Saturday 30 April 2016

The Craft Barn Alpha/Dictionary Challenge - Letter S

The letter "S" in the Craft Barn Alpha /Dictionary Challenge should be easy-peasy but no, we have to incorporate a shell in our project. I didn't want to do another seaside themed postcard as I did one for a previous letter, but what to do? Nothing came to mind until I was having a long leisurely bath - I do a lot of thinking in the bath! There was obviously a connection between my bath and the stamp that came into my mind - my nude stamp! Then my thinking moved on to the girls who performed at the Windmill Theatre who'd have a feather or scarf "strategically" placed. I had found my word.

I started the background on my postcard with the wrinkle free Distress Ink technique which I never tire of using  - I love the serendipity result. I then stamped over it using various stamps. I brushed some Distress Ink onto a piece of card and then stamped the image, cut it down to fit the postcard and edged it in gold. I cut around the woman's arm and hand and tucked in the shell which I had cut from a sheet of teabag folding images that has been in my stash for years. The photo corners were die cut and Treasure Gold applied to the embossed parts. As I had too much space on the right hand side of the card I cut a flourish from cream linen card and applied some Distress Ink to soften it.


Postcard Recipe
Card
Anna Marie  Smooth Stamping Card 300gsm
Anna Marie Designs Super Smooth Printer 200gsm
Brown card
Craft Creations cream linen card
Inks
Distress Inks -  Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain, Old Paper, Frayed Burlap
Versafine Sepia
Pen-touch Calligrapher gold pen
Treasure Gold - White Fire 
Stamps
Script - Crafty Individuals CI-161
Diamonds - Kaisercraft CS152
Crackle - Kaisercraft CS876
Nude - The Artistic Stamper
Dies
Photo corners - Spellbinders
Flourish - Tim Holtz Elegant Flourishes
Other
Computer generated dictionary definition - Typewriter font
Shell - Craft Creations tea bag folding sheet MP008

Sunday 24 April 2016

The Craft Barn Fortnightly Challenge - April Showers

I started my card for this fortnight's Craft Barn Challenge at the beginning of the week and then life got in the way and have only just had an opportunity to finish it. The theme for this challenge is April Showers.

I began the background by stencilling the clock using a die-cut as a stencil and then brushed over the top with various Distress Inks in shades of blue and a hint of grey.  Once that was done I added some random stamping. I then coloured a white Umbrella Man die-cut with Distress Ink and stamped it with raindrops before gluing it to a black die cut to give the illusion of  a shadow. I saw this on a project on a blog post recently but can't remember where. If it was yours, thank you for the idea. The background behind the sentiment was coloured with the same blues as the main background and stamped with raindrops. The words and background were then matted onto black card before attaching to the card blank.


Card Recipe
Card 
Base card - Craftwork Cards
Black card
Anna Marie Designs Super Smooth Printer Card 200gsm
Inks
Distress Inks - Salty Ocean,  Stormy Sky, Faded Jeans, Hickory Smoke, Black Soot
Ranger Archival Jet Black
Stamps
Chequers - PaperArtsy ELB22
Small circles - PaperArtsy SM15
Raindrops - Designs by Ryn Water Effects 1 UM-M1
Sentiment - Stampers Anonymous  Good Thoughts CMS085
Lines - plastic loyalty card
Circles - glue stick lid
Other
Clock stencil - Tim Holtz die cut
Die-cuts - Tim Holtz Umbrella Man die


Friday 15 April 2016

The Craft Barn Alpha/Dictionary Challenge - Letter D

There is a twist in this fortnight's Craft Barn Alpha/Dictionary Challenge with the addition of the colour pink somewhere on our project illustrating a word beginning with D.

I dismissed the word "dance" as I used that in the 2013 Alpha Challenge and chose dog-rose. My chosen stamp also depicts another word starting with D - dragonfly.

Firstly I brayered PaperArtsy Fresco paint on my postcard and stamped leaves around the edge. The Crafty Individuals image was stamped a couple of times on card and a complete one was cut out and coloured with pencils and Distress Ink. I unearthed a box of hardly used Pearl-Ex powders and mixed a green shade with a little with water and Gum Arabic (as a fixative) to paint the dragonfly. It has a lovely delicate shimmer which sadly the scan hasn't picked up.  I cut some of the roses from the other stamped image and coloured those with pencils before adding the computer generated dictionary definition.

 
Postcard Recipe
Card 
Anna Marie Designs Super Smooth Printer Card 250gsm & 200gsm
Inks/Paints
PaperArtsy Fresco - Ice Blue, Very Berry, Snowflake
Pearl-Ex powder - Spring Green #685
Distress Ink - Broken China, Fired Brick
Memento Tuxedo Black
Ranger Archival - Watering Can
Coloursoft pencils
Stamp
Crafty Individuals - Butterfly Mornings and Wildflower Afternoons CI-410
Other 
Computer generated dictionary definition - Typewriter font 

   

Saturday 9 April 2016

The Craft Barn Fortnightly Challenge - Rabbit and an Oval

The challenge set this fortnight over on the Craft Barn blog is to use a rabbit and an oval on a project.

I have made a whimsical card (well I think it's whimsical!). I may have used some artistic licence as I think the rabbits may in fact be hares but I don't have any rabbit stamps.

As I was playing with my rather neglected and little used Gelli plate the other day for something else I decided to make a background with it for this card. I made a stamp by die cutting some ovals from fun foam which I mounted on a piece of strong card with double sided carpet tape.


I was rather chuffed with the prints I made.


The rabbits were stamped onto card and the words computer generated before cutting out and then lightly brushed over with some Distress Ink to take away the starkness of the white. Then I added a touch of watercolour to the hats and my rabbits were all ready to party.


Card Recipe
Card
Base card - Craftwork Cards
Black card
Recycled white card
Anna Marie Designs Super Smooth Printer Card 200gsm
Inks/Paints
The Works acrylic paint
Ranger Archival Jet Black
Distress Inks -  Old Paper, Mustard Seed
Other
Words - computer generated Segoe Script font

Saturday 2 April 2016

The Craft Barn Alpha/Dictionary Challenge - Letter G

The letter "G" takes centre stage this week in the Craft Barn Alpha/Dictionary Challenge and I have chosen the word gull for my entry.

The background for my postcard was brayered using Fresco paints. The lighthouse and gulls were stamped onto card, cut out and glued to the base card. I very lightly coloured the lighthouse and its surrounds before adding my computer generated dictionary definition.


Postcard Recipe
Card /Paper
Anna Marie Designs Super Smooth Printer Card 250gsm & 200gsm   
Copier paper 90gsm  
Inks/paints
PaperArtsy Fresco paints -  Ice Blue, Snowflake
Memento  - Tuxedo Black
Ranger Archival - Cornflower Blue
Copic markers
Spectrum Noir pencils
Stamps
Lighthouse/large gull - Crafty Individuals CI-397
Medium & small gulls - Crafty Individuals CI-278
Edge stamp - Kaisercraft - Texture Edges CS155