Christmas in July

Hi crafter's

I have made this card for the Indigoblu challenge, as the title says it's Christmas in July. I used the Ickle Christmas Tree stamp for my main image. The background was made with the Gelli plate. I do like icy colours for Christmas so I used various blues. To begin I used some dark blue acrylic paint applied with a brayer, lay a dots stencil from That Special Touch over the paint then copier paper. Rub over with your hand or the brayer then remove the paper and stencil. Place your card on the Gelli plate, rub over as before then take a print. Next put some turquoise paint on the plate as before, put the clocks stencil by Creative Expressions over the paint then the copier paper. Take a print. To build up more texture put some pale blue paint on the plate. This time I used sequin waste, as it's not very wide I did the top and bottom separately, use the copier paper to dab some of the paint off then take a print. Place the Paper Doilie stencil by Mr Huey in the bottom right hand corner and gently colour through the stencil with Denim ink, this stencil is quite delicate so be careful. The next thing I did was stamp the tree on to the background with Flitter glue and used gilding flakes but it just got lost and didn't stand out. So I did the tree again on a piece of white scrap card, die cut a circle. Colour the baubles in blue. When the circle is put in place you can still see some of the gilding flakes but I liked the look so a happy accident! I wanted the look of snow on the card so I embossed acetate with Swiss Dots embossing folder, then wiped white gesso over to fill the holes, wipe off any excess. Die cut a circle to fit and glue over the top of the tree. Run a dark blue promarker pen around the edges to frame. To embellish I used a die cut flourish and some small snowflakes. Apply some glue and glitter. Stick in place and add some gems. That's about it for this time, hope you like it.

Thanks for looking

Sally

Chocolate Baroque Colour Challenge

Hi crafter's

I made this card a while ago for the Chocolate Baroque challenge but have only just got around to posting it. This challenge is about four set colours, yellow, green, blue and red that have to be used, which I found a nice change from having a theme. For the background I used Scattered Straw and Lettuce. Put some colour down on to a mat and spritz with water, pick up the ink with a piece of white card. Dry with a heat gun. Lay down the quilting mask from That Special Touch, ink up a make-up sponge with lettuce and dab through the stencil. Remove the stencil and lay a piece of copier paper along one of the stitch lines. Ink up the sponge again and drag some ink from the paper out, not too far though. Repeat along all the lines to give a more 3D look. Using some of the small elements from the Haberdashery set stamp on the background using the same colours. In the top right hand corner I used a leaf stencil from That Special Touch again. Rather than using ink to colour I used clear texture paste from Cosmic Shimmer mixed with a little mica powder. Leave to dry. In the mean time stamp one of the dressmakers mannequin's on the left hand side and colour in the stand. Stamp the mannequin again on to some scrap card and colour in the body, cut out the body only. Stamp the pin cushion and thimbles then colour and cut out. All my colouring in was done with pencils. Shape using a bone folder and attach with pinflair glue. Add some glitter glue to the lace for some nice sparkle. Swipe the lettuce ink pad around the edges then attach to a white base card. That's it for this time hope you like it. 

Thanks for looking

Sally

Riding the current

Hi crafter's

When I saw this turtle stamp it reminded me of the Finding Nemo film where the turtles were riding the current, hence the title. The first thing I did was to swipe distress inks in shades of blue in a wavy line, not using too much dark blue. Ink up the turtle in black archival stamping three times masking where needed. To colour them in I used Inktense watercolour pencils. The thing I like about them is they are permanent when dry so you can go over the top adding more colour. I used blues and turquoise for the shell with a little dark purple, with light and dark brown for the rest of the body. with a touch of turquoise. I went over with a damp paint brush after each addition of colour, when dry adding more colour. Along the top and bottom of the inky waves I added some dots with distress markers in shades of blue. To finish I run a metallic blue marker around the edges before mounting on to a white base card. The turtle is one of the stamps from the Designs by Ryn range so I will enter this into the monthly draw.

I hope you like it, thanks for looking

Sally

At the ballet

Hi crafter's

I bought the ballerina stamp in the last sale because it reminded me of my own dance classes and how excited we were to start pointe work (painful though!). My only problem was I didn't want all silhouette dancers. I will explain how I did this a little later. First I attached the woodland stencil then stamped the  front two ballerina's using versamark ink and embossing with clear powder. Now ink the ballerina again using a black ink, stamp on to some scrap paper before putting the image in place. Do this three times, in the middle and to either side. Press quite firmly if stamping over the stencil to ensure a complete image. To colour the background I used distress inks in weathered wood, tattered rose and wild honey. Gradually build up the colour, starting with tattered rose and wild honey keeping weathered wood for around the sides. Use a sponge to deepen the colour at the edges. When satisfied take off the stencil. Now to deal with the embossed dancers. Turn your iron on to hot and no steam, have a piece of copier paper to hand. Place the paper over the embossing and iron over the top, you will see an image appear on the paper. Take a clean part of the paper and repeat until all the embossing powder has been removed, it will feel very smooth to touch and will be back to white card again. To colour in I used the Spectrum Noir pencils (love all pencils but really enjoy using these ones). Start with a light blue sweeping out from the waist line to create the skirt and bodice of the tutu, repeat this with darker blues until the tutu has real depth. I didn't bother doing hair just used a flesh coloured pencil to define the head, arms and legs, add some light pink to help add shape. Take a grey pencil and shade under the tutu and under their feet to ground them.
Lay the squared honeycomb stencil in the corner and wipe over some grunge paste, repeat in the opposite corner then leave to dry. Ink up the tall reeds with lettuce ink and stamp on each side, fill in the middle with a grasses stamp. Using the foliage stamp from garden elements, stamp along the top. Colour in the reeds with a green pencil. Place the now clean honeycomb stencil down on the edge and blend stonewashed ink over to give a bit of interest to the background. Blend the blue ink all around the edges going over the grunge paste building up the colour, finish with a little black. To finish I stamped over the grunge paste using the music stamp in stonewashed to add a bit more detail, mount on to white card.
I am entering this card in to the Clarity challenge Anything Goes.

That's all for this time, hope you like it. Any comments are very welcome.

Thanks for stopping by

Sally

Flight of fancy

Hi crafter's

This card is going to be my entry to the Clarity challenge. I made this card for my father-in-laws birthday. I started with some Clarity card stamped with the balloon embossed with copper bronze lustre powder. The background was made by stencilling part of the swirly stencil with stonewashed ink. In the space left in the middle I made the clouds still using the stonewashed ink. Then highlighted the clouds with wild honey ink. Next I inked up the small balloon and stamped on the right side. To create the foreground I used one of the grasses stamps and one of the stamps from the english garden elements. These were stamped in denim ink.  Using a blue fine liner pen I drew in some birds. To finish mount onto a base white card. A quick card this time, hope you like it.

Thanks for looking

Sally

All in the words

Hi crafter's

I've been a bit lazy with my blog just recently, but I have done my entry for the Clarity stamp challenge which is all about the words. I started by stamping the woven silk lady then masking her off. I then placed the aperture stencil over the top. The inside space was then very simply coloured in with inks and masks to create the scene. The colours I used are stonewashed, denim, lettuce and peeled paint. I used the leafy trailer stamp to give the impression of plants growing on the hills. Once I was satisfied with the background I put the inner mask in place and smudged ink outwards to leave a very soft outline. It did leave a white line which highlights very nicely. Next I inked up the foliage stamp from the garden elements in weathered wood, then stamped in the left hand corner in second generation ink. Now ink up the garden plants stamp in weathered wood and stamp at the bottom in first generation ink. I coloured the lady in with promarkers then over the top with Spectrum Noir pencils to intensify the depth. To finish ink up the words in black ink and stamp to one side as shown. Lastly I run a grey promarker around the edge to frame, then mounted on to a white base card. That's all for this time, thanks for looking.

Happy crafting

Sally

Monochrome

Hi crafter's

I haven't been able to blog for a while our computer has gone wrong, but as my daughter is home from uni I've borrowed her laptop. I thought I would quickly do my entry for the clarity stamp challenge. It's all about monochrome and as I like the colour blue water immediately came to mind. I saw this wave on the Chocolate Baroque website, it was a tag by the very talented Glenda. I have tried to create this many times with varying degrees of success. This time I think it works. I used two colours of ink, denim and stonewashed. Put some ink on to a craft mat and mix with a little water. Take a piece of white card and starting on the bottom sweep the ink along and upwards, repeat until it looks like a big wave. Now use the stonewashed ink in the centre of the wave. Because I have used Adirondack inks don't over work it. Ink up the shell stamp from the design club with denim, using second and third generation ink stamp along the bottom and a little up the side. Ink up the word water in denim and stamp as shown. Cut a moon mask from a post-it note and use the hole that's left. Using a sponge and denim ink colour the moon but leave a little white showing. To create the foam I used some white acrylic paint applied with a dry paint brush using a stippling motion, the curve can really be accentuated this way. To finish blend the denim ink around the edge. Sweep a little ink across the moon and draw some birds with a blue fine liner pen. Mount on to a 6" square white base card. That's all this time hope you like it.

Thanks for looking

Sally

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