This blog is a record of my creative journey. I love to share my passion for paper crafting so I design projects and then create tutorials and workshops to show you how to make them. Please feel free to wander around to check out all the things I share both here, in my ETSY shop and over on my You Tube channel. Thank you for popping by!
Just popping in to let you know I am featuring as a Guest Designer on the Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft® blog today with a brand new tutorial! Here is the sneak peek!
Before you go I would like to take this time to thank you for your support and kind comments throughout 2015 and wish you all a Healthy and Happy New Year with lots of time to Craft in 2016!
Just popping in to say hello and to post the new dates for my card classes for 2016. If you are in the area and want to come along just email me (address on my right hand side bar) and I will book you a seat. We always have lots of fun exploring lots of different techniques and card styles.
If you like me are still making Christmas Cards and looking for ideas then here are some Christmas Card tutorial that might help! First up a lovely shaker card full of snow!
This one is easy peasy and looks so elegant…..
I loved this snowy scene created with my Rubber Dance Stamps.
This is so luxurious with gold foiling or embossing and then lots of layers.
Just a little sneak peek of what I am sharing on the Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft Blog today! Pop back tomorrow if you want to see the Flood the Streets with Art Post that is related to the creation of this project.
I had a ton of fun mixing and matching my products to achieve this Chrismassy home decor piece that I know I am going to love hanging at this time of year! Now where can I hang it to be sure of maximum Kisses? ;-)
It is that time of year when we all want fabulous handmade Christmas Cards that you can make in minutes! I hope you enjoy this tutorial which features a lovely SnowGlobe stamp from IndigoBlu. This beautiful stamp needed little adornment which makes it perfect for cards in a hurry.
I think you will agree all that the gold embossing gives a simple card a luxurious feel. I made the inside match the outside with the addition of a Circle Merry Christmas stamp….
I hope you enjoy the tutorial and as you can see from this photo this card is nice and flat so perfect for keeping the costs of posting down too. I think I am going to make these in different colour ways…..Pink, cream and gold could be nice….what do you think?…..
I am featuring on the Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft Blog twice this month so watch this space for more Christmassy makes! I love this time of year….Ho, Ho, Ho!
Just popping in to give you a sneak peek of my first post as a Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft® Guest Design Team Member. I had such fun with this one and there are two videos included!
As you know I am already a lover of my PITT® Big Brush Artist Pens so it was lovely to mix and match them with even more lovely Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft ® products that were new to me. In the first video you can see how you can work with them on a fabric panel and then on the second how to turn that into a gorgeous project for the holiday season.
I am already working on my next project in between looking after Callum who has had his knee operation and is in a full leg splint. My fitness levels are improving as I 'frequently' travel up and down stairs to help him! He is recovering well and is looking forward to getting on with the physio so he can get more mobile.
As well as lots of UFOs on my desk (UnFinished Objects) I also have amassed some on my computer. Videos I have filmed but have yet to edit. It seems about time I set to and got some of them posted.
Here is the first one! I loved this technique and I know that it has a lot more ways in which I could used it but for now I wanted to share this tutorial for a lovely way to highlight your stamped images when you print them on to book pages.
In the tutorial I show you exactly how it is done and you can use this technique with any of the stamps you have in your collection. Don't forget to make the inside of the card look as fabulous as the front!
Cutting Guide:
Brown Card Base - 8" x 10 1/2" scored at 5 1/4"
Book Page Front - 3 1/2" x 6 1/4"
2 x Green Cards - 4" x 6 3/4"
Book Page Strip Top - 3 1/2" x 1 1/4"
Book Page Strip Bottom - 3 1/2" x 1 1/2"
I just realised I forgot to let you know that I had some very good news recently! Sometimes my social media outlets get the better of me LOL! I have been selected to be part of the Guest Design Team for the Fall/Winter season for Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft ®. I am super excited and can't wait to share my first project with you over on their blog on the 24th November. I will give you a sneak peek here to remind you to pop over on the day! Thank you to everyone for their kind comments over on my Facebook page. It is so lovely to have your support and I really do appreciate it.
Here is the tutorial I promised to deliver!!! Hope you like it.
See you again soon - off to find another UFO!!! Thank you for popping by X
Is more spookiness a word? I have another video tutorial for you today and this time I show you how to create a ghoulish scene inside a Tim Holtz Assemblage Clock!
I do love these clocks and I have been meaning to do this one for some time. I managed to break the glass of the first clock I bought when I was making the Christmas Clock (see below) I made a couple of years ago. I kept it as I knew I could still use it but I had to use a new one for the Christmas version. Today, as you can see, I have finally used it!!!
So if you want to turn a clock to stone - make mini grave stones, make glittery blood trails or glue cobwebs then this is the tutorial for you!
I hope to get at least one more halloween project up before the witching hour is upon us but we will see….I seem to need all my time management skills lately :-)
Here is the link to the Christmas Clock if you like creating worlds in miniature then these clocks are the perfect frame for them. Just let your imagination take over and make it small!
Have fun creating in miniature. Thank you for popping by x
I have been a little absent from my Videos and Blog recently. Summer holidays which was a well deserved break after the stress of a teen taking exams!
I have also been busy on a secret project which you will hear all about in November!!!
I am behind with my 12 Tags so I am going to make an effort to get that sorted in November - I don't think there have been many months where I was not down to the wire posting. I am still loving making and sharing my tags but they have taken a bit of a back seat this year.
Do you remember this little cutie! It has my Mummies eyes LOL! This was such a fun make and was one of the first video tutorial that I ever made - it will make you giggle!
Today I am sharing the first of a couple of Halloween projects and I am going to show you how to turn glass to stone for this skull potion bottle.
This is quite easy to do. Just take an unusual shaped bottle and a little tissue and glue and a lot of imagination! I really hope you like this tutorial if you are looking for a Halloween project that you give it a go.
Wishing you lots of spooky creativity this week! I will be back very soon with another ghostly offering! Thank you for popping by x
A little later than planned but as promised here is the finished upcycled set of drawers which are now being used in Callum's Room! I am really happy with how they turned out and now I have got the bug!
This project was a really large use of my mixed media and scrapbooking skills! I smudged white paint into the corners and edges of the piece to highlight them and to add to the old dusty chalkboard look - a similar technique to inking the edges of our layouts or cards.
I cut the stencils for my words with my Cricket from vinyl and it worked a treat. Mixed and matched the fonts and sizes of fonts to achieve this look that we have seen on many a background stamp. They are all words associated with our New York Holiday so this has turned into a real memory piece.
I thought at first I would get new drawer knobs but a little scrub of the original handles and the silver circles came off and the colour matched the off white chalk paint beautifully.
I have been on to ebay already and have a cute Lloyd loom style chair, a bedside table and another dressing table waiting for me to get creative!
One more thing before I go off to cook tea…..
I think Comet is pretending to be a cat! He looks so cute all cuddled up!
Until next time have fun crafting and thank you for popping by X
Hope you all had a wonderful summer. You may already know that I went with my family to Florida and had a fab time. The weather was scorching but I must confess to wearing a cardigan in any restaurant we went too!!! Boy the air-conditioning is turned up to the max!
Once I get my photos off my iPad I will share some with you but 'till then back to the crafting with a vengeance. I have just finished prepping for my Monthly card class tomorrow. If anyone lives in the Derby Nottingham area and wants to join us just email me and let me know. We meet once a month at Elvaston Village hall and have a fab time getting inky!
This week I finally got round to a bit of up cycling! You may remember that I revamped Callum's room now he is grown! He wanted a New York vibe and although we got the major jobs done as often happens things stalled a little (money and time!!!) Here is where we got too:
I bought an old Lebus Dressing table intending to up cycle it into a TV and game consul stand but it has been naked for a while!
I took the mirror off and the handles and I am ready to paint. I am going for a chalkboard look and of course I am using Annie Sloan Graphite chalk paint. I was thrilled not to have to sand. I just gave the piece a quick wipe down and then on with the paint.
I put on two coats of the graphite. It was very quick drying so it is easy to get two coats on in a day. I loved how quickly it covered the wood. The paint is very thick so if you want a smoother finish I would opt to water it down a little and perhaps use a roller to apply. I am going for a distressed finish so I don't mind the brush strokes at all.
Now you can see the chalkboard look coming together. I used a tester pot of Old White to add the chalky edges. I used a combination of my finger and a piece of sponge to brush the white on to the edges of the piece. I smudged things out with a wet wipe if I was a bit heavy handed. Be careful though as this is a water based paint and if you are not careful you can wipe all the paint off! I think it looks like it has been made of old chalk board pieces - what do you think?
I haven't decided what colour to paint the legs yet. The next job is the drawers. I am going to use words that remind us of the lovely holiday we had in New York 2009/2010. So I am getting out the Cricut to cut stencils from vinyl. I want to use lots of different fonts so my Cricut cartridges are going to get a work out.
I will post more pictures as the project progresses. It is my card class and crop weekend so I will probably get back to this on Sunday.
This has definitely given me the urge to do more up cycling so I am keeping an eye on ebay for more potential pieces to cover in paint.
Wishing you all a fab weekend. Welcome to all my new subscribers. Hope you have fun exploring all the many projects on my blog. Don't forget to pop along and subscribe to my You Tube Channel too X
Just a quick sticky note to let you know if you want to buy any of the workshops featured on the right hand sidebar please DO NOT buy them using the Paypal buttons on my blog.
Instead please click on the link below and visit my ETSY shop to make your purchase and you will get the workshops automatically once Paypal confirms payment.
Using the blog method relies on me sending the files and I will be here and there in August! Normal service will be resumed in September.
Actually buying from my ETSY shop is always the quickest way to receive your workshop files!
Hope you are having a fabulous summer. I am catching up with one of my tags today! This is my long overdue June tag.
I love the technique Tim showed us using a stripes stencil to create a tartan background. I use paint to create mine. Then I had an idea to combine a quote with a cute and very arty bird house.
As usual I made my smaller sampler piece. Can you believe we are now two thirds of the way through the year?! Time flies when you are making art - and that give me an idea for another tag!
I was hoping to catch up with my July tag too this month - might be able to squeeze it in before Tim publishes his September tag!!!
I hope you enjoy watching this video which sees me make the creative journey from Tim's inspiration to my interpretation.
Hope you summer is filled with fun and sunshine. Thank you for popping by x
Here is my August tag and it is EARLY! Yay me………don't mention the two I have missed ;-)
I had great fun creating this magical madness and I know the colours are a long way from Tim's original inspiration but if you watch the video you will be able to see the techniques and some of the elements are there in my tag too!
Tim used one of his found relatives on his tag and I used this found photo of me aged 18 and off to the ball - well now I am about to fly off on my new glittery wings! Definitely a fun and vibrant tag from me this month. I was hoping the hot colours might warm up the dull summer we are having here in the UK today.
As usual there is a video to show you how I got from Tim's inspiration to my interpretation and I hope you enjoy the journey! See what I did there???! ;-)
I have also managed to catch up with one of my missed tags so I will post that video later on in the month. I am going to be a bit quiet on the social media front this month as this is the holiday season but I will be back in September with a new and exciting project! What a teaser I am hee hee!
Today I am sharing the tutorial I made for the #lovesummerart collaboration. Until a couple of days ago I didn't know anything about this but thanks to Theresa one of my lovely YouTube subscribers I met a group of creative YouTubers who had got together to bring even more arts and crafts to the wonderful world that is YouTube.
Cinnamon Cooney aka TheArtSherpa and her friends started this movement and it is set to happen on a regular basis. This month the theme was summer and we were given a posting window of 17 - 20 July which I think I am going to make!!! I thought I was going to be late but I was running a day ahead of myself ;-) Usually it is a day late!!!
So if you want to explore this first offering of videos the all you need to do (after you have watched mine of course!!!) is put #lovesummerart in your search engine (google) and you should see a whole host of arty videos appear then off you go. There are offerings from all kinds of artists and YouTubers from newbies to the more established channels. Don't forget if you find people you think are inspiring then press the subscribe button, like button and share button to support them in their efforts.
So enough of the preamble what am I bringing you today? Summer says beach to me, not that we are having very beachy weather where I live!….and beach brings to mind pretty beach huts all in a row!
In the tutorial you will find out how to turn boxes (mine are the insides of Tim Holtz shadow boxes) into cute little beach huts…..but there is more. Behind the doors are secret mini albums where you can keep photos of those treasured holidays or days out on the beach…….and of course there is plenty of room to display the beach combing treasures you found there.
Once you can make these it won't be long before you can convert larger boxes to go with you little beach huts!
Hope you agree this is a fun way to keep those treasured memories safe. Enjoy the tutorial and enjoy exploring #lovesummerart.
I have a new video for you today. This is all about experimentation. You may remember I started and experimental art journal and I am having fun trying new things in it. This time I decided to try dripping!!
I must admit I am a little uncomfortable with anything that is a bit out of control and drippage certainly is that but the fun was seeing how the page took shape in such a random fashion.
Here is how it turned out.
I even came up with my own quote! Green is my favourite colour so I loved working with it to create this page with a touch of bling.
Watch how my page took shape on my video tutorial. I hope you find some inspiration within.
During this video you will hear me mention a new feature available to You Tube Video makers called 'Cards'. Today I tried them out for the first time. I think they have worked and I checked them out on my iPad and the links work too! I had no idea that all this time the annotations I have been carefully putting at the end of all my videos didn't work on mobile devices!!!!!!
You should see towards the end of the video little messages appear at the top right of the screen along with a letter i. If you click in this area it will bring up a series of 'cards' These cards will give you links to other places you might like to visit or to other videos or playlists you might like to watch. I hoped there would be a subscribe one but I need to go and look for it again - it might appear later if I find it.
Clicking on any of the cards you see will open up a drop down list of all the cards on the video which will take you to different places. If you haven't seen these before either it is worth having quick explore and to know that whenever you watch a video and you see a little message appears top right of your viewing screen that it is an interactive element that has been added for your enjoyment or further interest.
…….last but not least I am sharing a photo I took a couple of weeks ago when my Irises were looking blooming' marvellous!
Nature is the greatest painter of all don't you think? I was really impressed by the quality of this photo (if I do say so myself ;-)) as I took it on my phone!!
Don't forget to hit subscribe if you like what you see and are new around these parts! Welcome and thank you for popping by X
You now have proof I am not 'dull' over on the Rubber Dance blog where I am featuring today with a brand new tutorial and a brand new set of stamps from the lovely Bibi.
Hope you are enjoying the sunshine wherever you are in the Crafting World today! I am just posting this before I pop out into the garden to finish off jet washing the patio. I end up looking like the mud monster when I have finished!
Today's tutorial is for a pretty gatefold card using the Rubber Dance Antique Botanicals stamp set. I love how they look against the book page background papers I decided to use. As usual the inside matches the outside which is particularly important in a gatefold card as you can see the inside of the card when it is displayed.
The Happy Birthday die cut is from Tattered Lace. It is a recent purchase and I thought I had lost it! I spent an age rifling through the debris on my desk and in my bins only to realise the die was safely stored on the magnetic sheets on the back of my craft room door where it is supposed to be!! ;-) I know you know the feeling right???
The card dimensions for this card:
Burgundy Card Base - 11 1/2" x 5 3/4" scored and folded on the left and right sides at 2 7/8" to form a gatefold card.
Cream Card Inner - 5 1/2" square
Book page strips Inner - 5 1/2" x 3/4" (Cut 2)
Book page panels Front - 5 1/2" x 2 5/8" (Cut 2)
Here is the finished card. I have used water colour pencils to lightly add colour to my flowers using a slightly heavier hand for the decoupaged flower in the centre.
Today I am sharing how I made my project for the June Rubber Dance Colour Challenge. The colours definitely pointed me in the beach direction which is perfect the optional theme for this challenge is sand and sea and as you can see and I had great fun turning a frame into a frame with a difference. I hope you like it.
The colours for this months challenge are Ocean Blue, Lush Green and Sunny Yellow. I used stamps from the Retro Beach collection to turn my frame into a unique way to display some beach photographs of my son Callum trying out surfing last year in Cornwall!
You can see in this close up that as well as using the pegs to display photographs on my frame I have also layered those beautiful shell images so I can tuck little photos in behind them too! This was my second attempt at bringing this idea to life and I am really happy with how it turned out.
Please check out my tutorial to see how you can create a frame like this on to add to your home. It is a great way to display your beach holiday photographs.
Today I am sharing my May tag and as you can see I had fun with a red, white and blue theme! Well I suppose strictly speaking it is red, cream and blue ;-)
Tim used a heritage photo on his tag with burlap and tiny tattered flowers. I chose to use denim and a photo of my two lovely boys and made teeny tiny pom pom flowers which looked fab and added great texture to my tag.
I also made my usual sampler square ready for framing at the end of the year. Can you believe next month we are half way through already!!!
I wonder what June's tag will bring - I hope it has sunny warm weather attached ;-) Hope you are having a fun weekend. I am off to crop with my friends today so much chatting and coffee with cake for me!!!! Maybe the odd scrapbook page too ha ha!
It is my day to feature on the Rubber Dance Blog today and I have posted a tutorial to show you how to create a lovely ombre effect using your alcohol inks. Here is the sneak peek:
Just popping in to remind you of this months Rubber Dance Colour Challenge. For the month of May the colours are Yellow, Pink and Purple and I am sure that you can come up with lots of wonderful projects using these sunny colours. If you are living here in the UK you know we need all the sunshine we can get right now….We actually had hail here yesterday!!!!
There is an optional prompt of flowers this month if you need somewhere to start your creative process.
I decided to have a play in what I am calling my experimental journal and you will see from the video how I got on trying out two ways of revealing all the texture I created with my Round in Circles Rubber Dance stamps.
So the first reveal was created using a butterfly stencil from Tando and the second reveal was created by cutting around my butterfly wings to help them fly off the page!
If you watch the video you can see how much fun a colour challenge is as the first page in my experimental journal was created using the colours from the April Challenge.
Hi Everyone This blog hop is to celebrate the 1st year anniversary of the Rubber Dance Stamp's blog (http://rubberdance.blogspot.com).
Each member of the Design Team have chosen 3 of our own favorite DT makes for this blog hop, and we will also let you know which 3 are our favorite single stamps. 3 seems to be the lucky number here, so there'll be 3 winners, too!
TWO lucky winners drawn at random will win the Design Team members' favourite stamps!
ONE additional winner who shares this gift giveaway on Facebook gets a €20 voucher (approximately $25) to spend in the Rubber Dance webshop any time she wants! Just tell Bibi that you have shared it on Facebook when you leave a comment on the main blog (http://rubberdance.blogspot.com/…/1st-year-anniversary-give…), and you're in!
To participate in this blog hop giveaway, all you have to do is to visit the blog posts below and leave a comment on all of them. It'll just take a few minutes of your time. You do not have to be a follower on any of the blogs in our hop, but you're of course very welcome to become one - if you aren't already.
Hop along and see the Design Team's fave DT makes and fave three Rubber Dance stamps!
As you have read above Bibi has asked the Design Team to share our 3 of our favourite creations and pick 3 of our favourite Rubber Dance stamps that will be part of the stamp prize bundles!!!! I am sharing creations that feature my favourite stamps so that you will have lots of ideas if you are one of the lucky winners!!!
This was my first ever Design Team creation and I just love, love, love this shell stamp! It showcases the beautiful detail you will find in each and everyone of your Rubber Dance stamps.
Another favourite stamp of mine requires me to show you two projects so you can see the versatility of this stamp……….so starting out with the feminine and romantic …….
and moving on to the vibrant and funky!
Love these butterfly wing stamps - hopefully this counts as one stamp!!!! You can never go wrong with a butterfly embellishment ….or hair do…….I say!
Then for my third favourite stamp and I have to say I found choosing only three very difficult indeed…….but I have chosen this cute daisy stamp! I used a masking technique to set my daisy against a text background for this card.
So to round them up and give you the details, my three favourite stamps are; the Shell from the Beach Sentiments stamp set, the Butterfly Wings from the Collage Elements 1 set and the Daisy from the Da Vinci set!
This was a fun post to write and I hope you have enjoyed looking at just some of the projects I have created over the year using my fabulous Rubber Dance Stamps. You will see just how versatile and inspiring these stamps are when you visit everyone on the Blog Hop - have fun and don't forget to leave a comment a quick comment along the way x
Happy Anniversary Bibi - It has been a pleasure to be part of your exciting online journey and your fabulous Design Team - I will raise a glass of something sparkling to toast to even more success and creativity in your second year!!!! You deserve it. Sending big hugs and kisses and hopefully lots of blog hoppers your way!!!
Just nipping in to post a card tutorial and to join in with the SDC 193 Stampotique challenge this week! I thought this card would fit the bill as I always like to include a few dots in any arty backgrounds I make and this card was no exception!
I used my Dots Fades stencil for tiny polka dots and some sequin waste for larger ones! Don't forget the dots I made with splattering too ;-) This tutorial looks at how you can create fun arty background like I did using a variety of items and mediums. I think they are perfect for showcasing your fabulous Stampotique stamps - let me know what you think.
The stamps I have used are designed by Magda and Daniel Torrente for Stampotique. Here are the cutting dimensions:
Yellow card - 11 1/2" x 8" scored and folded at 5 3/4"
White card - 4 1/2" x 6 3/4 " - cut 2
Navy card - 4 3/4" x 7 " - cut 2
As always I show you how to make your inner match your outer!!! That's it from me I am off out into the sunshine to do some pottering in the garden. I hope you find the tutorial useful as there are a million versions of this technique that you can come up with to create fun backgrounds for your stamps!
Before I get to posting my April tutorial I just wanted to let you know if you don't already that I didn't make it on to the Graphic 45 Design team for this year. I was a bit sad yesterday as you can imagine but I managed to stay away from the chocolate which is good!!!! ;-)
Today I just wanted to thank you all for the tremendous support and good wishes that you sent to me. It means the world to me and you will be pleased to know you can uncross those fingers at last! The good news is that I feel a renewed determination on the crafting front and you will see two brand new tutorials appearing on my ETSY shop shortly as a result of the work I did for the audition.
I do always have fun auditioning as I completely indulge myself and bury myself in all that lovely Graphic 45 paper. On the plus side too I did get a step closer this year ;-) I wish the new design team lots and lots of fun this year and I look forward to seeing what they create as always. I especially want to say congratulations to Clare for her second term as the Graphic 45 UK ambassador. Hopefully we will bump into each other again soon.
Here is the promised tutorial for this month's 12 Tags of 2015. I hope that with the post yesterday and all the fun you can see I had with my tag on today's tutorial that I inspire some of you who are perhaps thinking about it to have a go in May. Which reminds me I must pop over and see what Tim's inspiration is for this month.
and just for fun and a blast from the past here are a couple of other tag tutorials. This from way back as I was just learning this videoing malarky and it is a review of the first year I played along with the 12 tags of 2012.
I still have all my tags from Tag Tuesday hanging on my wall for inspiration! Many fond memories of a lovely group.
And last but not least a fun tag video I made when I was just starting out on my YouTube journey! Please imagine me laughing away to myself as I edit the final shots in the video!
So that is it from me for today. I hope you have fun watching some of my videos. Don't forget to like and share them as it really helps me promote both my YouTube Channel and my Blog. X
Wishing you all a wonderful weekend - we have a bank holiday weekend here in the UK so more crafting time for all ;-)
Today I am posting my tag for April - can you believe we are a third of the way through the year already?!
As usual I am getting to my tag late so I will post the photos today and the tutorial tomorrow or Friday depending on upload times! At least if I post the photos today I can actually join in the challenge!
For those of you new to my blog I thought I would explain what this tag challenge is all about. Each month I play along with the Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2015 challenge which you can see if you follow this link. Anyone who wants to play along can do so and we all link up over on Tim's blog. On the first of every month Mr Holtz publishes a tag to inspire us. There are always detailed photo instructions of how he made his tag and that always involves interesting techniques for us to try. There are always lots of lovely products to see so plenty of inspiration every month…..oh and there are prizes to be won too!!!
Then it is over to you/us. If you are a beginner you may wish to mimic Tim's tag and try out new techniques but nine times out of ten we don't have all that Tim has used so that is the fun part of the challenge. That is our chance to give our tags our own unique twists.
From Tim's Inspiration to our Interpretation. When you look at the tags of all the people that join in each month you will see the variety of tag designs Tim's original tag inspires.
I have been playing along for 3 years now and I love to see where the journey takes me - sometimes you can instantly recognise the original inspiration and you will definitely see that this month but other months you would have to look hard to see the elements I have taken from the original tag.
So without further ado here are my April tags and of course the matching 3" sample square.
One of this months techniques was using water colour paper and water colouring techniques. You will see my colouring is a bit more vibrant than Tim's and if you watch my tutorial you will see how I achieved the look using both my Distress Inks and Distress Stains.
I decided to add a little decoupage element to my flowers and used my ink pads to create the two tone ribbon to match my project. Tim used his Distress Markers to create an ombre effect on his ribbon and as I don't have many Distress Markers I did things a little differently.
Here is a close up of the sampler square:
I have four little squares now so I thought I would show you just how each month takes you in a totally different crafting direction.
I am looking forward to seeing what the whole sampler looks like when I frame it at the end of the year.
Thought I would share another tutorial today that matches the sunny weather we are having here today! Mind you it is very chilly out there despite the sun - I believe our weather system is drawing down cold polar air…..someone needs to tell Mother Nature we are expecting spring weather round about now ;-)
So for those of you newly popping by I am in the process of waiting to see if I make it on to the Graphic 45 Design team…..I am convinced about now that someone is slowing down time so I am going to fill it with crafting and gardening this week to see if I can't speed it up a little.
For my round one submission I made several new projects and as usual they were all videoed to turn into tutorials to share with you all. I thought I would share this fun, bright and breezy card today that was inspired by the sunny patterns of the Graphic 45 Bohemian Bazaar paper collection.
In the tutorial I show you how I created the pretty paper woven background for this card as well as how to make a quick topper with the fabulous journalling cards that come in the Graphic 45 Paper collections. This is just one of their many uses.
As usual I had fun making the inner as fabulous as the outer using some Tattered Lace dies which I borrowed from my Mum! Thanks Mum x
I also show you how to make some gorgeous fabric daisy embellishments which work perfectly with my bright and breezy papers.
I know this card will make anyone smile when they receive it on their special day. If you don't have Bohemian Bazaar papers in your Graphic 45 Collection I know that you can make this card in any of the paper collections you have treated yourself too. You might need to change your accent card and perhaps make the flowers in a different colour but I know that this will look great whatever you choose to use.
Cutting Guide Using Graphic 45 Bohemian Bazaar papers:
White Card: 11 1/2" x 8" scored and folded at 5 3/4" and used in the landscape position.
'Wish you were here' card topper taken from the Lap of Luxury paper
White card mat for topper: 3 3/8" x 5 1/4"
Green Vivid Splendour: 5 1/4" x 7 1/2"
Blue Jasmine Nights for inner: 5 1/4" x 7 1/2"
White Card for inner: 3 1/4" x 7 1/4"
Woven panel in the tutorial was created originally at 5 1/4" x 7 1/2" but was later trimmed down to 7 1/4" x 5"
I suggest you work with these new measurements to avoid that step!
One piece of Blue Jasmine Nights for base of weave 7 1/4" x 5" see tutorial for guide to cutting.
The woven strips were cut from the Green Vivid Splendour and Yellow Bohemian Bazaar papers.
The strips measure 7 1/4" x 1/4" cut approximately 8 of each colour.
The Daisies:
Cotton fabric strips for small daisies: 1" x 4" (cut 2)
Cotton fabric strip for large daisy: 1 1/2" x 6" (cut 1)
I hope you find all the techniques in the tutorial I am sharing today useful and that you are inspired to get out your Graphic 45 papers and to get weaving - these panels would look great on cards or scrapbooking pages and I am sure on lots of your paper crafting projects too!
I'm off out to walk the dog in the sunshine now but I think I am still keeping my coat on……'Cast not a Clout 'till May is out,' as my Grandma used to say! Brrrrrr See you again soon and thank you again for all your good wishes and messages of support. Sending you all big hugs - Thank you for popping by X
Today I am featuring over on the Rubber Dance Blog and I am just giving you a sneak peak of the cards I am sharing today. My tutorial looks at stamping on acetate and I love how the technique turned some lovely Antique Botanicals images into a modern card design.
