Swaps from Convention

Hi there

Well, I think I have just about caught up on my lack of sleep over the weekend.  But I cant believe that Convention has been and gone :-(

Whilst I was away, my hubby decided to sort out a problem we had with our shower.  We had noticed a couple of months ago that the cubicle may have been leaking as there were some strange marks developing on the landing wall so he decided to investigate whilst I was in France.

He was right, we had a massive problem which resulted in having to remove the wall between the bathroom and the landing!  He has been so busy sorting it out, but were getting there now and have replaced the shower with a bath (which I prefer anyway) and have a separate bathroom & landing again!!!

Anyway, enough of real life, back to Convention!  Here's a photo of the one I made - thank you Sara! (I had a problem with the photos I took and Sara rescued me last night by taking some for me LOL).

To start, I had a play with a technique that I really don't do enough.  I'm not really sure what its called but I used a non stick craft sheet and swiped ink pads (Riding Hood Red, So Saffron & More Mustard) onto the mat and then spritzed the sheet with water.  Then you put your card onto the sheet (this is quite messy, but you get some great results).  You then use a heat gun to dry the card and repeat the inking if needed.

Now, one thing with Whisper White is that it DOES NOT LIKE GETTING WET!!!  It is designed to be really absorbent to soak up ink and if it gets too wet it goes all bubbly and the fibres can come off.  However, I found out that even thought this happened on a couple of the sheets after getting it too wet, once it dried the texture it left was really nice.

Once all the sheets were dry, I ran them through the Big Shot using the Leaves #2 die.  This gave me leaf shapes in mottled coloured card.  To make the leaf toppers, I ran some Riding Hood Red cardstock through the BS again with the Leaves die to give me the same leaf shapes and glued them, slightly off set, to the mottled leaves, adding some Linen Thread, tied around the stems.  The 'Paris' image was stamped in Riding Hood Red ink onto So Saffron card and then punched out using the 3/4 circle punch.  It was glued onto the leaf and then covered in Crystal Effects.

I made my own backing paper using sheets of Whisper White card and randomly stamped all over the sheet with images from French Foliage using the Baby Wipe technique (inks used were Riding Hood Red, So Saffron & More Mustard).

Then I cut strips of the backing paper and mounted them onto a mat of Riding Hood Red, scoring lines, really close to the edges (not sure if you can see it though).

The card blank was So Saffron and I stamped the En Francais background stamp on one corner (masking off the rest of the card blank) and then used the 'splashes' image from French Foliage to the rest of the card front.

To finish, the strip with the backing paper was adhered to the bottom section of the card blank and the leaf topper added.  I didn't put a sentiment on them as I thought that if the ladies wanted to use them at a later date, they could add their own making them specific to the event.

Thank you for stopping by, I will be posting some photos of the Card Candy swap in the next day or two

Hope you are enjoying the long weekend?

This is my first weekend off for over 5 weeks so I have finally been having a proper play in my craft room.

A few weeks ago I took my Mum to a shop near Sheffield where the lovely Julie was doing some demonstrations using distress inks and I have finally been able to sit and do the same techniques but using Stampin' Up! products - and they work!!

I dont know why I thought that they wouldnt - they are waterbased, so theres no reason for them not to. I havent done that much distressing with inks for the last couple of years so it was fantastic to play and get really messy.  Heres one of the cards I made.

 I  took a piece of Botanical Gazette Designer Series Paper and used the Freindly Words Wheel in Early Espresso ink along the bottom.  Then I wheeled a couple of times over the entire piece in Versamark ink using the Texture Wheel (I am now in love with this wheel!!!) and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.

The sides of the paper were torn and distressed and then I used sponge daubers to apply Early Espresso and Marina Mist ink, gradually blending the edges.  The embossed areas from the Texture Wheel are protected from the ink, giving a gorgeous mottled effect.  

The DSP was then mounted on a mat of Early Espresso card which was torn slightly larger than the DSP and the edges on two corners curled (you could use a coctail stick, but I used a round file from my Distressing Essentials kit). This was then mounted on a Marina Mist card blank.

I inked the edges of a die cut butterfly from Beautiful Butterflies and then stamped it with the En Francias background stamp in Early Espresso ink.  A line of basic pearls was placed down the centre and it was attached to the card.

To finish off I used my Tiny Tags set and the Medium Jewelery Tag punch, attaching the tags with linen thread.

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a lovely weekend.

Jan
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For Father

Its the weekend, Yey...!

Not had much crafting time this week but spent a few hours yesterday playing with the most amazing crafters - Sara & Jo.
Jo was showing me & Sara how to use Copics and Promarkers which are alcohol based markers and the technique is totally different to how I have been used to colouring (no wonder I didnt get very good results - doh!).

What fab evening. Thanks ladies, it was brilliant!!


I thought I would post a picy of a card I made recently using a lovely  (but retired) set called For Father. Its another card I found when getting ready for the craft fare last week - I thought I had put it on my blog but had forgotten about it.  It did get quite a few comments from people at the fair though!

I used Kraft cardstock to make a 6" square card blank and then inked and distressed the edges.

The dog and boot image was stamped onto Kraft cardstock and coloured in using Watercolour Wonder Crayons and the edges torn and distressed.  Then I did the unthinkable - screwed up the card!!! I know, I can see all you crafters out there curling up your toes, but trust me its very theraputic once you get your head around 'damaging' the paper.

The cardstock was smoothed out - but only a little - then I sponged over the creases with Soft Suede ink to highlight the texture.  This was mounted onto a peice of Soft Suede card which had been stamped with the En Francais background.  Again I had torn and distressed the edges. 

The sentiment was stamped in Soft Suede onto Kraft cardstock and the edges torn/distressed.

Right off to prepare now for my next craft class. 

My Christmas in July Class is planned for next Saturday, 10th July and will be held in two sessions - one in the morning, one in the afternoon.  We are going to make four very different cards and a little pouch which can hold sweets or little gifts and can hang on a christmas tree! 

Now, dont you be thinking that its too early to start making those cards - If you make a few each month you will be ready for sending your cards in no time.  So come on get your skates on...!

Recipe
Cardstock - Kraft, Soft Suede
Stamps - En Francais, For Father (Retired)
Ink - Soft Suede
Accessories - Cutting (distressing) kit, Watercolour Wonder Crayons, Sponge Daubers,
Jan
X

Studio Sketches

This weather is so nice isnt it - I just love the sunshine.

Well, we have finally recieved details of the location of the Stampin' Up! European Convention - and I am such a giddy kipper!!!  Its going to be in Croydon, just outside London on the 5th and 6th November.  The hotel looks amazing and for two days it will be full to the rafters with crazed crafters (disguised as SU Demonstrators) from all over europe and the US. 

Last years convention was held in Frankfurt, Germany and as I hadnt been to one before I made the mistake of thinking I wasnt bothered about going.  BIG mistake - I have regretted it ever since.  But, not this year!!!

Anyway, I have five months to wait until then, so I had bettter come back down to earth for a while.  Here are a few cards I made this week (in between traveling to Lincoln & Margate for work). 

The stamp set is lovely - not the usual cutesy sort and its called Studio Sketches. I liked it as soon as it came into the Mini Catalogue, but only got round to getting it recently.

The distressing techniques are ones we used in Sara's Vintage Vogue Class a couple of weeks ago (she has another one planned for 3rd July!).

The text images are created by inking the En Francais backround stamp with Soft Suede ink on to Soft Suede card.


Recipe
Cardstock - Soft Suede, Kraft, Whisper White
Ink - Soft Suede
Stamp Sets - Studio Sketches, En Francais, Occassional Greetings, Bird on a Branch, Sincere Salutations
Accessories - Cutter Kit, Brads & Sponge Daubers, Watercolour Wonder Crayons.

Off back to do more crafting now - have a great weekend.
Jan