Flittering on By

Hi folks, well it is still really cold here, how about where you are? My OH went to work yesterday morning, and it was minus eighteen degrees! That is mighty chilly!! I will be so glad when Spring decides to arrive.

Anyway, I have decided to show you a card that I made a few weeks ago for one of the Create and Craft TV shows, featuring the stamps from IndigoBlu
It is unusual in that I have chosen to use black card for my background, but I think that this shows the gilding flakes off to their full potential. I have matted the card with copper and gold card, bringing out the colours of the gilding flakes. I have stampd two butterflies, and coloured them with Polychromos pencils.

 

The stamp set I used was called 'Wild Meadow' there are some great stamps on there. I'll be posting several cards that I have made using the gilding flakes and the stamps from IndigoBlu over the next few days. There is going to be another TV show coming up on 26th Feb. Look out for some more new samples from me in the programme hopefully!

I hope that you are all keeping warm today, getting a bit of crafting done, or generally taking things easy, thanks for stopping by, xx

Just to remind you

Hi folks, I know two posts in one day, a rare thing for me! I just wanted to remind you that Kay from IndigoBlu will be demoing on Create and Craft again tomorrow. She will be on the 'Tool Shed' programmes at 12-12.30 and 1-1.30, so watch out for lots of Design Team samples. She will be demoing Flitterglu and the gilding flakes again. The stamps will be for the most part, different to those on the last show, so there will be a whole batch of new samples.

However, I've got one of the samples from the last Show for you today. This one is using 'Ella Bella' and the 'Harlequin' stamps. I have created my background using the wrinkle free distress technique, then stamped the harlequin stamp twice, using Versafine Onyx Black ink. I stamped 'Ella Bella' with Flitterglu and flakes onto a cream circle, and then edged the circle with Distress Ink. I made some rolled roses, added some gold leaves and some curled wire as an embellishment.

 

Don't forget to look out for my new samples on the show, and hopefully, I'll post some on here in the coming weeks. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Aloysius goes green

Hi folks, here's another sample that I made for the Create and Craft TV show that Kay from Indigoblu presented recently. I was so proud to see my samples on the TV, and had a lot of fun making these.

This particular sample is another one of those book cards that I enjoy making so much. You have seen me make them before, so I won't go in to the specific details of how to make them, but there is a tutorial on the Whiff of Joy tutorial blog.

I used some green Bazzil card as the base card for the book, adding some old book paper for interest. This paper was quite old, so I layered it onto card to make the flower, to give it some strength. I used Claudine Hellmuth Matte Medium, taking care not to get any on the top surface, as I wanted to colour the paper.

(My good blog friend Elaine gave me a great tip that matt Mod Podge works if you want to colour over the top. I have now bought some, and am going to give this a go. She has had great success, and made some stunning pieces of art.)

I coloured some card with Old Paper Distress Ink, and then stamped the card with Flitterglu, covering it with some of the flakes. The result is a lovely shimmery crackle effect. I distressed the edges and coloured these with Walnut Stain Distress ink. I stamped the bear onto a piece of card coloured with Scattered Straw Distress ink, using Versafine Vintage Sepia ink, and cut the image out. I assembled the front of the card, adding some lace and a bow for the bear.

For the tag, I created the background as before, using Flitterglu and flakes on the crackle stamp. I then stamped Aloysius onto shrink plastic using Stazon Timber Brown ink. I coloured the image with pencils before cutting it out and shrinking it. I added a piece of lace and ribbon to match the front of the book card.

The niche inside the book was simply coloured with Distress Inks and stamped with the crackle stamp. Although the bear stamp could be used for a child's Birthday card, I felt that the colours I had used meant that this card could be suitable for a bear lover of any age!

I'll be back in a couple of days with another sample using the gilding flakes and Flitterglu. Pop over to the IndigoBlu website to take a look at all of the fabulous stamps that they have. I'm working on the next batch as you read this, preparing for the next show. Thanks for popping by, xx

Feeling Flaky!

Hi folks, I thought that I would show you one of the designs that I made for Kay and Alfie over at IndigoBlu This is one of the cards that I made for the show for Create and Craft last week. Unfortunately, this one didn't get an airing, I spotted it, but I knew what to look for. It was in the wrong pile, but never mind.

I have used a gorgeous stamp called 'Love Is', which I have stamped with Flitterglu, and then applied gilding flakes to show off all of the lovely details of the stamp. I have used the same stamp to create a border around the edge of my card. The heart has little birds and dragonflies around it. I have chosen slightly unorthodox colours for a romantic card, but I really like these caramel tones. The gilding flakes have a great verdigris tinge to them, so I added a pearlescent green card as a layer behind everything else.

I have made another one of those handmade flowers using the brass ring, and pouring seed beads into the Glossy Accents. These are such fun to make.

I am prepping samples for the next TV show as we speak, which is due to be aired on 29th January. I'll show you some more samples over the next few days. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Forgotten Friday 44- Silver and Blue

Phew, what a day I've had! I've been trying to post these cards all day, and everything has just conspired against me. I did joke to someone earlier that I'd have to rechristen the post 'Slipped my Mind Sunday' soon!
I've been mighty busy the last couple of weeks with other crafting commitments, and unfortunately didn't manage a post last week. So, I'm making up for that this week with two cards. These are my first Christmas cards of the year, ta da!

I am working on a theme of silver and blue, as you can see from my post title. My first card uses some beautiful stamps from Art Journey, from a set called 'Noel'. I love these stamps, but it is the first time that I have used them, in fact I only cut them out for this card! I have gone for a clean and simple theme, unusual for me, but these stamps look lovely used this way.

I stamped the girl, masked her off, then embossed the words. I used a smidgen of colour, then coloured her face and her highlights in with Polychromos, before blending them.

My second card is made using IndigoBlu stamps. Now I told you a while back that I have been very lucky to have been asked to work with their stamps, producing samples for them. I am now officially on their Design Team, and on Sunday they have a programme on Create and Craft! Have a look at 11.00 a.m. and see if you can spot any of my samples. You all know my 'style', so you may think you know which ones I have made if they don't call my name out anyway! The show is to promote 'Flitterglu' and the gilding flakes that IndigoBlu sell, as well as several of their fabulous stamp sets. I have made a very quick card here, using the gilding flakes on the santa and reindeer, plus the sentiment, to show you how the glue and flakes will pick out quite fine detail.

Right, so that's two Christmas cards that I've got made already this year. How are you getting on? Why don't you have a rummage through your stash, I bet you haven't finished packing everything away after Christmas properly yet anyway. Make a Christmas card or two, and leave a comment on my post, and I'll pop along to your blog and take a look. Why not stick to the theme of blue and silver, as I have done?

Thanks for popping by xx

Forgotten Friday 42- It's been a while

Hi Folks, it's been a couple of weeks since I've done a Forgotten Friday post, and I'm really not expecting any of you to go rushing out to make something to join in this close to Christmas. The makes that I'm going to show you today are coincidental, not specifically for this post either. We are all so busy at this time of year.

Unfortunately, I haven't been that well recently, so crafting has been almost impossible for me, which has been really frustrating in the lead up to Christmas. I am buying a lot of my cards this year, but listening to a lot of other people, I'm not the only one. I hope that you aren't all feeling the pressure of the season too much. Hopefully you will be able to approach the big day ready to wind down, enjoy some time with friends and family, and that you can relax for a while. I know, I'm not ignoring the fact that there is a huge dinner to cook on the day, believe me! However, I have three helpers who do the vegetable peeling and the washing up, so I have learned to delegate!

Anyway, on to my projects this week. I have been making a book card with my card class for the last couple of weeks. It wasn't meant to take so long, but the construction was a little involved, and then the front needed decorating. I then showed them how to make the TH pine cones, so it became quite time consuming. My project was based on a project taken from the Whiff of Joy tutorial blog, there is a great 'how to' video on the blog. I have used a neglected Martha Stewart punch to make paper lace to decorate both the inside and outside of the project, colouring the card with Antique Linen Distress Ink.

I then embossed a favourite Chocolate Baroque holly swirl stamp in gold onto my background card, and then added various green Distress Inks. I then stamped an unused LOTV angel stamp onto an oval of card, which I had already coloured slightly with some of the green inks. I coloured the image with Coloursoft pencils. I added some more of the paper lace, and two of the pine cones and foliage from the same die, which I had inked with Pine Needles Distresss Ink.

My second project is a Birthday card that I needed to make for a twenty year old this week. I wanted something quite vibrant to reflect her vivacious personality. I used some Distress Inks patted onto my craft mat, spritzed with water, and dragged my card through the colours repeatedly, building up the layers. I then sprayed a Crafty notions white spray over the top to knock the colour back slightly. I then stamped an IndigoBlu crackle stamp over the top.

I stamped 'Ella Bella' from IndigoBlu onto the background, using Archival black ink. I added some lovely sari ribbon that my crafty friend Lesley had given me, I have been hoarding this for an eternity, and the colours are gorgeous. I then added a silver butterfly that I had coloured with Stream and Wild Plum alcohol inks, again, a neglected craft item. To finish, I added some tiny flat-backed self-adhesive pearls on the image. I have lots of these, but rarely use them.

If you feel like making something with your forgotten stash, please leave a comment, and I'll pop along to your blog to take a look. However, please don't feel guilty if you are too busy this week. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Dandelion Fairy

Hi folks, it's not often that I post on a Saturday I know, however, I had a rare chance to make a tag yesterday, just for fun. It wasn't for a challenge, or a swap, just a bit of relaxing time.

I stuck to my comfort zone of a Distress Ink background, as I wanted to achieve a certain colour. I used Old Paper, Mustard Seed, and Crushed Olive, blended and then spritzed with water. I used three stamps by Clarity stamps, available from Chocolate Baroque  which I stamped in Versafine ink. I stamped the verse in Onyx Black at the top of the tag, followed by the fairy at the bottom in a darker green. I stamped the individual leaf around the edges. I then coloured a piece of scrap card with the same colour Distress Inks and stamped the fairy and the leaves again. I cut the top layers of the fairy's dress out, and highlighted the stems with Glamour Dust. I highlighted all of the remaining leaf stems with a white pencil.

Just a quick note also to say that I have posted my latest project on our joint blog Some of you will have seen it already, as you follow both blogs, but if you haven't, please pop over and take a look. The details of how I made it are all over there.

Thanks for stopping by today, have a great weekend, whatever you are up to, Judith xx