Flaky Fun

Happy Boxing Day! Hope you had a good day yesterday and are not too stuffed still. We had the usual quiet day here, but today we are off to my mum's for a less quiet day.

Today I have another project using the Henna stamps by Creative Expressions. I've tried taking the pics in different lights, but I really struggled to get a shot that did it justice - these are the best I could get, but take it from me the combination of the gilding flakes and the stamps is stunning.

Here's how I did it.

Squeeze a good 'blob' of Flake and Glitter glue onto a craft sheet, and use a piece of cut and dry foam to apply the glue to your stamp.

Apply the Verdigris flakes, making sure you have plenty of coverage.

Take a piece of Rub it, Scrub it sponge to remove the excess flakes and reveal the design.

To make the flowers, you will need three gilded flowers stamped with the Mandala

Cut up the flowers as above.

Curl the petals and glue the flower layers as shown.

Stack the layers and use plenty of Cosmic Shimmer glue to ensure a good stick.

I dd the same to my mdf blank after painting with Claudine Hellmuth Black Gesso and using the Mosaic stamp. 

As an accent I added Golden Light Gilding Wax then arranged my flowers around a Seam Binding bow and an Adhesive Swirl

Thanks for stopping by.

Make a Date

My third project using the new Henna stamps by Creative Expressions for you today. Like last weeks projects, this started life as an inked background that went perfectly with the ethnic feel of the stamps.

I took my A4 background and stamped the Petals stamp a few times. I cut out concentric layers and stacked them to form a medallion. I stamped the  image again onto a square of the background and stuck my medallion onto it.

Duly Noted

Today I have a pair of projects using the Creative Expressions Henna Stamps.

I made some background papers a while ago using spray inks and masks. I loved the papers but didn't get any further than that because I didn't want to cut them up! When I first got these stamps, I had a eureka moment - they went perfectly with my backgrounds.

My inked backgrounds were A4, so I chopped one in half and stamped the Mandala on one and Petals on the other. I took some plain copier paper and cut that in half, then folded it to A6, and did the same to the inked covers. I sewed the paper and cover together with pamphlet stitch.

To make the bookmarks, I stamped the images onto shrink plastic, made a hole and then attached to the spine with black burlap 

To add the word art stamping, I applied perfect medium with my finger to give a rough edge. I heat embossed several layers and then stamped the Just Word Art into the molten embossing powder.

Thanks for stopping by.

White Christmas

I'm loving using the new Henna Stamps from Creative Expressions, the mandala designs are so versatile, and done in white, have a real snowflake look.

For this card, I stamped and embossed with Arctic Pearl and cut out several layers of the design. My card blank was cut using Grande Nestabilities Labels One and I used the same dies for my layers. To mat my mandala, I took some adhesive film. applied it to my cardstock before cutting out, then applied Cosmic Shimmer Glitter.

Henna Stamps

This month, Creative Expressions have sent us some fantastic new stamps to play with - I'm loving playing with them so much as they're so versatile. So without further ado, here is my first project - well technically speaking its two projects in one.

My initial idea was a pendant, but then I wanted something to display it on,so it evolved into a card and pendant gift.

I stamped the Henna Mandala onto shrink plastic. After shrinking (I find I get a more even shrink if I do this in the oven rather than with my heat gun) I added alcohol ink on a blending tool and also directly dripped until I was happy with the effect. To seal the piece and to add gloss, I coated it with UTEE on both sides. I added seam binding to finish the pendant.

For the card, whilst I had my alcohol ink on my blending tool, I coloured a piece of acetate and again added drips of ink until I was happy with the result. I then turned over the acetate and stamped and heat embossed the design. I mounted a strip of the acetate onto white card with brads, then black card. I stamped the greeting from Fanciful Phrases onto two of the Grommet Tags.

Thanks for stopping by.

Winter Flowers Triptych

As it's Thursday again - time flies!- I'm sharing my final project using the Winter Flowers stamp set by Creative Expressions.

I love working with Fantasy Film, and hit on the idea of adding colour with alcohol ink - these flower stamps were perfect for this technique and of course the film takes the colour really well. If you want to recreate this project, I've created a step by step worksheet.

Two for One

It's Thursday, so that means my regular post for Creative Expressions, and today I have two cards for you. My idea was initially for the coloured version, but I also liked the clean simplicity of the uncoloured images, so I used the same sketch for both cards.

This is what I used

White cardstock

Black cardstock

Aqua cardstock

Couture Creations Tied Together Embossing Folder

Black Archival ink

Winter Flowers Stamp set

Spellbinders Labels 21

Distress Markers

Don't forget, you can still enter our blog hop by leaving a comment on the post below this one.

Good Luck!

Oh Hoppy Day!

Good morning, and welcome to my stage of the Creative Expressions Blog Hop.  We're giving away some fantastic prizes today, so be sure to leave a comment  - my prizes are -

I Do Pre Cut Stamp 

Glitter 

Cosmic Shimmer Dries Clear Glue

Cosmic Shimmer Silver Shine Details Embossing Powder 

There is also a prize up for grabs for one lucky person who comments at every stage of the hop.

If you were watching Create and Craft over the weekend, you'll have seen what the DT have been up to with these great new sets from Couture Creations; it astounded me how varied all the samples were and how we each see something different in the same products.

This is the card I've chosen to showcase today, but keep popping back as I'll be showing more in future blog posts. This card uses the Pattern Quilt set.

Use the Caught in Crystal technique - Sue Wilson has an excellent tutorial here - and apply the panels to three pieces of cardstock embossed using the folder from the set. Before adding the panels, highlight the embossing with DI.

Add interest to the layers using a Tim Holtz ruler to add faux stitching holes.

 Stamp and cut the flowers from the set as well as a greeting. 

The next step in the hop is Kerry Hickton, but here are the links for the whole hop, just in case you're lost

Creative Expressions

Kim Robertson

Pam Smith

Neil Burley

Donna Ratcliff

Tracy Heaton - You're here!

Kerry Hickton

Kim Dellow

Trace Metcalfe

Cathi O'Neill

Tracy Evans

Don't forget to leave me a comment to be in with a chance of winning.

Have a Hoppy Day!

Christmas Rose

Another project using the Winter Floral stamp set for you today. I'm loving working with these stamps, especially the Christmas Rose! Everything I've used to create my card can be found at Creative Expressions.

I started with the background - stamped with a Wendy Vecchi script stamp and embossed in Arctic Pearl, then inked with Victorian Velvet and Peeled Paint DI. I then took the Flourish mask and applied Cosmic Shimmer Copper Embossing Paste through it. The flowers are stamped and embossed it copper and then coloured with Distress Markers.

Next week, Creative Expressions are having a blog hop to celebrate the launch of some exciting new products from Couture Creations - so pop over on Tuesday, join in the fun and maybe win a prize.

Cyclamen

Today I have a second project using the Winter Flowers stamp set from Creative Expressions. I've used a masking technique to produce a circle of blooming flowers and here's how I did it.

First of all, I stamped my image onto post it notes a couple of times and cut them out.

I lightly marked a circle onto my cardstock in pencil, then stamped my image at 3, 6, 9 and 12 o'clock around the circle. I placed the masks over the first two images and then stamped between them.

I continued around the circle, stamping and moving the masks as I went around.

When complete, I rubbed out the circle and coloured the images using distress markers, blending with water. I cut out the centre of the circle to add my greeting and used 3d foam to mount my card.

Don't forget to head over tot he Creative Expressions blog to see what the rest of the design team have been creating.

Thanks for stopping by.

Thinking of you

I'm very excited to share my first official Creative Expressions Design Team project today.
For this month, we're working with the Winter Flowers stamp sheet, so I'll be showing more projects using this set, and more inspiration can be found by visiting the rest of the DT's bloggies.

Stamp the image onto Milk cardstock using Versamark, emboss with black powder. Take a Spellbinders circle die, place over the image and mark, with a soft pencil line, where the image overlaps the circle.

Cut out the parts that extend beyond the pencil lines.

Replace the die, lining up with the pencil lines. Bring the cut out portions to the reverse of the die, so that they will remain intact after cutting. Cut out the image.

Colour the image using Distress Markers, then use Old Paper Distress ink to define the edges.

Apply Old Paper distress ink to the Meadow mask by That Special Touch. Run through the die cutting machine to transfer the ink and to emboss the card. Define the edges with Old Paper DI

Die cut a Scallop Circle and a Labels One and mat onto the card front, along with an embossed greeting on a Fancy Tags die cut. Finish with a Seam Binding bow.

Thanks for stopping by, and don't forget to check out what the rest of the team have been up to by following the link on the left.

Silver Ribbons

Sue Wilson has today launched the first, of what will be regular craft videos on her blog. The way Sue uses Spellbinders dies never ceases to amaze me, so I'm sure this new venture will provide lots of inspiration.
http://www.particraft.blogspot.co.uk/

For the wings of a dove

Another altered box; this time, I couldn't resist this cute little soap box.

It's covered with some thick, brown paper sack that our chicken feed comes in, which I slathered in PVA and dried with my heat gun. The crunched paper was then coloured with Distress Paints.

The soaps came in a pack of 4, so I'll probably make a little library with them!

Crunchy Nut

The cover for this book started life as a crunchy nut cornflakes box; I opened the box flat, glued in all the flaps and then covered wit hbrown paper - the effect I was going for was a sort of metal patina, it kinda worked, but would've been better if I'd not gesso'd the brown paper. Still I got some very textural effects with spray inks and rock salt.
I wanted to make something to hold the birthday cards from Molls 18th, so I used the box as a book cover and made the cards be the signatures. The spine was initially square and boxy, but then I decided a better look would be a rounded spine, so I just rolled the side. I finished with some texture paste and Cosmic Shimmer gilding waxes.

Creative Play

It seems like I've spent the last couple of weeks having all sorts of fun with various bits and pieces without actually making many finished 'things'. One of the main things I've been playing with are my new Dylusions inks - blimey are they fab! They were one of those things I didn't need until I saw a youtube, (I really think that phenomenon should have a name as I'm sure I'm not the only victim) so I asked for a few for my birthday, loved them and had to have all the colours! Now I have a whole pile of backgrounds waiting to be transformed.
For now, I'm sharing a small canvas, plus my Tim Holtz September tag.

18

Only last week, we brought our little bundle of awesome home from special care - she was 7 weeks early and clearly could wait no longer to get showing the world what for. Well some kind of time warp has occurred and she's now 18 and still being awesome - as you can tell I'm totally unbiased. To commemorate the auspicious occasion, I wanted to create something very different, something that reflects Moll and says something of who she is.

After watching amybutterflykisses12 Youtube from CHA, I really wanted to produce something in that vein, and it actually turned out just as I had it in my head - it's just Moll!