aqua. Then I had a go at drawing rain drops (this tutorial on YouTube is very useful) and although I need a fair bit more practice, I don't think they're too bad for a first attempt.

I masked the bottom of the postcard and stamped the paisley pattern to fill in above the top curve.

This is not my usual style and I had fun experimenting - play time!

Supplies:
Smooth white card
Fine line marker
Copics
Pencil, blending stump and eraser
White pencil
Paisley Scrapblock stamp (Cornish Heritage Farms, no longer with us)
Brilliance Graphite Black ink by Tsukineko 

Thanks for stopping by!

Blowin' in the wind

The song challenge over at The Craft Barn is fun - I've managed to join in again this month making another postcard.

The challenge asks for both the song title and the artist name to feature in the design. This time the song is Blowin' in the Wind which has to be Bob Dylan as far as I'm concerned! It seems especially appropriate when he's finally dropped in to collect his Nobel for literature this month!

The background was sponged with Distress inks and flicked with water before I stamped the ears of wheat, using the Misti so I could restamp over the lettering for a "nearly but not quite" inlaid die cut look. I die cut the lettering for the song title and stuck it onto the postcard, gave it a light wash of ink to make it blend in a bit and then restamped the wheat.

A touch of Wink of Stella on the lettering and a handwritten name along one of the stems finish it off.

Stamps:
Thankful Silhouettes (Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Peacock Feathers, Stormy Sky)

Other:
Font One dies by Spellbinder
Clear Wink of Stella pen
MISTI stamp positioner

Thanks for stopping by!

Sombody to love...

I've managed to play along again in The Craft Barn's Song Title Challenge - this month's song is Somebody to Love by Queen.

Queen were one of my favourite bands when I was in my teens, I had all the albums up to The Works and can still remember being so excited to find an original copy of their very first album in a record shop in Morecambe after the (flimsier!) one had been released under the "Fame" branding.

When I saw the challenge, an image popped into my head straight away, inspired by the lyric that says "I just gotta get out of this prison cell". I've decided to make a postcard for each of these challenges and this time I had fun with cocktail sticks, corrugated card, die cuts and dry brushed acrylic paint! 

As the challenge wants us to include the artist as well as the song title, I made a little plaque for the cell door by hammering letter punches into a scrap of mountboard before giving it the acrylic paint treatment.

Dry brushing is probably not the technique for you if you're in a hurry but it's great to watch details emerging if you have time - I used some texturising paste for a corroded effect in places as well as the die cuts and embossed plaque.

Stamps: Jane by Indigo Blu

Paper: 
Black
Corrugated card
Mountboard 

Ink: Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Cocktail sticks
Copic markers
Typeset strip die by Tim Holtz/Sizzix
Letter punches
Texturising medium by DecoArt
Pewter and Silver acrylic paints 

Thanks for stopping by!

Let it snow!

The Craft Barn is running a challenge through the year with each challenge taking a different song as the starting point. I thought it would be fun to try to play along and make a postcard each time.

The first challenge is "Let it snow" and you must include the song title and the name of an artist who made it famous.

I ended up including three artists - Frank Sinatra, Rod Stewart and the one I think of immediately on hearing the song which is Dean Martin. I wrote their names up the "strings" holding some of the snowflakes, first in silver gel pen and then with a fineliner so they look a bit different, depending on the angle of the light.

There's Stickles over the silver snowflakes which has made them look fainter on the photo but they're nice and sparkly in real life! The word SNOW is silver gilding flake on lettering die cut from double sided tape.

Stamps:
Grunge Flakes (Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous)
Alphabet stamps

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Peacock Feathers, Salty Ocean)
Versamark
Delicata by Tsukineko (Silver)

Other:
Bright white detail embossing powder by Wow
SilverGel pen
Stickles (Frosted Lace)
Mega Flake by Indigo Blu (Sheffield Steel)
Font One dies by Spellbinder
Double sided tape sheet
Black fineliner

There's still time to play along if you fancy it, all the details of the challenge are here. Thanks for stopping by!