Project 459: A London thank you

A colleague just bought a house and had to ask a massive favour of another colleague in order to make it work. She wanted a thank you that was deeply personal and after talking to her about it we decided a watercolour London scene was exactly the right note.

I started by heat embossing the Tim Holtz stamp from Claire on watercolour paper. Then I used Distress Inks and a water brush to get a grey and blue sky effect. I added a Mama Elephant thank you set in the corner that would offset the skyline and hold its own.

I decided to triple mount it for a touch more elegance. Really happy with it and my colleague loves it too. A lovely little art project.

Project: Things that fly at MAWTT

I have been making a lot of cards lately that involve birds, butterflies, hot air balloons, and I realised that I seem to be obsessed with things that fly. I thought it would be the perfect challenge for Moving Along with the Times this week!

My card features a set of bug stamps that I heat embossed in black. I put them on a strip of watercolour paper that I painted using an aqua brush and Distress Inks. I tried to choose colors associated with that particular bug and I'm really happy with the combination. I added a sentiment from Tim Holtz idea-ology stickers that I thought worked well for the set. I tried it on white, black and kraft card and decided black looked best.

Project 431: A sunset surfer anniversary card

A colleague remembered her 5 year anniversary a bit late in the day - specifically it was 6:15 on a Wednesday for her anniversary on Thursday!

She was in a fast-paced brainstorm, listing things about their relationship and dates and we were trying to come up with gift ideas. She mentioned their first date was surfing and involved tequila shots on the beach and I thought: that would make a great card.

I started by paper cutting a surfer and surf board in black paper, then cut out my shot glasses and limes. I added glitter glue to represent the tequila and added white gel pen to the limes. I watercolored using Distress Inks to get the sunset and beach motif. The sentiment is die cut using white stock and I split it over the background and kraft card blank.

My colleague was really tickled by it so I'm pleased it worked out.

Project 427: Another Masculine Thank You

I mentioned a few posts ago I was working on some masculine thank you cards. I liked the sketch at Always Playing With Paper and decided to make this a bit of fun: 

I used the pickle set Claire gave me and heat embossed it in black. I used Mown Lawn Distress Ink as a watercolor to add accents to the pickles and just a tiny touch of white gel pen. I used some really fun arrow paper clips in place of the banner tags and decided a bit of hardware would be perfect. Fun and simple but I'm really happy with it.

Project 425: A masculine thank you

I have a few special thank you cards to send and I needed them to be masculine. 

The combination of the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches and CAS on Sunday were perfect challenges for what I needed:

I used watercolor paper and heat embossed a tree in black. I used Mustard Seed Distress Ink to paint the background. The sentiment is an ancient one that I heat embossed as well to make it stand out. I was happy sticking with the primary color brief, it was just the inspiration I needed. 

Project 407: Some artsy Mother's Day commissions

Two special cards today commissioned for Mother's Day. The headline is a card that a colleague asked me to make featuring freesia (preferably purple freesia), a butterfly and a meerkat. Yes a meerkat. She had sent me a photo reference for the freesia that was really nice and, since I lacked a freesia stamp, I decided to try my hand at colored pencil drawing. Not too shabby I think! I die cut a butterfly and then added a little cut out meerkat. He's probably the weakest link here but, then again, it's not a strong narrative to have a meerkat is it!? After I fussy cut the flowers I arranged it and realized I needed a sentiment so I went to my trusty dies. I'm really pleased with it, even if it is totally random!

This one was too funny - a designer told me he wanted a card for his gran, who was a painter in her youth and from Wales. She liked painting birds and landscapes so I decided to do a little mini watercolour of a Welsh coastline scene in honour of her. I made a little watercolour box and a mini brush and easel out of paper. It was a bit fiddly but I am really pleased with it! Then I found a nice artsy backing paper that has texture but doesn't detract from the scene. I die cut a greeting but liked it better without it - I can always add it back in if my colleague wants it included.

Totally random and different but so pleasing to make!

Project 388: Watercolor striped thank you cards

I had a great playdate with Claire over the Christmas break and I was keen to try out a few different techniques and things I had seen on Pinterest. One thing I saw a lot of was striped background using blending or watercolours. I decided to put my own twist on it with two different cards.

The headline features the sweetest little french bulldog that Claire gave me that I stamped, die cut and then colored with ProMarkers. The background is watercolored paper cut down to a square and I used Salty Ocean with an aqua brush to get messy stripes. Yes I intended the messiness!

This one was modelled a bit after this card, as I liked her stripes, feature image with little white and black dots and stitched border. I opted for a hand-drawn stitching and didn't really mask off the stripes, instead I just laid down a piece of card to get a rough mask rather than anything precise. I wasn't in the mood for precision! The image is a Little Claire flower that I have had for years and is colored with ProMarkers as well. I love the navy and yellow combo, so cheerful. 

Project 376: Heat embossed painted christmas cards

I found a stash of oval water-colour papers that Claire had given me ages ago. I thought they would be fun to try a mini set of Christmas cards so I had a little play at my desk.

I embossed a few different stamps (reindeer, tree, wreath and a large sentiment) in gold and silver and then painted the background using Distress Ink as watercolours.

I then layered these over patterned paper or washi sheets (really had fun with those!) and decided against a sentiment. I added only a tiny touch of bling to the wreath as it looked naked, otherwise I think they're all much better left with just the pattern of the paper and the heat embossed design. 

I'll confess that the heat embossing got boring pretty quickly but the painting went quickly and because they were already cut to ovals they were really easy to assemble. I'm pretty much done my Christmas cards this year unless I decide to take any orders from colleagues so now it's just about filling them out and sending them! 

Project 370: Watercolored anchor card

As I've gotten into using Distress Inks as watercolors with an aquabrush I've realized I need better watercolor paper. I tried a new type today and thought I'd just have a play with some different colors and then construct something to fit afterwards.

I made a sheet of mixed blues from about 5 different Distress Inks and then flicked some of the darkest color as spots across it, plus some plain water bleach spots. I thought it would be perfect with the new set Claire sent me, which I love.  I stamped the sentiment and then used the matching anchor die in grey stock, raising it with tiny foam squares to make it pop a bit more.

It was a fun little experiment, I'm really happy I was able to get a card made from a little art session.

Proejct 343: Using inks like watercolors

I have been having a play this weekend with some fun new techniques and really embracing distress inks as watercolor.

For the headline card I used Mown Lawn and Broken China inks and applied it directly to an acrylic block. I spritzed with water and then dragged it across a piece of card. I saw this idea in Creative Stamping magazine with a cassette tape and black thread unwound like old tape. I heat embossed the tape and then colored it in with a grey promarker then cut it out. I added little gluee dots to keep the thread all looped up but still a bit flexible. The greeting is from Stampin' Up endless birthday wishes. I love this card. I want to make so many more of them.

Next I played with a Sizzix set that Claire gave me in the Black Friday $20 challenge. The image was stamped on green card stock using a pink pigment ink. I die cut out the slices, adding some dark green stripes to make it pop a bit more. I used black and white paint to give it some dimension. I used Peacock Feathers ink with an aquabrush down the side to make it stand out. The Sweet is from the same Sizzix set and is heat embossed in black and then diecut out. I added the smaller text from the same endless birthday wishes set.

Finally is another card that uses a dye based ink instead of distress ink. Claire got me this great Kaleidescope ink pad. I inked directly on a block and spritzed with water. This was dragged across the paper twice to give it a more vibrant hue. I used white poweder and heat embossed the hummingbird. The greeting is a Tim Holtz sticker and thought it was perfect for this image. The little enamel dots are hidden in their respective colors.

Really loved this session, that headline card fills me with lots of joy.

Project 341: Painted anchor card

I had a commision for a nautical birthday card for a colleague to give to her sibling and I loved the brief as I knew I could go a lot of different ways with it. I particularly wanted to stretch myself with a combination of challenges:

Sketch layout at CAS(E)this sketch:

Color challenge at Retro Rubber:

My greeting is over a year old, from stampin' up endless birthday wishes. 

Tic Tac Toe at Paper Players:

I went for the top line: Enamel dots, CAS, masculine

Here's what I did: I followed a new tutorial for applying distress ink to an acrylic block and then spritzing with water and dragging across card stock. Love. Love. Love.  I used Mowed Lawn and Salty Ocean to be on brief with the color theme, and then overlapped them in the middle to try to get a middle stripe to meet the sketch.

The anchor is from Claire, the last in my stash as she die cuts them for me and brings them over.

All in all I was really pleased with the combination of challenges and how it all came together. I hope my colleague likes it too!

Project 332: A baby card for MAWTT

This week at Moving Along With the Times we have a baby challenge for you. I have had a lot of babies come into my life lately so this was a fun challenge.

I used a wooden stamp from Michael's that I picked up in a sale. I colored it with ProMarkers and die cut it out and layered on an embossed diecut sheet. The background of the paper is painted with an aquabrush and Distress Inks in Victorian Velvet and Picked Rasppberry. The elephant then got a wash of Wink of Stella sshimmer. The greeting is an old one from my stash and I stamped it onto a punched washi tape strip from Claire.

All in all, really a very cheerful card with a lot of technique but happily a CAS finish.

Can't wait to see whatyou do in the next two weeks!

Project 325: Painted congrats card

My cousin just got her MBA and I wanted to make her something special to celebrate. I saw the sketch at CAS(E) this Sketch and thought I'd try a new painted idea I had been wanting to try:

I used an aquabrush with Picked Raspberry, Seedless Preserve and Victorian Velevet Distress Inks to get the watercolor effect. I varied the height to match the sketch. I heat embossed the greeting in black to make it stand out against the pale colors. The sequins add a touch of glam and I think it's a great finished project. Will have to try the technique again!

Project 254: Some colored and cut critters

More fun cards with Claire today. Claire has some great little critter stamps and dies and she was kind enough to let me play with them. The lighting isn't great as I'm taking these from my hotel room, sorry about that!

The hero card is just too much fun. There were a dozen greetings and I thought this combo of 3 was so funny. I crack myself up.

The paper is a scrap from her stash and the little adhesive dots were a new discovery in my exploration of her stash. The critters are colored with ProMarkers and I drew on the border by hand.

This one is a bit simpler. We cut out the cat, shorts, banner and skateboard separately. The papers are all scraps from her stash and the cat's colored with an aqua brush and Distress inks. Another hand drawn border just because it was looking a bit naked.

I love these little critters and can't wait to share them with my mom and sis as I'm seeing them in just a few days!

Project 253: Watercolor stamp effect

This weekend I had an epic NYC playdate with Claire. Wahoo!

We got up to a few fun new tricks and techniques, including the one featured here. She showed how to spray a background stamp with water and then you lay the paper down on top of the stamp. The headline is my second attempt, and I thought it was too much fun.

I used a watercolor stripe stamp from Claire's stash and thought the watermarks looked so good with the textured paper. The cactus is stamped and cut out (Lawn Fawn I think) and made into a sticker - another fun new technique from the playdate. These were colored with an aqua brush and distress inks. The sequins add a touch of fun. The greeting is actually from a different stamp set, but I thought it was a great greeting with the cactus.

This attempt was something a bit different. It was a smaller stamp but stacked it up to get a deeper panel. I thought this looked a bit like rain and used a cloud stamp from a Simon Says Stamp set and cut it out by hand. The grey card is embossed with this gorgeous embossing folder from Claire's stash. She's not allowed to buy folders without me. This is too nice. The little sequins and glue dots are a great little rain dot.

It's a great technique and one definitely to use again.

Project 236: Some new kit and new techniques with an old friend

If you didn't see my earlier posts, CLAIRE IS HERE!

We had a great playdate one night and goofed around with some new kit she brought with her. Some of it were purchases I made from her as a Stampin' Up demonstrater but some of it was from her stash.

The first is a card we made using a flower stamp and die set I bought. I stamped over spotted paper and die cut it and a stem from a scrap on my desk. The ink wasn't different enough so I dotted over the lines of the image with a pen. I used a greeting from Claire's stash and was going to keep it very CAS. But my hand smudged green ink and I got it in the white space down the left side. So with some advise from Claire I added some fingerprints in a gradient of green to blue to purple down the side. Crisis averted, cool texture added, very pleased!

This card here is a super simple card using this new kite embellishment Claire and her mom gave me. I used Claire's stitched die for the baking paper and the Explore Nature greeting from my flower set used above. Just a candi and I called it quits. CAS is best with something like this.

Claire introduced me to freezer-paper masking, which is new to me. She had diecut sentiments and shapes for me and this one is adhered to a stitched rectangle. I colored it using Gelatos and a watercolor brush and added some speckles for texture. I choose blues as I'm using this for a wedding card and they have a royal blue scheme. I added pearls of different sizes and colors and again left it pretty simple. I think the masking works amazingly well and gives such an artistic touch to a simple layout.

Delighted with these projects and the chance to play face to face.

Project 219: A bookshelf reclaimed as a dresser

I live in a characterful 1930s apartment building next to a gorgeous garden park and just 1 block from the Thames. Characterful, in London property terms, means small!

One of the challenges is that my old set of drawers was too deep for the bedroom, making it impossible to pull them out without hitting the bed.

I decided to look for something open that would allow me to have most of my clothes on a shelf and eliminate the problem. When I saw this bookshelf at a charity second hand shop I knew I could transform it. And for £12, the price was too good to resist! I paid almost 100% more for a £10 delivery fee, just to give them a bigger donation (and it was before I got a car).

The first thing I did was remove the AWFUL peeling vinyl paper. I replaced it with a green and blue drawer liner I bought for £4 at Tiger.

Next I painted it with green chalk paint to give it a fake antique patina. I think the paint was £4.50. The lighting is so bright right now I can't get the tone to come through in the picture but it's a nice minty sage green. 

I hunted for a while for good drawer knobs. These are from Anthropologie and were the most expensive component, coming in at £8 each! I actually liked the original ones as they were  ceramic but they were red and nothing in my room is red. I'll save them for something else.

Finally I bought these woven baskets from TK Maxx, £8 for the two bigger ones, and £6 for the smaller one. I'm evangelical about the KonMari method of folding and tidying and she recommends you fold things so they are vertical, rather than horizontal. That way you see everything at once and folding and storing is actually way easier.

I'm super pleased with the finished product and, at £84.50 for all the materials and parts, I don't think I could have found a better or more bespoke piece. Totally worked out as getting clothes couldn't be easier!

Project 44: Card stock canvas decoration

I saw this canvas project on Pinterest a while back and have been looking for the time to dedicate to it. I have a few days off and thought this would be a good time to give it a try. 

First I went out and got a canvas. Wilkinsons sells printed canvases cheaper than you can buy a blank one in an art store so I bought one with a photo on it for £5 and painted over it. 

After getting the color I wanted (about 5 layers of mixed paint which, of course, were a slightly different shade each time because I never remembered the proportion of white to blue to green to black) I let that dry for about 3 hours. (I used a plastic bag over a gym mat as my crafting area after getting paint on the bathtub last time I tried to "safely" paint in the bathroom.) The paint looked streaky when I stopped but it dried really evenly.

I had cut out the petals the day before; be warned that this is tedious. About two thirds of it is the Latte Matstock by DCWV and the rest is comprised of scraps.  I did a loose arrangement to make sure it would all fit. 

Then I got to bust out my handy dandy glue gun. This wasn’t as time-consuming as I thought it would be. 

And there we have it (see headline photo). I’m going to hang this on the wall in the bedroom (even though it matches nothing) to jazz that room up a bit. 

PS I have some new Christmas designs as well so I just need to get another post up this week. Stay tuned!

Project 12: Splatter painting

My friend Emra had a difficult year last year and decided to move to Spain to be closer to her mom. This means I obviously don’t get to see her very often so a mutual friend and I decided we would send her a care package. It has all sorts of random stuff (chocolates that have cows on them, tshirts with random things on them, cotton buds, etc) and naturally we needed to have a card or two included.

Emra is really arty and I thought my cards might be a bit too cutesy for her so I decided to shake things up a bit and get out the paints. I had this idea to do part of her nickname in one colour and then do the rest of the background in another and let the paint be the interesting feature of the card rather than a complex layout.

This was my result:

I first cut out a stencil of the letters in cardboard, keeping the original cardboard intact so I had the cut-outs and a stencil to work with.

Next I filled in the letters by putting the stencil over the card and then splattering navy and green acrylic paint over the card. Cleverly I thought to put it in an old wash bucket before I did it.

Still covered me in paint though.

Then I let it dry for about 4 hours before removing the stencil, blocking out the painted letters with the original cardboard cut-outs and repeated the process to splatter paint the background light blue.

It was dead easy and I’m pleased with the result. Took ages to dry but the actual painting took less than 5 minutes each time. Something different from my usual cards!