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Monday 29 June 2020

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 260

The challenge for this fortnight is to create your own background.

I started with a couple of Crafter's Companion rotating background stamps and came up with a couple of different effects.

This card uses Memento ink in four shades to create the background.  I cut a window in the card using a Sizzix die which actually double cuts, so I had a separate 'frame' die cut. I used foam mounts to attach the background, then added the frame tight to the gold coloured background. The flowers were created with a die set from Elizabeth Craft/Susan's Garden Notes.

The process here is the same, but instead of four different ink pads, I used a single, Kaleidoscope pad. Again, I cut an aperture in the floral background, and again, the flowers were made using dies from the Susan's Garden Notes collection.

I have to say I'm a little disappointed with the rotating dies. Having watched Sara demonstrate them, they seemed fairly foolproof, and I assumed they'd work well with my Tim Holtz stamping platform. To be honest, they didn't. It simply wasn't possible to arrange things well enough to get the desired result - even placing the stamp as close to the centre of the card didn't seem too work. Of course, using that platform, I left the stamp in place and rotated the card (which I'd placed at the corner to be sure of repeatability.)

Anyway, I managed to find the Crafter's Companion stamp platform and magnetic base at a good price (ie, not much more than the platform alone) and decided to get it, at least partly because having a non-hinged platform seemed to have some advantages. Unfortunately, the result wasn't any better, initially. Because with this system, you leave the card alone and turn the stamp, it's important to place the stamp in the dead centre of the platform. And there lies the problem. Even getting it as close to the centre as eyeballing it will allow, there's still a bit of a mis-match between rotations. That may be because, unlike the Tim Holtz platform, there's quite a lot of wriggle with the Crafter's Companion  platform. It's definitely possible, even with the platform feet in the recesses in the magnetic sheet, to get up to a couple of millimetre's wiggle when you stamp. The result (providing you line up the grid lines on the platform and base as well as you can) is ok  and I'll definitely use the stamps, but I don't think I'll be using this platform as much as the Tim Holtz.

I do hope you can join us this time.

Sunday 21 June 2020

International Art and Soul Challenge 86

The challenge for this fortnight is 'Blue as Main Colour'. So, not too hard!

I made a card that I can send without having a special reason.

I started by making a background with Brushos and Pixie Powder. When that was dry, I added some stamped images using stamps from a variety of manufacturers including Creative and a couple from Creative Stamping Magazine. I used Versacraft, Versafine and Versafine Clair inks because they are the only inks I have that are opaque enough to stamp over such a strongly coloured background.

I do rather like the result, but then I love the shades of blue I've used - they're so vibrant!

I hope you can join us this time.

Monday 15 June 2020

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 259

The theme for this challenge is Masculine and other that that, we'd love to see whatever your creativity comes up with.

I made a couple of birthday cards. The first is for my husband.

I started with a piece of mixed media paper, and added some Brusho ink. Then I stamped a Woodware stamp using Versafine Clair ink and matted the result onto some white card. The blue layer was cut at both sides using a very old Spellbinders border die, and the holes filled with some stick on studs from The Range which I really like as they're decorative but not so blingy as adhesive gems.

I liked the effect so much, I decided to try again with different colours for my daughter's partner.

This time, I kept to just two colours of Brusho, and again I matted on to white. Then, I added two die cuts from another very old Spellbinders die to complete the effect.

I do hope you can join us this time.

Sunday 7 June 2020

International Art and Soul Challenge 85

The challenge for this fortnight is Under the Sea and can be anything so long as there is an under-sea theme.

My immediate thought when I saw this challenge was to reach for my Josephine Wall Enchanted Dreams CDRom. Having said that, there weren't so many under sea images there, but I found one that's lovely and went with it.

I love the images on that CDRom, but I'm generally disappointed by the background papers supplied - they always seem rather plain and drab compared to the gorgeous, vibrant images. This time, I decided to make my own but not using digital means. I started with my 6in gelli plate. I added an all-over layer of Distress Ink, and printed it on to copy paper. Then, I chose a stronger, bluer shade and again applied a layer to the plate, but before printing to paper, I used a stencil to remove areas of ink. The result was the wavy pattern. I wanted to add a subtle hint of seaweed, so the next stage was to use a stencil of long fronds (from Crafter's Companion) and I added Distress Oxide ink through that. The result was definitely subtle! To get the stronger shades at the edges of the background, I stamped with Versacraft Ink. That's the most opaque of the inks I own, and it definitely gave the desired effect. I used some Creative stamps for this. They're supposed to be watercolour greenery images, but I think they pass for a stylised sea weed!

And, apart from some matting and layering, that's it.

I do hope you can join us this time.

Monday 1 June 2020

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 258

The theme for this fortnight's challenge is Weddings! Now, most years, this would be a hard theme for me as almost no one I know ever gets married. But this year, a former colleague is getting married to her long time partner, and I made this:


I started with a Brusho background in blues and purples. However, they were too bright for a wedding card, so I added a layer of tracing paper which I heat embossed in silver. If you've never tried this, let me tell you, it's brilliant! It worked better than I could have expected.


Not a great photo, and of course I covered up a lot of it! But I was very impressed.

Edited: Of course, the wedding has had to be postponed due to the Covid19 Pandemic. So, there'll be another wedding card to do when they fix the date!

I do hope you can join us this time.

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