Hello! Today I have a tag I made using the bits and pieces still on my desk from the patterned paper playtime blog post from the 1st. I often do this … make stuff from the stash left on my desk as I am rubbish at keeping tidy and hate to put things in the bin if I think I can get a little more use out of them.
So as I had the dictionary print paper there I started by covering a piece of sturdy card in the paper at a slight angle and then cut out the tag shape. I then chose two of the labels that were tag shaped, punched a hole and threaded some twine through. I raised these on foam and added them as background to the main images.
I then stamped and coloured using the stampin blends three of the leaf images from Splendid Thoughts and die cut them out. The bigger of the leaves I also die cut from cardstock to stack it and give it some strength as this paper is quite thin.
I stuck them down and then chose a sentiment and fussy cut that.again I added some dimension underneath to raise it up. Finished by inking the edge of the tag and some lovely silver gems.
Of course because it is a tag I also added some lace trim to the top with more of the twine that has a green running through.
How is it the beginning of March already? Wow this year is going so fast already.
So as its the first of the month it is time for my playtime with patterned paper.
Those of you who have popped by my blog for this before will know I got myself super organised last year, chose some 12×12 dsp and got fussy cutting and popped all the bits into a pouch so I could be ready to go with the starting point of a card! This time it’s an odd one as the dsp I cut up had lots of these labels on one side and the coral pattern on the other and I teamed it with some dictionary type print paper too.
So I grabbed some Pale Papaya cardstock and made up a card blank and used another piece to add texture then started layering up a few of the labels, a strip of the coral and the book paper.
This gave a nice spot for a focal feature to be added and I decided on a jar full of splendid Stems!
I did punch the jar a few times to give it some dimension and covered the top layer in wink of Stella so it’s very shimmery!
Inside the jar I added the die cut Stems and one of the stamped images which I stamped and coloured onto the bookprint which I think looks fabulous!
I finished off with a simple sentiment from For my Family and some pearl gems and a bit of twine wrapped round the jar.
Love how this finished up. A lovely mix of modern and vintage I think!
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 always like to send thank you cards after Christmas although these days it isn’t really about thanking people for gifts … but still I like to acknowledge and thank my parents for their presence with us at Christmas and how much it means to us.
This is this years card.
I started out with the stamped panel of vintage French print which I stamped in cherry cobbler. This is a wood mount stamp and I got it a few years ago as a good mixed media/journaling type stamp. As I am assessing the usefulness of all my crafting supplies at the moment I wanted to see how well this stamped… and as it turned out well I thought it would work for a layered element on a card and this then became the thank you card!
I made the card base from cream and then made a layer slightly smaller that I could add as the background. I decided to ink up the Old paper embossing folder with what a sand for a light contrast to the texture.
To be honest I inked up the wrong side and also embossed the panel as portrait not landscape in error but as it’s not a distinct text and was just forming a background I decided it would be fine. Sometimes you just learn to live with these things!
I decided I wanted to use the Splendid Stems as the focal feature and also grabbed a piece of the wide striped ribbon from the stash to add some different texture.
The stamped stem I added colour using stampin Blends pens in cherry cobbler and then die cut the other stems from black and the Kraft.
I also added in a scrunched piece of Kraft which I had added some white pigment ink to just to add something a little different.
I then chose to use the Artistically inked set for the sentiment which I fussy cut out.
I did add some scrap card for dimension under both the background layer and the cherry cobbler stamped print piece but this is less raised than if using foam so a little more subtle.
Then I added pearls as finishing touches.
Whilst that’s taken a while to explain how I made it it actually didn’t take too long at all to make and came together very easily.
Todays blog post started because I found a piece of glossy photo paper I had obviously been using as a mop up from ink smooshing. It had been hanging around on the desk and I decided the day had come to play with it.
As you know I am assessing my stash at the moment for its future usefulness and also to make sure I get my use out of it so decided to grab this Tropical Hideaway background stamp and stamp it in black over the top of the inky background.
I don’t actually think I’ve got much use out of this stamp so prepare to see it a few more times as I want to have a few more goes with it before I think to get rid of it.
I love how the smooshed background works well at adding colour and depth to the leaves and with very little effort!
I then grabbed a couple of scraps of green and black to add the banners and the rectangle to add the focal image to.
I chose the splendid thoughts stamps and coloured the leaves with my stampin blends and then cut it out. I did choose to fussy cut as I couldn’t be bothered to grab the Big Shot and die cut it.
Next I added a little sentiment and embossed it in white on the black.
I decided the bright lime green Parakeet Party was perfect for the card base but did add a black base to the stamped background to frame it first.
Finished off with the black gems too.
Simple but I think a really interesting card especially as that glossy photo paper creates a nice different texture from my usual card backgrounds.
A little while ago I saw a video from Jennifer McGuire showing this technique of offset strips to make a cool background. I have tried this technique in the past and thought i would have another go but this time in a blue/green colour scheme.
This time I stencilled the white over the inked background rather than stamping. I also die cut the shape at an angle so the stripes don’t go vertically. I also added some white paint splatters to add a little brightness to the white as the white ink is quite muted.
As much as the background is lovely it is the focal image that I love most about this card. I used the fabulous Splendid Thoughts set and my Stampin Blends to colour the images.
I love how they turned out. I added a couple of die cuts behind each image to stack them (real Jennifer style!). The bowl shape I die cut from the blue cardstock but gave it a very heavy wink of Stella covering to make it very shimmery.
I finished with the gems to add more shine and a sentiment using Alpaca Pals stamps.
I mounted the background panel onto some blue cardstock and then the card base was made from a pale lilac cardstock from the stash.
Love this card so much. The background I wasn’t 100% happy with at the time but by the time the focal image went on it looked amazing!
Todays card I used the gorgeous iridescent medium through a stencil I got a long time ago (no idea of brand sorry!) But haven’t used for a while.
I used a palette knife but wasn’t exactly careful so it did seep through the stencil in a few places but as the iridescent finish is so pretty I don’t care!
I had cut the panel to be 15mm smaller than my card blank as I wanted it to have a good border around plus this meant it fit nicely in the stencil area.
I had to let that dry for a while so I didn’t smear it or lose the dimension so I started creating the top cluster I wanted for the card.
I stamped and embossed in silver both the larger leaf image from Splendid Thoughts and the Happy from Biggest Wish. The die cut leaf I then added some colour to using a few colours of pinks and purples and the blending brushes.
I had a die cut circle on the desk already so I decided to ink that up too with the purples.
I stamped the birthday in Perfect Plum and then fussy cut that. Then I grabbed some die cuts from scraps in pinks and purples for adding to the cluster.
I felt it needed something else though to ground it and so die cut a Wreath from white using a spellbinders die. I die cut it twice to give it some more dimension.
Then I clustered them together and adhered them to some foam so they would sit nicely above the texture of the background.
Before sticking them down, and once the texture medium was dry I splattered some purple ink as I felt it needed some splatters to finish it off!
I added the top panel onto more foam to then add it to the card blank and then added the gems I found in the stash.
Yesterday was my Mum’s birthday and I wanted to share the labour of love that was her birthday card with you.
I had the idea that I wanted to do a wreath design as the main part of the card so I started by stamping lots of leaves from different sets in all the greens. I kept to mainly lighter coloured greens rather than very dark ones after all it is August not winter and wanted it to be bright!
I decided, even though these could be die cut, to fussy cut instead…. after all that is more relaxing and cam be done sat on the sofa…
Then I put together some on a circle to decide if the different styles and types of leaves went OK together… and decided as there were so many types and styles it did…. oh I also coloured in the images from Splendid Thoughts as they were outline images so used stampin blends to colour them.
I decided I wanted more but this time the die cuts from Splendid Stems as something to break up the images…
I decided this was a good mix of the delicate die cuts in solid colour and the stamped or coloured images.
Next to decide how to finish the card and I had a couple of ideas I tried out. By this time I had stuck the leaves together onto a thin ring of scrap paper so that was complete but all other elements are just placed in half finished form to give me an idea of how they look.
I was torn between keeping it green and white and adding in bright colours… bit went for the yellow as it is my Mum’s favourite colour.
So I found some yellow ribbon in the stash for a bow, fussy cut the Stampendous sentiment that I had stamped with blended yellow and coral inks, cut some more Playful Alphabets and coloured them with So Saffron stampin blends and added the little flowers I had bought in a pack from Hobbycraft many years ago.
Then to decide on the background … I went with a Kraft card base in 8×8 as I had one in my stash and the originally planned white 7×7 was a bit too small … but actually I think it frames it nicely.
Then I added a mount of the So Saffron cardstock.
The white base I decided to blend some So Saffron on and do some splatters of green and coral ink to complement the colours in the rest of the card.
I added a foam panel behind this to raise it off the So Saffron and then put foam behind the wreath and a double layer under the middle of the sentiment to support it.
This gives the whole card so much dimension. I love it!
Inside I added a panel of whisper white with some more blending and splatters with a panel of So Saffron on the edge. Then I added a little cluster of the leaves I had left over and added the little sentiment strip.
I decided to add wink of Stella to the mum letters to give them some sparkle and then called it finished!
Well I attempted another Sheet load of cards using the template by Call me Crafty Al but I messed up the cutting … still i managed four cards, and have plenty of leftovers for other projects, but absolutely not really following the template and not as many cards as it should have been… but you know what I am happy with the results so don’t care that it took a different turn!
I decided to use three sheets of the Expressions in Ink dsp but didn’t quite follow the template on one and also my cutting into triangles went squiffy so ended up giving up on the real template and just winging it. To be honest that’s more my thing anyway otherwise I would have ended up with cards that were all too similar and that’s not really me.
Once I had done the cutting I then set to on all the stamping I thought I might use for embellishment….
As the papers were a mix of Pale Papaya and Polished Pink and I don’t own those inks I did a mix of Calpyso Coral, Melon Mambo, Crisp Canteloupe and More Mustard to get some colours that would compliment the Pale Papaya in the dsp.
Most of the leaves were Old Olive but I did do a few in Pear Pizazz to give some variation.
Then I did all the die cutting and fussy cutting needed (fussy cutting the sentiments mainly). And then started to put together the cards. I did end up die cutting some of the standalone elements from the set too and that added some different finishes to some of the cards. I did assemble most as card toppers and then added them to card bases rather than straight onto card bases as I went along.
I also varied on one card and used Splendid Thoughts and Splendid Stems to embellish … just like to mix things up occasionally!
I didn’t however get round to doing much more than putting four cards together properly … these ones where black became the base!
As you can see most of the stanping I did wasn’t used on these… but I’ve die cut everything and put it in a pouch for coming back to … you never know I might get to it soon but I lost inspiration a little after these ones.
I love the drama of the black and the gold … and that Polished Pink alcohol ink effect is everything!
Entering these into the Anything Goes challenge at Crafty Katz
Next time will definitely make an effort to do more with the Pale Papaya … which is gorgeous but I just don’t have the inspiration right now!
A few days ago I shared some cards I made using the Jennifer Maguire ink lift technique I had seen on her YouTube video. Well I had a little panel leftover that was a second pull of ink.
This one was far paler and I wasn’t sure if I would use it but it was pretty so didn’t want to throw it away … so here it is in use and I wanted to play and just grabbed bits and pieces that were on my desk.
I mounted the panel onto Polished Pink and then decided to grab a Memories and More card that was pink based to use as a background. I didn’t want the focal image to show … but fortunately the mounted strip covered it up but I decided I wanted it to look less clean… so I added some blending and some ink splatters … I also added some splattered gesso for the white.
Next to choose a focal point. Well I decided to die cut a leaf shape from the Splendid Stems set and then stamp in Night of Navy and die cut the larger leaf image too from the coordinating Splendid Thoughts stamps. I also added some So Saffron colour by using the background leaf stamp over lapping a couple of times…. this creates an interesting texture to the added colour.
I decided to turn this into a birthday card (I’m starting to build up a stash for the next year of 17th birthdays for the princess’ friends) and so heat embossed the birthday from Biggest Wish and Happy from Cottage Rose onto the polished pink and Pretty Peacock scraps I had on the desk.
After fussy cutting the birthday and then matting and layering the Happy it was time to assemble… with dimension and foam in-between the layers!
I ended up curving the birthday sentiment a little as the middle dimension is bigger than the sides … but I think it looks cute.
Inkyfingeredcat 