May Fairies

Hello everyone, I hope that you are keeping well. I have a few projects to share with you today featuring our May Fairy set of stamps that were showcased on this month's shows on Create and Craft. 

My first project is a simple card using some of the May patterned papers designed by Lesley. I trimmed the paper slightly and added it to a DL black card base. I stamped the fairy and a couple of butterflies onto some smooth stamping card, and coloured them with pencils to match the patterned papers. I cut them out and attached them to the background. I popped the fairy into a flower, as if she was resting there, and added some shading under her foot using a green pencil. I stamped a sentiment from Words to Dazzle and Sparkle to complete the card.

I have used a mixture of stamps to create my next card. I found a background paper designed by Lesley from my stash, and used the colours as the basis for the colour scheme. I added a dandelion head from Not More Flowers! and some dandelion seeds from Seasonal Fragments. The foliage stamped in green and heather tones is from Autumn Hedgerow, stamped in first and second generation stamping. The fairy blowing the dandelion appears to be making a wish, so I have used the same sentiment as before because it fits this card so perfectly.

I have used a couple of the smaller stamps from the May Fairy stamp set to create a little bookmark. I cut a rectangle of Drawing Cartridge and stamped the iris and butterfly from the stamp set. I added a sentiment from the Mindfulness stamp set. I painted the images with watercolour paints. I created a border with black card, punched a hole at the top and bottom and added some ribbon. This was quite a quick project, and you could make several of these in a session to give as gifts.

I made a pretty Floral card using the main image from the new Floral Abundance stamp set. I stamped this using a heather coloured ink for a change onto smooth stamping card and coloured the image with pencils. I created a background by stamping the Mindfulness word cloud repeatedly over a Distress Ink background. I used the same Heather coloured ink for the stamping to tie everything together. I used the Mindfulness stamp loose in my hand, rather than on an acrylic block, so that I could partially stamp the image in the little gaps between the circles, thereby creating a complete background.

Finally, I am sharing a quick progress photo of my concertina book. I am making this throughout the year using the patterned papers that Lesley designs each month, and using the fairies from each month's stamp sets. Once I had constructed the book, and added the black matting layers to each page, all I needed to do each month was to create the individual pages. The covers are designer papers from another set that Lesley created. I have decorated the front cover with stamps from the first half of the year, and intend to decorate the back cover with stamps from the second half of the year. It will be great to see this project through to the end and to look back at all of the designs once I have finished my book.

Thanks for stopping by, your visits are always much appreciated. xx

Floral Collages

Hello everyone, I hope that you are keeping well. I have a couple of projects to share with you today, featuring stamps from our most recent TV shows on Create and Craft. We had a great mixture of brand new stamps and some fabulous useful favourites on the show, alongside some beautiful papers and some great little tools.

My first project is a journal page spread featuring lots of the stamps from the show. I started by stamping Rosella, a lovely large poppy stamp onto one of the pages, and masked this using Masking Tissue. I stamped a large circle from Make Your Mark, and masked this as well. I then started to build up the background, adding images from Numeri, Edgy Edges and Make Your Mark. I stuck to a colour palette of bluey purple, green and grey. I love this colour combination, and will definitely use it again. I added splatters of watered down watercolour paint over the background, and stamped the Rosella image twice more onto the opposite page.

I stamped the flower heads four times onto some scrap drawing cartridge and coloured these with watercolour paints. I cut them out and decoupaged the layers in sets of two and added them to the two flowers on the left hand page. I removed the circle mask from the other flower and added a circle frame mask so that I could add some colour to the circle shape itself on the page using some green ink. I removed the frame and the poppy mask. I coloured the flower using the watercolour paints.

Finally, I stamped some sentiments onto some scrap card that I had coloured when making a previous project. It toned in really well with my colour scheme. I also used masking tape to cover up parts of the Mindfulness stamp to leave a couple of the big wors, which I inked up, removed the tape, then stamped these onto some of the same coloured background. I added the sentiment strips onto the pages in a balanced way.

I really enjoy making journal pages. They are a great way of trying out ideas, that you can often adapt to cards at a later date. For example, the single flower with the circle highlight would make a great CAS card. You could use the flower with a single background stamping of the Numeri stamp on a card, or go for a more colloaged effect using a combination of these stamps as I have done in these pages. You can vary the colours, go for a monochrome colour scheme, opt for a traditional red poppy, or use similar colour to this layout, the sky really is the limit. If your ideas don't work out, just turn the page and start again. It's only a piece of paper, after all.

 My second project is a tag card. I used a plain white tag, but you could use the really useful Acrylic Tag Template Tool to create something similar. I stamped Blossom Spray twice onto the tag, and masked the images with Masking Tissue. I added some background colour to the tag using Distress Oxide Ink and a blending brush. I then stamped Scripted Fragments with grey Versafine Clair ink over the top before removing the masks. I coloured the flowers and leaves with coloured pencils.

I used a piece of black card to make a card blank, chopping off the corners to echo the shape of the tag. If you used the tag tool to make your tag, you could do the same thing with your folded black card to make your card blank, simply by using one of the circles around the tag template to get the larger size.

I will be back later in the month to share more projects with you. Thanks so much for stopping by, xx

Butterfly Bookmark

Hello everyone,

I hope that you are keeping well. I have a useful little project to share with you today, using a combination of stamps from Chocolate Baroque. This project was a demonstration that I did on this month's TV shows on Create and Craft, which featured a whole host of butterfly themed stamps.

I started my project by creating a background using Distress Inks on my craft mat, which I spritzed with water. I placed a sheet of Drawing Cartridge onto the mat, dried the background, and picked up any remaining droplets of ink, before drying the background again. I repeated this proces with both green and blue ink.

I then stamped an image from Slim Word Strip 1 onto the background using teal ink. I stamped a butterfly from the Patchwork Butterfly stamp set onto smooth stamping card using Versafine Clair black ink, and coloured this with pencils. I coloured the body with a fineliner pen, and cut the image out, chopping off the head and bottom of the body.

I cut the butterfly in half and stuck it to each end of the word strip with glue. I drew a pencil line along the top and bottom of the word strip. It does not matter if a little bit of the words are going to be trimmed away. 

Using a ruler and a craft knife, I cut along the pencil lines, and then I cut around the butterfly shapes using scissors. I added some shading around the word strip using the blue Distress Ink that I used on the background previously. I also used a black pencil to run around the edges of the butterfly to ensure that there were no white edges from either the smooth stamping card or the Drawing Cartridge.

I scored along the middle of the strip and folded back the butterfly halves to create the bookmark. To make the bookmark more sturdy, and a bit more decorative, you can add some patterned paper to the back.

This was such a fun project to make, and I hope that you will try it out for yourselves! Thanks for stopping by, take care xx

It's been a while...

Hello everyone, I hope that you are keeping well. Goodness it's been a long time since I last posted. Life has been busy, and before you know it the weeks and months have rolled past. My Husband and I have both celebrated a significant birthday since I posted last, and we are starting to feel a few creaks in our bones! However, I am determined to keep fit and healthy for my granddaughter, who seems to think that I should be able to keep up with her as she runs around and expects me to join in with all of her crazy games. 

I have been keeping busy with my knitting and crochet, and managed to finish a couple of knitted jumpers for myself, as well as continuing to crochet lots of blankets and other projects, including toys and gifts for Ruby, my granddaughter. 

I have several projects to share with you today from our recent TV shows on Create and Craft, along with several older projects, which some of our more recent viewers may not have seen before.

My first project was created using the February Fairy stamp set, and several of the images from the Wild Meadow stamp set. This is such a useful stamp set for creating fields of flowers. I have used several different colours of Versafine Clair, and first and second generation stamping to create depth in the foliage. I have coloured the images with pencils, and added a tiny bit of glitter glue to the fairy dust.

Sticking with the Wild Meadow stamp set, I decided to create a journal page for my next project. This idea could easily be turned into a card. I took a small piece of polyester, and inked it up with some Distress Ink. I used Fossilized Amber first, and spritzed it with water, then randomly placed it over the journal page. I dried the page, then repeated the process with Salty Ocean Distress Ink. Using Nocturne Versafine Clair Ink, I stamped images from Wild Meadow onto the page to create a scene, and then added a sentiment from Artistic Expressions.

I created an optional panel using a stamp from the Eastern Grasses stamp set. This could be placed here on this page, or on the facing page, which could have the same background colour, and some journaling to complete your double page spread.

I created a super quick card using an oval mask and two different colours of Distress Ink for a background. I then stamped the silhouette fairy from this month's stamp set, a thistle from Wild Meadow and a sentiment from Birthday Words, all using Versafine Clair black ink. You may have seen the gift card set that I shared on the TV shows with lots of the fairy images throughout the year. They were all made the same way as this card.

I made a couple of little 4" x 4" cards using Eastern Grasses and some of the little worker stamps from Tranquility and Serenity. These stamps work so well together. I used an acrylic block to add colour very quickly to the background. I simply coloured the block with Distress Ink, spritzed it with water, and pressed it onto a piece of Drawing Cartridge. Once the Drawing Cartridge was dry, I stamped the images, and coloured them with pencils.

Coming full circle back to Wild Meadow, I made a pretty bookmark using some of the beautiful patterned papers that Lesley designed especially for February. I added some extra colour with Distress Inks, and used coloured Versafine inks once more. I added some script in the background from Words of Gratitude. The little bird from Serenity looks right at home amogst the foliage.

I have a couple of older cards to share, a card using Butterfly Dress and Floral Edges. I have cut out some of the butterflies from the dress to create a flurry of extra butterflies.

The following card was created using the lovely Birdcage Collage stamp:

Well, thanks so much for stopping by, I hope not to leave it so long befoe I post next time. Take care, xx