I am an on-the-side and increasingly up front papercrafter who loves nothing more than getting inky and creating pretty things with paper and stamps!
I am also a wife to lovely hubby and mummy to a wonderful 14yr old princess.
Todays project was made a couple of weeks ago when I had some playtime with distress stains and videoed it for my You Tube channel.
The play didn’t exactly go to plan mainly because I think my stains are so old that I think they are past their best… certainly the foam tops had started to disintegrate and the ink inside the bottles was a little gloopy … but I persevered and made a rainbow funky background and used some fabulous silhouette stamps for the main focal image.
I love how this looks with the very busy background and the bold silhouette images.
Think it makes a very cool card … full of drama!
I used a strip of the leftover cut off inside the card to finish off.
So this weekend has been busy … working! Yes I had a day off work on Friday but because of being poorly the week before I had so much to catch up on so I chose to work this weekend. Not full days but a few hours each day to get caught up a little on what I had missed with being ill.
But I did manage to do a bit of crafting too and made this card.
It was made in stages usually in 10 minute sessions and in some cases grabbing hits already die cut etc to build it up.
It started with the background I had actually started on Thursday using distress oxides and the Peace and Joy stamps.
I then chose to add some wreaths to it but to make it into a pretty birthday card rather than a Christmas card.
I die cut two wreathes from white and offset them to fill out the foliage a little. Then I chose flowers that had already been die cut from scraps and some embellishment flowers too.
I used the sentiment die cuts I had done whilst poorly and stacked them up for dimension. I inked the shadow layer as wanted it to blend but also give some definition between the word and the background.
I chose a die cut bow from another set of scrap die cuts I had. Again I stacked this for dimension.
I added the little Happy stamp from the Peace and Joy and then raised the whole panel up on foam before adding it to the patterned paper (leftover from making James’ card I shared on my blog on Friday).
Hubby and I have had a restful day off work together today which has been fab … and then we are off to the cinema with M tonight to watch Antman which I am excited to see. So I am glad I am late in posting the card I made for my cousins son, James. (To be fair I was also late in physically posting it to him too …. But then again Auntie C is always late in posting cards … my theory is I am just extending the birthday!).
I used some very old patterned paper I’ve had in the stash for years and years as the base and the letters and paired it with the red cardstock to make a simple but funky card for a teenager!
Given male themed cards and teenager cards are not my go to make I am pleased with this one … I used a stack of paper from DCWV which has some encapsulated glitter but isn’t overly sparkly. It also has alphabets as the theme so grabbed the large J and then the rest of the letters from another piece and this created the focal point of his name. I then built up around that with punched circles and card candi.
I added the sentiment embossed from Paperartsy and pretty much left it at that… layered pieces of paper and cardstock!
There is some dimension with the j and the birthday sentiment raised and then the whole background raised off the card blank too.
Inside the card I added some scraps of paper, another punched circle and another embossed sentiment (I couldn’t work out whether to go with black or white on the front so did both!)
Really love how this came together… funky but also super simple really!
Now the Creative Knockouts challenges last a fortnight I get a bit more breathing space between my contributions which I must admit is a little bit of a relief.
This time the theme is Birthday Wishes and we are sponsored by All Dressed Up whose images I love.
I chose to use the image Little Scottie Dog which I was gifted by All Dressed Up. I printed it and coloured it using my Promarkers with some really pretty pastels.
I then die cut the image out.
I then went to town with the Pierced Blooms die cuts in coordinating colours.
For the background I went with Kraft cardstock and ran that through the embossing folder to give some texture. I also added some dsp in the blue as some contrast.
When I had put this together I went with a Kraft card blank and so added a mat of white and then chose my sentiment from the Fancy Phrases set.
I also added in some splatters of the pink shimmer ink and then some flower embellishments.
I also added a metallic button with some twine as the final embellishment.
I decided to make a cutesy card for my hubby this year …
I mean this Tim Holtz die is just so adorable.
I die cut him lots of times from cream cardstock and then coloured him in using my promarkers. After adhering everything together I also added glossy accents for the eyes.
I chose to emboss the background using the woodland folder and then added a ribbon and two of the extra heart die cuts from the set.
Then the sentiment is an old one from the stash which I stamped and mounted it on the red.
I then decided to mount this onto a Parakeet Party card base as it’s one of my favourite colours at the moment and also matches with the scarf for the bear.
This card is like the one I shared last Saturday in that it is using the purple background inspired by … yes you’ve guessed it … Jennifer McGuire and the distress ink resist mono print type technique. This was the background that worked well although I then end up covering most of it up with the stamping and the focal point but still I love how it turned out!
I decided to play with the Splendid Thoughts stamps and added some additional pattern to the background using the more solid stamps. Then I stamped, coloured the images and die cut them and added the finer diecuts to create the cluster.
I decided it needed a frame so I die cut the larger shape from the Seasonal Labels dies. I inked the edge of that and the background panel to frame it.
Then added dimension using foam and texture with the silver bow.
The sentiment I added was from the little tray of bits and bobs I have to the side where I make things for projects and then don’t use them.
Inside I added a piece of white and a leftover stamped piece and die cut to coordinate but forgot to take a pic … oops!
I finished off with the little iridescent gems.
No one would probably work out that the background was handmade not a bought paper I think but I love how this ended up and enjoyed the playtime.
If you fancy watching this one come together than you can watch it as I did video the whole thing!
Happy crafting!
Catherine
P.S. I still have 2 backgrounds left from this playtime but might give purple a rest for a few weeks! But watch this space to see the other things I make from them!
I’m glad after the week I’ve had that I make more than one project when I sit down to craft so I can save projects up to blog at a later date. I’ve been poorly this week and had zero energy for crafting! Hoping to get some more energy to make some more stuff this weekend. Today all I’ve managed to do is die cut scraps sat on my bed … it’s something, but not exactly fun and creative! Ah well … onto todays project I can share …
I made a second background whilst I was playing the other day and added inks and created a card from it.
Once again embossed dots all over … but this time blues and yellows to make a lovely background.
I turned the background so it was landscape and then added into the background some of the stamps from the Concord and 9th butterfly set that goes with the stencil lens butterflies.
I then stenciled the butterflies and die cut them choosing one for the front. I used the Biggest Wish stamp for the main sentiment onto some cardstock I used the same inks to keep the colour scheme the same.
I added the turquoise gems and then mounted the background onto black before adding it to a white card blank.
I also added glossy accents to the centre of the butterfly.
Love how this was finished. Fun but also pretty.
Maybe I will regret it but I did make the decision to get rid of the circle stamps … but I think I’ve come to end of my thoughts on using them … so the hard decision was made to add them to the sale pile!
I found a stamp set that I have not used in some time so decided to make a background with it.
I embossed all the stamps and created a lovely background which I then added some blended distress inks in yellows, pinks and oranges.
I also found some random stamps on the desk to add some other patterns into the background. I also added in some splatters of shimmer ink. I don’t think you can see that on any of the photos but you can in real life.
I then grabbed the die cut pierced blooms flowers and decided they could be a a lovely cluster around a sentiment.
I used some ripped Kraft cardstock to create a contrast to the flowers. I then layered the background onto a layer of Kraft to frame it and wrapped some paper twine around it.
I then added a stamped sentiment which again is one of the random ones I came across whilst tidying up.
I added foam behind it to give it dimension. I then added some sparkly gems from the stash as a finishing touch.
This month for the tag swap I went a little grungy but also a bit cute!
I decided to use the Art By Marlene beach house stamp and to do some paper piecing but with the base on Kraft cardstock. I then decided to add some white ink behind the main image, some splattering and some stamping using a random wood mounted stamp from the stash. I then decided everything needed a coating of ink to make it blend… this turned my pretty cute house into a cute but grungy house!
I then added more white pigment ink through stencils around the edge but used the sticky embossing powder in the hope that I could add gilding flakes to those sections. This didn’t work well so they look only a little gilded and mainly white and textured. But I like the effect so I didn’t mind.
I stamped and embossed and inked the sentiment from Art Journey nl and added that.
I then used my inktense pencil to add some shading and definition to the image, the sentiment and around the edge of the tag.
I added some ribbons to finish off and decided it was a finished piece ready for the swap.
The first few photos were taken at night with flash, this is the tag in daylight.
It was good to use the Beach house stamp in a different way. It is such a cute set of stamps and I don’t think I’ve ever gone grungy with them before!
I’m back with another Craft Stamper magazine stamps sort out project … this time using this cupcake image.
I stamped and embossed it and then coloured with my stampin write markers before fussy cutting it out. I had already decided by this point that it was unlikely to stay in the keep me pile but it was time to make use of what I had created regardless.
I decided to use one of the spray backgrounds that were on my desk still from a few weeks ago. I added some stencilling to it to add some more interest and then started adding it to a piece of the zingy Parakeet party cardstock. I also added some washi tape strips that I thought complemented the cupcake colouring.
Next I went with some piercing to add a bit of something to the washi strips. But then I covered most of that up with the sentiment. I used Happy Celebrations which I stamped and fussy cut out but the addition of the black meant I needed to add more balconies so the punched circle and the black embossed rest of the sentiment and then finally added a layer of black to the background panel too.
I think originally I had thought it would be a pretty pretty style card but it ended up turning quite funky!
I added it all to a bright orange card base to keep the brightness going in contrast to the black. I actually like the final card but the stamp I can’t see me using so it’s going to the get rid pile. You win some, you lose some as they say!
Of I also used some yellow star gems I had in the stash to embellish.
Inkyfingeredcat 