Stencilling

There 's a new challenge beginning today over on Craft Stamper Magazine's blog, Take it Make It.

This time the focus is on stencilling.

Here is my DT card for this challenge!

I drew a chevron pattern in the Silhouette program for my Portrait cutting machine and cut it from acetate. I laid this on the card and masked it with some Post It notes from which I had cut a circle. This was then inked with a few of shades of Distress ink. Wild Honey, Scattered Straw and Mustard Seed.

Having removed the stencil and the mask, I dried the ink and I then stamped and gold embossed some splats from SU Gorgeous Grunge set together with the leaf spray from SU Kinda Eclectic. The sentiment is from SU Lotus Blossom and the die cut butterfly and leaf from Memory box. 

The front panel was cut with the largest Simon Says Stamp stitched rectangle, extended slightly to fit the British card dimensions.

You can see how I extend the die-cuts here.

I'm off to the theatre in Chichester tonight to see the King's Speech and I'm really looking forward to it.

On Sunday I will be visiting the Sincerely Yours Craft Show in Portsmouth.. it would be good to see any of you there if you are in the area.

Take it Make it

It's time for another Take it Make It challenge at the Craft Stamper Magazine Blog.This time the theme is to stamp or emboss in white!

Her I used a Dreamweaver Stencil and Pearlescent White Embossing Paste, which was then sprinkled liberally with Glamour Dust!

The dry embossing is from a  Couture Creations folder and the sentiment from Clearly Besotted.

Why not join in!

I'm off to sing carols with a group of friends in the Victorian Farm in Upper Hamble Country Park.  It's where the Wartime Farm was filmed. 

We've had this engagement for over 20 years and we always enjoy it...even though it's often VERY cold!

What is a leaf stamp when it's not a leaf?

The challenge this time at Craft Stamper Take it Make it Challenge, is to use a non-Christmas stamp to make a Christmas image!

The link to the challenge is on my sidebar.

I chose to use this Paper Artsy leaf stamp to make a little Christmas Penguin!

There is a line in the design on this stamp which just follows a natural line where the colouring of the penguin's plumage changes. I heat embossed each side of the stamp, one in white, one in black and added a little punched circle for his eye with an ink dot for the centre.

The embossing folder is from Cuttlebug and was free with my new machine. The snowflake is fro Simon Says Stamp, I think the holly is from an Impression Obsession die.

I have made this stamp into  a robin and a chicken in the past, it's really quite adaptable!

Do join in this challenge... it's fun!

Take it Make it Challenge!

There's another challenge over on the Craft Stamper Blog. It's based on a technique illustrated by Hels in the mag and involves a faux bleach technique.

I found that the secret to a successful outcome is to use very smooth, almost shiny card. I covered it with a layer of Distress ink and then another layer of a darker shade.

I then covered it with a stencil and spritzed it with water. The water reacts with the ink and some colour is 'bleached' out from the card. 

When it was completely dry I stamped the flowers with Versamark and sprinkled it with white embossing powder and heat set.

Here is another using the same technique.

The sentiment is from Clearly Besotted die cuts.

From a potato!

The new Challenge at the Craft Stamper's Blog is to produce a card using a stamp made from a potato. 

This takes me back to the days of my youth... doing it as a child and then more latterly as a teacher cutting spuds for the kids to use for printing at school... in either case it's a while since I did it.

Here is a little card which funnily enough would be quite appropriate to give to a teacher at the end of a term!

The main image was inked with Distress Inks in several shades of red. The background strip was simply stamped over and over... it seemed to retain the colour for each successive stamp!

Why don't you have a go!

Craft Stamper Challenge 7

There has been a bi-monthly challenge on the Craft Stamper Blog for some time, but from now on you're going to have the chance to enter a NEW challenge each month!

Great stuff!
This time it's to use a small stamp several times to create a pattern or background or main focus of the card/tag...whatever.

Here's my CAS (as ever) contribution!

It's another take on a card I made last week, but this time I used my new ink from Stampin' Up called Pink Pirouette and it matches my Paper Mill pink cardstock perfectly.

The stamps are all from Stampin' Up and  the tiny banners were punched with an SU punch. The stitching is faux I'm afraid, drawn with a Gelly Roll Clear Star pen.

Why not give it a go this month!

Craft Stamper Blog Challenge

There 's a new challenge over at the Craft Stamper Magazine Blog.

This time it's to use the OMBRE technique. I believe that this means a gradual change of colour throughout the card. I chose to work with shades of grey.

The stamps are from Penny Black.

I merely masked a section of the card and then clear embossed the flowers before adding areas of colour using both sponge daubers and ink duster brushes.

When I was happy with the shading, I shadow stamped the image again using a deep grey. To add just a little interest I stamped some splatters from the SU Gorgeous Grunge set in white and shades of grey.

I removed any ink from the white flowers with a tissue to allow the colour to pop.

The sentiment completed the card.

Why not give this challenge a try!

Craft Stamper Blog

Lots of you know that I design for Craft Stamper magazine. Most of what I have published is in the CAS vein, a little unusual for a mag where inkiness is to the fore, but what you may not know is that there is also a challenge on the Craft Stamper Blog.

I have a link on my sidebar. It runs bi-monthly so you have plenty of time in which to prepare your submissions.

The theme this time is  SPLATTERS!

There is an article in the mag with various ways of achieving this effect but any type you can come up with will be great. The only stipulation is that there must be some form of stamping on your card!

This is my sample card for this particular challenge!

I began by cutting out the leaf using my Portrait machine. It comes in two parts, the leaf itself and then the veins.

I inked the leaf lightly with some Distress ink in the palest shade and when completely dry stamped the splatters (from Paper Artsy) and clear embossed them. I then proceeded to have fun with my Distress Inks using sponge daubers. When I was happy with the overall shading, I stuck the veins onto the leaf and inked a little more. I then added several layers of clear embossing. I think this leaves a good finish to the edges of the shape being embossed.

The background is a piece of lightly inked, dry embossed card using a Stampin' Up folder.

The sentiment is from Alley Way Stamps.

Simple and fun!

Why don't you give this challenge a try!

Craft Stamper Take it, Make it!

From time to time, on the blog of the magazine Craft Stamper, where I am one of the designers, there is the  opportunity for crafters to have their cards published.

This time it's to create a card using acetate.

There are a few stipulations, but you can find the details here.

There are some terrific examples from members of the DT and the card to be published in the mag will be chosen by them from all the submissions at the end of the challenge.

Here I used some cor'dinations card which was embossed with a Cuttlebug chicken wire Embossing Folder and then sanded. This card was split into two pieces and a section of acetate was sandwiched between them.

The agapanthus flowers from Stampendous were inked with a couple of shades if distress ink and stamped inside the folded card to show through the acetate window.

The die cut butterfly from Marianne Creatables was inked with Distress inks, embossed and twinkled  with Glamour Dust, to tone with the flowers and the cardstock.

A simple sentiment was stamped, then die-cut with a Spellbinder tag.

Do give the challenge a try... you may see your card in print!

Craft Stamper Blog Hop

CRAFT STAMPER MAGAZINE

Blog Hop

If you have arrived here from Chris Dark's Blog (the Sketching Stamper), then you're in just the right place!

I have a technique for you today which I discovered a short time ago. 

It involves both heat and dry embossing and can achieve some stunning effects.

This is the card I made and here are the tools and products that you will need to make it

Begin by taking two contrasting Embossing Folders, one with a definite design and the other with a more all-over random pattern.

Ink the inner, de-bossed side of the definite design folder using Versamark. My folder is the Dandelion clocks from Craft Concepts. I removed any stray ink from the centres of the flowers with a Q tip stick.
Place the card inside the folder and run it through the die-cutting machine for the first embossing.

Sprinkle liberally with embossing powder. I used Ranger Distress Embossing powder in Aged Mahogany. For this technique, I love the rough, dull effect which distress powder produces.

Shake off the excess powder and apply heat from a heat gun. The powder does not change as radically as regular embossing powder, so check that it has in fact melted.

Once cooled, place the card into the second embossing folder and run through your machine once more.
I used a Cuttlebug harlequin design.

To get a greater distressed look, I sanded parts of the image, cut it to the size I wanted and distressed and inked the edges before mounting  it on some toning card and punching the edge to add a little interest.

The ribbon and butterfly completed the card.

Here you can see the effect of the sanding on the secondary embossing over the diamond shapes of the folder

Embossing is one of the things which I still find magical in the card making process... it's one of the things which makes it such fun!

The letter you need to collect from me is...

N

You now need to continue your journey by hopping over to visit 

Birgit

Enjoy your trip and have fun!
Should you get lost at any point you can always revert back to the Craft Stamper Blog here.

Free Stamp - Craft Stamper

Any of you who like Craft Magazines with a freebie may well like Craft Stamper. It has a free stamp on the cover every month and this time it was designed by ME!

Here is a card I made with it using my squished flower background yet again. This one isn't in the magazine, so I am free to blog it!

This one has just a suggestion of colour from the plants but I think it's a lovely effect.

If any of you use the stamp, do let me know where I can see your creation... I'd love to see what you come up with!

Thanks and enjoy!

Craft Stamper - Take 2

Whoo Hoo!
Sneak Preview...
Page 38,  October issue, Craft Stamper Magazine.
I'm there again!
Check it out to see the whole card.

Published in Craft Stamper Magazine!

I have some extremely exciting news to share with you!

My September issue of Craft Stamper Magazine arrived today and there on page 42 was my card of the Eiffel Tower!

The really exciting part is that for the next few months, there should be more of my cards appearing in this section of the magazine. 

I saw mention of this Gallery on Jo Capper-Sandon's blog... and the rest they say is history!

I feel extremely proud yet most humbled at the same time... so watch this space!