Moving swiftly on

Hello

It feels as if summer has already left us and our beautiful swifts are headed back to Africa. I took a bit of time away from paper crafting and card making for a bit of painting, trying to hold on to the summer feel for as long as possible.

Here are some of the steps...

I used some of Giogiocraft stencils to get the foliage started...

It very much is the view from my west facing balcony on a summer evening. I'm already counting the days until the swifts return next spring.

Thank you for stopping by. Your comments are very much welcomed. Have a lovely day x

Florally different

Hello

Today I'm sharing something a bit different for me. I don't really do a lot of die cutting or use embossing folders often, but I liked the look of the latest Chloe's Creatives box kit.

I cut out and layered the daisies from the embossing folder and found a pretty garland die in my stash for the background. I coloured them with liquid watercolour for a delicate look.

What do you think? I think I need to look through my embossing folders now for more ideas!

Thank you for stopping by. Have a lovely day xx

Some things get better when you let go

Hello

I've been looking forward to using one of my new stencils from GelliArts designed by Giogiocraft and finally I had the perfect project. 

I cut the top of the frame off the stencil as I didn't want it getting in the way. The Distress ink colours were picked from the August mood board for the #TAWI challenge with Isa. The theme for the month is vellum, combined with a line of three prompts from a 'tic-tac-toe' grid. I went with label, bird and swirls.

As usual I started off with every intention of taking photos...and then completely forgot! After using Distress ink through the stencil and on the edges, I stamped some background swirls in Distress ink and some bolder ones in black Archival ink.

The bird, foliage and flowers were cut with a Sizzix die from vellum and coloured with Inktense pencils. I found a handy little vellum tag which hopefully counts as a label, and some words from an old booklet. To finish off I added some pearls and spatters.

I was able to make a card with the remaining vellum die cuts.

It turned out better than I expected as I always find vellum a bit tricky. Not sure if I prefer the blue or the pink bird. Let me know what you think.

Thank you for stopping by. Have a great day xx

The cat and the butterfly

Hello

Today I'm sharing the last one in a series of cards using gel printed backgrounds. I started by adding the foliage in Distress ink and black Archival ink.

The details were added with Posca pens and Inktense pencils.

Here are the other cards made in the same way. They look pretty all together.

Thank you for stopping by xxx

Hare you are

Hello

Today I'm sharing another card using a gel plate background. The first stage was to stamp background flowers in Distress ink and then the foreground in black Archival ink.

Then the delicate bit of adding detail with Posca paint pens, Inktense pencils and white Gelly Roll pen.

A very therapeutic way to spend a couple of hours. 

Thank you for stopping by. Have a lovely day xx

Go wild

Hello

A quick make today where the stamps do all the hard work.

I stamped and heat embossed the PipArt wolf, then masked off the moon and added Distress ink. I added a little background stamping, some Inktense colour and white highlights. To finish off I added the sentiment and a few white spatters for stars.

Thank you for popping by. Have a great day xx

Hare by night

 

Hello

A quick one today to share another card made with a gel plate background, with a layer of dye based ink, followed by a sprinkle of Brusho crystal pigment and a spritz with water. 

I started by stamping the hare and masking off the feet, before darkening the foreground with Distress ink to create hills. 

Then I added some plants with Distress ink for the background and black Archival ink for the foreground. The moon was masked off and Distress ink used to darken the edges. The final touches were added with white gel pen and Posca paint pen. 

Thank you for taking the time to visit. Wishing you a lovely day xx

Fox family

Hello

A quick one today sharing another card using a gel printed background. The initial stamping looked like this...

...and I didn't want to add too much more as I liked the misty morning feel. Just a little Distress ink added a bit of depth and some Posca paint for colour and highlights.

Thank you for taking time to visit. All your comments are very much appreciated. Have a lovely day xx

Evening in the garden

Hello

Once again I seem to have time for crafting or blogging, not both! I have had a bit of time in the craft room making birthday cards.

The cards started off with gel plate printed backgrounds. These were made with a layer of dye based ink brayered onto the plate, followed by a sprinkle of Brusho crystal pigment and a spritz with water. It doesn't take long to make a stack of lovely backgrounds.

I used mostly Lavinia and Card-Io stamps, starting with lighter shades of dye based ink in the background and black Archival ink in the foreground.

Then the time consuming bit is adding in all the detail to create more depth, using Posca paint pens, white gel pen and Inktense pencils. To finish off the edges were darkened with Distress ink.

Another card...

Thank you for stopping by. Hope you have a lovely day xx

The voice of the sea

Hello

At last holiday time has arrived and the weather is cold and wet...perfect for crafting!

Today I'm sharing a tag for TAWI using moodboard colours and the prompts sea, fish and cup.  The tag also had to include collage which isn't something I usually go for, but managed some torn paper in the background.

Then I forgot to take any more photos until it was finished! I stencilled and stamped the net and bubbles onto the card. The fish, cup and shells were stamped on card and cut out. The fish and cup needed a bit of masking to make it look as if the fish is inside.

I enjoyed making this more than I thought I would with the odd combination of elements. 

Hope you are having a lovely day. Thank you for stopping by xx

A dapper gent

Hello

Just a quick one today, sharing a masculine birthday card using a Beck Seddon stamp set..

I went back to one of my favourite techniques of stamping and masking off the main image, swooshing the card through spritzed ink, adding stencilling, adding shadows with ProMarkers and finishing off with a sentiment...and of course adding in a few splatters!

Thank you for visiting. Have a lovely day xx

I see the sea

Hello

Back to card making this week with a card for the #TagAlongCIC card inspiration challenge with Isa.

The challenge was to follow a layout by group member Sylvie Collet and incorporate the mood board colours and sea themes.

I started by stamping and embossing a seascape using stamps from a lot of different sets. I used liquid watercolour and actually was quite happy with the result, however that's not really in keeping with the mixed media style of the group.

After some stamping and splattering this is my version...

 I managed to include the mood board colours, lighthouse, house and the button.

Thank you for stopping by. Have a lovely week xx

More plant play

Hello

I've been experimenting again with some new and old stencils designed by Giovanna Zara.

I started by tracing the shapes with a black Stabilo All pencil which is water soluble.

I used liquid watercolour to build up the layers.

With a few Posca paint spatters to finish.

I really love how this turned out and will be experimenting with different compositions. I'd love to hear what you think.

Thank you for taking the time to visit. Have a lovely day xx

Plant play

Hello

Recently I had a wonderful parcel of stencils from Giovanna Zara including her designs for GelliArts.

I thought Brusho would be good for a first play.

I layered the images using both the stencils and the masks, starting with the palest colour lemon yellow and then working through leaf green, sea green and violet.

 I love the texture you can get with Brusho when you control the amount of water

Lots of fun and lots of inky fingers by the end. I've lots of ideas for these so watch this space...

Thank you for stopping by xx