Monday, 31 August 2015

The Craft Barn Calendar Challenge - August

Pink and butterflies have to be included in August's Craft Barn Calendar Challenge.

My August tag is a simple affair. I brushed Broken China over the tag, making it more intense on the left hand side. I then embossed the leaves and brushed over them with Squeezed Lemonade Distress Ink to create green. The butterflies were stamped on a piece of previously coloured card that I found in my scrap box.



Tag Recipe
Card
Anna Marie Designs Smooth Stamping Card 300gsm
Inks
Distress Inks - Broken China, Squeezed Lemonade, Mermaid Lagoon, Picked Raspberry
Ranger Archival - Jet Black, Watering Can
Stamps  
Large butterfly - Darkroom Door Wildflower collection DDRS005
Small butterfly - Crafty Individuals
Other
Seam binding coloured with Picked Raspberry Distress Ink
 

Sunday, 30 August 2015

The Craft Barn Weekly Challenge - Spray

The challenge set this week on the Craft Barn blog is "spray". 

I don't know about you but I've found it a challenge to find a spray bottle, be it one you fill yourself or one that holds ready-prepared mister/ink that spritzers with a fine spray all the time rather than one minute spraying a beautiful fine mist and the next great splatters over your project. Hence I don't use sprays very often.

I've had a little canvas (10cms x 70cms) in my stash for years and felt it was time to let it free! It was a bit of a test piece as although I've decorated a couple of canvases at workshops I've never stamped on canvas before. I certainly have some learning to do before moving onto anything bigger! Stamping around the edge of the canvas was fine but anything on the centre part didn't stamp well as the canvas flexed and I couldn't get an even pressure. I had to re-stamp the words onto card and stick them over the blur that was there before.  After die cutting the flowers and rolling them up I spayed them with Dylusions Ink and then sprayed them and the die-cut leaves with Cosmic Shimmer.  
 

Canvas Recipe
Canvas/Card
10cms x 7cms canvas
White card
Tim Holtz Vintage Shabby Paper
Green Bazzill card
Inks/Paints
PaperArtsy Fresco paints - Mermaid, Nougat
Distress Ink - Mermaid Lagoon
Dylusions Ink spray - London Blue
Cosmic Shimmer Mist - Golden Fish 
Stamps/Stencil
Flower centre - PaperArtsy ELB22
Script - PaperArtsy MN75
Diamonds - Kaisercraft CS152
Sentiment - PaperArtsy ELB05
Stencil - Dot Fade Tim Holtz THS006
Die-cuts 
Tim Holtz  Thinlets Tiny Tattered Florals 660227
Tim Holtz Spring Greenery 659573

Sunday, 23 August 2015

The Craft Barn Weekly Challenge - Sweet and Sugary

I've gone all cutesy for this week's Craft Barn Weekly Challenge theme - Sweet and Sugary. I only possess one stamp and one die that fits the brief so I plumped for stamping. Although having started to fussy-cut the image it did pass through my mind it would have been a lot easier to have used my cupcake die!



Card Recipe
Card/Paper
Card blank - Craftwork Cards
Mauve card - Core'dinations Core Color - Vavavoom GX-LL020-12
Striped paper - Helidot STPLI-Fairy
White card
Inks/Pencils
Memento Tuxedo Black
Copic markers & Promarkers
Spectrum Noir pencils
Stamps
Polka Doodles set - free with a craft magazine
Other
Martha Stewart edge punch
Spellbinders tag die
Sentiment computer generated - Courier font
Baker's twine





 

Saturday, 15 August 2015

The Craft Barn Weekly Challenge - Colouring

It's time to relax with some colouring for this week's Craft Barn Weekly Challenge.

I have coloured the flowers on my card with Spectrum Noir pencils and then stencilled some dots with Distress Ink before adding the sentiment.

 
Card Recipe
Card
Card blank – Craft Creations Hemp Embossed White Card
Craftworks Cards Digital Ultra Smooth Premium Cardstock
Bazzill Bling
Inks
Memento Tuxedo Black
Distress Ink -Victorian Velvet
Spectrum Noir Pencils
Stamps/Stencils
Flowers - PaperArtsy JOFY 32
Sentiment - Woodware JWS03
Stencil – PaperArtsy Lin Brown PS001

Sunday, 9 August 2015

The Craft Barn Weekly Challenge - Diamonds

This week's Craft Barn challenge is to incorporate diamonds into a project. The details are here.

For some time I have been going to make a folder to keep stamps in. No, not rubber stamps, I would need an awful lot of 5" x 5" folders to house those! This is for our postage stamps.

I thought I would try my hand at the faux leather technique.  I made a few errors along the way but the end result is acceptable even if not perfect. Well, my year's resolution is to learn embrace imperfection. Firstly, I think my card should have been worked more and secondly, the embossing folder I chose was too detailed and so I lost the creases.

Having created my pieces of faux leather (n.b there are diamonds at the bottom of the dry embossing) I glued them onto black card. To make the paper on the inside of the covers I brayered Fresco paints onto a sheet of A4 white card,  stencilled on some diamonds and finished by stamping postal related images. To complete my folder I attached some eyelets to thread the ribbon through and then went over the embossed surface with Treasure Gold (although it is a little shy in my photo!).




Stamp Folder Recipe
Faux leather
Kraft card - Anna Marie Designs
Glycerin
Water
PVC
Card 
Kraft card - Anna Marie Designs
Black card
White card
Inks/Paints
PaperArtsy Fresco paints - Orchid, Very Berry, Nougat
Distress Ink - Walnut Stain, Vintage Photo, Spiced Marmalade, Seedless Preserves
Versafine Vintage Sepia
Treasure Gold - White Fire
Stamps/Stencil
Stamps - Crafty Individuals
Stencil -The Crafter's Workshop - TCW202s Mini Harlequin
Other
Ribbon


Sunday, 2 August 2015

The Craft Barn Weekly Challenge - Clean and Simple

Clean and simple is this week's Craft Barn challenge.

Some time ago I saw a tutorial for "Magical Masking Tape" and this challenge seemed the ideal opportunity to try it out. I didn't use glossy card as it stated in the tutorial but a piece from a Craftworks Card blank that I had spoilt at some time and it worked perfectly well. Nor did I put the masking tape directly on the inkpad as I was worried I would finish up with residual glue on the pad. Instead I stamped the inkpad several times onto my craft mat and laid the masking tape on top of the ink. After stamping the flowers I coloured them in with Copics.


Card Recipe
Card
Card blank/white card  - Craftwork Cards
Light brown card
Inks
Festive Berries Distress Ink
Memento Tuxedo Black
Copic markers
Stamps
Hero Arts Fanciful Posies L923
Sentiment - PaperArtsy HPXT03

Thursday, 30 July 2015

The Craft Barn Calendar Challenge - July

The month thief has been at it again and stolen July! I'm just in time with my July entry to the Craft Barn Calendar Challenge. This month we have to use turquoise and beach huts on our project.  Details can be found here.

For this month's tag I started by spritzing a piece of  watercolour card with water, sprinkled on a little turquoise Brusho, spritzed again and then spread the colour over the card with a brush. The sun was stamped onto a piece of tissue paper and painted with PaperArtsy Fresco on both the front and back (the colour wasn't intense enough by just painting on the back). After stamping the beach huts onto card they were coloured with Distress Inks. Then I finished by stamping the seagulls and words directly onto the tag and adding a piece of seam binding coloured with Distress Ink.

 

Tag Recipe
Card/Paper
Watercolour card
PaperArtsy Crackly Tissue Paper
Anna Marie Designs Super Smooth Printer Card 200gsm
Inks/Paints
Brusho - Turquoise
PaperArtsy Fresco Paint - Banana
Ranger Archival Jet Black
Memento Tuxedo Black
Distress Inks - Cracked Pistachio, Scattered Straw, Barn Door, Squeezed Lemonade, Frayed Burlap, Salty Ocean
Stamps
Crafty Individuals CI-278
Sun - freebie with Craft Stamper magazine
Other
Seam binding coloured with Salty Ocean Distress Ink
 

Sunday, 26 July 2015

The Craft Barn Weekly Challenge - Circle and Flowers

The Craft Barn brief this week is to make something to include a circle and a flower(s).

I have made a card and used the spotlight stamping technique for the first time. The spotlight could have done with a coloured halo around it but my next circle die up from the original circle was far too large. Another set of circle dies is now on my wish list!

I coloured the image with a combination of Spectrum Noir pencils and Promarkers. The polka dots on the background were stencilled with Distress ink.



Card Recipe
Card 
Card Blank - Craftwork Cards
Anna Marie Designs Super Smooth Super White Printer Card 300gsm
Purple Bazzill Bling
Inks 
Versafine - Onyx Black
Distress Ink - Dusty Concord
Promarkers
Stamp 
Crafty Individuals - Summer Garden CI-385
Other
Stencil - That Special Touch - Large Polka
Ribbon


 


Saturday, 18 July 2015

The Craft Barn Weekly Challenge - Background Words

This week's Craft Barn challenge is to use words in the background of a project.

I started by making a background with Distress Inks using the wrinkle free technique. I stamped the words from Tim Holtz Papillion set with Versamark and then clear embossed them. I applied some more Distress Ink before putting the background between two sheets of copy paper and ironing it to melt and remove the embossing powder. It left me with bluey purple words - not the result I was expecting! I think it's because my Versamark ink pad is rather grubby. The butterflies were stamped, cut out  and glittered and then attached to the background with silicone glue to give a three dimensional effect before adding  pearls and die cut corners.




Card Recipe
Card
Card blank - Anna Marie Designs Fine Linen Embossed Card 290gsm
Anna Marie Designs Super Smooth Super White Printer Card 300gsm
Light and dark brown card
Inks
Ranger Archival Jet Black
Distress Ink - Peacock Feathers, Cracked Pistachio, Mermaid Lagoon
Stamps
Words - Tim Holtz  Papillion CMS 106
Butterflies - Crafty Individuals CI-437
Other
Treasure Gold - White Fire
Stickles - Stardust
Flat back pearls

Sunday, 12 July 2015

The Craft Barn Weekly Challenge - Pack of Cards Connection

I've left it late again to join in the Craft Barn weekly challenge - blame it on the tennis! This week's challenge is to use playing cards or hearts, spades, diamonds or clubs.

I have made two cards using the same stamp and diamond stencil but varying the colour, embellishments and placement of the sentiment.




Card Recipes 
Both cards
Ink
Ranger Archival Watering Can 
Stamps   
Flower Head – Judikins 2779H 
Happy Birthday – Woodware JWS03
Stencil  
The Crafter’s Workshop Mini HarlequinTCW202

 First  Card
Card 
Card blank - Anna Marie Designs High White Card 300gsm 
Craftwork Cards Digital Ultra Smooth Premium Cardstock 250gsm 
Black card  
Ink 
Distress Ink – Broken China 
Other  
Flat back pearls
 
Second Card
Card
Card blank - Anna Marie Designs Super Smooth, Super White, Printer Card 300gsm
Card mat (edged with Distress Ink) - Anna Marie Designs Super Smooth Printer Card 200gsm
Ink
Distress Ink – Spiced Marmalade
Other
Flat back rhinestones

 

 






Sunday, 5 July 2015

The Craft Barn Weekly Challenge - Stars or Stripes

This week I have made an atc for the Craft Barn challenge which is to use stars or stripes (not both!) on a project.

The background was painted with Tangerine Fresco paint and then with white paint on my finger and made some streaks down the atc before over painting with the Tangerine. I stencilled through star sequin waste and stamped some stars using Snowflake Fresco. The large star was stamped onto the background and then onto a piece of white card before cutting out and gluing over the star on the atc. Finally, the string was hand drawn and the sentiment added.



ATC Recipe
Card
Anna Maria Designs Super Smooth Super White Printer Card 300gsm
Anna Maria Designs Super Smooth Printer Card 250gsm
Ink/Paints
PaperArtsy Fresco Paint - Tangerine Twist, Snowflake
Ranger Archival Jet Black Ink
Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink
Staedtler black fineliner pen
Stamps
Stars - The Artistic Stamper
Star - freebie with Craft Stamper magazine
Sentiment - freebie with Simply Cards & Papercraft
Other
Star sequin waste

Tuesday, 30 June 2015

The Craft Barn Calendar Challenge - June

June's Craft Barn Calendar Challenge has to include dragonflies and the colour lavender.

I brushed Shaded Lilac over my tag. Using the same ink I stamped the Crafty Individuals dragonflies background and then the words and flowers were stamped with Seedless Preserves Distress Ink. The dragonfly was stamped onto a piece of card with Brilliance Pearlescent Lavender ink and cut out.  I then stamped the image again onto acetate and just cut out just the wings which I attached to the card body with a blob of glue in the centre. The seam binding was coloured with Shaded Lilac Distress Ink. 



Card Recipe  
Card
Anna Maria Designs Super Smooth Super White Printer Card 300gsm 
Inks
Distress Inks - Shaded Lilac, Seedless Preserves
Brilliance Pearlescent Lavender 
Stamps
Background stamp - Crafty Individuals - Dreaming of Dragonflies CI-409
Dragonfly & sentiment - Crafty Individuals - Butterfly Mornings & Wildflower Afternoons CI-410
Flowers - Crafty Individuals - Summer Garden CI-385  
Other
Seam binding



Sunday, 28 June 2015

The Craft Barn Weekly Challenge - Bows

This week's Craft Barn challenge prompt is "Bows". The details can be found here.

My challenge entry is a fun card I made for my eldest granddaughter. I used a couple of Cardmaking Paradise templates. The present template originally had a cow popping up but I changed that to the little dog from another of Sara's templates.






Saturday, 20 June 2015

The Craft Barn Weekly Challenge - Butterflies


Using  butterflies on a project is this week's Craft Barn challenge. The details can be found here.

I recently bought some of the new stamp releases from Crafty Individuals including the Butterfly Pairs which has both a positive and negative stamp for each of the five butterflies on the plate. This week's challenge seemed the ideal opportunity to put them into action. 

I never seem to tire of making backgrounds using the wrinkle free Distress Ink technique and one of my favourite colour combinations is Peacock Feathers and Squeezed Lemonade. Just right for a summer look.  I over stamped the background with various stamps and added a die cut from the Sizzix Thinlets Mixed Media set. The butterfly was stamped in black with the positive stamp and then overstamped with the negative using Picked Raspberry and Shaded Lilac Distress Ink before adding some flat back pearls to the body.

 
Card/Paper
Card base - Anna Marie Designs Fine Linen Embossed Card 290gsm
Brown card
White card
Anna Maria Designs Super Smooth Printer Card 200gsm
Inks
Distress Inks -Squeezed Lemonade, Peacock Feathers, Picked Raspberry, Shaded Lilac,
Ranger Archival Jet Black
Stamps
Butterfly Pairs – Crafty Individuals CI-437
Happy Birthday – Woodware JWS03
Script – PaperArtsy  MN44
Diamonds Kaisercraft CS152
Crackle – Kaisercraft
Other
Sizzix Thinlets Mixed Media by Tim Holtz
Flat back pearls

Sizzix Thinlits Die Set 4PK - Mixed Media by Tim Holtz - See more at: http://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/660220-sizzix-thinlits-die-set-4pk---mixed-media-by-tim-holtz-46697-p.asp#sthash.rqMNIc9J.dpuf
Sizzix Thinlits Die Set 4PK - Mixed Media by Tim Holtz - See more at: http://www.countryviewcrafts.co.uk/660220-sizzix-thinlits-die-set-4pk---mixed-media-by-tim-holtz-46697-p.asp#sthash.rqMNIc9J.dpufFlat back pearls


Sunday, 14 June 2015

The Craft Barn Weekly Challenge - For the Man in your Life

This week's Craft Barn challenge is to make something for the man in your life. You can find the details here.

I made this simple card for my husband's birthday. I started by gluing a mat of Kraft card to my base card. Peacock Feathers Distress Ink was then brushed onto a piece of card and using the same ink I stamped over the background with Indigo Blu's Circle Dot Background. I cut half circles either side of the card before putting a tag on some bakers twine and wrapping it round the card. I saw this idea recently on a blog - I can't remember which one but if it was yours, thank you, it made placement of the twine so much easier. The piece of card was attached  to the base with 3d foam.


Card Recipe
Card 
Anna Maria Designs Super Smooth, Super White, Printer Card 300gsm
Craftwork Cards Digital Ultra Smooth Premium Cardstock 250gsm
Papermania Kraft card
Inks
Peacock Feathers Distress Ink
Ranger archival Jet Black
Stamp
Indigo Blu - Circle Dot Background
Other
Spellbinders tag die
Sentiment computer generated - Typewriter font
Eyelet
Baker's twine

 

Saturday, 6 June 2015

The Craft Barn Weekly Challenge - Transport

I've gone back to my youth and a flower-power look for the subject of the Craft Barn Weekly Challenge which is transport.

I brushed Broken China Distress Ink onto the background of my card and then printed the computer generated sentiment onto it. I stamped the image and coloured it with Copics before cutting out. The flowers were die-cut from some fluorescent paper.


Card Recipe
Card/Paper
Card blank - Anna Maria Designs Fine Linen Embossed Card 290gsm
Craftworkcard Digital Ultra Smooth Premium Cardstock 250gsm
Gold paper
Fluorescent paper
Inks
Versafine Onyx Black
Broken China Distress Ink
Copic markers
Stamp
Camper Van - maker unknown
Other
Flower die - Provo Craft
Sentiment computer generated - font Victor Moscoso

Sunday, 31 May 2015

The Craft Barn Weekly Challenge - Holiday

Holiday is this weeks prompt in the Craft Barn challenge.

I've had a mini tray (measures 9 x 7cms) in my stash for a good few years and this week seemed a good time to liberate it.

I painted the tray with PaperArtsy Fresco aptly named Mermaid! I glued some background paper on the back of each compartment before filling the apertures with seasidey objects/images and adding the flags and ubiquitous seagull.







Mini Tray Recipe
Card
White card
Background paper - Crafty Individuals - The Seaside
Inks/EP
PaperArtsy Fresco paint - Mermaid, Snowflake
Distress Inks - Walnut Stain, Broken China, Squeezed Lemonade, Barn Door, Scattered Straw, Dried Marigold
Ranger Archival - Coffee, Watering Can, Jet Black
Wow Embossing Powder - Clear Gloss Super Fine WA01SF
Treasure Gold - White Fire
Stamps
Crafty Individuals - CI-284, CI278, CI-397
Clam shell - Craft Stamper freebie
Other
Shells
Starfish charm


Saturday, 30 May 2015

The Craft Barn Calendar Challenge - May

Here we are almost at the end of yet another month. They seem to be passing at an alarming rate this year. I'm skidding into the May Craft Barn Calendar Challenge with just over one day to spare. May's challenge has to feature the colour magenta and flowers.

I started by painting my tag with PaperArtsy Fresco Limelight and then stippled Distress Ink through a dot stencil. I stamped the flowers on the bottom of the tag and painted the dots. The image was stamped again several times on a separate piece of card before painting the flowers and cutting them out and gluing in place. Finally, I stamped the words directly onto the tag and added the seam binding which had been coloured with Distress Ink.



Tag Recipe
Card
Anna Maria Designs Super Smooth Super White Printer Card 300gsm
Anna Maria Designs Super Smooth Printer Card
Inks/Paints
Ranger Archival Jet Black
Distress Ink - Wild Honey, Mustard Seed
PaperArtsy Fresco paints - Limelight. Banana, Bougainvillea
Stamps
Flowers - PaperArtsy  JOFY JM34
Words - PaperArtsy Lin Brown ELB05
Other
Stencil - Tim Holtz Dot Fade Layering Stencil THS006
Seam binding


Sunday, 24 May 2015

The Craft Barn Weekly Challenge - Make a Bag

 The Craft Barn Challenge this week is to make a bag. All the details are here .

I've made a mini gift bag (H 6 x W 4.7 x D 2.4cms) which could accommodate a gift of jewellery. I used a template found on the Martha Stewart website and cut the bag from brown wrapping paper. I stamped the flowers randomly over the paper and coloured them with Spectrum Noir pencils before adding some glitter in the centres.



Gift Bag Recipe
Paper
Brown wrapping paper
Copier paper
Inks
Ranger Archival  - Jet Black
Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink
Spectrum Noir pencils
Stamp
Crafty Individuals CI-206
Other
Butcher's twine
Sentiment computer generated - Typewriter font
Stickles - Star Dust

Sunday, 17 May 2015

The Craft Barn Weekly Challenge - Bunting

It's been a busy week here so it had to be a quick make to enter into this week's Craft Barn Challenge (to use bunting in a project).

I used some offcuts of scrapbooking paper for the flags and found the sentiment already stamped and coloured sitting in my scrap box waiting for its fifteen minutes of fame. With hindsight I feel I should have added something to the background paper as there is too much uninteresting green space for my liking, perhaps some stencilled dots of various sizes would have done the trick.


Card Recipe
Card/Paper
Base card - Anna Marie Designs Super Smooth, Super White, Printer Card
Scrapbook paper
Inks
Ranger Archival Jet Black
Shabby Shutter Distress Ink
Stamps
Flag and sentiment - freebies with Craft Stamper magazine
Other
Butcher's twine

Sunday, 10 May 2015

The Craft Barn Weekly Challenge - Words

This week's Craft Barn challenge is to use words as the main feature of our entry, so plenty of scope there.

As I need a birthday card this coming week that was going to be my obvious make. I've used a word embossing folder and covered one side in a good coating of Distress Ink before putting it through the Big Shot. I cut two rectangles of Bazzill card and one of copier paper for an insert. I scored the edge of one piece of the card before fastening the sandwich together with eyelets. The I attached the embossed piece to the front and added a few flat back pearls and finished off the card with a bow.

The first picture is a truer colour of the card.


 

Card Recipe  
Card
Pearlescent Bazzill
Craftworkcards Digital Ultra Smooth Premium Card
Ink
Worn Lipstick Distress Ink
Other
Cuttlebug embossing folder
Flat back pearls
Ribbon
Eyelets





Saturday, 2 May 2015

The Craft Barn Weekly Challenge - Night & Day

The weekly challenge on the Craft Barn blog is to make the same project twice - one coloured for night-time and the other for daytime. I've chosen to make two simple ATCs. I stamped the flower heads first and then the moon/sun area was masked before applying the Distress Ink background to the card with a brush - in my mind much easier to apply than with a foam pad on the wood applicator. I gave a very light dusting of colour to the moon to take away the starkness of the white card and then coloured the sun before stamping the ducks.
 


 
ATC Recipe
Card
Anna Maria Designs Super Smooth Super White printer Card 300gsm
Inks -Nightime
Weathered Wood Distress Ink
Ranger Archival Jet Black
Memories Dye Ink Pad - Sand
Inks - Daytime
Distress Inks -  Broken China, Peeled Paint, Dried Marigold, Spiced Marmalade 
Ranger Archival Jet Black
Stamps
Darkroom Door Wildflower DDRS005
Stampscapes - Ducks 023A 

 




 
  


Sunday, 26 April 2015

The Craft Barn Calendar Challenge - April

The April Craft Barn Calendar Challenge has to feature the colour blue and an umbrella/umbrellas somewhere on the piece.

I made a watery background using the wrinkle free Distress Ink technique and Stormy Sky coloured ink. I inked up the raindrops from the Water Effects plate by Ryn. These are fabulous deep etched stamps, so no risked of catching the ink pad on the edge of the rubber and spoiling your project. The Rain Man die cut was coloured with Distress Ink with some stencilling added to the umbrella before stamping on the raindrops. I cut a large raindrop from Distress Inked card and printed it with the words from the song in Bambi - the first film I saw at the cinema. The raindrops and the large drip were then covered with glossy accents.
   
 

Tag Recipe
Card
Anna Maria Designs Super Smooth, Super white, Printer card 300gsm
Inks
Distress Inks - Stormy Sky, Weathered Wood, Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain
Stazon - Midnight Blue
PaperArtsy Fresco Paint - Snowflake 
Stencils/Stamps
Tim Holtz Stencil - Burlap THS007
Water Effects 1 UK-M1 by Ryn
Other
Tim Holtz Umbrella Man die-cut
Computer generated words - Comic Sans MS
Glossy Accents
Seam binding coloured with Stormy Sky Distress Ink


Saturday, 25 April 2015

The Craft Barn Weekly Challenge - Masculine Pastimes

This week's Craft Barn challenge is a project featuring a masculine pastime.

I chose to use a large fishing collage stamp by Woodware (JGS305 Gone Fishing). I made a wrinkle free Distress Ink background to give the impression of water before stamping the image. I stamped it again on another piece of a card and cut out the middle fish, covered it in glossy accent and then attached it with a foam squares. Job done!


Sunday, 19 April 2015

The Craft Barn Weekly Challenge - Quintessentially English

Quintessentially English is this week's Craft Barn challenge. Decisions, decisions which of my stamps to use that would fulfil the brief. I finally plumped for an English cottage garden conjuring the fabulous sights, sounds and aromas of a warm summer day.

I stamped the image three times masking the previous image to ensure they overlapped and then hand-coloured the flowers (a marathon task!) with my newly acquired Spectrum Noir pencils. Followed by brushing some distress ink around the top and sides before adding the sentiment and 3D butterfly.



Card Recipe  
Card   
Card blank made with Anna Maria Designs Fine Linen Embossed Card 290gsm
Papermania Kraft Card
Craftworkscards Digital Ultra Smooth Premium Cardstock 250gsm
Inks
Memento -Tuxedo Black
Ranger Archival Jet Black
Ranger Archival Watering Can
Broken China- Distress ink
Spectrum Noir Pencils - Essentials set
Stamps
Flowers - Crafty Individuals CI-411
Sentiment - Woodware JWS03
Butterfly - Darkroom Door Wildflower set DDRS005

Sunday, 12 April 2015

The Craft Barn Weekly Challenge - House

The project challenge this week set by the Craft Barn team is to incorporate a house.

I've gone with the clean and simple look this week with a New Home card. This is great for using up those little bits of off-cuts that you don't have the heart to throw away but just seem to multiply in the scrap box.

Not a brilliant photo - one day I hope to improve my camera skills!


Card Recipe
White card
Distress Inks
Ranger Archival - Jet Black
Crafty Individuals stamps CI-273
Sentiment computer generated - Papyrus font

Monday, 30 March 2015

The Craft Barn Calendar Challenge - March

For the March calendar challenge we had to include the colour yellow and a rabbit (rabbits) in our task.

Now, yellow in nature is fine by me but it is not a colour I would immediately grab for a project and I certainly never wear it or would paint the walls with it. A very nearly all yellow finished article is an absolute first for me!

I used Paperartsy Fresco's to paint and stencil the tag and Distress Ink to colour the rabbit.



Card Recipe
Card
Anna Maria Designs High White Card 300gsm
White card
Green Bazzill card
Paints/Inks
PaperArtsy Fresco Paints - Cheesecake, Banana, Haystack, Nougat, Tangerine Twist
Distress Ink - Pumice Stone
Stencils/Dies
Burlap - Tim Holtz Layering Stencil
Flowers stencil - PaperArtsy JOFY PS008
Rabbit - Tim Holtz Alterations, Mini Bunny & Bow Set
Other
Yellow paper flowers
Seam binding dyed with "Cheesecake" Fresco paint

Saturday, 28 March 2015

The Craft Barn Weekly Challenge - Creating a Background

The challenge set this week on the Craft Barn blog is to create an interesting background using Brusho, inks or paints.

I've had a set of  Brusho for quite a while now but only used them a couple of times. So time to dust them off and make a bright, cheerful background for a birthday card. I used Fresco paint to stencil the dots, add some rings and credit card lines. The flags, puffin and speech bubble were stamped onto card, cut out and coloured with Distress Inks before gluing to the background.


I'm also entering this card into the Crafty Individuals March Challenge .

Card Recipe
Card/Paper
Card blank - Craftworkcards
Gold/black pearlescent paper
Craft Creations watercolour card
Anna Maria Designs Super Smooth Printer Card 200gsm
Ink/Paint
Brusho - Lemon, Orange
Paper Artsy Fresco - Nougat
Ranger Archival Jet Black
Distress Ink - Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade, Worn Lipstick, Festive Berries
Stamps
Party Puffin - Crafty Individuals CI-376
Flags - Crafty Individuals
Other
Sentiment computer generated - Asenine Wide font

Friday, 20 March 2015

The Craft Barn Weekly Challenge - Something Flowery

This week's challenge on the Craft Barn blog is to make something using handmade flowers, be they die cut, punched or hand cut.

With four Easter cards to make for our grandchildren this was the call I needed to stop procrastinating and get started.

I've used a digital stamp for my image and coloured it with alcohol markers. The leaves and flowers are die cut and coloured with Distress Stains and edged with Distress Inks. 

That's one down, three to go!


Card Recipe
Card
Anna Maria Designs Super Smooth, Super White, Printer Card 300gsm
Anna Maria Designs Super Smooth Printer Card 200gsm
Blue pearlescent card
Inks
Promakers/Copics
Distress Inks - Broken China, Spiced Marmalade, Mowed Lawn
Distress Stains - Peeled Paint, Wild Honey
Dies/Embossing Folder 
Leaves - Tim Holtz Sizzlits Decorative Strip "Spring Greenery"
Flowers - Tim Holtz Sizzlits Decorative Strip "Tattered Flower Garland"
Other
Image from DigiStamp Boutique
Sentiment computer generated - Font "Please write me a song"
Flower brad