Little tangles blog challenge #37

Hi everyone,

Hope you are all well, I'm nursing a cold so have been trying to cheer myself up by playing with some of my favourite stamp sets...sure fire plan right?

So, if you have visited my blog before, you'll be aware i have a little bit of a craft crush on Neat and Tangled stamps, and was lucky enough to be chosen as a winner in a previous blog challenge of theirs...I could not believe my luck!!!  I just can't get enough of them.  And their new releases...oh wow, I HAVE to get my hands on them, they are just amazing.  My favourite is the 'cloud' set.  I just think I would use it again and again, but like I say, they are all amazing...have a look for your-self here, Neat and tangled , you will not be disappointed!

So, their challenge this week is 'Acetate' and here are all the details... Little tangles,

...and here's my entry...

I created the patterned cardstock by stamping the 'on the strip 2' (my prize for winning the minicards challenge :) :) :) - Thank you soooooo much Neat and Tangled :):):) ) stamps out in a random pattern, and heat embossed it with 'white diamond' embossing powder.  I also stamped out and heat embossed my sentiment, which was put together using the 'sparkle and shine' set.  I then die-cut a panel from the cardstock to make way for my acetate 'shaker' panel, created by joining two pieces of acetate with thick foam tape to create a little 'pocket' in which you can put, well, anything you want that will fit!  I put my sentiment in there with a few lovely sparkly gems to 'Sparkle and shine'!!!  I finished the card off by adding a nice 'pool' coloured glitter card on the back panel of the card to really make the acetate and sentiment 'pop'.

I'm pretty happy with how this card turned out, I really like acetate so enjoyed working with it...even if it can be a little bit tricky sometimes (acetate, fingerprints and embossing powder do not go well!).

As always, I hope you like it.  I would love to read your comments so please feel free to leave one

xxx

A blog named hero - challenge #44

Hi everyone,

I'm back with another blog challenge entry, this time for Hero arts, 'A blog named hero'.

I have and always will  LOVE Hero Arts.  Especially their background stamps.  They just get it spot on everytime, and the quality, well, it is second to none.  In my opinion, there are fewer things in life as amazing as the feel and smell of a brand new wood mounted Hero Arts background stamp...that's not just me...right?

So the challenge this fortnight is 'You're the boss' - anything involving dry or wet embossing.  And as a little added delight, this challenge is in association with another one of my favourite stamp companies, Mama Elephant!! Well, how's a girl to resist!

You can find the deets here...

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPEOgeo2vngKeGkf-VtKgkAGx6QALS1h1hVYo9JLDStcTGwTiKPDrzKve6KyJUBfePYomE3bA0Ev9HpaEYFg8_3QBPJPwfQCxeMsUYo6DbGbpwwAleCzMfru_N729bqhddDW6iRUsSacRq/s1600/challenge-44.jpg

And here is my entry...

The background is Hero Arts - 'woodgrain' which I stamped in clear embossing powder and inked over using distress inks (vintage photo and tea dye), i then spritzed the ink to get it moving and to create some 'puddles' of colour.  Once dried, I ironed off the embossing powder to create this 'batik' kind of effect.  I then stamped this delightful little owl, from Mama Elephant - 'just hatched' set, in Hero Arts - 'cup of Joe' shadow ink  I then masked him off, and stamped the wee little tuft of grass out in Hero Arts - 'green hills' shadow ink.  I then die-cut various size circles through my cardstocks (I was using two different shades of brown as my 'mats'), and stamped out this lovely little 'smile' bubble sentiment from Mama Elephants - 'everyday greetings', also in the Green hills inks.  I embellsihed with a few sequins and that was that, a cute and simple card, I hope you agree.

I would love to read your comments so please feel free to leave one 

xxx

Online card classes - watercolour for card makers

Hi everyone,

Well, well, well, I have just completed my first ever 'online card class', and I have to say, it was absolutely AMAZING!!!!!  I just loved it.  I've been meaning to write a post about it for days now but have had no time as, sadly and annoyingly...I have to work haha.

Now, if you've ever visited my blog before, you'll be all too aware that I do have a slight obsession with watercolour techniques already, mostly using distress ink, but I just wanted to learn more so seemed like a natural progression and I am just so glad I did!

I'm not really sure how to write this post as the purpose is to give my 'homework' a home to post it to the online galleries, so will keep it really simple and just post my pics with a brief description, then as I play and practise with my newly learnt techniques, I can go a little more in depth.

So...here's my homework :)

day one & two - Watercolour backgrounds

- masking technique using 'masking fluid'.

- Hero Arts background stamped in clear embossing powder and 'washed' with watercolour paint.

- watercolour wash left to dry with a stencil on top.

- distress ink stamped and 'misted' on an acrylic block.

Day three and four - watercolour stamping

- first and second impression using distress inks on a hero arts background stamp, 'misted' and left to blend.

Day five and six - watercolouring stamped images

- images stamped in distress ink and blended with water.

- image watercoloured on stamp using distress markers misted with water.

Day seven and eight - faux hand-painting

- watercolour painted onto a spellbinder die 'embossed' into the cardstock.

- flowers coloured in water-colour paint, tracing over a lightly stamped My Mind's eye stamp.

Day nine and ten - Watercolour freehand

Day eleven - play day :) :) :)

So I guess I should apologise for such a long post - but I'm on a tight time limit here, and don't wanna miss out on the galleries after all my hard work LOL.

I really can't say enough positive things about this class, but most importantly is that it has been an absolute inspiration and has encouraged me to try things I would never have dared on my own.

Love it.  Love it.  Love it!!!

Go on...give it a go...you know you wanna :)

xxx

- 

Simon Says Stamp blog challenge...

Hi everyone,

A quick post to share a card I made for the wonderful, Simon Say Stamp Wednesday challenge, which this week is - Keep it clean and simple.

And here you go...

I used Hero Arts 'tiny flags' background stamp (the newest addition to my Hero Arts collection...and I just cannot put it down!), stamped in Versamark ink and covered in a variety of shades of blue (and a little smidge of silver) embossing powder which i randomly sprinkled all over to create this kind of 'ombre' effect.  I then die cut Lawn Fawn's 'scripty hello' die a few times so I could build it up to make it 'pop' a little more, and 'in-layed' it along a 'French navy' coloured banner.  I then embellished with some gorgeous pool coloured enamel dots and There you have it.

I've gotta be honest, I just love how it came out, it's kind of 'juicy'.  I really hope you like it, please feel free to leave a comment xxx

Simon says...keep it clean nad simple

Hi everyone,

I want to share a card I have made for the awesome Simon Says Stamp Wednesday blog challenge,

The challenge this week was to 'keep it clean and simple' with optional extra to use one layer, and they were 'showcasing' hero arts products...well, who doesn't love hero arts, right?  One of my absolute all time favourites!

So, here's what I came up with...

I am in love with watercolours at the momet, and treat myself to a gorgeous Pebeo half pan set which I used for this card.

I used Hero Arts 'Tiny flags' background stamp which I stamped and heat embossed in clear powder.  I then chose a selection of colours from my set, which I thought would go well together, and washed each colour across the card in a equal measures.  Once completely dry, I ironed off the embossing powder to create a flat 'batik' effect.  I then used Paper smooches 'pretty phrases' (which I love and use all the time) to stamp my sentimentint, and embellished with a simple grey enamel dot.

I really like how this card came out and think it could work really well as an, ever daunting, masculine card.

I really hope you like it, please feel free to leave a comment xxx

Sweet, neat & tangled...

Hi everyone,

One of my new favourite things on this planet is Neat and tangled stamps.  They are just so brilliant, the designs tick all my boxes, especially the large sentiments.  I just love 'em and have been lucky enough to grab myself some, (these beauts sell out, fast!), of my favourites, (obviously I would like need them all at some point when my bank balance allows).

So, i decided to have a crack at the little tangles blog challenge, which this week is 'mini cards' ... how cute??!!  

So, I'm not gonna lie, I am still obsessed with watercolour.  I normally get bored of a 'trend' pretty quickly, but I just cannot get enough of this technique.  I guess it's because the results are so different every time.  I also think these stamps are crying out to be used in this way as they are so striking, they really do stand alone without need to add much else to your design!

So here is take on the challenge...

My mini cards are 3"x4" and I really like how they turned out.

I used watercolour card to stamp each sentiment on (I used 'My favourite', 'dreams', and 'hope anchors') and heat embossed in clear powder.  I then watercoloured my backgrounds in 3 different colourways using distress inks which I 'misted' on my craft sheet, and pulling my card through the ink (I used 'peacock feathers', 'picked raspberry', and 'seedless preserve', all mixed with 'mustard seed').  Once the backgrounds were completely dry, I 'ironed' the embossing powder off, leaving a lovely flat 'batik' kind of effect (*tips hat to the master/card making goddess/craft crush...Jennifer Mcguire*).  I used a little black card to mat onto my card base, and that is that - as I said before, these stamps speak for themselves so I really didn't want to add anything extra.

I did do another set in the same manner, but mixed all the colours together on each card - they came out like this

I love both sets to be honest, I hope you do too.

Please feel free to leave a comment xxx

shine bright like a diamond...

Hi everyone,

How was your bank holiday weekend?  Mine has been a delight :)  I normally have to work (sadly been a pub manager means working when everyone else is off having fun!), but it worked out I was off this time! Woo hoo!! And what better way to spend it than crafting?  Soooo, I thought I'd share a fun card I made, and as pretty much half my stamp collection is from make the day special, I thought I'd submit one more piece in their first ever blog challenge which you can find here -  http://makethedayspecialcards.blogspot.co.uk/p/challenges.html 

I used the AMAZING neat & tangled - 'Sparkle and shine' stamp set, i just cannot get enough of neat & tangled stamps, their designs tick all my boxes and are just so versatile.  LOVE LOVE LOVE them!

I stamped my image and sentiment on acetate (although it doesn't show up too great on the photo) with stazon ink, then coloured the bulb from behind using Luminarte - h20 paints and a white acrylic paint to give it more dimension.  I then sandwiched this in between some My minds eye patterned paper, which I had die cut an apperture from using Lawn fawn's - 'stitched journalling card' die.  I used the line of stars from the same die set to give some extra detail, and embellsihed with some nice bright juicy looking sequins!

I really hope you like it, I would love to read your comments xxx