Hello again!

So, anyway, it's coming up to Mothering Sunday and I thought I'd better get a wiggle on and produce something lovely for my Dear Old Mum (The greeting inside just says "On Mothering Sunday", using a stamp from Hobby Art. It gets trotted out every year as Mum insists that Mother's day is an American invention, and it's the only one I can find!)

Now, I don't know about you, but the minute I decide to produce something lovely my brain shuts down, and this is where pinterest comes in. I love pinterest. I tend not to copy directly, but start sorting out the bits I like and arranging them on my craft sheet (which is currently still a jigsaw, ah well...) then -usually- I have a lightbulb moment and put my own little spin on it. I'll show you my inspiration card at the end, next to my tweak.

What caught my eye was the stamp set used, it's called Stippled Blossoms from Stampin' Up. I ve had it since my previous incarnation as a Stampin' Up thingummy, although I was probably the worst they'd ever had as I spent most of my time earnestly assuring people that they didn't have to buy anything, really!!! Well they are fabulous stamps, and stamp beautifully, but you definitely pay for the quality.

I produced a bunch of flowers - sorry, I couldn't resist - and cut them out with my trusty scissors, I used a piece of cardstock to fit a 7" x 5" card blank, and embossed a doily on it, hanging it just over the edge, cos I like it like that. Then a bit of stamping just using the solid images from the set. They gave a great layered look where they were stamped over the embossed doily, as the embossing powder resisted the ink. This was completely accidental, but I'll try and remember it for another time as I think it worked really well.

I'd used a couple of different colours for the small flowers, one more subtle than the other, and laid my card out with both. I decided to use the brighter of the two, and I'll keep the others for future use.

I stuck the cut out bits on, using a dab of glue in the centre of each flower and leaf to give a tiny bit of dimension, die cut a border, added a greeting and thought I'd finished. A couple of hours later, I decided I hadn't finished, as there is a big bare patch at the bottom left hand corner. but that was soon fixed as I had one more flower left. At this point, my husband declared me to be officially bonkers, as I was supposed to be brushing my teeth and getting into bed...

So here is the finished article, along with the original card that I spotted on pinterest. It's from a blog called runningwithscissorsleslie.blogspot.com, which I am just off to explore more thoroughly.

See you later,

Janet x

I used:

SU "Stippled Blossoms"
Penny Black "Dazzlers"
Versamark ink and WOW Silver Pearl embossing powder
Memento inks Dandelion, Lady Bug, Lulu Lavender, Grape Jelly, Pistachio and Olive Grove. The second colour on the subtle flowers was Canteloup.
Pretty Pink Posh Stitched Borders#3
the greeting is from a free set on Making Cards, stamped in Brilliance Graphite Black.
1mm foam tape under the larger flower.

Finished! For now...

So, anyway, I decided to crack on with my journal page. I didn't want to do too much more, but it did look a bit bare, and I thought that if I was a proper artist I would do more. Um.

So I did a bit of stamping (that was OK), and handwrote my journalling - and immediately decided that I didn't like it AT ALL, so time for Big Thinks. Paint over it? No, not really, I was far too likely to make it worse. So that left printing it out and sticking it on, which I wasn't keen on, either. Then the lightbulb flashed, and I remembered the Dylusions stamps that I like so much, and how they are lettered. "I can do that" I thought, so I did - I printed out the words and drew a box around them with a pen, cut them out and stuck 'em on. I left one line at the bottom in my writing, cos it looked better that way somehow. I added a bit more stamping with some TH leaf stamps  - not sure about the results, but heigh ho, and here it is :

Would I done anything differently? Well, I think I will add more texture to the page before I start painting next time, and try out the stamps on scrap before I commit them to my page, and remember to put something under the left hand side to support it before I stamp, and wait for the glue to dry when I do an image transfer before I start rubbing...and practice my handwriting!

The story behind this page relates to my grandson, Cameron. He looked out of my bedroom window one day and, in awed tones, said - "Grandma, look! there's a Dodo in the garden!!" The pheasant in question would have been very surprised to find it had been promoted, if only it had known...


I used:
Dylusions art journal, A4
Fresco finish paints
Sizzix Tim Hotz alterations die
old book page
Claudine Helmuth multi matte medium
Tim Holtz Leaf print stamps
the doily is off an Indigo Blu set
Faber castell pitt pen
some old bottle tops

See you later,

Janet x

WIP...

So, anyway, I have been meaning to take up art journaling for some time, and never had time. I've covered a lot of techniques over the years, but never really knew what I wanted to do with them - deep and meaningful stuff makes me squirm, to be honest, so it doesn't appeal at all. I think I know where I want to go with my journal now, so I took a deep breath and actually put paint to paper...

I am using a journal I got a couple of years ago from Art From The Heart in Harrogate (and have been admiring ever since) and the leaves are die cut from book pages taken from an ancient tome I got from a 50p stall in my ex-local Tesco. I stuck it down with matte gel medium and I'm using PaperArtsy fresco finish paints, which I love. 

When I had a layer of paint down, I printed out an image from the internet that suited my subject, with the intention of using it as an image transfer. This turned out to be an instance where patience is a virtue - I got over excited and started removing the copy paper before the matte medium was completely dry and ended up with bald patches. Humph.

OK, lesson learned, time to put it right - I set to work with a Faber-Castell pitt pen, and 2 hours later

I had a decent image on my page... and yes, that is a jigsaw, also a WIP.

I have used a soft pencil and a paper stump to add some shadowing to the leaf die cuts, and sanded them very lightly to make them stand out a bit more.

That's it for now,

See you later,

Janet x

thinking laterally....

So, anyway, I needed to make a card for our nephew, who's exact age I forget, but he's in his mid twenties. Probably.

Men always seem to require a bit more thought, somehow. Well, there are only so many cards you can make featuring sport, beer or technology, and I've managed to steer clear of them so far! So, what do we know about Tim? He likes sport, beer and, er, technology...damn.
This is where pinterest comes to the rescue - again - and I have a board for masculine card ideas that I dip into on these occasions, and this time I came up with this pin from stamptalkwithtosh.blogspot.co.uk:

Now, Tosha made this using a distress resist technique and several different background stamps, which she explains beautifully on her blog, and one that I could happily do, if only I had several different background stamps. Ah. So this is where lateral thinking came in.

I used patterned papers that have been sitting on a shelf for YEARS and have escaped ditching by the skin of their teeth many times, as I very rarely use patterned paper. To get a seamless join, I layered them one on top of the other - luckily they are not double sided, so it's not too bulky. The edges have been distressed, and I added some dashed lines on a couple of the segments to define them. The greeting is made from a stamped embossed 'happy', cut out and mounted on a bit of foam tape, and a die cut 'birthday'. The panel is mounted on a black card blank, and looks grungier in real life than on the photo.

The bit about Tim that I haven't mentioned is that he is Dutch, so the orange segment is a nod to that. 

And this is it :

I used:

My Minds Eye Lime Twist 12 x 12 paper stack

Dylusions Journal Block (for the wavy edge)

black cardstock

Hickory Smoke distress ink (you can see it more on the actual card)

1" distressing tool

Faber Castell SX black pen

SSS Happy Birthday die

stamp from Stampendous Happy Tile Set

Versafine Onyx Black inkpad

clear embossing powder

1mm foam tape

fine tip glue applicator

Herma tape thingy

See you later,

Janet x

New year, new challenge...

So, anyway, Seven Hills Crafts have set their January challenge, and it's a sketch. Well, I've never used a sketch to make a card before, even though I have a pinterest board full of 'em, so it was with some trepidation that I set to work. Then I stopped work, because my brain froze, mainly because I looked at the brilliant interpretations of the sketch that the DT produced!! After I had been for a nice lie down to recover a bit, I decided to employ my usual method for dealing with this situation - yep, it happens A LOT - which is to walk away and let things stew for a bit, and see what happens.
I was rescued by a birthday card. I chose a set of stamps that I fancied using, and came up with a couple of ideas that were, um, rubbish? Then the magic happened, and all of a sudden I had a card, and guess what? It fits the sketch set for the challenge - hurrah!

So here is the sketch:

And here is my card:

I think it should be ok, it just stretched a bit ...

I used:

Paper Smooches Botanicals 3, stamps and dies

Memento inkpads - Olive Grove, Dandelion, Bahama Blue and Rose Bud

SSS Handwritten Borders

Paper Artsy smoothy cardstock (brilliant stuff, BTW)

self adhesive pearls

1mm foam tape.

I used an old dressmaking tracing wheel to make a border, it's a bit faint, but shows up better in Real Life.

Off now to enter my card, good job I'm just playing for fun as there are some fabulous cards on there!

See you later,

Janet x

moving swiftly on...

So, anyway, no sooner has the dust settled on Christmas than birthday cards begin to appear. First up, is one for my buddy Mandy.

Now, I think it's fair to say that she has a serious bear fetish - well, maybe not fair as she doesn't know I'm writing about it in a blog. But she has, really. So as soon as I have completed the annual Mums' Nativity Challenge I plunge headlong into the bi-annual Mandys' Bear Challenge. This involves me frantically trying to remember what I did last year and come up with something completely different. As I am a bear of very little brain (sorry) it's not flipping easy!
Seriously, you can only buy so many bear themed rubber stamps and this is where digital images are an absolute godsend. They are cheaper to buy than rubber/clear stamps, and instantly available, so no desperately mugging the postman 'till they arrive. They're easier to store - but don't forget to back them up - and can be re-sized or flipped to suit your project. Best of all, there are hundreds of them out there, and lots of them are free.

This little guy is a Lili of the Valley design. He's been printed, coloured, fussy cut and mounted onto a square of cardstock with 1mm foam tape. This, in turn, was mounted onto the card blank with 1mm foam tape. At which point, I decided a border was required - typical - and carefully doodled a quick one with a pen.

My copic colouring is not the best, but I love doing it, and practice makes perfect.

Highlights in his eyes and on his nose have been picked up with a Sharpie paint pen, and I think he is one cool bear.

I used:

Neenah solar white cardstock from Crafters Companion for the image.

basic white cardstock

13.5cm square card blank

Memento dual ended maker from Buddly Crafts

Lili of the Valley image -  James Peeping

Copic pens from Sir Stampalot

Sharpie fine paint pen

See you later,

Janet x

And now for something completely different...

So, anyway, we have these two lovely grandsons who are bringing their parents to stay with us for Christmas. Cameron is 7, and Daniel will be 5 by the time he gets here, and we are looking forward to it more than I can say. Our son completes the party, so it will be a full house - and all the better for it.

Christmas cards have all been finished and sent for the year, so as a last hurrah I decided to make stockings for the boys. I found a pattern on about.com., designed for people to make and send a Christmas stocking to an American serviceman serving overseas. It's maybe 8" tall,but can be enlarged if you like. I decided to stay small, and it's just right for what I wanted.

So I went from this...

...to this...

...surprisingly quickly and easily! I was particularly suspicious of attaching the white cuff to the body of the stocking, but I managed to get it right first time, not always a given when me and my sewing machine get together.

Just for the sake of peace on Christmas day I made a couple of tags so we all know exactly where we stand and whose is what, so out came my trusty die cutter, and here we are ready for filling.

Happy Christmas to one and all, now I'm looking forward to the next Seven Hills crafts challenge in the New Year.

See you later,

Janet x

I used:

Red and white fleecy fabric from Cottontail Crafts, Settle

Kraft cardstock

glitter paper - fab stuff, I got it at Artworks in Nottingham

Silver cord - Artworks again

Memory Box Upper and Lower case alphabet dies