It's All About Texture

Hi Crafty Friends

A very belated Happy New Year to you all!  

The weather is so grey here today that it is lights on in the house all day to try to dispel some of the winter gloom.  However, the house is cosy and full of the lovely spicy aroma of a good old fashioned bread pudding!  I had an abundance of good quality seeded bread lurking in the bread bin and I didn't want it to go to waste.  Two hours later and using a nice quick recipe, I now have a fragrant home and a very happy hubby - he does love a bit of stodge.

Enough of the domestic waffle, how about a bit of crafting to brighten the day.

Here is a sample I made using the Woven Fabric stamp set from Claritystamp.  These stamps are so versatile that I have only scratched the surface in playing with them.  On this project I have simply brayered dye based ink from a rainbow ink pad on to the stamp and then plonked it onto my card.  The addition of the Fly Away stamp in Archival black ink and a bit of mat and layering.  Job done! 

Hope you like it.

Thank you for visiting me today, especially after such a long time has elapsed since my last post.

I really must try harder!


Bye for now
Anne
x 

Some Clarity

Hello Crafty Friends, 

Where do I begin?  I suppose the first thing is to apologise for my long absence. 
I could take some time to explain but you would probably be thoroughly bored and nod off to sleep, so perhaps it is best to sum up and say the reason was ‘life’ and I am sure you will understand.

One of the positive things that has happened and has kept me exceptionally busy while I've been away from my blog, was that in September last year, I joined the Claritystamp Ltd stamp and stencil design team.  Such an opportunity and very exciting for me!

With that in mind, for my first share, I will show one of the nice and easy samples I made recently.

Ingredients:

1.    Funky Leaves 7 x 7 Stencil (STE-TR-00550-77)

2.    Clarity 7” square card blank (ACC-CA-30619-77)

3.    Stencil card (ACC-CA-30095-77)

4.    Die based ink pads

5.    Archival Ink Pad Jet Black (INK-AR-50030-XX)

6.    Micron Pen Set (ACC- PE-30778-XX)

7.    Leaf Outline stamp set and mask (STA-TR-10507-A5)

8.    Clarity Stencil brushes (ACC-BR-30006-XX)

How To:

1.    Place stencil on stencil card and blend dye-based inks using stencil brushes

2.    Remove stencil and draw a wiggly line to frame using Micron pen

3.    Stamp the hare from the Leaf Outline stamp set

4.    Adhere to base card

Thank you so much for joining me today and if you have time to leave me a comment, I will know that you are there and I will make a real effort to keep my blog active.

I'll be back again soon,

Bye for now

Anne

x

Bits and Pieces

As promised a couple of days ago, I have rescued the bits and pieces that I had left sitting on the Cricut transfer sheet collecting dust and used them to make this card.

Cut the yellow card to 5¾" square and die cut the Birds Roosting die.  This time I was extremely wasteful and discarded the negative bits!

Mat and layer on to white and black card leaving a border size of your own choice. Take the negative bits from the transfer sheet and paper piece into the appropriate gaps in the yellow frame.

To finish, I stamped a sentiment and mat and layered using scraps from the main card and mounted it on to a square card base.

Thanks for stopping by
Anne
x

Birds Roosting

Hello Crafty Friends,

I have recently added some rather lovely 'Fresh Cut Dies' to my stash. These have been designed and produced by Claritystamp

.

 
 
It has been really good fun to play with sticky stuff and gilding flakes once again, as they have been lurking in the back of my crafty cupboard for ages! 


The first card I shared in 2018 gave a pretty detailed step by step of the same process I used here, so I will just share a few pictures and words on how this one has been made.


Step 1:  Cut the Birds Roosting Aperture die in a piece of 5¾" square black card.

Step 2:  Keep all the die cut pieces in place and remove the die. Press the reverse cut side onto a square of Cricut Transfer sheet and lightly burnish with a ball tool to make sure all the die cut elements are in contact with the transfer sheet.

Step 3:  Remove the square die cut frame, leaving all the loose bits (the negative of the die cut) on the transfer paper. These bits will make another card later.

Step 4: Cut a piece of scrap card 4½" square and cover it with double sided adhesive sheet. Remove the protective carrier paper and cover the sticky surface with gilding flakes.  Burnish well so that all the flakes are in contact with the sticky sheet and brush away any remaining dust.  

Step 5:  Affix the black die cut frame over the gilding flakes background. Mat and layer on to an A5 card blank. Add a sentiment and embellishment to complete the card.

 

I will be back in a couple of days to show how I used the negative bits that are still sitting on the transfer sheet!

Thank you for joining me today.

Bye for now
Anne
x

Nordic Christmas

Good Morning, 

It has been a busy time for me and my hubby so crafting has had to take a back seat for a while.  With our house move temporarily on hold, I am taking advantage of some free time to catch up with my blog and I hope to visit my bloggy friends very soon!

With an eye on the number of cards I need to make for Christmas, it is time I made a start.

 

Now, when it comes to shopping for stitched dies and stitching on stamps then I am your woman!   Lisa Horton was certainly on to a good thing when she designed her stitched range of stamps - because I must have them all!  Thanks Lisa!

I created the background piece using the A5 Embroidered Backgrounds stamp set from Inkydoodles.  First stamping in green with one of the larger stamps and then infilling with red using one of the wee ones. 

Maintaining the stitched theme (naturally), I have used Lisa Horton's A5 Festive Friends clear stamps for the main elements.  A bit of masking, a fussy cut tree, some colouring and mat and layer to finish.  Job done!
 
So that  it is for now - thank you for taking the time to visit me today.

A Walk on the Wild Side

Good Evening!

Before I settle down for a bit of telly and my night-time cup of cocoa, I would like to share this card with you. 

The stamp set is by Sheena Douglass and it has been loitering in my stash for quite some time - but it is still one of my favourites!

I have coloured the main image using an assortment of Spectrum Noir markers and pencils.  Both the stamp set called Little Red and the markers are available from Crafter's Companion.

I have teamed up my image with a Sissix Thinlits Die called Moonlit Owl and mat and layered with black card onto a starry die cut background.  

Next time I will try to make a card without using black card - now that really will be a test for me!

Hope this finds you well and enjoying your crafting.

Bye for now
Anne
x

Floral Panel

Hello Crafty Friends,

Today I decided to play with my Spectrum Noir Colourblend pencils from Crafter's Companion but I thought I would try them on black card for a change.

At first I stamped with a Versamark ink pad and embossed in white but I found that the result was too bold against the black card - so I discarded that attempt and tried again.  This time I used a Brilliance pigment ink pad (Moonlight White) without the embossing powder and it gave me a much more muted result.  Good so far!  I then began colouring in my image. To start with I laid down a base of white very lightly, using my Spectrum Noir pencils and then chose a selection of coloured pencils to overlay on top of the white. When I had finished the stamped outline had become too faded. In order to bring back some definition I used a Sakura white gel pen and sketched in some of the lost detail.

It probably took me a lot longer than if I had chosen to colour on white card but isn't it all about the journey and not just the destination? I had a lovely time sitting in my craft room colouring to my hearts content, with the window open listening to the birdsong from the garden - such a lovely day!

To finish the card I mat and layered with black and white card; stamped, coloured and fussy cut an extra butterfly from the floral panel and finished with a black embossed sentiment and a few gems.
 
The stamps I have used are from Stamp Addicts:
Birthday Greetings SA-5033 and
Floral Panel SA-7071

It's good to be crafting after a few months absence and I hope to be back soon with another card.

Thank you for visiting me today, your company and comments are very much appreciated.



Bye for now
Anne
x