So here we are, at the last post before December-just- and is it me, or has this year suddenly flown in the last couple of months? I mean, the whole year has gone quite quickly, but these last few months it's been sort of blink and you missed it.
Leaving our links over at Julias again,
The Stamping Ground- I reckon there should be mince pies too soon, *wink, wink*.
Still not a lot of crafting being done, I have had some more practice time with the baubles, and I seemed to get a better result by outlining first, letting that set, then brushing on the ink. I think the nib of the pen was clogging on the ink. Might try doing the inking, then outlining a few hours later, see if that helps.
Tried on the kraft card first- I've never really got into the whole kraft thing, the colour is just a bit to 'meh' for me, and although it inks nicely, the contrast just doesn't work for me.
Returned to black, and I'm much happier with the result, still not perfect, but much better.
I also decided to sort my UFO boxes- yes, I've now upgraded to Boxes 2.0-and I really need to get a grip and finish them all off, or get them made up, which is all a lot of them need.
Exhibit A- and those piles all have 6-10 card fronts in them. At least. The one top right has closer to twenty.
Masterboards bottom right, a couple of random card fronts above them, two Sweet Poppy Stencil fronts, done if I remember rightly with Imagination Starlights paints- a couple of stamped & heat embossed snowglobes, and the start of some sponged snowy scenes.
A random selection of stencilled backgrounds- all stencils are 7x7 from Clarity.
Another Sweet Poppy stencil, the cat on a wall, all done with stencil paste & glitter to get different coloured cats. I also varied the glitter on the walls on some, and two have been finished off with some foliage & tree stamping. Oh, and a masked off moon & sponged sky.
Doesn't look quite so bad when you hide them in plastic wallets!
There are also canvas UFO's- all are done with Sweet Poppy stencils & paste, a few have glitter flakes. Some backgrounds were swiped on with a baby wipe, some are Bleeding Art Tissue. Bottom right with the Cat is Brushos straight onto the canvas.
Top right here is Bleeding Art Tissue, bottom right & centre are Brushos- centre one straight onto canvas, right hand one is a dried baby wipe from cleaning up.
Top left I have plans involving Bees- I have a Honeycomb stencil or three,😁, and the background is DI reinkers in Wild Honey & Carved Pumpkin, wiped on with a baby wipe. Bottom square has had ink brushed through a Clarity stencil, I think it needs more, and I think the other two are just random DI reinkers wiped on again with a baby wipe.
I actually found three finished cards- well, apart from the insert- these were done with the Laminator/Foil method, and a Sweet Poppy stencil.
These are again all done with a stencil- Top two are Dreamweaver ones- stencil paste and a Laminator & foil, matted onto silver glitter card, and blue. These came out fine.
I was really disappointed with the bottom two though. I was very happy when I foiled them, as they came out a treat- I loved the mulicoloured ribbons and baubles on the left one, and pleased I managed to get the green foil on the holly, and some assorted coloured foil on the baubles.
I matted them onto Green glitter card, and that's when it went horribly wrong.
I always, always use Pinflair Glue Gel when matting onto glitter card- if it's not a smooth type- so that it grabs. This green glitter card has leached colour into the glue, and then through the cardstock. So, lesson here is that not all glitter card is created equal! I think that green will be consigned to die cutting trees or suchlike, where I can use DST/ sticky tabs. That may also be solution for this- foam tape on the back, then a little Silicone glue on the tape to stick it to the glitter, and the tape should- hopefully- provide a barrier.
My problem is I love trying out new products/techniques, and get easily distracted by a new one. So, no more experimenting till I finish these off!
UTI seems to be clearing, now I've picked up a cough/cold, which seems to be resolving itself into a chest infection, so I'm back on Antibiotics, and extra use of the inhaler! My poor immune system just needs to catch a break so it can build itself up again after all the battering it's taken in recent weeks. Running up to Christmas we have a few things going on- Wednesday (tonight) we are off to Birmingham to see Stone Sour, then Friday night it's our works Christmas meal. Monday I have another works meal, for Long Service achievements, as I've been there for 15 years this year. Then next week we have a Marilyn Manson concert, and the week after, 5 Finger Death Punch, so it's all go, lol.
And now, it's time for And Finally.....
Which left me with my arm in a splint for 12 weeks. It healed fine, but
occasionally it starts to ache, a dull ache that starts in my shoulder,
and gradually goes down my arm. It started a couple of weeks ago, but
wasn't too bad, but I think I aggravated it somewhat using my Rotary
Cutter to put a fancy edge on the inserts for all those cards I was
doing.
I also saw something on FB about another set of shows being cancelled/postponed,the Create-It shows, and I know the NEC show is postponed until June, so if you've booked any tickets for any shows, I'd recommend checking with organisers what's happening before setting out. Just seen that the Sincerely Yours show at Leigh in March has been cancelled.
