Butterflies, bees and bugs...part 1

Hello

I've been prepping some samples for a card making evening at a local museum. I've run two or three evenings a year there for quite a while now and we've built up a little crafting group. One or two were already crafters when they started but most were complete beginners. Each time we meet I try to introduce a new technique or new media.

This time I'm going for simple techniques with lots of scope for individual creativity. 

The first technique will be spotlight stamping...

This one also fits the bill for Isa.C Art&Craft #tagalongxmas05 challenge to use red and grey and a snowflake cluster on a Christmas card. The butterfly stamp is by Chloe's Creative Cards and was stamped in the centre of the card in grey, as well as on a separate peice of card in red, which was then die cut and overlaid. A little bit of shading was added with ProMarkers and the snowflakes and sentiment added in Distress Ink. There's a little bit of glitter too!

 

 

The second one was also pretty easy with the butterflies stamped first in pink direct onto the card, followed by the smaller beasties in bright colours. The butterflies were also stamped three times in black on card and die cut with different sized circles, which were overlaid so the images match up.

For the third one I stamped the butterfly directly on the card blank, again on a separate piece of card and again on a sticky note. The butterfly on the sticky note was cut out and used to mask the one on the card while I added some green ink through a stencil. This meant that the wings remained white once the sticky note was removed. Some splatter and spodges were stamped on in black. The separate card was die cut into a circle and the butterfly coloured in, before overlaying it on the card so it aligned with the one below.

One technique which can be colourful or monochrome and suit cards for all occasions.

Hope they like it! Thank you for stopping by xxx

Another fine mess

Hello

Holidays over and back to some kind of routine this week. I'm sharing a quick one today using the Aall and Create Stan and Ollie stamp set, with Giogiocraft stencils and some Kaisercraft borders. The background was done with masking so that it is actually flat, but the sentiment and Stan and Ollie are decoupaged.

Laurel and Hardy were real favourites as children. We had a film projector and the only film we had for it was Two Tars from 1928. Happy days sat in the dark watching it over and over. I've no idea what happened to it.

Hope you have a lovely day with plenty of smiles xxx

Gnome one like you

Hello

Today I'm sharing a cheeky little chap from Creative Stamping magazine issue 94. Perfect for this time of year when the garden is springing to life with flowers and minibeasts.

I used a mixture of Distress Ink for the more translucent stamping, Distress Oxides for bolder images, Ranger Archival ink for the black and Inktense pencils for colouring.

 I added some speckles with paint pen and Promarkers to give a bit of texture and create some 'movement' in the background.

Finally a little shading of shadows with the pencils to give a bit of depth. Gnomes are not really my thing but I think this little fellow is quite charming.

Thank you for taking the time to stop by. It's always appreciated xx

On the first day of Christmas...

Hello

I can't believe that we are already in December. This has certainly been a funny year with periods which have dragged and felt like an age and weeks that have whizzed by when I can't remember doing anything (probably because I didn't).

I am extra excited this December as I have been given two advent calendars. I don't usually have one at all, although I did have a cheese calendar one year which was delicious and I have had a gin one.

The first is a gorgeous wooden one and has lovely little Christmassy gifts in it.

 As this is a crafting blog I'm thinking you'll be more interested in the second one which is a Giogiocraft calendar with lovely stencils and laser cuts.

As usual with all Giogiocraft products it comes beautifully packaged and every bit can be reused.

There are lots of ideas on the Giogiocraft Instagram page. Gio has named the cute little chameleon Leon and I couldn't resist a quick play with ProMarkers. I'm looking forward to getting him on the Gelli plate.

I am very grateful to have such lovely, thoughtful people in my life. 

Thank you for stopping by. I hope you have a lovely week ahead xxx

Snarky cat returns

Hello
Hope you are all keeping well and getting through the challenges of a restricted lifestyle. I've lost my energy and creative mojo this week, but I know that's fine and normal and it will be back.

Here are some cards I made last weekend with the fabulous snarky cat stamps. I went with warm colours this time. You can see my first batch here and a link to the method I used here in one of my old Craft Barn posts.

I'm off to find my mojo. Thank you for taking time to stop by. Take care xxx

Snarky cat

Hello
Today's post is another project for the #craftingwithgiogio challenge. With a project every other day for April, I must confess to a little slippage, but I'm hoping I can finish on time. It's such a pain when work gets in the way of crafting. The theme for the 25th was 'stamping'.

I was given the fabulous Stampers Anonymous Snarky Cat stamps for my birthday.  I went back to a technique I posted about a long time ago in The Craft Barn design team days. You can still read it here.

 

 
I have some dear friends who will find the sentiments very funny. The good news is these are only one half of the stamps. More to come sometime.

Hope you have a happy week ahead xxx

Gelli Cats

Hello
It's rather a warm day here for crafting so I thought it was time to post a few projects. This is the first of the posts using the gel prints I made last week following a method in Giovanna Zara's new ebook.

The script was added by lifting paint from the Gelli plate using the raised side of an embossing folder.  I finished the print off with the stamped cat and coloured it with paint pen, gel pen and ProMarkers.

This one I kept a little cleaner. Maybe I'll add a sentiment later.

Time now to cool off with an ice-cream I think! Thank you for taking the time to stop by.

Materials used:

GiogioCraft foam stamp: Taormina

Creative dies: cat and flower

Archival ink: jet black

Distress Oxide ink

ProMarkers

Gel pen

Paint pen

You brighten up my day

Hello
Thank you for popping by. When I have a few minutes to spare I am continuing on my mission to use up my craft stash by putting my hand into the bits and pieces box and either make something with whatever I pick up or get rid of it. It's a big box...it may take some time!

Here's a quick card made with a background from my stash that is at least a couple of years old. The owl came from a magazine my lovely husband bought me.

Have a lovely day xxx

Materials used:

PaperArtsy stamps: ETS06 

Woodware stamps: brightening your day

Papercraft Inspirations February 2019 stamp and die set

Faber-Castell Gelatos 

Promarkers

Archival Ink

One of a Kind

Hi there
Today I have for you two more cards made with bits and pieces from my stash. I'm afraid I can't recall where the main images come from or even when I stamped them! Hopefully some of you will recognise the brand and help me out. The stencils were a birthday present and I love how bold they are.

Have a great day xxx

Materials used:

Studio Light stencils: L14 and L16

Distress Oxide ink

Archival ink

Promarkers

Relax and Enjoy

Hello there
The last card (for now) using the Creative Stamping issue 57 stamps. This has been a fun set to work with and I'm sure I'll be coming back to it in time. The background was one of my own Distress Oxide mop up papers but I'm afraid my shocking photography skill doesn't show up the greens and yellows very well!

Thank you for taking a look xxx

Materials used:

Creative Stamping issue 57

Distress Oxides

Archival ink

Promarkers

Age is irr-elephant!

Hello
It's been much easier to do a bit of crafting since the weather has cooled down where I am.

I'm sure I've mentioned before that my lovely husband is very generous and frequently buys me magazines that he thinks I'll like. My next few posts are all using the stamp set from Creative Stamping issue 57. It's a really versatile set and I can see myself coming back to it in the future.

First up...

The background started with a mop-up paper using stencils and Distress Oxide ink spritzed with water. The elephants were stamped and masked off, some shading and the sentiment added. Quick and easy. Thank you for stopping by xx

Materials used:

Creative Stamping issue 57

GiogioCraft stencil: art deco glass, zen leaves

Distress Oxides

Archival ink

Promarkers

On the Road

Hello
Here's another card using the stamps from Creative Stamping magazine issue 54. The van and signpost are decoupaged but the rest of the background is flat. I masked off the outside and stenciled the chevrons in the circle, then masked off the circle and stamped around the edges. I added shadows with Promarkers to give the illusion of depth.

As I have freinds with camper vans I think this card will come in handy.

A quick one to start the day as I'm off on a London street art walk later. Pictures to follow!

Materials used:

Creative Stamping issue 54

GiogioCraft stencil: directional drops

Clarity stencil: framer shape circle

Distress Oxides

Archival ink

Promarkers

Live for Today

Hello there
After a little break to get re-energized I spent the weekend getting my crafting mojo going. My lovely husband buys me craft magazines from time to time and I thought a good way to get creating without too much effort was to have a play with the stamp set from Creative Stamping 54.

The plane is slightly raised on foam pads but I also added a shadow with Promarkers on the base to give the illusion of extra depth.

After a day of getting inky making a batch of cards I feel that creative spark returning!

Thank you for stopping by xxx

Materials used:

Creative Stamping issue 54

GiogioCraft stencil: directional drops

DecoArt Personally Yours stencil: pride

Distress Oxides

Archival ink

Promarkers

Boxing Clever

Hello
Here in the UK we've just come through a spell of bitterly cold, snowy weather, but today there are glimmers of sunshine and a definite touch of spring in the air. My offering this weekend is a little decorated box, perfect to put a little gift or chocolates in.

For details of materials and how I did it do take a look at The Craft Barn blog. A short post today as I'm going to do my best to actually get some crafting done!

Thank you for visiting. Hope you have a lovely day xxx

Spring Flowers

Hello there
I've been off gallivanting and not had much time for crafting or blogging so I'm a bit behind. I did manage to make a quick birthday card using the Distress Oxides and stencils with one of my favourite PaperArtsy Hot Picks stamps.

More details are on The Craft Barn blog. The winter sale is still on and there are a lot of the Hot Picks stamps half price in the phase 2 section.

Thank you for stopping by. Your comments are always greatly appreciated even if I don't get to reply to all of them. xxx

Animal Farm

Hello
Business and housework sorted for the weekend...time now for a bit of crafting. First of all just to let you know that my latest post for The Craft Barn is live today on the blog.

I really love these cheeky chaps from the PaperArtsy Elena Zinski range.

The cards are actually one layer apart from the paper flower. Hop over to the blog for the step-by-step tutorial and find out how to achieve this effect with masking techniques.

No time to chat...crafting awaits! Hope you have a lovely relaxing day. Thanks for stopping by xx

Fab-U-lous

Another quickish make...

Materials used:

Imagination Crafts stencil: beautiful blossom

Kaisercraft: film edges

ProMarkers

Distress Ink

Heartfelt Owl

Just a quickie with another card using this beautifully intricate matching die and stamp set...

Materials used:

GiogioCraft stencil: floreal circle

Hearfelt Creations: sugar hollow collection

Distress Ink

Archival Ink

ProMarkers

I is for Imagination

Hi there
I'm scraping in with my Craft Barn Dictionary challenge project at the last minute. I thought it would be a quick one but it's taken me a bit longer than I expected. I've used paint and masks to create the silhouette and background, then stamped in Memento ink and added a little colour with white paint pen and ProMarkers.

I'm afraid that life seems to have run away with me at the moment so I'm not sure I will be able to get around to commenting on everyone's posts this fortnight but I will do my best to take a look when I can.

Monsterrific Fun

I've been having a play with the new PaperArtsy Elena Zinski Art stamps. For more details have a look at my project on The Craft Barn blog...