Creative Expressions Thursday

Hi My lovlies

Here I am back again and this time I have another card made from our Phil's Decadent Damask collection, this is my last card with this collection this month as next month sees another set of goodies to make with ..

Next month.... gosh we will soon be in June, can you believe how fast this year has gone, I am stunned by how quick time seems to dash at the moment.

Today is My lovely daughter Mandy's 25th Birthday and I hope you will all join us in wishing her a Happy Birthday. She has grown up into a very fine young lady , smart , intelligent and beautiful and kind, what more could I ever wish for, Happy Birthday my baby, I am so so proud of you... xxx

Now moving on to today's card, I went for the Happy Anniversary sentiment in the Occasions sentiments pack of stamps and decided to do a little tone on tone embossing I hope you like it,

Something very different from yesterday again isn't it?. I thought it looks very elegant and regal even and as the name suggests these colours really do look very Decadent.
I have a little step by step for my lovlies today so keep reading to catch this little how to.

So to start I took a piece of red Foundations card and ran over it with my anti static pad, I rested it on top of another piece of scrap card as we are going to stamp off the edge , it always looks prettier than finishing the pattern before the edge and certainly more professional in my opinion.

I took the largest icon in the decadently Damask Icons and Corners little pack of our Phil's stamps

this time and used my perfect medium ink pad and Clear detail embossing powder from Cosmic shimmer of course as it brings up every detail and really looks good tone on tone on any of the card we use.

Begin off the page as I said and work your way across, you can do it super even if you want that regimented wall paper look or just wing it as it were, I did the later as I know Id be adding extra things atop it and some of the pattern would be covered. Once they are all stamped out with the sticky embossing ink dunk it in the detail embossing ink and heat set and this is what it should look like, You can do whatever coloured card you choose (for instance gold or silver for a wedding anniversary or a particular favourite colour card for say a purple lover etc, Once done I wanted to add a ribbon around the ends of the card and I chose black seam binding for this one.

I ran a strip of double sided  strong tape over and around the back of the card, attached the ribbon at the back of one side and then began ruching the seam binding, it is so easy with this ribbon as it is so thin and pliable and also sticks very easily being so slim. Once you get to the end wrap the ribbon around the back and you are left with lots of little loops which stand up from the backing so we need to stick them down, I did that with a tiny dot of cosmic shimmer on the underside of each tiny loop and holding it to grab for just a second or two.

Mount this piece onto some black card with a very thin border to show from the front.

I decided as I have not done this in a long time to have a double milk mat and layer of card and pierce the edges of the smaller piece as it always finishes a card and gives that elegant feel that goes with this Damask print so very well.

This is how it looks at the moment , at this stage it could even be turned into several hanging chandeliers I think for a themed card and in these colours it could even be a theatre invite or something with a hidden treat even.

Set aside for now then as the base is complete.

I looked through my spellbinders dies and found this gorgeous little piece with the raised embossing
with just a couple of cut outs too, so I cut out two one in black and one in milk card., I used some Worn lipstick distress ink and a very light hand too on the raised areas to highlight the pretty pattern too I added the black one below the white one and offset it just slightly so you can see  a tiny part of the black but enough to make it look elegant without crowding it.
I also had these small square pieces with the inverted cut out corners so I stamped my sentiment and embossed it quickly with the clear detail embossing powder again and then heat set. I again used a little of the worn lipstick Distress ink on the edges very subtly but enough to add a flush on the card. i added the double mat I cut out first with one layer of foam , what you cant see here is there is actually a  hole in the centre of that first piece so I added three layers of foam to the back of our sentiment piece and added it to the card, and it raised the centre just the perfect amount.

After adding the sentiment piece to te base , I decided to keep the rest pretty simple and do a triple bow and maybe some pearls and of course it all had to match.

The bow I kept quite large and added a red dazzler to and I used 8mm earls in black for the corner and stopped there haha. ( walk away)  sometimes that is the hardest part... well for me anyway lol..

The finished card again.

Ok my lovlies I hope you have a really great Thursday , I can already see its gonna be a lovely day

all my love

Kim

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Creative Expressions Thursday

Hi folks

Thanks for stopping by yesterday to see my little travel/theme Visible Image Inkiness and today as the title suggests haha is the turn of Creative Expressions of course.
This one looks easier than yesterday as I am really am into my inks, paints etc but it took quite a while.
Those of you that are following the blog will know over the last few weeks I have been playing a little with stitching paper for some of the designs just to add a little extra zing as it were to my creations, I don't like things looking really flat and do not feel that clean and simple is really my forte as it were, so I do like to play with embellishments and extras.
Anyway I have a tutorial for you  on today's card too for those who don't like so much ink etc.

This card actually has a lot of components so bare with me as we go along.

Here I took a piece of paper from the Romantic Garden Couture Creations paper pad and this is actually the back of it, I stitched all around the edge in a simple hand stitched running stitch, I do not have a machine as I said last time but what I do is make lots of hole in a straight line and then stitch through them it keeps the line straighter. I also distresses the edges with the little Tim Holtz distressing tool but scissors will do the same job, just be careful. Then I used the Bundled Sage Distress Ink and used it all over the edges and the stitching, so the cotton picks up the colour too.

 I then took the middle circle from the Spellbinders Royal circle set of 3 dies and cut out this circle , I then used the bundled sage again all over the edges I also decided that as some of the Fleur de lis were breaking off I would nick ever  other one out so I could add something else into those space but I didn't end up doing that stage til later.

I thought I would use the negative piece I cut the circle from and inked through it just subtly with the same Ink, for a little added interest.

 I decided to cut the die cut in half and add it to each side of the central panel and I used my cosmic shimmer glue for that.

I then added a layer of milk card under that piece and a layer of soft gold card too. I then thought the circles needed something to make them stand out a little so I cut a piece of black and adhered each to the back of the die cuts and cut around the edge to make sure it was hidden other than the little windows. I took a larger piece of milk card and attached that across the entire back , I cut out a strip of burlap and frayed it, I stuck it down to the left hand centre panel and added a strip of Green ribbon to the top of that.

I added a few more mats here in this picture, a black one then some foam and another soft gold one to tie in all the colours. This is our base completed .

 Using Perfect medium embossing ink and Bright gold embossing powder from Cosmic shimmer I used Phil Martin's Decadent Damask inspirational Phrases stamps  and created the main sentiment below.

I inked the edges with the same ink of course and gave it a very small matching black mat.

I also added lots of tiny glue dots all around the edge and used The Glitter Jewels Diamond sprinkles which is my fav glitter from Cosmic Shimmer actually.
I made another mat from the back of some paper again in a similar pattern but Gingham this time, it was  one that would blend well anyway  I did a double line of stitching and inked it around the edges a lot I also  mounted it onto a piece of milk slightly larger and added it on an angle to the base we made earlier using foam to raise it up.

 This is what it currently looked like with all the elements so far other than the sentiment we have ready to go.

Here is a close up of the double row of stitching on this last piece and I took the decadent damask  Corners and icons stamp (the mid size) also from and just before I added the centre panel I stamped it on the top right and bottom left of the centre edging. I used a quickie glue pen and the same glitter  which I added a little colour to with distress inks and added that to the design, I snipped out the Fleur de lis as set out before and snipped  every other little flower  circles , I also did the same to the bottom left too.

You can see the pattern on the bottom left poking out as you see it here and I added a small bow in green ribbon like usual. I then took one of the small flower cameos from Creative expressions and added some wax to the high points of the pattern. I also added a little bow out of the same ribbon.

I added a blob of glue and a piece of wide burlap which I gave a small frayed edge  I pushed in  4 pearl string trimmings in white then I took one of our White satin flowers and added it to finish this corner. I also added a 5mm pearl to each of  gaps in the circle die cuts on both piece.

I added a little pearl in each corner and the centre of the little bow and lastly I added 3 tiny fabric roses to the top right corner and then glued a little pearl in the centre of each of them too.
So that was it all finished.

Oh except....  some glitter , I used some more of the diamond Sprinkles on each of the round pieces, just subtly on the dots rather than all over , I never like to go too far and try to keep things tasteful rather then gaudy ( If you know what I mean). ( Oh and I am quite sure I should stop far quicker than I do sometimes haha)

So that's today's post folks , I hope you liked it and even if green isn't your colour you could do this in any colour and it would be great for an inspirational gift for a friend , It actually isn't too raised so it still fits into an envelope this one which will hel with postage etc.
Thanks for all the comments yesterday on here and on facebook , and a huge welcome to the new subscribers , I am sure they sniffed out the cinnamon haha ( you will know what I mean if you looked at yesterday's post guys.)
I absolutely appreciation every comment whether you comment once in a while or once each post  I also love your input and ideas so if you can come follow on here or on facebook and we will keep building this blog together as it is our blog my Internet friends and family.

Have a lovely Thursday and I will see you very soon.

Love to all

Kim 

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Creative Expression's Thursday.

Hi Folks

Well hows this for doing completely opposite of yesterday... lol   I like keeping you all on your toes hehe....
I love the vintage traditional styles almost.... I said almost....hmmmm (nope...inky still pips it haha) as much as the inky goodness as was yesterday and the only thing that today's card and yesterday have in common is ..... Cheesecloth, I had a bit lurking on my desk so it ended up on here too haha..
Thank you everyone for yesterdays kind comments  you always astound me with your kindness and I appreciate you all so very much.

So today's tutorial is more how I worked each piece and how to put something like this together without it looking like a huge bundle of mis matched papers and how you can stamp onto already patterned paper subtly to enhance rather than creating a whole backing piece from scratch as I often do.

I feel this card conjures up summer days, with hedgerows of wild roses and billowy clean washing hanging on the line wafting in the breeze, the scent of newly mown grass with flowers newly erupting from their winter slumbers , cream teas and chalk board writing announcing the delectable freshly backed goodies to temp us that day.....

What.... all that from a hand crafted card you say... my mind often wanders off on these little paths of Imaginarim folks and this is how something will spring into my head , like little buds of ideas and I sit down in the room of stash and tings start to appear and I can instantly tell which idea inspired it.
Well there you are a little peak into the workings of a craftaholics mind folks haha..

Without further ado I present today's card ...

"Just A Note". 

This card is of course for Creative Expression's, It is a new month so this means new goodies to work with so today I used some of the gorgeous papers you know I have been enjoying recently made by Couture Creations and some new stamps from our Phil recently launched.
The range is called Decadent Damask and features not only stamps but an entire range of stunning coloured pastes, glitters and glues from the Cosmic shimmer line of course.

To start...

 I chose some papers from the Vintage Rose Garden 6X6inch paper pad that I liked together , wit ha few matching colours but different patterns. I distressed the edges a little , not too much this time but just enough to give that aged look and of course inked them with Vintage Photo Distress ink, I didn't bring it into the colour of the paper I kept it to the very  edge that was roughened from the distressing tool. (edge of scissors if you don't not have a distressing tool be careful though lovlies..)

 I then hand stitched the edges with a couple of different  stitch styles  mostly just running  and zig zag on the central piece. If you have a machine I love that effect even better as it is so neat but for me this had to do as I do not yet have a machine.

 I took the smallest stamp from Phil's Decandent Damask Corners and Icons stamp set and the strip of paper I was to use to go across almost belly band style and some Antique Linen Distress ink which is actually one of my favourite colours and stamped the Damask Icon several times in a row. I love how well everthing matched thus so far.

 I then put the base together (its's all about that base, all about that base .... no trouble... all about that base ... Singing away here... ish haha)
I used latte , although it looks cream in this light and Soft gold foundations card stock and another piece of hand stitched and distressed paper from the pad.

I zoomed in on the layers and the distressing and stitches for you to view how and which layers have glue and which have a foam separating them without bulking the card too much.

 I chose three papers to go on top of the first green piece and tried them out several ways but featuring the piece with the Damask stamp mainly.I also decided to add some of the damask stamp in a little row vertically down the square piece of paper too, its subtle but I love this look.
The first two I glued flat to the the green paper with a tiny piece of cheese cloth at the top of the pink striped and the belly band piece I added foam to and layreed a larger piece of cheesecloth down with some cosmic shimmer glue before adding the band on top of it, I also added glue to the foam to give it that instant grab adhesion too.

 Next I took some thinner creamy coloured card that is easy to bend and shape and I again used the same stamp and used Antique lined to stamp out lots of the damask stamps onto the left over scrap paper and cut them all out fussy cutting by hand, Once cut I used Tattered lace Distress ink and inked the edges of every piece and on the inside of each piece too.
This is a way to use the stamps you have in a totally different way if you fancy making a home made flower, I knew I wanted a rose on this weeks card and I saw the shape of this stamp and instantly saw petals for this one.

Making the Rose...
 
I started with a little circle of card around an inch in diameter and added a large blob of glue all over the centre but away from the edge , I took a few of the petal and rolled then around a pencil and then began placing them in a circle and overlapping each petal, once all the bottom layer is added I glued a piece of cheesecloth scrunched up in the centre and used a ball tool to really push down into the rose to create a well for the bud I make next to slip into.
Take two petals and glue the bottom half of both and slip them inside each other create a kind of funnel or cone shape and hold til the grab on the glue activates. then take a pokey took or small pencil and roll the edges of the unglued section back, to open it like a rose would be centrally, I too another petal and rolled it up tightly and glued  cut of the bottom and glued it inside that first piece to start the bud forming. I then just went round adding each piece overlapping them by half a petal each time until I got it large enough that I could add to the bottom layer with the cheesecloth we made first.

A country chique rose.

 

So moving on I used another of Phil's stamp sets called The Decadent Damask sentiments. I stamped onto the latte card using Vintage photo ink ad inked the edges and corners well. I mounted it onto a piece of Soft gold card.
Cutting a piece of the crochet ribbon we have here at Creative I laid that down with some double sided tape and of course lots of the little holes in the crochet allow some of the sticky from the tape to be felt through it so I used glitter and tipped it all along the crochet and tapped off the excess which gave the card a very nice sparkle but subtle look. The above sentiment could then be added to the top right of the card with glue and overlapping the crochet ribbon also.

Here is the card so far, I just need to build the Handmade Rose with some leaves and a couple of buds on the left now. I had some leaves in my stash and I bent three of them and glued then to the bottom of the rose I then chose some to glue directly to the card base wit a couple of buds to poke out from under the Rose also. I cut a piece of cheese cloth and frayed all the edge a lot and glued it under the Rose on top of the leaves then I sat the rose on top of it.
My final touches for this piece were a little glitter glue on the edges of some of the paper in a tiny thin sparkly line and also around some of the petals on the Rose too. Lastly I added three Cream 5mm pearls to the top left of the card and three the same to the bottom right on the belly band we created also.

Here is the finished rose before I added the glitter in situ on the card with the leaves.

Here again is the finished card.

I hope you like it  as I say very different from yesterday but I love to be versatile and I made both yesterday's card and today's on the same creative session which  for me comes from an idea written down and a line underneath it then a new idea another line etc etc, then I don't mix them up and try to squeeze too many things in one card etc.

Thank you again for stopping by for all my regular comments and for any new , I love and appreciate the time you use coming here with me and really wold love to be demoing in person meeting you all in person one day too.... 

Huge Huge Hugs for each of you 

Love

Kim 

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