Earlier
today I published my video which shows how I made the Spring Pot of
Flowers card I shared here last Monday.
For the video, I changed the
contrast cardstock from Sweet Sugarplum to Perfect Plum.
I also made
another card, just before videoing, and used Tempting Turquoise.
I love
all three colour schemes.
The main difference between all three cards,
is the positioning of the flower pot image. I
felt the image in the first card, Sweet Sugarplum, was too high, so I
lowered it when I made the second card, Tempting Turquoise.
Although I
prefer the way I did the sentiment on this one, I didn't like how low the flower pot was.
For the video, I planned I would concentrate on getting the image down from the
top by half an inch for the third card. I've shared a photograph of all three cards together to help you have a
proper look and make your own decision which way you like most.
(Please note: the Circle of Spring Stamp Set is not being carried forward!)
I
had a very successful class yesterday, and I have another class today.
But before that, I have my regular chat with my elderly Mother
who lives in Australia.
Today
I feel like I'm beginning to get back to normal! Yesterday I still felt pretty rough but improved greatly as the day wore on and the antibiotics did their work!
After we had
enjoyed a quiet relaxing dinner last night, I came up to my craft room and created
today's card!
I cased it from a card I'veseen in the new catalogue but I've used totally different stamp sets.
Three of the four stamp sets I've used for this card are being carried forward - the one that isn't is Circle of Spring. Using
Basic Black Archival Ink, I started by stamping the flower pot, which
is from the Sitting Here Stamp Set, onto a piece of Whisper White
Cardstock (CS).
After I'd finished
colouring the first image I'd stamped, I painted a small Crumb Cake area around the base of the
pot to ground it - so far, so good!
Then I felt I wanted to "edge" the
main image so I painted around the image using my Soft Sky Marker Pen.
It looked OK but I didn't think it looked great! For the second attempt, I started by stamping the Whisper White
CS first, using the splatter stamp from the Touches of Texture
Stamp Set, and Sahara Sand Ink.
I stamped off three times, and this gave me the depth of colour I was
looking for, and therefore I stamped a
fourth generation image.
The amount of times you'd need to stamp off depends on how
moist your ink pad is.
I suggest you do what I did to begin with, which
is, stamp off on a scrap of paper and count how many impressions you
need to get the right depth of colour you'd like. I
painted my flowers, leaves, pot and grounding using the following
Marker Pens: Sahara Sand (pot), Crumb Cake (grounding), Old Olive, Rose
Red, Pink Pirouette and Sweet Sugarplum.
I die cut the image using the
second smallest circle Stitched Shapes Framelits Die, and layered it
onto a scalloped circle die cut with size 5 of the Layering Circle
Framelits Dies.
I adhered the two together using Tombow. I
took a strip of Whisper White CS and stamped a light Sahara Sand
background on it in the same way I did for the main image.
Then I stamped the sentiment
from the Balloon Celebration Stamp Set, using Basic Black Archival Ink.
I
took a strip of Sweet Sugarplum about the same size and fishtailed both
pieces. To
put my card together, I started with a card base of Sahara Sand CS,
with a middle layer of Whisper White CS, and a top layer of Sahara Sand CS.
Using Basic Black Archival Ink, I stamped the wreath stamp from the
Circle of Spring in a central position towards the top of the top layer.
Then I adhered the three layers together using Tombow, and thenI
adhered the main image using dimensionals.
I adhered the sentiment
strips together wusing Tombow, and then adhered them to the card front using Dimensionals.
I
added a bit if bling by adding three Rhinestones in a row along the
bottom of the Sweet Sugarplum strip. I
stamped about a quarter of the wreath stamp onto a piece of Whisper
White CS in the bottom right hand corner, and, after allowing it a few seconds to dry, I adhered it inside my card.
That's about it today. I hope you're enjoying thi wonderful Easter weekend. Until tomorrow, happy carfting.
Oh,
dear! My car had to go in for repair yesterday because I noticed my
engine management light was on, when I drove to work on Tuesday.
It would
appear a rodent has chewed through one of my electrical cables!!
I have to wait until the electrician has had a look at my car on Monday -
and hopefully repaired it - to find out how much the rodent's meal is going
to cost me!
This is a real risk for my car because it lives in the
garage and I only use it three or four times a month!
Hubby is now on a
mission to find out how we can reduce the rodent risk!
If anyone has any
suggestions, short of not leaving the car in the garage (it saves on my insurance LOL!), I'd love to
hear from you. ☺
On
a happier note, I had another successful day in my studio yesterday.
Sunday's video has been recorded and uploaded and is now waiting to be
edited.
For
today's card, I started with a card base of Crumb Cake cardstock, with a layer of
Whisper White and a top layer of Crumb Cake.
I stamped the top layer
using Sahara Sand Ink and the Hardwood Stamp.
I chose two sentiments for
my card, both of which I stamped directly onto the top layer using Soft
Suede Ink.
The top sentiment is from the Sitting Here Stamp Set and
the bottom sentiment is from the Balloon Celebration Stamp Set.
I
adhered the two layers to the card base using Tombow.
The
fox has been made from punch art with the exception of the face which
is from the Foxy Friends Stamp Set.
I stamped the face using our Basic
Black Archival Ink.
The tree trunk the fox is sitting on is also from
the Foxy Friends Stamp set and I stamped it on Whisper White Cardstock
using Soft Suede Ink and then fussy cut it out. The two colours of cardstock I used for the fox are Calypso Coral and Whisper White.
I
used the Layering Ovals Framelits Die to die cut a straight-cut oval in
Crumb Cake Cardstock and a scallop-cut oval in Whisper White.
I adhered
the two together using Tombow and then adhered the tree trunk also using
Tombow.
The final step was adhering the fox to the oval using
Dimensionals and then adhering the completed oval to the card front using
Tombow.
As
we started doing Christmas Craft Shows last year, I made a framed
picture of various Christmas owls I'd made using the Owl Builder Punch,
to use as a decoration for my stall.
People were fancinated by it and I
made up my mind to make another one during the year but non-Christmas.
It's still on my
to do list!
When Stampin' Up! brought out the new Fox Builder Punch, I
thought I'd like to make a framed picture of foxes, and other animals, made with the new punch, too.
Rather than
having that sitting on my to do list with the owls, I decided that,
whenever I make a fox or a different animal using the Fox Builder Punch, I'll make a spare one until
I've made enough for my framed picture.
So I now have my first fox ready
for my new framed picture!
That's it for today. I hope you have a great weekend and until tomorrow, happy crafting.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) have decided not to prosecute one of the guys the police had arrested and charged with the burglary from our garage on 5th December 2015. I don't know what happened to the other two!
I'm not surprised at the decision because, although the CCTV film proved he was in the vicinity which was private property, there wasn't any concrete evidence that proved he broke into our garage nor that he had any of our property!
I don't feel upset about the decision as God will be the Judge.
Yesterday evening, I was prepping for the video I'm making this morning. Following on from yesterday's blog, several of you said you'd like to see a video showing the goodies I received from the new catalogue.
Although it's a busy weekend, I'm confident I can get it edited and uploaded for Sunday morning as usual!
Not surprisingly, I chose to use another new stamp set for today's card. This one is called Vertical Greetings and is on page 109 in the new catalogue. I have wanted a stamp set with vertical greetings for a very long time, so this was on my number one wish list - yes, I have more than one wish list!
To make my card, I started with a card base in Cajun Craze Cardstock with a layer of Whisper White and then a top layer of the stripe design in Cajun Craze from the Regals Collection Designer Series Paper (DSP) Stack.
I chose the single tree stamp and used my Pear Pizzazz Marker Pen to paint the top of the tree, then Chocolate Chip to paint the trunk and Cajun Craze for the plant tub.
I huffed on it before I stamped onto a piece of Whisper White.
The leaves on the stamp are actually outlines, so I used my Pear Pizzazz Marker Pen and very carefully coloured them all in.
Using Chocolate Chip Ink, I stamped the bird from the Sitting Here Stamp Set so he was sitting on the tub.
As I said on my blog a couple of days ago, I can see some of the images from the Sitting Here Stamp Set popping up on random cards like this!
I used the Layering Oval Dies to cut out the image and then I used two larger Scalloped Ovals to die cut two Cajun Craze ovals. I thought it would add a nice detail by having a double-scalloped layer.
I tried a combination with a larger Pear Pizzazz Scallop, a smaller one, two Pear Pizzazz scallops but decided that two Cajun Craze scallops look best!
Then I went back to my three marker pens and coloured alternate letters on the Happy Birthday sentiment. I painted two sentiments and then layered both on them on slightly larger strips of Cajun Craze.
I used my Bronze Sharpie Pen and painted four Pearls and put them top and bottom of each sentiment so they look like screws holding them up!
That's about it for today. Until tomorrow, happy crafting.
This Saturday is the Festival of Flight at the London Biggin Hill Airport. Gingham Goose Craft Markets are running a new event there called the Gingham Goose Craft Village.
I'm thrilled that I have a stand there selling my cards and 3D projects. I'm offering a free gift to the first fifteen customers who spend £10 or more. If you're planning to attend the event, do pop along and say hello! ☺
Earlier this morning I posted my Sitting Here Card video. I shared my original card here last Friday and I was asked if I'd make a video.
I remade my card before I started the video so I could iron out the problem I had with the rope supports on my original card. I decided that if I ignored the rope when I made the mask i.e. cut the rope of, life would be much easier and it certainly was!
Normally, I try everything I'm planning for my video, before I actually record but I made an exception with this video. I decided I'd use Baker's Twine for the rope. This was an idea I'd muted when I wrote last Friday's blog but hadn't actually tried it out. So I was definitely on a wing and a prayer but I'm pleased to say it all worked out beautifully!
I think this stamp set is going to be very versatile because I can see the images like the cat, the bird, the dog and dog basket being added to various card designs as a little something extra. Photographs 1 to 4: I used Flirty Flamingo and Whisper White Cardstock for the card base and layers.
This is the card I used the thick Baker's Twine for the swing rope support.
I don't know what colour I used but I do know it's a retired colour! Stampin' Up! are currently offering Basic Black Solid Baker's Twine which would be a suitable alternative.
Although it isn't as thick as the one I used, I don't think it will matter as long as you have stamped the image in Basic Black, so if any of the stamped image showing through, it's going to be black on black.
As I explained in the video, I used the retired Large Oval Punch for the sentiment and the retired Scallop Oval Punch for the Flirty Flamingo layer because I haven't received my Layering Ovals Framelits Collection yet - they'll be here today! YAY!
Photograph 5: I have left the swing ropes stamped in Basic Black Archival Ink.
Photograph 6: this is the card I shared here on Friday. The colour I used for this one is Sweet Sugarplum and I also used some of the new Ruched Ribbon as well as a sentiment from the Sitting Here Stamp Set.
I hope you watch the video. Until tomorrow, happy crafting.
Ever since I first saw this stamp set, I knew what I wanted to do. I just needed the time because I knew it would be time-consuming! My idea was to make the swing and stamp trees behind it and then to use the Hardwood stamp as the background - not on the same card! LOL!
I didn't have a Post-It Note big enough so I adhered two 5" x 3" sheets together and stamped the swing. I very carefully cut around the edge of the swing. I used my Paper Snips to cut out between the back panels on the seat. The Snips really come into their own with a task like this. The tips are so sharp, it was easy to cut into the area to be removed and then to cut around the edge. It's such a big help having scissors that actually cut to the end of the tip.
It certainly took a lot of time and patience but it was well worth the effort. Now that I have the mask, I'll be able to use it several times. The only problem I had was with the rope supports. Once I had cut them out, they were very long and spindly; it was very difficult trying to work with them.
I used some non-SU removable adhesive to hold the mask in place (over the rope). I inked the Hardwood Stamp in Sahara Sand, stamped off once and then stamped onto my mask. It worked brilliantly except, when I removed the mask, quite a lot of the removable adhesive remained on the cardstock and when I tried to remove it, the ink started to smudge. Moral of the story - stick to SU products. I remedied this by cutting some thin strips of Soft Suede card stock and adhered over the stamped ropes.
For the rest of the card I stamped the cat in Basic Black Archival ink and coloured him with the Smokey Slate Marker Pen; I stamped the two cushions in Sweet Sugarplum ink; then I fussy cut the three images. I coloured the swing using Crumb Cake Marker Pen, the long cushion with Emerald Envy and the bird in Sahara Sand.
I adhered the top Whisper White layer to a piece of Sweet Sugarplum and wrapped a piece of the new Ruched Ribbon around the front and then tied another piece in a knot at the front. I stamped the sentiment from the same stamp set using Basic Black Archival Ink on Whisper White cardstock and layered it onto a piece of Sweet Sugarplum.
Going forward, I think I might ignore the rope supports and add them as pieces of cardstock, as I have done here or thick Baker's Twine. Whichever way I decide to go with this, it's a brilliant stamp set!
As suspected, it was very time consuming cutting out all the sections on the seat but at least it will last me a few goes using this as a mask before I have to consider doing it again!
That's about it for today. I hope you have a great weekend. Until tomorrow, happy crafting,
Hello, Crafters.
Although I
prefer the way I did the sentiment on this one, I didn't like how low the flower pot was. 
(Please note: the Circle of Spring Stamp Set is not being carried forward!) 
