Sunday 30 December 2012

Art Journal Calendar

So I have been watching and looking for a long time at art journalling..........I wanted to try it but was always a bit reticent - I imagined that my pages would turn muddy and that I wouldn't know what on earth to put on the pages............but then I found Kate's blog about creating an art journal calendar that can be completed everyday.  Kate's amazing blog can be found HERE

So after a lot of debating I decided to buy a journal a just give it a try - here is my very, very first attempt:






I didn't want to go out and buy loads of new inks etc before giving it a try with what I already had in my stash so I used some shimmer ink sprays by Debbie Moore in pink, lilac, blue and midnight blue, then I added some distress stains through a stencil, I think I used Victorian Velvet and Tumbled Glass.  I dried these and added some ink splotches and flicked it with water and dried again.
I stamped 'January' down the right hand side using denim adirondak using Tim Holtz mini cirque alphabet set and then added the '2013' from a Papermania stamp set.  All the stamped images in the background are from a set by Indigoblu, the bare tree branch was stamped in juniper, the grasses in worn lipstick and the clouds stamped in picket fence.
I then inked up three different pieces of paper and punched out 31 squares and stuck them onto the background.  I used a black fine liner pen to scribble around each of the squares for definition, added the days of the week on the top row and numbered each square for the month.

So now all I need to do is remember to write in it everyday!!

So that is my first ever attempt at art journalling - I did very much enjoy it and am hoping to buy some of the dylusions inks pretty soon!!

I would like to enter my page into the following challenges:

Hels Sunday Stamper Challenge theme this week is 'writing' - all the details can be found HERE

Fashionable Stamping Challenge theme this time is 'Surprise Us - Anything Goes' - all the details for that challenge can be found HERE

Thanks for stopping by, Claire x

Less Is More - Week 99-100

Well it's the last Less Is More challenge of 2012 and it's recipe time!  The chosen recipe is drinks which is appropriate for this time of the year - all the details for the challenge can be found HERE.  Here is my entry:


The stamp is from Lucy Cromwell at Papermania, stamped in black versafine and coloured using distress markers, water and a paintbrush.  The sentiment is by Inkylicious and was also stamped in black versafine.  I rounded the corners and mounted onto pink card also with rounded corners before mounting onto a 6x6 scalloped card blank.  Just in case you can't see the 'drink' theme  - there is a teacup at the top of the cake stand so hopefully that will count!

Thanks for stopping by,
Claire x


Sunday 16 December 2012

Faux Tiles


The challenge over on Mynnette's Technique Tuesday blog this month is a faux tile technique - all the details for the challenge can be found over on her challenge blog here
Here is the card I created to join in the challenge:

I created my scene by brayering the background in worn lipstick distress ink and flicked some water on it.  I then used picket fence distress stain to stamp in some words randomly in different directions.  I used black versafine to stamp the hydrangeas and the sentiment and coloured these using my distress markers using milled lavender, worn lipstick, victorian velvet, tattered rose, peeled paint, forest moss and crushed olive.  All the stamps are from the same set by Inkylicious.
I then cut my scene into four pieces and arranged in onto black card and then matted on pink card before mounting on an 8 x 8 card blank.
I'm quite happy with the look of my card overall, the addition of the pink mount was an afterthought which I thought was needed to make the image really stand out against the black card.
Thanks for stopping by, Claire x


Sunday 2 December 2012

Less Is More Colour Challenge

It's time for another colour challenge over at the Less Is More blog.  This time it's a very festive Red and Green that's been chosen.  All the details for the challenge can be found HERE
 
I decided to keep the festive card making going whilst participating in the challenge and here is what I created:



I stamped the sentiment from Papermania in crushed olive distress ink then added the large and medium holly stamps by Clarity Stamps, also stamped with the crushed olive.
I then used my distress markers mixed with water to paint the holly leaves, I used peeled paint and crushed olive to paint with.
I added red stickles for the berries to give it a bit of Christmassy sparkle, used a gold pen to line the edges and then mounted it onto a kraft card blank.
 
I hope everyone is having a nice weekend!
 
Claire x

Monday 26 November 2012

Wedding Card

Here is a card I've made for my cousin's wedding, he's getting married on New Year's Eve in Ireland.



 
I used the Juliet stamp by Indigo Blu to stamp around the edge of the card in Memento Rich Cocoa and Stormy Sky Distress Ink using just the ends of Juliet's hair.  I created the sentiment panel using the same inks and a stamp by Inkylicious.  I mounted everything up on blue card and added a brown organza ribbon as the finishing touch.
 
I would like to enter my card in the following challenge:
 
Emma's Crafty Challenge - the theme for challenge number 10 is 'Brown and Blue' so this card fits the theme perfectly.  The link for all the challenge details is HERE
 
Thanks for stopping by!
 
Claire x


Christmas Blues


Today I would like to share a Christmas card I made using some clarity stamps:


 
I used the two holly stamps from Clarity in two different sizes, I stamped them with Adirondak denim ink.  The sentiment is by papermania and is also stamped in the denim ink.  I coloured the holly leaves using my distress markers mixed with water on my craft mat and applied with a paint brush - I used tumbled glass, stormy sky and a little chipped sapphire.
I mounted the panel up onto silver shiny card (which the camera did have some issues with!) and then mounted onto a white DL card blank.
I used quickie glue on the holly berries and on some of the leaves and sprinkled with glamour dust.
I was having quite a few issues with taking these photos, they were all coming out blurry and the colours aren't showing up great, so if anyone has any good tips they would be very much appreciated!  I'm using a reasonably decent camera (12MP) and have tried different locations and standing my cards at differnt angles etc but the photos don't seem to come out true to life :-( 
 
I would like to enter my card in the following challenges:
 
Pan Pastel UK - Challenge 46 is Frosty and Bright, all the details can be found on their blog HERE
 
CAS-ual Fridays - Challenge number 79 this time for a fortnight is winter blues, all the details can be found on their blog HERE
 
Thanks for visiting!
 
Claire x
 
 

Sunday 25 November 2012

Christmas Baubles

Here is another card I made today using the same bauble stamp from Indigo Blu:

 
I masked down the left side of a cream piece of card and stamped the bauble stamp in black versafine.  I coloured the baubles using distress markers in crushed olive and fired brick.  I then used an xcut border punch along the bottom of the card and also along a piece of red card, I mounted the whole card up and added some red organza ribbon.  Finally I added the sentiment, which is a hobbycraft stamp, with a small red gem for the 'i' of Christmas.  The whole card was then mounted up onto a kraft card blank.
 
I would like to enter my card into the following challenges:
 
Addicted to stamps and more - its clean and simple challenge number 4 and this time anything goes, all the details can be found HERE
 
Artful Times - the girls at Artful Times are having a nice and easy anything goes challenge this time round on the run up to Christmas, all the details can be found on their blog HERE
 
Thanks for stopping by
 
Claire x
 
 
 
 

Blue with a dash of silver

It's the second ever monthly challenge over on the splodge away blog - the theme this time is silver and blue.  All the details for the challenge can be found HERE

So here is my card entry for the challenge:

 
I used my splodge mat and splodge away card to create the background using my brayer and an andirondak inkpad in denim.  I stamped the bauble stamp by indigo blu using black versafine, I stamped it again onto a second piece of card and cut the baubles out and rounded them using the end of a pen.  I layered the rounded baubles onto the main image using foam pads.  I them stamped the sentiment which is from papermania/do crafts.  I mounted the card front onto black card and tied some blue ribbon to the right hand side before mounting it onto my card blank.  Finally I added some quickie glue and glamour dust to the snowflakes and baubles for that little touch of Christmassy bling!
 
So there you go, I hope you like it - it certainly brightened up my day what with all this rain!
 
Thanks for looking,
Claire x



Sunday 28 October 2012

Sunday Stamper

Well I've been neglecting my blog for a couple of weeks now - the truth is I just haven't been in the mood for crafting, don't know why but I guess that's how it is sometimes!  Anyhow I thought I'd give Hels Sunday Stamper a go this week - the theme she's chosen is Autumn/Fall.  All the details can be found HERE  This week her blog is sponsored by the Simon Says Stamp Blog - which can be found HERE
 
So here is the card I created today:



I used my new splodge away mat to create a brayered background using distress inks in mustard seed, spiced marmalade, rusty hinge and vintage photo.  All the stamps are from the same set by inkylicious.  I do think that I got a bit carried away with the birds - I think I should have just used the 'V' shaped birds instead of both types but never mind, they're in there now!
 
Thanks for popping by!
 
Claire x

Monday 8 October 2012

Christmas Postcard

I went to the Great Northern Papercraft Extravaganza on Saturday with my Mum and had a great day!!  I bought lots of goodies and amongst them was this gorgeous stamp from stampendous:


 
I used theva card from clarity and my brand new splodge mat to create the brayered background using stormy sky distress ink.  I flicked water over it to create a snowy sky type look.
I stamped the postcard stamp in versafine onto the background and another piece of white card.
I cut around the holly and oval that was stamped on the white card and coloured it using stormy sky distress marker and water mixed on my splodge mat, the holly was coloured using distress markers also in crushed olive and peeled paint.
I mounted the cut out image using foam pads and added perfect pearls and glamour dust.
To finish I added the little red gems to the centres of the holly leaves.
 
I would like to enter my card in the following challenges:
 
Sunday Stamper - Week 226 - this week Hels has chosen snow/snowflakes as her theme, all the details can be found here
 
SplodgeAway First Monthly Challenge - the theme for the first monthly challenge is sparkle/gems, hopefully you can see all the sparkly snow in my photos!  If not I can assure you it is there!  All the challenge details can be found over on the SplodgeAway blog here
 
Thanks for stopping by!
 
Claire x
 

Saturday 8 September 2012

Engagement Card

My sister in law got engaged the other day so I have combined making her a congratulations card with the current sketch challenge over at Try Stampin' On Tuesday, here is the sketch for this weeks challenge:


You can find all the challenge details HERE.  And here is my take on the sketch:


I matted a A5 card blank with cream pearlescent card, then cut the banner strips from some papermania paper, the ribbon is also from the same papermania collection.  The sentiment is stamped in black versafine and is from the confetti collection by papermania.  To finish off I added the three little gems in the bottom right corner.
 
Hopefully she will like it!
 
Claire x


Blog Candy!

Hi All,
 
Over at the Craft Barn Blog they have an amazing selection of goodies they are giving away to celebrate gaining 1160 followers! 

 
Check out their blog HERE for details of how to enter!!
 
I hope everyone is having a lovely sunny Saturday!
 
Claire

Friday 31 August 2012

Green Vintagey Florals

Hello, today I thought I would share a card I made for my sister's birthday:


 
The floral stamp is from papermania and is stamped in adirondak lettuce onto a fancy square cut using an xcut die.  The green background paper is just from my paper drawer not sure who made it.  The embossed border across the middle is from the pampered pets range by docrafts.
I got all the pieces of the card assembled and then distressed them all a bit using antique linen and vintage photo distress inks and added a bit of the lettuce in here and there too to tie all the colours together.  I layered it all up added the brown ribbon, the little happy birthday tag and a few pearls.
All done!
 
I would like to enter my card in the following challenges:
 
Hels Ink on My Fingers Sunday Stamper this week is "green" - you can find her beautiful blog HERE
 
Fashionable Stamping Challenges have chosen florals and handmade flowers as the theme this time around, you can find their blog HERE 
 
The Sweet Stop sketch this week can be found HERE and was a great sketch to work with.
 
Thanks for stopping by!  Claire x

Sunday 26 August 2012

CAS-ual Fridays CFC67

This week over at the CAS-ual Fridays blog the theme is banners and flags.  All the details for the challenge can be found HERE
 
So here is the card I have created for the challenge:




So I used a 6x6 card blank and created a white mat to sit on it.  I created my banners from a sheet of the beautiful Prima botanical collection paperstack.  I then created the border from white card punched on both sides with an xcut leafy lace border punch.  I didn't have any ribbon quite the right colour so I coloured a piece in using a distress marker in tattered rose.  The sentiment in the corner is computer generated using the baroque script font.
 
I hope everyone's having a great weekend - it's a bank holiday here in the UK tomorrow so I'm very much looking forward to the extra day off!!
 
Thanks for stopping by, Claire x

Less Is More - Week 82


Good morning, I made my less is more challenge card yesterday but didn't have time to pop it up on here as we went to a wedding party last night.  The couple were married a couple of weeks ago in Italy and held a party last night to celebrate - the photos from Italy looked beautiful!
 
Anyway so onto my card - so as it's the last week of the month it's recipe time over at less is more.  Mandi and Chrissie have chosen 3-2-1 as the recipe, so we have to to incorporate 3 of something, 2 of something and 1 of something else.  All the details for the challenge can be found HERE
 
So here is my card for this week:



So I used a kraft DL card blank, added the black panel of card with rounded corners at opposite ends.  I punched out three squares of the stampin' up paper (not sure what it's called but I've had it a little while).  I added the black ribbon and stamped the sentiment in black versafine at the bottom which is by papermania.
So for my 3-2-1 I have three paper squares, two words on my sentiment and one ribbon :)
 
I hope everyone is having a nice bank holiday weekend!
 
Claire x

Sunday 19 August 2012

Less Is More - Week 81

This week it's theme week over at Less Is More, Mandi and Chrissie have chosen paper tearing for the theme.  All the details for the challenge can be found HERE

Here is the card I made for the challenge:



I stamped the image of tower bridge by Artemio Stamps in black versafine.  I then used distress markers on my craft mat mixed with water to colour in the image.  The distress markers I used were vintage photo, antique linen, black soot, stormy sky, chipped sapphire and fired brick.
I torn the top and bottom of the image while the card was still a little damp as I thought it would be easier - I was really worried about tearing it at this stage as it had taken me so long to "paint" it and I had visions of it ripping right down the middle!  I layered up the image onto black card and torn the top of that too to match the top of the image.  Around the bottom of the black card I added blue and white bakers twine to try to continue the water theme (well that's how it was imagined in my head anyway!)  The sentiment is from waltzing mouse and is stamped in black versafine also.  To finish off I added the little blue pearls either side of the sentiment.

I hope it is clean and simple enough for the challenge as there isn't too much white space now that it's all finished compared to how I had imagined it when I started out!

Claire x





Thursday 16 August 2012

Joy Candle

The Craft Barn have another challenge on their blog - a colouring technique challenge with the chance to win a £20 voucher!  All the details for the challenge can be found HERE

There are quite a few different techniques you can use to join in the challenge, the one I chose to have a go at was ''altering a candle'' so here is my attempt:


I stamped the 'Joy' and the flourish in green onto tissue paper and used my heat gun to melt it into the candle.  I cut a wrap of green paper from my stash and punched only the top edge then secured it around the candle using the green ribbon.  To finish off I decided to add some green gems to the ends of the flourishes. 

I was quite pleased with the end result!

Thanks for stopping by, Claire x

In The Pink

There's a new blog challenge just starting up called In The Pink.  For their very first challenge they have chosen 'Fifty Shades of Pink' all the details for the challenge can be found HERE

Here is the card I have made for the challenge:


I created the pink panel first by stamping the images randomly with perfect medium and embossing them in white.  I then used my spun sugar DI directly on the card and rounded the corners.  I tied a pink organza ribbon around the square card blank and mounted the pink panel on the card using foam pads.
I stamped the sentiment from waltzing mouse stamps using black versafine then added the three little pearls in the bottom corner to finish off.

Claire x

Sunday 12 August 2012

Wedding Card

Here is a card I made today for a wedding reception we are going to in a couple of weeks, the couple actually got married this weekend in Italy. 




The heart and sentiment is by papermania from their confetti collection.  I 'inked' it with flitter glue and stamped onto black card, then I added chariots of fire gliding flakes by IndioBlu.  I cut a strip of black and gold paper for the side panel and a black card matt for the card blank, everything was edged with the flitter glue and the gliding flakes.
I layered it all up and gave the heart and sentiment a little extra definition by adding foam pads.  At the very end I decided to add in two little golden pearls to the top right corner.
The gliding flakes I've used are a lovely gold shade, I realise that the photos kind of have a bleached look to them due to the sun and the flake looks slightly silver??  I thought taking my photos outside would improve them as I think that is my biggest weakness when blogging :(

Anyway, I would like to enter my card in the following challenges:

The Stamp Man Challenge Blog - Angela has set the theme this time: Precious Medal/Metals - Olympics - Gold/Silver/Bronze.  All the challenge details can be found HERE

Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge - this week the challenge was set by Helen who chose the theme of Gold, Silver or Bronze. All the challenge details can be found HERE

Ink On My Fingers - Hels has decided to make this week a shiny challenge!  Her excellent blog can be found HERE

CAS-ual Fridays - CFC65 is square cards.  All the challenge details can be found HERE 


Thanks for visiting my humble little blog, please feel free to leave me a comment so I know you stopped by - any advice/suggestions are very, very welcome :)

Claire xx


Monday 6 August 2012

Make Your Mark

Over at the Addicted To Stamps blog the 'Make Your Mark' Challenge #2 is up and running - the challenge basically involves using markers in your project - all the details of the challenge can be found HERE

Now I'm not the biggest marker fan, I do have a few pro markers and spectrum noir pens but I just never seemed to be able to get the hang of shading and blending and wotnot!  BUT.....then distress markers arrived!  Now these were more my kinda thing!  I haven't had them very long so I'm sure I still have an awful lot to learn about them but so far I'm loving the effect they can produce.  Here is the card I would like to enter into the Addicted To Stamps challenge:



Firstly I would like to apologise for the poor quality of the photos, there seems to be a shadow on them which I didn't notice at the time,  but the little topper and the card blank are actually the same colour.

I cut out the little topper using a xcut die and my cuttlebug.  The stamp is from a papermania set by Lucy Cromwell which is just so sweet.  I stamped it using versafine black ink, once dry I used my distress markers on my craft mat with a little bit of water and a paint brush to colour in the image.  The distress markers I used were antique linen, dusty concord, victorian velvet, forest moss, stormy sky and tumbled glass.

I mounted up my little topper with foam pads, added a thin piece of pink ribbon, and then finished off by stamping the sentiment in the bottom corner which is also from papermania.

Thanks for stopping by, Claire x

Saturday 28 July 2012

Less Is More - Sketch Week

This week over at the Less Is More blog it's the sketch challenge, click HERE for details. 
Here is the sketch Mandi and Chrissie set:


And here is my take on the sketch:



I used a square card blank and added the dry embossed lines.  Then cut the frame using a xcut die, I stamped the image and sentiment both from papermania's confetti collection in black versafine.  I added the black ribbon and mounted the champagne glasses with small foam pads for an extra bit of dimension.

I'm off to get back to the Olympics now - I thought the opening ceremony was fantastic!  Well worth staying up late for!

Thanks for stopping by!

Claire x

Sunday 22 July 2012

Wedding Card

We have been invited to two weddings in August so I have made an early start on the cards with this one for one of the couples:



The heart stamp is from papermania, I inked it up with tumbled glass distress ink and stamped it on the square of white card, I then edged this with a gold leaf marker and mounted it on the darker blue card.  I used the same heart stamp to create the left hand panel, I randomly stamped it using distress inks in tumbled glass and stormy sky.  I then used a waterbrush to gently blend it all together and once dry punched the leafy lace border from xcut.
I cut the kraft card shape using a xcut die and stamped the sentiment in black versafine ink which is also from papermania.
I created the panel at the top from a piece of the darker blue card and some turquoise organza ribbon.
Once everything was in place I added the three golden pearls to the top left corner.
So hopefully the newly weds like the colour blue!

I would like to enter my card in the following challenges:

Try Stampin' On Tuesday - this week it's a sketch challenge, all the details can be found on their blog here and here's a little peek at the sketch:


Just Us Girls - Andrea has chosen this weeks colour challenge, all the details can be found here and here is the challenge inspiration:


Thanks for stopping by, Claire x




Black & Gold


Here is a little card I created for two challenges:



So I used a prick and stitch template to pierce out the design and then stitched it all in (by hand!!) with gold thread.
I edged the stitched piece of card using a gold leaf marker pen and then mounted it using foam pads onto a black card blank.

I would like to enter my card into these challenges:

Less Is More Challenge Blog - this week the theme is sewing, the details can be found HERE

CAS-ual Fridays Blog - this week the challenge is to use a black card blank, all the details can be found HERE

Thanks for stopping by, Claire x


Saturday 21 July 2012

Sew Something

This week over at the less is more blog Mandi and Chrissie have chosen sewing as the theme.
All the challenge details can be found HERE



I stamped my image, which I'm sorry to say I don't know where it's from, in denim ink from adirondak. I then pierced around the inside of the heart and used a white gel pen to create a faux stitched effect. I then pierced around the edge of the square and added black pen to create the stitches.
I mounted the panel to my card blank with foam pads, stamped the sentiment in black versafine, and added the buttons.
Apologies for the poor photo taking, it was getting late so the light wasn't very good, the heart and buttons are actually blue, not black how they look on the first photo - if the sun comes out again tomorrow I'll try to re-take it I think!

I hope you enjoy the rest of the weekend, the sun has been shining here for a change!!

Love Claire

Quack quack!

Next week is my grandmother in law's birthday - she's a wonderful lady and so active for her age too!

I had to make her a special card for her birthday next week so here it is, a lovely big 8x8 square card:





I used vintage photo distress ink to stamp the beautiful crafty individuals duck stamp repeatedly onto white card, then brushed water on to blend.  While that was drying I inked up the stamp again using distress markers in forest moss and olive green (i think) and stamped that onto white card again.
I covered the card blank with a ribbed beige-ish piece of paper and added the lace ribbon, the green paper is from papermania and was edged with an xcut punch.  I matted both the stamped elements onto brown card and layered everything up. 

I would like to enter my card in the fashionable stamping challenge which is 'let's get messy and ink' all the details for the challenge can be found here

I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend, Claire x

Tuesday 17 July 2012

Flying Airships

So it's raining again!! But it's not all bad as I've been playing with my new Distress Markers.  Now I'm not a massive marker fan but I got a handful of these to have a go with and I have to admit I am quite liking them - although I'm sure there are plenty more uses for them that I have yet to discover.....

So here is a card I created with my new markers:



So I coloured my hero arts flying airship stamps using the distress markers in stormy sky and crushed olive onto kraft coloured card.  I stamped all three airships using the same colours then matted them onto blue card and then onto a kraft card blank.
The sentiment is from waltzing mouse and is stamped in black versafine.
I then added the cute green buttons which I picked up in Cath Kidson during the sale :)

I would like to enter my card in the following challenges:

Artful Times - the challenge over at artful times is 'a mode of transport' all the details for the challenge can be found HERE

The Ribbon Girl - for July the colour challenge is aqua, blue and terracotta - full details of the challenge can be found HERE

Dream Valley Challenges - challenge 36 is 'anything but square' all the details can be found  HERE

Thanks for stopping by!

Claire x