WOYWW #510, or The Not Much Happening Edition.

Well, a pretty empty desk this week. Finished making a big batch of Strip cards, and I'm done with that for a while. Couple of posts below this one.
I bought some supplies, a few coloured envelopes. And some Super Smooth Blending Card, from Papermill Direct. They do it in 3 different weights, so I got a pack of each. Recommended by Eileen Godwin, who'd been trying out different ones after getting too varied a result from the Sheena Douglas card.

I'd also been finding that problem, but thought it was just something I was doing, but clearly not.



Decided as well that I'd do some more glitter cards using a Medallion stamp I've had for years.

These were stamped in Staz-on, and it's just not one of my favourite inks. Even with the Stamp Platform, results weren't as crisp as I'd like, and I've had to do some filling in with a Micron pen.


So I've done another batch with Archival Black, and they are definitely a better image. It doesn't dry as quickly as Staz-on, but it will if given some time.

I shall leave them overnight to make sure they're dry, then glittering will commence.


And that really is it for me.

 One mention for Visible Image, anyone wanting any of their stamps & stencils, they have a 20% discount until Sunday, use code INKY at the checkout.

Which just leaves......And Finally.......



It's important to support your local craft store!




Popping over to Julias place, The Stamping Ground, to leave my link, and come visiting.

Favourite Cards of the Year- 2016

So, I've done this post for the last few years, at the end of each year. Slightly different this year, as I'm doing two- Christmas Cards are getting their own separate post, as I've made so many! This years  Favourite Cards, in no particular order, start with this one, a mosaic made from a piece of masterboard. This mosaic technique remains one of my firm favourites, especially because you can use any assortment of pieces- masterboards, leftovers, trimmings from things that didn't quite work-  a whole host of potential scrap pieces get a lease of life this way.











Next up are two cards using Stencil Paste, Sweet Poppy Stencils and Glitter.

White on Black, then Black on white.

These cards were really all about the technique- one I came across on Pinterest.
 Although I'd used brass stencils with paste and glitter, I hadn't thought of using Tim Holtz's Layering stencils to do the same. Although this looks like a black lacy design on a white background, it's actually the reverse.

I also learnt that you could colour white paste with ink, which led to a whole host of possibilities. And with Embossing powder, which led to even more.

A new discovery for me this year was Honey Doo Stamps, courtesy of a visit to the Happy Stampers Festival.


These cards all used the same stamp, just different coloured inks and vellums.

The ribbon & Bows are Sue Wilson Dies.

A lot of fun was had this year trying new techniques to me, and stencils of all types played a huge part in this. The stencil here is from Clarity, and have been teamed up with Lavinia Stamps, and inks applied with a soft brush.

I had a great time doing this one, again using a Clarity stencil, and an assortment of Halloween images from various companies.
It also made me think that maybe I could transfer this design to a canvas- a process still under consideration!

Almost done, these quick & easy cards came about after I made some Christmas Cards the same way, using Card-Io/Rubber Stamp Tapestry stamps.

My final selection uses stamps from Visible Image. The skeletons facing each other was achieved by stamping them on opposite sides of a piece of acetate, which then had double sided film added, so I could cover the back with gilding flake.


These are just the ones that jumped out at me- I could have added more, but I think this enough. I've added a link in each description to the relevant Blog post.

Happy Valentines Day!

 I saw some Visible Images stamps back last year, and was very taken with the gothic style. When I saw this set at the NEC last November, I knew instantly that they would be perfect for this years Valentine card for my Beloved Hubby, and I knew exactly how I was going to use it.













 First part of the plan involved making some post-it note masks of the two roses, and some heatproof acetate.

This is the two sizes of rose, and I stamped onto the acetate with Versafine Onyx Black, so I could add Black detail embossing powder and heat set.

I started by stamping a large rose in one corner, then adding a mask over it.









 I continued adding rose images, both small and large, and masking each one.

  The first corner completed- as its on acetate, I could do all the stamping, then emboss it all, as the ink won't dry. It WILL smear though, so you need to be careful.










Now I repeated this process in a second corner, just not making it as large as the first one.Added embossing powder and heat set.Then I cut around the rose edges, to give me two corners.
 
The plan was to glitter the roses on the reverse, and the heated embossing powder would preserve the rose images.






The first rose getting the glitter treatment. One tip, when you add your glitter, let it sit for a few minutes to allow the glitter to sink into the glue, that way you get a much stronger glittered image.
  

 2 roses done with red glitter, and the glue added for the black glitter. On the smaller corner, just one rose was glittered in red.

  Black glitter added, and you need to make sure you get right up to the red, so you don't have any gaps showing.











Now it needs to dry, and I left mine on the top of a radiator overnight.




 I don't think it shows in this picture, but I lay the two corners in place on my cardstock, in opposite corners, and lightly drew around them in pencil, so I could position the remainder of the stamping.

 The barbed wire was stamped to make corners( good old stamp positioner again),and I tried out the Love word in black and red on my scrap- I preferred the red. Everything was heat embossed with clear embossing powder, by the way.

 I made a pair of triple embossed hearts, Aged Mahogany DI on the base card, then three layers of UTEE.

 I had already cut a card base, in black card, 8x8, from an A3 sheet. Then a burgundy mat layer, then the white layer for the stamping.

Now to put it all together- the glittered roses were added with Pinflair glue gel, the larger one in the bottom right corner, the smaller top left.

The hearts were added the same way.

As I'd hoped, the detail of the roses is still clear thanks to the heat embossing.

It came out exactly as I'd pictured it, and I'm also entering it in the Visible Images blog February Challenge, LOVE.

Supplies:
 Black Cardstock, A3
 Burgundy Cardstock
White pearl cardstock
Visible Image stamps, Immortal Love
 Heat proof acetate
Red & black glitter
Clear drying glue, for the glitter
Versafine Onyx black
 clear detail Ep
 UTEE
DI Aged Mahogany

Asian Panels

Three more cards, this time using the glittered Asian Panels. This stamp is available from Non Sequiteur, which can be bought from De Stempelwinkel. It also used to be available on a plate from Tanda Stamps, but having just been looking, I see they are no longer trading.
I started off by matting the glitter panel onto some silver mirror paper, then onto Red glitter card.

I used an assortment of oriental papers, the one with the lettering is a print off a Joanna Sheene cd, and the one on the left, which is the same image as the panel, was from a block of Kimono papers, from Arts & Crafts Direct. I remember buying these from a Hobbycrafts NEC show, and having searched the Internet, they only seem to be on e-bay, with a few items of cardstock!

I added a triple embossed Kanji letter to one, and a Kanji letter stamped & heat embossed onto an alcohol ink background to the other two,with some cord wrapped around the spine as a final touch.The Kanji letters were bought a long time ago, and don’t seem to be available now, although Judikins do have 2 large Kanji cubes, and I’ve linked to that below.


Links for the products:
 Samurai Plate 67, Non Sequiteur,De stempelwinkel
Kanji Cube 2
Kanji Cube 3, both at Blade Rubber Stamps.

A whole mass of Birthday Cards

 So, having glittered up all those Medallions, it was definitely time to turn them into cards. I had already done one batch, which I added a little dry embossing detail to, in this post, here.










 I thought this time I'd try something different- I I fancied running the card front through the Cuttlebug, in various embossing folders. So, 10 assorted card fronts here. I went with mainly geometric designs, as that seemed to fit the medallions better.






   The medallions were added with silicone glue- gives a bit of dimension, sticks to the glittery back of the image, and evens out into the embossed design of the card.

As I'd embossed the base card, I had to stamp & matt the Happy Birthday sentiments for these.

 
 
Then I started wondering if they were a little TOO plain? So I added ribbon to the left side.
 Now I'm not sure at all. I think maybe it suits some, but not all. So I will leave it a few days and look at them fresh. It seems like some look unbalanced now- but its a simple fix if I really don't like them.

 These were the original batch, with the sentiment stamped, and some ribbon.















This is before I added the ribbon.

List of Embossing folders I used:
Quickutz Diamond Dots, Lines & Dots, and Diamond.
Darice Honeycomb,Brick Wall,and Plaid.
Creative Expressions Lattice.
DoCrafts Tri Boss Checkerboard.
Cuttlebug Swiss Dots.