Pretty Handbag

Hi there crafty friends.  I made this card to send to someone in Australia and am hoping that she has received it in time for her birthday today.  The postage service to there can be a bit variable, and I could perhaps have sent it a little sooner than I did.  Anyway when she receives it I hope she likes it.  It was made using one of the bags from a set by Creative Expressions called Bags of Style.

For the background I started with a snippet of white stamping card and stamped and embossed using WOW EP White Pearl, and a stamp from a set by Chocolate Baroque called Lily  and then stamped using Adirondack Stonewashed ink with a stamp from a set called  Poppy Meadow .  I also used a Crafty Individuals Crackle Background stamp for extra texture.  I stamped it in my hand using my fingers to support it, just to get little touches of it using Adirondack Stonewashed and Distress Ink Picked Raspberry.   I finished by embossing with a Cuttlebug embossing folder called D'Vine Swirls and on removing from the folder I inked the edges and the swirls with some more Stonewashed ink and Picked Raspberry.  I layered this on to a piece of dark blue card.

I then found some more snippets/scraps of dark blue card and die cut using a Spellbinders die D- Lites  called Grate Works which I cut into four, and filled three of the four corners with it.  The piece of card from which it was cut I decided to use as a mat which I paired up with another mat, which I had cut but never used, using a SB die called Captivating Squares,  the second size die, which I distressed using Adirondack Stonewashed and DI Picked Raspberry, using it sparingly just to give the mat a more lilac tone. 

I used another snippet of white card and with WOW EP Metallic Silver stamped and embossed one of the handbag stamps,  and then I decided to use WOW EP White Pearl over the top of the top piece of the handbag to fill in the pattern.  So I went over it with a Versamark Pen and then used the embossing powder.  It didn't quite have the effect I thought it would but decided to leave it.  I then paper pieced the handbag using a leftover section of the background card and a piece of paper which I coloured using blending foam and Stonewashed ink for the handle and the bottom of the bag.

I finished by layering it up on to a white square card and stamped a sentiment on a snippet of white card using Stonewashed ink and then distressed the edges with the Stonewashed and Picked Raspberry ink as for the topper.

Thank you for stopping by today, and I hope you enjoy the upcoming weekend.

Pat x

I am entering the following challenge:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop  Challenge No. 128, where we have to use up snippets of card and paper, and I have used quite a lot of snippets of white and dark blue card.  This is also my third entry for a special challenge that Di is running which is to enter three cards in two weeks.

Chess Game

Hi there everyone.  I needed another male birthday card so I decided to make a card using the Chocolate Baroque - Art of Chess stamps.   They come with a background, but I decided not to use this but make my own chess board.  Another make of stamps I love are Claritystamp, and Barbara Gray has her own blog on which she shows some great techniques and does some in depth demos.  One of them was to make your own chess board with the pieces on it.  She has a stencil for her chess pieces, but as I already have these lovely ones from Chocolate Baroque I thought I would just try to make the chess board and give it some perspective as Barbara did in her demonstration.  I have to say that after she did this demo which was rather fiddly as there is a lot of masking to do, she brought out a stencil for the board to save some time, but as I haven't got round to getting one yet, I thought I would give my own version a try.

I began by pencilling out the board by imagining a vanishing point beyond the board for the verticals and for the horizontals I tried to bring the lines gradually closer together, and although it is no way all that accurate, it is actually the first time I have tried something like this, and it does look more realistic than just doing all the squares the same size.   When I was happy with the shape I stamped the pieces on the board using Black Archival ink and then stamped and cut out a set of masks which I sprayed on the back with Stick N Spray which makes things temporarily sticky.  After masking the pieces I masked off one black square at  time and coloured with a mixture of Memento London Fog and Tuxedo Black and Adirondack Stonewashed.  The masking tape I prefer is Scotchtape Removable Tape which I have had for absoulutely ages, and I'm not even sure where I got it now, but I have tried lots of different tapes and have found many to be far too sticky and tend to take the surface off the card when removed.

 For the dark chess pieces I decided to use the same colours I used for the chess board, and the white pieces I coloured with Adirondack Butterscotch toned down with the Memento London Fog for the shadowy areas.  Finally I used Antique Linen Distress Ink and a little of the Butterscotch round the edges and randomly across the white squares which gives it an aged look.  I have to say this was in part to cover some of the ink which inevitably seems to find it's way on to areas where you would rather it didn't.

I have to say I can see why Barbara decided to make a stencil for the chess board after doing this technique, as about half way through I did start to question whether I was a bit mad to be doing this, but there was a sense of satisfaction on removing all the masks, and seeing the end result, which in some respects turned out better than I thought it might.

If you would like to take a look at Barbara's blog post you will find it here.  Hers has more squares and pieces, so far more masking than mine, and she placed the pieces and then put the chess board around them, but personally for me I felt it was easier to do it the other way round, but I have to say Barbara's is absolute perfection.

Well, another weekend is looming so I hope it is a good one for you all.  Thank you for taking a look today, I really do appreciate it.

Pat x

I am entering the following challenges:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop where we use up snippets/scraps of card or paper.  I used up pieces of white and black card.  This is my second  card this week as there is a special challenge on top of the normal weekly challenge which calls for three cards over two weeks and hopefully I will get to enter another next week.
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Father's Day/Masculine.

Denims and Faux Leather Belt

Hello.  I recently joined the Claritystamp New Design Stamp Club which sends out a new stamp every month with some ideas of how to use it.  The stamp for May was a pocket, and one of the ideas was to make a card in the shape of a pair of jeans with two hip pockets.  When I had nearly finished the card I decided it might look quite nice with a leather look belt so I decided to try the faux leather technique which I remembered Sheena Douglass doing.  This technique consists of spraying Kraft card with a mixture of glycerin and water until the paper becomes soft and pliable, and then using inks or stamps and some dry embossing, if you like, to add colour and texture.  If you would like to see Sheena demonstrating how to do this, it is here on You Tube.  I made this card for our DS whose birthday it was just recently, and I think this is quite a good idea for a masculine card, but it you want to make it more feminine you could use a brighter colour or paper piece with a flowery design stripes or spots or something.

I started the card by using Adirondack - Stonewashed, and Memento - Nautical Blue and building up the colour all over the whole card until the colour was as near to denim as possible.  The best colour to use is probably Faded Jeans Distress Ink, but unfortunatelty I don't have that one.  I then added the lines where the seams are using a Promarker in Indigo, with the fine nib in place.  I then added some piercing above the waistband which cannot be seen now the belt is there,  and under the seam line below the waistband, and to the right of the centre seam, and using the same Indigo Promarker I joined the holes up to make it look like stitching.  I finished this stage of the card by adding the shaping which I marked with a pencil bringing it in gradually until about level with the position of the pocket, and then curving in more dramatically and taking about 1" off the waistband.  When happy with the shape I cut the front first and closed the card and cut the back to match.

To give you an idea of where all the lines go,
the card is 6" square and the waistband is
about 1" in depth, the dip in the next seam is
about another 1" down, and the pockets are
placed approximately another 1/2" down from the central line.  The pockets are approximately 21/4" x 2", and these you could make from two rectangles of card.  They are placed about 11/2" in from the side.  These measurements are a very rough guide and I tend to do most things by eye and with a bit of experimentation.

I used some snippets/scraps of white card for the pockets and the three belt loops.  I did notice that the piece of card I used for the pockets being different to the pre-creased cards I use as the base card, took the colour differently and seemed to come up quite a bit darker, but I thought this seemed ok as the pockets stand out from the background more.  I used the Memento ink in London Fog, and using the Indigo Promarker again I went over all the stitching lines so they all match, and no piercing here either.  I then coloured them using the inks above.  The three belt loops are about 1/4" or so wide and just a little longer than the waistband, and I pierced the holes, made the stitching lines and coloured in the same way as above.

It was at this point that I decided that a belt would look quite nice, so I made the piece of faux leather.  For mine I used Walnut Stain and some Spiced Marmalade Distress Inks, and Craft Concepts EF - More Dots which seems to be out of stock at the moment, but I did notice that there is another CC folder called Ossie Dots, so perhaps this is a replacement for the other.  I made two strips and joined them under the middle belt loop.  My faux leather does not really have a shine because I do not have the spray varnish which Sheena finishes with which makes it look more authentic, but nevertheless I was pleased with the way it turned out.







I finished the card off by adding a sentiment plate on the belt using the faux leather.  I used the S/B Labels Thirty Three second smallest die and marked and cut out using the inside edge as a guide in order to get the right size to fit on the belt.  I fixed to a piece of dark blue card and cut by hand just a little bit bigger.  The sentiment was stamped using Black Archival ink, and I fixed one small black brad at each end before adhering to the belt.  The sentiment in the pocket was stamped on a snippet of white card using Memento Nautical Blue ink, and the edges softened with a little Adirondack - Stonewashed, and a Tonic corner rounder punch.  I did think about leaving it loose, but it was quite a tight squeeze to get it in the pocket, so I stuck it down.

This is a bit of a departure for me, but I wanted to make something special for DS so it was worth having to spend a bit longer than normal making it.  Now I know a few people will be heartily laughing by now because my cards do tend to be of the time consuming variety anyway.

Thank you for taking the time to stop by.

Pat  x

I would like to enter the following challenge:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop where we are asked to use snippets of card or paper, and I used up some bits of white card for the pockets, belt loops and sentiment.
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes.

Snowy Winter Houses

This is a follow on from the last post, but as I want to play over at Pixie's Crafty Workshop as well, and I'm sure Di will be so pleased that I am not trying to enter just as the gates are being locked for the week, but as I only want to enter this card it is easier to make a separate post to do so.

Do go over and take a look at all the beautiful cards on show, and the lovely cards that Di herself makes too.  For details of how I made this card please look at the last post.  The challenge asks us to use some snippets of paper/card on our entries, and I used snippets of white and blue card.

See you soon,

Pat x

Rudolph Day - May

Hi all.  I can't believe another month has gone by, and May's Rudolph Day is here.  Stamping for Pleasure's Sarn runs this challenge which asks for two cards,  and I am going to try to enter each month from now on.  I started last month as personally I find it difficult to think about Christmas cards too early in the year.

I recently acquired a set of hexagon dies from X-Cut so I thought I would christen them on this first card.  I used a snowflake stamp from Chocolate Baroque called Snowflake Shadow and I stamped it onto a snippet/scrap of white card using Versamark Ink and WOW Sparkling Snow EP, and die cut with the smallest hexagon die.  I coloured these with Peacock Feathers Distress Ink and then some cut from plain white card I coloured with a combination of Peacock Feathers and Memento Nautical Blue.  I kept adding the ink until the colour was quite dark, as you can see, but when finished I think they would have looked better slightly lighter in tone, but never mind.  I found a design I liked and stuck them to a square white card.  On the left hand side I used the three deer and tree from the set by Claritystamp, and stamped using the Memento Nautical Blue ink.  I finished by adding some shadows under the deer and tree, and on the snow to give some shape, and added a sentiment with the same Nautical Blue ink.

The second card uses a Cuttlebug Embossing Folder called Winter House, which I have had for several years, but now seems to have been discontinued.  I used a scrap/snippet of white card and then as I wanted to put it on a square card, I cut it down.  I like the monochromatic look in blue, as you can see, so I used some Adirondack Stonewashed Ink which I added with a water brush to the sky and the houses, and then I added a little shadow to the buildings in the Nautical Blue, but it doesn't show up that well in the photo.  To add sparkle and texture I used a Versamark pen and painted some on the roofs and on the snow in front of the houses, and heat embossed with the WOW Sparkling Snow EP.  I then added some Perfect Pearls to the little dots of snow and the smoke from the chimney, and  to the roofs and snow in front as well.  I think it just adds some extra shine, and I also added a sentiment with the Nautical Blue.  I then finished by matting on to some dark blue card, and then on to the base card which I decorated using the snowflake stamp from the Clarity set using the Nautical Blue ink.

I hope you had a good weekend.  Those of you in the US I see had a Memorial Day on  Monday, our equivalent of which is Remembrance Day in November.  If we lived in the perfect world there would be no need to have Memorial/Remembrance Days, but I don't see things changing much for the foreseeable future, so we all remember in our own way all those who have served and are still serving their countries in this way.

Pat x

Heart Overlay Anniversary Card

Hi there.  I have used this Deep Red - Love Bench stamp before for an anniversary card on here, but this time I decided to paper piece the lady's dress and the umbrella, and having seen cards on pinterest with an overlay cut out heart with the image showing through the heart shape it gave me an idea for something just a bit different.

I'm afraid the colour of the image looks blue but I actually stamped it in Jet Black Archival.  The cream square card is turned so the fold is at the top making a tent card, and the image was stamped with the black Archival ink on to a scrap/snippet of white card.  I coloured the bench with Walnut Distress Ink, and then I paper pieced the dress and the umbrella.  The lady's dress was cut from a freebie paper which was white with a very small design in pink and green, but to be honest it is very difficult to see in the photo and it too looks blue for some reason.  The green for the umbrella was also a freebie paper, and this you can see more clearly.  I cut this out which was a bit fiddly especially the thin piece at the back of the seat which very nearly broke and looks a little uneven, but I decided that trying to cut it any straighter would probably just make it worse.  I used a mask from That Special Touch called Funky and embossed a snippet of cream card, and after cutting and adhering to the front of the card, I coloured it very lightly round the edges with Victorian Velvet Distress Ink.  I used two of the dies from a Spellbinders Decorative Elements set called Captivating Squares.  I thought it would look quite nice to use the pink with the cream to give a bit of contrast.

For the final layer I used my  Nellie Snellen Multi Frame Heart die, the largest one in the set and impressed the die centrally on to a piece of card the same size as the base card.  The order using the Grand Caliber is pink embossing plate, silicone mat, card, die then the base plate on top.  Doing it this way up allows you to see where you are placing the card on top of the die, and as long as the silicone mat goes between the pink plate and the cutting side of the die you won't mark the plate.  This way it leaves the impression without cutting through.  I then cut through the centre of the heart and round the inside of it as well.  I then made a crease about a 1/4" from the outside edge of each piece and before sticking with some strong wet glue to each side of the main card I used the Victorian Velvet DI very lightly around the edge of the heart.  The only mistake I made was not to add on the 1/2" total wrap round to the original measurement so unfortunately the card did not meet in the middle, but I decided that as it was going to be seen open to view the scene within, I would  give myself a little artistic license and leave it be. 

Finally I stamped the sentiment on to a a snippet of cream card using a S/B Nestabilities Classic Ovals, the second smallest size die, with Picked Raspberry DI, and then I used some Victorian Velvet DI around the edge and adhered it to the front of the card.

By making this extra heart layer on top of the tent card you then have a card to write inside of rather than having to write on the back of it, and I do like to use an insert for writing on too.

I hope this all makes sense, and although it took a bit of time to achieve I think it looks just that little bit different, and as my cards are usually the boring square variety I thought it was a change to try something new.

Have a good weekend, and hopefully I'll be back during the coming week. There seems to be so much going on that I have been finding it difficult to find the time or the energy to craft much over the last two or three weeks, but I have managed to get round to most of my regular ports of call, but if I have missed yours then please except my apologies, and I will try to do better, as I do love to keep in touch and see what everyone has been up to.

Pat x

At the very last minute I am entering this card over at Pixie's Crafty Workshop as I used snippets of pink and cream paper and cream card.

Bluebells in Springtime

Hello all.  Well after rather a long time I am back with another card.  I have been rather busy of late and card making has had to take a back seat, and when I have had the time Mr Mojo has been pulling faces and telling me not to bother.  I have so many ideas whizzing through my head that I sometimes cannot make a decision which way to go, and if I am not feeling creative then my crafting space feels like a disaster zone.  Oh my word I know it sounds like it but I am not really a crafting diva, and hopefully this silly phase will soon pass.

Anyway, back to business.  I have a Sheena Douglass bluebell stamp set from her Fantasy Floral range  which I have never used, so decided to make a watercolour scene with the bluebells taking centre stage.  Sheena's stamps are quite large and this sometimes makes it quite difficult to get the perspective right, and I do think the bluebells look rather giant sized, but I suppose I could be down on my hands and knees right up close looking through them.  It didn't help when my DH on looking at my finished piece announced they looked like a herd of elephants marching across the front, but thought this could not be right as everything was far too green and lush .. lol.  I did forgive him because I must admit with one eye shut the shape of the flowers with the sort of upward curl at the bottom do look a little like elephant's trunks.

I decided the two thirds, one third rule should apply.  I put some Adirondack ink in Lettuce and Sunshine yellow, and a touch of Bottle, and also some Memento Bamboo Leaves randomly on to my glass mat and spritzed with water and laid a piece of  damp watercolour paper about six inches square  over it and moved it around through the inks until I was satisfied with the mix of colour making sure to keep the paint to the bottom two thirds of the paper.  To speed up the drying process I used my heat gun to dry it off.  I then used Adironack in Stonewashed with a touch of Spun Sugar to give a slightly lilac tinge to the sky which doesn't show up very well in the picture, and again dried it with my heat gun.  I think I did add a little Adirondack in Butterscotch and Bottle with blending foam on to the grass at the end to give it a bit more interest and also added some shadows with the Bamboo Leaves and a water brush.

As I could not find a stamp with the right sort of foliage for a flowering cherry tree, I used an embossing folder which was a recent freebie with a magazine, and inked the raised side of the folder with Memento Tuxedo Black.  Instead of running it through the machine to emboss it, I kept it open and just laid the background over it where I wanted the foliage to be and rubbed over it with my fingers so the ink left an impression.  I did this several times and this left just enough of an outline for me to colour using my inks and a water brush.  I think the colours were Adirondack Espresso and Spun Sugar, Memento Bamboo Leaves and Distress Ink Picked Raspberry.  I then stamped the bluebells with the Memento Tuxedo Black and coloured with Stonewashed ink mixed with a little Picked Raspberry, but unfortunately the background colours muddied everything a bit, so I got out some old Sakura Gelly Roll pens and found a colour which was a bit dark but with the white as well worked reasonably well and gave a glazed finish which also doesn't show up terribly well.  I know when using water based ink to colour you should stamp with a waterproof ink like Stazon or Archival, but it seemed ok in this particular instance, and I must admit I don't always stick rigidly to the rules.  You may notice that the shape of my bluebells does not correspond with the shape on the stamp.  I decided to ink only some of the bells as I like the arching stem look to a bluebell and because they are right at the front I only used about half the length of the stamp.

I finished the scene with some black outlines in places using a Letraset fine line pen, and highlighted a bit with a white gelly roll pen.  I found another freebie embossing folder with clouds on and decided to use one of the clouds cut out for the sentiment for which I used a snippet of white cardstock sponged with some Stonewashed ink.  I also put some birds in the sky with the fine line pen.

I hope you all had an enjoyable weekend, and that our friends in the US enjoyed their Mother's Day.  We of course had ours in March which seems ages ago now.  Thanks for stopping by.

Pat  x

I would like to enter the following Challenges:

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Spring Flowers
Pixie's Crafty Workshop where the challenge is to use scraps.  I hope I will be allowed to enter the gates this week because I have only used a very small scrap/snippet of white card for my cloud sentiment, but hopefully that will be sufficient.