my Crafty Corner

Cards and other handicrafts made by Jean Straw

Wednesday 26 October 2011

Going Dotty?

The latest challenge from Chrissy and Mandi at Less Is More, is to use Polka Dots.
I began by sponging  Dried marigold DI through some sequin waste to create a Polka Dot  background and then stamped the Duo Design stamp over it with Sepia Versafine, and embossed it with clear embossing powder. Unfortunately I had to abandon this piece as the dots showed through the brown ink. I cut the flower out keeping the background whole and used it as a mask, placing it over the sequin waste and just inking the flower part. I then repeated the inking and embossing and this time it was OK. I cut a piece of  Dried Marigold  Core'dination card from the Distress pack and embossed it with a Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder, and lightly coloured the dots with brown ink. I fixed this to the left of a square ivory card and added some dotty ribbon. to finish I mounted the flower onto some Rusty Hinge card leaving a very narrow border and then added it to the card using foam pads.
 Thanks for looking  Jean

Monday 24 October 2011

The Stamp Man ATC

Here is the ATC that I made for The Stamp Man swap this month. The theme is Oriental which was chosen by me, but when I came to make them I was a bit stuck for ideas. I have used all my oriental stamps for swaps before at some time, and wondered what I could do different with them.In the end I decided to make three the same using one of my favourite Crafty Individuals stamps.I stamped the whole image with Onyx Black
  Versafine ink onto red card and trimmed it down a bit. Then I stamped just the right hand border onto some shiny gold paper with Black Stazon, cut it out and stuck it to the main image. Next I stamped the sentiment onto ivory card and edged it with a Krylon gold pen. I also edged the red card with the Krylon, and coloured the little fan with it. (It was silver originally) I wrapped some gold threads around just inside the border and fixed the sentiment at the bottom and the fan just above it, and mounted the whole thing on a black ATC sized card.
Thanks for taking the time to have a look. Jean.                      

Saturday 22 October 2011

Birthday Card for Kate

It was my sister Kates' birthday earlier this week and I knew that I wanted to make a card with butterflies on as they are among her favourite images. Kate makes lovely cards herself and you can see her work here, she would be happy for you to take a look.
I decided to use this Crafty Individuals
stamp,(CI175) as I have had it for a while
but not really used it. I began by stamping the whole image onto ivory card with Bundled Sage DI,  and then added some shading with Tattered Rose and Dusty Concord.Next I stamped just the butterflies onto acetate with Royal Purple Stazon and cut them out and put them through my Zyron sticker maker. I then used Oxidating Blue Art -Metal leaf to cover the adhesive, and highlighted the wing markings with an Inkssential white pen. I fixed them to the stamped panel with silicon glue and embellished the background with some pink stickles. For the main card I used a 6x6 sheet from a paper Cellar pad, Langley Place, and trimmed it slightly to fit my base card and using the same inks as before added some shading to the edges.I also used coloured pencils to pick out the flowers in the top right hand side. I fixed a piece of ribbon around the paper before fixing it to the card,and then stuck the stamped panel over the ribbon.I made a small tag and stamped it with a Tapestry Stamp to say Happy Birthday, and coloured a butterfly charm with permanent pens.To finish the card I tied a bow onto the ribbon and attached the tag and charm using a Tim Holtz Trinket Pin.
I am entering this in Crafty Individuals Monthly Challenge; Winged Things.

Thursday 20 October 2011

Joyful Greetings

I stamped this image from the new Chocolate Baroque stamp set, Peace On Earth with Onyx Black Versafine ink. I trimmed it close to the edge and coloured it with Distress Inks in, Scattered Straw, Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade and Aged Mahogany, using cut and dry sponge, and then used coloured pencils to add a little more colour to the holly border. I printed the backing paper
from a chocolate Baroque download and cut a panel
to fit an A6 landscape card leaving just a small border. Next I edged both panels with a gold Krylon pen and mounted them onto a cream base card, and added a gold ribbon and square gems to finish it off. This a very different colour scheme to what I usually use for my Christmas cards but I was quite pleased with the result. It is also the first time that I have used this new stamp so I am entering it in ABC Christmas challenge, U for Unused, and also Whopsi Daisy Challenge, Free and Easy.  Thank you for taking a look, I appreciate all your comments.

Friday 14 October 2011

Peace and Traquility

Today I have a tag to show you. I have only made a few tags before and am still struggling a bit with the format. I began by colouring the tag all over with Paper Soft colour in Dark Sand, Lime Green and Lilac.
 This is a super medium for giving a soft blended covering. Next I embossed the   top and bottom with a Crafters Workshop template and my Cuttlebug, and then keeping the template in place I sponged more of the Lime Green colour over to emphasise the embossing. I then darkened the edge a bit with Tea Dye and then Pumice Stone DI. The centre image is a Crafty Individuals stamp that I stamped with Pumice Stone ink and coloured with Antique Linen and Tea Dye, and then cut it out and mounted it on a piece of grey pearl card. The words are from the same Crafty Individuals set. I tied some fibres to the top and added some Tim Holtz Ideaology pieces, and the little wooden bird.
I am entering  it for Try it on Tuesday; Tag-Peace and Tranquillity
and Crafty Cardmakers; Anything Goes.                                                                                  

Tuesday 11 October 2011

Heartfelt Wishes

A one layer card with a heart or hearts is the order of the day at Less Is More this week, and after making brown cards for last couple of weeks I thought I'd go pretty this time,so here is my card.
The swirly heart is a Chocolate Baroque stamp and I stamped it with
Brilliance ink pad Twilight, ( a three colour pad ) onto a white pearlecsent card. I then stamped the boating couple on top of the heart with Memento Paris Dusk ink. This is a small  Clarity stamp that I've had for ages and has been used often. I stamped the the Crafty Individuals sentiment below the main image with blue end of the Brilliance ink pad. I added some dots with white liquid pearls around the heart and sprinkled them with some crystal ultra fine glitter to add a bit of bling.
Thank you for taking a look, I appreciate your comments.

Tuesday 4 October 2011

Brown Eyes

This is the challenge set for us this week by Chrissie and Mandi at Less Is More.


Here we are again and it's time for another COLOUR challenge.

This week we have chosen

THE COLOUR OF YOUR EYES

You don't necessarily have to have an exact match, but if your eyes are blue, then any shade of blue will be fine, likewise with brown, grey, green etc.. (We aren't as mean as all that!)
However, the colour you choose should be the predominant colour on your card... we don't want to see just a hint of it.

My eyes are brown, although not quite as brown as they used to be. They seem to be turning a greyish colour as I get older just like my hair!!, but for the purpose of this challenge I am sticking with brown.






Here is the card I've made.The stamp of the woman's face is the latest Craft Stamper freebie and when I first saw it I didn't like it very much but now that I've used it I suppose that she has a bizarre kind of charm.Both the woman and the sentiment were stamped with Memento Rich Cocoa ink. The colouring was done with Distress Inks in Tea Dye, Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain, by dabbing them onto my craft mat and spritzing lightly with water and picking up with a water brush.  I embossed two lines across the lower

 part of the card to enclose the sentiment  (and so that I could try out my new Hougie board that I bought at the Ally Pally show last month), and added two brown coloured gems.

I am also entering this for ABC Challenge; Anything Goes
                                 Crafty Cardmakers; Anything Goes

Thank you for taking a look, I appreciate all your comments.Jean