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All my designs are original, so copyrighted to me. If I have been inspired by someone elses work, I have named them in the post, and where able, I have provided a link.

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Thanks, Shaz XX

Showing posts with label Medallions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Medallions. Show all posts

Friday, 12 April 2019

Glittered Medallion cards

 Well, this is the first half of the Glittered Medallions that I've been working on.
 One beauty of them is they can be used for almost any occasion, and because there is so much detail in the stamping and glittering, you need do very little to the card base.
 In all of these, the only thing added was some embossed lines using a scoreboard.

I'll add some close up pictures further on, so you can see what was added to each.


These three had more embossing added, but still simply done with a scoreboard.






This is the stamp I was using, and I stamped it onto OHP film, first off using Staz-on, and then I did a second batch with Archival Black to see how that did. It took longer to dry than Staz-on, but I was leaving them overnight anyway, and by next day they were fine.



 It's an old stamp, used to be wood mounted, probably bought about 15 years ago. The image stamps out to roughly 3" square, and the majority of the card bases are 5" square.
Looking back at a post from where I used them before, it's called Striped Jewel, as was by Hobby Art.




 Glue and glitter should be added to the back, and a few tips here.
 1.  First off, take your glue partly on to the lines in the section you are working on. It won't be seen from the front when you are done. It does have a slight tendency to shrinkage, and this help to prevent too many gaps.
2.  Next, when you add glitter, add plenty and give it a moment or two to sit and settle into the glue. That helps you get good coverage. If you tip it straight off, very little glitter will sink into the glue.

 3.  Also, don't add glue to too many areas before adding glitter. It won't dry, but it will form a skin, then the glitter won't sink in as well.
4.   It's best not to try and do the whole thing at once, you'll probably end up leaning on a glittered area while it's wet. Doing a couple of colours at a time, then leaving to dry is probably best.
5.  When each batch of glittering is dry, it helps to clean off any loose glitter before continuing. First time I did it, I tried a Swiffer cloth. DO NOT DO THAT!!!!  The glitter grabs fibres from the cloth, and that gets stuck in any glue you're adding next. Best solution I found was a small stiff brush, like a stencil brush or a toothbrush.

Give it a brush over, then flick it over the bin to get rid of any loose glitter left behind.

You can just toss this, or you can save it all into a pot. I've done that with lots of glitter leftovers from bags when I've bought it, so I added the brushings off to that.  You end up with a pot of  a totally unique mixed glitter. I actually used it on one or two of the medallions too.



It took a few days, but eventually they were all done.

 It's a good idea, by the way, to leave yourself a good margin of film all around your stamped piece to make it easier to move & handle when it's wet. Once they're completely finished and dry, then you can trim them down.




 I added a little interest to the base card with a scoreboard. To do these, I lightly marked out the square on the inside front of the card, then used a stylus & scoreboard to mark out the shape, making sure I was slightly larger than the design. When I was done, I erased the pencil lines inside the card. On the left it's just a simple square around the image. On the right, I added another score line from the corners of the image to the corners of the card.





  I've taken close ups of these so you can see what I did.






This is just a basic square around the focal image.



As the images are a symmetrical pattern, you can  turn it a quarter turn, and have it placed on end.


The pieces were added to the bases with some Pinflair Glue gel, I've found a silicone type glue works best for doing this.










I got a little fancier with these two, adding lots of diagonal lines in each of the four corners. I have a diagonal scoreboard, but you could do it with a straight line one, just taping your base in place on a diagonal on your board.






























This one I did by starting with a square around the image, then added a line to each corner. Then I just filled in with straight score lines.


The lines add just enough interest to the card base, without fighting with the strong central image.




Finally adding a selection of sentiments to them, cut 3 times from a plain matching cardstock, then once from glitter cardstock to match, and layering up for some extra dimension.


 This is the diagonal scoreboard. I believe it was a Stampin Up product that was being discontinued when I bought it. I don't have an SU scoreboard, but by luck- or maybe they make it too- it fits a Martha Stewart board I was gifted.






Wednesday, 10 April 2019

WOYWW #514- The Return to Glitter Edition

Gooooood Morning People!!!!!!!! WOYWW speeds round again, and time to link and visit desks around the world in all their glory. Hosted by our lovely Julia over at The Stamping Ground as always.
 I have to take the picture from the side to get most of the desk in.
 Littered with the makings of cards from those glittered medallions.
 Front corner, a stack of pastel square card blanks. Do not ask how long I've had those, the memory doesn't go back that far.

 Next to them, some embossing folders, of which more later on.  A handful of cards mounted, needing sentiments on. To the back, a bunch with their sentiments, and next to that, a half dozen not mounted yet. You can see my little glue bottle next to the stack of finished cards. Still using those small bottles, and they are working great. Nice and soft to squeeze, and as yet- and it must be 6 months- I haven't had any issue with the fine nozzles blocking up. Just wipe them with a baby wipe, and make sure the nozzle is cleared with a pin before putting the lid on. An EBay purchase, £3.14 for 10.



I'm die cutting sentiments for these.







These will get added to cards after I've finished with the first lot.




 And so, on to the Enabler Extraordinaire Award, which this week goes to Kathryn, ( Frantzlady) who joins us via Instagram.
 Those embossing folders that were on my desk- 3D ones from Crafters Companion. Two are 5"x7", and one is 4" x 6". Kathryn had shown the one on the left, Studded Leather, in her post, and when I went looking for it, I also saw the other two. I did go to Crafters Companion for them, but had way too much trouble with their checkout process keep changing my payment method, so I went looking elsewhere. Which turned out to be a bonus, as I found them slightly cheaper at Craft Stash!.

 I've run them through using a white Pearl card, and they look fabulous. Had to figure out the right sandwich, as 3D ones are a bit thicker than normal folders, and it really does help to lightly mist the cardstock first. The top right I think still needs a slightly different recipe, as some of the card surface has split, but I have found that with the 3D ones, one recipe doesn't work for all.


Here they are individually, so you can see the texture. The folders are: Top Left, Studded Leather, Top Right, Seamless Waves, and bottom, Isometric Cube.

A few people asked me last week where I get my scalpel blades from- well the company is called Scalpels and Blades.
 They have a huge variety of blade shapes, my personal favourites are the Number 11 on the left, and the Number 6 on the right.  They also do a pack with a blade assortment, so you can try them out to see which you prefer. They come in Sterile or Non Sterile choices, and I only get the Non Sterile, which are the cheaper of the two. There are two handles available, a size 3 and a size 4, and you buy blades accordingly. If you already have a handle, the number should be stamped into one side of it. There is also a small blade remover, but I just use a small pair of jewellery pliers, and despite being reasonably clumsy, I've never cut myself yet! I have a small plastic tub that I've cut a slot in the lid, and I've been using that for my old blades for about 5 years, and it's not even close to full.
So, after all that, it just leaves.....And Finally......



Ha Ha Ha Ha....if I did that, I'd never get out of the house!!



Oh, and your countdown starts now! Did you realise it's the 10th Birthday Crop in 8 weeks?

Wednesday, 13 March 2019

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.

Sunday, 28 April 2013

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.

An End of an era

An end of an era

I write this with a broken heart, that only time can heal My beautiful, wonderful wifelet Shaz (Silverwolf) passed away peacefully in the ea...