Using Up Your Scrap Papers

Hello everyone, I am back with my final project using the lovely bird stamps featured in last month's TV shows on Hochanda. I have created two cards using scrap pieces of paper as the main feature, to show that sometimes what might be considered as something to throw away, can be made into a great feature for your cards and other projects.

For my first card, I made a background using Distress Oxides in three different colours, and then stamped some foliage from the Nature Swirls stamp set to create a scene using coordinating Versafine Clair inks. I stamped and embossed some of the images from Sing Your Song and Live Out Loud, using Versamark and some two tone embossing powders onto scraps of Lesley's My Floral Soul papers. I cut the images out, and added then to the scene. These papers are so lovely, I want to use up every last inch of them!

For this project, I decided to use the large owl from the Wise Owl stamp set as my focal image.

I had been making some gelli print backgrounds, and had a scrap piece of paper that I had cleaned the brayer with. The multi coloured greens looked lovely, and the paper was too good to waste. I stamped the owl using Versamark, and added two different shades of embossing powder before heat embossing, a copper and a verdigris. I then stamped some of the swirls from Let Your Heart Sing and Dawn Chorus, using Versafine Onyx Black ink, and added some flowers from Orchard Design A Tree, which I coloured using Distress Markers. I also added the sentiment from the Live Out Loud stamp set.

For the background, I used a gelli print created with green Distress Ink and bubble wrap, and stamped some of the feathers from Wise Owl and Dawn Chorus with Versamark, and swirled some mica powder over the top. I added matting layers of black card to complete the project.

Thanks for stopping by, xx

Floral Swirls

Hello everyone, as we say goodbye to to the old year, and look forward to a new year full of possibility, it is a good time to look back and reflect on the events that have unfolded in our lives over the past twelve months. Will you be glad to see the back of the past year, or have you had an amazing time? Like me, you may have had a mixture of both, but a new year always seems to be a blank canvas ready for us to make our own mark upon it.

I have made a simple card to share with you for today's post, using some of my favourite bits and pieces. I stamped a flower image from the Floral Notes stamp set onto some pretty Crafty Individuals paper, using Potting Shed Archival Ink and clear embossing powder. I cut the flowers out, and edged them with a tiny bit of Seedless Preserves Distress Ink.

I created a Brusho background on a piece of smooth watercolour paper, using lemon, violet, rose red, white and sea green. Once the background was completely dry, I stamped a swirl from the Nature Swirls stamp set twice onto the background, using Bottle Adirondack Ink. I stuck the flowers to the background, added a sentiment, and then edged the background with some Picked Raspberry Distress Ink. I added a layer of pink card to mat the background, before adhering to a card blank.

I would just like to wish you all a very Happy New Year, and may you have health, happiness and lots of creativity in the year ahead.

Vintage Paper projects

Hello everyone, I have been playing with a great mixed media pack available from Chocolate Baroque called the Vintage Style Play Pack. It is jam-packed full of bits and pieces, and will give you plenty of supplies to create lots of projects, combined with some of your existing stash. There are vintage book papers, pieces of grey board, mini envelopes, ribbons, buttons, and other embellishmebts to complete lots of cards and mixed media projects.

I have three projects to show you today, but hope to make several more projects using this great pack in the coming weeks.

For my first project, I took a piece of the book paper, and trimmed it to size, and then stamped and embossed a large flourish from the Nature Swirls stamp set over the background. I used vanilla white embossing powder, which is a lovely off white colour. I added some Fossilized Amber Distress Ink to the background, cleaning over the white embossing with  piece of kitchen paper afterwards. I die cut a flower in three different sizes from both book paper, and a piece of crinoline, and coloured the die cuts with the same colour Distress Ink. I simply patted the ink pad onto a craft mat and spritzed the ink with water, before swiping the flowers through the ink. I dried the flowers with a heat gun, scrunching them up, as they dried, to get them to stay crinkly. I attached them together using a brad, and then stuck one of the buttons from the pack on the top.

To finish the card, I chose a kraft card blank, and added a couple of toning layers of card to mat the book paper onto. I added some ribbon and a strip of hessian from the paper pack across the background, and then die cut some leaves from some extra kraft card, before finally attaching the flower.

For my second project, I decided to use some of the small greyboard panels, and attach them to a long skinny canvas. I stuck some of the book paper to the panels, using matte medium, and left them to dry. I painted the canvas and the panels with a range of acrylic paints in blue, green and yellow tones, using a baby wipe to blend the colours together. I created several layers of colour, drying each layer with a heat gun, and once I was happy with the blend, I added a touch of deep blue and purple around the edges.

I stamped a script stamp onto tissue paper and adhered this using matte medium. I stuck the panels onto the canvas, and then added some stencilling to the background using some coloured texture paste. I wanted to add a bit of interest to the greyboard panels, and so I embossed a cog texture stamp randomly onto them using Versamark, and some copper embossing powder. I also added a butterfly image from The Rose Tree stamp set, which I coloured with pencils.

To finish, I added touches of gilding wax, and a cog kindly donated by my hubby.

My final project was a happy accident, as I had some paint left on my craft mat after the canvas project. I hate to waste paint, and so I added it to another piece of book paper, and created a washed background. I cut a small piece of the hessian strip, and used it as a stencil, with some white acrylic paint randomly over the background.

There was an ATC sized  piece of Stampbord in the play pack, and I chose a pretty floral stamp from the Harebell Butterfly stamp set to stamp and colour on this piece. I used some ultra thick embossing powder to triple glaze the Stampbord, and created a tile effect over the image.

I cut two large rectangles from kraft card, and created a tag top to them, by chopping off the corners. I scored partway down one of the 'tags', and stuck it to the other one, so that the card would stand up, without collapsing. It has its own stand in effect. I added the book paper background, and some pretty tan ribbon from the play pack, before attaching the Stampbord tile to complete the card.

I hope that I have offered you some inspiration as far as this super pack is concerned. I promise to be back with more ideas in the future, thanks for stopping by, xx