Catching up with the past!

I couldn't think of what card to do next and after much deliberating involving coffee and cake I decided that I would have a go at working through the pile of crafting magazines that are on the one day pile.  I've started with Creative Stamping Issue 67, so goodness knows how old this is!

In the magazine Tracy Evans is a guest designer and as she is someone whose work I admire I have followed instructions for one of her cards and am very pleased with how it has come out.  I haven't put a sentiment on it as I will be using it as a notelet to an old friend whose husband has just been admitted to a care home from hospital.  In these scary times she is obviously very worried by this. 

Starting Over

When I started this blog I had great hopes and plans for keeping it up to date and posting regularly.  Ha! Life certainly leads in you ways you didn't plan to go and hence I've only played with the blog, but know I feel well enough and have enough time to get going again.  SO.... here I am :)

This card used a PaperArtsy stamp set by JOFY.  (JOFY93) that I bought for an upcoming art journal workshop and I fell in love with it straight away and had to use it.

Very easy background of Tumbled Glass and Broken China distress inks, with main stamp and sentiment in Versafine Onyx Black.  Coloured in with pencils and hilights added with Sakura gel pen.  I then added the background stamps to add depth and texture and sprayed with an old shimmer mist spray that I've decanted into another bottle.  Unfortunately or fortunately the mist blobbed rather than misted but I like the end effect very much.  I know I shall be using this stamp set a lot in the future.

More finishing off

Following on from earlier post two more plays using structure paste.  The first is a book using another Stamperia mould and lots of glue, and the second a good old Ikea mirror and a Clarity stencil.  The mirror was going well until I realised that I hadn't checked which was the right way up.  Cue lots of swearing! Fortunately the paste wasn't dry and I was able to scrape it off and leave an interesting texture behind.  Aaaagh!!!  But all's well that ends well as some clever chap once said. 

Birthday Books

I've been playing around with altering things this last week.  Lots of stencil and structure paste and various paints, glues and waxes to finish.  I'm now at the finishing stage of a few things and am pleased with how the majority are turning out.

I have two birthdays this week for young people and have altered the books below for them instead of sending a card.  Both are Stamperia moulding creme and moulds.  Very easy to use the moulds but an absolute devil to stick to anything.  I eventually found that Mod Podge and being held in place for ages worked.  Even the trusted Cosmic Shimmer didn't hold these babies. It could, of course, be the heat but as everything else was drying super quick I don't think so.  But hey, first world problems...

There's lots I would do differently next time (next time???) but for a first time of using the product I quite like them.

Now to sort some buckets out..

Back in the saddle

I've been out of sorts recently and haven't felt much like crafting or blogging, but after a weekend away at the UKSN craft retreat I feel my mojo has made a comeback.  I haven't started anything new, but have made cards out of toppers that I have started and not done anything with.  Yesterday I had great fun with some Groovi parchment and put together six different cards.  Today was the turn of some stencilling I did back in March.  Lovely Sweet Poppy Stencils, some Imagination Crafts glitter paste, some mirri card and what's not to like?

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I haven't added sentiments yet as that's a project for another day.

FoG is 40

My daughter's partner is 40 next week and as I'm off 'up there' this weekend to see the month old grandson I am ahead of myself ready to take his card with me.

I am referring to the poor man as FoG (Father of Grandson) these days because it makes him laugh, and the poor thing is so sleep deprived he needs all the levity he can get

The card is a simple Creative Expressions papercut die in copper glitter card on a chocolate brown Hunky Dory mirri card.  Nice and easy and celebratory enough for a man.

Craftalong

A couple of weeks ago a friend and I decided to join in Clarity's craftalong on Hochanda with Barbara Gray.  I didn't buy the craftalong kit as I had a suspicion that any of the three way stamps and dies would do.  The craftalong was enjoyable and we had a good laugh as we completed our projects and I came home with a few things to finish off.  It's probably heresy to say that I was slightly disapointed in the actual crafting as the projects, except that of the stencil, were the same techniques used before on Hochanda demonstrations with new releases.  But hey we had fun...

I've had my finishing off head on recently and have completed the cards below from the craftalong. 

On this card I've used perga glitter on the double sided adhesive and chromo pen round the edge to finish off.

This one has gilding flakes on the double sided adhesive.  I've never used gilding flakes like this before and managed to get a lot of my craft room gilded!

This is the negative waste from the top card with perga glitter on the double sided adhesive.  I love this technique and the fact of making a card from what you would normally through away.  There is only one card like this and two of the main die cut as I had a little accident and pinged the cut outs everywhere!

Townhouse stamps using the three way stamps in two ways - outline and inner, and outline and background.  Both work well and mounted on mop up paper using the ink used to make toppers.  No waste crafting.