Monochrome Tag

Happy Easter Sunday to one and all, it's a really dark damp day here in Kent so I've spent some time in the craft room. We've had heavy rain and claps of thunder so typical weather for Easter. Anyway todays offering I'd like to enter for Clarity's monthly challenge titled Monochrome. For this I have used Distress ink and stain in just the Tumbled Glass.

ITEMS USED

Distress ink and Stain in Tumbled Glass

Brick and Square Honeycomb Stencil by Clarity

Stamps by Clarity; Word chain no 5, Edelweiss, Cow Parsley and Quirky Gate

Grunge Paste

Theuver Card by Clarity

Glossy Accents

Versa-mark ink pad

Clear Embossing Powder

Small mdf heart

White cotton seam binding

Bakers  Twine

Treasure Gold in Sapphire

Firstly I cut a tag from theuver card and coloured the background by applying the distress stain to the craft mat, spritzing with water and swiping the tag through several times backwards and forwards.

I then applied the distress ink through the brick mask using a make-up sponge. Next I stamped the 3 Edelweiss at the bottom and the Cow Parsley to the edges. Once the ink was dry the grunge paste was applied through the Honeycomb stencil. This was left to dry for about 30 mins and the edges of the tag were distressed using a pair of scissors and then distress ink applied using a blending tool. The grunge paste will absorb the ink so more was applied to these areas. 

The treasured gold wax was then lightly applied with my finger to the raised honeycomb areas and once dry buffed with a soft cloth.

I then added the glossy accents to the centres of the edelweiss. 

Next stamp the word Imagine onto some card in the versa-mark ink and sprinkle with the clear embossing powder and heat. Lightly apply some distress ink so as to just colour the card slightly. Then place the brick stencil over the embossed image and apply ink with a sponge, once the ink is dry a light rub over the embossed image will make the word pop. This was then cut to size and the edges stamped with the cow parsley so as to tie the whole thing together.

The quirky gate was then stamped in the tumbled glass onto card and then cut out with a craft knife.

The cotton tape was coloured using the distress stain and ink onto the craft mat and sprayed with water, dragging the tape through the wet solution and scrounging it up as you go. This was left to dry in a bundle but you can dry it with a heat gun if you are in a hurry. This does stain the fingers slightly so not a job to do before going out for a nice meal!

Last component the heart, this I applied several layers if ink to and then sanded it between applications as I wanted some areas of shading. This took on a slightly greener hue where it had been sanded the most.

This was then embossed with clear embossing powder twice to give a glossy finish and a different texture.

Now it's down to sticking the parts together. the gate and the word plaque were both stuck on with pin flair glue as I wanted some height to these items, the bakers twine was threaded through the hole in the heart and then tied onto the tape at the top.

One tag and one ink pad, but using different textures and mediums you can achieve a range of colours.

Thank-you as always for popping by and I hope you all enjoy the rest of your Easter whatever you may be doing. Comments and messages are always appreciated and if you have any questions I will answer then asap. Take care and see you soon  Jane x

Spring Colours

Hi Everyone, I hope you all had a good weekend and that you were lucky enough to have the gorgeous sunshine on Sunday that we had here in Kent. It was lovely getting out into the garden to get on with some much needed weeding and dividing of some of the perennials.

Anyway less of the waffling and onto todays crafty offering. This I would like to enter into Lavinia Stamps Blog Challenge titled "Spring Colours".

Items used

Lavinia Stamps; Fairy House, Fairy Mia, Slender Mushrooms, Small hearts and Fairy Dust is like verse.

Spellbinders Die Ribbon Banners Lg

Imagination Crafts Stencil Bay Leaf

15cm x 15cm card blank

White card for stamping

Contrasting card for mounting

Versa-mark ink pad

Ranger Seafoam White Embossing Powder

Clear UTEE

Distress Inks in Squeezed Lemonade, Iced Spruce, Peeled Paint, Milled Lavender, Wild Honey, Victorian Velvet, Tumbled Glass and Pumice Stone

Brilliance Ink Pad in Pearlescent Olive

Perfect Pearls Mica in perfect pearl

10cm Square mask 

To begin with ink up some white card with the Distress inks using all the colours except the Pumice Stone. I used a brush but a blending tool or cut and dry would all work.

Then stamp the fairy house in versa-mark and emboss with the white powder.

This image was then cut into a 9cm square, which was then cut into 4 equal tiles as in the picture below.

These were then very lightly inked with the pumice stone ink and the excess wiped from the embossed image. this helps the image "pop" slightly.

These 4 tiles were then mounted onto a contrasting colour card. 

The remaining inked card was then stamped with the fairy verse and the slender mushrooms in versa-mark and embossed in the white EP. The verse was die cut with the ribbon die and a matching die cut using the contrasting card. These were stuck together so as to form a shadow behind the verse.

The slender mushrooms were then cut out and inked with the versa-mark and embossed with the Utee, this was repeated so as to give a good coverage and give the impression of a glazed tile. This was also mounted onto the contrasting card and a hole was punched for some ribbon to be threaded through.

OK now it's time to start on the card blank, firstly using the square mask lightly ink the centre of the card with the squeezed lemonade.

Remove the mask and then cut a paper mask the same size as the centre aperture of the mask used. This will then be used to cover the area that has been inked. To keep this in place I use the sticky part of a post-it note pad folded in half under the paper mask.

Once the centre is covered the fairy was stamped in the top lefthand corner using the pearlescent olive ink. The small hearts were randomly stamped using the milled lavender D.I. These were then brushed with Perfect Pearls mica powder to give a subtle shimmer.

Next using the bay leaf stencil the flower stems were inked through using the peeled paint and the victorian velvet.

Now all thats left to do is to stick the 4 mounted parts of the fairy house in the centre and then attach the verse and little glazed tile. Job done!

Well I hope you liked todays card making session, one that would be very easy to adapt to any type of stamped image, whether it be for a male or female, young or the not so young---

Thank you as always for stopping by and reading this post and any comments, questions or queries are always much appreciated. Until next time we meet take care and have a good week, Jane x

Good Luck Card for a Dear Friend

Hi Everyone and a very happy Friday to you all. Todays card I made for a very dear friend who is leaving her job soon as the travelling to London has started to take its toll, so she has decided to work nearer home to be able to spend more time with her family. I would also like to enter it for The Sunday Stampers Challenge as the theme is 'Browns' and it fits the bill nicely.

As there is a fair amount of die cutting in this project I will just go into detail for the parts that need explaining like the background, flowers and ivy leaves.

ITEMS USED

Stamps; Studio 490 Flower Art, Heartfelt Creations Sun Kissed Fleur, Good Luck greeting

Old book pages

White card for stamping + odd pieces in various colours for die cutting

Dies; Tim Holtz Trellis, Bird and cage movers and shapers, Sizzix Vine 2, Memory Box Garden Sprig.

Distress Inks in Vintage Photo, Iced Spruce, Walnut Stain and Antique Linen.

Versa-mark ink pad

Black and Clear Embossing Powder.

Brilliance ink pad in Coffee Bean

Distress Stains in Brushed pewter, Antique Bronze, Gathered Twigs, Seedless Preserves, Picket Fence and Fired Brick.

Card For mounting from Craftwork Cards Sweet Pea Collection.

Distress Stickles in Vintage Photo

Glossy Accents

Cosmic Shimmers Antique Gold Mica Powder

Treasure Gold in Olive Bronze and Renaissance

DecoArt Metallic Lustre in Black Shimmer

Sizzix Embossing Folders

To start with the background white card was stamped with the large grid stamp from the Flower Art set in Iced Spruce. It was then brushed all over with the Antique Linen and the Vintage Photo. Once dry it went through the embossing folder and then the raised parts were coloured using a blending tool and the Iced Spruce and the Walnut Stain around the edges. The trellis and the ribbon were then attached.

I then added a contrasting ribbon to the centre of the green ribbon and some Olive Bronze wax to the edges of the trellis and odd parts of the raised background.

Next I stamped the Flowers onto the book pages in versa-mark and embossed with the black EP. These were then coloured with the Distress Stains mixing the colours as I went on a white tile.

You can achieve some lovely colours when you mix them together.  The picture below shows one using Antique Bronze, Seedless Preserves and Gathered twigs.

Although its hard to see in this photo the metallic does give a wonderful shimmer.

I stamped and coloured many more flowers than I needed but they are now in a box ready for another project. The flowers were cut out with scissors, there is a die for these but they really are quite easy to cut by hand.

I then decided on how I would layer the flowers up before applying the metallic lustre and treasured gold to parts of the petals. These were then buffed when dry and the flowers assembled using a wet glue. The centres were then filled with Glossy Accents and when that was completely dry I added some Stickles.

The card that I used to mount the work on was from Craftwork Cards and this had some Walnut Stain added to the edges just to draw the eye in. 

Next I did the die cutting, The ivy leaves were cut, then embossed with the Far out Florals folder, then using a blending tool inked with Walnut Stain. The picture below shows the before and after vine and I feel for this project it needed that extra texture.

The greeting was stamped onto white card in the Coffee Bean ink , then embossed with the clear EP and the ladybird was coloured with a red pencil. This was then cut with a craft knife and the edges distressed with a pair of scissors and inked with the Vintage Photo. Whilst the ink was still wet I brushed on some mica powder to add a slight shimmer as it catches the light.

Ok all components now ready its just down to assembling, I used Pinflair glue for this as I wanted some parts to have a bit of depth to them. The Dragon fly was cut from a punch and the word adventure was from an old K & Company chipboard set I had but felt it fitting in well.

Well I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, perhaps some quality crafting time to be had! Whatever you do have fun, thanks as always for stopping by and hopefully we will get together again soon. Until next time take care, Jane x

Please feel free to leave any questions or comments below, its always lovely to hear from you and I will answer any queries asap.