Water droplets

A couple of week ago I was reading Shosiplatypus's blog and came across this card she had made. At first I thought she had dropped water on it but then I realised it was actually a stamp and she pointed me to Designs by Ryn, a Canadian website.  I ordered the water droplets stamp and the winter trees and they arrived in record quick time and are very good quality.  I suddenly realised yesterday that I had forgotten a friend's birthday on Monday so though crafting time is very limited these days I managed to make this card using the droplets to make a lovely background.  You can't tell from this photo unfortunately but I have also mixed a silver distress stain with broken china for the background and in real life it has a lovely gleam to it.
It's certainly worth looking at Ryn's website for something a bit different.

I pad cover

When I got my ipad I bought a magnetic cover for it.  I didn't like any of the colours available so I chose grey but I've hated how boring it looks.  I kept wondering whether it was possible to decorate it in some way but was concerned I would damage it however last weekend I finally decided to have a go.  I tried spraying glimmer mists but they wouldn't dry, just pooled on the surface so I mopped those off and instead used wooden stamps and Stewart Gill fabric paint to stamp a leaf and flower in their gorgeous Byzantia range.  But then they wouldn't dry....... Being fabric paints they are usually ironed to set them but I didn't dare try that or use a heat tool.  Gradually as the week went on they got drier but still felt tacky to the touch.  Then today I had a touch of inspiration and I brushed mica powders over the top and then polished the surface with a tissue.  It worked - it has taken away the tackiness and the powder has been polished in.  That looks so much better than the boring grey!

I had some of the paint left on my craft sheet and hate wasting any so I stamped a scrap piece of fabric and a piece of paper to use it up.  I liked the look of them so much that I then painted in all the flowers using Twinkling H2Os - love the finished pieces and will have to think of something to do with them.

The top picture is the fabric and the bottom one the paper.

Printer's tray

Recently I attended a workshop at the Stamp Attic with Hels Sheridan and we altered a Tando printer's tray. It was good fun and I especially liked Hels's technique of using lots of masks on the same piece of card, using them over the top of each other with different colours of ink. I meant to make a blue and green tray but it has come out very green but I like it anyway.
I went with my sister in law and you can click here to see her lovely version in very different colours.
Thanks to Hels and Wendy at the Stamp Attic for a good day.

Chevrons & Cathedral Windows

I've noticed that chevrons are a big trend at the moment and I'd seen Jennifer McGuire using Hero Arts chevron stripe stamp to make really attractive cards.  So I bought the stamp and played about with it to make a Thank you card.  I stamped it on different coloured card and thought I'd make a set of cards but once I started cutting apart the chevrons and rematching them to get different colour combinations I ended up with 20 Thank You cards - enough to last me quite a while I think!  Here are the photos en masse but it doesn't actually show all the colours as there are green combos in the mix as well.

Recently I saw Rosemary Merry on Create & Craft demonstrate how to make a Cathedral window patchwork card so as I love the patchwork look I had to have a go before I forgot how she did it.

I am rubbish at folding and origami techniques but, as Rosemary promised, this one is very forgiving and if the circles don't line up perfectly it doesn't matter and I was very pleased with the result.  If only I had the patience to do it in real patchwork......

Distress markers and inks

I've been overindulging in new purchases lately but in an attempt to justify them I have been having a play.  Above is a card made using distress markers.  The peach stamp is a Joanna Sheen set and I stamped it on to Silk Art card and then coloured in with the markers.  Because the card has a sheen I was able to use a watercolour brush and get a really blended look with the colouring which I loved.  I had cards to make for two upcoming birthdays and I was so pleased with the results that I made them both the same.  The label and border are cut with Spellbinder dies.

When the Fall and Winter Distress Inks were released they looked very similar colours to ones already available so I didn't buy them.  But the Spring and Summer colours are very different from existing ones and they are really bright and right up my alley!  I received the summer ones this week and the 3 ATCs shown here are made mixing the two sets and using PaperArtsy stamps.  Great fun and much more summery than the weather!

Jesters Galore

Well, I don't know quite what this is but I had fun making it.  I had the idea to mount one of these jester faces on a stick but I found I couldn't stop at one so ended up making seven and then I needed somewhere to display them.  The masks are an Elusive Images stamp and a Judikins cube stamp.  The base is 3 empty ribbon reels painted and stencilled and an empty cotton reel. Fun, but I don't know what I'll do with it now!

Apple Quilt

I've made my first quilt! Or rather mini quilt as it's approx 24 inches square.  I say approx as I have real problems getting things straight, measuring, finishing neatly etc. but despite the wonkiness it has actually come out better than I ever thought it would.  I used a Moda Chocolat fabric charm pack, and a Spellbinders die to cut the apples in my Cuttlebug - I got a very clean cut. I used bondaweb to stick the apples on and then handstitched round them, alternating stab stitch and cross stitch.  I just tied the front to the backing fabric at the intersections.  I'm pleased to have done it (especially as it's taken me months on and off) but I don't think I'll ever become a quilter!

Cockerel fabric piece

I like reading Sew Somerset magazine and admire the fabric pieces in there and the way people seem to be able to build up a pleasing design from scraps.  I've tried it a few times but have not been pleased with the results but finally this is more the look I've been going for.
I bought some DeColourant cream which removes colour from paper and fabric and last weekend I played around with it trying it on all sorts of different materials and using stamps and stencils.  The cockerel (a wooden stamp from the Indian Block Company) was stamped with DeColourant on a piece of kitchen paper that had been used to mop up left over dyes from a tie-dye session. Quite colourful!

Stitched Bowl

This is a little bowl I made using fabric scraps and a pattern from Stitch Magazine Dec 2011, a project by Helen Howes.  My sewing skills are limited so I'm quite pleased with the way this turned out.

Sari Ribbon sampler

This is a wall hanging I made using sari ribbon.  I used the embellisher to fix the ribbon strips to the background and then did some hand stitching and added some beads and a length of chain at the top. The circle is a washer covered with sari ribbon and wound with beads on silver wire. Love the bright colours of the ribbon.

Octopode and Stampotique stamps

This is my daughter's 21st birthday card - not an obvious choice for a 21st and certainly not girly or pretty but the stamps I used (Octopode on the cover and Stampotique inside) are actually her stamps and she loved the finished card!
It's a much bigger card than I usually make, I cut an A4 piece of kraft card in half and stitched the two pieces together to make a card, then added the Tim Holtz bingo card to the front to make an extra flap, I liked the extra space it gave me.

(And yes, how can I possibly have a daughter who's 21?)

Inspired by Sarah Lawrence

Last week I got a copy of Sarah Lawrence's new (and sadly last) book, 'Stitch, Cloth, Shimmer & Shine'.  As a librarian I like to start a book at the beginning and read through to the end but with this one as I flipped through the pages I was immediately inspired by so many of the pictures that I jumped right in in the middle and made this fabric postcard using the ideas in the book. I punched and embossed the metal, coloured it with promarkers and made the red beads with wire all as described in the book.  I used sprays and stencils to colour the black background and then added hand stitching. The book is wonderful and I highly recommend it.

Silhouette bouquet

Last weekend my sister in law and I went to the Craft4Crafters show at Exeter and had a nice day out and bought some bits and pieces.  When we got home we had a bit of a play and I used this Inkylicious flower stamp that my sister in law bought on a background I'd made ages ago and hadn't liked so I'd put it in my scraps drawer.  Pink and green is not a usual colour combination for me but put with this stamp I suddenly love it and am really pleased with the way this card came together.  The bee stamp was one I picked up for the bargain price of £1 at the show.
I also bought a couple of hanks of sari ribbon from Stef Francis and spent ages ironing it all to reveal the lovely colours. I have in mind to use it with my new embellisher....

Pave Sigaut

This piece started out with me printing an image onto calico.  The image is courtesy of The Graphics Fairy, a wonderful source of free images and I used Lesley Riley's TAP (transfer artist paper) to print the image and then iron on to the fabric.  I added bits of fabric, lace and trim, some flowers I'd crocheted, buttons, beads and stitching.  But then it sat half finished for a few months because it lacked a focal point and in spite of trialling several solutions nothing seemed to look right.  Then for Christmas I had a set of sewing themed stamps from Toodles and Binks which includes a button card image and after stamping that out and adding buttons I had my focal point. I mounted the fabric onto mounting board covered with scrapbook papers. I quite like it now!

Cute owls

I shall stop apologising for my poor neglected blog and just say that these are two owl birthday cards destined for young people of my acquaintance, a boy and a girl.  I had a set of chipboard owl shapes as part of a pot luck box and they look really cute covered in scrapbook papers and made into a card.
This card is more my usual style: