A little bit of colouring

Hello,
Today I have made a card with a recently acquired stamp set from Spellbinders called loves me, loves me not. I stamped it in the corner of a piece of Strathmore Toned Gray paper. I then proceeded to colour it with my Polychromos.

You can't see it on the photo but I went over the stamped outline with a Gelly Roll sparkle pen in green on the leaves and stalks and in purple on the flowers. It does have a lovely sparkle when moved in the light. I blended some white pencil behind the flowers and some weathered wood distress ink around the edges of the paper, finishing off with a few gina k. crystalline drops. I heat embossed the Hello in white.

I am sorry you can't see the sparkle as it makes all the difference on the finished card.

I am sharing this at:
AAA Cards Game 159 - One Corner
Krafty Chicks #495 - CAS
Double D Challenges - Saying Hello
Day of the month card club #12 - send a card to a friend day

      

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today, I really appreciate it.
Hilary
xx

Birthday

Hello,
Today I have a card that I made for the Uniko 8th Birthday Linky Party.

This Dahlia stencil is by Uniko, I think it is really stunning. First I inked a piece of mixed media paper using a brayer and distress inks, then I inked the stencil and clear heat embossed it. Using a piece of copy paper I protected the dahlia while I put a few white splatters on the upper portion with a white Derwent paint pen. I love splatters but don't use them often as I always think I will mess it up. I am determined to get over that! It strikes me, that like everything else, getting good splatters takes practice and I haven't practiced enough yet!

The sentiment is also by Uniko, I heat embossed it in white onto another piece of inked mixed media paper. I don't use mixed media paper all that much but I quite like the texture it gives so I may start reaching for it a bit more often.

To finish the card off I cut a leaf die from vellum and tucked it behind the sentiment. I have seen several cards using velum die cuts recently and liked the look so decided to copy the idea. Hope no one minds!

Here is a close up:

Sharing at:
Uniko 8th Birthday Linky Party
The Flower Challenge #41 add leaves

     
Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today, I really appreciate it.
Hilary
xx

Feb CAS Stencil Reminder

Hello,
Today I am here to remind you about the CAS Stencil February challenge you still have plenty of time to enter as the challenge doesn't close until the 24th. The prompt is foil, I have had a lot of fun learning how to foil with my stencils as it is not something I have done before.

After watching the videos which are linked on the challenge post I decided to see if I could get hold of some of the new Decofoil Tranfer Gel Duo here in the UK, I have found 2 stockists so far: Barnyarns and Bumbleberry's. Once I received it I started practicing and it does indeed work well with an ordinary die cutting machine.

This card was made using a Funky Fossil stencil, which was too wide for a portrait A6 card so I turned it on it's side as I didn't want to lose the edges of this wonderful stencil. I dry embossed a couple of lines on each side in order to add some interest to the white space and wrote the sentiment with my Scan n Cut.

You can see the shine here:

What I have learnt about using transfer gel duo:

• Don't spread it too thick or it will splay out when you run it through the die cut machine
• Don't use a very intricate stencil for the same reason
• You will get less splaying out if you let the gel dry for a long time
• Make sure you cover the foil with a sheet of paper before you run it through the die cutting machine or you will get the  impressions from the plate in your foil

Here are a couple of cards I made during the learning process:

This card turned out well, I think.

This card shows the issue with using a very detailed stencil and how it can splay out.

If you haven't already done so I hope you take the time to join us for our February challenge using foil.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today, I really appreciate it.
Hilary
xx

Tiny Trees

Hello,
Owing to the horrible weather we have been having, I have had time to make cards! So today I am sharing a couple of quick cards that I have made.

This one is going to Less is More #412 Tiny and Few. The tree stamp is by Clarity Stamp and the hello is from Uniko. Less is More are also celebrating their 9th birthday.

 

 I am sharing this one at AAA Cards cas game 158 up to one third.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today, I really appreciate it.
Hilary
xx

Ombre

Hello,
Today I have a card I made for Addicted to CAS #177 code word Ombre.

I used all over sticky post it notes to create the masks and after spending ages getting them in the right position I inked the panel with Peacock Feathers Distress Ink. Once I was happy, I removed the masks and stamped the images using my Misti. The first image was stamped about 3 times, the second once and the third was a second generation stamp. I used Catherine Pooler Aquatini ink as it is similar to Peacock Feathers and stamps better than DI. Unfortunately I managed to get a big blob of ink on the edge of my panel so I had to cut it down, typical! I spent ages trying to decide how to mount it as my panel was now small. In the end I plumped for the silver sparkle paper and I just edged the panel with a little ink.

The words are heat embossed in white. I hope I have kept it CAS by sticking to one colour. this card is going to a friend in the hope that it will give her a little boost.

I am also sharing this at Happy Little Stampers CAS, positive.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today, I really appreciate it.

Hilary
xx

CAS Stencil February

Hello,
It is time for a new challenge over at CAS Stencil challenge blog. This month our host is Barb and the prompt is foil.

There are links to a number of videos showing different foiling techniques on the blog, it is well worth having a look.

To make my card I have used a stencil by Funky Fossil, transparent texture paste by Ranger and some silver foil that came from The Works.

Once the texture paste was dry I laid over the foil, covered it with a sheet of paper and used a hot iron  pressing it as hard as I could. It does work although the transfer is perhaps not as clean as with a laminator. I quite liked the effect though. You can see it more clearly below.

I put the card together by making a crinkle edge frame with a set of dies by Crafters Companion, a flower by Creative Expressions and a thanks die. I coloured the inner parts of the flower with a Gelly Roll silver sparkle pen.

I hope this inspires you to join us this month and proves that you don't need any fancy equipment to create a foiled effect with your stencils.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today, I really appreciate it.
Hilary
xx

Colouring Practice

Hello,
Today I am sharing a card I made because I wanted to practice using my new Derwent paint pens that I found in TK Maxx the other day. I think I will have to stop visiting that shop as I often find myself buying art equipment there. I also recently bought some Faber-Castell mini soft pastels, which are still waiting to be used!

I was looking for something to colour and came across Stamplorations love hop and linky party with a free digital stamp download.

I am not terribly good at colouring and am trying to find time to practice a bit more because I do love it. I liked using these paint pens as the colours are vibrant and opaque and you can blend them with other colours and water while they are wet, but when they are dry the colour is permanent. It can sometimes be hard to get the flow right though. The letters are pained in silver and outlined in (wobbly) black.

I did add a bit of detail with my polychromos after the paint was dry, they went on top quite well so I have learnt something else today.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today, I really appreciate it.
Hilary
xx

January Card Chain Challenge Reveal

Hello,
Today is reveal day over at the Card Chain Challenge. This month my card went to the lovely Lucille in Colorado.

I tried to follow the colour and the design prompt with my card:

I think this cover die is going to end up as one of my favourites, it is from Concord & 9th and this is the first card I made with it. The stripes of colour were cut from coloured card stock but the heart was made by colouring the little hexagons with an alcohol pen and inlaying them, a fiddle but very satisfying. The card base is grey to add a little interest.

This month I received this lovely card from Kath. She has followed the design prompt exactly and the card is simple but just beautifully made, thanks Kath.

Why don't you take a look at the reveal post here.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today, I really appreciate it.
Hilary
xx

Silhouette

Hello,
Today I have a card to share that I made on the spur of the moment after watching a video clip that came up on Facebook using a mask to create a triangular shape. I really liked the effect, so I gave it a go:

The stamp is by Impression Obsession, I stamped it in Gina K amalgam ink and then masked the paper with post it tape and blended distress ink with blender brushes. When I was happy I removed the tape and stamped over it again using my Misti. I heat embossed the sentiment in white, trimmed the panel and mounted it on some black paper.

I am sharing it at Addicted to Stamps & More #374 CAS

I think I might make a set of note cards in this style to give to my sister for her birthday.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today, I really appreciate it.
Hilary
xx