Stencilling

This is my new favourite technique since I taught it at a class last week. The ladies had so much fun learning the techniques & were thrilled with their finished artwork. So I wanted to show them what they can do with the stencilled panels they created, and a bit of matting & layering......

The main panel was coloured using duster brushes, then stencilled and glittered. The panel was matted & layered on contrasting papers and then I added a handmade tea bag folded butterfly in the same paper, with a beaded body. 

And these are some of the samples I made for the class....

You can see the in mounted panel lower left in the pic. 

Looking forward to seeing what others create with their panels!

Thank for stopping by

Debs 

Ink duster shadow panels

These are the samples for today's/tomorrow's classes. The main image is made by masking with post it's, using versamark to stamp the border, then dusting with Distress Inks. Then sponging black ink around the lower edges of the post it's to give shadows & give the illusion that the panels are layered. 

The background on the base card is then stamped using one of the main images & the same colours as on the topper - very effective!

Thanks for stopping by

Debs x

WOYWW

This was my desk this morning, part way thru some landscapes in prep for a future class. Then I remembered a sample I'd seen at a recent show, I think it was the Lavinia Stamps stand, and a set of stamps from inkylicious that I've been wanting to play with, and I saw Deb Pen Pot use at the Crop ......

I love this image! Background blended with Inkylicious duster brushes using Spun  Sugar, Tumbled Glass, dusty Concord, and Black Soot Distress inks. Stamped in black soot & dusty concord, then added glitter with quickie glue pen. Then......the Tesco delivery man rang the doorbell & I spilled the glitter !!

Off to link this to Julia's WOYWW desk hop and will spend the next few days (ok, all week!!) visiting other crafters around the globe - see previous post for WOYWW crop homework sketch card!

Thanks for all the kind thoughts about my poorly knee - wearing a knee brace for now, waiting for referral to Ortho specialist. GP thinks maybe cartilage damaged :-(

Thanks for stopping by

Debs xx

Inkylicious colour blending

Hi everyone, and welcome to my new followers, Mary Mac and Crafty Debs - I appreciate you adding me to your blog favourites!

This card is one of my designs featured in this months (May '13) edition of Making Cards.  Poor pic, I know - really need to work on the photography skills!

The base card is 8" square, the panel dies used are Spellbinders Mega Curved Rectangles, decorated with Joy crafts flourishes 6002/0020 & 6002/0033 and memory Box Butterfly dies Vivienne & Darla.  The stamp set used is my current favourite, 'Oriental Awakenings' from Inkylicious.

All the inks used are Distress Inks, applied with Inklyicious Ink Dusters to give a lovely soft finish.

The colours are actually much softer than they look in this pic, but my rubbish photography has flattened and darkened the colours - must try harder lol!!

Thanks for stopping by

Debs x

WOYWW and the kindness of crafty folk!

Hi everyone, I can't believe that it's Wednesday again (where on earth did that week go?!) and time for another whizz around the globe at Julia's Stamping Ground, to see what other crafters have on their desks.

You probably already know that I don't tidy my desk for your visits, but today is pretty dire! Dies that need the leftovers 'poking out', a part complete project on the left, planned for a future class, and my 'overflow' box on the far left - same place as last week, with much the same stuff in, and an experimental card fold on top!!

And this is what I've been working on with my Inkylicious dusters - the sand dunes image was inspired by one I saw at Farnborough, that was made using Adirondack inks, and I wanted to see if I could make something similar using my Distress Inks. Don't know about you, but I have a lot of Distress Inks, and I love them, (Julia asked about my colour chart on my desk last week - it was for my DI's!) and I can't really justify buying another set of inks (Adirondacks) if the DI's will do the same job - I was quite pleased with the results, and they will be the basis of a future class:-

My class yesterday was such fun, and one of my lovely ladies brought along a gift for me - a fab tartan scrapbooking bag! A friend of hers was throwing it out (!) and as she doesn't scrapbook, and already has a travelling craft bag, she decided to give it to me. Aren't crafters lovely people?



Anyway, Julia asks us to keep these posts relatively short (sorry Julia!) so I'd better stop waffling and start blog-hopping!

Happy WOYWW

Debs x

Craft Room at last!

I've been a bit absent from the blog for the past week or so, partly cos I've been busy with deadlines, and partly cos I've been converting one of my bedrooms into a Craft Room!  Yippee! :-)

I've worked from home for a long time, and had a bedroom as an office for years, but my crafting was always done in the dining room/kitchen/living room/floor etc etc! (As many of you will know from past pics on the blog :-)  I decided to tidy (ahem - use that word loosely) my office and get rid of all unnecessary paperwork/reference material etc. Vast quantities of shredding and about 6 wheelie bins of recycling later............................ ta daaaah!!!

I now have all of my crafting supplies in one room - huge improvement! And a dedicated desk where I can leave 'work in progress' and shut the door, no more working out how we are going to eat at the same table lol!  In the second pic you can just see the top shelf is full of files - 11 files of unmounted stamps to be precise [gulp!} and that doesn't include the 2 baskets of wooden stamps, the box of sentiment stamps, the box of Christmas stamps.....
But now my Cuttlebug is accessible without removing 3 layers of other stuff to get to it - hurrah! 

And this is the first project I made at my new desk using some of my new goodies.....

The card front is covered in dark red paper which is overstamped with dragonflies in dark orange ink - nice subtle effect. I clear embossed (WOW! clear gloss powder - of course!) the grasses and flowers (Artemio clear stamp set) at the bottom of the card, then used my gorgeous Inkylicious ink dusters with Big and Juicy 'Soothing Sunset', Distress Inks Wild Honey and Brushed Corduroy to shade the background.

I overstamped the grasses with the different shades of ink that I used on the backgound, and then used my new Inkylicious script stamp all over the background (it's only a small stamp, but you can repeat it over and over to create a whole page of script and it looks like a continuous stamp - magic!)

Finished the background by stamping a few dragonflies, then used a Marianne die to cut out a lacey frame, coloured the die with the same colours using my brushes, then stamped the verse on the die cut to finish, and mounted on the front of the card.  I haven't made anything 'just cos I wanted to' for a little while, and this gave me so much pleasure! Hope you like it, and sorry if I've rambled on a bit ;-)

Thanks for stopping by

Debs x

WOYWW 138 and more boxes!

This is today's crafty corner of the dining room, prepping samples for this Saturday's class making gift boxes.  Centre front we have a cute little butterfly hexagon box (templates from a CD by Payperbox) stamped and decorated with butterflies.  Behind that is a pyramid box decorated with hearts (yes, Valentine's Day soon dear, if you're reading this :-)

Then you have a small collection of my Stickles glitter glues, and just behind that a teeny tiny set of dragonfly and butterfly stamps that I've had for years and absolutely adore! They are tiddly tho, perfect for backgrounds!

I didn't dare take a pic of the whole table, cos anyone who read my blog last week might notice that most of the same stuff is still there! Have been super busy this last week, and lost a day yesterday after a visit to the osteopath (old war wound lol!) after which I felt like I'd been kicked by a mule (actually petite and blonde, but she still packs a punch!)

After doing a quick flick thru my Blogger reading list, has anyone seen the preview of the new Distress Ink Marker Pens???   Ooooooooh, I really NEED these!!!! 

I have deadlines coming at me all over the place, 3 classes in the next week, and samples to make for the trade show at the NEC, so forgive me if I don;t make it to your WOYWW entry this week.  I will do my best later today when I have a bit more time, so for now, I'm off to add my name to the list over at Julia's blog, then it's back to the inkpads :-0

Thanks for stopping by

Debs x

Stampscapes, Ink Dusters and the Grand Prix!

I had a lovely afternoon yesterday whilst Hubby watched the Grand Prix - I spent hours with ink and paper and stamps!  I mentioned in an earlier post that I had received some beautiful Stampscapes stamps for my birthday, and I had a ball playing with them.  This was the first design with a brayered background using a Big n juicy ink pad and Funky Hands 'Funky Seasons' backing papers from the beautiful Winter Skating collection.

The second design was using Distress Inks and Inkylicious Ink Dusters (thanks to Shoshi for her U tube tutorial!)  The background was lightly covered with Mustard Seed and Wild Honey and then stamped all over in Wild Honey and Walnut Stain, after stamping off the first generation of ink to give a very soft background.

The tag was inked with Mustard Seed, Wild Honey and Spiced Marmalade, and overstamped with Memento Tuxedo Black, then mounted on black mirri card. The fibres were added to give the card more texture, as it seemed a little flat.

I was really pleased with the INkylicious Ink Dusters - they give a beautiful soft finish and blend so easily. I did find that they take longer to achieve a result than Cut N Dry or the Tim Holtz blending tool, but the end results are much smoother.

Thanks for dropping by!

Deb x

Bella Crafts - Distress Inks workshop Sat 17/9

We had a lovely time on Saturday morning, getting inky with Distress Inks! We scrunched, embossed, blended, bleached, masked, stamped and painted - whew!

We started with background paper techniques, these are some Christmassy ones (I couldn't resist!) The bottom sheet is taking the inkpad direct to paper to create a harlequin effect (seen in an earlier post) and the top sheet is scrunched, opened out then the inkpad lightly dragged across the surface, scrunched again and lightly drag a Versamark embossing pad over the new creases, then sprinkle with metallic powder and emboss - looks fab!

These two examples were made using masks, first dabbing the ink thru the mask, then inking the rest of the card, placing the mask over and spritzing, then lifting the water off with kitchen towel.

This makes a great background for overstamping, I particularly like the one on the bottom, the colours and masked areas work really well together.


OK, that's it for tonight, more crafty fun soon!

Distress Inks Techniques class 310811

We had a full house for the class this week - everyone is back from holidays and raring to go!  We covered so much ground we ended up running over time but no-one wanted to go home, as everyone wanted to finish up their projects.

These are some of the papers and images we created. At the top of the pic is a scrunched, inked & embossed background paper. Below that we have 2 variations on stamped backgrounds, 1 using the Distress pads direct to paper to create a harlequin effect and the other stamped in 2 colours.

You might recognise the bleached snowman stamp from an earlier post! And finally, bottom right, we finished up with how to blend and use different layers to create depth and perspective in a scene.

Everyone seemed to enjoy the class, and went away with lots of new ideas ready to try them at home. We just ran out of time as I still had a couple of other techniques to show!  Always the way!

Today the sun is shining, and I am working on a project using heat embossing - why is it I always end up using heat on hot days????

Also, got some lovely craft pressies for my birthday last week - Hubby bought me some amazing Stampscapes stamps that I have been lusting after for some time :-) If you've never seen these stamps, check out the website Stampscapes - hopefully I will get a chance to play with them soon and then I will post some pics.

OK, off to emboss! Thanks for dropping by.

Deb x

WOYWW - 31/08/11

I don't know where this month has gone! I know that I was away for a few weeks, but it's September tomorrow - how did that happen??

It seems like my feet haven't touched ground since we got back, between demo's and design work, and so the blog has been a little quiet the past week or two.  Time to investigate some challenges!

IN the meantime, wanted to join back in with the WOYWW posts, and had a quick sneaky peek at some of the other posts at WOYWW HQ - some people have such tidy craft desks!  mine is my dining room table - which is pretty obvious cos I haven't cleared the place mats away yet!

I started sorting the kit for tonight's class - Distress inks - and on the left you can see my first attempt at one-stroke painting (or paint fusion, only I didn't use any stamps - decided to jump in with both feet and try it freehand)  Must say, the demo's I've seen made it look easier than I found it! Maybe I need better brushes or different paper/card!

Top of the pic is a set of water brushes ready to be filled with bleach, and then boxes of distress inks. To the right are some of the samples I will be taking with me.  And underneath all that are the place mats that give away the true purpose of my crafting space!!

Off to finish my sorting for tonight's class x Deb

Christmas in August!

Well, holiday seems like such a long time ago! I had a great time, and it was a real wrench to come home.  And now it's on to Christmas cards - what a contrast!

This is one I've been working on - I thought the snowman stamp was so cute! And the snowballs just finish it off.

More Christmas cards to come.....

Creative Expresssions Card of the Month - July 2011

OK, I know I said my last post was the last before holidays, and I am in the middle of throwing everything into my suitcase (and throwing the cat out, again, and again, and again..........) but I wanted to share this...............

I just found out that this card won Card of the Month for July at Creative Expressions.

It was made using their U Mount Leaves and Trees stamp set, and distress inks in Shabby Shutters, Antique Linen and Brushed Corduroy. The card blank is stamped with the leaves, and they are stamped again on a separate piece of card, cut out and clear embossed. The central panel is coloured with the same 3 colours then mounted on gold mirri. The mini envelope and tag are made from K&Co papers and stamped. the resin embellishments were found buried in my stash drawer and seemed to fit my theme really well.

I win 3 sets of Creative Expressions stamps, (to play with when I get home - yay!) and the card is featured on their web page Card of the Month at Creative Expressions !

OK, off to turf the cat out of my case again, and to see where I can fit the kitchen sink!

Thanks for dropping by, and I'll be back soon.

Debs x

Distress Inks Demo - Hobbycraft 24/7

For some reason, my demo's at Hobbycraft this summer have all fallen on sunny days! WE get naff weather all week, out comes the sun and I'm packing the car and driving off to my demo leaving Hubby to his lazy Sunday.......

Yesterday's demo was to show how you can use Distress Inks to achieve different effects. This first card is made up of 3 panels I did yesterday, and today I made them up into a card, adding some background stamping, an extra layer to the focal point and some die cuts. Didn't plan this, it just happened - can you tell I'm into the autumn colours at the mo??????

Lots of people have asked me where I got the bare trees stamp, and sadly I think it's a retired image from Komodo. Creative Expressions still list it as in stock, but no retailers appear to have it - shame, cos it's really beautiful.
The background and top left panel are made with this really sweet Ivy Border from Personal Impressions, and the larger base panel uses the Ivy Border and a Clarity Stamps mini fern.

I am entering this card in the follwoing Challenges:

• Stamp Man challenge 'Anything by Tim'
• The Crafty Pad 'Embossing Heat or Dry'
• AIFActory 'Layer it up'

So now I need to go get my kit together for Wednesday night's class - the last one before my hols - I have been so busy I haven't had a chance to think about the holiday (a real break for the bank balance, cos I haven't bought a ton of new clothes LOL :-))

Thanks for dropping by

Debs x

Stamping Techniques Workshop - Bella Crafts 9/7/11

 I had a great time with the ladies at Bella Crafts yesterday - the workshop was so much fun and we got so inky!

We tried a range of stamping techniques, Pro Markers and different inks, but the Tim Holtz Distress Inks were the runaway favourites.

We also tried stamping with watercolour pens, applying them directly to the stamps, and this produced some beautiful designs.

Belinda kept us topped up with tea and coffee, and cakes! We had to stop for a cake break! The class produced some gorgeous designs, backing papers, stamped toppers and masked scenes - there were some amazing scenes taking shape behind garden fences, as well as scenes with butterflies and words - they were all beautiful.

We all had a great laugh, ate WAY too many cakes & biscuits, and produced some fabulous stamped images - what a nice way to spend a wet Saturday morning!

Welcome to my Blog!

My first post - welcome!  I love sharing crafting ideas and inspiration, and I thought I would post a few pics of recent creations as a starting point.

Garden Gate

 The Garden Gate is a welcome home card for a friend who has had a long stay in hospital and is thrilled to be coming home at last.  It was made by inking the stamps directly with Whispers watercolour pens, and uses a mix of Flower Soft stamps, Martha Stewart corner punch and core-dinations card

Blue Music was published in Making Cards a few months ago, and is stamped using Versafine and a Musical Collage Set from Butterfly Kisses

Get Well Ted is coloured with Pro Markers and uses Spellbinders Dies with the layers coloured with Pro Markers to match the main pic exactly

Wine Lovers Happy Birthday uses Distress inks and a Fiskars clear stamp set, with the background stamped with Distress inks, and then using them again to watercolour the stamped images

Enjoy!

Debs