A festive touch (posted by Elaine)

Well, my turn to reveal the cards inspired by Joanne Wardle's cards in the October issue of Craft Stamper. Now these cards look deceptively simple. Anyone who has seen the way I work will know I favour my "everything but the kitchen sink approach", so this uncluttered style was bound to be a big challenge for me. All I knew for sure was that I wanted to do a Christmassy themed set of cards to make use of some of my under-used stamps.

So, I approached this project with a little trepidation. Firstly I only tried to work directly onto a card blank once and mucked it up. After that I worked on a separate piece of card until I got it right. As a result I decided to matt and layer my cards. I tried masking with post its, but didn't get a result I was happy with, so I used round and oval nesties to cut masks that I positioned with masking tape. I was much happier with the rounded shapes somehow, especially as they seemed to let me build the depth of colour to give real definition at the edge of the inked panel, while leaving a glow in the centre. Once I had inked to my satisfaction, so obsessed was I to get the position of the overstamping right I even used my stamp positioner!

This first card used Sunshine Yellow, Peach Bellini, Butterscotch and Cranberry Adirondack dye inks and Wild Honey and Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink. I used Ranger Archival Black ink to overstamp all my designs. I used the Inkadinado Cardinal stamp - a gorgeous wood mounted stamp, that I use far too rarely and the Artifacts Pine Needles unmounted plate .

My second card reflects an ambition I have had for ages to produce an inked representation of the Northern Lights. This design, doesn't do what I really hoped to acheieve as the coloured lines are too uniform and not wavy enough. Never mind! I used Pink Sherbert and Raspberry Adirondack dye inks and Tumbled Glass and Dusty Concord Distress Ink. The stamp of trees is of unknown provenance, I bought it ages ago from an E Bay seller.

Last but not least, I inked my final card using Pink Sherbert and Watermelon Adirondack dye inks and Spun Sugar and Worn Lipstick Distress Inks. I used the same mask as I had used for the cardinal stamps, so a little orange also found its way into this card. At first I nearly threw it away when I spotted this contamnation, but then I realised this added a little more warmth to the design. I used another branch from the same Artifacts Pine Needles plate as my first card, plus the flight of birds from the Tim Holtz clear Lost and Found set. I have to say this was another purchase I made after seeing the very talented Paula use this stamp to great effect. I just hope she agrees imitation is the greatest form of flattery!

I enjoyed making these cards. Thanks so much to Joanne for the inspitation. They certainly challenged me to work away from my normal style. I so wanted to stamp a Christmas sentiment in one corner, but managed to stop myself, at least until the photos had been taken.

Thanks for poppng by. Sorry we have kept you waiting around this month. Life is pretty hectic for us all right now.

Elaine x

Long Time ............. No Posts!!!!

Hi Everyone,

First of all let me offer a big apology to all you kind people who have kept checking only to be disappointed that there was nothing new to see.  Unfortunately in some ways, life has been throwing a few curved balls at my buddies and I.  I've been quite lucky in that most of my distractions have been pleasurable ones but poor Judith and Elaine have both been laid low by nasty viruses as well as being kept busy in other areas.  Hopefully, they are both on the mend now.  Anyway, I have finally managed to get round to the project that I chose for us this month.

I was very taken with Joanne Wardle's beautifully clean and uncomplicated cards on page 74 of the October issue of Craft Stamper.  I had a feeling that they were not as simple as they looked and a big part of the challenge for me personally was to keep them 'simple'.  I always find it a little difficult not to try and fill a large white space, Lol!.  Having said that, once I got into the swing of making these cards, they became quite addictive and although my challenge to my friends (and myself) was to make a set of three cards each, I'm actually posting four and I have, in fact, made a couple more for cards that I needed in a hurry.

                                  

                                         

This first example wasn't totally successful in my opinion.  I wanted to try that particular image because I like it's delicacy so much but obviously with not being a silhouette stamp the blended colours showed through where the image overlapped.  I also don't think the colour block is the right shape but I still quite like it.

As you can see I decided not to keep my blocks of colour symmetrical so that I wasn't 'copying' Joanne.  I think this Stamp n' Store image that I bought in a set of stamps from QVC when I first started stamping (and previously unused)  works particularly well with this coloured shape.

These last two cards are quite small at about 3.5" x 4" and were made from scraps.  I'm quite pleased with both of them as I think the two images work well for different reasons.  I really like the Lavinia Poppies and the Elusive Images design from the Eastern Grasses set is one of my favourites.  I think this little card has an oriental look to it.

I think these cards are so useful and can either be left as they are or just add a very simple sentiment to make a card suitable for any occasion.  I could have gone on making loads of these trying out different shapes, stamps and colour combinations.  On these particular cards I used three colours on each from a selection of  Adirondack inks in Juniper and Meadow and Distress Inks in Shabby Shutters and Crushed Olive.

Hopefully the other girls will find time to get their take on this particular project done fairly soon but I can say that I have really enjoyed playing with these and will definitely make more.

Once again, I'm sorry we kept you waiting and thanks for sticking with us.  I'm wondering what project Elaine is going to choose for us next as she has not given us any clues at all,  Hmmmmm!!!!

Hugs
Lesley  Xx

And finally 'Friends' (posted by Judith)

Well, here I am posting my wooden box project based on Isa Norris' idea in the August edition of Craft Stamper magazine. Last month was so hectic for me, I went to Barcelona, and had another two trips away. My box was painted, but unfinished for a few weeks before I could finally get around to completing it this week.

I decided very early on that I wanted a colour scheme of creams and heather colours. I used Eco-friendly Acylic paint, which comes in a variety of colours, and is very reasonably priced. I used clam shell as my cream option, adding just a bit of white. I then mixed Periwinkle, Pomegranate and White to get my heather colour. I painted the box in heather first, using the Vaseline technique on page 9 of the November Craft Stamper to get an aged effect, I then added the cream colour. I stamped the Crafty Individuals crackle stamp onto tissue paper, and added this to the frame onto some of the cream areas, using matte multi-medium by Claudine Hellmuth.

I lined my box compartments with a mixture of Crafty Individuals papers, and handmade backgrounds, in toning colours. My box is a larger option than the other girls have gone for, because I wanted to incorporate a lot of stamps into my project. I have used a photo tray, similar to a printer's tray, but about the same size. I have used lots of Crafty Individuals stamps, a few Katzelcraft stamps, and one or two by ISC. I have chosen a theme of 'Friends' to carry through the project, and Crafty Individuals have lots of lovely stamps to portray this. I have also stamped out four ladies to resemble myself and my three lovely blog friends, although whether we are that graceful, I'm not sure!

I have included lots of little bits and pieces that have been gifts from my friends. When we meet up, they come bearing little packages of craft gifts , and some of these appear in this project; the lovely cream metal butterfly, (it used to be bronze), the pearls on stems, the printed tape, which should have gone in our circle journals, but I felt it belonged on here.

I thought of my friends as I worked on this piece, and I hope that it shows in the final result.

Now, onto our next project! As I've been so tardy in posting this one, I need to let you know what our next project is going to be. Lesley has chosen Joanne Wardle's 'Sunset Silhouette' on page 74 of the October Craft Stamper magazine. Hopefully, you won't have to wait too long to see some items from the others, as I know that they have already been preparing for this challenge. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

The Sewing Box (posted by Elaine)

Well here is project three from this month's selection of a little decorated box, inspired by Isa Norris. I was really looking forward to making this project as I love working on miniature projects. I have been a bit naughty as I wanted to work with two boxes. I decided to mount the boxes onto a little wooden triptych screen that I had been itching to use for some time, so I have been working in and out of the box like Jo. 

I decided to make a project with a sewing theme when I saw a set of needlework themed stamps made by Mirkwood Designs on E Bay! It took three attempts by my OH  staying up until the early hours to successfully bid for this set from a seller in the US!  I have wanted to make a needlework themed project for ages since I saw the gorgeous Grandma's Sewing Book project by Helen Chilton in the August 2008 issue of Craft Stamper. So this project was actually inspired by two designers. 

I painted my boxes and screen various shades of mushroom, pale yellow and finally cream until I was happy with the colour. The intial idea was to cover the screen with dressmakers' pattern tissue, which I did, but the tissue didn't really go transparent to show the colour through and looked a muddy colour, so I sanded it back and repainted it again!!

I used some twill measuring tape to edge the boxes that I bought some time ago from The Stamp Connection stand at Alexandra Palace. The little boxes are lined with Life's Journey paper by K & Co. The Time's is a Dressmaker stamp on the left hand panel is from Paper Artsy, as is the squiggle I used as the stand for the dummy. Originally I planned to use the words to top the project, but they were too big, but then I got the idea to use the dummy from this card on Suzanne Czosek's blog that I was browsing on the other day. I didn't realise at the time that Suzz is a blogging pal of Lesley. Thanks for the inspiration Suzz! If you haven't visited Suzz's blog, it is full of inspiration! I got the template for the dummy on the Stampington website, reduced it to the right size on the photocopier and cut it out of Webster's Pages paper and coloured the edge with Frayed Burlap Distress Ink. I stamped the stamp onto tissue paper and stuck it on with gel medium. The large scissors on the right hand panel are from the Mirkwood plate, the needle packet and the cotton label on the top are from a pack of rub ons.

I decorated inside the compartments with cream cotton lace, various stamps from the Mirkwood set, The ruler and some of the buttons are Lost Coast stamps from Happy Daze. The little cotton reel is another purchase from the Stamp Connection, with gold coloured embroidery thread added. I also used the button and zig zag stitched design are narrow Cuttlebug folders from the Just my Type set. I added some real needles, a safety pin and some eyes.

I wanted to include a little pin cushion, so I stamped onto some calico fabric and gathered it into a little pin cushion, adding some tiny lace making pins. I added some more stamping, a little thimble that I coloured with Butterscotch alchol ink, which I used on all the slivery metal elements to make them golden coloured to match the rest of the colour scheme. I finally added some little wooden scrabble tiles and some vintage buttons that I think may have come from my grandmother's sewing box.

I really enjoyed making this project, I want to thank Isa for the original inspiration and for her generosity in sharing her skills and knowledge with us crafters and thanks to Judith for choosing this project for us to tackle.

Elaine x

My Little Feathered Friends.

Well, I have to admit I really struggled with this project.  I have come to realise that I don't do miniature very well at all and that only increases my admiration for people who can, like Isabelle Norris whose project was the inspiration for our efforts this month and Jean Hardy of Crafty Individuals whose products feature in Isa's lovely little creation.  Unlike my lovely pal Jo, I never thought to 'think outside the box' and I was so stunned by her wonderful project that I almost chickened out on posting mine.  However,  I thought our wonderful visitors deserved to see the not so good side of the coin as well as the lovely stuff so here goes.

I have had a bit of a 'bird thing' going on in several of my efforts this summer and so I based this project on 'My Little Feathered Friends' also.

 
I painted my box with StudioTraditional Tan semi gloss paint but then decided to cover it with some Precious Metal Paints.  I mixed two colours (and I can't remember what they were now, Doh!) to get the minky shade for the outside.  The inside was dabbed with a stiffish brush and another Precious Metal colour.  I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder to emboss the grass and bird onto a piece of pearl Ten Seconds Studio metal, lightly sanded it and then rubbed it with black and some deep golden yellow acrylic paint.  Finally I used a Ranger Metallic Gold Dabber on certain areas of the metal before sprinkling Gold EP and heat embossing.  This metal was then used to fill two of the sections.
  
                                                
I used a selection of images from a new Crafty Individuals set which I bought from their stand at the Artisan Show at the beginning of October, a few Elusive Images stamps and a Clarity stamp for the other two sections and the small amount of stamping on the outside of the box and after sticking these in place, I dabbed Ranger Rock Candy on the inside bottom 'ledge' of each section.  I made a little bird's nest from a button with fibre and coarse twine stuck to it and then made some little eggs from Friendly Plastic to put in the nest.  I covered a little bird (again from Crafty Individuals) with Viva Ferro (again, two colours mixed together) and then stamped into it with one of the CI folliage stamps.  I left it to dry overnight and then touched the raised surface with a little Precious Metal Paint to show up the texture more and attached it to the top edge of the box.  Finally, I added the strip of lace.

I have to be honest and say that this wasn't my favourite project to do simply because I found it so difficult working with the restrictions of such a small area but it was a very good test for me.  I'm looking forward to seeing what our other two quartet members come up with now.

Thanks as always for your visit and especially if you find time to leave a comment.

Hugs
Lesley  Xx

Echoes of summer (by Jo)

When Judith chose our project this month I knew straight away that my piece would feature trees. The tree pictures in the Crafty Individuals Nature’s Beauty book are some of my favourites and I had used winter trees in the piece I made in Jean Hardy’s class at the Graphicus retreat last month. I thought an autumn theme would be good and prepared my collection of bare trees for this box. But my mind was still on another jaunt from the end of the summer and some of you will spot that straight away. That is how my box became a little ‘cottage’. Crafty Individuals also make chipboard trees, houses and fences but these were a bit too small for what I wanted so I made my own larger tree and fence in the style of the CI ones.

I covered them in papers I received as part of my Graphicus Guild membership. These might possibly be on the latest Essence of Nature CD but I can’t be sure as I don’t have that one yet. At this point the bare tree images were cast aside as this tree is most definitely not a autumn one. I replaced the pictures with another echo of my summer - the bluebells.

 It took a very long time to choose a colour for my box. I toyed with the idea of making it lilac as there is purple in the tree. But I wanted something that looked like part of the woodland. It started out beige but I didn’t like that so I repainted it in sage green.

I dressed my cottage with some pieces of ribbon edged with tiny leaves. I bought this ribbon with Elaine in mind really and it comes in several colours. I had expected to be using the autumn coloured one but here it is in glorious summer green!

You have to look very hard to spot the stamping on my cottage. But it is there. It’s a beautiful leaf stamp from the Elusive Images Fantasy Floral plate. I have used a tiny version of the same stamp in the background of the text (computer generated) and it also ties in with the leaves on the tree.

In her original, Isabelle Norris used Cuttlebug embossing on some of her backgrounds. I love my Cuttlebug and didn’t wanted to miss the chance to use it here so I used the script folder to make a background for the bluebells and also for my roof tiles. Like Isa’s these are made with Pearl TSS metal which has been aged with Terracotta and Gold alcohol inks. The metal was too delicate (and probably too sharp) to use on its own for the roof so each piece is backed with corrugated card which I left exposed at the edges as I think it makes it look more rustic. The eaves are made with bronze pearl card cut with a Fiskars embossing border punch (Punched Lace, I think). I was worried that with all the extra weight of the roof, the cottage wouldn’t stand up on its own as I’d originally intended so I was delighted it still works as a free-standing piece.

The fence was made in two pieces. I coloured it with Antique Linen DI and overstamped with the CI crackle stamp (CI – 116) in Vintage Photo DI. I couldn’t resist adding a butterfly. This is another CI image from the Nature’s Beauty Book. I deliberately chose one with quite neutral colours. The punched fern leaves at the base of the fence came about just because I thought they helped make the words look more at home on the fence.

The summer was not at all sad for me this year but I felt compelled to include the word as that is how I feel looking back at the summer in autumn time. I have come to a point in my crafting where the things I make evoke memories of places, people or events. I have high hopes of getting some journalling off the ground but in the meantime, this cottage on my mantelpiece will hold my memories of summer places.

Onto our next Project (written by Judith)

The Summer is coming to an end, and the Autumn is starting to make its presence felt with the reds and browns appearing on the trees. We get a spell of lovely warm weather, and then the blustery winds appear, making us want to wrap up inside, and keep warm. This is ideal crafting weather, don't you think?
We have had a very busy few weeks, what with holidays, and other commitments, and although we have still managed to fit some crafting time in here and there, we have not been able to keep up with our deadlines on here unfortunately. Our next project is from August's Craft Stamper magazine, based on Isabelle Norris' project 'Seaside Memories' on page 26. This was my choice, as I love the idea of combining stamping, pictures and pieces of memorabilia all in one piece. Isabelle's design is lovely in washed blues, but where we all head? Who knows, with our track record! Will we stay small, or go large? You will have to wait and see. Some of us are well on the way with these projects, and some of us are not so well advanced... hopefully, we'll show you some sneak peeks as per usual, and keep you posted with our progress.
We'll be skipping past September's Craft Stamper magazine in an attempt to get caught up, and next month, we'll choose from October's projects, to bring ourselves back up to date.
Keep popping back for those little snippets, and we'll see you soon, Judith xx