Discover your wings tutorial.

Hello lovelies

Well I hope you have all had a lovely few days over Christmas relaxing chatting and well lets face it eating haha. I certainly have,  my son's home from University and so Both the kids and I are all together, well until Monday and my special son will be off again. I can get used to him being at home that's for sure and it doesn't matter how many times he leaves and goes back its just as horrible as the first time (soppy mum).
Right enough of that today I have The card for you from Sue Wilson's show on C&C as I had promised a number of ladies a step by step and haven't had chance until now so here we have the card to look at finished to refer to.

 Discover your wings.

So here we go we are working with the gorgeous Taylored Expressions stamps called, 'Discover your wings'.

• Hold the large stamp in your hand and hold your finger over the head of one of the dandelion clock heads. dip it into your perfect medium and stamp it randomly onto white card , Mine is A5 and I wiped an anti static bag over first to stop finger prints and other problems occurring.
• Take your time as the perfect medium is just a sticky ink and takes a while to dry, pour over the clear embossing powder and heat with heat gun until all  melted

So choose your colours, you can see I chose 2 shades of 2 colours and black soot.
I have Faded jeans and Chipped Sapphire in the blues and Wild honey and Rusty hinge in the oranges. Have also 2 largish piece's of cut and dry foam or 2 blending tools at the ready too.

Remember this first layer of Ink that goes down will be patchy which does not matter.... This is where folks give up but try to ignore it and just keep circular motions going and get the ink down and damp so you can move it round well. If you manage to get a corner or tool mark then use that spot to place one of your butterflies when we get there and do not worry about it. If it really doesn't work all you lose is a bit of card. Start again, make tea, grumble but don't give up. (not on my watch girls lol).

• So just to explain as I did on the show I always work with the two corners and a side rule, now in no way do you have to do this but for me it always works if I do but as long as the colours are random it will work, However if you try to make it all neat for some reason it will not look right, I suppose because nature is random and certainly isn't perfect and even just beautiful.
• You can see the white of the card showing through the clear embossing from the flower heads that we did earlier and now you can see the 4 colours that I have emphasised around the those embossed parts which is a basic resist technique. ( I will be starting some simple videos very soon on how to do all these things so you can save them and follow along)
• Next take the smaller butterfly from the set and stamp about 2 of each colour and stay with in its own colour eg. used wild honey and stamp 2 butterflies randomly in the orange section, then take faded jeans and stamp 2 randomly in the blue section.

• You can see those butterflies now in the background and some depth is needed so use some black archival ink (or versafne) and stamp the same butterfly around 3 times once in the grass and a couple times higher up, leaving room for 2 white dragonflies too. 
• Take your largest stamp and wipe the perfect medium off the dandelion clock and dry then use the same Archival(versafine) and stamp the long grassy border to the bottom of the card, it does not matter one jot if you miss a bit or it doesn't reach the bottom cos we can take a black pen and fill it in or use some black ink to create little black half circles like in the bottom of the grass above.
• Next take some of the inspirational words like Dream or Beautiful , pursue happiness etc and stamp them in black randomly also. This is the time to just very lightly go round the edge of the card with your black soot with a very light hand. Now take a cloth or a semi dry baby wipe and clean off the resist clock heads done in step one and just buff them up with a bit of kitchen paper to remove the ink off the resist and make them shine up.
• Stand back and admire what you have achieved so far.. little tap on back me thinks.. well done guys.. now you have depth, colour composition, a resist technique with inks and perfect stamping too. yay
• Next layer. 

• Dry all your layers of ink , make a cuppa tea. (2 sugars please) Blast the whole thing with a heat gun( careful over the embossed bits though) then rub over the whole thing with your anti static pad again. If you do not, the next step is  more heat embossing to pull out your front layer with the dimension aspect but if the ink isn't dried then the powder will stick to the inks and you will have white powder all over everywhere and it will look mottled. So do the drying and this is why I make a cuppa at that point as you won't be tempted to play too soon.
• So stamp each dragon fly from the set , tip on the white embossing powder, I use the True white from Creative Expressions but you use what you have.

• Melt it on with your heat gun. If you keep a dry old paintbrush handy  before you melt it on you can brush off any strays (hairs not dragons or flies u understand).

• At this point I took a black pen with a tiny point and went around the dragonfly patterns inside the wings and around the tail and outside of body too, it just makes it stand out a little.
• I also used a white pen, just a few dots on the plants and grasses, butterflies etc for some Highlights.
• I ran a thin strip of double sided tape along the bottom of the card and tipped on Iced snow which is a chunkier glitter and really pressed it onto the tape well.
• Now I took a glue quickie pen or you can use a fine nib glue applicator or anything and I used diamond sprinkles a white iridescent glitter very fine and sparkly , I dotted it all over the silhouette flowers and dandelion heads and up the grasses on the wings and anywhere really, you want lots of sparkle but classy sparkle.
• So next matt your picture ( once dry) onto some blue then custard card stock. measure out a larger piece of white and stamp in the corner, 'Discover your wings ' from the set and layer this once dry onto a piece of blue as your last mat.
• You could add a ribbon to hang up the art or put it into a frame or even a box frame would look good around it. I chose to make a felt flower in the off white that was on our lovely Sue's show in the vintage I added glue and dipped in sparkly and added a large 8mm pearl in the centre, I also stamped water coloured and cut out some of the Heartfelt Creations classic leaves dies. 

So voila there it is guys all done. This week I have a project for Visible image to complete  using a similar technique and so we can get a bit more practise in I will take a lot more pictures and steps for you to see, I will also start to get to grips with some video's for you. I also have the other tutorial to do for the baby card I did on air so I will do that in the next coupld days too.

I also have another of the cards from the show to put on today for you to comment on and let me know what you think, I loved this set I must admit and water colouring it was really easy. let me know anyway and have a great Sunday lovelies.

Sunny Days.

Well there you go , I will get round also to answering all the questions that are left and I do try to answer the messages you leave me too when I can and there isn't too many as I think it's nice to try to get to know you all too.

Lots of love for Sunday and see you soon

Kim 

xxxx

2 post Saturday.

Evening all, I have 2 cards for you tonight.

The first is very feminine, and the second is actually pretty masculine.

Hope your all having a good weekend so far, and I hope the folks at the Great North papercraft event up in Harrogate are having a great time, (I so wish I was there). I hope my cards got to Craftwork cards in time to be at the event too. Anyway we are having really rotten rain here in Hertfordshire so I hope you're faring better where you are.

Have a great Saturday evening, or what's left of it.

This is a bit of a hybrid haha, I used the spellbinders Pick of the day I got from create and craft, but I did it with Kanban card stock and used creative expressions ribbon and pins. The background is gorgeous; it is one of spellbinders new A4 embossing folders, yummy. The lovely sentiment is also from Kanban and was Dawn Wheeler's kits which were really pretty vintage kits that came out just a few months back and was very nice.

Next..

This one I started with the animal print paper and mounted it on black card stock. I cut out a background piece from white card and inked it with distress to match the back. I wrapped a ribbon around and added a small bow and a piece of Candi.

I cut out this very ornate small d-lite from spellbinders, which I mounted on black card again. I put the lattice onto mounting foam to raise it up fro the design and then I used some black enamel accents from Ranger and placed small dots in the cross of the lattice (took a while neck now killing lol). I
added my sentiment which I inked and added Best wishes to.

Very happy with that.. I can do a man's card woo hoo...
See you tomorrow guys!
Kim x

Tv cards for Stamp Addicts 13/09/12

Hello all!

Here are the cards I made for Stamp Addicts over this last week. They are on Create and Craft TV tomorrow at either 4 or 6, I'm not sure which, but the stamps were lovely to work with and easy to build a picture with. It was good fun, as they are a different g,enre for me.

This was Coloured with distress inks and covered in rock candy, then rubbed with black soot to give it a smoky, shadowy atmosphere, like on a stage! I found a great pack of papers that I had stashed away for the skin type background too.

The letters were Craftwork Cards mounted onto black card, some raised, and some flat. I took some little wooden stars and pressed them into Versamark, and then tipped on lots of embossing powders mixed with a little utee and glitter, melting it on and adding them to the topper I made.

Lastly, took a couple of musical peel offs and added them to some mats and layers and found a way to attach them.

Next...

This is a bat playing a guitar, so I thought I would colour him in greys. For this, I tried Promarkers this time. I managed to get a good blend and used Greys mixed between cool and ice.

This is a stepper card with the big guitar in the back cut from a rock paper pad I had, fab quality, more like card. I coloured the guitar in mixes of orange/red and dark red. Then I added glossy accents to that and his sunglasses, they dried really shiny and raised.

I used another backing paper with lots of silver guitars on the back and the bit left over. I cut a guitar out and mounted it like real guitars on walls. Made some flowers using petal pairs punches and glitter and glue in the middles. Finally added bling and done!

Next..

I love this one and when I stamped it I thought I'd make a background card using just the head, but I didn't realise I had a bit of ink on the word part and it stamped Vini on the right! So the turtle after that had a name (unless the Stamp addict ladies already gave him one). To me, he is Vini the turtle!

Again I used some fab papers that really do look and feel like reptile type skin. Two of those flowers I made a while back from paper made it onto this one.  I used also some Debbie Moore backing paper from her vintage travel pack  punching out some extra paper in strips and adding them for dimension.

I coloured old Vini with Sakura pens mostly but there is some distress inks in the mix too as I couldn't always get the right colour for him with just Sakura.

I used the technique of putting fresh water over the eyes of the stamped head background and blotting it back off so it goes back to the original white of the stamping card to stand out.

A little white pen faux stitching and bling, and a bow, and also some raffia helps to finish this one off.

I also did...

The lion.

I mostly coloured him by dobbing my inks onto my craft sheet and using a water brush to wash the colour onto the card. I built up layers of colour allowing a little drying time. I used a craft cd of Joanna Sheen's to print the grassy background. And lots of matting and layering.

Due to The wizard of Oz, when I think of lions, I always think of the cowardly lion needing his courage. So I decided this would be a good luck/courage card. I drew a paw and layered that too and again used the Craftwork Cards letters and matted them on black, added bling on some not others.

I also tried him a different way...

I used some Papermania papers on this one. An Easel card which I thought I'd have some fun with so I added a background and over stamped some branches I gave him a daisy chain necklace and drew a golf ball in. I had him standing on a stump of grass and more daisies and then used a sentiment I had saying:

"Take the time to walk barefoot in the grass making daisy chains and Believe in the beauty of your dreams." From Indigo Blu who I absolutely love.

I used it like a sign post and enamelled a piece of card that I had made look like wood.
Lastly, I made some flowers again with punches, layering them up so as to make them look like little but full blooms. Bling finished him off... not literally.

So these were the cards I sent and I'm looking forward to seeing the shows tomorrow.
I thank Sarah for choosing me to help her showcase her lovely stamps. 

Hope you like them!
Happy Crafting
Kim xx

Time.

Evening Blogland!
How's your day been?

This is a late post but I simply had to put up a card, even though the photography in this light is not great at least you knoq I'm here everyday to show you lots of crafty goodness.

This card is one I made a short while ago. It was when I first got some Debbie Moore Embossing Powders.

I also used the technique of stamping into melted ultra thick.

• I took a Kraft card base distressed the edges and added a ton of ink to the edges (good old Tim).
• Next I chose a Craftwork Cards Vintage 8x8 paper in a tan colourway, cut it down slightly and used three different Distress Inks to add colour and blend the paper really well at the edges. I used Vintage Photo, Walnut stain and Aged Mahogany. 
• Leave the paper aside to dry a little, or you could use a heat tool. I took some Ribbon and Bakers Twine and coloured them with the Inks to match. 
• After drying the string thoroughly I wrapped it round the paper and secured on the back, cutting off any bulkiness (if only it was that easy to diet lol).
• Next I secured the paper with string and ribbon attached to the card base and set aside. I took a Mat and Layer and ran them both through my little textured impressions machine, the larger piece is actually Mirri card, I sanded them both back a little to reveal the embossed clocks.
• I covered them both in Versamark which is really a sticky ink that embossing powders or Micas etc can adhere to. Then added little blocks of matching colours ready to be melted with the heat tool.
• Once melted and sanded  I roughed up the card, reopened and flattened out, I took some Glossy Accents and highlighted the clock faces in places.
• I took a pile of ultra thick and put it on my craft mat (non-stick, Heat proof) and very slowly melted it down. 
• I stamped my clock from Creative Expressions into a part of it waited for it to harden a minute and then bent the craft mat so it popped off . That's a great technique and it looks so cool.
• I laid all the pieces so far onto my card base that already had the paper and string etc stuck down.Adding ribbon to the small Mat. I found how I wanted them and stuck them all atop of the ribbon and twine with Pinflair glue gel. I also stuck my melted utee with this.
• Lastly I took my small pocket watch embellishment and stuck it to the card dabbing the edge with a little Versamark, sprinkled on some utee and carefully melted it, taking care not to remelt the piece we stamped into earlier. 
• I added a sentiment on the top right hand corner which I distressed with the same inks to match.
• To finish wrote a nice quote in white pen on bottom right.     

I wonder if you will try that or it isn't your thing?  For me this is one of my favourite things to do, just to sit and play and see what happens and how the art takes you. I was pleased with the result and enjoyed the process and was up to my knuckles in Ink and un melted utee that I managed to blow everywhere. I've seen a much better heat tool by Sheena Douglas, whose art I love, which disperses the heat much more gently so you don't lose half your powder! Haha!

Thanks for stopping by
Kim x

                                                                                                                               

Botanical Paper Flower

This started as me walking down to the local shop to buy tea bags. Hmm... You now think: how did the flower come from a tea bag? Well, it didn't. However, I bought a magazine too and it had free botanical papers, which I thought were rather nice but a little plain.

So, I got out a simple flower stamp, (part of Dawn Bibby range) and stamped it several times. Next, I got out my trusty Tim Holtz distress inks, which I can't be without, and  blended some colour that matched the papers I thought. I even added some Sakura pen and water brushed it out, a little mica and there were the flowers! I then set about cutting them all out and creasing them, spritzing a little too, layering them up and sticking with the best clue on the planet (well I think so at this time, til anyone changes my mind... what is your favourite?).

The glue is cosmic shimmer glue; it grips almost immediately, dries clear, and is strong. I just wish the pots were bigger, as mine seem to have a hole in the bottom... Or I use them up too quick haha... Anyway I made a few of these little guys today and added them to today's very simple card, but I think it at least looks very pretty! Again, all thanks to the teabag trip... Pic below...