Alternative Birthday Card

Hi everyone 

I've not been to Blog Land for a little while what with Christmas being so hectic and time spent looking after elderly relatives etc. so although it's late Happy New Year to you.

Here's a project I made for my Brothers Birthday, I wanted to make a keepsake rather than a card so decided to make a canvas for him.

First I worked out the layout, then painted the canvas with silver acrylic paint, once dry I painted the background cogs in using a pale blue acrylic paint. The umbrella man was painted silver, then distressed by just pressing a Versafine Onyx Black pad onto it and adding a little bit of red. Next step to stick the man, cogs and washers to the canvass using PVA glue.

I added the number 50 and some clock hands, then once the PVA glue had dried I added some Inka Gold highlights and raindrops (courtesy of Designs by Ryn). At this point I thought it was a bit flat and missing something so I distressed it by rubbing in some gold paint with a foam pad. Finally, I stamped Happy Birthday on the wooden frame on the back of the canvas and that was it, job done. 

He really liked it and it still stands on the window sill now.

I hope you like it, thanks for popping by. 

Jules x

Our Christmas Challenge for December - Let It Snow

Well I hope everyone has had a lovely Christmas. It's been a bit manic for Dave and I with an elderly relative being in hospital for a week and coming out very late on Christmas Eve. 

This months card is one that I made at my Mum in Laws request for my Step Son and his Girlfriend. I didn't think I would find the time but managed to squeeze it in, albeit at 12:30 Christmas Eve morning. It was worth the effort though as she really liked it. 

The card was made on the reverse side of Centura Pearl as it's really nice to work with when using Distress Inks. The sky was done using DI's and stencil brushes as I wanted it to be subtle,  the snowy mounds were done using the same colours and blending tools. The trees were put in using first and second generation stamping for depth and the stag and his family were stamped using Versafine Onyx Black. Finally to frame it I stamps some ivy along the top.

The card was matted and layered onto white and black card and mounted onto an white 8" x 8" card blank. The last step was to add a bit of bling using Cosmic Shimmer Sparkle Pearl (although it doesn't show up in the photos very well).

I hope you like it, why not visit Lavinia Stamps website and have a go at this fabulous challenge you never know you may be a winner. For more details follow the link:

http://laviniastamps.com/blog/our-christmas-challenge-for-december/

Lavinia Stamps Blog Challenge 11 - Christmas

Just a quick blog, way past my bedtime on a work night I got carried away playing. 

These cards have been stamped with the Lavinia Stamps 'stag' and 'fir trees' in Onyx Black Versafine using my new gizmo the 'MISTI'. I then created the backgrounds using a mixture of Distress Inks and Adirondack Inks, finally I matted them up into linen cards and added a bit of Cosmic Shimmer Sparkle Pearl.

I hope you like it, why not visit Lavinia Stamps website and have a go at this fabulous challenge you never know you may be a winner. For more details follow the link:

http://laviniastamps.com/blog/lavinia-stamps-challenge-11/

Stencils

Hi everyone

This is my submission for this months Clarity Stamp Blog Challenge 32 which is based on 'Stencils'

I  love the season of autumn with all the beautiful trees and their colourful pallet of greens, browns, oranges, reds and purples and the many hues in between, it's just nature at its best.

This card has been made using the Clarity Stamps trees stencil, adding colour with Distress Inks using a stencil brush rather thank ink pads. It has then been spritzed with a little bit of water. The trees were then lightly brushed over with Antique Linen so as not to look stark. Finally, a bit of matting and layering and an Autumn sentiment. 

I hope you like the card and any comments/feedback would be much appreciated. 

Good luck in the challenge everyone. 

Shaped Cards

Hi everyone

This is my submission for this months Clarity Stamp Blog Challenge 31 which is called 'Shaped Cards'

I decided to do a hexagonal shaped card which was die cut from a piece of linen card. Next, I die cut two smaller hexagons out of Centura Pearl card and created the larger background using Distress Inks splashed with water and the smaller one coloured with an Adirondack 'Pool' ink pad which was then stamped using the small 'Leafy Swirl' stamp. 

I stamped two small butterflies and coloured them in with Distress Markers, once cut out I added antennae made out small stamens normally used with paper flowers and added a little bit of stickles. The butterfly wings were curled and mounted on foam pads to give added definition.

I hope you like the card and any comments/feedback would be much appreciated. 

Good luck in the challenge everyone. 

Lavinia Stamps Blog Challenge 9 - Hot Bright Colours

Just a quick post, late again as ever but I have a lot going on at the moment. For this challenge I have made a card using mainly Adirondack Brights dye based ink pads. 

The background hills are done with the different dye inks pads and then the silhouette stamps were made using a mixture of Onyx Black Versafine and Cobalt Archival Ink pad. Once dry a few highlights were added using a Sharpie fine point white pen.

I hope you like it, why not visit Lavinia Stamps website and have a go at this fabulous challenge you never know you may be a winner. For more details follow the link:

http://laviniastamps.com/blog/lavinia-stamps-challenge-9/

Lavinia Stamps Blog Challenge 8 - Anything But A Card

Last month I spent a wonderful evening crafting with my Bezzie Mate Amanda Branston and made a canvas using stamps designed by Tracey Dutton of Lavinia Stamps.  Well I was going to submit it for the July Challeng but got my times mixed up and missed the deadline. Not to worry this months new challenge is 'Anything but a card' so I was sorted.

We had a great evening and I enjoyed making the canvas and love the vibrancy of the Dylusion paints.

The background was painted using Lemon Zest, Squeezed Orange, Bubblegum Pink, Crushed Grape and White Linen. Next I stamped a scene using Versafine Black Onyx and Archival Cobalt ink pads, multiple flower stamps and a fairy from Lavinia Stamps. Finally, I put in the highlights using Gold and Silver Uni Paint Marker pens.

I hope you like it, why not visit Lavinia Stamps website and have a go at this fabulous challenge you never know you may be a winner. For more details follow the link:

http://laviniastamps.com/blog/lavinia-stamps-challenge-8/

Here are a couple of photos showing detail.