Dylusions, Home Made Masks & Ryn's Koi Carp

Well now for something completely different. The amazing Sam came to stay with me on Sunday & we went to a crafty get together on Monday which was great fun. She did a demonstration of how to make the glorious tags she makes. Now I'm normally a tidy crafter so this was a bit of a step out of my comfort zone to say the least but wow was it fun! I'll show you the ones I made with her at a different time as now I want to share the ones I made today.

The techniques Sam showed us included spraying with Dylusions, using Masks, using Distress Paints and many many others. Luckily enough my own Dylusions arrived yesterday so I am now able to play. Aren't they pretty! I'm in love already!

Sam had showed us some beautiful techniques with masks and as I don't have any of my own I decided to make some on my trusty Cougar. I had some A4 plastic zipper wallets from Asda in the house & cutting the edge off gave me a nice piece of plastic to work with. It cut beautifully and at only 55p per folder it's a bargain price.

Here are the results - this one is Birds Cards Background 1

This fish scales one came out slightly wrong as my cutter stood itself down part way though the cut, but I actually really like the effect so it was a happy accident.

I used tags & sprayed Midnight Blue and Calypso Teal Dylusions through the gaps in the mask. The one on the left has cosmic shimmer spray applied as well.

I also experimented with spraying the whole tag with Midnight Blue & Calypso Teal. I then applied the mask & sprayed cosmic shimmer water thorough the gaps before removing the mask & blotting the tag with some kitchen towel. This removed a bit of the ink from the sprayed areas making them lighter.

The tag on the right was made by taking the sprayed side of the mask & applying it to a plain tag.

This tag was made using Crushed Grape & Cherry Pie Dylusions, placing the other mask over the tag & spraying with water, then dabbing with a piece of kitchen towel.

I like all of the effects & am so pleased I an make my own masks

I had a think for a while about how to complete my tag - this is what I came up with:

I've stamped & embossed a swirl from the Inkadinkado set Dot Flourishes and embossed it with green and holographic embossing powders to make the pond plant.

The sentiment is from the Stampin' Up hostess set Occasional Sayings

The Koi are amazing rubber stamps from Designs By Ryn I stamped them, sprayed them with Dylusions, then cut them out & embossed them with clear embossing powder to make them look even more realistic.

I hope you like them. I've had a great time playing & am looking forward to making more. Thanks for the inspiration & tutoring Sam x

Digi Galore Challenge - Anything but a Square

It's that time of the month again - time for a new challenge on the Digi Galore blog. This time we're lucky enough to have the lovely Betty of Simply Betty Stamps as our sponsor, and you can win 3 SBS images.

The challenge this fortnight is to make something Anything but a Square. It's funny as I've just got into making square cards & love making them, but this was a fun challenge. I'd seen a circle easel card on one of the forums I'm on and decided to use that idea.

 I used Doily Circles 2 from Birds Cards and added a base to it to form the easel which I cut on my Cougar cutting machine. I cut a single Doily Circle 2 & printed Confetti London in the centre. I then coloured her with my trusty Promarkers.

As you can see the easel construction means it stands up on it's own. I used adhesive pearls (coloured with Promarkers) as the 'stop' to make the easel card work. The Happy Birthday stamp is a wooden stamp (brand unknown).

As you can see the card fold flat for postage.

I then decided Confetti London looked a little lonely, so I made her a friend using Kams Heart (retired Digi (No longer available))

Don't they make a cute couple!

Don't forget to pop over to the Digi Galore Blog and enter your own Anything But a Square creation.