It's a Creative World

Hama time! ( You CAN touch this!)

Hi guys! Laura here! Like many crafters -I'm a mum. Many is the time I'll read a post on forums about our pesky kids nicking our stash. Well I think we should fight back-and steal theirs!!! I will confess I've done this for a few years. My favourite, as the title suggest, is Hama beads. their are FAB! As you can see in the phot, I've used them for a valentine, but they are ideal to make up for scrapbook pages. Even better if your little stash provider has made the embellishment for you!( I still have a goldfish waiting to grace a page!)

Another great one to use is blopens. If you are not familiar with them , they are pens you blow through the top which then creates a mist ( very similar in look to typical scrapbook sprays but a lot more budget friendly)

This is a very old layout using them. ( Told you I'd been raiding the kids crafts for years!)

So maybe you could help tidy the kids rooms today *winks* You may find some hama's, blo pens, aqua beads, zubber just crying out for your creative touch! One final thought though - I am not a archival safe kinda gal- so just be careful with your photographic treasures (unlike me!) Bye xxx

Rubbish!!! Of course it's not

Hi Dolly here

I am terrible about keeping everything as a possible souvenir. Paper bags, napkins, leaflets, brochures, you name it I keep it. But in my defence I do use some of the things.

I wouldn’t mind betting some of you are like me and keep seemingly useless stuff which is actually very useful to scrappers.

This page is an example of how one of those little bags came in really useful.

It was just a simple paper bag but it had the name of the place we visited and a log and it made the perfect title.

The bag wasn’t acid free, but actually that didn’t really matter as it is mounted on two layers of acid free paper and card so it is not in contact with the photos. (Having said that I am not a purist anyway, though I know I should be)

I cut the logo out with a spellbinder die and then used other dies to make the mats. They were also run through a dotty embossing folder , as were the flowers.

I have two other examples from the same folder. The label from the wine we tasted acts as the title for the page about the vineyard we visited.

 

The brochure from Warner Brothers cut up beautifully and acted as the title and also had the bugs bunny cart which made a cute addition to the page.

 

So, my advice, which is not so much for you but for the family members who despair as you secrete yet another piece of seemingly useless paper away whilst on a trip somewhere, keep it all. You never know it just might come in handy when you finally scrap that visit.

Easy Gilding

Have you heard of Flitter-glu?

My friend Lisa bought some at the NEC last November and showed me how to use it.

I absolutely LOVE the stuff, it takes your stamping to another dimension, particularly if you're like me and love glitter and sparkle.

Basically you ink your stamp with the Flitter-glu using a piece of cut and dry foam.

You then put your gilding flakes on to the image, press gently and leave for a few seconds before rubbing them off with a sponge.

A close up of the card

You can also use the Flitter-glu for glitter.

Here's the same heart stamp with red glitter.

The possibilities are endless.

Flitter-glu is made by Indigo Blu and they also make wonderful stamps and sell great blends of gilding flakes with great names like Yorkshire Dales and Brighton Pier.

 

Happy stamping Lynne x

Sticky Fingers!!!

Tonight I've been creating a little 7x5" canvas!

I gave myself the tight schedule because I didn't want to give myself the chance to over think things too much! See I do tend to do that sometimes and it's one of those things that gets in the way of just 'making' something!

So here's what I made:

I started by chossing small pieces of scrap papers and gluing them, overlapping one another onto the canvas using a wet glue.

Once the papers were dried I used a dry brush and a tiny amount of white paint to brush all over the canvas- this gave the differnt papers a softer look and helped them to lend into one another.

I decided to stick to a very limited palette so I didn't coloyur in any of my stamped images- this saved time too- less time for thinking and worrying if it's right, more time for sticking!!

I stamped my images onto white cardstock and when dry daubed Aged Lined Distress ink or Stain onto them to make them sepia in colour.

I stamped my cowgirl onto a Tim Holtz ticket for a different effect and I also stamped onto lined paper for another effect. i then placed the stamped imaged onto the canvas , overlapping some or tucking them behind other elements for a 'thrown' togetehr look.

I had a go at creating my own charms by stamping with Staz-On onto clear shrink plastic. Again I didn't do any colouring in! I punched a hole in the charms before I shrunk them- then hung them on a pin on the canvas.

So there you go my canvas in a hurry!

I wanted to go against my usual methods of using stamps by not colouring them (scary!) and I wanted to create a canvas without stressing, so I found this do it and stick it method great for me!

Hope you enjoyed my project!
Happy crafting!
GlitteryKatie xxXxx

Back to basics!

A friend of mine is new to papercrafting and asked if I could show her how I make backgrounds for cards and my mixed media work. I think it is easy to forget that these techniques, that we learned so long ago, are a mystery to those new to craft so I thought I'd show you what I showed her! I have used Distress Inks for these ideas because they are so versatile but you could use your favourtie inks!

Firstly I stamped a large background stamp with Peeled Paint and simply stamped it on white card. The second image is the same stamp, stamped with clear embossing ink and then clear emobssed. I then blended the ink over the top - it creates a positive and negative image!

Of course you can use more than one colour and so the next two photos show the same techniques but using two inks (Victorian Velvet and Dusty Concord)

A really useful property of Distress Inks is the way they react to water. I often sprizt my bacgrounds with water as it creates a 'faux bleaching' effect. This cpiece of card was covered in Peeled Paint Distress Ink and I covered the left hand side and sprizted the right hand side. Once I was happy with the result I dried it with my heat gun (you can dab it with a cloth too).

My final suggestion for backgrounds today is to ink the inside of a Texture Fade (embossing folder). Ink the side that will be the front of your project and when you emboss it you will see that the ink appears to 'magically' be behind the embossed image which will remain the colour of your cardstock. There are more clever things to do with this technique but as a basic one it is pretty cool!

So, what do I make using these techniques? I have made a little ATC hanging. I embossed a wing onto a piece of white card using Iced Spruce Distress Ink on the folder. I then spritzed it with water and heat dried. I very roughly clear embossed the whole piece, tapping off much of the powder (I didn't want a good coverage) and then rubbed Vintage Photo Distress Ink over the top after I had heated it. I then clear embossed the whole piece again with a much better coverage.

Then I rubbed Black Soot Distress Ink over the top. The ink settles in the pits that the embossing leaves and gives it a vintage feel. I distressed the edges, adhered the card to a piece of greyboard and inked all edges in Black Soot. I stamped the word 'fly' (a Wendy Vecchi stamp, as was the background stamp I used above) on a piece of card and gave it the same treatment as above. I popped an ornate plate and a Hitch Fastener on the ATC. 

This turned out to be a really long post, sorry about that! I hope that you stayed with me to the end! If you have any qustions, please ask, or if you would like more ideas for backgrounds let me know - I have lots of ideas! Have a superb day.

Gabrielle x

 

Where do I find inspiration

When your brain goes blank and you stare at your craft supplies and don't know what to make where can you go for inspiration?

The library is always a good starting point. Spend some time sifting through all the creative books and sometimes all it will take is a glance at a picture to set you off on your creative journey. But, if you don't want to take off your fluffy slippers and brace the cold weather...

The internet is wonderful. There are so many creative blogs and sites ready to spark an idea in your brain. One such site that is wonderful for inspiration is Pinterest. If you haven't come across Pinterest yet, you are in for a treat. It is like a virtual noticeboard full of visual treats. You will need an invite to become a member, so find a friend to invite you...and if you can't find someone you know who has Pinterest, leave a comment here for me and I'll get in touch with you and invite you. 

Here is a glance at a corner of my Pinterest board...

What I find is that if I follow a link to an image that catches my eye, then I end up discovering lots of lovely blogs and lots more wonderful inspiration. In fact, I can waste rather too much time there if I am not too careful. But after spending a while browsing the internet, I feel ready to have a fresh look at the projects waiting on my desk.

If you have the crafting blues and don't kow what to do then grab a cuppa and browse Pinterest for a while.

Have fun

Doda x

 

Altered Tea light Cage

I am missing my regular car boot sale fix so I decided to alter a little candle holder I found last summer for 50p in the shape of a little bird cage.

I

I was going to use a vintage image, but then decided to use a photograph of my daughter taken when she was three years old.

I took out the background using photo shop and then put the image into word. I changed the image into black and white and then played around with the contrast and brightness in word. Once I was happy with the image in word, I cut and pasted the image and then flipped it so they are the same front and back. The wings were found clip art, stuck in between the two images. I coloured the photo in with pro markers.

I didn't like the colour of the tea light holder so I painted it with grey acrylic, and then highlighted some of the flowers with gold paint.

The ribbon roses around the edge hide the tea light holder and so does the punched paper border.

I finished the cage off with some flowers and a stamped fairyland park ticket (think it was a freebie in craft stamper a while ago).

Hope this might inspire you to do some altering yourself.

Debbie xx

Staring at my papers !

Last week I went to Twilight evening Crop in Olveston,Bristol. It is a smallish crop on a Wednesday evening once a month & there is a more popular crop there again once a month on a Saturday too.

 I got a box of things ready to take but just stared at them all evening ! I didn't do a thing apart from chat & laugh with all the other crafty ladies. Any way I got the same box out this evening & created the Layout above. I loved the effect I got from sticking Tim Holtz Tissue tape to the Kraft background, it was just like I've stamped onto the patterned cardstock (see below)

So the moral of the story is if you can't think what to do put it away & get it out another time :)

Hope you like xxx Jayne xxx

An Art Journal Journey...

Hi everyone - Happy Wednesday!

For those of you who haven't seen my blog yet, I'm hosting a 6month 'course' of techniques and ideas on art journal, over on UKS.

Today I thought I would share the first page I had created following my own instructions - eek!

It's based on colour theory and preconceptions, just my interpretation, and was finished inside an hour; I promise anyone can do this - why not give it a go?  I used acrylic paint, gold promarker, and a black fineliner because my posca hasn't arrived yet, on acrylic paper.  The lovely lady is from the Sunday Times magazine :)

Pick a colour scheme, base your page on it, and link to it in the comments so I can pop over and thank you for joining in :D

Have fun expressing yourself!

Leanne x

Bling it up!

Today I decided to share with you something I have been playing with. 

I am sure you've all seen these fabby new Tim Holtz Idea-ology District Market.  Very yummy indeed. There are four different styles available so I decided to "bling" mine up a bit so I instantly know it is mine especially when out with crafting buddy's. 

So first I found these fabulous Blooms in the sale at Dotty P's (Dorothy Perkins).  It is not normally a shop I pop in, but at this time of year during the sales I like to check out the jewelry/hair items to see if there are any bargains that I can either break down or use in crafting.  I wasn't disappointed this year picking up these beauties for next to nothing, my only disappointment was that I couldn't buy more, LOL.

I then set to work with some chain and charms to create a handbag charm to go with my lovely huge flower.  You can hopefully see it better below;

I have attached a homemade angel, sissors (how could we live without them?) and a singer sewing machine.  Then I made some little circle charms adding craft paper with numbers on in the centre, sealing with Glossy accents to go with the number theme of the bag. 

Bag tweaking complete....although having said that I love the numbers so much I think I might add some more slow time.  I hope you can get an idea with this photo unfortunately at this time of year the lighting is not great.

Finally before I go I thought I'd share a card I made last year for my eldest boy.  I saw this digi image at Funky kits called "Nathan" which is also his name....how spooky is that?  Even spookier is that it looks just like him when he was small.

I have used papers by Basic Grey craft 6" pad.  Martha Stewart punch Scalloped dots and SU tag punch and matching stamp set.  Twine, pearls and charms from stash plus I've distressed using Tea dye Distress ink pad.

I love this image and it is so him at three except the teddy would have been a dog or a dinosaur.

That is all from me again today.  I hope you have all had a good start to 2012.

May your year be full of crafting fun! 

On a final note I have some candy up for grabs this week.

Erika.  x