Autumn glow

Yesterday my first ever craft barn dt post went live:) I thought I would share the project here too although you can see the full tutorial on their website here.

 This scene was stamped using card-io pleasant pastures on to tissue paper with a distress ink background.

I affixed it to a jam jar using watered down PVA.

And added a few finishing touches to create an autumnal lantern.

I'd like to enter this project in to the autumn challenges at Stamping sensations and Penny black and more.

O is for...

Good evening!

Tonight I am sharing the next installment of my dictionary for the craft barn alpha/dictionary challenge. The chosen letter is O and although I've spotted a few other people who've picked this word, I couldn't resist...
 O is for Owl :)

I have a lovely set of hobby art owls which were out to good use in the making of this page!

I never like to fully hide the dictionary page, but I did feel that text all over the owls would be too much so I used a bit of chalk paint to roughly cover the background.

Next I added in the bark stamps and smooshes of ground espresso distress ink applied with a paint brush.

The owls are coloured with inktense pencils and I finished off with some spots of glitter and started to light up the sky.

That's all for now, thanks for calling by.

Lou x

The big 100!

As the title suggests this is my 100th blog post since starting on a blogging venture almost a year ago! I make no apologies for the longer length of this post - it's a special one, hopefully with something of interest for everyone!

I start with the previously promised tour of my new craft space. It was high time I had a proper space - no more running up and down the stairs between the craft cupboard and the kitchen table every time I thought of something I needed!

There was a pretty tight budget involved here. We already owned the shelving unit although it wasn't previously in use. The table top and two drawer units came from Ikea along with the shiny new lamp which was the one extravagance. Also new from Ikea were the white magazine boxes giving a total spend of just under £100. The little brown tubs are ones I have been collecting for some while. Riverford send us our veg in them but I thought they would be perfect for all those little bits and pieces! 

The set of drawers immediately to my left contains all the things I need to have 'grab-able.' Top down this is; Ink pads, stationery and sticky things, colouring pens and pencils, glitters, embossing powders and liquid pearls, card blanks, paper pads.

A closer look in a couple of drawers. I'm really enjoying the ink pads laid out in a single layer - so easy to pick the one you want! Nothing is labelled yet to give me time to check it all works and make any changes I need to.

On the shelves the little boxes are filled with all sorts from punches to paints to smaller acrylic stamps. The magazine style white boxes house more stamps, dies, craft magazines and scraps of paper. Wooden stamps are in the mini chests of drawers below so that everything is in reach.

At some point I hope to have a little pin board on the wall in front of my work space and this handy chart will definitely be on it! I found it the other day on the hobby art website along with some others. It's so useful, you colour the squares that you have which not only gives you a quick reference guide to what you own, but also shows the pens true colours. 

Under the shelves are a few more key bits and pieces - scrap book papers, stickers, rub-ons and embellishments stored in the folders and a range of miscellaneous items stored in the giant shoe box. 

Now for the shameful bit. This is my ribbon box :0

I'd love to hear how you all organise your ribbons or if you have any top tips because I'm stumped! some ribbons are on rolls or card and they're fine but it's the really silly scraps that I just haven't got tamed! 

Ok, so that's the tour. Now on to a few cards eh?!

A super simple LIM. I fell out with the inlaid die technique in a big way after my last attempt but when I cut this new Sheena Douglas die it was just crying out for it. It's fair to say the technique and I have made peace again! This is based on the less is more sketch. I'd also like to throw it in the mix for casology's CAS 200 challenge.

I had been wondering how to address the Penny Black Saturday 'Masculine' challenge when I found this PB stickeroos yachting set. I teamed it with papers from Basic Grey and Kanban (fitting with the 2xpapers craft barn challenge) and added some green ribbon layered with the grosgrain ribbon. (For the crafty ribbons masculine challenge)

This one hasn't photographed well but it was another attempt at a shaker card. I mixed a magic potion (ingredients photographed below) masked part of the card and spritzed away. The flamingo is a magazine freebie die backed with some pink paper from the stash and filled with pink beadazzleds. The sentiment is from craftwork cards. I made this card with the allsorts pink challenge, SSS Mask it challenge and SSS monochrome challenge in mind. It was based on the Less is More sketch and suitable for the celebrations at AAA cards.

PHEW, what a long post! I'm glad you stayed with me to the end! TTFN Lou x

A is for...

This fortnight at the Craft Barn we have come round to the letter A. Quite a hefty chunk in the dictionary but I was quite quickly drawn to my chosen word, so this week A is for...

Acorn

I got messy with acrylics to make the background and painted the set of oak leaves on to tissue before adhering it to the page. Then I used Tim Holtz autumn gatherings die and a selection of papers to create the scattered boarder. Finally I stamped the sentiment using Hero Arts alphabet stamps. 

I'm also linking this in to the craft barn's 'two paper' challenge, assuming two is the minimum number of papers allowed and I haven't broken the rules by using more than two?!

Thanks for calling by! Lou x

J is for...

This fortnight the craft barn dictionary challenge had the added twist of a dragonfly. I was concerned that I had included dragonflies just last time on my D page but looking back through the dictionary it turns out I had included them on no less than four other pages! Yep, they are dancing around the frogs on F, fluttering above the lavender fields in L, quietly adding to the background behind the quince in Q, and of course celebrating the dandelions and daisies in D. So really this should have been a doddle!

So, without further ado, this fortnight J is for Jetty

In a moment of curiosity I added a bit of blue liquid pearl to my acrylics to see what would happen. The result was a much better covering disguising the dictionary page but a much harder overall surface to paint on. I'm not much of a painter anyway but this was the only way I could think of to create this page. The dragonflies are the only stamped element on the page and they are a couple of my favourites from crafty individuals.

A quick close up of the definition but for whatever reason it is adamant that it wants to be sideways on!

I'm entering this in to Crafty Individuals anything goes challenge as well as the Craft Barn Dictionary challenge of course. 

S is for...

Well it's time for another Alpha/ Dictionary challenge at the craft barn and this fortnight the letter is S... with an added Shell. I debated doing snail as it would be a little different, or Spaniel since mine is the light of my life! (and incidentally he is rather partial to the odd snail... eughk!) However in the end I decided to fully embrace the theme and selected S for ....

Shore

The acrylics came out along with lots of bits and pieces. I think I had imagined something a little more sophisticated and a little less gaudy but not to worry!

As I hunted through my stamps I was really rather stunned to find for all the beach huts and boats, I didn't have a single shell or starfish stamp to be found. Out came the stamp carving kit and that oversight was rectified in little under half an hour!

Anyway, this is the final page...

And a close up of the definition surrounded by beadazzleds et-al!

Thanks for stopping by today! Lou x

D is for...

This evening I'm sharing my latest dictionary creation. It's 'D with a twist of pink' this fortnight and having scoured the D's there were three words I could have chosen. I have to say, on the whole the letter D makes some fairly depressing reading what with all the 'de' and 'dis' prefixed words, not to mention all those associated with death.

Still, nothing depressing here... I went with dandelions, dragonflies and daisies!

The stamps are Crafty Individuals build a meadow set which I first came across at a Helen Chilton class at the craft barn... it seems we've come full circle! 

I think this would have benefited from me dulling down the text in the background a bit first but I was a bit shy on time. To help define each flower I added some white gel pen to the daisies, wink of stella to the dandelions and the all important touch of pink to the seed heads. The dragonflies also have wink of stella on their wings but unfortunately it didn't want to be photographed today!

As the three words all occurred on different pages, the definition I have highlighted is the one for dandelion.

As well as the craft barn challenge, this seems just fitting for the Craft Stamper spring flowers challenge and stamping sensations, one for the girls challenge.

Thanks for stopping by!

Lou x

Rabbits and Ovals

I thought I was going to have to let this fortnight's Craft Barn challenge pass me by as I couldn't find any way of creating an oval but I finally had a brain wave this morning, and here we are, just in time. I had a quick rummage through the left over recycling and found an old Easter egg box, bingo! It had an oval shape cut in the front - the perfect stencil for my needs! The oval was rather small so I made a little note card. As Easter is over for this year I wanted to make something that could be sent anytime.
I came up with this using Card-io and Stampendous stamps and distress inks. I finished it with wink of stella and liquid pearls.

Apologies for the awful photo, taken in the dark this evening and my camera has an absolute hissy fit if I try to use the flash!

R is for...

This week over at the Craft Barn, the letter for the alphabet challenge is R. They also have their fortnightly challenge running which is to create a background with circles. I've combined the two for my entry this week where R is for...

Reptile 

I inked the whole page lightly first, then  added circles of colour using home made stencils.

 My dictionary has diagrams illustrating some of the words and reptile was one of them, which made it particularly appealing. Unfortunately on the opposite page was a full diagram of reproductive organs! Since we all already know what they look like I made the most of some reptile shaped die cuts strategically placed to ensure consistency in the theme!
I added a bit of journalling and shed loads of liquid pearls dotted everywhere to finish it off.

L is for...

I don't know whether anyone else has ever googled 'French lavender fields' but I did exactly that the other day and was quite blown away by the beautiful images that came up. Purple haze's beneath golden skies, often with classic French castles or stunning mountain ranges in the background. I can't say I could even come close to replicating these photos but I did select 'lavender' to be my L word in this fortnight's craft barn challenge.

For the first time since the challenge started I painted a wash over the pages before inking so that the text nestles quite quietly in the background.I stamped the mountain range from a card-io set and inked using distress and versa colour inks. The lavender stamp at the front is by Lavinia stamps. I added the text with Hero Art alphabet stamps and finished with a doodled fine liner border.
I'd like to enter this in to the craft barn dictionary challenge and craft stamper's text me challenge.

F is for...

This week the Craft barn dictionary challenge letter is F. The added twist is that there has to be a heart included somewhere on the page.

Having done a couple of fairly serious entries I wanted to have a bit of fun with this one.
I chose to make my page about FROGS!
I kept things pretty simple by using some penny black stickeroos for the images. The background is made with a combination of ink blending and stamping bubble wrap and spritz effect hobby art stamps. I stenciled on the all important hearts and added a few extra bits such as the gingham ribbon.

As well as the craft barn challenge I'd also like to enter this in to the following challenges;
Penny black Saturday - red or hearts
Craft Stamper - text me
Crafty ribbons- leap, for the leap year!

Q is for...

I'm thoroughly enjoying playing along with the craft barn dictionary challenge. This is the second week and they've gone for the letter Q. I'm sticking with trying to have a nature inspired dictionary so for Q chose...

Quince!

This was one of those happy occasions where it all just seemed to come together. 

I first inked the page with antique linen distress ink, then stamped a card-io leaf and branch stamp in bundled sage around the edges.

I looked up some pictures of quinces and drew this one with fineliner and water colour pencils. My drawing skills leave a bit to be desired but I think it is at least recognisable!!

I added crafty individuals dragonflies in versa colour bronze, subtle, but just about visible!

It all seemed to be done rather too quickly so a couple of days later I went back and added the Q which I drew first on to tissue paper and pasted on. It is coloured worth gold gel ink and edged with fineliners. Finally I finished it of with glossy accents.

Page two done, I wonder what page three will bring?

Hold on to your hats!

I love this stamp from little claires. I've stamped it very simply and coloured it with promarkers. I plan to add a sentiment to the top right corner when I know what occasion it is for!

I'd like to enter this card in the the craft barn 'hats' challenge and the Casology clear challenge.

B is for...

This is the challenge that I have been most excited about getting started on. I remember seeing snippets of the Craft Barn's last alphabet/dictionary challenge but I wasn't on the blogger scene back then so this is all new and exciting for me.

It's not being done in alphabetical order and this is the first week, so,

B is for.... buttons... bees...burst....balloons....?

I considered all of these before deciding B is for ....

Butterflies!

I couldn't help myself, Butterflies were the theme for our wedding and I just love them. Whenever I can I photograph butterflies and in my minds eye I had a bit of an idea about what I might do. All I had to do was work out how to make it work!

First off I drew round the definition with my fine liner. I'm really enjoying the fact that my dictionary has the occasional picture in it, and this just happened to be one of them, so I went around that too.

Next I inked all around the edges of the page with tumbled glass distress ink. After that (although not pictured here) I added a bit of bundled sage DI, including inking some through a memory box floral stencil.

I die cut this little memory box garden and butterfly die in a beautiful basic grey paper called blush, and added a little bundled sage DI.

I now set about punching out a LOT of butterflies, as well as cutting round some that occurred on the gorgeous memory box paper 'butterfly ballet' I inked them all randomly with splashes of tumbled glass.

I folded a couple more strips of blush paper and balanced them on the dictionary, then I set about layering up the butterflies, balancing them one on top the other and sticking with a strong adhesive.

I stamped one of the stamps from the Little Claire's butterfly tree set in both lower corners of the pages and coloured with watercolour pencils.

A few more embellishments followed, including some punched flowers and spots of liquid pearls, and there you have it, week one of the dictionary challenge! It just about works as a pop up page but I am very cautious opening it!

I used the following materials for this make;

Distress ink; tumbled glass, bundled sage.

Versa colour; Neptune

Inkssentials blender

Memory box stencil; Garden floral confetti

Memory box die; Garden and butterflies (actual name unknown!)

Basic Grey paper; Blush, Admire

Memory box paper; Minuet, Butterfly Ballet

Woodware Butterfly punch small and medium

Little Claires stamps; Butterfly Tree

Derwent; Watercolour pencils

Liquid pearls; Garnet

Stickles; Eucalyptus

As well as the Craft Barn challenge, I would also like to enter this in

The Butterfly challenge (Butterflies and ink) 

Craft stamper TIMI challenge (Take a stamp)

Stamping sensations - anything with a die

Feeling fiery!

A bit of clean and simple card making for me tonight. I used a mixture of versa colour and distress inks on a waterproof surface, spritzed them with a little water and 'smooshed'. I used the resulting print to cut out two circles and lots of stars with Woodware punches and arranged them to suit a sketch from freshly made sketches. I stamped art impressions happy birthday sentiment and foiled the bottom with distress look gold foil from stix 2.

This card is destined for the following challenges;

Freshly made sketches

The craft barn - firework
Less is more- fire

A Christmas Candle

Having been spurred on by my last attempt, today I had another go at making a candle by transferring stamped ink images. I'm really pleased with the result this time. Here's what I did.

Firstly I measured and cut a piece of white tissue to the same size as the candle. I then inked up a selection of stamps with black Staze on and stamped this scene. The stamps are all from the card-io collections range.

I then masked the bottom of the design with a piece of torn paper, and inked the top with Atlantic versa ink. I added in the winter sun using canary and camellia versa inks. When I removed the mask it gave the impression of fresh white snow on the ground.

 I then wrapped it tightly around the the candle, and then wrapped the whole thing in greaseproof paper. Being careful not to burn myself (!!!) I used a heat gun to gently heat all areas of the candle until the tissue paper had transferred. Being such a large design, this time I had to re wrap it in the greaseproof several times in order to heat all areas without burning my fingers!

I finished up by adding some crystal stickles for extra sparkle. Hope you like it! 

This is my final entry in to the Craft barn light challenge for this week - phew, just in time!

Let it snow!

Good Morning!
I think I might be beginning to get the hang of this blogging lark. Having started to look around a bit more, I realise how many fabulous blogs there are out there. I seem to have been drawn to a lot of the card making and paper crafting blogs such as the craft barn http://thecraftbarnblog.blogspot.co.uk and more recently discovered, Sir stamp a lots blog http://sirstampalotchallenge.blogspot.co.uk. I also love having a mosy through all the things on http://mariannescraftroom.blogspot.co.uk. There are so many fun challenges out there to get your teeth in to- links to a couple more of my new favourites at the bottom of the page. I think what has got me most though is what a lovely community it is to be becoming a part of. People are so encouraging and friendly to one another- it really has been a blessing. Anyway, before I get too carried away in the sentiment of it all, here's a card I've put together this week. Hope you like it!

I die cut a couple of snow flakes and placed them strategically on the card whilst I inked the edges of them in versa colour Atlantic.  Effectively this turned them in to a mask for the background. I pulled the ink out around them to create the stenciled effect.

Once done , I repositioned them on the card and stuck them down. I stamped on the Christmas sentiment from cardio in versa colour indigo. 

Finally to add a bit of texture I raided my ribbon box and tied a couple of lengths of fluffy and sparkly ribbon down the side before dotting the snowflakes with frosted lace sickles glitter.

I'd like to enter this in to the following challenges; crafty ribbons, Christmas,  no red and green

http://craftyribbonschallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/challenge-128.html?m=

country view, add texture

http://countryviewchallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/october-32-add-some-texture.html?m=1

Crafty individuals stamp tapestry scenes

This week I have been experimenting with a bit of flat stamping with inks. I love how easy it is to be creative with the tapestry style 'build your own picture' stamps. For each of the cards below I have inked backgrounds using versa colour and distress inks (applied with my favourite dry baby wipe!) and then stamped the foreground however pleased me.

This one was made using the CI build a meadow set. When I finished I added a few highlights with the gelly roll white pen though these don't show up too much in the picture.

To  create the line of blue and white on this one I simply masked off the top with a piece of white paper whilst I inked the rest of the background. The stamps are a new set from rubber stamp tapestry ideal for men's cards!

To really bring them out, the fairy and toadstools are the only thing stamped in black embossing ink and embossed with glitter.  This is the same build a meadow set in the background but I have used Lindsay mason fairy stamps. 

I plan to pop these on to this weeks craft Barn challenge and see how I get on! 

http://thecraftbarnblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/weekly-challenge.html