Christmas Cards 2019: Translucent Paste Dots...

Hey,

Well it is almost Christmas, my cards left a long time ago and have been slowly landing with their new owners!

Today's cards are accidentally gorgeous!!

I had stamped and masked off the frame with the banner and added the stenciled dots. Then I coloured and fussy cut the cat and dog to sit in each frame.

I decided that it all looked a bit bland and flat...

Cue the translucent paste. I put the frame/banner mask back down and the stencil and applied the paste through the stencil. I was worried that I was going to smudge the dots, but it was fine and once the paste dried, the dots ended up with this amazing shine. Yay!

Now I feel like a genius, even though it was a random idea and I was crapping myself a bit as I did it, worried I might ruin my perfectly fine card because I was a brat!

Oh and the wonderful set is 'Seasons Greetings' by Lil Inker Designs and the stencil is by Clearly Besotted.

Cx

Cheiron ROCKS!!

Hey,

So this year I have made a great friend in the awesome Cheiron.

Not only is she an amazing teacher, but she is a totally fun and awesome person.

She has shown such kindness towards me and it's so nice to be friends with her. Case in point, just before I left for London she sent me a big package of pens / pencils for me, my ma and JT.

How nice is that!

Cheiron has a very cheeky personality. So when I was making a birthday card for her (in October...) I saw this Funny Bones stamp in my stash and it felt like something she is totally going to do when she is old!

I used distress stains, stencils and translucent paste because these are all the things that Cheiron has helped me to use better.

Both Cheiron and her friend Jenn (also a fabulous teacher and my friend too) are both advocates of using things better - not right..there is no right, as its all so personal. I needed to hear that :)

We are heading back to London from Lisbon tonight..no doubt hungover as hell!

Cx

Inky, painty tag making fun...

Hey,

Hope you are all well.

It's been such a busy week already.

Hubby and I spend the weekend just outside Philly to visit some good friends that have just moved there from the UK - it was a surprise for him, as he didn't know where we were going.

I also did another card class at The Inkpad on Friday - with Cheiron as our teacher, she is so awesome! It was also great to connect with a few people I had met before (Lisette you know I am talking about you!)

We managed to make a whopping ten tags!! Using all different Ranger items and techniques. We used stains, paints, inks, markers, sprays, stencils, stamps and pastes.

The main photo shows two of the ten tags - on the left it is a new technique for me, ink up the stencil, spritz with water and then flip it onto your tag - eek! It works and is stunning. The one on the right is a translucent paste resist which I have done before.

Here photos of the rest of my tags..

These tags, all used Distress Paint Marbling - I've done this before and its fun, put the colours onto your craft sheet, spritz and then smoosh your tag through the colours..awesome and easy and look at the varied results.

These were fun and new to me - aging a piece of metallic card stock, clever. The green tag was made using sprays, blending them and using different colours to create an aged look.

These 3 are so colourful. The first one uses texture paste thru a stencil with spray inks over the top - cool and easy. The second tag, used a spray ink for the background and then stains for the edges and the stamping..stamping with stains BLEW MY MIND. The third one uses white distress paint thru a stencil, which when dry, resists the ink, see the letters showing thru?! Amazing.. This is also where Cheiron taught me how to actually blend...so easy, but I need practice.

Final tags!! I love the second one way more than the first one, but that is because I didn't listen... The second one uses rub-ons and then the smooshing technique to add colour. The lady is stamped on after. LOVE this, need more rub-ons now, normally I dislike them.

Fun times. I love doing classes at the Inkpad. If you are based in NYC you have to do a class there. You should also check out Cheiron's blog, she is so super talented.

Cx