Amazing Phrasing, Cottage Flowers, Dylusions paints, Dylusions spray inks, Indigo Blu, Masks/Stencils, Memories and More, Ribbons

Our amazing princess

Today was GCSE results day for my princess. I am writing this blog post ahead of time as I know that she will have done an amazing job on her GCSEs and at this point we will be out celebrating before packing for a holiday!

I know we will be proud of her regardless of the actual results so I made a card a few weeks ago in readiness …

I used a Dylusions background (promise there aren’t any more left from the stash I made years ago … might actually have to have some inky time sometime soon to make some more! 😀 )

I also used a Memories and More card, another dylusions background cut down and a die cut ring. Then I added some flowers I had stamped and fussy cut out, some black die cut leaves from the Cottage Flowers set and a ribbon.

I chose to then add a sentiment from the Amazing Phrasing saleabration set and finished off with some black gems.

Inside I added a strip I had cut off the background and a remaining flower onto a panel of white as I had chosen a black card base.

Just love this… if I get a chance I will edit this to add in the actual results… but if I don’t get a chance just know we are proud parents regardless!

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Edited …all 10 GCSEs passed, she’s happy, we are happy and of course very proud… but then we already were… just have papers to explain one of the reasons why!

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Biggest Wish, Dylusions paints, Dylusions spray inks, Forever Flourishing, Masks/Stencils, Playful Alphabet, Stampin Blends alcohol pens

Dylusions birthday

I decided to once again grab a Dylusions background … but this time it is the last one so there won’t be more of these bright and funky backgrounds to share unless I have a fun inky session! This time I went for a pretty and fun birthday card.

After trimming the green background down I added it to some yellow card to give it a frame and then using foam I added it to the card blank.

Next I die cut some foliage from some Cinnamon Cider and Petal Pink cardstock. Next I stamped and fussy cut a large floral image from an old Creative Stamping magazine set. I’ve not really used this set much and it is beautiful so may have to put it to good use again soon.

I coloured it quite loosely using my Stampin Blends in Petal Pink, Granny Apple Green, Just Jade and So Saffron.

Next I die cut the letters for Happy from the Cinnamon Cider and stacked them up three times to give more dimension. I then stamped the Birthday from Biggest Wish using More Mustard.

I added foam under the floral stamped image and also under the birthday part of the sentiment so this really has a lot of dimension.

I finished off with the gold flower embellishments from the stash.

It feels so good to have finally used up all those backgrounds made so long ago. So pleased I could find a use for them and could find a way to mix up my crafting a little.

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Christmas to remember, Dylusions paints, Dylusions spray inks, Masks/Stencils, Snow Crystal

More Dylusion Snow Crystals

I’m still working my way through using those Dylusion backgrounds I made years go at a class with Dyan Reaveley… only a few left after todays project I am sharing with you.

I am basically doing a similar design to the cards I shared last week (or thereabouts) where I embossed the Snow Crystal background stamp but this time I changed the powder I used to a white glitter one. I rarely use this powder as glitter isn’t usually my thing, but I thought this stamp was the perfect one for a glittery finish!

I decided to go for square 5×5 cards so cut the Dylusions panels down to 9.5cm square (I had originally thought to do 13.9cmx9.5cm panels for an A6 card but changed my mind… hence the cm sizing!)

Two of the cards I mounted onto the black panels, and two I decided to emboss the card blank front using a snowflake embossing folder.

For both cards I used sentiments from the Christmas to Remember stamp set … I love how varied these sentiments are.

Once again I chose to add the iridescent snowflake embellishments to finish off.

Love these and glad I decided to make more using those backgrounds for my own stash as the others went to the swap recipient.

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Biggest Wish, Dylusions paints, Dylusions spray inks, Gummiapan, Indigo Blu, Jar, Masks/Stencils

Dylusion funky flower card

I am still working my way through things on the desk and trying to clear the decks a bit. I find whilst products are on my desk, or half used supplies, I can’t seem to settle on new stuff until I’ve used it up. I constantly want to grab for the same stuff.

In this case it is these Dylusions backgrounds. I’ve had them for years bit now seems to be the time to put them to use or get rid… and that is just not an option!

So I grabbed a couple of them that were more decorated than most with added doodles and some black edges. I added more black with a bit of black stamping (Gummiapan alphabet text stamp) and also grabbed a smaller piece of one and did the same on that).

I added black around the orange piece and then some white dots to make it coordinate.

I mounted the smaller panel onto the top of the other and then looked around for more supplies to finish this off.

I settled for some flowers stamped and fussy cut (again these were already stamped on the desk from some other Christmas themed projects) and then punched a jar from black scrap cardstock to turn it into a feature.

I decided Cinnamon Cider was the perfect card base colour so used a half sheet of that to make the card blank. It wasn’t a full sheet so I felt fine in then also stamping onto the bit left over to create the sentiment which I then fussy cut out and added to the card with a bit of foam in the middle so it had dimension.

Quite a funky and mixed media style card. Love it!

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Christmas Greetings, Christmas to remember, Dylusions paints, Dylusions spray inks, Masks/Stencils, Ribbons, Snow Crystal

Funky Christmas cards

I’ve joined in with a swap to make Christmas cards using 2 techniques on the cards and here are what I made…

Now the backgrounds themselves are those Dylusions backgrounds I made years ago with Dyan Reaveley using Sprays and paints and stencils … so I guess technique number one is using stencils!

Then I heat embossed the amazing Snow Crystal background stamp in silver on to each of them. This is a stunning image nd embosses beautifully.

I then embossed the sentiment onto black four times and cut it out using the Christmas Greetings dies. On two I just kept it simple, but on the other two I added a little bit of the gingham ribbon to step them up a little.

On all of them I added the little iridescent snowflake embellishments to add some more sparkle.

I added them onto black card bases and inside I added a white panel onto which I stamped Merry Christmas in black to keep it simple.

Super happy with how these came out. Love the shine of that snowflake against the super bright and fun backgrounds.

Entering these into the Christmas in July Challenge at Dream Valley Challenges

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Art Alchemy paints, Baked Texture embossing powder, Canvas and Mixed Media art, Clare Lloyd, Dylusions paints, Ellen Vargo, fresco finish paints, Paperartsy, Lin Brown, Masks/Stencils, PATWITS circle journal

Circle journal 4… teal and lime

So the circle journal group is off and running for another year and this time the challenge was to choose the colours you want to use and then only use those colours with neutrals for each page you complete.

I chose Teal and Lime as my combo and here is the journal I made…

As I handmade my journal and have bound it with book rings it should be easy for people to complete their pages out of the book and then rebind it before passing it on.

I had lots of fun making my journal covers with the limited colour palette…

And using different materials and textures to create the journal!

Looking forward to this colour challenge over the full year and how I can vary it from one page to another.

The covers I kept to the black gesso as the consistent element to help cover the greyboard I had used as the cover substrate.

The feather part I probably worked longest on but decided it was too delicate as an outside cover so ended up with it as an inside page.

I started with a few stencils and modelling paste and then once dry I added black gesso as the base. Then I layered up colours with a mix of paints … art alchemy, fresco finish paint, and Dylusions.

Then once I was happy with the background I started cutting small pieces of different patterned papers in teal, turquoise and lime greens. I stuck these to a feather template I had made and created the feather.

I gave it a coat of versamark and clear embossing powder to add texture and give strength and then adhered it to the background.

Love all the different colours I got in my covers whilst remaining true to the original colour choice.

Love how these little snippets work together in this collage too.

Looking forward to working in the next circle journal I get too… and seeing how I use these colours again!

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Art Alchemy paints, Burlap, Darcy, Dylusions paints, fresco finish paints, Paperartsy, Hot Picks, Inktense, Derwent, Masks/Stencils, PATWITS circle journal, YouTube video

Circle journal for Wanda

Today I am sharing the last layout I have for this round of circle journals… And it is Wandas fab envelope journal that I get to work in. Her envelopes were a fab texture and purple colour and I didn’t want to cover that up entirely so I decided on a paint scraped background. When I was half way through applying gesso i remembered to put the camera on to record the process. So if you want to see that… here is the link.

Now the final pictures…

I decided to use the lovely Darcy stamps as I love this character so much and wanted her in a magical land of fun flowers and lollipop trees.

So I used lots of layers of colour and mediums to create these interesting flora and had the watercoloured girl with her heart in her hands in amongst them all.

I added lots of sparkly and shiny finishes and I hope Wanda enjoys this whimsical page in her journal.

This weekend I am at a class with some of the other circle journal participants so we will no doubt be spending some time pouring over the finished journals that make their way to the retreat along with creating new art of course!

I’ll share what we are up to here on the blog when I get a chance.

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Artful Days Goodie Box, Canvas and Mixed Media art, Darcy, Distress Crayons, Dylusions paints, Finnabair, Foiling, Masks/Stencils

Playing in my journal

On Sunday I treated myself to a few hours of play in my art journal… here is the result.

I videoed the process which you can check out on YouTube. It really wasn’t going to plan at one point with the page disintegrating but I pulled it back from the brink and happy with the results.

Love the bright colours and fun textures I achieved and most of all enjoyed playing with paint and paper.

Love love love playing with no agenda.

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Distress oxide ink, Dylusions paints, Masks/Stencils

Cabaret with Liza journal page

I found this picture of Liza Minnelli in a magazine about a year ago and knew I wanted to use if on a journal page so kept it safe in the journal until I finally got round to using it.

The page was already covered in black gesso and had some paints applied to give it a chalkboard look. I added some distress oxides to continue with that look, and some splashes of white and black and Blue paints. I also added some black gesso using a card to add some lines. Then I added Liza to the page.

Next I added stamping using white pigment ink and some music themed stamps. I also chose the quote from the music as the title and hand stamped that.

Next I added definition and shading to the images using Pitt Pens and then added some clear glossy texture paste through a music stencil…. this pic shows it when it is still wet and so not so transparent!

I also added doodling around the edges to frame the page.

And the final result…

I love the galaxy feel to the background and the image pops brilliantly off the page…. and that texture is fabulous…

So happy with how this page came out… and super pleased I finally got to use my picture of Ms. Minnelli.

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Art Alchemy paints, Dylusions paints, Serene Silhouettes

Hugs and Kisses tag

Hello… I have a tag to share today that I made for a swap. I decided as it would be received near Valentine’s that a heart theme was appropriate. I grabbed a canvas heart and added to my tag I made from mixed media cardstock. I added colour using Dylusions paints and a baby wipe. I then added some stamping using the paints a pattern stamp from Serene Silhouettes. I then added lots of splatters using the Art Alchemy Sparks and metallique paints and then added stamping using the hugs and kisses stamp from Good Greetings. I love the font on these stamps. I added some more ink to the edges and then finished it off with the same sentiment on white and some drops of glossy accents. Love both the sparkle and the texture on this and the contrast with the silver grey ribbon. Happy crafting! Catherine