Sung from the Heart

When thinking about a challenge which calls for a rainbow, as in the challenge over at Less is More this week, the song which goes.... red, and yellow, and pink, and green, purple and, orange and blue, I can sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow too.... springs to mind.  There are also a few challenges at the moment with hearts, it being nearly Valentine's Day, and after thinking about it for a while I came up with the idea of weaving the colours of the rainbow together to make a border and then adding, guess what?  Hearts of course.

As the light has been appalling lately I tried the trick of using a plastic box lined with paper as a light box, lit with my daylight lamp.  It has worked well I think, and thanks go to Mary H whose blog I saw it on when she tried it out herself.  The only problem is that the light I used was so bright that it showed up every little bit of the photo glue that was still stuck to the card after the weaving process, which my feeble eyes had not noticed until after I had photographed and put everything away, but never mind, it will have to do as they say.  I use the photo glue a lot because it is very forgiving and will rub off  if it goes where you don't want it to go.

I found some scraps/snippets of thinnish card cut into strips about 7mm wide by 15cm long.  I chose the red, blue and purple as the warp, and the green, orange, pink and yellow as the weft, as the shorter lengths are easier to weave in and out, and just continued with green, orange, pink and yellow to the end.  I mounted this on to scraps/snippets of  the blue and then the purple.  I mounted this on my usual white square card.

Next  I used my Nellie Snellen Multi Frame Heart Dies.  I cut out the largest heart in white, and made an inner heart in red with the next size die, which has a plain edge, and then embossed this with the Cuttlebug Embossing Folder - Kimmy Luvs.  To give it a nice clean edge I embossed it with the die still in place, although in the photo the clean edge is difficult to see.  You have to lay the EF open on the base plate with the die on top, and the flat side against the EF.  The side that cuts must be face up otherwise the pressure can ruin your folder.  You then use the tan mat and some shims, or a second silicone mat for extra thickness, and if using the Grand Calibur the raspberry plate.  I did try using the pink plate as the folder is laid open, but it was too difficult to send through so the shims and the raspberry plate are the way to go.  With other machines you will need to experiment to see what works best. 

I then cut and embossed the next size fancy heart from the same set of dies using red card, and the next smallest plain edged die cut and embossed in white, with a sentiment from Chocolate Baroque - Rose Stem Script  stamped with  Archival Ink in Jet Black.  I used the Archival because the stamp is quite fine and this tends to pick up the finer lines better.  This is a quote by Albert Einstein, but I covered the name over before inking in order to fit it into the space.

I would like to say thank you to Barbara Daines - glitterati1.blogspot.com, and Karen Petitt  - stampinginpink.blogspot.com for becoming followers.  I'm sure they would appreciate you popping over for a visit to see their lovely work. 

As today is Friday another weekend is looming and I hope it will be an enjoyable one.  That saying, the weather at the moment seems to be bad for a lot of people.  I know there are places fairly near here that have had some flooding, but let's hope there will be some improvement soon!

I am entering this card into the following challenges:

Less is More - Happy 3rd Birthday, with a rainbow colour challenge.
Simon Says Monday Challenge = Love Notes
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Have a Heart
Addicted to CAS - Love
Cuttlebug Mania = A Touch of Red

Evening Elegance

Hi Everyone.  Well, another weekend over and another week gone since I posted anything on here.  I don't really know where the time has gone to, down a large black hole I think.  I wonder if it's the time of year or the rather horrid weather which seems to have sapped my energy, and made me slow.  Anyway this week I must try to be more productive.

This is a card which I made for a friend several weeks ago.  I took pictures of it intending to post it on here, but the pictures were dreadful because of the bad light, and I decided to leave it.  My friend loved the card, and so I very cheekily asked if I could borrow it back to retake the pictures, and so here we are.  

This was made using a white square card.  The background has been stamped on white card with Versamark ink using a little flower stamp from a set made by Hunkydory, and then heat embossed with WOW White EP.  I then embossed it using a Crafts Too - Tropical Flowers which I inked up using several colours of DI, namely, Victorian Velvet, Picked Raspberry, Seedless Preserves and Spiced Marmalade.

The main image was taken from a set of stamps by Creative Expressions - Belle of the Ball.  I stamped using Versamark ink and heat embossed with WOW Silver EP.  I then coloured in the image with DI in Picked Raspberry and Seedless Preserves using a fine brush and a little water.   Using S/B Decorative Elements - Labels 8,  I die cut the image using the second largest die, and then inked the edges using DI in Seedless Preserves.  I mounted this and the background on to snippets of lilac pearlescent cardstock.

Lastly I stamped a sentiment from the same set of stamps with a snippet of white card and die cut it with the smallest die from the Labels 8 set and inked the edges very slightly.   I tied a bow from a length of grosgrain lilac ribbon and wrapped it round the middle of the background layer before attaching to the white base card, and then layered up the rest of the card.

I am entering this card over at Pixie's Crafty Workshop as I used snippets of white and lilac cardstock.

Chocolate Baroque Iris

Hi there, and here we are in to the last week of January.  Where does the time go?  I have two new followers who are Sylvie (Gibmiss) and Mau (mausplace).  Thank you to them and my other followers, I really appreciate all the kind words and encouragement I receive.  I'm sure they would appreciate you popping over to look at their lovely work.

Today's card uses a lovely Iris stamp from Chocolate Baroque  which is beautifully detailed.  I started by die cutting, using the largest die in the Spellbinders set Labels Thirty Three, on to white card, and by placing the die back over it I used Adirondack Dye Ink in Sunshine Yellow round the edge leaving a white space in the centre.  I then mounted this on to a snippet/scrap of grey card which I then cut a couple of centimetres bigger.  Alternatively you can use the die as a template, mark the outline and cut which will leave a slightly wider edge.  When mounting this on to the card I obviously had to cut the top and bottom to fit.  I could have used the next size down but I actually wanted it to look like an extension of the card and not a topper.

Using a snippet/scrap of white card I stamped the image using Distress Ink - Seedless Preserves on the flower part of the stamp,and Bundled Sage on the rest.  This helps as when watercolouring normally it is not a good idea to use water based ink for an outline, but as the colours were more or less right for those portions of the image, and I dragged some of the colour in to begin with, and with a nice pointed brush, it works fine.  For the image I used  DI - Seedless Preserves, Tumbled Glass, Spiced Marmalade, Bundled Sage, and Adirondack Dye Ink - Lettuce and Bottle.  I cut this out, and shaping a little first, mounted it using Pinflair Glue Gel.

I decided to make my own background using white card and the acrylic block technique with DI in Bundled Sage, Spiced Marmalade and Walnut Stain.  I used a white square base card, and decided to change the shape a little by using the same Labels Thirty Three die to die cut the back of the card.   It is possible to cut just the edge because this die is long and thin and the rest of the card comes up and through the die so that only the edge is under the cutting side.  About an inch in from the cut I scored and folded a piece in and then took a piece of the background I made and cut the shape but slightly smaller, and mounted it, and then decided to glue this down.  This makes a decorative edge to the righthand side of the card.  I cut an inch or so off the card front and mounted another piece of my background to it.  I then mounted the image on the front of the card giving a nice shape to the card front, overlapping it a bit so that when the card is shut the shapes overlap very slightly.  I decided that perhaps the front needed something extra so using two other stamps from Chocolate Baroque, a corner and a flourish, and using Versamark ink and WOW Gold EP, I stamped and heat embossed these.  I actually curved the flourish a little on the block before I stamped it so that the shape fitted in better between the two corners.

This was quite a difficult card to explain, but I hope for those that haven't done some of these techniques before the 'how to' is not too long winded.  I know that probably most people that visit already know all these things, but I always feel that for those that are trying to build up techniques then the extra explanation is perhaps worthwhile.  I would welcome feedback as to whether you feel the extra technical waffle is needed or not.  Perhaps one or two more novice crafters could leave some feedback about this as well.

I am entering this card in the following challenge:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop where we have to snippets/scraps of card or paper, and I used snippets of white and grey card.

WOW Lily

Hi Everyone,  I hope you have had a good weekend.  Today's card is unfortunately a Sympathy Card, which you hope you will never need but life dictates otherwise.  This is for a lady whose husband was an aquaintance of my DH, who will be sadly missed by a lot of people.  DH bought a card but it wasn't very nice so, although I haven't made one before, I thought I would see what I could do.

For the main image I used the Lily from Sheena Douglass' A Little Bit Floral range of stamps.  I decided to keep it all white, so I heat embossed the smaller of the two flowers using Versamark ink and WOW White Pearl EP on to white stamping card.  I cut the flower out and decided to add some extra smaller petals from the larger flower to make the flower more open.  I also cut off the original stamens, stamped some more, and added them so that they stand up in the centre of the flower.  I decided to emboss the base card with a mask from That Special Touch called Funky.  I like these plastic stencils because they are so versatile.  I decided to mount the Lily on a new S/B die that I have recently acquired called Captivating Squares which I cut and layered using the largest two dies, and decided to angle them to give a diamond shape for the flower to sit on.  I haven't added a sentiment yet as I don't have anything appropriate.  I might do something from the computer or leave the front as it is and just add something to the inside.

I am entering this card over at Pixie's Crafty Workshop as I used some snippets/scraps of white card for the Lily and S/B die cut mats.

Handbag and Flowers

Hi All.  I have had a couple of birthdays to make cards for recently, so here is one of them.  It uses a set of stamps from Creative Expressions called Bags of Style.  These are nice stamps, quite deeply etched rubber, and a nice size to make a good topper on a card.  I also used an embossing folder from Crafts Too, which was part of some Candy I won recently, called Tropical Flowers.

I started off with another of the handbags in mind, which was silver embossed on to white card with a touch of Peacock Feathers, and one or two of the other colours I have used in the background, for the motif on the front, but I just didn't like the finished result, so decided to start again and chose this handbag using Kraft card and WOW Bronze EP.  The background uses Distress Inks in Spiced Marmalade and Peacock Feathers dabbed randomly on the debossed side of the EF before running it through my Grand Calibur.  I then decided to colour the flowers with the red, which is Memento Lady Bug, on to my glass mat and applied with a fine brush and a little water.  I matted and layered this on black card and then a turquoise, and then mounted this on my white base card.  I then used a new set of my dies from S/B called Captivating Squares, using the lovely turquoise colour card.  I cut out the handbag and mounted it on the die cut square using Pinflair Glue Gel to give it a bit of shape.  I die cut some leaves from Kraft card using a Marianne Die called Branch Forest, and I used a very old punch from Dovecraft for the Daisy flowers, and  a hole punch for the centres.  The sentiment from the same set was stamped on to the smallest die from Captivating Squares using Memento Espresso.

I think with hindsight it would have been better to layer with the Kraft card instead of the black, but this is down to changing my mind half way through, and substituting a different bag, and looking at the colours and thinking it would look nice with brown.  I'm afraid I do tend to change my mind as I go along which can make life difficult.

Thank you for stopping and taking a look, and thank you for all the lovely comments, they are greatly appreciated.

I am entering the following challenges:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop where we have to use snippets/scraps of card or paper,  - I used bits of white and kraft card for the handbag, flowers and leaves.
Simon Says Monday Challenge which is Anything Goes.
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge which is Emboss It.

Monochromatic Puffin and Seashells

Hi Everybody.  I got some new stamps before Christmas and this is the first opportunity I have had to try them out.  They are by Sheena Douglass from her A Little Bit Scenic range with a seaside theme, the first is Sea Scapes, and the second is Sea Shells.  I have a male birthday coming up so thought these stamps would fit the bill.  The light was not good for photos today, as this looks cream instead of white, but I did my best.

I stamped the Puffin on a piece of Stamping Card using Memento Nautical Blue, and dragged the ink in with a waterbrush to give it some shading, and I also added a touch of Distress Inks in Peacock Feathers and Seedless Preserves.  I cut an aperture out of a square white card using a S/B Rounded Squares die, and then cut a frame with the same set of dies, from navy blue cardstock.  I placed the frame round the opening and then fixed the Puffin behind the aperture glued to the front of the card and made tidy by placing a piece of white cardstock over the reverse.  I then stamped some of the shells on to snippets/scraps of white stamping card using the Memento Nautical Blue, and coloured them again by using a waterbrush with the same inks as above.  I cut them out and stuck them to the card with some Pinflair dimensional glue gel.  I then stamped a sentiment and the three birds.

I hope that everyone whose year has started badly with the atrocious weather that seems to be affecting people here, and also across the globe, in one form of another, will soon see some improvement.  Anyway, I send my best wishes to you all.

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop where we must use up our snippets/scraps of card, and I used some snippets of white card for the topper and sea shells, and some navy blue card for the frame.
Less is More where there is a colour challenge - Winter Blues.
Simon Says Monday Challenge where the challenge is - Blues.
Addicted to CAS where the challenge is to use Die Cuts.

Five Favourite Cards of 2013

                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
Debby over at A Scrapjourney has another challenge running at the moment, this time to choose your five favourite creations for 2013, and she will pick a random winner.  These are my five with the links to the original posts.

        

                                                   
                                                                        Opening Gambit

                                                            

                                                                A Little Bit Floral - Lily                                                                        

                                                              Koi Carp and Water Lilies                                                                                             

                                                              Birthday with Bags of Style

This card and also the next were made earlier in the year before I started blogging, so I will explain roughly how I made them.  The basket of Tulips was a digital image which I coloured using Promarkers, and I was very pleased with the result as I hadn't been using Promarkers for very long.  I used an oval shaped XCut die and I coloured the edge with a little Adirondack Shell Pink.  I used a Cuttlebug Embossing, Folder Divine Swirls, on pink vellum of quite a good weight, and mounted this on an A6 pink card.

This card was made using a mixture of stamps from Chocolate Baroque.  I stamped the Chocolate Baroque Elegant Iris on white card, using Memento Tuxedo Black, and coloured with Promarkers.  I used Adirondack Lettuce, Bottle and Sunshine Yellow inks in the background and overstamped with a Creative Expressions - Bubble Stamp using Adirondack Bottle.  I also used part of another small corner stamp, which I'm afraid I do not know the name of, in the bottom and top corners of the middle panel, using Versamark and heat embossed with WOW Gold EP.   This panel was mounted on gold ribbed Mirri card, and then two borders cut from a Nellie Snellen Border Die added.  This was mounted on a white square card which had been covered randomly with the Adirondack inks, and four leaves from the Chocolate Baroque Tangled Garden set of stamps, heat embossed using WOW Gold EP.