That Poe Card.....

So, the card got finished, and I can post it now, as its been given to my son.
The Raven background was stamped in Versafine Onyx black, onto an ivory coloured paper that had been given the lemon juice treatment. This post covers that.
 After stamping it ,I added some blue and black Distress inks to the raven, with sponges.
 I used the Crowscape Stampendous stamp from this post to create another 'black on black' backround paper, just  stamping in Versamark, and heat embossing with Black detail powder, onto Black pearl paper,to cover the front of the base card.

 The smaller Raven piece is called Quoth the Raven, and has been made into a fridge magnet.
I used a piece of Stampbord for this, but a piece of mountboard would do just as well.
The Stampbord is only slightly smaller than the image, and to get it right I inked up the stamp, Onyx Black again, and lay it on my desk face up. Then I placed the Stampbord onto that and pressed down well. I left it overnight for the Versafine to dry well, as the first piece I tried started to smudge. The beauty with Stampbord, as it has a clay coating, is that you can sand off anything you put on the surface, and try again.
 Next day I started sponging on Distress Inks, in various brown shades, using a Colorbox stylus tool.

The first two colours were Old Paper & Antique Linen, then I added a light application of Victorian Velvet, to 'warm' it up a little.

I added more browns, with Brushed Corduroy & Gathered Twigs.I finished the edges with Walnut Stain. At this point, it looked too different to the original piece on the lemon burnt paper, so I added some Brushed Corduroy & Gathered Twigs to that, to pull them together.
 Now to turn it into a fridge magnet. I took some Magnetic Photo paper I'd bought in Tescos to do this. I'd bought it originally, with the intention of using it to store Nesties & such like on, in a binder, but it turned out that the magnetic photopaper isn't strong enough to grip them without them sliding off. So after I bought magnetic sheets for the dies, I put the paper to one side, as I was sure I'd eventually have a use for it.
 I covered the back of the Stampbord with DST, Just the cheap 3 rolls for a quid from Poundland.

Drew around my Stampbord and cut it out. I did the fine trimming after with a scalpel.
Next I used a Distress Marker in Black to go all around the outside edges, to hide the white of the photopaper and the brown edge of the Stampbord.

Almost done, but I wanted to give it a coating of clear embossing powder, just enough to make it wipeable. For this I used ordinary detail embossing powder, as the UTEE tends to need 3 or more coats to get an even finish, and I didn't want to make it that thick.

Dabbed all over with Versamark, then added a layer of detail Clear powder, heated it, then re-coated with Versamark and added a second layer. Gave it just enough to protect it, without making it too glossy.

Assembly time! The black background went onto the card front, then I added the main image. The Fridge magnet is attached with a couple of Repositionable Glue Dots, so it can be removed without damaging the card.
 Some black and brown eyelash wool was wrapped around the spine and knotted at the top front. Finally I added an ivory paper insert for writing the greeting.

Supplies:
Stampendous stamps; Crowscape, raven Background and Quoth The Raven.(Links in the linked posts above)
Versafine Onyx Black
Distress Inks in Old Paper, Antique Linen, Victorian Velvet,Brushed Corduroy, gathered Twigs and Walnut Stain. (Black Soot & Chipped Sapphire to add colour to the Raven)
 Versamark
 Clear Embossing Powder
 Black Detail Embossing powder
 Stampbord piece, or Mountboard
 Magnetic paper or sheet
 Ivory paper and black pearl paper
 Fibres
 Repositional glue dots 
 Black marker for edging

Long Time No See

Been quite a while since I last posted, but life kept getting in the way! I'll post some pictures another time of the stuff thats been going on in the house, which is gradually getting sorted. But I thought I'd post a few pictures of stuff I've been doing over the last few months, and apologies to everyone who has kept up visiting, only to find nothing new.

These two cards were for the same wedding- always a problem making cards to go to the same people! Both of the people who ordered them wanted Easel cards.
 The flowers on both are the Tim Holtz Tattered Florals- I got the large & small versions,( Alterations & Movers & Shapers) which gives me even more adaptability when building up flowers. In the Gold card, I used a Celtic Horseshoe stamp. I think this came from the Aspects Of Design range, quite a few years ago, and I am pretty sure it is discontinued, which is a shame. Also used Tims Flourish die, and Nesties Labels 7. The centres of the flowers were filled with Glossy Accents and seed beads. The large Congratulations was cut out with the Silhouette.

The Black & White card has flowers cut from vellums and black & white pearl paper, triple embossed hearts in black & silver and Nesties Labels 4. I used black & white seed beads for the centres of the flowers again.

I'm also discovering that Blogger has changed a little while I've been gone!  I am not having any trouble posting any more, which is good, but I really don't like the changes they have made to the 'Labels' section. Maximum number of labels, ok, I was getting my head around that, learning to be brief, then I discover its a maximum number of characters too. What on earth is that all about? Its our blog, why does it matter how many tags we put on a post, or how many characters it uses? Not a happy bunny. Going to try another post using Livewriter and see if it applies through that too. I suspect it will, as its a Blogger rule. Off over to Blogger to find out what they are playing at, lol.

Oriental Poppy #2 Tag

The Oriental Poppy & Script image is clearly very popular, and this is a different take on the theme. I finally found out where I got this from- it was featured recently in Craft Stamper Magazine. It is Aspects of Design, Floral 01, from The Stampman. Here it is stamped on an alcohol ink background, in Black & heat embossed. I cut this into a tag, and cut a slightly larger tag from black glitter paper to matt it on to. I added a chinese coin, and the two little black sticks are cut down cocktail sticks, rolled on an embossing pad and dipped into black embossing powder, then heated! I tied a little red raffia around them, and attached them and the coin with a dab of silicone glue.A few strands of red & black fibres finished off the tag. The paper that covers the base was part of a roll I bought years ago one Christmas at the Hobbycrafts show at the NEC. I added three small coins, which have a little hanging loop at the top, so I secured them with a little bronze coloured brad. A narrow black ribbon was tied in a knot on the left side.
                        I often use a knotted ribbon when I am making a card with no particular person or occasion in mind. I think that knotted ribbon works o.k. on mens cards, whereas a bow is definitely more female. It just means I have a little more flexibility with who I can send it to. That is also why a lot of my cards have no sentiment on them- I add that when I need it.
  I seem to have my mojo back, I have been struggling to make enough time to get into my cards lately, and trying to squeeze them in just hasn't been working for me.