OCC: Spring Card Camp Days 1-10

Hey,

Happy Monday!

I have spent a happy 20 days taking part in the Online Card Classes 'Spring Card Camp'.

It was fun and the theme was 2 from 1, so I ended up with a TON of cards LOL.. like that is a problem right now, I am Hallmark (I worked out that I have made approx 250-300 cards in the 7 weeks we have been home - WTAF).

I can't show everything in this post, so I'll show you some of the cards from days 1 to 10 and then I'll do a part two.

The main photo is the cards from Day 4, I didn't show the first x3 days as I am not a massive fan of the cards I made on those days.
Day 4 was taught by Julie Ebersole - who I LOVE. I couldn't quite do exactly what Julie had done, as at that time my Big Shot had broken and I was waiting on the new one! Thank god for a tiny die-cutter meaning I could still die-cut smaller elements.
I really love these cards, it was a great way to use the Recollections Cactus Love set and I combined it with x2 fun sentiments - left is by Flora & Fauna, right is Hero Arts.

Day 5 was fun and taught by Debby Hughes, another big craft crush of mine. It was a bit fiddly, but I am pleased with the end results.

Day 6 was great, I got a TON of cards out of this one. Kristina Werner supplied a great template, that I didn't use, as I don't love working with an exacto knife that much, So I made mine smaller and stuck to easy rectangle shapes to create these mini quilt cards.

Day 7 came out SO well. I loved the graduated stenciling and the foam mounted sentiments really pop, Laurie Willison was a new teacher for me and I really liked her.

Day 8 I learnt a new trick - how to create a shaker box - easily. I need to try this again with different colours, I wasn't happy with my choices, they don't flow together that well. I also fell in love with Cathy Zielske!

Day 9 - taught by Channin Pelletier - generated x6 cards and this was my fave of all the sets - the rainbow one, basically, you blend through a stencil and then spritz the stencil and get a second paler imprint. FUN. I also have never ever used that red/orange embossing powder and it is AMAZING!!

I had a lot of fun with the first 10 days and I got to learn some new things and revisit some older techniques that I haven't used in a while.

If you particularly want to know what I used to create a card, DM me, there are so many supplies here, that I only listed the main photo.

Cx

OCC: Watercolouring for Card Makers Day 2..part 2

Hey,

So following on from yesterday here is part 2 of Day 2 of the Watercolouring class I bought forever ago over at OCC.

Again I did this part of the class over the Thanksgiving break

This part of Day 2 was taught by Jennifer McGuire and it was all about more backgrounds, masking with vibrant colours..

It was a lot of fun and I got to practice masking. I used Rubber Cement as my masking medium.

I chose to mask off 3 different images, which I watercoloured over. Here are my finished images (pre-card)

I made a bit of a boo boo with the Hello Beautiful, it was a bit wet when I went to take the rubber cement off, but I like the roughness.

I decided that as I had already made a set of cards as a gift for a friend, one of these should be her birthday card - the main card today (stamps by Unity Stamp Co and Penny Black). I really like the main card, simple stamping over the top of the mask onto the bright lime watercolour and then a simple mat and sentiment make the lady and the lime background really pop.

The other two cards I also kept simple -

A bit of a blingy mat for this one, I thought it needed to pop a bit more. Stamps are by Stampin' Up and Studio Calico.

I kept this one super simple to try and downplay the mistake I made. Stamp is by Simon Says Stamp.

Fun cards..need to do Day 3 now...

Cx

OCC: Watercolouring for Card Makers Day 2..part 1

Hey,

Hope you had a lovely Christmas..

I did and I am looking forward to a very relaxing week off.

Over the Thanksgiving break I FINALLY got to go and have a play with Day 2 of the Watercolouring class I bought forever ago over at OCC.

This part of Day 2 was all about using background stamps with watercolour and was taught by Debby Hughes.

This is already one of my fave techniques. Ink up the stamp, spritz with water, lay the paper on top..hope you get a decent impression!!

I made x4 backgrounds, using the same stamp (Hero Arts CG504), here is what I got..

The blue background got contaminated by the red ink, because I didn't clean my stamp properly, but I like it..

I decided to make x4 cards and make them a thank you set for a friend.

The first x2 use the entire background, as seen in the main card and this card -

Supplies for these 2 cards - Paper Source glitter heart stickers, Simon Says Stamp thanks on a line die, American Crafts glitter paper, EK Success mini heart punch, Tim Holtz Thank You word dies and glittery star and papers are from my stash.

The next x2 cards had a shape die-cut out of the background I created. I went for stars and hearts.

Supplies for these 2 cards - Lawn Fawn Scripty Thanks die, Sizzix Heart dies, xCut Star dies, Nuvo drops, Tim Holtz Distress Markers.

They were fun to make and it was good to start with the backgrounds giving me some food for thought.

Part 2 tomorrow...

Cx

Acrylic Block Stamping..

Hey,

I did the first day of an Online Card Class - Watercolor for Card Makers - in OCTOBER!!!! I need to finish this, I am hoping to have some space in August to finish the class :)

Of the techniques that we were shown was how to stamp with an acrylic block..

Pretty simple and really effective.

For both cards I chose a skinny acrylic block and x3 distress inks

I can't remember which colours I used for the main card, but there is obviously a green in there!

You put the inks onto the block, then spritz, then lay onto your paper, I love the drippy, smudgey watercolour effect you get. But I am totally freaked out by how 'risky' this technique is - drips and smudges all over the place..

Dry it, then stamp over it. I used a HOTP freebie feather stamp, Snarky Stamp sentiments and added green ink splodges for a bit of added interest.

Obviously I had to make another one...

I went with oranges this time (Carved Pumpkin, Spiced Marmalade, Wild Honey) and not so much water..I actually prefer the first one! The dandelion stamp is by Inkadinkadoo and the sentiment is by Stampin' Up.

Pretty simple technique, but you can get such great results from it, here is a completely different version I did a while back.

Cx

Congratulations...

Hey,

So I made today's card ages ago, but I didn't get round to posting it.

I learnt this great technique in Day 1 of my Watercolouring Online Card Class - sadly Day 1 is as far as I have got!!

You add distress ink to an acrylic block, spritz it with water and 'stamp' onto your watercolour paper..nerve wracking!!

You do this a couple of times for each colour and you can use a paper towel to clean up any ink you don't want. Heat set each stripe before starting the next one.

Then I heat embossed the sentiment using black embossing powder, it really pops! The sentiment is by Simon Says Stamp.

It's a fun technique and I will be playing with it a bit more.

Cx

Happy Father's Day Daddy..

Hey,

Today is Father's Day and I am quite a long way away from my Daddy, but I always like to write a little post about him and show the card I made for him.

This year I was inspired by the freezer paper technique I learnt in my Mask-erade OCC.

I die cut Daddy using a Memory Box alpha lower case die and I ironed it onto some Tim Holtz watercolour cardstock.

I used Distress Inks for the watercolouring and quite a fat brush..I love the colours I ended up with. Using a heat tool I dried the whole thing and then gently peeled off the freezer paper.

I then stamped the sentiment using a Hero Arts stamp.

Fun card for my Fun Daddy - I miss him lots, but his hilarious emails and twitter abuse make it feel like he is right here!

Here's my fave photo of him, this is on my Wedding Day and he is watching me sing!

Happy Father's Day Daddy..

Cx

Online Card Class - Mask-erade..wrap up..

Hey,

I have finished my latest Online Card Class - Mask-erade. It was a lot of fun to do an interactive class, I will definitely be doing one again.

All my cards can be seen here, but I thought I'd show you a few from days 3-4 (you can see 1,2 and 5 here)

The main card is from Day 4 and uses Freezer Paper to mask off the word - I love this card, it was easy to make and looks exactly as I imagined it would!

Day 3 - Layering with stamps and stencils over masks - I made a mistake here, but I still love it.

Day 4 - another freezer paper example - love the blocks of colour..

I loved the class, I learnt so much and rubber cement and freezer paper are going to be coming out a lot more!

Cx

Mixed Media Play Time..

Hey,

Happy Friday!!

Before Ma was here, I had an epic play at my desk.

One of the things I made is today's main photo.

I created my own watercoloured background and then stamped over it with pale blue and pink inks with 2 difference size ball stamps by CAS-ual Fridays.

I used a fun stencil by Crafters Workshop with texture paste and embossing powder. Once it was dry I heated it to get the shine.

I die cut hello in white and inked it up in the same blue and pink inks and mounted it onto the card on top of a piece of washi tape.

Here's a close-up so you can see the inked die-cut -

This card ended up being perfect for a friend, so it has already left my desk..

Hope you have a great weekend, I am going to be continuing on with my OCC Maskerade class.

Cx

Online Card Class - Mask-erade..

Hey,

Fun WOYWW Anniversary ATC swap yesterday. I still have one to swap if anyone is interested :)

For the last 2 nights I have been racing out of work, so I can get to my desk and join in with the latest Online Card Class - Mask-erade.

So far it's been awesome, we've had great teachers so far - Shari Carroll, Kristina Werner, Jennifer Mcguire, Debby Hughes and Laura Fadora :)

I have learnt a lot and managed to make 3 of the 4 cards on Day 2.

My main photo is from Day 2 and I love it, worked out really well.
I made the card blank (from my SSS card kit card stash), used a SSS sentiment stamp, a Winnie and Walter die, MFT stitched rectangle die, Xcut nesting star dies, Hero Arts large hexagon stamp (from JT) and inks by Tsukineko - Lady Bug, Bahama Blue and Pear Tart.

Here are the rest of my cards - 1 is incomplete as it needed to dry and I still have x2 to do from Day 1 - no hurry..

Day 1- Debby Hughes 

Day 1 - Kristina Werner

Day 2 - Jennifer Mcguire

Day 2 Kristina Werner

Fun way to spend my evenings and I ran into some old friends in class and made some new ones..Yay!

Cx

Online Card Class - Stenciled - Day 3 - Working with Pastes..

Hey,

So this weekend I decided to spend part of Saturday doing Day 3 of the Stenciled Online Card Class.

It was really enjoyable and stretched my stencil / paste knowledge.

The only thing that was tedious was that because you are working with pastes they take a while to dry..so some things had to be finished on Sunday!

I'll list all my supplies at the end - so many things used!

The day divided into 3 parts -

The basics - showing you how to achieve different effects with different kinds of pastes...
The main photo today used Ferro Metallic paste in silver, I love this stuff, it's so grainy!

also made this one with white texture paste...but I didn't realise that the mist wasn't dry and so ended up with a blue-ish paste - oh well..

 Translucent paste - showing you how to achieve different effects with translucent paste...

Use as a resist with distress inks - I used Warm Honey and Festive Berries..

Leave it 'nude' for a clear effect on a dark background..

Adding to pastes - showing you how to add various things (inks, glitter, etc) to your paste.
I added alcohol ink to my modelling paste -

I am really pleased with all of the cards, but my least fave is the last one, I think I'll stick to adding glitter to my pastes :)

Hope you like them.

Cx

Supplies used -
Card 1 - Wendy Vecchi texture paste, K&Co chipboard embellishments, Dollar store flower, perfect pearls, Heidi Swapp navy mist, technique tuesday hello die, xcut butterfly die, sizzix swiss dots embossing folder, Midnight Sky Dew Drop Ink. Card blank from my stash.
Card 2 - Ferro Metallic texture paste, vellum, white embossing powder, heat tool, Bo Bunny stamps, Simon Says Stamp Grid Stencil, Hero Arts Stencil, Staz on black ink, grey textured paper.From my stash card blank and sentiment
Card 3 - Wendy Vecchi translucent paste, distress inks, ink tool, Simon Says Stamp Stencil, Simon Says Stamp Congratulations Stamp, Vellum, White embossing powder, heat tool, detail scissors, American Crafts ribbon, DCWV glitter paper. Card blank from my stash
Card 4 - Wendy Vecchi translucent paste, distress inks, ink tool, Neat & Tangled Sentiment block stamps, Recollections kraft paper, Sizzix flower dies, Papermania brad, Sizzix nesting square dies, Tim Holtz stencil. Card blank from my stash
Card 5 - Pebeo Modelling Paste, Alcohol ink, Heidi Swapp Stencil, Paper Smooches Handsome Stamp, Bahamian Blue Dew Drop Ink, Card blank, washi tape and star from my stash

Online Card Classes - A Cut Above: Part 2 - Day One

Hey,

So a couple of weeks ago, I finally got around to doing Day One of my Online Card Class - A Cut Above: Part 2 Electronic Die Cutting.

It was a lot of fun and I learnt some new tricks and manged to use a few cut files that I've had for a while.

The first part of the class is about using background files (my main photo). 

I had this fun background that I bought ages ago, but found it a bit much every time I tried to use it. In the OCC I learnt that keeping everything else simple (including colours) helps.

I added a red Happy - cut with my Silhouette and some mini gold glitter letters for Birthday - keeping it all very simple, but effective.

The next part required you to use a cut file supplied with the class. It teaches you how to scale and how to get these fiddly beasts off of the cutting mat!

I decided to use a spotty background and heart button to bring my cut frame alive. I like it, simple but also effective.

Layering shapes is one of my crafting staples. So I loved this part of the class and got to use the layered butterflies that I have had forever and never used!!

I switched it up a bit here and cut 2 of the butterflies in fussy papers, adding a bit more drama to the layers. The button with it's gold ribbon knot was already on my desk - perfect! I added an embossed background, a sentiment sticker and some bling.

Fun class, I am looking forward to Day Two..when I find some time..

If you haven't taken an Online Card Class yet, you really should - they are fun, easy and the best bit is that they are ALWAYS there. So you can do them at your leisure, great idea and means I don't get stressed about trying to keep up with a live class.

Cx

OCC: Stenciled..Day 2 Template Techniques...

Hi,

So I spent part of last Sunday on day 2 of my Stenciled class.

I am really happy with all 3 of my cards (I didn't do Stencil Sticker), all of the cards feel like different styles, which is pretty cool.

Main photo - Stamping and Stencils: This was a lot of fun and despite my baby wipe mishap, my card looks really good. I used a random circle stencil, a SSS spotty border stamp and a Heidi Swapp sentiment stamp. The inks are distress inks - Peacock Feathers, Festive Berries and Spiced Marmalade.
The technique was super easy, heat emboss your sentiment in white, put your stencil in place and stamp over it, then colour in the circles with your ink - as randomly (or not) as you like). Wipe ink off of embossing (enter mishap).

Watercolour within a stencil - I used a Heidi Swapp scattered hearts and dots stencil, with pearlescent watercolour paint. I watercoloured the entire 6x6 stencil and then cut it to size, choosing the best bits - as advised in class. The hearts aren't perfect, but I like that. I stamped the Stampin' Up sentiment using Red Magic ink by Versamagic.

Watercolours

My final card uses the Sketching / Tracing within a stencil technique. I am going to need more practice with this, but my card isn't too bad! I used the same circle stencil as the first card and then used distress markers to scribble the circles. All the papers and the sentiment are scraps (yay!).

Sketching

I think the first card is my total fave, but I like all of the techniques and will be trying them again.

Cx

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

Online Card Class - Stretch Your Stamps - Day 6 - Stamps with Dies..

Hi,

This is a scheduled post..as I am currently in the air..heading home to London for 2 weddings, a week of work and a whirlwind of social/family time.

So it has been a while since I touched my online card class. Things keep getting in the way.

I did however jump straight to Day 6 about 6 weeks ago, but just never got around to posting my makes..

So here is Day 6 - Stamps with Dies. For my first 2 cards I used a Hero Arts Framelits set.

The first technique is Die Cut Edge (main photo)...I am still not sure how I feel about this technique, but I do like my card.

The next technique is Glittered Die Cut..loved this technique and I love how my card looks. It was my first time using the Judikins sticky stuff...amazing product.

Glittered die cut

I am pleased that this class helped me to conquer my fear of heat embossing..I use it so much now, its pretty straightforward and really makes cards pop!

I switched sets for the next couple of cards and used a Pink Paislee set.

The next technique is Layered Die Cuts. I am pleased with my card, could have done a better job making the layers obvious.. The top layer is a watercoloured background, with white embossing over the top. I also heat embossed the sentiment onto VELLUM - see how far I have come... The background is a Prima stencil and I only re-inked my dauber once, so I would get variations in colour.

Layered Die-cuts

Layered Die-cuts close-up

I skipped Double Sided Stamped Die Cut, as it didn't really work with my sets.

The final technique is Bold Embellishments. I love how the umbrella's pop off of the Yellow background.

Bold Embellishments

I am pretty pleased with my cards, not sure if I will be doing the Die Cut Edge again..we'll see.

Cx