Thrifty Thursday - Landscape Views

Hi Everyone

Sue Here

This week we are delving into the world of Hobby Art.  I have to say I LOVE these stamps for versatility and how you can 'make a scene' without trying.  The end result always looks like you have drawn it yourself!

Here are 2 cards I have made incorporating 

Spellbinders and Marianne dies.

 

The first is a card using the Donna Salazar shadow flowers.  Throughout  the week I shall be using the  stamps above CS037D.

I firstly stamped the wording continuously down a piece of card with black memento ink then wet it and washed different coloured pink and yellow distress pens over the top.  I then die cut the large silhouette flower out and put a pink ribbon through the left side and I purchased a pair of bee earrings in the sale at Sainsbury's for £1 and glued one onto the card.

The next card is a Marianne twig die which was die cut from black card. On the top of this I stamped another Hobby Art leaf stamp with versamark and heat set with WOW white embossing powder.  I then took a piece of white cardstock and stamped in memento black ink one of the houses and trees and again used distress pens to colour the scene in. Like the left pictures shows I tried to fill the open space left by the die and as you can see it doesn't matter if things don't look right, they will once you put the cut die over the top.

I then die cut a foliage leaf from  the spellbinder foliage leaf die in white card.

As I am always on the look out for something free to use on my cards, I was with a friend in Starbucks the other day and got a napkin.  As we were talking I was fiddling about with it and folded it thinly into a strip then curled it up into a circle.  Voila a flower I thought!  I know someone else must have invented that on the world wide web somewhere.  I just haven't seen it yet!  I then glued the end to stop it unravelling then added some water to the top and brushed pink distress ink over the top.

Hope you find a freebie this week....Sue

A Jar of Life

Hi Everyone

Sue Here

Had a rest on Tuesday and combined technique with thrift today!

This year will see many changes in our household none more so than GCSE's, college and possibly work for my daughter.

I am putting together a thoughts and mementos jar (bought for £1 from the charity shop)so I will add to this each month with something I've learnt,experienced or a keepsake.  I am starting off with a thought.

FOR MY CHILD TO BE HAPPY AND FOR HER TO GIVE ME LESS GREY HAIR THROUGH WORRY!

Impossible I know, but worry will cover all sorts of stuff such as exams, college, love and life experiences themselves, to name a few.  

Start one off with me and we can reflect on the year in December.

Firstly take a tag and a piece of newspaper or old book and put PVA glue in a part on the tag and glue the paper onto it.  You will have to leave this overnight.  Then pull the paper off leaving what was stuck to the glue in place.  Ink this up around the edges.  I have used  salty ocean, and mowed lawn distress inks. Take a Ranger Acrylic Paint Picket Fence dabber or white acrylic paint and paint over the written paper and a little of the ink. 

Then take an embossing folder, and put one side of the tag in it and run through your big shot (or other die machine). This was a bark one from Sizzix.  Take it out and do the same with the other.  Then I inked the raised areas with picked rasberry distress ink. I then took a sanding block and roughed up the raised areas on the tag.

I then printed off my saying onto cardstock and stuck this to the front of the tag. 

The ribbons I died with the same distress inks.  The small bauble was from a Christmas Cracker!

May 2013 bring peace and happiness in your life and happy reflections on 2012. 

Sue.

Technique Tuesday - Mark the Page

Hi Everyone

Sue Here

This week I am making presents for fellow crafters and friends.

Today is a bookmark.  This could be attached to a card by perforating the edge so that they can tear it off or make a pocket on the front of your card to place it in.

The technique today is resist but using promarkers/copics/spectrum noir pens and a blending pen.

Firstly stamp your images with versamark onto a smooth or glossy cardstock tag and cover with clear embossing powder and heat set. I used the Tim Holtz tag and bookplate die and Penny Black stamps of sunburst and concentrics





Then choose colours for your tag and colour it in.  Its doesn't matter at this stage if they don't blend.



Next take your blending pen and go over with the chunky side over the embossing and rubb off with a piece of kitchen towel.  The alcohol pen will bring the colour off and blend the colours together.  Add more if you wish.









The bookplate I have covered like the tag and added 2 x press studs.  I then added the ribbons and a saying fron Dylusions with WOW Ebony embossing powder and 2 metal charms.

Happy crafting this week

Sue 

  

Going Around and Around

Hi Everyone

Sue Here

Today I am using both the expandables I have been using all week into one card. The fancy lattice and botanical swirls.

I firstly cut 3/4 circle from a circle cutter, making sure I did not cut the top of the card.  I then took 2 pieces of backing paper and embossed the fancy lattice on one and die cut the botanical swirls.  I then glued then in place on the front of the card in a ratio of 40-60.

I then put a piece of ribbon over the point where they meet, followed by a piece of embossed edging of  Persian Accents covered in WOW Gold embossing powder.

I then punched out a few flowers and glued these onto the left side of the card.  I then used Spellbinder Label 25 to stamp a sentiment onto from the grattitude set.

Finally I used some liquid pearl in gold to cover the centres of the flowers, the tip of the edge, and a leaf on the right hand side.

Take care

Sue    

Technique Tuesday - Expandable Craftables!

Hi Everyone

Sue Here

Today we are looking at Spellbinder Expandable Patterns. These are fab dies and have intricate patterns on them which allows you to make elongated die cuts.  I have chosen  - Botanical Swirls.  Further 'How to's' can be found at the Spellbinder website.  Just follow these links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01_ZNjWGjoo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITiwZE9Q7Uk

Firstly I diecut the spellbinder wings, the expandable, the spellbinder heart, embossed an m bossabilities on white cardstock for the background and had a flower die for a corner piece.

I then used distress ink in peacock feathers and black soot on the embossed white card.  The expandable patters I die cut out of glossy black card.






I then diecut a spellbinder heart shape in black card which had already been embossed and added a lacy edge in black gingham.

I then cut a butterfly from the spellbinder set and inked up in versamark and used WOW nice ice blue embossing powder on the top.

I then glued it all together with Comic Shimmer Acrylic glue.

Happy crafting and if I saw you at the NEC this week hope you had a wonderful time!

Sue

Elegance in a bird of paradise

Hi Everyone

Sue here

Today I have made a card in only two colours white and memento cantaloupe and a touch of silver.

First I used a direct to paper technique, placing the memento ink directly onto my white cardstock and rubbing over it.  I then heat dried it off then used a piece of acetate stamped with a background stamp in versamark and heat embossed with wow silver embossing powder.  I then used brads  to attach this to the inked backing card.

I then die cut 4 x spellbinder fleur de lis squares, cut diagonal into the middle on all 4 then concertina folded each square and glued together giving it a star shape.

I then die cut a spellbinder picot edge circle (small) and before taking it out of the die, inked through the holes after embossing.

I then die cut a spellbinder bird flourishes and agian inked through after embossing.

I then die cut 2 x spellbinder elegant posts and again inked through after embossing before thaking the card out of the die.

I then stamped a sentiment from the Penny Black  winter wonders onto a small metal tag.

Again simple elegance.

Take care

Sue

Thrifty Thursday - Over a barrel!

Hi Everyone

Sue Here

Today I have altered a Cadbury's tin and made it into a chocolate or biscuit tin for Christmas.  I bought it from the local charity shop for 10 pence.

I have used:

Marianne creatables poinsettia, hearts 159, village 1-172 and 2-173, Xmas tree 136 and bird on a branch and fence

Spellbinder Label 10
Annabel's Christmas panel packs

I started by giving the tin a wipe with Milton disinfectant and then inking all over with brown alcohol inks on the tin lid and around the top and bottom edges where the metal was placed.

I then used some backing paper cut to size, inked around the edges in vintage photo distress ink and glued this onto the tin with Pinflair bookbinding glue.

I then cut the dies out in different backing papers and inked around the edges with vintage photo distress ink.

I then started with the fence, then the trees, bird, village scene, then the label with the pre coloured panel and the poinsettia adding some buttons and ribbon.

This has been a barrel of laughs to make and so effective! Sorry for the pun.

Take care

Sue

   

Technique Tuesday - A Touch of Parisian Elegance!

Hi Everyone

Sue here

I have started off this week with a really simple technique with napkins. You can apply this technique to tissue paper as well, but napkins are in every department store and garden centre and come in umpteen colours and pictures.

These napkins I purchased from the Harrogate show(5 for £1) and are 3 ply (which means 3 layers).  On your projects you only need the first layer with all the colour and pictures on.  However if you are cutting items out, only separate the layers once you have cut the pattern out as the paper is very delicate and will tear. 

I started with the napkin and tag and you usually find that the pattern is repeated 4 times at least, flowers will be all over the napkin and so you will get at least 4 cards or projects out of 1 napkin.

Take your backing card (whatever colour you like, I chose white) and put PVA or bookbinding glue over this piece of card. Separate the layers and place the 1st layer of the napkin over the glue and gently press down. The napkin should be slightly bigger than the cardstock underneath and if you find that it isn't, you can add another layer over the top. 

This was the case with the words PARIS, the napkin did not reach up to the top of the tag so I glued the word at the top of the tag.   It doesn't matter if you find a few crinkles in it as this adds to the effect.  Leave to one side to dry.  If you are cutting out flowers follow these instructions and once glued onto card, leave to dry then cut  them out.  You can decoupage them quite successfully.

You can add layer upon layer for different effects as the paper is slightly transparent and use your crackle accents for further effects.

Once dry, sand around the end of the card and the napkin surplus will come off.  I then went around the edge with black soot distress ink.

If you sand the napkin and add distress inks on top you can make it a really distressed project.




I then die cut spellbinder picot edge circle in burgundy card matching the napkin background followed by a marianne creatable butterfly LRO115 in silver card. 






I then inked these up with black soot distress ink and glued both onto the front of the tag with cosmic shimmer acrylic glue.

Simple Elegance

Sue