Blue Tit

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My last of three cards with the backgrounds I made (see photo below) using the clingfilm technique Jean Hardy of Crafty Individuals showed us in her FB Live demo on 13th May. (Click HERE for demo.) 

The lovely Blue Tit stamp is from Crafty Individuals, CI-505 'Bluebird and Branch with Berries' (forgive my dreadful colouring), and the 'moments' word is a Sizzix Tim Holtz die-cut.

The gold mat is cut with deckle-edged scissors, and I've used gold cord for the messy thread layer. 

Honey Beez

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Another card using shapes cut from the backgrounds I made (see next photo) using the clingfilm technique Jean Hardy of Crafty Individuals showed us in her FB Live demo on 13th May. (Click HERE for the demo.)

The background is made using a honeycomb stencil by That's Crafty and Versacraft ink in Grey. The next layer is the messy black cotton technique I learned from Tracy Evans.. and the splats, of course!

I forget where the honeycomb die came from; it has long since parted from its packaging! The hexagons are a Sizzix die,  as are the 'Honey' letters. The bees are stamps from IndigoBlu, and sequins from stash.

One more to come using the clingfilm technique. (Not bees.)

Birthday Bees

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I was really stuck with this one, for a few weeks I had been following Jean Hardy's FB Live demos on the Crafty Individuals' FB page, and this was from 13th May, using her clingfilm technique. I knew about it, but hadn't tried it before. Using the Koh-i-Noor Anilinky paints, I made some backgrounds (see photo) and then my mojo took leave of me, UNTIL I saw Lee Mckenzie's gorgeous card inspired by Tracy Evans, which got me unstuck. (Thanks, Lee!) x

The circle is cut from one of the backgrounds I made. I had been thinking of using it with bees, but hadn't previously got any further than that.

I used Crafty Individuals stamps for the background (on top of a brayered base with Tumbled Glass Distress Oxide ink), IndigoBlu bee stamps with glittered wings, some die-cut cogs, the honeycomb and numbuzz (see what I did there?) 😁, a couple of Tim Holtz Idea-ology metal index clips and computer-generated greeting.

Lion King

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This multi-layered marvel is inspired by Jean Hardy's Facebook Live demo from 6th May, still available on the Crafty Individuals FB page, HERE. (NB: Jean's design was also inspired by her DT member, Isa (Isabelle, from Pencil Artventure.) 

I have used different colours and a different focal image, the Crafty Individuals 'Lion King' stamp, CI-524, designed by Ellie Mulligan. For the background, I used various contemporary stamps by Flo Langley, available HERE, and a stencil ('Rota Vitae', #49) by AALL & Create.

Colour-wise, I used Distress Oxides in the background.. 'Salty Ocean' and 'Spiced Marmalade'. Unfortunately, I messed up on the stencilled area. I was aiming for a two-tone effect between the blue and the orange, but forgot to dry one before applying the other, so I got green sludge instead! I could have started again, but I'm too lazy!

I didn't have the lovely blue glitter embossing powder for the coffee rings, so I improvised, using Salty Ocean ink and 'Clear Silver Highlight' embossing powder by WOW on top, which gave a very similar glittery effect. Beautiful.

I don't have any masking products large enough to cover the lion, so I stamped his image first on the card, for positioning, then again separately in a combo of Versafine Vintage Sepia and (stamped off) Onyx Black, coloured with the Koh-i-Noor 'Anilinky' watercolours. I fussy-cut him out and glued him down in the middle, so his mane can blow free!

Apart from the green sludge fiasco, I love how this has turned out. Thanks for the inspiration, Jean and Isa!

Grungy Stag

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This is loosely based on another of Jean Hardy's Facebook Live demos on the Crafty Individuals FB page, on 29th April, with a Black & White theme. (Click HERE to watch.) 

I went for a grungy background by brayering on some Black Soot Distress Oxide ink and adding some splatters with watered down black gesso and white acrylic paint, adding some white circles using Crafty Individuals 'Fried Eggs' background stamp, CI-541, designed by Flo Langley, and using white embossing powder.

The stag image is one of my favourites, 'Highland Stag' from Ellie Mulligan's gorgeous range of designs for Crafty Individuals, CI-526. I left it in black, just inked with Versafine 'Black Onyx', raised on recycled cardboard pads and stuck down with some tangled black cotton behind.

I used some off-cuts from the 'Code' die by AALL & Create, and some Tim Holtz Idealogy clips, and to finish off, I used some Tim Holtz alphabet die-cut letters for the 'Clan Fraser' legend.

Hummingbirds

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These were inspired by Jean Hardy's Facebook Live demo on the Crafty Individuals FB page on 22nd April. (Click HERE if you'd like to watch it.) Jean was in turn inspired by her DT member, Helen Chilton, so you could say mine are third generation!

The backgrounds are made using Brushos.. a new experience for me. I have had them in my stash for well over a year, but this is their first outing. I'm quietly pleased with the results.

The beautiful stamp is  Crafty Individuals 'Hummingbirds amongst Blossoms', CI-509, which I coloured to go with the backgrounds using Giotto Pens (watered down on my glass mat, and applied with a paintbrush).

I didn't have any tropical palm leaf dies, so I improvised using a feather die from Sizzix by trimming off the ends of the feather 'fronds' and painting them. They make great palm leaves!   

Butterfly Ribbon

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This one was inspired by Jean's Facebook Live demo on 15th April: 'Gelli & Stamping Fun'. (You can find it under 'Videos' on the Crafty Individuals Facebook page.)

First, I used one of Flo Langley's lovely background stamps.. the one she calls 'Fried Eggs'! You'll find it on the Crafty Individuals website under ref. CI-541. I also used Flo's 'washing-up sponge' technique for applying the paint to the stamp, and it worked really well on the gelli plate. I'll be using that again! Then applied more block colour on top, and a stencil over that to lift some of the paint  Then white acryclic over the top once the colour layer had dried. (The colour paint is Artist's Acrylic Paint by IndigoBlu.)

I really like the print it gave me. I don't have the 'bell' stencil that Jean used, so I used the 'Bouquet' stencil #73 by Fiona Paltridge at AALL & Create. The 'Fried Eggs' are showing (a bit.. enough) and the lovely roses from the stencil are good, too. 

I don't have any of beautiful Crafty Individuals butterfly stamps that Jean used, but I do have this gorgeous one from IndigoBlu, 'Flutterby', Code FD. I stamped it in Versafine 'Onyx Black', then clear embossed it and fussy-cut it out. (I always run an ink pen [usually black] around the edge of a cut image, to get rid of the harsh white edges.)

The name of the fine gauze ribbon escapes me (words I have always known often do, these days), but it is wired, frays nicely at the ends and works well, I think. I stapled it to the card front before gluing the layers together, and covered the staple with the butterfly. The Tim Holtz 'beautiful' die-cut word helps to secure the tail of the ribbon down by gluing both ends.

Flo's Fried Eggs

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This one is (very) loosely based on Jean's Facebook Live demo on 8th April. I created the background using four Distress Oxide inks on an acrylic block, spritzed and smooshed onto the card. Then I used one of Flo Langley's lovely background stamps.. the one she calls 'Fried Eggs'! You'll find it on the Crafty Individuals website under ref. CI-541.

In Jean's demo, she used a Chocolate Baroque stamp with Sweetpeas and an industrial-looking lightbulb thing, which I don't have, so I used another Chocolate Baroque stamp that I do! Coloured with Koh-i-Noor 'Anilinky' watercolours, matted onto black and topped with Glossy Accents, splatted with black gesso for good measure, a few scattered gold sequins and some Tim Holtz die-cut words from Sizzix.

In Jean's demo, she cut the focal image in an oval-shape, stitched around the edges and mounted it onto one of the papers also designed by Flo Langley. I treasure mine, so saving them to stroke occasionally! ;-) Apart from that, I love white space and prefer rectangular shapes.

Perching Bird

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I challenged myself a little while ago to make a card inspired by each of Jean's Facebook Live demos. This is only the second I've made, from Jean's demo on 6th April, using a contemporary style with background stamps designed by Flo Langley, and the CI-507 'Perching Bird' stamp. Jean used her lovely kingfisher stamp for her version, but I don't have that. This works just as well, though, and I love Flo's stamps:

CI-539 'Abstraction'
CI-540 'Fragmentation'
CI-542 'Mismesh'

Thank You Birds

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I wanted to make this to thank Malcolm (Malc) of Crafty Individuals who sent me a gift to thank me for initiating, creating and developing the Crafty Individuals Facebook Group, building it to just shy of 750 members. He must have been paying attention, as he sent me things I had asked about in previous months. One of them was this beautiful bird stamp, which was retired and wasn't available any more. I love it! So pretty.

The background paper is also Crafty Individuals, from their 'Springtime' paper pad, matted on to green cardstock. The words dies are by Sizzix Tim Holtz, and the finishing touches are gold cord, yellow paper rosebuds and some pearls.

VE Day 75 Art Journal Page

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This was made using the 'waste' gesso from my VE Day 75 card (see post below!). I've used all the same stuff, except for cutting out some blue birds from Crafty Individuals papers and sticking them on, too. Not sure the gesso looks much like the White Cliffs of Dover, but I tried! Lol ;-)

VE Day 75

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This was made to mark VE Day 75 on 8th May. I used a Crafty Individuals background paper from one of their paper pads, which I brayered with gesso in the centre to provide a clear space for the stamp CI-334 'Keep Calm & Carry On. I splatted the background with black gesso, made the bunting and hung that on black thread, raising it up on recycled cardboard pads as appropriate.

The soldier silhouette was found on some bunting templates in an album posted on my local Covid-19 Volunteer Group.. a resource created by Colouring Heroes.

The numbers and letters 'VE 75' are from Tim Holtz, and the poppy stamp is also Crafty Individuals, CI-210 'Pretty Poppy'.

My First Pop-up Box Card

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My niece, Laura, had her 33rd birthday recently. She has Downs Syndrome, and has a massive crush on Harry Styles. I say crush, but I think it might be the real thing; it has been going strong for at least three years now. So.. wanting to make her something she'd like and could keep, I thought I'd have a go at making a Harry-themed pop-up box card.

I have been wanting to do this for a while. Those I've seen have always looked spectacular. I don't like 'fancy' cards, usually, but I do think this particular style is very effective. One of my favourite guest designers on Hochanda is Janet Pring for AALL & Create. In February, she provided a fab demo on making pop-up box cards, and fortunately, I followed my instincts and recorded it. Hurrah! Great instructions, very simple to follow. Still fiddly, though, and I made a few rooky mistakes, and it took a long time to make. Hours. I'll do better next time. At least I'm not frightened of it, now.

Products used:

• Photos from a Harry Styles poster
• Black & white cardstock for matting and layering
• Floral paper
• Acetate strips 
• Sizzix Thinlits die - Scattered Hearts by Samantha Barnett - Ref: 662599
• Tim Holtz word die (Happy)
• Making Memories rub-on letters (Laura)

Butterfly Trio

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Today, I decided to challenge myself to make something inspired by each Facebook Live demo I watch. This one is sparked by a demo by Jean Hardy of Crafty Individuals. Of course, it looks nothing like her version! :-D

I started with some beautiful papers, 'Mismesh', designed by Flo Langley. The panel in the centre has all kinds of layers on it, but it's all come out a mess, and doesn't show under the butterflies, anyway, so I won't bother listing the layers! Lol :-D

The butterfly die I used for the trio on top is also by Crafty Individuals, called the 'Lacewing Butterfly'. Currently on offer at £2.80, down from £7.45! Bargain.

'Hope' is from Sizzix Tim Holtz die set: 'Friendship words: script'.

Together, We Shall Rise

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This one is based on a Facebook Live demo by Tracy Evans of AALL & Create, focussing on using her 'Knibs & Mushrooms' border stamp set #276.

The base layer was using the smoosh technique, with brown and yellow inks. The nibs were added, then stamped again on an old book page. In this case, I have an old dictionary with yellowing pages, and I used the 'nib' definition, then tore the image out from the page.

The next element was creating a spotlight with more brown ink, then a layer of clear embossing powder. The more stamping of the nibs on a white circle, overlaid with a couple of dark brown nibs, fussy-cut out and adhered on top.

I used some stencils to fill in some blank areas with brown, again.. the 'human' and #6 stencil, and some white texture paste through the #21 dotty stencil, plus some random white acrylic paint splats. Then I added the white strip for grounding, and the sentiment base, 'We shall rise', printed on my computer. The 'Together' word is from a Sizzix Tim Holtz set of words: 'Handwritten Love'.

The final touches were the white flower, fussy-cut from a Tracy Evans A5 stamp set, 'Eclectic Stems' #199, with a little yellow watercolour in the centre, some numbers and a piece of trim from the AALL & Create 'Code' die, plus some scattered gold sequins for a hint of metallica.

Easter 2020

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Happy Easter, everyone! So sad that we're all locked down on this beautiful weekend, but staying home is where we should be right now. So, anyway, crafters.. This one uses one of the lovely new paper designs by Flo Langley for Crafty Individuals. I love them; they please my eyes so much and they're so versatile. The range of stamps she designed to go with them are also marvellous, enabling you to create your own backgrounds or add to the papers.

The yellow flower heads are also from Crafty Individuals, stamped twice using the CI-210 stamp, Pretty Poppy, embossed and fussy-cut.

The embossing folder I used is 'Cross with Script' by Darice, chalked with Pebbles i'Kan'dee chalks to co-ordinate with the background, and the 'Joy' word die is from Memory Box, ref. 94325 (Joy Airy Script).

Sorry about the photos.. I'll try again in better light later.

Enjoy your day! xxx

Lighthouse Clouds

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This was made using some of the wonderful new background stamps designed by Flo Langley for Crafty Individuals, launched on Jean Hardy's shows on Hochanda today. 

I'm not an official member of the DT, but Jean is kind enough to invite me to create samples. When I saw Flo's stamps, one of the things that struck me was clouds. So here's one of my efforts using just one of her stamp sets.. 'Abstraction', ref. CI-539, and using some of the stamps from CI-397 'Call of the Sea'. (This is a 6" x 6" card, and I doodled an extension to the lines stamp in one of the other of Flo's sets.) 

I wish now that I had taken a closer look at the bigger verse in the 'Call of the Sea' stamps.. the lovely poem by John Masefield. I would have used that instead. And I'm thinking of adding the word 'sea' to the lower left corner. Do you do that? Think of things you wished you had done differently? At least I got the flung spray and the blown spray! Lol ;-) 

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied; And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying And the flung spray and the blown spray, and the seagulls crying. John Masefield

Positive Dragonflies

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This was made (too late) for the March challenge on Tracy Evans Facebook group (Tracy Evans - Craft Addicts - Create, Share, Inspire).. 'Things With Wings', using AALL & Create stamps. I ran out of time, but this idea was in my head, so it just had to be made!

I started out with the dinky and very funky little A7 stamp by Bipasha BK, 'Scripts' #292, matted and layered and raised slightly on recycled cardboard, along with the word panel from the boho tribal feel A6 'Good Vibes' stamp, also by Bipasha, #7. Then I stamped and fussy-cut both the dragonflies from Tracy's A6 stamp set, #45. Very sweet. I used a red from Phil Martin's 'Sentimentally Yours' brush pens, set 2, to colour the wings, which inspired the other red touches.

I added some off-cuts from the AALL & Create 'Code' mixed media die, some splats, some sequins and some silver die-cuts from stash.

Faith Tag

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This was made for the April challenge on The Bunny & The Bee's Crafty Hive Facebook group, to make a tag with a positive message to encourage others through the present Coronavirus crisis.

I wanted to present the biblical theme of 1 Corinthians 13 from the New Testament.. Faith Hope & Love, and as I have a collection of Christian-themed stamps that are almost from that era, it was obvious to use them! The first is the lovely background that I stamped in Hickory Smoke Distress Oxide. The stamp is wood-mounted, 'Faith Hope Love' (ref. G7070) from Paper Inspirations*.

The 'Faith' lettering came from another stamp, and I masked out the smaller text and superimposed the bold word in Versafine Onyx Black on top of the background.

This stamp, also ancient and wood-mounted, is 'Faith' (ref. S089-N ©2003) from Wordsworth* stamps.

The butterflies are both from the same stamp, also wood-mounted.. 'Butterfly #2' (ref. CDD-677C) from Cat Dancing Design (made by Cornish Heritage Farms*).

The poppy heads were cut from stamping the Crafty Individuals' 'Pretty Poppy' (CI-210), twice, and raised slightly on recycled cardboard. 

The 'love' word comes from my growing stash of obscure dies and die-cuts that I've been collecting for a while now... some from eBay, some from kind friends on groups. This word started out as 'lovely', and I cut the last two letters off. I wanted to add 'hope', too, but that's on its way and hasn't arrived yet. Delayed in the post because the Royal Mail is short-staffed, thanks to the virus, bless them.

It was fun revisiting some old favourites. Sadly, *Paper Inspirations, *Wordsworth and *Cornish Heritage Farms are no more. Such a shame. I miss them. Hand me a tissue. From 2 metres away.  #sniff

Blue Sea

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I have to admit that I really love this one. The background paper is designed by Flo Langley for Crafty Individuals.. one of a pack of papers and complementary stamps by the same designer for making backgrounds. I can't stop looking at them; they're gorgeous! Due for launch on Crafty Individuals shows on Hochanda on 7th April. Don't miss them! :-)

The seahorse is 'Sammy Seahorse' Signature Dies SD365 by Joanna Sheen. (The seaweed fronds are part of the same die.) Tim Holtz for Sizzix is responsible for the typewriter alphabet dies.

The white panel is raised on recycled cardboard, and sequins added from stash.