Monday 30 November 2015

A Happy Houndy Christmas with Laura's Loft

Good morning friends! I am so very excited to share my post and card project today! I am so pleased  to announce I am a full time designer for Laura's Loft!! 

http://www.lauralscott.com

Laura and her team have been so welcoming to me and I just know the next year on this team will be filled with fun, new friendships and happy card making adventures.  My daughter has a
Dachshund, named Pickle, who I lovingly call my Grand-dogger, so she was my inspiration for this card. Here is a peek at the little girl herself.... Miss Pickle.

Now onto my card!
I have used the Holiday Hounds stamp set from Newton's Nook for this card. This is such a fun set to use and you get lots of stamps in the set, along with a few choices of sentiments as well.



I started off with a base of 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 white card stock. I then used the Holiday Hounds stamp set, first I chose my main image, this cute little doxy in a stocking.  Then I used some of the smaller stamps in the set, a bone, heart and snowflakes.

 
I used pigment dye ink in different colours for the background. I created a sort of wreath shape and layered on the different stamps and colours.
I added some blue hearts at the end for a kind of not traditional look and
then added some more of the snowflakes in gold to the bottom of the card to give the impression of snow falling.


 I coloured up my doxy in the stocking with some Spectrum Noir markers and also I used some American Crafts glitter markers as well for the blue stripes on the stocking. I fussy cut out the image and now it was time to put the card together.

 


 I added a tiny tag and wrote on it with my black micron pen, stamped out the sentiment from the stamp set and popped the puppy and the sentiment up on some dimensional tape.



I added some sequins and bling and also some clear Wink of Stella to the bones and hearts for a final touch!


Thanks so much for stopping by today and don't forget to check out Laura's Store and also keep up with all the fun things on our Blog!

Laura's Loft Products Used

Other Items Used
Colourbox Pigment Ink
Simon Says Pigment Ink
Stayzon Black Ink
Spectrum Noir Markers
Wink of Stella Clear Glitter Pen
Paper From We R Memory Keepers
Sequins and Bling From My Stash
Red Bakers Twine






Thursday 19 November 2015

Mixed Media Canvas for Crafter's Palette - Use Your Stash Challege!

 
Good Morning Crafters' Palette fans, Kim here today and I have a fun share for you featuring lots of goodies from the Crafters' Palette Store.  This month the team is focused on using up what we have in our crafty spaces, off cuts of paper, paints, lace, doo dads, you name it! 
I took this challenge and decided to do up a mixed media canvas with lots of left over bits and bobs from my stash.  I have a photo below of some of the bits I used.
 
 
I am also using some gorgeous Distress sprays for this project, but more on them in a wee bit!
 
 
 
My first order of business is to use up some old book pages a friend sent me, now this would work with any kind of paper you like and there is some great paper selections in the Crafters Palette shop which you can find here, but for this project I used up some of what was in my stash, and these pages fit the bill.  I had no rhyme or reason for where I placed the paper, just add some torn pieces randomly to your canvas. I glued them down with some multi matte medium and then gave them a coat of the same over the top of the paper to ensure they were glued down well.
 
 
Next, it was time to start gluing on my bits and pieces with some silicone glue. I chose to have a focal point in the centre which are some wings that were sent to me over a year ago in a swap I did, I had always been looking for a good place to use them, and this canvas gave me the opportunity to use them. I also have used up off cuts of lace, dominos, buttons, metal clock gears (thanks to my hubby's workshop) wooden gears, left over flowers from a past project, metal keys and finding and even a pen nip (again, thanks to hubby's workshop!).
 
 
Once everything is glued down, its time to get out the Gesso and paint everything white, and by everything, I mean everything!  Fill in all the spaces in between the bits and bobs and make sure it is all covered, this will give your sprays a good surface to cling to, and you will get a truer colour showing from the white background.
 

Now its time for those sprays I mentioned earlier!  Choose what ever colours you wish, Crafters' Palette has a huge range of sprays, I chose the Distress sprays for this project, and went with a cool palette of blues, whites and silver.
 


 
 Spray your darkest colour first, and use your Mist-it sprayer filled with water to make the sprays run and get in all the cracks and crevices. Continue to layer on your sprays going from darkest to lightest, dry each layer of colour in between to make sure the colour tones don't come out "muddy".  Keep using your Mist-it as well to make the colour run down the canvas, and don't forget about the sides, top and bottom of the canvas!
 
 
Here is a close up of the items coated with gesso and sprays. Keep layering on until you are happy with the outcome. I added a sentiment to the wings to finish it off.
 
 
 
 

 
 I hope you have enjoyed my project today. Don't be afraid to use up all the fun items you have in your crafty space, and even some things you may find elsewhere, it is all useable!
 
 
Thanks so much for stopping by today, and don't forget to check out all the fun goodies in The Crafters' Palette Store and keep up to date with the Designers as well on the Blog.
 

 
Thanks for stopping by today!
 

Crafters' Palette Items Used
 
 
 
 


Tuesday 17 November 2015

Merry Xmas with Rebecca Baer!


Good morning friends, its Tuesday and that means another fun share using my amazing stencils from Rebecca Baer!

I am deep in Christmas card making and decided to do something a little bit different this time, by using a non-Christmas stencil to make a whimsical holiday themed card.  I think its good to look at our stencils in many different ways and see  how we can adapt them to different ways, or in this case a season. So lets get started!

 
I am using the Moroccan Tile & Vine stencil for this card, along with the Artiste Stenciler Brush which works so well for transferring ink to the stencil.  I used three different colours of Distress Ink, Iced Spruce, Salty Ocean and Evergreen Bough.
I started of with the darker colour, Salty Ocean and gently used the Stenciler Brush in circular motions. Then I went to the Evergreen Bough blending it into the first colour, then finally the last and lightest colour, the Iced Spruce. Again, making sure that I blended it all together well. You can see I got a lovely crisp image.

 I took the background and cut it down to 4 1/8 x 5 inches to fit my card and I also die cut some hills, adding a touch of the Iced Spruce to the edges for dimension. I taped them down and then stamped some images out and coloured them, then fussy cut them out....Yes, I cut out those teeny tiny trees!



Once I coloured and cut out the images it was time to put the card together. I popped up the sentiment and the bear and used some multi matte medium to glue down the houses and the trees.

Lastly, I added some white dots to mimic snow and some bling, sequins and some red twine to pick up on the red in the sentiment, and there you have it. A Christmas card using a non traditional image. So take another look at your stencils and see what you can come up with for this holiday season.

I hope you have enjoyed my card today, remember to check out all the fun items in Rebecca's Store and also the DT blog as well.
Thanks for stopping by!

Other Items Used
Distress Inks
American Craft Glitter Markers
Hero Arts Shadow Ink
Paper Smooches Dies
Pinkfresh Studio Christmas Wishes Clear Stamps
Bling, Twine and Sequins From My Stash


Thursday 5 November 2015

Time to Celebrate with Crafter's Palette!

 
Good morning friends! I am super excited to share my project today! I am now a designer for the wonderful folks at The Crafter's Palette! I am totally thrilled to be using some of the amazing products in their Store.
 
You can find my team bio here and of course check out the other talented DT members while you are there!  I will be doing two projects a month for the team, so stay tuned for those coming up soon.
 
Today's project was based on a theme featuring "Fireworks", in honor of November 5th, Bonfire Night in the UK.
 
I started off my 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 card on white cardstock and wanted to do a resist technique with the Versamark Pen. I drew free hand "fireworks" with the pen and used some of the Fran-tage Embossing Powder on top of it.
 
 
 I heat set the embossing powder, as you can see by the above right photo. Once that was done it was time to get out my Distress Inks. I used four shades of ink to give a feeling of a night time sky.  The Embossing powder creates a resist to the inks and shows up looking like explosions in the sky.
 
 
I used one colour at a time, starting at the bottom of the card with the darkest colour, Black Soot, and working my way up to a lighter colour of blue.  After I was finished with the inks I took a paper towel and wiped over the fireworks to brighten them up and remove any excess ink from them.
 

Next, I needed a lovely full moon for the top of the card and an easy way to make one is by using your Mustard Seed Distress Ink and the 2.5 cm circle punch you can find in the Crafter's Palette Store.  I also used the mustard seed ink to create light in behind the little buildings as well.
 

 
Lastly, I die cut a sentiment and added some glitter to the moon, and bling to the fireworks for some sparkle.
 

 
 I used some of the 3D foam in black to pop up the houses to add dimension.
 
 
 Here is my finished card! 
 
 
I had so much fun playing with the fantastic products from The Crafter's Palette. I love that they have such a huge selection of things to create with!
 
Thank you for stopping by today!
Check out all the amazing crafty fun at the Crafter's Palette Store and Blog and don't forget their Facebook page too!
 
Crafter's Palette Products Used
 
 
 

Tuesday 3 November 2015

Winter Wishes DT Project for Rebecca Baer

Good Morning crafty friends! Today I am sharing my DT project for Rebecca Baer.  I have started on creating my Christmas Cards for this year, and Rebecca has some perfect stencils for this time of year!
 
I did a double layering technique with this card, using the Petite Diamond Plaid Stencil first. This is  a fun stencil, there is three parts to it, and you layer on one stencil at a time. I decided to go with  holiday themed colours in my card.
 
 
Here is the background so far...
 
Next I used the Snowflake Masque Stencil and some embossing paste, which is like a light texture paste and spread it all over the top of the background. 
 

 
 Once that was completed all over the card, I got out some holographic embossing powder and sprinkled it on top of the wet texture paste.   I then heat set it with my heat gun, and  the effect shown above, is dimensional and very snowy  and sparkly looking!
 
 
Now it is time for some die cutting, I used a Winter sentiment and some snowflakes which I coloured with Festive Berries Distress ink.  I used my glossy accents to glue it all down. You need a strong wet glue to make the pieces adhere to the texture on the card.
 

I added some sequins and glitter for some finishing touches to the card.
I hope you have been inspired to create a snowy card yourself and will give this layering technique a try.
Thanks for stopping by today!
 
 
 
Other Products Used
Tim Holtz Distress Inks
Wendy Vecchi Embossing Paste
Glossy Accents
Holographic Embossing Powder by Ranger
Sizzix Dies
Sequins From My Stash