Gilding Flakes

It's a while since I used gilding Flakes and I don't believe that I have ever used them with a stencil before, I think that I have mainly used them with stamps. So to begin this project I cut a stencil from vellum using a Sizzix die. This is actually a die which normally leaves an aperture so it is perfect for using to make a stencil.

I inked through the stencil with Versamark, sprinkled on some Stamp 'N' Bond and heated it. I tipped on some Gilding Flakes and pressed them down firmly, before brushing away and then burnishing with a scoochie thingy. I was really pleased with how it turned out. I wanted to do a sentiment in embossing powder rather than flakes but neither the gold nor the copper were a good match for the flakes so I mixed some of each together. It's not a bad match IRL.

CAS Stencil Challenge

I really love how the girls at CAS Stencil make me think outside the box.

Thank you SO much!

AAA Cards

Foiling

Quite a long time ago when I first heard about foiling, I thought that it was definitely the way forward and in my enthusiasm went all out on trying to achieve the perfect result.

I began by driving miles to a craft shop where there was a demo of the Heidi Swapp Minc machine. Enthused I thought that the price was a little high so I got a cheap laminator instead. My first efforts were not the most successful and so I bit the bullet and got the huge Minc machine (the smaller one hadn't get come onto the market). Sadly my results were not hugely improved. I also bought a laser printer so that I could foil from that (supposedly). Well, all in all things did not go as well as expected and the printer was little used, the Minc sat on the windowsill and the cheap laminator was simply used for laminating downloaded  knitting patterns... til now!

Those glas at CAs Mix Up certainly have had me dragging out my stash which was often purchased on a whim or when suddenly fired with enthusiasm. 

So here is foiling revisited.

For this card I used a stamp from Indigo Blu which is a lovely splashy kind of image. I inked it with Versamark and heat set it with clear Embossing Powder, before putting through the laminator with gold foil. I'm not really sure of the make of the foil as it was unwrapped in the drawer with other packs of foil. I used the same process for the sentiment which is from an old wooden stamp from Hobby Art. As it was a splodgy kind of butterfly image I thought that this background EF from Sheena Douglass would complement the image.

Thanks again to the CAS Mix Up team for their fabulous inspiration and for getting me going with another long lost technique! I really hope for more success this time!

More vellum

I have to say that the CAS Challenges managed by Loll and Bonnie, certainly do just that... challenge! However there is so much inspiration together with links to videos to help with new techniques that it really is a terrific place to have fun!

This is another attempt for their watercolour challenge, which is to use watercolour on vellum.

In the first card I entered, I coloured on the back of the vellum, this time I coloured on the front.

This is from an old wood mounted stamp from Magenta. It had been sitting in a drawer for quite some time and when I first stamped it, part of the image was missing,  I guess it had got a little squashed. So to be able to double or triple stamp in order to ensure I got a good image, I decided to take it off the block to use in my MISTI. After a few seconds in the microwave it came off easily and in the MISTI worked beautifully. I embossed it in gold and coloured using the little box of paints which I bought for the art class on my last cruise.

CAS Watercolour Challenge 

I think the sentiment is from Clearly Besotted. It was quite a game trying to find stitched dies to cut out the sentiment. Having done the white piece of card, I wanted a really slim surround in the black card. With a little trial and error and a bit of jiggling to reduce the size of the second die cut, I managed to get the effect I wanted.

At Sea!

At "Less is More" it's time for  One Layer with the theme At Sea!

I love these sea birds from The Rubber Stamp Gallery. I began by stamping them and then covering them with some Elmers Rubber Cement, before Inking with various Distress Inks over a torn mask. I then over-stamped with a few Stamplorations grunge type stamps using some of the same Distress Inks.

The sentiment is from Happy Little Stampers!

Here I used an image from a kids downloadable colouring page, re-sized one and coloured them with watercolour pencils, blending the colours with a water brush and adding Glossy Accents when dry. The sentiment is computer generated.

This is another stamp from the Rubber Stamp Gallery. I embossed the circles, then masked them before stamping the image and again colouring with watercolour pencils.

The sentiment is from Imagine That.

Another sea picture similar to the first one, This time I stamped and clear embossed the waves using  a grunge stamp from Stamplorations, then inked with various shades of Distress Ink using sponge daubers.

I then stamped the sea bird from The Rubber Stamp Gallery and clear embossed that,  then cut a mask for his body before inking the sky, also using sponge daubers.

I wondered about a sentiment but thought I might leave that until it's needed!

Best Wishes

A teacher friend of mine co-ordinates the giving of greeting cards to members of staff at her school. She asks  me to produce them for a variety of occasions. This time it's simply 'Best Wishes' and I have made half a dozen for her.

I made this one with the colours from the Colours and Sketches CAS challenge.

I think it's a really pretty combo and always reminds me of a friend whose house decor had lots of evidence of these shades.

The leaf stamp is from Impression Obsessions and the butterflies are from an SU/Sizzix Embosslits die.

I'm not sure of the make of the sentiment, but it's mounted on a reduced size Papermania slider die.

The embossing on the base panel is from  Sizzix folder.

Many thanks for my Top 3 place on the last CAS colour challenge!

Back from Spain

We returned home last night from a couple of weeks holiday in France and Spain. We drove through France and met up with our daughter and her family who flew to Spain to spend a week with us in a resort just outside Fuengirola.
It was a shame that Daisy (our granddaughter) was feeling a little under the weather for a few days and even had to go the see the doctor. She had a problem with one of her ears.
Thank the Lord for Calpol!
I now need to catch up on a few card orders and this is for one of them... a card with cardstock buttons  for the challenge at Just us Girls and also one of the Best Wishes cards requested by my friend.
The sentiment was computer generated and uses the fonts One Fell Swoop and AL Fantasy Type. The paper is from Pink Petticoat and the butterfly dies are from Die-namics.
We stayed at some fabulous Paradors in Spain.
I was thrilled to see that there was a stork's nest  atop a chimney of the castle where we stayed in Olite, Spain, but I had to wait a while until it showed itself.

Now back to cardmaking!
Stamp Something - Butterflies

Silver, Green and Gold

I love these simple sketch stamps from Stampin' Up. I love the unfussy look they have. This is a first inking for this particular one, but I'm sure it will get lots of use in the future.
An any occasion card, but whenever I make a card using greens, a lady from my choir always springs to mind as she makes a bee-line for my green cards every time! I wonder if this will appeal to her!
The Playdate Cafe - Colour Challenge - Green, Gold & Silver
If the Shoe Fits - Ribbons & Bows