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

Dotty Strip Stamp

Hello everyone, I hope that you are keeping well. I have a couple of projects to share with you today showcasing stamps featured on last month's shows from Create and Craft.

I started my project with a large card blank, and drew along the opening edge using one of the Chocolate Baroque Draw and Tear Rulers Set 1 using a pencil. I cut the excess card away. On the inside of the card, I stamped the long dotty strip from Slim Word Strip 2 with a yellow dye based ink. I stamped a word strip from Slim Word Strip 1 over the top. I used one of the leaves from the From Nature 2 stamp set to stamp randomly over the front of the card using second generation stamping. I wanted a paler background because I did not want to detract from the other parts of the card.I added a splatter stamp from Timeless, using green and yellow ink.

I took a whiteboard heart and coloured it with the same yellow and green inks, and then stamped the same word strip as I had used along the card edge. I filled the heart, moving the strip across each time I stamped, to get a random compilation of the words. It looks great on one of these hearts. 

This card was fairly quick to complete, and I can see lots of possibilities for adapting the design to suit lots of occasions. Using the big word strips, especially now we have two sets for you to choose from gives lots of choices, and I hope that you will try out this idea, or a variation of the theme.

I decided to make another card featuring the dotty strip from the Slim Word Strip 2 stamp set. I stamped the strip onto a piece of Drawing Cartridge several times using shades of green and orange Distress Ink to create an ombre effect. I stamped the fruit tree from The Tree of Knowledge stamp set onto a piece of book paper, and coloured it with Zig Clean Colour markers. I added some shading around the edges using green Distress Ink. This card would be suitable for lots of occasions- a graduation, a book lover's birthday, or even just to show someone you are thinking about them.

 Thanks for stopping by, take care, xx

 

Creating a Journal Page and Some Added Extras!

Hello everyone, I hope that you are keeping well. I have a project or two to share with you today showcasing stamps from last month's TV shows on Create and Craft. 

My first project is a two page journal spread, created in a large journal, almost A4 size. It is an American size, so not exactly the same measurement. I like to experiment in a journal, as I can often get ideas for cards and other projects when I am messing about creating journal pages. If I do not like what I create, I can just turn the page, and start again, there is no judgement, my journal is just a place to try out ideas.

I started both sides of the journal spread by inking up the large blank stamp from Slim Word Strip 1 with Distress Oxide, and spritzing it lightly with water. I pressed the stamp down the edge of each page. I chose a lovely moss green. I also stamped the stamp again onto a piece of scrap Drawing Cartridge for later.

Once the edges were dry, I stamped a couple of the word strips over the coloured edges using Versafine Clair Nocturne. I chose random stamps from Making More Marks, and Not More Flowers! using a combination of black orange and green ink to create a background over the pages. I stamped the lovely dandelion clock into the centre of the large circle on both pages, and added some of the olive gree ink within the circle to highlight the flower.

I also added some colour to the flower using Zig Clean Colour watercolour pens, a brush and some water. Finally, I masked up the strip word stamps, and inked up two of the large words on the stamps, before stamping them onto a piece of the spare Drawing Cartridge that I had coloured previously. I cut them out and scrunched these for a bit of added texture before adhering them to the page. 

I did not add any background colour to the page, the stamps themselves were enough I felt, but you could add more colour if you wish, I like the white space, it gives the stamps room to breathe.

Also available on the show were some fabulous embellishments. The first were some really useful acrylic rings, that could be coloured and stamped over. I created a card using the pretty echinacea style flower, which I stamped onto a Distress Ink background. I coloured this with watercolour pens as before, for a soft finish. I added a sentiment from the same stamp set, and then I coloured both pieces of acrylic with alcohol ink. Once they were dry, I stamped the large ring with script from Ace Card, and the little circle with a bee from Honey Bee. These embellishments are just so useful for highlighting a key area of your project, but light enough not to add to your postage costs.

Finally, we had a new sheet of shapes from Tando in three different shapes and two different sizes. These word pebbles are very versatile and can be painted, coloured, textured to create all sorts of effects. I have three samples here to show you just how effective they can be. The first example has had Drawing Cartridge added over the top, and I have added a word from one of the strip stamps, plus the little bee from the Honey Bee stamp set once again.   

The second has another word from one of the strip stamps and the Large Crackle Background over a simple painted background. 

Finally, I added coloured texture paste to  the last pebble and stamped the word strip directly into the paste. Once the paste was dry, I added some black paint, which I rubbed away after a moment or two.

I hope that you have enjoyed my projects, and will be inspired to try some of these ideas out for yourselves. Thanks for stopping by, take care, xx

In The Frame

Hello everyone, I hope that you are all keeping well. I have some projects to share with you today showcasing stamps that were featured on last month's TV shows on Create and Craft. Each of the projects were created in a very similar way, just using a different focal stamp and colours.

I started my first two projects by creating a wrinkle free distress background - adding Distress Inks to my craft mat and spritzing them with water, before placing a piece of Drawing Cartridge over the top to pick up the colour. I dried the background, and patted the Drawing Cartridge onto the craft mat again, to get a second layer of color and dried the background again.

I selected one of the long word strips from the Slim Word Strip 1 stamp set, and stamped it around the edge of the background to create a frame. I started partway in on the first side, and that allowed me to follow around each side in the same way until I had finished. 

I chose the Dandelion Clock image from Not More Flowers! which I stamped twice and embossed with clear embossing powder. I coloured the image with Zig Clean Colour watercolour pens, and then edged the background with Distress Ink. I ran a black inkpad around both layers of card before I attached them to the card blank. This saves using black card as a matting layer.

I chose a subtle yellow/green background for my second card, and the pretty large daisy or gerbera image. I used the same strip stamp, but simply varied the section that I chose to stamp.

The last background was completed by blending Distress Ink over the background with blending brushes and then spritzing the background with water. The effect is a bit softer, but definitely takes longer! I used the pretty echinacea style flower, colouring it to match the background.

I really enjoyed creating these cards, and hope that I have inspired you to try something similar. Thank you for stopping by, take care, xx