Monday 23 September 2019

AALL & Create Husband


I've had something like this in mind for ages, combining two stamps from AALL & Create. I wasn't intending to get to it as soon as this, BUT somebody commented on somebody else's card with just him in that he needs a wife! So.. thought I'd better get to it! Lol ;-)


The two stamps I've used are 'Flower Girl' #201 and 'For Him' #196, both designed by Bipasha BK. They are both fabulous stamps, and I have more plans for these two! Lol ;-)

I used Koh-i-Noor Aquarelle watercolour pencils for the coloured parts, which were stamped again and fussy-cut out to layer on top. I used a Tracy Evans design touch with the curled black thread, and I used my usual trick with adding dimension using recycled cardboard (as opposed to foam pads).

I hope you like it. :-)




Sunday 22 September 2019

Get Well Elephant



This is for a friend who is suffering with a very bad back. I thought the flattened elephant from Katzelkraft's 'Les Jungles' stamp set (ref: KTZ168) was perfect for the purpose! I received the stamped ellie image as part of a RAK from my crafting buddy, Lisa Vipas. (Thanks again, Lisa!)


I used Koh-i-Noor Aquarelle pencils to colour her grey, although if she had been well enough after her last bath, she would be red. I was blessed to witness this in the wild in Kenya in 1966.. elephants emerging grey from the river in Tsavo, then showering themselves with the red earth. Wonderful experience. I was only eight, but I remember it vividly. Me in the back of the landrover, on safari. I was really a lot happier than I looked. Honest.


 The sentiment was computer-generated. The paper was from the Yuletide Memories 8" x 8" pad from The Paper Tree, splattered with black gesso from That's Crafty! and decorated with silver sequins, silver gem-kind-of-embellishment thingies from Hunkydory, and a paper rosebud. All matted and layered on black and white cardstock, and the focal panel raised slightly on recycled cardboard.




Tuesday 17 September 2019

Colourful Robot



This one has been made to meet the criteria for this month's 'Bright & Beautiful' Challenge on Donna Ratcliffe's fan group, which showcases her fab range of stamps and stencils.. Doodlin's by Donna. She has a series of robot designs, including this one.


You can't see much of it, but the background is from a session playing with my Clarity Gelli Plate, which has been overstamped with an AALL & Create border stamp, 'Protractors' by Bipasha Bk #29.

The focal image has been cut out and painted with watercolour paints and pencils, then matted and layered, using some slight dimension with recycled cardboard instead of foam pads under the robot itself.  I wrapped some silver thread around, to break up the uniformity a bit, applied some black and white splattered Gesso, some scattered sequins for extra colour and bling, and some Glossy Accents on the goggles and front instrument panel.

It isn't perfect, but I think it achieves what I set out to. I hope you like it. :-)






Sunday 15 September 2019

Naked Cogsworth



Naked. No covering whatsoever. (The waistcoat doesn't count.) If you saw yesterday's post, you'll know the focal image is Sir Theodore Cogsworth from Doodlin's by Donna. Uncoloured, but slightly raised on recycled cardboard (which I use instead of foam pads in a small bid for more environmentally-friendly crafting!)


The 'floor' is my old Elzybells stamp that I mentioned before, stamped with Iced Spruce Distress Oxide ink. The background is an AALL & Create stencil - 'Steam Cogs' #71, using Hickory Smoke Distress Oxide ink and Phat Foam from IndigoBlu. Cogs from Sizzix in silver mirri card. Sentiment computer-generated and also raised on cardboard.




Saturday 14 September 2019

Cogsworth



This one is a bit more detailed than usual for me. The main image is 'Sir Theodore Cogsworth' - a stamp from Doodlin's by Donna.. a favourite of mine. I always try to make my images differ from the way I've seen others present them, so I've tried Theo as a polar bear, which didn't quite work, and here as a black bear. I'm still not convinced. I have a different plan for the next card. Watch this space!


So.. the background was made from a gelli plate play session, cleaning the paint off my brayer. I used Lime Marmalade from IndigoBlu's matte English Cottage Artist's Acrylic Paint range, and Townhouse Teal, but they combined and the green dominated, as you see! I like it, though.

Then I used That's Crafty Light Texture Paste through an AALL & Create stencil - 'Steam Cogs' #71, and I rediscovered an old favourite stamp from Elzybells (about 12-ish years old).. just random uneven lines.. a perfect border, or floor, as you see here. Sadly, the rubber has perished and gone brittle, but it gives an uneven texture which is ideal for grounding, so maybe not so sad after all! I used Peeled Paint Distress ink for this.

Coggy was coloured with Koh-i-Noor Aquarelle watercolour pencils, and enhanced with Glossy Accents on his goggles, eyes, nose and his pocketwatch. Donna included some words in with his stamp, so I used two of them.. 'Explore' embossed in white on black card, and 'Journey' stamped directly onto the card.

Cogsworth lives up to his name here, surrounded with cogs and a clock from various sources - mainly Sizzix - cut from gold and silver mirri card.

Hope you like him.




Monday 9 September 2019

Polar Knight



Since this brilliant stamp - Sir Theodore Cogsworth - from Doodlin's by Donna was released, I have been wanting to find a different way of presenting it, so I thought polar bear. Not seen anyone else do that (yet), so here he is.. legendary arctic explorer, Ted Cogsworth, with news of his knighthood!

Here is the text:


ARCTIC EXPLORER KNIGHTED

Celebrated polar archaeologist, Theodore Cogsworth, 47, known as Teddy, was knighted by Her Majesty The Queen at Buckingham Palace earlier today.
The honour was bestowed in recognition of his greatest discovery at the North Pole, the remains of a pre-industrial factory, believed to be evidence of the original Santa's Workshop which is now known to have been moved to Lapland to support the EU economy following Brexit. 

Prior to Ted's amazing discovery, Santa, otherwise known as Father Christmas, had been perceived as a mythical figure. As well as the workshop, fragments of clothing for a genus of small humans called 'homo elfin' and bones from an ancient species of deer were found close by. DNA sequencing revealed genetic evidence of flight muscles and red noses.

The work of Sir Theodore Cogsworth has removed any doubt about the existence of our annual visitor from the North, and generations now work tirelessly all year to ensure that when he checks his list (twice), their names will be on it. The world is a nicer place because of it. Thank you, Sir Ted! This newspaper believes the Nobel Peace prize will be next.


Monday 2 September 2019

Garden Trimmings



This one has been done in a relative hurry, using a digi-file from Lili Of The Valley. It comes already coloured, called 'Simply Print'. This one is called 'The Gardener'. I wanted something quick for my neighbour who very kindly did some hedge and bush trimming for me over the weekend, and wouldn't accept anything, not even fuel money to take the trimmings to the dump. So he's getting a card instead! I hope he likes it.

Apart from the image, it's just simple matting and layering, with a layer of recycled cardboard under the final layer to raise it a smidge, and there are mini gold bradlets in the corners. The sentiment is computer-generated and also raised a tiny bit in my usual manner. The green leaves are Crealies die-cuts, and the 'shears' are from a set of garden-related die-cuts I ordered on-line.