Tag you're it...

Hi everyone,

I'm back with a piece I made for a brand spanking new challenge.  It's called tag you're it, and I read about it on the delightful Jennifer Mcguire's blog.  The clue's in the title really, it's based around tags, although other projects are accepted.  The idea is to take inspiration from the guest designer's project/tag, and use that inspiration to design your own. This is only the 2nd ever challenge and you can find all the details here...

Tag you're it challenge #2

The guest designer for this challenge is the absolutely, ridiculously, awesome Laura Bassen, and here's Laura's tag...

And here's what I came up with...

I took my inspiration from the graphic background and the delicious juicy colours used on it (although mine didn't come out quite as vibrant).

I started by stencilling embossing paste, in various colours, onto my manilla tag, using the Ranger 'Dina Wakley Plastic Canvas' stencil.  I coloured my white embossing paste using Distress Inks in Mustard seed, Spiced Marmalade, Barn door, and Picked Raspberry.

I then used the same Distress Inks to create a watercolour palette, and pulled a piece of card through it to give me a perfectly matched coloured card to stamp on,  and did the same with a couple of different greens (Evergreen Brough and Pine needles) for my foliage.  I then used the awesome 'bloomsies' set from Mama Elephant, (which I LOVE and know I am going to use sooooo much), and stamped, and cut out, my sentiment and a selection of flowers and foliage.

I also die-cut Spellinders 'Medallion seven' out of vellum as another refernece to Laura's tag, and also , I thought it would look pretty cool as an anchor point for my background.  I then constructed my pieces around it, aiming for a kind of 'posie' look.  I finished off with a few clear gems, a tie of twine, and a little strip of ribbon. 

And there you have it.

I really hope you like it, wish me luck.

Jillxxx

About a face...

Hi everyone,

A quick share of a card I made for the delightful Simon Says Stamp Monday blog challenge, which this week is 'About a face'.

It gave me the perfect excuse to use a stamp I have, from Indigo Blu, which hadn't been inked up yet (outrageous I know!)...and here is my finished project...

So, as you see, I really went to town on this card haha.  I started with a piece of vintage sheet music and watercolour washed it using distress inks (Vintage Photo, Tea Dye, Victorian Velvet, and Dried Marigold).  Then, using a Memory box stencil, I covered it in 'Grunge Paste' and set aside to dry.  In the meantime, I stamped my main 'face' image (from Indigo Blu) on a piece of torn card, grabbed a previously made Martha Stewart paper clay frame and various off-cuts of ribbon and twine, and gave them all the same watercolour wash.  My sentiment is from an Avery Elle set, and I stamped it in Plum Archival ink and distressed it using the same palette.  Once my background was dry, i covered in the same inks, and finished off with some gold gilding wax around the edges to highlight the design of the stencil.  I constructed my card in an intentional messy and haphazard way,  just to create some interest.  I then added a few vintage looking brown sequins and there you have it.

A change from my normal style, but I really enjoyed doing something different.

I hope you like it, I'd love to read your comments.

Jillxxx

Do more of the things you love...

Hi everyone,

A quick post to share another card I have made for Neat and tangled 'Little tangles' challenge, which this week, is 'watercolour'.  I love Neat and tangled stamps, and I love watercolour, so it's no surprise that I''m jumping all over this one haha.

And here's what I came up with...

I made a mask by die-cutting the Lil -Inker 'stitched butterfly' from an Inkadinkado masking sheet, and used both the positive and negative parts to create this effect.  I masked off the background/surround to start with and pulled my card through some misted distress inks to colour the butterflies (I think it was mustard seed, peacock feathers, spiced marmalade, and picked raspberry).  Once dried, i then masked off the butterflies so i could watercolour the background/surround, again using distress inks as my watercolour medium (picked raspberry and mustard seed).

I then stamped and heat embossed the delightful 'Dream' stamp in 'liquid platinum' embossing powder and embellished with some ribbon banners, a wee little ribbon 'jean tag', and some little silver hearts which I covered in glossy accents.

I then matted onto black card, and foam mounted the whole thing onto some pool coloured glitter card, just for a hint of sparkle.

I am really happy with how this turned out, I love the contrast between the two separate watercolour washes, and think it almost looks like tie-die.

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

jill xxx