Forget Me Not "You Were Meant To Fly" Card

As the stamp set was out on my desk, I have continued my play with "The Forget Me Not Kraft Kabin" Bee Happy Stamp set making this second card.

This is the "Bee Happy" Stamp set.

I used an off cut of a previous gelli plate project for the background colours (I think I used Distress Inks).  I stamped the frame, the bee and the sentiment in Versafine Clair "Fantasia" shade of ink.

The small flower is from a Papertrey Ink Set of stamps.

Forget Me Not "Bee Happy" Card

Today I have been playing with the "Bee Happy" stamp set produced for "The Forget Me Not Kraft Kabin".

I used one of the gel press backgrounds I made yesterday as the base of this card.

Using a leaf stamp by "Oak House Studio", I stamped the leaves at the base of the card using Versafine Clair Ink in the colours of "Verdant" and "Shady Lane".

The wavy edge, sentiment and the bee are all part of the "Bee Happy" Set of stamps.

Using Versafine "Smokey Gray" ink, I stamped the wavy edge line four times to create a border for the image.  I then stamped the sentiment and the bee in the same ink.  I stamped the bee on an off-cut of card, coloured in the head and body with an amber coloured Arteza Brush Pen and then cut out the head and body and adhered over the top of the stamped image of the bee.

Finally, I added some subtle shimmer to the wings of the bee by using a Sakura Gelly Roll pen.

Creating Pretty Backgrounds (using Gel press and Brusho)

I realised yesterday, my stack of prepared backgrounds was getting low, so had a quick messy half an hour creating some pretty pastel coloured ones.

For these backgrounds I used a Gel Press, also known as a Gelli Plate. With Colorbox Inks brayered onto the plate and splashes of Brusho.  

I really like what I've produced, however the cleaning up after my messy session wasn't so nice!

Week 24 - 52 Week Mini Art Card / Tag Challenge 2019

The challenge prompt for Week 25 is "Under Water".

To create my tag I've used two stamps from Lavinia Stamps and a stencil, it was a quick make.

First, starting from the middle of the tag, I used a Distress Ink in the shades of "Mustard Seed".  The next colour I used from the edge of the tag and blended to the yellow was "Peacock Feathers", then "Mermaid Lagoon" and finally "Chipped Sapphire"

I lay my prepared tag background on a piece of kitchen roll. Using an Andy Skinner stencil called "Tornado".  I lay it on my work desk and spritzed the surface with water.  I then flipped the stencil and lay it wet side down onto the prepared tag background.  I left it for a minute or so then lifted the stencil.  The area where the water has been leaves a sort of bleached look.  

If you find there are little pools of water on your tag, then lightly blot them with the edge of a piece of kitchen towel. 

 

Once the tag is dry, I then stamped the Lavinia Stamps "Seahorse", a fab stamp with so much detail, in Versafine Clair "Blue Belle" ink.  At the base of the tag, I added the fish using the Lavinia stamp called "Shoal of Fish", stamped in Versafine Clair "Twilight" ink.  I also went around the edge of the tag using this ink, just to darken it a little more.

Finally, I added some bubbles using a white and a silver Signo Pen.  I also added some white areas to the seahorse with the white pen and to give the eye a glassy look, popped on a little droplet of "Glossy Accents" and left to dry.

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Click here if you would like to know more about this challenge.

There is a Facebook Group for this challenge, where you are more than welcome to join and take part.  In the group, you can upload your creations to the weekly prompt albums and talk to others who are taking part in the challenge.  It is very relaxed, with no pressure to take part, just do what you can, when you can.  I hope you will join us.  Sam x

Anglesey Crafters June 2019 Workshop with Jo Rice (Gel Plate and Lavinia Stamps)

Today I attended a craft workshop in Holyhead, run by the fabulous Jo Rice.  It is so lovely that Jo takes the trouble to travel over to Anglesey.  So many do not bother!

Today we played with gel plate techniques, specifically some of those favoured by Tracey Dutton of Lavinia Stamps.

I made three cards and a bookmark.

I also had a few "crafty purchases" in the shop too.  Well it would have been rude not to!

Lavinia Stamps - Northern Lights Sky - Step by Step photo tutorial

I have had a fabulous response to my "Northern Lights" card using Lavinia Stamps, with some asking for a step by step guide.  I am no photographer, but have made a duplicate card this evening with a photo step by step, so hope to show how to create the colourful skyscape.

These are the products that I used to create the card.

I started by using a blending tool and Distress Oxides.  The first shade I used was Spiced Marmalade, then Crushed Olive, Picked Raspberry and Peacock Feathers.  Finally, I used Wilted Violet to colour in the remaining areas.

I then added Chipped Sapphire over some of the Wilted Violet area.  I popped a mask of torn card to create the landscape just below the colours and dragged the Black Soot Distress Oxide downwards from the mask, which in turn creates the landscape.

I folded a piece of kitchen roll into four and dampened the inner corner (you could also use an ear bud or a sheet of wet wipe to do the same), and lifted some of the colour by lightly dragging the damp corner across the sky.  This makes the colours in the sky appear more vibrant.

I lay a sheet of copy paper over the land area of the card and using a fan shaped paint brush, dipped into water, splattered droplets on to the sky area.  I then blotted with a piece of kitchen paper.  This produces a bleached effect where the water has been, leaving lighter spots which mimic stars.

At this stage, I moved onto stamping.  When I stamp, I use a Misti platform, other makes work just as well.  This allows you to re-stamp in the exact same position, which is quite hard to do if just using a normal stamp block.

Using Lavinia Stamps "Spring Trees" and "Star Gazing" I used two shades of Versafine Clair ink.  Morning Mist for more distant stamping and Nocturne for closer stamping.  

I then added some Distress Oxide in the shade of "Chipped Sapphire" around the edge of the card and also between some of the colours in the sky (use the edge of the blending tool between the colours as you don't need a solid area of colour).  This seems to make the colours pop more.

Now it's time to create the landscape around the stamped images.  Again I used a mask of torn card and Distress Oxide ink in the shade of Black Soot.  For the landscape right at the front, I used Versafine Clair "Nocturne" ink.

I then stamped the Lavinia Stamps "Mini Slender Mushrooms", again in Versafine Clair, Nocturne.

Finally, using a white Posca pen, I added some stars to the sky and some highlighted areas to the mushrooms.

I hope this has helped you to attempt a similar sky.  Any questions, just leave a message in the comments.  Sam x

Funky Fossil "Abstract Flowers" Stencil Card

I love the "Funky Fossils" stencil designs and now have quite a few.  This one called "Abstract Flowers" and is one of my recent purchases.

I used Arteza Brush Pens to colour in the stencil.  The sentiment is from a Spellbinders set (Ref:  STP-004) and is stamped in Versafine Clair "Fantasia" shade of ink.