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 45- Red and Brown

Hi folks, it's Friday again, and that means that it's time to rummage through your crafty stash to find something neglected and make a project with it. This week, I'm giving you a colour challenge again, if you would like to take up the option, and I've gone for non-Christmassy items, as twice a month is often enough, thank you very much!

I've been rummaging through my Stamp Camp stamps, I have some beauties, and the two that I have chosen for this project are no exception. I bought these when I went to the Happy Stampers show at Port Sunlight, one in the Autumn, and one from the show previously, in May. I love all of the Stamp Camp stamps that I have bought, but I seem to buy them, and forget about them. Anyway, I stamped 'Side Face' onto Kraft card, and coloured it with Polychromos pencils. This stamp came out so well, just with Versafine Vintage Sepia. I created a piece of background paper by spritzing white card with Distress reinkers and water, then stamping a fabulous leafy stamp over the top again with the same Versafine ink.

I made a flower by spritzing some handmade paper with the reinker solution and some gold Perfect Pearl spray, before cutting the shapes out. I really like to put these brass rings in the middle, and drop seed beads into Glossy Accents for the centres.

I'm going to leave the card without a sentiment for now, and when I need a card for someone special, I'll put the right words on before I send it to the recipient. It's been lovely to just make something for fun today. Why don't you have a look through your stamps and other crafty supplies. If you do make something, post a link in my comments, and I'll pop along to take a look. Thanks for stopping by, xx
 
EDIT: Following a couple of enquiries about how I made the flower in my comments today, I thought I'd just pop back to let you know what the die was that I have used. It is the Peony Nestability die. Hope this helps.

Popping in midweek, whatever next?

Hi folks, it is unusual for me these days to find the time inbetween my Forgotten Friday posts to come and say hello. However, I have been feeling that my poor blog has been woefully neglected lately. My OH and I have just got back from an overnight trip at a lovely hotel called Dunston Hall on the outskirts of Norwich, in Norfolk. My two BILs bought us the trip for our Silver Wedding Anniversary back in November. It was a lovely gift, as it gave us a brief bit of time out, and the surroundings were lovely.

The hotel seemed very imposing when we arrived, but I loved the tall twisted chimneys.

The frosty mornings were just so cold though, I would have liked to have seen more of the grounds, but it was just too chilly to walk around. This week, I have been working on shrink plastic with my card class, at their request. I made a card with them based on a lovely project made by Linda Elbourne for the Craft Barn She used Tim Holtz fragments, Paper Artsy stamps, and shrink plastic. I started by getting the class to make a masterboard with Distress Inks, choosing Old Paper, Victorian Velvet, and Crushed Olive for myself. They chose completely different colours. I kept the application fairly light, as I wanted to add lots of layers afterwards. Now as my shoulder is still quite painful, my blending is still a bit off, so I misted my card with water when I had finished, which kind of smoothes the blending out a bit. I then used a chicken wire mask and went over the Old Paper sections again, using Old Paper DI over the mask. At this point, I chopped my card in half. On one piece of card, I started to add lots of small Paper Artsy stamps, using the DI colours that I had used on my background, to build up some layers. I then stamped the large flower head in Black Archival Ink three times. I stamped the word 'Fly' and the 'birds in the grass' stamp onto the plainer piece of card, again using archival ink, and heat set this. I stuck the fragment pieces over the top of these stamped images with Glossy Accents, trimmed around them, and smoothed the edges with a nail file. I then cut two Nestability butterflies from clear shrink plastic, after sanding it a bit, to give it a key. I coloured it lightly with pencils, and then stamped it with parts of a scroll stamp, using Stazon ink. I shrunk these, bending them slightly with my asbestos fingers, while they were still warm (very hot!) Then I edged these with a gold Krylon pen. Once the card was assembled, I stuck the butterflies to the card with Glossy Accents.

I loved Linda's original project, and I hope that she won't mind me casing it for the much simpler project that my card class really enjoyed putting together.

Thanks for stopping by today, and I'll be back on Friday with my Forgotten Friday project, 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 43- Winter Wings

Hi Folks, I hope that you all had a great Christmas, and are looking forward to the New Year ahead. I have had a lovely time with family and friends, in spite of struggling with a trapped nerve in my arm. I had a cortisone injection just before Christmas, which sadly hasn't eased the problem at all. I have had lots of help from my family though, so it hasn't all been bad.

I have had a forced break from crafting due to the sore arm, and my project today has been the first for several weeks. I have chosen to use lots of neglected stamps for this card. I have decided to make two Christmas items a month for my Forgotten Friday projects at least, to keep me prepared for Christmas next year. Sadly, the Bah Humbug blog won't be running for a while, and I want to make cards all year, as I started to this year, by following their blog. So, if you want to be organied like myself, then join me in making Christmas cards twice a month, and use some of your neglected stash along the way.

I have used some never inked Jo Capper-Sandon stamps for this project, although not typically Christmas themed. You would hardly expect to see a dragonfly in the Winter! I have also used her large and small mushrooms, a stamp from the Judikins Botanical cube, and a tree from the Chocolate Baroque 'Aboretum Design a Tree' stamp set. All of these stamps are neglected stamps, so I have been very good this week. I masked everything off, and then coloured the background with Distress Inks. I coloured the images with Polychromos pencils, then added a touch of Stickles to the dragonfly wings.

If you have time this week, why not have a trawl through your stash, and make something with a forgotten item or two? Leave a link to your project in my comments, and I'll pop along to your blog to take a look.
Have a very Happy New Year all of you, and thanks for all of your support this year. I look forward to crafting with you in 2012, thanks for stopping 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

White Christmas Challenge

Just to let you know that Glenda is hosting a White Christmas Challenge over on her blog at the moment. The more people that enter, the bigger the prize fund becomes, with the maximum amount being £50 in Chocolate Baroque vouchers. That could buy a lot of stamps!. The deadline for the challenge is 15th December. Why not go and take a look? The winner is drawn at random, so everyone gets a chance to win.

Forgotten Friday 41- Pockets and Tags

Hi Folks, it's Friday again, and time to rummage through your forgotten stash again. See if you can find something that you have neglected, and make something with it.

Since last week, I've been on my trip to Paris with my Husband, where we celebrated our 25th Wedding Anniversary. We had a lovely time, visiting the sights, and taking a much needed break from our normally hectic lives. When we arrived at the hotel, there was a bunch of dark red roses waiting for me, that Terry had organised. I carried the same kind of flowers when we got married. I was very touched that he had been so romantic.

We were staying just off the Champs Elysees, and there was a Christmas Market set up there, which put us in the Christmas spirit straight away. We visited all of the main sights, including the Eiffel Tower. It's beautiful at night, and sparkles on the hour every hour for five minutes.

We spent a few hours one day in the Montmartre district. This was my favourite area. We climbed up the steps to see the Sacre Coeur, and it really does glow pink in the sunset.

We wandered around the cathedral, and I had been hoping, although not expecting, to find a view that matched a particular Darkroom Door stamp that I have. I love this stamp, and have used it on the front of my Paris journal that I am working on to commemorate this trip.

Terry thought I was mad to get so excited when I actually found the street! I guess only a crafter would understand, LOL!

We visited the Moulin Rouge area while we were in Montmartre, bypassing the seedier elements, enough said!
We managed to get a trip to the Louvre, seeing the Mona Lisa. We climbed the Arc de Triomphe, 265 steps, which reminded me that I'm not getting any younger! We also went up the Eiffel Tower, and enjoyed some stunning views. On our last day, we visited Notre Dame, which I was particularly pleased about, as the building is beautiful.

We really enjoyed the trip, and would visit Paris again, as there is a lovely vibe to the place. The weather was very mild too for the time of year, and we quite often didn't even need to wear our coats.

So onto my project for this week. I am working on my journal, and have covered my inner pages now, printed out my photographs, and planned out what is going where with all of my memorabilia. Most of the leg work has been completed, so it is just a matter of sticking, inking, stamping, etc. However, my last journal took a long time to complete! I have concentrated on my front section this week, and created a tag pocket which contains a railway ticket for the Eurostar. I have embossed part of a Tim Holtz embossing folder onto the pocket, and used Distress Inks to pick out the embossing. I have scrunched and inked the train ticket.

On the next page, I have used a photograph to create a pocket for a tag, to which I have added an ideology tag. I am using a mixture of Darkroom Door, Chocolate Baroque, and Cavallini stamps. These are all very much neglected stamps. The Cavallini stamps are another set of stamps in a tin, they are wood mounted, and very lovely to look at. I bought them from an American lady who was selling all of her real stash, as she wanted to go digital in her crafting. They have sat unused in my craft room for ages, and this was the perfect opportunity to use them.

On the small flap, I have stamped a couple of stamps, and added a piece of Stampbord with another DD stamp. I have etched some of the details to highlight them.

I may add something else to this flap, but I'll see what bits and pieces I have left over, or if I want to do any more journalling.

Don't forget to leave a comment attached to this post if you decide to make something yourself with a forgotten item, and I'll pop along to your blog, and take a look. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Forgotten Friday- almost didn't make it!

Phew, it's Friday again, although only just. I'm preparing to go away for my Silver Wedding Anniversary trip tomorrow morning, and life is just very hectic. We are off to Paris, and are leaving early in the morning to catch a train up to London, where we are picking up the Eurostar.

It's hard to believe that it is almost twenty five years ago that we got married, the time has just vanished. I don't feel old enough for starters! My children have grown up and sometimes, (if I don't look in the mirror), I don't feel much older than them, LOL! Here's a photo of myself and Terry on our wedding day, and I am the same age as my Daughter is now.

It's not a great photo, as I just snapped the one that is hanging on the wall upstairs. My dress is from the eighties, so it looks a bit stylised these days. I won't even begin to describe my going away outfit!

Anyway, I've cheated with my Forgotten Friday project this week, as time was so tight, and have made a very simple card for my OH as my project. I chose a fabulous paper from My Mind's Eye, that I have been hoarding for ages, with the Eiffel Tower in one corner. As we are going to Paris on our trip, it seemed appropriate. I have used a mask over the top, and sponged Tattered Rose and Aged Mahogany Distress Inks over the paper. I then brushed Walnut Stain DI around the edges.

I've used another neglected item over the top- printable acetate, to add the words 'Happy Anniversary'.

It is a very quick card, but my energy levels are still quite low as I'm still getting over this bone infection in my jaw. No news of when my tooth is coming out yet unfortunately.

Anyway, why don't you have a rummage through your forgotten stash, see what you have been neglecting, and try to make something too. If you leave a comment, I'll pop along to your blog to take a look. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Forgotten Friday 39- Just tagging along

Hi folks, it's Friday again, that means it's time to rummage through your stash again to find some neglected items and make something with them.

This week, I've been making tags using a tutorial based on a post I found here using Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint. I had an unopened pot of this that had been knocking around for ages, so I thought that it was a perfect Forgotten Friday project. I dug out some neglected Christmas embossing folders, and had a go.

I found that the Tim Holtz folders are much better for this project, as they are deeper etched than Cuttlebug embossing folders, for example. However, I could try using my 'Texture Boutique' embossing machine another time, which is meant to emboss much deeper than a regular die cutting machine. It just gathers dust as I don't normally get it out for embossing these days. Here are a couple of sample tags one TH, and one Cuttlebug:

This is a fun technique to do, and makes a very pretty background. I finished the blue tag off, and will finish the red and green tag another day.

Don't forget to have a look through your own craft stash to see what you have been neglecting. If you make something, leave a comment this week, and I'll pop over to your blog to take a look. Thanks for stopping by, xx

A little bit of WOW!

Recently I have been playing around with some embossing powders from WOW, and I have to say that I am quite impressed with the range and quality of these powders. Several of my samples, if they have had embossing on them have used these particular powders recently. The extra chunky clear powder I have to say is one of the best I have come across for triple embossing, it gives a super smooth finish. I made a few samples up for WOW themselves this week, and if you've been to the NEC, you may have seen them on the stand. I am not showing you them on here, as the stamps weren't on the website last time I checked, so I'm not sure how top secret they are!

Anyway, here is a sample of a card I made for them using some fabulous stamps from IndigoBlu. I've used the copper pearl embossing powder for the large corner stamp, over a background made using Distress reinkers and water. I spritzed my background, drying each layer, until I was happy with the depth of colour. I then sponged the same colours of Distress Inks onto some white card, and stamped a couple of Butterflies with Coffee Archival Ink, before cutting them out. I've used flower stamens for their antennae.

Glenda has just started stocking some of these embossing powders over at Chocolate Baroque and she has some great samples over on her blog, which you can reach by following the link in my side bar. I hope you are all having a great weekend whatever you are up to, thanks for popping by, xx

Forgotten Friday 38- masks are not just for Halloween!

Hi folks, it's Friday again, and time to rummage through your forgotten stash to see what unused items you have laying around. This week, I've been looking through my masks, and have chosen two particularly nice ones, although one is strictly a stencil.

The first one is a holly ring from Creative Expressions, which I've had for ages, and never seem to get around to using. I have lots of their masks, and just forget about them. I did get them out for my card class recently, and they made some fabulous cards with them once I'd given them a quick tutorial. Anyway, I coloured my piece of card using Distress re-inkers and water, I used Bundled Sage, Forest Moss, and Barn Door, drying in between the layers, until I was happy with the colour. I then ran the mask through the Big Shot with the card, to get an embossed impression. I coloured the embossed area with Forest Moss Distress Ink.

I then stamped and embossed a lovely vintage Christmas sentiment, available from Chocolate Baroque in the middle of the holly ring. I have matted the card onto gold and green card, but will probably add some further embellishment before I send this card out at Christmas.

My second card uses a Sweet Poppy stencil from The Craft Station, and I love this beautiful tree. I have another similar tree that I have used before which regular blog followers may remember. I sponged various blue and green inks through the stencil, and also used a stipple brush for the smaller areas. I then spritzed Pearl Glimmer Mist over the top, before removing the stencil, and trimmed away the white frame.

I used a sentiment and digi paper from Chociolate Baroque as before. The digi paper is temporarily unavailable, but keep checking back, as this one is fabulous, and available in lots of different colourways. It's called 'Medieval Script'. Again, I'll probably add some embellishment to this card before I send it out, but I've got a few weeks yet.

I've not been that well this week, unfortunately, I've got an infection in the bone above one of my teeth. It feels like I have flu, and it has completely floored me. I'm now taking lots of antibiotics, so I will hopefully be on the mend soon. My tooth has got to come out, but that's complicated, and has to be done under general anaesthetic, so I have to wait for an appointment. Hopefully by next Friday, I'll be feeling more like myself again.

Don't forget to have a look through your crafty stash to see what items you have been neglecting. If you want to add a link to your blog during the week, I'll pop along and take a look. Thanks for stopping by today, Judith xx