A new technique gone messy

For my second week hosting the 52 Christmas Card Throwdown, we have a colour challenge.

I love these colours, and got a bit carried away, so have a few cards to share, as well as several bits for the stash! But having missed a few months with morning sickness, I need to catch up to have enough cards by December.

The first set were inspired by a technique Sheena Douglas showed on the telly a few weeks ago. I went out to Lakeland that afternoon to buy floor polish and tissues!

The first step was to emboss a design onto acetate (heat proof of course). I chose two Christmas tree stamps, then used my Sweet Dixie snowflakes. Gold powder, to fit with the challenge theme.

On the reverse of each, I then poured a bit of floor polish, and added turquoise brusho. I swirled it around to spread the colour. This was definitely not as easy as Sheena made it look on the telly! It was running everywhere, I struggled not to spill it and get it all over the front of the acetate. Watching the show back, I used far too much. Sheena added a little then spread it with a paintbrush.

I then pressed a single ply sheet of the tissue into the polish, allowing it to crumple. I used a brush to press it down flat, and to add colour if there were gaps. The tissue tore in a couple of places, I just took a bit from the side and filled the gap.

This is one piece from the back while wet.

I think this technique works better with more than one colour mixing together, so maybe this challenge wasn't the best time to try it! I could also have added gold glitter or gilding flakes into the polish for more interest.

I got a bit fed up with the mess, so for the snowflake piece I mixed the polish and brusho in a tub, then dipped the tissue and added it to the acetate. It didn't unfold readily, so I ended up with a much thicker layer. This would be fine for mixed media, but was a bit much for a card. Rice paper might work better, as it handles being wet with more resilience. Lots of things to try!

Here are the three dry pieces.

I cut each down to a rectangle, and used an embossing pen to run around the edge and give a gold border with more embossing powder.

The small words tree, I added a layer of white with the same gold border, and mounted onto an A6 card blank.

The larger tree I mounted directly onto a 5x7 card blank.

With hindsight, this is a little plain - I may still add something more.

For the snowflakes, I used a sentiment with border on white card. This stamp is from Docrafts, and is designed for tags. I stamped in versamark, then added turquoise and gold embossing powders.

I like the mottled effect this gives. The waste went into a spare pot, and I think will be lovely as a mix. I also edged this with gold.

This was mounted onto the snowflake background with super sticky tape, then I used a gel medium to mount the snowflakes onto a 5x7 card blank.

Lots to improve on with this technique, but I'm happy with this card for a first attempt.

For my alternative take on turquoise and gold see here.




To join in with the challenge and share how you play with these gorgeous colours, head over to the 52CCT blog. You have until midnight BST (7pm EDT) on Friday 18th May 2018 to enter your cards. Happy crafting!

Let it Snow

The new Christmas Card Throwdown challenge is a technique - shaker cards.

This is a new one for me, so took a bit of fiddling about, but I got there.

I am still feeling inspired by the last challenge, musical notation, so have combined the two. I started with the insert. I made this to fold at the top, although the card opens at the side, and to attach to the back of the card. That way, the front of the insert shows behind the clear shaker section, then you can write inside without it being seen from the front of the card.

I started with my musical score stamp, in sky grey pigment ink. Very subtle.

I then added the words in watering can archival ink. This is a Clarity stamp. And yes, I've been humming this tune all day!

I stamped the inside of the insert with Clarity Stamp snowflakes, in the sky grey.

They're subtle but do show properly in real life!

For the front, I started with a 6x6 card blank and Clarity stencil card cut to fit onto it. 

I brushed weathered wood distress ink over the stencil card to start with.

I joined this and the card blank with a repositionable tape pen, and die cut the aperture, to make sure they'd line up.

I then stamped snowflakes over the frame, in the sky grey ink. I edged it with a stormy sky distress marker.

I cut a frame from white glitter card, using the same die as the aperture and the size up, and attached this around the aperture.

For the shaker confetti, I raided my bag of small waste bits, for shiny silver papers. I also used some of the glitter card, silver mirror card and vellum with a silver design. I cut these with two punches, a musical note and a snowflake.

Some of the papers were one sided, so I had the brilliant idea to press them into a silver pigment ink pad to make the back decorative too. Only hours later when they were still wet did I think that pigment ink on coated card wasn't such a good idea. So I had to wipe it off!

I cut two squares of acetate, and attached the first behind the aperture with super sticky tape.

I don't have any proper shaker foam, I wasn't organised enough to order some in advance and our local craft shop doesn't stock it. So I used normal foam tape, the thickest I had, in two layers. This did make the sides of the "box" a bit sticky, so I'll rethink for next week.

I added all my confetti, then attached the second acetate square with more super sticky.

The whole construction went onto the card blank, carefully lined up with the aperture again, and the insert went into the card behind it.

I also decorated the envelope, using the music and snowflake stamps, and silver pigment ink.

So here we have my first shaker card! I didn't manage a photo that shows the sparkly confetti very well. This is quite a muted version, maybe next week I'll go for the full on bling with sequins!





If you'd like to join in with our shaker card challenge, please go to the Christmas Card Throwdown. You have until Friday 5th May, midnight BST, to enter. (You get three weeks instead of two this time, as there are 5 Saturdays in April!) We'd love to see what you come up with.

A breath of woodland air

It's time for the October Clarity Challenge. And I'm loading it on the last day again! I could try to pretend that I'll do it earlier next month, but it's unlikely. Things tend to get left until they're the most urgent thing at the moment!

The theme is "Circles or Squares."

This idea developed in three stages. I wanted to do something dimensional, so decided on a square canvas, with square frames layered up and extending out from the sides. I even bought a set of square nesting dies to make it, which have proven very useful already.

When I received the gorgeous Clarity Club stencil this month, a set of beautifully delicate trees, I had the idea for a woodland theme, using that and other tree stamps and stencils. 

Finally, at my shamanic bodywork session I drew the forest card, which said "breathe", and gave me my focus.

I started with an 8x8 canvas board. I applied grunge paste through the new stencil, forming a tree up one side and leaves across the centre.

I added more branches across the top, with the same stencil, then individual leaves in the bottom left, using the maple leaves stencil. The only picture at this stage was all blurry!

Once the paste was dry, I spritzed with scattered straw distress ink. Then, replacing the stencils, I added colour with distress inks and stencil brushes.

It was a bit challenging to work out which leaves, and which way round, I'd used at the bottom. This is an Autumnal woodland, so lots of warm colours. I used aged mahogany, spiced marmalade, brushed corduroy and crushed olive.

Before I finished, I decided that the background was too yellow, so painted it with a cream acrylic paint - fiddly, but glad I did it. I also edged the canvas with potting soil archival ink.

For the squares to layer up, I made a series of frames, cutting Centura Pearl card with all the nesting dies together. I wanted the sturdiness of the card, but not the shine, so used the reverse.

I painted the frames with acrylic paint. I used hey pesto and claret, with touches of other colours applied through punchinella - so there are a few circles snuck in as well!

Then to make the patterns and images to be framed.

The main one uses the birch trees stencil, which I love. I started with antique linen ink, brushed over the whole card, then added the stencil and brushed over with mowed lawn, crushed olive, and a touch of pine needles. I darkened the trees with brushed corduroy.

Looking good, but again I changed my mind and decided it was too bright, so added walnut stain over the green later on.

For one of the other panels, I used a tree stamp. I started with brushed corduroy over the card, then inked up the stamp with distress markers in different colours, and stamped three times.

The back tree is second generation.

Very pretty, but too pale, so I added more trees behind, so it's more of a wood, and used the other tree in the set and third generation stamping to fill in the background. I used the side of the tall tree to add bushes at the front. I also went back over the background trees to darken then, which involved masking the front trees - they're not the easiest shape to cut out!

Mounted behind a frame, here's the finished panel.

Next a tiny panel, using the birth trees stencil again, but darker colours - walnut stain trees with aged mahogany between.

Being so small, the branches were a little unclear, so I added detail with the fine nib of a distress marker.

Another small panel, this time using one of the maple leaves. 

This has a crushed olive background, with detail from punchinella, and the leaf is brushed corduroy.

For the other panels, I used acetate rather than card, so the squares behind would show through.

For the word, I used my word chain stamps. I used letters from Brilliant, beauty, truth and love to make the word breathe. Stazon black ink so it is nice and crisp on the acetate.

One of my Clarity Club stamps, the ivy leaves, came out next. I stamped onto acetate using olive stazon, and also with versa mark then embossed in green.

I coloured in from the back with glass paints.

I was going to add white glass paint behind, which is opaque, but my pot is so old it's gone off. So I used white gesso, it took 3 layers.

I also pressed versa mark through the trees stencil and heat embossed in bronze. It was a lovely image, but didn't fit with the rest very well, so I didn't use it, although you can see it on some of the layouts below.

With all the panels mounted in frames, time to arrange on the canvas. I had a plan up front, but when I tried it, I didn't like it. It felt too cluttered, no room to breathe at all! 

So I had a play around.

This was a second attempt, still too busy.

My options were constrained as there was an area of texture paste at the top I wasn't happy with and needed to disguise or hide.

In the end I went with a simple option, not using all the panels I'd made (but keeping my favourites!) which feels much more open and spacious.

To mount, I raided my daughter's craft stash for black fun foam. I cut this to size with the dies to raise up the frames, without obscuring the acetate. Where squares overlapped, I used extra layers to build up and support the non overlapping parts.

I have put a hanging ring on the back, but don't have anywhere on the wall to hang for good photos. So I had to improvise a stand, to avoid bending the bottom square, while I propped it up in the kitchen, where the light is best, to take these shots.

My warm, autumnal, woodland reminder to create space and breathe.

Harvest Festival Favours

Today I'd like to share with you the wedding favours I recently made for friends. And I'm going to submit them for the October Berkhamsted Creative Challenge, as they fit the theme of Harvest festival - Time of Plenty, with their Autumnal colours and edible filling.

Let's start with the samples I made for Becci and James to choose from.

The box in front is based on the meadow from my walled garden piece. They all use the dragonfly stamps, from Sheena Douglass.

The design they chose is a mixture of the two jars shown behind.

There are different parts that came together to make these favours. Let's look at the lids first. (The jars are the 110ml hexagonal glass jars from Hobbycraft.)

I painted the gold lids with white gesso, then decoupaged them with a decopatch paper.

The dragonflies are the larger stamp in the set. I stamped with versa mark onto heat proof acetate, heat embossed in gold and cut out with scissors.

For the flowers, I used a sheet of double sided adhesive. I attached it first onto the wrong side of gold paper (so the reverse is gold).

I then peeled off the other backing, and started adding to the sticky surface. First came gilding flakes, dotted across. Then glitter in bronze, gold and brown shades, including some tinselly pieces. I dusted gold shades of mica into some areas, then finished with gold and platinum embossing powder in the gaps, which I heated to set.

This is the first sheet I made:

And here's the second version, with more gilding flake and less mica. (It's also bigger.)

I love the texture this creates! It's fun too, basically you throw everything you have at the sheet.

I then die cut flower shapes from the sheets and layered up to form 3D flowers. I attached these to the lids, and the dragonflies to the flowers, using a glue gun.

On the jars themselves, I heat embossed the couples initials, R and J (Becci was Rebecca for this). I didn't know if heat embossing onto glass would work, but had a go, and it did. It just takes a long time to turn, as the glass absorbs more heat than card, and then takes a while to cool again.

The next step was the mini envelopes. These were cut from parchment using a punch, then embossed using the Groovi system. I added the fold lines, the names of the guests (the favours became place settings as well) and a twirly flourish.

To colour them, I sprayed them with gold paint from behind.

Inside, they each had a personalised printed message, which I edged with a brown sharpie pen to finish them off.

I pierced the corner of each envelope, and made a ring from wire to feed through to attach them.

I threaded the envelopes onto organza ribbon, along with a selection of beads, and feathers (I wired these with a spiral round the "stalk" and a loop, to be able to thread them on).

The ribbon was wrapped around the jar, with the knot hidden inside a bead. I used a dab from the glue gun to hold them in place.

I filled the jars with colourful dried fruits and seeds, arranged in layers.

When you see them all together, they make quite the swarm!

In situ they look rather more the part. What a beautiful table!

And many congratulations to Becci and James.