International Art and Soul Challenge 143

 The challenge for this fortnight was set by my team mate Jane who wants projects on the theme of Trees/Wood.

The focal image is stamped using stamps from Lavinia (tree trunks), Inkylicious (branches and ferns) and Clarity (leaves). I used an Inkylicious mask for the distant hills, and some die cut paper tomask the sun. The background was inked using Distress Ink. Most stamping was done in Versafine Clair, although the leaves are also stamped in Distress Ink. I coloured any clear parts of the trunks or leaves with coloured pencil.

The background was embossed with a Crafter's Companion folder, and I added some Versafine Clair ink to the raised areas with a brayer. I used an orange base card (from Tattered Lace) some card for matting, and some ribbon from my stash to complete the card.

International Art and Soul Challenge 133

 The challenge for this fortnight was set by Jane, and she wants to see projects where there are three of something. That could be three embellishments, three images, three ribbons, whatever you like.

I've been working on backgrounds a lot of late, and after some inspiration on You Tube, I came up with this:

The background started with Distress Oxide inks which I blended together, Then I added some more detail with Pan Pastels before stamping the Lavinia fairy, foliage and words. I added some further detail with a glitter gel pen, a white gel pen, and some Posca pens.

It's not obvious from the photo, but the black background is quite twinkly. I embossed it using a Crafter's Companion folder, then applied some Versafine Clair ink with a brayer too the very fine leaf detail. I had hoped for more colour transfer, but when it didn't happen, I heat embossed using some clear holographic powder.

To finish, I added three flower gems and three tiny clear gems I've had in my stash for a very long time. I suspect it's about three years since I last even opened the box where I keep sticky gems, so it was nice to get them out.

I do hope you can join us this time.

International Art and Soul Challenge 119

 The challenge for this fortnight was set by my team mate CG and she wants us to use mainly yellow and orange. That seemed like an ideal opportunity to make something bright and cheerful, and this is what I came up with:

First, the background is stencilled using Crafter's Companion layering stencils and Distress Ink. The main image was stamped in Versafine Clair ink using a Woodware stamp. I coloured the image with Promarkers, added layering as shown. I used a corner rounder on the image and mat - with a wider corner on the bottom than the top, as I thought that worked for the image. The metallic orange band is an offcut I've had for many years - I originally had a few sheets in a 'Payperbox' selection I bought, I think, at Olympia when there used to be an annual craft show there, before it became just for knitting/and sewing. So, a long time! The flowers are from a length of floral lace I bought, also many years ago.

I do hope you can join us this time.

International Art and Soul Challenge 104

 The theme for this fortnight, chosen by my team-mate Craftygirl is 'Bunny'. Obviously a good theme for spring and Easter, but also for new babies and young children, so lots of scope.

I don't often do 'cute', but I do have a couple of CDRoms with suitable images, so I used them.

The image and paper on this one are both from a Crafter's Companion CDRom - Bebunni Floral. I think this was a magazine version of the collection - ie not a complete collection, but it's rather pretty and suits the theme well. I combined the image and paper in Photoshop Elements, adding a border to the image before printing.

But on my trawls through my CDRoms, I also found a suitable image on Everyday at Hollypond Hill.

That's another Crafter's Companion CDRom - this time, it's a complete collection. Again, I combined the image and paper in Photoshop Elements, adding a border and a bevel before printing.

Both images were matted after printing, so really quite simple cards, but then most of the work was done pre-printing. Inserts for both cards use the same papers as the card.

I do hope you can join us this time!

International Art and Soul Challenge 93

The theme for this fortnight is to use Autumn colours. The project can be anything you want, any theme, so long as the colours are autumnal.

I recently added to my collection of Brushos, and several of them seemed to be earth tones, so they seemed to be an ideal starting place for this challenge. I used several colours, and stamped over the result using Versafine ink. The result was two pieces of backing card for six by six inch cards.

The predominant colours on this piece were browns and dark greens, but the overall effect was a little darker than I had been hoping for. To counter that, I added things that would 'brighten' the overall effect. The main image (from Creative Stamper magazine) was stamped using a Kaleidacolor ink pad (cappuccino), and I stamped it on to some woven-patterned paper. The ribbon has been in my box for ages and I'm really not sure where it came from!

The predominant colours in this part were more the dark green and red, and again, I wanted to lift the overall effect. The image was stamped using an Indigo Blue stamp, and coloured with Promarkers. The lace is some of the 'stick on' variety that I got in Tiger (at least that's what it was called when I bought it!)

Stamps used in the background are from Poppy Stamps, Crafter's companion, and an issue of Creative Stamper magazine.

I do hope you can join us this time.

International Art and Soul Challenge 92

The challenge for this fortnight is to follow this board:

Your project has to contain three elements from the board - any line, horizontal, vertical or diagonal.

I chose to go with the middle horizontal line and made this:

I started with white card and made the frame using a die from Elizabeth Craft. Another piece of white card, and I stencilled that using stencils from Crafter's Companion and Imagination Crafts using Distress Ink and gilding wax.

The dies used to create the floral arrangement are (almost) all from Susan Tierney Cockburn's various collections. The exception is a die I bought in The Works which makes a useful piece of background with added perfect pearl dots.

I completed the frame by adding some die cuts cut using a Spellbinders die.

I do hope you can join us this time.

International Art and Soul Challenge 89

The theme for this fortnight is Tea Party.  I must admit, I struggled with this one. I bought some tea cup dies a while ago (Crafter's Companion) and thought I'd use them. But I just didn't like the effect of cutting them out of patterned paper which was the basis of my idea. So, I did a search for digi stamps with a 'tea' theme, and found a freebie set from Crafts Beautiful magazine which I rather liked. There are a lot of different images on the download, but I just used three; teapot, cup and a stack of cups.

I coloured the pot and cup in the central image with Promarkers. I printed out the stack of cups quite big and coloured them too. Then I scanned the result and tiled it in Photoshop Elements to make a background. Of course, at the time I'm writing this (late May) we're still pretty much being told to stay at home, and the idea of sitting with a cuppa chatting on Skype is becoming the new normal, so the sentiment seemed natural. I finished the card with a teacup embellishment cut using the aforementioned Crafter's Companion dies.

That's it. I do hope you can join us.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 260

The challenge for this fortnight is to create your own background.

I started with a couple of Crafter's Companion rotating background stamps and came up with a couple of different effects.

This card uses Memento ink in four shades to create the background.  I cut a window in the card using a Sizzix die which actually double cuts, so I had a separate 'frame' die cut. I used foam mounts to attach the background, then added the frame tight to the gold coloured background. The flowers were created with a die set from Elizabeth Craft/Susan's Garden Notes.

The process here is the same, but instead of four different ink pads, I used a single, Kaleidoscope pad. Again, I cut an aperture in the floral background, and again, the flowers were made using dies from the Susan's Garden Notes collection.

I have to say I'm a little disappointed with the rotating dies. Having watched Sara demonstrate them, they seemed fairly foolproof, and I assumed they'd work well with my Tim Holtz stamping platform. To be honest, they didn't. It simply wasn't possible to arrange things well enough to get the desired result - even placing the stamp as close to the centre of the card didn't seem too work. Of course, using that platform, I left the stamp in place and rotated the card (which I'd placed at the corner to be sure of repeatability.)

Anyway, I managed to find the Crafter's Companion stamp platform and magnetic base at a good price (ie, not much more than the platform alone) and decided to get it, at least partly because having a non-hinged platform seemed to have some advantages. Unfortunately, the result wasn't any better, initially. Because with this system, you leave the card alone and turn the stamp, it's important to place the stamp in the dead centre of the platform. And there lies the problem. Even getting it as close to the centre as eyeballing it will allow, there's still a bit of a mis-match between rotations. That may be because, unlike the Tim Holtz platform, there's quite a lot of wriggle with the Crafter's Companion  platform. It's definitely possible, even with the platform feet in the recesses in the magnetic sheet, to get up to a couple of millimetre's wiggle when you stamp. The result (providing you line up the grid lines on the platform and base as well as you can) is ok  and I'll definitely use the stamps, but I don't think I'll be using this platform as much as the Tim Holtz.

I do hope you can join us this time.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 256

The theme for this fortnight is Celebrations. That seems a little awkward at the time I'm writing this post as we're all supposed to be socially distancing or isolating, but I think it's actually quite appropriate in its way. When things are hard, it's important to remember the positive things, and in this case, the celebrations I'm thinking about are birthdays.

My son's partner has a birthday coming up, so I made a card for her.

Quite a long time ago - maybe as long as a couple of years ago, I ordered some things from Crafter's Companion, and a free gift was included in the order. That gift, a cut and emboss folder has languished in my craft room, still in its packaging ever since. On a whim, I got it out, and I have to say I rather like the effect. I think one of the reasons I haven't used it before is because I really prefer cards with a square format.

Anyway, the resulting cut really does make a card. All I've added is a lower layer, a die cut butterfly and a pre-printed sentiment. I'm struggling to remember the manufacturer of the butterfly die - I think I got it in The Range, and the brand was something like 'Tri-cut' and it came with some stamps. Anyway, the die produces that lovely, lacy butterfly, and the only issue is that you have to poke out all those pinhole pieces which do try to stay around even once they've been cut out.

And that's it. I do hope you can join us this time.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 248

Welcome to the first Crafty Cardmakers challenge of 2020, and to get it off to a really easy start, the theme this fortnight is Anything Goes!

I decided to make a new home card for a friend, but instead of a flat card, I went with a pop up box.

The base die is from Spellbinders, and I covered the panels with paper from a Joanna Sheen box magazine.

I added a tag using a Tonic die. The flowers were made using dies from Crafter's Companion and The Works, I added shading using Pan Pastel and flower centres and the berries using Liquid Enamel.

I do like this style as it's possible to fold them fairly flat for postage, although I used a piece of scrap card inside the envelope to give it a bit of extra rigidity, and am keeping my fingers crossed it arrives safely.

I hope you can join us this time.

International Art and Soul Challenge 73

Our last challenge of the year is to make anything other than a card. So, a perfect chance to showcase a hand-made gift, tag or piece of home decoration. (Or something else ... so long as its not a card.)

My son's partner loves to travel, so I decided to make her a travel journal.

 I made a box to keep all the bits in too. The front is decorated with Acrylic paper and acrylic paint applied and textured using a rubber tool. The compass was cut using a Tonic die, and both it and the edges of the paper were brightened up with some gilding wax.

And the journal in the box.The journal was cut using a Sizzix/Eileen Hull Wrapped Journal die. I put a layer of Kraftex over some grey board before cutting, then decorated using acrylic paint, my gelly plate, and various stamps and stencils. I added a little gilding was to complete the effect, and made a closure with gold elastic. When the messy bit was done, I covered the inside in some white paper.

I used papers I printed from a Crafter's Companion CDRom to create the pages, although I did make them less saturated, as I wanted a more subtle effect. I printed direct to Ryman Matte double-sided card.

You'll note that I didn't add any details to the pages. That's because I wanted her to be able to add things where she wanted, rather than where I'd stuck something. So, I provided some bits to do that.

 A box containing some tiny envelopes. The post mark stamps are from Marianne, and the envelope die is from Printable Heaven.

A box filled with pouches cut using a Tonic die set, and offcuts of the Crafter's Companion papers.

And finally, some pockets cut using a Sizzix/Tim Holtz die.

 This is my first time using Kraftex. I would have preferred to use some leather or even faux leather or the journal, but I've struggled to get supplies. I know I could buy faux leather by the metre, but then I would have loads of a single colour and I'd like variety. And each piece needs to be about 6 by 13 inches, so most offcuts wouldn't be big enough. I hope the Kraftex gives the journal a robust enough cover, but won't know that for a while!

I do hope you can join us.

Interntional Art and Soul Challenge 70

The theme of this fortnight is Celebrate Autumn, which is something that I, as someone who doesn't like hot weather, definitely does!

The basis of this card is paper embroidery. The pattern comes from 101 Ideas for Paper Embroidery by Erica Fortgens. I used machine embroidery thread in shades of red, orange and gold, and matted the result onto some copper coloured mirror card. For the background, I stamped a piece of cream card with leaves using stamps from Crafter's Companion and a Kaleidoscope ink pad.

I do hope you can join us this time.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 233

Our challenge for this fortnight is 3 - 2 - 1! You need to use elements in those quantities, but what those elements are is up to you! To help those visiting your blog, it'd would be great if you could specify somewhere what your 3 - 2 - 1 are.

In this case, my three is flowers, my two is papers and my one is the sentiment.

The main background paper (and the flowers) use paper decorated using acrylic paint, stencils and a gelli plate. The gingham paper has been in my stash I'm not completely sure where it came from, but I suspect it was from Payper Box. (I used to see them at Olympia at a craft show, but that was many years ago. They might have visited Ally Pally but again, not recently.)

To cut the flowers, I used Crafter's Companion dies, and I finished them with some liquid pearl.

the sentiment is computer- generated. I cut and matted it using dies from Spellbinders.

International Art and Soul Challenge

The challenge for this fortnight is Easter. Other than that, you can make whatever you want, so long as you have an Easter theme.

Now, if you saw my recent post for the Crafty Cardmakers design team, you might spot something a little familiar. I made a pair of Easter cards using the same base dies and similar colours, and this is the second one of those.

I made a box card using, as a basis, a Spellbinders die set. I covered the panels in paper from a Kirstie Alsop set. The flowers were made using dies from a variety of manufacturers including Crafter's Companion, Apple Blossom, and Marianne. To finish the card, I generated a sentiment in Photoshop Elements.

I do hope you can join us this time.

International Art and Soul Challenge 54

The theme for this fortnight's challenge is colour-based: green plus two other colours. So, which colours will you choose to go with the blue?

For this, I used some recently-acquired Card-io Majestix stamps. For my first attempt, I used a rectangular mask which had some gaps in it, and stamped around that. But, that was a mistake, as it really just looked like some random shapes had found their way through the mask. So, second attempt, I cut an oval mask, and stamped away using Memento ink. I added a few lowers and a sentiment both cut with dies from last year's Crafter's Companion Advent calendar which my daughter gave me for my birthday. I matted the result, and was pretty happy with that. But then realised I wanted to do an insert. So, I used the failed first attempt! I scanned it, then added an aperture in Photoshop Elements, mirrored the result and came up with this:

And that's it. Just goes to show you shouldn't throw away mistakes (at least, not straight away ...)

I hope you can join us this time.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 227

In honour of the time of year, the challenge for this fortnight is Love, Love, Love. Valentine cards would definitely be welcome, although you can enter anything so long as it has a love theme.

I've made a valentine for my husband, and as a result, I've kept it plain and simple.

The paper is from a Papermania pad I've had pretty much since I started making cards out of paper rather than using cross stitch on cloth. The die set is, I think, from Sizzix, and includes two lacy and one solid heart with the same outline. I've used one lacy and one solid heat to make a closure for the card.

Inside, I've used more paper from the same pad, and I've completed the card with a die cut sentiment cut using one of the dies from the Crafter's Companion 2018 Advent calendar.

I do hope you will join us this time.

International Art and Soul Challenge 51

For this fortnight's challenge, we want you to forsake your patterned paper, and make your own background. How you do that is entirely up to you!

I made a variety o backgrounds using a gel plate, stencils, and acrylic paint. The base layer here was an impression used after removing a Crafter's Companion stencil (bark?) and the layer beneath the sentiment is a second impression of the same plate. The sentiment was cut using a Crafter's Companion die, and I completed the card with a couple of lengths of sticky-backed paper lace that I've had for ages and keep forgetting about. I bought it at Ally Pally several years ago and it's in the box with my embellishment, but I never think to look there when looking for something like that. I'm more likely to either look at border dies or ribbon.

One interesting thing which shouldn't really surprise me. Having let the acrylic paint dry, I layered things together with some Collal all-purpose glue. I left it under a flat surface to flatten it while it dried, and came back to find that the paint had migrated to my white matting. Obviously, the solvent in the glue is also a solvent for dry acrylic paint. So, I had to re-do that bit. I'll know better next time.

I hope you can join us this time.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 226

The challenge for this fortnight is to add some texture to your creation.

I immediately thought of embossing folders, and since I've recently got some Apple Blossom folders, I started with that.

I used a die and stamp (also from Apple Blossom) as we as the folder. I lightly inked the embossing to bring out the detail, then added some lace and a few flowers cut using a Crafter's Companion die set.

I hope you will join us this time.

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 220

Our challenge for this fortnight is hosted by Jackie, and we want a project which includes some sort of mythical creature - fairy, unicorn, dragon etc.

I got out a stamp set I've had for a very long time. I haven't used it a lot - probably because the main stamp is rather big for standard sized cards.

The stamp set is Rose Bay Willow Fairy or similar by Crafter's Companion. I've put her on a card that's just under  6 by 6, so there wasn't a lot of room for matting. I stamped three corners from the set using my stamping platform, and completed the stamping with a couple of individual flower stamps from the set. I rather liked the jaunty angles of the corner stamps! To colour, I first did hair and skin tones using Chameleon markers. I can't say I've taken to these. I bought one set - the skin tones - and I've found them very hard to use. The rest of the colouring uses Crafter's Companion Glitter markers in a couple of colours, with the clear marker to blend. After colouring, I added a faint tint of blue to the background using Tumbled Glass Distress Ink, and edged with Peeled Paint. To complete, I added a hint of gold from an Edding Paint marker which does give a good, opaque gold tint.

I do hope you can join us this time!

International Art and Soul Challenge 43

Our challenge for this fortnight is Layer it Up or, in other words, not clean and simple!

One of my acquisitions at Ally Pally in April was a stamp from Dimension Fourth which is a segment of a map of around Paris. My son's girlfriend lived in Paris for a year as part of her degree, and I know she loves the city, so to be honest, I bought the stamp with her in mind.

I used it with some images from Crafter's Companion Destinations CDRom.

I stamped and shaded with various Distress Inks, and, as you can see, used several layers.

I hope you can join us this time.