Cheiron's Ranger Christmas Class..

Hey,

So I am now in London hanging with my folks. So for the next week my posts will be scheduled.

Finally I am showing you my makes from the class I did with Denise at The Inkpadnyc. 

Cheiron was our teacher and as ever the cards we made were gorgeous and fun times were had by all - even my non-crafty Denise had a blast.

My cards aren't in order of make!

The main photo is my fave, partly because of my amazing bow (yep praising myself). The white void at the top is because I messed up the red stamping, but I liked it so left it as it is.

We heat embossed the die-cut Believe and in real life its really shiny and lovely.

The next card, took the longest, but is so beautiful I actually don't know if I can bear to give it to anyone...

It was technique crazy and really stretched us all. We had to fussy cut the Deer, so you can imagine how long that took. The trees are this awesome technique of stamping in white first, then in green, but dropping the stamp down slightly.
We were supposed to tear the white snow, but I wasn't feeling that..not precise enough :) Yes I got teased for that..so I cut mini snow hills instead!

The card above was the easiest one of all and believe it or not that gingham background was a stamp!!!

I love the simplicity of it and I have used the layout a lot in the last 2 weeks to make more Christmas cards.

Our final card is a beauty, again I might have to keep it, so I can gaze at its beauty..

The silver background Cheiron had already embossed for us, same with the blue background, but we spritzed it and dried it. All our colours were so different, I really like using mists, but I get so messy, I need to fashion a spray booth..

The snowflake we heat embossed and the greeny/blue bling, we created that colour using some alcohol ink..

It was such a fun night - as always, I love hanging with the girls (Anna, Cheiron, Lisette, Jamey, Ava, et al) at The Inkpad classes..finally some NYC craft buddies, how nice is that!

Happy weekend everyone.

Cx

Tim Holtz Tags of 2015...February...

Hey,

So I finally got round to starting AND finishing my February tag last weekend. And yes the photo is HUGE, but he's sooo gorgeous, I wanted to share him in full detail :)

So modge podge gave me some issues, thus it is time to invest in glue n seal!

I used all the technique's Tim used, but I substituted some of the items. My papers came from my scraps, the sentiment I stamped and then distressed.

I assembled the entire tag, following all the steps. I did not want to sew on my heart and looked at the other tags for inspiration - big thanks to Belinda Basson, her use of staples inspired me to do the same.

The die cutting felt was a new thing for me - believe it or not. Silly right!

I added some gold stars around the frame on my tag, I felt I needed sparkle! For the final touch I used a Navy mist to add splatter. I smudged some of it in, as it was a bit OTT..mists, still mystify me..

I broke my one new item rule - there are 3 here..sorry I just couldn't resist the President's Day sales.. So the arrow, heart and frames are new..sorry but I love a sale!

Here's a close-up -

I love how my tag looks, it feels feminine yet grungy - love it!

Cx

p.s Yes..'Tags' are male...

OCC Stenciled: Day 1...Inking and Masking

Hi,

Hope you all had a fun long weekend. I spent lots and lots of time at my desk..being away from it for 2 weeks meant that my fingers were itching for a play!

I recently bought a new Online Card Class - Stenciled. As I really wanted to use my stencils more and in more creative ways.

There are x4 techniques in day 1 -

Sponging - This is a technique I use quite often. But what I don't normally do is get all brave and use x2 colours!! Debby also showed us how to heat emboss onto vellum, so you don't hide the gorgeous background. The main photo today is this technique and I am very pleased with my final card.

Misting - Meh! I like the idea of misting, but the reality of it is too messy for me. I didn't use multiple colours here, as per the class. Partly because I only have a few colours and I didn't think they worked together. I did try it and I have an oops to be shown at another time.

Misting

My card has come out well and I like the contrast of the stencil, the die and the stamped sentiment. The spots shouldn't be so blotchy, but I don't mind it so much.

Heat Embossing - Now I get the ink resist and heat embossing with stencils, but the blending of the background and then adding droplets of water was beyond me..even I can't show you this oops..So what did I decide to do..salvage what I could - hence a very simple card.

Heat Embossing

No more heavy blending or water droplets for me - know your limits!

Masking - I've done this before and I like the results. I kept this card simple, by using one stencil, I masked and rotated it. I am pleased with the results.

Masking and Rotating

Verdict? I loved day 1 - I don't love being covered in ink..but that's a personal thing :)

Supplies used:
Inks - Distress Inks (Iced Spruce, Evergreen Bough, Spiced Marmalade, Festive Berries, Dusty Concord, Mustard Seed), Versafine Onyx black, SSS Lipstick Red.
Heat Embossing - Versamark ink, Ranger heat tool, Stampendous Embossing Powders (grey and clear)
Mists - Fireworks Sweet Plum.
Stencils - Recollections Spots, Clear Scraps Spiral Dots, SSS Mosaic Heart, Tim Holtz Rays.
Sentiments - Pink Paislee, WPlus9, Penny Black.
Dies - Tag die by Marianne Creatables, Happy die by Craft Cutts.
Card blanks from Paper Presentation, white stock is Strathmore Mixed Media paper.
Any other embellishments from my stash.

Cx

Hello from London..

Hi!

Here I am sitting in my Parent's kitchen working (on my lunch break right now).

It's really good to be home, the wedding on Friday was lots of fun and I have spent the weekend hanging out with my parents. Tonight I am off out to meet my London based friends for a drink or two.

Here's a photo of Hubby and I at the wedding :)

Me & Hubby..

Today's main photo is of a card I made a couple of weekends ago. I bought the gorgeous butterfly die a while ago, it is by Poppy Stamps.

The card actually came about, as I was trying out some new misting techniques using stencils and I was lazy and didn't stick the stencil down... I decided to let my accident dry and see what I ended up with and I was quite pleased. It looks really grungy, which I am into right now.

As the background was set - I die cut the butterfly in a contrasting paper and stamped the sentiment in green too.

I did feel that it was a bit dull..so I added some bling to liven it up a bit - here's a close-up -

Butterfly close-up

Quite pleased with my accidental card..

Cx

Happy Mother's Day

Today is Mother's Day in the UK.

My Ma is pretty special, she is always there for me and last year when Hubby and I were relocating she helped us physically, financially and emotionally.

This year has been a bit traumatic for Ma and our entire family, a surprise Cancer diagnosis wasn't exactly the best start to 2014.

Ma has managed to deal with all of it with dignity and a smile on her face and I was overjoyed that I got to go home at the point where she needed company and policing (she's not the best patient!)

Now 6 weeks after her op she has been given an all clear, which is totally amazing for her and our whole family.I am pleased to see that she is utilising the time she has before going back to work by having a bit more rest and indulging in some hobbies - sewing, embroidery, crap tv, reading etc

I know for a fact that I couldn't have gone through everything she has with such strength, but this is why she is so special.

I wanted to make Ma a bright and happy card. I had all sorts of ideas most of which centred around the Pink Petticoat backing paper I have used. When I was home, Ma saw it in my travel stash and said that she really liked it, so I wanted to use it.
I got a teeny bit carried away and used a few different techniques.
I didn't have a yellow flower, so I coloured one of the giant Papermania using a Promarker and then I sprayed the flower with a Memento Fireworks mist in Canteloupe. This is a newish technique for me and a bit messy, but adds a really nice shimmer when dry.

Here's a close-up -

Flower Close-up

I also recoloured some white paper twine black, so that it matched the text. The text is a rub-on...It is not supposed to be all patchy, but (and this is why I hate rub-ons) it wouldn't go on evenly..and in the end I decided it looked quite modern and edgy :)

The button is special too, as I bought a little bag of them when I was at home and on a day out with Ma.

I hope Ma likes her card and has a wonderful Mother's Day, I will be skyping her later.

Finally I decided that my card fits the Love to Create bingo card this week...

I am using the 3 row across and down - so Sparkle, Yellow and Flowers!

Cx