Backgrounds

Happy Tuesday,

I hope everyone had a good weekend and found time for something crafty.

I have my DT project for the new challenge at Cardz 4 Guyz today - this challenge is all about the men in our life and has definitely helped me get going when designing my male themed cards. My team mate Joan has chosen the theme for the next seven days ...

'MAKE YOUR 

OWN BACKGROUND'

Here's what I came up with using my distress inks ...

I started with one piece of white card and then added Peacock Feathers, Mermaid Lagoon and Evergreen Bough distress inks using my blending tool. Next I used my favourite Stampin' Up grunge stamp to add some splatters using the same ink colours. I added a couple of pieces of torn book paper and coloured those to match, before passing the whole piece through a hexagon embossing folder. Then I cut the piece into three equal strips and rounded one end by drawing around a suitable sized pot and just trimming with my scissors.

The three strips are mounted on a piece of black card and I added a black strip, a piece of dark green ribbon and a stamped topper (stamped using an Inkylicious stamp with black archival ink).

I love making these backgrounds, but I also am addicted to my paper pads and must admit I usually reach for them when designing the background of a card (I have so many to choose from!!)

Why not pop over to the blog and check out some great projects from the rest of the team.

Hugz, Jan xx

A bit of Embossing

Good morning,

I'm back today with a new challenge over at 'Cardz 4 Guyz' and this week Helen has chosen the theme of

'EMBOSSING'

Now this can be dry embossing or heat embossing - here's what I made for my DT inspiration ...

Three scraps of card passed through my Crafters Companion 'Distressed' embossing folder and then highlighted with a little Gathered Twigs distress ink to show the embossing better.

Three matching buttons and some little punched banners to finish off, with a 'Thank You' sentiment from my Stampin' Up 'Sassy Sentiments'.

Hope you can join us with your own embossed creations this week.

Hugz, Jan xx

Time Flies!

Hi there everyone,

I'm back with news of the next challenge over at CARDZ 4 GUYZ and this week Joan chose the theme

'IT'S ABOUT TIME'

Here's what I made for my DT inspiration using one of my embossing folders ...

I began with a piece of plain white cardstock, then added some distress ink in Faded Jeans and Tea Dye using my inkdusters. Next I passed it through an embossing folder to create the clock background. I brushed gently over the top with some Gathered Twigs distress ink, just to highlight the embossing a little, then cut the whole piece into four smaller pieces

The pieces are layered on kraft card and then a background. The little topper is made using an old set of stamps - I cut out the 'Time Flies' part and then stamped and cut out the wings, adding them to the topper before layering it on to some more kraft card. It also has a little metal timepiece embellishment to finish off.

I hope you will join us over at the challenge.

Hugz, Jan xx

No Design Papers

Happy Tuesday,

Only four more days to go - not that I'm counting!! Lol.

It's time for our next challenge over at Cardz 4 Guyz and this week Kim has challenged us to use 'NO DESIGN PAPERS'. Although I have enough design papers in my stash to last two lifetimes, I do really enjoy making my own backgrounds. Here's what I came up with for my DT inspiration ...

I began with a square of white card and applied three different colours of distress ink (Tumbled Glass, Evergreen Bough and Tea Dye) using my ink dusters. Then I splattered some water on it before adding some inked splodges using the same colours. Finally I passed it through one of my embossing folders and then dragged some Gathered Twigs distress ink over the embossing to highlight it.

I stamped the wording using black archival ink and distressed the edges to match. It is fastened on with twine threaded through the four eyelets. Hope you like it.

Hugz, Jan xx

Metal Magic

Good morning,

Well it's day two of my half term and I didn't even make it into my craft room yesterday - so many other things to do! Lol

I'm back today with news of our next challenge over at Cardz 4 Guyz and this week Kim has chosen the theme of

'METAL'

So, here's what I made for my DT inspiration ...

Out with the old metal tape again - I love this stuff and it's so easy to use. I covered a piece of white cardstock with my metal tape and then ran it through my Calibur using a Clarity cogs stencil - to create an embossed effect. I then painted over it with white gesso and wiped most of it off with a clean baby wipe, then added some black archival ink by smearing the inkpad over the top of the raised areas (the plan was to give the metal a grungy look!)

I decided to keep it fairly simple to show off the metal effect, so just added a stamped sentiment which is embossed with black embossing powder and then cut with my dies.

I hope you can join us this time.

Hugz, Jan xx

Blue at My Besties UK

Good morning,

I hope everyone had a great weekend - mine involved some impromptu crafty shopping with my baby girl. I bought one or two bits and pieces to add to my stash - including a fab new paper pad which was reduced in the clearance section - bargain!

On a crafty note, it's time for our next challenge over at My Besties UK and this week Carol challenge the design team to use the colour blue. So, I decided to be a little alternate today and use one of Sherri's little boy images for a change - here's what I ended up with for my DT inspiration ...

I delved into my stash of plain tags for this one and covered it with a piece of card which I had inked with various blue distress inks. I also ran it through my hexagon embossing folder and applied a little gilding wax to highlight areas to make the background.

The image was coloured with my Promarkers and added to the tag, along with the wording 'Little Boy Blue' which I created on my pc, then tore and inked around the edges.

Embellishments include a piece of pale blue polkadot ribbon, a few blue buttons, some blue die-cut stars and a couple of blue brads. Righty, I think there is sufficient blue there, don't you! Lol.

Hope you will come and join us with your own 'blue' creations this time - if you would like some more inspiration, why not pop over to the main blog and check out what my teamies made too.

Hugz, Jan xx

2014 at Make My Monday

Happy Monday everyone,

Well, after my much enjoyed Christmas break it's back to school today, ready for the Spring term. I must admit, although I love being at home I do miss the routine of work (and the children, of course!)

On a crafty note, it's time for our first challenge of the New Year over at Make My Monday. This week Laura is starting us off with a great theme with lots of possibilities. So, we would love to see your projects using 'EMBOSSING' - Laura hasn't specified which, so dry embossing or heat embossing will meet the theme. I decided on dry embossing for this one - here's what I made for my DT inspiration ...

I kept it fairly simple as I wanted to show the embossing. I cut a piece of cardstock to the same size as my embossing folder, then passed it through my Calibur. I added colour using different shades of pearlescent chalk, which has a lovely sparkle to it (although it doesn't show very well on my photo!) A little stamped 'Thank You' sentiment, a piece of ribbon and a black mount to finish - simples!

Why not pop over to the main blog and check out what my teamies did - hope you can join us.

Hugz, Jan xx

K for KEYS

Good morning crafters,

Hehe! I always want to type 'Good morning campers!!' Lol

Hope everyone is having a great week and as it's Friday again it's time for another challenge over at the Alphabet Challenge Blog. This week it's my turn to host the challenge and we are up to the letter 'K'. I chose the theme 'KEYS' for this one and would love to see your projects using a 'key' in some way, whether it's a focal point or used in a background -I can't wait to see all your interpretations of the theme. Here's what I made for my DT inspiration ...

I loved designing this piece, which is made from an old tag covered with brown cardstock which I embossed with a steampunk style mask. I added a little copper gilding wax to highlight the embossed areas to make my background. 

The heart is cut from card, covered with metal tape and also passed through a script embossing folder, then coloured with alcohol ink.  I added a strip of book paper behind the heart, just to lift it from the embossed background. The edges are inked with 'Vintage Photo distress ink.

I used one of my precious 'Tim Holtz' keys for this project - it has the word 'heart' written on the head of the key, which seemed an appropriate choice. I have wound some wire around the length of the key and added some tiny seed beads. Behind the key are a couple of die-cut leaves, which I hope look like wings and a couple of little tiny brass wings.

The wording is printed on cream cardstock from my pc. I chopped it into pieces and inked with the same distess ink, before adding them to the card.

The tag is embellished with some extra bits from my stash, including three metal finish eyelets, a metal look brad, a little metal safety pin (which is also threaded with tiny seed beads) and a little metal cog.

I was aiming for a 'steampunk' look - what do you think?

I would like to enter this project into the challenge over at Fussy and Fancy which is 'Steampunk'.

Hugz, Jan xx

Enjoy the Adventure

Happy Friday everyone,

Well, my blog post title is quite appropriate today - I've scheduled my post for this morning because I am currently in Castleton with 32 nine-year olds on our school residential at an outdoor pursuits centre - so definitely an adventure! The weather forecast was for rain, rain and more rain, so spare a thought for me please (and no laughing)!! Lol.

As it's Friday, it's time for another challenge over at the Polkadoodles challenge blog - this week we would love to see your projects which include some embossing (this can be heat or dry embossing). Here's what I made  for my DT inspiration ...

I've used the gorgeous 'Cherryblossom Lane CD' which was designed by the amazingly talented Nikky Hall. I love all the little characters on the CD - each one seems to have their own personality. I have made a 6x6" card using backing papers, an image and a sentiment from the CD.  The image is coloured with my Promarkers and matted onto a darker blue.  I have included some dry embossing on a piece of blue pearlised paper and finished with a piece of twine and a couple of blue buttons. 

Please pop over to the blog, if you can spare the time, and take a look at the other DT projects made by my talented teamies. I shall look forward to seeing your entries and visiting your blogs over the next week.

Hugz, Jan xx

Winter White

Hi there everyone,

My it's been a cold week here - the temperatures haven't been above freezing all week.  My poor little car has been doing a fab impression of an ice cube every morning!  Hope everyone is staying safe in all the ice and frost.

It's time for a new challenge over at the Alphabet Challenge blog today and we are up to the letter 'W', so we would like to see your 'Winter White' projects this week simply using just white!  This one suits my love of monochrome, but don't think I have ever used just white before - definitely a challenge.  Here's my DT inspiration ...

I used a 6x6" plain card blank which is topped with another square of plain white card.  I added three strips of card which have been run through my little dotty embossing folder for some texture. I touched the edges of the card with my silver Promarker just to define them a little. The horizontal strip is cut with my 'Fleur de Lys' Spellbinder edging die and I have wrapped a piece of 'Merry Christmas' ribbon around the centre.  The card is finished with a die cut snowflake and a white flat backed pearl, together with a little rub-on sentiment. I think it looks very crisp and definitely matches all this frosty weather we have been having recently.

Don't forget to pop over to the blog to check out my teamies fab work too.

Hugz, Jan xx

It's all about the Texture

Hi there,

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend - we have had quite a bit of rain here.  I have been playing a continuous game of washing out/washing in all weekend! In between my crafting, of course! Lol.

I have gone all 'Steampunk' today making a special card for a design team call.  The theme is 'Texture' and I have tried to show this in several ways.  Here's what I made ...

The background paper is from the TH 'Lost and Found' paper stack and I distressed the edges with my scissors, before inking them with Walnut Stain distress ink.  I then inked through the clock mask and heat embossed some little cogs and gears down the right hand side with gold detail embossing powder.  I stamped some wings, gears and paint splodges onto the background paper and added some little torn pieces of text from an old book.

The main image is a Kanban stamp - partly coloured with Promarkers and the jacket is paper pieced. The image is backed with brown coredinations cardstock cut using a Spellbinders Labels Seventeen die.  It has been dry embossed with an embossing folder and then sanded back to show the core.

The 'Steampunk' lettering was mainly created on my pc, apart from the letter 'S' which was cut from a piece of card covered in metal tape, embossed and coloured with alcohol inks.  The flower was made in the same way.

Additional embellishments include a heart cut from corrugated card and inked with distress ink together with an additional brass-coloured wirework heart, a little brass clockface (which I added some chain to), some metal washers and a 'Dare to Create' sentiment.  I also treat some parts of the card to a sprinkling of gold Frantage embossing powder.

I think I managed to get some texture in there - hope I didn't overdo it! Lol.  I am off to submit it now and should find out at the beginning of September if I have been successful.  I hope so - wish me luck.

Hugz, Jan xx