My umbrella

I was a naughty DT member last week and didn't get around to doing my post for Clare Curd Crafts . With a big inspection coming up at work I was working long hours and the week flew by, but today is my much needed day off, and what better way to de-stress than a few hours crafting.

When I want to totally relax crafting I go to my paints and  a canvas, todays is 7x5 inches in size. 

I have to apologise as there are some photos missing to the process of creating a mixed media canvas, but when I get going I forget to take pictures....oooops sorry :-/

I started with a good few layers of my chosen paint colours and when I was happy with the blending and the paint had dried I moved onto stamping.

I built the stamps up in layers (the secret to depth on a piece is lots of layers) I also used some spray paint.

I then added some texture using texture paste through some sequin waste and when it was dry dry rubbed some paint over it.

Now this is where I got carried away and forgot to take photos. I drew a template for the umbrella and then transferred the pieces onto my patterned paper, cut them out and stuck them to my canvas using ModPodge.

 Once the umbrella was stuck down I stamped and added my quote. 

The next step is optional but I like the effect it gives. Using either a black maker or black paint, whatever you are comfortable with, draw around the pieces of teh umbrella and blend the colour in. This will make the pieces pop and give some dimension to your canvas.

My final step was to apply some white rub ons for extra interest.

The items I used from Clares shop are as follows

My Mind's Eye Kate and Co. OXFORD LANE 6 x 6 paper pad

and 

My Mind's Eye Kate and Co. OXFORD LANE Stamp Set

I've also used the Raindrop set of stamps from Designs by Ryn.

A lovely day

Hello, well it's Thursday again so my turn to share over on Clare Curd Crafts

The sun put in a very welcomed appearance yesterday and I think it was reflected in the card I was making, bright and cheerful

I used the 

My Mind's Eye Kate and Co. OXFORD LANE 6 x 6 paper pad 

and the 

My Mind's Eye Kate and Co. OXFORD LANE Stamp Set

start by decorating your base card if you wish, then cut a few narrow strips of the patterned paper and weave these together. Cut a picture tile, also from the paper pack, and mount this up on layers of 

coordinating papers to give some depth. Finally run a contrasting ink pads around the edges of your finished card.

I loves a bit of swagger

The Swagger paper collection that is. 

And that is exactly what I used for this weeks make for Clare Curd Crafts DT.

The front of my card I folded back on itself and then applied my choice of paper to the front flap and inside the card.

I then worked on the 'topper' of the card, layering papers and inking the edges. 

I cut some banner shapes to match in with the piece I used with the rub on word. The other elements I've used are also from the rub on pack, adhered to card, cut out and mounted onto 3D foam.

Clare has some great new stuff in the shop so why not stop by.

DT thursday

It's Thursday and that means it's my turn over on Clare Curd Crafts

This week I used the Fancy Pants Swagger collection.

the 6x6 paper pad

and 

the rub on collection

This is a wonderful collection, very useful, with some wonderful papers.

I layered up my chosen papers and used a rub on, applied it to piece of contrasting card and cut out and mounted on 3D foam.

A sunny disposition

Hi, it's Thursday and that means it's my turn to share a little inspiration on Clare Curd Crafts DT blog

I've used the

My Mind's Eye Kate and Co. OXFORD LANE 6 x 6 paper pad

and the clear stamp set that goes with the collection.

I love this collection, so fresh and sunny, and yet suitable for anyone as there is such a wide variety of papers and images in the collection.

I started off by picking a few papers from the pack and cut them into banner shapes.

I them picked out one of the small icon pictures that are included in the pad. I cut it out and mounted it onto a contrast piece of card.

I found my base card to stark against the patterned papers so I took out my beloved Dylusion sprays and added some splashes of colour. 

I also took the little dotty stamp and the flower from the stamp set and added them in a few places.

Then I mounted up  the banners, curling the points a little, and the image, raised on adhesive 3D foam pads.

Who doesn't love a saving

It's Thursday and that means it's my turn on the DT blog at Clare Curd Crafts.

 

It was only after I made this card that I realised Clare has put this stamp set and lots more into the 40% sale she has on at the moment

 

The background of the card is brayered with grey ink and over stamped using the small nut & bolt stamp. The motorbike is stamped in grey ink and layered onto black card.

The patterned paper is from the Carta bella well Travelled pad

I cut a couple of cute little banners and attached them.

 

 

A bit of distressing on the edges and this manly card is finished.

 

 

Something for the boys

It's my turn over on the Clare Curd Crafts DT blog today and yes I know it's Halloween but I just couldn't bring myself to make anything spooky, so instead I went all butch and masculine and made a grungy card.

 

the base of the card is coloured using a brayer and a brown ink pad.

The layers are cut from the Carte bella paper pack as well as some old Tim Holtz papers from my own stash.

 

Clare stocks a great selection of Tim Holtz products by the way!

 

 

I then started working on my layers, some inking, some distressing and some stamping

 

The motorbike stamp is great and is  from  the Crafty Impressions Explore stamp set

 

I put half the quote on the outside of the card

 

And then stamped the rest inside

 

I'm linking this card to the following challenge blogs

 

MAKE IT MONDAY

 

&

 

SCRIBBLE&SCRAP

 

 

 



Bits and bobs

I hate waste, any kind of waste, food, time, crafting materials. So with this in mind I have a box that I drop all my bits of left over paper into. They do come in useful for those little bits we all need from time to time, but today I thought I would share a couple of ideas that just use little scraps of paper.

 

The best way to start with this kind of project is to pull out a nice pile of contrasting papers, most of mine came from the Well Travelled paper pad

 

 

I then got together a collection of embellishments and ribbons that would work with the papers I'd chosen. You won't use everything you've got out but having them to hand will make decisions easier.

 

The first thing I made from this pile was a pendant, using a wooden tile as a base, you could use a domino, mount board, anything as long as it wont warp when glue is applied.

 

 

I chose my scrap of paper which I then glued to the base

 

file the edges of the paper to get a nice smooth finish

 

pick a couple of other contrasting papers and layer them on your base.

 

Now coat this in Mod Podge to seal all the edges.

Pick your embellishment and glue to the base.

 I stamped and added a word to mine, from the Crafty Impression Explore stamp set.

If you want to make a pendant, make a hole to thread a cord through. You could use this as an embellishment for a card, a Christmas tree decoration, or even add a magnet to the back.

 

 

The second thing I made was a quick card Embellishment, which could also be made into many other items.

 

I started out by cutting three different sized circles using my Cuttlebug.

 

I layered them up and added some ribbon,

 

I chose an embellishment

 

 

and there you have a finished embellishment to use in whatever way you want

 

It's my turn over on the Clare Curd Crafts DT blog today, stop by and say Hi x

 

 



Slow, slow, quick, quick, slow

Hello lovelies, it's Thursday again and that means it's my turn over on Clare Curd Crafts blog.

 

The title of this post kind of sums my life up at the moment, nothing happens for ages then a whole load of stuff all at once. This week is a whole load at once one as my youngest is off to Uni on Saturday so it's all hands on deck getting all the last minute bits and pieces together for him. With this in mind crafting time has been very limited, but I got stuck in and in under 30 minutes put together two cards, both quite different from my usual style but they show the versatility in the products I was talking about here.

 

First up is a little pink and black number I put together using the papers from the Carta Bella - Well Travelled 6x6 pad and some well loved dies I rediscovered in a box

 

 

I used a 5x5 black card blank and covered it with a sheet of paper from the paper pad, then cut the circles using dies and my Cuttlebug.

 

The words and butterfly are also dies. To bring the pink over onto the butterfly I applied some micro beads down the body.

 

The second card I made was even faster than the first

for this card I started out with a 5x5 white card base which I sprayed with Dylusions spray in Dirty Martini. When this was dry I over stamped it with the sentiment from the Crafty Impressions Explore stamp set. I then cut three banners from different sheets of paper from the paper pad and using a paint brush edged them in the green spray ink.

 

When I stuck the banners down I curled the edges a little to give some movement and dimension to the card

 

If your in the market for some new dies take a look here at the selection Clare carries in the shop.

 

 

A bit of what you fancy

Good morning, well I hope the weather is a bit better where you are, because it looks like autumn is well and truly here today in Birmingham. It's wet , grey and quite chilly, a total comtrast to last week when me and hubby headed to Somerset for a couple of days, wonderful blue skies and lovely warm sunshine.

 

I had to make a birthday card for my Sister today, and I fancied something feminine and a bit shabby chic, this is what I came up with

 

 

the hearts are made from a sheet of decorative paper I made myself using layers of acrylic paints.

 

and those gorgeous crocheted ribbons are a bargain I picked up last week in The Works, only 99p a pack! they were white but I've tinted them with ink, and the flower ribbon, also 99p, is a much softer shade of cream, so I also tinted that.

 

 have a good Monday x





Versatility

Today is my turn over on the Clare Curd Crafts blog

 

With pennies not as free flowing as they once were I know I like to get as much mileage from my crafting materials as possible, and one of the things I look for is versatility in the products. Take the Carta Bella - Well Travelled 6x6 paper pad, as soon as I saw it I liked it, and my first impression was how masculine it was, but after looking through it I discovered there are in fact some very useful papers in there.

 

 

I've previously used this paper collection and made a very manly card and a boyish mixed media hanging, but today I thought I'd show you just how versatile this paper pad really is.

 

 

The black and cream papers are from the Well travelled collection, and to contrast with these I wanted something totally different in both colour and pattern, so I took a plain piece of white copy paper and made my own sheet of patterned paper using Dylusion sprays in Dirty Martini and London Blue I sprayed through a paper doily to get the lacy effect.

I stamped and cut out my main focal image, a very old stamp, in fact it's the very first rubber stamp I ever bought a good 10 years ago, and it's still a firm favourite of mine. I mounted this onto black card, as I did with all the other layers.

 

 

The flower is one I made from the sprayed paper, just cut a rough circle and then cut a spiral into it. Then from the outside edge of the spiral roll the strip all the way to the centre, then secure with adhesive. Roll some of the edges back to get some texture, then add a black gem to the centre of the flower. The frill is in fact a piece of the doily I sprayed through. 

 

Once everything was mounted up I stuck it to a 6x6 white card base.

 

 

~~~~~~

 

Just to show how versatile this paper pad really is I then went on to make a quick and simple Christmas gift tag

 

 

So crafting need not be expensive if you shop wisely and buy products that will see you through the whole year.



Welcome to my little crafty corner

If you have found yourself here then hello and welcome :)

This is a little bit of the internet I'm claiming for me, to share my crafty makes.

 I won't call what I make art as I am no artist, I am a crafter who enjoys making things. I started making greeting cards about 12 years ago and have gone on to discover the joys of creating canvases, altered art and jewellery. I can often be found with ink stained fingers or streaks of paint in my hair, but do you know what, I don't care as it just means I've had fun creating.

A mixed media canvas inspired by Julie Nutting. Layers of decorative papers, stencils and stamped images.