This is a pretty card that I made recently for my grandson to give to his teacher at the end of his time in her class, her name is Rose. The stamps used are either freebies from a magazine or so old that , they have been discontinued. I used Distress Inks Picked Raspberry,Worn Lipstick and Mowed Lawn. I also made my own shade of acrylic paint to co-ordinate with the inks. The base card is Centura Pearl, and I have embossed it in a folder through a machine. Then I blended some DI around the edges of the card. The background panel is a piece of white card onto which I have stamped a pattern of roses using Versamark Ink and heat embossed it with clear embossing powder. I then rubbed ink all over the panel, and polished it afterwards with a soft cloth. The embossed pattern resists the ink, showing a white pattern through the coloured ink. This is called the resist technique. I coloured another piece of white card with acrylic paint, then die cut it. I edged the shaped panel with ink, then cut the background panel slightly smaller than the coloured panel. I matted and layered them onto the base card. On another piece of white card I stamped a couple of rose images in Sepia Versafine ink, and heat embossed them with clear powder. I water coloured the images using the DI's then fussy cut them. I also die cut some foliage sprigs and painted them in the same way. I stamped a butterfly, painted it then cut it out too. I then stamped and heat embossed a sentiment onto white card, then die cut it and added ink around the edges. I attached it to the card with dimensional glue, then added the flowers and foliage behind it. I coloured a piece of white card with diluted ink then die cut the name from it. I inked around the edges of each letter to add shading and attached them to the card with dimensional glue. I like the simplicity of this design, it makes a nice change from some of my more complex artwork. I think this design will work for a variety of occasions, and it can be personalised to suit.
This is a lovely card I made recently for a family birthday, my youngest grandchild gave it to his daddy. I have had the focal image stamp so long that the company name has worn off! I find it so useful for both card making and scrapbooking alike. So as well as the image of the boy I used a Sheena Douglass embossing folder from the 'Little Bit Oriental' collection, and coloured the project with pearly acrylic paints and Pro Marker pens. I started with a piece of white card and used some sponges to blend the pearly acrylic paint all over. When it was dry I blended Black Soot DI around the edges. I then embossed the panel in the folder through a machine. I then matted the background panel onto black card. On another piece of white card I stamped the image of the boy in black ink and heat embossed with black powder. I then coloured him with Pro Markers and fussy cut the image. I added clear glaze to the jam jar to give it the look of glass. I used a white gel pen for the highlights on the boots. I made a tag using the same paints as the background, stamped some hand and foot prints in blue ink and matted it onto black card. I used alphabet dies for the sentiment cut out of the same card, and edged the letters in black ink. I punched some 'beasties' out of pearly paper and added all the embellishments with dimensional glue. I added some buttons and ribbon to the tag then attached that with dimensional glue as well. I wanted to create a naive, simple card for a child to give to a parent, but I think this design would suit a card FOR a child as well, and cover lots of occasions too!
This is a birthday card that I made recently for a male family member. I wanted to make a masculine card, although this design would be good for girls too. I have used stamps and embossing folders from Sheena Douglass' Taste of India collection. I used Distress inks to colour: Vintage Photo, Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed, and Black Soot. To begin with I took a piece of orange card and embossed it in the Tiger Stripes folder. I then rubbed over the raised pattern with Black Soot to create stripes, and blended gold gilding wax around the edges of the panel. I then matted the panel onto a black base card. Next I took the packaging from the embossing folder and embossed it in the Indian Arches folder through a machine, sanded it back and rubbed gold gilding wax over the raised pattern. The packaging already had a mottled stone effect on it which suited the arches background I wanted for this piece. I then matted the panel onto black card and layered it onto the base card. Using a piece of Sheena card I stamped the tiger in black Versafine ink and heat embossed it with black powder. I then water-coloured the image with the Distress Inks. I used a tiny bit of green ink for the eyes the added clear glaze to make them pop. I stamped the leaves using Versamark ink onto green card, heat embossed the images with clear embossing powder, and added a little gilding wax to the edges of the leaves. I then fussy cut all the images, and added them using dimensional glue. I stamped the sentiment using Versafine ink and heat embossed onto black card with gold powder, then die cut it and edged the panel in wax again, adding it with dimensional glue. I think this design would suit many occasions, and several different age groups. I just love that regal Tiger!
This is a card I made for my eldest grandson's 12th Birthday last month. I LOVED making this one! My grandson and I have similar tastes in film and story genres, so I took the inspiration for the subject matter from Harry Potter 'The Goblet of Fire'. I also took inspiration from a card design by one of the Inkoids - Sheena Douglass' DT, that I saw when she launched the stamps a while ago. So for this design I have used Sheena's stamps and an embossing folder; the stamps are from several sets of the 'Little Bit Magical' collection; the folder is the 'Ancient Arches'. To colour this artwork I have used Distress Inks and Dyna Paints. I started with a piece of white Sheena card and blended DI's; Peacock Feathers, Broken China and Chipped Sapphire. I faux bleached spots randomly over the inked background and dried it with a heat gun. I stamped the Ancient Arches image, some script and a scroll using second generation Vintage Photo, Broken China and Chipped Sapphire DI's, then I blended Black Soot DI around the edges. Next I debossed the background panel in the folder through a machine to add more texture. I matted the panel onto black card. I took another piece of Sheena card and stamped the goblet, flames, ink bottle and quill in black ink then heat embossed the images with black embossing powder. I painted the images with Dyna paints and fussy cut them. I added clear glaze to the ink bottle and leaves and let them dry. I took the white base card and blended Chipped Sapphire around the edges, then stamped a scroll across the corners and also on the envelope to co-ordinate them. I layered the background panel onto the base card. I attached the focal images with dimensional glue creating another layer and height. I tore a piece of copy paper into a rough rectangle and tinted it both sides with Vintage Photo, and the very edges with Black Soot to make it look singed. I then put my grandson's initials on it and rolled it around a kebab stick so that it looks like a piece of singed parchment that has come out of the goblet with his name on. As I said I loved making this, I think it is a great design for males or females of any age group, and it would suit different occasions. I had to give this card away obviously, so I think I might adapt the design onto a canvass for myself! Watch this space!
Here is my first Christmas make of 2015! I was going to make a card but as the design progressed I decided to make a wall hanging. This was great fun to make, and I used several different techniques and textures. The stamps and dies are from Sheena Douglass' Festive Fancies Perfect Partners range. I used Aqua Tint Inks to colour, gilding wax, Sheena Douglass embossing folders and stencil,black Versafine ink, black embossing powder, heat resistant acetate, metallic gold acrylic paint, Distress Inks Mowed Lawn and Vintage Photo. I began by sponging the Aqua Tints all over a piece of white card. When dry I used brown ink through the stencil, then embossed the panel through a machine. I added gilding wax to the raised pattern and around the edges of the panel, then matted it onto black card with foam pads for extra height and layered it onto cream linen textured card. Next I took 4 layers of copy paper and die cut the trailing ivy leaves. I painted them with Aqua Tints and stamped the ivy leaves onto the die cuts. I then embossed a piece of pearlescent green card in a holly leaf folder. I cut out a couple of the sprigs, added gilding wax and painted the berries. Taking a piece of cardboard I tore the top layer off around the edges to give a distressed look. I then painted it gold. When dry I attached the decorated panel to the gold board. I added the holly and ivy leaves with dimensional glue around the edges of the panel. I stamped the corner images and a sentiment onto acetate in black ink and heat embossed with black powder, then turned the images over and coloured the leaves with Pro markers. I then painted over the coloured leaves with white Gesso to make the colours stand out more. When dry I cut the images out and attached the corners to the gold panel, and the sentiment to the centre of the focal panel. I then put two holes and eyelets at the top of the gold panel and threaded some Bakers Twine through. I think this design works well as a home decor project, or scaled down as a card.
This piece of artwork is another in my series of homages to Tolkein's Middle Earth. In this piece I wanted to create a dark, sinister woodland to represent Mirkwood with a lone hobbit or elven child walking through it. I'm really pleased with the result; although the stamp used for focal character was not necessarily designed to be a hobbit, I think it works really well in this piece. I have used stamps by Sheena Douglass and Creative Expressions; a couple of Sheena Douglass stencils; some dies by Tattered Lace and Spellbinders, Aqua Tints, Distress Inks, Lumier Silks, and gold gilding wax. The main panel started as a piece of white card. I stamped the 'Little Red' image in the centre using black Versafine ink, then heat embossed with clear powder. I then painted the image with Pebeo Drawing Gum to mask it. I stamped some branches up one side and across the top of the panel, heat embossed them then painted them with the gum. Next I covered the whole panel with Aqua Tints from the 'Beautifully Grunge' set, blending each colour into the next. I added a path for my hobbit to walk along. Using a stencil of sunrays I sponged water through it and dried with kitchen paper to create faux bleached rays of light emanating from the lantern. Using Vintage Photo DI I stencilled the forest across the top two thirds of the panel. I then stamped images of branches around the the edges of the panel in black ink and heat embossed them. In the bottom two corners I stamped images of brambles in the same way. I coloured the flowers and leaves of the brambles with Silk paints in dark rich shades. Using the sunrays stencil again I placed it over the faux bleached rays, then slightly offset it and sponged gold Aqua Tint through it. I rubbed the drawing gum off the branches and painted them with Silk paint. Finally it was time to reveal my focal character by removing the drawing gum. I wanted a very muted green for the cloak so I added some black. Using a fine black liner pen I turned 'Little Red's' skirt into breeches and coloured the gap as part of the path. I used Pro-marker pens for the skin, adding grey to give a muted, shaded effect. When all the colouring was finished I added Black Soot DI around the outer edges of the panel to make it even darker and draw the eye in. Using die cuts and black card I cut two leafy corners, several different leaves and pine cones. I added gilding wax to the die cuts and assembled them on to the panel to frame the artwork. I really love this piece of artwork as it enables me to pay my own tribute to my favourite literary classic.
This is a lovely piece of artwork that I made a few months ago in spring colours. I had some new stamps and paints to try out - and this is the result! The stamps are by Crafters Companion from their Textures range, and the paints are Pebeo Dyna paints. I have also used Blue Lagoon and SepiaVersafine ink; clear embossing powder; gold gilding wax and Holly stickles. I started with a thick piece of board and gave it a coat of white Gesso. Then using a sponge I applied the paints, one at a time, randomly over the board. The sponging effect added texture. I used the same technique on four stampboard squares. Next I stamped some tissue paper with one of the corner stamps and some script by Sheena Douglass and left it to dry. I then took a hessian texture stamp and stamped it around the edges of the background board, and heat embossed with clear powder. This is to add more texture. I placed the stampboard pieces together in a square and stamped them with a couple of the images from the stamp sets, then heat embossed them. I added a little gilding wax in places to highlight, and some stickles. I attached torn pieces of the stamped tissue paper on two corners of the background board and across the centre using Decopatch glue varnish. This adheres and seals the tissue, making it translucent so that the colours of the paints underneath can be seen . I then attached the stampboard tiles in the centre of the background panel, equally spaced apart, with strong glue. I then took some buttons and wooden embellishments. I coloured the birds with watered down Dyna paints and edged them with gilding wax. I coloured the watering can and cage with gilding waxes and stickles. Two of the buttons were already patterned, I added blue gilding wax to a textured button, and covered another with tissue( for texture) and added gilding wax. I then attached the buttons down one side of the board and added stickles to the centres. I threaded some bakers twine through the top of the cage and the key, then attached the remaining embellishments to the artwork. I created this piece just for fun but I think it would make a lovely wall hanging.
