Colourful Butterflies

Hello everyone, over on the Design Team Blog, we run a feature twice a month called Fifteen Minute Cards. The Design Team girls create quick cards in under fifteen minutes and we add a short description alongside each card for the viewer to see how the cards were made.

For the current post, I have made a card using stamps from the Butterfly Blush stamp set to create a multi-coloured background. I used a variety of Memento Inks, and stamped the images onto a piece of white card, building up the images until I had more or less covered the background. Sometimes I used second generation stamping to give a variety of shades, and a feeling of depth to the background. I then added a co-ordinating image from the Just Butterflies stamp set, which I coloured with Zig Clean Colour Brush Markers. I stamped part of the image onto the background first, to get the antennae onto the background, saving me the job of cutting them out.

I added a sentiment from the Pretty Poppies stamp set, and a string of dots trailing from the butterfly with the aid of a stencil, using a fine-tipped black marker.

Please pop over to the Design Team Blog to see the inspiration provided by the rest of my Team mates. Thanks for stopping by, xx

A Splash of Blue

Hello everyone, it's time for another weekly post over on the Chocolate Baroque Challenge Blog, and this week, I am providing part of the inspiration. I have made a very simple card using some left over scraps of background paper. I save all of my useable pieces for times such as these when I can use the oddments to make another card.

This month's challenge colours are a monochrome mix of turquoises, and I found a piece of watercolour paper that had a pale turquoise wrinkle free distress background on it. I stamped the Floral Weave cling mounted stamp onto the background using a lovely teal shimmery embossing powder. I have had this embossing powder for years and years, but it still works so well, and I love the colour. I stamped the sentiment from the Birthday Words stamp set onto another strip of the background, using Memento Nautical Blue Ink. I edged the pieces of background using a Distress crayon, smudging the crayon with my finger. I stuck all of the strips of card onto a piece of deep teal card, and added some flat-backed pearls to finish.

Do hop over to the challenge blog to see the rest of the Design Team inspiration, and to see how you can enter the challenge and win a voucher to spend at Chocolate Baroque.

Thanks for stopping by, xx

Brusho Journalling

Hello everyone, I have a project that is a departure from my usual projects today. We are exploring texture on the Design Team Blog this month, and I decided to create a two page journal spread, using layers to give a feeling of texture to the pages.

I have an A4 Pink Pig Journal, several in fact, and used one of these to create my project. The pages are quite robust for adding water, paint, etc. I started by sprinkling Turquoise, Violet and Lime Green Brusho onto the pages, (which I had placed newspaper underneath, so that I could keep the rest of the journal dry), and then spritzed the pages with water. I used two large spare pieces of watercolour paper to blot the pages, so that the excess water did not run everywhere, and I now have two extra pieces of background for other projects.

I added some stencilling with both Distress Inks and white paint. I chose to use in particular Three Quarter Face, and added a stamped image from the Texture Fragments stamp set below to give the suggestion of a lacy dress. I also added an image from the Tangled Fragments stamp set and Shabby Shutters Distress Ink  to build up the background layers. I added a few bottle top ring marks using left over white paint to echo the circular stencil that I had used.

Finally, I added sentiments from the Positive Pants and Rockstar Diva stamp sets.

This was one of those projects that was a lot of fun to make, as I had no real idea at the beginning how it was going to end up! Thanks for stopping by, xx

Bouquet of Sunflowers

Hello everyone,September is a very busy month for me, with lots of family Birthdays. My Mother-in-Law has her Birthday in September, and so when I needed to make another DT project this design seemed perfect to double up as her Birthday card. She loves sunflowers, they are her favourite flower, and so I wanted to make them the focal point of the card.

I have created the card, using stamps from the Sunny Sunflowers stamp set, stamping the flowers and leaves, masking them as I went along, to create a cluster of flowers in the corner of the card. Once I had masked all of the images, I created a Brusho background, using red, yellow and brown pigments.
I embossed an image from the Texture Fragments stamp set around the edge of the background, using gold embossing powder. I then coloured the images in using Distress Markers, and added some shading with Faber Castell watercolour pencils.
Finally, I added a sentiment from the Mackintosh Sentiments stamp set, and matted the background onto a black card blank.

Once I had created my card, I had quite a bit of left over colour on my craft mat. I used a large water colour tag to mop up some of the colour, and dried it completely. I repeated the process a couple of times, until I was happy with the overall colour on the tag. I stuck the tag to a thick piece of burgundy card, and added some shading, using Seedless Preserves Distress Ink around the edge of the tag.

I stamped some more sunflowers and leaves onto some spare watercolour paper, and coloured them in using Zig Clean Colour markers. I arranged the flowers and leaves onto the tag, adhering them with a dries clear glue. I added some micro beads to the centre of the main flower for some added texture. Some toning ribbon completes the tag.

 Thanks for stopping by, xx

My Birthday Girl

Hello everyone, I rarely post anything other than crafty news on my blog, but it's my Daughter's 27th Birthday today, and I wanted to share that piece of information with you. Where does the time go? It does not seem so long ago that she was a tiny scrap of a thing in my arms, a little thing plodding off to school, or a moody teenager wanting to wear something completely inappropriate to the school disco. It broke our hearts to pack her off to University, feeling it was too soon to let her go, and we welcomed her back with open arms a couple of years ago, when she came to live with us again "for a few months, while we get ourselves sorted out". I am incredibly proud of my lovely girl, who is currently studying for her Master's Degree in Social Work, not an easy career path to take, as she wants to work with troubled youngsters, and adolescents in the mental health sector. She is my ray of sunshine, and has a caring heart to match.

I have made her a simple card for her Birthday, as she does not like a lot of fuss and bother. I chose to use a Banksy style image, and sentiment from Inkylicious, creating a wrinkle free Distress background. I made the card in about twenty minutes, it was a really quick card. I stuck to two colours for my background, Mermaid Lagoon, and Seedless Preserves, these two blended together create a lovely combination. I simply matted the background onto a black card blank, and added a fine black border to the main image.

Thanks for stopping by, xx

It's all about the Texture

Hello everyone, this month over on the Chocolate Baroque Design Team, we are exploring texture. It can be in a variety of ways, using stencils, stamps, patterns, layers, but as long as it represents texture in some way. I knew that I wanted to create this piece as my first project, as it incorporated lots of my favourite things. I hope that you enjoy what I have created, and use some of the tips along the way.

Those of you that know me, know that I adore poppies, and I decided to create a project using one of my all time favourite Chocolate Baroque stamps. I have used this stamp so many times over the years, and I decided to make it the focal part of my design. I covered a Tando plaque with a very thin layer of texture paste, do not make your layer too thick, or this will not work. I spritzed my poppy stamp with water, and stamped the excess off onto a non-stick craft mat, before gently pressing the stamp into the texture paste. I also used a small texture stamp from the Tangled Fragments stamp set around the edges. I set the plaque to one side to dry.

I covered a square canvas with gesso, and dried this completely. Using texture paste, I added some poppy heads to the canvas with a stencil. I let the canvas dry completely. I then took one of the Gold Aztec Paints, possibly Antique Gold, (mine do not have colours on them, so I do not know, but it is the duller of the gold options in the pack), and poured out two large blobs onto my non-stick craft mat. I added Vermillion Brusho to one blob, and Sea Green to the other blob. I painted the canvas using the paints, half red, half green, blending wherever they met. I also painted the Tando plaque, using mostly green, but added a small amount of red around the edges.

Once both of the pieces were dry, I added some stamping to the canvas, using a corresponding stamp from the Harlequin Fragments stamp set, using red and green Archival Ink. I added some gilding wax to the textured areas on both pieces, and edged both pieces with Gold Soft Form Relief Paste. This makes a super edging, as it is very easy to apply.

I added some pretty green/grey lace to the canvas before attaching the Tando plaque. I wanted this piece to provide a bit of a boost on those days when I am feeling a bit grey, and so I added an inspirational quote from the Words of Wisdom stamp set.

The picture taken outside shows the shimmer from the paint and the gilding wax, whereas the photograph taken inside shows up the texture detail a bit better.

I will be back later in the month with another texture piece to share. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Brusho Trees

Hello everyone, it's time for another weekly post on the Chocolate Baroque Challenge Blog, and I am providing part of the inspiration this week. I have created a card using Brushos, choosing Vermillion, Orange, Lime Green and Emerald Green as my colour choices.

I die cut a rectangle from smooth watercolour paper, and added a circle mask, before sprinkling the four colours of Brusho across the paper. I spritzed the paper with water, and used a second piece of paper to blot the excess water. I repeated the process with the larger background piece. The beauty of this mehod is that I have two more pieces of watercolour paper ready for another project!

I removed the mask, and added some colour using Squeezed Lemonade and Wild Honey Distress Ink. I then stamped the tree from the Fantasy Woodland stamp set, and added a sentiment from the Mackintosh Sentiments stamp set. I added a small amount of shading under the tree using Peeled Paint Distress Ink, to ground the tree.

Finally, I matted the background onto olive card, and added a toning ribbon, before adding the main image.

Do pop over to the challenge blog, and check out all of the details about the challenge itself. You will also find lots of inspiration on the blog fromk my Design Team mates. Thanks for stopping by, xx