Elephant and Leaves Stencilled Birthday

Hi there.  I needed a masculine birthday card and I was looking through some of my older stash and came across this Clarity Stencil of an Elephant which I got when I belonged to the Stencil Club a few years ago, and which I have never used.  It is a large stencil and Barbara gave us a couple of tutorials showing ways of using it, but I think at that time I didn't feel I was skilled enough to do anything good enough and so I put it away and forgot about it.  Now a few years later I am more adventurous so thought I would see what I could do with it.  I also used an all over leaves stencil which was part of a set from The Range.  I decided to use my Adirondack Inks for a change and chose Sunshine Yellow, Cranberry and Stonewashed.

I started with a 6" square piece of card, the same size as the stencil and using my blending tool and Sunshine Yellow ink I lightly stencilled leaves over the whole thing.  I then place the elephant stencil over the leaves stencil, deciding I would just use part of it and then stencilled Cranberry ink through it, heavier towards the outside and lighter in the centre, and with the under layer of yellow it has more of an orange hue.  I then pencilled round the outer edge of it to make it stand out and went over the line with black micron pen.  I thought it still didn't stand out enough so I pencilled all the internal lines and used the pen over those, I wouldn't say this was very accurate but worked pretty well.  I then filled in the lines with a dark brown Inktense pencil and used a waterbrush to blend it all and went round all the outside lines in the same way.  

I finished by cutting it down a bit and laid the leaves stencil back down and added some blue ink over parts of the background which turned it green, and then put the elephant stencil back and added more yellow there.  I then removed the stencils and darkened the edges using yellow with blue over it which makes it stand out on my 6" square white card and added a sentiment using Versafine Vintage Sepia Ink heat embossed with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder.

Thank you for visiting me here today and I hope I'll see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

NBUS Challenge - No. 29 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.
Happy Little Stampers August Stencil Challenge - Anything Goes.
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Add A Sentiment.
Watercooler Wednesday Challenge - No. 322 All About Occasions.
The Male Room Challenge - No. 153 Our 8th Birthday (best wishes and lots more great challenges to come!)

CAS Mix Up Challenge

Hi everyone.  I decided to get in early for the CAS Mix Up Challenge this time.  The theme is stamping through a stencil and I used a Dutch Doobadoo Blocks stencil and a very old Hunkydory set of stamps with a wedding/anniversary theme and I used the rose heart stamp.

I lightly brushed the ink blended through the stencil using Tattered Rose and Shaded Lilac Distress Inks and  more of the pink in the centre and then the lilac on the outer edges fading it out, and keeping the stencil in place I transferred it to my Misti and stamped the rose heart with Dusty Concord DI, several times and with firm pressure to get a good impression, as obviously it is more difficult stamping through the mylar stencil.   I then coloured the stamping with my Inktense Pencils and a waterbrush following the image from the packing as there are only bits of it showing through the stencilled shapes.  I wasn't quite happy with it as it was so decided to use the a heart die to give it a heart shape and marked around the inside of it with a pencil just within the open areas of the stencil, and then inked over it with a black micron pen.  

To finish I cut it with a stitched square die and added some Salty Ocean DI over the white lines within the heart shape and also around the edges, again using a brush, and then added the sentiment with Versafine Deep Lagoon ink before adhering it to my 6" square white card. 

The challenge runs until the 24th of the month so lots of time to join in.  Thank you for coming to visit today and I hope to see you again soon.

I am also entering the following challenges:

Uniko Challenge - No. 66 Flowers + Optional Twist: Slimline.
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Summertime Blues.
Retro Rubber Challenge - No. 164 Anything Goes (stamp is more than 5 years old).
Stamping Sensations Challenge - August: Any Celebration.
Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge - No. 411 Make Your Mark.
Allsorts Challenge Blog - Wk 635/6 Anything Goes with the option of Roses.

Canary Bird Rose

Hi all.  This latest card was made featuring a recently acquired Chocolate Baroque Stamp called Canary Bird Rose over a gelli print background.

 
I started with the gelli print.  I got the inspiration from Heather Telford who used a piece of corrugated cardboard to make the grid pattern.  I improvised a bit and embossed a series of vertical lines on to a thick piece of card and etched them with a ball tool as deeply as possible.  I used lime green and orange acrylic paint and my brayer to spread them both and pressed the embossed card on to it in both directions, and after lifting it away I thought it was a bit dark so I went over it with a bit more of the lime green which lifted some of the original paint off, and when I pulled the print this is what I ended up with which I love.  I then stamped the flower using Versafine Toffee Ink and I coloured it with my Inktense Pencils using a waterbrush to move the colour around and blend.  I finished by adding the sentiment using Versafine Vintage Sepia Ink heat embossed with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder, and added a bit of Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink blended around the edges and white gel pen on the stamens before adding it to my usual 6" square white card.

Thank you for dropping by today and I hope to see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

We Love Chocolate Baroque Challenge - July - Beautiful Blooms.
Stamping Sensations Challenge - July - For a Lady.
NBUS Challenge - No. 28 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.
Allsorts Challenge - Week 633/4 Feminine/for a Lady.
Seize the Birthday Challenge - No. 219 Anything Goes/Travel.

CAS Mix Up and Christmas Challenges

Hi everybody,  I'm just in time to get my cards in for the CAS Mix Up Challenge which this time is a mixed media one with the theme of Alcohol Inks on Vellum, and also the CAS Christmas Challenge for which the theme is Poinsettia.  

Here is my card for the mixed media challenge using a Waves Embossing Folder and a stamp with a pair of dolphins which came free with the latest Creative Stamping Magazine. 

I found a piece of thickish vellum and covered with a mixture of green and blue alcohol inks using some blending solution and an air blower which I bought fairly recently and was much easier than blowing through a straw.  I then embossed it using the freebie folder and sanded the surface with some very fine sandpaper to empasise the wave pattern and glued it onto a piece of copy paper before die cutting it with a square stitched die.  I stamped the dolphins onto a piece of white card and coloured them using my Staedtler Watercolour Brush Markers using a grey with a little blue mixed in applying it with a waterbrush, and then fussy cut them out.  When I had added the background and stamped the sentiment, for which I used Versafine Majestic Blue Ink heat embossed with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder, I adhered them to it using some silicone glue for more dimension.I have to say that the AI's work well on vellum and it is certainly a technique which I will do again.

I am also entering the above card into the folowing challenges:

Sweet Stampin' Challenge - Create Your Own Background.
Stamping Sensations Challenge - July - For a Lady (this has been sent to a female friend and I hope she likes it).
Allsorts Challenge - Week 633/4 Feminine/for a Lady.
NBUS Challenge - Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.
AAA Birthday Challenge - No. 27 Use An Embossing Folder.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is my card for the CAS Christmas Challenge using Crafter's Companion Pretty Poinsettia 3D Embossing Folder which is several years' old and doesn't seem to be readily available now.

I did emboss the whole thing onto some white card but decided to cut away the main group of poinsettias at the bottom righthand side.  This is a tip which I have heard others mention when embossing, which is to lightly spray the card which helps to stretch the fibres and this maximises the depth of the embossing, so I did this and I think that it did make a difference.  I coloured the flowers using a set of Lyra Water Brush Markers using a couple of nice bright reds and a couple of greens, and then coloured the centres with yellow, but decided to heat emboss them by adding some dots of gold gel pen and whilst still wet I added WOW Metallic Brass Embossing Powder and heat set it.  I then cut a stitched square mat and added the bold good sized sentiment from a Creative Stamping Magazine freebie set using Versafine Satin Red Ink and heat embossed it with WOW Clear Gloss EP before adding this to my 6" square white card, and finally added the corner poinsettia piece just inside the edge of the mat. 

I am also entering the above card into the following challenges: 

Merry Little Christmas Challenge - No. 36 July Anything Christmas Goes.
Happy Little Stampers July Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes + Optional: Jingle Bells.
Cardz 4 Galz Challenge - No. 151 Christmas in July.
The Male Room Challenge - No. 152 Christmas in July.

 

 

 

 

 
Thank you for your visit and I'll see you again soon.

Pinky Inky Octopus

Hi everyone.  I made this card for hubby's birthday, which was a couple of days ago, using a new set of stamps I bought called Pinky Inky Octopus from Pink Ink Designs and I hoped he would like it as I think this image is a bit quirky and fun.

I started by cutting the piece of card to fit the image which is big but will just fit on a 7" x 5" card if you cut off the top and bottom-most tentacles - no octopuses were harmed in the making of this card..lol.  As I didn't have to post it I made the finished card a bit bigger using an 8" square card cut down a little and with obviously quite a bit off the side to make it the right scale.

I used three inks for the background - Peacock Feathers and Blueprint Sketch Distress Inks and Adirondack Sunshine Yellow Ink.  I brayered them on to the card starting with the two blues and then dipped my fingers into some water and made a dotty pattern at the bottom working my fingers up the page to leave little dots of ink, and I then lifted the wet ink with a piece of kitchen towel, and then brayered the yellow over the top taking it to the top again fading out.  I cannot lay claim to this look as I saw Tracey of Lavinia Stamps do this on a video here.  Finally I added a few more splatters using water with a fan brush, a tip I got from watching some videos, and the fan brush distributes it a bit more evenly making it less likely to blob. 

I then stamped the octopus using Versafine Clair Nocturne Ink and coloured it using the same colours and a waterbrush, with the addition of some Ripe Persimmon.

To finish I added the shoal of fish in a couple of places stamping with the Blueprint Sketch and coloured with a waterbrush and the other blue and yellow, and added the sentiment using the Nocturne ink and heat embossed with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder.  I decided to blend some more of the inks around the edges of the top half of the card to define them, and  then added it to the card.  I couldn't decide whether to use some Glossy Accents but after some (dithering) thought, I did..lol.

Hubby really loved the card which was great.

Thank you for visiting my blog today and I'll see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

NBUS Challenge - No. 28 Using our Never Before Used Schtuff.
Happy Little Stampers July Watercolour Challenge - Anything Goes.
Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge - No. 409 Any Occasion.
Allsorts Challenge - Week 632 Masculine.

Boho Feathers

Hi all.  I made this card using a set by Woodware Stamps called Boho Feathers, made for Darnell, a lovely blogging friend and who a lot of you know.  Unfortunately I was a bit late sending it and I obviously wanted to make sure she had received it before showing it here.

I used three or four of my alcohol inks on a piece of glossy card, mixed with some rubbing alcohol and moved about with an air blower which I bought recently and it worked quite well...certainly easier than blowing them around with a straw.  I then stamped the feathers on to it using Memento Tuxedo Black and then heat embossed using WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder before fussy cutting them out.

I decided to use my Crealies rectangle dies with dots/pierced to cut a mat for the base card using a piece of white card, and extending  the length to fit this slimline card.  It is quite straightforward you just cut it nearly to the end then place the die back in further down making sure that it lines up well (it is easier if there is a stitched or fancy edge as it sits firmer in the pattern)   Luckily it worked well and you would never know it had been extended.  It takes a little time but saves having to buy lots of different sets of dies.  I found a feather stencil, one from a set which I got at The Range quite a time ago, and masked around the smallest one.  I used Adirondack Stonewashed Ink applied with a brush quite softly and covered the background with it.

Finally I added the feathers to the background and adhered it to the base card and then added the sentiment using Versafine Clair Nocturne Ink and heat embossed it with the Clear Gloss EP.

Thank you for looking at my blog today and I hope I'll see you again soon. 
   

I am entering the following challenges:

Cardz for Galz Challenge - No. 150 Get Inky.
Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge - No. 409 Any Occasion.
Watercooler Wednesday Challenge - No. 319 All Things Feminine.
Country View Challenges - July 2021 Use A Stencil (or Two).
NBUS Challenge - No. 28 Using our Never Before Used Schtuff.
Stamping Sensations Challenge - July - For a Lady.

Geometric Heart Anniversary

Hi there everybody.  This is a card I made for my hubby for our recent anniversary..39th actually, gosh!  I used a Chocolate Baroque set of stamps called Geometric Trading Hearts being a bit more masculine I feel.

I decided to get out my gelli plate to make the background using Peacock Feathers and Dusty Concord Distress Inks applied with a brayer.  I just rolled bits of each of the inks over the plate and then added the heart pattern you can see using a Leonie Pujol Embossing Folder called Dotty Heart.  I inked up the positive side to get the pattern of little hearts using my brayer and the Dusty Concord Ink.   I then pressed the inked side down on to the gelli plate to transfer the inked design and used a piece of Clarity Stencil card placed over and rubbed over to transfer the background, and I got the result you can see here.  Not all the hearts came out but I liked the more random look.

I then inked the Geometric Heart using the Dusty Concord which looks much darker as I used my stamp positioner and inked it several times to get a good impression, especially as I used the Distress Ink which doesn't cover as well, and the heat embossed with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder.  I finished by cutting a mat using a coordinating piece of purple card to add to the topper, and also die cut the sentiment and little heart and then added it on to a 7" square white card cut down a little to leave just a half inch border around it.  

Thank you for dropping by today and I'll see you again soon.
 

I am entering the following challenges:

The Crafter's Cafe Challenge - No. 269 Anything Goes.
Everybody Art Challenge - No. 494 Anything Goes.
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes.
Crafty Calendar Challenge - July - Anything Goes.