Message in a Bottle

This is another challenge entry, this time for Country View Challenges blog and the theme is 'Inspired by Bottles'.   http://countryviewchallenges.blogspot.co.uk/.  I decided to make a wall hanging to go in my craft room, but I think this design would work well as a card too.  I have used stamps from Sheena Douglass' 'A Little Bit Magical' collection, and a bubble stamp from Claritystamps.  I have used various Distress Inks to colour, and black Versafine for stamping.  I have also used some small glass jars/bottles, die cut letters, glitter and cardstock  from my stash.  I started by making the central panel, which I wanted to represent the sea into which a message in a bottle might be thrown.  I blended some blue, turquoise and green DI's onto a piece of white card.  I then created a faux bleach effect by dropping water onto the panel and blotting with tissue.  Next I stamped some bubbles with blue DI in first and second generation ink, and glazed some of them with Glossy Accents to create some texture.  When that was dry I added a compass image by inking through a stencil.  Next I took another piece of white card and stamped bottles around the edges.  Using several colours of DI's I painted the bottles, then blended ink around the very edges to age the panel.  I matted the focal panel onto dark card then layered it onto the background panel.   I die cut some letters from black card to read 'hello', then added gilding wax and polished them.  I attached them inside the bottles with PVA glue and sprinkled glitter into the jars to cover the glue.  On another piece of white card I blended a light ink to make it look like old paper.  I then wrote on the paper in a scrawly script to make it appear old.  I tore the card into tiny sections and inked the edges of each piece.  I curled each piece around a paint brush to shape it, then placed them in the bottles and attached them to the glass behind the letters.  When everything was dry I tied bakers twine around the necks of each jar, and attached them to the card with red double sided tape.  I love this design, and as a card I think it would work for male or female and many occasions.  

A Punky Red Romance

This is my second entry to the Chocolate Baroque challenge blog  http://chocolatebaroquechallenge.blogspot.co.uk/ using their colour palette of red, white and black.  For this project I have used CB stamp sets Punky Flowers and Steampunk Butterfly; a script stencil; texture paste; Distress Inks; Versafine ink; Pearlex paint; red and white glitters; acetate and cardstock from my stash.  I started with a piece of red card and placed the stencil over it.  I mixed a little texture paste with black acrylic paint and applied it through the stencil.  While that was drying I stamped the small cog trees onto the acetate with black Versafine and let it dry.  I painted onto the back of the acetate with white Pearlex paint then with white gesso to make the cogs pop.  Next I trimmed the red panel and made a wrap with the acetate, then attached it to the back of the panel with red double sided tape.  I then matted the panel onto black card.  The base card is white and I stamped some cogs around the edge with red Brilliance ink then blended black DI around the very edges.  I attached the panel to the base card with tape.  On another piece of white card I stamped some steampunk flowers, the large cog trees and a butterfly in black Versafine ink and heat embossed them with black powder.  I think the graduated cogs look like topiary trees, so I call them cog trees!   I painted all the images using the red and black DI's and the white pearlex paint, and I mixed the white paint with the black ink to create a pearlescent gun metal colour for some contrast.  When dry I highlighted any screw heads on the images with Glossy Accents, and the coils on the flowers with glitter.  When everything was dry I attached the images to the acetate with dimensional glue. As well as crafting gardening is my passion so I love to create garden scenes in my artwork, both traditional and alternative.  Steampunk is one of my favourite genres, so creating a steampunk garden in my favourite colours has been an absolute joy!  I think this design will work well for cards, both male and female; and equally well for home decor.                                                                                              

Blue Dragons

                                                                                               

I haven't made an Oriental design for ages, so when I got a couple of new embossing folders I thought it was about time!  The embossing folders are from Crafter's Companion Kimono collection, and the colour scheme for this collection is predominately black, white and turquoise and this was my inspiration for this design.  I have used the Cherry Blossom folder; blue, black and green DI's;stamps from my stash that are old favourites; black, turquoise and white card stock from my stash; vellum and some brads also from my stash.  The background panel is a piece of turquoise card onto which I blended the blue and green DI's but still letting some of the card colour show through.  I then flicked water randomly over the panel and blotted it for a faux bleach effect. I used two matching  bamboo leaf stamps, a solid and a line image and stamped them randomly over the panel one on top of the other.  I then embossed the panel in the folder through a machine, and blended black DI around the edges and over some of the raised pattern to give extra definition.  I matted the panel onto black card and set it aside.  I used a white base card and stamped up both sides with another bamboo image.  Next on a piece of vellum I stamped a bamboo screen image in Versamark ink and heat embossed with gold powder, to represent a Japanese type screen.  I painted the leaves with green H2o paint, and attached the vellum panel onto the background panel with brads.  I then attached the whole thing to the base card.  I stamped two dragons with black Versafine ink onto white card and heat embossed them with black powder.  I fussy cut both dragons and painted them with H2o's.  Finally I attached them to the card with dimensional glue.  I thoroughly enjoyed making this card; I love this dragon stamp, and I have always loved creating Oriental designs in my card making.  I have some ideas for some Oriental inspired home decor and canvasses - so watch this space!  I think this design would work for various occasions and for male or female cards - I'm really pleased with the result! 

Peacock in Red

                                                                                 
                                                                           

                                                                                                       


This is my first challenge blog entry of 2016, and I am entering the Chocolate Baroque challenge  http://chocolatebaroquechallenge.blogspot.co.uk/.  I haven't entered a challenge for some months but when I saw the colours for challenge 18 I couldn't resist!  The stamps are a mixture from CB sets Tangled Peacocks and Peacock Parade; the inks are red and black DI's and black Versafine; I have also used red and black glitter, white embossing powder and card stock from my stash.  
The focal panel is a piece of white card onto which I stamped the peacock in black Versafine.  When the image was dry I painted it using red DI and water.  after drying I stamped the trio of feathers randomly all over the panel in second generation ink.  I then used water and a brush to pull the ink into the pattern.  I then blended black DI around the edges.  I picked out parts of the peacock to highlight and added the glitters.  I also added Glossy Accents to the tiny roses in the tail to emphasize and add texture.  On another piece of white card I stamped a large image as before four times then fussy cut them.  I painted them and added glitter as before.  Taking some black card I stamped a border around the edge and heat embossed with white powder.  I matted the focal panel onto the black card and then onto red card.  Finally I attached the large painted images with dimensional glue to embellish the  work and add height.  I love this design; I love peacocks and my favourite colour is red so this combo is made for me!  I think this is a great worker design too, it can be used as a card for various occasions, or as a wall hanging and home decor.  I absolutely LOVED making this!  

Holly and Bells

Another quick and easy Christmas design, I think it's my second favourite of this years designs.  There is no stamping in this one, which is unusual for me, but it's still a lovely card.  I have used Cordinations card; mirror card; printed embellishments from a Crafter's Companion CD Rom; printed and die cut embellishments from Tattered Lace; green DI; an embossing folder from Sheena Douglass and ribbon.  The background panel is Coredinations card that I have embossed in the folder and sanded back.  I matted it onto gold mirror card and layered it onto a white base card.  I cut out a printed topper and sentiment and added ink around the edges.  I matted the topper onto gold card as before then attached both that and the sentiment with dimensional glue.  I cut some printed holly sprigs and leaves with a matching die and edged them with ink, then attached them to the card and added a ribbon bow.   I love the Vintage feel of this card and the traditional colours.  

Partridge in a Pear Tree

This Christmas design takes a little more work than the quick and easy ones but it's still good for batch making.  I have used a lovely Inkydoodles stamp for the focal panel and a Creative Expressions background stamp.   The embossing folder is an Embossalicious folder and I have used Distress Inks, Pro Markers and gilding wax to colour my work.   I embossed  a piece of dark brown card in the folder and rubbed gold gilding wax over the pattern, then I die cut the panel.  I then matted the panel onto copper pearlescent card.  I blended some DI's on a piece of white card then stamped the pear background image.  I then die cut the panel and edged it with Copper Brilliance ink.  I added some ribbon and layered the panel at an angle on the card.  I then stamped the Partridge in a Peartree image onto Centura Pearl card in Versamark ink and heat embossed it with gold powder.  I cut the image out and coloured it with Pro Markers.  I cut a piece of the back ground card to make a flag, stamped a greeting and heat embossed it.  I matted the flag onto brown card and attached that and the pear with dimensional glue.  I really like the rich colours in this design, and the focal image is a favourite Christmas song of mine.

Silvery Snowflakes

  

This is another of my Christmas batch designs, quick and easy.  The background panel is a piece of Coredinations card which I embossed in a folder and sanded back, then I rubbed silver gilding wax around the edges.  I masked the embossing with scrap paper and stamped several snowflake images from HobbyArt in Versamark ink in the centre of the card and heat embossed them with white powder.  I  attached the panel to a white base card.  I die cut several snowflakes in various sizes and from various papers, then I layered them up and attached them to the card.  This is a lovely snowy alternative to the traditional Christmas card.   

Chalkbord Christmas card.

                                       

At Christmas I like to keep my designs simple for batch making.  This is a quick and easy design made with embossed Coredinations card and CB Christmas edgings stamps.  I took a panel of black ready-embossed card and sanded it back, giving a chalk board effect.  I stamped the Pointsettia edge onto white card in Versamark ink and heat embossed with gold powder.  I painted the images with Pearlex paints then fussy cut them.  Using a piece of cut'n'dry I rubbed the edges of the card with Brilliance Gold ink.  I matted the background panel onto red card and layered onto a white base card.  I attached some red ribbon to the Pointsettias and attached them to the background panel with dimensional glue.  I think this is my favourite of my Christmas designs this year!   

Upcycled Frame

Upcycling is very popular at the moment and is something that is close to my heart as both my mum and grandmother were advocates of the 'make do and mend' movement.  This is a simple little project I did recently to give new life to an old photo frame.  I was sent a lovely photo of my youngest grandson sitting on the feet of the 'Angel of the North' in Gateshead, so I wanted to include elements from both nature and industry, just as the angel does.  I started by painting the frame with a coat of black gesso and letting it dry.  I then used 3 colours of gilding wax over the raised pattern on the frame to highlight them.  I die cut some cogs, foliage and words from black card then coloured them with gilding waxes and polished with a soft cloth.  I gave all the embellishments a coat of mixed media gel to strengthen them then attached them all to the frame with strong glue.  I really enjoyed this quick and easy project and I have a lot more frames to upcycle!  

Just wanted to wish all my friends, blog - followers and visitors a Happy New Year!  :)  I also want to thank you all for kindly visiting my blog and liking and leaving comments on the posts, I really appreciate it and I hope you will keep visiting!  I hope you all had a great Christmas, and that you have a happy, healthy and crafty 2016  :)  x